Holy and Light energy

Welcome to another explanation chapter. This time, our topic is Light and Holy element: What are they? What's their similarities? What's their differences?

I'll be addressing Light and Holy individually, so without further ado, let's begin:

1-Light element:

> The unknown phenomenon that happens to me is the power of a Devil.

> Since I'm a Devil, my power increase during the night. It's such a wonderful thing.

> But the reason why I feel weak in the morning is also due to me being a Devil, Devils hate light. It seems the stronger the power of light is, the more lethal it becomes to our bodies.

> Lights are poisonous-

> Is what Buchou told me.

> It seems like the Fallen Angels and the Angels who use light as their weapon are the natural enemies of Devils. I was told to run away if I ever encounter them, but once you get used to it, it seems like you'll be okay under the sun.

> The reason why I'm weak in the morning is because I was recently resurrected as a Devil, so my body can't stand the morning light--Volume 1, Life 2, Part 1.

> "This Rainbow Slime possesses the seven attributes of fire, ice, wind, earth, thunder, light and darkness, making it an exceptional individual among slimes! It is also known for its resistance to these attributes! Let's show them that it can withstand even the thunderbolt of a Sprite Dragon!"--Volume DX7, Life 6.

As we can see, the DxD world have 7 natural elements: Fire, Ice, Wind, Earth, Thunder, Light and Darkness. From what I understood, it seems Water is a sub-element of Ice for whatever reason. I mean, just look at Serafall, the "Upgrade" Sitri, she controls Ice while her family bloodline is water.

Now someone can say that Leviathen bloodline is water, but that's actually more snake related with a touch of water in there.

Back to point, Light is a natural element in nature, and so can be found and used by anyone, case in point: White Magic, specialising in Light spells, light manipulation, healing, cleansing, purifying, etc...

Pure Angels and Fallen Angels can also use the Light Element naturally, and mold it however they like, into spears generally speaking but also other shapes such as Swords, arrows, etc...

Light based sacred gears and Holy Swords are also ways for people to access Light energy. Not to mention all the devices made later by either Khaos Brigade or Azazel that allows the user to use Light, even of they are a devil A.K.A. Shalba when he "killed" Asia.

Now something I would like to mention that applies to most "Magic Worlds" and that I noticed is often a misconception:

You guys know that Light magic doesn't travel at the speed of light right? Like, you guys don't actually believe that any of those so called "Light spears", "Mana beam", "Light lazers", etc... move at Light speeds right? That would be simply retarded.

And this isn't just for DxD, in almost all fiction, "Light attacks" don't generally move at Light speed do they? Even dumbasses like those authors know that moving at Light speed is no trivial matter, and grunts dodging said "Light attacks" can't be possibly moving at Light speed.

Example: Black Clover Light magic, Lazer guns from star wars, etc...

Back to the matter at hand, both Angels and Fallen can use Light attacks, do naturally Devils are weak against Light Element.

In fact, there are many species that are weak to Light, and are considered "Creatures of Dark", here they are:

--Devils: Devils in general have a weakness against Light, as seen and stated numerous times in the show.

--Vampires: Vampires somehow are even worse in this regard, as Light is their nemesis, so much so that the sunlight can kill them. Unless of course they are Half Human Half Vampires A.K.A. Dhampirs. But even then, they till retain their weakness against Light.

> "Buchou, Vampires are weak against the sun, right? Is he fine?"

> Buchou nodded to my question. --Volume 4, Life 3, Part 1.

--Yōkai: Funnily enough, they too are weak against Light as they are considered "Creatures of dark".

I also noticed something, for whatever reason, some of the fandom thinks that Yōkai and Shinto Gods were allies, and that Yasaka is a subordinate of Amaterasu.

This is pretty much the opposite of the actual situation. Yōkai and Shinto gods, generally speaking, have always been enemies. Yōkai are basically the devil Side of Japan, Takamagahara, the Japanese gods residence is the Heaven side of Japan, and the 5 families are the church side of Japan, serving the Japanese gods.

This is why I always find it funny when I see a story where the Shinto Gods are "enraged" because of the "Nekoshou Massacre", that is totally not a thing btw, and wanted to fight Devils.

