Chapter 186: Chapter 9 - Part 2 - Hitler and The Monkai Association
Third Person Point of View
— ○ ● ○ —
In the base of the Khaos Order, another resurrected historical figure watched on a monitor what was happening in Germany. This person was also quite well known throughout the world. It was the legendary Genghis Khan; however, it was his original soul. They couldn't obtain it because it had reincarnated in another world.
Still, the Khaos Order managed to recreate his body, and now the soul of a very vengeful person inhabits it. No one knew of this soul's original name, but because of his willingness to allow himself to be experimented on just for the chance of revenge against the world, they allowed him to be put into the body.
Genghis Khan and Hitler had met a few times, and the 'new' Khan had the same ideas as Hitler, but in the end, their different methods and where, how, and when they would attack certain places differed so much that they decided to do their own missions.
Hitler insisted on conquering Germany first, as that was where he gained support and rose to power. He wanted to relive that feeling, and he would do anything to do so. So both of them went to gather their own group, which consisted of like-minded individuals. They also requested reviving some of their previous commanders, but it wasn't possible anymore as their previous methods had been inaccessible, so they had to rely on more crude methods.
However, both of these individuals wanted to learn one thing they thought would be essential to conquering the world—and that would be magic. Both, for the first time in their new lives, learned something new, and they did it at a rapid pace, surprising the magicians, but in the end, they chalked it up to these two being amazing since they were 'historical figures'.
"Will you be successful today, Hitler? Or will you fail, like you did back in the second world war?" mumbled Genghis Khan, his eyes never leaving the monitor.
— ○ ● ○ —
She—or they—hadn't expected this. However, they had to adapt. Prior to the operation starting, with the consent of Aaron and the other leaders, the ones that were assigned in Germany were allowed to use sleeping magic on the entire country and transport them to a different dimension, where they would stay until the fighting was finished.
This was done the same way in Greece, as their people were transported to a different dimension. The magic spell they used insured none of the humans would wake up until it was over. Aaron Toole had given them temporary access to it, so nothing wrong would go wrong, because if even a single one woke up, it would be troublesome in his eyes.
Once [Team Rias Gremory], the [Brave Saints] and the Two Heavenley Dragons and two Evil Dragons had finished their initial task, all they had to do was wait, but when the operation finally started, something unexpected happened.
Numerous 'Evil Dragon'-like dragons appeared from various magic circles, along with some Battle Gods that appeared during the war and previous operations. Magicians, Cryptids and Monsters that belonged to the Monkai Association came out of thousands of magic circles.
"They managed to start creating the mass-produced Evil Dragons again? How?" Dulio asked. He was the acting leader for their entire combined group.
"For the time being, it shouldn't matter, Dulio-san. Our aim is to stop them no matter what. We've all heard about Hitler, and we more or less know what he's capable of—Aaron told us that he and everyone else in their group can use magic, so they should be even more deadly than they were back in World War Two," said Rias.
From one magic circle came out a man, and all of the groups of Team [DxD] knew who it was as soon as they saw him.
It was Hitler. However, he had an aura that wasn't like any other humans or magicians they had previously met—an indescribable aura that emanated animosity and repugnance to everyone he saw. Multiple other magic circles appeared beside him, and more men came out.
These were their previous commanders' bodies—just like Genghis Khan, they put other souls into their bodies and made sure that they would follow Hitler's command like loyal followers and that they would never betray him. You could say they were his puppets, as he could do anything to them and they wouldn't be repulsed by it.
On the left was the body of Joseph Goebbels, the minister of propaganda. Next was Hermann Göring, who was a leader of the Nazi Party, and the final one on his left was Heinrich Himmler, who was second in power to Hitler. On the right were Joachim von Ribbentrop, foreign minister and chief negotiator of various treaties; Martin Bormann, who was one of Hitler's closest lieutenants; and Walther Funk, an economist who served as president of the Reichsbank.
All of them were just bodies with hollow souls that would do Hitler's bidding. However, for that man, it was enough.
"Hmm. So the pesky [DxD] has already cleaned up my country for me? How thoughtful of you. You may leave now," he said and made a 'shooing' gesture with his hand towards them.
[Go fuck yourself!] Ddraig shouted. He was already in his dragon form, and a group of women were standing on top of him.
They were the specialized unit sent by the German government to help Team [DxD], as the government here was already aware of the supernatural prior to the war.
The group was called the [Hound Unit]. Led by their powerful leader, Margit Eberbach.
Margit has red eyes with slit pupils and long red hair that goes past her waist (some would consider her hair to be 'fiery' in appearance as a result as well). She mainly uses her military uniform. Margit has an eye patch covering her left eye to restrict her own power and only takes it off when she finds a worthy opponent.
In terms of Aaron Toole's own ranking system, she would be at least High-class with her eye-patch on; without it, she would be in the middle of Ultimate-Class. Her team were all in High-class too.
Lisa Brinker specialized in stealth and espionage; Cosima Lorbach was considered the 'tank', or 'powerhouse', and Siegrun Kohlschreiber was their healer as she had the same Sacred Gear as Asia Argento, which was [Twilight Healing].
Fine Bergmann was the woman they relied on for information as she mostly used support magic, and finally, Thelma Muller also had a Sacred Gear; however, it was a new Sacred Gear that was created after Aaron Toole changed the Sacred Gear system.
It was born from the [Boosted Gear], called the [Gift Maiden], as it would boost itself once and transfer that power to her allies; the maximum number of people she could transfer at once was five.
"I will say this again; leave, or I will be forced to end your lives," he told them, then silently stared at them.
"Hey, Hitler-san, what's the reason for this?" Dulio Gesualdo asked the man.
A smile appeared on his lips as he stroked his mustache. "I aim to relive my glory days. I no longer harbor hate towards the Jews—it has evolved into everyone. If you do not conform to the world I wish to create, I will simply kill you," he joyfully told Dulio.
With a troubled smile on his face, Dulio asked, "So…you haven't changed one bit, huh?"
Unfortunately so…with that said, I will presume that you are defying me, so…die," he said and put his arm forward. The monsters and groups of people he had brought with him finally screamed and charged towards Team [DxD].
"Everyone!" shouted Dulio, and Aaron Toole's [Dragon Tattoo] appeared on their arms. "Let's stop them."
Team [DxD] also shouted and charged towards Hitler's group.
[We can go wiiiiiild!!] Ddraig shouted.
"With moderation, [Welsh Dragon]. We are still on your back," said Margit.
[Ah! I forgot about you guys! Fine, I'll put you guys at those places so I can have fun!] Ddraig shouted before he increased his speed and flew across Germany while dropping off each member of the [Hound Unit] at different places.
The other groups also started teleporting to different parts of the country to fight off the others who were mobilized there. Hitler's group and the ones beside him also left as they were assigned to different sections of Germany to conquer.
The ones left in the location where Hitler himself had teleported to were [Team Rias Gremory], whom Dulio assigned to take on; he himself wanted to, but thought that it would be better if they did it as he may have said things he wouldn't have liked.
"Is surrendering really not an option?" Rias asked, staring at Hitler while shrouding her body in [Power of Destruction].
"I will never have that option ever again," he said, smirking at her. "It's do or die, and I would rather do it till the end."
"…Sounds lewd," mumbled Shirone. A few people looked at her with confused expressions, but she just shrugged at them.
"Nyahahah! Let us beat the shit outta 'em then!" a boisterous voice declared. From Crom Cruach's back jumped out a black cat and transformed into a familiar woman.
"Nee-sama…? You could have just asked to come with us…" Shirone said, irritated.
"It makes this more dramatic…! So…go nya!" Kuroka shouted before firing a quick barrage of touki bullets at Hitler.
Ten monsters jumped in front of him and created countless magic circles that slowed down her attack, and it only forced Hitler to move to the side to avoid it. But once it exploded in the distance, the opposite force of [DxD] knew that they had to be careful, otherwise they would be defeated rather quickly.
Rias stared at Hitler one more time before sighing. While Aaron Toole didn't enforce it, they knew that he would prefer it and would leave it to their judgment—Rias tried to see if she could have Hitler stand down or have this end peacefully, but from their short exchanges, it was impossible. So the only choice she had left was to kill him, along with anyone else that was following him.
"As the little sister of the Satan Lucifer and one of the fiancés of the Middleman, I'll stop you here, Hitler," she declared, making the man laugh at her.
Hitler simply condescendingly smirked at her and flicked his hand backward. The ones near him finally fired their attacks, but as soon as they reached Rias' body, they were destroyed.
"I see…so that's the famous [Power of Destruction]. How troublesome," he said and issued new orders to his troops.
All of Germany had been covered by a barrier; the same was true with Greece; however, its individual buildings weren't protected by them, so the inside was just normal and could be destroyed by the fighting. However, with the blessing of the German government, [DxD] was allowed to blow it all away since Aaron offered to repair it all.
