(Play Dragonforce - Through the Fire and Flames)
The first move went to Urizen, who flicked his hand and caused a large, strange crystal to float out of the cloak of what looked like roots which draped across his back. It hovered in front of him, constantly rotating with crackling sounds escaping it's form.
Then, a series of blue spots start to form beneath the feet of Vali and his group, something which the teen noticed signs of through the bottom of his eye sockets and then looked down to confirm, only to pale and quickly look to his party. "Scatter!" he yelled, causing them to quickly do so. Xun Er jumped backwards, Siegfried jumped to the left, and Nanoha (snapping back to reality thanks to Vali's cry) took to the skies by activating FLIER FIN and forming the wings on her feet.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
The sounds of explosions occurred as Pillars as tall as a single story building burst out from the spaces which had been glowing blue, which resulted in the Party narrowly avoiding death by incineration. However, it would seem that one of them hadn't made the right call, and that turned out to be Nanoha who gasped as the pillars beneath her rose up further than she had anticipated, knocking her backwards and screaming as she fell from the skies to the ground behind them.
"NANOHA!" Xun Er cried out at the sight of her friend being sent cradling from the airspace above them, before turning back to her enemy and scowling so much that she showed her teeth. Her eyes showed utter LIVIDITY as her purple aura swelled and her Devil Bringer glowed brightly in response to her fury. "YOU'LL FUCKING PAY FOR THAT, BITCH!" She bellowed as she charged forwards, hopping from side to side like a zigzag motion when she'd noticed several blue spots appear on the ground before her in an attempt to form fiery pillars to block her path. By the time she managed to get in close to Urizen to where she could slash him…
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
… She did so, launching a fast flurry of slashes from different angles, each one forming differently oriented arcs that SHOULD have cut through the Demon's flesh considering the nature behind her blade. However, much to her horror, she noticed the Crystal having seemingly leapt in front of her and absorbed the blows, having formed a barrier in front of Urizen to protect him from the damage. "WHAT?!"
{HMPH, WEAKLING.}
All Urizen said was this as he swiped his hand in a seemingly dismissive gesture. In the following moments, this soon became proven to not be the case however, as the Crystal itself seemed to rattle like something was trying to break free… before a series of spikes burst out of it that reached the length of the Murasama sword when in its sheath. Fortunately, Xun Er's combat instincts honed from many spars with Vali and Siegfried helped her deduce something bad about to happen then jump back in the nick of time… right into a sport which would have a burst of blue flame in a couple seconds.
CLANG!
Fortunately, Xun Er had the help of good comrades, as Vali had seemingly broken into a circling strafe to try and find out more about the abilities of this enemy until he'd noticed the predicament that would soon befall his companion. Gritting his teeth, the silver haired teen burst into action, swinging and tossing his [Glavenus] in Axe Mode horizontally towards her, like a spinning wheel. When this happened and Xun Er noticed, she quickly raised her Murasama in front of her vertically to block the Devil Arm from seemingly striking her down, when in reality both parties got knocked away from each other upon and post collision… as well as away from the erupting blue flame pillar.
Whilst Xun Er tried to get her landing back in order, Vali's [Glavenus] returned to his waiting right hand as he aimed at his opponent and fired multiple MAG SHOT's, thinking that Urzen shouldn't be the only one to fight with ranged attacks. As the balls of fire descended upon his opponent, Urizen looked at them seemingly without interest, not even moving from his spot which he hadn't done since this fight had begun. With a simple flick of his left wrist, the Stray Devil gathered heat energy in front of him and formed it into several large balls of pure plasma, then launched them back at the MAG SHOT's.
'Tch, looks like this bastard's got some versatility in his flame manipulation…' Vali thought as the two strikes negated one another. So far, he had seen Urizen use fire attacks in different ways, but fire nonetheless so he believed that to be his main attacking element. However, the silver haired boy didn't like the look of those Roots dragging behind him for some reason, they just gave him chills just by looking at them.
'He superheated the heat energy to create plasma. It's something that's been scientifically proven to be possible, Vali…'
Albion stated this as he observed what had happened, as well as how Vali had to dodge several small energy blasts that had been launched at him, doing so by strafing about through the air although one managed to nick him in his right wing, resulting in Vali spiralling off balance and crashing to the ground. The boy managed to use the momentum to get back up to his feet though, then took back to the skies to avoid more flame pillars, this time not being caught off guard by their height like Nanoha had. Furthermore however, those energy blasts had been launched in a manner similar to those small spheres that Nanoha and Fate had used in their battle too, plus they seemed to be shown to be capable of attacking in straight lines or curved, as well as from above.
[Not only that, but it seems that Crystal's some form of Demonic Object in nature, as it seems to power a barrier which it uses to protect him from both physical and energy based attacks.]
