Chapter 43: Rebirth part 8

Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi.

Check note below, important.

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-Kuoh Mountainous region-

In the woods surrounding the Gremory summer mansion, were acres upon acres of woodland surrounding the mountainous region without any other signs of human settlements near the area; it was the perfect paradise for outdoor camping.

It's been 3 days since the Gremory started their 10 day training period, with only a week remaining before the Rating Game.

Everyone was doing their best to improve their collective skills and strengths. Sona's group, who were training alongside the Gremory one, had also seen progress among their peers.

Reya floated in the air with her devil wings out, her hands glowing with demonic energy as she was facing one of the toughest opponents she'd ever faced. She was barely hanging on, burnt patches of clothes and bruises all over her body.

"Haa, Haa, Haa… I… really can't beat you… Himejima-senpai. You're too powerful…" She said haggardly, slowly falling to the ground

On the opposite side of the field was Akeno, not sporting a single injury or bruise, unlike Sona's bishop. Still looking as pristine and full of energy before they started their spar.

"Ara Ara, such high praise~ You're not bad yourself, Kusaka-san. I believe you even surpass Hachi-kun with your spells and diversity."

"Hehehe, well I did help him in his studies as a magician. He may not have the talent of an average magician, but his creativity and reserves more than make up for it."

This prompted a pleased chuckle from the Half-Fallen. "Fufufufu, are you trying to lower my guard by pleasing me with all these compliments on my boyfriend?"

"Is it working?" Reya said warily, only to falter when she saw Akeno's eyes narrow with golden lighting forming between her fingertips. "I guess not…"

"Brace yourself, [Holy Lightning]!" Heavy dark clouds gathered above the bishop's head with golden snakes of lightning dancing around the sky.

The next moment, golden lighting that was large as a person in width, descended from the clouds and nearly struck a panicking Reya, who quickly used her recently learned spell from Azazel.

"[Reverse]!" A white aura was launched from her hands and encompassed Akeno's attack. The lightning faltered for a bit, surprising Akeno and earning a smile from Reya… only for it to soon disappear as the [Holy Lightning] continued its course and hit her dead on!

"Kyaaa!!!" Since this was merely a spar, Akeno didn't use her full power, but with the combination of holy and lightning attributes in the attack, was still very dangerous to devils no matter how little is used. And it showed with Reya as she began bleeding with her skin turning black from light poisoning while twitching from the electricity coursing through her body.

Good thing that Asia was nearby as the group's personal medic. "Huuuuu! Don't worry Kusaka-san, I will heal you!" The nun in her black jersey, ran toward the wounded devil and used her [Twilight Healing] to close up the wounds and remove any residual holy or light energy.

Reya in her lightheaded state, couldn't help but cuddle up with the nun. "Huuuu, you're truly an angel Asia-chan~ humu humu." She rubbed her cheeks at the extremely flustered girl, while she continued to heal her.

"A-a-anooo… ple-please let m-me go, Kusaka-san. I-I need to treat your injuries!"

"Hmmmm, no. A few more minutes…"

"Kusaka-san!?"

…

Azazel, who was watching the spar from the beginning, was taking notes on how each individual performed. Akeno had gotten more mobile on the field, using the power of the Knight piece that is connected to her Queen piece to its fullest. Though she wasn't on Kiba's level, her speed still surpassed her former self. Power-wise, there was little to no change. "Not that she needed any more improvement in that department. The girl could probably give Baraqiel a run for his money if he went easy on her."

Next was Reya.

She along with Momo and Saji have shown substantial progress in battle, no longer acting indecisive and quick to panic. Ruruko was a natural, she was hot-headed, wanting to solve problems through violence. And her delinquent tendencies did help in giving her some battle experience, though it made her more predictable at times.

For the technique Reya used, [Reversal], it was a special Grigori-owned technique that had the ability to reverse the characteristics of supernatural powers and items, causing an inverse effect. Meaning, that when used against let's say Kiba's demonic swords, it would turn them into light or holy swords… in theory.

So far none have shown any results in the counter ability that Grigori had been researching for years… aside from Reya. Her past as a talented magician gave her an edge as she could for a fraction of a second turn Asia's healing powers into pure damage.

But it was still a work in progress.