The ones in Greece were also given the okay from Aaron and the Greek gods, as the government there wasn't aware, so the gods were the ones who gave them the okay for it.
The Battle Gods that were brought in were running rampant around the city of Berlin; that was where they had initially shown up and where Hitler and [Team Rias Gremory] would fight them.
"Hmm, a question, Hitler," said Vasco Strada.
"Hmm. The famous [Durandal] wielder wishes to question me?" he asked, a bit surprised.
Vasco Strada nodded. "I understand that you may have new reasons for doing this; however, why haven't you tried to revive your wife?"
Hitler laughed at his question and threw a magic attack at him. Vasco Strada simply cut it apart with his [Durandal X].
"Why would I bring that useless woman back to life? Apart from having a personal slave to sate my carnal desires, a prostitute of human or supernatural origin will suffice. I, however, did inquire about her, and she didn't have any special properties, so it would have been useless," he explained.
Vasco Strada rubbed his chin and asked, "Would the reason of being your previous [Wife] not suffice?"
"No. There are better women in this day and age, so I can pick whomever I wish," he told him, sending more attacks at him while ordering various monsters to attack him.
Vasco Strada took this as the end of their conversation. He began to attack and kill the enemies that were sent to him; he also destroyed and negated the magic attacks that were thrown at him by Hitler.
The old man who is now young noticed that the mastery that Hitler showed was more than above average, if he assumed that the man in front of him had only been revived a year prior, then his growth was nearly on par with the various people that Aaron Toole had helped get stronger.
'He may lack the raw power, but his technique, mastery, and unique magic circles that he personally created make up for it. Fufu, to think I didn't see you during our time back in the original Second World War,' thought Vasco Strada.
In the distance, two Nekomata sisters fought alongside each other, blasting their adversaries away with the use of their touki and senjutsu.
"You know, I thought Hitler would be an uptight guy, but he seems quite chill!" said Kuroka.
Flabbergasted by this, Shirone asked, "…In what way, shape, or form is he being 'chill', right now, Nee-sama? He's trying to take over Germany…"
"Nyo!?" Kuroka just wanted to make small talk with her little sister but didn't expect to be shot down by that kind of question from her. "W-well, I-I was just trying to make small…talk…nyahahaha…"
Throwing out light blue flames from her fist using senjutsu, Shirone annihilated a large group of enemies. She then looked at her sister, unimpressed, and said, "Pick better topics, or I'm telling Aaron that you said that Hitler was 'chill'."
Cold sweat appeared all over Kuroka's body as she heard that. She didn't want him, of all people, to hear that, so as she was about to bow to her sister, she fired elemental attacks using magic to their side. However, to her surprise, the person who tried to attack them dodged her attack.
"I'm trying to speak with my sister here, nya!" she shouted at them, frustrated.
"Pardon my intrusion then, Kuroka-san, Koneko-san," said the man. He bowed to them and smiled. "I am Gauge, a magician affiliated with the Khaos Order. I am—"
Before Shirone or Gauge could react, Kuroka appeared in front of him and slammed her fist into his head—the impact was so powerful that not only his head exploded, but the rest of his body did too. The shockwave that was created by this punch shook the entire country and destroyed all its buildings.
"I said I was talking nyaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!" Kuroka roared, genuinely angry.
Dumbstruck by this, Shirone just stared at her older sister quietly, not even moving. The noise of the battles that were happening around them also stopped as they too looked at Kuroka.
She crossed her arms and huffed. "Conversations between family members come first; I don't care about your shitty reasons for joining a shitty organization!" she then looked at Shirone and gestured with her hands to come closer to her. "Nyow nyow, Shirone, come here~"
Not wanting to make her sister even angrier, she complied and went to her. Kuroka began to rant about something; Shirone wasn't listening anymore, and the fighting around them continued, albeit it felt a bit awkward.
— ○ ● ○ —
In a different part of Germany, Dulio and the [Brave Saints] defended a large area while facing a few Battle Gods, Martin Bormann, and executive magicians that joined them.
Dulio controlled the clouds above them, turning black and raining down thunderbolts around the area. He also made sure to avoid the buildings if he could, but there were scenarios in which he couldn't.
"There's nothing else to speak about, angel, save your breath," said Martin. Dulio, since teleporting here, had been trying to speak to one of Hitler's closest lieutenants, but none of his words reached him.
"You don't think this is weird!?" Dulio asked, firing flaming balls towards him. Martin created hundreds of magic circles that slowed him down and stopped his attacks. "Because to me it is!"
Martin did not answer Dulio's questions any further and simply began attacking him and issuing orders to his group. The magicians around them worked together to create large and powerful attacks, but they were easily countered by Heaven's [Joker].
The other [Brave Saints] were fairing well too, as most of the members that Martin Bormann brought were Middle-class to High-class at best, while the Battle Gods were the only 'threat' that some weaker [Brave Saints] would face. However, with the help of the shadow soldiers, they didn't need to worry about them too much.
[Mr. Dulio, there are a group of magicians going east; please deal with them. Ms. Griselda, another cryptid is coming your way; please deal with it as it has some annoying properties. Mr. Ryuu, more members of Martin's group are heading your way,] said a female's voice through their transceivers.
Fine Bergmann calmly instructed the members of the [Brave Saints] about the situation that was happening around them. She had been given a little tool by Aaron that would help her with their operation today.
Fine is a young, bespectacled woman with short gray hair that reached down to her shoulder and brown eyes. She wore the same uniform as the rest of her team, which mostly consisted of black, red, and gold colors.
She normally wore glasses, but because today's operation was a bit more special, she was gifted a new pair by Aaron. It would give her a wider range of view and give her a slightly weaker version of his women's [Appraisal] ability from their rings.
Fine Bergmann was not a powerful fighter; she was at best High-class, but most of her magic was support- or utility-based. The few offensive attacks she has, she only uses when she is cornered and needs to be forceful.
Beside her was a shadow soldier with the express purpose of defending her from any attackers that may come her way, and in total, so far, there have been eight attempts at killing her. However, the shadow soldier quickly dealt with them. Another person who was assigned to defend her was [Team Trump Card of Heaven]'s [Knight], Kiyotora Shinra.
[One of the executives is making a move; in the west, he's at least comparable to high-class devils; please someone stop them,] said Fine.
[I will go to it,] said Mirana Shatarova. In the distance, Mirana flew towards the location that Fine had informed them of, and she found a woman in a yellow three-piece suit with a large fur cape behind her.
"Tch, a bitch with big tits is the one that confronts me? Are you fucking kidding me?" the woman asked in exasperation.
Mirana was aware of her abnormally large breasts; she had a complex about them at times and even hated them during her teenage years. However, as of late, she has started liking them for one reason, and because of that, she wouldn't accept anyone talking badly about her own breasts.
Without another word, a large, light spear came out of the ground, nearly piercing the woman beneath her. She barely jumped away in time to avoid it, but a part of her shoulder and left leg were caught in the attack, leaving her bleeding.
"Piece of shit!" she shouted and glared at Mirana. "You…you're Russian, aren't you?" she asked, much to Mirana's surprise.
"…What if I am?" she replied, squinting her eyes at the woman. The woman below her started laughing for a few seconds, confusing Mirana.
She then pointed at Mirana and said, "I'm also Russian, but I'm on Hitler's side now; pretty strange, huh? Before you ask, I don't care about their political shit; I'd blow both countries up if I wanted, but Mr. Hitler has his own plans for 'em once we're done with this shit."
She flicked her long black-gray hair backward and grinned at Mirana. "I'm Emelina, by the way. I've thrown away the rest of my name; I just go by Emelina now." Her blue eyes shone at Mirana as she stared at her silently.
"…Mirana Shatarova, Gabbriel-sama's [Ace]," she said, creating thousands of dense, light spears around her. "For the sake of peace, I will need to stop you."
"Haaa…peace this, peace that; y'all never shut up about that, huh? Chaos makes the world more fun," replied Emelina.
"The role of the strong is to protect the weak. Anyone that is weak cannot live in such a world. That's why a world of peace is much better; it gives everyone an equal chance at life—especially the one that Aaron-san is pursuing," said Mirana.
"Don' care, fuck his way of thinkin'." Emelina gave Mirana the middle finger and created her own magic circles behind her. "It's survival of the fittest in the wild; that's how it should be for us too."
Emelina launched her magic attacks towards Mirana, who also did the same thing with her light spears. When both attacks collided, it was clear who the stronger one was, as several spears of light from Mirana overpowered Emelina's magic and started raining down on her. She also had to avoid the occasional lightning strikes that were thrown at her by Dulio's Sacred Gear.
As they continued their little scuffle, Mirana noticed that the injury she gave Emelina earlier had disappeared and was surprised by it. Emelina grinned at her, and without making another comment, she ripped her arm off herself, surprising Mirana. She then threw the severed arm towards Mirana, and it began to violently shake before transforming into a strange creature.
