Author's Note: I HAVE RETURNED! First semester of my program and I literally have no free time to myself. I honestly can't handle being in college anymore. Welp, i finally had enough time to finish this so here it is. Please tell me what you guys because I am honestly not sure.

R/R

Last Time

"I who shall awaken

I am the True Dragon that soars beyond the Principles of Domination

I am the Dream that encroaches upon the Infinite

I shall become the Red Dragon of the Apocalypse

And guide you a world devoid of all Dreams!

"Apocalypse Dragon! Power is Sealed!"

Chapter 7 Haters of Men and Women

The Goddess of the Hunt could not believe her eyes. She may be a young Goddess at only 4000 and a half years old but even she knew of the Apocalypse written in the biblical bible. How did a deity so great become bound to this devil? Wasn't it rumored that the descendant of the original Lucifer wielded the Divine Dividing?

Several centuries ago, she had a chance encounter with a past possessor of the White Dragon. This bearer of Albion had befallen a tragedy and had used the Juggernaut Drive in a blind rage. Artemis, who had donned the task of making sure this dragon didn't go out of control by Zeus' command, listened to the entirety of the chant before she put the beast down.

"I who shall awaken am the Heavenly Dragon that lost all to the principles of domination." That was the first line of the chant for the Vanishing Dragon's Juggernaut Drive. Back then, this drew the curiosity of the deity of maidens, having never before hunted a draconic being before. Seeing that there was still time before the transformation was complete, she had decided to attempt to decipher the words that were spoken in case of a possible encounter in the future. Dissecting the first line, Artemis assumed that the Divine Dividing Longinus was made from a dragon who had lost something of great importance to whatever the principles of domination was a metaphor for.

"I envy the infinite and long for the dream." This line was quite easy to decipher. Because everyone knew what was infinite and what was the dream. After all, there were none worthier for the titles besides the Ouroboros and the Apocalypse Dragon Gods. This told the deity that the white dragon admired the Ouroboros for some reason and felt a sense of longing for the Great Red. But why did Albion envy Ophis and long for Great Red? Because he wanted more power to accomplish a dream?

"I shall become the White Dragon of Supremacy and guide you to the furthest limits of innocence." This was the line that had confused Artemis and still does to this day. Is this host saying he wanted to become Albion in order to guide everyone to true innocence? Was it appropriate to take that at face value or was here something more to that last line? What would a Heavenly Dragon who is obsessed with battling the Red One want with innocence?

Being drawn back out of her memories, the Greek Goddess focused her attention back on the Lucifer. She shouldn't be thinking about this. Before her was a person who claimed to be bonded to the Great Red, not the Dragon of Supremacy. She had to see how much power he could wield and think of counter-measures. She could not let these men bind women to their wills like slaves. She won't.

She can't.

As Artemis stared at the albino dragon/devil, she couldn't feel an increase in his magical power despite the changes in his energy signature. Before, the boy had the aura that was purely devil. Now, it was part devil and part dragon. However, the part of the aura that made up the draconic portion was certainly not any normal dragon, but that of a dragon god.

Vali noticed the goddess appraising him in a new light, analyzing him. He did not feel that much different from before the fusion. Was this similar to how his rival felt when he completed his fusion?

"You do not feel any difference because it will take time for your body to adjust to my power. I possess power that rivals that of the infinite. There is no way a mortal creature can use my power without time for my power to adjust to the new vessel. Since battle cannot be avoided, I am slowly building up your physical attributes."

'Spells?'

"I will strengthen them as you cast them."

'Is that so? Any way I can use my old abilities like how my rival can?'

"Of course. I copied all of the memories within your soul. You will be able to use all of the abilities you had when you were bonded with Albion. Would you rather I prioritize your abilities and physical attributes over your magic?"

'If you would. Any chance for a Balance Breaker and a Juggernaut?'

"Ha! You would desire further power, wouldn't you? To answer your question, you are not ready for my Balance Breaker. At best, you can use the Overbooster and that is if you give me a portion of your body. Not even that interesting brat could use Ophis' power that quickly."