The two kings were locked in the movie room, watching every popular rating game in the Underworld and giving him a detailed summary of the fight with comments on how the losing side could have won if they used a different strategy.

Tsubaki Shinra was training with Kiba and getting familiar with using her sacred gear, [Mirror Alice] against close-quarters combatants like him.

Also Saji… well, [Absorption Line] was more difficult to remove than he initially expected. The artificial sacred gear he had prepared for the boy was ready to be implemented at any time. "Odin really did help me out here."

As for Issei…

{Break}

"Waaaaaah! I'm going to dieeeee!!!"

The host of Ddraig was running through the forest at speeds that would even surprise Kiba. Jumping over large boulders, over rivers, and swinging from tree branches; he was running like his life depended on it.

Boom!

Because it kinda did.

"What have I done to deserve this, you crazy dragon!?" He dodged in the last second another fire breath attack that nearly turned him to crisp, before the power behind the attack swept him away. "At least let me rest!"

The giant shadow of a dragon loomed over his head.

"▃▃▅▅▃▃ー!!" Tiamat let out a fierce roar of anger as she kept shouting out beams after beams of pure concentrated fire attacks. Out of the 5 Dragon Kings, her breath attack only loses out to Vritra's cursed black fire and Tiannin's Blaze Meteor fire breath attack. "Not until you get stronger and make that lazy ass wake up!" She said, sounding like a spurned ex-girlfriend.

The two had been at it for days with Tiamat stopping her chase at night, letting Issei go back to the mansion to get something to eat before fainting on his bed in exhaustion. The next morning, Azazel would teleport him back into the forest and restart the torture all over again.

Though his [Boosted Gear] had changed form. Before it had the appearance of a regular [Twice Critical] gear, now it had expanded into a proper gauntlet. Taking the appearance of a red gauntlet with a green jewel in the center and 2 golden spikes that manifested on his arm.

The number of times he could boost went from 2 [Boosts] to 5… which in Issei's opinion was cool but he needed something to help him with the crazy dragon chick with a huge hate boner for his gear's spirit!

"Hahahaha! Go easy on him, Tiamat. The boy needs to be alive for the Dragon Emperor to wake up." Azazel chimed in as he flew alongside the Chaos Karma Dragon, watching the show with amusement.

"Humph! The boy is even more pathetic than I initially judged him to be. His magical powers are lackluster and barely existent at all. He possesses no talent in spell weaving, martial arts, or even in the usage of Ddraig's power. The only redeeming quality about him is his boisterous and driven attitude which will fuel his gear well in the future."

"Oof, quite harsh. Though I do agree with you that the boy needs work. He is a diamond in the rough, all of Father's creations are fuelled by emotions and desire. Hyoudou Issei possesses the will to become stronger for his goals of becoming a Harem King." Azazel laughed when he saw the boy nearly get crushed by a falling tree. "He really does remind me of my past self. He understands the beauty of the feminine figure. I used to react just like him whenever I encountered Gabi. Like, have you seen the size of her—"

Bzzztzzz!

"What!?"

"This feeling…"

All of a sudden, both Tiamat and Azazel came to a halt when they felt an evil, dark and cold energy emerge from somewhere far away. The harsh sensation of madness washed over Azazel who immediately recognized the energy signature.

"The hatchling has lost control." Tiamat calmly noted, making the governor turn his head around.

"Hachiman? Shit, then why are you so calm about this!? Shouldn't you help him out or something?" He didn't want another Paris event to take place… dealing with the Vampires and the aftermath was hard enough and extremely costly. Not to mention, whoever or whatever forced Hachiman in such a state was capable of killing the kid! "I need to go—"

"Wait." Tiamat stopped him in his tracks much to Azazel's shock. "What are you doing?"

"Someone or something is blocking a direct teleportation to the hatchling's location… even I find it improbable to break this layer of protection." Just now, before Azazel tried to leave, Tiamat tried to open a portal to Hachiman but was unable to. Someone or something was blocking her and anyone else from interfering. And whoever caused this, couldn't be someone weaker than her or Azazel.

"Is this the doing of one of the gods?" Azazel questioned.

Tiamat merely shook her head, "I… am not sure on this matter. I sense no divinity or anything of that matter. It's nothing but pure energy feeding this spell… Are you going to inform the others of the situation?"