Another arm quickly regenerated from Emelina's missing arm, along with her previously ripped-off cloth. She grinned at Mirana, who flew away from the monster and attacked it using her light powers. She generated a small ball of light and fired it at the monster, killing it.
"Surprised?" asked Emelina. "Lemme summarize: Khaos Order, experiments, and Axolotls."
Mirana understood what she meant—she, Emelina, had been experimented on by the Khaos Order and got her regenerative abilities from an animal called an Axolotl.
Axolotls are an aquatic species of salamander with extraordinary regenerative ability and are able to regenerate organs, skin, limbs, or practically any other body part. Because axolotls never develop lungs and instead keep their gills, they are permanent underwater residents. Even more amazing, axolotls can regenerate limbs and organs perfectly, without any scarring. They can do this as many times as necessary in as little as three weeks.
"Of course, if it were their normal regenerative ability, it would take a long time to grow this back," she said, flexing her new arm. "So, they did their magic, and honestly, it's amazing. It also gave me some water manipulation; who would have thought?"
She raised her arm and opened her palm towards Mirana before shooting out a stream of water towards her. She created a shield of light in front of her, blocking the attack. From that shield of light came a shot that spread towards Emelina, who let herself be hit by the attacks.
Ripping the spears out of her body, she began to bleed, but she also ripped off her arm and cut a large part of her stomach away with her powers. However, she also instantly regenerated everything as if it were brand new.
"Even cutting my head off won't kill me, you know? What will you do?" she asked, convinced that she would win this by dragging it out.
Closing her eyes, she thought about various ways of defeating Emelina, but in the end, Mirana came to one conclusion.
"I'll just need to restrain you; please forgive me in advance," she muttered. This time, millions upon millions of light spears appeared all over the skies of Germany, stunning everyone.
[Uhhhhhhhhhh Mirana-san!? W-what's happening!?] Dulio asked in a panic.
[I'm going to defeat someone, Dulio-san. Please don't mind me,] she said. All the light spears slowly converged into a single enormous spear of light that was so dense that it even made her fellow angels lurch back.
— ○ ● ○ —
Even though most of Rias' peerage and herself weren't weak to light anymore, some of them became uneasy at the density of Mirana Shatarova's enormous light spear.
"If we weren't changed by Aaron, I think we'd be affected by that right now," mumbled Yumi.
"I think we'd be vaporized, Yumi-san," said Asia.
"Ara, ara~ I'd like to have that kind of light power to torture some devils~" Akeno said, making those around her uneasy. "Fufufu~"
Glancing back at her [Queen], Rias asked, "Why does your S side only come out when we're fighting? It used to be a balance, jeez…"
"Fufu." Akeno didn't want to tell her reasons, although to anyone looking closely, it was quite obvious.
— ○ ● ○ —
Emelina was shocked by the sudden turn of events, but at the same time, she believed her new-found regenerative abilities would save her. So she didn't panic, nor did she run away.
"Even if you use that to attack me, I'll survive, so you're just wasting your energy!" she shouted.
"…This doesn't take much of my power, Emelina. I also didn't say I was going to kill you," said Mirana. She aimed her free hand at Emelina as shackles made of light attached themselves to her.
Mirana pointed her finger downward at Emelina, and the mammoth-sized light spear began falling down on top of her. She began to panic as she tried to tear off the shackles that were on her, but found that they were soft and squishy and couldn't be broken by force. She tried the ground beneath her but also saw that it had become soft and squishy.
"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me—!" shouted Emelina before the attack slammed into her stomach, piercing it and exploding.
The surrounding area around them erupted into a column of light; it also killed some enemies that were near enough to the blast radius, and any creatures that were weak against the element were vaporized around it too.
Once the column vanished, Emelina stood there grinning, but as she went to speak, her voice didn't come out. In a panic, she checked her larynx but found that it was still there, confusing her. Mirana landed in front of her and gently pushed her over; she tried to fight it but couldn't—scared and confused, Emelina fell into slumber.
"Phew…that should do it. I hope everyone has an easier time with their opponents," she mumbled to herself before picking up Emelina and carrying her away.
Azazel and the rest of the leaders agreed with Aaron that anyone who had a unique ability or was experimented on would be captured. This was agreed upon after Raynare and her group left the room after the meeting in Grigori.
They, with the help of Aaron, would remove those abilities from them, analyze them themselves, and try to recreate them down the line. They wanted more firepower on their side if such an event would happen in the future or if a prominent group would arise in the far or near future.
— ○ ● ○ —
"I didn't expect that at all; Mirana-san is pretty scary when the time comes," said Irina.
She was fighting alongside Xenovia and Asia—the Church Trio had decided to stick together. Irian herself also asked to be allowed to fight alongside the Gremory peerage, and Dulio didn't have a problem with that.
Asia was already in her Balance Breaker and was actively healing everyone in Germany, so they could fight without reservations. However, she was also ready to fight if she was approached by anyone—four lucky souls so far were met with the [Healing Punch] and were knocked out.
Asia didn't like taking lives but was more than willing to fight, so she came to this compromise. But she wouldn't stop her allies if they were to take someone else's life; her opinion was different prior to the war, but if someone like Lapis showed up again, as much as it shamed her, she would also ask someone to get rid of them to save more lives.
She started to adopt the same outlook as Aaron. Some people could be rehabilitated; some couldn't. She just had to become a better judge of people and go from there. For the four that she knocked out, she didn't think that far ahead and just did her job instead.
"Wouldn't it—" As Xenovia was about to speak, they were attacked by three people; Irina and Asia also avoided being hit. The three of them put their backs against each other, almost like a circle, and stared at their attackers.
All of their attackers were wearing the Schutzstaffel military uniform; two of them were males and one was female. One was tall, had short blonde hair, blue eyes, and a scruffy blonde beard. The other male was around 5'8", had long blonde hair, and green eyes. Finally, the only female there had blonde hair that reached her shoulders and blue eyes.
You could say they were Hitler's ideal 'Aryan' race. Blonde hair and blue eyes, of which two were just that. All three were also powerful, hovering around Ultimate-class in power with unique abilities given to them by the Khaos Order.
"What do you think of them, Armin?" the female asked the taller blonde.
The man named Armin nodded. "The one in her Sacred Gear Balance Breaker and the Angel fit the 'New Aryan' race that Sir Hitler wants, Vivi."
The woman named Vivi agreed with him and nudged the last man. "How about you, Eugen?"
"I will make the nun my wife," he declared. "I am into that."
Vivi laughed. "We already know that, you weirdo. They're from Japan, right? Don't they call you a lolicon?"
Asia frowned and said, "I am not a loli! I am seventeen and I'm 5'6"!"
Previously, Asia was only 5'1", but because of Aaron's help, she shot up in height and was now 5'6". Other parts of her body also grew, making her less conscious of them since she used to compare herself to Rias and Akeno.
"She talks back; I will correct that," said Eugen, glaring at Asia. She also glared back at the man who was already making decisions for her.
"Well, we don't need to know why they're here; I can see they have some unique abilities, so we have to capture them," said Xenovia while pointing [Durandal] at the trio. All three of them looked at Xenovia and sighed, confusing her.
"She is the defect, so we'll kill her. Although we may be able to extract her powers so we can give that weapon to someone in our group," said Armin. "I will deal with her personally."
Xenovia frowned before she disappeared with Armin. Irina and Asia were left with Vivi and Eugen.
"I ain't leaving Asia to you, creep!" shouted Irina. "Let's beat them up together!"
"Yes, I think that would be appropriate," replied Asia. "Ahin."
After Asia called out her familiar's name, he appeared behind her. Ahin had transformed into a large dragon, and he stared down at the two enemies in front of his 'mother'. Irina had been using her light powers earlier but decided that the new enemies would be worthy enough for her [Hauteclere].
"Haa…let's end this quickly," said Vivi. Two large robotic gloves appeared over her arms, and she punched them together. "Let's show 'em our powers, Eugen!"
Countless player cards appeared around Eugen, and they started floating around them. "Yes…with our combined might, they—"
Asia made the move first; she slammed her fist into Eugen's face and threw him to the ground. Before Vivi could react, Irina also teleported beside her, slashed her left arm off, and kicked her in the face, also forcing her to the ground.
"Asia, you acted too quickly! Well, it worked out for us, though," said Irina as she cleaned her sword of the blood on it.
From the dust came maniacal laughter; it was from the woman named Vivi. "Is this how the followers of God fight?! Sneak attacks and not being fair?!"
"We do not need to be 'fair' towards terrorists," Asia calmly told her. "People like you…cannot be redeemed."
Vivi's smile widened even more as she shot towards Asia. "I don't need redemption, because I am 'perfect'!" her large robotic gloves emitted copious amounts of electricity, and she threw a punch towards Asia.
