Under Ray's hospitality, Vali and Bikou ascertained Kuroka is safe and also chose him as her husband. Although he denies it and said they were only lovers for now.
With their objectives done, Vali shifts towards the presence of Ddraig, the Red Dragon Emperor. He is sure his sense wasn't a mistake and asked Kuroka about it secretly.
That led to the current scene where Ray introduced them to Artoria.
"The presence of Ddraig you sensed is definitely her. Artoria was not a naturally born child. She is created by King Uther Pendragon and the infamous Sage Merlin using the heart of the Welsh Dragon." Kuroka explained using the knowledge that she heard from Artoria herself.
Hearing this, Vali and Bikou couldn't help but be shocked. There was no historical evidence of this ever stated anywhere about Artoria which is normal because her creation was supposed to be secret only known due to Artoria herself sharing the story.
The birth of King Arthur is also shrouded in mystery, they didn't know King Arthur had another sibling named Artoria!
Not to mention, her heart was the heart of the Red Dragon Emperor. Which means, Artoria herself is an incarnation of Dragon, a half dragon and half human. Even Albion couldn't hide his surprise that such an event took place after his and Ddraig's death.
"Then, is there anyone ever created with my heart?" Albion was hopeful as he asked Ray but Ray shook his head and said no.
"I see…" Albion couldn't help but voice his disappointment.
The conversation ended there but everyone noticed the look Vali gave Artoria. He was eager to fight her partly due to the impulse as the wielder of Albion and another part because of his desire to fight a strong opponent and Artoria being the wielder of Excalibur and bearer of the Welsh Dragon's heart is definitely a very formidable foe.
Artoria understands Vali's intention and she also has a similar impulse to fight partly as her destiny to fight Vortigen, the incarnation of Albion from her world. Thus, she took the opportunity and asked Ray for his permission to fight.
"Master, please allow us to duel." Artoria stood in front of Ray and asked with her head lowered to a bow.
"Sure. But do it in the outer courtyard." Ray waved his paw casually and reminded her to fight outside because this fight will cause a lot of destruction unlike her usual duel with Freya which is much more controlled.
With permission obtained, Artoria eagerly marched to the outer courtyard next to Asia's flower garden while everyone else followed.
Standing on the outer courtyard, Vali and Artoria prepared for their duel. Vali equipped Divine Dividing while Artoria summoned her blue battle dress and Excalibur.
"Here I come!" Artoria didn't bother to wait once both sides were ready and immediately attacked. Artoria had briefly explained the ability of Divine Dividing, so she is very careful to not allow Vali to touch her body.
On the first clash, Artoria uses Mana Burst to send an explosion slash of mana explosion which Vali immediately Divides using Divine Dividing. Not giving up, Artoria boost her speed and slashed Vali's arms, aiming to incapacitate her arms to prevent him from effectively using his Sacred Gear but Vali knew it immediately and flew back in retreat and immediately equipped his Scale Mail.
"Finally taking this seriously?" Artoria raised an eyebrow.
"It was not my intention to hold back. I hope you will not take offense of me." Vali smiled, hiding his eagerness to go all out behind the faint smile
"None taken." Artoria grinned, didn't take offense at Vali for not going all out from the start because unlike her that received help from her Master to learn about Divine Dividing, Vali have no idea about her attack and the clashes up to now are him probing her abilities.
After that, Vali hold back no longer and instantly appeared appeared next to Artoria with insane speed with his claw-like armored fingers aiming a slash at her exposed shoulder.
Artoria's eyes able to keep up with his speed easily in slow motions although her body was lagging behind and unable to block it in time. She still stay calm and moved Excalibur closer as if to slash at his left shoulder.
"You are not fast enough!" Vali said after seeing the slash however, still not lowering his guard as Artoria had yet to reveal all her cards.
In response, Artoria simply grinned and said,
"Invisible Air!"
Instantly super high compressed air appeared around her blade before exploding out and hit Vali before he can even utter the activation words of his Sacred Gear's ability.
Vali instantly get thrown into the air and hit the invisible wall around the courtyard like he was hit by a cannon ball which shattered the armor around his left waist anf expose his bruising skin underneath.
Artoria observing her opponent with her blade aimed at him but made no move while waiting for Vali to get up.
Vali picked himself up with a low grunt and wiped the blood seeping out from his helmet with his wrist while pouring his Demonic power to regenerate his broken armor.
