Third Person Point of View
— ○ ● ○ —
The day before the Rating Game between [Team White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star] and [Team Rias Gremory], Vali's team was training in one of Aaron's dimensions. They had been doing this for a few hours already, however, an unexpected guest had entered it. Vali noticed this first and he flew over to her along with Calantha Vordenburg, the pure-blooded vampire.
"Kuroka? Why are you here?" he asked. The one that had entered the dimension was a former member of his team, Kuroka Toujou.
"Nyaello~ I wanted to see how you guys were doing," she replied while floating on a board.
"Holy crap, what's that?!" Bikou asked while looking at the hoverboard that Kuroka was on.
With a smug look on her face, she puffed her chest out. "The future is here nya! Aaron made it. It's a prototype though. As you can see, it's a hoverboard like those in movies. Want a try?" she asked.
"We have magic though?" asked Vali.
"Normal humans don't use magic, Vali nya~"
"Me! Me! Me! I wanna try!" shouted Bikou while jumping around. Kuroka laughed and handed it to him. The monkey youkai screamed in delight as he flew around the dimension with it.
Kuroka looked back at her former leader and said, "Well, I did have another reason for coming here. If and when my team loses, I'll join you guys as a reserve member nya~"
"Is that fine with Aurelia-san?" Calantha asked.
"Yes nya. We never aimed to win it all nya…well, maybe Rose-chan, but the rest of us, not really," she explained and awkwardly laughed. "But we're not going to purposely throw our future games if that's what you're thinking."
"You won't tell us the real reason?" asked Vali.
Kuroka shrugged. "That's what Aurelia, Akaza and Edel told us nya. You can believe me if you want, or not, it's up to you nya."
'So there's another reason for this? Does Aniki know? …Even if I ask them, they won't tell me, and I doubt Lavinia will…' thought Vali. "We'll accept you once the time comes, but for now we're still enemies so can you leave?"
"So heartless nya, but alright. Bikou gimme back that hoverboard nya!!" Kuroka bellowed and ran after Bikou.
"Fufu, do you want to ask your 'Onii-chan'~?" Calantha asked.
"Even if I do, they won't tell me, so it would be a waste of time," replied Vali. "Let's get back to work—our match is tomorrow."
To Vali Lucifer, the team that he was facing tomorrow was, in his own opinion, comparable to God-class teams. The Gremory peerage was the first to be helped by Aaron, meaning they had more benefits given to them than most other people. They also had a new and young Vasco Strada—his past strength had been restored and strengthened even further since he was an official subordinate to Aaron much to the Churches' dismay.
The church didn't hate the Middleman, but they didn't expect one of their strongest to become his subordinate, and even though Vasco Strada never gave them a full explanation, some of them knew more or less why he had decided to become one.
The last member of [Team Rias Gremory], was the Ultimate Evil Dragon—one of the two that were left alive—Mr. Black, aka, Crom Cruach.
Vali wished to fight him, but at the same time he wanted to fight Rias Gremory. When he first saw her, he was surprised to see her so powerful, albeit a bit naïve. However, the more he saw her—the same with her peerage, the stronger they kept on getting. Not just her though, but everyone around his rival.
He initially didn't want his help, but after being convinced by Lavinia, the Slash Dog Team and various others, including his team, he conceded and accepted the assistance. However, the extent that he accepted was on his own terms, hence why they were training in this dimension, as well as in the [Training Facility].
"Nya? Aren't you that Kappa that raps? Shirone likes you," asked Kuroka. She had gotten bored of chasing after Bikou and spotted a certain person her sister described.
"Shirone? I don't know anyone by that name, yo!" said the Kappa.
"Ah, you might know her as Koneko nya~"
"Shirone…Koneko…! Koneko-chan loves my songs, but why—?"
Kuroka laughed and explained a bit of their history and the Kappa became saddened after hearing it. He didn't think one of his fans had such a sad past, and it moved him to tears.
"Koneko-chan…I'll try to make a new song just for you! One last time—I'll rap one last time!" he declared. Kuroka tilted her head in confusion, but didn't think it was a bad thing.
Kuroka walked around looking at everyone there—in a way she was scouting out Vali's team for the tournament and it was mostly the same with a few new additions, which were the current generations of Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing. She stared at the two as she had only seen them through some recorded matches.
"Kappa?" she asked and pointed at Sha Wujing.
The little girl visibly became distraught and red in the face. "I'm the descendant of Sha Wujing, and he was not a kappa! That's just the image that the Japanese people conjured up without permission! The original Sha Wujing was a river-based yousen—a youkai sage! Not a Youkai with an amphibian head!"
"Nya?!" Kuroka was shocked by the sudden tantrum by the little girl and took a step back.
Le Fay came over and calmed down the current generation Sha Wujing. After that she floated over to Kuroka on her broom. "Kuroka-sama, Sha Wujing-sama is sensitive to that, so please don't call her that," said Le Fay.
"Nyokay?" Kuroka titled her head as they watched Sha Wujing cutely stomp away while huffing. "Her tantrum was cute though, maybe I should do that more nya~"
"I-I wouldn't recommend it…she may get violent and attack you…" muttered Le Fay nervously.
Kuroka grinned and got uncomfortably close to the young female magician. "By the way, Le Fay~ how are things with Aaron nya~?"
Le Fay stared at Kuroka before her cheeks turned red. "W-what do you mean by that, Kuroka-sama…?"
"I saw it nya~ the perve—" Le Fay covered Kuroka's mouth as she was about to shout out something embarrassing.
"T-t-that was an accident. A-also Aaron-sama has invited me to bathe with him a few times…a-along with others, of course!" she told the Nekoshou.
"Nyuhuhuhu~ I know, I know, I'm just teasing you. But seriously, you were too nervous nya~ relax a bit more," said Kuroka. Le Fay froze and stared at Kuroka before she understood. The Nekoshou started laughing even more. "Nyahaha, yes, I was there…ow nya!"
A frying pan suddenly struck Kuroka on the back of her head and her anger was directed at who had done it. But when she looked at the culprit, she realized Vali had done it.
"We're in the middle of a training session, Kuroka. If you want to speak to Le Fay about those things save it for later. We're nearly done for the night," said Vali.
"Tch. I'll go tell Nia that you hit me like that nya~!" Kuroka shouted and stuck her tongue out at the young Lucifer. Vali looked horrified, but before he could say anything else, Kuroka left the dimension.
Calantha sighed and patted Vali's shoulder. "As the first wife, I told you not to do that."
Irritated, Vali looked at her and said, "I never said I was taking anyone as my wife!"
"Tsunderes never change. Don't worry, Vali, everything will fall into place eventually," said Calantha as she walked away while laughing. Vali was left stressed and annoyed for two different reasons.
— ○ ● ○ —
As Aaron and his group dispersed as the game was about to begin—they heard the announcements through the venue.
[The game rules are [Board Collapse]!]
"I'm heading this way, you guys know the rest," he told them and they parted ways. Aaron Toole walked out of the stadium and jumped on top of the giant statue of Azazel.
On the huge screens that were set up around the venue and outside, the decided ruleset was shown.
[With this ruleset the field will begin to collapse starting at both ends.]
[That's right. Both ends of the venue will collapse at the same time, and according to these rules, only the center will remain at the end.]
[The narrowing of the field means that places to hide and escape will also disappear, and in the end, battle will be inevitable.]
[Holding a battle in a confined space means there's a greater chance of friendly fire or getting hit by a stray attack, so a key point of this match will be to set up an advantage while the field is still wide.]
Even if there was a clear gap in strength between the two teams, if an advantage was established before the field collapsed, the battle would become even more intense, and the narrowing of the field would undoubtedly affect the situation of the battle.
[However, because this is a standard rule, there is no doubt that a team's overall strength is more relevant than strategy here!]
Under these rules, there would be a minimal level of strategy required between Rias' team and Vali's team. It was more of a direct confrontation. And for the both of them as well as for the audience, everyone hoped to see a direct battle.
Aaron touched his transceiver and said, [They've started teleporting into the different dimension—let the mission start.] He jumped down from his vantage point Shin came out of his shadow and jumped onto his right shoulder.
<
With a smile on his lips, Aaron replied, "It's been a while, so why not? They're not expecting this kind of change from you—Lycaon."
<
Aaron felt the rest of the groups that came with him slowly teleport into the realm that Shaula and Georg had prepared. Eventually, he was the last one to go there.
Taking one look at the sky he sighed. "Time to go."
— ○ ● ○ —
He was transported to a replica of the Underworld—a replica of the Fafnir Stadium. When he arrived, countless battles were already taking place. On his left wrist was a watch that showed him the match between Vali's and Rias' teams.
However, as he was about to move, his princess—his queen appeared beside him…and did not look happy. Lavinia Reni was frowning beside him, and as he tried to move away, she grabbed his ear.
"Aaron?" she asked while squinting her eyes at him.
"…Yes?" he replied and looked at her.