Vivi expected Asia to fly away or even dodge it, but to her surprise, the young woman in front of her shrouded her body in golden-silver touki and then threw her own punch. Both of their fists collided and created a shockwave powerful enough to tear a fissure in the clouds.
Eugen was blown away, but Irina was fine and looked at the two and said, "Winner: Asia-chan!"
Vivi was confused until her other arm exploded, causing her to scream. But Asia immediately followed up by doing a vertical spin, slamming her heel on top of Vivi's head, and forcing her to the ground again.
This time, an even larger tremor occurred all around Germany, and this time, Vivi did not get back up. However, if she didn't stop the bleeding from her missing arm, she would bleed to death, so Asia flew down and began healing her too. That was until she woke up and tried to attack Asia with her remaining arm, but Asia headbutted her, knocking her out again.
"Irina-san, I'll leave him to you. Ahin will also stay and help," Asia said while carrying Vivi away.
"Y-yeah!" replied Irina. 'Asia is scary when she wants to be…' she thought, then looked at the dragon beside her. "Let's beat him quickly, Ahin-kun!"
[Gah!] replied Ahin.
"I will not…lose like that," said Eugen. To Irina's surprise, he had created a new arm with his cards, and it glimmered a mysterious color.
Eugen materialized numerous cards from his original hand and threw them towards Ahin and Irene. All of them let out different colors, and from them, different effects followed. A card that was yellow created thunder from it and flew towards Ahin.
The dragon opened its mouth and shot out a giant fireball that consumed the lightning attack, but the other two were different shades of blue. One let out water, and the other was ice. Both attacks collided with Ahin's fire breath, but it didn't have the effect that Eugen wanted.
Instead, both his attempts to destroy Ahin's attacks were destroyed too, and he was forced to create defensive magic circles to defend against the attack. Irina followed Ahin's lead by sending aura slashes towards him too.
'…This stupid lizard and shitty angel defect…!' he thought as his magic circles were destroyed. He was hit by the attacks, received a few cuts on his chest, and was burned on his remaining arm.
Eugen landed on the ground as he coughed up blood. Without the use of both his arms, he had limited use of his ability, and even after creating the artificial arm made of his cards, it wasn't enough as he would need to continuously use his power to maintain it.
"Ahin did most of the work, so I didn't need to do much, oh well." Irina rubbed Ahin's head much to the delight of the dragoon. To Ahin, Asia was his mother, and his father was Aaron, because his name was inspired by his. Everyone else was a stepmother to him, so he still enjoyed their affection and company.
"I—"
"I don't want to hear it! Especially from someone like you!" shouted Irina before kicking Eugen in the face and knocking him out. Irina grabbed him and put him on top of Ahin's back. "Ahin, can you help me bring him over to the spot?"
Ahin agreed, and Irina jumped on his back as they rode away.
— ○ ● ○ —
Armin and Xenovia's blades slammed against each other, creating sparks. The man did not play fair, as he ordered those around them to attack Xenovia as well. Thankfully for the [Slashing Princess], she already knew the orders from Aaron and the other leaders, so she killed the ones that weren't necessary to them.
At first, she questioned Aaron since he had always emphasized saving lives, but after hearing him out, she understood his new stance on things, and she was even more shocked when Asia agreed with him. Xenovia saw Asia as someone who didn't want to hurt anyone but also understood her reasoning after hearing them.
"You're okay sacrificing everyone that doesn't meet your requirements? Even with appearance?" Xenovia asked calmly.
"Of course. If they are not 'perfect' like us, they do not deserve to live or be treated like humans. Perhaps our leader Hitler may make some exceptions, as we will need workers in the lowest of low jobs," said Armin.
'They won't even consider us human?' she thought and became even more annoyed.
Xenovia had many experiences after she left the church. She realized that her views on the world were limited and set out to broaden them. The longer she spent time with Aaron Toole and those around her, she started to learn more, and when she met the previous wielder of [Durandal], she learned even more from him.
Even though she met Vasco Strada briefly, she received the wrong impression from him. She thought he was someone who followed the rules of the church to the very letter and that he hated anyone who wasn't a human and a warrior of the church, but she was further from the truth.
In a way, Xenovia saw parts of herself in these people who hated anyone that wasn't what they perceived to be 'perfect', because at some point, Xenovia had similar thoughts—if they weren't believers of God, if they weren't warriors of the church, then they were the defected ones…but now she knew the truth, and it made her feel disgusted.
Disgust towards them, and shame on her previous self.
Xenovia's strength increased suddenly, to the surprise of Armin. He had been using a small European sword that he named [Varstale]. It also had unique properties, as it had numerous magic circles on it as well as curses.
Armin didn't have special powers like the other two; he only had touki, magic, and the magic spells and curses implanted into his sword and his own body. He tried to match Xenovia's strength but fell flat and began to be pushed back.
"So you're going all out—impressive for a woman!" he shouted, grinning ear to ear.
"…All out? I just decided to use a little more strength than usual," Xenovia replied, looking confused at the man. Before he could respond, she headbutted him, knocking him away, before firing demonic bullets at him with her free hand.
Armin reacted on time and pointed his sword towards the attacks, and various symbols on the sword glowed before turning the demonic attacks into wool, rendering them ineffective. He smiled at this and said, "One of the curses imbedded into my sword—in total, there are around ten and ten types of magic in this too."
"Now I will—!" As he began his speech, Xenovia dashed back in and smashed her fist into his stomach while it was shrouded in a demonic aura. As he was knocked away by that, she sent out slashes towards him using her sword.
Since it was so sudden, he didn't have time to react, so Armin received numerous injuries around his body, but, to his luck, he didn't lose any limbs. As he regained control, he glared at Xenovia while he started to bleed from all the cuts.
Xenovia paused for a moment before nodding to herself. "It's been a while, so let's get some actual combat practice in with it. I plan on using it in our next game if the opponent is strong," she said to herself and then summoned [Carnage Incarnate: Grand Chariot].
Armin became confused; he hadn't seen the sword before that Xenovia had summoned. Because of her infrequent use of the Sacred Gear, there weren't many reports about it to the Khaos Order, but this worked in Xenovia's favor, even if she didn't know about it.
Holding the sword in her other hand and temporarily dismissing [Durandal], she shouted, "Grand Chariot!!"
A large blue beast appeared above her, however, instead of its usual wild and disorganized appearance. It floated behind her with almost a grin on its face before turning into a pillar of blue light that swathed the area. It quickly disappeared, and Xenovia donned black and blue armor.
"Wha—!? What is that?! We never heard reports of this! Is this one of the [New Longinus]?" he asked, confused and panicked.
"Huh? I've had this since last year; your organization never watched our Youth Rating Game against the Sitri peerage?" she asked, confused. But she quickly shook her head and summoned [Durandal] again.
She didn't wait for his response and charged towards him. The closer she got, the eyes on her helmet glowed, and a voice shouted [Step] before she got a boost in speed and slammed the flat part of her sword into Armin's stomach, sending him away into the distance.
Earlier, Kuroka's attack had destroyed all the buildings, so he had nothing to crash through but instead just hit the ground violently. However, he never let go of his sword, which impressed Xenovia.
"Your tenacity is admirable, although that's the only thing I can praise you for," she said.
Armin, with murder in his eyes, charged Xenovia without hesitation. As he did, a few magic circles appeared around him and he fired elemental attacks at Xenovia, who deflected them with her sword. As she raised her sword again, Armin pointed his at hers, and Xenovia felt the weight of her sword increase, but she adjusted her strength and could still hold it properly.
"Wha—how can you not be affected by the change in weight!?" he shouted before swinging his sword down at her. Xenovia parried the attack and blankly stared at him.
"I've worked out with weights heavier than this, along with x100,000 gravity magic. Do you expect this to incumber me?" she asked flatly before spinning around, kicking him in the stomach, and sending an energy slash at him with [Durandal].
Armin couldn't defend against it and lost an arm as a result. He gritted his teeth and used fire magic to cauterize the wound. "This isn't possible…a woman overpowering a man? The imperfect overpowering the perfect?! It's not possible!"
He looked up and was about to continue, but saw that Xenovia had already arrived in front of him and then disappeared. The [Slashing Princess] stood behind him, her sword still in the motion of swinging down, and said, "If you're given a chance to be reincarnated in a different life, go and broaden your horizons; your views are too limited." Moments later, Armin fell apart as he had been sliced in two.
Xenovia retracted her helmet and looked at the corpse. "…Maybe I shouldn't have done that; cleaning this up is going to be…"
[…]
"…What? You want to eat it?"
[…!]
"How?" she asked.
After listening to the beast that was inside of [Carnage Incarnate: Grand Chariot], she held her hand out, and a large mouth with razor-sharp teeth appeared and ate Armin's body in one bite.
"…You're a strange one, but thanks," she said, and began flying away still in her Balance Breaker.