The fact is, the Japanese Gods and the 5 families would be dancing if the Devils exterminated a Yōkai bloodline.

Now of course, times changed, and while they aren't enemies anymore, Yōkai, Shinto gods and the 5 families are technically "allies" after the Kyoto incident and Khaos Brigade became a thing, as they have a bugger enemy to deal with. Anyways, let's go back.

2-Holy Element:

> "Hmph. You still can't use the holy-sword perfectly yet. Use the "element" I gave you more wisely. I'm researching because of that. Gather the holy element that is running throughout your body to the blade of the holy-sword. With that, you should be able to cut it." --Volume 3, Life 3, Part 4.

> Valper took out an orb that was giving out light. It was a shiny orb. It has the so-called holy aura in it. --Volume 3, Life 4.

To put it bluntly, the Holy element is just DxD's way of addressing "Divinity" in a certain state.

Generally speaking, Holy element is mostly used by Gods, things they bless, use or craft. Although it can be found in every human apparently. How do we know ow this? Well, thanks to one "Holy-Sword Project".

Founded by our favourite sect of the church, The Catholic one, it strived to understand the criteria for being a Holy Sword weilder and if possible, recreate them.

Case in point: All humans have a Holy element in them, which is generally one of 2 requirements that determines if a person can weild a Holy Sword: The other being compatibility with a sword character.

Now generally speaking, most humans have a pitiful amount of Holy affinity, that is why natural born Holy sword weilders are so rare. Naturally, the church spent a lot of time trying to see what they can do to "raise" that affinity.

For the longest time however, they had no luck, until one Valper Gallillei came around:

> "So you do hold a grudge regarding the "Holy-sword Project". Against the church and the Excaliburs."

> Kiba sharpened his eyes at Irina's words.

> "Obviously."

> He replied with a low and cold voice.

> "But Kiba-kun. Thanks to that project, the research on holy-sword users showed results. That's why it created people like Xenovia and I who can synchronise with the holy swords."

> "Do you think it's a forgiving act to kill all the test subjects because the project was thought to be a failure?"--Volume 3, Life 3, Part2.

Now I'll skip over some basic details and the "tragedy" that happened, but with some "Acceptable Casualties", Valper Gallillei made the following breakthrough:

> "I realised that there was an essential factor needed to wield holy-swords. So I used the numerical value of the "factors" to investigate its capability. Most of the test subjects had the "elements" but they didn't have the numerical value needed to wield the Excalibur. Then I reached a conclusion. Is there a way to take out the elements and gather them?."

> "I see. I understand now. The thing that is put inside the holy-sword wielders when they received a blessing is..."

> Xenovia seemed like she learned the truth and grit her teeth hatefully. Wh-What did she mean? I was in doubt and Valper continued to talk,

> "That's right holy-sword wielder girl. We take out the holy-elements from those who have them and crystallise them. Just like this."

> Valper took out an orb that was giving out light. It was a shiny orb. It has the so-called holy aura in it.

> "With this, the research on holy-sword wielders improved. Even so, those fools from the Church banished me for heresy and took away my reports on the research. By looking at you, I see that the project was succeeded by someone. That Michael. He made me look like a criminal and this is the result? Well it's that Angel we are talking about. Even if he takes the elements out from the test subjects, he wouldn't go as far as to kill them. That part only would make him more human than me. Kukukuku." --Volume 3, Life 4, Part 1.

Now, do not be confused, not everyone can just willy-nilly extract the Holy element safely. Valper proved that it is generally fatal to fo so when a human is doing the procedure, only an angel can pull this off without the patient dying.

In a somewhat similar fashion, not everyone can accept this mass of concentrated Holy Affinity:

> "...You killed my comrades and took out the elements needed to wield the holy-swords?"

> Kiba asked Valper with his voice filled with killing intent.

> "That's right. This orb is from back then. I have used three of them on Freed though. This is the last one."

> "Hyahahahaha! Other guys besides me died because their bodies couldn't synchronise with the elements! Hmmmmm. If I think like that, that makes me special." --Volume 3, Life 4, Part 2.

