9 Chapter 9

"This kid has got some skills, I'll give him that. Maybe I'll take him as an apprentice."

"Maybe brother, but what interests me is that girl with her wand. The way she uses it as a long-ranged weapon, plus her outfit and abilities... I have never seen before, not even Serafall or any witches can do that. That technology must be at least another 100 years more advanced than current mortal tech."

The two Shinto gods, Amaterasu and Susanoo, remained in the former's room, observing the two children through a magic circle that one of their gods, Omoikane the God of Wisdom and intelligence, had made. Susanoo stood by the sitting Goddess's side, arms crossed. as they did this. Though the two looked positively LIVID that they can't go down there and help the two children to save their followers.

"Hmmmm, aside from that there's something else: that Axe… something about it seems off. It must be special, I have never seen any type of Sacred Gear doing anything like this one... maybe it's a mutation one?"

"Doubtfully Susanoo, I have memorized every Sacred Gear that YHWH created to protect the humans from any kind of threats, which I give credit to him. The only type of Sacred Gear that could be demonic as that is Sword Birth, but even a mutation can't even switch from Axe to Sword."

"Then, what could it be then Amaterasu?"

"I am… unsure. Perhaps it is some type of new weapon that genius created, or maybe something from a previous age..."

"Older sister please, no technology such as this was even invented back in the past, the only thing that was advanced was the Malebranche or as we call it Devil Arms that have long since disappeared in the world. If I remember correctly, the first wielder of a Devil Arm was Malacoda, and his companions were sealed away by the original Satans because they couldn't even harness the power of the Devil Arms from them."

"Maybe so, brother, but we can't know for sure if there is a new wielder since, nowadays, everything is unpredictable."

Susanoo kept silent as he watched the two fighting their way toward the center of the recent disaster's cause, the unruly castle that seemed to even give a chill to the God of Storms.

Eventually, however, his frustrations over their lack of actions rose up, and just as his namesake dictated, it wasn't long before they came spewing out of him, beyond his ability to contain them. "This is getting out of hand Amaterasu, we need to do something about this, we can't just let them handle this all by themselves, we could send my sword or your mirror to help them."

"We can't Susanoo because they aren't ready to handle a divine artifact that could literally turn the body to dust. The last time someone from the exorcist tried to steal your sword and when they tried to use it they were LITERALLY turned to nothingness, the only way for someone to wield a divine weapon is by having an extreme amount of light or dark energy that can handle a Gods artifact or make adjustment to the artifact that anyone can wield a divine artifact."

"....This time we are saying no to those Devils, I am sick and tired of those bastards declaring that they're the best race out of all others. We are taking back our lands and I don't care what they say, they won't get it back."

".....indeed brother, we are."

With that decision made, the two Gods proceeded to continue watching the children fighting against multiple skeletons which made them VERY worried about this. Especially with the implications… alongside their parents' history with this subject. "Necromancy....fuck we have to do something about this."

"I will contact the shinigami, so that they can deal with the necromancer that was stealing souls from the underworld."

"And what good will that do? With this amount of necromancy, I doubt that things will resolve themselves so peacefully. Once our followers forget what happens, they will still feel the loss of their loved ones, something which they won't have an answer to."

"I know brother I know, once they have dealt with the necromancer we will contact mother and tell her we have dealt with this mess and give the souls back to their original owner."

"In other words, lie... you know fucking very well our mother hates lies since our 'Father' couldn't even keep his word."

"Well, what choice do we have Susanoo?!" Amaterasu finally snapped, surprising her brother, though she didn't give a damn about that right now. For the first time during this entire disaster, her patience had reached its limit, causing her to showcase that, even though she was a Goddess, she STILL had a Temper to her. "It's either lie... or have the other gods coming to our region and taking interest in what had happened on OUR lands, including that mystery object, brother."

".....Fine, but just this once. It's bad enough our father abandoned her because he was scared because of her looks, and now we have to lie to our very own mother. I fucking really hate politics."

"......Me too brother, me too."

The conversation trailed off there, leaving two VERY dissatisfied Gods lamenting their own uselessness. All while they continued to watch the children as they finished some skeletons off, though the girl looked very exhausted by the end of it. Seeing that, Amaterasu's eyes swam with pity and sympathy. As much as the Goddess admired the girl for her very own determination, she couldn't help but be frustrated that a CHILD had to do something that adults should have done. It just went to show just how terrible the bigger picture really was. Not to mention that, in her heart, the Goddess REALLY wanted to help them, those brave children, cause in her eyes, they may be small but heroes come from all kinds of backgrounds. These children may be so, but to her, they were heroes.

Sadly, politics held them back, politics involving the fucking Satans.

It was then the boy gave him her magic which caused a wave of surprise to rush through the onlooking Shinto gods, the boy must've not wanted his companion to be very exhausted. Considering the situation they were in, the Gods gave him credit for his judgment since Necromancy was NEVER anything to make light of, and whatever had caused this disaster to befall the city would NOT let them off easy. But... When the girl's lips moved a couple of moments later, the boy released his aura that caused them to be even MORE surprised, especially since the aura he released had been potent enough that they were able to feel it through the Magic Circle.

"This Aura....it must be a Devil or perhaps a Half devil."

"Maybe so brother but we can't be sure of that, maybe he is born with a huge amount of magic."

