15 Chapter 15

"Damn it, how far is Uminari city?!"

One Demigoddess cried out in frustration as she flew, clad in her golden aura, across the ocean airspace towards the direction which she had recalled Vali going off in to chase down the black jet. The girl, along with Fate and Nanoha who trailed behind her via their own flight methods, had been flying to give chase for what felt like hours now, but none of them had caught sight of the two. Neither Vali nor the black jet… what was worse, was that Xun Er didn't trust Fate not to go back on her word and try to strike at them when their guard was down, though if she did then the daughter of Sekhmet would begin 'teaching her a lesson' on why that had been a bad idea. The thought of her new 'Sekhmet Mode' caused Xun Er to wince to herself, the revelation of her reluctant acceptance of that side of her still fresh in her mind, and who wouldn't be? Although she felt whole again, it wasn't like Xun Er wanted this… she actually didn't, not at all, but more than that, she didn't want this for anyone ELSE.

For them to be as monstrous as herself.

"I don't know Xun Er but considering that we are far away from the city." Nanoha, in a bid to try and placate the annoyed Demigoddess, tried to reason since, well, the Jewel Seeds had been gathered at an ocean quite far from Uminari City, not to mention that none of the girls had the speed which Vali did. Hence, why they were moving much slower than the boy had in comparison… though, it didn't help that they had trouble figuring out how to get back to Uminari from here, especially since thanks to their battle, the earpieces that the Captain of that large ship got fried. As a result, they couldn't request backup or any kind of transport, not like Fate would have agreed to such things and neither would those guys up in space either. Hence, why they had to fly their way back… something which had left much to be desired, the young Takamachi thought to herself with a sweatdrop.

"Well, that Jet better be there or else we will lose those Jewel Seeds!"

"Don't worry Xun Er have faith that the Shinto Gods will listen to our response!"

Upon hearing that hopeful response from the auburn-haired Magical Girl, a perplexed frown formed across the demigoddess's face as she glanced back at her, all the while ignoring the confused look that Fate had sent her way. "Nanoha... we can't be certain if they even listen to us." she drawled, whilst in her mind Xun Er noted down how it would seem that Fate herself didn't seem to know much about the Supernatural world, which made her suspicious as to her origins. A VERY plausible theory had already formed in her mind, but she wanted to have concrete proof before she could bring it to the table.

"We won't know unless we try!"

".....(Sigh) whatever you sa-?!"

Xun Er stopped her flying as Nanoha and Fate as they say the Demigoddess stopping her track.

"What is it Xun Er?"

'This energy.....{GASP} [Glavenus]' Xun Er mentally said while she sensed the remnants of Glavenus's power which alerts her to the fact that Vali had been in a battle. Not something which Xun Er particularly liked as images of the Samurai man known as Jetstream Sam appeared in her mind, causing her skin to pale to almost ghostly levels. 'Oh no.... Vali must've fought against that mechanic freak! Hang on Vali, we're coming!' Quickly, Xun Er glanced behind her and the two girls tensed up at the urgent look in her eyes, especially Fate who felt it oddly resembled the look she had in her Sekhmet Mode. "Girls, we have to increase our speed! If what my senses tell me is true, then Vali is in HUGE trouble, right now!"

"On it, Xun Er!"

"Fucking finally I found that fucking Jet!" Vali yelled this out with more joy than he would ever care to admit when he found that Jet he had been chasing, having FINALLY arrived at Uminari once again with his new Devil Arm [Astalos] now tethered to both sides of his waist. From what he could see from his position in the skies thanks to Divine Dividing, the Jet had landed on a large-looking helipad, one which looked to be part of some sort of abandoned-looking warehouse-like building.

Whelp, he didn't care regardless, since it had A: isolation from the public so innocents wouldn't get involved, and B: the GODDAMN fucker who snagged the Jewel Seeds that were rightfully theirs!

To that, the intent to snag back the Jewel Seeds prompted Vali to land on the Helipad, close to where the Jet had been docked. Once he did so, Divine Dividing furled itself inwards like a proper set of wings whilst their wielder proceeded to walk with his hands in his pockets, towards the Jet, intending to retrieve his prize.

However, before he could he heard a voice

"Well, looks like the Doc was correct after all, this is so far this is the most interesting thing that I've seen today."

"Wha?!"

The boy turned around and, upon doing so, saw a tall, broad, and bald man with a black coat that hid everything about his body. However, what WASN'T concealed, were plates of metal around his head and lower jaws as well as the dark coloured eyes he had, these being the only other things that could be seen of him along with his bald head.

[Boy...that's him]

This didn't last long thanks to [Glavenus] having informed him of the man's identity, the man being the one who reduced a powerful Wyvern to what he had fought before. Looked like the former Brute Wyvern hadn't gotten over what it had seen from the [Astalos]'s memories too, since whilst it had spoke there had been this fierce angry undertone, an almost berserker-style growl escaping from its voice afterward. Upon hearing this, Vali widened his eyes before going to angry expression as he looked at the bald man.

"What? What are you so mad about boy hmm...? Ah! Is it because of… THESE?" At first, the coat-wearing man questioned Vali in slight confusion behind a look of amusement, one which only a psychopath who didn't care for life could have made. Vali wouldn't have had much trouble believing him if he admitted to such a thing either, especially with what he knew about him. However, it would seem that the man had misunderstood the reason for Vali's fury, as he put a hand on his chest before taking out the six Jewel Seeds they had taken from them. "Just so you know, it was hard on getting those meteorites because someone was killing our Winds. But, when we sensed a massive energy that was by the ocean, it was almost as if lady luck had smiled upon us. Not only we got one meteorite but six as well, I have to thank you kids for that!"

