Chapter 16 - Part 4 - Team [DxD] Defends the World and The Dawn of the Morning Star Death Match

Third Person Point of View

…

"Bam~! Boom~! Bwap~!" a voice cheered happily.

Lapis happily danced around another universe. She and Ignia had traversed through a total of 89 universes and completely obliterated them out of existence. Lapis had done this with next to zero effort and her strength only grew as a result of her excitement.

Ignia silently followed, bored out of him and also tired of it all. More times than not, all he saw was different colored lights as planets exploded with a flick of her wrists. These weren't just one planet at a time like previously. Instead, she had started to destroy multiple, hundreds to even tens of thousands at a time and absorbing all the cores at the same time.

Ignia was fully aware of how much stronger she had gotten too, and he didn't like it. If Lapis kept this up and didn't go to the Draconic Deus soon, she may gain enough strength to be on par with Aaron. However, Aaron himself also had access to power beyond his means, so their fight could go either way.

"Are you bored, Ignia-chan~?" Lapis asked her brother.

"…What gave that away?" he asked in a monotone voice.

"Wanna bang?" she asked making Ignia move away from her. "I was just joking, jeez! I won't bang anyone except daddy!" Lapis turned around again and began her strange dance that destroyed more planets.

Ignia had been reduced to a pathetic and weak person. He sometimes had thoughts about a thing occurring, he always thought that it would be at the hands of his father, Aaron Toole. However, she never thought Lapis would be the one to do this. In his mind, he would have threatened his father—killing his lovers and friends and he would have this kind of fate put upon him.

'I would rather have that happen rather than this stupid scenario,' he thought and sighed again. He would just ride this out until they finally reached the Draconic Deus. He couldn't do anything after all.

He then looked down at his own shadow. 'Did he put one in my shadow?' he then tapped his own shadow, but it showed no signs of life. 'Guess not. He probably doesn't put any in people that are strong…'

…

Lapis and Ignia arrived in a new universe. This new one was very close to the Draconic Deus, but it also had its own unique power system. Once Lapis found out about it, she just had to come here.

"Hey, Ignia-chan, did you know? That this place's 'earth' has its own power structure? Humans reign supreme, and the supernatural world just hides in the shadows. They have what's called 'Regalia's' and anyone can be born with it and the powers range from very boring basic things to very overpowered ones! I excited to look into it!" she said to him.

Lapis then created a small magic circle and it locked onto a certain female with bright pink hair like herself. "Oh! She has some kind of space related Regalia, come take a look!"

Ignia, a bit interested glanced at the magic circle his sister made and saw the girl with an arrogant look while bullying her classmates and the people around her with her powerful ability.

"There's also magic that the supernatural use, as well as innate abilities like flame manipulation and abilities of that nature. I wonder if daddy would like it if we stole some of them and introduced them to the humans in the Draconic Deus~?" mused Lapis.

"He'd probably be pissed. You're already going as soon as you arrive there, are you sure you want to die a billion times over?" asked Ignia to which Lapis just laughed at him. "So? What happens if someone isn't born with a 'Regalia' or isn't proficient with magic? Or doesn't have an innate ability?"

"Oh please, you already know that answer, silly boy~! They would obviously be shunned and bullied! It happens in daddy's world, you know? Sairaorg-kyuuuun is one of them~!"

Ignia sighed. However, he saw some things like this on other planets and universes he went to when he was still chasing after Lapis. Like in the Draconic Deus, power speaks louder than anything. If you don't have it or weren't born with it or have any affinity for any power system, you would be left to rot.

"Let's go and find some cool ones!" she shouted and they appeared in a random alleyway. Lapis then pointed at herself and Ignia. She then changed their clothes to match this planet's. She held his hand much to his dismay and they left the alleyway.

Just like a typical scenario in a novel, these two immediately came across a scene! In front of them was someone who had short black hair, purple eyes and he wore noble attire. He stood over another male who had clearly been hit as he held his cheek with his hand. The male on the ground also wore noble attire and had long blonde hair and green eyes.

"You think your Sword Regalia can stand against my White Flame Regalia? Our family has had the same Regalia for generations and we have various techniques developed and have evolved it to a point that it's considered a 4-star rank Regalia! Yours is Gold-rank at best!" shouted the black-haired man.

Ignia and Lapis were confused by this, but Lapis decided to see how this all worked by using her newly acquired powers. After a few seconds she nodded to herself and then showed it to Ignia too. A game-like screen appeared in front of Ignia and saw how Regalia were ranked.

…

6-Stars

5-Stars

4-Stars

3-Stars

2-Stars

1-Stars

Platinum

Diamond

Gold

Silver

Bronze

…

Ignia snorted at the strange ranking system of the world and looked back at the two in front of them. The snobbish boy raised his hand and summoned white flames into his hands. To Ignia it looked like Kanami Minagawa's Sacred Gear [Ashen Flames] and even when he didn't have his powers anymore, it felt weaker than hers too.

'People can really get in over their heads, huh? A bit of power can make them like this. It makes me wonder how father never went psycho with the amount of power he was given from the start…' wondered Ignia.

The boy suddenly aimed his hand at the one below him and fired his attack. Just then, the entire world—no, the entire universe froze. Ignia looked around then at Lapis who winked at him.

"Let's make this even more fun for them!" shouted Lapis. "Maybe we can make the gods here come down? Fufu~!" she told him and held her own hand up. She then created a large ball of pink flames that were just large enough to wipe out the place they were in.

The place they had teleported to was a large town. It wasn't big enough to be considered a city, but if they developed for a few more years, then there would have been a chance to call it. However, unknown to them both, the boy beneath them with the Sword Regalia was the 'protagonist' of this world.

If they had let the events play out, he would awaken his true Regalia…but that wasn't the case in this timeline. Lapis grabbed Ignia before they flew away a far distance away and watched the magic happen from on top of a cliff's edge. Lapis clapped her hands and time unfroze. She then summoned a magic circle beside them and watched the reactions of everyone over there.

[W-w-w-w-what is that?!] the protagonist screamed and pointed above them.

[Hah! I won't be—] as the boy went to say those arrogant words, their clothes began to burn up and he also looked up. […Oh my god…]

[Ruuuuuuuuuuun! The world's ending!!] someone screamed. However, a few seconds later, the entire town was engulfed in flames and Lapis began to laugh while clutching her stomach. A large fiery pillar formed after the explosion, and once that rescinded…a large crater remained.

The town, the residents, as well as the protagonist and animals were completely exterminated by Lapis' attack. She looked at her handy work and sighed as if she was satisfied with her work.

"I wonder if that will attack the supernatural, gods, or the other powerful humans?" she asked herself.

"How about her then?" asked Ignia as he looked at the place with indifference and pointed to their right. Lapis turned and saw an elf-like creature who looked horrified at the both of them.

Lapis smiled and extended her hand; the elf-like creature began to struggle to breathe as she clutched her neck. She was then brought to Lapis and she kissed the female elf, surprising her even further! Lapis inserted her tongue into her and absorbed her knowledge of the world. Lapis then let go of the elf, as she had died.

"I took all of her knowledge about the world~" she happily told Ignia.

"Could you just find out yourself using your powers?" he asked.

"That's just a boring way of doing it! That was a lot more exciting, right~?" she then clapped her hands. "Let's make this world a living hell, just for fun!"

Ignia sighed and kicked the elves' dead body off the cliff. "You're even more insane than I initially thought," he told her.

"I hope daddy likes it then!" she said with a smile and they disappeared again.

…

Aaron Toole…was currently climbing a tree in a football (soccer) field. It had just passed the end of school and on a Friday, so he had time.

"Tree…tree…tree…? Wait, why am I assuming our base was in a tree?" Aaron asked himself. He looked at his own hand as he had tried to climb his 7th tree of the day. He jumped down and landed on the ground.

"Okay…so where would they…no I can ask Ryan on this, can't I?" he asked himself and pulled out his phone and called him.

"Yo, Ryan, I got a question for you," said Aaron.

"Oh, Aaron. Sure what's up?" replied Ryan, shocked by his friend calling him so suddenly. The last time Aaron had called him was months ago, so Ryan didn't expect this.

"Where…was our base from years ago? You know, the one with you, me and Aoife."

"Ah…the super-secret base we had?" Ryan laughed. "Yeah, I remember it. Why do you ask? Do you wanna go there?"

"Yep, basically…I think Aoife left me something over there. After I check there…I'll go to her parents' home and ask to look through her things…"

Ryan didn't respond for a few seconds. All Aaron heard was breathing.

"…I see. Yeah, looks like you're onto something, eh? Yeah…so it's past that roundabout and near that abandoned mansion house thing. You know, the one all black and shit? It had a large back garden too. I think it's gonna be torn down in a few years, I heard from my dad's friend," explained Ryan.

"You know something, don't you?" Aaron asked.

"…Heh, maybe. You two may have dated, but she was like a little sister to me, you know? Anyway…you might find something in both places. Good luck man…and it's nice talking to you again. If you have time, let's hang out, okay?"

"…Yeah man, let's do that. But I have to go, thanks for telling me." The two exchanged a few more words before Aaron put his phone away. "…Let's do this then."

…

Aaron ran towards a certain roundabout near his school. It took him around seven minutes to get there and once he arrived there…he saw that today had a lot of traffic there and he sighed.

"God dammit, I forgot about this!" he groaned, but he still navigated his way through the cars and six crosswalks he had to go through. Finally, he crossed the last one and he started walking on the sidewalk.

As he did, he got nervous. He could see the locked black gate. The walls were around at least 15 meters in height, the gate itself was a little bit higher than that, so when he arrived beside it, he looked for the small section they had loosened when they were still younger. Upon finding it, he looked around and made sure traffic was moving before he entered the place.

Once inside he looked up and around himself. Trees lined up on each side and their leaves and branches hung down towards him. He began walking down the old and overgrown path. Flashes of the past entered his head and he couldn't help but smile at remembering them.

The house in front of him was looked like a Gothic Victorian home. The architectural style was just like it. Aaron had no idea how long this had been here, nor why it hadn't been torn down yet. However, he turned right and followed a small pathway, and then turned left where some bushes lay.

He moved past them and found a small square-shaped entrance and he kicked it open, the hole easily opened and he crawled in. Once inside, it was quite dark, however, there was enough light that he could still navigate his way inside. He quickly found the stairs and made his way up them. With each step he took it made the old stairs creak.