[Glavenus] also chimed in with a deep, concerning voice as it analyzed the crystal that currently protected Urizen by defending against multiple slashes made by an empowered set of Demonic Swords Siegfried had used, their wielder then having to jump backwards into a back flip to avoid a horizontal sweeping laser powered by Demonic Power, proven by the Magic Circle that had formed at Siegfried's height. A second horizontal sweeping laser got launched from another Magic Circle that had formed at the same height as Siegfrieds' jump's apex, forcing him to twist himself into a side flip to avoid it, falling to the ground and tumbling across it. Although he managed to get himself onto all fours again before rolling to the side to dodge multiple fiery pillars, before bursting into a sprint towards his target again.
Even Xun Er joined in on this assault in an attempt to split the barrier by making it defend from multiple angles… didn't work at all, however.
'We will just have to destroy that damn Barrier then, and that means we just have to blast that Crystal to pieces…!' Vali mentally declared, aiming [Glavenus] at his opponent and once again raining fire upon him with MAG SHOT's. Urizen looked up once he had sensed this, and a disinterested snort escaped his lips.
{Such a dull attack…}
Whilst saying this, Urizen flung his arm out, creating a shockwave that he launched at the MAG SHOT's… which then dispersed them alike they were simply pebbles in the wind, causing Vali to go pale with shock at this development. However, he didn't have time to be shocked; he soon realized, as proven by how Urizen launched more sweeping lasers in Vali's direction, forcing him into strafing up and down like his life depended on it. After all, he didn't want to know what happened if they were to touch his skin, based on how much Demonic Power he could sense within those lasers.
Unfortunately, this resulted in Vali making one fatal error: he took his eyes off Urizen for JUST a brief moment to try and keep those lasers from hitting him. Why would this be considered an error, one might ask? Whelp, aside from it being generally a bad idea to take one's eyes off their opponent, it resulted in Vali being unable to see a faint blue cloud of… something, getting launched at him. As such, it hit, and all around Vali, his eyes slowly widened when he found his body moving IMMENSELY sluggishly, and not only that but everything else around him felt like it was doing the same thing. 'Whhhhhaaaaaatttttttttttttt ttthhheee ffffffffuuuuuuuuuuccckkkkkkkkk?!'
Whilst that thought slowly passed through his mind, Vali nearly cried out in pain when a bunch of Energy blasts slammed into him with the force of a bullet train, knocking him down to the ground. Not only that, but Divine Dividing began getting cracks over it's silver frame, similar phenomenon happening across the glass-like energy feathers. 'What?! What's going on, why the heck is my Sacred Gear being damaged like this?!' Vali internally screamed, stunned at what he had seen but not to the point where he didn't noticed the rapidly heating up ground beneath him by feeling it with his hands. He then dove to the side, launching MAG SHOTs to further propel himself away from it as well as the pillars that had followed.
'Not good! Urizen seems to have time distortion powers as well! Those strikes show that this Stray's power is dangerous, if it can damage the Sacred Gear like this! Don't worry, you can use your power to repair it, Vali, then it can be used again!'
Albion yelled that out in his mind as he watched Siegfried get caught in a similar distortion, as well as had a similar reaction to him. It seemed that true to the Heavenly Dragon's words, that Urizen had the ability to manipulate time due to how it shot a faint bluish cloud at a certain area, then a whole orb would appear with everything within that orb slowing down. It seemed to only be limited to that space though, so that got recorded as a weakness to that ability, but still the fact that Urizen had that on his side meant that fighting him as a Group just got a WHOLE lot more dangerous. Especially if they were to all get caught up in one of those time fields, as he'd now call them.
'Shit… just what the heck is Nanoha doing…?!'
As he thought about how bad this was, something ELSE became VERY apparent to the silver haired Hybrid: that through the majority of this entire battle, Nanoha herself had been absent, ever since she had been knocked down by that blast earlier. What, was she getting cold feet or something because her friends and family had died…?! 'That would SO not be the best thing to do in this situation, the enemy's here and we need to defeat him before innocents are dragged into the crossfire!' Vali screamed in his mind as he turned to look towards where Nanoha had fallen… or rather, where he thought she had fallen, only to find that she wasn't there at all. 'Wait, what…? Where the fuck is Nanoha? I thought that... oh shit, that's why!' The boy thought, quickly cursing himself for his stupidity. This had quickly reminded him of the fact that he hadn't even taken notice of where she'd fallen in the first place, the reason being that he'd been too focused on fighting against Urizen to properly detect where his teammate had fallen to.
'We can focus on finding her later, Vali. Right now Xun Er and Siegfried need our assistance. Prove ranged support for them for now till we can expose an opening, perhaps then-'
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!
(OST END)
Whatever Albion had been about to say got cut off in that one specific moment, when all of a sudden, a freaking TSUNAMI of malice, rage and hatred-infused energy erupted forth deeper within the forest that the group had travelled through, saturating the air with its presence and chilling the atmosphere to the point where everyone felt chills down their spines. Not only that, but a visible phenomenon accompanied this dark, twisted and malicious feeling in the form of a pillar of black miasma erupting upwards like something resembling a nuclear warhead had gone off, waves of it rushing through the forest and filling it to its brim whilst trails rushed through the battlefield that the group had been fighting Urizen in.
