Monster Hunting Devil

by Darklord331

A boy, broken and abused by the family who he should have felt safe under, finally lashes out. After the family member's destruction, he flees, only to encounter the first of many hardships during his journey to become a TRUE Dragon Emperor. Co authored with HunterXKiller87

22. Chapter 22

With everything that had been going on, one could say that a certain Stray Devil wasn't too pleased with what had been going on.

The Stray known as Urizen sat inside a massive room surrounded by many long vine-like appendages, Tendrils covering all over the Ground like a blanket of mutilated flesh. This room existed in one place and one place only, the Tree itself, the Stray Devil sitting atop a throne made of blood and flesh, connected to it by many blood-covered Tendrils. He currently leaned his head on over to the side, resting his clawed right hand over his palm as he grumbled and growled under his breath on occasion, his many eyes narrowed in disgruntlement and frustration.

What would be the source of the Stray Devil's frustration, one might be curious?

Whelp… it'd have SOMETHING to do with the destruction of his beloved Tree, if anything.

Things did NOT plan out the way that he had intended, not in the least. Initially, Urizen had intended for the entire town to have been devoured by the Qlippoth Tree when he had planted it, then had it drain the blood of every person in the city before they could react, like one big ambush attack. It'd happen so fast that they would not have any chance to get the word out and inform the world of his plans. Not like he cared about the possibility of their existence being leaked to the world, but it would definitely make taking over the town much easier if he did it in one fell swoop… something which WOULDN'T have happened if the variou supernaturally empowered beings in the city remained in there. As such, he had simply 'drawn' them out by kidnapping and killing a bunch of 'garbage' who wouldn't have contributed as much blood as the more 'healthy' of people, isolating them and killing them off back at the Cave with that last attack he'd done, then returned here with the Qlippoth fully grown and ready for him to assimilate the collective blood.

That was what SHOULD have happened, however that had NOT been what went down at all.

Instead, what happened was a multitude of things which he didn't expect. On one hand, the Gods acting in the way that he did wasn't something which Urizen had believed they would do as, in many cases, Gods were not very fond of intervening with worldly and human affairs (unless we're talking about siring Demigods, but not many were made these days and it's usually the Greek, Norse and Egyptians who do those, the Greeks most of all), so to see them pretty much pull the rug out from under him by evacuating the majority of the town WHILST pulling up a Barrier to stop the Tree's expansion AND to pull the wool over humanity's eyes once more caught him off guard.

Perhaps he had underestimated the tenacity of the Shinto Pantheon, thinking them the same as the majority of the limp dick pussies who refuse to get shit done themselves in favor of squabbling over 'petty' stuff like morals, comrades and the like. Only those who have power get to do anything in this world, but those who do have it refuse to DO anything, so it only felt right for Urizen to take that power for his own and USE it to meet his own needs. Nobody else dared to do it, so why not him?

But that wasn't an issue since the blood of the Yokai could be a decent substitute, however it would take longer to process and the decrease in the 'purity' of the blood absorbed would slow the Tree's development, but it could still be done. In the end it was more about time, resources and patience.

However, the OTHER problem were the kids whom he had THOUGHT he had destroyed back at the forest. Turned out that not ONLY were they alive, but they were also destroying the damn Roots needed to form his fruit! If they destroyed the Roots then he would not be able to get the power he so desired, and THAT was not something which Urizen could accept.

He knew however, that all was not lost, as long as he saved up what blood he COULD still use and use it to empower himself after the roots were destroyed, he could then use it to 'jumpstart' the tree after he had killed those pesky brats who no doubt would be gunning for him. That way, new Roots could sprout and resume the process, using the Yokai as a food source but taking longer than planned. He wasn't worried about additional supernatural assistance due to the barrier blocking passage into the City from them, only truly powerful beings at least on par or above Dragon Kings could likely break through since Gods have ALWAYS feared beings like Dragons. Why else would they fear Great Red's power or that of the second strongest Dragon, the Ouroboros Dragon Ophis.

Thus, with these thoughts in mind, Urizen groaned in annoyance, leaning back on his throne as he contemplated how things had gone wrong and what steps he could have taken to prevent these problems from ever occurring.

That is…

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"?!"

(Play Silver Winged Scarlet Star)

Suddenly, Urizen's eyes widened when he heard the sound of a dragon's roar, one which quickly sent chills down his spine and made him lift his head from his previous position. 'What?! It can't be! A dragon?! Here-?!' he thought, but he couldn't finish his mental thought process thanks to a sudden hole being erected from atop the room he sat in, one which extended to the outside as the creator of the hole, something large and silverish in colour, slammed right through. Quickly Urizen made his Crystal defence appear and had it meet the impending attack, blocking it from reaching its intended target. However, whilst it DID manage to do its job, Urizen groaned at the pressure and weight put behind it as thanks to being intrinsically connected to his primary defensive tool, Urizen felt the attacks against it as a form of pressure on his being, like he were suddenly forced to bear unnatural weight on his system. Right NOW however, he felt like he had been slammed into by a bullet train speeding at him at it's maximum momentum, one which had no intention of slowing down similar to a kamikaze plane on a suicide run.

'GRRRR… THIS PRESSURE…!'

After a short moment of struggling, the attacker finally broke away as Urizen glared at it, the attacker landing opposite him in the middle of the Throne room. "WHAT CREATURE DARES STAND AGAINST A KING?!" Urizen's angry voice bellowed across the room as he glared heatedly at the new arrival who, to his surprise, glared right back with a matching fury to his own. Heck, in some ways it even surpassed it.

Turned out the attacker looked to be… a Dragon, one which Urizen hadn't heard of before though. Not among the many mythological legends which walked the earth, which unnerved and concerned him since Dragons were either dead or had been sealed away through various means, something which had been done by all manner of races due to their immense power. Therefore, for a dragon to have existed that he didn't know about did not sit well with the Stray Devil.

The Dragon in question took a form similar to how western mortals viewed dragons, with how it stood on all four legs, with two large wings, and a long tail. However, this Dragon looked a bit more… modern Urizen felt, with its appearance at least. As in, it looked like a Dragon which was COMPLETELY covered in gleaming silver scales, with Its Wings fused into a trident-like structure, each segment ending in what seems to be an opening although Urizen believed that they could be used for other things. Its back looked to be lined with fin-like projections that went to it's tail whilst its head had a small crest and its eyes glowed a bright blue like two blue flames in the darkness. Its chest possessed three horizontal gaps that Urizen wasn't sure of their purpose, he was no animal expert. Still had that modern feel to it, not to mention it reminded him of Albion with its color scheme, something which Urizen growled at under his breath.

Instead of answering his previous question however, the Dragon roared as it pointed it's wings at him, aiming them so that the openings on each segment had their openings pointed towards Urizen's thrones as faint crimson glows started forming within them. Urizen, seeing this quickly sussed out what the Dragon intended to do and promptly launched several fireballs at it, prompting the Dragon to shoot forth six blasts of crimson energy at them.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Six crimson and orange explosions rang out from the two attacks colliding with one another, resulting in a large shockwave which caused Urizen to cover his face. That was something which the Dragon exploited when it noticed it, jumping THROUGH the explosions and readying it's right wing which had it's trident-like formation collapse then connect at the ends, forming a makeshift spear. One which the Crystal hurried to block in time leading to another brief struggle between them...although various cracks formed over the course of the exchange.

