6 Chapter 6

If anyone were to ask her how she would have imagined her night were to have gone tonight…

"Hu-huh...?"

Standing in a dress which looked to be made for combat, armed with a magic wand whilst facing off against a black wearing boy several years her junior would NOT have been it. Worse still, was that the boy not only eyed her with a look which chilled her to the bone, his outfit and fierce aura not really doing much to detract from this, but he also held a weapon which made her want to dive back into her covers and never come out for another dozen decades… and she felt generous with that last bit.

Still, though, the boy saw her silence as a mild annoyance, so with a slightly sharper tone of voice, he spoke again whilst slowly turning to face her completely, pressing a button on the weapon which then… well, it seemed to have realigned its body parts into what could only be considered a Greatsword-like form, as far as she could tell. She DID secretly watch some mecha movies in her free time, though not too many since they were for older boys. "You still didn't answer my question: who are you and why are you here?" The boy asked her again, and along with the sharper edge to his voice, his aura intensified with intimation. She had very little choice since the boy just instantly defeated the spider, he could kill her if he wanted to.

Hence, she finally found her voice… the majority of it anyway, the girl's reply still had stutters mixed within it. "U-ummmmm m-my name i-is Nanoha, Takamachi Nanoha." she tried to say, clutching her Wand tighter than in the previous moments for comfort. The fact that she had something that could protect her felt quite reassuring, although she tried not to let the thought of the weapon possibly being able to break its defenses dominate her thoughts.

"Hmmmm I see, but you still haven't answered the second part of my question, why are you here? Is it because of this?" Upon finishing his question, Vali held his hand out and showed her the jewel that he just got from killing the Spider. Thanks to this experience, he now knew that the god(ouch) of the bible really did use materials from outside of this world, and considering this girl's getup he had suspicions that she was connected to it in some way or form. Perhaps he could learn something more about it, then get back to his training. The battle-maniac in him just REFUSED to keep him out in the peaceful world for long.

"Ye-yes it is… u-u-ummm, can-can you plea-"

"Can you please give that jewel to Nanoha? It's very important that we need to collect them before something bad happens."

Vali raised his eyebrows when he heard the ferret speak, it told him to give that jewel to her

'A talking ferret? This is new, guess I shouldn't be surprised if any animals speak' he thought to himself, cupping his masked chin whilst pondering this. A couple of seconds later, an idea came to him as he glanced back upwards towards the pair. "I see... but first, before I give you this jewel ferret, tell me the reason why you need it and why they have landed on Earth?"

"I can't tell you the reason, but please….we…..need….that jewel."

The Ferret, after hearing that, shook its head in denial, which of course tipped the silver-haired boy off to the fact that IT was the thing which he needed to interrogate, not the girl. However, before it could finish its words, and likely incur Vali's wrath, the ferret lost its consciousness when its wounds (which only then did Vali notice them) started to act again. Seeing this, a wave of panic washed over her as Nanoha, in this state, managed to will herself to turn back to her regular clothes, quickly scooping the Ferret back into her arms when it almost fell to the floor.

'Wha… tch, looks like it had been injured previously, likely by that weak little Spider. Well then, if that's the case, then I…'

With the thought process that taking the Ferret would finally speed things along so he could get back to training, Vali made to move forwards, when all of a sudden Police sirens began ringing out from just a few blocks away, causing both kids to glance around like guards shifting into alert mode when spotting intruders on top-secret facility grounds.

[Tch, looks like you're out of time, Vali. A neighbor must have phoned the authorities and complained about the commotion around here.]

As she heard the signs, Nanoha would have made to leave the scene immediately, however that would have only happened if Vali hadn't been around and she had been on her lonesome. Therefore, she prepared to leave whilst giving the boy an alternative. "This isn't good, maybe we shouldn't stick around if we want to be asked by the police. But please, we can talk about this later, I promise you this." she declared, aiming a pleading glance for him to consider it especially since he had that giant weapon that could rip her a new one if he so desired.

".....tch fine, I'll retreat for now. But that Ferret better have a good explanation on why these things appeared on Earth. We will speak again, Takamachi ."

With that said, Vali put the weapon on his back, listening to its sounds of folding into its standby mode whilst it tethered itself back into place. Those sounds definitely helped him soothe his annoyance of having been told to wait, but at least this wasn't a total loss since he would be taking this 'gem' with him. As… incentive, just in case this brat tried to pull a fast one on him. Once this was done. Vali then spread out Divine Dividings' wings, an action which made Nanoha drop her jaw in awe as she saw how beautiful the wings looked.

'Those wings... they're so… beautiful...'

Unaware of her thoughts, Vali then flapped his wings once, propelling him up to 200 meters into the air before he shot off like a bullet, heading back to the place that he and Xun Er rented. Nanoha then heard the police sirens getting closer, which snapped her out of her trance and caused her to start legging it, all while she screamed to the police who might or might not hear her.

"I'm really sorry about the mess!!"

"Now then… can you PLEASE explain to me why you left in a hurry, while it's dark I might add, and NOT inform me yourself instead of asking Xun Er to do it for you...?"

"Guh… Ugh…!"

By the time that Vali had returned to the Inn, he had the unfortunate pleasure of running right into a sweetly smiling Miya… a smile which chilled him to the bone because it LITERALLY felt more like the hand of death itself coming to claim his soul. Something which he had experienced multiple times before but never in this kind of capacity, it almost felt like he was sitting in the seiza position RIGHT before death's incarnation itself. The way she stated, not asked even though it sounded like a question, in that sweet tone of hers REALLY betrayed her current mood, as the Hanya Mask behind her caused Vali to feel like he wanted to hide in the darkest corners of the world and pray for his soul. That sight… it was enough to scare even a freaking Satan or worse yet, a god(ow). Even so, though, his tenants urgently ordered him like they were on the verge of falling off a cliff to their deaths to answer her now, or else he'd get something FAR worse than death.