"Why—" She was interrupted when giant ice attacks suddenly appeared around the dimension. "—Is she here?" Lavinia asked and pointed at a certain woman.
In the distance, she stood on top of a building while laughing to herself—a former enemy who were going through 'rehabilitation', Yashina Lidia Vitalievna, the wielder of the [New Longinus], [Demon God Manifestation: Demon's Extract].
She had begged Aaron to let her participate as a member of [EXE], even though there were some who were against it at first, they relented to Aaron's wishes and she was allowed to participate in the mission. Although she is under heavy and strict surveillance the entire mission.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! What's wrong, is this too much for you!?" Yashina asked loudly.
Lavinia sighed again and stared at Aaron Toole. "She's…undergoing rehabilitation and will only do it if I asked. Anyway, she begged to be part of the mission today and after speaking with various people, they approved, reluctantly."
"…One Ice Princess isn't enough for you?" she asked while pouting.
"Huh? What? That's not—" Lavinia left before he could finish—pouting the entire time. "…Let's just finish this and talk to her after…"
<
[Riiight~?] said Ddraig.
{Why are you acting like some kind of high school girl? Stop, it's gross…}
Feeling slightly annoyed, Aaron sighed again. He held out his right arm and a silvery-white scythe appeared beside him and he grabbed it. Scanning the entire realm, he located all the Divine Beasts that were teleported here and he only targeted them.
He brought the scythe back behind him and with a single diagonal swing, he sliced all the Divine Beasts in two. It was quick and silent—but before the rest of them could react, they died.
[Focus on the others, I'll deal with the four coming for me,] he ordered them. As he did, four individuals approached him at blinding speed.
One of them was a figure covered in a black cloak, mask and had a scythe with them.
The other was a young man with shaggy silver hair with pink and purple highlights throughout, matching his eyes. He wore a patterned black suit with a silk lapel, pinstripe vest, and a deep purple tie. He also wore jewelry, including rings and multiple ear piercings.
The other two were both females. One had short pink hair, white eyes, horns, and a tail. She wore a feathery pink and white dress with pink gloves and white-pink shoes.
The other had long blue hair, lime green eyes, horns, and a tail. She wore an elegant blue and pink dress with two bracelets on her wrists and a necklace around her neck. She also wore black boots with small white spikes on them.
<
"Don't get in my way, he's mine!!" the man with silver hair and purple eyes charged Aaron while firing black wind at him.
Aaron slapped the attack, destroying it. The two women summoned scythes too and slashed at him, the Grim Reaper also followed the two women swung his scythe.
[It's a scythe bonanza!]
Aaron spun his scythe in his right hand and deflected the attacks that were aimed at him with it. They were surprised by this, but quickly backed away.
"Middleman!! Fight me! I'm the Demi-God of Strife and Discord, Leon!" the man shouted and various elements shrouded his body.
'Oh, he's the leader of the [Z-Team]. Leon, huh? A demigod like Rose…' Aaron thought. "…Let's make this quick. I want to watch my fiancé and little brother's fight."
Aaron dismissed his scythe and swiped his right hand sideways, blowing away his attackers. It also increased the gravity around them, slowing them down significantly.
"Shin, let's do this," he said, and the puppy barked on his shoulder.
<< — Behowlest the slaying of thousands of mortals and principles >>
Aaron Toole and the silvery-white puppy were enshrouded in a silver haze. It then spread, and covered everything in the surrounding realm.
<< — Besingest the slaying of tens of thousand of goblins and evil omens >>
The world—the realm became pure silver and white—snow—a blizzard started in the far distance and quickly encompassed the entire realm. As their limbs shrank into the silvery world, something with an abnormal but elegant shape emerged.
<< — Mine name, which reacheth unto the farthest abyss, tis the Imitation God beguiling the Polar Night and the Midnight Sun >>
The slivery-white dog Shin transformed into its mature form and sank into the ground at his feet.
<< —Thou shalt be exterminated by our own pure white divine blade >>
Aaron Toole's entire body was enveloped in a silvery-white aura. Although his figure retained some human resemblance, it had become something that differed from a human. The head and face had morphed into something resembling a dog.
The silvery-white aura continued to converge around his body. It formed forelegs, hind legs, a tail, and it opened its massive jaws. The gathering of the silvery-white aura in the surrounding area formed figures one by one. Appearing everywhere around Aaron were large packs of [Dogs] with silvery-white-colored fur.
<< —Thou art merely ephemeral, oh paranormal Creator God >>
After Aaron recited the last line of the chant, the [Dogs] that were born from the mass of white aura let out a distressing, and penetrating howls that shook everyone's mind and body to the very core.
—Oooooooooooohhhh!
What appeared there was a humanoid beast clad in a slivery-white aura. Gathered around him were enormous [Dogs] that breathed the same slivery-white mist.
<
"Yes! Yes! Yeeeeeeeeees!!! Fight me! Let's destroy—"
Aaron's foot planted itself onto Leon's face and sent the young man hurtling into the barrier. The other [Dogs] that were Shin began attacking the two female hybrids that came along to fight Aaron, and the main body—the original Shin began attacking Thanatos.
<
He had numerous tentacles made of darkness protruding from his body, as the black wind pushed him forward. A crazed look donned his face as his purple eyes glowed. Without saying another word, Leon thrust his hand forward and a giant hand made of shadows came out of him and flew towards Aaron.
Aaron summoned a small knife made of the silvery-white aura and swung it down towards the attack—seconds later the hand was dispelled, but that didn't dissuade Leon as countless weapons made of darkness appeared all around him and he launched them at Aaron again—however, he increased the speed by adding his black wind to them.
He expected Aaron to destroy them or even deflect them, so he would activate the explosion magic he had set in them. But to his surprise he caught them with a large silvery-white hand, and he started to laugh.
"Idiot! Go boom!" shouted Leon. But to his surprise, the attacks didn't explore and Aaron simply dismissed them. "Why didn't they explode?" he asked in surprise.
<
"Aaah?! The hell you talkin' 'bout?!" asked Leon as he grew even more frustrated by the insult.
<>
Leon was born from Eris the Goddess of Strife and Discord, and a physically fit man, but was what you would call—a sociopath and psychopath. As an evil god, Eris did things at her own pace, and didn't care too much about others.
His father was scum. Both of his parents abandoned him and forced him to navigate the world by himself. However, he was given several opportunities to put his life on the right track. However, each and every time he was offered the opportunity he chose the opposite choice. In a way, he was compelled to do so, and when he found out about his powers and heritage, to him, it just made sense.
A grin appeared on Leon's face. "Heh, I was born this way—it only makes sense that I become a villain. The ultimate villain where I rule the world—and you, who is known as the Middleman and Dual Dragon Emperor, you are the hero that I will vanquish."
<
Leon pointed at him as the darkness around him changed into large spider legs. "Not every single story with that kind of story line has the villains lose—new age stories have the villains win. And I'll make that into reality here, Jin Skyward."
— ○ ● ○ —
"Stupid Aaron…" mumbled Lavinia as she arrived beside Yashina. Lavinia had produced a blizzard after she left and at the same time as Aaron activated his Balance Breaker for [Canis Lykaon].
"Hooooh? If it isn't Lavinia Reni. It's been a long time," said Yashina as she arrived beside her. Lavinia didn't reply as she looked at the woman in contempt. "Now, now don't look at me like that."
Yashina smirked and added, "If you look at our situation realistically—wouldn't Serafall Leviathan and Grayfia Lucifuge have the same chance of inheriting that title from you? Although Grayfia Lucifuge doesn't use ice magic that much, but she uses it enough to be considered for it."
"…I'm Aaron's—"
"It won't always be that case. What will happen five years down the line? Ten? Twenty? Or even fifty or a hundred? Will he always love you the same as he does now? Or perhaps he'll replace you. You'll no longer be his 'number one'," said Yashina.
[Yashina.] Aaron's voice echoed on her transceiver.
"Oops, I said too much," said the Russian lady before flying away and laughing to herself. However, their brief encounter left Lavinia uneasy.
"…T-that won't happen…right?" she asked herself.
A hundred years is a long time, time, and people change. Her worries—the worries of the Ice Queen, Lavinia Reni started to cloud her mind and heart.
— ○ ● ○ —
A few minutes had passed since the start of the match between [Team Rias Gremory] and [Team White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star]. The ends of the field had already collapsed forcing the players of each team to make their way towards the middle. However, it was quite obvious that one team was much stronger than the other.
"Your Eminence, I believe this is an appropriate place for a rematch, don't you think?" one of the [Knights] of Vali—Arthur Pendragon asked the large muscular man in front of him. He looked at the female [Knight] with blonde hair and added, "Kiba—no, Yumi Kira-kun, as much as I would like to fight you too…I'd like to face His Eminence first."
Yumi nodded at Arthur's reasoning and leapt away. Vasco Strada brought out his weapon—[Durandal X], likewise, Arthur Pendragon brought out [Caliburn] and the two swordsmen stared at each other down.