When he noticed this, Urizen quickly acted since he knew that once the Crystal took too much damage, then it would shatter and render itself useless until it regenerated itself, leaving him defenceless against the enemy's onslaught. He acted by flinging his arm to the side as if to backhand something, to which a force slammed right into the Dragon's chest to send it flying backwards. However, it looked like those wings could operate normally since it managed to right itself in mid air thanks to a few flaps from them, then landed on all fours whilst growling like a furious wraith.

Deciding to put an end to this creature once and for all since it proved itself far too dangerous to be left alive, Urizen began to charge up his next attack. However, whilst he did so, his eyes narrowed when he began hearing some sounds coming from the Dragon's wings, sounds similar to those a Modern Jet Engine would have made. Before he could wonder what the hell it was doing, Urizen got his answer when the creature flapped its wings and took to the skies, the six holes in its wings suddenly spewing out constant beams like makeshift Engine thrusters which propelled it up to atop the ceiling before it began looping around the airspace. Whilst doing so, it pretty much broke the sound barrier in terms of speed as it covered itself in crimson energy, quickly turning itself from a Dragon… into a LITERAL comet that began descending towards him!

If he were human, then Urizen's face at that moment would have been 'oh, fuck!' as he pulled his defensive measure, his Crystal, in front of him to try and protect himself.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Once again, the two collided resulting in an earthquake-like shockwave to burst free, making the Qlippoth Tree shudder from the impact and weight against it whilst the two forces pushed against one another… cracks spreading across the Crystal until it eventually shattered, much to Urizen's horror. "NO!"

"GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Another loud piercing shriek escaped the Dragon's mouth as it collapsed it's wings into Spears, driving them forward after seeing the Crystal shatter and expose Urizen to being damaged. As a result, both wings impaled him through his shoulders causing the Stray Devil to HOWL in pure, unfiltered agony and rage. The fact that something like this had no demonic blood coursing through its veins caused Urizen to look down upon it out of seer principle, thinking his own species the freaking greatest like any elitist would. However, that only served to make the fact that it had damaged him even HARDER to bear than normal, causing Urizen's eyes to turn into literal infernal pits from how angry he was.

"BEGONE!"

With that yell, Urizen gathered a large clump of energy and released it, causing a large wave of Demonic Power which blew the Dragon away from him, sending it across the room. Landing on all fours once again, the Dragon looked up and saw the two gaping holes in it's adversary, glancing at it's bloodied wings which were the source of those injuries, before it's mouth twisted into… a sneer, one of mockery and disdain. Urizen could have outright MURDERED that white lizard right then and there if he weren't connected to the Throne and thus, needed to stay in there for a while longer. Fortunately, whilst attached to the Throne Urizen pretty much had a HUGE reservoir of blood that he could use at his disposal, proof being how his wounds started to close rather rapidly.

Thanks to this, the Dragon's eyes narrowed darkly, seemingly contemplating something before it decided to spread its wings once again, the sounds of jet engines revving up causing Urzen to regard it with caution once again until it suddenly burst up into the air, shooting through the Tree and out back into the city, leaving a giant hole in its wake like it had done upon entry…

As well as a downright FURIOUS Stray Devil at yet another unknown variable appearing in his way.

---

Later

"Hhaaa damn this bug was a real crafty bastard." A sigh escaped his lips as Siegfried stretched his arms above his head. He didn't look like he was at 100% right now, thanks to the majority of his being covered in soot born from the recent bout he had alongside the others with the giant, four-legged Demon.

He wasn't the only one though, for Medusa looked to be in a similar state herself. Although, unlike the former exorcist she had something much more important (in her mind) than her disheveled state of being. "No kidding, this damn bug had the audacity to ruin this princess's hair!" she exclaimed, looking at how her normally red locks had been damaged at their tips, which looked to be quite charred from some of the Demon's plasma-based energy attacks. It could have been worse though, but that fact wasn't something which she acknowledged right now.

Although, that didn't mean her others remained blind to this fact either. "Oh give it a rest Medusa at least you were least hit by that demon, I can feel my ribs already cracking." Xun Er stated coldly, frowning as she looked to be in a much worse state compared to her childhood friend, a lot of her body covered in gashes and bruises thanks to having tanked many of it's Spike and Disk-based attacks. Though unbeknownst to anyone but her, Xun Er found another light akin to the one which had come out from that mermaid-esque Devil entering her Devil-Bringer much to her confusion since it made her wonder what was going on with it. Not like she complained though, since she felt herself getting stronger when it happened.

"Hmph!"

"So anyway who-hmm? What's this?" Siegfried made to speak, before something caught his gaze from the corner of his eyes. It also caught the others attention as they looked at the demon before it started to decay like the others.

Seeing this, Xun Er made the following declaration which had been present in everyone's minds. "This thing is a root too." She muttered, remembering the various Demons which they had been fighting up till this point having been connected to the Tree in some way. This one looked to be no exception to this rule.

Nanoha however, had enough of all this bullshit as she repeatedly scratched her head's scalp in frustration, her aura starting to turn volatile. "Fuck is that stray devil soo desperate in collecting blood for the fruit?" She exclaimed, catching Fate off guard as she gazed at Nanoha in worry, as well as shock since she had NEVER heard Nanoha shout with such a venomous tone before. Now that she thought about it, she had acted like she was a completely different person compared to how she'd known her originally, which worried the blonde girl since she didn't want to see Nanoha become something like 'that woman' who had grown her.

Though, before she could question her about it, the red haired Naga Princess groaned in annoyance and unknowingly stopped the non-earthborn girl from delving into her friend's circumstances. "Ugh, why is it that these people are freaking targeting the humans all the damn time?" she wondered, scratching the side of her head whilst tilting said body part to the side. "I mean, can't they just leave them alone for god's sake? About 80 to 90% of our problems could have been avoided if we just left them to their own devices, and we focus on our own shitty affairs."

Her words caused the others to think on them, soon realizing that she did indeed have somewhat of a point. In a lot of cases, it was the supernatural world which caused a lot of harm that humans have gone through, even if the history books said otherwise. The greatest example would be the Trojan Wars of Ancient Greece, or the way various tribal societies fell due to either cannibalism or mass huntings. However, Xun Er decided to clarify something to Medusa with a grave tone to her voice. "It's not that simple Medusa. Since ancient times, when the gods were walking with the humans (still are but in plain sight) there were always dangers to the humans, most of them being from the Supernatural. Some would use for entertainment, gain powers from or even enjoy other people's suffering."

Her explanation caused the redhead to gape at her for a moment, before eventually forcing her mouth shut and then releasing an irritated groan, planting her face into her right hand. "...hhhaaa, now I know why mother says the gods don't interfere with the human lives, it would put them in constant danger." She remarked, scowling.

However, none of this mattered to Fate when compared to understanding what had happened to Nanoha. Part of her informed the blonde of the irony her feelings presented her, since before it had always been NANOHA trying to get her to open up to her about her problems by talking, but here she was doing pretty much the same thing. In the end though, she continued regardless as she walked on over to Nanoha's form who stood away from the others as she looked out towards the direction of the Tree. There looked to be a POWERFUL fire in her eyes, a fire which Fate had seen WAY too often to the point where she could be recognized anywhere. "... Nanoha what happened, what made you change?" She finally questioned, after managing to gather the courage to ask her for some reason. Like, if she had worded it differently, then that would have affected Nanoha's mood… badly.