Hearing this, Vali's eyes turned silver and slitted as an animalistic growl crept out of his throat, a feeling of revulsion growing within his stomach. "....Your welcome old man, but let me express my 'debt' to you... by sending you on a 1 way trip to hell, bastard." he declared, reaching for his [Astalos] swords and drawing them in a cross-like drawing motion.

"Oh my, what a rude and foul mouth you have, boy!" The man responded, chuckling at the smaller boy to show that he didn't give a shit about his attitude towards him regardless. "But before we get into our little 'playdate', let me introduce myself: my name is Sundowner otherwise known as the Californian WildFire! What's your name, boy?"

"........it doesn't matter if I give you my name old man, because a dead man won't remember it when they die."

"Well then, what rude boy you are, looks like I have to teach you a lesson!"

The man known as Sundowner said while putting the Jewel Seeds back inside his coat, before gripping it and tossing that article of clothing behind him. He was wearing a full mechanical-looking bodysuit over his person, one where Vali could see parts of it directly attached to his body. These parts consisted of a white little pipe on both sides of his thighs that went up near his chest and traveled behind him. His legs were mechanical as Vali can see how they almost resembled robot legs, whilst behind him there looked to be some kind of protective gear for his back, Vali can see some red color on it.

"Killing you is gonna take some time: SLOW and PAINFUL, boy."

With that said two helicopters came up to the helipad, their lights beginning to cover Sundowner as the equipment behind him began to move to the side. In a couple seconds, they had moved like cranes, unfolding into a series of panels that could potentially form a shield. Sundowner, after this had happened, then took out two swords that looked like two elongated rectangles, almost like two executioner swords actually. "Kids are cruel these days boy, and I'm very in touch with my inner child so be prepared boy hahahahahaha!"

An animalistic grunt escaped him as Vali rolled his eyes, getting into the battle stance that he had devised for this impending fight. After all, this Devil Arm wasn't the same as [Glavenus], so his default stance with them became as follows: his blades were angled so that it resembled a V shape, his lower body positioned like a crouch. "...... I like to see you try old man." he declared, [Astalos] crackling with lightning over its twin forms.

Something which Sundowner noticed, his right eyebrow arching upwards. "Hmmmmmmmm those swords...…. " The man muttered under his breath before his eyes widened slightly and then a smug smirk formed on his lips. "Oh, I see! That fucking dumbass lizard must've done something to give you those swords, then. Hah! What a useless dragon he was! He was so weak that he couldn't even save his family when I fed them to some Devil Strays, especially that infantile spawn of his! Oh, how I enjoyed his expression when I enjoyed ripping apart his mate in front of him whilst their kids were being slowly devoured alive, ahahahaha! Stupid brats had their limbs removed so all they could do was squeal like the pigs they were! I even had the doctor use what was left of their remains to create my robotic suit, as you can see-!"

"RRRRAAAHHHH!"

(Play OST - Red Sun)

Before Sundowner could say any more, not even a single more boast about the things he had done to the formerly Flying Wyvern's family, Vali let out a furiously outraged howl as he blasted forwards, using Divine Dividing to gain an extra boost in speed. Lightning raced around his form as [Astalos] got an almost explosion-like energy surge from it's wielder's Demonic Power. The silver haired boy sausage flipped through the air and brought the right sword down onto his opponent, the blade's edge crackling with dangerous electrical energy fuelled by the boy's fury.

CLANG-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Unfortunately, just before he could strike the filth of a man before him down, Vali saw the various metallic appendages shift in front of him, forming a shield made from crimson-colored panels which covered his entire front from view. Not only that but the second that his blade connected with those panels, a large explosion got triggered which sent the boy flying backward, a sharp gasp escaping his lips as he flipped himself into an upright position before landing in a crouch, sliding to a halt.

'Ugh! The fuck?!'

'Careful, Vali! Looks like those 8 Panels detonate whenever they glow red!'

'Thanks, captain obvious!'

Thinking that to his partner, Vali cut the connection and rolled his head to the side, managing to avoid a speeding Sundowner who practically slid across the Helipad to his previous position, swinging his right sword upwards in a move to split Vali vertically in half. Afterwards, the boy twisted himself around so that he faced him, before jumping forwards with the intent to slice off those panels from that man's person. It hadn't taken Vali long to deduce their abilities and weaknesses, since he had fought a variety of complex enemies before, and as such he knew for a fact that those things needed to be dealt with quickly, since if he wanted to land any hits on this asshole then they needed to go.

First, Vali swung his left sword in a reverse horizontal reverse swing, one which Sundowner parried with a normal horizontal swing from the opposite angle. Using the momentum from this clash allowed the boy to strike again with the same sword, only for his movements to be mirrored to a T and thus, Sundowner forced him back, allowing those panels to shift in front of him to form that shield again, before he dashed forwards and rammed into Vali like he were a human pile bunker.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

"AHAHAHAHA! C'MON, GOTTA BE CRUELLER THAN THAT, BOY!"

Once again, Vali cried out as he got launched backwards, having been done so thanks to that ramming attack that Sundowner had hit him with. Though, despite the pan coursing through his body right now, that instance had shown the boy that Sundowner had been capable of using those panels as both an offense as WELL as a defence weapon, a testament to how much experience on the battlefield the man had accumulated. 'Tch, not good! I have to find a way to get in close enough to get those damn shields off him!' Vali cursed inside of his mind, gripping his [Astalos] swords tightly which he then used to stab into the Helipad, slowing his movement to halt whilst he then sausage flipped over a second dashing slash launched by Sundowner. Twisting in the air, Vali decided to try and launch a ranged attack with his newest Devil Arm, so after channelling their power, Vali noticed the blades crackling dangerously with green Lightning that he swung in a X like formation.