[…~~]
Xenovia had formed a strange bond or link with the creature inside her Sacred Gear. Even though it couldn't speak, they had managed to communicate over the years, and in only recent memory, it started to listen to her and stopped acting so wild and erratic—Xenovia saw it as a positive next step and encouraged it.
Perhaps she could attain a [Breakdown the Beast] if they worked together more in the future. But for now, she decided to focus on other things.
— ○ ● ○ —
In the Greek realm, countless battles had already started all over it, and many gods, shadow soldiers, and various groups had been deployed at various locations to help defend against Black Alice's attack.
"Running around at the speed of sound~" Hermes sang to himself while running around the realm. He was currently in Little Olympia, and he had the task of providing and delivering to the people of his realm various equipment and items if and when they broke or ran out.
He also fought alongside everyone; the [Teleporting Group] who were responsible for teleporting those items and equipment were overworked, so he offered to do this while also fighting the enemies.
[Hermes-sama, we've run out of healing slime in the Lamia's city!] someone shouted into their transceiver.
[Roger! I'll bring some of the equipment that Hephaestus made too!] replied Hermes.
In preparation for this event, Hephaestus, with the help of Aaron and the dwarves of Asgard, made a large number of weapons and armor for it. Unlike before, she was prepared this time and had also improved her smithing over the years with Aaron's help, so she could make God-class weapons and armor when she wanted with ease.
The only thing she needed were materials, which were provided by Aaron, so this task was made very easy for her. So with her new help, they managed to create enough items to give to the fighters in today's operation. Even now, in her home that's being protected by shadow soldiers, Hephaestus, Kioko, Sherry, Beren, and Muvoth are still making weapons and armor.
Hermes arrived in Lamia's city and quickly arrived at the center point while also killing enemies on the way. In the middle, she saw the current leader, Alice, along with her attendant, Senko, and various Lamias fighting off the attack with shadow soldiers and one of the G.o.B, Auna.
"I've got more!" he shouted before arriving behind them and handing out the items.
"Hermes-sama, thank you for coming and for the weapons," said Alice.
She was the strongest of her species in the realm and was the one who constantly used the slime pills provided by Aaron as she bore the brunt of the attacks. The shadow soldiers provided help, but because of her own pride, she asked them to let her fight too. Against their judgment, they let her go, and she hasn't been severely injured yet.
Suddenly, an even larger magic circle appeared in the sky, and everyone there prepared for more enemies to come, but to their utter horror and surprise, only two came out. The two that came out made everyone there stop—especially Senko and Alice.
"M-mother…?" questioned the young lamia leader. "A-and…grandmother…"
Two enormous lamias that looked like Alice floated above them. One of them had a giant eye near the middle of her tail and wing-like appendages around different sections of her lower half. She had a crown of spikes around her head and butterfly-like wings around her waist.
Beside that one was another lamia that looked identical but older-looking. She had two large, sharp horns that protruded from her head, glowing red eyes, dragon-like wings behind her back, and a stinger at the end of her tail.
"…Are they alive?" Senko asked Auna, who was also staring at the two monsters.
"Unfortunately, they're dead. However, it's not beyond me or my master, Aaron-sama, to resurrect them," replied Auna.
Neither of them replied to her, but it was clear from the looks on their faces that they wanted to kill whoever had done this. Although they already knew that too, the culprit behind it wasn't here.
"Then—"
"From what I can tell, their bodies aren't normal anymore—they have so many other DNAs mixed into them, I can't really call them lamias anymore. At best, they're a very, very mixed species now. I would say beyond just the typical hybrids," explained Auna.
This new information only served to anger Alice even more, but unlike her old self, she didn't explode and start attacking the 'corpses' of her mother and grandmother. Instead, she calmed down and had a cold look on her face.
"May I leave the subjugation of my mother and grandmother to you, Auna-san? I do not feel I am strong enough, especially if I take into consideration that they may have been experimented on," asked Alice.
"Easily. I will leave the rest of you in the care of the shadow soldiers then. Do not become reckless," ordered Auna. She then stepped forward but felt a hand on her arm.
"I know they're dead, but—"
"I will handle them with care," Auna said while looking at Alice gently. Alice looked thankfully before thanking her.
Auna flew towards the two previous leaders of the city, and when she stopped in front of them, she saw that another person was with them. They were so much smaller than the other two that they seemed like insects.
It was a man in a lab coat, a blue t-shirt underneath, black jeans with white socks, and sandals. He had slick black hair, sunglasses on his head, and pierced ears. He smirked at Auna after she arrived.
"Ah, yes, one of the Middleman's [Electa], welcome, welcome; I'm the sacrificial goat, Bofanze. A pleasure to meet your short acquaintance," he said and bowed.
'Sacrificial goat? So he aims to die today, or he's confident in his abilities? Well, either way, I'll get these two back.' Auna didn't respond and simply stared at him.
"The silent type, huh? If you're here to bring these two back, then don't bother. They'll decay as soon as you defeat them, or if I'm killed. They were experiments from start to finish; Satanael-sama had a lot of fun trying different things on them, including other scientists and researchers," explained Bofanze.
Auna summoned her staff and raised it up. Hundreds of lightning penguins appeared in the sky.
"Penguins can't fly!" Bofanze shouted in reflex. However, this was the intended effect Auna wanted, as after he acknowledged it, he started hallucinating.
Auna created those penguins for one reason, and that was to implement a rule she wanted; it could be any that she wished, but it was something silly, simple, yet effective for smart and informed people or people that just read general things.
The single rule she laid out was that if someone said any abbreviations of 'Penguins can't fly!', they can have a number of effects happen to them. Unfortunately for Bofanze, he was put under a hallucination.
This rule could also activate even if the opponent it's aimed at didn't verbalize it; even if they thought about it, they would be put under any of the effects Auna wanted. She also bound him and sealed his powers.
"Now then," she mumbled, and she looked at the two former leaders who hadn't moved yet. She tapped her staff in the air again, doing the same thing to them (sealing their powers and movement). "Aaron-sama may ask what you've been put through…or at least Alice, so let's see."
Auna reached her free hand out and dove into the memories of both former leaders. What she saw only disgusted her and made her hate the Khaos Order even more. She wasn't naïve or anything of the sort, but the fact that she had to see such inhumane things done to these two made her physically sick.
Auna stopped her spell and sighed deeply. Looking around, she saw many invaders that were mostly monsters and youkai, so she raised her staff up again and created mini-meteors and locked them on to all the monsters and youkai in the Lamia's city.
"Perish…" She then dropped the mini-meteors onto them; all of them rushed towards their intended targets, killing them instantly. Some being crushed, some being promptly charred into nothingness.
She didn't want to scream, as Auna saw it as childish, but she wanted some way of letting out her disgust and frustrations right now. She only saw this as the only way, but it was very beneficial to those around them, as it had provided temporary relief to them.
Auna created two magic circles beneath both the two previous leaders and used [Food Chain] to connect to her master, Aaron, to use any one of his abilities. She wanted this to succeed without any problems, so she wanted to be on the safe side. Auna is confident in her abilities, but she has only used temporary resurrections on past enemies she has faced and nothing permanent.
Using the modified [Food Chain] allowed her to use the resurrection ability Aaron used to bring back Shuri, his own mother, Aoife, and Azathoth. Bright light shone from both magic circles as the ability activated. On each circle, the image of a lamia began to rapidly blink, and the light that shone from them began to wrap around the bodies; it started from the tips of their tails all the way to the top of their heads.
The light then slowly seeped into the bodies, and a black purple mist was dispelled from their bodies. Soon after, black purple sticky goo left their bodies. The slightly pale purple bodies of theirs regained some life, and they began to look like Alice's.
Finally, a small burst of energy left their bodies, and their previously dead eyes came back to life. They began to look around, confused. Before they could ask questions, Auna flew up to their faces, tapped the air in front of her with her staff, and relayed appropriate information to them.
She didn't show them the abuse they received from the Khaos Order, but they were made aware that they died and were used by them. It was clear to Auna that they were annoyed by this revelation, but they remained calm.
"We will fight; it seems we kept our powers before you resurrected us, Auna-san. However, you also reverted us back to lamias, correct?" asked Alice's grandmother.
"That's correct. You get to keep the power but also go back to your previous selves," replied the young woman. "If you wish to get revenge on Satanael and the Khaos Order, then I would suggest letting Alice join Team [DxD]. She has been wanting to, but for a few reasons, my master, Aaron-sama, has refused. You two may know why."
They nodded and turned to the man called Bofanze.
"What shall we do with this man?" asked Alice's mother.
"Is he important? Does he need to live?" asked Alice's grandmother.
Keeping the sealing magic on him as well as preventing him from moving, Auna smiled. "No, he's not essential for everything. He called himself a 'sacrificial goat' after all," she said, clicking her fingers, undoing the hallucination.