Something which he readily believed judging by the ominous aura surrounding both her and her Hanya Mask.

"I-uhhhhh….I-I w-was i-in a hur-hurry that I forgot….my gem, yeah that's right I forgot this."

Trying to think up an excuse for the sudden leaving that he had done, Vali then remembered the Gem that he'd taken as an assurance policy. Although he figured that its true identity should remain hidden for now, so he mentally planned a cover story based on the situation he and Xun Er were going with, before he took out the rectangle gem from his pocket and showed it to her. "Th-This… it's a Gem which my mother told me to keep on me at all times before she left for her job… but, well, with the sudden move and all, I kinda forgot about it. I'm kind of forgetful about stuff like this." He explained, pulling off the 'panicked and fear-ridden toddler' act pretty well if he said so himself.

Miya saw the gem from Vali's hand, and upon doing so, she ended up letting the Hanaya mask disappear, much to the silver-haired Hybrid's relief. What felt even MORE relieving was how, thanks to the woman's next words, the boy felt like he had gotten off the hook… this time, anyways. He'd have to be more careful in the future. "Oh, I see. Forgive me Vali, for I was just worried about you when the news said there was a murder going on that happens at night." she explained, not noticing the way that Vali slightly tensed at the mention of 'murder'. Instead, she just continued, her face that of a mom lecturing her child to take care of himself better. "But next time you should let me know before you go somewhere else okay?"

"Hhhaaaa fine I will... can I have something to eat, please?"

"(Giggle) sure you can, let's go inside shall we?"

"...So, you're from another world then?"

"Yes, that is correct."

A short while had passed for the young girl and her Ferret companion. Nanoha had quickly gotten back to her house, but then she'd gotten scolded by her older siblings that they worried about her when there was murder going on but was glad that she is safe and got herself a pet ferret on the way. She went to her room and the ferret woke up finally, its wounds all healed quickly because it had used the remaining magic within its being to heal itself. The ferret, during this time, had also introduced itself to the young Nanoha when they had finally gotten some alone time in her room, its name being Yuuno.

"I can't believe that there is life in another world." Nanoha whispered, trying to take in what the Ferret told her, about how it had been a being from another planet which had pretty much made it an Alien in Earth terms, something which she had only seen in fiction.

"Indeed it is but first go to sleep then find the boy who took the jewel, it is important that we have to get it, I'll explain everything tomorrow okay." Yuuno replied to Nanoha since it's late at night and Yuuno also needs its sleep.

"Okay, good night Yuuno."

"Good night, Nanoha."

The next morning, after she'd woken up, Nanoha got up from her bed and got ready for school, all the while thinking a bit about what she had learned last night. The whole stuff seemed almost like a dream to her, her mind tried to rationalize whilst slowly booting itself back up to 100%, but then once it fully completed this process, Nanoha felt herself tense up with wonder and anxiety. Especially when she thought about having to confront that boy again, the image of that HUGE weapon he sported having flashed through her mind, ending up sending shivers down her spine.

'Yet… as scary as that Axe was… I can't help but remember how… beautiful those Wings were. They glistened so well in the darkness like they were the sole source of light in the world. I just couldn't take my eyes off them…'

As she was prepared to leave (thankfully she didn't get involved with anything her parents did beyond a simple 'hello', breakfast, and a 'I'm going to school!'), Nanoha put her shoes on by the porch, but before she could reach the door's handle her eyes widened when the news broadcast began to play.

"Just last night there was a noise commotion around the Jun street, it seems that something happened to the concrete that there cracks all over it. It seems like an explosion happened in that street, it's either the murderer strikes back or there were hooligans that had been causing trouble to the neighbors. In other news, two boys are missing since last night, reports ahead that they were last seen in Jun street if you see these boys contact the police as soon as possible, their parents are worried sick about them. Back to you Nan-ho. Thank you Cally its seems that-"

Unable to take it anymore, Nanoha quickly darted out of the house like a madwoman possessed by a psychotic spirit, her fear from that last night beginning to return with a vengeance. Memories from the Spider that killed those boys, along with the thought that she could have DIED that night, filled her brain and made her almost start hallucinating those very same events, that was just how TERRIFYING she felt when recalling them. She wanted to try and think of it as a bad dream, however the experiences themselves had been WAY too raw for her to deny any of them. Heck, thinking about how those two boys died made her heart explode with fiery guilt, tears building up in her eyes as she recalled their last moments in this world. She had tried, she had tried SO HARD to warn them about the danger chasing her, but those two hadn't listened to her pleas, which had resulted in… well, their deaths.

'Those poor boys… they didn't deserve that kind of end… it's so horrible, why did they have to… could I have done something else? Could I have maybe led that Spider away from the scene…? Could I…?'

"Ah, Morning, Nanoha!"

"Ah"

Before her thoughts could spiral further into negativity, a callout from her friends knocked Nanoha out of her trance as she looked up at the two mentioned girls. Upon seeing them, a bright smile formed on her face as her eyes practically lit up like christmas trees despite it being FAR from said thing.

Upon catching up to them, Nanoha continued her walking with them alongside her, not taking long to get into a conversation with them. This managed to help the young girl forget somewhat about the events of last night, giving her a sense of normalcy which helped calm her mind down. Yeah, this was nice, this was fine… that was what she kept thinking to herself, even as the guilt inside of her for enjoying this whilst two lives were unfairly taken in front of her never truly left.

