Chapter 9: Legacy of the Valkyria.
"On Tortana, a world far from our own, the legends of the Valkyrie are known as the Valkyria or the Valkyur. On Earth it is the Valkyrie as their presence and influence in our culture was less than Tortana's. There is only one true way to destroy the Valkyur ideology and that is from within."
Tokyo, Japan, Sasakuza District - POV - Selvaria Bles. Two days later.
Ray had arranged transport and several other necessities for what Selvaria was to do here.
Yusa Emi, a non-terrestrial human who is much like Selvaria's previous adversary, Alicia Melchiot. Half Human and Half Valkyur and furthermore however unlike Alicia, her human side is of Ente Isla, enabling further psionic abilities than what Alicia's ultimate potential would be (though Selvaria had no ill will towards her, no longer having an interest in returning to Tortana just yet as she was informed that her rival has settled down and has a family and the war Selvaria was manipulated into fighting no longer has Gallia part of the conflict.).
Selvaria waited at a crosswalk, waiting specifically for the person of interest as the IKR had enough intel to gain access to her schedule and habits. It would be a difficult thing to explain to her, that what she believes is magic is actually psionic power genetically inherited from the Valkyur.
Soon enough someone approached but it was not Emi but rather some idiot running from something, Selvaria shrugged and let the incident pass until a pulse of energy shot past, the person who was running barely evaded it but he moved at a pace otherwise impossible for ordinary humans.
Selvaria felt what seemed to have been an outside influence attempt to wipe her memory but her own native powers refused to permit it. Selvaria's eyes glowed red as she manifested her powers with sheer will alone, drawing on her experiences in the past in order to activate the flame instead of actually being injured.
A small device on her left wrist made itself visible from before it was invisible, the device dematerialized a durantium composite blade similar in design to Selvaria's old weapon from her service in the EEIA and she drew it, the flames scaring bystanders away as she turned to face whatever had discharged the psionic pulse and saw a slightly disturbing sight and realized just what she was looking at.
Sadao Maou, the individual who was associated with Yusa Emi was seemingly running for his life, chasing him (and shooting at him) was a white haired man in a red trenchcoat, a rather large sword on his back which emanated a dark psionic energy which would strike anyone else without the knowledge as demonic power.
Selvaria had read his file as well.
Dante, no last name.
A terrestrial "demon" known to themselves as Inferni hybridized with human dna.
Human Mother and Inferni Father.
He made a habit of striking down any Inferni or supernatural threat that came his way, mostly for payment but also to, as Ray's report in the file said, "get off on killing the demons that are ironically the very same race his father was."
Selvaria however had a slight advantage here in that Dante knew Ray, and about his entire interstellar empire, and didn't give a shit. The IKR had occasionally paid Dante to deal with inferni threats that were getting a little too close for comfort to some key individuals but recently it seems he is after Sadao Maou.
Selvaria's thoughts were swept aside as she would need to stop his attack at the moment because as far as intel relates, Yusa Emi would likely step in to save her ex-rival and against Dante without any true experience, she would not likely last long. Selvaria not only has the advantages of a pureblood Valkyria but also the technological advantages of the Imperial Kylandarian Republic, though this may not stand up further than equality against Dante's personal skill and Bio-Tech weaponry (referred to as Devil Arms).
Dashing between an exhausted Maou and intercepting a stinger from Dante's sword, Rebellion, Selvaria stared at the blue eyed Devil Hunter who gave a smirk before twisting his blade upwards, deflecting Selvaria's parry and forcing her back into a defensive stance whilst Dante relaxed his blade to the right and said "Well, what do we have here."
Dante ran his fingers across his chin with a look that annoyed Selvaria, she had heard of Dante's tendency to tease his opponents in battle, specifically how he teased his female opponents would be irritating perhaps but Selvaria was uninterested in losing this fight and the fact that she was Valkyria, not Blazer meant she needed to keep her anger in check.
Selvaria spoke, saying "I need you to cease this attack before anyone else is injured." Dante laughed a bit before saying "Look babe, not that you aren't better looking than Trish but I've got a job to pull and for starters, the only humans I've killed were people who summoned demons or tried to end the world as we know it."
Selvaria revealed her intentions as she corrected him, saying "You mean Inferni."
