Chapter 21 - Nevan the Lightning Witch
(Play Devil May Cry 3 OST - Nevan Battle theme)
Noire shot through the air like a bullet, still in human form with Ashbringer in her two hands. She didn't have nearly the same level of speed that she did if she were to take her other forms, but it still surpassed superhuman levels. As such, she cleared the distance between the steps and her previous position in a few milliseconds. However, if she had any thoughts that the Demon would let her get close without putting up any resistance, they would have gotten smashed out of existence in the following moment. When she stepped onto the first step did the bats start acting up, quickly sparking with dozens of purple lightning bolts over their forms.
Her eyes widened when she glanced at them, her senses screaming at her in alarm to get the fuck out of there before something very bad would inevitably happen. 'Crap!' Noire thought, slamming her feet onto the ground before jumping right back, just barely avoiding a surge of hand-sized Balls made from violently sparking Lightning, which erupted from the Bats and showered the space which Noire had once been. Frantic, furious shrieks erupted from the Bats when this happened, furious that their attacks had been dodged, although they weren't finished with the Blackette CPU yet.
Not by a single damn long shot, that's for sure. Their mistress commanded them, and they would obey.
Flipping through the air like a pro, Noire righted herself just before she could land on the ground, although that soon became irrelevant since she had to roll to the side when several Bats unleashed these pillars of purple Lightning which raced towards her position. Shock danced through her eyes at that moment, before she barely did this in time before she could get introduced to some very… shocking, developments. Man, that pun sucked shockingly bad….
Ok, I'll stop.
Lifting Ashbringer in one hand after rolling into a crouch, all the while noticing the violent sparks which dominated the creatures' forms, Noire glared at her opponents. From what she'd seen through the brief interaction just now, those Bats had fairly decent reaction time, not to mention power and reflexes, which meant this would likely gave them a vicious edge in battle.
She didn't get much of a chance to breathe though, as the Bat swarm split into multiple smaller groups, all of them converging on her position from multiple different angles. Each group maliciously sparked with Lightning before they launched constant showers of Lightning bolts, ones the size of a human finger but no less deadly. Noire had to activate Ashbringer's LIGHT DRIVE in order to dodge them all in time, but even then she barely managed to avoid getting electrocuted. It didn't help that the Bat swarms each co-ordinated with each other in brutal efficiency, like a military unit lead y an expert commander they viciously assaulted her from all types of positions, raining Lightning blasts on her from one form after another. Balls, bolts, Pillars, streaks, blades, even AOE attacks enough to catch up to 10 people off guard.
Flipping sideways through the air and angling herself so that she could avoid several Lightning bolts which shot through the gaps between her legs, Noire slammed a palm onto the ground, slowing herself to a halt. 'Phew, that almost made my heart skip a beat…' she thought, noticing how the Bats had largely left Nevan exposed. Just seeing that Demon bitch's serene face aggravated the blackette Goddess to the core, giving her the desire to pulverize that smug ass smile right of her damn face! 'Oh goddess, I'm starting to sound like Blanc…' Noire thought with a twisted grimace. However, she didn't let this chance pass her by, not when she could help it. As such, Noire used it to launch herself towards her opponent, Ashbringer brimming with pure golden light.
Her intent was simple, according to biology, Bats were creatures which preferred dark caves to the light of day. They were night-dwellers essentially, which meant that the light Ashbringer brought out should be enough for her to break through their defences and then strike Nevan directly. Thus, for a weapon like Ashbringer which was a Light-based weapon, not only that but it excelled in damaging non-human foes, it would essentially be the perfect counter to Nevan's Bats. In her mind, a chibi version of her already slashed a chibi Nevan with a glowing Ashbringer, the latter chibi's face exclaiming in agony as the light coursed through her system like poison. Hah, she'd sure show her whose an ugly duckling!
Idly, Nevan glanced her way after looking up from her tea… before she shook her head in haughty derision and paid her no further mind causing Noire's face to scrunch up angrily.
'I'll show her…!'
…Noire, wait! She's…
Siegfried's words fell on deaf ears as Noire brought her sword down on Nevan's position, fully expecting her to receive it. However, just as she raised the blade for an overhead strike, the many Bats in the room converged in front of her, forming a wall whilst emitting countless sparks of purple Lightning. As a result, when the blade met the Lightning wall, Noire's shock became shockingly apparent when she literally got electrocuted on contact. A shrill shriek of pain constantly erupted from her mouth within the following seconds, Lightning coursing through her body whilst purple Lightning flew off her form, sending her flying across the room.