[The [Rook] Vasco Strada and [Knight] Arthur Pendragon are about to duel! Two of the strongest swordsmen in the tournament are about to clash swords! His Eminence Strada is a veteran warrior of the church with countless achievements under his belt, while Arthur Pendragon is a descendant of the famous King Arthur! He's also a generational talent and is quite skilled!]
Suddenly, they disappeared and clashed in the middle of the sky. Since their first duel, Arthur had become significantly more powerful, while Vasco Strada regained his former powers and grew stronger too. However, Vasco had something Arthur still lacked, and that was experience.
"Hmm." Vasco Strada closed his eyes. After a few clashes with the talented and young swordsman he had come to a conclusion.
"Hmm? Is something wrong, your Eminence?" asked Arthur.
However, to Arthur's surprise, Vasco Strada's strength increased exponentially, and he was blown back—in the distance. Shirone Toujou and Gogmagog were forced to jump away from each other after Vasco's slash had created a large crevice on the game field. Arthur looked at the damage that the old man had done and was shocked, but he was also excited.
This was the power he had wanted to face, unlike Vasco Strada's previous powers when he was an old man—this was what the legends had told, although Vasco Strada was still powerful even when he was at the ripe age of 87, he was still considered a monster, but age finally caught up to him, and he was limited on the amount of time he could fight.
"Come, young swordsman, show me the extent of the next generation's talent and will," said Vasco as he gestured with his hand.
An elated smile spread across Arthur's face as he dashed towards Vasco Strada. He created afterimages and did countless faints before he thrust his sword towards the living legend. Again, to Arthur's surprise, Vasco Strada had already turned around and caught the tip of his sword!
"Wha—?!" Arthur was shocked by this; he didn't anticipate this and as he was about to react. A simple push from Vasco Strada hurled him into the distance. He had to strike his sword into the ground to prevent himself from being knocked off the edge.
When Arthur looked back up, he was shocked to see some of his team had started attacking Vasco Strada—his opponent.
[What are you doing?] Arthur asked through their transceivers.
[As much as I'd like you to fight him alone—and all that chivalry swordsman honor thing, we want to win and you ain't cutting it!] shouted Bikou. Vali, Calantha, Bikou, Fenrir and Gogmagog had joined in the assault on Vasco Strada.
Vasco Strada put his hand up to his team, as the others were about to help. Before this happened, Bikou had begun to face Yumi. Fenrir with Rias, Calantha with Akeno and Vali with Crom Cruach.
[Let him,] ordered Rias and the rest of the team stood back—even Crom Cruach.
"Grow Ruyi Jingu Bang!" shouted Bikou. His staff extended and went towards Vasco Strada. Vali shot demonic balls at him, while Calantha fired numerous magic attacks and Gogmagog fired missiles at the old man.
[It's a full-on assault by [Team White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star!] will Player Strada survive?!]
Vasco Strada smiled and caught Bikou's staff. He immediately pulled the monkey youkai towards him, and that caught him off guard. Bikou had anticipated a few things happening, but not being pulled towards the old man.
Bikou let go of his staff and instead let himself be flung towards the man as he covered his body in touki and threw a punch his way. Vasco Strada matched it with his own [Holy Fist], a punch imbued with holy energy.
When their fists collided, Bikou was immediately blown away. However, Vali flew up and caught him, preventing his teammate from being knocked out.
"Seriously?" asked Vali.
"Oh shut up, leader-sama! I wanted to see if he really got his original power back!" retorted Bikou.
Vasco Strada threw another [Holy Fist] towards the magic attacks and missiles, destroying them and making them useless. He stared at the current members that attacked him and he disappeared from his spot and appeared in front of Gogmagog. He immediately kicked the golem in the face, sending him away towards the edge of the disappearing platforms.
"Stop him," ordered Vali as he threw Bikou towards the golem.
"Huh?! Wait what—?!" Bikou flew through the air while screaming his lungs out. "Screw you Vali!!"
However, just as Vali planned, Bikou arrived behind Gogmagog, enveloped his body with touki again and desperately tried to stop the golem from falling down the abyss. Both of them began to slide closer and closer to the end until he managed to stop them. But Bikou also noticed that the tiles they were on was about to collapse so he kicked Gogmagog forward and jumped away from it.
Vasco appeared in front of Calantha as the woman tried to use her vampire-style magic circle. Yet Vasco Strada simply negated it using his own fingers, and the magic circle shattered. He quickly pulled his arm back and punched her, but Vali Lucifer suddenly appeared between them, taking the hit for her with his arms.
"Hoh? Vali Lucifer, interesting," said Strada as he continued with his punch and blew away both of them instead.
The old man was amused by the actions of the young man. Previously Vali wouldn't have done that—he certainly would have protected his teammates, but most likely wouldn't have used his body. He would have used another demonic attack to draw attention to himself and stopped it that way.
With a smile, Strada asked, "I wonder if that young woman means anything to him? Fufu…" he glanced to his side and swung [Durandal X] down and it was met with Arthur Pendragon's [Caliburn]'s blade.
A tear in space appeared beside Vasco and out came Fenrir, the wolf lunged towards him, but to his surprise, Vasco Strada still dodged his attack, the old man maneuvered mid-air and sent a shockwave punch towards Arthur, forcing him to block it. Vasco then swung his sword towards the God-slaying wolf and sliced his back while blowing him away with the force he generated with the swing.
[A-amazing!! Vasco Strada has essentially taken on the entire Team of Vali Lucifer and defeated them!! What fighting prowess! This is…the [The Violence of Heaven]…this is [The Limits of Humanity]! One of the strongest humans in history!!!]
[Indeed. In this tournament we get to see both old and new generations show their fighting ability. However, it's safe to say that the old generation isn't being outdone by the new and current generation. Vasco Strada is a testament to that. Although he did attain his younger body and original power, it was still quite an achievement fighting most of Vali Lucifer's team.]
Vali Lucifer was in his Balance Breaker armor, but quickly recited a chant and entered his [Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive] and flew back to Vasco Strada with Calantha beside him. The pure-blooded vampire seemed stronger than earlier as she fired countless large fireballs towards the human.
In the same manner as earlier, he negated the attacks. However, when they were dismissed both Vali and Calantha had appeared in front of him with Arthur and Bikou at his sides and Gogmagog and Fenrir behind him. In the distance, the current generation Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie fired elemental attacks at Vasco Strada too, with Salamander Tomita singing a rap while also provided some enchantment magic to them with it!
In another section, Le Fay created magic circles beneath Vasco Strada and restrained him to the ground. The old man stood there amused by their attempts.
[The rest of Vali Lucifer's team has joined! It seems they want to take out Player Vasco Strada now!]
Vasco Strada crossed his arms and gathered holy energy around his blade and fist. In one fluid motion, he swung his body around and created a giant and powerful tornado made of holy energy!
"Eh—gyaaaaaaaaa! Vali stop that thing!!!" Bikou screamed as he was sucked into it.
Vali aimed his right arm towards it and shouted, "Compress!!"
{Compression Divider!!} shouted Albion.
The enormous holy tornado in front of them slowly compressed, but didn't fully disappear much to both their shock. However, it was enough for Bikou to summon [Jondou Yun], his golden cloud and rode it out of the tornado.
Vasco Strada aimed his hand towards the team and the tornado began to move in their direction. Vali held his arm up again and used another [Compression Divider] and finally the tornado was compressed fully and disappeared.
"It needed two, that's pretty terrifying…" mumbled the young Lucifer.
"Impressive teamwork, Team of the White Dragon Emperor. However, you still have a ways to go. With that said, I'd like to get back to my duel with the young Pendragon there," said Vasco as he pointed his sword at Arthur.
Arthur dusted himself off and fixed his glasses. "I concur. I'd like to have my own battle here, Vali—all of you. So go back to your own battles," he said and prepared his sword.
Vali stared at Arthur before nodding. "The rest of you go," he ordered them and they ran off to their previous battle partners. Vali glanced at Arthur one last time before he flew towards Crom Cruach who had been waiting patiently.
Like earlier, both swordsmen disappeared silently and clashed in the middle of the disappearing field again. Arthur had decided to use all of his power now because he knew he wouldn't win against Vasco Strada if he didn't—no, he wasn't sure if he would even win. This was just a matter of survival. He needed to stall for time and hope that Vali would defeat Crom Cruach and then Rias Gremory.
Vasco Strada swung his sword diagonally and created a holy aura blade that flew towards Arthur. The young man did the same thing and their attacks slammed into each other and exploded. They landed on the ground and began a small dance of blades. Each strike of their blade created powerful and large electricity sparks.
[Caliburn] was known as the strongest holy sword, it was even more powerful than [Durandal], yet Vasco Strada's new [Durandal X] managed to keep up with such a legendary sword that it even surprised Arthur.
He thought it was just a cheap copy—but at the same time, it was created by Aaron, so he had to throw out most of his logic out of the window to not go insane.
'Anything that man does or creates always defies logic,' thought the young swordsman. "That sword is just part of it," he muttered.
