Chapter 35 - Vali Returns? Kinda.

Author Note: By the way, something I found out a few days ago is that if I edit paragraphs with comments, those comments disappear even if I only change a single letter which kinda sucks. There were two comments on one I edited yesterday one of which being a correction, thanks for that, that disappeared, this is the reason why.

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Tannin could feel the human looking at him as he lowered to the ground before suddenly standing up in her seat and jumping from the vehicle which disappeared behind her. He raised an eyebrow as she flew through the air and landed on her feet a few seconds later, digging deep trenches into the ground to arrest her momentum and ended up knee deep into the earth before she stopped.

She looked up at him and rubbed her chin, letting out an appraising hum.

"Hmm~ you're pretty strong, Divide Divining would beat you though."

"Hoh?" This one's got some spunk, Tannin mused to himself as he crossed his arms.

As they were sizing each other up the sounds of heavy impacts gradually got closer as Bova finally managed to catch up.

"Ane-san!" Bova managed to wheeze out as he panted, his body slumping with his hands on his knees.

Tannin shot an exasperated look at his stupid son having the urge to facepalm, how the hell did he manage to meet the child of something so strong she had the title of one of the strongest beings and survive, much less get the permission of following after them.

A few seconds later Bova finally managed to stabilize his breathing and looked up, his face gaining a surprised expression upon seeing his figure.

"Oh, old man."

Ophis' whelp suddenly perked up when she heard what Bova called him and asked curiously.

"How old are you?"

"Very old." Tannin answered in slight confusion.

"I wonder if you could weaponize age? Then you and Century Geezer could fight, it would be a battle of the Ages." She suddenly started muttering to herself seemingly drifting into thought making Tannin even more confused.

Shaking his head he gathered his wits as he looked down at her again, something she said peaked his curiosity.

"Child of Ophis you mentioned... Divide Divining? Have you met this generation's Divine Dividing user by any chance?"

"..."

"Who is Ophis?" Koko tilted her head in confusion.

"Hmm? She-" Tannin started before he froze, discreetly looking at Ophis out ot the corner of his eye he could see her glaring at him, her dark purple aura slightly flickering around her figure before she turned to her child.

"...It is my other name." She stated assuredly with a nod.

"Then should I call you Ophis or Mama?"

"Only you can call me Mama, continue to do so."

"Kay."

Tannin looked on blankly as his thoughts grinded to a halt. Was Ophis decieving her child... he decided that it wasn't his place to meddle in and resolved himself to ignore anything Ophis might get angry at him for interrupting as he stared into the sky, cementing his position of not being involved in... whatever was happening.

A few moments later he heard Ophis' child call out to him again.

"Do you know the Divide Divining guy?"

"It's Divine-" Tannin started before pausing, he looked down at her and got the feeling that even if he tried to correct her it would go into one ear and out the other and mentally sighed slightly.

"I have not yet met this generation's host however, the source of power sealed into the sacred gear is one of the heavenly dragons, Albion the Vanishing Dragon." He stated grandly. The Heavenly Dragons of the past were strong enough to shake the supernatural with their presence, Ddraig's flames and Albion's venom said to be able to easily kill even gods.

Though they sealed away their signature abilities they were still extremely strong, eventually developing what the Boosted Gear and the Divine Dividing were so well known for through their rivalry of fighting.

It was unfortunate that they turned their ire towards the leaders of the Three Factions for interrupting their fight, ultimately being sealed in their famous sacred gears.

"Oh, I think I heard him speak in my fight." Koko nodded slightly as she thought back to when she fought the silver haired man.

"Hoh, you fought his wielder?" Tannin asked in slight surprise.

"Yeah, he was pretty strong." Koko shrugged nonchalantly.

"I see." Tannin nodded. During the time they had been talking he had gotten a better feel of what kind of power Ophis' child posessed and was surprised to see her not far below the Super-class, and with such strength he didn't doubt she could best the current White Dragon Emperor in a fight seeing as most wielders of Divine Dividing wouldn't reach that high above the cusp of Satan-class in general. Though he supposed anyone Ophis noticed enough to claim as her own would be anything but normal which, against his better judgement, roused his warrior spirit.

"Would you be up for a test of strength against myself?" Tannin asked while keeping an eye on Ophis who didn't really seem to react much other than waiting for her child's answer, it seemed that when she felt that he wasn't there to dissuade her child from doing what she wanted to, she started ignoring him.

"Sure!" Koko said quickly as a smile made it's way onto her face before climbing out of the trenches her legs were in and stood up properly.

Tannin also nodded as he took a few steps back and lowered his stance. When he was younger he had challenged Great Red to a fight and although he was completely ignored, he wouldn't so easily cower in front of greater strength... he coughed mentally, Ophis was an exception. He may also have been a few magnitudes dumber in his younger days.

Tannin's face turned serious as he watched Ophis' child limbering up, this wouldn't be an easy battle that was for sure however that only made the warrior inside of him want to fight even more.

Finishing a few moments later his opponent suddenly reached into one of her pockets and took out a rectangular device with a few buttons running down it's side making him confused.

"Now we have to do introductions! I don't really remember what Divide Divining guy said so it's good that I have this to refresh my memory, very convenient." She nodded to herself as she pressed one of the buttons, playing a recording of a male voice.

"-itude! I am Vali Lucifer, descendant of the original Lucifer and the strongest White Dragon Emperor to ever exist! I hope you can entertain me!"

"..."

Tannin's eyes widened, the current generation's wielder was a Lucifer?