"…Tut, TUT, tut. YOU should LISTEN to your ELDERS, little GIRL. Lest YOU wind up a SNACK for MY little… PETS. C'mon SUGAR… prove ME right…"
'This bitch…!' Noire thought, flushed with anger as she made to stand up and glare at her opponent, only to jump sideways to dodge a pillar of Lightning as the Bats one again split apart, launching their own offensives against her. As she blocked, parried and dodged each one, she tried to pull out Balmung with her free hand, however to Noire's shock she soon got zapped int at hand by a Bat swarm coming from the rear. Not only that, but the Swarm closed in from behind, forcing her to launch a CRUSADER STRIKJE, a JUDGEMENT and a TEMPLAR'S VERDICT to deal with them. She even put up her DIVINE SHIELD to lessen the damage the other Swarms were able to deal to her, but it wasn't long before the whole thing shattered, leaving her defences weakened against their constant barrage. 'She's really getting on my nerves…!'
…Calm yourself, Noire! She's purposefully provoking you to lead you astray! With your Devil Trigger it should be possible for you to get in a finishing blow, but you must be wary. For you can only use it for 5 minutes currently before you have to rest from the energy. Keep on defending for now, wait for a prime opportunity!...
'You make it sound so easy…!'
"DON'T be SO but HURT, little ONE, It WLL sting ON the WAY out."
"Grrr…!"
10 minutes passed…
Jumping backwards to avoid another batch of Lightning strikes from above, Noire slid across the ground in a crouch, glancing upwards towards the top of the steps where Nevan sat atop on her chair of bats, elegantly sipping tea whilst not regarding everything happening before her with any interest. 'Tch, I can't get any closer to her than this…!' Noire cursed under her breath. More than once had she tried to launch an attack towards where Nevan, the obvious controller of these Bats, resided but every time she did those Bats would always gather together and block it, then counter with one of those Lightning beams of theirs. It annoyed her immensely especially since it moved so fast, she could only dodge it by a hair. Even more frustrating was that the moment she tried to switch weapons, like say Balmung for Dual Wielding or her Handguns, the Bats would quickly notice and pepper her with Lightning bolt showers from both above and below.
Like before, Noire didn't get long to rest when she noticed a faint purple light emitting from beneath her, quickly making her pale as she rolled forwards. This allowed her to roll out the way of an explosion of violent purple Lightning, one she used the momentum of in tandem with her LIGHT DRIVE, to quickly dash towards Nevan. As she did so however, Noire's eyes flashed as she activated her ZANDATSU, slowing down her time perception so she could come up with a strategy. 'Alright, considering what I've seen so far, this bitch seems to think I'll never be able to break her defences, since she's so much hot stuff. And, while I hate to admit this, but she does have some pretty solid foundations for her reasoning. Many of my attacks with Ashbringer have failed, and when I try to switch weapons, they attack me mercilessly. I can't even do it in ZANDATSU since they seem to gain a burst of speed which makes even my altered perception barely able to track them. Not only that, but it seems that she has a sufficiently high power-level too.'
She tried going over what she knew in her head several times, until an idea came to her. 'Pulling some fast play feints like this isn't usually my thing, but if it'll get this battle over with quicker, then…!' she thought in her mind, her eyes steeling themselves as, all of a sudden, she stopped the Technique as well as her movement. This wasn't something a leader should do in her eyes, but given her situation, and that she wanted an opening to Devil Trigger then get a good slash in, she had little other options at the moment. By the Goddess she hoped this would work.
Nevan's gaze flickered from her tea to where Noire stood, her eyes shimmering with slight annoyance that she hadn't left yet. Though, she went back down to her tea when she saw her Bats converging on Noire's position, believing that she would be done momentarily. She had to have better things to do than deal with someone who wasn't even remotely interested in fighting her, like perhaps try venturing deeper into the Temen-Ni -Gru or seduce some poor rich sod to get his money. Then again, with a prude attitude like hers, Nevan suspected she didn't have that many friends to talk to, so that option would be out. It didn't matter to this ancient Demon or whatever, she just wanted to either have this wench leave her alone or at least bring along a handsome specimen to ogle over. Perhaps then life wouldn't be so dull anymore, since it had been so for the last 30 trillion years.
Just as the Bats made to converge on her, though…
'Now!'
Noire immediately sprung into action, reaching for both her Handguns. The action itself resulted in just the thing Noire had predicted, as the Bat swarms all began convulsing from the Lightning which erupted from their forms, shooting towards her from both above and below. At this, an urge to smirk in satisfaction filled her being, but she repressed it for the time being since she needed to focus on the task at hand. As the Lightning blasts surged towards her, intent on punishing her for her actions, Noire quickly unleashed her ZANDATSU again, then had Ashbringer launch a HAMMER OF JUSTICE at a couple of them to get the Bats Disoriented. This resulted in a success, as several Bat Swarms just floated there in a daze when the ones commanding them got bonked on their heads by the Hammers of light, resulting in a brief moment of uncoordinated, frantic movements.
