beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi
Also, imma be working on the Broly chapter next... hopefully it gets done this week.
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Hachiman POV-
"Hey there Hachiman, I'm sorry it had to come to this." He said with a genuine sad smile, his voice sounding regretful for what's going to happen next.
I was shaken, the image of his dead body still clean in my head since I had just seen it a few minutes ago.
How is this possible?
"How are you still alive?" The sheer disbelief in my voice was white apparent. I even touched the body for god's sake! To make sure it was dead! The hair, the face, the eyes, everything was the same!
If that was Sétante then…
"Who are you?" I asked once again, my voice sounding tense.
Perched on top of a rock, sitting cross-legged with his spear resting on the side, the man just looked amused at my reaction. "Hahaha! Confused aren't ya? I'm sure you got quite tha fright with tha body in front of the entrance. We sure do look alike don we? But to answer yer question, Me name is indeed Sétante… but the other one is also technically named Sétante at one point in his life before he decided to changed it."
Before he changed it?
"What are you blabbering about?" I was getting increasingly nervous from both his appearance and the force pushing down on my body.
Though it felt weaker than Tiamat's, it still had a powerful presence to it that made my hair stand.
"Well ya see, a long time ago in tha far distant past, there was a child born with extraordinary strength. Said to be tha brat of a god while others say he was tha god himself; there was no ending to his legend. Training under an immortal hag, before being gifted a legendary spear; he alone was capable of standing against tha might of an entire army, keeping them at bay for days on end." He twirled the red and white spear in his hand like a toy. "To say that this spear is powerful would be an understatement. It ain't no [True Longinus] but it does pack a punch, mate. Can't say the one who had its bone used to forge it appreciates it in fact."
The more he spoke, the more I realized who he was talking about. "It can't be possible, Cu Chulainn died thousands of years ago. The body I saw was still bleeding and warm to the touch. If that was the Irish hero then his flesh would have turned to dust or become nothing but bones by now."
"Demigod blood, I tell ya, they work wonders in keeping your beauty after death. Cu Chulainn may have died but his body,–just like in his legend–continues to live and attacks any hostile beings that come near. If ya weren't careful back there, yer head would have flown off your shoulders hahaha!"
I felt a chill run up my back, I was no stranger to his legend. When he was mortally wounded, the guy used his intestines to tie himself up to a rock, so that even after death he may continue guarding his country. When one of the enemy soldiers went to cut off his head, the body moved on its own and killed the soldier in one blow. From then on the army force refused to advance further, too scared of an already dead body.
There was something I realized with this conversation.
The twin-like face, same name, wielding the iconic Irishman's spear said to be forged with the bones of the Curruid. No one could just wield a legendary weapon like it was theirs cause they found it. Many requirements were needed to be met, the holy swords were a mystery but most based it on genetics and personality.
So for him to wield that spear it means…
"You're one of his descendants aren't you… a member of the Hero Faction." My teeth clenched in anger while my knuckles whitened. The memories of Jeanne's betrayal flooded my mind once again, my chest and stomach began hurting from phantom pain.
I held nothing but hatred and bitter resentment towards her and that faction. Bunch of hypocrites was what they were behind their facade. Nothing but worthless, lying dogs!
"Ah them! Fun people to hang out with a tell ya. Heracles and Sieg boy can certainly hold their beer, good old kids having fun playing heroes. Too bad a didn't join them, a would have asked for a lifetime supply of mead and booze." The man sighed in disappointment. "I heard about your last encounter with Jeanne, trust me she hasn't changed in the least bit since I last saw her a while ago."
So he… wasn't associated with them?
"Surprised? Don't be, not every hero descendent joins their group. We all have different goals and let's just say… I can't exactly stand Cao Cao." He lost his cheery voice, even the heavy accent was gone.
The cave rumbled from the amount of power being released from his being. Was… was it increasing!?
"Leave, Hachiman… you're being used by the Supernatural world. Heed my words and just leave this all behind, or else I'll have to get rid of you as well."
The tension in the room rose, I let my [Prison Wings] reveal themselves, readying myself from an inevitable battle. Raynare needed to escape as soon as possible, I didn't know if I could even take this guy down, let alone with her by my side. She'll get killed in a matter of seconds.
I needed to buy time!
"Then what is your goal? What are you planning to use [Sephiroth Graal] for?"
"Trying to buy time? Well, I don't mind. Tell me Hachiman, what is this sacred gear known for?"
Where is he going with this? From my understanding, the cup that held Christ's blood was famous to have healing properties second to none. Far surpassing the likes of [Twilight Healing], it held the power to revive the dead and heal all wounds from physical to their very soul.