Soon they reached their classroom with a new teacher that was replaced since the previous teacher was the victim of the murder, a flash of guilt erupting within her chest again since, even though THIS had been about a different murder than the one revolving around the two boys, it STILL reminded her of it.

Whilst class began, Nanoha began having a conversation with Yuuno telepathically, something which had only been possible since Nanoha now had magic in her from the device called Raging Heart.

'Nanoha…'

'Yuuno, I…'

'I know that you failed to save those boys Nanoha, but you have to remember that it wasn't your fault. Objectively, you did what you could, and the fact that you tried to warn them at ALL shows just how good of a person you are, if the fact that you tried to help me wasn't enough. That is also the reason why we have to collect the jewel seeds, to prevent the calamity that will fall on this world.'

'...I see, I'll try Yuuno, but it won't be easy… still can't get those two boys out of my head… um, subject change: That boy that has the seed... do you know anything about him?'

'Nothing at all, sadly. However, I would regardless recommend that you be cautious around him, Nanoha. He's dangerous, and I'm not just referring to that unusual weapon that he possesses. From what I was able to sense, it does seem that he too has… considerable magical power, but Raging Heart would be able to give a more accurate estimation. But, I WAS able to sense that it… it wasn't very nice-feeling. It's not 'evil' per say, but it IS a dark, malicious kind of power… like it was born from something utterly twisted and horrific. Don't want to think on just what that kind of thing can be. Just... please do try to convince him to give you that seed.'

'Okay got it, I will try.'

Nanoha did her best to reply in a more confident mental voice, but she nearly cringed at how fake it sounded, and she got the feeling her companion knew it, too. As much as she appreciated the support Yuuno tried to give her, Nanoha still felt like it would be a LONG while before she could accept that idea, after all it still remained fresh in her mind and she did NOT look forward to seeing what else would be born from finding the other Jewel Seeds.

After allowing Yuuno to cut the link since she couldn't do it herself yet, Nanoha then decided to try and focus on her regular school days, since thinking too hard about this wouldn't be getting her anywhere. Whilst the teacher droned on, she took some notes and listened to what the woman said.

By the time the school bell rang, the end of the school day soon followed. This prompted Nanoha to rise from her seat as she went back to her friends, resulting in the girls discussing their plans for the rest of the day before they had to part ways. Arisa had offered her a ride to her home, but out of politeness and a bit of trauma from the previous night, Nanoha rejected it since she had more important things to do.

Like finding that boy who had the jewel seed, and also see if there is any other seed that is in the city. Whilst she wandered throughout the city streets in her search, clutching the crimson Jewel that was Raging Heart in 'Standby Mode' according to Yuuno, Nanoha couldn't help but wonder about the warning her Ferret partner had told her about, a frown forming on her lips when she recalled the concern and weariness she heard from his thoughts. 'Yuuno… he seemed to be really on edge when we talked about that boy earlier… even though he seems younger than me… but why? Was it something to do with his magic stuff? But, despite how… unfriendly he looked, I can't help but think… that there's more to him than that, than he's letting on… I don't get why I think this, but I want to see him again, so I can get to the bottom of all this…' she thought to herself, shaking her head in order to help reorganize her thought processes.

It wouldn't do for her to be so distracted that she would miss sight of what she wanted to do for the day.

As she continued walking around the city to find the boy, Nanoha took a moment to pause and rest her legs, since she felt like she had been walking endlessly for a while now. Whilst taking a break to catch her breath, her blue eyes blinked when she glanced to the side, noticing a pearl-like object from a nearby store's window that caught her attention.

'That pearl…'

"Well well, it looks like we meet again Nanoha Takamachi ."

"Eep!"

All of a sudden, a low, boyish and slow voice suddenly rang out from behind her, nearly giving Nanoha a heart attack, as evident by how she jumped lightly with an 'eep!' escaping her mouth whilst she got the feeling her heart had nearly jumped out of her chest. When she turned around she was surprised that it was a boy with silver hair, wearing some goth jacket that covered his whole body except his face… which had a mask wrapped around his neck, as if it were some sort of bandanna.

Still though, Nanoha tilted her head to the side in confusion, not knowing why this boy seemed to think he knew her when she didn't think she'd ever seen him before. "Ummmm wh-who are you?" she questioned, innocently.

Seemed like she shouldn't have asked that though, as a brief look of annoyance passed through the mystery boy's features as he kept his hands inside of his pockets. He once again spoke, this time with a slightly frustrated edge to him. "Oh, so you don't remember me last night?" he questioned.

This caused Nanoha to become even MORE confused as her brain processed what he had said. Last night? That the time where the spider almost killed her and when a strange boy was wearing…..that…..same…..clothes!

Realization dawned on her as, in her mind, she compared the boy from back then to the boy she saw now… finding that aside from the Wings and Axe which weren't on the boy's person, they looked almost PERFECTLY identical. "Wait, you're that boy from last night-mmpph?!"

Just as Nanoha made to exclaim her sentence whilst pointing at him, the mysterious boy's eyes widened in slight panic, as he quickly put his hand on Nanoha's mouth before she could sprout it out "Quiet girl! Do you want to attract unwanted attention!?" he questioned in a hushed, ywt tense voice which QUICKLY made Nanoha look around, allowing her to spot multiple people looking at her. Thus, it soon dawned on her that she had realized that she was screaming out loud, prompting a crimson blush to form on her features. "I-I'm sorry about that..." she muttered in a lower, less audible voice with a side of sheepishness, all after calming herself down

The boy stared hard at her for a moment, before releasing a heavy sigh, muttering something incomprehensible under his breath. Afterwards, he turned around to walk away, making the 'come hither' motion with his right arm whilst he spoke. "Come one lets go somewhere private, so we can talk about this 'thing' that came to this Earth... and where is that Ferret, I have questions left unanswered."