Seeing her chance, Noires' eyes lit up like searchlights. 'Chance!' she thought. 'Quick, gotta make the best of this before those Bats recover!' With that thought in mind, she quickly unleashed her Devil Trigger, shifting into it via a burst of energy which blew the Lightning Bolts back. With this done, Noire pumped her energy into her wings and legs, shooting forth through the Bats and towards Nevan's position once again with Chaoseater already poised for a slash to her head. Since her ZANDATSU had remained active even with her in Devil Trigger, Noire felt PRETTY confident in her chances of getting a hit in for once, the first hit of the fight between them on her side of the field. 'Hope you like blood, bitch, cause you're about to get it!' she thought as her blade began to descend upon her opponent with the goal of splitting her apart.
Nevan though, merely glanced upwards at the sword coming down on her… then gave a low hum.
"TOOK you LONG enough, LITTLE one…"
"Eh?"
Just before Chaoseater could make contact with flesh, just like the angry blade longed for, she suddenly saw the woman's dress immediately expand below her feet, forming a hole made from darkness which sucked Nevan inside, stopping Noire from getting a hit in on her. Not to mention the darkness swiftly generated a spike which it used to try and impale her, forcing her to flap her 4 Demon wings forwards to push herself backwards and away from harm. 'What the hell?! Darnit, I thought I had her!' her mind raced as she landed across the room on it's left side, where she looked up and growled to herself as she released her Devil Trigger to shift back to her human form. She didn't want to waste too much energy in that form just yet, with her maximum time limit being 5 minutes for the time being, using it in short bursts like her ZANDATSU would be her best option.
That was when she saw the same portal of darkness manifest in the centre of the room, from which Nevan rose up, her arms crossed under her chest and a shaking head accompanying her. Once she had fully manifested from the portal, it dissolved into many Bats which covered her and formed her Dress, all the while Nevan looked at her with extreme contempt. Much more so than before, as if she had judged her as a failure and a disappointment. "Well, how about that, I managed to make you dodge my attack. How about taking me more seriously from now on?" Noire questioned with a smug smirk.
One which fell when the Demon said what it did next.
"HOW far EVEYTHING must have FALLEN since THEN… back IN my DAY, warriors TOOK no less than 3 minutes TO figure OUT my BATS weakness… YOU on the OTHER hand, took 10. HOW disappointing…"
"Oh, stuff it!" Now that she had enough of this lady's bullshit, Noire glared heatedly at her as she drew out her HF Blade, holding it in her fighting stance whilst she remained fixed on utterly crushing her opponent. "Anyways, now that you've finally got off that high hoarse of yours, lets get serious!" With that in mind, Noire quickly unloaded on her with a furious bout of slashes, all for the purpose of Launching several VACUUM SLASH attacks her way. She intended to cut through the woman into little tiny chunks, leaving nothing to protect her from the final blow she planned on dealing with her.
On the other hand, she did not expect for the woman's right sleeve to elongate itself, becoming a whip made from pure shadows, as she swiftly cut through each of them with some simple arm movements. Noire could hardly follow the Demon's movements but if there was one thing, she'd discovered thanks to this it would be that in comparison to her Bats, this Demon woman far surpassed them in speed. That likely extended to her strength, reaction time and endurance too. 'Oh, well now that is fair…' Noire thought in annoyance, holding her HF Blade at the ready while Ashbringer on her back glowed brightly as it allowed her to activate her LIGHT DRIVE. Even though in games the boss was generally stronger than the minions they commanded, it would always be a pain to fight such beings here in reality, something Noire DEFINITELY believed in this case.
Meanwhile, Nevan rolled her eyes at Noire's state, not particularly considering her much of a threat for the time being. She then returned the sleeve to normal, before hissing at the blackette like a serpent with Bats circling around her and forming a shield around her being. Several Swarms formed around her as well, each one crackling with Lightning that was ready to be fired in her direction.
"Oh FINE, then. I will WASTE my PRECIOUS time in SCHOOLING you BRAT, on WHY it is WISE to LISTEN to your ELDERS. Just DON'T scream, YOU can DO all THAT when you're a BLOODLESS corpse, SUGAR…"
'Were elegant voices always this annoying to listen to…?' strangely enough, Noire couldn't help the part of her which thought this as she listened to the Demon's words. For some reason, it reminded her of all those annoying whiny Nobles in Leanbox who kept stammering on about useless trivia while not getting much done. She didn't have much time to ponder them though, as Nevan quickly launched her own offensive the blackette's way, swiftly launching Lightning Blasts from her swarms. Noire quickly noticed how they came at her much faster than before, as in compare to previously where they were like bullet trains speed wise they now had the speed of a certain blue hedgehog, so she didn't have time to dodge them so she quickly unleashed her ZANDATSU to slash each of them apart. She even summoned Raijin to her arm, and used it to launch a counter blast filled with highly condensed Lightning Neven's way, only for a wall of Bats to shield her.