As a result, two long crescent-shaped arcs erupted forth from the edges of the twin blades, resulting in Sundowner using his combination Shield to block them. A mad laugh escaped the man's lips as the lightning contained within the strikes passed through him, but had seemingly zero effect on him. "HAHAHAHA! SORRY BOY, BUT MY SUIT MAKES IT SO THAT LIGHTNING CAN'T HURT ME! IT'S ONE BIG INSULATOR AFTER ALL!" The man bellowed, howling like a hyena.

'Well then, now we have THAT to add to our issues…' Vali thought, scowling deeply as he tried to think of an alternate solution, all the while bending backwards to avoid a slash that would have chopped his head off clean through, no questions asked.

'... Here's an idea: how about you try channelling the [Astalos]'s power into yourself, Vali?'

Just after having avoided a certain execution by beheading, Vali heard Albion's voice as he jumped to the side, launching multiple lightning blasts similar to the ones the Astalos had launched against him before at Sundowner. Only for his shields to do their thing and his suit to nullify the damage, too. 'Huh? What do you mean?' Vali mentally questioned his dragon partner, unfurling Divine Dividing in order to dodge a surprise missile launched by one of the 2 Gunships surveying the battlefield. Dealing with that one via a lightning blast launched by thrusting a lightning clad sword forwards like a spear thrust proved to be much easier, and also for good measure Vali had managed to do the same for the other one.

'Think about it, boy. You know how the human body's reflexes are simply electronic impulses, right? Then what if you supercharge them with [Astalos]'s lightning powers? Of course this could wind up backfiring since this'd be your first try, but this could give you the chance you need to get in close enough for a good strike.'

Vali still had his doubts about that, but whilst he dodged another strike from Sundowner who had jumped up at him with an overhead sword slash to his head then twisted around to kick him down to the ground when the first slash, the boy felt as though he could humour the Heavenly Dragon a bit… whilst crashing onto the helipad, sliding across it till he halted in a one-legged crouching position. 'Whelp, here goes nothing!' Vali thought, gritting his teeth as he saw Sundowner falling down towards him with his collective shield already in place. 'Alright [Astalos], do your best'

THUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM!

The moment that Vali had thought this, the boy mentally focused on the two swords in his hands and mentally took control of their reserves, just like he would when launching lightning attacks or amplifying his blades cutting prowess, but instead of firing it outwards he directed the energy into himself. Streaks of green lightning burst forth from the twin swords as their jewels briefly flashed with a similarly coloured light. A second later, green took over the majority of Vali's vision as the lighting streaks travelled across his body… and then, all of a sudden, everything seemed like it had slowed to a crawl.

'Wha…?!'

Stunned shock overcame him at the sight as lightning continuously crackled along Vali's body, all the while it looked as though Sundowner had been frozen in place right in front of him, with only the tiniest of movements being seen that indicated that time was indeed still moving. An amazed look formed on the boy's face, but he quickly noticed a building pain start to tear through his arms from where he had been gripping the [Astalos] swords, so Vali quickly looked back to Sundowner whilst ignoring anything else. He didn't have too long before this ability had to be deactivated, the boy figured, so he looked at Sundowner's shield and noticed something: each of the 8 panels looked to have a black outer edge to them, one which formed their shapes in the whole shield. They didn't look to be glowing like the rest of the shield was either… so, was that some sort of weakness?

'Whelp, nothing to do but try it and hope for the best…' Vali thought to himself as he raised the left sword, feeling the prickling feeling that he'd felt before turn into a sharp constant stinging sensation. Looked like he had to strike NOW, and strike down at his opponent the boy did. He then slashed directly across the top edge of the shield, making sure that his sword didn't touch even a TINY fraction of the crimson parts.

In the moment that the slash ended…

"GAH!"

His vision returned to normal and Vali sniffed, a slight charring sensation filling his nose as he glanced down at his arms, a few small burns coating their fingers around his blade. He didn't stare for too long as he looked to a kneeling Sundowner, and then quickly darted forwards, flying over him with his Sacred Gear and slashed a few times, taking out the left half of the panels that the man had by slicing through their mechanical 'joints'. That had been why Sundowner had exclaimed the way he had, his form stumbling backwards as his eyes, wide with shock, glanced behind him at the damage his prized weapon had sustained. "My… my shields….!" hje exclaimed under his breath…

Before launching a downright SAVAGE glare at his opponent who had this haughty smirk on his lips, looking oh so satisfied that he'd wiped that cocky arrogance off Sundowner's face. "Heh, looks like you're right, asshole. Kids ARE cruel, these days..." Vali mocked as he got into his battle stance, Lightning crackling along his twin swords. "... and also, just like you, I TOO am VERY much in touch with MY inner child…"

"YOU… YOU BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT! I'MMA SKULL FUCK YA TA DEATH, YA HEAR ME?! YOU'RE DEAD! DEAD! DEEEEEAAAAAAAD!"

His eyes now completely white from the fury that had overcome his mental faculties, Sundowner charged forth at his opponent and launched a series of wide slashes at him in a manner akin to a wild beast. Made sense, since the man looked to have completely lost himself and was now going on a rampage just so that he could hack Vali to pieces. How pathetic… but also how very CONVENIENT, for the moment the boy saw this, his smirk widened into a full on grin fit for someone with the DNA of a shark, rather than a hybrid like himself.

Once the mn had formed his shield again, although this time it only covered the left part of his body, Vali gripped his [Astalos] Swords tightly as he waited for the right moment to strike, already heeding the warning Albion sent to him about the danger he would be putting his body under with this untrained technique. Finally, after he felt like he had put himself in a favourable enough position, Vali once again triggered the technique by pulling [Astalos]'s power into himself, the familiar phenomenon such as the green vision and slowed down movements occurring.