For a moment, she seemed surprised someone was even talking to her, which was understandable since she had this 'stay away from me, I'm brooding' aura around her right now, a stark opposite compared to how she had been in the beginning. This was something which caused a wave of sadness to wash over her eyes, realizing how much she had changed since she'd last seen Fate. She probably looked like a completely different person to her right now…. And she wouldn't be wrong, exactly. "... My… parents are dead." She finally admitted, frowning as she struggled to keep her composure. She couldn't cry here, she just COULDN'T, she had to keep a calm, composed shell of professionalism right now. "... The one who planted that Tree… Urizen… he's the one who murdered them, right in front of me too…" she told her, getting a wide eyed look from the blonde girl.

A few times in the distant past, Fate remembered vividly about how much Nanoha treasured her family. To the point where if she had a choice with them being the one she'd go for. Fate had hoped that Nanoha's purity would remain this way for a while longer, but it looked like just with herself and Vali this supernatural world remained a cruel mistress. "Oh….. Nanoha I'm… sorry, if I arrived sooner then-"

Before she could finish, placing a hand on her shoulder whilst shaking her head. "It's not your fault Fate, it's only that Demon which deserves our wrath." she declared in a darkening tone and undertone, though this time Fate's gaze almost mirrored hers with the silhouette of a british-looking gentleman floating behind her, larger than life. Not only that, but a similar silhouette formed above her, one of Oda Nobunaga himself. After the two broke from the hug which Fate remained the more composed of the two (though the twitching of her hands betrayed her true feelings), Nanoha looked back towards the Tree with her coat flapping in the breeze. "In any case, let's discuss it later right now it's time we finally end this nightmare once and for all."

"... for once I agree with you Nanoha. Lets go, because Vali and the others are most likely still waiting for our sorry asses."

---

Later

Vali was sitting on a concrete but around him was the demons spawned from the tree were always at him and the girls due to being close to the tree as the priest girl Suzaku and the witch girl Lavinia were sitting across Vali as they were covered in blood, not that Vali minds but the girls were disgusted that Lavinia casted a water spell to clean herself and Suzuka as he was thinking about something entered the tree which [Glavenus] sensed it was a dragon, an elder one. Why would an elder dragon enter the Qlippoth tree, is it because Urizen offended him or…. Was it that he killed his-.

SPLASH!

His thoughts were stopped as he felt the water on him as he turned to the witch girl who was smiling.

"... why the fuck did you do that?"

"Languag-EEP!"

Vali pointed his [Glavenus] at Lavinia as she squeaked. She saw how brutal the young half devil is when he slaughtered the demons. "Say that one more time and I will make sure that mouth will stay shut for a long time." Vali threatened, no he PROMISED with the Devil Arm in question radiating an aura of anger as if it wanted to showcase that it felt the same way as its wielder.

Something which sent no small number of chills down Lavinia's spine as she tried to pacify the young man. "Now now, let's not get irrational and act like an adult." she tried to begin politely...

Only for Vali to rebuke her instantly. "I'm 11 years old priest girl." he said, stared blankly whilst looking at her like she was some kind of idiot.

Seeing that look, Lavinia decided to clear her throat so they could move on from such a gory topic like that one. "... right, young man. But, how long until your companions manage to arrive here?" she couldn't help but question.

A question which Vali took a couple seconds to notice via extending his various sensory abilities. "... not very long. In fact they're already here." Vali said as he looked up, gazing into the skies above.

Whilst this happened, Suzuka who sat near him looked confused for that one moment, before she and Lavinia also looked where Vali was looking. There flying was Xun Er with Siegfreid with her, Medusa, Nanoha, and Fate.

The sight of the blonde girl was enough to give him pause, his blue eyes slightly widening in surprise as he didn't expect to see her here. However, since she WAS here, then according to what he'd seen of her during the Jewel Seed incident then their combat ability had pretty much skyrocketed. Something which he believed would be quite useful in fighting Urizen in their little rematch. "Well… took all of you long enough." he stated dryly, keeping a blank face.

Something which did NOT go unnoticed by Xun Er, who put her hands on her hips like a lecturer to their charges. "What, you're not being grateful to see us Vali?" she questioned with a hint of anger… and was there something else behind that as well?

The boy wondered about that, but decided not to question it. Women were complex creatures after all, so complex that even centuries old beings like Albion and Glavenus had little idea how they worked. "Please, I know that all of you are strong to deal with the roots which is why I'm not worried." he stated, rolling his eyes.

A sigh escaped Xun Er's lips as everyone else who knew him sweatdropped knowing that would be one of the closest times to getting Vali to worry for them more. "Same as always Vali." Xun Er drawled in annoyance, but since this had been the case for years now she had gotten used to it by this point.

Vali then got up from the concrete as he then walked to the group. "Alright, all the roots are destroyed which means that now it's our time to strike at the Tree directly. This time…. That Stray Devil won't get away."

---

With that in mind, everyone (except Suzuka and Lavinia) nodded their heads before turning their face to determine as Vali led them through the city towards the centre where the Tree was located. Having to fight against hordes of Demons too was a plus in his book, but knowing that this situation could spiral out of control REAL fast.

Eventually they came to an opened path of the tree. "This appears not very long, but still. Once we enter there it is going back, you can either turn back or continue our path." As he said that everyone stood still not moving from their spot as they wanted to stop this and kill that stray devil, especially Nanoha who wanted nothing more than to make that Stray Devil SUFFER for what he did to her.

Vali got his answer as he entered the Tree with everyone on board, the branches starting to close as it was repairing itself before it completely closed, pretty much confirming the fact of there being no turning back for them in their minds before they continued on.

It didn't take them long to discover themselves in front of what had looked like some kind of street, though it had been pretty much ruined forever thanks to all the demonic plant life such as vines, spikes and organic matter pretty much wrecking its shit. They made their way along the street regardless, doing their best to ignore the obviously terrible sight whilst a bunch of Empousa suddenly appeared from puddles of blood… though soon several slashes appeared on them as they crawled out of their entrances which shredded them to pieces before they could completely get through.

The source, a totally nonchalant Vali but Xun Er became concerned that red stuff was the blood of the civilians who couldn't have been saved in time, something which she could TOTALLY see happening. Why else could it have grown to this point? This sickened them to see this kind of tree existing, as well as something which they could completely understand how it could be related to Satan.

After this, Vali and the others continued on through the street, eventually coming across something more like the internal structure of the tree which took the form of a circular platform, nearly completely infested by the demonic growth. Additionally, their way to proceed looked to be a hole or something, but before they could get through it the kids saw a barrier form over it and multiple Demons sprout from the ground, some of them sharing a similar fate to the Empousa however others managed to avoid the blows.

'Hmmmm, these ones… ah yes, I remember Albion telling me about them…' Vali thought as he held his [Glavenus] at the ready. From what he remembered from Albion's lessons, of which he'd given his companions a crash course on the material, these Demons were called 'Riots' looking like humanoid lizards with long arms that ended in huge ass claws. Though, from his personal experience, Vali had learned how they could be broken with enough force… which was what he did by jumping forwards into the battlefield with Nanoha providing air support with Fate, the two of them acting like fighter jets by intercepting their aerial opposition for them whilst the rest dealt with the ground forces.

Fortunately for them, the enemy wasn't that large this time for some reason, so they didn't spend too long in killing them. After the last Demon got felled, the group moved on continuing on through their path they saw a waterfall of blood going up which disgusted almost all of them... except for Vali, who just looked on blankly.

Medusa couldn't stand it after a couple seconds passed, and turned her head to the side with her eyes closed and a fierce grimace over her features, immense disgust written all over her. "Sweet mother of Shiva, this… this princess can't even." she muttered, something which her companions could relate to her with.