Noire, no one to be so easily discouraged, quickly shot through the air towards her opponent, slashing at the shield and the walls with a rapid set of slashes after her ZANDATSU deactivated. The shield held out for a while, until Nevan simply vanished away from her position and Noire found herself encircled by her Bat Swarms, causing the blackette to pale in realization before she quickly activated Ashbringer's DIVINE SHIELD. She hoped that by pushing more of the sword's power into the ability, she would be able to endure the following onslaught.
Unfortunately for her, that hope soon vanished when, seconds into a barrage of Lightning Bolts which peppered her like a heavy rainstorm, the DIVINE SHIELD shattered under their combined might, forcing her to move out the way like a mad woman lest she get an even further up close and personal experience with this woman's Sparks. Fortunately, it seemed that the Bats weren't the type which would try to attack her physically, so she'd quickly dove through a hole in their encirclement to avoid getting shocked.
Rolling across the ground till she could roll back up to a crouching position, Noire looked up and saw Nevan having closed the distance between them, launching a back flip kick in her direction. She barely managed to avoid the foot in time, but she didn't notice the human sized pools of shadows appearing below her, so she remained unable to avoid the rising shadow blades which whacked into her, propelling Noire across the room once more.
'She-She's fast…!'
The blackette thought this despite the pain coursing through her front section. Whilst her clothes had a vertical horde through them, they soon knitted themselves back together by the time the black haired Goddess managed to recover, keeping her modesty preserved. Sliding across the ground to a halt, Noire held her HF Blade up and slashed upwards, barley managing to block a streak of Lightning sent to finish her off before she brought the same blade down, launching a VACUUM SLASH. Nevan simply hmphed, as she swiftly formed a shadow whip to slice through the attack with ease. Her free hand sparked a few times, with some shooting into the ground beneath her feet.
THAT ended up tipping Noire off to the Demon's follow-up attack, so she quickly jumped into the air to avoid the entire ground lighting up in purple Lightning. 'Gotta pull out the Handguns, I'll use my jump to my advantage!' the blackette thought, already springing into action. She flipped forwards, swapping out her HF Blade for Luce and Ombra (having to kick away a few lightning blasts with her DIVINE SHIELD enhanced feet too), before levelling them at Neven as Noir righted herself, then pulled the two triggers to shower her in bullets.
This resulted in the bats forming Nevan's shield and her dress to largely disperse, the Demon shrieking in surprise as she fell down.
'This is my chance!'
An opening presented itself as Noire fell down towards her, switching from Luce and Ombra to Ashbringer for the chance to launch a CRUSADER STRIKE at the downed Demon. She could see a similar hole of shadows quickly forming, which meant she didn't have a lot of time, so Noire had to act fast. Unleashing her ZANDATSU, Noire quickly slammed th blade into the woman upon her landing, dragging it diagonally across her front before switching to a horizontal and downward slash, then doing a diagonal slash which looked like the opposite of her initial one.
This would end up being enough though, as Noire saw her ability disperse right afterwards so she quickly jumped back before the hole could envelop her. She heard the tell-tale signs of the injuries erupting regardless though, as well as the pained screeches of Nevan which told her the attacks had done some damage. 'Yes! It worked!' the blackette thought in victory, a matching smug smirk tugging at her lips as she twirled towards where she sensed the Demon reappearing with Ashbringer ready for another round. 'Heh, lets see this bitch act all high and mighty now!' she added on with no small amount of eager anticipation, especially if she had caused that smirk of hers to be smacked clean off her face.
Something she got in spades when she saw the utterly pissed off look on the woman's face. Her torso had several bloody, steaming gashes from it as Demonic Energy in the form of a crimson glow surrounded them to try and heal the wounds. However, they were persisting thanks to the holy energy having already entered her body through them. Originally, Ashbringer's power was meant to best be used against Undead beings, but eventually according to the records she'd discovered from the Spec Ops branch in Leanbox, it apparently became effective against anything non-human. As if the sword itself had bathed in so much monster blood that anything not human would forever become haunted by this sword's very name. Kin of appropriate considering it being the sword which got forged at the founding of the Spec Ops Program.
In her eyes, this sword had been a sword which was meant to PROTECT the human race as a whole, and Noire felt goddamn like she had been right about that.
Suited her just fine, considering her position.
As for Nevan…
"YOU… that SWORD… I see… so, YOU wanted MY attention, LIKE a little WHORE, did YOU? Well, THEN… now, you HAVE it WRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"
Utter fury formed over her features as Nevan, now fully recognizing Noire as a threat to her own being now, screeched an inhuman screech. She hadn't expected it, but that sword proved itself to be her worst enemy, for thanks to it she had much of her power drained in order to heal the wounds it had left on her during that moment of weakness. If it weren't for that sword, she wouldn't have given this worthless worm before her the time of day, but she had done the unthinkable in her eyes and had actually wounded her (chopping through her hair a bit too, even worse!), as such Nevan needed to teach this bitch a lesson in respect.