Just before he could move on however, Nanoha jogged up to his side, addressing the question which he had asked at the end whilst pausing his stride. "Oh, I can tell you about the Jewel seeds instead of Yuuno, she's at my house."

"Yuuno?"

"The ferret that couldn't answer your question."

"I see... but that doesn't matter, let's go we're wasting time."

With that, the boy continued his previous stried, with Nanoha following by his side as the boy led her to somewhere people won't pay attention to them

Later on...

By the time late afternoon arrived, the two children arrived at a park where Nanoha can start explaining about the item that came from outer space. Nanoha found a Bench nearby once they had went through the entrance, and upon leading the boy to the Bench the two sat down on it before she proceeded to explain. "Alright, so the Jewel Seeds that Yuuno comes from are considered ancient treasures. They're magic stones that grant the wishes on whoever holds them but their power is very unstable. On their own, they sometimes go out of control like last night......"

Her words trailed off at the moment, when the sensations from that night returned to the forefront of her mind, making Nanoha stop her explanation as flashbacks of that monster that killed two boys got triggered. However, before she could fall into those memories, Yuuno's words resonated within her brain which made her return to reality. Afterwards, she continued in order to let the boy know how dangerous the Seeds were. "....They destroy everything in their search for a user, or in this case a host, if someone or something finds them and uses or miss use their power the stones can turn on them and go berserk."

After hearing all this information, the boy hummed in thought, his left hand reflexively grasping his Dress Jacket's pocket for which he had stored the now name Jewel Seed within. From what she had told him, it was fortunate then that he had put it in his Jacket instead of his pants, since the former wasn't as close to his Skin as the latter. Having an unstable, wish-granting Device so close to his flesh did NOT seem like such a good idea. "I see…" he muttered under his breath whilst his brain's gears rapidly rotated in it's pursuit of processing Nanoha's words. He could also feel his Tenants doing the same, although he'd likely have to wait till he was alone before asking their opinions on these objects. "This Seed seems more dangerous than I thought, but what are the seeds doing here on Earth, or more specifically in Uminari City?"

Nanoha didn't respond for a moment, her hesitation apparent, before finally replying to the silver haired boy. "Welllllllllll, it was kind of an accident that Yuuno caused."

"Hm?" At this, the boy raised a brow in confusion, wondering what she meant by that, hence why he went and clarified. "An accident? I find that hard to believe but tell me why?"

"Ooookkkkkaayyyy, well it sorta WAS Yuuno's fault... back where she came from, she's what you call an archaeologist. She had been on a dig site and she found something on the monument there, the Jewel Seeds. Based on rules that she followed, she sent them off to a team of researchers and asked them for permission to study them, but the time space transporter that was carrying it had some sort of accident that destroyed the ship. And now, twenty one jewels have been scattered all over this world, so now Yuuno has made it her mission to find them. As of right now, she's been able to find two of them." Nanoha explained, glancing down at the crimson jewel that was Raging Heart.

A few seconds, a dry look overcame him as the boy frowned. "So it was the ferret's fault." it had been more of a statement than a question.

However, the look in her eyes had been all that he needed to know in order to see what she had thought about that. "So can you please give me that seed? It's important that we have the calamity that will happen to the seeds."

"....I'll think about it later when I speak to my patreon."

"Hhhhhaaaa fine but can you tell me your name and that axe you have?"

"....it's Vali… Vali Redgrave. As for the Axe that I have...…." Vali went silent and, after a moment's worth of hesitation, decided to ask his tenants for their opinion on what he should do next. '......Should I tell her the supernatural exists, is she ready for it?' he questioned, From what he had learned from her story, it would make sense for this to eventually lead Nanoha into the world of the Supernatural, it felt goddamn inevitable at this point. That would be even WITHOUT 'that' which lay dormant within her, so really what was the point of keeping it all a secret from her now?

'You should Vali, because with what she has told us about those Seeds and their power from outer space, she is the only one that can contain those Seeds. Thus, we must have many allies for this, if an evil god or a powerful person like your grandfather managed to possess the Seeds, there is no telling on what they will do with them.'

[I agree with Albion on this one, Boy. Take it from someone who has had centuries of experience to their name, these Jewel Seeds must be contained as soon as possible, no one should have that kind of power. If anyone with a dark desires obtains them, it'll be like what Albion said. There is no telling on what they will do with the Jewel Seed or better yet, they would cause destruction to the city, the country, the world or worse the universe.]

With the opinions from his two Tenants, Vali gave a reluctant sigh, as well as a remorseful one "....Fine, for this axe…..it's a Devil Arm."

"A Devil Arm? Why are they called like that?"

"Before I tell you what a Devil Arm is, let me tell you something about this hidden worl-"

"AHHHHHHHHHHH"

"?!"

They got up when they heard a girl scream from the temple that is on the hill. Yuuno contacted her that there is another jewel seed that on the temple where the girl is

"We have to hurry before something bad happens to the girl Vali!"

"....Fine, come on."

They ran to the temple as Nanoha activated Raging heart, putting back on the same clothes which she wore yesterday when she had faced the spider. Meanwhile, Vali made the Devil Arm appear in his waiting outstretched right hand, all the while he summoned Divine Dividing onto his back for mobility. Together, the two climbed up to the temple, Nanoha hoping to save the girl and not make the same mistake that she caused the two boys while Vali thought of the problem at hand.