Dante's face turned serious as he seemed to be inspecting Selvaria who along with Maou sensed some type of psionic aura emitting from Dante, a form of sensing to determine if she was Demon. Dante laughed immediately, so loudly that he seemed to be, for that moment more of a fool in appearance than a seasoned mercenary with incredible psionic abilities. Dante rested Rebellion on his back and holstered Ebony as he said "So what is a Valkyria doing helping out Ray? I thought those two didn't get along well."
Selvaria relaxed her psionic aura a bit but remained ready as Dante was known for exploiting any and all lulls in battle. She replied, saying "He saved my life when otherwise he had no reason to. I am not affiliated nor ever was with the Valkyur Regency and despise their philosophy. I am here to locate another Valkyria unaware of her true heritage before the Regency decides to exploit her." Dante shrugs and says "And what does this have to do with the demon king here? He's neither Inferni nor Valkyur, not to mention last time I checked, he wasn't female." Selvaria was about to speak when she felt another Valkyria's aura about as Dante shifted to the right with a trickster dash to avoid being hit by a rather larger form of Better Half, there stood Yusa Emi whose power was out enough to manifest silver hair and red eyes though no cobalt flames manifested. She took a glance at Selvaria for a moment and Dante took advantage of that, dashing behind her and sending a strong forward kick, sending the "angel" back considerably whilst saying "Well there she is, I'm not really interested in self-proclaimed angels, something about the Valkyria just make me want to fight them, probably because I'm half inferni and all that. I still have a job to do though and Ray isn't the one forwarding the check so will both of you kindly step aside so I can kill the small fry?"
Selvaria sighed and spoke as she drew her blade from it's sheath and her expression changed slightly. Had anyone who knew her from Tortana seen and heard what just transpired they would swear it wasn't the Selvaria they knew.
Her words were "How about a wager then. If I manage to draw blood three times then I'll speak to Ray about paying you twice for backing down from this contract. If you manage to get past me then you may do as you please."
Dante smiled and drew rebellion, saying "Now that's more my style baby! I'll try to leave your face intact."
Selvaria spoke softly to Emi, saying "Stay out of this." and walked forward, she knew she likely couldn't knock Dante out but if he kept his end of the wager then it wouldn't be a problem as she dashed forward so much it was a blur but to her surprise Dante deflected her durantium blade with not Rebellion but with Ivory, she then remembered that Dante did not wield ordinary firearms, they were psi-tech weaponry that he used to his advantage and their frames were Duranitum lined, meaning she would not be able to just simply slice through them.
Evading a swing from Rebellion as well as deflecting several rapid-fire barrages from Ivory Selvaria dashed to the side and thrusted her blade in the air so as to discharge a barrage of ionized bolts similar to how she used the spiral lance in the past, now profficent enough to use non-ragnite weaponry as a conduit for her powers.
Dante smirked and air tricked above her, sending a helm breaker down which Selvaria deflected with her sword and irradiated a slight explosion of her cobalt flame, pushing Dante back with the resulting shockwave as Selvaria's hair was nearly glowing blue and her eyes seemed to outshine the sun, her blade became encompassed in a semi-transparent energy shroud which seemed to be a cobalt version of Ray's Ethereal Sword.
Selvaria dashed forward, Maou and Emi were able to glimpse the speed they were fighting at and by all honesty, Dante's chasing of Maou was likely toying with him, enjoying every moment like a Cat playing with a mouse before actually killing it.
Dante deflected several rapid strikes from Selvaria which matched the speed of his technique "Million Stabs" and air tricked above her and then air dashed to gain some distance. As Selvaria turned to face Dante he activated his Devil Trigger and his new form smiled, saying "Looks like I'll be able to unwind a little, you're pretty good. Mind telling me your name? I'm sure you know mine but I'll tell you anyway. Dante."
Selvaria let a small smirk make itself known as she replied "Selvaria." to be honest with herself, she was enjoying this spar with the son of sparda.
The two dashed at eachother again, Selvaria using her powers in a manner Emi thought was advanced (though she could do it, it took concentration but for Selvaria it seemed to be easy). By ionizing the air around her, Selvaria created a magnetic bubble in which she could levitate and become airborne without the need for any flight technology, Dante's devil trigger form on the other hand had wings and could fly without the need to ionize the local area.
The fight took to the skies and to any observer there was a sudden flash of blue and red explosions in the skies above Tokyo, to Selvaria and Dante, they were engaging with their swords charged to full, the clashing psionic auras resulted in detonations which tempted Selvaria's memory to recall the moment before she met Ray, when she activated her final flame. At close range she and Dante saw a purple aura between their clashing swords instead of sparks, the red demonic psi energy of Dante clashing with Selvaria's blue ethereal blade resulted in a pulse of energy which surprised both of them.