Heck, Xun Er looked a little green as she failed to stomach the sight in front of her. "I think I'm gonna be sick, Mmmgh!"

Even the usually composed Siegfried didn't look unaffected by this as he shuddered with the disgust that he felt inside. "In all of my years of being an exorcist…. This tree is truly an abomination."

Looking on over and seeing his reaction, an uneasy looking Lavinia (who stood with an equally shaken Suzuka) questioned him about his blankness, although she felt even more worried about how Nanoha had a similar reaction to him. "How can you be so calm, Vali? Everyone else is close to retching and you're not even blinking an eye to this."

He didn't even look at her in response, as he simply stated one word after a moment of silence. "... Albion."

[In Vali's life, he had to deal with so much hardship since he was a kid, he was forced to accept reality, one which you yourself must be intimately familiar with... One mistake could end his or anyone's life.]

"I…. I can't even-"

"Get over yourself witch girl, this is a prime definition of how much anyone would go this far to achieve power, even if it means by sacrificing anyone including innocent lives."

Vali stated as he brought out his divine dividing as Siegfried regained his composure and put his arm on Vali's shoulder as he flew up to the air before Xun Er recovered from her fatigue from seeing the blood before following Vali. Fate, Nanoha and Medusa followed them also before Lavinia was silent before Suzuka put a hand on her shoulder.

"Lavinia you alright?"

"I am, it's just when my teacher told me that the world is not a good place I didn't know what he meant. Right now, though…. now, I'm starting to understand." she stated mournfully as Vali went and convinced the others to get a move on. Fortunately this helped spur them to overcome their disgust to do just that, but still Vali's words resonated with the two older members of the group, who so far had just been sticking to the rear for now since the kids looked like they had things covered. Although, if they got the chance they'd step in to help.

At this, a glum expression fell onto Suzuka's face as well, Vali's words ringing in her mind also. "... true, I can imagine that." she said in a gloomy voice as she remembered when her Aunt Shuri had been exiled from the Himejima clan for marrying a fallen angel, Baraqiel she remembered him being called. She honestly missed them, having seen their union as not something to be disgusted by. When she heard that her uncle killed Shuri, she couldn't do anything at all because of one thing….. Politics. If she were to punish him other members of the Himejima would end up going against her, either forcing her out of the clan or worse….. Breeding her.

"HEY ARE YOU LADIES JUST GONNA STAND THERE OR GET A MOVE ON!"

Their thoughts were abruptly halted when the half devil kid yelled at them loudly, prompting them to shake their heads. "He's right Lavinia lets go."

"Alright just can't imagine how much Vali had to go through forcing him to mature and accept reality." Lavinia said as she prepared a magic circle to fly as Suzuka followed her. They flew up the waterfall (which they had to keep their posture and their lunch) before seeing Vali standing at the edge and thus, promptly landed right by him. Vali looked at them before he went to the rest of the group as the two older girls followed him.

Once they regrouped, the group continued their path passing some destroyed buildings. A monster root came out from the ground before Nanoha shot themes with precise range.

"Impressive Nanoha."

"You know, maybe you should start getting ranged weapons, Vali. It would be good for you in case there's an enemy that's far away from you."

"Hmmmmm."

{She's right boy, you have been in too much close combat, even with your vast Demonic Power reserves there will be times when it won't be fast enough to hit the target. Maybe get a gun, sniper rifle or anything that suits you.}

'... I'll think about it later.' Vali mentally said as he continued his path before stopping by what looks like a bloodstream. Something which caused the girls to cringe due to how ugly it looked.

[Well well, looks like you found a transporter.]

'A transporter?'

[Think of the tree like a human body, the blood comes from the heart right, it goes to each body part in order to fill it with blood since the human body requires blood in order to survive, which means that…]

'... it can lead us straight to where Urizen is.' Vali mentally said as he stood still before he made a decision. "Ah fuck it." Vali then made to enter the bloodstream which disgusted the rest of the group.

"Ugh Vali what are you doing?!" Xun Er shrieked, being the first one of them to come back to her senses after seeing what he had done.

Glancing back at her, Vali aimed a dry gaze at her whilst his body looked to be partially inside the bloodstream. "Making a faster way since it would lead us straight to where Urizen is." he stated like there was nothing wrong.

A sentiment which was NOT shared by the rest of them. "But, by entering….. That?!" Medusa exclaimed this time.

"It's either that or we climb through the tree." Vali said as he entered the bloodstream before it began to stream with Vali inside of it.

Back with the group, they saw a dark spot moving through the bloodstream before Siegfreid decided to do the same thing. "He's right. As much as I hate it, it's the fastest way to that damn Urizen." he declared, before proceeding to get inside the Bloodstream himself... or rather, that was what he INTENDED to do had it not been for a female figure striving past him. "N-Nanoha?"

"Stop dragging your asses and lets get this over with, Urizen's finally close to our grasp so we're NOT giving up because some limp dicks are getting cold feet." she stated bluntly and coldly, diving into the Bloodstream herself and leaving a stunned group behind.

Fate glanced over at Xun Er, now looking VERY concerned for her friend. It had been obvious to her since they met again, but it seemed that Nanoha's demeanor was getting worse by the second. She would know, considering what tended to happen when her own Sacred Gear activated. "You think that...?" she began to say.

Fortunately, Xun Er had similar thoughts to her friend and nodded, an equal amount of concern on her face. "Yeah, looks like it... just hope that Nanoha comes out of this alright." she muttered, worryingly.

---

The bloodstream was streaming something before it spewed out a person.

SPLASH!

"PFTA PTFA! Ugh great, now I know what human blood tastes like." Vali muttered, spitting out a bunch of foreign blood from his system. Not only that though, but he looked down at himself after regaining his breathing and discovered how he'd been completely covered in blood from head to toe. Wiping off some of it, Vali's ears twitched when he heard some churning sounds from the bloodstream, which told him that someone else in the group had entered it.

Soon, he found himself seeing the sight of Nanoha sliding out of the bloodstream, looking down at herself to see all the blood covering her clothes. "Tch, that'll be Urizen's blood by the time I'm done with him..." She mumbled under her breath, but Vali heard her.

"Best step aside if you don't want the others to splash you with their blood." Vali warned, as whilst he had indeed noticed the changes she had gone through, the boy actually preferred her to be like this. It made him see her as someone who had the ability to actually 'act' instead of being all wishy washy like she'd been earlier. Part of him DID worry for her mental state, however he'd seen those eyes before when he'd looked in the mirror... back when he had the desire to kill his father for harming his mother. This wasn't something anyone but Nanoha herself could deal with, him or anyone else didn't have any right to question her about it unless she asked first.

Nanoha wordlessly glanced at him for a moment, before she decided to heed his warning and stepped to the side opposite him, which turned out to be the right thing to do in the end. After all, seconds later they heard more churning sounds from the bloodstream which clued them in to the rest of the party having jumped in like they had.

SPLASH!

"Oh, come on again?! Ugh I need a shower."

SPLASH!

"Ohhh, this princess just got these clothes!"

Soon one by one they all were spewed out from the bloodstream as they complained about the blood on them. Fortunately, Lavinia casted a water spell that drenched all of the group as well as cleansed them of the blood whilst they got to their feet.

Though, that didn't stop Xun Er from making the following comment. "... after this I need a new set of clothes, I'm sick of seeing blood all over me." she muttered in indignation.