"You don't look to be injured or sick in any way, Sétante."
"Hahahah! No, I'm fine on the outside, but you see here?" He tapped the side of his head. "Things are a mess, an amalgamation of knowledge and memories that are not my own and voices that keep bugging me ever since I was born. Sometimes I don't feel like myself… and it can become overwhelming at times. But I'm not doing this to fix my messed up mind, but rather… I just want to use it to save the world."
Save?
"Save?" That was the last thing I expected to leave his mouth.
"You see Hachiman if there is one thing I agree with the Hero Faction is about the influence of the Supernatural world on the human world, more specifically the Gods. You know how it goes, they lie, they cheat, they don't care if their actions bring the death of millions of humans. Though I acknowledge the fact that not all Gods are as such, these ones are a minority. Just look at history, from the Greek Pantheon, the Egyptian Pantheons to even the Norse ones, none have shown a benevolent picture of their past deeds and even their present ones are still shit." He scratched his head in frustration after finishing his speech.
"It's hard ya know… I tried my best to talk with them, I tried to negotiate, offered different solutions yet I always get ignored. They are so entangled with their thousand-year-old grudges that they become blind to their actions, thinking what's good for us, uncaring of our plights, and leading us mortals to suffer for their actions. You've seen what the Great War between the Three Factions had done to the world. Not only did millions of people had died in the crossfire, but now they use humans as replacement soldiers to boost their numbers. The devils you frequent are part of the problem as a whole. So you're wondering what I want?"
The malevolent speartip was pointed to my face, glowing in a disturbing red light. Sétante's eyes gleamed with resolve and were ready for a battle.
"I will banish the Supernatural world from the human world! Gods, Devils, Fallens, Angels, Youkais, and other magical species will either be thrown back to their dimensions or die. And for that, I need to be whole again… I need to be the strongest in the world to complete my dream."
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"—!?"
Learning the implications of such an outcome made me shiver in realization.
It was common knowledge that all Pantheons had their own separate dimensions. The Devils and Fallen had the Underworld while Heaven belonged to the Angels. And many other dimensions for each of the Pantheons.
He was going to seal the Earth in a dimensional cage!
The thought of Akeno leaving my side forever with Rias and the rest being locked away from Earth played in my mind. I would lose them forever, this was the same as the time I got reborn here, snatched away from my past life.
This madman was planning to take away nearly everything I care about!
"Like hell, I'll let you!"
[Magic Arrows]!
A volley of arrow constructs flew over Sétante, I didn't hold back the least with my reserves, overcharging every single arrow and making them as large as myself.
Sétante didn't move and stood his ground watching impassively as my attacks drew nearer. "How unfortunate…"
The man used his palm to slap away my attack. Each arrow broke apart at the touch of his hand. It didn't even leave a scratch.
"I guess I should have expected such an answer from you." He said while dusting off his clothes.
Just how vast is the gap between us? I'm strong enough to kill an upper-class devil… this guy is definitely close to an ultimate class devil.
But that doesn't mean he can't be defeated!
"I'm not done yet!" I activated [Delete Field] drowning the underground in a black translucent dome. I heard Raynare scream as she fell on her knees from having her energy suppressed.
Shit! I forgot to send her some of my energy!
"[Magic Arrows]!" The space around me shined with brilliant light as thousands of violet arrows formed in the air. It was another wave of the same attack as before but this time pushing the spell to its limit.
"You're wasting your time." I watched with a gaping mouth as he didn't even bother to block my attack and just let it crash against his body.
Boom!
The cave exploded from the impact, I flew backward using my wings as a shield to protect myself and Raynare. I touched her hand and passed on a fraction of my energy in order to free her from the [Delete Field] effect.
"Did you have to use so much power!?" Raynare screamed behind me as she held onto my waist so as to not get thrown away from the aftershock.
"Didn't you see how I couldn't even injure with my first attack!?"
"Just use your fucking tentacles and penetrate the shit out of that guy!"
If I wasn't making sure if the guy was still standing or not, I would've told her to rephrase that better.
After a few seconds, the explosion stopped and the dust slowly settled. Thankfully, the glowing runes along the walls helped illuminate the room. I still didn't have night vision like the majority of the supernatural species.
"Hahaha! That was one hell of an attack, man. I really felt the power behind it." There he was standing in the middle of a scorched crater looking as clean and wound-free as before.
'Great, juuuuuust great. I'm really dealing with a dangerous guy like Vali.'
