Hey, I'm back!

Let's get on with the story!


It was times like this that Sirzechs really thanked Satan for being born with as much power as he had.

It was thanks to that copious amount of power that he was able to ignore the absolutely frigid environment of Romania.

Or at least, the Vampire territory they were in right now.

Due to the general weakness to sunlight that all Vampires aside from the rare Daywalkers possessed, the dwellers of the night of the distant past had pooled their power to enshroud their territory in eternal night and winter.

Recharging that spell was probably the only occasion in which the Tepes Faction and the Carmilla Faction regularly worked together.

It wouldn't do if the spell to suddenly end in the middle of day in summer, and the Vampires unlucky enough to be outdoors at the time to be reduced to ashes as a result.

Sirzechs currently stood at the edge of a cliff that overlooked the town that was the heart of the Tepes Clan, a massive snowstorm raging above, hindering his vision.

Beside him were Azazel and Michael, both also unaffected by the cold.

Behind him were Grayfia, along with a Seraph with hair the color of burning flames, and a ten-winged Fallen Angel with black hair, beard, gruff features and a muscular body, and a young-looking Seraph with blonde hair and green eyes, dressed in the robes of a priest, and a carefree expression on his face.

The Flame of Heaven, Uriel, one of the Four Great Seraphs, Holy Lightning Baraqiel, a cadre of the Grigori, and Dulio Gesualdo, the Church's Strongest Exorcist who had been reincarnated into an Angel using Heaven's Brave Saint System, their equivalent of the Devils' Evil Piece System.

Appearing next to them in magic circles bearing Sirzechs's personal crest as Maou Lucifer, were a tall man possessing musculature much greater than that of Baraqiel, with orange hair, flaming red eyes, dressed in a trench coat with a bottle of sake tied to his pants, releasing a burning aura that melted the snow around him and raised the surrounding temperature considerably, and a man with wavy black and blonde hair, dressed in an elaborate crimson robe, releasing an ominous aura.

His Mutated Rook, Surtr Second, and his Bishop, MacGregor Mathers.

Appearing in a flash of pale moonlight was Tsukuyomi, dressed not in his ceremonial robes, but in the robes of an onmyouji.

He came in place of Amaterasu, because not only were the power of Gods considerably weaker when outside of their sphere of influence, the Lady of the Sun would be further weakened by the eternal night and winter.

Tsukuyomi, who ruled over the moon, was a much better candidate.

This was the force they had gathered for the sake of invading the Tepes Faction's territory and deal with the possessor of Sephiroth Graal.

Well, actually, there was still one more.

A red magic circle, bearing the crest of the Gremory Clan, appeared on the snow-covered ground, and from it came Gasper Vladi.

The Dhamphir immediately started sneezing, shivering as the full force of the blizzard hit him head on.

"Are you okay, Gasper-kun?" Sirzechs asked, needing to shout so that he could be heard over the howl of the frozen gale, despite Gasper being right next to him.

"Y-Y-Y-Yes! I-I-I-I-It's just been a while since I've been here! I'll g-g-g-get used to it soon!" Gasper managed to say through his chattering teeth, though his bravado was largely ruined by him shaking like a leaf.

"So, what should we do, Sirzechs?" Azazel asked the de facto leader of this little entourage.

"…Well, they probably already know that we're here, considering that this is the heart of their territory. Originally, I wanted to undo the spell that they're using to perpetuate this eternal night and winter, but if what Miss Galnstein said is true, the Tepes Faction isn't affected by sunlight anymore. Assume that every Vampire we come across is hostile and use lethal force. Gasper-kun, stay back, and tell us if you see Valerie Tepes." Sirzechs said coldly, preparing to fight with the intention to kill.

This was not Sirzechs Lucifer, the kind and gentle Maou Lucifer, who wished to make peace, not war.

No, in this state, he was more like Sirzechs Gremory, one of the leaders of the revolution seeking to overthrow the rule of the Old Maou Faction, prepared to do whatever it took to save their kind from the incompetence of the Original Maous' children.

The expressions of the other members of the group similarly cooled, with even the ever smiling Michael becoming arctic cold. Every single one of them were veteran fighters who had been through countless battles, even Dulio, who was the youngest among them, one of the two whose age was still in the double digits.

The only exceptions were Surtr, who simply broke into a wide, manic grin as flames began to ignite across his body, and Gasper, who looked incredibly intimidated by the suddenly frosty atmosphere of the team.

His shaking intensified, and it wasn't because of the weather.

"Well then, let's begin with a little greeting, shall we?" Sirzechs said as he looked down at the town below, where small specks had begun to move around, likely the Tepes Faction responding to their presence.

The team descended on the town, and thus began what would be known as the Tepes Faction Massacre in the near future.


"Stop them, don't let them get any clos-Aaaaaaagh!?" A Vampire screamed as he was vaporized by a massive spear of light from Azazel, a viciousness that befitted the leader of the Fallen Angels, the most aggressive amongst the Three Factions during the Great War, making up for their lack of numbers with sheer power.

And that was still a relatively kinder fate than what a good number of his brethren had already suffered at the hands of the Allied Factions team.

Several large craters had been gouged into the streets, a result of Sirzechs's orbs of Power of Destruction that had utterly annihilated multiple Vampires from existence.

Others were frozen solid by Grayfia's ice spells, doomed to eternal imprisonment in magically reinforced ice.

A large group had been showered by a massive rain of spears of light from Michael, leaving no trace of them behind. It reminded those old enough to remember of the incident where the Ten Seraphs struck down the Tower of Babel, and the imperious fools that had constructed it, on YHWH's orders, though this was obviously on a much smaller scale, otherwise, the rest of them would have been caught up in it too.

A entire group were rendered to less than ashes by great bolts of lightning, courtesy of Baraqiel, who specialized in combining Holy and Lightning magic, and Dulio, whose Zenith Tempest allowed him full dominion over the weather and elements.

Several screamed as they were engulfed and immolated by Uriel's white Flames of Heaven and Surtr's red God-Slaying Flames. The latter was only an imitation of the Flames that would consume Valhalla during Ragnarok, possessing only a portion of the original power, but it still possessed enough lethality to utterly annihilate the modified Vampires even if Surtr wasn't actively controlling them.

Others were ripped apart by the absolute gravity of the small black hole that MacGregor had created. It was a testament to his masterful level of control that he was able to prevent the supergravitional singularity from devouring everything around it and only target the Vampires, a feat made even more amazing by the fact that Gravity was one of the most advanced branches of magic, with only a small handful of magic users, human or otherwise, capable of claiming to be masters, MacGregor being one of them.

Finally, Tsukuyomi fired blasts of ethereal energy big enough to easily erase their entire bodies.

Because of the modifications that had been performed on them using Sephiroth Graal, the Vampires possessed unbelievable regenerative properties, allowing them to quickly recover from fatal wounds like having their heads ripped off, or even having their upper body destroyed.

That was why it was necessary to use extreme lethal force to utterly erase every last speck of them from the physical plane.

They couldn't regenerate if there was nothing to regenerate from, after all.

The Tepes Faction was sending out its fighters in droves, but each swiftly met their end, and the group made their way into the heart of town, moving in a circle formation.

"Well, Gasper-kun? Do you see your friend anywhere?" Sirzechs asked Gasper, who was standing in the middle of the circle formation, surrounded by the rest of the group so that he wouldn't get caught up in the fight.

"N-No…and it's not just Valerie…I haven't seen any of the Tepes Clan members that I know of either…"

"I see. In that case, where do you think they are?"

"Probably…in the Tepes Clan's mansion over there." Gasper replied as he pointed to the massive Victorian style mansion that took up a great portion of the land space in the center of the town.

"Kinda cliché, isn't it? The big bad bosses stay in their castle while they send their peons out to do their dirty work. It always ends with them getting their asses kicked." Azazel said jovially, even as he continued to attack in an uncharacteristically violent manner.

"Then, let's play the part of the heroes and slay the villains."

"I'm afraid that I'll have to ask you to stop there."

The group stopped when an unfamiliar voice cut in, and a large black magic circle appeared on the ground.

"A Dragon Gate…and that color…" Azazel commented as he and the rest put up their guard, their eyes focused on the specialized magic circle created for the teleportation of Dragons.

The color of the Dragon Gate changed in response to the Dragon that was being teleported. If Ddraige, a Sekiryuutei, a Fire Dragon, and presumably Great Red itself, was being teleported, it would be the same shade of red as Ddraige's scales. In the same vein, if it were Albion or a Hakuryuukou, it would be pure white.

If one were to ask which Dragons corresponded to the color black, the most well-known would definitely be the Prison Dragon, Vritra, one of the Six Dragon Kings.

But that shade of black…was slightly off.

The Dragon Gate flashed, and a single human emerged from it.

He was a handsome young man with brown skin, black hair, black eyes, dressed in black robes.

Not quite what one would expect to emerge from a magic circle created to transport Dragons, but the sheer malicious aura he was releasing, capable of rivalling that of Gods, was undoubtedly draconic in nature.

