Disclaimer: I don't own High School DxD.
The Trails of Avarice
Betas: None so far, you're welcome to apply
Chapter 12: The Second Battle of Agreas
The flying island of Agreas was a truly fantastic site. It was a massive floating mass roughly the same size as that of Manhattan from which bits of crystals, some as tiny as a speck and others as massive as any skyscraper, jutted out of the basalt rock. The city of Agreas was also quite amazing, with modernesque and postmodern structures blending seamlessly into much more ancient looking buildings that would not have looked out of place in the bronze age. It was this incredible beauty, both natural and by intelligent design, that had allowed the island to become the premier tourist destination in all the Underworld.
Today however, for the second time in its recent history, the city's streets were not overrun by happy tourists enjoying their vacations, but instead by warriors fighting for their lives. DxD as per their mission as being the fast reaction force of the alliance had assaulted the island as soon as its location was determined and they were able. Even now, they fought valiantly against the forces of Qlippoth who had taken the city weeks earlier. They made little progress however, as despite their apparent firepower advantage, the Qlippoth defenders were well prepared for them, exploiting well thought out strategies and the smart use of their superior numbers to effectively hold them at bay.
Observing this from the heart of the floating island, Qlippoth's leader Rizevim Livan Lucifer smiled in satisfaction.
"Looks like all that effort in studying and developing counters to this DxD force was worth it, My King." Observed a man with a graceful face, grey hair and eyes.
"You're so right, Belial. Thanks to all our hard work, these little distractions won't be able to spoil our fun." Rizevim replied with a demented smile. "After all, we can't let small fry interfere when the big boys~ come out to play."
The Super Devil gestured to a nondescript box tightly bound by chains of golden light that hovered in mid-air amid the large chamber. Scattered around said chamber were dozens of objects of various makes: books, weapons, clothes and jewelry. All of which glowed with power and from which flowed a stream of energy that attacked the box's chains, eating away at them. The largest of these streams however came from the massive crystal that dominated the chamber. This was the central crystal that empowered Agreas, keeping it in the air and from which the Evil Pieces and Brave Saints were created. Now however, it and the other artifacts in the chamber were being put to another use.
The breaking of Trihexa's seal.
For a moment, Rizevim and his lieutenant stood admiring as the power of their gathered artifacts steadily eroded the seals that kept the Mad Primal sealed. Suddenly an explosion rocked the chamber and Rizevim frowned. Turning to Belial, he ordered, "Go help the idiots up top. If that rocking was any indication, they're having a little trouble."
"I, Diehauser Belial, hear and obey, my King." The man said with a bow, as he left to obey.
"Have fun~!" Rizevim offered cheerfully in parting, never once taking his eyes off the ritual in front of him.
For ten whole minutes, the Lucifer luxuriated in the calm as his loyal henchman presumably turned the tide against those DxD fools and pushed them back. Unfortunately for the Super Devil, his pleasant observation of his coming triumph was shattered when he felt the world shift around him.
That wasn't an explosion. What was that!?
Hurriedly turning his eyes away from the undisturbed ritual, he spied the screens showing the progress of the battle for the island.
Oh! That's totally cheating! The Lucifer whined as he saw the latest development in the skies around the floating island.
All around the floating island, rifts in space had opened up leading to various bases of the alliance. From these openings, poured forth an immense army. From Heaven, with no less than its leader Michael leading the way, the Angelic Hosts flew into battle. From the Underworld, poured out a horde of Devils under the overall command of the Satan Falbium Asmodeus, alongside a sizable force of Fallen Angels led by the Grigori's Governor-General Shemhazai. Out of the rift to Asgard surged forth an army of Valkyries and Einherjar led by a contingent of Norse gods with Thor at their head. From the five peaks of Mount Sumeru came Sun Wukong leading a contingent of Devas and Buddhas. The Greeks, not to be out done, marched from Mount Olympus with the Twelve Olympians at the head of an army of gods and demigods. Last but not least were the alliance's newest member, a force of youkai led by their leader, the nine-tailed kitsune Yasaka.
The vanguard of this second wave of the alliance's attack was Tywin Viné and his crack siege troops. As his men poured out of the portals he took a moment to marvel at the sight before him.
To tear holes in reality itself just to bypass the city's anti-transport wards and allow us to move our armies. Truly My Lady has reached a new pinnacle of power. Eyeing the very visible surprise the enemy was exhibiting at the massive force that was massing in the air around the floating island, Tywin smiled a vicious smile. And to catch the enemy by surprise with such a mighty force, truly Ladies Leloucia and Atlan have outdone themselves.
The Viné lord was pulled from his musings when his son Tyrion flew up to him.
"Father, the troops are ready." Tyrion informed.
"They made good time despite the shock of our method of travel. As expected from our men." Tyrion nodded in agreement to that. "Give the orders my son."
"Yes, Father." Tyrion said with a bow before turning to the men and calling up a series of spells that would put him in contact with all their troops at once. As he did, Tywin could barely contain the pride at his son. He showed all the signs of a great commander. Not to say he didn't have his faults, his foolishness had after all led to Eligor's death. But that Lady Mammon had not only chosen to forgive and even help cover up that fact and now trusted him to play such a pivotal role in this momentous assault was proof that even the Satan recognized Tyrion's potential.
"All forces! You know your targets, you've drilled on what to do when this day came countless times already. So I will not bore you by repeating any of that. Just go forth, secure the beachheads for our allies, and lay waste to our enemies as you do it! For Satan Mammon!"
Taking up Tyrion's battlecry of "For Satan Mammon!", the Viné force flew straight for choke points that could be used to control movement within the city, communications nodes, armories and every immediately accessible strategic location on the island. They braved withering fire from the city's defenders, killing dozens of them, but they never faltered in their charge.
Behind them the allied armies still busied themselves organizing themselves, watching with respect as the brave Devils stormed their targets and unleashed their full fury on any and all defenders they found, creating safe landing zones and avenues of approach to the island for them with their lives.
Seeing him and his fellow Asgardians upstaged, the Norse thunder god, Thor let out a frustrated bellow. The god with shoulder-length red hair, a curly red beard and bodybuilder arms, and who was dressed in a sleeveless leather jerkin, dark iron gauntlets and a chainmail vest, turned to his compatriots and roared, "Warriors of Asgard! Are you going to let a bunch of Devils show us up!?"
As one the gathered soldiers of Asgard responded with a resounding, "NO!"
Raising his mighty hammer Mjolnir, Thor declared, "Then to battle! For Asgard!"
With the mighty warrior god at their head, the armies of the Norse charged into the fray. The Qlippoth defenders were however not to be taken lightly and having overcome their surprise, had activated the island's previously hidden defenses. Unexpectedly, the various crystals that dotted the island's landscape suddenly began glowing before from them arced massive bolts of eldritch lightning.