As we can see, it also takes a special breed to handle all that Holy Affinity, or Energy, call it whatever you like. Now, that doesn't mean it is limited to a small numbers of individuals:

> "Hm. If you say that, then I will give this orb to you. My research has reached the stage where it is possible to mass produce them in the right environment. First of all, I will destroy this town with Kokabiel. Next I will gather the legendary holy-swords stored around the world." --Volume 3, Life 4, Part 2.

Like him or not, but as far as DxD setting is concerned, this dude is a genius.

But anyways, now that we have this setting, let's see how it works:

--Unlike Light Element, there is no so called Holy Magic. Manipulation of Holy Element is considered stepping on the domain of Gods and their creations.

This is why Alchemists and Blacksmiths who created Holy Swords arr said to have stepped in the domain of God's.

But in any case, we will be specifically talking about Holy element effect on "Creatures of dark".

First of all, let's mention the species that are weak to "Holy":

--Devils: This guys are seriously fucked, whatever Lucifer thought he was doing, I'll just say he was a dumbass. No devil can defeat an angel or God on the same level, simply because of the Holy and Light Element suppression.

> I knew it. I'm a Devil, so the Church, which belongs to God and the Angels, will be an enemy's territory for me.

> Even Buchou strongly emphazised that I should never get close to a Church or a shrine. --Volume 1, Life 2, Part 6.

> "Don't get involved with people from the Church. Especially the Exorcists who are our biggest enemy. They could easily eliminate us because their powers are supported by the prayer of God." --Volume 1, Life 2, Part 7.

--Vampires: This guys are just Devils but even more weak against Holy and Light.

--Yōkai: No surprise there, this guys suck ass like Devils against Holy and Light.

> "Holy Lightning!"

> Akeno once again summoned forth lightning to counter the blast of Zhu Bajie's flames, and then followed up with several additional bolts of lightning. Zhu Bajie evaded all of them one by one, but he was eventually caught in the line of fire of one of them. The lightning strike gave Zhu Bajie a powerful electric shock, inflicting burns upon him. The entire area surrounding him had also been charred black due to the aftermath of the lightning strikes. Light was also a weakness of the Youkai, so that last blow should have been quite close to an instantaneous knockout. --Volume 24, Life 4, Part 2.

--Werewolves: Funnily enough, they do exist in DxD. Loup Garou is a child of an Ash furred werewolf and a famous Magician. He mentioned that Werewolf are natural enemies with Vampires.

Anyways, Werewolves, like Vampires, are weak to Holy. But unlike Vampires, they aren't weak to Light, they are weak to Silver.

--Fallen Angels: It is quite the irony that Fallen Angels, who once weilded Holy Power, are now weak to it.

Yes, Fallen angels in DxD are weak to Holy.

> "It's the damage caused by the holy-sword. Devils and fallen-angels get their power and existence erased by receiving damage from the holy-sword to their body. If it were a bit deeper, then it would have been critical."

> It was just a graze! Does it take that much power from me that I get down on my knees!?--Volume 3, Life 2, Part 7.

Now, this makes one wonder, just how far does this influence go? Keep in mind, that some of these effects are not effective against some of these races. But anyways, here we go:

●●Cross: Crosses ✝️ in general have an unpleasant effect against most creatures of Dark, except Fallen Angels.

> When I look at the Rosario glowing from her chest, it gives me an extremely bad feeling. --Volume 1, Life 2, Part 6.

●●Bible verses: Not surprisingly, Verses of the Bible also proves to be effective against Devils and Vampires, Yōkai don't give a shit about them though.

> "The effects were elevated to this level using the ability of Blessing. Would you like to listen to me narrate the Bible with the power of Blessing?"--Volume 19, Life 3, Part 2.

●●Church or blessed grounds: As can anyone with half a brain guess, Churches or blessed grounds such as Shinto shrines are a no-no for Devils,Vampires and Yōkai.

> I have chills, and my body starts sweating. It's been like this since before.

> I knew it. I'm a Devil, so the Church, which belongs to God and the Angels, will be an enemy's territory for me. --Volume 1, Life 2, Part 6.

> Yes, it was the shrine. Uwaaah! Wasn't a shrine a bad place for us Devils!? I still haven't stepped inside a shrine, but I had heard that you can't enter that place easily.

> The arch drew nearer. If Devils tried to cross this, then they would receive damage. They said not to come close to a shrine, but...