With no time wasted, Vali proceeded to slice through the edges of the shield then deactivate the ability, seeing how Sundowner gasped once more after he stumbled backwards, nearly falling flat on his fat ass had Vali not jumped forwards. Before Sundowner could react, Vali swung his swords and hacked apart the joints for the remainder of his makeshift Shield, resulting in Sundowner no longer having those joints sticking out of his suit anymore. "Hah!" The boy exclaimed as he landed behind his adversary, twirling around and getting into his stance again whilst his eyes shone in victory. "Nothing to hide behind now, fucker. Time to finally go to hell!" he declared, ignoring the stinging pain that his hands had gone under thanks to being about halfway blackened by the untrained ability's use.

'Looks like my theory was correct, you can supercharge your reflexes with [Astalos]'s lightning to alter your own perceptions of your surroundings, as well as allow you to strike at high speeds. Let's call this ability 'Blade Mode' for now, since you're pretty much hacking away at your enemies till their tiny pieces.'

Before Vali could respond to this, Sundowner's frenzied yell brought his attention back to him, resulting in Vali seeing Sundowner strap one of the swords' hilts onto a vambrace-like structure wrapped around his arm, several mechanical sounds being heard as the hilt got locked into place so now, thanks to him wielding the other sword, it looked like Sundowner now wielded a pair of Sheers.

"I'LL TEAR OUT YER INNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARDS!"

Fury fuelling him, Sundowner ran at Vali and swung his weapon multiple times, two being diagonal with their combined movements being a cross, before the last one came down from above in an overhead smash. Vali of course, dipped and slid around the first two strikes then hopped back to avoid the third one, unfurling his Divine Dividing and taking to the skies so his opponent couldn't catch him. According to his senses, as well as a general looking over the vicinity, there weren't any more Gunships in the air that could take pot shots at him like before, which made him believe that this guy's sole anti air capabilities had been those exact same Gunships. Thus, him remaining in the air would be to Vali's advantage, and he would make sure to use that advantage to its fullest.

'Looks like we're in the final stretch… Albion… how many times can I use that Blade Mode thing…' Vali questioned his Heavenly Dragon partner.

A question which the said beast gave a response to almost immediately.

'Once more, and that'll be it for the day. You don't want to destroy your hands with this untrained technique, after all.'

On this, the two of them could reach a consensus on, plus they could feel [Glavenus] agreeing with them inside Vali's soul. Looking down, Vali swooped down towards a raving Sundowner who reared his Sheers back, swinging it at him with the intent of slicing him in half, although Vali simply flipped himself forwards and over the blade. After landing behind him, Vali twired himself around to strike at his opponent, but Sundowner launched a back kick at him, forcing Vali to jump backwards.

Once he landed on the Helipad, Vali looked up, noticing that Sundowner was already on him, swinging his Sheers at a speed where he wouldn't be able to activate that ability in time, since it took a couple seconds to use consciously as opposed to the quick one he'd done the first time. Therefore, Vali had to dodge it by sidestepping to the right, not only avoiding the blow but also putting him in a position to throw his arms to the side and performing a spinning side slash as if he were a wheel, slicing through a portion of Sundowner's suit due to the force that he had applied. A loud, drawn out howl of pain escaped the man's lips as he stumbled backwards, for Vali to press the attack by driving his left sword forwards, slicing through his right shoulder before flipping it into a reverse grip and cutting downwards, driving a bloody gash down the man's body.

'Now, Vali! While he's distracted!'

'On it!'

In that moment where Sundowner had been distracted due to being staggered by the injuries to his person, Vali quickly activated Blade Mode, his vision turning green as his body became covered in green Lightning, the pain in his hands intensifying tenfold, all before…

"Hmph, I have a small cue of victims waiting for their turn in hell, but please, mention my name when you get down there and maybe they'll put you in front."

SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-!

… Vali proceeded to ruthlessly and mercilessly hack the guy to bits, putting all the Demonic Power that he could into his arms so that he could strike stronger and have his [Astalos] Swords utterly shred the bastard into small chunks. Blood flowed in slow motion from each wound, but if they were done in normal time then it would have formed a large puddle shortly into the slashing. Yet Vali didn't stop, he didn't stop slashing away like a madman finally getting his chance for revenge after years of plotting, scheming and waiting. He refused to stop, he would make sure to utterly DRENCH his Devil Arm in the opponent's blood, really showcase to the traumatized [Astalos] how it's current form managed to do what it would likely have wanted to for so long.

"GRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"

(OST End)

Finally, Vali felt like he had done enough and undid the Blade Mode technique, everything resuming its normal speed as [Astalos]'s power flowed back into the twin swords. Whilst he cringed and cursed under his breath at the absolutely maddening pain coursing through his completely blackened hands, almost like they were volcanic rocks at this point with the smell of charred flesh permeating through his nostrils, it all felt nothing compared to the satisfaction he felt right now. This satisfaction came from seeing the chunky remains of his opponent, utterly diced up and slaughtered in a most brutal fashion, to the point where if an outsider saw it, they wouldn't even be able to recognize the corpse pieces as that of a formerly living person. Body Parts finely chopped up, eyeballs rolling along the floor, blood everywhere which mixed with brain matter, bone fragments scattered about, the corpse of Sundowner looked absolutely hideous and grotesque… just as Vali had intended from the very start.

"Heh, a fitting name a Sundowner suits very well for you, the sun goes down to you where you burn." Vali declared with a disgusted scoff, all the while looking at the corpse of Sundowner before he heard something from his Devil Arm hum in satisfaction, and a sense of gratitude filling his very soul.