"So basically, I can use my powers back when I was the White Dragon." Vali summarized aloud, making Artemis narrow her eyes. "Well, before we start our battle, I am afraid I have to conduct a few tests very quickly. Hope you don't mind if I borrow some of your hunters." Before the deity could voice an objection, the draconic devil vanished in a flash of newfound speed, bounding towards the invading females.

"Zoe!" Artemis called out, gaining the attention of the lieutenant of the Hunters. A single arm was raised, signaling the other hunters. The rest of the hunters ceased their advance and gathered around the six-foot-tall blond.

In the span of less than span of a single second, Vali had used nothing but his newly enhanced physical strength to sprint several meters, placing himself in front of the three girls and in the way of the invading hunters. The white-haired dragon smiled to see the Moon Goddess standing before the hunters in a protective stance.

Vali's hands were in his pockets once again, his lips curved up at his newfound discovery. "Seems we have roughly the same speed as one another. This proves that my physical attributes are already improving. Now, are there any changes to my magic the fusion may have caused? Red, temporarily cease the amplification of my physical prowess and focus on my next attack."

The hunters braced themselves for a magic barrage, having gathered plenty of data on the former white dragon. After all, it made sense to gather information on the combat styles of anyone who could prove to be a threat. While Vali and the Khaos Brigade haven't made any significant moves on the Greeks, it never hurt to know who you were going to fight. Vali was famous for not only his heritage, but his vast knowledge in a variety of magic and his ability to launch several spells at once as he did in his battle with Hyoudou. In said battle, Vali had casted a chain of Norse propulsion spells to maintain distance between himself and the Red Dragon at the battle of Kuoh. With this knowledge, it was safe to assume he could cast at least fifteen magics at the same time.

But there wasn't a single magic circle appearing anywhere near Vali. He wasn't chanting old magic; his hands were in his pockets so there was no way he was using script magic. There wasn't a single magic circle in sight either.

Only Artemis noticed the faint and eerie glow coming from the ground beneath them. Just as the deity turned her attention to the soil, the black magic circle that all of them were standing on faded, an unknown force rising from the ground behind her. Her fingers dug into her palm as she clenched her fist in anger, knowing that the hunters have been separated from her.

"Hmm…seems like the Walls of Skeletons was a little slow…but it seems sturdier than I thought it would. I'll call that a pass. Should be easy enough to adjust to the casting lag. I think I will call the casting of 4 Wall of Skeletons, the Box of Skeletons."

The Goddess of the Hunt turned from the thinking dragon to look at this trap that had caught her hunters. The term 'Box of Skeletons' was appropriate. There were no signs of her girls as she stared at the vast amount of soil and the remains of bodies long laid to rest. Placing the safety of her hunters over her desire to tear this man apart, she drew her bow and notched an arrow, aiming at the offending cube that dared to trap her daughters.

"Do you think it is wise to turn your back to the enemy?" A voice called out as the Greek Goddess felt a sense of impending doom creep up her spine.

She immediately faced her opponent to notice a fog like substance rushing towards her at unexpected speeds. Artemis leaped into the air to avoid the attack and aimed her bow at her opponent.

"Arc of Holy Thunder!" Her arrow flew towards the Apocalypse, a ferocious amount of lightning screaming to be unbound from the Divine Wood.

This attack failed in making Vali falter, extending the palm of his hand towards the arrow. The flying sliver of divine wood stayed true on its course, targeting the white-haired Satan spawn. But as soon as the thunderous weapon came into contact with the extending appendage…

"Divide ide ide ide ide." The host of the Dragon of Dragons divided the force of the attack so fast that the divisions blurred into one another so only the last half of the word could be heard. This did not go unnoticed by Vali, chalking it up to Great Red improving his Divide. Was it possible for Great Red to improve that one ability so much in this little time? By the time the dragonified devil finished his thought, the arrow floated towards his feet as little less than a stick.

Although Vali had expected some kind of reaction from the goddess from having one of her attacks once again prove to be ineffective, she did not express anything of the kind. In fact, she was already readying her next attack, dodging blasts of energy and magic spells as she did so, mumbling. Was she chanting a spell this time? Even though she was a goddess of the hunt, an archer?