One such bolt of deadly power shot straight at Thor but the god merely summoned his own lightning and channeling its power through mighty Mjolnir, met the bolt head on. There was a mighty burst of thunder as the two forces met and cancelled each other out. Dozens more bolts came the god's way but he flew on undeterred, his powers and hammer negating or swatting each one aside.
While his fellow gods like Tyr and Ullr weathered these attacks as easily as their general did, their godly powers more than a match for the Devil's weapons, the rest of his troops were however not so lucky. Hundreds of Valkyries and Einherjar were vaporized as the terrible lightning swept across their ranks, cutting through even their best defenses. Even then, they did not flinch at their losses and continued their headlong dash to the city.
Not willing to be let their allies steal all the glory, the Norse's allies followed their lead, only a moment or two behind them. Together the allied army ran the gauntlet of Agreas' defenses.
To all forces on Agreas, focus on destroying those crystals spires. The lightning is devastating our forces.
"You heard Lady Amon, men. Our allies need help. Let's give it!" Tyrion roared as he charged at one of the floating city's many crystal spires, all while he shifted his form from that of the dwarf he typically wore into that of a twelve foot tall warrior giant. His squad of a dozen Devils following his lead.
They were met mid-way there by a squad of Qlippoth magicians and Devils who had set up a defensive position a few feet from the base of the crystal, who from behind cover began raining a whole host of magical attacks on them. Tyrion responded by shifting his shape into a monstrous centipede, one large enough to fill up the whole street. His new exoskeleton withstood the enemy barrage easily even as his men shielded by his bulk returned fire with their own magic and he lashed out with his antenna.
Thanks to his new form, he and his men overwhelmed the defenders, barely slowing down in the process. Once past the enemy position, Tyrion's man redirected their fire to the spire, causing cracks to form on the crystal's surface but it held. Tyrion meanwhile was once again shifting forms, this time into a oversized rhino. Once done, he picked up speed and charged right into the spire. The force of his blow sending the spire collapsing to the ground where it shattered into a million pieces.
"On to the next one, men!" Tyrion ordered even as he shifted back into the guise of a giant warrior.
With a resounding, "Yes My Lord!", the Devils followed their leader to their next fight.
"Damnit! They managed to bring up the city's old defenses!" A tall athletic looking girl with curly blond hair cursed as she pulled sharply on the reins of her pegasus to avoid one of the deadly bolts of lightning that Agreas' numerous towering crystals were shooting.
"Why does a tourist resort even have crazy lightning shooting crystal tower thingies!?" A very handsome young man, with jet black hair and bright sea green eyes seated on a jet black pegasus shot back as he guided his steed to safety as another of the bolts shot their way.
"It wasn't always a resort, Percy! It used to be a major fortress for the Old Satans during the Great War." The girl declared as the duo dived into the relative safety of the city's streets, away from the lightning. "This must be some kind of hold over system from that time that Qlippoth reactivated."
"I get that, Annabeth, but why don't one of the dozens of gods here just blast the whole city and be done with it?" Percy asked as he uncapped a pen which quickly transformed into a three foot bronze blade that he used to decapitate a Qlippoth Devil that flew up to engage him and his friend.
"Because, Seaweed Brain, they can't." Annabeth explained even as she stabbed her knife viciously into a magician who had tried to sneak up on her with invisibility to use some kind of clearly cursed blade that he had in hand. "The city has wards specifically designed to weather that."
"But we have so many gods here, I mean-" Percy cut himself off as he glared at an incoming stream of high-powered water that promptly did a u-turn and slammed into its conjurer.
"Seriously? Attacking a son of Poseidon with water?" Said son of the sea god commented derisively.
"They don't know who you are Percy. You're not famous outside the Greek world." Annabeth explained with an exasperated sigh, even as she dug out a few grenades and threw them at the squad of magicians who were attacking them, engulfing the magic users in greedy green flames that burnt them to cinders.
"Oh, right." Percy replied with a sheepish nod. "Anyways like I was saying, there are enough gods to take out the city's defenses."
"Maybe." Annabeth agreed, as the two young adults turned towards the sound of more fighting. "But this city is very important to the Devils and Angels for some reason, so I don't think they'll try that except as a last resort."
"Some reason? Athena didn't tell you?"
"Mum said it was a secret of the Devils and Angels and I shouldn't pry." The daughter of the goddess of wisdom said with a pout.
"So we're just going to needlessly risk our lives for some reason we're not told about? That sucks."
"True. But what's new? We're demigods. This is par for the course."
"I know." Percy admitted with a sigh as he and Annabeth caught sight of a vicious fight between a squad of Qlippoth Devils and a mixed group of forces from the Three Factions. With the latter slowly but surely being overwhelmed by their enemy's superior numbers.
Setting aside his frustration at his lot in life, the demigod son of Poseidon's face settled into a serious visage as he charged into the fray with a battlecry. "For Olympus!"
While many of the allied forces had already swarmed the island and were engaging Qlippoth in urban warfare in the city's streets. The Archangel Michael and the Grigori's leader, Shemhazai did their best to secure the skies around the island to allow for the alliance's remaining troops to reach the island. A task made extremely difficult with the city's defenses at full power.
"Didn't Devora say the city's defenses should be non-functional?" Shemhazai asked as he conjured a massive screen of light to take the blasts of lightning that had been headed for a contingent of Greek nymphs bearing medical supplies for a field hospital.
"She said they should be, but that Rizevim could probably reactivate them with some effort." Michael reminded his Fallen brother, as he shaped a large light spear and threw it at the crystal spire responsible for the earlier attack and destroying it. "It is why we were assigned this detail during the planning."
"So she did." The Fallen leader admitted with a frustrated sigh. "Though I'd hoped it would not be something that needed to be done."
"That, brother, is something we can both agree on." Michael said with a nod even as he conjured a barrier of light to shield a squad of Valkyries escorting some injured back through the still open portal to Asgard.
Shemhazai followed up Michael's defense with some offense of his own as he destroyed the attacking crystal tower with a light spear.
"Less talk, more fighting." Shemhazai declared as he flew off towards a beleaguered group of youkai desperately evading a veritable lightning storm.
"He was the one who started the conversation." Michael observed with a shake of his head, as he flew after the Fallen.
Unlike the rest of the allied forces, the Devas and Buddhas being all god-tier beings in their own rights, were all individually capable warriors. As such, where the rest of the allied contingents had stuck together or broke out into small groups as they engaged the enemies, they had instead broke off to each fight their own battles.
The Devas had charged onto the island and happily gone on a killing spree, devastating the enemy ranks. Many of the Buddhas, with their more pacifistic nature had instead opted to stay in the air and assist Michael and Shemhazai in shielding their forces still in the air and destroying the crystal spires.