{.....hmmmmmmm...…. thank......…...you.........…..}

"Huh?! [Astalos]........[Glavenus] is he....?"

[No he is not, Vali. He is still in a traumatized state, but he's slowly regaining his sanity Vali. It will take time for him to recover...maybe a few years]

"....... I understand, [Glavenus]." Vali said to [Glavenus] while looking at [Astalos] before putting the Devil Arm back inside his soul before looking at Sundowner's corpse, then going to the coat where the man had stored the Jewel Seeds. He then kneeled beside it, reaching out and used his two hands to rummage through the coats' pockets, all before seeing his objectives within: six Jewel Seeds that the cybernetic man had tried to steal from them.

"VALI!"

Hearing his name, he turned around and saw Xun Er, Nanoha, and that blond bitch Fate flying towards him in a gradual descent. Of course, his eyes narrowed at this, his gaze making Nanoha feel like she would be visiting the grim reaper soon. "...... Takamachi...… you better have a fucking good reason why SHE is here with you?"

Yet, Nanoha didn't back down as she landed with Xun Er, Fate staying up in the air as she watched on with caution. "Vali..... I promise you this that me and Fate will settle this once and for all."

"........ Fine, but if she tries to escape, then I WILL turn her into charcoal like this man I just killed." Vali said while pointing at the corpse he just killed to them.

Nanoha grimaced at the site where another life was taken,but soon after she shook her head as she turned to Fate as she stared back at her. "Fate... let's finish and stop this now. In order for our lives to be free from all this, we need to do it: our first and FINAL battle." She declared, her lips curved into a deep frown as she held Raging Heart at the ready. Not to mention that the Jewel Seeds that she had collected thus far, materialized into existence, floating above her head like they were aware of the stakes this battle held.

A similar phenomenon happened to Fate's Jewel Seeds, although compared to Nanoha her collection seemed rather small, no small in part of Vali's intervention. ".....Agreed, let's end this." Once this got said, Fate jumped back to gain some distance; she spun her Bardiche before getting into stance as a voice was heard from her wand.

"Setup activate: Scythe mode"

Once the Energy blade got deployed, Fate quickly rushed into action, flying forwards with the intent on slicing through Nanoha's chest to end the fight before it could even begin. However, thanks to her lessons from Xun Er on close combat, Nanoha managed to deflect the strike away from her by striking at the back of the enemy Device, all the while twirling around her opponent and striking at the back of her head with her own Device's rear end. Ignoring the gasp from Fate (although she subconsciously grimaced at the sound) that had escaped as a result of the blow, Nanoha pressed her assault by switching Raging Heart from it's base form to Shooting Mode, shooting a couple energy blasts at her opponent whilst she had been dazed.

'I'm sorry I had to do this to you, Fate, but I'm not losing this battle no matter what!' The auburn haired girl thought as she flew upwards with the intent of prepping for a DIVINE BUSTER Spell to end this fight. Whilst she prepared to let her Device use the required Mana it needed for the Spell, Nanoha began to think whilst pointing Raging Heart in front of her like she was holding a spear. 'Xun Er… You and I, we sparred with one another a lot, mostly on your request so you could get stronger… but you also helped give me some important advice too, just like Yuuno and… Val…'

(FLASHBACK)

"Nanoha… even though you refuse to accept it, killing is by no means something you can avoid forever. In fact, you have already killed once before, yes? Back during the Lich King incident."

"...Yes… and it felt horrible, I wish there was another way, I wish-"

"There are more cases than you, or any sane person would like to admit, where killing's the only way to prevent further tragedy, Nanoha. Both in the human and supernatural worlds. However, I'm not gonna lecture you about it, that's Vali's job. What I'm going to tell you are some tips in order to fight against future opponents… magic users to be more specific."

"Eh?"

"You heard me. From what Yuuno tells me, he's been teaching you Spells in order to vary your arsenal, and you've been working on some of your own variations in your free time. From what I gathered though, it seems that the magic systems for your Devices are similar to that of Magicians in the supernatural world, minus a few differences. Our world's magicians see magic as "knowledge to control equations, i.e. using your head and making calculations", whereas Yuuno's magic system revolves around "the shaping of mana to produce useful effects" via energy calculations that programs called "Spells" are made to help with, further assistance being provided by your Devices.Bit more complex, but still similar. In essence, since they're somewhat similar, they'll have similar weaknesses too. For example…"

(FLASHBACK END)

'... strike at the enemy's head, use blunt force trauma to discombobulate their cognitive functions, essentially hit them on the head to make it harder for them to think straight, it'll limit her casting ability for a brief interval...' Nanoha thought to herself as her Spell got completed, allowing her to fire a large beam of Mana down at Fate who just barely managed to recover from that blow to the head in time to look and notice the incoming blast. Her eyes shot open at this, a slight gasp escaping her lips as she shot upwards, dodging the blow right by the skin of her teeth.

"Photon Lancer."

The mechanical announcement that came from Bardiche got followed up with Fate holding the Device upwards, and for Mana spheres of golden energy to form from seemingly nothing around her. About 4 of them, from what Nanoa had seen as she held Raging Heart for a one-handed swing.

"Divine Shooter."

Similar to what Fate's Spell had done, all around Nanoha a flurry of spheres made from purple coloured Mana formed around her. As such, both Magical Girls unleashed their respective Spells accompanied by loud war cries. resulting in a bunch of small explosions to occur between them.