"Sister I know what that ounce of magic can be and I won't be very surprised that he is a Half Devil, they just can't even keep it in their fucking pants."

"You may be correct on this brother, maybe he's an outcast or something?"

"Maybe, those devils are always keeping themselves pureblooded just because of their bloodline."

"Regardless, there's a Devil down there doing stuff that should be done by those damn Satans, I bet those fucks will try to use that against us somehow."

"We can't be certain, brother, for now let's continue watching over them. Let's hope that they can stop this madness."

"....I hope you are right about this, Sister."

Back with the kids Nanoha and Vali...

Inside the Castle, the ominous-looking door got opened by the young hybrid, and whilst doing so he felt Nanoha, who was currently holding her Wand like it would slip out of her fingers if she didn't, close by as they entered the room they were at a throne room that the throne is made from a single mass of obsidian. The throne's size… well, it could be considered as GIGANTIC, with a back that was high enough to touch the ceiling above where it was situated. Looking at it, the Throne looked to be rather suitable for a king in Vali's opinion.

Though, what resided in the room WITH them soon caught his attention.

There, sitting on top of it with a posture which only someone in a high position of power in medieval times could make, was a man with medieval armor over the majority of his body. Armor that had a skeleton face on the chest, arms, and legs, even on the feet. His armor had a predominately blue color, with gray outlines at the end of his arms, legs and his helmet. He had short spikes on both of his top shoulders, and finally his face remained hidden from sight by a helmet with a curved T on it.

If this man had been on his own, then the kids would have shuddered in intimidation just from his sheer cold, dead-like presence. However, he wasn't alone, for someone stood next to him like a loyal lapdog next to their master, who also had a similar presence but with a more… predatory feel to it. Like someone who was used to 'toying' with their prey by luring them into deadly traps for their own sadistic amusement.

Next to him was a woman that was wearing the same armor as the man was... only, it looked to have a bit more of a... 'feminine', design. She wore leather around her torso, her uncovered arms, legs,and hands. She wore two belts on her left leg with a green gem attached to the both of her backhand, and another two of them on the bottom of both of her shoulders. She was holding a bow in her hand and an arrow ready to strike at the two kids at any moment, with additional arrows inside a quiver on her back.

"Well well, what do we have here, two intruders, kids to be specific, welcome to my castle."

"Well how about that? Seems that your somewhat intelligent might as well make it quic-"

"Why, why are you doing this? Killing innocent left and right why are you doing this?!"

Before Vali could finish his speech, his eyes widened when Nanoha, her eyes wide with a pleading gaze to them, stepped forwards whilst yelling that question out at the top of her lungs. One could literally FEEL the emotion in her voice, and to normal people such a voice would cause them to feel guilt and apologetic…

But in the man's case?

"Ahahahahaha such a naive girl, I'll tell you why, it is because they harm mother nature. Polluting her soils and hair, destroying her lands and making her cry every time an animal becomes extinct... I will correct that, by having all the humans, and the gods, go extinct so that mother nature will be happy once more."

'...I knew it, so that's why the seeds became very dangerous and deadly.'

'Yup, looks like that theory was right after all, Albion.'

'Yup, and [Glavenus]: When the seeds came to Earth, Gaia the primordial of earth must've used this chance to pour in her essence to make the host go berserk and kill as many humans as possible.'

'......Which is why those creatures were hellbent on killing humans.....great now we have a primordial on our tail.'

[Hmph, she may be a threat to us, but she's just another being on this battlefield we call life. Nothing more, nothing less.]

'Don't be sure of that Glavenus, I myself have faced a few primordials. I will tell you this: they are very hard to beat. Even I myself struggled to fight against them, though I still won in the end. Be wary of them Vali, you are not strong enough to beat them and when you encounter one, you have to retreat from the battlefield, even strong enemies have to flee from a fight that they are not ready for.'

'.....I understand, Albion.'

While Vali may be a battle maniac, he still remains wary of stronger enemies like gods(ow) for example. Only when he finally managed to beat a high-level god or got onto the level as a Super Devil, then he'll be ready to face his grandfather. Still, when he looked at the smug-looking man on his throne, Vali smirked right back whilst holding [Glavenus] at the ready. "Well then, your majesty, looks like we'll have to dethrone you, since you aren't even a good damn ruler."

"Ahahahahaha you think you can beat me boy? The almighty Lich King, Arthas? I think it's time to know your place boy, Sylvannas deal with the girl I'll handle the boy."

"Yes, my lord."

".....Nanoha listen to me don't hesitate to kill the enemy, because they won't give you one second to rest. This is a fight for your life not to save people, girl. Remember that."

"......okay Vali, good luck."

"Heh I don't need luck, I just need to survive."

With that said Vali then charged forward and brought his [Glavenus] up to decapitate the so-called lich king as he got off his throne, took his sword from his side and quickly brought his

sword up to the defense. As a result, the two weapons collided with one another sparks being seen in between the blades.

(Vali vs Arthas)

Soon after the battle began, Vali broke free from his deadlock with the Lich King known as Arthas, flipped himself backwards multiple times before he slammed both feet into the ground, using his superhuman strength to point [Glavenus] at his enemy. The tip then proceeded to gather power there, forming and firing 2 MAG SHOT's at the same time. Even in the thick of it, Vali knew the one thing one had to have in a battle was a plan, and right now he felt like 'probing' the enemy for information about his battle capabilities, thus he would make sure to FORCE him into revealing the cards he held close to his chest, as it were.

