Disclaimer : I own nothing.
Chapter 26 : A new dawn.
- Shin –
Things went to shit very fast.
The stupid elf wannabe infront of me doing the cliché villain speech is now even more annoying.
Honestly I thought that I could simply get my OP teammates duke it out while I kept low and chilled. Gabriel and Lavinia should have easily gotten rid of Kokabiel if they had tried.
BUT NO.
Honestly wtf is up with these pacifist idiots. Trying to make the insane idiots who are trying to plunge the world in a Great War see some sense.
Who does Gabriel think she is, Naruto Motherfucking Uzumaki?
"Merlin take the two out of the barrier? I will take this one on my own."
Honestly I should have done this from the start. Giving them the common courtesy of joining the fight because they came all the way here(and so I could keep my skills hidden for another time) was a big mistake.
A BIG DAMN MISTAKE.
The Gamers Mind working overtime to keep my mind calm.
Infact while others should be crapping their pants at the implications of the situation….but strangely I was not.
Was it because I could leave the world whenever I wanted and all I needed was to drop a nuke on Britain for it.
No that was not it. If I had cared any less then I wouldn't have felt so much rage. Rage at the cocky bastard for being an annoying ass who can't keep sleeping in whatever hole he came from, rage at myself for having been so cautious and relying on my knowledge of this world.
Rage at this whole situation.
Know what….FUCK IT.
The bastard wants war. I will give him war. But before all that….
"I have to accept that this was something that I had not expected at all. Then again I didn't have much information about them to make a plan for such eventualities….I have to ask though, what exactly did you do to Lavinia? She seemed almost too….stupid."
"HAHAHAHA, you are still a kid in front of the likes of us. That girl was simple to take care of if you have the correct tools."
I took this chance to cast an observe on her.
Lavinia Reni(Enamored)(Cursed)(Bleeding)(Poisoned)
….
Note to self – always use observe on people just before a serious event.
"Merlin, make sure that the Daggers that were used to stab them are safe then secure them with you to prevent them being summoned away in case they have that kind of mechanism. Stop the curse on them if you can. Use potions if needed." I sent a quick message to her while Kokabiel was doing cliché villain shit, now completely sure of his victory.
"Really, mind control on girls….and I thought you would have better standards than a hentai villain."
"Heroes and villains are decided by the victor, boy. Who would care what I did when the fallen come out on the top in this war. Too unfortunate, you wouldn't be able to see it."
I dodged to the left almost on instinct just for a sword of shadows to zoom through the spot I was standing previously.
Of fucking course he had the Canis Lykaon, because….why not. Apparently Murphy didn't have enough fun with me yet.
"HAHAHAHA, what surprised? While the stupid mutt wouldn't assist me to control the sacred gear fully to my wishes, I can still use it enough to disrupt your shadow magic quite easily. You were barely facing me before with your Shadow Magic and now without it what can you do? I have three Excalibur fragments, each granting me enough power to cut you to pieces. Accept it already, I have won this round. The world will see a second Great War all for me."
….
The fucker was not even bothering to throw light spears at me anymore.
….WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS!?
Elder Wand.
I summoned the Elder Wand….which is no longer a wand. It can actually take whatever form I wish for it. After all it is only a focus to cast spells.
The form it takes is that of black gloves with a silver Hallows symbol on top of it. Like Roy Mustang's gloves but in black on my left hand.
As soon as the Elder Wand took it's place on my hand….all hell broke loose.
The entire 1 million+ MP reserves exploded out of my body filling the barrier with suffocating death and destruction energy as the bracelet hiding my power….shattered.
The mark of Death appeared on me as my eyes sparkled with unrestrained Mystic Eyes of Death perception.
"You want war right….very well I will give you war."
"Balance Breaker!"
- Sakuya –
Sakuya sensed her Master's power being unleashed. Even the part related to Death that he worked so hard to keep hidden at all times.
She didn't need to have direct vision of her Master to feel his fury at this instant.
Something had happened….and it had made her Master furious.
She stared at the hundred or so Fallen and Grim Reapers in front of her.
They had been confident seeing her alone. The Fallen had been preparing spells while the Grim Reapers had brought out their Death Scythes unleashing their deathly presences….pathetic.
Compared to what she had felt from her Master and….his patron Deity, their presence was not even noticeable.
This all changed when the power of her Master was unleashed.
The Grim Reapers went completely pale….or so their movements seemed to indicate.
The Fallen realized that they were going to end up dead no matter what, not that it was going to be any different even if her Master hadn't done what he did.
The enemies were going to die. Why? Because they were enemies….as simple as that.
Sakuya let out her ten wings as she took a step forward.
"T-ten wings? Just how many monsters do they have here?" shouted an indignant Fallen as he looked at the sight in front of him in despair.
Her magic power rises as if to assure her Master that she was there with him, that she will make the enemies pay for enraging him.
And that was what she did.
"Balance Breaker."
The sky lit up and at the very next moment….the world stopped.
Her Time Magic and Sword Birth worked at an enhanced speed under her emotions as thousands upon thousands of blades littered the space inside the barrier. Each as small as the knives she preferred but imbued with elements of different types.
Snap
She snapped her fingers and the world moved again.
The clashes of weapons and the sound of knives piercing flesh echoed throughout the entire barrier as her enemies were torn apart under the assault of her knives.
From the start of the fight till the moment that the last enemy fell to the ground in a mix of blood and gore with a horrified expression adorning his face….Sakuya Izayoi had not spoken a single word to them….
After all, there was no use talking to the dead.
"Lady Merlin, please guide me to the next field."
The trash in this barrier was cleared but that did not mean that the battle was over.
There was still work to be done and Sakuya would do her duty till the end.
- Morgiana –
Morgiana and Koneko had chosen a single barrier to fight in.
This barrier however also had more enemies than the others.
Over three hundred Fallen Angels and Grim Reapers littered the sky waiting for a chance to attack.
The two pseudo sisters took their stances, Senjutsu working actively while Touki flared from the two of them and their Sacred Gear and Artifacts both made their appearances in the form of gauntlets adorning their hands.
They started going on a rampage with physical attacks as punches and kicks were thrown each taking a Fallen or Grim Reaper with a hit.