Selvaria and Dante landed on top of a 10 story high building, Dante having left his Devil Trigger and checking his sleeve, noticed a cut.
Selvaria grinned and said "That's one." Dante replied "Hmmph, try not to get burned."
POV Change - Ray Zenji
The slight break from school would have been better if Haruhi did not insist on coming with him but then again Ray said it involved his Praetorii Selvaria Bles and Haruhi wanted to know what kind of work the Praetorii would be involved in, understandable as Ray had offered her said office.
Ray crouched over the roof of a skyscraper overlooking the blue and red scene on a lower building, Haruhi was more careful and wasn't willing to be a hair's length away from falling 14 stories though she did remind herself that such a fall would be nothing for Ray or her since the two were Shinjin.
Ray whistled as he observed Selvaria's fight with Dante as he noticed Dante nick Selvaria in the shoulder with a barrage of bullets though out of 30 shots only one had scraped her. Haruhi spoke, saying "Why are you not intervening?" Ray replied "Well originally I came here to check on a friend of mine but it seems Selvaria couldn't have picked a better sparring partner. The man she's fighting is Dante, he doesn't have a last name unless you take Infeni traditions of your last name being your father's given name. As which he would be called Dante Sparda. In either event he and Selvaria are not equal in skill, Selvaria is good but relies too much on raw power whilst Dante favors agility and deception."
Haruhi sighed and said "Not what I asked. I can understand a little now why you talk so much but honestly you should just answer my question." Ray sighed and said "Yeah I'm working on an excuse to get involved right now but it seems Selvaria made a wager with Dante, this is a duel between them and I have no right to intervene unless Dante is about to kill her though I am proud in a way. I taught Selvaria how to utilize her powers in this manner and it seems to be enough to make Dante fight seriously without winning outright." Haruhi spoke, saying "So, how do you know Dante?" Ray shrugged and replied "I give him a paid job once in a while to kill some Inferni intent on slicing up innocent bystanders or eat them. His paternal heritage isn't exactly the best of example of terrestrial alien races and he knows it. His Maternal heritage is human, an ordinary human. We first met when he accidentally stumbled in on that friend I wanted to check in on."
Haruhi replied "And this person would be?" Ray replied "Hino Rei, a rival of mine in a way. I once offered to have her become a Praetorii but her loyalties seem to be elsewhere, not knowing the truth about her so called friend."
Haruhi was about to speak when the tide of the battle began to shift to Selvaria's favor.
POV Shift - Selvaria Bles
Selvaria evaded a stinger from Dante and sliced the air in front of her with her Ethereal blade, causing a wave of blue energy to impact Dante from behind, cutting him a second time only this time more severely, enough to have Dante dash back and summon a Vital Star S (A Bio-Tech object that heals injuries) and crush it over the injury, healing it.
Selvaria spoke, saying "Two down, one to go." Dante shrugged and said "Yeah, yeah, I know the deal."
After those words he smirked and activated his Devil Trigger again and placed Rebellion on his back and drew Ebony & Ivory, unleashing a hailstorm of bullets which Selvaria opted to evade instead of deflect as the sheer number was past her ability to deflect, added with the fact they were from two sources, not one.
Selvaria flashed in a blur of blue color and appeared behind Dante who moved his back so that Rebellion which was in rest deflected her sword's slash. Dante ducked and leg sweeped her and was about to send a barrage of rounds when she rolled to the side and formed a blue psionic blade over her free hand and drove it through Dante's back, impaling him in the chest with the psi-attack and said "That's three."
Dante kicked her back slightly and deactivated his Devil Trigger, saying "Nice move, well I've had enough fun for now so you should keep your end of the bargain and have Ray cough up 2 mil."
Ray flickered between them as Selvaria's psionic wrist blade dissipated. Selvaria wasn't expecting him to be nearby as Ray said "Timing is everything I guess. I wasn't here to keep an eye on Selvaria if that's what you're thinking but rather I came to keep an eye on someone else."
Haruhi appeared as well which annoyed Ray slightly as he knew, correctly, that Dante would get the wrong idea.