As their duel continued, they slowly made their way closer to the center as they didn't want to fall into the abyss and be forced to retire. However, as they did, Arthur began to notice that parts of his suit began to have small cuts on them. When he looked back at Vasco Strada after noticing them, the old man smiled.
"So, you've noticed?" he asked while swinging his sword.
"…Even after reverting back to a younger age, you're even more of a monster. Are you looking down on me?" Arthur asked with some frustration.
A smile donned the old man's face and he said, "You're extremely talented, Arthur Pendragon. However…" Vasco backed away and horizontally slashed his sword at Arthur in an extremely slow manner.
The young swordsman was confused by this and blocked it easily. However, even more cuts around his body appeared after the action, confusing him even further.
"…You're too naïve, inflexible, and vain," muttered Vasco, before he slammed his gigantic fist into Arthur's stomach launching him away again.
Arthur desperately slammed his sword into the ground, and barely prevented himself from falling again. Arthur grimaced as his very own father—Uther Pendragon had told him the same thing back when he still lived in England. His father was a skilled swordsman and wielder of the holy swords. But he didn't think the same words would come out of a man he deeply respected—a living legend telling him the same thing as his father…
Arthur frowned as he cut a tear through space and hoped into it. Vasco saw this and stood still. The young man had already used that technique on him when they fought back in Kuoh. Several tears appeared in the space around Vasco Strada as he waited for Arthur to show up. Suddenly a sharp blade passed by his face as he leaned back to avoid it.
Vasco Strada suddenly headbutted Arthur, who barely blocked the attack with his sword, but was pushed away. To his surprise, the headbutt was powered by holy energy too.
"I didn't think you would infuse your own forehead with holy energy just to headbutt me," said Arthur as he shakily gripped his holy sword.
"Hohoho. Perhaps a bit of my youth came back—that was rather reckless of me," admitted Vasco as he laughed to himself.
The duel between these two warriors was just beginning.
— ○ ● ○ —
"Heiress of Gremory, are you certain you wish to fight me?" Fenrir asked Rias Gremory who was in front of him.
With a light smile on her face Rias nodded. "We didn't interact much Fenrir, but I heard with the help of Aaron you can use 100% of your powers now even after what Vali and his team did to you all those months ago?" she asked.
Fenrir silently nodded. "I am, however, that is not important right. I will acknowledge that you have become stronger since that time." Powerful energy enveloped Fenrir's body and he transformed back into his original form as he glared at Rias. "I will use my powers to take you down as the [Queen] of this team."
Maintaining her smile, Rias Gremory's body was covered in [Power of Destruction]. She summoned small balls of destruction from both her palms. "I'd like to face off against the God-Devouring Wolf just by myself. I'll be in your care."
Fenrir squinted his eyes at the woman before appearing behind her and attempting to bite her—but to his surprise, a large ball of destruction was already in front of his face which slammed into him, forcing him backwards. Fenrir felt pain and that surprised him. He quickly dug his paws into the ground and forced the ball into the sky by headbutting it.
He had taken some damage, but was still overall healthy and could continue. Fenrir squinted his eyes at the heiress. 'She's not the same woman as a year ago, if I continue to think as such, I will easily lose this match—a God—no, a Dragon God, I shall look at her as such,' he thought.
Even though he was known as the God-Devouring Wolf, he had to be careful with the new-age youth as they had powers that did not follow their world's rules. It was because of that man and Fenrir acknowledged that.
Fenrir continued his assault as he lunged towards Rias again. The heiress fired small bullets of [Power of Destruction] at the wolf. However, Fenrir was quite agile and moved at God-like speed and avoided most of them. The heiress—Rias, was even faster than him and a few attacks had nicked his body, creating small tears on them.
Reality hit Fenrir—he didn't stand a chance against this woman and he didn't know he would be retired from the game. Nevertheless, he would do his job. Charging towards Rias Gremory, Fenrir summoned a norse-style magic circle in front of his mouth and he fired numerous fireballs at the woman. Rias didn't try to defend herself because when the fireballs touched the layer of [Power of Destruction] around her body, they were simply destroyed.
As Fenrir was about to continue his assault Rias disappeared from his sight. However, he then felt something hit him on the side and he was thrown away. He had managed to cover his body with energy and that absorbed most of the impact, but he was still gravely injured.
Fenrir dashed back towards Rias as she stood there confidently to Rias. Right now she felt good. However, even she wasn't sure if her current [Power of Destruction] could negate the effects of the God-slaying properties of Fenrir's fangs and claws, so she did her best in not being hit by them.
She was much stronger than him, power-wise, but she wanted to be on the safer side of things. So she would avoid a direct hit from either one of them.
The longer the two danced around that part of the game field, the more damage Fenrir took. Speed, power, and endurance, Rias Gremory was above him—for someone called the God-Devouring Wolf. He felt a bit of shame as he couldn't even layer a proper finger on her.
'So…this is my current limit,' he thought and it left him frustrated. Even though he was using his full power, the woman in front of him was too strong.
Time passed on and Fenrir's body was slowly riddled with holes and messing parts. The God-Devouring Wolf panted on the ground. Rias, who floated above him, created one of her [Extinguished Star]. She quickly expanded the ball and it towered above both of them.
"Thank you for fighting me, Fenrir. I more or less understand where both our teams stand after fighting you," said Rias. She then released the attack at Fenrir and the wolf closed his eyes.
'So…this was the group that was trained first by him. —The Gremory Peerage. And this…is the current 'Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess', Rias Gremory.' A smile appeared on Fenrir's face.
"…I would love to fight you guys again—on the main stage."
The ball of destruction hit Fenrir and exploded. Forcing the monster to retire from the game.
[1 [Queen] of [Team White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star] retire!!]
[Incredible! Rias Gremory by herself defeated the God-Devouring Wolf, Fenrir! There aren't many people in this world who can do that! It also looked very one-sided!]
Fenrir before losing most of his power, he was considered to be part of the 'Top 10 Strongest Beings in the world', comparable to or weaker than Typhon, the King of Monsters.
[Indeed. Although…no, I'll keep that comment for when the match concludes,] said the other announcer.
Rias flicked her hair, satisfied with the results. "Let's go finish this then."
— ○ ● ○ —
"Wha—?! Fenrir lost?! W-what the hell?!" Bikou shouted in utter shock. In front of him was a female swordswoman with blonde hair—Yumi Kira, formerly known as Kiba Yuuto.
A smile spread across Yumi's face. "Our Master and [King] is a powerful woman after all—she is more than just a woman who can strategize and negotiate…" she said and squinted her eyes at Bikou. 'Because, even after they started dating—Rias-onee-san still wants to keep on improving and stand by his side equally—that hasn't changed since then.'
"I didn't ask! Also, are you single?!" Bikou shouted and his staff and her sword clanged against each other.
Yumi frowned as she had been asked that question multiple times since becoming a third-year in Kuoh Academy. She couldn't remember how many times she had to reject so many guys—many of them were jealous and had grudges towards her when she was a man. She felt very conflicted about it.
"…I am single, but I'm interested in someone else, and they're well aware of it," she replied while swinging her sword down.
Bikou avoided the attack and jumped back, but quickly jumped into the sky, avoiding a blade that had appeared beneath him. "God dammit, it's him again, right?! Shit! Dammit! Then if I beat you—go on a date with me!!"
A smile appeared on Yumi's face. "If you beat me," she said and dashed towards Bikou before slashing her blade towards him. Bikou tried to block it with his staff, but to his surprise Yumi's sword went through it and slashed him across his chest.
He reacted quick enough and covered his body with touki and minimized the damage, but he was still hurt in the end. "W-what the hell…? How did that—!?"
"Well…Rossweisse-san wasn't the only one to get something from Aaron," replied Yumi. A small necklace with a green gem dangled around her neck.
'[Boosted Gear]'s [Penetrate]!? Are you kidding me?! Wait, doesn't that mean—'
Yumi followed up her attack with a knee to Bikou's chin, blowing the young youkai away. Bikou retaliated by firing lightning bolts towards Yumi using his Youjutsu, however, the young woman deflected the attacks with her sword and dashed towards him. Bikou slammed his staff into the ground and used it to vault his way towards Yumi. He then recalled it to himself.
"Grow!" shouted Bikou as his staff extended at an even greater speed than before. Yumi made a slight adjustment to her body and it grazed her cheek. She arrived in front of the youkai and swung her sword upwards from the ground us.
Bikou jumped back, seemingly on time, but numerous cuts appeared on his armor and body, surprising him. The monkey youkai fired bullets of touki at Yumi who deflected them again and swung her sword at him. Bikou shielded his body with touki while countering with his staff. Again, more cuts appeared, but they were far less than the previous ones because of his touki.
He suddenly felt a fist hit his gut and he was knocked away. He crashed into the ground but quickly got up. He saw Yumi standing at a distance. He had expected her to follow him, but this action caused him confusion.