'It might be too late to save the girl guys, because we can't make it to the top of the hill. It's time for Takamachi to face reality, that in the end, she can't do much.'

'You are correct partner'

"Pl-please get away from m-m-me!"

Scared for her life right now, a young teenage girl of 16 years of age, stumbled across the ground like an unbalanced, unstable lunatic, which considering what she was currently doing only made sense. The girl had her brown hair tied into a shoulder length ponytail, with dark grey eyes whilst she wore a simple white and red tracksuit, though in some areas it had been shredded like the left leg, the right shoulder, and both hips. Several scratch marks (not very deep ones fortunately for her) adorned her face too, mixed with dirt and dust too. What was she doing to make herself act like she had gone through the classic horror experience? Oh, nothing much just trying to desperately escape from a monstrous creature that currently gave chase to her.

The beast itself looked so much like a humanoid cat, one which looked to have worn a gas mask over its face with a pair of glowing orange lenses that sported slitted pupils. The cat-like beast moved on all fours, with 2 long fiery Tails protruding from the base of its spine, similar in appearance to the long claws that protruded from its wrists. Furthermore, there looked to be some sort of Katana-like weapon strapped to it's back, with the creature's size that of an average car.

A low hiss escaped the creature's lips as it hopped through the Temple grounds, using its supreme agility to move all over the place. Whenever the girl reached one of the Temple's exits, it would then land close to it and prevent its prey from escaping, thus repeating the cycle. It almost seemed like it were… toying with the young girl, like a little kitten playing with a ball of string… only this string was full of blood and guts with all sorts inside, not to mention this 'cat' was one which had NO intentions of letting its newfound 'toy' leave alive.

However, before it could 'play' with the human some more, it sensed two powerful presences approaching, as evident by the way its Tails and ears lifted upwards. The Cat would have just lifted its head to see what the source was, but its instincts told it to do something else instead, and so…

"Ah!""

It vanished, causing the girl to go wide eyed in shock and terror, all whilst she frantically searched for where it had disappeared to, the previous experiences with fleeing messing up her survival instincts…

SCHULUCK!

"Eh…?"

… then, the cat appeared right behind its prey, swinging it's right claw and promptly decapitating her without mercy.

The look of dead shock that had formed on the now dead girl's face, it pretty much became the FIRST sight that a now MORTIFIED Nanoha saw when she first arrived on the scene.

"NNOOOOOOO!"

Nanoha screamed out with a pale face, the revelation that she had failed to save the girl on time when they were climbing a lot of stairs to get there in time, filling her mind with the ever so dense weight of failure. "Not again! Not again! I couldn't save that girl, just like those boys before!"

For Vali, however, he had much… less of a reaction, in fact it would be better to say that he hardly had any reaction at all. He had seen things like this enough to have gotten used to it, all due to how he'd known that no one can save everyone. Not to mention that even if they did, it would make the burden one carried even worse. This had been something that Vali had learned on his own when traveling from Chad to Egypt, alongside the fact that a majority of Stray Devils were either two things: a victim of their master's abuse or power hungry warmongers. The only thing he could do to them at that point, would be to either bring them peace by killing them so they won't suffer from the contained energy that the evil piece gives them, or for the warmongers he'd have to reduce them to smoking piles of ashes. But for now they have to stop this beast before it goes berserk.

But seeing how the Cat creature had already leapt towards her whilst Nanoha had been distracted by her despair to counterattack. However, Vali quickly unfurled his Divine Dividing and swung his Devil Arm in Axe Mode, slamming it into the creature's side, although he had been aiming for its head. The cat beast must have seen his attack coming a mile away and crumpled its body together in preparation to brace for impact. Hence, it got sent flying through the air, but not for long as it landed on all fours, gripping the ground till it halted, leaving long claw marks on the ground beneath it.

'DIVIDE!'

Hearing the mechanical voice of Albion erupt from his Sacred Gear made Vali smirk as he felt half of the creature's total energy reserve fill him up inside, something which it failed to realize due to the daze it got placed into thanks to his attack.

Glancing back at Nanoha's despair-ridden face after this, Vali then proceeded to shout at her. "Snap out of it, Takamachi! We couldn't have saved her no matter how fast we could have run, but what we CAN do is stop that beast before it goes berserk!"

"Bu-but I cou-could have sa-saved her!" She tried to counter, more out of desperation as the Cat Beast recovered from its dazed state and proceeded to gaze at the two, a calculating demeanor about it as it slowly started to circle them, eyeing them for any weaknesses.

Keeping up his guard because of this, Vali shouted right back while holding [Glavenus] at the ready. "You can't save everyone Takamachi, that's life! For now we have to stop that beast and if we don't, many more people will DIE from it!!"

Upon Vali yelling to her about the facts of the situation, Nanoha blinked momentarily as she snapped herself back into her senses. At that point, she gained a determined gaze before she slapped both her cheeks with her hands despite one hand containing Raging Heart. In her mind, she still had that fear and despair from these two encounters, however there was one big fact she needed to remember to stay in control: that whilst she may have failed to save that poor girl, she could at LEAST save those that would have eventually died if they didn't stop the beast right here and now.

"O-okay I got it! let's stop that beast and get that jewel seed!"