Azazel wasn't sure. Rias and the others would freak out and try to join Hachiman by any means, which may cause problems when they find out that all teleportation is being blocked by an unknown force. But he needed to inform Baraqiel and those he worked closely with. "Have Lugh and Badb betrayed my trust?"

"I cannot say for certain, Azazel. I have known the goddess of death and the god of light many times in the past. Neither of them gave me the impression of being those who broke their words."

He felt frustrated that he couldn't help out Hachiman once more. "I hope the boy will be okay…"

Tiamat snorted, not looking the least bit worried, "I would have smelled death from him if he would have died so early on. That old sack of bones will help out one way or another. NEVER has Vritra been an easy foe to take down… the past wielder of [Divine Dividing] learned that the hard way."

The Fallen leader knew what Tiamat was talking about. This encounter between the two dragon hosts happened a long time ago when their clash destroyed an entire archipelago in the southern region of Europe. Both had died in the end, but it was the White Dragon Emperor who had been killed first while the Black Dragon King succumbed to her injuries months later after her victory.

He felt his phone buzz and saw Akeno's name as the caller. He wondered if she felt it as well. As he accepted the call he didn't even get the chance to speak when he heard her frantic voice on the other end.

"Azazel! Come quickly! It's… it's… Saji! Something is happening to him! He's vomiting blood and screaming—" He cut the call and flew at full speed towards the mansion.

'It's the [Absorption Line]! It's reacting to Hachiman's berserk state! I need to take out the gear right now, or else he'll die!'

{Break}

-Sétante POV-

"Well, a can say for certain that I fucked up, hahahaha!" There was always that time when you know you've fucked up so bad that there was no way out of it. Sétante was having one of those moments when he was now facing a monstrous version of Hachiman; or rather a corrupt form of what could have been his balance breaker.

'Or at least a messed up version of it…'

A twisted version of his balance breaker formed around Hachiman, looking more animalistic with sharp edges everywhere. The 'helmet' was turned into a real monster face with two glowing red eyes and a third one in the middle. Where there was once a mouthpiece now instead was a jagged maw of a dragon with razor-sharp teeth and a long snake-like tongue. His hands turned into serrated claws, which looked like they could cut through steel itself. It even had a long black and violet tail!

All in all, he looked like a terrifying beast.

This… thing, the black fog was trying to condense into refined-looking armor. It kept breaking apart leaving behind broken residue which accumulated into sharp spikes all over his body.

"Congratulations, you might be one of the ugliest monsters I've ever seen. Hugh, I can smell your bad breath all the way here. Can you even hear me boyo?" He joked, trying to keep his nerves calm from the overwhelming presence that the monstrosity was releasing.

"▅▅▅■■■■!!" The monster roared, sounding like a genuine dragon, and burst forward with speeds far beyond anything Hachiman had shown before in their fight.

"Woah!" Sétante blocked the attack just in time but was pushed a few meters behind. He delivered his own punch to the guts of the monster, easily shattering the armor; only for the latter to completely ignore the damage and continue its feral rampage. "Hmmm, don't seem like you can even hear me."

The beast roared as it started using its claws to send many slashes at Sétante, the latter either masterfully dodging them or just blocking the rest. Unlike Hachiman's choreographed moves, these ones were wild and animalistic. Attacking at any moment chaotically. It didn't possess the slightest trace of martial arts, at all. Thus making each of its movements harder to predict and it even used its blacktail as a whip when he was not paying attention!

Ding!

The pointed tail tried to stab the hero but deflected off of his skin before he grabbed it and used his spear to cut it! "■■■■!" The beast's roar grew weaker as it kept losing large amounts of blood and its strength waning the longer this battle went on for, making it a battle of attrition.

It tried to rip the man's face off but couldn't achieve the same kind of speed as before.

The Irishman took hold of the claws with a vice grip and chucked the beast to the sky. "Ansuz!" Drawing another ᚨ in the air, another pillar of flames crashed into the beast, sending it hurtling further up the sky. "Let's see if you can survive such a long fall again!"

I, "Isaz!" This time the rune shined with greater intensity as Sétante pumped in more energy inside it. And it worked as the berserk Hachiman was once again frozen stiff. "There's still more!"