It felt even WORSE for the Stray Devil Urizen, to whom the malice had been aimed towards in particular, proof being how despite the demeanor and how things had gone for him in this battle, Urizen still felt the shivers of dread travel down his spine, like something horrible, something that should NEVER have been disturbed and promptly awoken from it's eternal slumber, had been woken up because of actions that he himself had committed. What those actions were, he didn't know, nor could he think of any that would warrant this much malice towards him. Perhaps it came from one of the many bugs he'd squashed on his road to becoming a Demon King? Urizen felt this to be the most likely possibility, but that just begged the question: who dared to make him feel like this? There would be a major punishment in store for the one who had the gall to disturb the rightful king like this.
"?!"
"Wha?!"
"What the fucking hell?!"
{Who…?}
Vali, Xun Er, Siegfried and Urizen in that order, each made their own verbal reactions whilst they looked towards the forest behind them, in the direction that the group had travelled down in the first place. They couldn't see who, or even what, had been generating so much malice at first, heck regarding the whole malice thing it actually felt so thick, so dense that one could describe it as borderline toxic, twisted and vicious.
Yet, out of everyone, Vali remembered the feelings he currently experienced… they felt DISTURBINGLY familiar to when he'd seen Fate snap at her Mother back during the Jewel Seeds incident…
'Nanoha…'
(Play Akame Ga Kill OST - Fallen Heroes)
Darkness and despair….. That is all Nanoha can see and feel.
Where… was she…?
She could hardly feel her body right now as she floated within this endless abyss, aimlessly and lost. Without purpose. Without reason. She didn't know why, but she REALLY disliked it… though she soon remembered why, which resulted in her wanting to break down and cry her heart out.
Why…?
Why did things have to turn out like this?
Ever since she had been young, her family (her mother and big sister in particular) had recalled her many times of these fantastical stories, ones revolving around these great heroes to the people like the ones she would regularly see in shows on TV. At one point, she had asked them: 'why does the hero try to save people?' It had been a simple question and, thinking back on it, Nanoha now remembered that her mother and big sister had a brief moment of perplexity about the question. Eventually however, that passed and they'd given her an answer: They told her that it had been the right thing to do, to make everyone happy and protect them, even if it wound up costing them their lives.
Back then, she hadn't seen the complex expressions and instead had grown inspired by those words. Especially during the time when she had spent her time feeling depressed and lonely, without her own purpose in life. Those stories about heroes helping people, saving the day and being genuinely inspiring people, they gave her the hope to become something of herself that had eventually caused her to become a Magical Girl. She'd done so because she had wanted to become a hero like the others so that she can protect everyone's smile… a pure, simple wish which many would call cliche and corny, but it had been her wish all the same.
But then, like a giant smashing it's hammer into the ground, reality has been cruel to her, from the very first day that it all started. She had sensed something wrong that night, and quickly gone outside, wanting to know what the source of her unease had been whilst also keeping in mind the danger posed by the fact that there was a murderer on the loose. There, she had seen a ferret with a necklace of a red jewel on its neck, she clearly saw that it was injured from its wounds. She patched up before it woke, it made her very surprised that it could talk, but before she asked any questions, the ferret had told her, or rather it had pleaded with her, to run away before IT got here. At the time, Nanoha had been confused, she didn't know a THING about what was going on, what scared the Ferret so, nor what 'it' was meant to be… although that soon changed. After all, not even seconds after this encounter did she see for herself what the Ferret had been so afraid of, something that scarred her for life: that spider monster that was aiming at the ferret, then also her as well once it had noticed her.
Afterwards, she had tried to run with the Ferret in her arms, not wanting it to be killed by that thing and also to try and start her journey of being a hero who helped people. In her eyes, all life deserved a chance to have their own hero, even animals. She'd seen shows on TV about how people rescued innocent animals from traps, poachers, and situations that other people had put them in, so she had come to this conclusion.
However, shortly into her journey as a hero, a major reality check had come into her life in the form of those two teenage boys.
Just thinking about their anguished expressions during the deaths they suffered still haunted her, even now. They served as a grim reminder, one that she had failed to save those two boys whilst she fled when she tried to warn them. As a result, she couldn't do much other than watch as they both met their demise in a dark alleyway, whatever bright futures that had been in store for them going up in smoke just like that. She would have grieved right then and there, had it not been for the fact that the Monster was chasing them down still. In the end, the ferret known as Yuuno had finally told her to use Raging Heart, the Jewel which would cause her to become a Magical Girl, so she could finally stop the spider before it caused any more casualties.
That was the time she first met Vali and entered the other part of the world.