The moment Nanoha yelled that out, the Cat beast finally finished its analysing of its opponent, judging Nanoha to be the easiest target out of the two. With this in mind, the beast howled as it proceeded to rear itself backwards, getting ready to pounce on its newest 'victims' knowing that they will be more of a threat than the previous one, which it had already forgotten about. With that, it made the first move by leaping forwards, swinging its right claw towards Nanoha… though when it did, the claw instantly erupted into an explosion of roaring flames, leaving behind a long trail in its wake.

"Eep!" Nanoha squeaked in fright as she reflexively held her Wand in front of her with both hands, the device's tip pointing at her opponent. The moment that she did so, the jewel piece began releasing a pink continuous glow, and afterwards a bright pink energy barrier covered her form, resulting in the strike bouncing harmlessly off of her… much to her shock when she opened her eyes and saw what had just transpired. "Eh…?" She questioned, blinking before she gave a sigh of relief, glancing back to the adversary who just continued with its attack, this time spinning around to launch a Tail strike with its multiple Tails. This time, they too adopted a similar appearance with exploding flames, though these ones looked to be bigger, wider, and left a longer trail to them.

"Flier Fin: Activate."

This time though, out of a desire to not get hit Nanoha reflexively tried to think of flying away from the attack, to which Raging Heart responded with a few quick mechanical words. Following them, several glowing pink energy wings manifested from the sides of Nanoha's feet, some magical force releasing from them to propel her backwards. This not only resulted in her being able to dodge the attack, but also get some distance between them, just enough for Vali to step inside with his Switch Axe Devil Arm [Glavenus], slamming it down towards the Cat Beast's position only for it to hop out of the way by jumping away from his weapon.

"That wasn't a bad trick you just pulled there, girl. What kind of ability was that?" the boy couldn't help but question whilst he switched [Glavenus] to sword mode, thus proceeded to swing it multiple times in rapid succession to block the multitude of fiery projectiles the beast threw at him by swinging its right claw. Once all of them had been shredded through, Vali spread out his Divine Dividing and took to the skies, performing what Albion had once called an 'Aerial Ace' manoeuvre from a game about monsters sealed in balls used to battle each other, he'd forgotten its name by that point though. After flipping backwards, Vali curled the Sacred Gear inwards and flapped it once, launching himself forth towards his opponent with his Devil Arm poised to impale the creature, his intent being to jam it into the beast then try to apply it's abilities to it to disable it long enough for Nanoha to do… whatever it was she had to, in order to seal it away.

Sadly, the beast seemed to have learned from the previous time he had landed a hit, and as such it simply hopped into the air above him then swiped its claws, launching more fiery projectiles towards him from above.

'Tch!' The silver haired boy thought, glancing upwards towards the incoming threat before he proceeded to fly about the Temple Grounds, just parallel to the said ground in order to avoid them until he found himself free of the projectiles seconds later, thus Vali lifted himself into an upright position before planting both feet onto the ground, sliding along it till all of his motion had been halted… which conveniently resulted in him being back at Nanoha's side.

Nanoha's reply came right after this, as she just watched in awe at what Vali had been capable of. "U-Um, Yuuno said that was some sort of Spell, was that right Raging Heart?"

'Affirmative, Master. Flier Fin and that Barrier Spell are elementary level, thus your compatibility with them isn't an issue.'

'I'm going to have to ask this Ferret more about this Magic System, so I can get a proper grasp of its mechanics since it seems quite different from Demonic Magic.' Vali thought to himself whilst Nanoha nodded in response to her Wand's mechanical words. Mentally, she also noted to ask Yuuno for more advice on what she could do with these powers now, cause aside from these two and the apparent sealing mechanic which he'd briefly told her about during her walk to school with her friends, Nanoha didn't know much else about what she could do.

Neither of them got to say or think much more about this issue, though, and that was to do with the Cat Beast falling down towards them with both claws erupting into flames like roaring volcanos, slamming down onto their positions to create an infernal heat wave. This forced the two to jump into opposite directions, Nanoha re-engaging the Flier Fin Spell with Vali unfurling his Divine Dividing until both of them halted their movements.

Vali responded the quickest out of the two, him being the most experienced out of the two of them as he hurled [Glavenus] forwards, the weapon rotating rapidly like it were a spinning wheel as it flew through the air. Of course, the beast managed to easily dodge it, but soon after it began to move Vali shot forth faster, putting a large amount of power into Divine Dividing to soot through the air and end up roundhouse kicking the creature's right side from its rear right flank… well, more like a graze since it managed to jump away at the last second, but…

[DIVIDE!]

It regardless counted as physical contact, which allowed his Sacred Gear to steal away half of its power and add it to Vali's own, which became evident due to his blue and white wings 'pulsing' for a brief moment before returning to normal. Feeling the power drain from its form, the Cat-like beast bristled, white hot fury burning within its lungs as it glared heatedly towards him, now identifying him as the WORSE threat of the two. Whilst the female looked easy to target, it would seem that this boy would be the one who would be able to actually threaten it. Therefore, it decided to focus its efforts on eliminating him as soon as possible…

Hence, after it reared its head upwards, the beast released a loud, anger-filled roar, a bright orange smokey aura erupted out from it's latex suit-like body, large fumes erupting from it's Mask's mouthpieces. It then proceeded to… literally vanish before their eyes, causing both kids to go slack-jawed in shock.

'What the-where did-?!'

'To the right!'