Sun Wukong, their nominal leader who had quite unwillingly been redeployed from the DxD to lead the Devas and Buddhas in their assault, had chosen something of a middle path between the two options favored by his peers. Like the Devas he had rushed into the city to engage the enemy, but like the Buddhas he was focusing on destroying the spires - something the Devas in their bloodlust seemed to be neglecting - to save lives.
He was thus hip deep in one of the many skirmishes at the base of one of the crystal towers. A particularly heavily defended one. A fight in which he was joined by no less than Yasaka, leader of the Kyoto Youkai and newest member of the alliance.
"What are you even doing here, fox?" The Buddha asked as he used his Ruyi Jingu Bang to sweep aside a squad of Devils that had surrounded the kyuubi. "If you die here, wouldn't it destabilize your city?"
"That is true, Great Buddha." The youkai replied politely even as she fired a barrage of fox fire at a line of magicians behind some cover that was raining spells on a squad of Fallen. "However, is it also not true that if we fail today that the Apocalyptic Beast and one other monster of equal power will be unleashed? That I think is a fate I'm willing to take the risks involved to come fight against."
"Is that so?" The Great Victorious Fighting Buddha asked rhetorically. "Well then, let's get this over with shall we?"
With that the mighty Buddha threw his legendary rod into the air towards the crystal tower, which in mid-flight grew in size and began spinning like a frisbee. When it impacted with the spire, it easily bisected the crystal.
"Can't have you be away from Kyoto too long, can we?" The Monkey King said as he grasped his weapon as it flew back his way.
"You have my thanks, Great One." Yasaka offered graciously.
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven just nodded, already moving towards another of the pesky crystals. The kyuubi following in his wake.
Back in the palace of Mammon, Devi, her Peerage, Attie and Lulu were observing the ongoing battle from the Satan's study.
"I should be out there with the rest of them!" Devi said as she banged her fist onto her study's desk in frustration.
"You know you can't," Lulu said without taking her eyes off the screens showing the course of the battle. "If the worse does happen, and the two Primals are released before we can stop Rizevim, we'll need you to face them. Taking that into consideration, letting you go to the field and risk yourself beforehand would be foolhardy."
"I know. It's just-"
"Difficult?" Attie offered.
Devi just nodded her head in agreement, even as Ravel took her head and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"You've already done your share, Devi." Bonnie offered soothingly. "You created those portals, remember?"
Devi nodded, she did remember. It was hard to forget the only worthwhile contribution she'd made to the course of the whole battle so far.
Don't think like that, Devi! The twins chided. If not for you creating those portals, we would have neither the advantage of surprise or numbers that we now enjoy.
"The twins are right, Devi. You've done plenty already. Stop beating yourself up over not being able to do more." Val added, even as the rest of the Peerage and Attie all nodded along.
"What in the world!" Lulu suddenly exclaimed catching everyone's attention as they turned to see the tide of the battle suddenly turning against them as a horde of beings in red dragonoid armor with wings began appearing from nowhere and attacked the allied forces.
"Those are-"
A short while earlier…
"My Satan! Our forces are being overwhelmed!" A panicked Devil shouted as he rushed into the central chamber of Agreas where the ritual to unseal Trihexa was underway.
"Tell me something I don't know, yeah~" The self-styled Satan said sounding oddly jovial despite the dire situation his forces were facing.
Taken aback by his leader's seeming good humor in the face of defeat, the Devil took a moment to compose himself before replying, apparently knowing that Rizevim was serious in wanting an answer to his request for new information.
Good little dog. So well trained. The Super Devil mused even as he didn't once take his eyes off the ritual, which he was sure was almost complete. The links of the glowing chain were almost completely corroded away already.
"Err… Our Phoenix Tears have mysteriously stopped working properly?" The Devil offered uncertainly.
"Oho! Really? Then Diehauser Belial must have betrayed us. Go kill him." The Lucifer said with a shooing motion.
"But My Satan, how? Our forces are on the verge of collapse already."
"Oh quit your whining," Rizevim said sending the hapless Devil a gimlet eye even as he continued to smile jovially. "Just release those Mass Produced Scale Mails. They should do the trick to turn the tide. Each one is a Longinus after all."
"As you command, My Satan!"
"What a waste of space." Rizevim complained after the Devil had left to carry out his order. "I mean, it's not that hard to think of using our trump card now that things are getting tough. Why did he have to bother me when I'm almost done."
Before him the first of the links of the glowing chain snapped.
Back in Devi's study, she and her companions watched as across the island of Agreas, the allied forces were just getting the upper hand when suddenly winged warriors in red dragonoid armor studded with green jewels began appearing all over the battlefield and began turning the tide.
"Those are Boosted Gear's Scale Mail!" Devi said in shock.
Lulu however reacted quickly and opened a magic communication channel to all allied forces. "All forces retreat and regroup at your last secure position. The enemy is deploying mass produced Longinus-class artificial Sacred Gears, which are to be considered a major threat to everyone. In light of this, I repeat, retreat and regroup."
Thank the Void that Lulu kept a clear head. Devi thought with relief even as the other commanders reiterated Lulu's orders.
Not all of the allied forces heeded their commands though.
"Ignore those orders men. We can take these imitations. Charge in the name of Lord Zaru Oz!" The voice of a foolish Devil commander blared through the communication channels moments before he and his entire company of men were brutally torn apart by the mass produced Boosted Gears.
Despite the gruesome scene being played out for all to see on the screens, everyone to Devi's pride kept their cool.
Lulu merely waited for the allied forces to regain some semblance of order before she proceeded to give a new set of orders.
"My Satan!"
"What is it now~?" Rizevim asked the same hapless Devil from earlier with a deceptively pleasant voice, even as he smiled a truly terrifying smile.
Terrified by the look on his leader's face, the Devil was too scared to speak. Fortunately for him, he recovered before the Super Devil lost patience.
"The Scaled Mails are being beaten back!"
Rizevim blinked in shock at this. How could my trump card be so easily dealt with?
"Explain." Rizevim demanded, the usual facade of good humor he wore shattered by his shock.
"Belial joined the enemy and is helping them-"
"Not enough." The Lucifer said shaking his head with a pitying expression, raising his right pointer finger towards the Devil even as wisps of energy gathered at his tip.
"Wait! My Satan, wait!"
"Alright~! One more chance." Rizevim said with a smile. "But only one."
"Tactics. The enemy are using strange tactics to destroy the Mails."
The Super Devil cocked his head to the side curiously, inviting his subordinate to elaborate.
"They're either isolating them and then concentrating their fire to take them down or using feigned retreats to lure them into fights with gods. Things like that."
"This is that bitch Amon's work." Rizevim concluded. "That or that brat calling himself Asmodeus. Probably the bitch though, since he's here on the frontlines."
The lesser Devil wisely kept silent as his superior began to rant.
"Should have known to program those automatons with a better grasp of tactics and strategy. Falling for things as simple as that, pathetic!"