And being able to take the shape of a human…only the most powerful and skilled of Dragons could do that, requiring both immense power and incredible control over said power, the latter of which most Dragons lacked.

And there was something in his aforementioned aura, something more, dwarfed by his draconic power, but present nonetheless.

Something divine.

There was only one Evil Dragon that fit the conditions of being both a Dragon and a God at the same time.

"Tch…Eclipse Dragon Apophis, I presume?" Azazel said as he clicked his tongue.

"Thou presumeth correctly, Viceroy of the Fallen Angels. One would ask what thou art doing here, but the answer to that is fairly obvious. Angra Mainyu-sama left this one here in case an incident like this was to occur. This one cannot allow you to take Sephiroth Graal. It is a rather important tool for Qlipoth. With it, we can even accomplish feats like this." Apophis said, speaking in an archaic dialect as he spread his arms to his sides.

Two more Dragon Gates appeared on either side of him, one a sickly green in color, and the other dark brown.

Two very familiar figures emerged from them.

From the dark green Dragon Gate came a massive dark green-scaled bipedal Dragon, and from the dark brown magic circle, a gargantuan hundred-headed Dragon merged with a giant tree with golden apples hanging from its branches emerged.

"Grendel and Ladon!? Impossible, both of them were killed during the attack on the conference!"

"Yes, this one must commend thee for a feat most impressive. Mine kin hath been extensively modified, yet they met their end so swiftly. No, this one supposeth that since the Welsh Drake and Vanishing Drake were the opponents, tis an expected result…no matter. Unfortunately, thou hath only succeeded in rendering their physical form from existence. An act that most certainly took their lives, leaving no trace of their bodies to regenerate from, but as long as the souls art still intact, we can simply use Sephiroth Graal to create new bodies and revive them again and again." Apophis replied nonchalantly.

"NOW THEN! WHERE'S THAT SEKIRYUUTEI BASTARD!? I'LL FUCKING KILL HIM!" Grendel roared in his usual loud and obnoxious manner, his eyes filled with mad bloodlust.

"Bring out the Hakuryuukou. I have a score to settle with him as well." All of Ladon's hundred heads growled at the same time, filled with cold rage in contrast to Grendel's hot-bloodedness.

"…Unfortunately, those two are not with us, so I'm afraid you'll have to settle for us instead." Sirzechs spoke evenly as he allowed his immense power to flare to life, preparing to fight.

"IS THAT SO!? THEN I'LL BE TAKING YOUR LIFE, SHITHEAD!" Grendel roared as he leapt at the Crimson Lucifer…only to be deterred and engulfed by a pillar of red flames, dangerously close to Sirzechs's face and almost scorching strands of his hair off.

"Sorry 'bout that, boss. But would ye mind leavin' this one ta me? Looks like this lizard migh' be a good opponen'." Surtr spoke in his thick Scandinavian accent.

The Crime Force Dragon burst out of the plume of God-Slaying Flames, his scales scorched and melted, and his eyes bloodshot, but otherwise looking fine.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, MATCHSTICK!" Grendel roared as he charged at the clone of the Fire Giant, who grinned widely and met the charge, resulting in a stalemate as they contested their physical strength against each other, their size difference making it a rather strange sight.

"Oh, in that case, Michael-sama, let me handle the hundred-headed one." Dulio volunteered, his gaze set on Ladon.

All of the Insomniac Dragon's two hundred eyes focused on the Strongest Exorcist and narrowed.

"You…there is something about that power you wield…something very familiar…" Ladon muttered to himself, though the immensity of his size made it such that even that mutter could be clearly heard.

"Likewise, Sirzechs-sama, allow me to deal with the Eclipse Dragon. Ancient Egypt was said to be the birthplace of magic, and Apophis is supposed to be the user of some of the oldest and most powerful magic in existence, so I wish to see it for myself." MacGregor said as he stepped forward to meet Apophis.

"MacGregor Mathers…Rizevim hast informeth this one that thou art one of the most accomplished magicians to date. Yes, this one supposeth it would be interesting to see how far magic hath advanced, or deteriorated, since mine age." The Eclipse Dragon, bearing the shape of a human, said, just a tiny gleam of interest in his otherwise impassive gaze.

Sirzechs also noted the lack of honorifics, or any indication of respect in his tone for that matter, when referring to Rizevim, as opposed to when he spoke of Angra Mainyu in an almost reverent manner, and even referred to him as '-sama'.

It was clear who the Eclipse Dragon was really loyal to.

"Sirzechs-sama, we should take this opportunity to proceed ahead." Grayfia whispered to him.

Yes, with the three Evil Dragons busy with their opponents, proceeding ahead should be a simple matter.

The group started moving again, and none of the Evil Dragons made a move to stop them.

"Didn't you say that you weren't going to let us pass?" Sirzechs asked Apophis as he passed by the brown-skinned human-shaped Dragon

"I believe my exact words were 'I cannot allow you to take Sephiroth Graal'. Whether or not you can get past me is irrelevant. As long as you do not succeed in taking the Holy Grail, my mission is accomplished." Apophis replied without taking his eyes off of MacGregor.

Sirzechs frowned, even as they rushed ahead.

If Apophis was so confident that they would not succeed in removing Sephiroth Graal from Qlipoth's control, then there must be something, a trap of some sort, lying in wait for them.

Were the other four Evil Dragons there?

No, even if they were, they wouldn't be able to take on all of them, especially not Sirzechs at his full power.

So what was it?

Sirzechs could only think of more questions, but no answers.


"Gasper-kun, which way do we go now?"

"Um…I think the throne room is this way." The Dhamphir pointed down the dimly lit long corridor.

They had infiltrated the Tepes Clan mansion without any difficulty…which was rather disconcerting, considering that breaking into the enemy's stronghold usually required a good deal of strong-arming.

But, the place was completely deserted, not a single Vampire in sight.

Sirzechs could only draw the conclusion that they were walking into a trap.

And unfortunately, they didn't have much choice but to spring it.

With Surtr, MacGregor and Dulio handling the three Evil Dragons, their group had been cut down to 8 people, 7, if Gasper was excluded for his lack of combat potential.

Judging by Apophis's words, neither Angra Mainyu nor Rizevim were present at the moment.

However, Qlipoth still had plenty of fighters that could give them trouble, Euclid and Walburga at the top of that list, and that was without considering whatever allies Qlipoth had from the various mythologies around the world.

The Factions from around the world had many, many enemies, too numerous to count, and each with an axe to grind.

If Qlipoth approached them, they could easily bolster their numbers and power to match all of the Factions.

Sirzechs shuddered to think what would happen if Qlipoth somehow managed to gain the allegiances of eldritch abominations like the Greek Titans, the Norse Jotunns, or the Egyptian Ancient Ones.

Could they take monsters like those on with just the 7 of them?

Sirzechs at his full power could rank in the world's top 10, but he was basically the only one among them with that kind of power.

Tsukuyomi was a close second in his Full Divine Form, but he was weakened from being outside of the Shinto Faction's sphere of influence, and couldn't exhibit his full power.

If worse came to worst…what would they do?

"Probably wing it."Sirzechs thought as he pushed open the massive double doors that led to the throne room.

They stepped into a spacious room, with a long red carpet that led from the door all the way to the elevated throne at the other side of the room, carved from fine marble with the massive statue of a gargoyle looming behind it.

"Valerie!" Gasper suddenly shouted, drawing the rest of the group's attention to a young woman with sandy blond hair, dressed in a tattered dress, wearing what appeared to be a jeweled collar around her neck, and shackled to the wall next to the throne.

That was Valerie Tepes? By the way she was dressed, it didn't appear that she was helping Qlipoth of her own volition.

The woman looked up at Gasper's voice, allowing them to see her blank red eyes.

"Oh my, if it isn't Gasper. You've grown bigger since we last saw each other. Are you doing well?" She asked, as though she wasn't chained up like a prisoner, or a slave.

Then, she paused, and started speaking a language that even a Devil's innate ability to automatically translate all languages could not make sense of, sending a chill down Sirzechs's spine.

"The language of the dead…then, she must already be…"

"Yeah, it's the effect from overusing Sephiroth Graal. Well, in the first place, that thing is a troublesome Sacred Gear that overloads its possessor's head with information about the origins of life and the soul, so I guess she was doomed from the moment it awakened." Azazel said with a look of pity on his face.

Sephiroth Graal was a low-tier Longinus, but it was considered one of the most dangerous because of its sheer detriment to its possessor, even when compared to the other Longinus.

Not only did it force knowledge of the origins of life and the soul upon the possessor, every time it was used, an endless stream of information about the living and the dead around them flowed into their heads.

A normal mortal psyche would not be able to remain whole after being exposed to so much information.

"Now now, Valerie, it's rude to ignore our guests." Another voice, male and condescending, interrupted them.

Sitting atop the throne was a young boy with pale skin, blonde hair and red eyes, smiling mockingly down at them.