"…Uhh…huh?" Bofanze looked around, confused. He saw the two previous Lamia leaders staring at him coldly and began to panic. "W-what? How? The spell was supposed to activate!"
Auna didn't plan on explaining it to him because, when using the resurrection ability that Aaron uses, all other rules, magic, or abilities put on the deceased are nullified or removed entirely. So Auna didn't need to worry about the decaying effect that had been placed on them.
A mouth opened near the end of their tails with razor-sharp teeth and slowly inched closer to Bofanze.
"W-wait, let's talk—" They didn't want to talk, and they finally reached the man before they started to tear him apart. The sounds of bones and flesh being crushed and gnawed at were audibly heard throughout the area.
Once the man was killed, they regrouped with the other lamias near the middle of the city. Alice and Senko had many things to say and ask, as did her mother and grandmother, but for now, they focused on defending their city and killing the invaders.
"I will leave you then; however, don't hesitate to contact me if more trouble arises," said Auna. They agreed, and she teleported away.
— ○ ● ○ —
Once Auna arrived near the skies of the elf village, she saw complete pandemonium. Elves ran around fighting off the enemies, while some were heavily injured and being treated. There were only a few there who could fight them off—one of them was the leader and Queen of the Elves, Amaryllis Ismene.
The others were Nienna the dark elf, Rena the elf-spirit hybrid, other various elves of different levels of power, and…the goddess Artemis. She had a close relationship with the elves, so she came here to help them.
She raised her staff before launching shurikens made of light at the invaders. The monsters and youkai around the place disintegrated after they were stabbed by them, surprising the elves, but once they saw that they had reinforcements, they started to relentlessly fight back.
Auna left a small orb protected by a barrier that kept firing the light shurikens, and she teleported towards Artemis.
"Artemis-sama, how goes the defense?" she asked the goddess. The goddess in question was using her bow, divine powers, and transparent wolves with crossbows to help defend the home of the elves.
"…Well, although there is one persistent man that keeps coming back after I 'kill' him, it seems like he is using clones to continuously attack me. He is a rhino monster that has high defensive power and is, as I said, quite persistent," Artemis explained, while she continuously attacked the monsters around them.
"Oraaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" a masculine voice screamed. Auna turned around and saw a man with the head of a rhino along with a horn for a nose. He wore a ripped-off white t-shirt, green jeans, and leopard shoes that fitted his large rhino-like feet.
Artemis and Auna raised their hands and created a dual barrier that stopped the rhino monster's attack. Once he smacked into the barrier, he started to laugh.
"Oh, oh, oh? Is that new meat!? Hey, hey, missy, go out with me!" the rhino monster shouted.
"No, begone, thot!" shouted Auna as she tapped the air in front of her with her staff.
This caused the rhino to be flung away, and at the same time, his body exploded. But like Artemis said, a few seconds later, another rhino monster ran from behind the dead body of the other and slammed his head on the barrier.
Auna became fascinated by this, so she looked into the abilities of this monster, and what she found was quite plain by her standards. What she found was that the rhino monster had a unique ability—he could duplicate himself, but he could increase a certain 'stat' or 'attribute' every time he used it, but he could never increase the same one twice.
When the rhino monster slammed into their barrier the first time, he had increased his speed, but after Auna killed that one, the other one came back with increased strength. In addition to that, every time the rhino monster's duplicate dies, their memories go back to him.
Auna saw that he was waiting by the entrance to the elves' home, so she informed Artemis of this.
'The original is by the entrance of the forest,' she told her telepathically. Artemis looked at Auna before nodding. Silently, she aimed her arrows and used a lot of divine power to increase their power.
"Hahaha! Where are you aiming at, goddess!? I'm right here!" he shouted at her. The rhino thought that the goddess had finally lost her mind, but after she released her attack, a powerful explosion transpired in the distance.
The rhino monster froze as he stared at the two in devastation. However, to his surprise and in the last seconds of his life, he saw that both women simply continued fighting the enemies around them while chatting—it was as if nothing had happened, like he never existed.
"Wha—" Seconds later, the duplicate finally disappeared. The main body—the original—had been killed by a single arrow by Artemis.
"There are two more here: one of the [Next Dolls], the originals, and the ones that were experimented on the longest are finally making their move," said Auna.
"…Is it the same one from a few months ago? Like the giant that appeared along with 'Thuldruns' ?" inquired Artemis.
"The one and the same," replied Auna. "The one heading this way is called Leznupar; it's basically a mechanical grasshopper and bee hybrid. It's around the power level of a Satan-class being."
As she finished saying that, something large slammed against the barrier around the elves' home, and then seconds later, it shattered, and a giant robotic grasshopper appeared.
"Hmm. I didn't think she would arrive here so quickly," said Auna while tipping her hat up.
"Does…Aaron want to keep it?" Artemis asked hesitantly.
"Mmm…" Auna put a finger to her cheek, thinking about the question. In the end, she shook her head. "I don't think so; I mean, it's quite primitive by his standards. Aaron-sama can make life anytime he wants; what use would he have for that metallic scrap?" asked Auna.
Artemis nodded, unsure of the strange comparison. "Let's get rid of it then—"
"But maybe the alliance wants it? I mean, the various scientists and Grigori come to mind, right?" asked Auna.
"…Let's defeat it and try to minimize the damage to it then," the goddess corrected herself, and Auna merrily agreed.
Auna suddenly aimed her staff at it and, with a cheerful smile, shouted, "Explosion—!!"
The goddess Artemis was horrified by Auna's sudden actions.
— ○ ● ○ —
[Go, go, Genshirou-sama~!]
A certain fallen angel was cheering on her master and potential lover. She stood on top of a certain building in Athens. This was Asbeel; she, after meeting the Great Dragon King Genshirou Saji, fell in love with him—this was after he spoke to her for a bit; at the time, the young man had no idea he had such an effect on her.
Asbeel had been granted temporary freedom, and she used it to help in the operation. She wanted to right her wrongs, and she was given a small item by Aaron to do so. This item—the more she cheered on her teammates or a specific person, the stronger they became. The stronger their feelings, the stronger the effect.
"Uwooooooooooooo!!!" Genshirou screamed in his [Vritra Promotion], and beside him was his partner, Vritra. He had summoned him too, and both Dragon Kings ran rampant on their enemies in Greece.
[Gen-chan, you're being way too dramatic!] Ruruko Nimura complained through the transceivers they had.
[Who cares, he's enjoying himself, isn't he?] Kanami said, trying to defend Genshirou's enthusiasm.
[Ha-ha-ha, youth,] Aurelia said and laughed at all of them.
In Greece, various monsters and youkai from the Monkai Association were invading and attacking it per Black Alice's orders.
The groups that were sent there to defend it were the Slash Dog Team, [Team Golden Rakshasa], and [Team Sona Sitri]. With the various eccentric and unique members of each team, it would have been a very chaotic mess—that was the soul reason Aaron picked those teams to go.
Along with the Slash Dog Team was Tobio Ikuse, or [Slash Dog]. Just like he promised, he went with them again, but after this, he would stop for a while since Sae had been worried and wanted to tell him something after the operation.
Tobio rode on top of Genshirou's head while in his Balance Breaker [Night Celestial Slash Dogs]. From there, he created enormous, distorted blades of darkness all over Athens as they traveled through the area. Apart from Vritra himself, only Asbeel and Ruruko were with them; the rest of the teams were scattered around Greece.
<<Saji-kun, I'll get off here; I sense a strong presence over there; another one is directly in front of you, and it looks like Vritra is facing another one—the same with your lover, Nimura-san,>> said Tobio.
"Right!" shouted Genshirou as both Tobio and Gin jumped away from his head and towards a certain direction to confront an enemy.
Genshirou continued on his way until he came across a certain large monster. They were more or less the same size, but the monster in front of him was one that he hadn't seen before; to him, it looked like a mix of two, but their sizes had increased.
A monster that was a mix of a kitsune and crab, at first glance, didn't look threatening, but as Genshirou released a stream of [Blaze Black Flames] towards it, the monster matched it with its own flames, as well as firing a stream of water, causing an explosion that created vapor around them.
Genshirou frowned at the scene and exited his [Vritra Promotion] and stood on a rooftop of one of the buildings. He held onto a metal piece that was sticking out of the roof and stared at the vapor—it eventually dispelled, leaving the monster hybrid there staring at him menacingly.
"So I get to face the Dragon King Genshirou? Fufu, quite lucky of me," said the monster; the tone was rather feminine.
Genshirou Saji liked hearing his new title; although he always had it, most of the supernatural never referred to him as that because of his previous childish attitude and losing streak. It wasn't until a certain incident that the people of the supernatural world started to refer to him as that, and it's followed him since.
"Please do make this memorable," it added, and it began to summon large fireballs and waterballs behind it.
Genshirou quickly equipped his Perfected Balance Breaker and faced the monster. He jumped towards it as it fired its attacks at him. Genshirou ordered several lines towards the attacks, attaching themselves to them and instantly absorbing the attacks from them. Those attacks vanished, and he summoned his wings before flying towards the monster hybrid.