Something it would be doing in the next few moments.
Noire braced herself when she sensed something within the Demon's Demonic Power begin to change. More and more Bat swarms gathered around them, pouring forth from the shadows surrounding his very room like they were an unending flood trying to consume all light in this very room. More… and more… and MORE came, even reaching a point where even Noire got unnerved along with Siegfried inside her Dreamworld. All of them seemingly got attracted to the womanly Demon before her, whose eyes glowed a sinister crimson, like the eyes of a bloodthirsty predator eagerly awaiting the chance to pounce on its unsuspecting prey. Soon though, they became ALL that Noire could see as the massive concentration of bats completely concealed her form from view, leaving nothing but one big mass of flapping wings, angry shrieks and a whole load of Sparking Lightning… Wait, was that Lightning turning into a mix of Purple and Crimson?
'Had she been holding back on me this whole time?! Geez, this trope where the villain uses her full power when she gets mad gets real old real fast!' the blackette worriedly thought, annoyed yet nervous all the same. Even when she had first laid eyes on this Demon, the level of power she could feel from it instantly surpassed that of the previous Demons she had seen by far. If those Satanic Treasures Agni and Rudra, which at full power would have been equal to a multi continent class DPU, then this woman's power would have surpassed even that. It felt like the Bloodthirsters would have had a hard time trying to take her down should they want Nevan's Soul.
"ALRIGHT sugar, LET us CONTINUE this little DANCE… shall WE?"
From within the writhing mass of Bats, Nevan's voice echoed with a sinister, twisted undertone which pretty much screamed that Demonic Power would be at work here. Noire shuddered to herself, though she made sure the Demon didn't notice as she got her guard up. On her right arm, Raijin's Electricity crackled dangerously as she held Ashbringer, which began to glow in a semi-bright golden light as if it was responding to the threat of something inhuman nearby. Golden energy crackled along its form as well, similar in mannerisms to Raijin, with the two seemingly coming to an accord with how their energies seemed to overlap with one another and empower each other.
Definitely a sign that the next part of this battle would not be an easy one.
Moments later, did the mass act as it suddenly split itself apart, forming countless smaller groups which surrounded her, forming a dome of pure darkness. The only thing which Noire could see of them were their wild, erratic movements and their glowing eyes. Dozens of eyes barrelled down on her, Sparks of Lighting rolling off their forms whilst utterly isolating her from any chance of attacking their manipulator. If that wasn't bad enough, then how about Noire's senses also picking up gathering Demonic Energy within at least 80% of them? Yeah, that sounded like a worrisome threat.
'Okay… this is bad…'
…Noire, behind you!...
'Eh?!'
In the following instant, Noire's eyes widened when she sensed a build-up of Demonic Power behind her… then, the following millisecond a streak of purple/Crimson coloured Lightning slammed into her back with the force of a 100-megaton sledgehammer. A shrill cry escaped her lips when this happened as Noire stumbled, barely managing to regain her balance as a whole shower of Lightning Blasts followed suit. She'd even initially had to unleash her ZANDATSU to barely block the first 10 Lightning blasts with Ashbringer, before the technique dispersed and she had to swing with maximum speed (enforced by her LIGHT DRIVE) just to keep up with the continuous onslaught. Not only did speed get a boost just now, but also the strength of each attack felt like she were pushing back a pile of Mountains piling on top of one another. Her arms practically trembled with each blocked attack, just seconds away from giving in so she had to slash through them instead, though that in of itself remained a strenuous task.
If she thought that things couldn't get any worse, which she did, Noire soon found herself cursing herself heavily with so much bad language running through her mind that a certain Lowee CPU would be stunned. The reason? Simple, the dome the Bats made deformed into one big pool of shadows onto the ground, but right afterwards Noire barely managed to jump back in time when the whole thing instantly erupted with dozens upon DOZENS of twisted looking Spike formations. We're talking about formations which looked like they could ensnare several Bloodthirsters at once and have zero effort done to keep them there despite their eternal rage. It wasn't like they stopped at just that either, especially when these formations shifted and writhed like serpents, before lunging forth towards her like dozens of Tendrils.