Medusa also agreed with her, if the look on her face was any indication. "This princess also agrees." she stated.

Suzuka, being Vali, Nanoha, and fate, shook her head whilst wordlessly thanking Lavinia for her spell. "Well no time for this conversation, we are lucky that the tree isn't complete or else we would have a hard time climbing through it. I can sense a huge demonic energy signature nearby, which could only belong to one Stray Devil." She said ominously, a scowl marrying her features.

Though she didn't need to say the Stray Devil's name since Vali and the Group all nodded in agreement, having sensed the energy themselves with varying levels of fury being invoked by the mention of him. "Urizen." the seething kids said all at once.

Something which mildly disturbed the older girls at how unified the kids sounded, but nonetheless nodded. "Indeed lets go."

After Suzuka said that, Vali ran through the tree barks with the rest of them soon catching up to him. Along the way, some empousa tried to stop them but a quick slash and a bullet shot quickly dispatched them. As they were running they jumped down the bark as they saw the signature closeby which means Urizen is there. Vali then ran to the entrance as he unleashed [Glavenus] combustion technique as it exploded the entrance. There sitting on the throne was the stray devil Urizen.

"YOU…."

Vali internally grinned at the way that their enemy glared at them, though unlike him Nanoha actually SHOWED how pleased she felt at his look of outrage at seeing their appearance. She had this grin on her face that looked like it could scare even Devils to heel, and he had to admit that it actually made him jump a little inside... he'd never say it out loud though, as he instead focused his gaze upon the growling Stray Devil. "Well well, we finally meet again, Stray Devil. Or perhaps Urizen would suit you better?"

"I SHOULD'VE KILLED YOU HALF DEVIL AND THE OTHERS AS WELL WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE."

At this Nanoha snorted as she crossed her arms over her chest, stepping forwards in front of the group as her Sacred Gear manifested in the form of her Rock Cannon. "Hmph looks like you're not the brightest at all, aren't you the demon king?" she sneered, aiming it at him whilst the Rock Cannon quickly morphed into it's Multi-Gatling Gun form.

"HOW DARE YOU STOP MY PROCEDURE OF MY FRUIT! I HAVE WAITED FOR SO MANY YEARS FOR THIS AND ALL OF YOU RUINED IT!"

His fury reached its peak at their insinuations as well as his frustration at the situation he'd found himself in despite his careful planning. In the end, Urizen got up from his throne as the blood began to splash around from him as he walked to them. This action served to not only separate him from the Tree as his Crystal manifested, but it also caused his Demonic Power to swell massively.

"ALL OF YOU WILL REGRET BEING BORN USELESS AND HUMAN! I WILL SHOW YOU YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE. I WILL GIVE YOU… DESPAIR AND DEATH!"

Each of the kids began to sweat from the energy being released by the Stray Devil, finding it to be MUCH more than what he had shown them back before this whole incident had happened. In fact, comparing this to back then felt like comparing an ant to a full grown adult giraffe, however out of all of them only two of the kids didn't really let it affect them too much: Nanoha and Vali. "Why don't you come and show it to us then, Urizen?!" Nanoha declared... all as her Multi-Gatling Gun began unloading on the Stray Devil's position.

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!

The sounds of gunfire filled the air as Nanoha's weapon pretty much bled out lead like crazy, constant flashes coming out of the many barrels as fast as the bullets that were fired whilst bullet casings littered the ground around her, accompanied by the sounds of clanging. All the while, Urizen's Crystal floated in front of him to supply his Barrier with the power needed to halt these high speed bullets, stopping them from hitting their target and dropping them to the ground in front of him.

Fate meanwhile, gazed in shock at the sheer brutality that Nanoha was displaying right now, the sight reminding her of some videos she'd seen when the TSAB had been researching human history. She could freely admit that the Earth had some brutal, terrifying weapons in it's arsenal, and right now she found herself realizing just how right she truly was.

As she stood there, stunned, each of the kids promptly got to work whilst Lavinia and Suzuka went about the task of isolating the area with a Barrier to keep out any Demons that Urizen might attempt to call to his side in case he wanted to play cowardly. Things started off with Nanoha blasting the hell out of the monstrous creature, then continued with Vali deploying his Divine Dividing to take to the skies, aiming [Glavenus] in it's Axe Mode to fire a bunch of MAG SHOT's down on Urizen whilst he had been distrafted. Siegfried had started running to the left flank of their enemy, both Tyrfing and Nothung in his hands whilst his Twice Critical wielded his Light Sword. Running to his right, Xun Er had her Murasama out as she deployed her Devil Bringer to summon it's Spectral Arm with the intention of smacking the living daylights out of the Stray Devil.

Seeing all these attacks coming, Urizen acted first by negating Vali's MAG SHOT's with some fireballs, then shot some Time-pausing spheres towards Xun Er who couldn't react in time, thus got hit and slowed down long enough for Urizen to bombard both her AND Siegfried with a barrage of energy spheres that came down from above like strikes from the heavens. Clicking his left hand's fingers, Urizen launched multiple long Root-like Tentacles from behind his cloak of them, each aiming to spear into Nanoha to stop her from putting pressure on his Crystal defence.

SLASH-SLASH!

Unfortunately for him, Fate snapped out of her shock at this time and quickly jumped forwards, flying through the air after using Nanoha's shoulders as a springboard. Her Bardiche made it's signature notification as it formed it's Scythe Mode, deploying the energy blade that she used to deliver two slashes that sliced through the Tentacles. Undaunted, Urizen sent more at her, prompting Fate to fall back whilst she sliced through multiple fireballs launched her way in retaliation for her attacks.

Glancing behind her whilst floating in the air, Fate yelled the following question to her friend. "You alright, Nanoha?!"

Perhaps that question had multiple layers to it, but right now the Demon Queen of the sixth heaven smirked a bit and nodded. "I am grateful!" she replied as she intensified the firepower. "I will keep his little 'crystal' busy, you and the others chop his meaty carcas to bits!" she bellowed afterwards, snarling as her Multi-Gatling Gun shuddered at the intense firing it was doing.

"On it!"

To that end, Fate hummed to herself as she flew up into the air to take Vali's side in the conflict, the silver haired hybrid floating over to her side. Both of them looked at one another and gave a single unified nod, quickly strafing about to avoid the fireballs which Urizen launched at them. In order to respond, Vali fired more MAG SHOT's whilst Fate went with one of her Spells: the ARC SABER where she threw Bardiche's energy blade like a boomerang. This resulted in the Fireballs being chopped in half to let Vali's MAG SHOT's get through, although Urizen countered by shooting those time-stopping Spheres at them to slow them long enough to slice through them with some Tentacles.

"TURN…"

A couple seconds later, Urizen managed to capture the two aerial support known as Vali and Fate with two time-slowing spheres, causing them both to urse as they got hit by a couple of Urizen's fireballs.

"Guh!"

"Gah!"

Gasps escaped their lips as pain flooded their senses from these consecutive blows, although they barely managed to right themselves in time before they could hit the walls behind them though. Still, as they got sent flying across the throne room, the sight of them getting hit caused Nanoha to blink with widened eyes, memories of her deceased parents flashing through her mind which caused her to let up a bit on her barrage… something which the Stray Devil noticed and exploited.

"BURN!"

More fireballs fell onto the group, launched by Urizen thanks to this opening, Fireballs which knocked most of them onto their backs and sent Nanoha flying across the room, slamming right into one of the walls before she could react in time. Loud gasps escaped her as she felt pain EXPLODE within her body, especially her skull, and if she hadn't barely erected some magic defense spells around her head in time she likely would have broken her neck and died instantly.

