227 I'll become that excuse

"I have a theory," Drako flashed a mysterious smile. "Have you tried to eliminate weaknesses with the Longinus?"

Drako looked at the girls with a smile, hoping to get an answer from both of them.

Obviously, he knew that Valerie could do that with her Longinus. However, Drako wanted to see their reaction to his words.

"That's..." Lavinia murmured as she frowned. She seemed to be thinking seriously about that idea. "It seems a bit far-fetched, that's a skill that's never been used."

Drako understood Lavinia's doubts. Having all the data from numerous users of this Sacred Gear, this was an ability that Sephiroth Graal had never been able to use. Furthermore, the power to reduce the weaknesses of different supernatural beings was something that had never been seen or heard of in this world.

"What do you think, Valerie?" Drako asked the dhampìr.

Valerie looked at Drako, a little confused by all that was happening.

"I... I don't know."

Drako understood why Valerie didn't understand the situation. She was really just a young teenager who knew nothing about her own Longinus, only what little Lavinia had been able to explain to her. She was no different than Tobio and the rest of the teens, and even she was a little worse off than they were because of her own Sacred Gear situation.

Sephiroth Graal is a Longinus known for its ability to control the laws of life and death, something that very few beings in this world can do (and all of them do it in a very limited way). However, it is even better known for having driven the vast majority of its users to madness.

Valerie was afraid, Drako could feel it with his Senjutsu. In the past, due to experiments, she had already been able to feel the terror of the side effects of this Longinus.

"The side effects of Sephiroth Graal only manifest themselves when their abilities are used to the extreme, like when trying to resurrect someone. Perhaps they may even manifest themselves before that. That's why we have to treat this Sacred Gear very carefully, as the last thing we want is for Valerie to get hurt," Drako said.

Lavinia nodded, she totally agreed with Drako.

Drako took one of the grails and pushed it in front of Valerie.

"Now, shall we begin?

…

A few hours later, Drako was inside Grigori's buildings.

The "training" with Valerie had gone well, although one could not expect much from the first day either. Valerie was still a little afraid to use her Sacred Gear in case the side effects showed up again. The young Dhampir had to be given time to adapt and overcome her fears.

At least Drako had given Valerie two things: determination and hope.

"I know the location of Gasper Vladi."

Needless to say, what this meant to Valerie.

Drako went inside one of Grigori's laboratories.

"I knew you would be here."

Inside the lab was the leader of the Fallen Angels, Azazel. Dressed in a typical white robe, he was taking notes in a notebook while observing the experiments being conducted here.

"It has been a while since we last saw each other, Azazel." Drako smiled at him, "How have you been?"

Azazel lifted his head from the papers to look at the newcomer.

"But look who we have here," Azazel said. "The new Great Dragon King has decided to stop by Grigori's facility, should I be proud?

"Do what you want," Drako said as he shrugged. Then, he frowned as he understood Azazel's words. "How do you know?

"Don't be so cold, Nephalem Dragon," Azazel smiled, "You see, there's a certain messenger god who is dedicated to showing off how the new Great Dragon King is affiliated with the Artemis Hunt. Since your information network is quite limited, I guess this hasn't reached your ears yet."

A god spending his time informing the other factions of this... no doubt this must have been the work of Olympus.

Drako was sure that the god who had done this was Hermes, the messenger of Olympus, under orders from Zeus. And he, more or less, understood the reason why they were doing this.

The situation in Greek mythology was critical, and they were about to enter into a "civil war" with the Titans. So, not only were they at their weakest point in the last few millennia, but that was practically public. For, just as Hermes had announced Drako's help, the Titans had done the same by spreading rumors about the easy capture of the Goddess Artemis.

"What do you think of this?" Azazel asked.

"Let them do that," Drako simply said. "I warned them at the time. Even though they don't know it, it would have taken me a lot more work to reach this level without their help. Sigh... despite the warning I gave them, they still think they are superior to others just because they are gods. How ignorant they are, poor creatures trapped in the past."

"Not all," Azazel denied. "There are some of us who know how to change our views over the years. For example, the present Maous, Michael, and I no longer think we have to continue with the stupid war we waged in the distant past. However, we can't find the right excuse to reach a peace agreement."

"You'll get it," Drako said. "I am 100% convinced."

"Oh, how do you know that?" Azazel asked.

"Why... if you can't find that excuse, or rather, if that excuse doesn't come, I will become that excuse. Although I have to say, I can assure you that it will not be easy for you."

For a moment, the predatory eyes Drako was giving Azazel managed to scare him. He, a biblical creature, though he would never be afraid of anything in this world. Perhaps not even Ophis or Great Red could do it. However, Azazel prayed to his late father that the day Drako became the enemy of the biblical factions would never come.

Meanwhile, Drako looked at the boy who was lying on a stretcher in the same room.

"How are the tests going?"

"Well, since this never-before-seen transformation of Koga is based on Grigori's technological advances, we can more or less understand exactly how it works. I must say that Satanael's work is a work of art, but it is incomplete.

The boy who was being examined in bed was one of the Sacred Gear owners of the well-known Four Fiends, Koga. Because of the experiments that Satanael had done on his Sacred Gear, he could use an artificial Balance Breaker similar to Boosted Gear or Divine Dividing.

"Loss of vitality, isn't it?"

Azazel nodded his head.

"It seems that Satanael is in a hurry to achieve satisfactory results, or he doesn't directly think that Koga was his final experiment. Personally, I think it's the latter, knowing his personality. If my suspicions are not mistaken, Shigune Nanadaru was his final target."

It made sense, since Shigune's Fiend was known to be the most powerful on a defensive and destructive level.

"For now, we are still trying to find a way to completely eliminate this loss of vitality. Although with the adjustments we have made, the loss should now be minimal.

"I see, that's very good," Drako mumbled. "I have you to thank for helping my subordinate."

"Don't mention it," Azazel shook his head. "This is being very helpful for us too."

"What do you mean?

"By researching Koga's Balance Breaker, we have made advances in our own quest to create Artificial Sacred Gears."

----------------

So, here are the chapters for this week. Hope you enjoyed them!

Some slice of life here and there before going to the Nasuverse, as well as Walburga and her peers's next move!

Next Sunday we are going to be already on the nasuverse.

Remember that you can already vote this fanfic, so don't forget to use your power stones if you like this novel!

By the way, you can read 30 chapters ahead on P@treon, where we have already reached one of the climax of the Fourth Holy Grail War!

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