"Welcome, members of the Allied Factions. We've been expecting you. I am Marius Tepes, the newly crowned 5th king of the Tepes Faction." The doll-like Vampire, undoubtedly a Pure Blood, said, his smile never wavering.

"Forgive our sudden intrusion into your territory, but surely you understand. Qlipoth is a dangerous enemy to us. If there is a way for us to cripple them, then we must take it. And thus, I shall only ask this once. Will you surrender to us?" Sirzechs asked as he flared his power in a show of force.

"An interesting offer. However, I must decline. Our dealings with Qlipoth have reaped quite a number of benefits for us, so I would prefer to continue our association." Marius rejected, looking supremely confident despite the massive buildup of power in front of him.

"So, you intend to fight us?"

"Oh no no no, not me! Goodness, I would never participate in such a boorish activity. I think I will leave this to my bodyguard."

It was then that someone else made their presence known.

A tall, handsome man dressed in black clothes, with blond and black hair, not unlike Azazel's, and heterochromatic eyes of the same colors, stepped out from behind one of the massive pillars on either side of the throne.

His presence was not that of a Vampire, but of a Dragon.

Another Dragon capable of taking on a human form, just like Apophis.

And his power was just as great as Apophis's, though his was definitely purely draconic.

This…must be the one who was called the unquestionable strongest of the Evil Dragons…

"Let me introduce you to my bodyguard assigned to me by Angra Mainyu-sama. The Crescent Circle Dragon, Crom Cruach."

The strongest of the 7 Evil Dragons did not react to his name, and simply stared impassively at them.

"Now then, Crom Cruach-san, please kill all of them."

Sirzechs and the others tensed, preparing for an attack, but Crom Cruach simply stared at them for a while longer before turning to Marius.

"No."

"…Excuse me?" Marius asked incredulously, his first emotion aside from arrogance up until now.

"I am not interested in silly brawls like this. What I desire is a real fight, capable of making my blood boil. So, which one of you is the strongest?" Crom Cruach asked, turning back to them.

They looked at each other for a moment, not quite sure what was happening, and Sirzech stepped forward.

"That would be me."

Crom Cruach looked at the Crimson Lucifer searchingly…before grinning widely, showing off his sharp pearly whites.

"You look like you would be fun to fight. Which is superior, an Evil Dragon, or a Maou?" Crom Cruach mused as his aura grew wilder, matching his sudden hot-bloodedness.

"Ha…Angra Mainyu-sama did warn me about his personality…well, no matter, I still have another trump card left." Marius Tepes said with a sigh as he held up a hand and showed off the ring on his middle finger.

The dark gem embedded in the metal band started glowing ominously.

"Ah…ah…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Valerie screamed as the gem on her collar started glowing with the same light.

"Valerie!"

Gasper tried to approach her, but Sirzechs held him back, feeling a terrible presence.

Formless grey specters began to emerge from the marble floor, drifting up to the surface.

Then, they began to solidify, gaining color, shape and solidity.

Soon, six new figures stood between them and the throne on the other side of the room.

The first was a man with straight hair of a lighter shade of silver grey, red eyes, regal facial features, dressed in noble clothes, holding a simple spear.

The second was a man who slightly resembled the first man, but with shaggy grey hair, a matching beard, and red eyes, donned in black armor, which was heavily stained in blood, and holding an equally bloodstained spear, giving him a much more savage appearance.

The third was a woman with blood red hair and matching eyes, dressed in an elaborate black dress, also holding a spear that was similar to the second man's, just shorter to fit her size.

The fourth was another woman, this time with silver hair and blood red eyes, wearing a rather sensual set of battle armor that did more to show off her assets than it seemed to do actually protecting her. Unlike the three before her, she did not wield a spear, but a staff.

The fifth was a man with blonde hair, red eyes, dressed in clothes similar to the second man, and wielding a sword.

The sixth and last was a woman, also with blonde hair and red eyes, wearing a ballroom dress, and holding a rapier.

All six of them stood stock still and stared ahead impassively.

Did they have no free will of their own.

"Allow me to introduce them to you. The six strongest Vampires in history. Our noble ancestor who founded the Tepes Clan, Vlad Tepes I. His grandson, who I have the misfortune of calling my relative, Vlad Tepes III, the Prince of Impalement. The Blood Countess, Elizabeth Bathory. The founder of the Carmilla Clan, Queen Carmilla I. The first head of the Vladi Clan, the son of Vlad Tepes III, Sanguine Vladi. And finally, the first head of the Galnstein Clan, Priscilla Galnstein. Through the use of Sephiroth Graal, I have brought them back to be your opponents." Marius Tepes spoke, his condescending grin widening.

"Tch, two of the original True Ancestors, the founders of both Factions' strongest subordinate Clans, and the two worst Vampires in history, one of whom is also a True Ancestor. That's quite the selection you've got there, brat." Azazel groaned, a scowl on his face.

"Well, to deal with you lot, at least this much power is needed. Enjoy yourselves. I must be off now. I still have much to do before Angra Mainyu-sama returns. Kill them." Marius ordered the revived Vampires before rising from his throne, releasing Valerie from her shackles and dragging her with him as he exited the throne room through a door next to the throne.

"Wait!" Gasper immediately tried to follow them, but halted abruptly when Vlad Tepes I slammed his spear right into his path, cutting him off.

"Looks like…they won't let us pass, huh?" Azazel commented as he took out his Downfall Dragon Spear.

"Then, I suppose there's no choice but to force our way through." Baraqiel said, his hands already crackling with holy lightning.

"Well, there is a reason these six are revered among Vampires, so it probably won't be easy. Plus, I have to deal with this one."

Sirzechs kept his gaze firmly planted his gaze on the strongest of the 7 Evil Dragons, who had been patiently waiting, and was looking at the 6 Vampires with a look of irritation.

"It's not my style to fight alongside others but…well, as long as they don't interfere with my fight, I suppose I'll let it go." Crom Cruach grumbled before turning back to Sirzechs.

"Are you ready to begin then?"

"…Gasper-kun, the moment the battle starts, go after your friend. We'll stop them from coming after you."

"Yes!" Gasper replied with a strong tone, looking far more determined that Sirzechs had ever seen him.

For a moment, all 15 occupants of the room were completely still, staring each other down.

Then, without warning, 7 pairs clashed with each other, while Gasper dashed through the room, running towards the door that Marius had dragged Valerie through.

Crom Cruach did not do anything other than spare a lengthy gaze at him, but the six resurrected Vampires moved at the same time, intending to stop him, only to find their opponents blocking their path.

Vlad Tepes I found himself trading blows with Tsukuyomi, as did his grandson with Azazel, donned in his Artificial Balance Breaker.

Elizabeth Bathory found herself on the receiving end of a barrage of spears of light from Michael, who had taken to the air, remaining close to the high ceiling of the room, and out of the reach of her spear.

Queen Carmilla I and Grayfia were in the middle of a heated exchanged of spells. The founder of the Carmilla Clan was one of the most feared magic users in her time, but Grayfia held the same esteem in this age. It was rare to see two evenly matched magic users of their level fighting it out, and Sirzechs regretted that he had to concentrate on his battle with Crom Cruach instead of actually watching the momentous bout.

Baraqiel and Uriel teamed up to take on the founders of the Vladi and Galnstein Clans, raining holy lightning and holy flames down on the two Vampires.

Sirzechs himself was being pressed by Crom Cruach.

The unfortunate truth was that Sirzechs was not an experienced hand to hand combatant. His dabbling in martial arts in his youth, combined with his own physical strength, made him frighteningly proficient if push came to shove and he had no choice but to engage in a physical brawl, but against a Dragon taking the form of a human while still retaining the absurd physical strength of the strongest species, further heightened by his own power and experience?

Sirzechs was being tossed around like a nerd by a bully on their first day of school.

This was the first time he was being so one-sidedly kicked around.

He couldn't say that it was a particularly pleasant experience.

Sirzechs was tossed into the air, and as Crom Cruach swung a fist at his solar plexus, he conjured a film of Power of Destruction right in front of it.

The Crescent Circle Dragon twitched and quickly withdrew his hand just as it made in contact with the all-annihilating darkness, interrupting his assault and allowing Sirzechs time to recover.

Even the momentary contact had not allowed him to escape unscathed. The skin covering the fist had been destroyed, exposing his nerves underneath to the open air and causing the Evil Dragon to hiss in pain.

"Hm, not bad, I guess. Well then, how about this?" Crom Cruach said after a moment of staring at his injured fist.

Majestic black scales started to coat the surface of the skin on his arms, giving them the appearance of gleaming black claws.

The trousers he was wearing tore, revealing his legs to be in a similar state.

Crom Cruach launched himself at Sirzechs once more.

Sirzechs conjured multiple orbs of Power of Destruction and fired them at the Evil Dragon.

However, he simply crossed his scale-covered arms in front of his face and charged right through them, the Blood Trait of the Baal Clan barely having enough time to wear away the surface of his scales before they were dissipated by sheer physical force.