As a result, even with Noire quickly shifting into her Dragonblood Form for an extra boost and activating several Light-based Skills from Ashbringer, Noire still ended up messed about by suffering a vicious blow to her right shoulder. She'd been defending herself from countless attacks against her person from all directions like a freaking badass, utilizing a mix between Ashbringer, her Tail, wings, and even launching some sneak attacks of her own through also summoning Balmung (learning she could still use them in Dragonblood Form). The thing was, she wouldn't normally have stooped to such levels since these swords were meant for her human form to use, not to mention Ashbringer seemed to HATE non-human beings wielding it since she always felt this numbing burning sensation from her hand holding the blade when in this form. However, she needed the extra defence, so she numbed the pain with Raijin's Lightning to help her endure the onslaught. For a short while, this seemed to work since she managed to keep the Sword usable in this form and keep her attackers at bay…
…This is! Noire, quick! Get out of there-!…
That is, until a moment later when, whilst she had been defending herself from the front against several spear-like lunges towards her front, Noire couldn't focus on what was behind her. Not even with her Tail since that limb had its hands full with repelling attacks from above her. As a result, one of those shadowy Tendrils pulled a fast one on her and, like a vicious coiled serpent suddenly lunging forth from within its nest to grasp onto its prey, stabbed into her right shoulder from behind.
SQUELCH-SPLATTER!
Blood exploded forth from the wound as the Dragon Scales gave way to the mighty piercing power of this shadowy Tendril, almost like they split aside to make way for it even though Noire knew that to not be the case. Her eyes bulged open in this form as she bit her tongue to keep from crying out, even whilst she swung both swords in her hands to deflect several follow-up attacks. 'ARGH! D-Darnit! This won't be enough to stop me…!' she thought, her sword and Tail movements beckoning more and more frantic as she saw her various enemies taking advantage of her momentary weakness to close on in. Not on her watch, though…
SPLATTER-SPLATTER-SPLATTER-SPLATTER-SPLATER!
However, this would not be the limit of the extent the Tendril would damage her, as it would soon go about quickly spawning countless spikes which ripped through the rest of her arm and internal organs like they were nothing but paper Mache. It had been all she could do to not scream as she was slammed into a nearby wall, then dragged along it a full 360 degrees, all before being tossed away like one of those old expired rag dolls.
"Kyaaaaaaaaa!"
Screams ripped themselves out of Noire's lips despite her best efforts to suppress them. All the while, her form bounced across the ground several times before landing on her front, rolling across it until her form slid to a halt. Her Dragonblood Form still persisted even in this state, which would be the sole reason why Noire still remained conscious… that, and how she'd quickly jumpstarted herself with a pulse of Raijin's lightning sent into her nerve system. Even so, the amount of sheer agony which enveloped her senses like a fiery hand gripping her very being in a vice felt like it would drive her into madness at any moment. The blood which poured out her arm and several holes in her body thanks to those spikes, started forming a puddle beneath her body as her wings curled inwards around her. Every cell in her body outright HOWLED within her eardrums to express the sorry state that they had been tangled up in.
Yet despite this downright awful state that she'd been put in, Noire still managed to process her sensing of approaching Demonic Energy signatures, which allowed her the motivation she needed to push through the pain to achieve what must have been necessary. Her eyes shot open as she looked towards the mass of black shadows, shadows which reverted to their bat forms and once more gathered around their mistress Nevan, who now loomed over her with two glowing eyes bearing down on the Goddess, nothing but mocking contempt burning within those infernal hell pits.
"AHHHHH… Look at YOU… all CRIPPLED, weak and PATHETIC… just AS you SHOULD be, for CHALLENGING myself… NEVAN: the LIGHTNING witch…"
Noire scoffed despite the state of extreme pain she found herself in, finding the strength to glare up at the approaching Demon whilst Bats encircled them, preventing any form of escape possible for the blackette not like she would have even considered it. Not when the stakes for her were so high. "Yeah, the 'Lightning' witch. All I've seen is you using those darn bats instead of attacking me yourself." She spat, and if she had the capacity to, she would have spat on the Demon's face, but Nevan had been elevated thanks to the Bats gathering beneath her to form an enlarged version of her Dress. "What, afraid to get up close and personal or something?"
"IT is NOT to MY taste, LITTLE girl. I suppose IT is TOO bothersome FOR your PUNY little BRAIN to COMPREHEND, I guess. WHY should I dirty MY precious NAILS when I can DEAL from AFAR?"
Stopping before the downed Goddess, Nevan grabbed onto her by the back of her head, then lifted her up to her level. Before she could think about striking back, the Demon simply switched hands, grabbing her by the front instead but remaining around her neck to choke her till she dropped her Swords. Ashbringer and Balmung fell to the ground with a pair of loud CLATTER sounds, before they vanished back into Noire's inventory of their own accord, If she were to try and summon them again however, she would have to get rid of the hand choking her right now, though that wasn't much of an option at this point. Leaning forwards, Nevan let loose a breath from her mouth, one which formed a purple cloud of condensed lighting that hovered in place between them… though, Noire didn't know how long that would last, only that it likely wouldn't be very long at all.