Combo Star gaining two hundred thousand pounds of weight on each hit as the little Nekoshou's hits continued.
In the past month and a half, her strength increased by an incredible amount.
Normally what would have ended as a five hit combo could now easily go up to fifty hits and thus increasing the power behind her blows to a devastating degree with each new hit.
Morgiana taking on her own side as Boosted Gear hummed calls of 'Boost' at its regular intervals.
Her hair growing longer and ears becoming pointed as the speed and power of her attacks increases.
Morgiana was changing into her half-Fanalis form.
Eight Devil wings pop out of the back of the two girls while Morgiana promotes to the Queen piece already having attained her Master's permission before the battle.
"Surround them."
"Keep Distance."
"Use magic. They must be weak to magic."
"Attack together."
Shouts echoed from the enemies as they try to cooperate against the two trying different methods to take them down, just for all of them to get crushed one-sidedly by the overwhelming Touki and power behind the attacks.
It was then that the change occurred.
A massive wave of Magic washed over the entire barrier, freezing friends and foes alike.
The two knew this power. It was Morgiana's Master.
The presence behind the magic was like a much more concentrated form of Death that the Grim Reapers had.
But the sheer rage behind this power was what took them by surprise.
Morgiana and Koneko being adept in Senjutsu, and Touki both being arts which focused on life force rather than Death Energy froze a bit longer than the others….which came as their undoing.
An Eight Winged Fallen took this opportunity and threw a high powered light spear towards Koneko who used her Touki to defend herself at the last moment avoiding anything life-threatening but was still injured nonetheless.
The cry of pain from her sister in all but blood attracted her attention
'"SHIRONE!" with a shout Morgiana kicked the ground under her feet creating a crater meters wide as she shot forward with the speed of a bullet breaking the sound barrier.
It was as if time slowed down as she saw the Fallen bringing down another spear of light towards Koneko. Her heart pounding against her chest as her eyes widen. She was not fast enough to reach there.
Morgiana had finally found a family after so long. Shirone and Kuroka were all but sisters to her. Scenes of the last two months flashed before her eyes as the blood pumped faster in her veins.
Faster, she needed to go faster, faster, faster FASTER!
….it was this desperation to become stronger and go faster that broke the barrier holding her back all this while and when it finally broke….she felt the power.
"BALANCE BREAKER."
"WELSH DRAGON BALANCE BREAKER!: BOOSTED GEAR SCALE MAIL!"
The echoes of Boost filled the air as the distance between them closed faster than ever and the kick that landed on the Fallen did not throw him away….rather it completely blasted him to pieces in a rain of blood and gore.
The surrounding enemies backed off with a look of horror crowning their visages.
"Shirone, are you alright?" enquired Morgiana as she took out a vial of HP potion from her pocket.
The Shirone in front of her faded however as a voice came from her back.
"Youjutsu Illusions, I'm fine." In a bland tone unique to the girl that she has come to see as her younger sister.
A feeling of relief washed up on her whole being as she hugged the embarrassed girl into her now….metallic plate covered chest….which was followed by a sense of great shame as she recalled her behavior just now.
They were in the middle of a battle and she was so taken aback by the sight of Koneko getting hurt that she hadn't even sensed her presence in a completely different location using her Senjutsu. Morgiana truly wanted to hide in a hole right now from the shame she was feeling right now.
"You got Balance Breaker. Congratulations Onee-chan." said Koneko earning a light nod from the scale mail covered girl.
"Congratulations Partner. We are one step closer to our goal." came the voice of Ddraig from the Boosted Gear.
"Senpai seems very angry." said Koneko as she turned with her back against Morgiana's back covering her blind spot.
The enemies hadn't dared to attack them even now seeing the end of the Eight Winged Fallen in such a gory fashion a few moments ago.
"He is. He never uses 'that' until he really needs to." said Morgiana as she remembered her Master using 'that' power when they had encountered a Variant Boss as her Master called it in one of the dungeons.
The presence of Death made her and Shirone very uncomfortable because they had just started learning Senjutsu and so their sensitivity towards that was much worse than what experienced users might have.
"Let's finish up here before we go to check what happened there."
"Hmm."
And thus they restarted the massacre.
The echoes of Boost sounded throughout the barrier and Morgiana almost disappeared from one place and appeared at another before tearing her enemies apart. The only indication of her movement was the sonic booms which would reach the place….after she had already completed the work there.
Koneko was not behind. Her illusions made her almost impossible to track and that in turn meant that she couldn't be dodged that easily.
Stacks upon stacks of the Combo Star was gathered as they then unleashed insane amounts of destructive force upon the enemies.
The enemy forces were whittled down by the seconds.
- Ingvild –
Ingvild had heard tales of the Great War from her parents before they had passed away. They spoke of hundreds and thousands of Angels, Devils and Fallen Angels who brought destruction to the lands they fought at. The earth became desolate and the rivers flowed with blood and dead bodies littered everywhere.
The stories had more than once been the topic of nightmares for Ingvild and now her nightmares were becoming real.
She sent a wave of water towards the shower of light spears coming towards them, drowning the light spears and the Fallen Angels behind it.
The water wave is then quickly frozen as it blocks a subsequent barrage of light spears and cracks. However before it could break apart, the wall of ice changes to shrapnel and shoots towards the enemy piercing the Fallen who are not fast enough to dodge it.
An errand light spear flying towards Ingvild is stopped by a semi-transparent barrier as the one who protected her takes a step forward and banishes the light spear back towards the attackers.
Hermione with her new staff in hand has a look of extreme concentration as she molds the earth into gargoyles and sends them towards the enemies while Ingvild herself supports her with her Sea Serpent of the End. The gigantic dragons of water tearing through the ranks of the enemies as they clear the path in front of the two of them.
Suddenly a huge wave of demonic energy washed over the barrier stopping everyone in their tracks. The two of them were the first ones to recover as they knew who had released that power.
"Shin-sama seems to be really angry." Ingvild muttered to her friend as she sent another water dragon towards the currently frozen Fallen Angels in the sky clearing their immediate surroundings.
"Something must have happened to make him snap like this. Let's finish this section fast to take a look. If he is using 'that' power then things might not be that simple." replied Hermione as she waved her staff towards the ground transfiguring a number of stone golems and then another spell to change them into Iron. The Gargoyles had already done their share of work as they retreated in time for a shower of huge boulders shot by the Golems to hit the Fallen Angels they were harassing, taking them down in one big volley.