Seeing the fireballs coming his way, the Lich King huffed as he swung the sword in a reverse horizontal motion, creating a wave of icy spikes in front of him that rose up from the ground, pointing forth like a barricade. The moment the two MAG SHOTs hit, the barricade punctured them and caused them to detonate, creating an explosion followed by a large cloud of dust.

However, it didn't last for when Arthas flicked his hand forwards, sending a wave of air out which dispersed the cloud from his presence… only to find nothing in front of him. His glowing blue eyes, hollowed and surrounded by darkness thanks to his Helmet, narrowed at this sight, before he promptly raised his sword horizontally, blocking a strike to his right shoulder from the Axe form of [Glavenus].

The cause, Vali, flipped backwards again, but this time he charged forwards and swung the weapon diagonally and upwards at the same time, intending to try and launch the Lich King up into the air. However, his opponent dodged this by stepping back out of his Devil Arm's range, prompting a curse from Vali as he stepped forwards and twisted his body around, using his weight and momentum to continue into a diagonal downwards slash.

This attack also got deflected, and right afterwards Arthas reared his sword back for a thrust, whilst to Vali's surprise the whole blade then became engulfed in a cool, frosty aura with vapour surrounding it, highlighting the glowing blue 'eyes' of the skulls on it. "FROST STRIKE!" The Lich King declared, thrusting his weapon forwards towards Vali's chest, intending to impale him faster than he could bring his Devil Arm into Sword Mode to defend himself. This made Vali grit his teeth, his situation forcing the boy to raise his weapon high then bring it down in an overhead strike instead of blocking the incoming attack, diverting the sword's path to the ground before him.

FWOOSH!

"Guh!"

Sadly, this just release the icy power within the blade, causing Vali to be sent flying backwards and away from his opponent… who then proceeded to vanish into thin air by the time the silver haired Hybrid managed to land on the ground, albeit ungracefully as he had to roll across it till he used the momentum to get onto his feet again. "Ugh! What the…?!" the boy cursed under his breath beneath his mask when he saw his foe had vanished, but instead of just standing there like an idiot Vali reflexively pointed [Glavenus] to the ground and fired a MAG SHOT whilst jumping upwards, using the force behind both the ability as well as the shockwave to send him away from that location. Good thing too, cause Arthas had appeared seconds later with a swing of his sword, freezing the attack solid instead of the boy whom he had been targeting.

[Good, Vali. Using your abilities creatively will help you survive long enough to pinpoint his weakness.]

'That's the plan, [Glavenus]!'

With that quick chat, Vali once again landed on the ground, pointing his Switch Axe at his opponent and saw him already on his ass, swinging his sword down towards Vali's head. Quickly switching tactics, Vali remembered one of the Hunter Arts which he had learned from [Glavenus], thus he proceeded on using it. 'HUNTER ART - TRANCE SLASH!' He yelled in his mind at the same time as his arms moved. As the sword descended upon him, Vali performed a rising upward slash, deflecting the attack in that direction whilst then spinning the blade around the space above his head then brought it down for a diagonal downward slash. This one got deflected though, something which Vali used to his advantage by switching the weapon into Sword Mode, quickly performing a couple slashes like an X before ending it with a forward thrust, pressing the overclocking button at the moment the thrust ended. As a result, whilst the Lich King managed to block the Thrust, the following eruption from the Vial managed to knock him backwards and away from the boy, who grinned with a look of victory in his eyes. "Hah, how about that?!" he yelled, gloating whilst shifting [Glavenus] back to Axe Mode… well, it did that automatically without his input, as that had been part of the kata that the Hunter Art required.

"Grgh… not bad, boy. You may provide SOME manner of entertainment after all." Arthas declared, smirking as he threw his clawed, gauntlet-covered hand in front of him. "BREATH OF SINDRAGOSA!" He declared, a large, draconian head manifesting into existence above him. Vali didn't get much of a chance to marvel though, since the head then opened its mouth and spewed forth a long burst of frosty Vapour in his direction.

'Vali, Move!'

Albion's warning quickly snapped the boy out of his trance state that he'd entered following the dragon head's emergence, prompting him to dive roll to the left in order to avoid the attack. However, the Lich King wasn't done yet, for he quickly jumped forwards so that the two were about 4 feet apart from one another, and then held his sword in both hands. "REMORSELESS WINTER!" Which turned out to be a feint, for he then simply flicked his wrist and a spherical cold, downright icy wind surrounded him. It also DRASTICALLY lowered the air temperature around them, making Vali shudder with his teeth beginning to chatter.

'Shit… my body! I feel as though I can't move as fast as I should!' the boy thought, barely managing to switch [Glavenus] into Sword Mode to raise it up and block a thrust in time. However, he could NOT defend against the following downward slash that Arthas launched, one which turned out to be a special one too since the blade became encased in Ice, forming the shape of a Scythe as he declared the following. "FROSTSCYTHE!" As he carved a VICIOUS gash through Vali's chest.

"Guuuuuuhhhhhh!"