Rizevim knew that ranting like this was not something he'd normally do. But he couldn't help himself, he was at the hour, no, the very cusp of his final triumph and suddenly the tables were being turned on him? He could not stand it, could not stop himself from bemoaning the fact.
He was so caught up in his uncharacteristic rant that he completely failed to notice that what he'd sought to accomplish for so long had been completed. For the last of the glowing chain, the symbol of the seal that kept Trihexa bound shattered behind him.
The Devil who had brought the news of what was happening saw, but was too terrified of his leader in that moment to even risk opening his mouth to say anything.
It was because of this that neither Devils moved to safety as the box abruptly exploded and a gargantuan blast of bright white and kaleidoscopic light and energy flooded the chamber, destroying everything in its path.
The explosion of energy however did not stop with the floating island's central chamber, for it quickly spread out from the heart of the island carving a massive hole the shape of a perfect sphere in the floating landmass, roughly five square miles in diameter.
Without the central crystal at its heart which had along with Rizevim and a sizable chunk of both armies been destroyed by the blast, the floating island of Agreas began to sink, the lesser crystals unable to keep it afloat. Faced with this unexpected cataclysmic development, both armies scrabbled to abandon the island even as they continued fighting.
Despite the ongoing chaos though, everyone took note that at the source of the explosion now stood two beings, two Primals for who else could they be. The sheer presence the two were radiating smothered all the lesser beings in their vicinity.
One was a being of pure light whose exact appearance shifted from viewer to viewer and moment to moment. It was a being that everyone instantly recognized, it was the long thought dead Biblical God, a sword of pure light in his right hand and a shield in his left he looked ready for war.
His opponent was a large beast with seven necks and ten horns and well over several hundred meters long. Its features were however in a constant chaotic flux as they shifted between characteristics that seemed to come from every different animal in the world such as lions, leopards, bears, even dragons and everything in between. This was undeniably Trihexa, the Apocalyptic Beast.
In Devi's study back in the palace of Mammon, the screens that the gathered Devils had been using to observe the battle were suddenly filled with static.
"Report! What just happened? Report!" Lulu demanded over the communications channels only to be greeted with a incoherent reply.
Devi didn't need either the screens or news from the front to know what had happened. She could feel the presences of the two sealed Primals explode into full power at the back of her mind. They had failed.
"Rizevim has unsealed the Primals." Devi announced to the shock of everyone there. "I can feel it."
Ravel adopted a look of deep worry, one shared by everyone in the room, as she turned to Devi. "Then-"
Devi cut Ravel's worried words off, "It is time to do my part, I'll go fight the Primals."
If possible, the room's occupants grew even more worried, but to their credit no one objected. They may have been worried sick but they weren't about to stand between Devi and her duty. The Primal loved them for that.
"Lulu, keep trying to reestablish contact with our allied forces. Once you do, get them to retreat. It will not be safe for anyone to be in the immediate vicinity of a battle between Primals."
"As you command, Devi." Lulu acknowledged before she refocused on her task.
Devi shot all her gathered loved ones one last longing look before calling on her magic and teleporting away.
While Devi was taking her time to join the battle, her fellow Primals were already in the heat of it. As soon as the slight disorientation of being released from their seal faded, which only took a few seconds, the Biblical God and Trihexa had attacked each other.
The bestial Primal had breathed out a massive stream of multicolored fire at the god from its many heads, in answer the god flew around it and closed with his enemy. Not so easily outdone though Trihexa swept the stream of fire across the sky to strike at his fellow Primal. Despite his greater maneuverability, the Biblical God could not fully evade the attack and was forced to use his shield to weather the flames as he closed the final stretch of distance between him and the monster.
Once he was close enough, the god immediately stabbed the monster with his sword and promptly flew back in a hasty retreat all the while shielding himself from the beast's unrelenting flame attack. The god was about two hundred metres away from the beast when his sword abruptly exploded in a blinding flash of light.
The blast from the attack was so powerful that it tore a hole in reality, like the portals the allies had originally used to deploy their armies, but which was very clearly far less stable. The image of the vista on the other end of the tear was unclear and streaks of energy arced from its ragged edges. A far cry from the clear view and smooth edges of the portals.
Not that any of this mattered much to Hyoudou Issei as he raced through the falling wreckage of Agreas with his parents in his arms.
Damn that crazy Rizevim for kidnapping them in the first place! The Red Dragon Emperor cursed, even as he flew out of the remains of the floating island and into the open air, joining a growing crowd of awestruck gawkers hovering in mid air and watching the sight of two Primals pummeling each other.
Issei thought his parents had said something but he could not hear them over the infuriated roar of the Apocalyptic Beast. A roar so loud and so filled with power, it sent dozens of people falling from the sky and shook the very foundations of the Underworld. Issei himself flinched even as he snapped his wings over his parents to shield them as best he could against the Primal's power.
The roar was followed by the beast, who was missing a good chunk of its upper back, unleashing a storm of beams that raced across the battlefield.
Issei and everyone in the air began desperate evasive maneuvers to avoid the beams, even as the monster's opponent fired its own immense single beam that should have lanced into the monster's side. However, it seemed the monster had learned its lesson and just as the beam would have hit it manifested a aura of raw power that shielded it from the attack. All the while it continued its deadly beam storm.
Dozens, hundreds, maybe even thousands, failed to successfully evade the Primal's barrage and died.
Why is it even doing this!? This attack isn't even aimed at its enemy! Issei screamed angrily into the silence of his own mind as he flew through one of the portals and to relative safety.
Quickly, he landed at an impromptu military base - or at least that's what he guessed it was based on what little he knew about such things - and handed his parents over to the personnel there. They very obviously wanted to talk to him about what was going on, but seemed to hold themselves back and left without a word.
The Red Dragon Emperor looked at them longingly for a moment, before he turned back to the battlefield and took flight. Rias and everyone else was still out there, he had to go rescue them.
He had just flown through the portal when he saw a host of Angels led by Michael charge the Beast, flying through the gauntlet of the still raining beams to pepper its side with various projections of light.
"Michael, no!" The being of light fighting the monster shouted, even as it fired its own storm of beams though his all focused on its enemy. "Flee! The Mad Primal is not a foe you and your siblings can face!"
As if to punctuate these words Trihexa suddenly summoned a massive magic circle along its flank facing the Angels and from it unleashed a massive energy blast that decimated them.
"My children!" The Biblical God cried out in fury as it gave up ranged combat and charged the other Primal with a newly conjured sword.
Devi emerged onto the battlefield in her true draconic form, albeit much smaller than the last two times she had assumed the form and only roughly equal in size to Trihexa. The airspace in the battlefield was crowded enough already and did not need her immense bulk making it worse.