"Now don't look so shocked boyo, that kind of attack would even kill an upper-class Devil! I gotta hand it to ya, you're seriously one strong fella."
Weird, I felt that he was being genuine with his comments and wasn't just mocking me and getting me angry. Still, his words kinda hurt a bit of my nearly nonexistent pride.
"[Restrict]!" I hadn't used this skill to its fullest strength for a long time. The tentacles I commanded mentally usually ended up being strong enough for most situations. "[Strength enhancement]!"
I burst forward using a spell to buff myself beyond human strength. Though I wasn't done yet. "Let's see how you like this, [Vajra Diamond Body]!" My strength surged further as a large chunk of my magical reserves were consumed to activate this spell. If I had to calculate, this spell increased both my base strength thrice and my defenses a dozen times.
With a powerful dash, I punched him in the face with everything I had in my attack.
Crash!
The crater he was standing on grew bigger as more of the cave began crumbling apart.
After everything I gave him, Sétante hadn't even once tried to move or block my attack. Not once giving me off the feeling that he would retaliate or dodge.
My attack merely tilted his head slightly to the left, as if I just gently pushed him. "Just how overpowered are you…" I asked him, my desperation on winning this fight growing dimmer with every second.
This attack was strong enough to vaporize a hundred of those Vritra gear monsters!
"Your form is good but as I suspected, you're just not made for combat. All of your moves are choreographed and follow different forms of martial arts perfectly as if you are demonstrating how it's done. You're not adding your own touch to give you the edge or even being creative with how you use them. But still, I am impressed that you managed to use a Hindu Pantheon technique like the [Vajra Diamond Body]... I thought Shiva and Indra had a tight hold on their knowledge for it to not be spread around to other Pantheons, let alone to humans. Ah, it must be Vritra who gave you the knowledge."
He took hold of my wrist, looking me dead in the eyes. "Now it's my turn." Our eyes met, his glowing with a myriad of different magical colors.
His fists moved faster than I could see it.
"Heurg!"
I felt the punch on my stomach, shattering both of my sacred gear and the Vajra protection as if they were made of wet paper.
Boom!
Like a ragdoll, I was sent hurtling upwards like a speeding bullet and crashed into the ceiling of the cave, and shattered the ceiling.
I vomited blood and bile from the impact, feeling like something in my stomach had ruptured. The pain was so overwhelming that my vision became blurry, as the darkness started to envelop my mind. I could feel the dormant madness inside me begin to steer awake.
'No now…'
"How is the view up there? Did you know that Cu Chulainn was taught 18 different primordial runes by his teacher? Each holding unimaginable power to bend reality to their liking and causing untold amounts of destruction… I wonder how you'll fare against one."
A bright light shined on the tip of his fingers which used to write ᚨ in the air. "Ansuz."
His calm words were followed by a torrent of raging pillars of fire that swallowed the cave and like a coiling dragon made its way at me.
{Break}
Outside in the lush forest near Knockbridge, Aife was searching for both Hachiman and Raynare.
She had the duty to monitor and report all of their activities back to the higher-ups. She had been following them secretly for days. Today they went to their regular inspection in the forest, much to Aife's shock, they vanished! As an Aos Sí, Aife was greatly attuned to the forest and all of its surroundings, she could sense every living creature in a hundred meters radius, no matter how small… yet she still lost them!
"Where the fuck did those two run off to!? I don't want my pay to be cut again! I'll end up as miserable as those Valkyries if I don't find them soon!" It was rumored that those who serve Odin were paid so little that they had to get part-time jobs in the human world just to survive!
How horrifying!
Shhhhh
The sound of steam escaping the ground reached her ears.
"Eh?"
Soon it was followed by an intense earthquake, making Aife nearly fall down to her butt.
"Wh-what is going on!?"
And just like that, the ground exploded with an enormous pillar of raging fire that nearly roasted her alive.
The flame reached all the way to the clouds, clearing the skies. The attack made Aife sweat through her clothes, if not singe some parts of it from the intense heat.
"Oh Bile Tortan, Craeb Daithi and Bile Uisn; grant me protection from all dangers of my enemy!" Three miniature astral tree projections glowed behind her back as a golden dome surrounded her body, protecting her from the attack.
Even with her people's famous aegis spell, she still felt like it would still shatter the dome. Fortunately for her, the pillar of fire started to lose power, before it completely died off.
"Ha… Ha… Ha… " Her skin glistening with sweat, Aife could barely keep herself awake as she felt the strain from maintaining the spell against such a powerful attack
When it disappeared, where there was once a forest with a thriving fauna was now replaced with a gigantic hole that seemed to lead somewhere deep below the underground.