Yumi unsummoned her current sword that was created from [Blade Birth] and pulled out [Gram] from a different space. She breathed slowly and smiled at Bikou. This caused the young man to shiver as the look on the woman seemed different from earlier.
"Bikou-san, please let me experiment a bit with [Gram]."
"H-hell no! W-what the hell do you plan on doing?!" Bikou shouted back in horror.
A sudden burst of demonic energy shrouded [Gram]'s blade. The entire game field shook and everyone on it noticed its presence. It only kept growing and growing until the aura had created a small barrier around Yumi and Bikou.
'I-is that even the same [Gram] that I fought before? Hell, it wasn't like that just a week ago!' thought Bikou.
He had sparred with various people as part of Team [DxD], which included Yumi and her [Gram]. However, the sword hadn't let out such a ferocious aura back a week ago which stunned Bikou. Unknown to him, Yumi had gone to Aaron for more help with [Gram], slightly changing the sword to fit Yumi better.
Yumi appeared beside Bikou in a split-second. The monkey youkai only noticed because of his Senjutsu. He moved his spear to his side and blocked the slash that Yumi sent to him, but to his horror, a large crack had formed on his Ruyi Jingu Bang and then moments later, it split in two and exploded.
"Khh…!" Bikou summoned another replica of Ruyi Jingu Bang and continued to block Yumi's attack, but each time [Gram] hit his staff, it destroyed it. 'I only have a limited number of these in stock and she's going through them like nothing! Think dammit!'
Before he could, Yumi sent a finishing slash to Bikou who stared at it and accepted his retirement, but he was suddenly shoved out of the way and Yumi's sword hit a different person. To both their surprise, it was—
"Gogmagog!!" Bikou shouted in surprise. [Gram] sliced Gogmagog—the golem in half and blew him away into the abyss below the map.
[1 [Rook] of [Team White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star] retire!!]
Shirone landed beside Yumi and said, "I'm sorry, that golem suddenly came over here and pushed Bikou out of the way. I didn't think it would save him."
"No, it's fine, Shirone-chan," replied Yumi. Both of them looked at Bikou who looked shocked, but he quickly got up and smiled.
"I didn't think a damn golem would show me up! Fine, even if I lose, I'll go out in damn style!" he declared and charged both women.
— ○ ● ○ —
"Ara~? Welcome back, Calantha-san," said Akeno Himejima. She had patiently waited for her 'dance' partner to come back.
"That old man is insane and he's only human—who can even become that strong normally?!" Calantha asked in frustration.
In response to hearing that, Akeno giggled and said, "Well, His Eminence did become Aaron's subordinate, so you can probably guess what happened afterward. He did become younger in appearance while his strength was reverted back to his prime and then some."
Lightning surged around her body. For today's match Akeno wore her custom priestess attire that Suzaku, Shuri and Aaron made for her. She loved it so much that she insisted on wearing it for the match. Like with many of Aaron's clothing, it had been enchanted with various effects. However, it had to be temporarily turned off to make the matches in the tournament fair.
"And now I have to fight you again…I have the worst luck today," mumbled the vampire.
"Fufu, it's just how these games go~" replied Akeno. She raised her right hand's index finger and various small yellow dragon heads made of holy lightning appeared around Calantha.
Calantha's eyes widened and before she could react the attack struck her—
"Ara?" Akeno titled her head, instead of Calantha being shocked, it was…a youkai with a pig head…it was the other [Rook] of Vali's team, Zhu Bajie.
"Ahiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~ yeeeeeeeeees!! That feels sooooooo gooooooooooooooood!!" Zhu Bajie screamed in ecstasy.
Zhu Bajie, the current generation…was a giant masochist. The one to fling him this was way Rias' other [Knight], Xenovia Quarta.
"Akeno, sorry about that. I wanted to try the different techniques that His Eminence used, and instead of defeating this one, he only received pleasure from my attacks—so I thought it would have been better to hit him your way," explained Xenovia.
"Ara, ara~ fufu, I guess I can play with him for a little bit. How about we switch then? Calantha-san is over there," Akeno said and pointed at the vampire. Xenovia nodded and dashed towards her with [Durandal].
"Quuuuuuuuen-sama please punish me moooooooore!!" Zhu Bajie squealed while bringing out his weapon of choice, the Iron-Toothed Rake. A sharp nine-toothed rake that looked like bear claws.
He flew towards Akeno while spewing fireballs from his mouth. Akeno smiled upon seeing this and once Zhu Bajie got close enough, he swung his rake at Akeno who quickly dodged it and kicked the youkai on his ass with her leg covered in holy lightning. However, it only made the young youkai squeal in delight.
Akeno put a hand on her right cheek, troubled by this. "Ara, what should I do~?" she didn't get much time to think as Zhu Bajie continued his attack on her, but the priestess had no difficulty eluding his attacks.
"Please! Please! Hit me! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaseeeeeee!!" begged Zhu Bajie.
Normally, Akeno Himejima wouldn't have any problems with torturing her opponents as she finds pleasure in that as she herself is a giant S and M. However, in this particular situation, she wasn't sure if she should. Yes, she could easily defeat him, but as it's a Rating Game being broadcasted through the supernatural world, she had the responsibility to make it entertaining.
So far with Vasco Strada's performance earlier, it was obvious that the crowd was extremely excited to see the legend repel the new and powerful youth of today. Her original opponent with the [Bishop] Calantha, but as a senior, she wanted to help her junior—Xenovia.
As she was about to retaliate, she remembered a conversation she had with Róisín Toole.
— ○ ● ○ —
During a particularly slow night, Aaron Toole was still at his restaurant and [Team Rias Gremory] had finished training in their own dimension—Akeno Himejima came out of the bath and came across Róisín Toole, her fiancé's mother.
Akeno wanted to speak to her about something—more about Aaron's past. She had only heard bits and pieces from Cúntóir, Aoife and from Aaron himself. She knew it would have been better to hear from him personally, but she wanted another perspective—hence why she's asking his mother.
"Róisín-san?" Akeno called out her name. The woman turned around and smiled at her.
"Akeno? How can I help you?" she asked. Akeno nodded and told Róisín Toole her thoughts. "Hehe, I don't mind, come to my room then."
Both women walked to Róisín Toole's room and sat down on her bed. Róisín began to tell Akeno the various things about Aaron that she knew. Of course, she was his mother and her knowledge was also limited, but it was also special—because it came from her—a mother's perspective.
The small things that she saw Aaron do, the subtle things he thought he got away without anybody noticing, she saw it—she noticed. The stories of his childhood with Aoife, Ryan and Jennifer. Their adventures, struggles, and dreams.
"Although Aaron never told me, or anyone else, about the dream he wanted. Aoife had one, Ryan had one and Jennifer had one. But…he himself didn't, perhaps it was a way to rebel against his father, or he secretly had one that he didn't let anyone know, not even Aoife," she told her.
A somber smile appeared on her face. "But…he did get solace from reading and fictional media in general. When he started buying books of all types of genres his eyes lit up, the same way they did when he was around Aoife—that boy was foolishly kind at times."
Akeno sat and listened to it all. She didn't interrupt, she only closed her eyes and listened. She felt a wide range of emotions, but in the end, it was his past, it couldn't be changed and she would let it be.
"You know, he recently travelled to meet his father's soul…safe to say that didn't go well. Aden and Nyarlathotep were probably the first two to truly feel his silent anger. I didn't see either event happen, but I could tell, because I'm his mother after all."
Akeno suddenly felt Róisín's hands on hers. "With that said, Akeno! Aaron used to think of silly attacks for everyone here, you know? I was wondering, can you tell me why you haven't used your [Fallen Angel Mode]?"
The young woman was taken aback by the sudden change in topic, but she blushed at hearing the question. "I…even though Aaron doesn't show or vocalize it much, he's quite protective of us, and is sometimes prone to jealousy. I can see it in his eyes. Even if I'm not one of 'them', I can tell. Maybe it's because I dated him first?"
Róisín giggled. "Hehe you don't want other guys seeing your body? I thought you didn't care about that?" she asked and Akeno nodded.
In the past, such a thing wouldn't have been a problem since Akeno knew that none of them would touch her body, nor would she let a male close to her, not including Kiba Yuuto, Gasper Vladi and other select few like Sirzechs Lucifer and Ajuka Beelzebub.
"…Before I met Aaron, I didn't. But over time—the deeper I fell for him, the less I wanted others to see me like that. I slept naked, I still do and I'm only comfortable letting him and the other girls see me naked. A-anyway, it's because I get to be a normal girl when I'm with him."
"It's strange. When I'm with others, I can act normal, but I still need to have my 'Big Sister' personality on show for them, but with Aaron, I don't need it—instead he's the one spoiling me."
Róisín Toole giggled and patted Akeno's head. "Your [Mode], why don't you ask Aaron to modify it? If you don't want to look so revealing while in it, he can surely do it, right?"
As if an arrow had just pierced her head, Akeno stared blankly at Róisín and shouted 'Ah!'.