The first thing she saw was the Biblical God - her power helpfully informed her that he was Primal Creation, Custodian of the Universe - try to cleave Trihexa - the Primal Chaos, the Mad Primal - into two with a massively oversized sword of light only to be blocked by Chaos' protective aura. Before she could move to aid the god, Trihexa hit him with a huge energy blast that sent him flying.
Not waiting another moment, Devi herself attacked. From seven heads she breathed out beams of pure void energy that cut right through Chaos' aura and deeply into its flesh, causing it to stop the continuous beam assault that it was sustaining. Seemingly buoyed by her success, the allied armies still on the field - There's still so many of them! Why haven't they retreated yet? - added their own firepower to the assault, though their attacks were all smothered by the other Primal's aura.
The creature reeled from the attack and roared in furious pain, a roar that shook the Underworld and created hairline fissures in reality to appear throughout the area. Devi didn't let up on her attack and it continued to destroy whole chunks of Trihexa's body, but it seemed to not deter it much as it turned to face her and unleash a massive beam of its own. Devi quickly cut off her attack and summoning void energy instead focused on defense, curling up into a ball and enshrouding herself in her own protective aura.
Chaos' attack was incredibly powerful and Devi found that she could do nothing but focus all her energy on defense.
I don't know how long I can hold on! My powers aren't designed for defense! Void energy sought to consume everything around it and did so very aggressively. While it could be shaped into a defense whereby it consumed incoming attacks, holding it into a fixed shape or pattern for use as such was difficult as it always fought to break free to consume its surroundings. This aspect of its nature meant it was primarily tailored towards offensive use.
Devi was just pondering on some kind of desperate action when she sensed Creation release a massive attack. Chaos' unrelenting attack suddenly dissipated and Devi uncoiled herself to find that he had somehow caught the Mad Primal's attention.
"Devora! Little sister! We need to work together!" The Biblical God, her ancient foe, pleaded.
"That's the plan!" Devi replied as she launched a barrage of void missiles at their enemy that cut right through Chaos' protective aura.
"You focus on offense. Your void attacks will ignore his defenses," Creation offered as he stepped in the way of Chaos' retaliatory attack and shielded Devi. "I'll protect you from his counterattacks."
"Sounds doable." Void agreed while she fired a single massive beam of void energy at the Mad Primal.
Even as the two Primals planned how they would fight their insane fellow, the remnants of the allied armies were limping away from the battlefield. One that with each exchange between the Primals and the inherent release of immeasurable power as they tried to defeat their maddened bother, grew ever more unstable as more and more cracks and outright tears in reality came into being.
"Let go of me Shemhazai," Michael weakly demanded as he pushed against the Fallen. "Father has returned and needs my help."
"Don't be an idiot! He specifically said to flee." The Grigori's leader shot back as he carefully helped the badly wounded Archangel through the air and towards the portal to Heaven. "Besides, you barely survived that suicidal rush earlier when you tried to do that."
"But Father-"
"Has a lot better help from Devora than we could ever offer." The Archangel Gabriel said as she flew over and helped Shemhazai with their brother.
Just then Devora suddenly curled into a ball like she'd done earlier but instead of channeling power to defend herself she began gathering it. The Mad Primal was not blind to this and shot a barrage of multicolored fireballs her way, only for them to be intercepted by their Father as he cut them from the sky with his sword and charged the monster, distracting it from its attack. He flew circles around the larger, less maneuverable Primal slashing at it with his sword, undeterred by how his strikes more often than not were simply deflected by Trihexa's aura.
Trihexa was so focused on him that it failed to notice until it was too late as Devora uncurled and unleashed a truly immense beam of energy that consumed the Chaotic Primal, their Father only just barely flying away in time.
"I see your point, my siblings." Michael grudgingly admitted, even as Trihexa unleashed another furious roar that signaled it was far from defeated. A roar that tore whole new ruptures in reality.
Through one of these ruptures, was a desolate wasteland of one of the uninhabited planes linked to Earth, upon which sat a massive war machine. It set on a massive tracked base and had a largely spherical main body that stood several stories tall, was covered with multiple layers of interlocking armor plates, had a large variety of weapons located throughout its structure, and was capped off by a single authentic looking recreation of a human eye at its peak. This was the Technodrome, the new mobile primary physical body for the Primal Life, D.O.M.E.
As the Primal observed the epic struggle being fought between his three fellow Primals through the rupture, it pondered its response.
Let's join in! No. 7 opined. If we're smart about it, this can be our best chance to take out all three of them.
Unlikely. Probability calculations indicate Primal Chaos will be the likely winner through sheer attrition. Its regeneration and offensive output is proving too much for Creation and Void. No. 1 observed.
If Chaos is so tough, then maybe we should help the others kill it first. No. 4 suggested.
I agree with No. 4. No. 2 said as she joined the conversation. It is called the Mad Primal for Life's sake!
D.O.M.E.'s various sub-minds continued debating for a long moment, until at last their greater self made its decision.
We attack!
From numerous hangers hidden both within the Technodrome and scattered throughout the wasteland where it was located, a swarm of thousands of combat drones took to the air. There were the familiar Commander and Heavy Infantry drones but also hundreds of the simpler Infantry variants which merely looked like less heavily armored and stylized version of their Heavy Infantry counterparts. Besides these though, the Primal also fielded a handful of entirely new variants of its drones: a dozen or so High Speed Interceptor drones shaped like beaks and with a pair of mechanical arms that zoomed through the air; as well as four massive Siege Warfare drones with oblong bodies that were supported by two legs and stood 60 meters in height.
With its vanguard deployed, D.O.M.E. sent it through the rupture.
Devi and the God of the Bible were busy avoiding a barrage of powerful beams from Trihexa when they sensed the approaching presence of another Primal. Distracted, Devi failed to move entirely out of the way of one of the beams and had her wings on her right side largely disintegrated as they were caught in the Mad Primal's destructive attack.
The pain was intense, more so than any pain that the Primal had ever endured and she let out a pained filled roar. Her godly ally quickly interposing himself between herself and Chaos and blocking their mad brother's follow-up attack.
Devi was immensely thankful in that moment for the huge amounts of void energy that coursed through her true form as it greedily consumed her pain, effectively numbing it, even as it healed her injuries. Oh, and she was grateful, just a little bit, to her old enemy for gallantly protecting her too.
Her musings were cut short though when a swarm of familiar combat drones with a few new additions suddenly flew her way firing a rain of beam attacks.
Just great! Now D.O.M.E. apparently wants to join the party. As if this fight wasn't hard enough already! Devi bemoaned as she breathed rays of void energy over the drones' ranks. She destroyed dozens of them, but the agile little things quickly scattered and began pelting her with fire from all angles.
Idly she noted, that elements of the allied army, of which there were still far too many in the area, rushing to try to help by engaging the drones. That helped but D.O.M.E. seemed to have an endless supply of his avatars and was sending them in seemingly endless stream through the rupture that must lead to his new base of operations.