He told her that the supernatural world existed, including every mythology she had studied. As such, the girl realized that the supernatural world would need a true hero too, perhaps even more so considering how many stories she had heard about it that ended in tragedy. Heck, she remembered the look on that old monk's face when he learned of their involvement in this world, the look of sheer sadness and remorse… it hadn't taken her long to realize from it, just how bad of a world this one she'd stepped into truly presented itself.
Even so however, Nanoha had still clung to her dream like it was a lifeline. She had changed her mind about just becoming a hero, and instead wanted to become a hero so that she can bring smiles to other people, including those people who resided in such a dark world. .
But again, Reality crushed her dreams, in fact it did so over and over like it was trying to beat something into her skull.. Instead of saving people, she saw nothing but DEATH every time she tried to save. No matter how hard she had tried, Nanoha had been unable to prevent the casualties that had happened as a result of the Jewel Seeds incident, and worse she even had to end one of them herself during the rise of that Lich King character. The way that the Banshee Queen Sylvanass went out, smiling as if she had known that death was the only way she could escape this torment, it truly shattered Nanoha's little heart at the time, to the point where when she broke down, it wasn't just about her death that wrecked her, but it had been ALL the death that she had seen up till that point.
Vali had constantly been telling her that a hero can't save everyone, even the ones who clearly have lost themselves. Even Gods like the Shintos can't save everyone. Worse still, was something Albion had told her about how kindness can only be trampled upon by evil, that innocents will always be victims of tragedy because of their lack of power. The more she thought about those words and recalled the various incidents, the more Nanoha had begun to see credit to those words… something she didn't want to admit because it represented a more… simplistic, primitive way of thinking. Yet, all the same, it still hammered it's way into her vision to the point where she couldn't help but acknowledge it, having been forced to do so by many people in her life.
Even still, despite all of that Nanoha had clearly ignored the warnings that Vali had given her: that those simple, naive ideals she had would only result in her getting killed, including everyone she cares about. Something which, thanks to this battle, had occurred and all but proved everyone's point about her ideals. Her family and friends had been taken from her, her innocent lifestyle had been forever taken away by a being with more power than her. A 'devil' had sullied the 'virgin mary' of her life. It's 'Evil' had trampled upon her 'kindness' in a way.
Was… Vali right about not even saving everyone?
Had he… had he been right all along?
Should she just give up and feel despair after seeing her family and friends demise?
…
…
…
…
…
...
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
No.
NO!
Nanoha's eyes hardened as a fiery blaze burst forth within her chest, her right hand reaching for said area and gripping the clothing around it tightly. She would not give up, no she COULDN'T give up now. Not yet. She will not be the naive girl she was now, she will make that Stray Devil pay! She will not accept defeat from anyone, not that fucking Demon Urizen, not the other Stray Devils, the Exorcists, her Enemies, NOT EVEN TOWARDS HERSELF! SHE WILL EVEN RISE UP FROM THE DEAD TO EXACT HER REVENGE! NOTHING WILL STAND IN HER WAY UNTIL SHE GETS WHAT SHE WANTS! IF BEING A HERO WASN'T GOING TO BE ENOUGH, THEN SHE'D BECOME THE OPPOSITE: SHE'D BECOME THE DEMON QUEEN WHO WILL DRAG ALL WHO THREATENED HER LOVED ONES INTO THE INFERNAL CHAOS OF HELL ITSELF!
"Hahahahaha, interesting! How interesting indeed! What an intriguing ambition you have there, little girl. Took you long enough to awaken me."
BA-BUMP!
A single heartbeat burst forth from within her, so loud that she thought that it beated right next to her ears and in her mind at the same time. All motion became moot as Nanoha stopped what she was doing, glancing around her into the infinite darkness to try and see who had spoken to her.
"Well, I would say that this is the first time we finally meet face to face, girl."
Once again, the voice spoke, it's tone dripping with amusement and dark, sadistic malice. Yet, none of it was directed at her specifically, Nanoha felt. No, it felt like that in a general sense, like the voice's owner had seen the ugliest sites known to man and had been changed by them. Kind of like staring too much into that abyss to where it now stared back at that person. Soon, Nanoha began hearing the sounds of metallic footsteps that gradually grew louder by the second, signaling that something had begun approaching her.
In a couple seconds, Nanoha finally saw who it was, and to her surprise, it wasn't some kind of monster like she had been expecting. Instead, it was a man, wreathed in darkness like it was a cloak before it vanished, revealing him to be wearing an old black Japanese-style armor she had seen before in museums. He wore a set of black Armor that only exposed some parts of his body like the thighs, shoulders, and arms. Over it, he wore a red cloak with a high collar, although as one looked down it they would see how it turned from red, to purple and finally to blue. He had a single line mustache on his face with a goatee and finally, his hair was tied into a single topknot.
In all honesty, he looked like a typical ancient japanese Warlord from the Sengoku Era, not to mention the way he presented himself held an air of dignity and grace, yet an undertone of strength and malice towards any who dared piss him off. That was the kind of man which Nanoha saw before her, as he crossed his armored clawed gauntlets over his chest.
