On the day it was time for them to depart it seemed that all of Verbergen had turned out to say goodbye and thanks to their heroes, a notion that amused the Devils Rias and Grayfia, and the former criminal Kuroka. As they prepared to board Zenith and take flight, Ulfric led the elders in saying goodbye one last time.
"Truly, we can never thank you enough for all that you've done!" Ulfric declared as he shook Alex's hand. He just waved it off however and replied,
"Just keep our house clean and ready for whenever we come back, and strive for real peace in the future to prevent situations like this from repeating." Though Ulfric was doubtful that such a thing as "real" peace could be achieved, he didn't say anything and figured the least they could do was try for it. Once he left Alex was approached by two certain women, a confident looking human and bashful looking elf, both princesses.
"U-um it was nice to meet you..." The elf girl, Altina, timidly said while blushing so furiously even the tips of her ears were bright red, while the human princess Tracy laughed at her new friends attitude before saying to Alex,
"Until next time, and I will make sure there is a next time. Just remember to take proper responsibility for us both and thank your lucky stars, after all very few people get to see two princesses naked you know." Alex rolled his eyes at Tracy's attitude while also choosing to keep silent about how if he was that interested in seeing them naked, then he could've just used the X-ray function on his glasses without them knowing. When Ulfric overheard the bit about Alex seeing them naked however, he nearly threw a fit and Altina had to explain how Tracy convinced her to use the remodeled bath at Alex's house while visiting her, and they accidentally went in while Alex himself was taking a bath. Though what the elf duo didn't know, and what Alex heavily suspected, was that Tracy knew he was in there beforehand and purposely went in at that time just so he could see her naked. After the fact she brought up him "taking responsibility" every chance she got as if desperate to get him to accept her. Though Alex wouldn't have had any real problem with Tracy being with him from the beginning, as long as it wasn't as a transaction, now that she was pushing for it so hard he decided to humor her and stated,
"Don't worry, when all of this is over I'll make sure to properly take responsibility for you, I'll even spend a whole night catering just to you." Tracy's face lit up at Alex's words as she believed her plan worked, now she would no longer have to worry about becoming a pet plaything of one of her fathers vassals. As Alex walked away however, his place was instantly taken by Yue who said,
"...Don't worry, I'll make an ice pack for you the morning after..." Tracy was confused at what Yue said, before Shia stepped forward as well,
"And I'll massage any places that might be sore, since you'll probably be unable to walk the day after." With growing confusion at the sudden 180 of the way the girls were treating her, Tracy was about to ask why when Grayfia stepped up this time and said,
"And I'll make sure to apply Spirit magic to you afterwards to make sure that you don't break mentally." By this point the imperial princess was starting to pale slightly as she looked towards the other girls and saw looks of pity and admiration in their eyes, almost just like the looks she'd seen soldiers give to dying comrades. Though she spied on Alex in bed a few nights prior, Tracy was starting to wonder if there was something else going on that she didn't know about, and she was starting to wonder what the hell she just dived into. She didn't get a chance to ask anyone however, as they all quickly boarded Zenith and prepared to leave. As he approached the helm to prepare for takeoff, Alex couldn't help noticing the dejected Shizuku sitting to the side as Kaori tried to cheer her best friend up. By this point they all had heard of what happened thanks to Kuroka, and so Alex went to Shizuku's side and asked,
"So how is my cute little kunoichi today?"
"I'm not a kunoichi..." Shizuku replied somewhat pitifully while pouting cutely. Alex smiled wryly at her behavior, and added,
"It's not so bad, once we take off we'll work on learning some ninja techniques on the way to the Frost Caverns of Schnee. Some might actually help you in combat, like maybe shadow clones?" For the first time Shizuku seemed to contemplate what Alex was saying, thinking that while they would make her look foolish, making copies of herself would probably be helpful in combat. Seeing her consider his idea, Alex smiled and continued on his way to the helm to leave. The citizens of Verbergen watched in awe as the massive ship in front of them lifted off from the ground, and started flying straight up towards the canopy overhead. When they saw it headed for the branches some of them started to worry, but then a massive hole opened up in front of the ship as Yue used Spatial magic to create a portal above the canopy. Following the direction that the magic compass pointed them, they were off to the edges of the demon race territory and the final labyrinth to challenge.
***
Meanwhile in the heart of the demon race territory just outside the Capitol city of Garland, a group of people were discussing how to best enter the palace and get an audience with the demon race king.
"We could just walk right up to the palace through the city and blast away anyone who tries to stop us."
"For the last time, NO! This is a peace mission, it's not very peaceful if we fight our way through their army and threaten the king into cooperation!"
"I could pretend I escaped and caught you all in return, then when you're inside the castle you can all just break out."
"Cattleya lets try to keep things realistic, and besides I highly doubt Vali would go along with that kind of plan."