"What are these things?" The Biblical God asked as he began swatting the harassing drones from the sky. Though he seemed to be having a great deal of trouble with the fast moving beak like drones who were just maneuverable enough to keep one step ahead of him.
"They're the mechanical avatars of the Primal Life." Devi explained even as she was forced to summon her aura to shield her from a high powered beam shot her way from one of the large new drones.
Well, if there's any good side to this it's that D.O.M.E. seems determined to annoy Trihexa too. Devi mused as the Primal Life's drones, a noticeably larger swarm than that harassing herself and Creation, attacked the Mad Primal and distracted him from themselves.
Too bad, we can't capitalize on that with these things in our way. These things are such pests. Devi complained as she let her aura explode from around her destroying over a hundred of the machines at once.
Trihexa had been hard pressed by the sheer volume of fire directed at it and the substantial firepower of the two large drones sent his way. But seemingly taking inspiration from Devi's move promptly copied it and unleashed its own chaotic aura. Waves of chaotic power played across the area, destroying hundreds of D.O.M.E.'s drones and sending the rest burning their thrusters hard to get away.
The wave also had a devastating effect on the remainders of the allied army still on the field as it killed hundreds upon contact and sent the survivors such as the Heavenly Dragons and their respective teams reeling. Thankfully, D.O.M.E.'s drones were in too much disarray themselves to capitalize.
Trihexa's aura explosion had like so many of the powerful attacks in the fight between the Primals so far served to tear new openings in local space. One such opening led to the Hyoudou Residence, where the Primal Time, Ophis had been watching the whole fight from the comfort of the living room and a conjured screen. The opening had in fact opened up right in front of the Primal.
"How coincidental." The Primal said sarcastically. "Really, Destiny, do you need to be so heavy handed?"
No reply came her way, and the dragon god just gave a frustrated sigh. "Not even going to reply?"
Again she was met by silence.
"Fine, if that's the way you want to play then I won't go help."
"Ophis, please." Destiny said as his projection materialized in front of her. "They need you."
Primal Time just snorted. "If Void and Creation can't deal with him, what do you think I can do?"
"You can help them." Destiny offered pleadingly.
Ophis looked through the rupture and saw something that made her blood boil. Great Red had just flown out of another tear in space, presumably one that led to the Dimensional Gap, and joined the fight by bathing Trihexa in flames while Void and Creation were still preoccupied with Life's machines.
"If he's there, then I'm in." The Ouroboros Dragon declared as she walked past her fellow Primal and through the portal.
Smiling in satisfaction, Destiny's projection faded away.
D.O.M.E. was starting to get worried, he had deployed almost 60% of his drones already and had yet to land even one decisive blow on any of the other Primals. With losses mounting and his reserves depleting, things were looking less and less favorable for him. Especially since Mind had joined the battle, apparently on the side of Void and Creation, attacking Chaos and allowing the two to focus on destroying his drones. He was contemplating retreating when suddenly hundreds of his drones died from a single attack. Focusing on its source, he was shocked to find that yet another Primal,Time, had joined the battle as well.
"Hey you! Life!" The Primal in the guise of a little girl rudely called out to him.
"What is it?" D.O.M.E. replied even as he angled a trio of Infantry drones to attack her, only to have her destroy two of them outright with energy blasts while crippling the third so badly it was mission killed, though its speakers remained intact.
"Stop attacking Void and Creation, you idiot and focus on Chaos." Time demanded. Clearly she was on their side just like Mind was.
"Why should I do that?" D.O.M.E. asked as its sub-minds increasingly urged retreat.
Time looked at him like he was a particularly slow child, a look which even he noted was very odd coming from a little girl, and replied, "Because, you imbecile, Chaos is insane. He'll destroy everything. So unless you want to live in an empty universe, I'd advise killing him first."
She then mumbled something that even with his drone's advanced sensors he barely caught, "And if you don't stop soon, Great Red will win and he'll lord it over me forever. Can't let that happen."
That's the real reason she wants me to help? So she wouldn't be upstaged by her rival? D.O.M.E. thought incredulously, his sub-minds echoing his sentiment.
Perhaps. No. 11's cultured voice interjected. But her earlier reasoning is sound. Chaos is the very likely to do exactly as she says. Its goal is something that we definitely would not like.
Murmurs of agreement came from several other sub-minds.
But who's to say that it'll win? It's fighting three, and soon four, Primals already. No. 7 cut in skeptically.
And is winning. Even with Mind and Time. Probability estimates favor a Chaos victory if we do not at least cease harassment of other combatants. No. 1 informed.
The sub-minds broke out into debate once more but were quickly silenced as D.O.M.E. made its decision.
"Very well, Time. But only for this fight."
The Watcher of Infinity just gave the drone a knowing smile, even as it threw it aside and flew to join the main battle.
True to his word, D.O.M.E. redirected his drones from their battles with the other Primals and focused them on Chaos, whilst informing them that, "Time has convinced me to assist you against Chaos. Do not make me regret it."
"Thank you. I assure you that we won't." Void replied even as she once more curled into a ball and gathered her energies. Creation following her lead by conjuring a concentrated sphere of energy that hovered in front of his vaguely humanoid form. Meanwhile, Mind was busy fighting Chaos at close range with breaths of flame and physical attacks while Time and Life's drones peppered their enemy with energy blasts.
When Creation and Void were ready, the dragon had one of her heads nod at one of D.O.M.E.'s nearby drones. Recognizing the signal for what it was, he had his swarm scatter away from Chaos with Mind and Time quickly following suit. They were just in time, as the moment that they were away the two more distant Primals unleashed their attacks and a pair of immensely powerful beams, one pitch black and the other blinding white, consumed Chaos.
That attack was so terrifyingly powerful even in comparison to all the attacks the Primals had been throwing at each other so far, that it tipped the already teetering stability of reality over the edge. In its wake, reality not just at the battlefield but across Earth and its many planes and even far beyond into the infinite depths of space began to unravel.
Fortunately, for the universe there was one Primal who was not too busy fighting a life or death struggle to contain the collateral damage from said struggle.
For a brief instant in time, much to the confusion of beings everywhere the entirety of the universe glowed blue as Destiny exerted his power to stabilize the damage. Most everywhere the glow quickly faded, but at the site of the battle between his fellows it did not, as he focused his power to contain the power being tossed around in the confrontation.
"Brothers, Sisters, deal with Chaos. I'll keep the universe together." Destiny told his fellow Primals as he manifested a projection next to each of them.
Mind, Life and Void ignored him, instead choosing to rain blasts on the still form of Chaos. Time just snorted derisively, as she joined their peers' bombardment. Only Creation seemed to appreciate his assistance as he offered his thanks while conjuring a massive javelin of light.