"You wanted to become a hero, to the point where you thought you could bring smiles to other people. But instead, you now want to become a demon queen? Hahahahhaahaha now that's a fine ambition you got there, girl. You managed to impress me, something which I have not felt in a long time! I've seen others with no strong ambition that they couldn't keep and give up, but you….. I can see it, you won't be like those pathetic fools, instead you would become a fine Demon Queen! Hahhahahahhaha! IT'S TIME TO SHOW THOSE FOOLS THAT THEY WOULD REGRET ON MESSING WITH YOU, THE NEW DEMON QUEEN OF THE SIXTH HEAVEN!"
Demon Queen of the sixth heaven?... The more she thought about it, the more that Nanoha found that she had begun to like that title. It just SCREAMED power, domination and superiority. Stuff she would likely need in order to be relevant in this world… plus, that'd likely be what she would need to become so nobody would mess with her like this again. They'd know just how much of a BAD IDEA that would be.
Whilst she thought this, Nanoha then noticed the man in front of her materializing an old era gun she had seen in history books. It floated in his hands, lazily rotating as if it were just an image on a display, yet the way it looked seemingly drew her in, like it had been waiting for her this whole time.
"Now then, it is time to take back what you have lost. Show that fucking devil the same despair it did to you."
She looked at the gun that the man was offering to her before her eyes hardened and took the gun and aimed at the sky before firing it.
(OST END)
'Nanoha…'
This sole thought passed through Vali's mind as he witnessed the said girl emerging forth from out of the wilderness, back onto the battlefield from where she had been launched from previously. However, upon seeing her his instincts and alarms got set off through his mind, for Nanoha… seemed VERY different. To the point where he wondered if this was even her anymore. The way she swayed from side to side like she was a zombie coming back from the dead, the way her bangs shadowed her eyes to cover them in darkness, the way that her Raging Heart had returned to it's Jewel form whilst her Barrier Jacket remained active. All of these things pointed to Nanoha having undergone some kind of transformation… something very much like what had happened to Fate.
Which reminded him, how the heck did Fate have a Sacred Gear in the first place? Perhaps her mother had something to do with it, that's the best thing he could have thought of since he hadn't been able to ask Fate himself before she'd been taken in by the TSAB.
Shaking his head, Vali focused back on Nanoha as she stopped moving, her arms hanging in front of her as her head remained lowered.
{Who dares interfere...?}
All the while, Urizen looked mildly interested towards this weak mortal girl, having assumed she had been burned to nothingness by his flames or something before. Though even so, it mattered not what kind of changes she underwent as Urizen had much grander plans for the city known as Uminari. To that end, he pointed his right hand towards the small girl, generating multiple Magic Circles to fire multiple sweeping lasers at her. He would erase the mortal girl before she had a chance to even blink.
Seeing his actions, Xun Er paled to the point where she would resemble a Ghost. 'Oh no! Nanoha has no idea about this thing's abilities! If she gets hit by that…!' She thought, quickly beginning to turn back to her friend to yell at her to dodge…
"You shut your hole…"
"?!"
{?!}
However, Nanoha seemed to beat her to the goal of speaking up, for the auburn haired girl's ribbons then came undone as if some telepathic force had removed them from her person, letting her hair flow freely down her back. She then raised her right hand slowly, pointing it towards Urizen with her movements resembling a puppet being controlled by her strings. Then, just as Urizen made to fire his lasers at her…
CLENCH!
Nanoha clenched her hand into a fist…
And a whole load of whacky shit doon followed.
From all around her streams of what looked like mechanical parts began to rise upwards, seemingly having just broke into the fabric of reality thanks to Nanoha's will. They spiralled around her like some kind of shield, before they began to assemble themselves onto her hand like they were constructing something, something which soon became complete just a second before the lasers could be fired.
RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!
Sounds of bullets being fired relentlessly filled the air as Nanoha, now wielding a weapon UNLIKE her Raging Heart, shot at Urizen without mercy, having lifted her head up to showcase the FIERCE flames of hatred burning within her eyes and the gnashed teeth that she bore towards him. The weapon she currently unloaded against Urizen… well, the best thing to describe it would be a Gun, one which formed a gauntlet-like armour over her right arm that was connected to winding gears which circled around it, as well as behind her. The barrel itself resembled those of the guns the warriors of the Sengoku era wielded. Nanoha had already figured out a name for this weapon though, considering its nature, history and connection to the man who she'd seen.
There was only ONE historical warlord who looked similar to him and had a title similar to hers: the Demon KING of the Sixth Heaven.
"Have a taste… of my NOBUNAGUN!"