Sirzechs barely brought up a barrier in time to meet Crom Cruach's charge, and even then, he was forced to hastily move out of the way when said barrier shattered in a second, the natural magic resistance of Dragons coming into play.

The Crimson Lucifer expanded his wings and took to the air while raining more orbs of Power of Destruction down on the Evil Dragon, making them bigger and increasing their power in order to overcome his defenses.

Sensing the danger, the Evil Dragon danced through them as he leapt into the air after Sirzechs.

Sirzechs simply gestured with his hand, and the orbs that had missed turned around and made their way towards Crom Cruach once more.

The Crescent Circle Dragon immediately turned around and expanded his massive draconic wings, using them to knock the lethal spheres away.

Seizing the opportunity while the Evil Dragon was distracted by his task, Sirzechs created a massive orb of Power of Destruction, one that was as big as he was, and launched it at Crom Cruach's back.

The sphere of all-annihilating darkness slammed straight into the Evil Dragon, sending him down into the ground where it continued to grind his body into the floor, wearing both away.

Sirzechs took a deep breath and looked around.

Due to the disadvantage he suffered while outside Shinto territory, Tsukuyomi's power had dropped considerably, but he was still capable of keeping up with one of the original True Ancestors, evenly matching Vlad Tepes I.

The True Ancestor himself was no slouch, possessing a refined fighting style that allowed him to weave between Tsukuyomi's powerful attacks and dish out blows of his own.

It appeared that he was taking special care to avoid the attacks that would utterly annihilate his physical body. He wasn't anywhere near as careful with the others, switching between dodging them and just taking them head on and letting his regeneration take care of the resulting wound.

Not far from them, Azazel had the clear advantage against the Prince of Impalement, his power being heightened by his Artificial Balance Breaker.

Unlike his grandfather, Vlad Tepes III had a much more savage fighting style, which only made him an easier target for an experienced fighter like Azazel.

Unfortunately, their nature of the close range battle meant that Azazel couldn't use any of his large scale attacks to annihilate his opponent from the physical plane without getting caught up in the process, which meant that despite the Viceroy's advantage, they were at a stalemate, much like Tsukuyomi and Vlad Tepes I.

Grayfia had also gained advantage against Queen Carmilla I, overwhelming her with a multitude of spells.

There was a difference between the old magic that Queen Carmilla I used and the modern magic Grayfia was using.

Namely, their level of refinement.

Queen Carmilla I's magic was powerful, but it was highly unrefined, having come from an age where magic was still in beginning of the transition phase to its current modern state. She was expending a great deal more of her reserves for a spell than Grayfia did for a spell of the same level.

Furthermore, her stronger spells had a significantly longer casting time, which allowed Grayfia to fire off multiple spells and break her concentration.

At the rate they were going, Grayfia would likely be the first to properly destroy her opponent.

Michael, Uriel and Baraqiel weren't too far behind either.

The Leader of Heaven was completely overwhelming Elizabeth Bathory, raining down spears of light on her, ripping chunks of her body out, though her regeneration ensured that she would recover before she was hit again.

Sanguine Vladi and Priscilla Galnstein were being slowly turned to ashes by Baraqiel's and Uriel's combined holy lightning and holy fire attacks, which was strange, considering how powerful the attacks were.

By all means, they should have been turned into a pile of ashes long ago, or even less than that.

The only explanation was that their rate and scale of regeneration was much faster and greater than the Tepes Clan's foot soldiers had been, and was slowing down their disintegration.

It was probably the case for the other four as well.

Most likely, they had been modified to a higher degree with Sephiroth Graal.

The battle grinded to a sudden halt when Vlad Tepes I and Queen Carmilla I simultaneously slammed the butt of their spear and staff on the floor.

A red substance began to rise from the cracks in the floor, forming into a massive flowing dome that encompassed almost the entire room and trapped them inside.

The color of the substance and this metallic iron smell…was it blood?

"Oh boy…I thought it was just hearsay, but looks like it was true after all." Azazel groaned from inside his armor.

"You know what this is, Azazel?"

"Yeah. I heard True Ancestors have the ability to directly manipulate blood to their liking, and that they can create a Blood Field, a domain where the powers of Vampires are increased. This must be it."

Just Azazel finished his explanation, he was attacked by Vlad Tepes III, who now bore a wide, toothy grin as he began to physically overpower the Viceroy of the Fallen Angels.

He was not the only one who had gotten stronger.

Vlad Tepes I was now cornering Tsukuyomi with quick and powerful thrusts of his spear, giving the Moon God little time to counterattack.

Grayfia found herself on the receiving end of a barrage of fast and increasingly powerful spells from Queen Carmilla I.

Elizabeth Bathory had turned herself into a swarm of bats, allowing her to weave right through Michael's rain of spears and reform right next to him, swinging her spear at him and forcing him to dodge.

Sanguine Vladi and Priscilla Garnstein burst out of the storm and fire that Baraqiel and Uriel had trapped them in and lashed out at the two with their blades, putting them on the defensive.

The tides of the battle had turned far too quickly.

Sirzechs had to turn them back at once.

But just as he was preparing to aid his comrades…

"Sure you have not already forgotten about me?"

"Hm!?"

The massive orb of Power of Destruction that had been pulverizing the floor was suddenly torn apart, and a massive black shadow emerged from the crater it had formed, slamming into Sirzechs with the force of a freight train, or maybe even more than that.

He quickly recovered, only to see a majestic black Dragon, covered in a golden aura, hovering in the air in front of him, releasing so much power that even he was starting to get chills.

"Crom Cruach…you're still alive?"

"Did you honestly that an attack of that level would be enough the strongest of the Evil Dragons? You may not know this, but unlike the other six, I was never killed or sealed. I have been wandering the world ever since the fall of my Pantheon, and have kept my training ever since then. Right now, I do not think my full power would lose to Ddraige or Albion in their prime. I will admit though, that was pretty much dangerous back there. If I had not taken on this compact form, that might have succeeded in killing me." The Crescent Circle Dragon replied, snorting small streams of flames from his nostrils as he did so.

Sirzechs felt beads of sweat forming on his brow.

Power on par with the two Dragons that even Gods feared, huh?

That…was going to be troublesome.

Sirzechs sighed.

He figured he would have to do this sooner or later, but he just didn't think it would be this soon.

"Alright then, since you went through the trouble of showing me your true form, miniaturized as it is, I guess it's only courteous that I show you mine." Sirzechs said, his smile slipping completely from his face.

"Oh? So, you claim to not have revealed all of your power yet? Very well then, I will allow it." Crom Cruach said, a gleam of interest appearing in his eyes.

Sirzechs wordlessly unclasped his armor, allowing the pieces of metal to fall from his body to the floor below.

His robes went next, revealing his bare upper body.

With those out of the way, Sirzechs took a deep breath…and drew on the power deep inside of him, just waiting to burst free.

The world itself shuddered, and then seemed to scream in terror as Sirzechs's aura grew greater and greater.


Crom Cruach, who had simply been waiting, froze completely, his instincts screaming at him to run away as fast as he could.

The other battles in the room abruptly stopped, the combatants turning to stare at Sirzechs in a mixture of awe and fear.

Even the drone-like resurrected Vampires were no longer obeying the sole directive Marius had left them, whatever survival instincts left in them overriding their forced obedience.

Grayfia in particular was especially nervous, even when compared to the others.

Among the group, she was the only one to have ever seen her husband in his true form, at the climax of the civil war between the Old Maou Faction and the Current Maou Faction.

And the mere memory of it was enough to terrify a war veteran like her so badly that she wanted nothing more than to get as far as she could away from him, despite how much she loved him, even having a beloved son born between them as proof of their affections for each other.

If she ever saw his true form in person again, she might just experience a mental breakdown.

And thus, out of all of the occupants in the room, she was the only one to avert her eyes.

Just in time too, for at that moment, Sirzechs was engulfed in a cocoon of deep crimson, sending shockwaves of raw power reverberating not just through the mansion, but throughout the Tepes Clan's entire territory, and perhaps beyond even that.

It would not be surprising if even the humans, usually oblivious to the happenings of the supernatural world, would be able to feel them in full force.

An entire ocean seemed to have appeared above them, for the occupants of the room could no longer stay upright, all of them collapsing to their knees, and Crom Cruach himself falling out of the air and back down into the crater he had just escaped, an immense weight pressing down on them.

A loud crack caught their attention, and they forced themselves to look up at the eye of this storm of sheer power.

The cocoon began to split itself open, with a red light pouring out from the opening, filling the room with indescribable, otherworldly energy.

Then, with a resounding sound of shattering glass and a blinding flash of red light, the cocoon was ripped apart, sending forth a massive shockwave that bowled the occupants of the room over and tore the Blood Field that the True Ancestors had created apart.

All of them, sans Grayfia, forced their heads to tilt upwards once more, only to stop and tremble in instinctive fear.

In the space that Sirzechs and the cocoon he was enveloped in were, something had appeared.