Even so however, Nanoha wasted no time in preparing for her next offensive, more tactical battle advice from Xun Er entering her mind…

(FLASHBACK)

"It seems that, unlike a lot of Magicians, Fate seems to excel in close combat given how she's fought you so far. However, this means that she likely has very few actual long ranged spells, so what you might want to do is to limit her vision by creating a smokescreen or something, then catch her off guard before she can retaliate..."

(FLASHBACK END)

Using the explosions as cover whilst putting her head back into the game, Nanoha flew upwards as fast as she could so that, when the smokescreen vanished, Fate would look around to find no sign of her. That would be what the auburn haired girl counted on, and just as she suspected whilst she performed a U turn to start her owl=like descent, Nanoha saw how Fate had started looking around frantically for her after the smokescreen had cleared, having lost track of her. 'Alright, now to surprise her! No war cries, no sounds, nothing from me so she won't be able to react in time!' Nanoha thought as she performed her descent.

"Flash Move"

This announcement came out of her Device, but the volume wasn't high enough for Fate to have noticed in time so Nanoha's attack remained unnoticed. This new spell she had just activated though, made her FLIER FIN Spell increase her movement capability temporarily through the supplying of additional Mana, resulting in Nanoha literally dive bombing down onto Fate's position. Raising her Device, Naonoha brought it down just as when Fate looked up, having heard the sound of wind being cut, and swung her Bardiche to try and counter.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Over on the sidelines, Vali had his arms crossed in front of his chest, hovering in the airspace with Divine Dividing whilst his [Astalos] swords were strapped to both sides of his waist. His long coat fluttered against the breeze whilst he never took his eyes off the fighting girls. 'Well-well, looks like Takamachi has been improving these days, wouldn't you say so Albion?' The boy mused, his analytical gaze already picking up on the overall strategy that the young takamachi had been going for.

'Indeed partner, from what she is doing, she must be using tactics in order to defeat her opponent swiftly and less damage.'

Seemed like his dragon partner also knew it, not to mention that he suspected that Nanoha had been getting some advice from Xun Er for this battle, this being supported by the initial one where Nanoha had tried to disorient Fate with that head blow. He knew well just how Mages tended to work in the supernatural world, he'd asked Albion about it one time during his training with Hathor, since she could sort of be counted as a Magic User herself… albeit, a divine magic user, given her race. '...She's still soft, though.'

'It seems so partner. From the looks of things, I'd say that she wants to end this battle as soon as possible, trying to at least knock her out without fatal damage to her.'

"... I see...…." Vali mused, eyeing the girl's movements with a critical eye. If she performed well and won this battle, part of him would then want to go a little easier on the punishment she'd suffer, mostly for stealing his chance to get even with that blondie. However, Vali also noticed something else about Nanoha's fighting style that had caught his attention. "The way she fights was not like that before, though. What i'd like to know is how did she manage to manipulate magic like a magician? That girl hasn't tried to acquire too much information about the Supernatural world from what I recall..."

'Hmmmmmm.... I would say that that demigoddess girl must've given her some advice on that field as well, during their training. Not just in battle tactics.'

Now THIS caught Vali's attention, as evident by the genuinely shocked look on his face since he didn't expect the changes Xun Er had gone through to be so drastic. Perhaps losing that arm of hers really did help her get out of that annoying brat phase she had been in. '....... so, Xun Er decided to be useful for once.' He mused to himself under his breath, a thoughtful hum escaping his lips.

'Indeed partner. Let us continue to observe them, for one of them will win in the end: the new recent Magical Girl Nanoha, or the veteran one Fate.'

��We shall see, Albion."

Back to the battling Magical Girls, by the time the explosion from the collision before had vanished, Nanoha had thought that her attack had collided, however she remembered something else that Xun Er had told her about battle tactics, and that's to always be on the move so the enemy can't catch you by surprise so easily. Hence, why the wings on her feet flapped as she strafed backwards, and good thing too since Fate had come in with a Scythe slash from above to try and land a fast one on her, only for Nanoha to evade it by a hair. A piece of the red ribbon on her chest did get sliced off, however.

But that wouldn't be enough for the blonde Magical Girl, however, as Fate heaved and panted heavily with a light bead of sweat rolling down from her forehead, born from the exertion of so much Mana in this battle… although it likely didn't help that she'd not been at 100% in the beginning thanks to having to fly all this way either. 'This girl… we may not know one another, but even I can tell… from the beginning, she'd been nothing but an earthling with above average levels of Magical Power… but now, now she seems to have lit a fire in her. Something she's gone through is giving her this infernal level of resolve to improve herself…' Fate thought, not liking this situation one bit. She gritted her teeth in building frustration, knowing that if she didn't do something quickly, then Nanoha would have won and all the stuff Fate had gone through to reach this point would have been for nothing.

'No choice then… I'll have to…!'

With the resolve burning within her as well, alongside knowing what would happen if she lost, Fate began to channel her Mana with Bardiche's help, knowing that this likely would be the final attack in this fight for her. All around Nanoha and her, various magic circles appeared and disappeared, with the auburn haired Magical Girl quickly looking around to try and figure out what was going on.

"Phalanx Shift."

A quick announcement came from Bardiche, which Nanoha managed to hear and as such quickly figured out that this Spell would likely be a huge one. Therefore, in an attempt to stop it from being cast and ultimately win, Nanoha made to launch another DIVINE BUSTER strike on her opponent. However, just as she made to do so, Nanoha's eyes widened when she saw her arms get pulled to the sides by some invisible force, one which got revealed to be some purplish pink restraints on both her wrists with multiple magic circles forming over her hands. 'A bind spell?!' The girl thought in horror, knowing that her options right now would be limited if she didn't do something fast.

Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything as Fate, who was surrounded by about 38 Spheres in a formation which Nanoha guessed was a Phalanx one due to the Spell's name, soon had completed casting the Spell, thus threw her fist forwards, launching the Spheres right at Nanoha.