Nanoha bellowed this as the gun, which looked to be larger than she was, rapidly fired against her opponent's barrier, peppering it ruthlessly. Urizen's eyes, along with everyone else's, became wider than anyone else's at the sight, especially when Nanoha, after seeing how her shots were barely denting the barrier that the crystal pulled up, raised and slammed her left hand into her Gun, with several mechanical sounds emitting from it until she pulled it out.
As she did so, it revealed how her hand had been covered in another gauntlet, one which positioned it's index finger and thumb into a gun-like formation which she then aimed and continued firing at the enemy.
RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATARATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!
Even MORE sounds of bullets being fired came from her as her gauntlet and 'Nobunagun' unloaded like hell onto Urizen's barrier. They came down on him like a furious rainfall from the heavens above, with Nanoha's eyes glowing brightly like they were possessed by the fiercest flames of war there ever was. Even more interesting, was how seconds into the barrage, small cracks started to show in the barrier the more the Crystal kept trying to protect it's master from the barrage, something which Urizen noticed so he created about FOUR HUNDRED small Plasma Spheres, then tossed them into the air at Nanoha.
Looking up and noticing them, the auburn-haired girl glared hatefully towards them, her Nobunagun making various mechanical noises as it detached a portion of itself from it's being by her will. A portion which took on the form of… well, a Mask, one which seemed eerily reminiscent of a certain Japanese Warlord's face. The 'mouth' portion of the Mask opened up, revealing a cylindrical barrel inside which began firing on the approaching spheres, shredding through then like hot knives through butter.
RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATARATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATARATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!
"GRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Whilst a bestial howl escaped their friend's lips, the rest of Vali's group had their own reactions to what was going on.
"This is…."
"Nanoha…"
"Heh….. she finally awakened it."
"Awaken it….. Wait do you mean-?!"
Vali nodded his head to Xun Er's unasked question. "Yes, she has awakened her Sacred Gear. But what type of sacred gear is this?"
"Allow me to explain her Sacred Gear is called "Gun Forgery", its power being for her to create any kind of gun that she can imagine, much like Sword Birth or Blade Blacksmith. I remember this Sacred Gear from one of my previous Hosts who fought its user. It's a powerful Gear when used properly, able to be on par with some of the best of them. Though the larger the gun, the more power one has to use to create it. Though this feels… off, and I cannot exactly put my finger on the reason why. Something about the Sacred Gear has changed since I saw it last, of that I am certain."
Siegfried nodded his head in response to that as he cast his gaze back to Nanoha, who had jumped to the side and activated her FLIER FIN spell without any chanting so she could remain in the air, yet still keep her Barrage going. All three guns, her main one, the Gauntlet and the Mask relentlessly unloaded a seemingly endless stream of bullets onto Urizen's barrier. "I see, and I can guess the catalyst for this to happen: the pain of the loss of her family had made her awaken it..."
Though, the blunette soon shook her head to put her focus back onto the battle. "We have to step in soon though, or else she will exhaust herself."
"Indeed Xun Er, look she managed to get a dent on that blasted crystal. We'll step in when the time is right."
"Okay Vali."
Back to the battle, it indeed showed itself to be the case that Nanoha managed to break through the crystal's barrier, the said object floating back into the creature's cloak of Roots to likely restore itself since her senses had picked up it's power being fed to the Crystal. However, Nanoha wouldn't let this opening chance slip her by for she quickly dismissed her Nobunagun along with it's associated parts. She then ended up holding her right arm out again to form a new gun in a similar manner to what had happened before…
Only this time, she had formed a black cannon-like weapon, one with a long cylindrical barrel with a glowing blue cylinder that began to rotate. It's trigger and grip seemed to be inside the weapon judging from how Nanoha held it, whilst she aimed it at Urizen's torso with the intent to blow it clean off. Something which the Stray Devil noticed as he quickly launched a couple large fireballs at her.
When she saw this, the barrel of Nanoha's new gun, one which she would later come to designate as the 'Rock Cannon', began to glow brightly before it released a couple of high speed rock-like projectiles. Rocks which ripped through the air and smashed through the fireballs, tearing them into pieces before Nanoha glanced at her weapon and then held it upwards, her small pink feet-mounted Mana wings flapping a few times. Upon holding the Rock Cannon up, the whole thing began to shift it's parts down to the base, forming new ones and replacing the old parts in a form or reassembling itself. This process lasted a few seconds, before Nanoha pointed the new form of the Rock Cannon, a black and three-barrelled Gatling Gun, at Urizen. As the barrels began to spin, Urizen quickly launched a couple of Fireballs again that Nanoha managed to destroy with the incoming barrage…
But this left her open to the Root-like Tentacles which burst out the ground to try and spear her from below.
'S-Shoot! I forgot about those!'
Her eyes widened when she saw them coming and made to reassemble her Rock Cannon back into its normal form in time, however it soon became unnecessary to do that as Vali stepped in, flying beneath her and cutting through the Tentacles with his [Glavenus] in Sword Mode. "Keep focused on the battle, idiot!" The boy called out as he continued flying diagonally upwards, then halted his movement in favour of a strafing motion whilst switching [Glavenus] to Axe Mode again, launching a couple MAG SHOT's at Urizen who retaliated with a few fireballs.