"Tch, this fucker's getting ahead of himself…" Vali mumbled under his breath as he switched [Glavenus] out for [Astalos], holding both blades in his hands as they crackled with green Lightning reminiscent of the monster which they had once been. Things weren't looking good right now, and he knew it especially since Urizen had started using Fireballs more than his other attacks due to the difference between the area of effect for them being bigger than his other attacks, A lot of their group had already been knocked down by this point, their bodies mostly charred by them but still alive for the time being. Their bodies, tempered by many past battles, still managed to hold up from these consecutive blows especially himself, Xun Er, Fate and Siegfried. Essentially, their weakest link turned out to be Nanoha who, despite her recent change, still remained the weakest due to her body not being trained as thoroughly as theirs were despite her efforts. Nanoha had enjoyed a simple civilian life for too long, thus this was the result.

Something he felt like she had begun to comprehend already.

---

As he continued to return to fighting and sped all over the place, dodging fireballs 80% of the time whilst getting hit by those time-slowing Spheres, Nanoha lay on the ground within the wall, her eyes wider than saucers as she stared up at the ceiling.

This…

This wasn't right!

She had gotten stronger, didn't she?! She'd disposed of her previous weakness. Right?!

So why?

Why was she being beaten like this!?

She should have just discarded her 'heart' back when she had decided to embrace her path that would lead her to becoming the Demon Queen under the Sixth Heaven, but when the girl had seen Vali and Fate get hit the way that they did, two people whom to her had been absolute icons of strength and resolve in more ways than one… did something in her start to crack? Did that cause her resolve to waver in some manner?

The sounds of explosions ringing around her, caused by the conflict between her companions and Urizen, escalating pretty much became her answer as her brain suddenly… clicked. Like, something inside her which had been turned off for all her life and had started switching on, finally did so. Kind of like when she finally realized that her weakness had to be thrown away, if she thought about it.

Ahhhh… now she got it.

Now Nanoha understood.

Perhaps she didn't truly take her 'heart' out after all. The reasoning for that being how she still viewed her friends Fate and Vali in lights similar to how she'd done so when she'd met them for the first time, even Xun Er to some extent. To her, it could be best to say that Nanoha didn't just view them as her companions, but they had been her ideal forms of strength:

Vali, the unrelenting 'force' which thrusted forwards regardless of whatever stood in his way.

Xun Er, the remarkable 'grace' in battle with how easily she 'flowed' through it yet still dealt vicious damage to her opponents.

Finally, Fate herself, whose 'strength' came from overcoming adversity and pushing forwards, regardless of where it may take her.

Force… Grace… resolve…

Yes, those were her definitions of strength at her core, and she had believed them to be that for her. Therefore, she hadn't discarded 'everything' in her heart completely. She had still got some lingering feelings tied to her past 'humanity', her weak and feeble self who failed to protect the things most precious to her: her family. Because THEY were around, Nanoha had felt like she could start becoming more like them in a sense, eventually becoming powerful in that sense. Gunners like herself needed support from comrades who could cover their weak points, it only made sense for her to think that way.

However, what happened if those comrades… weren't there anymore? What happened if they couldn't do that like they used to?

Well, Urizen just demonstrated what would have happened in that scenario, one which she failed to even ATTEMPT to consider.

Once this revelation finally hit Nanoha's brain, she felt something inside of her start to… 'crack'. Like chains which had been holding something back this whole time were finally starting to break apart and unravel at the seems. Slowly, her arms started to move, pushing herself up into a sitting position whilst some of her hair fluttered as one stray projectile whizzed by her, cutting a line across her cheek that drew blood. However, Nanoha didn't care as she slowly got to her feet, her head hanging low so her bangs covered her eyes. The sounds of projectiles being launched, spheres, fireballs and energy blasts alike, filled the air and created various smells that her nostrils picked up as she started striving forwards with fists clenched so tight that they started to pulsate with bulging veins.

Now, she understood… she now understood everything…

Awakening her Sacred Gear? It wasn't enough for what she wanted.

Becoming the Demon Queen under the Sixth Heaven required MUCH more than just feeble commitment. If she had such pathetic reasoning, then she would fall like so many others in the former Demon King's path on his conquest to unify Japan back in his lifetime.

Therefore, what else did she need? What should she strive to obtain?

The answer was simple, as it erupted inside her mind, finally destroying the remains of the unravelling chains as Nanoha's head lifted to expose her closed eyes… which then proceeded to open.

What she wanted… was EVERYTHING!

---

In one moment, everything about the battlefield came to an abrupt halt when Nanoha, who had previously been knocked down and treated as unconscious for a short while… suddenly got up and cleared the distance between herself and Urizen, much to the Stray Devil's surprise at such speed coming from seemingly such a normal human girl... Albeit one with a rather potent Sacred Gear under her command.

However, when he noticed her eyes, his own would have become saucers if he were a human still and his form tensed up.

"Y-YOU…!"

POW!

Rearing her right fist, Nanoha didn't let him finish his words as she threw a punch towards his abdomen area. Of course, the Crystal rushed to defend it's master and, while it managed to succeed, Urizen gasped at the force behind it as he and the Crystal got sent siding backwards across the Throne Room.

Nanoha, whose fist had been trembling from the blow, sported multiple veins across it that travelled up her arm… whilst her hair had fallen over her face again to cover her eyes once more. Her head hanging low again as she experienced some labored breathing also contributed to this, until she raised her head once more and moved her hair out of her eyes to reveal them to the world… having COMPLETELY changed from what they had once been.

What they had once been were a set of dark blue irises around a white sclera like normal human eyes. Right now? The Sclera had turned from white to BLACK, whilst her irises had whitened, including her pupils.

"N...Nanoha…?" Xun Er gasped as the rest of the group gazed on in shocked awe at what had just happened, their brains struggling to process what was going on here. One moment their companion had been leaning against a wall reeling from Urizen's attacks, but then the next thing they saw was her clearing the distance and delivering a right hook that any dragon could be proud of.

Not to mention that, as they watched her, each of the group had noticed something about her… something had changed within Nanoha for, as they looked at her, they felt like she had… no longer anything distinctly 'human' about her anymore. No, it was almost like Nanoha wasn't anything human anymore…

But a genuine monster.

"...TCH, SO… YOU'VE BEEN ONE… FROM THE START? LOOKS LIKE… YOU JUST AWAKENED… THEN."

Meanwhile, Urizen stood up after he recovered his breathing from the attempt on his abdominal area whilst noticing the SEVERELY cracked state of his Crystal. From the looks of things, it would stand to reason that his Crystal wouldn't be able to take too many of those hits that Nanoha had unleashed just now before cracking into nothingness, leaving him defenceless till it regenerated but even then Urizen wasn't sure how many blows from Nanoha that it could take… for he knew well the meaning behind those eyes of hers, for he had the misfortune of seeing other wielders of such eyes in action himself…

It was NEVER a pretty sight.

A faint change in air pressure alerted him to Nanoha having made her move again, having pulled out Raging Heart in it's Device Form and activating FLIER FIN, allowing her to hover above the ground before she shot STRAIGHT towards her opponent, Urizen quickly raised his Crystal for defence whilst launching multiple Tentacles at his enemy, but Nanoha simply batted them all aside with her Device before she got close enough to perform a DIVINE SHOOTER, launching multiple Spheres of Mana at her opponent's Tentacles to blow them up and allow her to use the cover generated by the smoke to close the remaining distance.