Purple dragon heads formed around his arms, and he slammed them towards the monster's head, but to his surprise, it only made a small crack in it.
A grin spread across the monster's mouth. "Are you surprised? I, the great Valsirn, will be the one to take down the new generation Dragon King, kukuku~"
"Keep dreaming," said Genshirou, before he amplified the strength he used and knocked the hybrid away, making him crash through several buildings.
Earlier, he had spoken to his [King], Sona, about keeping the damage to a minimum to lessen the time Aaron had to repair the places they were fighting at, but a day before, Aaron had already told Sona that it would take him no time at all to repair them, but Sona was insistent, and Aaron let her do her own thing.
However, before the start of the operation, Aaron told everyone that they could cut loose and he wouldn't mind them destroying the countries cities since he could just repair them. But many said they'd try their best at minimizing damage—in the end, Aaron relented to their fixation on keeping the damage to those places at a minimum, but he also knew that those places would be destroyed to a certain extent.
[President, I'm sorry, but I have to use a bit more power to take this opponent down, and I have to destroy some buildings here!] Genshirou shouted into the transceiver before charging Valsirn.
[…Haaa, fine, but please make it quick; destroying more of the landmark there would be bad,] replied Sona Sitri.
[Roger!]
Genshirou flew towards the hybrid with his devil wings and attached several lines to it after it got up. He fired flames from the knuckles of his armor and set the monster ablaze! Valsirn tried to extinguish it using their water manipulation, but it proved useless.
"That can't be put out unless I say so! So you better give up!" roared Genshirou as he flew up higher and then dismissed his wings. As he fell to the ground, he stretched out his right leg, covered it in demonic energy, and cursed black flames.
He aimed his attack at the hybrid's head and slammed his foot into it! A humongous eruption of black flames erupted while a small tremor also reverberated throughout the area. The hybrid's skull caved in, but it wasn't enough to kill it.
Genshirou was still holding back his power since he didn't want to destroy too many buildings, but he also knew that he couldn't help it, so he decided to try out a technique he heard Vasco Strada tell Yumi Kira. He wasn't sure if it would work with his fists, but he thought it would be worth a shot.
As he was about to continue his assault, the hybrid's body erupted into its own flames, and several tails appeared from behind its back with extra pincers too. It began to swipe at Genshirou, but he deflected the attempts at grabbing him or hitting him, and he jumped away to a different building.
"Don't get cocky! I'm goddamn flame resistant, even with your shitty flames!!" Valsirn bellowed at Genshirou. Although he looked very uncomfortable, it was obvious that the Dragon King's flames were still hurting him.
As Valsirn was about to continue his angry speech, another monster crashed violently into him, sending both of them crashing into another building. Genshirou was about to speak when his lover, Ruruko Nimura, landed beside him.
"A-ahahaha, my bad, I didn't think my kick was that powerful, she said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head. She was already using her Artificial Sacred Gear but hadn't used her Counter Balance yet.
Genshirou looked at her and then at the direction she and the other monster had come from—what he saw made his mouth hang open. It was complete destruction. So many buildings were destroyed that it looked like that part of the city was flattened.
"Ruruko-chaaaaaaaaan!! What the hell!?" he screeched, grabbing the sides of his helmet. "Didn't the President tell us not to cause too much damage!?"
"And Aaron-senpai said that it was fine. Gen-chan, you're thinking too hard about this. Sona-sama also told us to use our strength with discretion!" chided Ruruko.
Taking a step back, he sighed. "I-I know that, but—" As he went to explain himself, Genshirou and Ruruko suddenly punched and kicked in front of them—those actions split apart two attacks that were aimed at them.
"We were talking here!" Ruruko shouted, the fury within her rising.
"Ruruko-chan."
"Fine! Let's kill these idiots already and go clean up Greece. I want to go relax at home before we have to fight more games in the tournament!" grumbled Ruruko. "Balance Adjust!!"
Ruruko quickly entered her Counter Balance and faced the two monsters that had come back to them. The monster that Ruruko faced was an enormous rabbit monster with chicken wings. It was ironic, as her Artificial Sacred Gear was called [Moon and the Rabbit].
"You were thrown away by that small girl? How pathetic are you?" asked Valsirn.
"You're still on fire, you stupid crab," countered the rabbit-chicken hybrid.
"Fuck you, Mumuyorn."
"Eat shit, Valsirn."
"Don't they remind you of two people we know?" Ruruko asked while giggling.
"Ah, you mean two dragons who kept getting into fights for one hundred years straight?" asked Genshirou with a strained smile.
"Fufu, of course." Ruruko finally stomped her foot on the roof they were on and created a small shockwave towards the two monsters, gaining their attention. "Fight us, not each other, you idiots!"
"Didn't Black Alice-sama say that we could go to other countries after we destroy Greece?" asked Mumuyorn.
With a grin on Valsirn's face, he answered, "Yes, yes, she did."
Valsirn pointed all his tails between him and Mumuyorn. He also pointed his pincers there too. At the same time, Mumuyorn crouched on all fours and aimed his mouth at the same spot, and a small ball of flames ignited. Chicken wings came out of his back, and they began to glow red—a line came out of it and went straight into the ball of flames.
"A combination attack?" Ruruko asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"Seems like it; how about we do one too?" Genshirou asked, grinning.
[I want to join in too!] Asbeel cried.
[Never!!] shouted Ruruko.
She then crouched down and held her weight with her left arm and left leg while thrusting out her right arm and leg. A small white crescent-shaped aura appeared in front of her, more energy gathered into it, and it slowly increased in size.
Beside her, Genshirou gathered his cursed flames into a small ball too, slowly increasing its power and size—meanwhile, Asbeel cheered louder for everyone, also increasing their powers.
"We're done; what do we call it?" asked Mumuyorn.
"Who gives a shit?" Valsirn rolled his eyes at the question.
"Dick Head's Charming Face (Valsirn). That's what we'll call it," sneered Mumuyorn.
Valsirn wanted to hit him but decided against it. Their attack was finished charging, and they fired it towards Genshirou and Ruruko. A ball of flames the size of the Empire State Building rocketed towards the two; around it were mini glowing wings, and around those were mini knives made of water; behind it was a silvery mist that propelled it even faster.
"Aaaahhh!! They're destroying the place! Ruruko-chan!!" Genshirou shouted.
"I'm done; hurry up, Gen-chan," Ruruko replied calmly to her panicking boyfriend. "Ah, what about—"
"Later! We can think of names for later!!" Genshirou shouted before slamming his cursed black flames onto the attack that Ruruko was charging.
Both attacks merged and shot out a stream of white-black cursed flames in the shape of crescent moons. Ruruko and Genshirou's combined attack was much larger than the one made by Valsirn and Mumuyorn—moments later, both attacks collided, creating another ball in the middle that sucked everything towards it.
"Well, it wasn't a power struggle, but what now!?" Ruruko asked.
"…Kill them? I mean, do they count for 'unique' abilities if it's just a mix of two or more?" asked Genshirou while looking at the two monsters in front of them.
"I—"
As they were about to continue speaking, a powerful and large lance pierced Valsirn's body; it then erupted into flames with divine properties, killing the hybrid. His comrade, Mumuyorn, was shocked by this and was about to run when all his legs were sliced off, a rain of enormous arrows pierced his head, and then a woman with a halberd split them in half, killing them.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhh?!" Ruruko shouted, confused by the sudden interruption. The mini blackhole they created in the middle was also destroyed by a translucent cross that appeared above it and pierced it.
"You two are sure taking your sweet time in defeating weaklings," said a familiar feminine voice. When they both turned around, they saw four women there.
"D-D-D-Duvalie-san…" stuttered Ruruko, taking a step back.
The Stahlritter and Lianne Sandlot had joined them in Greece. Duvalie, the captain of the Stahlritter, glared at them while the leader of the group—Lianne—smiled at them.
"It seems everyone is having fun here; more of us were deployed since Aaron-sama allowed Róisín-sama to look after Kuoh with a few others," explained Ennea as she put her bow away.
"Are you sure? No offense, but…can Aaron-senpai's mother fight? I know he made her powerful, along with Cindy-san, but…" asked Ruruko.
"I train her along with a few others. Aaron sometimes helps too, so she does know how to fight. You weren't there in the vampire faction, but she held her own while fighting," clarified Lianne. She then looked at the dead monsters and said, "They do not qualify; we can move on from here. Vritra and Tobio Ikuse will finish their fights soon, so I suggest you join your dragon, Genshirou Saji."
Genshirou saluted Lianne. "Yes, ma'am! Ruruko-chan, let's go."
"Y-yeah, e-excuse us!" said Ruruko before both of them flew away.