With the Golems defending them, Ingvild could attack freely. She used her Sacred Gear to take control of her magic and the number of dragons multiplied in the air. It went from two to four and then soon over a dozen as they wrecked havoc on the enemy forces.
The fight was starting to get more and more vicious as volleys of spells were exchanged from both the sides.
The two of them had to use MP and SP potions often so that they could continue the fight. Ingvild's magic was extremely exhausting due to her lack of practice over the last hundred years or so. This normally would have led her to be exhausted if they hadn't been using the potions that Shin had given them to always keep with themselves.
- Meredith –
Meredith was fighting alone in her barrier. Her skills were dangerous to be used around other devils….and she didn't trust her so-called 'allies' enough to have them watch her back.
A light bullet struck the barrier around her as a moment later, a holy nail was returned back as a favour to the attacking enemy.
Yup. She should have taken that juice before she left.
Now she had to fight off these annoying exorcists while being parched.
Holy bullets were absorbed by the Barrier as the holy nail absorbed the energy and glowed even brighter.
The fools didn't even understand what they were doing.
The worst class of cannon fodder there can be.
They thought that just because they had greater numbers and could shoot in a general direction, they would win the fight easily.
The barriers being connected to the holy nail was completely unnoticed by everyone as all the holy and light energy was being absorbed by her sacred gear and her own attack was being enhanced.
The holy nail sent by her hit the ground causing a massive crater in its wake, taking down dozens of exorcists in a single hit.
She prepared her spell and channeled the rest of the collected energy into it as she unleashed it upon the idiots that were below her.
A wave of light passed over them. A large number of them closed their eyes or took cover behind something to avoid it.
Useless.
When the light finally died down, they looked around each other.
….
No one was dead.
They were still alright.
Was that spell a failure? thought the cannon fodder.
That obviously was not the case however. How could it be that her spell wouldn't work on idiots like these?
The spell was never meant for direct damage after all.
And it showed its effect as the cries of the exorcists echoed in the barrier. Their guns turned on each other as they shot and backstabbed their allies.
Subverting their very beliefs and concepts of the world.
That was the true power of her Sacred Gear.
The overpowered Holy Aura was just a bonus.
It seems that the idiots didn't even research any of this.
Then again if they had been smart enough to research their enemies then they wouldn't have attacked this territory in the first place.
Meredith watched the exorcists kill each other with a look of apathy. Some might say that she was too cold hearted. Was that truly the case? She was smart enough not to feel pity for idiots that wanted to take her life. That is utter stupidity. Her boss as well as Merlin had hammered this lesson into her head. Not that she needed much convincing to understand it. She had lived a hard enough life to know how this world actually worked. People would use someone and then throw them aside at the barest of inconveniences. This was the type of world they lived in. In this world, even her own father refused to accept her and was planning to use her for her sacred gear. She wouldn't have mercy on him so why would someone expect her to have mercy on her enemies.
Another blast echoed through the barrier as another of her holy nails struck the impromptu barricade that some of the exorcists were hiding behind completely blasting it to smithereens.
At that very instant, a huge wave of demonic power washed over the entire barrier.
"….oh wow. Looks like someone got the boss really mad. Wonder what happened there?" thought Meredith.
Her thoughts however were disturbed by another round of light bullets on her barrier.
Do these idiots never learn?
Well it doesn't matter now anyways. As much as the boss likes to hide his powers and play it safe, he can be pretty fucking brutal when he decides to get serious.
Seriously, who likes to specialize in debuff magic and curses?
Oh sure she had often thought of using curses on her enemies(also people who annoyed her) but still immersing himself to using curses to that extent is just….insane.
Huh, that makes more sense now.
Her boss was insane after all.
- Shin –
Mirror Alice.
A Sacred Gear that was barely used even with the BS potential it had.
But then again they had made the mini Unlimited Blade Works host into nothing more than a sidekick and wasted all its potential so I can hardly expect anything better from them.
A mirror has so many possibilities.
Reflection alone can be used in ways that can bring even overpowered enemies to their knees.
As a semi-transparent blue zone extended around me covering the entire barrier, I looked at Kokabiel who was still smug about his victory as my Balance Breaker takes effect.
What do I do with him?
Kill him?
….
Nah, that's not good enough.
Killing him would be too merciful.
He wants to cause a war and use ME as a stepping stone for it.
Fucker had the balls to even think about it.
Sure he got Lavinia through a hindsight and she attacked Gabriel. Mind Control or not, he did sneak in a hit.
Just looking at his face is annoying.
Sure I provoked him to get him angry. It is after all a decent tactic to get your opponent riled up. Trash talking in games is a thing after all.
No, I won't kill him.
I will destroy this victory of his right in front of his eyes.
I will stomp on his dream of starting this war while he watches helplessly.
No mercy for Kokabiel.
I raised my left hand and a ball of the PoD appeared in my palm.
Kokabiel raised an eye at it.
"So you have that accursed power too. Good, no Great. I can kill two wielders of that cursed power today. It will be a treat to leave the heads of you and your fiancé as a gift for Sirzechs."
Black Fog
An area of effect Spell that spreads a powerful poisonous fog which also blocks vision.
The user is completely immune to the effect but others have their strengths sapped the longer they are inside the fog.
The fog seeps out of my body as it starts filling the air in the barrier.
Kokabiel probably sensed the danger of the fog as he took his distance.
"Resorting to petty tricks now, Devil. Too bad it won't work." He flapped his wings, blowing the fog away from himself.
Too bad for him….we are in a barrier.
His body starts fading away and I push my Senjutsu to the limit almost instantly.
Excalibur Transparency.
The area around my body is covered by fog hiding almost the entirety of my body.
Kokabiel appears right behind the fog covered area and a giant spear of light shoots towards me from almost point blank distance. I could sense the power of the light spear was almost twice that of his normal ones.
Excalibur Blessing.
His speed became much higher than before so much so that I could barely move from my previous place using Touki.
Excalibur Rapidly.
The light spear neared my body as I formed a sphere of PoD in the palm of my left hand.