He moved behind the falling figure and stabbed his spear straight through its chest. This time earning a blood-curdling scream which sounded like a mix between a human voice and a dragon's roar twisted into a single cry of pain.

Crack!

Another crater formed with both figures crashing downwards. Displacing a large part of the soil and causing a miniature earthquake.

This should at least kill it for good, Gae Bolga's nasty effect of continuously stabbing his opponent from the inside was not something many could survive.

"What!?" He once again dodged another strike, but this time it was an amalgamation of thousands of tentacles bursting from the ground and honing on him like a bloodhound. "Focking nuisance!" Gae Bolga twirled around, dancing in the air and cutting down every single strand of tentacles. He didn't take his eyes off Hachiman's body which miraculously stood up once more with the hole in his chest patching up in a blink of an eye. "Since when was Vritra's gear capable of high-speed regeneration!?"

"▅▅▅■■■■!!" It roared in fury, looking even more pissed off than before. More tentacles began sprouting from the ground, turning the area into a forest of those things.

"Ready for round… 3… or was it 2? I wonder if you'll force me to go all out?"

{Break}

A few hundreds of meters away from where the fighting was happening. Two girls were making their way towards it.

One was Aife, with her burned clothes and red skin, she wasn't exactly in her best form. But that didn't compare to the pain the person next to her was going through.

Raynare could barely stand, half of her body was burned black, with a charred and bloody mangled left arm. Just a slight breeze from the wind nearly made her faint from the pain. Her Fallen wings were long gone and with her right hand, she was holding an item wrapped in cloth.

"Why can't you just give me the item so that I can bring it quicker to Hikigaya-san!" Aife said frustratingly as she saw the Fallen ignore her and continue limping forward.

"..."

"You need medical attention from our healers as soon as possible. Any longer you stay like this, you'll definitely die!"

"Sh… ut th-the… fuck… up, b… itch."

Aife really wanted to just snatch whatever that item was and bring it to Hikigaya Hachiman. This woman was too stubborn for her own good! But Aife couldn't bring it in herself to do it as she promised to help these people.

"Whatever, just hold on, we're nearly there." The closer they got to their destination, the more they felt the aftershock of the battle. Aife tried calling for reinforcement, but something jamming her calls, even teleporting outside the village was blocked.

Raynare could hardly listen to her voice, the attack of Ansuz having destroyed part of her hearing as well. All she knew was that was to reach Hachiman as soon as possible.

'I swear… you'll owe me big time for this, fucking bastard.'

{Break}

The battle raged on between the two monsters. One is a literal beast and the other possessing an inconceivable amount of power and an inexhaustible well of magical energy to call upon.

Though the berserk gear of Hachiman could no longer feel pain and got a boost to its speed and strength; Sétante was still able to overpower it.

"It's sad you know," He dodged another claw strike while delivering a full-powered headbutt which sent the beast flying away. "Normally when people enter their berserk form, they usually use it as a last resort to overpower their enemy." Teleporting by its side, Sétante sent a flurry of stabs at the creature, making it spasm in pain. "No matter how much you try, or whatever boost you get, at this point… you will always be weaker than me." And that was the truth of the matter. Even with Hachiman's sudden transformation, Sétante barely used his full power. "I am strong enough to earn the title of Godslayer if I so desire!" He delivered another kick to the stomach so strong that it folded the beast like a piece of paper, nearly cutting it into 2 pieces by force alone.

"What's more pitiful, is that you haven't even used a single one of your gear's abilities till now!"

Calling forth more of his power, the pressure all around the area increased tenfold, as this time, the beast couldn't even move. "It's time to end this for good!" He didn't use runes but instead, with a wave of his arms an enormous astral avatar of a gigantic beast of blue scales, with corals and algae covering its body, the monster stood at the same height as a dragon. "A fun foe you were, Hachiman! [Cu—Crash!" A boulder impacted his head, making the man falter and cancel out his attack.

"—!?"

The one throwing the attack was none other than Aife. Looking a bit better than before.

She was all alone.

The Irishman recognized her aura.