"Well? Get going then—oh, and thank you for being with my son. I know he's really happy with you," she told her.
"Mmm! I love him too!" replied Akeno as she left the room.
— ○ ● ○ —
Suddenly, holy lightning surged all around Akeno Himejima's body, expanding and covering her. Seconds later, the ball dispersed and she transformed into her new [Fallen Angel Mode]. Instead of her very revealing outfit, Akeno donned an extremely skin-tight black suit with black-golden shoulder plates, arm guards, leg guards and a dragon head for a chest plate, although her leverage was still exposed and gold-black metallic boots. Behind her were 16 jet-black-golden feathered wings.
"Fufufu~ I'll punish you now then piggy-chan~" Akeno opened her palm and thirty small yellow balls of lightning appeared. They quickly left her palm and headed straight for Zhu Bajie. The youkai tried to avoid them but were quickly caught.
One of the yellow balls hit him and trapped him in a translucent ball of lightning. He tried to touch it but was immediately shocked, making him squeal in delight. So, Zhu Bajie kept on ramming himself against the lightning ball and kept making pleasure-filled moans.
[Erm…w-what are we meant to say about this?] one of the announcers asked.
[…I…I don't know…] replied the other.
Akeno stretched her other hand out and ordered the other yellow orbs to enter it and they began to zap Zhu Bajie repeatedly with holy lightning, demonic lightning and divine lightning making the perverted youkai scream more—however, those screams eventually turned into one of plain and not pleasure.
"Aaahh~ w-wait t-this is a bit too much! I'm not feeling pleasure anymoooooooore!!" he screamed.
Akeno raised her arm and began to gather clouds in the sky and was about to hit him with another attack, but was forced to point her free hand to her side as it created a defensive magic circle and blocked several attacks aimed at her.
"Auuu…I-I'm sorry Akeno-san…" complained Asia. "Le Fay-san kept on using strange magic. I didn't want to accidentally destroy the rest of the platform beneath us…"
The one who attacked Akeno just now was Le Fay Pendragon, who had been fighting with Asia Argento just a few seconds ago.
Akeno chuckled and said, "It's fine, we can defeat them together them. We'll leave Calantha to Xenovia-chan."
"Yes! B-but will I need to…?"
"Fufu, just follow my lead," said Akeno as she gathered holy lightning around her arms and Asia entered her Balance Breaker.
"Ahiiiiiiiiiiiii!!! Stoooooooop!!" screamed Zhu Bajie. Le Fay arrived behind the youkai and teleported him out of the attack. "T-thank you, Le Fay-dono, w-will you punish me later?"
Le Fay shook her head with an awkward smile. "N-no, I don't like doing things like that…"
Asia spread her healing radius to cover the entire field and only targeted her team while the rest of Vali's team would have their wounds heal at a significantly slower rate. After she did that, she covered herself in golden touki and faced Le Fay.
"Let's continue where we left off, Le Fay-san," said Asia.
'…I thought she was a [Bishop], why is she using her fists…?' thought Le Fay as she prepared for their second round.
— ○ ● ○ —
[1 [Pawn] of [Team White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star] retire!!]
'It seems like Salamander Tomita was retired…I wonder what happened?' thought Vali. He then focused his attention back to the people in front of him.
"Rias-nee-chan, I'm back," said Gasper as he arrived beside Rias Gremory. Beside her was also Crom Cruach, an Evil Dragon, and in front of all three of them was Vali Lucifer and Sha Wujing.
[I'm fighting the White Dragon Emperor,] declared Crom Cruach.
"Hoh? So you want to protect your [King], Crom Cruach?" asked Vali. "Hmph. Very well, you were one of the people I wanted to fight, so it doesn't matter."
"Then I'll—"
"Fight with us," replied Rias. She looked at Gasper and he nodded and stood behind her and peaked from her hip. Sha Wujing was surprised but agreed in the end.
— ○ ● ○ —
Both dragons flew away and once they were away from the two women and the dhampir, they began their fight.
"Further words are unnecessary. Allow me to witness your true power, Heavenly Dragon, Vali Lucifer!" Crom shouted before he made the first move.
Crom charged straight towards Vali while transforming his right arm into a dragon's claw whilst coating it with a dense amount of energy! He thrust it towards Vali who in turn waited until the last second to dodge it with the most minimalist movement possible. The attack that Crom used created a powerful shockwave behind Vali, but the young man wasn't affected by it.
Vali retaliated by covering his own body with a dense amount of demonic aura and sending a punch towards Crom's face. The dragon blocked it with his other free arm. However, Vali followed that up with a kick and it connected with Crom's stomach sending the man further into the air.
Crom quickly recovered and flew back down to Vali. The young man in question had already fired a ball of demonic aura at the man, who in turn slapped it away and began a fistfight with the young Lucifer midair.
With each strike, with each blow, they simply deflected, parried and blocked each other's attack. The sky above the Rating Game field shook with each action the two dragons did. To the ordinary crowd, anyone below a certain power threshold could barely keep up with the fight as it was going at a speed beyond them. Thankfully the cameras could pick it up and the crowd in the arena was silent as they watched the spectacle.
However, partway through, Vali began to only dodge the attacks that Crom Cruach sent his way—amused by this, Crom kept attacking, but none of his attacks hit the young Lucifer.
[Is it fun to dodge all of my attacks?] Crom asked.
With a smile on his face, Vali replied, "These are the attacks of the so-called strongest Evil Dragon. I wanted to see them first hand."
Crom Cruach temporarily pulled back and laughed. His body shuddered out of excitement. "To think living and surviving this long could grant me such an extraordinary opportunity. To be able to fight in such a tournament against so many strong and interesting people!"
Crom rushed back to Vali and began his onslaught again. This time it was much faster and much more fierce. Vali was forced to fight back as he dodged, deflected and fired a bombardment of demonic attacks at Crom who either dodged or just took the attack head-on.
The dragon's chest suddenly swelled and he fired a gigantic fire attack at Vali. It was so large that if Vali didn't stop it, it would most likely hit the rest of his team behind it as it covered the entire field from top to bottom.
Vali Lucifer extended his hand out and shouted, "Compress!!"
{Compression Divider!!!}
The fire attack gradually decreased in size, but to his horror, a 'snap' was heard and it reverted back to its original size and hit Vali along with everyone else in its path!
[Crom! Can you not!?] shouted Yumi.
[…My clothes nearly got fried,] said Shirone.
[Hahahaha! This is youth!] Vasco Strada laughed happily.
The Gremory team had mixed reactions, but they were all unhurt. During the attack, they had decided to protect their fighting partners with a barrier around them so they wouldn't be affected by Crom Cruach's attack.
[Vali! Holy shit, I thought I was going to die!!] screamed Bikou.
[Darling~? I'd appreciate it if you took this seriously!!] shouted Calantha.
[…I concur, if you can defeat that dragon and go to the [King] it would be appreciated,] Arthur replied out of breath.
Vali understood that his entire team was being pressured by the entire Gremory team and knew he had to take this seriously, so he decided to use his current full power.
[Strong! He's overwhelming stroooong! Mr. Black—no, Player Crom Cruach, the strongest Evil Dragon! The legendary dragon has forced the strongest White Dragon Emperor in history back! He even melted some of his armor!! Even his previous physical attacks damaged some of his armor!!] the announcer shouted.
"Huuu…very well, I acknowledge that you have the same power as Aži Dahāka. I'll take you seriously now," said Vali. Crom Cruach grinned even wider and let Vali chant.
"The Pure White Dragon dwelling within me, rise up from your supremacy—"
The silver armor that exceeded supremacy gradually began to form jet-black patterns on it.
{The Silvery-white Morning Star I possess within me, claim the Throne of Dawn—}
In response to Albion's line, the light wings on his back became infused with black. Following that, multiple pairs of new wings extended out of his back.
[The Jet-black God of Infinity—]
"The Mysterious and Unfathomable Father of Devils—"
Twelve jet-black wings grew out of Vali's back. All of the edges of his armor sharpened and took on an organic form. Vali's and Albion's voices then overlapped with each other.
"{We shall transcend the limits to accept the oath—}"
The crest of Lucifer appeared on all of the gems in his armor, and they unleashed a dazzling brilliance of light! The final stanza was chanted by Vali, Albion and Ophis.
"{[[Thou shalt kneel down before our bright and glorious existence!]]}"
{[[LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLucifer!!!!!!!!!!!!!]]}
{Dragon Lucifer Drive!!!!!!!!}
Once his new transformation ended, his entire armor emitted a dazzling radiance and his aura increased even further. After his aura finished increasing, what appeared in front of Crom Cruach was a brand-new White Dragon Emperor with twelve jet-black wings.