Said girl gritted her teeth at the upcoming attack, her eyes glancing over to her restraints when she noticed something about them as Raging Heart's jewel began to glow purple…

...Right as the spheres collided with her.

BOOOM!

"NANOHAAAAAA!" Xun Er exclaimed when she saw this, knowing that a LOT of energy had gone into that strike thanks to Fate wanting to end this fight right now. Despite seemingly not wanting to kill one another, neither Magical Girl wanted to end this fight in any kind of wimpy way, without giving it their all. Still, it took all that the Demigoddess had to not rush in to deliver a good clocking on that blonde bitch for trying to kill her friend like that. The girl would likely end up having a 'pleasant' encounter with her Sekhment Mode after this if Nanoha had been killed by that strike…

Although, as the smoke dispersed, Xun Er soon forgot these plans in exchange for a relieved sigh.

"Really girl, you gave me such a scare there…"

Meanwhile, back with the dueling Magical Girls, the smoke dispersed as Fate, who had kept some of the Spheres on standby in case her opponent had survived the barrage, combined them together to form one larger sphere filled with golden crackling energy, energy which seemed to almost be waiting to be unleashed in the most chaotic manner possible.

Her caution soon became proven to be the right call for her, as when the smoke dispersed,

a large Magical barrier could be seen floating around Nanoha, the auburn haired girl's Device returning it's jewel to its dull colour. All the while, Nanoha herself had a knowing smile on her lips, not perturbed in the slightest by these events. "Looks like…. You're more tired than I thought… you were unable to keep your binding spell at full power to the very end…" She mused, something which Fate gritted her teeth under since she DID somewhat feel a wave of fatigue wash over her at the last second, weakening her binding spell. Nanoha had to have noticed and then used that opening to launch her own defensive…

Now however, it was HER turn to go on the offensive.

With a quick DIVINE BUSTER attack, Nanoha managed to damage Fate's Barrier Jacket quite a bit, with a lot of it being shredded up from Fate having to block with a magical barrier in a similar manner to how Nanoha had done so previously in an attempt to not feel so inferior to her. Fate had even tried to launch the Sphere she'd made to stop it, only for the spell to be completely extinguished by then stronger attack. However, Nanoha wasn't quite done yet as she held her Raging Heart up to the skies above her head, a steely expression on her face. "Try this one: it's a variation of the Divine Buster!"

"Starlight Breaker"

An announcement came from Raging Heart's Jewel as, from everywhere in the surroundings similar to the previous Spell Fate had used, Mana seemed to gather in front of Nanoha to form a large Sphere, one which looked to be QUITE deadly in terms of Mana concentration.

Seeing it, Fate scrambled in an almost maddeningly panicked state to fight back, only for her body to not listen to her brain's commands. Glancing to her sides, Fate discovered why to her horror, for her arms and legs had been restrained in a similar manner to what had happened to Nanoha earlier. "A Bind?!"

"Here we go! STARLIGHT BREAKER!"

A quick thrust later, and Nanoha's device touched the sphere, which resulted in a fiery beam with enough of a size to destroy an entire skyscraper to be launched down towards Fate. All the blonde girl could do as she remained suspended there, was to take the hit as her eyes dimmed with despair in the final seconds before the attack had struck. '...Mother… I… apologize…'

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

"...#WHISTLE# Now that's a lot of Mana she hit that girl with…"

Vali could not help but be impressed, his jaw slightly agape, when he saw the amount of power Nanoha had generated for that last attack of hers. Although he felt that it would leave her running on pretty much fumes at this point, the silver haired boy felt it completely understandable that this fight would be over at this point, that Nanoha had won her first true fight on her own against this adversary.

'Interesting… from what I could sense, it would seem that this Spell, Starlight Breaker, involved gathering the excess Mana from the surroundings and then condensing it into a beam for her to attack with. It's almost like Senjutsu in a way, only it doesn't risk the user going mad from Nature's hatred. I can see multiple scenarios where this Spell could prove highly effective in our world, especially since lots of large-scale attacks leave excess energy behind, unless someone had adequate control over their power and only put in the necessary amount. Such people with refined control of that degree are rare, though.'

'True… oh wait, looks like that blondie's run out of Mana and is unconscious…'

Just as Vali made to comment about Albion's analysis in his head, he noticed Fate having conked out after getting her buttcheeks clapped by that Spell, once the dust cleared up. Even though they had been fighting over the abandoned warehouse in Uminari, that fall could prove damaging and he wouldn't like to fight someone who had been crippled from their full potential. Therefore, before Nanoha (said girl looked to be on her last legs too, like he'd thought) or anyone else could react, Vali flapped his Sacred Gear to shoot forth and then catch Fate in his arms bridal style, all before ascending up towards Nanoha's level.

For a moment, both kids remained silent with the awkward tension between them, even with one of them looking like she'd keel over at any moment. However, a nod of acknowledgement soon came out of the hybrid boy as he gave her some reassuring words since she'd done a decent job. "..... you did well Takamachi, now leave the rest to me."

When he said this, Nanoha looked like she wanted to do this herself, but considering how weakened she felt, along with her not wanting to incur Vali's wrath again, Nanoha reluctantly nodded her head in acceptance. "Oh #Huff..... okay Vali #huff.... just #huff... please don't #huff... kill her….." she requested, knowing just how prone to killing her companion was, as much as she hated it. Personally, she would have rather had Fate in her own hands or in Xun Ers (said girl having rejoined them with a look of approval on her face), but in the end she'd take what she could at this point.

"..... I won't Takamachi, besides we nee-"

"FATE!"