"SINCE you HAVE been MILDLY entertaining... I think I will ENJOY a nice SNACK for NOW..."
Before Noire could ask her what she meant by that, the blackette gasped then cried out in pain when Nevan sunk her fangs into her neck, moaning in slight pleasure as Noire felt her blood slowly being drained out of her body through them. The sounds of gulping could be heard alongside sucking ones, pretty much confirming what this redhead woman had been doing to her. 'Sh-She's... she's sucking my blood! She's a freaking Vampire!' Noire screamed in her mind, doing her best to avoid blacking out from how numb she had begun to feel.
This wasn't like that show where Vampires had glowing stars about them or were involved in some cheesy love triangle! This felt more like those Vampires who tried to turn an entire human village into one where they could live as a settlement! THOSE Vampires could send CHILLS down people's spines, especially with their eyes reminiscent off Ghouls!
Fortunately for her, Nevan didn't take too long to finish her little snack, and according to Noire's senses, when she pulled back the inhuman redhead before her actually felt like she had taken back some of her energy compared to before. It caused frustration to swell inside of Noire, especially since it basically entailed that she had partially wasted her efforts to damage her. Why would Nevan have been worried about damage when she could just suck her blood and regain her strength?
"Since YOU will DIE shortly, I'll BE gracious AND let YOU in ON a LITTLE something: NO matter WHAT, any KIND of STYLE is SUITED on the BATTLEFIELD. The STRONG live, the WEAK die. THAT is the LAW of this WORLD."
'Please, like I don't already know that…!' Noire thought in annoyance but considering her neck situation, she couldn't exactly show her internal emotions right now. She'd seen that truth as clear as day since a long time ago, so she didn't need to be lectured about it. That very lesson was the basis for why she had even became able to obtain the ability to Devil Trigger in the first goddamn place, if she had any means of quickly improving her HDD Form then she would have taken those options as well! Therefore, She REALLY didn't appreciate how this Demon lady was ridiculing her like a child over something so apparently known already.
Just then, a thought struck her as she realized just what she had thought just now.
'Wait… that's it…!'
Noire wasn't a fool, as this idea would be quite the risky endeavour, but this was one of the few options she had which she could use. Nevan had seen a lot of her attacks already, and as such a Demon as experienced as her would likely have anticipated her suddenly using them to strike her down. She could totally see the vampiric Demon stopping each one with her manipulation of Bats, then finishing Noire off herself, something which the CPU could sense would NOT be a painless death. Then again, what kind of death wasn't painless? She couldn't even THINK about using the last of her time remaining for a Devil Trigger either, since it felt like Nevan would definitely be able to resist its power. This Demon felt much stronger than the last ones she had fought, like her power had not waned in the slightest, remaining at top form even in the millennia she had been imprisoned here.
Right now, this would be her only shot.
One last chance…
Her final strategy, her last trump card…
Whelp, she'll bet it all on this last strategy of hers.
If Neptune were here, she'd compare it to that 'leeroy jenkins' suicide strategy she liked to employ in games.
"However, I grow WEARY of this CONFLICT, as YOU call THIS. Perhaps I shall END it HERE and NOW. Farewell, CHILD…"
Shaking her head in annoyance, Nevan finally decided to finish this little fight off already. After all, this so-called 'Goddess' could not even hold even the smallest candle towards the foes she had fought across her many millennia of existence. Things must have truly changed to an almost miserable level on the DPU Home world, not something she looked forward to seeing once the Temen-Ni-Gru would eventually be restored to its full glory, its full power and purpose realized.
Until then though, as much as it annoyed her to do it, she had to deal with brats like this who couldn't even be considered higher than 'greenhorns' yet still think they had what it took to navigate through it. Just went to show just how foolish people truly were these days…
Just as she made to strike Noire down by holding out her hand, having Bats spiral around it and form a Lance-like object to impale her through the heart… the Goddess struck.
She struck... and she struck hard.
"HAH!"
With one mighty war cry, Noire gathered a large amount of energy, pumped it into her right fist and with a loud BANG, slammed it into the Demon's face. The force of the punch had been enough to release a shockwave at the point of impact, one which expanded across the entire room as well as caused a few tremors. Obviously, given these feats what Noire had launched at Nevan wouldn't be regarded as a mortal punch. It had been a fast one too, too fast for Nevan to have caught it in her hand... Not like it mattered.
The reason for it to not have mattered would be due to the Demon tanking the hit... with a single bat floating in front of her face and releasing a wall of Lightning from its form, blocking the punch and distilling its force into the air around her. As the woman's hair settled back into place from the shockwaves however, she looked down at the Dragonified Goddess in her grasp, a look of silent mockery about her features matched by the slight upturning of her lips, showing her sharp fangs.