Vali disappeared and Crom thrust his hand out! But to his surprise, that arm suddenly bent at a strange angle and broke! Seconds later, Crom Cruach felt hundreds—no, thousands of punches land on his body and he was blown away! Vali reappeared and bombarded the dragon with hundreds of attacks that ranged from demonic attacks, magic and his new power that was given to him by his older brother—
[Demonic Brilliance of Evil Light]. It was a strange mix of silver, blue and yellow, and it shot out of his palm and towards Crom Cruach. Vali originally only had a small portion of this power since he was a hybrid and several generations down from the original and was never taught it.
With Aaron's help, Vali could access it now—although this originally came from Rizevim because the two powers unique to him were stolen by Aaron Toole during their confrontation. However, Aaron still held the [Sacred Gear Canceler] ability and hadn't given it to anyone yet.
[Hahaha! Amazing! I could barely keep up! Did you get stronger after you fight with Aži Dahāka in that armor!?] Crom flew back towards Vali at an even greater speed and the two clashed ferociously in the sky.
Anyone near them would be blown away or would have trouble keeping their balance as they shook the realm with even greater force than earlier. The cameras also wobbled as it was affected by their fight.
Vali increased his power and began to overwhelm Crom Cruach, but the Evil Dragon also did the same thing and they became even. They started to violently slam their heads against each other, making each other's foreheads bleed! The armor around Vali's head began to crack until it shattered, showing his face to everyone.
[Heh!] Crom laughed and began to attack Vali again, but to Vali's surprise, some of his attacks began to miss and Crom started to counter quicker and more precisely. Vali fired a point-blank demonic attack and blew Crom away who grinned at the young Lucifer.
"What was that? How did I start to miss you and you start to hit me?" Vali asked.
Crom Cruach smiled at Vali and tapped the side of his head. [Intuition. You still lack it, but your 'Aniki' has mastered it, that Valkyrie is on her way and the Glasses-Sitri-Girl utilizes it in an interesting way.]
Crom Cruach's chest inflated again and he released the same intense flames from earlier—no, the intensity was even greater than earlier. With a defiant look and grin on his face, Vali raised his arm again, spread his wings out and released light from it while increasing his power even further.
{[[LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!]]}
{[[Satan Compression Divider!!!!!!!!!!!!]]}
The absolute aura that was intertwined with relentlessly brilliant silver and jet-black light instantly caused the flames that Crom spat out to compress, compress even further, and compress even more, until everything around it disappeared.
Even though he had been unable to compress it with his silvery-white armor—the [Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive], he was able to do so now that he had undergone Satanification. Simultaneously, Vali released the same wyverns that Aaron possessed from his twelve black wings towards Crom! Crom used his fists to smash them down mercilessly, yet they all survived.
{Half Dimension! Half Dimension! Half Dimension!!}
The fabric of space around Crom Cruach was compressed repeatedly. The Evil Dragon's body buckled, but as blood trickled down his mouth, he looked at Vali and continued to float over to Vali, much to the young Lucifer's surprise.
"You can still move!?" asked Vali.
He sent more wyverns to Crom, but he tried to destroy them but was unable to. Vali sent another bombardment of attacks towards Crom Cruach and the dragon was forced to take them head-on and all of it exploded creating a large smokescreen. Once the smokescreen was cleared, Crom Cruach had various holes in his body, and he was missing his left arm, yet the dragon smiled.
[This…is the best!!] shouted Crom. [I am the Crescent Circle Dragon Crom Cruach!! Today—right here, right now, I—one of the strongest dragons pronounce you as one of the strongest dragons of this era!! Come, let us finish this fight, White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star!!] Crom bellowed so loudly that the field around them shook.
[Crom-san—] Asia began to speak to the dragon through the transceiver, but she was interrupted.
[No, I do not want your healing, Priestess of the Outer God. I want to fight Vali Lucifer with my powers alone,] said Crom Cruach.
[…Okay.]
A grin spread across Vali's face upon hearing that. "Very big words, Crom Cruach—but I, Vali Lucifer—the current White Dragon Emperor accept your challenge. Show me everything you got!!"
Both of their auras exploded and they charged towards each other. The fight between the two dragons was nearing its own climax and the winner was quite clear.
— ○ ● ○ —
Sha Wujing formed thousands of water bullets and small creatures out of her water manipulation and attacked both Rias and Gasper. The small girl was still quite annoyed that someone had previously shouted 'Kappa' during the match. She thought it was directed at her, but in reality, it was directed at her other teammate—Salamander Tomita, an Ultimate-class Kappa.
Nevertheless, because of that misunderstanding, she was furious and resorted to using all her power to try to take out the two enemies in front of her in an unrelenting manner.
"I'm…not…a…kappa!!!" bellowed Sha Wujing, confusing both Rias and Gasper.
Rias formed a defensive magic circle in front of her and sighed. "What in the world is this little girl talking about?"
"Um, I heard from Aaron-nii that she might be sensitive to being called a 'Kappa' because she's a descendant of the original Sha Wujing," explained Gasper.
Rias nodded understandingly. "I know what she feels."
'Eh?!' Gasper was shocked by his [King]'s reaction. He didn't think she could compare, but remembered her slight inferiority complex regarding one of the current Satans—Sirzechs. She always had high expectations because of it.
"Gasper, let's do 'that'," said Rias.
The aura around Gasper Vladi changed and he nodded and both began to chant together.
"Darkness, everlasting darkness, respond to this Devil of destruction."
<
Gasper melted into his shadow, and that shadow fused with Rias'. The shadow writhed, and starting from Rias' legs, it gradually covered her entire body.
"My evil eye, brother of the evil eyes, gather onto this destruction of mine."
<
Rias' body was covered in darkness, culminating in a new form. What appeared there was a dark beast in the shape of a human, and then, Rias and Gasper, the older sister of destruction and the younger brother of darkness chanted the last verse at the same time.
"<
Everything was swallowed up by darkness. The landscape was dyed jet-black. Floating in the center of this darkness was a human-shaped Devil of darkness who was enveloped in the deep red aura of destruction. She spread her 16 wings behind her and began floating up.
Having transformed into a dark beast, Rias said, "<
Having turned into a dark beast, a third eye with a deep red pupil opened on Rias' forehead.
"<
Rias Gremory had another form—similar to her brother, but wished to keep that a secret for now. However, she wanted to show this off to the world and to the rest of the competitors in the tournament. Originally, she had wanted to try to merge this with her 'armor' form with her [Power of Destruction], but had some complications, so they decided on this instead.
Sha Wujing took a step back. The aura that the form Rias and Gasper exuded made her feel uneasy. 'What in the…is she still a devil in that…? She took down Fenrir earlier by herself, but she's using this on me…!? Is she…looking down on me?'
"Just because I'm small doesn't mean I'm weak! And I'm not a kappa!" the little girl shouted while forming larger beasts and attacks with her water manipulation.
Beasts that looked like enormous elephants, snakes, kangaroos, and sharks flew towards Rias along with large water bullets, swords, and spears. The third eye on Rias' forehead shone and the attacks stopped mid-air, shocking Sha Wujing.
She landed back on the ground and began walking towards the little youkai who tried to jump away, but noticed she couldn't move her body.
'I can't move?! …N-no, don't tell me…! She can stop time?! That little boy…he had a Sacred Gear that could stop time—she now has access to it…?!' thought Sha Wujing. She desperately tried to move her body, but couldn't. As Rias arrived in front of her, her face paled.
Rias simply smiled and eliminated her with one power blast of [Power of Destruction], amplified by Balor's power and darkness.
[1 [Knight] of [Team White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star] retire!!]
[Incredible!! Rias-sama has a new form and eliminated the current generation Sha Wujing in one shot! She's incredibly strong! I wonder how Sirzechs Lucifer-sama feels about this!?] yelled announcer.
[Indeed. It seems like Rias Gremory and her team have come a long way since last year under the Middleman's watchful eye. Although many groups and individuals of Team [DxD] have become a lot stronger under his care,] added the other.
[That is indeed the reality of this game! I would also like to remind everyone that Player Vali Lucifer's team has lost 4 of their members while all of Rias-sama's team is still on the field!!]
That was the undeniable fact of the game. Vali lost four of his team members and Rias still had her full team. It wasn't looking very promising for the descendant of Lucifer.
— ○ ● ○ —
"…You're…Maliel, aren't you?" asked Penemue.
She, Raynare and Azazel (who had joined in the operation after finding out there were fallen angels in the [Z-Team]) floated in front of someone.
Maliel was a tall male with long black hair with purple highlights. He had lime green eyes and wore a black trench coat, similar to Dohnaseek, one of Raynare's previous subordinates. He glanced at the three and sighed.
"It's been a while, Azazel, Penemue and…Raynare, huh? I was surprised to see you fighting in the tournament—I honestly expected you to be dead, especially after you joined Kokabiel and Azrael's side," said Maliel.
"…I just did everything to survive—although I admit that I wanted power too, but that doesn't excuse my actions, and I'm still repenting," replied Raynare.
Maliel smirked. "You may as well spend the rest of your life repenting for the fucked up things you did. With that said, once I beat you, how about you become my little toy again?" he asked and licked his lips.