It had the form of what appeared to be an extremely dense cluster of Power of Destruction, packed together in the vague form of a human.

But, it was much more, so much more, more than any one of them could possibly comprehend.

That was why, it could only be described as something, for there were no words in any language, in use or dead, that could truly depict what was there.

"Be honored, Crescent Circle Dragon. This is the first time in three centuries that I have assumed my true form. The only other who has had the same honor is Rizevim Livan Lucifer."

The thing spoke in a horrid mockery of Sirzechs's voice, crystal clear even above the din that the world itself made as it shook from the sheer force of that thing's presence, the spacetime of the area distorting as it lost its cohesion.

The sounds that normally sprung forth from the Crimson Lucifer's throat was gentle, soothing, even melodious, befitting someone who had succeeded the Devil who was known as the Seducer of Mankind.

This thing's voice, if it could even be called that, was cold, dark, foreboding, teeming with an eldritch power that sent shivers down their spines with every sound made.

It was something that should not even exist.

"I cannot control my power in this form at all, so I cannot remain in it for too long, lest I damage the world itself. I apologize, Crom Cruach, but I will have to end this in an instant."

The thing annunciated as it held up what appeared to be a hand.

Crom Cruach shivered, unable to stop himself from trembling from the level of danger and wrongness being focused completely on him.

"Ha…this cannot even be considered a battle anymore. Long have I lived, and not even once have I encountered an abomination such as you. Devil who bears the same name as the Morningstar, what are you?" Crom Cruach asked.

"…I honestly cannot say. Ajuka and I are irregularities in this world, even more so than the Longinus Gears, or Rizevim. Beings that should never have come into existence. There have never been any beings like us before our birth, or since. We cannot even say with absolute certainty that we are Devils. I suppose that is why the world saw fit to crown us with the title 'Super Devils'."

The thing replied, the parts of its body that were probably its shoulders rising up in a nonchalant shrug.

"If you have nothing else to say, then I must bid you farewell now, Crescent Circle Dragon. It's truly a pity that a majestic creature like yourself must meet your end at my hands."

A black mass began to form at its fingertip, growing rapidly greater and infinitely darker as Power of Destruction compressed itself into a spherical shape.

Crom Cruach shuddered once more as he looked upon the volleyball-sized orb that had taken on a hue of black darker than his own scales, a black star of annihilation that heralded his end, pieces of rubble scattered around the area drawing towards it as its gravitational force increased.

But, just as the black star seemed to have reached critical mass, possessing so much absolute gravity that even Crom Cruach had to resist to prevent himself from being pulled towards it, another change occurred,

An inky black darkness devoured the area, plunging them into a realm of pitch black.


MacGregor Mathers dusted off the dirt that had gotten onto his robes.

From the way that he was completely unscathed, no one would ever think that he had been in the middle of a heated duel with the Eclipse Dragon, one of the oldest and greatest magic users in history, much like himself.

Apophis too did not have a single scratch on him, standing opposite him a distance away, looking interested to see what he would do next.

If it weren't for the sheer devastation around them, the town around them laid waste to by the power behind their spells, no one would believe a fight had taken place.

MacGregor had to admit, Apophis was every bit as powerful as the legends had claimed, perhaps even more than that, as expected of a being that was both God and Dragon at the same time, essentially a hybrid of the two most powerful species in existence.

Had Ra really managed to defeat and seal him away?

The system of magic that Apophis used was absolutely ancient, created during an age where the concept of magic had just been introduced to the world, the oldest precursor to modern magic.

As such, the spells he cast were raw and wasteful…but also unbelievably powerful, having been conceived in an age where power was all that mattered, and backed by the power of a Dragon-God hybrid.

If MacGregor wasn't one of the best magicians in existence, he would already be dead.

Unlike Ajuka Beelzebub, who possessed the irregular ability Kankara Formula, allowing him to perceive all phenomena in the world as mathematical formulae and alter them to fit his purposes in an instant, MacGregor did not have some cheat code-like power.

What he had however, were the years of experience as a magic user he had built up, the compendium-like knowledge of magic he had gathered over the one and a half centuries he had been alive, and the prodigious mind and talent that allowed him to become one of the world's greatest magicians even before he hit his prime.

Through that, he was able to analyze Apophis's spells in an instant and systematically dismantle them before they reached him, and on some rare occasions, before the Eclipse Dragon was even done casting them.

That only served to further excite the previously apathetic Eclipse Dragon, and pushed him into casting grander and stronger spells at an alarming rate and in great numbers.

Even he could not dismantle that many ultimate-level spells in time, so MacGregor was forced to counter them with spells of his own.

Offensive magic versus offensive magic. Defensive magic against offensive magic. Offensive magic against defensive magic.

This pattern occurred over and over, with spells flying all over the damn place, but not a single one hitting their target.

That was where they found themselves now: a stalemate.

An explosion to the far right caused MacGregor to glance over to the other fights still going on aside from theirs.

Unlike MacGregor and Apophis, Surtr's and Grendel's fight wasn't anywhere near as even.

Grendel's vaunted Adamantine Scales were instantly melted by the sheer heat and power of Surtr's God-Slaying Flames, causing his body to be directly scorched by the red flames, eliciting screams of pain from the Crime Force Dragon.

As had been said before, they only possessed a portion of the original Surtr's flames, but the power behind them was not something that anything below God-level could defend against so easily.

With Grendel's defenses useless, Surtr was tossing him around pretty easily, laughing at the top of his lungs obnoxiously as he did so.

It was only thanks to the extent of the modifications that had been performed on Grendel that allowed the Evil Dragon to survive this long.

There was a reason why even the pacifistic Odin had lost his cool and almost declared war on the Devils when the news got out that Sirzechs had successfully recruited the Fire Giant clone.

To MacGregor's far left, Dulio was having a much more even battle with Ladon, the Strongest Exorcist darting between the Insomniac Dragon's hundred heads while bombarding it with blasts of various elements, ten pure white angelic wings extending from his back.

Dulio had undoubtedly been born a human. He had been recently reincarnated into an Angel using Heaven's Brave Saint System, their counterpart to the Devils' Evil Piece System.

Instead of using the 15 chess pieces from the Queen Piece to the 8 Pawn Pieces, the Brave Saint System made use of the 13 playing cards from the King Card to the Ace Card.

Since the Brave Saint System was still in its prototype stages, only the Four Great Seraphs were currently allowed to make use of it, with each of them in charge of one of the four suits, Spades for Michael, Hearts for Gabriel, Clubs for Raphael and Diamonds for Uriel.

The individual cards, still being tweaked, did not possess specific abilities on their own like the Evil Pieces did. Instead, the Brave Saint System made use of the rules of card games to manifest several abilities, though currently Blackjack and Poker were the only ones implemented.

For example, under the rules of Blackjack, when the corresponding Brave Saints with a total value of 21 came together, they would be able to exhibit incredible power. Similarly, under the rules of Poker, various abilities could be manifested using hands, with a simple doubling of power with a Pair, to the immense power that would theoretically emerge from a Royal Straight Flush.

However, even among them, Dulio was a special case, having been reincarnated using the Joker Card, which did not fall under any of the four suits, and played a similar role to the actual joker card.

MacGregor likened it to the Mutation Piece irregularity present in the Evil Piece System, being used to reincarnate beings with irregular power.

And the source of Dulio's irregular power came from his Longinus, Zenith Tempest, the Second Strongest Longinus, second only to the holy spear that was the namesake of the 13 irregular Sacred Gears, possessing world-class powers that could devastate the entire planet, giving its possessor full control over the weather and the elements in nature, aside from Holy and Darkness.

Zenith Tempest, along with Annihilation Maker and Dimension Lost, were considered oddities even among the Longinus, because the source of their power was unknown.

True Longinus was created from the same spear that had pierced the side of Jesus Christ during the saint's crucifixion, possessing a piece of YHWH'S own will.

Incinerate Anthem and Sephiroth Graal were based off of the cross that aforementioned saint had been tied to, and the cup he had drunk from during his Last Supper, with the former infused with YHWH's rage at the unjust death of his mortal son, and the latter containing the concepts of life and death, with the original relics in the Church's possession.

Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing, needless to say, drew their power from Ddraige and Albion, whose souls were sealed into the Sacred Gears.

In a similar manner, Regulus Nemea contained the soul of the original Greek Nemean Lion that the hero, Heracles, had slain as one of his famous Twelve Labors, possessing an ability similar to Boosted Gear's and Divine Dividing's Juggernaut Drive that would temporarily unseal the Nemean Lion's immense power at the cost of the possessor's life force, known as Breakdown the Beast.

Canis Lycaon was a bit of a special case, drawing its power from two sources. Its core was formed by the Chinese Tiangou, the black dog deity, but it also contained the soul of the Roman Lycaon, the King of Wolves.