When the pillar of fire disappeared, Aife saw the silhouette of someone falling. "Hi-Hikigaya Hachiman!?"
{Break}
Damn…
Everything hurts….
Though my sacred gear was basically armor, I still had some slight sensation of touch to it. Especially my [Prison Wings], it felt like my back was dipped in molten lava. It stung, it burned, it felt like my skin was ripped away from my body.
Feeling the rushing wind on my skin as I fell downwards. I would fall to my death if I didn't do something to stop it soon.
"Ouch!" The moment I tried to move my [Prison Wings] a searing pain spread all around me. When I turned to see their state I was horrified by the sight. They barely looked like wings and were completely melted from the attack.
I saw Sétante fly up to me, lazily hanging his spear on his shoulders. I didn't have time to react when he kicked me in the chest and sent me flying in the opposite direction of Knockbridge.
This time I was hurtling towards the ground at greater speed, bringing me closer to my death.
[Levitation]!
[Levitation]!
[Levitation]!
[Vajra Diamond Body]!
I activated a chain of spells seconds before I crashed onto the ground creating a trench from my landing. My bones rattled from the impact and the rest of my wings broke off from my back. 'I would have died just now.'
"You can walk away from this, Hachiman. This fight is pointless, your struggle is wasted on this. You are as much of a victim of the Supernatural as me, can't you see that? Look at what happened in Paris! People say it's your fault but I know the real reason behind it; it was the devils! I'm not saying that people will be free from conflicts with their disappearance, but we will be able to avoid more deaths with the Supernatural world gone!"
He landed a few feets away from me. I was struggling to get up, every movement created an untold amount of pain. 'Raynare… where is she? Did she survive the attack?' I worried about her, even after such a short time of knowing her. She shouldn't die because of my mistakes.
"Well, Hachiman? Are you going to stop this idiotic endeavor and go back home… or am I going to have to send your body back to your family?"
That's wasn't an option! There is no way I'll go through the same loss of my close ones once again. Losing everyone once again will break me for good. Akeno was one of my main pillars of support, I… need her by my side. Rias, Sona, Kiba, Koneko, Kala, Shuri, my parents, and even those bastards Azazel and Baraqiel were important to me.
I needed to stop him…
"I… can help you, Sétante. Whatever problem you have, I can help you deal with it! We can both protect people from the Supernatural forces, but don't punish those who have nothing to do with it!" As much as it will hurt me to lose Akeno, the same will happen to her. The girl was still dealing with some of her past demons and hadn't fully recovered from it.
Rias needed someone to help her with the marriage issue.
Kiba still had to get over his rage with the holy swords.
Koneko will go back to her initial silent temperament and will lose another sibling figure in her life.
I just couldn't disappear without helping them yet!
Sétante just shook his head, "It won't work man, these beings are stubborn to the core. That woman didn't stop sending her minions in my territory, in my home."
When he came close enough to me, I used my personal spell. "[Absolute Silence]!"
All sound, visual sight, and other senses taken from Sétante, stopped him in his tracks. Not prepared for such an extreme deprivation of his senses.
I retracted my [Prison Wings], before a set of brand new wings reformed on my back, though this action cost me a large chunk of my quickly diminishing reserves. None of my attacks will work, I couldn't use those reckless actions of an anime protagonist and continue smacking the guy till it worked; cause it won't.
'I need to find reinforcements, where the fuck is Aife!? Is she not feeling these overpowered attacks!?'
[Delete Field]!
This time I entangled the still immobilized Sétante and locked his limbs with hundreds if not thousands of tentacles. Yet no matter how much I tried to pull him to his knees, the man didn't budge.
[Major Strength Enhancement]!
The veins in my leg bulged, nearly rupturing my muscles from the stress of the magic.
Crack!
I emptied the bag of healing potions I had brought with me, the same concoction I used on Raynare, I drank two bottles of it, nearly vomiting from the disgusting taste. 'Eurgh, that was nasty, but it was enough to fix most of the damage.'
The cool feeling of my inner organs healing spread all around me, numbing some of the pain. Some of the bruises on my skin lightened in color.
"What is this?" On the spot where Sétante kicked me, there was a rune imprinted on it. No matter how much I overcharged with energy or used other spells on it; the rune just wouldn't break. It looked like ᛒ, which I recognized, "Bluetooth?"
Just what was I saying in a life or death fight!? Did the attacks affect my brain?
"Hahaha! It does look like it, doesn't it? That's Berkano, capable of tracking my target even to different realities."