"Hoho, if it ain't the envoy of Cernunnos. I thought your kind didn't meddle with outsiders any longer." Cernunnos was an ancient Celtic god who represented nature, flora and fauna, and fertility. For centuries, after the Great Faction war, the god and his followers had gone into hiding. Sétante didn't expect to see one of them here.

"Yeah, well, I was sent to monitor Hikigaya Hachiman so that the boy doesn't destroy another settlement again… turns out it was you we needed to monitor first."

"Me? I'm just doing what is good for my village. Though the god you serve is a peaceful one, for now, he still didn't do squat to help out my people when that goddess kept sending her minions!"

"Lord Cernunnos does not meddle with matters between the gods and humans!"

"Bullshit! He simply does not care! I know his character, I know his true motives! He's just waiting for both sides to grow weak so that he can strike at the right time!" He said, seething in anger. "He is no better than that woman!"

"..." Aife couldn't give Sétante an answer. She could already see that it was pointless, the man distrust the gods too much for her to reason with him. Not to mention she was just a simple follower, her authority was one of the lowest in Cernunnos' circle, and she couldn't talk on his behalf.

"Why are you here then? To save the boy? Come on now, we both know that you're not capable enough. Even if your god was here in person, he still wouldn't be able to stop me."

She just needed time, "We'll see about that!" Aife cast a magic spell with a green magic circle forming on her hands. Tree roots grew from the ground and locked on Sétante's ankles. "Smash him to the ground!"

The roots, as if they heard her orders, picked up the man and bashed him against the ground. "Throw him away!" Winding up, the roots threw him at a distance, crashing him against a boulder and obliterating it completely. "There, that should have stunned him for a bit." Her reserves were already running dry with the aegis she used before. Aife really hoped that her attack bought her enough time.

But reality crushed her hope into pieces when an uninjured Sétante casually walked out of the rubble.

"Hahaha! That's quite an interesting spell you got their girl!" He didn't even use his spear as he moved at moves beyond anything Aife had seen. Not even seeing a blur, he had completely disappeared from her field of vision.

"Eurgh!" She felt her stomach cave-in after a powerful struck her; green blood and saliva spurted from her mouth. A few inches from her face was Sétante's face looking at her with a blank face.

"Pathetic, I don't know what your goal is… but whatever it is; you don't have the strength to accomplish it!" With more force behind his strike, he lifted her body off the ground and locked her a dozen meters away.

Fortunately, Aife regained control in mid air and summoned more tree roots to catch her from behind. Along the green roots, small buds of flowers bloomed, their number by the hundred and released a large cloud of toxic poison in the air.

"Hoping to poison me?" More runes appeared in the air and surrounded his body till a thin layered barrier surrounded him. "There, this is better."

Desperate, Aife tried using long range spell attacks. Green magic circles, with the sigil of a horned figure in the middle, showing her affiliation with the Lord of the Wild. Green bolt magic shot out of her palm and straight for Sétante. The latter used his higher speed and dexterity to dodge and deflect each shot and slowly made his way towards Aife.

"Uuurg, come on! Just stop moving around!" Aife shouted.

"What kind of idiot will ever listen to that!?"

"You'd be surprised!" Using her other hand, she summoned more roots and once again got hold of Sétante's legs.

"Shit, not agaaaaaiinnnn!!" This time, instead of just throwing him off immediately, Aife made sure to throw him off by continuously spinning at high speed and hiting him against a rock every once in a while. "Waaaaaahhhh!!!" The spearman's distorted voice was like music to her ears.

Sétante on the other hand felt like vomiting.

"Eat dirt you rainbow haired fucker!"

She controlled her roots and slammed him once again downwards; crushing the ground.

"There… that… should have stalled him for a bit." Aife was clutching her stomach and winced in pain with each movement. She felt that the bastard ruptured one of her organs or broke her ribs. Her kind could heal faster than normal humans but not to the point of mimicking regeneration.

Cough, cough.

"Alright, I've had enough."

"—!" Her instincts screamed at her of an incoming danger and she dodged a spear coming for her head at the last second. It cut come of her hair but didn't touch her skin.

A shadow, moving at speeds far beyond her capabilities burst from the smoke, clearing it away and closed the distance in an instant.

She felt a heavy impact on her head and it all turned dark. "Wha—"

Crack!