"I, who hunts under the light of the stars, seek the power of those I have slain. Come forth and answer my call! Aspect of the Hunted: Hydra."

Vali watched in curiosity and a slight amount of amazement as the power of the goddess seemed to increase. But aside from that, there was no visible changes that he could notice aside from a golden green glow.

"Interesting." Vali said, ducking under a recently fired fire arrow and dividing another lightening arrow. "You can call on the power of the animals that you have slain on your hunts? I can see why you would want to hunt. Aside from the pride of hunting a formidable beast, you can increase your own strength with their qualities. An impressive ability!"

"It is a rather unique power to possess." The dragon of dragons also seemed to be mildly impressed. After flying through the dimensional gap for so long, he seemed to honestly express words of praise. While he may be considerable stronger than the infantile god, the multitude of ways the weak sought power appeared to be rather interesting.

"But now I am curious. Did you obtain your aptitude for lightning and fire from your relations to Zeus and Apollo? Or are you enchanting your arrows with fire and lightning spells?"

"I have no obligation to answer." Her voice remained calm as she spoke against the man who dared trap her hunters, her mind the complete opposite of her voice. She was desperately attempting to unravel a method to dispel the walls of undead that kept her girls trapped.

How am I going to get rid of that accursed Wall of Skeletons? If my hunters were not inside, I could easily destroy the mid-tier spell. But if I try to do that, I risk hurting my hunters who are already fighting the undead within. The quickest way to save them is to defeat this man: Vali. He said he was a Lucifer? If that is true then I should be easily be able to counter him with holy magic or to enchant my arrows with my divinity. But he already stopped my Divine Arrows so I don't think holy magic will work much better.

As the Goddess ran around firing arrows and dodging attacks, she began to think of ways to defeat his person who called himself a Lucifer. She left most of her divinity back on Mount Olympus so all of her attacks were more than shoddy and that was her hoping. It didn't seem like normal ways of slaying biblical devils would apply in this situation, her divinity left at home and without the knowledge of holy magic or weapons. So, what about dragons? What were ways of slaying dragons? Dragon slaying magic was an obvious answer but she didn't know any. The closest thing to a dragon she killed was a hydra and that was still a long way away from a wyvern and a drake, let alone a dragon. Another way to fight a dragon is to redirect it's attack and hope it is strong enough to hurt them… but that method was unreliable and harder to pull off than it sounds. The fact that she was an archer that was not that experienced in magic also played a factor. The pains of putting all of your eggs into honing archery.

If only she had some dragons blood…

The two fighters were back in their original positions, with Artemis' back against the Box of Skeletons and Vali's back towards the cottage. As Artemis was thinking of a countermeasure to tip the scale in her favor, she just so happened to catch a glimpse of something red on the ground.

In the name of Zeus…

The goddess immediately began to recount her battle, trying to remember when she had been wounded. The answer: she hadn't. Their battle had been in a stalemate since the start. The only exception was when the Lucifer caught her arrow. The wood endowed with her divinity must have pierced his skin and some blood dripped out before he could heal.

There only a small amount of the crimson liquid pooled on the ground, only enough to dip a single arrowhead in. The blood would only coat the very tip of her arrow but it would be enough to get the job done. The only decision to be made was what job needed to be done.

Should she use the blood arrow on the man and attempt to strike a fatal blow and free the women they bound? Or should she try to break her hunters out of this person's magic and retreat to Olympus in an attempt to replicate the dragon's blood?

The second option made Artemis' insides boil, performing a strategic retreat against any man was considered an act of cowardice in her eyes, believing the finer sex should be equal to the male counterpart and not submitting anything without equal trade. However, was this really without an equal trade? All she had to do was bend down in order to obtain a dragon slaying weapon! And if Hephaestus could somehow replicate the properties of the liquid life below her, not only would Olympus acquire a vast amount of power, but they would also have a way to slay any dragon! The blood of the Dragon of Dragons…versus her pride…

She made the decision she believed was right.

