Crossover-Isekai 408

Chapter 408 God-tier

Edited by: Kanaa-senpai

 The sheer force of his masculine presence hit Grayfia like a wave, leaving the silver-haired beauty momentarily flustered. Looking up at the strikingly handsome boy who towered a full head above her, her fair cheeks turned pink.

 It took her a long moment to compose herself. When she finally did, she offered a steady, graceful smile: “Aki, don’t be silly—I’m Rias’s sister-in-law…”

 ”I know.”

 Aki cut her off. He wouldn’t let her lighten the mood. Silence fell between them again.

 ”Grayfia… I know this might not be love. It might not even be like.”

 Aki took a deep breath, then took her delicate hand.

 ”But I want you. I want you by my side—forever.”

 Once the words left his lips, a wave of relief washed over him. The weight he’d been carrying—the final obstacle in his heart—shattered like glass against the force of his confession. He didn’t know how she’d respond, and maybe that was the point. What mattered was that he’d finally said it.

 In that instant, a spark of understanding exploded from his heart—not from his mind, not from his power, but from the very core of who he was. It poured through him like a clear stream flowing through Candy Valley¹, washing over every cell of his being.

 And in that moment, he truly understood himself.

 The truth he’d buried deep inside finally surfaced.

 He was just an ordinary man with basic desires. So what if he’d been blessed with a second life? So what if he’d gained immense power? None of that changed who he really was. The world had never been fair. Some people were born with infinite wealth and boundless influence. From the moment they drew their first breath, they possessed what ordinary people could never achieve in a lifetime. To them, snuffing out a commoner’s life was easier than crushing an ant.

 And some people were just born protagonists—destined to have all the beautiful women flock to their side.

 If they could do it…

 Why couldn’t he?

 Aki admitted it to himself, honestly and completely. He’d been blind to this truth before—held back by his old self, by the person he used to be. But not anymore. Now, he would be the protagonist of his own life. The protagonist of this world.

 Aki felt himself soaring above the river of time, above the endless multiverse, seeing the vast scale of existence. A hazy, abstract Mobius loop formed before him, stretching endlessly in all directions—a vision of endless worlds and parallel universes, all shifting without pause.

 The chaotic world he now lived in—a strange fusion of countless memories, the Three Realms² of gods, demons, and mortals—contained countless different timelines. And his arrival… it seemed, perhaps, maybe… had already fixed this world’s path onto one that belonged only to him.

 But the thread wasn’t thick or strong enough yet.

 If Aki stopped moving forward, if he gave up, that thread might snap at any moment—and the world would turn in another direction. That new path might not affect him at all. It might even be better for him. Or it might end with his soul scattered to the winds.

 Suddenly, Aki’s heart pounded—hard.

 Once he’d uncovered this truth, once he’d made up his mind, his state of mind changed completely. At the same time, an extraordinary power surged toward him from all directions. The force was huge—so vast that even Aki, with his current strength, struggled to withstand it. His heart rate spiked to hundreds of beats per minute in an instant.

 As the energy flooded into him, his soul—already powerful—began to change. His pupils widened. He could feel a miraculous power flowing through his essence at incredible speed. His soul, normally untouchable, suddenly felt real—a solid presence. With each wave of energy, his soul’s substance, glowing with a pale blue light, pulsed and rippled. And with each ripple, his soul grew stronger, more resonant with the fundamental laws of the heavens and earth.

 This wasn’t unfamiliar to Aki. He’d felt something similar before, during his first metamorphosis—the time he’d connected with the heavens and transcended his mortal limits. But this was different. This was his soul, not his body. The sensation was sharper, clearer. It brought him closer to the very essence of the vast world he inhabited.

 No wonder even the weakest God-tier³ could effortlessly crush a top-tier Demon King-class⁴ warrior. Once you stepped into this realm, the heavens and earth answered your call. Every gesture, every movement, carried power that was increased a hundredfold. A Demon King-class could still be overwhelmed by sheer numbers—if you had enough bodies to throw at the problem, and if that Demon King-class didn’t have infinite stamina…

 But a God-tier?

 Only another God-tier could be a threat. No amount of fodder would ever make a difference.

 All of this unfolded within Aki’s soul, but in the real world, only a single breath had passed. Grayfia, her heart still fluttering from Aki’s confession, had no idea what was happening to the boy before her. If she’d known, she wouldn’t have been agonizing over her own conflicted feelings—she’d have pressed herself against him, absorbing every nuance of his breakthrough.