Albion's warning came just in time for Vali to reach out with his right hand, and call back [Glavenus] into it's waiting grasp just as the beast appeared at his right, it's own Katana drawn forth for an impaling of his chest. 'Crap, can't switch [Glavenus] to sword mode in time! No choice, then…!' Vali thought, or rather he thought just quick enough for that thought to have lasted about half a second whilst he curled the right wing of his Sacred Gear in front of him, using its metallic parts to block the incoming Katana from stabbing into him. The moment that the two attacks collided though, both attacks repelled each other like two magnets of the same type, sending Vali stumbling backwards whilst the beast lunged forwards, intending to swing the Katana again only for a wide sweep this time. Barely, Vali switched [Glavenis] into Sword Mode in time and used it to block the second slash, using the power gained from Divine Dividin's second divide to amp his arm strength enough to push the offending weapon away from him before going for a reverse horizontal slash towards its chest…

Only for the creature to vanish before his eyes once again.

This time though, Albion didn't get a chance to warn Vali this time, for the Cat-like beast appeared right behind it's opponent, slashing across his back with it's Katana causing Vali to cry out in agony, which only increased in volume when the beast backhanded him with a flaming claw right afterwards, launching him flying across the battlefield.

"Ah, V-Vali!"

"Hey, worry more about your way of dealing with this thing, girl! I'll be fine!"

Vali shouted back towards a concerned Nanoha, his voice stopping her from running over as she reluctantly resumed trying to recall what Yuuno had said about how to seal this thing. It had been mentioned in passing, and because of the sheer intensity of this situation Nanoha struggled to remember it at the moment.

[You say that, boy. Perhaps it's time you stop holding back and start using MY abilities now that I'm in this form, shall we?]

'Looks like…' Vali thought as he struggled to his feet, sensing danger behind him and quickly shooting upwards into the air with Divine Dividing by instinct, then switching [Glavenus] from its default Axe Mode back into Sword Mode (the switching back to its default Mode had happened when he had gotten hit those last few times) in order to deflect the incoming fiery projectiles it had launched. 'That's gotta be the case!' Vali thought again, finally managing to finish his initial thought process when he had been previously interrupted by the beast's attacks. He'd been using the basic traits the Switch Axe had up till now, the switching between modes, as well as the Overclocking of the Vial thing he'd done against the Uraeus back in the Desert, NOT the actual powers that this Devil Arm had. Perhaps now would be the chance to change that, although he hoped that since this Devil Arm's element was fire, it would be somewhat effective against this similarly attributed creature.

Thus, Vali quickly formulated a strategy in his mind, recalling the training that he had been put under by the Devil Arm during the last few years. If he didn't want to get himself mulched by this thing and become its newest chew toy, then he'd have to ask fast. He didn't want to get injured by this thing again after all, and as he stared down at it whilst trying to avoid the projectiles it launched, jumping about to stop him from getting a proper bead on it, Vali finally came to a decision. 'Hope this will work!'

Switching [Glavenus] back into Axe Mode, Vali held it in one hand and pointed downwards towards the creature, who hissed in confusion like a cat trying to threaten another predator. Something which soon became a fact as, from it's Axe blade, Vali watched as crimson energy trails crackled along its form, gathering towards its tip and generating… a basketball sized ball of magma, one which radiated an IMMENSE aura of pure heat and intensity to the point where even Vali himself felt like he would inevitably get burned by it just by standing behind it.

Now, whilst [Glavenus] primarily had Combustion as its main ability, this being where it could form a special slime which reacted to the air around it over the blade, resulting in it becoming quite... explosive, which will allow him to deal larger ranged slashes regardless of what weapon mode the switch axe is in, that wasn't the only ability [Glavenus] apparently had. As a sub ability, the Devil Arm can also gather its energy within it's tip, where it can then generate and fire large balls of Magma from said tip, making it quite a ranged attack since these things can explode like bombs thanks to them being made with the 'Combustion' ability infused within them. They explode IMMEDIATELY upon contact with an enemy, or if they hit anything else then it takes a couple seconds longer for them to detonate on their own. Hence, what Vali was generating through his Devil Arm at the moment was a ball of bomb-like Magma.

However, this ability was only able to be used in Axe Mode, since in Sword Mode the Devil Arm's entire structure changes to the point where the ability won't work too well. Good thing there was a second sub ability that [Glavenus] had that made up for this weakness.

Once the Magma ball had been of sufficient size, Vali smirked weakly, feeling the strain of the previous two injuries to his person start to weaken him with the last of the energy stolen by Divine Dividing diverting to searing them shut as to stop their bleeding long enough for him to finish this fight and return home to rest. With a slight thrust with his right hand since that was what had been holding the large weapon, Vali launched the Magma Ball straight down towards the cat-like beast, said being hissing as it jumped to the side to dodge them whilst swinging it's fiery claw to launch more projectiles. Ones which Vali avoided by strafing through the air from side to side thanks to Divine Dividing helping him hover.

FWOOM-FWOOM-FWOOM-FWOOM-FWOOM-FWOOM-FWOOM-FWOOM-FWOOM-!

FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-!

These sounds were what came along with these two beings throwing these ranged attacks at one another, with each of them looking to try and cover the other with wounds inflicted FROM these attacks should they have hit… or rather, that's what the beast had ASSUMED of its future victim anyways.

Something which became 'questionable' when it noticed the smug ass smirk form on the boy's features, as if to say 'i've won'. A questioning hiss escaped it's lips as it proceeded to try and swing BOTH claws at it's airborne victim, intending to end this charade once and for all by slicing through those pesky wings and then force the meal back to the ground where it could finish him off with it's Katana.