Innovate Clear contained a seed of the legendary World Tree, Yggdrasil, Absolute Demise contained a sample of the water of the River Styx of the Underworld, and Telos Karma contained a scale of the Strongest Dragon King, the Chaos Karma Dragon, Tiamat, who is said to possess powers that could rival that of the Heavenly Dragons.

On the other hand, it was not known what Zenith Tempest, Annihilation Maker and Dimension Lost drew their powers from.

There had been many theories, one of the most popular and widely agreed upon being that Annihilation Maker contained a piece of the soul of the Greek King of Monsters, Typhon, the Bane of Olympus, who was ranked in the world's Top 10 Strongest, one of the few reasonable explanations as to how the high-tier Longinus was capable of creating monsters that even Gods had to be wary of, but they were never substantiated.

And with YHWH, the creator of the Sacred Gear System, dead, it would probably never be known.

Just what manner of being was sealed inside Zenith Tempest that it allowed full dominion over the elements of nature?

"To be able to look away in the midst of battle from thine opponent, thou art either supremely courageous, or infinitely foolish."

Realizing his grievous error with a start, MacGregor turned back to face Apophis, to find the Eclipse Dragon still languishing in the same spot as before.

"Well, we appear to be evenly matched, so I don't see much of a point in continuing." MacGregor commented lightly.

In response, Apophis grinned widely, revealing his sharp canines.

"You jest, MacGregor Mathers. Thou knowest as well as this one that neither of us hath employed our full might. Surely thou hast not already exhausted all of thine tactics?" Apophis asked, looking incredibly and infuriatingly amused.

MacGregor sighed.

What the Eclipse Dragon said was true. He had not yet used all of his trump cards. But, frankly speaking, he had been hoping to save them for a later date, or for a more urgent situation.

Still, his pride as both a magician and Sirzechs Lucifer's Bishop could let the slight against him pass.

Resolving himself, MacGregor held a hand up, and a small magic circle appeared above his palm.

With a flash, a crystal ball made of a red gemstone appeared and dropped into his hand.

"Ho? A Grimoire?" Apophis asked, his eyebrows shooting up as his eyes lit with the light of deep interest.

Indeed, he was correct. What MacGregor held in his hand was a Grimoire.

Grimoires were powerful, absolutely essential tools for magicians.

When a magician cast a spell, they were required to go through a set of calculations first before being able to produce the spell. The more complicated the spell, the more calculations required.

Master magicians like MacGregor could still complete the most complicated calculations in split seconds, but against another master magic user like Apophis who was also superior in raw power, he was at a disadvantage, constantly falling behind the Eclipse Dragon in casting speed.

However, Grimoires completely bypassed the need for those calculations, for magicians could store the calculations in them, and therefore forgo the need to do them again when casting the same spell.

The process was quite simple.

First, the magicians cast the spell in the normal manner, performing the necessary calculations.

Then, through the use of a recording spell already preprogrammed into the Grimoire, they could record those calculations.

Following that, when they needed to cast the same spell again, they only needed to use the Grimoire as a medium. With the completed calculations already recorded into the Grimoire, the spell would then be cast instantaneously.

Contrary to what the name would imply, a Grimoire did not need to be in the shape of a tome.

Any construct created using magically conductive materials could serve as a Grimore. The higher the quality of the materials used, the more spells could be stored into the Grimoire.

However, one had to be extremely careful in their selection of the materials, for many of them clashed with each other, and attempting to use them in the same construct would only lower the overall quality of the resulting Grimoire.

The Grimoire that MacGregor held in his hand was made of pure, uncut Bloodstone, a now incredibly rare magic gemstone that was renowned as the most magically conductive material so far, and also impossibly difficult to combine with any other materials without decreasing the quality of the Grimoire, possessing an unmatched, almost infinite capacity.

Furthermore, this was MacGregor's personal Grimoire, created by his own hands before he had even become a Devil, and containing pretty much every individual spell he had cast since its creation until today.

To get an idea of just how many spells were stored inside, if the Grimoire were a book, it would make the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary seem like a children's coloring book in comparison.

MacGregor channeled his power through his Grimoire, causing to glow with an ominous red light.

Apophis's grin became impossibly wide.

"Interesting! Thou art truly amusing, MacGregor Mathers! This one can comprehend why thou art renowned as the greatest magician of the modern age! Allow this Apophis to respond in the appropriate manner!" Apophis exclaimed in delight, holding a hand up.

MacGregor went on guard and prepared to cast every defensive spell he could muster in response to whatever Apophis did.

He did not need to, for that was when they were interrupted.

Both MacGregor and Apophis almost buckled under the immense weight that was suddenly crushing down on their shoulders.

MacGregor shivered as a truly horrifying malevolence filled the area, causing the other two fights to halt abruptly.

"This presence…Sirzechs-sama?" MacGregor muttered to himself as he identified the owner of this malicious energy.

As softly as he had spoken, it was not so soft that it could escape Apophis's draconic senses, causing the Eclipse Dragon to look up sharply.

"What…? Thou claims that this malevolence belongeth to thine liege? Such a malignant presence…is this not far greater than Rizevim's!? To make the son of the Morningstar seem like a hatchling in comparison…MacGregor Mathers…what manner of abomination is thine master!?" Apophis exclaimed shrilly, fear clouding his expression.

MacGregor could not blame him.

As kind as Sirzechs Lucifer seemed to be on the surface, MacGregor was one of the few who knew how much of a façade that was.

When MacGregor had first met Sirzechs, he had arrogantly attempted to divine the Crimson Lucifer's true nature…and almost lost his sanity in the process.

He could not quite recall what it was he had seen, likely as a result of his mind's attempt to preserve his lucidity, but he had never forgotten how traumatic it had been.

As much as MacGregor respected Sirzechs, there would always be an underlying current…no, torrent of fear in his interactions with his master.

That was the monster that Sirzechs Lucifer truly was.

And if the full force of his presence could be felt this far away from the mansion…did Sirzechs assume his true form?

Just as MacGregor had processed the full magnitude of the malice crushing them, an unearthly darkness swallowed all light in the area.


Gasper ran as fast as he could through the dimly lit hallway he had entered through the door Marius had dragged Valerie through, searching for any signs of the half-siblings.

He had to save Valerie, no matter the cost.

Gasper owed everything to Valerie.

Gasper was surrounded by hatred the moment he was born.

His mother died giving birth to him.

His father detested his very existence.

His half siblings looked down on him for his half-breed status.

Pure Blood Vampires hated him for his human half, and humans hated him for his Vampire half.

Things became even worse when he awakened his Sacred Gear, Forbidden Balor View, and immediately lost control over it, causing it to automatically activate in stressful situations whether he wanted it to or not, and stopping the time of anything within his field of vision.

Fear became a constant companion of the hatred that surrounded him, and he became even more of an abomination in the eyes of the Vampire society.

It was Valerie who saved him when he was at the height of his solitude.

She was basically in the same situation as he was, being a half-breed like he was, only since she was born to the then King of the Tepes Clan, she was treated just slightly better by Pure Blood Vampires, though he heard that her family did not treat her as one of their own.

Against her family's objections, she played with him constantly, often getting him to dress up in some of her cuter clothes, which was where his crossdressing habit came from.

And when he finally had enough to his treatment, she was the one who helped him escape, at great risk to herself.

She was his first friend, his benefactor, someone he had never gotten a chance to repay for all she had done for him.

Now was the time to do so.

Gasper almost tripped over his feet when he managed to catch sight of Marius dragging Valerie into a room at the far end of the hallway, and increased his running speed despite the burning in his lungs.

An athlete, Gasper was not.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Just as Gasper reached the ornate door, Valerie started screaming from the other side, causing his blood to freeze before he wrenched the door open.

It was a large ritual room, with bookshelves overflowing with tomes and scrolls all over the place.

In the center of the room was a bed placed over a massive magic circle, and lying atop it, with Marius standing beside it while manipulating the magic circle, was…

"Valerie!"

"…Gas…per…?" Valerie croaked out weakly, turning her head to look at him.

Gasper ran forward, only to be thrown back when he ran headfirst into a barrier surrounding the magic circle.

"I did think you looked familiar when I saw you with the Maou and his comrades. If it isn't the runaway half-breed from the Vladi Clan? So, you decided to come crawling back here?" Marius sneered condescendingly at Gasper.

But, Gasper ignored the insult and pounded on the barrier with his fist to no avail.

"Stop it! Stop hurting Valerie!" He screamed at the current King of the Tepes Faction.

"I'm not hurting her. Quite the opposite, in fact. I'm removing Sephiroth Graal, which has been eroding both her mind and body away." Marius said with a growing smile.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A ball of golden light began to emerge from Valerie's chest, causing her to scream even louder than before.

Gasper paled even further.

He knew exactly what happened to a Sacred Gear possessor who had their Sacred Gear removed from them.

All of them would die without question or exception.

He panicked. He had to stop the ritual, but he couldn't get past this damnable barrier!

He thought of using Forbidden Balor View, but it was only a temporary solution. He wouldn't be able to keep it up forever, and eventually, Marius would be able to move again and continue the ritual.