A cringe of pain followed by icy chills from his chest dominated Vali's senses, his body losing MUCH of its heat from that strike alone. This wind wasn't helping either, not to mention that during the following seconds, he got forced onto the defensive thanks to Arthas constantly WAILING on him like he were a boxer and Vali himself were a training dummy, rapidly slashing away at him from all kinds of different angles, expertly showcasing his skill with a blade. 'This is… not going too well…' the boy thought with several frozen gashes over his body, along with a solidified trail of blood on the side of his head and his form covered with frost.

He decided to switch [Glavenus] to Axe Mode, but before he could the boy gasped when Arthas slammed his boot into his stomach before he could, the impact feeling like it would knock every organ inside his body out through his mouth. Pain erupted inside of him, though Vali felt slightly thankful that the cold numbing his body right now suppressed his pain receptors so he didn't feel it too much. Nonetheless, the kick sent the boy flying away from Arthas, who held his hand up towards his still-airborne form. "Farewell, boy. AVALANCHE!"

With that done, Vali looked up when he sensed a buildup of power above him, his eyes widening when he saw two HUGE blocks of ice having formed above him. He IMMEDIATELY knew what the Lich King intended to do with them as they began to fall down towards the space where Vali's airborne body was headed to, and what was worse was that he still could hardly feel too much of his body, 80% of it being rather… numb due to the chill.

[BOY, CIRCULATE YOUR DEMONIC ENERGY TO HEAT YOURSELF UP, NOW!]

Fortunately for him, [Glavenus] came in clutch, giving him an out of this situation which prompted Vali to quickly spring into action… well, as quickly as his chilled body would let him, anyways. Internally, the boy forcefully DRAGGED his Demonic Energy through his body, circulating it through his system and covering himself in a brilliant silver, glistening aura. That aura soon destroyed the frost over his body, save for the ones keeping his wounds closed, as well as restored his ability to move… right on time too. The reason? So he could activate HEAT EDGE and cut the two blocks apart, saving his life whilst he flipped backwards and landed safely on his feet.

'That was close… way too close…'

'It would seem that this foe can use Ice abilities for both offensive and defensive purposes, Vali. I don't doubt that he has other powers, too… Oh, you have got to be kidding me.'

"?!"

Albion cursed, prompting Vali to look to Arthas to see him swinging his blade, several drops of dark blue energy, with a slightly green tint, dripping from the blade by the second the slash had happened. As such, those drops created an arc on the ground before him, but before he could question what was going on, Vali's eyes widened when he saw: From the ground before Arthas, a group of 30 beings BURST out, crawling out in a manner not unlike that of wild insects surfacing after struggling to escape the underground for so long. By the time these creatures came out, Vali remembered them from the multiple types that he and Nanoha had to slay getting here: they were humanoid in appearance, but just slightly taller than his mentioned companion, with furry manes, thin bodies but long, large claws.

"Go, my Ghouls! Ravage his corpse for me, so that I may gain a powerful dark servant for our future!"

"GUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"

"Oh, motherfu-!"

(Nanoha vs Sylvannas)

The elf woman aimed the girl as she let go of her arrow to soar through the air as Nanoha quickly jumped to the right as the arrow passed just went past her hair.

"Hmph impressive girl, you managed to dodge that but let's see if you can handle this."

Sylvannas then pulled out another arrow from her quiver as he pulled back her arrow and released it, but this time not one but many arrows started to appear from the originally as Nanohha quickly used protection when they were coming fast

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG

"Ugh!"

Nanoha struggled as she tried to put up more resistance against multiple arrows but the longer she does it the more magic(Which Vali gave her some of his to quickly refill her reserves) she will waste it from blocking.

"Nanoha quickly when that woman stops to reload, use that chance to fight back!"

"I-I do-n't know Yuuno, I've never hurt a person before."

"I know, but if you want to survive like Vali said, don't hesitate or else she will kill you. This is a fight for your life Nanoha, remember that."

"O-Okay, got it."

With her regaining confidence, she waited until the elf woman run out magic arrows. When she no longer heard any arrows coming to her barrier she used her Raging heart to activate 'Flier fin' and used shooting mode to shoot towards her opponent.

"Hmph weakling."

Sylvannas turned invisible, and Nanoha missed her target. She looked left and right finding her opponent.

"Behind you!"

Nanoha quickly flew to the right as she avoided a black arrow that could've wounded her, but when she saw them going to the ground, it sprouted out shadows as a few skeletons began to appear from the shadow, spawned into existence from the black arrow.

"Don't think I'm just limited to arrow magic girl, I have been blessed by my lord to command over the dead, you will regret facing me girl."

Skeletons were around waiting for the chance when Nanoha descended. She then dodged multiple arrows shooted by Sylvannas, she continued to do that but instead got shot by two arrows one by her shoulder and one in her knee

"UGH!!"

"NANOHA!"

She quickly shoots down the skeletons that were about to grab and descends to the ground as she quickly got to cover by hiding in one of the pillars.

She covers her wound with her hand as she leaned on the pillars for support

"You can run a girl but you can't hide, my arrows are filled with undead energy that can turn anyone to a servant of the lich king. Soon, you will be a mindless beast to serve us for eternity, give up girl there no chance to win."

When the woman said that, Nanoha could feel the energy trying to spread across her body, almost weakening her if the magic from the Raging Heart didn't try to expel it from her body.

"Nanoha you can't give up yet! If you do, then what will happen to this city? The neighbors? Your friends? Your family.....or even Vali?!"