Artemis suddenly ducking down, piquing interest from the mix of devil and dragon from the speed of the motion. Out of everything that the goddess could have done, she bent to her knees? Bowing in submission? A goddess? No, there was no way such a thing was or was ever going to happen.

Naturally, Vali's eyes travelled downward to search for the reason for the sudden action. By her left leg was a little more than small red puddle that spanned inches at best. His eyebrows rose as the wood and stone became momentarily bathed in the mysterious liquid.

Is her reason for her actions that liquid? Vali silently asked the Great Red.

'I would assume so. Look at your palm.'

Vali did as he was told and instantly realized what the liquid was. He opened the palm of his hand to see a small scratch there, a small amount of blood present.

'So, she is after my blood? What purpose would it serve her? Or the Greek pantheon?'

'That is not just your blood Vali. That blood has the properties of a Dragon of Dragons. While not as potent as my own currently, it will not fail in making any object it comes in contact with a Dragon Slayer. In addition, it can be used as a catalyst for powerful spells, or make spells even more powerful.'

'I see… that would be rather annoying.' Vali responded, already coming up with a plan. 'Do you remember that attack Issei hit us with? Can you recreate it?'

'I got a long look at the runes and glyphs he used so in theory, I can. However, I would not be able to match the output that the host of Ophis used since we are not fully synchronized yet. I highly suggest you do not attempt it.

'Hmm, how unfortunate. In that case, this would be the perfect chance to test one of my own attacks I have been working on.' A grin spread across the lips of the Crimson Dragon's host, rubbing the wound in his hand on his pants. The Apocalypse realized his intentions and chuckled lowly.

'Heh. Suit yourself. But answer me this: do you intend to kill the goddess?'

'She has a way to fight back.' Was his answer, obviously referring to the divine arrow made dragon slayer. 'If she chooses not to defend, then that is her choice.'

'I see. An indifferent attitude towards death. Indeed, she has those options. However, I do not believe we should aim to kill, merely incapacitate.'

Vali said nothing, focusing his attention on the retreating Goddess. No…she wasn't retreating. The divine entity was advancing on his Box of Skeletons, arrow in hand. As the albino extended his arms and molded his hands into a fist and an open palm perpendicular to the ground, he observed the divine entity raise the arm that held the bloodied arrow.

It was in this moment that Vali realized she intended to use the power of his blood to obliterate the box that held her hunters.

This was his chance.

A series of magic circles and glyphs began to take shape before the devil dragon hybrid courtesy of the Apocalypse itself. Smiling to himself, Vali reached out his left arm towards the back of the female divine existence. The conjured circles and glyphs began to move, lining up before the fist of the albino devil. Once each of the conjurations were secured, Vali spoke.

"Satan Lucifer Smasher!"

The circles disappeared, replaced by a massive, rushing onslaught of demonic and dragonic energies. The attack swiftly lashed out at Artemis, barely having enough time to turn around and interpret that she needed to defend herself.

What…is that?

Without thinking, she held out the arrow in her arms, pointing it at the oncoming laser.

Transfer Dimension!

Without any notice, the seemingly endless stream of red and black seemed to hit a wall, mere millimeters from the tip of the arrow. Just as suddenly, the attack bent 90 degrees towards the sky and flew off into the vast expanse above.

"Vali, were you trying to kill her?"

The male and female looked up to find Issei floating down with the occasional flap of his majestic black and purple wings protruding from his back. Once Issei touched down, Vali opened his mouth to speak.

"If she lives or dies is none of my business. However, I highly doubt she would have died from that. Dragon Slayer aside, there was far less power in that attack than I had intended. Perhaps creating an attack using the Longinus Smasher as the base is a lost cause without channeling the magic into the core jewel of the Balance Breaker."

From what Issei understood, Vali was trying to master a new attack and wasn't able to use it to its full potential. This earned his approval. However…

"Dragon Slayer?"

A black gauntlet materialized on his arm. "It is possible to create dragon slayers by exposing an inorganic substance to the blood of a dragon. My guess is that Vali took damage and the goddess was able to coat one of her arrows in his blood."