"God, I hope it's still prime and pristine, otherwise I don't think this would be worth it," he mumbled to himself. Aaron finally reached the top of the stairs and turned left. Immediately in front of him as a small hallway and at the end of it was a doorway.

"That's where it is…right?" he asked himself. He shook his head and started walking down the short hallway and found himself in front of it. He took a deep breath and touched the door knob. He turned it…and accidentally took the door knob off the door.

"God dammit…" he muttered, then pushed the door open. Lucky for him, it opened without a problem and once inside he felt relieved. "It's still clean…Aoife, Aoife, Aoife…did you keep this clean by yourself without telling me? Or did you and Ryan clean it together without telling me? I swear you two are annoying like that…"

He stepped further inside and saw a piece of paper.

[We clean it weekly. – Ryan, Aoife, Jennifer.]

"Three of you, eh? You guys involved Ryan's girlfriend but not me? This is pretty unfair…" Aaron took the piece of paper off the wall and turned it around.

[Aaron, if you're reading this…sorry? I know you dislike cleaning things; I mean anytime I took you to our outings you hated the cleaning part but still did it. I love you! – Aoife.]

"…I'd still help you guys if you asked…Jesus Christ, come on…" he grumbled to himself. "Now then…where the hell do I start?"

…

Aaron had been searching through the various items in the room that he and his friends used to call a secret base. As expected, most things were properly cleaned and taken care of, he wondered why those two, and then three started cleaning this weekly.

He thought that they couldn't let go of the past or just wanted to relive it a little bit. He didn't remember when the last time he was here, as he pulled out a box from underneath another pile of things, he saw it was labelled as 'Memories'.

He opened it and it was filled with many things they had collected when they were younger. Silly little toys, wrappers from candies that weren't being sold anymore, to pictures that they took and other assortment of items. A wave of nostalgia hit Aaron as he looked through them.

Finally, after a few minutes of moving items around…he found a letter at the very bottom. It simply said, 'To Aaron Toole. – Aoife'.

"Is this it? It has to be, right?" he asked himself as he took the letter and examined it. He suddenly felt nervous, but he quickly shook his head and opened the letter and began reading it.

[Dear Aaron, if you're reading this letter, you finally came back to the base! How are you? Are you doing okay in life? How old are you now? Are you happy? If you are…I hope a miracle happened to you then, because I don't think I'll be in your life when you read this letter, but if I am please disregard everything written after this!]

[There's no easy way of saying this, but I died, right? I was diagnosed a few months ago, or was it way before that? Well…anyway, our results kept getting delayed and now it's past the point of no return, so I won't have much time left in this world, so I decided to write you a letter. It's in two parts, so find the other one! …You probably know where to find it.]

[If you found this letter just a few days, weeks, or months after my death, then please try to move on from me. But if it's been years then…as I said previously, I hope you found new happiness in your life. Fun times will end, so will sad times, so just look for new things to have fun with and new people to have fun with!]

[Again…if it's only been a few days to a few weeks, then I'm sorry for not telling you when we had our suspicions, but seeing you that devastated when we finally broke the news wasn't easy for me. I understand you pretty well, you know? I also know from your mom that you're not comfortable with change. Though I did see it a few times, you always looked uncomfortable when a large event took place that changed a lot of things.]

[I hope…you're not being bullied. I know not many people liked us dating, but I wasn't that oblivious, you know? But…you know I like to keep the peace, so I tried to tell them off whenever I could. I'm sorry, maybe I could have done more when alive. But please try not to be too harsh on them. They're good people at heart…I think?]

Aaron snorted at the last line; he knew that they weren't. They were bribed by his dad and that made the bullying worse. He found out through more…forceful means in one of his cycles during his 5/7 and 6/7 attempts.

"I guess this was the one time you were wrong about reading people, Aoife. They were pieces of shits from start to end," muttered Aaron. Aaron read the rest. Most of it was Aoife rambling about their time growing up, much of it, Aaron didn't remember yet, but from what he read, it made him smile and angry.

Finally, he reached the end of the letter. It was written on both sides of the piece of paper so Aoife had a lot to say. The fact that it had two parts made him a bit concerned.

[If reincarnation is real, do you think we'll be together again someday? Maybe like that red string of fate thing! Wouldn't that be romantic? I think so! You would probably roll your eyes at me though. If not…then maybe we can meet in the afterlife? Heaven…if it exists. I'll leave the rest in part two. I love you, Aaron. I wish I could have been called Aoife Toole.]

Aaron let out a deep sigh and looked at the ground. "Would it be selfish of me to bring you back if it was possible? Cúntóir said that if your soul finally vanished it was next to impossible to bring you back."

He stood up and began walking out of the room. "But I'll be beyond most things when I evolve, beyond concepts, laws, and anything else…maybe I can?" Aaron shook his head. "You probably won't like that and even scold me…"

Once outside he looked towards his next destination. Aoife's home, and her parents'. He hadn't spoken to them in months, nor had they spoken to him, so he wasn't sure if this meeting would be good for them. But he had to do it. If they didn't let him, how would he gain access to her room?

"Breaking and entering…shit, I hope I don't need to resort to that," he grumbled and began walking away.

…

Yasaka had turned into her beast form and fired several blue flames at the enemies around Japan. These enemies were instantly killed and fell into the oceans around Japan. Kunou herself was flying around with Ophis. She hadn't entered her [Fox Dragon God] mode since she didn't see the need to yet.

"Kunou…" Ophis pointed in front of them and the two held hands and fired a powerful combined shot of draconic energy and foxfire. The resulting explosion caused by it was so large that it killed even more enemies than they thought.

"Phis-dono, what should we call that attack?" Kunou asked.

"Boom-boom-iyaan?" Ophis asked and tilted her head.

"W-we need to work on naming things then…Aaron was not a good influence!" declared Kunou. Ophis tilted her head at Kunou and then fired another beam of draconic energy at the multiple enemies flying towards them.

"But we can speak about this another time!" she added before they flew away again.

…

"Fufu. Do I even need to do anything?" Irene asked as she sat on top of Yasaka's head.

"It would be appreciated," replied Yasaka as she fired another round of flames at the endless sea of enemies. None of them had broken past their defenses, but it worried her since the amount seemed only to increase.

Irene put a finger on her chin and said, "Fire another breath attack."

Yasaka was confused by this but did as she was told. She fired another attack and then it suddenly multiplied by a hundred and even more enemies were annihilated by it. On top of her, she heard Irene giggle to herself.

"You could have done that earlier, you know?"

"Even if I did, it would only result in the same thing, look." Irene pointed in front of them and it seemed the enemies only doubled. Yasaka sighed in frustration from seeing it. "It seems like…there are more than one tear in space-time now. They really are using most of their resources for this…but it seems like they're waiting for something."

Before Yasaka could reply, another magic circle appeared, and out came…a foxlike creature that resembled Yasaka herself. However, it was light purple in color, the same with its eyes as it glowed a dark purple.

"Are they mocking me?" Yasaka asked and glared at the creature in front of her. The creature suddenly howled and it created a large and powerful tsunami. However, the waves were instantly frozen by ice magic used by a youkai.

The imitation of Yasaka summoned multiple large balls of foxfire behind itself and then launched it towards Yasaka and Irene.

"Perhaps it's a mimic from a different universe? Although it looks like you, its power is weaker and so are those flames," commented Irene. "There's no need to keep it around, we can kill it. I doubt it has any intelligence above a wild animal."

Irene summoned a staff to her hand and tapped the air with it. Small ripples occurred in front of her and the foxfire that was sent to them were immediately extinguished. She then tapped the end of her staff on top of Yasaka's head and multiple crosses appeared all around the purple fox creature. They then slammed into the sea and surrounded her.

The purple fox immediately tried to move forward, but when she did, the crosses pushed her back with so much forced that she bounced around the circular shaped prison. She was a pinball in a pinball machine. After a few seconds the fox creature stopped bouncing around and menacingly glared at the crosses and Irene.

"Fufufu. It's only a little play area for it. Do you want to have the honor, Yasaka?" Irene asked in a playful tone.

"Hmph." Yasaka began to gather a substantial number of flames in her mouth as she stared down at her mimic. The purple fox took another step forward, but the same thing happened to it, further angering it and also making the two women look down on its intelligence.

"I will enchant it, Yasaka, so fire at any time," said Irene. Yasaka didn't need any help but if it came from one of her close friends, she didn't mind. After charging up her attack a little more she finally unleashed it in front of her. At the same time even more enemies appeared in front of the trapped fox.

Those enemies used various defensive techniques like defensive magic circles, creating powerful barriers and walls of various elements—but Yasaka's attack that Irene amplified with her own enhancement magic broke through them all, destroying their defensive techniques and killing everyone else in the process.

"That enhancement was not needed," said Yasaka as she summoned more balls of foxfire behind her and killed more enemies around them.

"Yet you still let me use it," replied Irene. As they were about to banter back and forth, two large silver auras exploded beside her and two invisible enemies were blown away.

"May I suggest you two keep your casual conversations to a minimum?" said a silver-haired maid.

"Ara? Grayfia came to play," mused Yasaka.

"Indeed, she did. She finally stopped being lonely after Aaron went away. Did you know? She wants to be spoiled by him when he returns, fufufufu~" teased Irene. Grayfia blushed at her comment and threw a weak demonic attack at Irene who swatted it away.

"I said no such—"

Irene made a strange face, as if mimicking Grayfia and said, "…Please come back."

Grayfia's face turned even redder as she flew away, and numerous explosions occurred around her. She had started to kill the enemies around her indiscriminately, both because she wanted to help the alliance and also because out of embarrassment. She didn't think anyone was listening at the time—except for those with them, she also didn't want those two of all people to find out.

…

In a different part of Japan, the [Brave Saints] led by [Joker] Dulio Gesualdo were joined by an unexpected group. They were temporarily released from their punishments as the situation the world was in was quite dire.

Vasco Strada and Ewald Cristaldi. Both were given exact replicas of their weapons, [Durandal] and [Excalibur] both were created by Aaron this time around instead of the church. While these were only ¾ of the power of the originals, they were close enough that those two could unleash their full power.

These two were also followed by numerous exorcists, new and old.

"Ah, this would have been a lot better if such a thing happened in better times," said Irina as she created several balls of light and eliminated her targets.

"Unfortunately, it isn't Irina-chan. Everyone today has to unite otherwise we won't have a home to go back to," replied Dulio.