"I would never accept that kind of plan..." Vali said bluntly as he looked out over the gathered group of people. They were composed of his team, Bikou, Arthur, Le Fey, Fenrir, and Elaine; the three who were supposed to do the diplomacy, Liliana, Aiko, and Cattleya, and finally a bunch of nobody brats who wanted to play bodyguard. They continued passing ideas around until finally Le Fey mentioned,
"Maybe I can just use my new Spatial magic and make a portal right into the throne room?" There was complete silence at her suggestion as everyone thought it over, before one of the boys in Aiko's bodyguards, Akito, excitedly stated,
"That's amazing Le Fey-chan! Can you really do it?!" Then his buddy Atsushi retorted,
"Of course she can idiot, Le Fey-chan is a genius!" The third guy in Aiko's bodyguards, Noboru, was about to say something as well, but the combined glares of the girls, Arthur, and Elaine's made him bite back the words in his mouth. From the moment they first met her the trio of guys seemed to be completely taken by Le Fey's cuteness in her witches cosplay, and after watching her perform one amazing feat after another with her magic during their trip, they had practically become her fan club as well as Aiko's bodyguards. This had annoyed both her brother and the girls as they were trying to become friends with her since they were only a little bit older, something Arthur very much appreciated. After a little bit more consideration Elaine spoke up,
"It should be possible, I can help her and Cattleya can assist by making sure we get the right spot." Though Le Fey was more than capable of using teleportation magic on her own, it became a significantly harder task when you didn't know where exactly you were going. Though Cattleya didn't like the idea of just popping right into the middle of the throne room, with no better ideas she kept silent and listened as Elaine outlined to her what was required for the teleportation. Meanwhile inside the castle an unprecedented gathering was taking place.
"-and we my children, have been chosen to lead the world into the new era! We are the ones who will rule over the inferior races like the Demi humans and the humans!" As the God Aruvhite continued speaking everyone present hung onto his every word, while a white haired individual with majestic silver wings stood proudly by his side. In front of them the entire throne room was filled with the most important members of the demon race, with the king and his family at the front on their knees as they hung onto every one of the minor god's words. Suddenly appearing between them however was a portal that opened up and allowed fifteen people to casually enter the throne room, effectively silencing the entire room. As they took in their surroundings, the youngest of the newcomers immediately turned towards the demon race King and stated,
"Your majesty of the demon race my name is Liliana S.B. Heiligh, first princess of the Heiligh kingdom and I have come all this way to meet with you and hopefully discuss a future of peace for our people. I hope you will excuse our rather rude entrance as we couldn't think of a better way to ensure an audience your majesty." Though the king was as stunned as everyone else momentarily, his stunned look soon turned to rage as he declared,
"You dare trespass here?! You heretics that worship a false goddess! Your heresy will be your downfall as there is no way you'll be allowed to leave now that you so kindly delivered yourself to us!" Though his response wasn't ideal, Liliana's expression hadn't changed in the slightest as it was expected at first. It was at this moment that a certain someone else stepped forward, and silence once more dominated the angry muttering that had previously spread.
"My king I am Cattleya, I was sent on a mission to the Orcus Great Labyrinth in order to capture or kill the hero party, and to conquer the labyrinth as well. I was captured instead while my death was faked, and was held prisoner in a room where time flowed differently than for the rest of the world; to yourselves it has been a little more than a month, to me it has been nearly two years since my capture. I have returned because the one who captured me wishes for the demon race to also accept peace with the other races, and he wanted my help in doing so." As Cattleya finished speaking a certain young demon race man hurried forward and stated,
"Are you truly my Cattleya? The Cattleya I know loved her people, and wouldn't be willing to bend her knee to heretics!" Cattleya choked back a sob after seeing her fiancé Mikhail for the first time in nearly two years, before steeling herself and continuing,
"My love for my people hasn't diminished in the slightest, on the contrary I come before you all now in the hopes that my actions will save us from catastrophe. The people that held me prisoner are capable of feats that belong in the realm of gods! They can manipulate time at their leisure, they can turn mountains to dust, topple entire countries with ease and fight gods as if they were their equals! Your majesty I am here to try and save my people from a catastrophe they would bring upon themselves, by angering those who have decided to give us a chance to prove ourselves when they could have just simply destroyed us!" As Cattleya finished her speech she was met with gazes of scorn and disappointment across the throne room, before a voice behind her spoke up,
"Do not blame her my children, she has simply been brainwashed and manipulated by the heretics to believe their lies of being able to contend against even gods. If what she said is true however, then they are simply lesser gods or pretenders of another world who are unable to hold a candle to our great lord! Our time is at hand! While this champion claims to fight on behalf of the false goddess, we now have our own champion of the one true God! He will lead us to victory against the enemy forces! You who are allied with the false champion, lay down your weapons and bend the knee to your new God or suffer the same fate that will befall the false champion and those who accept his lies!" As he spoke, Aruvhite now turned towards the others with Vali at their lead. Seeing that the weakling God wanted to force them to submit, Vali couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA- Fenrir." After speaking that single word when he finished laughing, a bloodcurdling scream echoed throughout the throne room.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Aruvhite cried out as he fell to his knees while clutching the bloody stump that used to be his left arm, the same arm that was now being used as a chew toy by the giant wolf who seemingly hadn't moved from Vali's side. Without a single change in his expression Vali started to slowly walk towards Aruvhite, causing the minor God to temporarily forget his pain as he looked at the approaching man with fear. Meanwhile the white haired man next to him, Freid, started spamming spells and silver feathers at Vali with a look of utmost rage on his face, only for Vali to not even flinch as he nonchalantly used his own magic to protect himself from the onslaught. Aruvhite looked up at the man who was responsible for the removal of his arm with extreme fear, before pressing his face to the ground in a show of submission and saying,
"Please spare me! I don't care what you do to them as long as you let me live! I'll even become your slave and show you how to get to Ehito, it's what you people want isn't it?!" Vali's eyes narrowed dangerously as he looked down on the begging God, before placing his foot on top of his head and grinding his face into the stone floor while saying,
"You should have tried to research us better beforehand, then you'd know that it would've been impossible for me to even be slightest bit tempted by both of your offers. The first has to do with the fact that I brought my group together for the express purpose of challenging infamously powerful beings like gods, if your God is as powerful as you claim then to me that just means he'll be a good target to challenge! As for your second offer, what use would I have for a cowardly and weak god that will turn on me the second they think that it might benefit them?" Once he heard the last part of what Vali said, Aruvhite started thrashing around under his foot as if trying to free himself to eacape, but he was only able to get up when Vali removed his foot from the top of his head and stepped away. Using his only remaining arm Aruvhite pushed himself up to reveal his now purple face, a whole string of curses and foul words on the tip of his tongue. Before he could shout a single thing at Vali however, the latter cut him off forever.