When Yuuno said that, she thought about her friends that hung out with her, when Arisa was a brat who at first caused her problems, but got along with each other because she helped a puppy that was injured. Her times with her family when they are at a bakery......and the times she spent with Vali and Xun Er getting to know each other.

Could she just… give up, and throw all of that away?

'No… NO! I WON'T!'

Upon that revelation, Nanoha's eyes gained a determined gleam to them, adrenaline fuelled by her surge of desire exploding within her like a bomb. She was filled with energy that boosted her body as she became determined not to let that happen, she will not let any of her friends and family die.

With her newfound energy she jumped out of the pillar as she aimed her Raging heart at the elf as she laughed

"Hahahahaha I told you girl its meaning les-Ugh?!"

She was in total surprised that a small beam went straight through her shoulder weakening her movement just enough time for Nanoha to take up her last shot. Nanoha learned from this with Xun Er when she was training, Xun Er noticed that her shooting mode is big but at a small speed, so Xun Er gave her an idea to make small beams that can be faster if you want to hit an opponent that could go at a very fast speed.

"H-how can this be. I'm being de-defeated by a small girl, impossible, IMPOSSIBLE!"

Those were her last words before Nanoha used all of her magic to defeat her, what she didn't know that the elf woman said in a very whispered voice that Nanoha could her

"Thank you... Nanoha Takamachi."

She realized that she killed a person for the first time, that she was consumed by the Jewel Seed she dropped her wand, fell down to her knees and cried that she again couldn't even save that woman.

Yuuno looked at her sadly, guilt inside it's chest erupting at the fact that it had involved Nanoha in this mess. But, what other choice did it have? It was either to be killed or take up the mantle of a magical girl to get all the Jewel Seeds that landed on Earth… plus, much to the Ferret's internal chagrin, it doubted it could have gotten this far without her or Vali for that matter.

Speaking of which...

Glancing over to the section where Nanoha and Sylvannas had their spat, the Lich King scoffed when he saw what had happened, all the while remarking in a snide, cruel tone of voice. "Pft, how pathetic. To allow some mere small human girl to get the better of her… I'm only glad that I don't have to do so myself, I guess." He stated, before returning his cold, icy gaze back to the silver haired boy. "Now, to finish you off…"

Meanwhile, Vali looked like he had gone through a LITERAL oven in terms of how many injuries were inflicted upon his person, with wounds of all kinds of depth covering his form like he was an anthill infested with ants. Blood trails ran down his injuries, with the boy panting heavily and wincing on occasion thanks to the very ACT of breathing feeling like he were touching a bomb about to go off within his torso. Furthermore, he could feel the presence of a foreign energy inside of his system, caused by wounds inflicted upon him by his enemies. Those beasts he had managed to take out without much issue, but then Arthas just HAD to keep on summoning them like some damn raid boss spawning endless hordes of minions, according to 'gaming terms' as Xun Er had once prattled on to him about. He could see the comparison between them right now, actually, but even so, Vali had to circulate his Demonic Power throughout his bloodstream in order to combat the foreign energy, and so far things were mostly even between the two… with a slight edge to the foreign energy's side. This was mostly due to the many injuries the boy had suffered by the hands of his countless opponents, opponents whom the Lich King had used as decoys to launch sneak attacks on his person, reducing his strength even further.

'Ugh… looks like… I'm reaching my limit… Don't think I'll last… much longer at… this rate…'

'Partner, you can't give in this easily! If you do, then you won't be able to triumph against this foe!'

Albion's words reached Vali's ears, but it wasn't like the kid could do much at the moment, plus although they had reached him, thanks to some spells that the Lich King had put on the boy, his mind just couldn't think straight, for it felt like an icy cold hand had gripped his brain in a vice… or he had been forced to eat thousands of ice creams at once and suffered one HELL of a headache as a result.

(Play My Hero Academia OST - You Say Run)

Yet despite this, Vali could still hear Arthas' next words, and what he said caused everything ELSE within him to stop cold.

"How pathetic… just like the rest of your race. Weak, and undisciplined…" Arthas sneered as he stepped forwards, soon stopping right before his fallen adversary and kicking him in the chest, causing Vali to gasp as he fell onto his back. "What, did you humans think you could accomplish anything against one so great? One such as Mother Nature? Get real boy, there is nothing, NOTHING someone as weak and insignificant as you can do to me. Your destiny is to fall before my blade, just like all who dare to make Mother Nature cry…"

It wasn't just the words which Arthas said that caused him to react this way, no it soon became evident to Vali that something else played a part in his shock. That something at first, remained unknown to him, however it soon became apparent when he, after looking up at the Lich King whom had raised his blade to finish him off whilst he had spoken, suddenly shimmered out of existence to be replaced by an image of his father with a knife raised over his head. A look of utter deranged insanity over his features as he grinned maniacally, eyes wilde and veins bulging with mad dementia shining forth within them. Vali remembered that moment, he remembered the moment he had seen that face his bastard of a father had made… the face that he had made when he had finally decided that enough was enough, and that he would kill Vali once and for all. He'd knocked out his mother at this point after she had tried to protect him…

Which also became the final straw back then, as well as right now, for Vali to completely SNAP.

Just like when he saw his mother get hurt for the last time.