Lianne looked at the two as they flew away, then at her hand. She put it on her cheek and asked, "Am I that intimidating?"
"No! You're very approachable, master!" Duvalie shouted, surprising Lianne.
"She's correct; you're very approachable, Lianne," said another woman. When Lianne turned around, she saw Aurelia there. "So you came here, huh? I expected you to go to the Greeks or even Germany."
"The original plan was Germany, but the teams there were doing quite well, so we came here instead," she said. "We may go to the Greek pantheon instead since you and the others are doing well."
"Normally you and the Pleiades are the ones defending Kuoh; did Aaron put someone else in charge of defending it for the day?"
"Róisín, Cindy, the Pleiades, and two dragon gods are defending it. Ignia also visited to fight God Serena, so they are also part of the defensive team."
"Ignia, huh? It's been a while since we last saw him. Well, it doesn't matter; I'll get going then," said Aurelia before disappearing.
Lianne turned around and said, "We'll make our way to the Greek god's pantheon then."
When they were about to leave, Athens was covered in a large barrier of darkness that no light could penetrate.
"Fufu, it seems Tobio Ikuse is about to end his fight," she added before leaving the country.
— ○ ● ○ —
[Perfectus Tenebrae Lykaon et Fortis Densus Laelaps]—or [Dark Demon Beast of the Abyss, Dog God of the Hero's Eternal Night Blade]. Tobio Ikuse had entered his Abyss-side Balance Breaker and planned on ending this fight with a normal-sized monster who was at True Satan-class power.
He had taken a few hits from him in his normal Balance Breaker, so he decided to end it after entering his Perfected Balance Breaker. Countless [Dogs] appeared in the vicinity of the barrier that blocked out the sun's light.
<<The conditions to bypass that ability of yours have been met; I will end this now, Druyip.>>
Tobio spun both his scythes in his hands while Gin walked beside him. The monster they faced was a normal-sized monster; they stood around 6'4" in height and were a mix of a cheetah and tortoise. Their name was also Druyip—he had the perfect balance of offense and defense.
His body was sturdy and could defend against Tobio's attacks while in his normal Balance Breaker, and if he couldn't, he would use his shell as a shield. Because of his cheetah side, he was also fast, but unlike normal animals, they wouldn't become exhausted after exerting their speed, and they could keep active continuously.
Druyip also had his own unique ability, which he called [Pulse. It utilizes his own body's pulses, and each pulse can increase his speed even more—he can purposely increase the pulses in his own body to make himself even faster, so by doing that he would have the speed of someone beyond Satan-class.
However, even with these powers and advantages, Tobio Ikuse finally found a way to beat him.
"Even with your new armor, it won't do anything, boy. I am comparable to Gods!" boasted Druyip.
<<I have slayed two gods before—slaying another one won't be a big deal,>> replied Tobio.
Five years prior, Tobio and the Slash Dog Team were sent on two missions that forced them to face gods—while those gods weren't combat-oriented gods, they were still gods and were difficult battles for them. Tobio and the Slash Dog Team also defeated what were considered 'God-class' monsters that the Wizards of Oz created.
"You're bluffing!" shouted Druyip before disappearing and becoming a blur.
He appeared and disappeared all around Tobio while creating afterimages and clones of himself. He ordered them to attack Tobio, but Gin and the [Dogs] defended him while Tobio stood still on the spot with his eyes closed.
"Closing your eyes won't do anything, [Slash Dog]!!"
Tobio combined both scythes and made them into a large and longer one. He drew it back while still keeping his eyes closed. As Druyip kept insulting him and keeping up his relentless assault with the clones, Tobio simply listened to his surroundings.
Because his own senses were heightened and enhanced during this Perfected Balance Breaker, even more so than during his regular Balance Breaker, he could tell where the real Druyip was—he was only waiting for the right moment to strike.
However, Druyip didn't wait for Tobio to act, so he kept attacking him. He also started to fire energy blasts towards him along with his clones, but all attempts were sliced apart by Gin and the [Dogs] who stood around him. He had ordered them not to interfere, as he knew that Druyip was prideful, and if Tobio was the one to deal the decisive blow during his strongest moment, it would destroy him.
And then it came. Tobio felt it, and with a single fluid motion, he swung his scythe down—the timing was perfect because of Druyip's arrogance; he let his guard down, and all it took was a single second of that for Tobio Ikuse to take advantage of it.
"Aaaaarrghhh!!"
Druyip fell to the ground, clutching his left leg—or what was left of it. Tobio aimed to slice off just one of his legs to start with. From this short interaction, he knew that Druyip held his speed, and in turn, he held his legs in high regard for being able to run so fast. So, in Tobio's mind, if he aimed for them, it would damage his pride even more.
He then gave orders for his [Dogs] and Gin to do the same. In one fell swoop, they cut off his other leg and severed his hands; this only made Druyip's screams louder. But as soon as Tobio stood in front of him, he looked up at the man with horror and tear-filled eyes, unable to utter another word.
<<Don't threaten my family—they're my life, and if you try to, I 'll kill you…>>
Without waiting another second, he sliced his head off, killing him. After he confirmed that he had killed the monster, he undid the darkness that covered their vicinity and he looked around. He saw that Ruruko's and Genshirou's enemies were dead, and the one near Vritra was still alive, but he also sensed that both his juniors were over there too.
<<Gin, let's clean up the rest here and join the others around Greece,>> said Tobio. Gin, along with the [Dogs] rushed around the capital to eliminate the rest of their adversaries.
— ○ ● ○ —
Aaron Toole stood still as he watched one of his lovers kneel down while holding onto one of her comrades who had gone MIA. She had apparently been killed and resurrected by the Khaos Order, like many of the others; however, there were exceptions, and some joined them willingly because of their grievances towards the Norse gods and how they dealt with things.
While some joined because they wanted revenge against Brynhildr and wanted to inflict as much pain on her as possible, Brynhildr was strict and harsh to her fellow valkyries, but she still cared for them in their own way, and she was aware that this way of treating others may garner her hate, but she only wanted the best out of her comrades.
She didn't think it would push them to this extent. While she battled two of her previously MIA comrades, she got through to one of them, and she was about to change sides when the other backstabbed the other.
Aaron had only arrived at their side after the stabbing had taken place. And he could see from a glance that the soul of that valkyrie had left and reincarnated instantly—there was no way of bringing them back.
"Aaron…"
"I'm sorry, I can't; they've reincarnated," he replied.
Brynhildr bit her lip, drawing blood. She got up and faced her former comrade. "Why?" she asked.
"Why? What do you mean why? I told you already, I hate that perverted asshole that we call a god, and I hate your bitchy and bossy attitude. Those two reasons are why we left! There's nothing else to say or explain, or did you become stupid after we left?" she asked.
"Is that really all of it, Arrja?" asked Brynhildr.
The valkyrie called Arrja shrugged. "Okay, I'll admit that some may have left for other reasons, but I didn't care about them and never asked, but generally, it's mostly those two complaints as well as how your morons ran our realm."
Arrja gained a thoughtful expression and added, "Well, the heroes and warriors in Valhalla shared some of our complaints; initially they were 'kidnapped' in a way, but eventually our explanations reached them and they agreed to rebel. To the ones that didn't agree with us? Well, they're permanently dead now, haha."
"I see…then join them," said Brynhildr before she punched a hole through Arrja's stomach with a single punch.
This exchange happened in the skies above the main island of Asgard. Various other valkyries and combatants were engaged in combat around the place. Brynhildr's punch caused a shockwave that hurt everyone around them because of its intensity.
"Wha—h-how—you cunt…you were hiding this much strength…?" Arrja asked, bewildered by the situation.
Brynhildr said nothing as she pulled her arm out of Arrja's stomach. The valkyrie began to fall, and with dead eyes on her face, Brynhildr pointed her palm towards Arrja and created a Norse-style magic circle that fired a power blast of light. Arrja couldn't resist or move, so she accepted her fate and was killed in the ensuing attack.
Aaron contained the explosion by using a barrier, which prevented the destruction of the island. Brynhildr flew over to her other comrade, closed her eyelids, and laid her to rest there. Aaron hadn't moved from his spot, and she looked at him with determined eyes.
"Let's stop this, and I want to personally punch either Black Alice or Hitler for this; I don't care who," she asserted.
"…Alright, let's do it then. Ah, let's try something though; we haven't performed it yet, but…it should be doable," said Aaron.
He entered his [Boosted Gear] [Queen] form and summoned his wyverns. They flew around Brynhildr and began to change into armor. Eventually she donned her own version of the Scale Mail of the [Boosted Gear].
"…It's quite revealing, but thank you; I'll be off," said Brynhildr; she had frowned at her slightly exposed chest but was thankful for the help.
Retracting his helmet, he looked to the distance, where he saw Göndul and Rossweisse confronting Göndul's husband, Jorgeir. Aaron Toole planned on joining their reunion.
— ○ ● ○ —
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