Dante looked at her for a moment before saying "So, finally pulled that stick out of your ass?" Ray sighed and said "Haruhi and I are not involved the way you think we are." Haruhi spoke, saying "Is this the kind of thing I'll end up doing if I accept your offer?" Ray nodded and said "It is a military position incase I need to remind you. In any event I do intend to compensate you but first I need to know who hired you to kill Sadao Maou."
Selvaria wasn't surprised he knew what was going on as after all the had a nanite link, enabling them to share information and experiences through an AR Display.
Dante shrugged and said "Some suit from Abstergo Industries, said there was a demon interfering with their attempts to get information from some redhead, need I remind you that it was the same person that tried to chop me in half just as your attack dog stopped me from finishing my job?"
Ray sighed and said "I advise you avoid Abstergo, they may as well be demons in human form considering how far they are willing to go to achieve their ends. I'm sure they would have paid you but you would have been carrying out an action that would sooner or later become a serious threat for others."
Dante sighed and said "Same old story, sometimes I wonder if people will never learn. Ah well, I made a deal with your girlfriend so I'll back off the small fry." Ray sighed and said "If you must know, I am involved with Laura now, not Selvaria."
Dante laughed and said "Her? About damn time. You do realize that she's half inferni like me." Ray nods and says "I've known and she knows. I managed to remove her memory seal some time ago, hasn't changed her view point." Dante nodded and said "Good, honestly the two of you are the perfect pair in my opinion, so much in common." Ray replied "Enough about my personal life. I'll send someone to Devil May Cry with the money, in the meantime I'll delegate someone else to keep tabs on Hino Rei. Selvaria, you should head back to Emi and finish your assignment. Haruhi and I need to return to Nishinomiya."
Haruhi sighed and said "Why? I want to meet this Rei." Ray sighed and said "Perhaps later, I've gotten a report that something needs my attention in Nishinomiya."
Haruhi nodded and looked at Dante for a moment before saying "Hopefully you'll keep those firearms hidden." Dante shrugged and said "Ray sold me one of those Data storage things a while back in exchange for information. I don't have any problems and all those fancy security devices at airports are none the wiser."
Ray spoke, saying "Besides, Dante is an American citizen, back home he doesn't need to worry about people hassling him for owning two customized handguns. Well not the people who know what he does anyway." Dante grins a bit before stepping back and falling off the roof of the building only for him to appear darting out of sight in devil trigger form.
The next Day.
Someone had used a psionic wave to erase the bystanders memories. So far nobody had been injured by the incident nor did they remember it.
Yusa Emi walked with a sigh as it started to rain and noticed Selvaria standing there and waiting, she was dressed in a simple black short sleeve shirt and was uncaring about the rain pattering against her whilst Emi unfolded an umbrella.
Emi spoke, saying "What do you want?" Selvaria replied "Yusa Emi is your name correct?" Emi nodded and Selvaria spoke again, saying "My name is Selvaria Bles and I'll be blunt. I know your real name is Emilia Justina and that you were born on a planet called Ente Isla by it's inhabitants. You came here by means of a psionic rift your people simply call gates. I represent a Galactic Power known as the Imperial Kylandarian Republic and in addition to an offer I have for you, I am also here to tell you about your heritage or rather, the truth behind it."
Emi stares at her for a moment before speaking in the Ente Islan language, saying "And I'm supposed to believe this?"
Selvaria was only able to understand her because of the small cybernetics the IKR use for universal translation. (Surgery entirely unnecessary as the nanites can simply be reprogrammed to combine and construct devices inside the body, making cybernetic augmentation though surgery and invasive techniques unnecessary, some would call this Nano-Augmentation.)
Selvaria replied "The incident yesterday should have shown that I am not an ordinary person. To be more on topic, I am a Valkyria, and so are you. What you were told as being Angels or of Angel heritage is actually of Valkyur descent. Your planet is under constant observation by the IKR because it is close to our border and the system it is in is controlled by the Valkyur Regency. That which you define as heaven is actually the Valkyur's outpost in that system. Your ability to wield what you perceive as magic is actually genetic and is a result of your Ente Islan human DNA and your Valkyrian DNA."
Emi stared a moment before replying in Japanese, saying "Again, why am I supposed to believe this." Selvaria sighed and said "Have you ever felt a surge of power when you were severely injured, a surge that you realized if you let it go, it would be uncontrollable and fatal." Emi's eyes widened, briefly flashing red before returning to their non-psionic emerald color as she said "Once, I suppose based on appearances your hair isn't dyed."