"No need to tell me twice, man!" Nanoha countered, aiming her Rock Cannon back in it's default form towards the enemy's right shoulder and firing a couple times. Urizen however, used some roots to thwack the rocks away before launching several of his Tentacles at her, prompting Nanoha to shift the Rock Cannon back into it's Gatling Gun form to pepper them with Bullets. "I'll provide backup support, you go in for the kill! CARVE THAT FUCKER'S HEART RIGHT OUT!" The young girl declared, much to Vali's shock.
'Whoa! That's not something I thought I'd ever hear her say!' the boy mentally exclaimed as he nonetheless did what she told him, swooping down towards Urizen and making to slice the Stray Devil's Arm off. However, a couple sweeping lasers got fired at him, forcing him to alter his course so that he ascended above Urizen… who then proceeded to fire a bunch of plasma spheres his way. Vali quickly blocked with his Sacred Gear though, then made to dive down at the enemy.
Said enemy made to strike him down… but then noticed Xun Er and Siegfried charging in with their respective swords at the ready for some cutting, not to mention Nanoha having readied her Rock Cannon in it's Gatling Gun Form to fire another barrage. He would have made to do something to stop that from happening…
But then his Crystal floated back out, fully restored and put up the barrier, one which blocked and repelled each of their respective attacks.
"Guh!"
"Ugh!"
"Kya!"
Vali, Siegfried and Xun Er exclaimed in that order as they got blown away whilst Nanoha noticed a bluish cloud get launched at her. Unable to avoid it in time, she saw her surroundings get slowed down in her eyes, causing her to gasp in shock as Urizen held his hand up… then peppered her form with Plasma Spheres. Nanoha only BARELY pulled up a barrier in time despite the slowed time around her, but it nonetheless knocked her out of the skies and onto the ground.
{Hmph, weak mortals… true Demonic Power does not course through any of your veins, yet you tried to stop me… This is only the expected outcome.}
The Stray Devil mocked them as he stepped forwards, the first time he had ever done so throughout this entire battle. Vali and the others quickly made to get up and continue fighting… only for Urizen to launch a dozen or so Tentacles which grasped onto them, Nanoha's Sacred Gear deactivating thanks to her stamina having been depleted. Urizen then tossed them about like they were rag dolls, making sure to knock them out but not kill them.
{But since you provided me some measure of entertainment, I will be the gracious king and allow you to live… but this will not happen again, children.}
To that end, Urizen held both arms up and conjured THOUSANDS of Plasma Spheres into the skies above them, literally filling the space the mountain occupied as well as a portion of the forest thanks to how many there were… before bringing his arms down and vaising in a purple flash as the spheres cascaded down onto them.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
"Ugh ow fuck… is anyone stil alive?"
As the dust began to settle, Vali began to regain his bearings on the ground, no longer sporting his Devil Arm or his Sacred Gear at the moment. This was due to briefly losing consciousness during the barrage, and as he came back into the waking world, Vali's eyes glanced around… finding them to be in the middle of nothing but a ruined, almost desert-like plain. 'Was this due to that guy's last attack…?' the silver haired boy wondered, his mouth dropping open into an 'o' shape thanks to his Mask. Not only that, but it looked like there was no sight of the Stray Devil Urizen, which made the silver haired Hybrid curse under his breath. 'Looks like that bastard got away…'
Fortunately, some groans entered his hearing range, making his ears twitch as he looked to his comrades who also were sprawled across the ground, scattered and beaten, but alive… albeit they didn't look 100% right now if the wounds across their person were any indication. Even Vali himself felt like he had cracked a couple ribs and had various gashes over his body.
"Still here ugh…. Wish I had some Phoenix Tears for this." Xun Er commented, groaning as she put her hands on the ground in front of her to try and get into a sitting position.
The next one to get up turned out to be Siegfried, who'd used his Sacred Gear to help him handle the barrage of blasts that Urizen had knocked them down with. "I think that Stray devil broke some bones of mine, but I'll live..." the former exorcist remarked, grimacing whilst getting a nod of agreement from the wielder of Divine Dividing.
"Uuhhhhh I'm here."
Upon hearing that the auburn haired girl was fine, Xun Er's eyes shot open wide, a relieved light erupting within them as she prioritized dragging herself over to the fallen girl and pulled her into a hug. "Nanoha! Thank Ra that you're still alive!" She exclaimed, ignoring the painful sensations her actions had caused.
Yet, as much as she wanted to hug back, now that she felt like she was back to normal, memories flashed through her mind as Nanoha finally began to break down. Tears began to build in her eyes as she buried her face inside Xun Er's embrace. "It's alright Xun Er... but, my friends… my family…" she whispered with a whimper.
"Shhh I'm here Nanoha don't worry."