Once she had been close enough, Nana twirled herself around 360 degrees multiple times to build up momentum before she threw her right leg out for a roundhouse kick to the side of Urizen's head, something which his Crystal reacted to and promptly positioned itself to block… although it simply shattered under several seconds like the Stray Devil had thought resulting in the kick connecting.

"Guh!"

The force behind the kick proved much greater than Urizen had anticipated however, as it roughly SLAMMED him into the ground with enough force to create a massive Crater upon impact, one which got followed up in a few seconds with Nanoha kicking Urizen across the Throne Room, a look of pre fury etched onto her features as the light from above the Throne Room darkened her form so that she barely resemble anything human at this point anymore.

All she looked like to her companions was a simple black mass with glowing white irises bearing down on the recovering Urizen with utter hatred and scorn, as the Stray Devil launched multiple Tentacles at her in retaliation. However, Nanoha grabbed them by their tips before they could impale her feeble-looking flesh and then roughly yanked backwards, tearing them clean off from their bodies at the halfway point before tossing them aside.

'... Holy shit.' Vali thought as he watched this happen. 'Albion, do you know what's up here?'

[... Those eyes… it can't be… but if its the case, then… hmmm…]

'Albion…?'

Unfortunately, no matter how many times he tried, Vali just couldn't get the Heavenly Dragon's attention at the moment, the said being having lost himself to his own thoughts on this matter. Still, it looked like things were getting turned to their favor, so Vali looked to the rest of them who gave him sharp nods of confirmation that they were still battle capable. "Alright, Nanoha's change just makes this easier for us. Medusa, you hang back and support us by shooting Arrows at this fucker, go for his eyes to limit his vision. Fate, you're with me, we'll be providing air support still, Siegfried and Xun Er will be our close combat team. Alright, let's move out!"

"RIGHT!"

(Play Shield Hero OST - FAITH)

With that, they broke off and performed the roles that Vali, who had pretty much become the leader at some point not like they were complaining, had assigned to them. Him and Fate ascended into the air via their own means before they began circling around the duelling Nanoha and Urizen. The said Stray Devil became the first to notice him since Nanoha had become so focused on killing him that she'd 'discarded' everything else save for the enemy, thus began promptly firing energy blasts through the air like they were bullets fired from AA Guns on a battleship. Fortunately, Vali and Fate had enough skill and past experience with those attacks to dodge them in a semi-effective manner, resulting in them not only evading blows but also being able to fire their own attacks backwards: Fate using her ARC SABER Spell whilst Vali resorted to launching waves of Lightning from his twin Swords-shaped Devil Arm.

As he dealt with these attacks, Xun Er and Siegfried dashed in, cutting away at his legs with their bladed weaponry. Thanks to their own skills at weaving in and out of the Tentacles that Urizen had launched to try and stop their movements, they had been able to FINALLY get in close and start attacking his legs to hinder his mobility, something which Urizen did NOT appreciate so, once he found an opening, he raised a fist and smashed it to the ground, creating an earthquake-like wave which shook the entire Qlippoth Tree... as well as knocked the two sword users to the ground around him.

Seeing this, Urizen tried to finish them off with some Tentacles to their chests while they were still dazed…

Only for a flying kick from Nanoha to intercept his efforts and plant itself into his chest area, making him stumble back as she summoned more Mana Spheres and brought them down on him from above like water droplets from a showerhead. Of course, Urizen crossed his arms above his head to try and shield it from these blows, only for several arrows launched by Medusa to hit him in the face… though they didn't hit his eyes thanks to him adjusting his face's positioning at the last second.

The source of those Arrows, Medusa, clicked her tongue in annoyance as Urizen glared heatedly at her… only to freeze up once she widened her own eyes as she activated her SEKKA NO MEI, paralyzing Urizen thanks to her gaze alone. She cringed internally however, feeling veins bulging around the sides of her head as she struggled to maintain the ability. 'Ugh, shit… looks like his mental strength is…!' She thought as she felt Urizen's presence smashing its way through her control over him.

A couple seconds was all she managed onto buy them though, as Vali and Fate quickly got in close to their opponent while he had been distracted by Medusa, the former activating his BLADE MODE Technique to REALLY start slashing at a speed which would make serial killers go green with envy. He hacked away at Urizen's armour and Tentacle made cloak, [Astalos] tearing through the flesh like two hot knives through butter. Meanwhile, Fate formed Bardiche into it's Scythe Mode and did the same by hacking through the Tentacles which the Stray Devil would try to use to get at the silver haired Hybrid.

That is, until they saw Xun Er and Siegfried came get back to their feet and thus promptly retreated, switching back to their ranged attacks whilst the previously mentioned two returned to hacking away at Urizen's legs as Nanoha just kept bombarding him with various close combat attacks without regard for even her OWN safely to say nothing about that of her companions.

All in all, the battle between them and the Stray Devil only escalated from there.

Until…

"ENOUGH!"

With a loud roar, Urizen slammed his feet onto the ground and unleashed a burst of Demonic Power, knocking back those close to him which turned out to be ZXun Er, Siegfried and Fate. Vali had managed to get out of the way in time which could also be said for Nanoha who had instinctively sensed the danger herself. Raising his right hand, Urizen aimed a burst of energy Spheres at the two kids from above, to which they indeed dodged… right into the paths of a bunch of time-slowing Spheres which he had launched with his other hand.

(OST END)

'Shoot!'

Vali was the one who cursed in his mind as he got hit by the attacks, slowing his mobility down to the point where even his Sacred Gear couldn't move properly, prompting Urizen to pepper both him AND Nanoha with large Fireballs. That seemed to be a pretty popular trick he would use, since they had a large striking radius and his time-slowing Spheres would keep them slowed long enough for them to hit their marks. Fortunately, Vali had his [Astalos] out which he used his Blade Mode technique to supercharge his senses, thus regaining some of his mobility to the point where he managed to cut through the Fireballs aimed at him…

Whilst Nanoha seemed perfectly content to just endure them hitting her like she was a tank or something.

Whilst that happened, Xun Er and Siegfried once more tried to get in close despite their lack of air cover, however Urizen quickly ensnared them in a bunch of Tentacles which wrapped around their ankles before they could react in time. This resulted in him lifting them up into the air before smacking them together like a child playing with some toys, before tossing them into the ways of both a recovering Fate and a surprised Medusa who had still been recovering from the use of her ocular ability.

"Guh!"

"Gah!"

Two loud grunts escaped the kids as they collided with their partners, lessening the burden Urizen had to deal with.

After Nanoha's next bombardment spell got negated by some Energy Spheres launched by him, Urizen then tried to summon a bunch of Tendrils from the Tree itself to aid him in distracting the kids so he could fight better, however upon seeing the two older girls at the back of the makeshift throne room making a large barrier spell according to his senses, Urizen knew that with them there that would be impossible. Seemed like they were trying to keep this room isolated from the rest of the tree to hinder any and all possibility of assistance from the outside, something which the kids had been making sure happened by distracting him from attacking them. A barrier like this HAD to be maintained with 100% concentration, meaning that they were essentially unable to defend themselves right now.

Something which Urizen made to exploit.

The Stray Devil growled as, after his Crystal returned to him post complete regeneration to block one of her punches which also led to him swatting aside Nanoha by launching a telekinetic force at her, he then launched a bunch of Tentacles forwards to impale Lavinia and Suzuka, knowing that because of their focus on the Barrier they wouldn't be able to defend themselves.