Issei, having looked down at his gauntlet, raised his view to his rival who nodded his confirmation.

"I see." The gathering of two turned their gaze on the Goddess of the Moon who had not changed her position since the Ouroboros' arrival. Seeing the arrow in question within her grasp, Issei pointed a single finger at it and the arrow combusted on itself, much to the surprise of Artemis. "Now that the dragon slayer is out of the way, would you mind explaining to me why you attacked us? I highly doubt that it has much to do with us being in your territory. Oh, and don't start spewing ignorant nonsense about trying to free my wives from me because one of my wives is acting as my sacred gear. If I so much as attempted to hurt any of the girls, I would be unable to call upon her power."

"What!?" Artemis exclaimed, stepping forward in surprise. "The Ouroboros Dragon has taken you on as her mate!?"

"So what if I have, oblivious one?" Ophis spoke, deciding to materialize herself from the gauntlet in her preferred lolitta outfit. Fully manifested, she walked over towards the being of divine nature, daring her to say anything at all. "Who I decide to take as my mate is none of your concern. Or are you going to say that I was sweettalked into claiming him? That I was threatened? Me, the Black Dragon God of Infinity?" Artemis could feel an incomprehensible pressure fall upon her shoulders, forcing her into a kneeling position, unwillingly bowing before the Infinite Dragon God. "I am well aware of your past Artemis. That, however, does not excuse your behavior towards my mate or to those I have approved as his concubines."

The hosts watched this show of dominance from several feet away, none envious of the position the Greek Goddess was in. Issei, however, could feel the anger rolling off of Ophis in waves. Deciding that he should step in before she did something rash, he spoke up. "I think that is enough Ophis. Let us leave it at that."

Vali, seeming to understand what Issei desired, thrust his first two fingers forward. Behind the kneeling goddess, the Box of Skeletons, shattered into millions of pieces. Artemis, unable to move from her position, could do nothing but listen to the magic that trapped her followers disintegrate, hoping that the girls were all right.

The wielder of the Apocalypse raised his two fingers into the air and watched as the Hunters of Artemis rose into the air and fell beside their leader, all of them unconscious.

"Hear this Artemis." Issei spoke with power and authority. "You attacked us, the wielders of Ophis and Great Red. Your death, should we desire it, is forfeit. We could also take our anger out against your entire faction with minimal repercussion on ourselves."

"!" The breathing of the goddess hitched, the realization of her blunder fully ingraining itself into her cranium. "Please! I beg of you! If you are mad, then please take it out against me! Leave my faction and my hunters out of this! It was my decision and my misunderstanding! They have no reason to be punished!"

The two strongest dragons remained silent, contemplating for several seconds.

"Misunderstanding?" Vali asked. "And what, pray tell, was your misunderstanding?"

Artemis grit her teeth and clenched the soil beneath her, ashamed that she was placed in this position. "My misunderstanding was falsely believing that the two of you enslaved the girls that were present on my arrival."

"Hmm? Speaking of which, where are the girls?"

"RIGHT HERE!"

Suddenly, Vali was assaulted with a fist, a kick, and what appeared to be a fire spell. The barrage sent him flying backward where he landed quite gracefully…on his face.

Where Vali was previously standing was Koneko, Kuroka, and Le Fey.

"Next time you decide to use magic Vali, make sure you don't trap us in with the enemy!" Le Fey uncharacteristically shouted at the fallen dragon. "We were stuck in that skeleton cube with the hunters! We had to deal with them, the undead, them again, and more undead! How would you like to be trapped in a room with an unending number of Elder Liches?"

Issei and Vali, whose hair was most definitely singed, just stared and blinked at the blonde Pendragon. Noticing the obvious confusion on their faces, Koneko decided to answer the unasked question.

"She is scared of bones."

"I-I am not scared of them. I just don't like them very much…"

Kuroka, who was silent until now, suddenly smirked and reached into her kimono sleeve and pulled something out, holding it to Le Fey's face.

"BOO!"

"KYAA!"

BONG!