The Elder Wand worked its magic, boosting it by 100%. Extra boost to Death and Destruction type. I push around fifty thousand mana in that shot.
Kokabiel is following closely behind the light spear still under his transparency, his incomplete Excalibur drawn towards me.
In the moment before the light spear can hit me, both the spear and my sphere of PoD….vanish.
Kokabiel is caught off-guard by this as he moves almost instinctively towards the side and dodges a spear twice the size he shot at me by a hair's breadth….only to have the PoD tear through his wings.
"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH."
4 black Fallen Angel wings fall down the sky and onto the ground.
The light spears that missed him vanish again and at the same moment my own body vanishes inside the fog.
The Cloak of Invisibility.
The fog has already covered half of the barrier and is still increasing.
"Mirror Alice Form One: Reflection Zone."
It creates a semi-transparent zone around me quite similar to Trafalgar D. Law's Room.
Any energy based attack in this room can fall under the effect of my Sacred Gear if I want. With those attacks, I can do any of the two different things.
First: Reflect the attacks through any area in the Reflection Zone at twice the power.
Second: Make an identical copy of the attack and treat them as any other energy attack.
It obviously has its limitations too.
The strength of the attacks that I can reflect or replicate is solely dependent on my own Magic Power.
If the attack is in direct contact of other living beings, I cannot manipulate it.
So, someone can pull an energy based attack and as long as they are in contact with the attack, I wouldn't be able to do shit to it.
Or simple just plain brute force.
If it surpasses my limit to reflect, I will be on my own.
The last one is that it takes a lot of mana to maintain it over a large zone. A hundred meters around me might be easy but the more it increases, the more the mana consumption increases. I have to rely on my MP potions to keep this up even with my already insane magic reserves.
The zone will however grow with my mastery of the sacred gear and my own stats too.
The true power of this Balance Breaker is however not the reflection part even with its insane potential….it is not even close to the real power of this Balance Breaker….which is for me to decide where the attacks will appear.
If I want, I can make a sphere of PoD at my palm and make it appear right on Kokabiel's face at double its original power as long as he is inside my zone.
That is what makes this Balance Breaker truly broken.
Right now, I simply reflected the attack from directly behind Kokabiel and my PoD in the path of his escape.
I had to hold out on almost all of my dangerous skills because it would have affected Gabriel and Lavinia and I couldn't keep count of the trajectories of the hundreds of light spears and magic attacks flying around or release poisonous gas in a closed space with my allies around me and I would like these trump cards to only be used when there are no other witnesses.
It has a greater effectiveness with an element of surprise. If the people are prepared, they might have a chance to fight longer.
Not that it would do anything, they would die anyways.
This might not be as flashy as Rias' Susanoo or Akeno's Gate of Railguns as I like to call it but it is a precise killer.
The shouts of Kokabiel echo through the barrier.
"You wanted a war, didn't you? Here, you have it. Why don't you enjoy it Cocky-bill? Ah! I get it. Not so eager to fight, now that you are a mere Eight Winged Fallen Angel?"
"YOU FILTHY BASTARD, I WILL RIP YOU TO SHREDS."
Kokabiel charges towards me or rather the place from where my voice appeared once again, Excalibur drawn.
I dodge towards the side but his speed is still greater than mine and the blade rips through my kidney….
BOOMMMMMMM
Shadow Clones are such a hack.
….and right at that very moment, the light spears return doubled in number as they sat in the area of the explosion causing even more damage.
Spheres of the Power of Destruction start lighting up the air inside the black fog that has already covered 90% of the barrier all around me now.
Oh the cat and mouse game has only started.
He wanted war, didn't he? I will give him as much war as he wants. SO MUCH so that he wouldn't DARE even think about it EVER.
The blast clears with a rush of wind as a bloodied figure of Kokabiel appears in the open again.
His shoulder has a deep wound caused by the same light spear and his hands holding Excalibur have deep burns from the explosion.
"So will you still be a cadre with Eight Wings now? Ah, yes I remember, you were kicked out of Grigori as a traitor to your kind. Even then Eight Winged Fallen Angels are worth quite a lot aren't they? That is however….no good."
BOOM BOOMM BOOOMMMMM BOOOOMMMMMM.
He has learned enough to know that he cannot throw his light spears at me or it will only be supplying me with extra ammunition.
However, who decided that I needed others to attack me to reflect anything?
Four Spheres of the PoD crash against the back of Kokabiel as three more wings fall and are erased completely before reaching the ground.
"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
His fingers wind around the incomplete Excalibur as he moves from the place towards me only to be stopped by a wall of PoD.
"My my, what a brave fellow you are Cocky-bill? Still holding the sword and willing to fight. Nope, how can I let you do that? Injured people shouldn't fight. Here lemme help you with it."
Five spheres of the Power of Destruction condense directly behind me as two of them disappear while Kokabiel is none the wiser. It appears directly in front of his face. He flies towards the side to dodge but that attack was only a diversion.
The second, much smaller sphere of PoD appears directly at the index finger of his right hand, which was also holding the Excalibur, completely destroying it and disappearing right before touching the sword itself.
He gripped the sword harder with his remaining fingers as he moved to the side only to have one more sphere of PoD hit exactly on another one of his fingers destroying it completely.
"My my, is your grip on your sword getting lighter cocky-bill? How would that be any fair now? Didn't you want a war? All that schmuck about the Fallen Angels being greatest and all? What happened to all that bravado? I have barely had any fun yet so don't go weak on me right now."
"ARHHHHHHHHHHH I-I-I….."
"Ah, could it be that you are holding back because I don't have a weapon? My, how honourable of you. Here let me even out the odds."
A shining sword appears in my hand giving out a Holy aura greater than the incomplete Excalibur. Arondight had come to play.
The fog had already started affecting Kokabiel by now and I could see his stats dropping bit by bit. It will stabilize soon but this is more than enough for me to fight him off using my Touki.
"Well since you have Excalibur, I might as well have its sister sword. That should even things right?" I said as a few spheres of the PoD appeared right in front of his face. He dodged it barely and slashed the rest with his incomplete Excalibur which while it swatted away the PoD, it left his stance weakened and the power behind his swing reduced and I exploited that opportunity to the fullest as Arondight stuck true and shattered the blade of the incomplete Excalibur with extreme ease.