He unleashed numerous elemental attacks around him. The [Joker] of Heaven used his [Zenith Tempest] to create hundreds of thunderclouds around the area of Japan and eliminate hundreds of enemies. Dulio knew that his [Bubbles of Hope] wouldn't work on the enemies that he and his team were fighting so he had to resort to the usual violence.

A single powerful slash sliced the ocean in two. The shockwave it made killed even more around it. Everyone turned to it and found His Eminence Vasco Strada had made the attack. He rolled his hand into a fist and slammed it into a nearby Evil Dragon, completely obliterating it.

"H-his Eminence Strada seems even more powerful than last time," said an exorcist.

"Did you not hear? When the Middleman woke up from his coma, he found His Eminence Strada and His Eminence Cristaldi and reverted their physical age to that of their youth, so now they can move around as much as they want…but it's apparently only temporarily," explained a reincarnated angel.

"T-then does that mean…?!"

"Yes, we have very powerful allies on our side right now. The bodies and stamina of His Eminence Strada and His Eminence Cristaldi will not be burdened by their age's limitations. It's like they can fight forever!" cheered the other.

Several avatars of Cristaldi appeared and eliminated a large number of cryptids. They then flew towards a few vampires and they began to emanate a powerful holy aura which made the vampires scream. They then exploded into various powerful holy explosions that killed even more vampires in the area. The 'Super Vampires' survived, but they were still injured and felt the after effects of the holy power.

Cristaldi appeared beside one of the Super Vampires that survived and slashed towards them. The vampire thought he had caught the sword, but it was only an illusion of Nightmare and another slashed at him from another side, but that was also stopped…yet.

"Naïve," said Cristaldi and had pierced the Super Vampire in the heart with his Excalibur. He had turned himself invisible and used his avatars and illusions to distract the vampire before going in for the kill.

"You…shitty…geezer…!" said the vampire before he withered away. Cristaldi jumped away and went to eliminate more of their enemies.

Vasco Strada stood in front of a powerful opponent. If he had to compare it to something it would be—Crom Cruach, one of the strongest Evil Dragons.

"Hmm. It seems you attained your strength by yourself, you man," said Strada.

"Hmph. In my universe if you were weak, you would die within days. All you gotta do was get stronger and survive," replied the young man. He had short green hair. A small piece of it was tied into a long ponytail that reached his waist. He also wore a black and red martial arts outfit.

"No doubt you have led a harsh life. Tell me, what is your name?" asked Strada.

The man in front of him stared at the human and could tell that he was powerful—for a human. "Hmph. Very well, I will give you the courtesy of knowing my name! I will become part of Phumera's group in the future! A future Eradicator, and you will be part of that blood path I've walked! I am Zofleac!"

"Hoho! Then show me that power, young man!" replied Strada. Various tentacles appeared behind Zofleac's back and sharp claws jut from his hands as they glowed menacing green and oozed toxic venom.

Zofleac suddenly appeared in front of Strada, yet the old man now turned young simply smiled at him without opening his eyes. This annoyed Zofleac as he thrust his right arm towards Strada with the aim of killing him, but…it suddenly disappeared.

'What…?' Zofleac became confused. The right arm he thrust forward had suddenly disappeared from his sight. A powerful impact also hit him in the chest sending him crashing into the sandy shores of Japan.

Zofleac looked around him and then back at the human in front of him, still confused. He then looked at his right arm…it was missing. Then it finally hit him. 'What…?! How did that old man slice my arm off?! I didn't even see him…?!'

"You are very powerful. For someone your age, attaining that strength could not have been an easy task," said Strada. He then opened his eyes and waved his finger at Zofleac. "However, with great power comes great responsibility. Have you lived up to that, young man?"

What Strada said to him pissed him off. To him, such nonsense didn't matter—power, wealth and status is what mattered in the Crepuscule Phantasma. If he hadn't done what he did in his life, he hadn't survived, he hadn't gotten stronger, he would already be dead. His story—his past was much like many others in his universe.

He was one of many. They just needed to survive one more day, get even stronger for the next day, no next week and then they wouldn't have to needlessly suffer.

"Shut up…you know nothing about our world…you lived privileged lives in this universe. You don't get to say anything to me," said Zofleac. The tentacles on his back detached from there and lodged themselves in the place of his missing arm. Those tentacles began to transform and created another arm for Zofleac.

"It is true that I don't know any of your circumstances. However, you and your comrades still chose to come to ours to try to eliminate us, and for what? Pride? Greed? Such reasons are too selfish, so we have united to stop you," replied Strada as he took a step towards Zofleac.

The two of them disappeared and clashed in the middle. The sand around them was blown away. Zofleac used his claws and tentacles while Strada used his [Durandal] and experience. Strada dodged multiple attacks by the tentacles quite easily leaving Zofleac frustrated. When Zofleac hid a few in the ground and attacked Strada with them, he was surprised by the man's flexibility and speed.

Strada corrected his body in the air while making minimal adjustments by using his own tentacles against him. Strada would lightly touch them with his fingers or feet to readjust himself in midair after dodging the attacks. After one final clash they blew each other back and stared at each other.

"I'll admit old geezer, you're powerful and flexible for your age and that build of yours. But I'm far superior, I was only going at 75%, let's see how you fair against me at 100%," said Zofleac.

Strada smiled in response. "I was operating at 40% power, young man," he told Zofleac from behind him and slammed his fist covered in holy energy into his back, cracking a few bones and destroying some tentacles.

Zofleac was sent away, injured once more. He corrected himself mid-air, but Strada had appeared beside him and swung his sword down, slicing another arm off, and destroying Japan's coast again. As Zofleac landed, he tried to use his tentacles again to make another arm. However, a foot slammed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him and making him kneel to the ground.

"Repent for your sins, young man. For you and your comrades tried to invade our world." Those were the last words Zofleac heard as when he looked up a powerful slash came his way. He couldn't help but smile as this was how he died.

The slash that Strada used was powerful enough to reach Hawaii and kill other enemies in those waters, and also damage several Battle Gods.

"His Eminence is even more frightening when using a young body!" shouted Irina.

"He wasn't known as a living legend for nothing, Irina-chan," replied Dulio.

"Focus please," Griselda told them as she killed even more Evil Dragons around them with creatures made of light.

A new wave of opponents suddenly appeared all around them and they began to fly towards their group and also past them towards the normal humans of Japan. They could hear screams start, but most of them were stopped by the shadow soldiers of Aaron.

"It can't be helped then…[Balance Break]!" shouted Dulio. His aura significantly increased, and the sky above him was illuminated at the same time. Dulio's wings which now numbered twelve similar to those of a Seraph, were shining with a golden light. He also had four halos above his head.

With increased speed Dulio flew around with open arms past various opponents. When he passed those enemies, they were all trapped inside of bubbles! Inside those bubbles several phenomena occurred.

The enemies trapped within them were incinerated by intense flames, shocked by lightning attacks, frozen by powerful ice and sliced apart by powerful winds. Dulio kept flying around and trapped as many of those opponents in those bubbles.

"It's like…the exact opposite of his [Bubbles of Hope]," muttered Irina.

Dulio appeared beside them and winked. "That's right, Irina-chan. If the [Bubbles of Hope] stop any kind of fighting and violence, then these deliver divine punishment! I'm also banned from using my Balance Breaker in Heaven…hehe."

[Zenith Tempest] and Dulio Gesualdo's Balance Breaker, the usual Crest-side and subspecies, its name is [Flagello di Colori del Arcobaleno, Speranza di Briscola] or [Inevitable Punishment of the Holy Angel's Rainbow, Shining Star of the End]. A long-winded name that Dulio came up with, when he told Aaron and Griselda it before they told him to reconsider but…he did not since it took him a lot of effort to name it that!

"Don't you dare say its name! It's too long-winded, Dulio," Griselda told him. The man himself awkwardly chuckled, and Griselda floated over to Irina and whispered it to her.

"D-Dulio-san…t-that' a bit…you're as bad as Jin with naming things," said Irina. Dulio felt like he was pierced by an arrow through his heart.

"E-even you, huh, Irina-chan…? I tried really hard to come up with that name, you know…?" he said and sulked a little. Suddenly, Strada flew by them and did a horizontal slash that killed off the rest of the enemies in front of them.

"Ah youth, it's wonderful to see. Greets again, Dulio, Irina and Griselda."

"Your Eminence Strada, we're glad to have you with us," said Griselda.

"Hmm. Let us continue with our defense. We cannot stop and rest here," he told them and they agreed before flying off.

…

In another part of Japan, a ragtag group had formed. It was various youkai, devils and humans all being led by Rubicante, a former member of the [Malebranche] and Lilith, the mother of all devils. They also had members of the Five Principal Clans with them. The area was tense, until the silence was broken when various explosions started.

This was the first time they had worked together and Rubicante left the area and slaughtered more and more enemies around him.

"All of you are pretty stiff, huh?" asked Ennea. The blue-haired archer of the Stahlritter led this ragtag group with Ines, Lilith and Rubicante. They had been ordered by Lianne after they finished scouting that area of Japan.

"It can't be helped. They have been enemies for most of their existence. Being forced to fight together must be very new," said Ines.

"…You two can either not read the mood or refuse to follow it," muttered Lilith.

"Both," replied the two women with smirks. Lilith shook her head and summoned several balls of demonic energy and threw them at the various enemies around them. However, just then, large magic circles appeared all around the world. They were as large as the continent of Asia.

"Ara? Should I shoot it?" Ennea asked her fellow Stahlritter. Just then Rubicante joined them.

[Nah, I heard that the G.o.B will deal with it,] he told them. Both nodded and Ennea fired multiple arrows around them. Some were made to heal; others were enhancements and others were normal arrows that killed various enemies around them.

The magic circles above them glowed and finally launched large meteors towards the earth. All around the world, humans began to cry, scream and plead for forgiveness to some kind of higher power. The ones that didn't believe in the supernatural were too stunned at the situation that was happening to them and simply accepted the fact that…they were screwed.

"Jeez, I told you guys to just deal with them already. Those tears in space-time are starting to give me a headache," said a woman.

"Oh shut up, Reuna we're here to stop those things from hitting earth so just do it…" replied another.

"Jeez, come on you two, let's just stop it already!" Shaula's voice shouted at the other two. The ones there turned around and saw three different women. One of them was Shaula, and the others were…

"Oh, Reuna and Auna you two left the Dimensional Gap, huh?" asked Ennea.