"Was THAT the BEST you could ACHIEVE? What a WASTE..."
Whilst Nevan gloated at how weak and pathetic Noire's punch was to it, having only taken at least about 10% of her power to block, she looked towards the owner of the fist as the arm fell to her side. Nevan expected something else to be on her face... not the look of victory that Noire sported. "Heh, shows what you know, bitch." she snarled. "HAH!"
In that moment, Noire's right leg launched itself upwards as her ZANDATSU activated, slowing the perception of time for her down to 80%. The thing was, her leg had an... interesting component to it, something which Nevan saw seconds before the object reached her... the blackette's HF Blade. To the Demon's shock, it had been grasped by her right foot and thus, resulted in being held like she held it in her own hands. Not only that, but the Satanic Treasure Raijin began to spark in an even more violent, chaotic manner than it had ever done before. Its form became the very centre of what could only be described as an electrical storm whilst sparks travelled up the user's arm, down her back, and down the leg towards the already crackling HF Blade. As a result, the whole weapon turned into a LITERAL sword made entirely from chaotic electricity as Noire swung her leg upwards, her ZANDATSU combined with Nevan's surprise making her unable to react in time.
Not for what followed.
FWOOOSH!
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Thanks to the kick that Noire launched, a massive diagonal slash made from pure electricity ripped itself through Nevan's body, much to the Demon's shock. It had been too fast for her to react in time, mostly due tot he Dragonblood Form's boost in physical ability amplifying the strength and speed behind the attack. Pain soon followed thanks to the spars rushing through her body and completely immolating it from the inside out, though it wasn't like she could scream anymore. Her eyes shot open wide whilst her pupil trembled violently, like someone going through a spas attack. All the while, the last thing her eyes and brain managed to process lay around her right arm, to be more specific the cracks beginning to form over its being. The following seconds, a massive explosion encased the two, shaking the entire Opera House with how much force it generated.
Moments later, a certain female Goddess got ejected out of the explosion's blast radius, one which had shot right upwards and pierced through the top of the Opera House right up to the very surface above.
It had been Noire... or rather, what could barely be recognized of her. Her body looked to have been charred black, her mouth wide open as smoke rolled out of there as well as several parts of her body, Her right arm looked like a twisted, mangled mess though, bent at multiple locations whilst her left arm looked like it had only been bent once. Numerous wounds of varying degrees of lethality had been formed on her person, with a lot of them spewing large amounts of blood which splattered onto the ground below her whilst she flew. Fortunately, her little neck accessory survived, so whilst her clothes looked to have been heavily damaged, exposing 80% of her skin, the outfit would still be able to reform eventually. Though, whether or not Noire would recover enough as well...
As she crashed down in a mangled heap onto the ground, rolling across it until she slammed back first into one of the Opera House's walls with a loud THUD. She should have let out a sharp gasp as she slid down the wall to the ground below, but right now that last attack and the violent aftermath had pretty much drained the last of her willpower to stay conscious. No matter how hard she tried, she would not be able to escape this outcome, not even if she tried to access Demonic Power, which proved to be impossible at the moment. The last thing she managed to see before embracing the bliss of oblivion, would have been something purple flying towards her whilst something cracking could be heard.
Finally, her eyes closed without any thoughts racing through her mind, and unconsciousness claimed her.
Chapter end
Whelp, looks like Noire got owned, and by a Demon lady dissing her looks at that. That's got to be humiliating for her, especially since she's so uptight and prideful about her image. Having someone insult that would definitely piss her off beyond reason, but anyways here's what has went down.
To any who may be wondering, I'm aware that Nevan has a specific weakness to ice, it was stated so in the fight guide I found for her, though I never used it much when I first fought her. However, what I'm trying to show is something which will be explained in more depth next chapter. However, suffice to say that it involves Rik and her Devil Trigger state, something I'm sure a lot of you would have noted she didn't use very much, I'll explain it better next chapter.
Also, Nevan was amped up in terms of power scaling in OEG compared to her original counterpart. She had her move set expanded, her powers increased to a higher tier, and as such she became an opponent which Noire had to pull a Leeroy Jenkins suicide strategy to be able to defeat. As such, whilst her strategy seems to have worked, there will be some consequences as a result of this, ones which will again be explained in the next chapter. I hope none of you are offended by how much I literally tore Noire apart in this chapter, but I feel like this could be an appropriate answer to any who don't like how she has a Devil Trigger. I'm going to portray it in a manner which will not be like other powers that she possesses, as in terms of complexity the Devil Trigger outranks her other forms by far.
Not only this, but thanks to this battle, a few changes to Noire's battle capabilities will have happened too, things I've been hinting at a few times which I've been eagerly awaiting the chance to write down. In any case, hope you guys like the chapter, and i'll see you in the next one.
Peace Out!