(Play OST at 0:20)

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

In that moment the blade of that sword looked to be just about to slice through Vali's neck in a beheading motion, his eyes shot open wide as an EXPLOSION of silvery white Demonic Power erupted forth from him, resembling a bomb going off. Not only did it blow the strike back, but it also sent Arthas sliding along the ground till he used his blade to stop himself. His eyes, wider than dinner plates in surprise, looked forth to the boy's form as he slowly got to his feet, his right hand weakly clutching onto [Glavenus] which had flown back to his grasp after previously being knocked away from him. Nevertheless, the Demonic Power roared forth from his frail, feeble-looking form in that of a silver flame, forming the shape of a dragon head over Vali's as well as claws, wings and a Tail. Yet, instead of draconic, the power obviously felt like that of a Devil to him, though the boy didn't care at the moment as he glared with infernal hatred towards the shellshocked Arthas. "WHAT?!

"Haaaaah… haaah… Devils… are… being's of… desire… right…?"

[...Yes, boy. They are.]

Vali breathed heavily whilst he heard his Devil Arm answer his breathless question, although it sounded just as shocked as the Lich King looked right now. Yet, afterwards, the boy stunned the two even more when he started to chuckle a bit, his energy starting to intensify with an ominous, thick pressure suddenly bearing down on the surroundings. Arthas couldn't help the surprise inside him when his knees buckled a bit under the presence's weight that it had put on his chest, as the boy spoke with words DRIPPING with poisonous venom akin to some of the unholy spells which he had launched previously.

"Heh… heh-heh… well then… I guess I… just want to do… one thing. Take all this… all this rage… resentment… agony, and frustration… and turn it into… one single desire… to… utterly RIP AND TEAR THIS BASTARD LIMB FROM LIMB!"

'....AHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES, VALI! THIS IS IT! DRAW OUT YOUR DESIRES! FORGE THEM INTO THE URGE TO FORGE YOUR OWN DESTINY! SHOW THIS ABOMINATION WHAT IT MEANS TO ANGER A DRAGON!'

Apparently, it wasn't just Vali who had been affected by this rage, but Albion too as Divine Dividing appeared on his back, stunning Arthas even further. Yet, Vali didn't let that distract him from what he wanted to do since, for the first time in a LONG while, he felt like doing one of the things which Devils were known the most for: satisfying their desires, and right now… like he had said, all he wanted was to SHRED Arthas into pieces.

That was what he would do.

Unfurling Divine Dividing, Vali burst forth into a large blast of speed, catching the Lich King off guard with the rate he had suddenly moved. 'How?! How did he get- I thought I put my Spells on him! Did he break-' Was all he could think as Vali appeared behind him, delivering a weak punch with his free hand instead of [Glavenus] in Axe Mode.

'DIVIDE!'

Unfortunately for Arthas, that 'weak' punch also came with the ability Divine Dividing possessed: half of his energy leaving him and being transported into the weakened Vali, strengthening his body and allowing his Demonic Power to finally purge the undead-like energy from his being once and for all. The boy's aura swelled at this like it were a beating heart as Arthas quickly made to perform another spell, only for Vali to quickly go into a TRANCE SLASH on his ass, slashing up his Armour thanks to the Switch Axe having been empowered by the energy the boy was releasing, then the boy continued in Sword Mode before finishing the guy off by impaling him through his stomach…

BOOM!

Followed by a fiery explosion that consumed the two.

(OST End)

The smoke covered the area as soon as Vali activated his hunter arts explosions.

When the smoke cleared out, it showed Vali holding his Devil Arm in Sword Mode, gasping for breath whilst seeing the Lich King's body being covered in 4th degree burns. This didn't last long though, for two Jewel Seeds came out of his body and floated towards him, Upon seeing them, Vali put his Devil Arm into the ground for support as they hovered in front of him, waiting for the kid to take them. "#Huff.....#huff.....#huff.....#huff…..well…... that was a hard fight…..but I enjoyed it….huh?" The boy went into confusion as the Lich King's body started to lose his armor, his sword and his skin… until it turned back into the boy, the same one that he had seen before he had gotten himself consumed by the Jewel Seed.

Unfortunately, just as Yuuno had stated, it seemed that the child wasn't… part of the living anymore. Vali could tell due to the lifeless look on the boy's eyes, as well as the hole through his chest which had been generated by the final blow he had dealt with [Glavenus]. Another innocent life had been claimed… it only further proved to him how dangerous these things were. Heck, part of him wondered what would have happened if one infused itself with his Sacred Gear, but Vali IMMEDIATELY quashed such a thought process. Not only did that sound WAY too dangerous, but an object of that level of power felt like much more trouble than it'd probably be worth. Vali wasn't about to let his quest for power blind him to the reality of the situation, if he did that then he would be no better than the beings whom he despised with a passion. Still, as he looked upon the fallen child, Vali muttered weakly under his breath. "Well.....would you look at that......it seems...... he turned back to..... a normal person again... ugh."

He released his grip from his Devil Arm and held his left arm out. However, he soon became reminded of his current state after his power had vanished, the pain coming back to him as he started to fall to the ground.

"VALI!"

Fortunately, he wasn't alone. Nanoha came back running towards him as she quickly got a hold of him by putting his arm on her back. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live......but for now, seal the Jewel Seeds girl, before they rampage again."

"Okay."