Well, at least one of my brothers appreciates my work. That's something I guess.
Devi breathed void blasts from her maws at the oddly still form of Trihexa that had crashed onto the ground alongside the shattered remains of Agreas, ignoring Destiny. She knew she probably should have thanked him like the Biblical God had, but she honestly was more upset with him not helping until now to do so.
Well that and because she was too confused by Trihexa's odd behavior to pay him any mind. The Mad Primal was far from beaten by that last attack. It had hurt it tremendously. She could sense that, but she could also sense that it still had vast reservoirs of power left. Why then was it effectively playing dead and letting them all rain attacks on it without responding.
It was this confusion that led her to choose to attack with void blasts rather than the more effective void rays or a charged beam attack, both those attacks and similar ones required a great deal of focus which would dull her reaction time if, no when, Chaos made its next move.
The thought had just crossed her mind, when Creation sent a truly immense javelin of light hurtling towards their insane brother. Devi sensed that if the javelin had struck, it would finally end this long battle. The God of the Bible must have pumped in a great majority of his remaining strength into it.
Unfortunately, just as the spear was about to hit its mark, Chaos sprung to life. Its body shifting into that reminiscent of an eel or snake, it agilely slithered away from the attack and shot through the air like lightning. It was moving so fast that most of them couldn't react in time as it suddenly closed in on Ophis, its whole body enshrouded in its deadly aura. Devi turned to do something to aid her sister, but was beaten to the punch by Great Red who magically swapped locations with Ophis.
The Dragon of Dragons turned and unleashed a torrent of flame at Chaos but the other Primal was undaunted and slammed into him, tearing an immense hole right through his torso as it flew through him. The True Red Dragon God Emperor's body immediately began to disintegrate.
Gasps of horror resounded all around them from the precious few stubborn individuals in the allied armies that remained in the area, and from the many more who watched from the tears in space as they saw a being regarded as one of the most powerful in the universe die.
The Primals too were shaken at seeing one of their own die and would likely have been easy pickings for Chaos in their distracted states, if not for the brave actions of the Red Dragon Emperor. While everyone was overcome by shock at Great Red's death, Chaos had changed course and surged towards Ophis with barely anyone noticing. D.O.M.E. did and moved his drones to intercept but his attacks did nothing to slow the fast moving Mad Primal down or waylay him in any way. Instead it was Hyoudou Issei who saved the Primal Time by interposing himself between the two Primals and taking the attack.
By all rights, the attack should have disintegrated the boy entirely. That was the difference in power between the boy and the Primal, but as the impact struck the boy was suddenly enshrouded in a deep red aura and the black jewel on the crown of the helm of his Scale Mail - the [Resurrection Scale] - glowed with an intense darkness.
That power! That's Great Red's.
Using the power of the deceased Primal, Hyoudou through a massive exertion, somehow managed to push the Mad Primal away from Ophis. The moment he did though he began falling to the earth below.
He's dead, even with a body crafted from Great Red's flesh, that much power killed him.
But contrary to Devi's expectations, the aura around the boy suddenly pulsed and the darkness around the [Resurrection Scale] intensified for a moment, and the boy's flight leveled off.
He resurrected? From that? That should be beyond the Scale's limits. Devi boggled, before she quickly realized what was going on. That aura! Great Red's power is supercharging not just the boy but the Scale as well. Brilliant.
While Devi was busy dissecting how the Hyoudou boy had managed his feat, Chaos had circled around and once more was headed towards Ophis.
"Devora! Stop daydreaming!" The Biblical God shouted from beside her as he launched a salvo of weak - by Primal standards - light spears at the Mad Primal as it zoomed across the sky avoiding the fire from him, Ophis and D.O.M.E. "We need your firepower!"
"Right!" Devi said, comforted that her draconic form couldn't blush because otherwise she'd be flushed in embarrassment at being so distracted in a fight.
I'm still a little unfamiliar by this form. That's gotta be it. Devi reassured herself as she fired void rays at the Mad Primal, who just narrowly avoided them while streaking through the air. He veered towards Ophis at every opportunity and despite their best attempts he was getting ever closer.
She should be fine though. The Hyoudou boy looks ready and willing to repeat his earlier stunt to keep her safe.
Ophis continued launching energy attack after energy attack at Chaos but like everyone else, her attacks simply hit empty air. In his current state, the Mad Primal was too fast for any of them to even hit. Well, D.O.M.E.'s drones were hitting it by sure weight of fire from all directions, but the power of the few shots of his that were connecting weren't helpful at all.
Not like Chaos' hits. One hit and we die. Just like Great Red. Ophis lamented. Damn it! Why did he have to die? He's my nemesis. If anyone should be the one to kill him it should be me!
As Chaos inched closer, held off from a direct run towards her by Devora strafing the path towards her with her void rays, Devi saw Issei fly protectively in front of her.
He's gonna repeat what he did earlier isn't he? My friend is gonna die protecting me. How many times can he do that before Great Red's power boost runs out? Ten? Twenty? Can I let him die so many times for me? What kind of lousy Primal am I to let him do that? Even once?
Ophis turned to look at the fast moving Mad Primal, little more than a bolt of kaleidoscopic lightning now, and bemoaned the fact that she'd given away so much of her power. She like the other Primals might have infinite power at their disposal but they can only channel a finite amount at a given time and that amount could take a long time to replenish if exhausted. Usually this was not an issue as that finite amount was so large as to be as close to infinite as a finite number could be. Unfortunately, due to her own recklessness, her nigh infinite reserves were almost empty. If I hadn't split my power or let it be stolen, I could stop him. Easily.
Taking a determined breath, she muttered, "I still can."
"Ophis?" Issei, her friend, said questioningly.
Ophis just shot him a smile before calling on the remainder of her power and transforming into a streak of black and white lightning and slamming into Trihexa.
The moment Ophis' lightning form slammed into Trihexa's, the Mad Primal suddenly slowed to a crawl. Watching from the safety of Asgard where he'd brought an injured Kuroka, Vali Lucifer was probably one of only a few beings outside the Primals themselves who understood what had happened, what Ophis had done.
As the dragon god struck the Apocalypse Beast, she has used the remnants of her much reduced power and her authority over time as its Primal to distort time around her brother, drastically slowing its rate of movement. He knew this because at the moment of contact between the two Primals, Ophis had told him as such.
Using all my power up like that, it's tantamount to suicide for us Primals. Ophis had confessed in his telepathic message.
"Vali?" Bikou asked from his side, sounding concerned. "You okay?"
Vali could guess what had prompted his friend to ask him that. Alongside telling him what she intended to do, Ophis had also sent along a plea of pure emotion for him to help defeat Chaos. Her emotion, mainly anger and regret but so much more as well, were so intense that it overwhelmed him, making him do something he had not done in years. Unbidden, tears streamed down his face.