> "This place is fine. An agreement was reached under the table, so even Devils can enter."

> While saying that, Akeno-san passed through the archway without anything happening. Ooh, so it's all right, huh. I also fearfully passed through. --Volume 4, Life 3, Part 5.

●●Holy natural elements: This here is an example of what would happen if you mixed the Holy element with one of the 7. As far as the canon timeline is concerned, we have: Holy water, Holy Fire, Holy Lightning, Holy Light. Now technically speaking, the ground of a church can technically count as Holy Earth, but let's not talk about that.

Anyways, the difference between Natural Fire and Holy fire is that normal fire just burns a devil by temperature, Holy fire also burns them with both temperature and Holy damage. Same with Holy water, that acts like acid for Devils, and holy Lightning:

> "Uooooooo! I won't lose! I won't lose in front of my daughter Akeno!"

> "It won't be allowed for I, Uriel, the "Flame of God" to lose against a Maou!"

> Barakiel-san is covered with holy lightning and Uriel-san is covered with an enormous amount of holy flames! --Volume 13, Life 5, Part 3.

Ignoring the stupidity of the contest, we have Baraquiel, the "Lightning of God", and Uriel, the "Flame of God". We also have:

> An item that doesn't have that much effect against High-class Devils. If the Devils here in the hall sees this, then they will have just laughed with their nose.

> I open the lid and sprinkled the holy water on Riser.

> I then multiplied the effect of the holy water! To the level that the High-class Devils can't ignore! --Volume 2, Life Infinite VS Infinite.

As we can see, we have an amateurish use of Holy Water against Riser. On the other hand:

> Cristaldi successively cut down the Dragon Knights almost instantly and drew closer to us.

> "Metaphorically speaking, even someone known as a strong Devil like you can't quite defend against the effects of holy water…"

> Right in front of me — he threw a vial of holy water. Cristaldi destroyed the vial with a single horizontal slash! Holy water spilled out of the shattered vial and onto my entire body! Cristaldi chanted a prayer after confirming that it was on me.

> —! In the next instant, there was an indescribable pain, as agony swept across my entire body! The sanctified power of the holy water was ferociously burning parts of me as a Devil! That seemed to be the body, though even my mind was burning up and with the pain pulsing throughout my entire body, I couldn't speak at all! Did he amplify the effects of ordinary holy water several fold?! No, you could say that it might even have been intensified by a factor of ten! --Volume 19, Life 3, Part 2.

We can see masterful use of Holy Water in a combat situation by Ewald Cristaldi who Boosted the effects using a Copy of the complete Excalibur, which mind you is only 1/5th the power of the original. Still, pretty impressive.

●●Holy Swords: Now onto the next level, we have the Holy Swords, famous across all DxD world, they are either of Christian, Japanese or other mythological origin and are generally considered some of the best weapons in this world.

Now you might have noticed something, and I already addressed this, but yes, some Japanese mythological Swords are in fact considered Holy Spear, case in point: Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi. As said before, Holy Swords are just Swords that have the influence of "Divinity", so no matter its origin, as long as it carries "Divinity" within it, it is effective against the Species mentioned above.

●●Divine Weaponery: Extended from the previous topic, all kind of Divine weapons are "Holy" in nature, just like Holy swords, and therefore super effective against the species mentioned above.

For instance, if you smack a devil with a copy of Mjolnir, Thor's hammer that Issei used, then they will in fact receive Holy damage.

●●Holy Relics: Among all the divine things we have in Draconic deus, the Holy relics rank among the top I'm term of "Holiness" and suppression against the "Creatures of Dark". They have been stated to be a league above Holy swords and the like, See the True Longinus Rant for more details, and so are supremely strong.

They are: The Holy Spear( True Longinus), The Holy Nails( Alphecca Tryant), The Holy Cross( Incenerate Anthem), The Holy Grail( Sephiroth Graal and the True Grail of the Church) and The Shroud of Turin.

Generally speaking, a member of the mentioned above species will get turned into dust if killed by Holy means, in other words Exorcised. They turn to nothing, with no resurrection possible and no after Life.

And that about concludes this rant, thanks for reading this rant until this far, and see you next time