 She had been Demon King-class since the Three-Way War⁵. Back then, she’d competed with Serafall for the title of Underworld’s strongest female Devil. But now, all these years later, she was still stuck at Demon King-class. Partly because the God-tier threshold was genuinely difficult to cross, but also because of what had happened on that battlefield.

 She’d let “love” blind her. She’d betrayed her own family and sided with Sirzechs. And since history is always written by the winners, that act of betrayal had been reframed as a great romance. She’d been hailed as the Underworld’s strongest Queen—the Silver-Haired Annihilation Queen. But the truth was far more complicated.

 As Sirzechs’s wife, Grayfia was also a maid in the Gremory household. She couldn’t even sit at the same table as her husband during meals. She’d long since lost any chance of standing on equal footing with Serafall. Sirzechs treated her well enough, and he’d never strayed. They’d had a child together, ensuring the Gremory bloodline continued and solidifying her position beyond question.

 But beyond that?

 There was none of the love or care from those early days.

 Grayfia was no fool. She’d recognized the truth of their relationship quickly. Her betrayal had extinguished the old Demon King’s last chance at victory. It had elevated Sirzechs’s reputation to its apex, allowing him to inherit the title and authority of Sirzechs Lucifer, the Strongest Demon King.

 Of course, Sirzechs’s own strength was the most critical factor. In the Underworld—in the Three Realms, really—power was everything. Grayfia’s true wisdom lay in knowing when to keep her silence. She’d played her role perfectly for years, never complaining, never resisting. But deep down, that quiet endurance had stunted her growth. She hadn’t advanced an inch in all that time.

 And Sirzechs, naturally, paid her even less attention.

 If Grayfia had broken through to God-tier, the red-haired Demon King might have looked at her again. After all, every extra God-tier created new opportunities—new possibilities for the clan, for the Underworld. And that God-tier happened to be his wife.

 The silver-haired beauty fell silent for a long time. Her thoughts churned, circling endlessly. In the end, she pulled her hand back.

 ”Aki…”

 Grayfia crushed the hope blooming in her chest. She summoned the serious, no-nonsense Queen persona she’d perfected over the years.

 ”Even though you and Rias haven’t officially wed yet, we’re still sort of…” She hesitated. She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

 Not that she cared about propriety. In the chaotic, morally loose Underworld, that kind of relationship just made things spicier for some people. And she wasn’t turning him down out of some sense of morality, either. The real reason: she knew Sirzechs’s actual strength might have already surpassed God-tier. Unless Aki could break through to God-tier—unless he could demonstrate the same boundless potential he always had—their relationship would put him in danger if Sirzechs ever found out.

 For herself, she didn’t care.

 Sirzechs didn’t actually care what she did, as long as she didn’t get pregnant. The red-haired Demon King and his father were obsessed with cultivation⁶. They buried themselves in training, ignoring even their own family’s affairs—forgetting about physical desires.

 Maybe that cultivation-obsessed lifestyle was exactly how they’d kept pushing their limits, even while hiding their true power from the Three Realms. After all, they didn’t have some broken dual cultivation cheat skill. Once you hit God-tier, if you didn’t leave the Three Realms, your growth speed dropped drastically. In reality, Sirzechs and his father’s frequent “secluded training” was actually them leaving the Three Realms to cultivate.

 It was a secret they’d kept even from their closest loved ones.

 That’s why Venelana managed the Gremory household, while Grayfia managed the Demon King’s Rook. Two once-brilliant women, held back by mental baggage and mundane responsibilities, still languishing at Demon King-class.

 And just when Grayfia had finally decided—after agonizing over Aki’s safety—that she’d refuse him, the soul transformation reached its critical moment.

 The newly-transformed soul began feeding back into Aki’s body. Not just his mana⁷, but the other energies inside him—especially the Qi⁸ of his Martial Way⁹—began to rise. A vortex of energy swirled around Aki, expanding outward from his core. Before Grayfia could speak her gentle refusal, she froze.

 She stared. She could feel it—the aura growing around him. Divine. Godlike.

 She swallowed her rejection.

 Grayfia had been stuck at Demon King-class for so long, but she’d once been a genius. She knew the signs of a God-tier breakthrough. She immediately recognized what was happening to Aki. The accounting room was private enough—it was an important location in the Gremory household, and outsiders weren’t allowed—but she still felt it wasn’t safe enough. While the energy vortex was still small, she activated a transport magic circle and took Aki away to her personal cultivation chamber.

 Meanwhile, Aki had already come back from his cosmic realization—but his breakthrough wasn’t complete yet. Once inside Grayfia’s private cultivation room, he sensed the denser energy around him and began absorbing it, making the final push.