"Duh, we don't have anything to do there, and those guys are starting to throw meteors at us!" replied Auna.

Auna was a young woman with pink long pink hair. She wore a black beret with a pink ribbon on the side of her head. She had red eyes, and wore a black top and pants, she had a large black coat on that she let hang on her back, she donned black boots and held a lavish staff in her left hand.

Reuna looked like a typical witch like Lavinia Reni. She had short purple hair, pink colored eyes, and wore a white witches' dress and had the big white witches' hat. Her dress was mostly a mix of white and purple. She rode on a white staff with various gems of different colors floating around the top of the staff.

[There seems to be around 12 of those magic circles, so…12 meteors are going to obliterate the earth soon,] said Rubicante. [I can—]

"Leave it to us, come on already!" shouted Shaula as she raised her hands up. Reuna and Auna sighed and also pointed their staffs towards the sky.

"Won't Jin's barrier stop it?" asked Lilith.

[We should assume they have a way to bypass it, so it's useless right now,] said Rubicante.

"…Ah, right."

The earth was immediately covered with multiple layers of defensive magic circles. The various meteors slammed into it and were stopped. However, what they initially thought was just twelve meteors slamming into them, those same magic circles began to release even more meteors on top of those ones.

"What the heck?! Where the hell are they connecting those things to?!" shouted Shaula.

"Contact someone to deal with the source of those magic circles. While one of us can maintain those defenses, it would be better to let all of us keep them up," said Auna.

Ennea nodded and activated her transceiver. [Hello, Misheia can you or Addite find the ones responsible for making those magic circles above earth?]

[Roger that, I'll let Addite do it then, I'm busy killing these Battle Gods that keep surfacing,] replied Misheia.

"You heard her," said Ennea as she aimed at more enemies around them.

"They shouldn't be too far then, who can help Addite locate them?" asked Lilith.

"She can find them herself, for now—" Before Auna could finish her sentence, the entire world was covered in a green field. "I was going to say to create a large barrier to heal us all, but that's fine. It seems Asia-sama used her Balance Breaker."

[I found them, leave them to me,] said Addite's voice.

…

Addite, one of the [Goddesses of Battle] ran around the world's oceans with Misheia. They were initially the ones to kill the constant presence of the Battle Gods, making the defense of earth easier on everyone since they didn't need to worry about them.

Addite had short blonde hair, red eye and wore a red, white, and black noble attire that looked more like a man's apparel than a woman's attire. She also carried a greatsword with her and a large coat behind her, making her look like a king from behind.

"I'll get moving then, good luck," said Addite. Misheia nodded and dashed away creating a small shockwave and killing more Battle Gods in the distance.

…

Flashback

…

Two weeks prior to these events happening—the rival of 666 and the Khaos Order's attack on the world, a certain silver-haired youth had visited a certain European country. This youth traveled alone to this certain small t own in the countryside near the mountains.

Once he was up on a certain ledge, he pulled out high-precision binoculars and used it to look at a certain place. The person this young youth was looking for…was an ordinary woman. She was around the age of forty, she had long black hair and she swept the yard near a home.

This young youth was Vali Lucifer. Once Vali began to gain strength after being taken in by Grigori and Azazel, he requested him to look for two individuals. One was his grandfather he detested and another person…was his mother—the person he was currently looking at. Not too long after the alliance with various factions, Grigori obtained information on the whereabouts of his mother and they gave it to Vali.

After Vali was sheltered by the Grigori, Vali's father had immediately erased his mother's memories and discarded her. Only now, after many twists and turns, she had begun her second life in a small rural town, far from the city. Vali recalled the time when he lived together with his mother. That was when he was subjected to the abuse of his own father and grandfather.

His mother always stood by him to protect him. However, his mother only had the body of a human; she had given birth to him due to his father's frivolity, his grandfather was also the son of the Satan Lucifer, hence why his mother was always powerless.

One time after being abused, Vali sought help from his mother, however, the abuse that his father and grandfather put upon the woman—and the face that she made back then was deeply rooted in Vali's memories. So after that day, he vowed that he wouldn't ask for her help anymore regarding that matter.

Vali was born from the blood of Lucifer and had the power of the White Dragon Emperor in him. This meant he was better suited to take the abuse, that's what he thought. As Vali watched the woman in the distance, he remembered the gentleness she once showed him. Behind the backs of his father and grandfather she would cook his meals. However, she couldn't cook lavish meals, so the food was always bland.

Yet…the young Lucifer loved his mother's cooking and always cherished the memory. Vali once promised himself that once he saw his mother again, he wanted to tell her something—not something like 'I love you' or any kind of familial love, but…to tell her that he survived and he had grown into a fine adult…a battle maniac, but still an adult.

Suddenly, Vali's froze, through his binoculars he saw something unexpected. A young boy, a young girl and a certain young man that he considered his rival appeared outside the house. The two younger children looked much like himself but with black hair.

They were his half-siblings; his own younger brother and sister and Jin was with them for some strange reason. The siblings, his mother, and Jin spoke to one another with happily smiles on their faces that left him stunned.

The thought then hit him. His mother must have gotten remarried and started a new life for herself. She finally had an ordinary family.

'I'm sorry, this is all I can do for you.'

He remembered his mother's words, each time she gave him the bland food—pasta, that was the food. At the time—no, every time she gave him that food, she looked very sad. But today…that same woman was smiling happily along with Jin and his younger siblings.

A scene flashed in his head. He imagined himself down there, enjoying an ordinary life, laughing and smiling with them. Vali thought that if he was born into an ordinary family…would he be smiling and laughing like that? Vali then put his binoculars down.

A few seconds later, Aaron teleported beside him.

"Why were you…how did you…?" Vali was unsure in how to ask his question, so he just stared at Aaron.

"She's a gentle woman, Vali. She reminds me a lot of Lavinia. You were lucky to have a mother like that," said Aaron. "But rest assured…just like Natsume, Kanami and Shigune's parents I've given them my own protection. If a day comes…they'll surely be safe."

Vali turned away and walked away. "You're always meddling in my life, why don't you ever stop?" he asked as he kept walking.

"Even if you don't accept me as one, or Lavinia…you're our little brother. Just like them, it's up to the older sibling to protect the younger ones, right?" asked Aaron.

Vali gritted his teeth and then looked back at Aaron who smiled at him. "So let's protect them. Let's protect your mother and your siblings. Even if you don't want to protect anyone else after that, leave them to me! I'll protect you, them and everyone else, so rely on me from time to time."

Vali turned around and began to walk away. He wouldn't admit it, he wouldn't call him that or her that. To Vali, who had survived on his own for most of his life, he couldn't do it. However, compared to Aaron Toole who wanted to protect as many people around him as possible…he could agree to one thing he said. Vali Lucifer would protect that small family with his own power. He vowed in his heart that he would.

…

Flashback End

…

In a mountainous region of a certain European country, the battle against the Khaos Order continued. The Vali Team, the Slash/Dog Team and various others helped defend various small towns and cities in the area.

However, in the distance, Vali saw a certain individual that he wanted to fight once, and that certain individual also stared at him. His hostility and power were aimed at the young Lucifer youth.

Tobio who was in his Perfected Balance Breaker stopped by Vali and said, "Vali, you should go…he won't face anyone else but you. I confronted him earlier. He hasn't attacked anything here—but if any of us go and attack him he may just lay waste to the entire country."

As Vali went to reply to Tobio Ikuse, a torrent of flames passed him and eliminated countless monsters. After that, the area around them also instantly froze over—many enemies were also frozen solid after that. Sae Toujou and Lavinia Reni flew over to them.

"Vaa-kun, I'll watch over you so that no one will interrupt your battle…I believe in you, so does everyone here and I think Aaron does too, go ahead," said Lavinia.

"Good luck, Vali-kun, win it!" Sae added while pumping her fists.

"That's right all-mighty leader-san!" Bikou said as he arrived with the rest of the Vali Team.

"Hmm. You had him on the list of beings you wanted to defeat and surpass, correct? We can hold them off here, go ahead," said Arthur.

"Hmm! I agree with Onii-sama, please go ahead, Vali-sama!" added Le Fay.

"As future wife number 1, I trust in my husband's powers, so go and kill him already," said Calanthe. Fenrir nodded at Vali too indicating that he trusted his leader's power and skills. In the distance, Kanami's scream also encouraged Vali.

"…What's with all of you being so gross? Of course, I'll go, I would have done so without any of your telling me to," he replied and equipped his armor. "I'll obviously win!" he added and flew away. He heard cheerful laughter behind him. A small smirk appeared on his face as he went to face Aži Dahāka.

…

Once Vali arrived at the spot, he was greeted by Aži Dahāka, the [Diabolism Thousand Dragon].

[Yo!]

[Heyo, White One-kun~!]

[You're late!]

All three heads greeted him one by one. The aura that Aži Dahāka exuded was as strong as Ophis from when he first met her. Vali smirked. In the past he may have thought that he would have lost, but now…it was different. While he didn't think he was on his level of power yet, but with his powers he would be able to even the playing field.

[We came across each other before, hadn't we, Vali Lucifer?] asked the main head.

[We did, we did!]

[You escaped though!]

Vali didn't answer and continued to stare at Aži Dahāka. So the dragon continued.

[You faced one of the Eradicators' subordinates and was repelled, then you lost to another when we attacked the Vampire factions. That's a lot of losses, huh?] said the main head.

[He lost! He's a loser!]

[L for Lucifer.]

Aži Dahāka smirked and said, [Well, let's not delay our match, eh? You and this world's inhabitants are already aware of the other worlds, the multiverse and the outer gods! The Middleman and Dual Dragon Emperor is one of them after all!]

[One of them! One of them!]

[W for the W-Widdleman…shut up.]

Aži Dahāka and Vali stared at each other silently. Moments later, they both disappeared from their spot and clashed high up in the sky. The shockwave they produced was so powerful that it obliterated the mountain ranges around them.

Aži Dahāka created millions of magic circles behind him and fired them at Vali. Vali dodged most of them, but to the ones he couldn't—

[Reflect!]

Vali reflected light and darkness magic towards Aži Dahāka who simply slapped them away. The heads on the left and right released fire attacks from their mouths at him and he quickly dodged them and approached Aži Dahāka. Once in range he fired a ball of demonic energy at the dragon.