The swords from Type Moon worlds are pretty broken.
This one even more so and while it may not be Ea, it is one of the top swords from that world too.
"Ah, your sword broke? What are you going to do now Cocky-bill?"
I didn't give him a chance to reply as another sphere of PoD stuck at another one of his fingers.
"YOU will do NOTHING."
Another one of the fingers is destroyed.
"You will just be quiet and watch as I destroy everything that you have worked for."
The Mystic Eyes slipping in between my speech making my eyes light up in between my speech.
A blast claims his thumb and the hilt of the blade leaves his hand and falls to the ground with a clink.
"What happened Cocky-bill? Why are you not answering me?"
Boom.
His entire hand was destroyed.
"Answer me dammit?"
BOOMMMM
The other hand followed the first.
"Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?"
BOOMMMMM BOOOOOOOMMMMMMM
The Rest of his wings followed the hands leaving only one half destroyed wing and stumps on his back.
"Don't you want a war?"
BOOOOOMMMM
His right leg knee and below was erased.
"Don't you think that the Fallen Angels are at the top of the world? So why so mum my friend?"
I sensed him trying to gather his remaining power inside of him. Is he trying to detonate himself?
Trying to escape me through Death?
A sphere of the PoD struck his jaw straight and another one shattered his other leg erasing it completely soon after.
"Did I permit you to die cretin?"
At this point, his control over the Canis Lykaon had faded and I took an opportunity and a shadow of mine rose from Kokabiel's shadow and bound him while another one rose and poured a HP potion through his now half destroyed jaw. The potion stabilized the wounds but didn't heal the limbs.
I didn't need him healed. I kept the poison from killing him but that doesn't mean that I would have any mercy for him at all.
Mind Haze, Weaken Bones, Stiffen Limbs, Increased Pain Sensitivity, Nightmare, Slow, Inhibit Healing, Inhibit Regeneration, Inhibit Spirit….
No Mercy means, no mercy at all.
"You will watch as I erase your hopes one by one till you have nothing left and then when you beg me to kill you….I might permit you to die if I wish it so."
I dispelled the fog after Kokabiel went down.
The barrier around me was dispelled soon after as I was rushed and hugged by Rias.
I guess they saw me snapping like that.
It doesn't matter if they saw me like that. I am still angry. Angry at my dumb teammates, angry at Gabriel for being a fool, angry at Lavinia for getting cursed….angry at my own self for not being able to so see all that in front of me.
"Calm down Shin. We won. It is fine now." Rias' words flowed incessantly as she tried to soothe my worries and calm me down even slightly.
"My powers are extremely destructive in nature, young one. Beware not to fall into their allure and lose yourself. That will take away much fun from my Game."
….those words snapped me out of my rage filled thoughts.
Gamers' Mind helps me keep think clearly in all situations but it doesn't inhibit my emotions. Emotions can still move me.
Is it something I should be afraid of?
Nope.
If anything I should be glad for this.
It means that I am not a robot. The Game is not making me into an emotionless puppet.
That also adds to the need to learn Occlumency in my immediate needs now.
I have much more tolerance to anger right now but that does not mean I am completely beyond it.
It is something that I need to get a grip over as soon as I can to cover up this weakness of mine.
The fighting in other areas died down as well and the barriers were dispelled one after another.
I walked towards Merlin while Rias kept my arm in a hug to keep me company so that I calm down a little more.
I saw the others approaching me one by one. They had finished their fights as well. Morgiana was in her Balance Breaker. She finally got it.
Nice.
Even I couldn't make her have a breakthrough to achieve Balance Breaker.
The prayer system inside each of the sacred gears made it so that Balance Breakers only awakened at the times of great stress.
On the other side, Kiba was coming out as well.
I couldn't see his fight as he was quite a distance from my barrier but by the blood covered form of his, I can only say that he had let go in this fight as well. The Holy Demonic sword in his hand gave me an idea of what happened there. I guess that some things just happen like that. At the very least he is a little stronger now.
Ingvild and Hermione were joined by Meredith and Gasper.
They all seem to be fine for now.
"Jibril" I called out.
The Flügel soon returned my call as she appeared in front of me and kneeled on one knee.
At that instant, a number of teleportation circles appeared in the area as well.
I recognized Lucifer's magic circle and the Leviathan's circle, others not so well.
Several strong presences appeared in the area one after another.
I could sense two presences of extremely powerful holy alignment as well as Azazel's presence.
Just like the police, to arrive after everything has been taken care of.
I could give less fucks about them right now. I had a job to take care of.
I dragged Kokabiel with a shadow and threw him in front of Jibril.
"Keep him alive and don't let anyone take him away until I say otherwise."
Jibril bowed.
"It shall be done my Lord."
I started walking towards Merlin from there.
"GABRIEL!"
Ah, looks like someone found it out.
"…he..ehe…heheheh" a cracked voice sounded behind me.
….THIS FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT, KOKABIEL WAS LAUGHING.
BAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM
"Shut your damn mouth, you piece of wretch." Jibril growled.
The crater under his face was good enough for me to let that slip.
I walked towards Merlin with Jibril dragging Kokabiel behind me to see a completely new scene.
Michael was on his knees hugging an unresponsive Gabriel and the lady in question herself looked like she had lost her soul. Her eyes were dead and she was completely unresponsive to anyone.
Behind them was another red haired Angel. Observe shows that he is Archangel Uriel or Uriel of the Holy Flames.
Sirzechs, Serafall and Azazel were looking at the scene with a look of pity and sadness but that did not stop their senses from becoming more alert every second.
They all snapped towards me when I arrived at the area and it took me a while to realize that I was not holding back my demonic energy. A million mana points were still running through the air around me. I slipped in a new bracelet and walked towards my destination. Their enquiries can wait for now.
I walked towards Merlin to get an evaluation of the situation. She was currently treating Lavinia who looked just as dead in her eyes.
"What was the curse? Did you find anything about it? Are they out of danger?"
Merlin was examining the dagger and turned towards me.