For her task, she needed both her hands free. Therefore, Nanoha looked around before spotting a place she could let Vali rest from his battle, since it became obvious to her that he had suffered much greater injuries than her. Once she had put him down next to the pillars, Nanoha started to point her Raging heart towards the two Jewel Seeds ending this nightmare

"Sealing mode: Activate."

"Seal mode: Activate."

The wand brought out the ribbons and wrapped up the two Seeds as it got closer to Raging Heart.

"Receipt number XV and XVI."

As soon as she sealed them the castle started to crumble almost making Nanoha and Yuuno fall down

"Wh-whats happening?!"

"It must be from the Jewel Seed, when it's sealed there is nothing to hold anything that the host desires!"

"Great, now you tell us this, Ferret?! Come one Takamachi, let's get the hell out of here!"

"Right! What about you?!"

"I'm fine, I'm healing up right now, lets go!"

Vali put his right arm on his left arm to hold the pain, [Glavenus] vanishing as he and Nanoha started to run from the castle which began to crumble around them. Debris started to fall down from the roof around them like rainfall along with the walls that began cracking up(no pun intended)

As soon as the two children got out of the castle and went to a safe distance, both turned around to see the castle as the towers began to lose their balance, falling downwards into the rest of the building.

BOOOM

The castle crumbled away as smoke began to appear, the two children covering their eyes from smoke that came to them.

Once they felt the smoke going away, the kids uncovered their eyes and saw the castle in its ruined place. It started to disappear in blue particles as its going away since there is no host to fuel the castle.

"....Let's go home girl, we've done enough for the day."

"....I agree with you."

They then turned to walk across the streets expecting to see people in panic, but instead they saw them going in normal ways, a few of them were crying but so far it looks like people were unaware of the castle that was there in a few distance. This made Vali really confused.

"How are these people not panicking, right now? They should've been running for their lives, not getting close to the castle?"

"Uhhhhh Vali? I think I might have an answer, come and look at this."

Nanoha pointed at the news as it started to answer the hybrid boys question.

"This just in an terrorist attack that they used bombing to explode multiple buildings from Han street to Tan street, killing many civilians in the area. It is truly a tragic day that we lost our friends or our family. The mayor of this city has decided to hold a funeral that died this day, that's all for now back to you Jack-"

Vali stayed silent as he pondered on who could manipulate the people's memories at a city wide scale.

'Who could actually do this type of level? This must be a Mid or high Satan level being's work, if I were to guess, for them to do this process... but even the Satans can't do this too fast. Therefore, it must be.....a God(ow).'

'Probably Vali, it must be one of the Shinto gods that manipulated their peoples' memories to make sure that none of them remember that a supernatural event caused this panic.'

"Hey Vali, how come none of the people remember any of the time when we were trying to get the Jewel Seed?"

Yuuno asked this question to Vali, though Nanoha wordlessly glanced at him too, her confusion evident.

With the knowledge provided by Albion, Vali answered gruffly, trying to pour more energy into healing his arm so he could walk without anybody looking at him funny. "It must be one of the Shinto gods that managed to manipulate the memory's of every person that is in the city. They didn't want any of their followers to remember an event like this happening in the normal world."

An idea soon hit her after Nanoha pondered on it for a bit, though she didn't notice how Yuuno looked like it was trying to note something down. "It must be Amaterasu, Susanoo, or Tsukuyomi, they must've helped us."

Mentally, he could hear the Tenants within him groan at Nanoha's naivety about the Gods, but for once he decided NOT to shatter what innocence the girl had left, if there was any at all. After all, she HAD finally gotten her first kill, though unlike his, SHE didn't have any feelings of hate towards the person, only sadness for being unable to help that woman. "Maybe so girl, but we can't be certain of this. It could've been any of the Shinto Gods that did this, but for now let's get back home and heal up. I fear for my wallet just thinking about what Xun Er will spend it all on."

Nanoha sweatdropped when Vali said that, she saw how much that Xun Er eats.

"O-okay let's go Vali."

"Lead the way, girl."

"They did it... those kids actually fucking did it."

"Indeed so brother, they managed to stop that kind of threat."

Susanoo and Amaterasu, still within the latter's Temple in the Japanese Divine Realm, stared dumbstruck and in awe as they saw the castle crumbling away and the kids coming out of the castle with not that many wounds… though, their eyes did pick up signs that healing magic was being used.

Nevertheless, they were VERY relieved that the kids had stopped the necromancer whilst the Shinigami had been sent to handle the souls that were wandering off the city. The two Shinto gods had then proceeded to use this chance to manipulate their people's memories by putting in a false memory of a terrorist attack that was the cause of it.

"So, what should we do to help the kids? We can't have this incident happen again." Susanoo questioned, sitting down opposite his sister.

Said sister responded coolly, though her brother could see the relief building in her eyes at the fact that the disaster had been prevented. His sister had to be like this since she was one of the leading Japanese deities right now, though that didn't mean Susanoo liked it. "I am sending in one of the Five main clan heirs, the Himejima family heir, to go and help them."

Hearing that eased the Storm God's nerves slightly, knowing that they weren't leaving those kids with NOTHING after all their heroic deeds. To him, it didn't matter how young they were, the fact that they were able to deal with this disaster marked them as worthy warriors in his eyes, both that supposed Devil Hybrid and that young warrior maiden. Heck, part of him wondered if she had any connection to a Shrine Maiden bloodline or something, cause her movements did remind him of them. "Okay. So then, when will we meet with those damn Satans?"