Aži Dahāka responded by firing his own magic bullet at it, and then summoned even more magic circles around him—the number was enough to cover the skies of this country and he then fired them all at Vali. The young Lucifer couldn't help but shiver in excitement.

[Half Dimension!]

Vali swiped his hand in a horizontal motion and everything in front of him was halved. The attacks that were aimed at him began to be halved. However, his ability didn't last long and he was forced to use [Divide] on the rest of the magic attacks that were aimed at him.

However, some got past him and slammed into his body and exploded. Vali gritted his teeth as he felt pain all over his body and blood gathering in his mouth. He coughed and flew away from the rest of the attacks.

[Well then, I'll start adding in my forbidden technique now!!!!] the main head shouted in glee.

[It's far from ordinary yo!]

[If you can defend against it, then show me!]

Aži Dahāka pointed his finger towards the sky and the magic circles around them began to change. The letters around each magic circle became characters and words that Vali couldn't understand. The magic circles emitted a dangerous glow as they distorted, and an electric current crackled through them.

What appeared from the magic circles were purple flames in the shape of a skull, cyclones with curses revolving around them, jet-black lightning, a cursed Virgin Mary which was crying tears of blood, a one-eyed giant that seemed as if it would steal your life simply by looking at it, and various different things.

Forbidden-class magic, summoning magic, curses, all of the ominous magic that existed in this world had been summoned and were moving towards Vali! If he was directly hit by any of them, it would definitely result in a death where none of his bones would remain!

Upon seeing this, Vali increased his aura even more and began to chant.

"I, who is about to awaken—"

"Am the White Dragon Emperor who will take the law down to the darkness—"

"I walk the road of domination with infinite destruction and by piercing through the imaginary dream—"

"I shall become a pure Emperor of White Dragon—"

"{{{{And I shall have you obey the silvery-white illusions and the perfect evil ways!}}}}"

{Juggernaut Over Drive!!}

'Albion, we're going to use everything to stop that!' Vali shouted.

{Very well.}

Vali raised his right arm and clutched it with his left hand. His aura was raised even more that the entire continent of Europe began to shake.

"Compress!!!!!!!" screamed Vali. He wanted to stop this attack, the people he wanted to protect were near this battlefield and he didn't want them to be hit by this attack. Even if he knew at the back of his mind that they would be safe because of Aaron, he didn't want to risk it.

{Compression Divider!!!!}

The magic attacks that darted towards Vali quickly started to compress over and over again. They became smaller and smaller until they all vanished from existence. All the forbidden techniques and magic that rained upon Vali…were all gone, Vali had destroyed them all.

Once Aži Dahāka saw what had happened, he felt a chill. He felt happy when he saw his attack be destroyed by the young Lucifer. Vali himself was forced out of his [Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive] because he had exhausted himself. Vali was back in his regular Balance Breaker armor.

Even after training for around 200 years, he had run out of demonic power and stamina. He hadn't expected Aži Dahāka to be this strong.

{He is definitely on the level of Ophis and Great Red, previously before they were strengthened by Jin,} said Albion.

[Since it's come to this, it'll be fine if you use Albion's true power. I really want to see the true power of yours that caused you to be revered as the Poison Dragon Emperor you know, Albion? No, Gwiber?]

[Albion Gwiber!]

[Gwiber is Gwiber!]

Aži Dahāka had existed since ancient times. It was no wonder he knew of Albion's true name. He also knew of the White Dragon's history. Albion did have the name of Gwiber in the past. In the Welsh language, it means 'Poisonous snake'. Although Albion and his rival Ddraig had never mentioned it before, the White Dragon Emperor, the White Dragon was a dragon that used poison.

Despite possessing a beautiful pure white body, he had a hideous poison that even gods were afraid of; it was something within Albion's body that he hated and cursed at for many years.

{…That name and power have already been sealed,} said Albion.

[But precisely because you had that power, the gods of various factions feared and avoided you, right? Your graceful pure white body had a highly toxic poison that even gods feared…I like that, you know? It's a power that I envy!]

[Poison me daddy!]

[Stick that poison in me!]

While Aži Dahāka was trying to provoke Albion, the latter was in a complex state of mind that even Vali noticed. Albion had denied himself that power, as someone who had used toxic poison, so much so that he hated speaking about it. Not even Vali was allowed to bring the topic up.

Vali believed that even if he didn't have that power, the White Dragon Emperor's power was enough, which is why he had never mentioned it. But even though he hated his grandfather, he still proudly carried the name of Lucifer and at the same time, Vali also felt that Albion's own values and ideas had begun to change while they spent time together.

Another reason for this was the current Red Dragon Emperor, otherwise known as the Dual Dragon Emperor. The man known as Jin Skyward was beyond common sense in their world and he had great influence on Albion and other people in their world.

However, Albion had begun speaking to Aaron's Albion and Ddraig as both Vali and Aaron were close themselves. In that regard, Vali's Albion began to change his world views because of the other two Heavenly Dragons. The things he heard them say were…strange, yet he resonated with them in some way.

When Aži Dahāka saw Vali's expression he said, [I've always felt that you and the Dual Dragon Emperor resembled each other in some way, you know? If I had to state the reason, it would be that both of you have the intention of wanting to protect something.]

[Moreover, it isn't about wanting to protect your own pride, those eyes of yours. They're there because you want to protect someone special to you. Is it a woman?] asked Aži Dahāka.

Vali stared at the Evil Dragon before a smirked appeared on his face.

"You're correct in your assumption, Aži Dahāka. It is a woman. However, she's not a lover or someone I'm interested in starting a romantic relationship with," said Vali. However, two people flashed in his mind but he shook those off.

"She's just someone…someone who had taken care of me in the past. I'm not like Aniki, I'm not like Jin Skyward. I can't possibly protect that many people. I don't have the power nor the desire to, and until recently…I never thought about it in that kind of way."

When Vali came to this place to fight, his mother and her new family kept on flashing in his mind. It was a very happy family, consisting of a mother, sister, and brother. If this world's destruction were to continue, it would surely reach them. Vali…could not allow such a thing to happen. It's the one thing he wouldn't allow to happen even if it cost him his life.

"However, there is a small human family that has people that I want to protect. Do you look down on me because of it? Or do you think of me as some kind of ordinary weakling? Recently, I started thinking that having such thoughts wasn't a terrible idea. Maybe Aniki influenced me a bit."

Aži Dahāka made a wry smile. It wasn't a smile of ridicule, he joyfully accepted what Vali had said.

[Kukuku, I have fought against people like you who believed in their minds that they are the last line of defense for those precious people in their hearts and minds. Without exceptions…all of them were formidable opponents! So I do not feel any trace of contempt for you at all! In fact, I think you're someone even stronger than they were!]

In the next instant, Aži Dahāka created a magic circle around them. The surrounding landscape was completely rewritten. Vali got into a stance, but he immediately realized that this wasn't an offensive type magic.

As the surrounding scenery continued to distort and change, Vali was then absorbed into it…Vali Lucifer had entered an illusionary world that Aži Dahāka created.

…

Vali Lucifer woke up and realized that he was in a strange room. He sat up and found that he hadn't been in this room before. He looked beneath him and saw that he was also sleeping on a bed.

Suddenly he felt his body become heavier, like as if someone had jumped on top of him and sat on his stomach. He looked towards that place and saw a boy as sitting on top of him.

It was a boy that looked very similar to him. When the young boy saw that Vali was awake, he looked at him with a big smile.

"Big brother is awake!!" the young boy shouted.

The little boy was quite cheerful, and after he shouted that, the door to this room opened and a girl entered it. She also looked like himself.

The girl then scolded the boy. "Jeez! You can't just forcefully wake up big brother like that!"

Vali himself was still quite confused about the situation he as in, but the boy suddenly pulled on him arm.

"Big bro! It's time to eat! You can't stay in bed all day!" he said happily.

Still confused, Vali instinctively nodded. The little boy got off him and stood on the floor and began walking away. Vali still confused followed the two out of the room. Their destination seemed to be the living room.

The sound of running water could be heard in the kitchen. Someone in the kitchen then noticed Vali, and came out to the living room. Upon seeing that person, a cold sweat enveloped his body and he became nervous and he noticed his breathing had stopped.

"Ara? Vali, you woke up? You were up all night preparing for your exam, you know? University students really have it tough," said the woman with a gentle smile.

His mother stood in front of him, and both of his siblings stood beside her as they grabbed onto her hands.

'Ah…so that's how it is…I understand now…' thought Vali.

He finally understood the true identity of these two young children. They were his younger brother and younger sister. However, at the same time, he realized that this was all an illusion created by Aži Dahāka. But when he looked at his mother's face, he felt an excruciating pain in his heart. Whether it was talking to his mother, or realizing that this was all just an illusion, it made him feel distraught.

"I'll go prepare the food," she said and then returned to the kitchen to prepare their breakfast.

Vali sat down at the table on his seat, and like two typical kids, his brother and sister sat on each side of him. His mother brought over the food and placed it on top of the dining table…it was a very ordinary home-cooked meal. Bread and soup, potato wedges, a salad—all of these were all items that Vali had seen before on TV.

"Thanks for the food!" everyone said except Vali. All three of them began to eat their breakfast, but all of them became confused after seeing that Vali still looked confused.

"Big Bro, are you not eating?" his little brother asked.

His mother tilted her head and asked, "Ara? Could it be that you don't have an appetite?"

"N-no, I'm fine…thanks for the food," Vali said nervously. Vali then picked up the spoon to eat the soup and began to feel emotional.

'It's so warm and delicious…' he thought while he ate. He then heard the voice of the Evil Dragon.

[This is the false world that I created. This magic barrier will create a world based on the deepest desires of your heart. The scene in front of you right now is the world that you truly desire.]

That voice echoed in his mind. This was just an illusionary world, and, moreover, this was the kind of world that he wanted. He then heard Aži Dahāka continue.

[I see...you who is known as the strongest White Dragon Emperor in history...what you really wanted in life was an extremely ordinary and common family.]

Vali didn't reply to that, no, more like he couldn't rebut it since this was based on his deepest desires.

'In the inner depths of my mind and heart, what I really wanted was to have an ordinary family, an ordinary life…'

Once they were finished having breakfast, his brother pulled on his hand. "Big bro! Let's go play football (soccer)!"

However, at the same time, his sister also grabbed his hand. "No, you can't! Big Brother is going to help me study today!"