Selvaria nodded and said "I am, like you, Valkyur. I am however as it is known, Pureblood and thus my capacity for psionic abilities is far greater than most other Valkyria. Furthermore amongst the Valkyur women seem to have the highest aptitude for psionic abilities. If you are willing to learn more of your true heritage then meet me at the MgRonalds in sa-"
Emi's face shifted as she said "Anywhere but there...please." Selvaria nodded, realizing that she whilst seemingly protective of Maou, is not exactly his friend either. She spoke, saying "Then perhaps the SFC acros-" Emi again spoke, saying "Not there either!"
She sighed and then said "Then perhaps you could suggest somewhere. I have only another day before I must return to Nishinomiya, I have a job there as a teacher that I would rather not lose.
Emi sighed and said "Here is fine."
Next Week - POV Shift - Ray Zenji.
Based on her report, Selvaria had convinced Emi to learn more, the exact details seemed abstract considering the situation there but so far Emi whilst displaying a high interest in her maternal heritage is uninterested so far in joining the IKR. Selvaria however has left the door open after explaining exactly how the Valkyur Regency do things, meaning Emi seems that it would be in her friend's best interests in coming to Earth instead of causing any kind of problems in Ente Isla as the Valkyur would intervene if they suspected. In the meantime she also realized that her weapon, Better-Half seems to be a bio-tech weapon of recent design, a Valkyur's version of an Infeni's "Devil Arms" and after being told who Dante was, decided that he wasn't a bad guy after all (despite kicking down the MgRonalds door suddenly and making a big mess of things whilst chasing Maou and being forced to use some kind of sleep power on Chiho who tried to get between them when Dante drew his firearms as afterall, Dante does not go after humans, especially the kind who seem to be the fodder demons go after though also on a side note, Dante paid a visit there later and though Maou, Emi and their friends were the only ones who remembered the carnage (Their repairs and memory wipes saved Dante the usual "damages" factor in his job expenses) and it seems Dante intends to leave Maou alone, realizing from Chiho that he wasn't a bad demon.
In the meantime the school trip to Hokkaido would be soon though something began to unnerve Ray, as he was getting a bad feeling something might interrupt his plans for the trip.
POV Shift - ? - Tortana, Gallia
A woman seemingly of 30 years of age with Valkyrian White Hair and Red Eyes held a sword to a young male's throat, the man, Welkin Gunther, former militia tank commander during Gallia's participation in the second europan war and at the moment, a father.
Alicia was recovering from childbirth and was in no position to fight off a valkyria and activating her powers in this situation would be fatal, she was sitting in a corner holding her infant daughter in her arms, cradling her and so far, keeping her from crying.
The Valkyrian woman spoke, saying "I will ask you once more, where is my daughter!" Welkin replied "If I tell you, will you leave my family alone?" The woman nodded and said "I give you my word, I only seek the location of my daughter. I know she fought against you a year ago on the side of the East Europan Imperial Alliance."
Welkin would have otherwise assumed this couldn't be true but with the Valkyur there was the chance they had longer and more thriving lives as this woman seemed to be too young to be Selvaria's mother. Welkin spoke, saying "As far as I know last year, she gave her life to destroy most of Gallia's regulars in what people say was a Valkyrian legend known as the Final Flame. She waited until the men under her command were a safe distance before activating it."
A tear ran down the mother's eye as she asked "Was a body recovered?" Welkin shook his head and she seemed to give the response of relief, saying "Then she may yet be alive. Rarely does one survive such a technique without assistance however."
A buzzing sound came from something in the woman's pocket which she took out, a small flat device made of ragnite made itself known and a voice spoke from it, in a language Welkin did not recognize. The woman spoke in the same language, saying "She is where!?"
The voice replied with a single word that was persistent regardless of language. It said "Earth."
The woman sighed and said "I will be heading there then. I will meet you later at the usual location."
With those words she pressed a button on the device and placed it back in her pocket as well as lowering her sword, saying "I apologize for troubling you and your family. It's just that my daughter was wrongly taken from me during a time I could not protect her. I pray the same fate does not befall you and I offer your wife this blade, it reacts with the cobalt flame and she would be able to wield it well."
The woman holds her sword out to Welkin who takes it just before saying "I suppose I can understand, I would be angry as well if someone kidnapped Isara from us."
The woman nodded and said "I am glad you understand. Again I apologize. My name is Olivia Bles. I doubt we will meet again."
With those words she disappeared in a blue blur, presumably in search of her daughter, Selvaria.
To be continued...