"If you are ready, here I come." Artoria rushed at Vali once again and Vali this time didn't dare approach recklessly after knowing how skilled Artoria is.
Their clashes went very fiercely but also show how skilled both side are. Vali always fail to touch Artoria by a hairbreadth while Artoria always fail to land and strike as Vali show himself to be quite an expert in CQC, blocking and parrying her slash with his armored fist. However, on the seventh minutes mark of their duel. Vali finally manage to pierce Artoria's seemingly unbreakable wall and landed a stab on her arm with his clawed gauntlet. But not without suffering a slash too on his shoulder which shattered his Scale Mail armor once again and also his bones which made him winced in pain.
Vali grinned as it's finally the time for his Sacred Gear to shine.
"Divide! Divide! Divide!" He called thrice and stopped when he felt he reached his limit of absorption which is quite surprising as rarely anyone can cause him to reach limit within a dozen use of his 'Divide' ability.
What he didn't know is Ray forged a Servant contract with Artoria for the sole purpose of being her Mana Battery which make her able to fight stronger and longer with an endless amount of Mana backing her up on top of having Magic Core since her heart is literally a dragon that grant her immense Mana the level of a dragon that soak into her very blood on top of Dragon Factor which is quite a formidable Mana Battery that is the equivalent to having a nuclear power plant as her heart in the Moonlit World.
Even after having her power halved repeatedly, Artoria didn't lose her momentum as Mana flood back into her body from her Master and she activated Mana Burst to the maximum on her attack and also her body, temporary doubling her entire Parameters.
Vali didn't dare to receive the attack and stepped back but Artoria like a shadow, wouldn't allow him to escape a d chase after him with her blade. When her blade that is coated densely by Mana nearly slashed him, he used 'Divide' again in a panic and grunted in pain.
Clearly, Artoria is the worse match against him. Not only she have Magic Resistance that weaken his magic, her skill in swordsmanship is incomparable to the current generation Arthur Pendragon and also her seemingly endless Mana.
His only way to break the tie is if he use Juggernaut Drive which is an overkill, the same reason why Artoria didn't use her Noble Phantasm.
During a brief pause, both eyes glanced at each other and came to the same conclusion. It's time to end this duel.
Artoria's blade once again surrounded by the super compressed wind that create a deadly tornado of wind blades with her in the center while Vali sprout his eight black and leathery wings before preparing his magic.
Vali pour all the Magic power he stolen from Artoria an his Magical power combined into this attack that form an orb of pure destructive energy.
Artoria gritted her teeth because the scale of power contained in that attack is no less than a single blast from Excalibur. However, using her Noble Phantasm to offset the attack is an overkill.
When Vali launched the white shining orb of energy, Artoria slashed with a torrent of wind blades that clashed directly with the orb of energy and explode in a blinding light, unleashing the combined destructive energy of both attack on them both.
"So who won?" Ravel who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, asked.
Everyone look back at the courtyard and wait for the light to fades which reveals both Vali and Artoria. Both isn't in a good shape and very worn out by exhaustion. However, Artoria is in a better shape compared to Vali who has Magic Resistance to offset the damage. As for Vali, he relies on his armor to block the explosion and is in a rough shape. But both still capable of continuing the battle if necessary.
"It's a tie." Bikou announced loudly which both Vali and Artoria nodded, agreeing with his verdict.
After all, this is not a death battle. They are just a friendly duel. In a real death battle, the result may be different compared to this.
After the duel is done, Vali and Bikou left very content after ensuring Kuroka is safe and Vali able to found another worthy opponent like Artoria.
But after leaving the mansion, Vali stop by his old pops and share information about Artoria which is what he is tasked earlier when he reveal his intention to visit the mansion.
There were instantly an uproar in the supernatural world. The hidden secret of King Uther Pendragon and the Sage Merlin? A secret sister of the original King Arthur Pendragon? Possessed the real heart of Red Dragon Emperor? Not to mention the strength capable to stand toe to toe against Vali who is not inferior to a Satan Class!
This is a massive uproar that shook the entire Biblical factions to it's very foundations!
—————
(Just to clarify. In this battle, the Divine Dividing ability is to half power. What does 'power' covers? Physical power and Magic power? I look at fandom, reddit and YT but found no clear definition. But I assume is just Magic power since it's stated 'excess energy' is expelled out. So, naturally it can only mean Magical power only. Besides, it's illogical to also covers Physical power or else all his opponent will become super weak instantly. So, if I am wrong then just don't flame me about this.)
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