Her head got separated from her body and was crushed into bits of bone, brain matter and green blood. Her body lifelessly fell to the ground, ending the battle in mere seconds.

"Oops, I went a bit too hard there. Must have been due to fighting the beast, didn't have time to hold back. And she was getting on my nerves." Sétante said as he cast another Ansuz rune, this one smaller which burned her body into dust in seconds. "Just what were you planning to do?" There was no way the girl was willing to lay down her life for someone she only met a few days ago.

He didn't have to wait for long to get his answer.

There was another person near Hachiman's unmoving body.

"The Fallen!?"

{Break}

Everything hurt.

"Fucking… bas… tard…"

She limped near Hachiman, his body completely crushed and destroyed both inside and out by the spear, Gae Bolga's effect.

It burned, it stung like hell and she was feeling extremely lightheaded.

"If… you die… I… die… as well…" The soul bond wasn't a two-way deal. If it was her who died then Hachiman would be fine. But if he died, then she would die along with him. "I'm… doing… this… for myself." Even speaking was excruciating. Her throat was burned, the more she talked, the worse it got.

She would die either way, even if Hachiman didn't die, that psycho rainbow hair bastard will kill her for sure. So she needed to bet on Hachiman to win.

'If you can't beat him, then find someone else who can!'

Raynare unraveled the bloody cloth, golden light escaped from it as a broken cup holding a few drops of blood could be seen inside.

"No, don't do it!" She hears that fucker's cry from far away behind. Aife just gave her enough time for this gamble.

'I don't even know if it'll work, but it's the only solution I got. This thing is supposed to heal, so it better do its fucking job!'

She spilled the blood of the son of Lugh which temporarily held the properties of [Sephiroth Graal] in it. The ability to cure and heal both soul and body entered the broken maw of the beast and was swallowed completely.

And just like that, a familiar scene which took place in Paris many years ago; happened once again.

Whoosh!

A giant pillar of black malevolent power burst forth from Hachiman's body. The dark energy ascended all the way to the sky, turning the clear blue sky, black; blocking off all sources of light from breaking the miasma.

[Balance Breaker!]

[Delete Field!]

Another translucent black dome, far bigger and more intense than the one Hachiman had cast before, spread along the entire region.

[MA*BOL*E VRITRA *S*EN**ON!]

[Error]

[Reset!]

The past wounds on the body healed with a golden sheen from the effects of [Sephiroth Graal] enhanced with the blood of a demigod. The grotesque and animalistic spikes all around the armor broke down, leaving behind a far sleeker armor.

[Balance Breaker!]

The maw filled with sharp teeth closed up and returned to its previous state of a smooth helmet with a glowing violet visor. The cracks inside the soul jewel inside Hachiman mended together, turning its surface pristine smooth without the slightest damage.

His body slowly stood up.

[Error]

[Reset]

Before Raynare could lose consciousness and succumb to her injuries. A gentle hand conveying warmth and a gentle presence landed on her head

"You may rest at ease, child of Yahweh. For you have more than proven your worth as a brave and tenacious Fallen." The remaining golden energy, glowing alongside the violet power of Vritra was passed on to her.

"Fuck… you…" That's all she said before closing her eyes and focusing on recovering.

This amused Vritra before he turned his focus back to Sétante.

"Now, it is long overdue for my soul to regain its past splendor." On his hands, two violet-colored orbs appeared. Both, possessing the same aura as [Delete Field]. "[Absorption Line] should be on its way here."

[Blaze Black Flare] and [Shadow Prison] got slowly absorbed inside the armor, fusing with [Delete Field] and coming ever so close to being whole again.

Boom!

This earned another enormous increase in power which even started changing the armor. Even the air around him began heating up and turning into plasma.

The Irishman felt his powers being suppressed.

"My name is Vritra. I am a Dragon hailed as one of the Dragon Kings. And I hereby declare a battle to the death against you, Beast of the sea."

[Balance Breaker!]

'How does he know?'

Sétante's bones rattled from the display. But he wasn't fearing for his life, but instead had a grin on his face as he felt his inner battle intent soar with each passing second, sensing a powerful opponent in front of him.

"This will be fun!"

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The next 5 chapters of Snafu are already available on my Patreon. With 3 more Broly and fate chapters at /NimtheWriter.