 And then, a feeling struck him.

 When he broke through to God-tier, his soul would transform—and so would his “Status Page,”¹⁰ the unique talent that had been with him since his reincarnation.

 Moments later, the vortex exploded into a column of light that shot through the clouds. Aki was enveloped in it, his strength surging visibly with every passing heartbeat. The overwhelming energy waves stirred the entire Gremory household—and several neighboring clans. Venelana, roused from her afternoon nap, traced the disturbance to Grayfia’s cultivation chamber. Though surprised, she quickly gave orders for the servants to stay away, and offered a flimsy excuse to the nearby demons who’d come to investigate.

 —

 Summary:

 Aki confesses his raw desire to Grayfia, shattering his internal barriers and triggering a spiritual breakthrough. During his soul metamorphosis to God-tier, Grayfia’s conflicted feelings about her political marriage and her fear for Aki’s safety clash as she witnesses his ascension. The chapter culminates with Aki’s power erupting across the Gremory household, leaving the question of Grayfia’s final choice unresolved.

 —

 Trivia:

 Aki’s confession is explicitly not love or even like—it’s raw, primal desire and possessiveness.

 Aki’s breakthrough to God-tier is triggered by his realization that he deserves to be the protagonist.

 Grayfia betrayed her family to marry Sirzechs, which eliminated the old Demon King’s last chance at victory.

 Grayfia is both Sirzechs’s wife and a maid in the Gremory household, unable to eat at the same table.

 The Three-Way War was where Grayfia and Serafall competed for the title of strongest female Devil.

 Sirzechs and his father cultivate in secret outside the Three Realms to bypass growth limitations.

 Venelana manages the Gremory household while Grayfia manages the Demon King’s Rook.

 The “Status Page” is a unique talent tied to Aki’s soul that will evolve with his God-tier breakthrough.

 Sirzechs’s true power may already surpass God-tier.

 Grayfia’s inability to advance beyond Demon King-class is due to emotional stagnation from her unhappy marriage.

 Sirzechs doesn’t care about Grayfia’s affairs as long as she doesn’t get pregnant.

 The Gremory household and several neighboring clans sensed Aki’s breakthrough energy.

 Sirzechs and his father keep their cultivation location a secret from their closest loved ones.

 Grayfia moved Aki to her personal cultivation chamber using a transport magic circle.

 —

 Translation Notes:

Notes:

• Grayfia – Sirzechs’s wife, Venelana’s daughter-in-law, and Rias’s sister-in-law, this silver-haired beauty boasts a voluptuous figure with a slender waist and full rear. The Underworld’s strongest Queen and Gremory head maid wields Demon King-class power as a diplomat and barrier expert. Composed yet practical, she harbors deep marital wounds and is now Aki’s lover—flustered and ashamed, yet compliant.

• Rias – A sharp, playful High-Class Gremory heir and Sirzechs’s sister, she achieved status at 17. Identical to her mother Venelana except for her crimson hair and famous bust. The Occult Research Club head protects her peerage (Xenovia, Mio, Maria). As Aki’s fiancée, she knows of his transmigration and guides his cultivation, balancing love with jealousy over his pursuit of Grayfia and Venelana.

• Aki – A tall, handsome Kuoh Academy high schooler and God-tier cultivator with star-like eyes, changing hair, and a perfectly sculpted, muscular physique. As the pragmatic, casually dominant Red Dragon Emperor, he wields Thirteen Sacred Gears, Talent Copy, and the Great Dragon. Tied to Rias as her fiancé, he is Grayfia’s lover and pursues Venelana, while dominating Yui, Yanagi, Hana, Tsuki, and Natsumi.

• Sirzechs – Sirzechs Gremory, the red-haired Demon King Lucifer and Gremory household head, is Rias’s brother and an enigmatic, regal leader of immense power. An elusive strategist and peace negotiator, he aids his ally Aki in combat but is obsessed with cultivation and rebuilding the Underworld. Consequently, he ignores his clan and is a neglectful husband who only slept with his wife, Grayfia, to produce an heir.

• Venelana – Gremory Matriarch and former Bael prodigy known as the “Lady of Extinction.” She is the mother of Rias and Sirzechs, mother-in-law to Grayfia, and unofficial mother-in-law to Aki, who targets her. Sharing Rias’s features, she has flaxen hair, pale purple eyes, and a graceful figure. Politically savvy yet practicing willful ignorance, she eventually accepts Aki’s proposition.

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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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