"You're trapped you know, better look around you…"

Those words however, stopped the beast in its tracks as it heard something beginning to sizzle. Danger senses erupted within its brain like an alarm meter when it glanced around it, seeing MULTIPLE piles of Magma layered around it, VERY close to it's position. WAY too close for it's liking, and when he saw the panicked shudder travel down it's spine from his spot in the air, Vali couldn't help but smirk. 'What I had been doing wasn't aiming aimlessly… but in fact, my true aim was to bait it into a 'trap' made entirely out of non-detonated piles of Magma. Since it had been so focused on hitting me, it didn't realize where I had been aiming for, hence why now it has very little choice…'

FWOOSH!

'…But to jump into the air to escape my blasts.' Vali concluded in his mind when, in a bid to escape from the Magma piles just before they could detonate and cause explosions similar to the one Vali had seen when he had Overclocked the Devil Arm's Vial back in the Desert, the beast leapt high into the airspace. Just in time too, for seconds after this action had been performed, Vali saw how multiple explosions the size of an average car filled the Temple grounds below it, reducing the majority of said grounds to a charred wasteland. 'But that was just what I was wanting to happen, so I can…' trailing off, Vali proceeded to charge forwards by flapping his wings for the finishing blow, [Glavenus] already in Sword Mode. '... utilize this Devil Arm's SECOND Sub ability!'

Whilst he flew, Vali felt the weapon already proceeded with what he wanted it to do, something which he had learned it could perform during training thanks to being tethered to his Soul. By reading his mental thoughts, which was how [Glavenus] knew what he was thinking so it could respond appropriately, it activated it's second sub ability, floods of clear coloured slime erupting forth from the blade's form and coating it like an arrow being dipped in poison… although this slime then heated the blade up till it resembled a superheated blade seconds later.

This was it's second sub ability, by coating the blade with slime produced by it's Demonic Energy, [Glavenus] could superheat it's blade to increase it's cutting effectiveness and amplify it's attack power. Furthermore, this slime didn't 'explode' like the main type of slime, as that slime was made somewhere else in the Devil Arm, this one was more of an indirect attack-type slime than the one that made explosions. Apparently, according to the Devil Arm when it had been a Wyvern, [Glavenus] had once stayed a long while inside a volcanic environment for fighting monsters there, and as a result it's body had gained a natural evolution where, after ingesting soot from it's Tail when it used it's mouth to sharpen it after or during battles, it'd go into a part of his throat where it'd be heated and turned into Magma which it could use to fire as semi-detonable projectiles, hence the basis behind this sub ability.

But like the other sub ability, this one became available only in Sword Mode, for similar reasons.

Hence, Vali had named these two sub-abilities along with the main one:

Main ability: COMBUST

Sub Ability 1 - MAG SHOT

Sub Ability 2 - HEAT EDGE

Finally close enough to do the job he wanted, Vali saw how the beast, in a panic-fuelled attempt at saving itself, tried to swing its Katana down at him in an overhead diagonal slash. However, upon getting close enough Vali simply twirled around its strike path, resulting in the blade hitting nothing but air as he used the momentum to spin into a horizontal slash… one which cut RIGHT through the creature and leaving a deep wound right across its torso.

A loud howl of pure agony, much like the one which Vali had gone through previously, escaped it's mouthpieces as the Cat Beast fell to the ground below with a mighty CRASH, an explosion of dust concealing its form whilst Vali landed before it, his Devil Arm in Axe Mode once again. However, he couldn't stay upright for long, as he fell to one knee due to the injury on his back which the borrowed power was nearing its limit to suppress, hence why he shot a look towards Nanoha with an urgent gaze in his blue eyes. "Nanoha, are you freaking ready yet?!"

"Um, Ah! Yeah, I remember now! I'm ready!"

"Then seal it!"

What followed was Nanoha yelling towards her Wand. "Raging heart, let's Seal!" followed by a robotic incantation from it which came along the lines of 'Sealing Mode: Set up!'. Once that happened, the Wand's tip slid upwards, exposing an opening beneath it which allowed a pair of feathery wings similar to the ones from FLIER FIN to emerge from it. From there, multiple pink bands of energy burst out in a frantic flurry, quickly going into the smoke, dispersing it and wrapping around the wounded, weakened beast. A serial number akin to that one last night, XVI, appeared on its forehead.

'Standby, Ready!'

"Magical Lyrical! Jewel Seed number 16: Seal!"

'Sealing!'

Following that robotic incantation, Vali saw how the entire beast became bathed in light similar to the binds that restricted it, which also reminded him of when [Glavenus] became a Devil Arm for him. The beast's form then split in two after resizing into a smaller form, becoming a similar blue gem and an unconscious (though thankfully not wounded) cat. 'A Jewel Seed…' the boy thought as it went inside the Wand's crimson Jewel, the Wand having returned to normal at this point.

"Recept number: 16!"

With that, the feeling of the battle being over finally came to the two fighters, with Valli falling onto his backside and putting [Glavenus] beside him, what strength he had mostly left at this point too which left him at the merciless hand of his injuries. 'Ugh… finally, its over… though I think it could have gone a lot better…'

"#Huff...#huff...#huff finally that's finished."

"....hey Vali?"

"#Huff….. yes?"

"....thank you for helping me..."

".....don't mention it for now... we have to bury the girl now."

"I…..could've saved her if we were..... on time."

"We can't save everyone, girl, no matter how hard we try. This world we live in… it's not black nor white, or even gray. It's just... how it is."

AN:

Hello everyone this is Darklord331 and HunterxKiller86

Now I know that your wondering why Nanoha is into saving people, well because she is a little girl and has a naive mind that she can save anyone who is in danger and can't accept reality. For the monster, it is the successor of the claw from Code vein, you should try and get that game its fun and interesting to play. Thank you for viewing and reading hope you guys have a great day

PEACE OUT!