Vali felt conflicted.

"Play with me!"

"Study with me!"

Seeing this scene play out, his mother laughed at them. "Come on you two, if you don't stop pulling on your brother's arms, they'll come off, you know?"

His own siblings were competing for his attention while his mother just laughed at them as she watched them. In the end, Vali helped his sister study first, and then went to play football with his little brother while both his sister and mother watched them.

His sister wanted to study history, and after that, he played soccer with his brother until evening fell. Following that, the three siblings washed the dishes together with their mother.

When he saw the figure of his mother and younger brother chatting away happily with each other in front of him, Vali hadn't noticed that he had started to smile at some point. Suddenly, Aži Dahāka spoke again.

[If you want to continue living in this world, then it's possible, you know? This barrier…this magic was made for this purpose. When the world they strongly sought after was placed in front of them, dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of strong warriors fell like this.]

'…I see, I didn't think Aži Dahāka had such magic like this. It was almost like Dulio's technique, the [Bubbles of Hope]…' thought Vali.

During their own battle against Aži Dahāka, when they were brought into this world, hardened warrior and heroes would see something precious to them. It was understandable that some people's willpower would crumble to this. To be able to live in an ideal world with your loved ones who may have already passed away.

Vali had spent a night in this world. At night, he shared a bed with his brother and sister on one bed. It was the first time since he was born that he slept together with his family. It was so tranquil that he felt moved by it.

The next day, he got up early and they ate breakfast together again. The family of four ate breakfast as they conversed with each other. His loneliness was buried by all of this. After breakfast, the family of four sat together and played board games with each other.

While his brother and sister argued, his mother happily laughed at them. It was such a gentle and peaceful world…there was no fighting, it as just time spent happily together with his family members.

Time flowed by gently, and from the depths of his heart, a smile emerged on Vali's face. However, he suddenly stood up surprising all of them.

"Big bro? What's wrong?" asked his little brother.

"Big brother? Are you feeling sick? Do you want to lie down?" asked his little sister.

His precious siblings looked up at him with worry. At some point, Vali could no longer hold back the emotions swelling up inside of him and he began to cry.

'So…this kind of happiness does exist…this…this kind of ordinary happiness…obtained from an ordinary life and family…'

This was the first time he had ever received such loving warmth. But…regardless of whether it was real or not, Vali was able to realized that this was all an illusion. It was a false and a never-ending power. The time that had taken place in this world was only a matter of a few seconds in reality.

'If I could live days like these…I would be so fortunate. If I could live days like these, I wonder how happy I would be?'

While shredding tears, Vali knelt down and tightly hugged his younger brother and sister.

"I'm…" he choked up. He didn't even know their names; he couldn't even call out to them. Because of that…he knew it was a false world.

He hadn't even met them face-to-face yet, he had no idea of their names, their real personalities. So that was one of the reasons on why Vali could tell this was all fake, all an illusion…

Vali looked at them and said as gently as possible, "Your big brother has somewhere he has to go. He can't be with you…I'm really sorry for not being able to play together with you anymore…I'm sorry…"

'A dream is fine…an illusion is fine. Even so, we met each other, we touched each other. This was the first time since I was born that I was able to spend some time with an ordinary family…'

"Even if this is all a dream, or an illusion, to be able to meet you again…and even speak to you was truly wonderful. With this simple opportunity, no matter how much time passes, I can keep on fighting for myself and for all of you…" he told them.

Once again, Vali hugged them tightly in order to be able to remember this warmth forever.

"…I'm really sorry that I can't call you by your names. But I need to leave now, so that I can protect all of you."

Vali then faced his mother. He wanted to tell his saddened mother so many things, even if she was just an illusion. He wanted to speak with her one last time, to be able to spend more time with her…

"…Mom…we probably won't be able to see each other ever again. We probably won't be able to speak with each other again, but…I will still protect you from afar, and watch over my brother and sister," he told her through tears.

Vali knew that if he hugged his mother right now…he definitely wouldn't be able to return to reality. So he couldn't touch her, and it pained him.

Vali then showed his mother the happiest smile he could muster up at that moment. "So…thank you. You were able to talk to me one more time. Even if you were just an illusion…this was enough for me. I will definitely protect you—all of you…!"

He turned around and walked towards the door. Once he was there, he grabbed the doorknob and turned it. "…Goodbye. I'm heading out…!"

After opening the door, waiting in front of him as the figure of his father. It wasn't the father who had abused it, nor was it the father of his brother and sister.

It was probably the 'father' that Vali truly desired and that was reflected by the magic that Aži Dahāka used. He looked at him closely and he couldn't deny it, that this was the person he deeply regarded as his father.

"Are you going?" his father asked.

He nodded. "…Yes, I need to leave, Azazel. I always thought that meeting you in reality was one of the best things that happened to me. Because of that I realized that…I'm Vali Lucifer."

As he began to return to reality—various people flashed in his mind. The people he had met after he was taken to Grigori. The Slash/Dog Team, the various fallen angels, his own team, and finally...that one man that changed everything. In reality, Vali already found a new family, even if it wasn't ordinary, they were still a family to him.

'Vaa-kun, you should eat your vegetables. Jin was the one who cooked them, so they're super tasty!' the voice of Lavinia rang in his head.

'A sister…yes, you were like a sister to me…and you still are. You had that gentle smile my mother had; I should thank you in the future…'

'Yo Lucidrago, still trying to get stronger, huh? Do you want me to stretch your mouth again?' Kouki's voice echoed in his head.

'An annoying family man and delinquent…pick one you idiot…'

'Vali, I made that dish you liked, have a try, if you don't, Gin will just eat it or Shigune, you decide.' the voice of Tobio also echoed in his head.

'Your cooking only improved over time…but you were so distraught when Sae slipped into that coma…'

'V-Vali-kun, d-do you want to play with Gin? He's really f-fluffy too! I think you'd like him…!' Sae's voice also echoed in his head.

'I wasn't really fond of dogs after being beaten by Tobio a few times, but…Gin isn't a bad boy…'

'Oi Vali! Don't just barge into our rooms because you feel like it, you cheeky brat!' Natsume's voice screamed in his head.

'I was looking for Azazel and Lavinia you stupid woman…!'

'D-do you want to eat some? There's still a lot left, Vali-san…' Shigune's voice echoed in his head. She had always been a glutton.

'You eat too much…is your stomach a bottomless pit? I feel bad for Tobio and Aniki at times...he even has Kuroka to deal with…'

Various more voices started to echo in his head, people he met in the Five Principal Clans, the various youkais, devils, fallen angels and other species. Finally—

'Yo, Vali. I made some food with Grayfia and Raiko, so I brought some down here. It's late at night you know? You're still training? What a dedicated little brother I have!' the stupid voice of Jin echoed in his mind.

'You've meddled in my life since the second you showed up in this world…you dated my older sister, made the females in the Slash/Dog Team fall for you, and took two members of my team as well…!'

'You were also secretly the Red Dragon Emperor, my fated rival. We should be at each other's throats trying to kill each other…! Yet…yet…!'

'Why should we fight? Let's just get along—you know, love and peace…and all that shit. Also, Reni would kill me if I hurt you or kill you.'

'So let's protect them. Let's protect your mother and your siblings. Even if you don't want to protect anyone else after that, leave them to me! I'll protect you, them and everyone else, so rely on me from time to time.'

'…You meddlesome piece of…damn you…if you keep acting like this, I'll seriously see you as my older brother…dammit! The next time I see you, I'll definitely punch you and tell you to act more like an older brother…!'

Vali Lucifer had to return, return to the land of the living. To the world where his comrades, his rival, his brother, and his new family were in. Because life was precious…he wanted to see all of them again.

…

The false world had collapse and what appeared in front of his eyes again was the scenery of the snow-covered mountains and endless field, Aži Dahāka also floated in front of Vali.

[That was a pleasant dream, right?] asked Aži Dahāka.

Vali smiled and replied, "Yeah, it was the best dream I ever had."

Aži Dahāka's attitude immediately changed, the expression on his face became serious. He then expressed his respect towards Vali.

[White Dragon Emperor Vali, you were actually able to get away from my magic and techniques. Therefore, I will apologize for putting you into that lowly technique of mine, and because of that I recognize you as my greatest and most worthy opponent!]

Upon noticing Aži Dahāka's change in attitude, Vali became excited. Gone was the previous playfulness that Aži Dahāka had, the one in front of him was now a hardened and serious warrior.

Aži Dahāka knew that this powerful illusionary world was capable of sucking out a warrior's willpower, and also fascinating them with what they saw. The ones that could return to reality were truly the best of the best and the only ones he would fight seriously.

"I feel the same way, Aži Dahāka. But I'm also grateful to you since I could talk to those people at least once. Even before that, our match was already quite intense, so let's put our pride on the line then! I'll defeat you right here right now and I'll definitely protect that family!" declared Vali.

Vali felt happy from the bottom of his heart. The previous uncertainties he had vanished, he felt at peace, his mind was also clear.

'I need to protect them!' Swearing upon that, Vali began to feel excitement both physically and mentally as he had noticed the dramatic change in his heart.

'Is this the source of your power, Aniki? Protecting people? Protecting them? I'll admit…it's an exciting feeling!'

{Vali…within that illusionary world, I gained even more insight into your consciousness. So I think I will also pick up that name, the one I once discarded,} said Albion.

Albion had also accepted himself. All the gems in his armor began to release a gentle warmth and a bright glow that had never manifested before. While being submerged in this light, it also caused Vali to remember the warmth that he received in that illusionary world. At the same time…he heard a voice echo in his head.

[—li, Vali…can you hear me?]

It was Ophis' voice. Vali hadn't expected to hear her. Ophis was currently with Kunou as they fought together at one of the coasts of Japan.

[…Aaron and I sang it together before. You heard it, right? …So now it's Vali's turn. Aaron is going to give you some power too…so sing together with me.]

'That chant, huh? …Heh, if it's from you two, it will surely be amazing,' he replied.

[…It's different from the time when Aaron combined our powers. Vali made peace with himself which brought out new power, and Albion had also accepted himself, so this is just our encouragement. All we need to do is lend a hand.]

Vali felt reassured that his older brother and the Dragon God of Infinity would extend their hands to him right now to help him.

[…Also, thank you for talking to me, Vali.]

Ophis was the previous leader of the Khaos Brigade, but regardless of whether it was Shalba or Cao Cao, they only ever used her for her powers. The only thing she felt in that place was loneliness.