He had to get past the barrier and get Valerie out.

But how?

Gasper was a fledging magician at best, certainly not at a level where he could analyze and dismantle spells.

…He had no choice but to put all of his hope on Forbidden Balor View.

Because he could not control it, it stopped the time of everything he was seeing at the time of its activation, but its true function was to stop the time of whatever he designated that was in his field of vision.

Theoretically, he could stop the time of the barrier, or more specifically, the magic that powered the barrier, and then seize the opportunity to break through it.

But, could he do it?

Forbidden Balor View had never once obeyed properly, always acting on its own without any prompt from him.

How could he expect it to work properly even once?

…No, Sacred Gears always respond to the emotions of their possessor.

And right now, more than anything else, he wanted to save Valerie, a desire that burned stronger than any other emotion that he had ever felt in his life.

"Please, respond to my desire, Forbidden Balor View!"

Gasper willed his Sacred Gear to activate.

For a moment, it didn't appear that anything had happened.

Then, the barrier shattered, the magic that was powering it no longer moving and thus unable to sustain it.

With the barrier gone, Gasper rushed towards Valerie, but…

"Too late." Marius said triumphantly as a golden grail emerged from Valerie's chest and floated over to his waiting hand.

"…Ah…" Valerie let out a lifeless sound before flopping down onto the bed.

"Valerie!"

Gasper knelt by her side, grasping her hand and shivering at how cold it was.

Unlike Pure Blood Vampires, half-breeds like them actually had a full set of working organs and blood circulatory system.

They weren't walking corpses like the Pure Bloods, so they should have body heat, which was why it was alarming that Valerie's had dropped so much.

She was dying. There was no other explanation.

Her Sacred Gear had been extracted from her, so the only thing that awaited her now was death.

He failed.

He failed to save Valerie.

Hot tears burned at the corners of his eyes as the full magnitude of his failure began to weigh down on him.

"…Are you crying again, Gasper…? You're still a crybaby, I see…But, you seem to have made some friends…since I last saw you…" Valerie said with a weak giggle.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry! I couldn't save you!"

"No…you did save me…because I got to see you…one last time…Hey, Gasper…?"

"What is it?"

"I…really wanted to see…the sun…and go on…a picnic…" Valerie croaked out as she turned to face the ceiling, as though trying to imagine the sun that hung overhead, past the eternal night and winter that the Vampires had created.

"…I'll show it you…! Let's go outside, and have a picnic too…!"

"…Sorry, Gasper…I don't think I can do that anymore…So, for the last time…just let me speak to you…and the other you…"

She pressed a hand weakly against Gasper's chest.

"…You, who is sleeping inside Gasper…you are also Gasper…so, make sure you get along…with him…and with his friends too…" She spoke as though not addressing him, but someone else, which confused Gasper.

Who on earth was she talking to?

"Ah…I wish I could have…made more friends too…" Valerie whispered out before her eyes closed, and her hand fell from Gasper's chest.

Gasper's mind went blank, unable to process his friend's death.

"Hmph, good riddance. In the end, a half-breed like her could only live to serve as a tool of the Tepes Faction. Anyway, now that I have Sephiroth Graal, we can finally destroy those damned bitches from the Carmilla Faction."

Gasper vaguely heard Marius speaking, but he couldn't hear the exact words.

However, one thing was clear.

That voice belonged to the one who killed Valerie.

Gasper's enemy.

Gasper's hated enemy.

Someone who had to die.

Die. . . !

Gasper's world turned to black.


Sirzechs Lucifer, having returned to his normal form, stared at the door next to the throne, along with everyone else in the room, waiting as the owner of the other malignant presence that had suddenly appeared slowly approached.

The six resurrected Vampires had already been destroyed by him in his true form, when their sole directive finally overpowered their survival instinct and prompted them to attack him at once.

They didn't get anywhere near him before they were swallowed by his Power of Destruction and erased from existence, so thoroughly that not even their souls remained.

In his true form, Sirzechs was capable of affecting even the conceptual plane, allowing him to erase fundamental laws of the world if he so wished.

Affecting the spiritual plane which existed at a lower dimensional level was a piece of cake for him.

Crom Cruach appeared to have lost his will to fight him after witnessing the horror that was his true form, standing rather docilely with the rest of their group.

As expected, even one of the strongest members of the overly prideful Dragon race would be humbled when met with a being that was pretty much the living manifestation of the concept of Annihilation.

They tensed when they heard footsteps coming from the other side of the door, preparing to attack whatever emerged when it slowly creaked open…and promptly blinked when Gasper walked out with Valerie Tepes in his arms, making for a very strange sight considering that she looked more grown up than he did.

Sirzechs did not fail to notice the trail of pitch black darkness on the floor that seemed to follow Gasper as he moved.

Well, he looked like Gasper anyway.

However, Sirzechs's instincts were telling him that even though that looked like Gasper, the being before them was not his little sister's timid Mutated Bishop.

Gasper was incredibly timid, keeping his eyes towards the ground, walking in a slouchy manner, never making eye contact with anyone unless he had to, or on the rare occasion that he had managed to work up the courage.

This Gasper had confidence to spare, judging by his regal movements, his straightened back, and his ability to maintain eye contact with Sirzechs without flinching or even blinking.

And his eyes. They were filled with cool apathy towards everything, as opposed to the fear that always clouded Gasper's eyes.

At the very least, this wasn't the Gasper he knew.

That was why, when Gasper reached him, the first thing that Sirzechs asked him was…

"And who might you be?"

The being that possessed Gasper's appearance raised a single eyebrow, and somehow managed to full maintain his full regality as he did so.

"Ho? So, you noticed that I am not the Gasper Vladi that you know. Well, I suppose trying to deceive the successor of the Devil who was called the Deceiver is a foolish task." The Gasper lookalike said with a completely apathetic expression.

"Well, you are correct. I am and am not Gasper Vladi. You could say that I am the 'other Gasper Vladi' that has been sleeping inside him since his birth, created from a fragment of the consciousness of the Dark God, Balor, that was summoned forth by Valerie Tepes at the moment of his birth and placed inside his Sacred Gear. Truly a ridiculous girl, being able to manifest her Sacred Gear's power even before it fully awakened." The other Gasper said as he looked down at Valerie with an expression of slight exasperated affection.

"The Irish Dark God, Balor of the Evil Eye…well, your aura certainly feels similar to his, though not quite as evil. For a Sacred Gear to be able to revive a dead God's consciousness, even if only a small fragment, and implant it inside another Sacred Gear…they truly are terrifying weapons. No, it would be more accurate to say that YHWH, the creator of the Sacred Gear System itself, is terrifying." Tsukuyomi noted as he looked at the other Gasper with a look of apprehension.

"The Shinto God of the Moon, Tsukuyomi, huh…I do vaguely recall you from the original Balor's memories…well, anyway, you cannot really call me Balor, since in the end, I was only created from a fragment of the original Balor's consciousness. If I had to be given a name…since I am the result of the fusion between a Sacred Gear and Balor's consciousness, I suppose I would be 'Forbidden Invade Balor the Beast', an evolved form of Forbidden Balor View that is not quite a Balance Breaker. Or if you prefer, I suppose you could also call me Gasper Balor." The other Gasper said, giving himself a rather ostentatious-sounding name, though for all they knew, he might actually possess the power to back it up.

"If you're with Valerie Tepes, then…we can assume that you have defeated Marius Tepes?"

"Yes. I made sure to kill him painfully. He is the one existence that I cannot forgive after all." Gasper Balor said, his expression becoming arctic cold.

"Which brings me to why I am here."

Gasper Balor gently set Valerie down on the floor and held a hand out.

The darkness that had been following him rose from the ground, flowing as smoothly as water in defiance of gravity and formed an orb, before bursting apart to reveal a golden grail, possessing an incredible radiance, within, which fell into his hand.

"Is that…?" Michael asked in a low whisper, almost reverently.

"Sephiroth Graal. Marius Tepes managed to extract it from Valerie before I could kill him."

"In that case, she's already dead. Death is what awaits a Sacred Gear possessor who has had their Sacred Gear extracted."

"No, look carefully. My other self was not able to see it, but Valerie is still alive, if only just."

Sirzechs, as well as the others, frowned and took a closer look at her…and their eyes widened in shock.

It was true. Her skin was pale and clammy, but she was definitely alive. Her breathing was so shallow that one could barely see that her chest was moving, but she was definitely drawing breath.

"How? She should already be dead considering how long it must have been since her Sacred Gear was extracted." Azazel asked, his jaw dropping open.

"I care little about why she is still alive. The only thing I want to know is if she can still be saved. Just like my other self, I owe Valerie a debt of gratitude. If it is possible, then…"

"…Well, if she's still alive, I guess there's a small chance that she can still be saved if we put Sephiroth Graal back inside of her…" Azazel said as he stepped forward to examine Valerie up close.

A magic circle appeared beneath the Dhamphir girl, an analysis spell, by the looks of the formula contained in the mandala.