All of a sudden, a new voice screamed out Fates name as Alph, who had flown out from behind one of the buildings, tried to go to Vali to save her master. Unfortunately, she didn't expect Vali to still have sufficient power left, as she had to force herself to stop when the said male pulled out one of his [Astalos] swords (all whilst still holding onto their cargo) and pointed it near Fate's neck. "As I said before, the predator always get his prey no matter where they go."

"GGRRRRHHHH!"

Looking like she would pounce on him, and likely would if Nanoha didn't try to stop him first despite her tired state, Vali continued his words. "Careful now fox, or else this one gets it and this time no one is stopping me. Now do me a favor and surrender fox, or else I will kill her right here and now. Personally, I would go with my second option but the group I'm working with wants to know who you two are working with, and why are you getting the Jewel Seeds, so I guess the first one's the better one. Shame... Now, surrender fox."

For a moment, Alph looked torn on what to do, not to mention that she could better sense Vali's remaining power reserves and, to her shock along with horror, they didn't seem like they would be dwindling to zero any time soon. "..... fine, you win boy."

"Good... hmmm, her Device."

"Put out"

The wand that Fate possessed, one which Vali had caught and placed within her lap, then emitted a yellow glow on the Jewel part as it began to take out four of the Jewel Seeds that the blonde hair girl had on her.

"....... Hehehhehe well, well looks like fate has decided to smile upon us."

"No." Xun Er stated, dryly, knowing that Vali had unintentionally delivered a cringy ass pun just now. Fortunately, it flew right over the tired Nanoha's head, though Alph snorted in disgust to show she got it.

Still, Vali ignored this as he stared at the Jewel Seeds floating around him. "Hmph finally all the Jewel Seeds are collected, guess this the end of the journey of it."

"It might be, partner. There is still the group that was trying to get these Jewel Seeds, but it matters not, Vali let's not waste time and get rid of those Jewel Seeds, the longer there here, the more destruction they will cause."

"I agree, alright fox stay there where I can see you." Vali stated, ignoring the growl that Alph gave him as he raised his hand to his ear after adjusting is grip on his cargo. Once he established the com channel with his Earpiece, Vali began to speak. "Woman, are you there?"

".....(Tzzch) yes Vali, I'm here. Did you get the Jewel Seeds?"

"Yeah I did, woman and not only that we captured our target, we got her Jewel Seeds."

"(Tzzch) That's great Vali! Thank you for your hard work!"

"Your welcome. Now let's not waste time and teleport us to the ship now."

"(Tzzch) alright, we-huh?! Vali we are detecting a massive energy that is coming in your direction! Get out of there now!"

"Aaaahhhhh another one!? We don't have time for this!" Vali screamed out as he tethered the [Astalos] sword to his waist, then put Fate back into a princess bride style carry as he strafed out of the way thanks to his Sacred Gear. Xun Er grabbed Nanoha as she didn't have the time nor the strength to seal the Jewel Seeds, all the while Alph also got further airborne as she looked at the sky like she was glaring at something. The clouds then turned purple as lighting also purple sparkled out of the clouds, as if emitting a god's anger

��Woman! What the hell is it?! We can't get a clear view of it from out here!"

"(Tzzch) I don't know, Vali! Something is also blocking our view!"

"Well, teleport us now before it's too late, woman!"

"(Tzzzch) we tried Vali, someone casted an anti-teleportation spell, you have to get out of there!"

"FUCK! FINE!" Vali screamed out as he flew out of the way with Xun Er and Alph following him.

When they reached the ocean they saw that the lighting was not going in their direction but instead it's heading towards...… the Jewel Seeds!

An utterly alarmed expression formed on his face as Vali frantically tried to get one of the others to capture the Jewel Seeds they'd worked so hard for. "FFUUCCKK THE JEWEL SEEDS! XUN ER, NANOHA GET THE JEWEL SEEDS, ITS HEADING TOWARDS THEM!"

However, that would not have done anything at this point, as he would soon come to find out. "It's too late, Vali! It's already at the Jewel Seeds!" Xun Er yelled back as they looked at the purple clouds, lighting shooting forth from them to head on over to the floating Jewel Seeds. Each streak grasped one like a Tendril, pulling the Seeds inside of the storm itself. Afterwards. The storm glowed a bit before it disappeared before the purple clouds started to also disappear.

Turned out that one of them DID know who the perpetrator of this event was, judging by the next few moments. "PRESEAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! YOU WOULD EVEN ABANDON YOUR DAUGHTER JUST TO FULFILL YOUR OBJECTIVE! GET BACK HERE AND SAVE HER! PRESEAAAAAAAA!" Alph screamed out to the sky at its furious expression, before the purple clouds completely disappeared, like that was all the fox would need as an answer.

Meanwhile, Vali himself had gone pale when he heard what she just said, especially at the words 'daughter' and 'abandon'. It brought up memories and nightmares that he used to have, of times when he feared that his mother would have done the same with him in order to escape his bastard of a father. The memory of his mother's smile had been something which had illuminated his entire day. So, for someone, especially a mother, to abandon her own daughter like this, apparently... "Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!" All before the reality of the situation dawned on him.

'This is not good Vali, this Presea has four of the Jewel Seeds! The last time someone had multiple of them, it didn't end well!'

'I know that Albion, don't think I forget about that!'

'Listen to me Vali, you have those Jewel Seeds as fast as possible or else...….. This world, or any dimension, will come to an end.'

'...... got it.' Vali replied, severing his connection to his tenant as he looked at Alph with an absolutely LIVID expression on his face. One which wouldn't be too unfitting on a certain demonic god's face if it were still around. "Alright fox when we get to the ship...….. we will have a 'nice' long talk."

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