"Hmm, well you haven't changed one bit, have you?" asked Azazel. "The rare instance when two fallen angels made a child and you came to be. Where did you even go after you left a couple of hundred years ago?"
"Oh, you know, here and there. I think I made a few hybrids over the years, but as far as I can remember they were hunted down without ever knowing why," he explained and snickered.
"That's just cruel. You just abandoned them?" asked Penemue.
She didn't like the sound of that. Perhaps it was because she was in a relationship now and expecting children in the future that she felt angry when hearing such topics. Although she would have still been angry for the lost of innocent life, but now it impacted her just a bit more.
Maliel shrugged. "We're the supernatural. It doesn't matter what we do, we stand above the humans in every way possible. So I can toy with them if I want—who's going to stop me, the human police?" he asked and laughed.
Azazel shook his head. "Your folks would be so disappointed in you if they could see you."
"They're weak, and they're dead. Does it really matter? I mean, Gzrel is the same, although he's just a hybrid that was born not too long ago—he's around 32, he's still a hatchling, no natural Sacred Gear, but he was given one…like me," he said and summoned a light blue staff with red and gold wings on both sides of the tip.
"Satanael modeled it after Indra's weapon. What was that called again? The Vajra or whatever? Well, mine can control the four main elements as well as lightning and thunder so watch out~!" he shouted playfully and aimed the staff at them.
Countless thunderbolts and lighting appeared from behind Maliel, the earth beneath them formed large hands that tried to grab the three fallen angels, flaming tornadoes were conjured and began going towards them, large blades of wind danced around them and began to slowly close into them and spears made of water flew towards them.
"Hehehehe! We've been strengthened by the researchers of the Khaos Order! I'm at Satan-class! Can you even match that?!" Maliel seemed like a deranged psychopath to them now.
"He already lost it. I know that a few leaders and I said to capture them, but fuck me…" mumbled Azazel.
"It should be easy enough, Azazel-sama," replied Raynare. She held her hand up and hundreds of thousands of light spears materialized around her.
"Well, we have our own monsters though…alright you two, take it away!" said Azazel as he hid behind Penemue.
Penemue sighed and said, "At least pretend to be manly right now." Penemue also created thousands of light spears shrouded in various elements too.
Azazel waved her off. "Too much effort! If I ever feel like it, I'll ask Jin to help me get stronger, but for now—no!"
Penemue sighed, and both women launched their attacks at Maliel's. The fallen angel that belonged to the [Z-Team] was confident in his power and that it wouldn't be affected by their attacks. He overestimated himself, and looked down on both Penemue and Raynare. Even though he knew they're mostly around Aaron and that Raynare was part of [Team Lightning]—to him, it was a fluke, that's how much he looked down on Raynare.
To his surprise, his attacks were obliterated by both women's light spears. He watched with a blank stare as his elemental attacks were shredded apart. He didn't want to believe it as he raised his staff again and created even more, but the same scene occurred again. His attacks were obliterated.
"W-what? How the hell…you're not a fighter, you old hag! And Raynare's barely has a low-class devil power!" he shouted.
Raynare became confused and pointed at herself. "…I'm part of [Team Lightning]? We won against powerful teams, you know…and we drew with a God-class team too…"
"My fiancé helped me get stronger, and I had to learn how to fight, so I'm not the same incompetent woman!" explained Penemue proudly. She was not annoyed by the 'hag' comment at all.
"Hell yeah! Let's go girls!" shouted Azazel in excitement—almost like a cheerleader.
Maliel only became angrier after hearing their words. He didn't want to believe it, he preferred to keep on living in his own fantasy world. To him, no one else was allowed to get stronger except him and his team. This man detested change that wasn't just for him. He wanted everyone to stay the same—stay weak, and he himself would get strong. He received pleasure from it and that's what he always pursued.
He was responsible for the deaths of his children, because he was the one who informed the groups of their existence. He did this secretly of course, so it wouldn't attract attention to himself. He was always nearby when the deed happened. He relished in seeing his 'offspring' die.
His own selfishness knew no end, and he kept on escalating, choosing to take advantage of people and then throwing them away once their usefulness ran out. Maliel had never once in his life formed a real bond with anyone—even his current team, the [Z-Team] was a means to an end—for him to get stronger, and once that was done, he would disappear and one day, kill them all.
Maliel continued to fire his attacks towards Azazel's group while frothing at the mouth and angrily yelling at them. "This isn't reeeeeeeeeaal!! Quit fucking with meeee!! I'm stronger!!"
"Isn't he like a…"
"Man child?" Raynare laughed. "Yeah, he is. Even when I was still part of Azrael's faction of the Khaos Brigade, he acted like this. It's like this guy never grew up. He had so many things given to him while not working that hard for it that he got used to it."
Penemue looked back at Azazel and he asked, "What? Don't compare me to him!"
"I didn't say anything, Azazel, you're just assuming things…anyway, Raynare, let's finish this. Ah, we need him alive, so don't kill him," said Penemue.
"Wait, wait, wait! I have something. Jin worked with me and Avezza with this—well one of his avatars," said Azazel as he pulled out…a pokeball!
"Isn't that—"
"Yes!" replied Azazel while grinning. "It's from that show in this world! Hahaha, I didn't think he'd use it to capture anyone, but it works like the show too, so you gotta beat that guy up to the point he can't fight back anymore! Now go, my powerful steeds!"
Penemue smacked Azazel and he apologized and handed the pokeball to Raynare.
"J-just throw it at him once he's unconscious…and ow, that was way too hard, Penemue." Azazel rubbed his head while complaining to the woman who huffed and ignored him.
"Quit acting like I'm not here!!" he shouted again. He raised his staff and created clouds of different elements and they began to train down elemental strikes on the three fallen angels.
Penemue formed a large barrier around them and said, "Raynare, you have the most recent personal history with that man, right? Go ahead and beat him."
Raynare stared at her for a few seconds before nodding. She left the barrier and flew directly towards him.
"Going straight for me, eh? Did you miss—" Raynare slammed her elbow into his stomach. She followed it up by creating a light sword and slicing his hand off.
"Oi! Raynare, keep the Artificial Sacred Gear intact and keep him alive!" shouted Azazel. He had stopped hiding behind Penemue after the barrier was erected and watched the one-sided beat down.
As blood squirted out of his missing appendage, he gritted his teeth and began to shout again, but Raynare kicked him in the face—it was so forceful that it made a strange sound and turned it 120 degrees.
"You killed him!!!" Azazel screamed in horror. However, Raynare pulled out a slime pill and forced it down his throat, healing his broken neck.
"My bad. I didn't mean to, some memories resurfaced and it annoyed me," said Raynare while staring at the man who had now wet himself.
"You guys just carry that stuff, huh?" Azazel asked Penemue and she showed him her ring. "That has storage capacity, right? Jin talked about making it public—well, at a small capacity."
"We know. He wants 'Aaron Toole' to be known throughout the human world as a popular businessman and 'Jin Skyward' to be hated by most humans as the man who killed 2 billion people," said Penemue while having mixed feelings about his plan.
Azazel already knew this to some extent and sighed. "He's an idiot if he plans on taking all of that burden on by himself."
"He's not alone," corrected Penemue. "He has us, [DxD], his comrades and you. Do YOU plan on letting him carry it alone?" she asked.
Azazel scoffed. "Of course not. So many people would be pissed off at me if I did. Many other leaders already know of this plan, so we plan on supporting him and we want to change that plan and paint someone else as the bad guy."
"Go!" shouted Raynare. When both of them looked back, they saw Maliel was falling to the ground and Raynare had thrown the pokeball at him. The ball hit him and he was 'captured' and went inside of it.
Once an individual goes inside a pokeball, a few things happen. Their powers get sealed, and they're put inside a cell similar to the ones in Grigori. They are provided with food regularly until they are allowed out into the real world again.
Maliel was put into it as Raynare had finished the 'fight' between them as Penemue and Azazel spoke. Raynare flew down and caught the ball and headed back to her superiors. Once she was there, she handed the ball back to Azazel who gave her a thumbs up.
"I'll go back to Grigori, bring back the rest of the pokeballs with you, alright? Gzrel is being confronted by Baraqiel, Ramiel and Mīkhā'īl are confronting him," said Azazel before he left the dimension.
"Did Azazel-sama ask Aaron to let fallen angels fight fallen angels?" asked Raynare.
"Beats me, I didn't hear anything about it. He just dragged us to this person—although I'm more inclined to believe that. We should—"
A large and powerful silver blade appeared in the distance and everything fell silent. Seconds later a powerful and echoing boom rang out in the entire dimension. Both female fallen angels covered their ears as it was deafening.
"W-what was that!?" Raynare asked. "Did Aaron do that?"
"I can only guess so…" replied Penemue. "Let's go take care of a few other people for this before we join up with him. We can kill the rest since we only need certain people."
Raynare reluctantly nodded—curious and worried about the sudden increase in power.
— ○ ● ○ —
Check the chapter comments to see images of certain characters.