"The curse was delivered from this dagger. I can say that it is a divine artifact that was cursed, its original purpose being twisted for it. It is related to the divinity of a God of Love from what I can tell. I don't really have much experience with Divine Magic so I cannot tell you the details. The black substance that constitutes the veins on the dagger is a completely different thing though. It is….a poison….a hate based curse poison. I haven't felt something so filled with malice in my entire life. I think you should take a look to see if you can find anything about the origin." she passed on the Dagger to me to take a look.
"Did you find out how this made Gabriel fall?" I asked as I used Observe on the Dagger to get any information out of it.
"I will hold my opinions until I get your mind about this subject."
Cursed Dagger of the Fall
….pretty fucking original name.
A dagger made by Hades out of the arrow of the Greek God Eros or Cupid which was shot at him to make him fall in love with Persephone. This dagger however was soaked in the Blood of the Fallen Angel Samael to imbue it with the properties of the cursed blood and twisting the original aspect of love to obsession. Due to Samael's curse by the God of the Bible, it has the ability to cause an Angel to fall.
+500% damage to Dragon and dragonic beings.
Causes [Enamored] status on anyone struck by it when it is thrown.
That Son of a bitch Hades is going to pay.
Why can't he stay quietly in his own home and leave others alone?
"This is made up of the arrow of The Greek God of Love, Cupid. If I had to take a guess, then this arrow broke past Gabriel's mental defenses and the poison on it caused impure thoughts to course through her. Add to that Samael's blood and the curse of God and even an Archangel can fall. Normally Samael's blood alone wouldn't cause someone like Gabriel to fall but if her mental defenses were breached with a divine instrument, then it is a completely different story." I concluded my hypothesis.
I mean this arrow even got to Hades and say what you will about the Ainz wannabe, he is still one of the Top Ten Strongest Beings in this world.
Compared to him, getting to Gabriel is too easy. After all, all she needs is a few stray thoughts and baam, she will fall just like that.
Divide Divide
My thoughts were distracted by the sounds in the background.
Vali was standing in front of Lavinia in his Balance Breaker with his hands stretched out and a giant spear of light was reduced to motes of light.
Soon enough the Slash Dog team also took their places around Lavinia. I did see their eyes red and a lack of one member though.
In front of them was Archangel Uriel forming another spear of light towards Lavinia.
Ah, fuck.
Can't these fuckers stop this shit for a single moment? We just had a battle of our own and now they are causing trouble again.
"Merlin, stop them from fighting." I sighed. I'd rather not lose my temper right now.
"Sure."
A Barrier formed in between them temporarily separating the two groups in two different Perfect Cubes.
"SHIN!" came Serafall's surprised voice.
"I am in charge of this territory along with Rias and Sona and none of us have given them permission to fight." I turned towards a flabbergasted Michael as continued, "We just had a big fight of our own so please be quiet and sit in the corner while I fix this situation."
"Do you think this is a game? What do you think you can fix? My sister has fallen because of her. She needs to be judged." came the shouts of Uriel from the barrier.
Is this a game?
Damn right, this is a game.
Why the fuck is he shouting this much even when I said I was fixing the situation.
Where is the mute button on this damn thing? Didn't Big G put one of those here?
I was extremely annoyed at this so I turned towards Michael and asked, "Isn't the Sin of Wrath also a sin? Why is this idiot not falling? Did you hack the system or something? I told him that I am doing something about this and yet he can't keep his trap shut."
"Shin. Please let Uriel go. He is just upset at his sister's condition. It is not his intention to provoke anyone." Sirzechs walked up to me after talking to the others and asked. I could see that he was genuinely upset at this outcome. He and Serafall had been trying for peace for a long time and just before the talks could conclude, this happened. Obviously he would be upset.
Michael for his part looked sadder than angry. Obviously he was feeling anger but he was still the most controlled of the Angels in existence. No wonder they made him their leader.
The strange thing however was that his eyes showed some….hope at my words. He also didn't stop me like Uriel tried.
I nodded towards Merlin who canceled the Perfect Cube and the two groups backed away but still held hostile glares towards each other.
I ignored them for now. I had more important things to do right now.
I kneeled in front of Gabriel and asked, "Gabriel, look at me."
She didn't respond, her limbs without strength she looked as if she were a puppet with her strings cut.
I persisted and made her look towards me, "Look at me. I know we haven't known each other for long enough but I need you to trust me on this one. I WILL MAKE YOU AN ANGEL AGAIN. Just have a little faith."
Without wasting any more words, I stood up and used Shun Shun Rikka.
"Shun Shun Rikka."
Azazel came forward and shook his head.
"That won't work Shin. Temporal Inversion cannot change back an Angel's falling. Believe me. I have tried." I looked at him and so did the others. "I tried to have my own falling reversed, even got the bangs of my hair back to blonde….then father found out and fixed that loophole. In the heavens, there is a book that records the name of all the angels. Previously when an Angel fell, their names were crossed out but after my….experiment, they get erased. There is currently no angel in Heaven named Gabriel." sighed Azazel.
"My my. Are you doubting my Lord's skill, Fallen Angel Azazel?" said Jibril who finally had enough of these plebeians treating her Lord and Master as a child.
So what if the fake had fallen. If her creator didn't want her to fall, he shouldn't have made it so. She was honestly surprised that it took the fake so long after all.
Good thing Flügels had no such problems.
Azazel just shook his head while someone else was having trouble controlling their anger.
"You don't understand. Gabriel is a Fallen Angel. No one can change it. This is Gabriel's new reality now."
"Then I reject that reality. Sōten Kisshun, I reject."
A golden shield of light was formed over Gabriel as the pixies took the corners and reinforced the shield.
My MP started dropping at an incredible rate. It was much much worse than using a Balance Breaker or some of my heavy consumption skills. I took out an MP potion from my inventory and drank it.
"What does he think he can do? He is just a brat too over his head to think he can undo the system of God. Who does he think he is? Father? Just because he made some artifacts doesn't mean he can claim to….."
Uriel's rant was cut off in the middle as a scythe made of blackish destruction energy touched his throat.
Jibril was getting annoyed over this pest who had been continuously dismissing her Lord and Master, her eyes showing a cross shape telling everyone that she was getting pissed.
If Gabriel had been aware of the situation right now, she would have advised her brother to keep his trap shut.
Uriel formed a light spear in his own hands in defense.