'If you're satisfied with me, then I can speak with you at any time.' Those were the words that Vali told Ophis. That hasn't changed even now as they occasionally speak to one another when they come across each other.

'Friends…so this is what they call friends, huh, Aniki?' asked Vali.

{I will also sing it together with you, Vali, Ophis,} added Albion.

This was going to be a new chant, between these three, these friends and partners. A Dragon God, a Heavenly Dragon, a Lucifer and—

As Vali began to chant, he felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and he couldn't help but smirk.

"The Pure White Dragon dwelling within me, rise up from your supremacy—"

The silver armor that exceeded supremacy gradually began to form jet-black patterns on it.

{The Silvery-white Morning Star I possess within me, claim the Throne of Dawn—}

In response to Albion's line, the wings of light on his back became infused with black. Following that, multiple pairs of new wings extended out of his back.

[The Jet-black God of Infinity—]

"The Mysterious and Unfathomable Father of Devils—"

Twelve jet-black wings grew out of Vali's back. All of the edges of his armor sharpened and became something with an organic form. Vali's and Albion's voices then overlapped with each other.

"[We shall transcend the limits to accept the oath—]"

The crest of Lucifer appeared on all of the gems in his armor, and they unleashed a dazzling brilliance of light! The final stanza was chanted by Vali, Albion, Ophis and—

"[[[Thou shalt kneel down before our bright and glorious existence!]]]"

[[[LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLucifer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]]]

'Go kick his ass, Vali,' a voice echoed in his head. Vali felt even more excitement when the invisible hand on his shoulder lifted.

[Dragon Lucifer Drive!!!!!!!!]

Once his new transformation ended, his entire armor emitted a dazzling radiance and his aura increased even further. After his aura finished increasing, what appeared in front of Aži Dahāka was a brand-new White Dragon Emperor with twelve jet-black wings.

The armor was composed of silver-white and jet-black tones, and parts of it resembled the flesh of the Vanishing Dragon. With its dense silver and black aura, the waves of aura from the White Dragon Emperor and Lucifer radiated out from his entire body.

"The power of the White Dragon Emperor, Albion Gwiber and the power of the Satan Lucifer, this is the form that we have awakened by combining our powers as one, Aži Dahāka. With this, I'll defeat you!" shouted Vali.

Aži Dahāka became even more ecstatic upon seeing Vali's transformation.

[It's just like the reports, the armor that killed Rizevim and the one that defeated Indra, if the outer god underwent dragon and outer deification, then this is…the White Dragon Emperor's Satanification!] Aži Dahāka shouted in excitement.

If Aaron's [Boosted Gear] transformation was called Dragonification, and his [Divine Dividing] was Outerification, then Vali's is his Satanification.

As he inherited the blood of the original Lucifer, and also possessed his own [Divine Dividing], he combined both powers and awakened a new form while they both embedded their own oaths into the chant. With the help of Aaron, when Vali began to chant, his own feelings resonated with his older brother's, 'To protect someone'.

[You…are truly strong, Vali Lucifer! This is the ultimate power I've been seeking to fight! That weakling Rizevim was just an imposter of the Satan Lucifer! You are the true Lucifer, I was right about that…the true successor of the [True Satan] is you, Vali!]

"Heh, you got that right. I am a Lucifer! I can say that proudly now from the bottom of my heart! I, am, Vali Lucifer!" Vali then spread open his twelve jet-black wings as his armor released a silver-white luster.

He stared Aži Dahāka in the eyes and declared, "I am Vali Lucifer, the inheritor of the Satan's blood, and Jin Skyward and Lavinia Reni's little brother, bring it on!"

Upon hearing that, all three of Aži Dahāka's heads let loose a deafening roar! In order to exalt himself to his strongest state, the legendary Evil Dragon brought out his two wings.

[Yes! That's it! Even if you share the same blood and name, when compared to that weakling Rizevim, I definitely like you more, Vali Lucifeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrr!!]

"What a coincidence, me too. Compared to that shitty geezer, you're a hundred times better!"

Both sides flew into the air at the same time. Vali with his new armor flapped his twelve wings of Lucifer which caused all of the snow in the surrounding area to melt.

Vali and Aži Dahāka began to clash in the air. Vali thrust his hand forward and released a jolt of demonic energy. Aži Dahāka activated a teleportation magic circle and evaded the attack. However, his new attack completely decimated the mountain side and beyond.

The speed that Vali used was fast, faster than Aži Dahāka anticipated, which is why he opted to use his teleportation magic rather than evading it normally, otherwise he would have suffered damage that he couldn't heal easily.

At the same time, after teleporting away a great distance from Vali. Aži Dahāka was quite surprised at how easily he was destroying the surroundings. However, Vali could also do such things before his new form, he just didn't want to since there were still innocents around. Perhaps this was Aaron influencing him again.

[Amazing! You're amazing Vali Lucifer! Such a casual attack destroyed so much, you're resembling the Dual Dragon Emperor more and more!]

[He's still emo though! But he's also strong now!]

[What outrageous power!!]

Vali channeled his power into his wings of Lucifer.

[[[LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!]]]

A robotic noise was once again heard from the gems of his armor. Then his twelve wings parted in the middle of his back, and from them came out the same wyvern-like objects that Aaron uses in his [Queen] form.

They were Vali's own [Dividing Wyvern Fairies], ones born from the White Dragon Emperor. However, they were originally from [Divine Dividing], but due to Aaron upgrading his Sacred Gears certain forms were unlocked and certain abilities could be used.

Vali had watched Aaron use this ability from time to time. He had used both versions of his [Dividing Wyvern Fairies] to combine with the various lovers he had.

A total of twelve small-sized wyverns flew around him. They began to circle around Vali until he pointed his hand towards Aži Dahāka.

"Go!" he shouted.

Heeding Vali's command, they moved in accordance with their master's intentions and the wyverns darted towards Aži Dahāka. The body of one of the wyverns changed into a cannon and from it, it fired a powerful beam of demonic aura!

The three heads of Aži Dahāka each emitted a strange glow, miniature magic circles expanded out from each of their eyes and they completely blocked the attack that had been fired by the wyvern.

Vali couldn't help but compare what he just did to Gasper Vladi's Sacred Gear. But he knew it was different. Perhaps the Evil Dragon managed to reproduce the same effect using his knowledge of magic and thousands of years of experience.

Aži Dahāka was able to use magic of various types. He was an Evil Dragon that was even capable of freely using space and time magic, and Vali couldn't help but respect that, although he saw many of his brother's lovers do the same over the 200 years.

Despite this, Vali continued to allow his wyverns to keep attacking Aži Dahāka with their cannons. Aži Dahāka kept on dodging the attacks while in the air, but one of the wyverns suddenly appeared behind him and used [Reflect] to reflect the cannon attack back at the dragon!

However, the Evil Dragon had already prepared defensive magic circles behind himself and they stopped the attack, protecting him. Aži Dahāka then spread his arms apart and millions of magic circles appeared all over the sky again.

It was a repeat of the scenario earlier, the one where Vali was forced to use up all of his demonic and stamina reserves!

[Kukuku! How about this then?! Can you survive this again, Valiiiiiii?!]

Aži Dahāka further empowered them by combining various types together and unleashing them. Once some were combined, he summoned even more magic circles, replacing those ones and kept on firing them!

[There's more to come! How about this too?!]

Immediately after unleashing a full powered blast, Aži Dahāka vanished without a race through the use of his teleportation magic. When he reappeared, hundreds of clones appeared then he multiplied it even more with illusion magic!

Moreover, each of these clones looked exactly the same as the original as they activated countless numbers of magic circles around them and fired even more magic attacks of different attributes towards Val.

Vali was in awe at this. He wasn't sure which one was the real one, which ones were the clones, and which ones were made of illusions. But he could see that all those attacks were powerful, some were ordinary magic, some were advanced, others were forbidden magic and others he had no idea of.

But Vali came to a single conclusion…it didn't matter which one was the real one, he would just need to blow them all away! Vali then increased his powers even more, more than he had ever done, as he did his body exploded with a powerful aura!

[[[LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!]]]

Vali put his right hand forward and grinned.

[Satan Compression Divider!!!!!!!!!!!!]

What Vali released in front of him was the ultimate blast of demonic radiance. Silvery-white and jet-black streams of light were interwoven with each other, and all of the magic that Aži Dahāka, his clones and illusions released—they were instantly compressed over and over again until they were all eliminated. Even all of Aži Dahāka's clones had been blown away, leaving only the original behind.

[What?!]

[Huuuuh?!]

[That's too powerful! That's just plain cheating!!]

After seeing the outcome of that, Aži Dahāka was truly shocked. He was originally full of confidence in his full-burst attack, the magic he had released would have wiped out this small country along with several others along with the alliance that fought in them and the innocence.

He even made clones and then illusions of those clones, with that his victory normally would have been assured, yet this young man in front of him had completely destroyed it all.

Vali Lucifer's attack had destroyed it all. It wasn't some special technique, or a super powerful ability, it was simply light released by Vali. Just like their clan's trait…[Demonic Brilliance of Evil Light].

Perhaps it was the combined powers of Vali himself, the White Dragon Albion, Ophis the Dragon God, Aaron, and his powers and finally the Lucifer's clan's trait. Aži Dahāka was unsure.

Vali didn't stop there as he kept attacking Aži Dahāka, he gathered demonic energy into his right hand and aimed it towards Aži Dahāka. Aži Dahāka realized the danger of the attack that Vali was aiming at him and he moved away from his current position…but the wyverns flew towards him and used an ability that he knew of.

[Half Dimension! Half Dimension! Half Dimension!]

All the wyverns used the power of [Half Dimension] which caused all matter in their immediate surroundings to be halved.

[Shit! Even those small ones can use that?!] Aži Dahāka shouted in annoyance.

Even though Aži Dahāka had read the reports of Aaron doing the same thing, even though he also suspected Vali to be able to use the same thing, it slipped his mind due to all the excitement.

Even though he was obstructed by the halving field for a moment, that was enough time for Vali to successfully attack Aži Dahāka. He fired his attack at him, but at the last second, Aži Dahāka used his teleporting magic to avoid a direct hit.

Vali's ball of demonic energy missed its target and collided with a tall mountain in the distance. With a loud boom, the enormous mountain was instantly decimated along with its surroundings. Luckily there were no humans within that mountain's vicinity.