"—!?" My head whipped around only to see Sétante catching up to me with a speed beyond even that of Vali's!
His finger glowed once more and he drew a straight line, I, in the air.
"Isaz."
Every single muscle in my body ceased moving, even the flow of magic which kept me flying came to a halt. I once again fell to the ground. There was just nothing I could do to defend myself against his runes!
Boom!
This time, since I couldn't move anything, I had to endure the fall all on my own without the spells to help dampen the impact.
The feeling of my back breaking from the impact was excruciating, my chest stopped moving as I could no longer breathe. I felt my skull crack with blood trickling down my face, my vision becoming hazy.
"I had given you the choice to retreat, Hachiman," Sétante said as he dangled the spear on top of my heart. I could see that there were several of him in front of me.
'I'm going to die here, aren't I?'
"Hate me if you want, if that helps you then make me the sole reason for all your pain."
'No one is going to save me this time…'
It came back, the feeling of despair I once felt years ago.
"I am not the villain in this situation, Hachiman. I do what I do because I want to protect the only thing that keeps me alive. Knockbridge is my soul, I have no reason to live without it… and now I NEED to take such measures to keep my home safe. These Gods just don't give up… no matter what I try. And now, they were left with no other answer but to send you…"
'I hope that Raynare made it out okay…'
The black fog of my sacred gear began acting erratically. I just didn't have the strength to hold it back anymore. The memory of what happened in Paris resurfacing.
'At least… no one will die aside me.'
I sighed inside. Feeling what was absolutely calm as I faced my death.
Ahhh, I'm sorry Akeno… be sure to take care of mom and dad, they can be a bit hopeless at times.
I wonder if I'll go to Shinto heaven or the Christian one. I did spend a lot of time with Devils and Fallens after all. Maybe I'll go to hell… wonder if I'll be able to pay a visit to Rias.
She'll probably kill me if she saw me in the Underworld.
"..."
It happened in a second.
Stab
The red spear blade slightly pierced my chest. It didn't even penetrate that deeply and didn't stab my heart.
But what followed after could only be described as pure hell.
Schrk!
Schrk!
Schrk!
Schrk!
"AAARRRRRRGH!!!!!!!"
I felt like hundreds of blades were piercing my inside at the same time, I didn't vomit blood and my skin was still intact but the feeling continued till it drowned my senses.
…And the madness was no longer restrained by me.
{Break}
-Third POV-
"Why didn't you walk away…," Thought Sétante, still pressing the spear into the corpse.
From the beginning, he didn't want to kill the boy.
Just like him when he was a kid, he knew Hachiman was being used by the Gods. Badb was a cunning woman, she wouldn't send someone weaker than him… so why?
The Fallen was a joke, she wasn't even a four-winged Fallen and barely any stronger than a devil stray.
She most likely died in the fire of Ansuz.
He wasn't worried about the state of the cauldron or Cu Chulainn's body. Both were enchanted by hundreds of his defensive runes. It would literally take a Cadre or a Seraphim to destroy the ruins.
"Rest in peace, Hachiman… Maybe in our next lives, we might even end up getting a drink, probably would have even baked you my father's famous apple cake. But today, you died as my enemy."
He removed the blade of Gae Bolga from the boy's chest. A bit of blood dripped off the tip, before swinging it down and removing it.
Surveying his surroundings, he gave himself a pat on the back to have forced this battle far away from Knockbridge; or else innocent lives would have been lost from the fight.
"Well, time to go back and open a portal to that hag's castle."
As he was walking away from what he thought was a dead Hachiman. The host of the Black Dragon King twitched.
"Hm?" Sétante immediately sensed something wrong.
The body began twitching more and more, the black fog-like armor of his sacred gear formed once again but this time, it swallowed the entire body in a cocoon-like state before spreading onto the ground in a miasma.
Sensing something wrong with the object, Sétante thrusted his spear to pierce the cocoon.
Ding!
His spear couldn't pierce through the black shell, making it sound like he had hit a solid metal wall.
He had a bad feeling in his guts…
"What is happening to you, boyo…" He stood in a combat stance with his spear ready to take on any challenge that was thrown at him.
A dark, evil feeling soon came into existence. The Irishman's eyes widened in a stupor when he realized what was going on. "Oh, shi—"
Boom!
The dark cocoon of darkness exploded forth sending shards everywhere. Reaching beyond the black was a hideous claw..
And that's when Sétante heard a bone rattling roar.
"▂▂▃▃▅▅ーーー!!"
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The next 5 chapters of Snafu are already available on my Patreon. With 3 more Broly and 4 fate chapters at /NimtheWriter.