Azazel, seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, decided to intervene. They couldn't afford to fight each other right now. "Now now, hold it right there." He took a step in their direction but was surprisingly held back by a hand on his shoulder. Looking back, he saw it was his adopted son, Vali with a serious look like in his eyes.
"Don't do it Azazel. Don't intervene in….that woman's fight." said Vali with an expression that Azazel that was of hesitation and fear.
He looked back questioningly.
"She erased Pluto who was empowered beyond your own power level like he was not even worth her time. It was not a fight, more like a one sided beatdown and then she simply wiped him out till there was nothing left. I am afraid that even I won't be able to do anything against her right now with my Juggernaut Drive." Vali shook his head as he clenched his fists again.
Azazel for his part did show his experience as a person who had led the Fallen Angels for centuries. With a slight widening of his eyes being his only reaction, he looked at the two who were staring each other out and then sighed before walking up nevertheless.
"Jibril."
The said Flügel looked towards him.
"Shin is working right now. He wouldn't want a fight to disturb that. Could you please hold it back for now?"
"Oh!... Sure."
The pink haired Flügel backed off as if her killing intent a moment ago had been nothing but an illusion all this time.
Vali almost sweatdropped watching this scene.
I threw away the fourth bottle of the mana potion aside when I got the first reaction.
The tips of her wings changed back to white.
"….impossible" breathed out Azazel.
Michael's jaw fell to the ground and when he regained his composure, tears threatened to come to his eyes.
The surroundings quieted down suddenly.
Three more mana potions later, Gabriel's wings were white again as I fell down on my back and gasped for breath.
5 million MP for that alone.
Just how strong was the God of the Bible to make Archangels like these?
If what Azazel said was true then to write or rather re-write the name of someone like Gabriel in whatever that book is, the energy needed would be the same as creating a new Gabriel.
And she was not even the strongest of the Archangels of all.
I couldn't help but turn back to the now foaming and frothing Kokabiel and cancel the spells on him….just so that I can smirk at his face.
Fucker thought he had won.
Nope.
I win.
I felt my anger fade away slowly at this.
I didn't realize that I was so mad to be honest. Death said that her powers affect the mind? Was that the power of Destruction or the Hallows?
The Hallows were known to have that effect.
I have to research more about it.
Now what to do about Kokabiel? No way in hell is he going to get out of this so easily.
"IMPOSSIBLE! THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE AT ALL. NO ONE CAN TURN A FALLEN ANGEL BACK TO GRACE. NO ONE….except….NO NO NO NO NO. HE IS DEAD. IS THIS ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR NIGHTMARES? I WON'T FALL FOR THIS. I HAVE WON. I HAVE STARTED ANOTHER GREAT WAR."
Ah, fuck.
That kinda ruined the mood.
The fucker went mad. Maybe I should have kept the nightmares at a low level?
The outburst did turn everyone's attention to the idiot though as they planned how to punish him.
Michael walked towards me….and kneeled.
"Thank You for this grace. You have saved Heaven and all the three factions from a fate worse than we could imagine. Gabriel is the emotional support for the entirety of Heaven and if….something had happened to her, I couldn't have done anything even if I wanted to. Thank You. We will owe you this favor so long as we live."
This guy is really sincere.
I however don't want the leader of Heaven kneeling in front of me. His fans might try to hunt me down.
The subject of the conversation was still quiet though, looking at her wings as if she was dreaming again.
+40 Reputation with Michael(60/100) for helping Gabriel.
+40 Reputation with Uriel(10/100) for helping Gabriel.
+80 Affection with Gabriel(100/100) for helping her.
+20 Reputation with Azazel(65/100) for helping Gabriel and preventing the war.
+20 Reputation with Sirzechs Lucifer(60/100) for preventing the war.
+ 15 Affection with Serafall Leviathan(97/100) for preventing the war.
+40 Reputation with the Devil Faction(50/100) for preventing the war.
+40 Reputation with the Grigori(20/100) for preventing the war.
+40 Reputation with the Heaven Faction(20/100) for preventing the war.
Perk Gained [Michael: 50]
[Angel's Grace]
Holy Beings are attracted towards you.
Easy Affection, Obedience and Reputation with Holy Beings.
Perk Gained [Sirzechs Lucifer: 50]
[Lucifer's Pride]
You have gained the acknowledgement of the current Lucifer.
Easy Affection, Obedience and Reputation with the Devil Race. They will defer to you at times(depends on the strength difference between the two people).
Perk Gained [Azazel: 50]
[Fallen Light]
Fallen Angels are attracted towards you.
Easy Affection, Obedience and Reputation with Fallen Angels.
Perk Gained [Gabriel: 50]
[Angel's Grace]
Perk already exists, changed with a different reward.
[Innocent Love]
Innocent beings and air-headed people are drawn towards you.
Easy Affection, Obedience and Reputation with Innocent beings and air-headed people.
Skill Upgraded [Gabriel: 100]
[Holy Resistance(Master)](Passive)
25% damage reduced from Holy attacks.
Race Change available – Angel.
Perk Gained [Devil Faction: 50]
[Devilish Charm]
The Devil Race as a whole has a favourable impression of you.
Easy Reputation with Devil Faction.
100 Affection with Gabriel!
I knew I would get a great boost in Affection and maybe even Obedience, one of my reasons to do this, but this….
I have no words.
Gabriel looked up at me, tears in her eyes as she jumped at me and pulled me into a hug.
Her tears streamed down my chest as she gripped my shirt even tighter and sobbed like a child while mumbling 'thank you' the entire time.
I was extremely exhausted with the process just now so I just remained sitting on the ground and caressed her head a little.
I seriously need a nap right now.
- Interlude(All Things Must Die) –
Death watched as her new champion sat on the ground caressing the hair of the Angel in his embrace while going over the events of the day.
She had obviously known what was going to happen, from the attack to the participation of the Grim Reapers to the intentions of Hades.
There was a reason why Hades had been able to feel her presence after all.
The God of the Dead had grown too big for his britches.
Hades was generally one of her favourite Gods in other worlds. A smart man who kept to his duties without any of the disgusting habits of his brothers, which in itself was a great blessing to be honest.
This iteration of Hades however was one of the worst ones she had known, a complete opposite of the others. He was the opposite of the Hades of other worlds in every quality that made them likable.