Vali turned his gaze towards Aži Dahāka who had managed to increase the distance between them. However, one of Aži Dahāka's heads, his left head had been blown away, and he had also lost his left wing. Aži Dahāka hadn't completely evaded the attack that was aimed at him by Vali.

Vali smirked and while floating in the sky, he again spread open all his wings, and released a silvery-white and jet-black light. Aži Dahāka couldn't help but stare at it.

[...Dawn of the Morning Star,] he muttered as he gazed at Vali's brilliance. At the same time, he saw Aaron's figure overlap with Vali's and he smirked.

[Dawn of the Morning Star], that was the name that embodied Lucifer. When Aži Dahāka saw the current Vali, he clearly addressed him as such. Aži Dahāka's own power was on par with the Dragon Gods, and he also thought the same of Vali Lucifer.

It takes another Dragon God-class being to fight another. Anything below wouldn't suffice. Aži Dahāka had obtained this strength through other means. While he didn't care how he got it, it made him ecstatic about being able to fight strong and worthy opponents.

Meanwhile Vali attained this through the help of Aaron and his own hard work. He had worked even harder than anyone else in those 200 years. He wanted to attain strength that could protect that small family and also prove to himself that he could do it.

Vali knew he could never catch up to Aaron, but he wanted to be acknowledged by him too. That's why in the future when they have their fateful battle, he only wanted one thing out of it. Whether he won or lost their fateful duel was now irrelevant to him. He simply wanted his older brother to acknowledge his strength in a genuine way.

Suddenly, something out of place flew towards this battlefield. They were various super devils, vampires, mass-produced Evil Dragons and the fake Red Dragon Emperor Scale Mails. Upon seeing this, Aži Dahāka became even more irritated. As he was about to shout at them—

The various enemies suddenly and instantly frozen. A massive wall of ice had hit them and froze them, then the large mountain of ice shattered, killing all those enemies.

Both Vali and Aži Dahāka stared at the scene for a moment before Vali chuckled.

"It seems my older sister is giving us our privacy, Aži Dahāka."

[...Indeed, she did. Whoever wins this battle, we must give her our thanks,] said the Evil Dragon. Even though he was a wicked dragon, he had an honorable side.

However, it seemed that even more appeared, and it further annoyed Aži Dahāka. But Vali put his hand forward and various wyverns flew towards the mass of enemies. Those same wyverns then began to let out dangerous auras around them as they covered those enemies.

[Venom!]

A dreadful sound rang out. Appearing around the wyverns were a dense curse that was clearly visible. Shortly afterward the mass-produced Evil dragons and various enemies began to writhe in pain, they then spurted out blood from their mouths and bodies as they fell to the ground.

[Hmmm. They are experiencing pain? Ho! So this is…!]

"It's what you wanted to see, it's Albion Gwiber's poison, it's called [Reduce]," said Vali.

Albion's abilities were to 'halve' any object and have that 'halved' portion absorbed as his own power. As well as being able to 'reflect' his opponent's power. In addition to this, there is also 'reduce'.

Albion then said, {My poison is able to reduce all existences aside from inorganic objects. As long as it's a living being, its blood, bones, organs, and soul can be cut down bit by bit. So anything, even gods can have everything, including their bodies and soul 'reduced'.}

After the enemies were tainted by the poison that the wyverns released, everything within their bodies began to be 'reduced'. As a result, they received fatal injuries, and they were killed. This was the poison that even God-class beings feared.

{The single existence that this poison was ineffective against was the [Red Dragon] and [Welsh Dragon], Red Dragon Emperor Y Ddraig Goch.}

Because it was once believed that he was invincible and poisonous, he was always alone. Because no one wanted to get close to him, no one was his rival or friend. More accurately, even without the use of his poison, Albion was an overwhelmingly powerful being, and there were very few who would stand on equal ground against him. However, it all changed when he met Ddraig.

There was actually another powerful dragon, and he could become stronger with him. Both of them wanted to become brave and fearless.

From that day onward, they wanted to become powerful dragons without relying on those kinds of powers. He also found out that Great Red and Ophis were immune to his poison too. However, aside from those dragons, it was still effective even against gods, and Albion knew that with certainty.

Even so, Albion pursued other abilities, and eventually he gained his [Divide] and [Reflect] abilities. He had successfully developed other abilities that weren't his [Reduce] If he had not encounter Ddraig, Albion would have been a dragon who mainly used [Reduce] and nothing else.

Because those two met, they both improved and changed themselves, and went up another level of power. Hence why these two dragons eventually became renowned as the Two Heavenly Dragons feared by various factions and Gods.

[Are you going to use it on me?] asked Aži Dahāka.

{I've already told you before. This is a power that I had already discarded. Ddraig and I rely on our claws, fangs, ambition and auras. We rely on our pure power to fight and enhance each other. I'm known as one of the Heavenly Dragons, so I don't need to use poisons!}

Vali also laughed. "That's right, we believe that our current power is enough. Or is this something that you're not satisfied with, Aži Dahāka?"

In response to Vali's defiant question, Aži Dahāka laughed loudly. He shook his head and their battle started once again. They began slamming against each other's bodies, and fired multiple attacks against each other.

Each time their powers clashed, a part of their surroundings were blown apart. The mountains that once covered this part of Europe were all but long gone. Each powerful magic attack that Aži Dahāka launched was destroyed or halved by Vali.

Likewise, any attack Vali used was defended against by Aži Dahāka or he simply avoided it. Neither side let up and they kept on clashing in the air. Their surroundings only got worse as time went on.

Vali sent out a barrage of punches covered in powerful demonic energy. Aži Dahāka did his best to dodge them all but many of the punches landed on his abdomen causing Aži Dahāka to cough out blood! Yet Aži Dahāka's will to fight didn't decrease at all. As a counterattack he kicked Vali and knocked him back a fair distance.

[Half Dimension!!]

Vali had used [Half Dimension] and so did his wyverns who had come back. Aži Dahāka was trapped in a field that was constantly being halved. The power was so overwhelming that he was forced to the ground and he knelt at how powerful it was.

However, Aži Dahāka activated a magic circle beneath him! He had started to attack Vali with his own elemental magic attacks, but they proved to be useless as the constant use of [Half Dimension] rendered them useless.

Aži Dahāka then used healing magic to heal his body and heads. Healing magic was quite rare. Only a limited number of people could use them. It was considered to be the highest class of magic. Magic that was used to regenerate lost limbs or heal critical wounds came at a cost. It could be lifespan, or something else, but to Aži Dahāka right now, lifespan was meaningless.

Seeing this, Vali kept on using his powers to attack Aži Dahāka while also continuing to use the wyvern's [Half Dimension] use. At the same time, Vali felt his stamina getting lower with the constant use of his new power. However, he also knew that Aaron had given him some of his demonic power and stamina back earlier prior to him transforming.

Because of all of this, Aži Dahāka had to defend against all of the attacks while also healing himself. Meaning…his magical energy was rapidly being exhausted. Even if he had what was considered to be limitless reserves, it was being constantly cut down by the new generation Lucifer.

In the end, Aži Dahāka no longer had enough magical energy to use healing magic. His left and right heads that had been blown away several times no longer regenerated. Both of his wings were also full of holes.

As he kneeled down on one knee, he breathed heavily and strenuously. Vali himself was also breathing heavily. His armor's regeneration had also greatly diminished. His match was so intense that most of its powers were being used offensively rather than defensively (repairing his armor).

[It's…not over yet…!!!!] roared Aži Dahāka. With the last of his strength, Aži Dahāka flew over to Vali and with his remaining head, bit down on Vali's shoulder.

If Aži Dahāka couldn't use magic, then he would use his own body! This persistent will to fight surprised even Vali. Vali had attempted to evade him, but the enormous stamina consumption on his body proved to be too great and he couldn't dodge on time. Aži Dahāka bit down as hard as he could, using his razor-sharp fangs to crush the armor and dig into Vali's flesh.

In a flash, the thought of death flashed in Vali's mind. This was the last move that his opponent made in order to determine the winner! At that moment, the faces of his mother, brother, and sister appeared in his mind. Followed by his new family.

'I can't lose! I can't afford to lose! Because I swore that I would protect them…!!!'

Vali screamed and increased his own power even more and dedicated it all to settling this match with one final attack! He spread open his black wings again. The armor on his chest and abdomen rattled as they separated and slid open.

A muzzle of a cannon appeared and began to charge up as it emitted a great amount of power. In order to prevent him from escaping, Vali grabbed onto Aži Dahāka tightly, this made his fangs dig even deeper into his body and the pain was unbearable for a moment. Even so…he continued to focus his aura on the muzzle of the cannon.

After a vast amount of demonic energy had gathered, Vali said to the Legendary Evil Dragon in a calm tone, "This is the end, Aži Dahāka."

[[[LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLucifer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]]]

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggghhhh!!!!" Vali screamed at the top of his lungs.

[[[Satan Lucifer Smasher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]]]

The massive bombardment of silvery-white and jet-black auras was fired out of the muzzle on his abdomen.

Once Vali's final attack had ended, the mountains around them had been torn through leaving only a wide fissure in the middle. The bombardment of aura had travelled several kilometers, no, it went as far as the edge of the horizon.

Despite all of that, Aži Dahāka was still alive. No, he was on the verge of death and was on his last breath. Only a single head was left. Vali moved towards the only head that remained. Even in the face of death, Aži Dahāka still showed a fearsome smile.

[Ha-ha-ha! Don't you think that was a wonderful fight? …Don't worry, I'm an Evil Dragon, and an extremely persistent one.]

Aži Dahāka's head began to crumble bit by bit.

[I will be resurrected again after some time. Just wait about two or three thousand years. I will definitely come back and find you for another battle, Vali...Lucifer...]

Leaving behind those words, the legendary Evil Dragon, the [Diabolism Thousand Dragon, Aži Dahāka had disappeared. But even if a small piece of an Evil Dragon's soul remained, they were able to remain in this world. One day, just like he said, he would come back to life, and that day, Vali Lucifer looked forward to it.

Vali fell to the ground and let out a deep sigh. He had never felt so much emotion after a victory, but…he liked it.

"…Yeah, I sincerely look forward to it, Aži Dahāka," muttered Vali as he looked up at the sky. "I did good, right, Aniki?"

Vali Lucifer…had won his death match.

…

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