"...(Sob)."
"... Alright Albion, tell me what the fuck is a tree that feeds on human blood."
"... Fine. The Tree's called the Qlippoth Tree, and it's a truly barbaric form of life. Legends say that during the final battle with Satan, the one which God and his rebellious sons teamed up to defeat, the enemy got forced into the underworld and his blood splattered across the continent. There's a theory that this is tied into the Tree's origins, but it's unconfirmed. It's a Tree which thrives off… well, human blood, and for those whose blood it sucks out via multiple means, you've seen for yourself. It uses human blood not only for nourishment, but upon full growth will spawn a fruit of which, should a Devil or monster eat it, it will bestow upon them divine power on par with the original antithesis of the Biblical God himself. According to what I know of it, only one recording of the Tree's appearance was made, and that had been during the Great War post Satan's defeat. Although that time is a bit sketchy, what WAS confirmed was that it nearly destroyed humanity to grow to its full heights, therefore it contributed to the eventual truce that had been made by the Three Factions. It would have fused the Underworld and Human Worlds together had they not destroyed it."
As Albion spoke this through Divine Dividing that had appeared on Vali's back, the entire group became stunned at what they heard. Judging from what Albion had told them, not only did this tree have a LOT of dangerous potential considering that it thrived off human blood, but if it were as dangerous as Albion had said then Urizen HAD to be stopped before he caused a CATACLYSMIC amount of damage. It had only been a few years since the Lich King incident, and judging from what that Stray Devil had said, this looked to be a SECOND such incident. "...You say that this thing was supposed to have been destroyed, yes? Then why the fuck are you bringing it up now? Vali questioned, frowning and not liking the possible answers that spawned within his brain.
"... Because there were once rumours going about that, due to the original satan's blood spilling across the continent, there were rumours that there were more seeds that could form the Qlippoth Tree, but they were never confirmed. But… if this Urizen is talking about THAT Tree…"
"Then that means… COME THE FUCK ON ALREADY! ONE CATACLYSMIC EVENT IS GOOD ENOUGH, BUT ANOTHER?! HOW MUCH SHIT DO WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH?!" Vali ranted whilst looking like he wanted to rip his own hair out. It wasn't just the fact that they had to deal with such an event, but the fact that it would likely happen and that it'd attract more attention from the Shinto Gods really grinded at his gears. He didn't want them to know too much about him or try to get him to join their side, he was the White Dragon Emperor goddamnit, he had his own pride to consider! He wanted to stay on his own side, kill off his bastard of a grandfather and fight for eternity! Not deal with all of the world's shitty problems!
He wasn't the only one who had lost his composure though, as a frantic expression crossed onto Xun Er's face as she turned to their unofficial 'leader'. "This isn't good Vali! We have to find that Stray Devil before it's too late!" She exclaimed, thinking about Miya and Takehito, the kind couple who let them stay with them this whole time. She didn't want to see them die without being able to return the favour, after all.
However, Siegfried only added to her fears by being the bearer of bad news, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his forehead. "I'm afraid it's too late Xun Er." he stated, drawing her attention alongside that of the horror struck Nanoha and the increasingly paling Vali.
"Why is that Siegfried!?"
"Because I just sensed something that is in the city right now."
Those words served to crack the already frail shred of sanity that Vali had left right now, as well as the last shred of hope too. "Wha-!? OH GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK, ALREADY?! RRRHHHHHH!" the boy raged, looking more like a human nuclear warhead than a person.
"NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO RAGE OVER IT VALI, WE HAVE TO STOP THAT STRAY DEVIL BEFORE THE TREE FUSES THE HUMAN AND THE UNDERWORLD!"
"GGGGGHHHHHHHH, FINE! LETS GO!"
AN:
Hello, its Hunter here. Welcome to a new chap of MHD. Lookslike Nanoha's finally starting to become what she has to be if she wants to survive in DxD's world, becoming the Demon Queen of the Sixth Heaven. I bet that gives you all kind of a clue as to who that was who had visited Nanoha when she had been in despair. It happened similarly to how it went for Fate too, actually, with these malicious forces affecting not only their ideals but also their personalities as well. Furthermore, looks like the next arc's going to be a LOT more serious and damaging compared to the lich king incident, what with it's dangers and potential implications. Also, if anyone is concerned, don't worry Fate having a Sacred Gear will be explained in time, we're just getting the ball rolling on this arc before we switch to our other Vali story at the 20 chapter mark. Hope you like what we did, let us know what you think, and see you in the next chap.
PEACE OUT!
Oh looks like things are starting to get messy here…. My name is Darklord bringing you another chapter of the story. So if any of you recognize what this arc is called, it is the Qlippoth tree, from the renowned devil may cry 5. The history of the tree and the fight scene was Hunters part, give him credit for that. Alright thank you for reading our chapter, be sure to leave a review if you want and I'll see you next time
GOOD LUCK!