But she could care less. As long as he didn't interfere with her domain, she was fine with it.
And when she says interfering with her domain, she meant trying to harm her Champion.
An entertainment or not, Shin was her Champion, her representative in this world and now a mere god who gets his powers from her dares to try and hurt him.
Sure he hadn't known about Shin's identity but the mere fact that he tried to hurt anyone connected to her in the first place is bordering on treason to her being.
She clenches her fingers as a cry of agony rips the quiet of the Realm of Death.
Pluto, the Legendary hehe Grim Reaper who was just erased by Jibril was seen in a semi-transparent state howling as death energy tortured it's very being.
She quite liked the Flügels. They were called the Angels of Death after all and they certainly kept true to that name more than these wastes of Grim Reapers.
If he had stopped when he heard about Shin's identity, maybe he would have gotten away easier….but he didn't. He instead tried to kill Jibril and then planned to kill Shin to hide this fact….and THAT was unforgivable.
Moreover, he was already involved in many sins against the world due to the orders of Hades that would have removed any case of him being forgiven as it is.
Now what to do about Hades.
It was a fact that she couldn't intervene directly in the affairs of the world so how can she make him suffer for acting against her.
Her eyes drift towards her champion and an idea clicks in her mind.
Yes.
Sure she cannot interfere directly in the world.
But her representative can. Isn't that his purpose after all?
She waves a hand to form a task for her champion as the blue flames in her eyes flare and her lips curve to a semblance of a smile.
- Shin –
Quest Added
[All things must die]
Hades has crossed a line and tried to kill one associated with Death.
Find a suitable punishment for him and show him why Death rules over all the Gods of Death.
Take your place as the Champion of Death and deliver the punishment.
Objective: Find a suitable punishment for Hades to please Death.
Reward: ?, Increased Affection with Death.
Failure: Decreased Affection with Death, Hades will keep attacking you, death of someone close to you due to the attacks.
Accept: Y/N.
It barely takes me a second to decide what I had to do.
Accept.
- Omake(Battle Bloopers) –
- Sakuya –
Sakuya walks towards the crowd of Fallen Angels as they cover the skies above her.
Click Click Click Click.
The heels of her shoes clicking on the road below.
"Get Her."
"She is all alone."
"We can win this."
"Capture her as a gift for the cadre."
"Attack."
Click Click Click Click.
The crowd fly towards her at high speeds.
The area around her was completely covered with no paths of escape.
Click Click Click Click.
….and she passes through the entire crowd.
"What?"
"Where is she?"
"Where did she go?"
Sakuya keeps walking forward as she says four words, "Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru."
"Nani!?"
….and the entire crowd's throats get slit at the very same instant.
Sakuya wipes the blood off the knife in her hand and keeps walking forward.
- Gasper –
Sakuya-sensei is so coooooool.
- Morgiana -
Morgiana watches as the light spear nears Koneko.
Her heart beats faster, blood flowing at a faster pace through her veins as her eyes widen.
Run.
She has to reach her. She has to reach her fast.
Run.
Balance Breaker.
Welsh Dragon Balance Breaker: Boosted Gear Scale Mail.
Her speed increased to an enormous extent as she kicked the ground and covered the distance almost instantaneously.
She drew back her hands as she prepared to punch.
Remember the words.
Clench your butt cheeks and say it with all your heart.
SMAAAAASSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH….
….and the eight Winged Fallen Angel with everything behind it vanished in a blast of sheer force.
_x_
_x_
Beta Reader: LuluViBritania(FF.N, SB and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord)
Author's Note:
Sorry for the delay with this chapter. If you want to blame someone, blame Log Horizon Season 3.
It is just that awesome.
I got caught up with it when I had 2k words left for this chapter.
Anyways, I hope everyone realized that Lavinia's behavior was NOT normal last time.
I was hoping someone would catch up on this as I had previously done a scene where Kokabiel had stated that he had made plans for Lavinia.
Second, Shin has been too fixated on the world being canon despite the game saying that the world was a little different than what he knew.
He was succeeding in doing so therefore didn't change his ways.
This incident was to make him realize that he was not infallible.
No need to kill someone off because he can resurrect them so it had to be something else.
As for Shin hiding his strength.
He is still not at the level where he can comfortably say that he is safe so he prefers to hide his trump cards.
Like the PoD, FGSM and Balance Breaker.
If he reveals them normally, the others might prepare countermeasures for it as they did for his Shadow Manipulation with Canis Lykaon.
Kokabiel couldn't control the shadows as well as Tobio but he could disturb Shin's magic in Shadows to keep him out.
As for the dagger.
Oh, I am going to have so many comments on this one.
Well, if you read about Greek Mythology, you will find how many shits the Greek Gods have caused due to boredom and that is not including the rape fits that Zeus and Poseidon get from time to time.
Aphrodite had asked Cupid/Eros to shoot Hades with an arrow that will make him fall for the first woman he sees.
The one he sees is Persephone and that is where the mess occurs. I hope everyone knows what happened after that.
Hades is actually a good guy in Greek Mythology(not DxD) so he took care of Persephone after, but that does not change the fact that even a God(one of the top three of a Pantheon at that) was moved to act by the power of that arrow.
That arrow had the power to manipulate emotions strong enough to affect a God.
Now Samael is known as the poison of God because The Biblical God literally pulled an Angra Mainyu on him.
Yeah, all his hate and negativity was poured into Samael so that HE himself can remain pure.
Dick move if you ask me.
Well that came back to bite the Angels in their butt.
A curse of that degree can twist the power of the arrow and a combination of the two can sway the thoughts of even an Archangel in my opinion even if it is only temporarily. That is what happened to Gabriel and she fell.
I think it is perfectly reasonable. (Editor's Note: So do I).
As for what happens in the next chapter, we will see next Time on Dragonbal... The Game Must Go On.
As for Shin acting all edgy at the end of the battle.
Those are the slight effects of Death's powers. It will have more parts to play in the future so have patience for now.
I tried to put in a reason for Azazel having the weird hair colour in it.
If I missed anything, I will clarify it in the next chapter.
As for Michael having hope for Shin, let's say that a desperate man will grab a straw to survive and leave it at that.
Anyways, enjoy the chapter.
Good Day, Peace Out.