"…I see! So that's why she's still alive…!" Azazel said with a look of realization.

"What is it, Azazel?"

"This girl, she's a seriously rare case. The base form of her Sacred Gear is already a Sub-Species!"

That raised a couple of eyebrows.

Sub-Species were extremely rare forms of Sacred Gears that deviated from their normal forms.

They occurred when the possessor's mentality is so radically different from the norm that the normal form did not suit them.

Because Sacred Gears responded to their possessors, they would then change into a form that suited the possessor. That was what a Sub-Species was.

Typically, they only occurred in the Balance Breakers of Sacred Gears. For example, the normal Balance Breaker of Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing was the Scale Mail, which was what most of their possessors would get when they achieved Balance Breaker.

However, if the possessor's mentality was radically different from that of the average Sekiryuutei and Hakuryuukou, their Balance Breaker would change to fit them.

And unlike the normal Balance Breakers that have a set name, the names of Sub-Species were up to the possessors to decide. The Sacred Gear would provide a name, but it was more of a suggestion than an invariable like with a normal Balance Breaker.

But, as different as the Balance Breakers were, their base forms almost always stayed the same.

However, there had been even rarer cases where the base form of the Sacred Gear was already in a Sub-Species state, which would also likely result in Sub-Species Balance Breakers.

This was, however, the very first time they had heard of a Longinus having a Sub-Species in its base form.

Just what was it like?

"There's…another Sephiroth Graal inside of her." Azazel revealed, looking incredibly amazed.

"Two…of the same Sacred Gears? But, Longinus Gears are supposed to be absolutely unique! It's impossible for more than one to exist at once!"

"Yeah, that would be true, if we were talking about two different possessors. But, since it's the same possessor, with a Sub-Species no less, it appears that the two Sephiroth Graals are considered a single Sacred Gear. That's why she didn't die despite having one taken out. Marius only removed half of the Sacred Gear."

"Can she be saved or not?" Gasper Balor demanded.

"Yes. Since Marius only removed a part of it rather than the whole thing, even if we were to leave her like this, she would probably survive as long as she was on life support. If we put the other Sephiroth Graal back inside of her, she should recover."

Gasper Balor's expression softened considerably, into what appeared to be relief, as he passed the Sephiroth Graal he had taken back from Marius to Azazel.

Another magic circle appeared beneath Valerie as Azazel cast the spell to return the grail to her.

The golden cup sank into her chest as a ball of golden light, causing her hue to almost instantly improved, and her breathing to regulate. As she was right now, she could be sleeping for all they knew.

They waited…and waited…and waited…

"…Huh?" Azazel was the first to let out a sound of confusion.

"…Shouldn't she be waking up?"

"Yeah, since her Sacred Gear has been restored, she could have fully recovered, but…what's going on?

[Well, that's probably because you guys are under a huge misapprehension!]

All of them started and turned when a new and irritatingly familiar voice joined the conversation, only to see a translucent image of a familiar silver-haired man languishing rather casually on the throne that Marius had vacated.

"Rizevim…!"

[Hi there, Sirzechs-kun and company! We figured you would find this place sooner or later, so we hauled ass out of there! We have plenty of bases all over the world, so it's no big loss!]

"Really? Even after losing Sephiroth Graal?"

[Hahahahaha! Like I said, you're all under a huge misapprehension! Guess what this is~?]

Rizevim taunted as he twirled a familiar golden cup in his hand.

"Sephiroth Graal!?"

[Bingo! The total number of Sephiroth Graals that Valerie-chan has in her Sub-Species isn't two! It's three! I extracted one before we left! You can have the other two, we only need the one!]

So, that was why Valerie had not woken up. Her Sacred Gear was still incomplete.

Darkness erupted, causing the visibility of the room to drop significantly.

No one needed to look to tell that it was Gasper Balor.

"Give that back…!" Gasper Balor seethed, anger tinging his tone.

Rizevim did not look the least bit intimidated, probably because he wasn't there.

"No way~! This is an important tool for Qlipoth! If you want it, come and get it! Good luck finding us though!" Rizevim declared childishly, sticking out his tongue at the outraged pseudo-God.

Gasper Balor's eye twitched once, and several shapes began to form from the darkness he was releasing.

Two-mouthed dogs, three-eyed birds, five-legged spiders, illogical abominations of all sorts emerged from his darkness, all with the same glowing red eyes that Gasper Balor had.

All of them were staring unblinkingly at Rizevim's image.

"Ooh, scary, scary! Too bad you can't reach me~! Well, this has been fun, but Uncle Rizevim's gotta go! Oh, but before that, here's a little parting gift for all of you!" Rizevim said as he snapped his fingers.

A black and gold Dragon Gate appeared beneath a slightly startled Crom Cruach and teleported him out.

At the same time, Sirzechs vaguely felt Apophis's presence vanish as well, so he presumed that Rizevim teleported all of the original Evil Dragons out.

At the same time, multiple presences that felt like weaker versions of them appeared all over the area, but mostly below the surface.

"…What did you do?"

"Well, you know how there seemed to be a shortage of Vampires in the Tepes Faction? Well, that's because most of them are in a testing facility underneath the territory, sleeping off the effects of the final stage of adjustments with Sephiroth Graal! Remember the Old Maou Faction's spectacular transformations? Well, you're about to see even more refined versions! Ta-ta!" Rizevim revealed, waving his hand enthusiastically as his image disappeared.

The hundreds, if not thousands of presences immediately started rushing towards their position, while a few deviated and headed for the three other members of the group who had stayed behind to fight the original Evil Dragons.

"…Looks like we'll be busy for a while."


Sirzechs took a deep breath as he surveyed the sheer devastation around him.

The entire town that was the heart of the Tepes Faction's territory had been completely annihilated in the midst of their battle against the Vampire-turned-Evil Dragons.

Rizevim had not been kidding when he said that they were more refined that the ones that the Old Maou Faction members had turned into during the attack on the conference.

They were stronger, faster, and most of all, still retained their intelligence from before their transformation, making them much more dangerous.

Still, they were only inferior copies in the end, nowhere near as powerful as the originals.

Their heightened regeneration certainly made them more troublesome than the bunch they had met on their way in, but Sirzechs's Power of Destruction, Surtr's God-Slaying Flames, Dulio's Zenith Tempest, Uriel's and Baraqiel's Holy Fire and Lightning, and Gasper Balor's darkness made short work of them.

The last was certainly a surprise. Somehow, Gasper Balor's darkness was capable of negating the effects of Sephiroth Graal, forcing the Vampires to turn back into their original forms the moment they were caught, causing them to panic right before they were turned to ashes by spears of light, Azazel's and Michael's Holy powers having regained their lethality.

The battle was over quickly, ending with the utter annihilation of the Tepes Faction. The Carmilla Faction must be rejoicing at the thought of their rivals being destroyed, and them becoming the only true Vampire Faction left.

Sirzechs was really, really tempted to just destroy the spell that was maintaining their territory's optimal conditions.

But, now that the battle was over, he supposed they could return to Japan now.

The mission…well, it couldn't really be counted as a success. Even though they had retrieved Valerie Tepes and two of her Sephiroth Graals, Qlipoth still had the last one, which was all they needed to keep their plans functional.

Speaking of the possessor of the low-tier Longinus…

Sirzechs turned to look at Gasper Balor, who was carrying the still unconscious Valerie in his arms.

"What will you do now?" Sirzechs asked the being that had been born from the fusion of a Sacred Gear and a piece of a faded God's consciousness.

"That is obvious. As long as Qlipoth is holding onto the key to waking Valerie, they are my, and my other self's enemy. Until we retrieve the last Sephiroth Graal, we will aid you."

"And after? Just taking back Sephiroth Graal does not guarantee that Qlipoth's plans wil be completely ruined."

"…If my other self wills it, I will continue to aid you after that." Gasper Balor replied curtly.

"I see. In that case, let's get going. We can't just wait for them to make the next move."

The group prepared to return to Japan.

They had a lot of work to do.


"Well, the Tepes Faction was a huge flop, not that we were expecting much from them in the first place."

"True. Their loss means nothing."

"But…as long as Ophis is around, it's gonna be pretty difficult for us to do anything."

"Hm…we need a way to stop it, but I cannot imagine there are many things capable of giving the Infinite Dragon God pause…"

"…Well, there is that. You know, the weird Fallen Angel-Dragon hybrid that YHWH created."

"Ah, you mean the one he sealed in Cocytus? What was its name again?"

"Let's see…Samael, was it? The Dragon Eater?"


And this chapter is done!

The Tepes Faction is destroyed, Gasper has awakened his true power, Valerie has been partially saved, and we get a glimpse at Qlipoth's next move!

All in all, I think this was a pretty productive chapter.

Next chapter will be probably be a training interlude before we get back into the action.

That's all. As always, please read and review. I may not reply to them, but I do read all of them, and I do appreciate them, whether they're complimentary or critical of my writing.