"I'm going to kill that monster!" Vali said as he summoned his Scale Mail and took to the air. "The rest of you, stay here."
"What!? Vali, that's madness. You won't stand a chance out there." As if to substantiate the point, in the background, the Red Dragon Emperor was knocked out of the sky as he shielded the Biblical God from a massive blast sent his way by Chaos. The Mad Primal seemingly adapting to its new reduced speed by switching back to relying on its aura defensively and making use of its regeneration to weather his opponent's attacks while engaging them with powerful attacks of his own.
"Don't worry, Bikou." Vali said as he dried his uncharacteristic tears. "Hyoudou isn't the only one with a power-up."
With that Vali called up the last component of Ophis, his dead friend's, parting gift. Abruptly he was encased in an aura of black outlined with red, in Ophis' power.
Bikou was stunned by this, and Vali didn't wait for him to recover. Instead he shot into the air at his top speed, which with the power boost was now much, much faster than before, through the still open portal and into the battle between Primals.
I promised never to use this. But I guessed if I want to avenge Ophis, I have no choice. Albion!
Right, partner!
"[Subtle Executioner]" Vali's [Divine Dividing] announced as the module he'd received from the Primal Void activated. It transformed into a pure white spear, with wing-like designs around the point which itself was a single black jewel that pulsed with dark energy.
Channeling all his power, his own and that which he gained form Ophis' power-up, into the spear he dived towards the bestial Primal. The monster seemed to sense his presence, one of its heads glanced in his direction, but turned away quickly, dismissing him.
You'll pay for that. Vali thought victoriously as he thrust the spear as deeply into the Primal's side as he could, letting its vicious poison flood into its being.
Where the Primal had ignored him before, it certainly did not now and lashed out at him with a tentacle that boiled into being from the churning mass of flesh that was Trihexa's body sending him and [Subtle Executioner] which he still grasped tightly in his hands flying.
Too drained by pouring all his power into the spear, Vali couldn't even right himself. Much less defend himself or evade as the Mad Primal followed up by sending a massive fireball his way.
Avenging a friend. Well, it's as good a way to die as any.
Vali's last sight as darkness claimed him was a figure in red blocking his view.
As the Hyoudou boy saved his fellow Heavenly Dragon, by sacrificing his life and relying on the power of her [Resurrection Scale] to revive him, Devi mused on how fortuitous it was that she'd created it and the [Subtle Executioner]. Without them this fight would have gone very differently, very badly.
"Trihexa's been poisoned by my [Void Anathema]! It's regeneration should be weakened! This is our chance!"
"You're right. My sensors confirm that it's regeneration has significantly slowed." D.O.M.E. concurred.
"Devora, charge your most powerful attack. Life, help me shield her while she builds up the energy she needs." The Biblical God ordered.
D.O.M.E. didn't seem to mind but Devi chafed at taking orders from the god, but it was a sound plan. Her void attacks bypassed Chaos' protections and was the most powerful of the three of them, making her the ideal choice of attacker. As such she complied, spreading her wings as far as she could even as she bent her necks so that her heads all faced a single growing mote of power within which she began collecting her energy.
Her actions did not go unnoticed by Trihexa however and it fired a truly immense beam her way. The God of the Bible moved into the way, his shield raised and D.O.M.E. had its drones form a wall around him as he channeled a large part of his power through them and returned fire, trying its best to negate or at least weaken the incoming beam. Their efforts were undermined however when the Mad Primal suddenly grew a massive pair of wings from its back and beat the air harshly infusing it with its power and conjuring a immense gust of wind that sent the god and the majority of D.O.M.E.'s drones soaring away. Devi herself was buffeted by the winds but by the time they'd hit her, they'd lost most of their power and she managed to stayed in place.
Not that it helped, without the other two Primals to protect her, there was no way for her to withstand Trihexa's attack. She couldn't evade, not in time at least.
Shit!
Devi prepared herself for the end. There was more than enough power in Trihexa's attack to kill her, depleted as she was by channeling all her power into her attack. In that moment, she cursed fate for her impending death. For taking her away from all her loved ones. From all the members of her Court that had been her family for two hundred years and more. For leaving behind her Peerage who she had only just began to get to know but who she loved dearly. For undoubtedly sending her best friends, Attie and Lulu, into deep grief at her lost. But most importantly for not being able to enjoy the happiness and love she'd come to enjoy with her lovers ever again. Ravel, Alice, Lain, Val, Bonnie… Everyone. I'm sorry.
But the impact never came, instead at the last minute the newly revived Red Dragon Emperor, no Hyoudou Issei, interposed himself between her and the beam. Using every ounce of his power, borrowed and his own, he held the beam back.
"Devi-sama. NOW!"
Devi didn't need to be told twice and unleashed her attack. It was a small thing at first, the single mote of her power she'd been charging flew from in front of her faces at high speed and slammed into Trihexa. For a moment, nothing happened, and everyone despaired. Still holding back Trihexa's oncoming beam, Hyoudou Issei gritted his teeth in frustration. D.O.M.E. and the Biblical God both swore. But Devi just smiled a terrible smile on her draconic heads before intoning, "[Consumption]"
The instant the word left her mouths, the point where Trihexa had been struck began to collapse in on itself. It started off slowly at first but rapidly picked up speed as everything around the point began to be sucked into a hole in the universe. Air, debris, even the body of the Mad Primal, nothing could escape the gaping maw of the Great Devourer. Not that the Primal Chaos did not try. It clawed desperately at the ground, bit into the earth with its maws, even growing new limbs from its body to do so. It lashed out with its aura trying to tear a purchase on the world with its power, in the process creating all new tears in reality in its flailing. But it was ultimately futile. It was too weakened from its prolonged fight with the other Primals to defy the pull of the void.
At long last, Trihexa, Primal Chaos, the Mad Primal was consumed by the emptiness beyond creation. The long battle was finally won.
AN:
Phew! That was seriously hard to write. 20+, almost 30 pages of almost non-stop action? That was hard. Fun, but hard. Hope you all liked it and that it was good.
I was originally gonna tack on the battle's aftermath in this chapter, but eventually decided against. Instead that'll form the first part of the epilogue. It just seemed more fitting that way.
On another note, yes I borrowed Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase from the Riordanverse for a cameo here. They're my favorite representations of Greek heroes at the moment, so I thought appropriate to use them as my POV characters for the Greeks in this climatic battle.
And before I go, here's a list of the inspirations for D.O.M.E.'s drones:
His new physical body: Technodrome from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series)
Infantry type: MS-06 Zaku II from the Gundam franchise
High Speed Interceptor type: MA-05 Bigro from Gundam again
Siege Warfare type: MA-08 Big Zam from Gundam as well
If you haven't already guessed, I'm a big Gundam fan.
Hope you all enjoyed this fic.
Please review. No flames please, they'll be ignored.