Le Fey, startled by the sudden appearance of a skull, swung her wand at the offending mass of calcium with her eyes closed. Naturally, she missed and ended up hitting the black cat in the head with a rather mean strike, knocking the girl to the dirt with steam pouring out of her bruise.

"Pff!" Not even the descendent of Lucifer himself could remain stoic in the face of the comedy before him. Issei, the emotional sensations flowing from his mate back into him from their bond, was unable to be humored as Ophis' anger began to become his anger.

"You should know Artemis, I share your feelings directed towards men. My feelings, however; are directed at women. I cannot help but loath females in general because of what happened to me." The former devil of the Gremory peerage advanced and lowered his left appendage on midnight colored hair, the pressure on the goddess decreasing rapidly. However, she did not rise, unable to do anything but comprehend the meaning of the words the decades old creature spoke.

"You…loath women?" She asked dumbly. She had never believed she would ever encounter a man that would despise the opposite sex to the point of loathing them.

The man that stood before her, the anger beginning to filter out of the almighty creatures, ruffled his hair at the realization of having said too much. After much internal debate, he decided to sit beside the Goddess.

"Back in my father's younger days, he was very interested in mythology. As a child, I would listen to the stories he told me. One of those stories was of a human man named Orion who was after a certain Goddess' heart." The very visible flinch did not go unnoticed by Issei continued. "After spending much time with the man, she grew comfortable in his presence whereas Orion was captivated by her beauty to the point where his affections turned to lust. Knowing that she would refuse, he attempted to relieve himself using one of her companions. However, he was discovered as he attempted to force himself on the Goddess's subordinate. Unable to hide his arousal, he turned towards the more beautiful and was killed before he could commit any action towards her maidenhood."

Artemis hung her head down, her memories of that time rising towards the surface. The grass beneath them bent in her grasp and numerous animal spirits began to appear in the neighboring greenage, worried for their master, the Goddess of the Hunt.

"I was manipulated and betrayed by a group of women, a devil King and her pieces. She wanted me to be a part of her peerage. To do so, she let me die at the hands of my first lover and girlfriend, a fallen angel whose existence should have been chased out of her territory that she ignored. Since then, I was used as a tool to obtain her desires, only to be casted aside once I couldn't understand them anymore. Her pieces, who I believed were my friends, sided with their King even though she was obviously in the wrong. That made them just as despicable as her. So, with the help of the Lady Luck and Ophis, I left the peerage and now have the power to live for my own desires."

With the help of the manifested Dragon God, Issei stood and took her back into himself before turning towards the shell-shocked Goddess behind him. "If you truly mean those words you said earlier, then I want you to accompany us as we explore the world. Aside from my wives, I have a negative outlook on women and you have a negative outlook on men. My plan is for us to help each other see the good things in the opposite gender. In addition, I may be more inclined to help with any problems Olympus has in the future if you can grant a request of mine."

Artemis didn't even know what she should be feeling right now. Anger for having her past dug up so easily? Shame for having someone else explain her shortcomings to her? Shock that a man could have a similar past to herself? Maybe awe that this man before her can acknowledge his hatred and is taking steps to lessen if not vanquish that hatred?

"…I want my hunters to accompany me."

"Easily done."

"Nothing sexual or intimate happens to me or my hunters."

"I have my wives for that."

"You respect the desires of the girls and myself."

"My group and I all act on our desires while respecting one another. To not do the same for you and your girls would be hypocritical."

"And I can't guarantee your request will be granted until I have a talk with my father." She held out her hand towards Issei, asking for assistance in standing, willing to give this man; who has walked in her shoes and endured something similar to what she had; a chance.

"I am sure he will agree after we both explain the occurrences of today to him." He replied with an unnerving smile. A pit in her stomach suddenly formed that her father would be informed of her folly and what punishment he will bestow her with.

"Well…that aside…what is your request if I may ask?" As she finished her sentence, the hunters began to regain consciousness and look around only for their gazes to fall on their goddess grasping the hand of another man.

"To request Hephaestus to craft me a Dragon Slayer made from my blood. Figured a sword made from the blood of a Dragon God will more than replace the one I previously had."