Still, things needed to be done, and right now they had a LOT of beef to take out, with the Devil Faction being the target of the two Deities' anger. Something which Amaterasu demonstrated with the fiery flames taking over her eyes as she gave a measured response to her sibling deity. "Soon brother, I have sent a messenger to those Satans that we need to talk immediately."

Hearing that, the Storm God gave a pleased nod, resisting the urge to grin like the cruel sadist he used to be back in his years as a young god. "Good, can't wait to get back our land from those bastards. Still, why isn't Tsukuyomi here? He should've been here when we are in a direct situation."

At THIS question however, Amaterasu's rage nearly SKYROCKETED, much to her brother's shock as she stood up from her seated position. "He is coming from the Greek land here right now. The reason why he couldn't be here was because he was crossing borders from German the norse territory to have an audience with the Allfather to Greek, and Zeus, being his usual pathetic along with paranoid self, accused him thinking that he'd come and take his throne, thus had sent Artemis to hunt him down." The Goddess spat, with Susanoo openly gaping in shock at the sheer AUDACITY that the Greek God King possessed. Though, that shock was being replaced with anger QUITE quickly as the woman continued. "Of course, he had managed to escape, but with heavy injuries. Luckily, our allies in the Taoist faction managed to stop Artemis from hunting Tsukuyomi and threatened to have war against them. They are currently healing Tsukuyomi from his wounds which will take about a month to heal."

"...Those damn Greeks…. THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS! I'M GOING THERE TO TEACH THAT COCKSUCKER ZEUS A FUCKINGLESSON!!"

"Mind your language and calm down, Susanoo." The Goddess scolded, her eyes narrowing at her brother until he did what she said. Although internally, she wanted to do the same too. However, instead of that, she chose to save that rage for when the time came, and for now chose to explain things to her hot-headed sibling. "Now is not the time to do that, the Greeks will pay but not right now. We may outnumber them, but in case you don't know we are dealing with these mysterious objects that have landed on our land. Keeping their energy from leaking out of our lands is of greater importance, for going out right after this incident will make the other Gods very suspicious that they have sensed something very alien like. If they were in possession in one of those objects, then this incident will be like an ant that happened in the mortal world."

"........Fuck your right sister, I really wish that life doesn't really get complicated than this."

"...Me to brother, me too."

"GODDAMMIT, XUN ER! WHY THE HELL DID YOU EAT THAT MANY DAMN SWEETS?!"

"Hehe sorry Vali, I just couldn't resist it."

As soon as Vali and Nanoha got back to the latter's home (the former had healed his arm enough that it only stung like a bitch, since he lacked the energy to make a full recovery), their eyes (even Yuuno) bulged so much that they almost flew right out of their sockets at the following sight: literally a MOUNTAIN of plates just by Xun Ers' sides. Nanoha's Dad was by the store on his knees, depressed that he is going to lose that much stock. Veins began to appear in Vali's forehead all over from the rage he was feeling.

'...[Glavenus]?'

[...Yes, boy?]

'...May I have your permission to use your MAG SHOT to turn this brat into a pile of soot? She's going to be the death of our funds at this rate.'

[...Whilst I would LOVE to grant you such, I'd wait until you're strong enough to face an angry Hathor as well as a protective mother when her child's under threat. Trust me, boy, they can be just as vicious as any man, I have experience witnessing it… brrr!]

Unaware of the internal conversation between a Devil Arm and it's wielder, Nanoha pretty much stated the obvious with the following. "Wow.....she really eats a lot."

Hearing that, Vali (obviously done with all this shit for one night) proceeded to speak with a hushed voice as to not scream too loud and aggravate his injuries. "That is not the point, how in the name of every god(OW) are we going to pay for this?!"

"Oh, that's simple."

She pulled out a gold bar and put it on the table as Nanoha and Shiro(Got up and about to give the food bill price to the girl) just gawked at the site of a literal gold in front of her.

"H-Ho-How ca-can you have a gold bar young lady?"

"My parents are really rich that they gave me and Vali an allowance just in case we lose our money you can keep the change."

Which is true since the past month Hathor has been in contact with them just in case they need something. Vali had asked Hathor for some extra money just in case Xun Er spent large sums of money on something else, to which she agreed since the last time she took her somewhere else, she almost bought the whole store just because they look pretty.

"I-I see, thank you so much I'll be right back.....honey look what we got!!."

"What is it de-A GOLD BAR!?"

"YES WITH THIS WE CAN BYE ALL OF OUR STOCKS BACK!"

"THAT'S GREAT DEAR WE SH-"

"Alright. Let's go, Xun Er."

"WHA!? Bu-but there's more sweets for me to taste!"

"Which is more reason to leave. I will see you in the morning Takamachi."

"Ye-yeah, I'll see you soon Vali."

"WAIT VALI PLEASE LET ME GOOO!"

"Don't make me turn you into charcoal, now!"

"?! You wouldn't…!"

Nanoha sweatdropped at the scene where Xun Er tries to get Vali released his grip from her collar, shrieking in fright when he made a gesture which she had recognized as him prepping to summon [Glavenus]. THAT got the girl to shut up, resulting in her being quietly dragged away like a sack of potatoes.

"...They get along pretty well do they Nanoha?"

"...You said it, Yuuno."