"You're actually so pathetic that I don't want to dirty my own hands, I'll leave him to you Fenrir." Everything Aruvhite was about to say was lost as he turned pale and glanced towards the fearsome gray wolf. The last thing Aruvhite saw was the inside of a giant mouth, already stained Crimson from when it consumed his arm just seconds prior. As their God was killed before them, the entirety of the gathered demon race people were deathly silent as they once more thought of Cattleya's warnings, and how Aruvhite so quickly turned on them. A single person wasn't even considering them however, as Freid shouted,
"Blasphemers! Not only do you reject the mercy of the true divine, but you even raise your hands against one of his own! You may be better with magic than me, but that doesn't mean you have the advantage! Uranos!" As Freid finished speaking something large busted through the ceiling and landed behind him, before the dust cleared and a massive white dragon started growling at the Vali team. A wide grin spread on Freid's face as he then glanced up, prompting everyone else to glance through the hole that was now present in the ceiling. Above the castle was a pure white sky without the slightest hint of blue, but not a single bit of it was cloud cover; it was over a million white dragons that had been mass produced and empowered by Freid after he had received various blessings from Ehito, the vanguard to their army designed to wipe clean the world to start over once again. Though the largest and most powerful was the one he was now mounting, Freid turned back towards Vali and stated,
"You may be more powerful, but even the strongest people will falter against numerical advantage. Tell me, will your twelve fighters still be willing to stand against more than a million modified dragons?" As he gloated over his assumed victory Freid looked directly at Vali's face to see the killer of his God in despair, except Vali had a grin like a maniac spreading across his face as he replied,
"Correction, only six of us will be fighting against you, and now I have to say this fight doesn't seem like such a disappointment! A white dragon army versus the white dragon emperor, you better not let me down!" After stunning everyone present with his lust for battle that wasn't reigned in even while facing such odds, Vali was then instantly covered in a white metallic armor as he bolted straight up into the sky while Bikou, Arthur, Elaine, and Fenrir followed. After they left everyone turned towards Le Fey expecting that she'd soon follow as the sixth person, but instead she started forming a massive magic circle before shouting,
"Come on out Gogz!" After a flash of bright light, everyone saw instead a massive golem that would've given Hajime wet dreams if he saw it. Without even receiving instructions from its master, the massive golem immediately made its way out the hole made by Uranos and joined Vali and the others in their fight, which by this point they had started a competition on who could eliminate the most dragons. After it left Aiko hesitantly stepped forward and asked,
"U-um Le Fey, what was that?" Le Fey turned to look at everyone and casually replied,
"It's Gogmagog, but I just call him Gogz. He's going to help fight the dragons while I stay down here to make sure the castle doesn't get destroyed." As she finished speaking Le Fey started forming several complex magic circles in the sky between them and the ongoing battle, just in time for them to block a massive attack that would have devastated the castle and most of the people in it. Everyone was silent until Le Fey looked at Cattleya and Liliana expectantly, making the two recall what they were supposed to be doing. Cattleya immediately turned back towards her king and stated,
"Your majesty, as I said before these people aren't someone we should cross or refuse. While the group that came with us are one of the most powerful under the champion of the goddess Gabriel, they are not the only ones in their league and there are others even stronger than them, the champion especially! Please do not give them a reason to turn their weapons on us!" As she finished speaking the king was silent, as his mind rapidly tried to make sense of what he was experiencing. Almost his entire being wished he was dreaming as he had witnessed his God that he worshiped his entire life being brutally slaughtered in front of him, and he had heard his God turn on them nearly the moment he was attacked. With these events being fresh within his mind, as well as the display of power he was currently witnessing, the demon race king realized that he may have to make the choice to turn his back on everything he was ever taught, or risk the annihilation of his people.