"Tch, those women!"

"Oh no!"

The guys of the group made the first exclamation whilst the girls made the second, knowing what would happen if those Tentacles were to hit their target. If they were to hit, then the kids had no doubt that before long, not only would they have to deal with the Barrier being busted, but also two unconscious females (maybe even dead ones at the worst level) AND a bunch of angry Demons which they could hear swarming around the Barrier's exterior, slamming away at it to try and break inside. They needed to stop those Tentacles before they reached their target, and to stop them QUICKLY.

However, Xun Er had still been on the ground recovering from the previous blows dealt to her which was the same for Siegried, whilst Medusa had been too far away for her arrows to do anything (apparently, Urizen's body had so much blood in it that the power of her Bow alongside her poison energy was pretty much useless before him, to her dismay since that reduced her arrows ability to damage him). Neither Lavinia nor Suzuka could do anything themselves, and Nanoha… well, she'd pretty much flipped her lid and would only focus on attacking instead of protecting. It would have to fall on Vali and Fate's shoulders to stop the Tentacles from impaling the two girls who helped keep this battle personal for the kids, therefore Vali quickly made to shoot forwards with the use of Divine Dividing whilst Fate made similar preparations.

Just before they could hit however...

"GUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

BOOM!

All of a sudden, something fell through a large hole in the tree above which the kids and teens JUST NOW realized was there, as well as smashed right through the Barrier with ease like it was nobody else's business. Before anyone could have reacted to this phenomenon, the new entry slammed into the Tentacles with immense force and impact behind it during their trip to their target, claws shredding them to bits and ceasing their attacks. This not only destroyed the threat to the Barrier (which the girls quickly repaired so the Demons outside could not get in), but also ruined Urizen's day even more judging by the aura of sheer rage permeating from him.

"YOU, AGAIN…?!"

Following his yell, the kids and the older girls saw who it was that had saved them, finding it to be a dragon that had saved their lives… although, it soon became PARTICULARLY obvious that the Dragon wasn't exactly here for them, but more for a seemingly intense desire to kill Urizen, which the Stray Devil returned. Whereas none of them knew who it was... [Glavenus] sure as hell sounded like he knew the Dragon, considering the words which entered the link between the Devil Arm and Vali.

{It can't be…. Valstrax!?}

A couple of blinks from Vali followed them, prompting him to question more about this new Dragon's identity. Although perhaps a small part of his inner child remained because this Dragon looked, to him, like an absolute badass in terms of appearance. 'Valstrax?'

{Yes Valstrax, also known as the Silver Wing of the Evil Star or Sky Comet Dragon. The reason is that with his ability, he can fly at immense speeds by discharging Draconic energy from his wings. He's also able to manipulate the alignment and shape of his wings to vary the attacks he can use, making him one of the fastest dragons around, even faster than Hermes the messenger of the greek gods.}

Hearing his explanation, Vali blinked again as he processed this information. According to what he had heard, this Dragon appeared to be one which had quite the power to it, not to mention that the Dragon known as Valstrax seemed to be well-known for speed to the point of gaining his moniker the Sky Comet Dragon. Made him wonder just how the heck the Dragon had managed to gain such a Title, but right now the silver haired Hybrid shook his head knowing that there were more important questions to be asking here. 'Then why is he here?' that had turned out to be the first one he asked, though it didn't seem like [Glavenus] knew either judging from the following response.

{That… I don't know. I haven't been in the outside world for a long time, thanks to your grandfather. Maybe it's because Urizen disrespected him or… he did something that made him angry.}

'I see. Then we might have a chance of-'

While he was mentally talking with [Glavenus] Valstrax, who had begun battling Urizen in a heated display of fangs, claws and flames vs Demonic Power, got pushed back by the tree wall as Urizen used his demonic power to push him back. However, when Valstrax tried to get up again, he soon fell back down to the ground, grunting in a pained grimace. A slowly forming puddle of blood formed beneath him, indicating the EXACT reason on why he was doing this: a wound, and a particularly grave one at that.

Seeing as how his companions managed to use the time indirectly bought by Valstrax to recover themselves and return to a better fighting condition, Vali then went on over to him whilst the others began attacking Urizen again, Nanoha's newfound strength being able to significantly damage it for the others to capitalize on the opportunity.

That didn't concern him for the moment however, as Vali had found himself intrigued about the new arrival to the party. Whilst the half devil approached the Sky Comet Dragon, his footsteps alerted him to his presence which prompted him to turn his snout so that one of it's slitted crimson eyes could gaze at the small Vali.

"HHHAAA…..HHHAAAA… WHAT….. ARE YOU WAITING FOR….? KILL HIM…..."

When he spoke, Vali could IMMEDIATELY tell that he had been in some serious pain, yet there was something in his voice which sounded oddly… familiar, to the small Hybrid. "You speak, Valstrax." He stated, kneeling on one leg in a crouching position before the Dragon.

"HOW… DO YOU… KNOW MY NAME?

When the Dragon asked him how he knew his name when he had never seen this kid before, accompanied by a brief widening of his eye, Vali responded by dismissing his [Astalos] Devil Arm back into his Soul in a green flash, summoning [Glavenus] out instead. Upon seeing it, Valstrax looked at it for a few seconds, taking a few sniffs before his lone eye widened as he recognized it by the smell.

"G… GLAVENUS…. IS THAT….. YOU?"

{Indeed it is, Valstrax. It has been a while, old friend.}

"WHY ARE YOU…. OH I SEE… YOU TURNED YOURSELF…. INTO A DEVIL ARM."

Looked like this one ALSO knew about Devil Arms, which made Vali assume that maybe only the more elderly of beings knew about them, as well as the amount of knowledge they had on them varying depending on them. "Looks like you know the situation here. Looks like you're injured though, so why don't you rest for a bit and let us handle this Valstrax?" he questioned, making to stand up again… only to notice the look that the Dragon gave as he tried to get up, failing miserably however.

"NO…. I MUST….. KILL HIM…. FOR WHAT HE DID…. TO MY MATE…. AND MY CHILDREN…..."

At this, Vali's eyes widened in confusion, before shock and understanding then replaced it seconds into the sentence that spewed out of the silver haired hybrid's lips. "What do you mea-... Oh….. I see." A sudden memory flash happened in his mind, of back when they had first fought Urizen behind a Cave. He remembered how it had been laid to waste thanks to that battle… he figured that HAD to be the place where Valstrax's family had been living… now, it was gone thanks to Urizen. His hatred suddenly became all the more understandable. His gaze then fell down towards the wound that Valstrax had suffered, and now that he got a closer look at it he nearly winced at the brutality and depth that it sported. "But your wound looks like it's becoming fatal, it'll kill you." he told him.

In all honesty, this still felt a little unusual for him. Vali usually wasn't one for caring for random people across the street, if anything he'd rather stick to his own devices or fight eternally, but thanks to Albion and [Glavenus], perhaps he had developed a fondness for Dragons somewhere along the way. Thus, he didn't feel like he'd appreciate seeing a powerful creature slowly dying through blood loss.

"I…DON'T CARE…. I….. WILL HAVE MY REVENGE….. EVEN IF IT COSTS… MY LIFE!"

{Then there is only one option for you…. Turn yourself into a Devil Arm, Vali will help you.}

"WHY…. WOULD I… TURN MYSELF INTO A DEVIL ARM…. FOR THIS HALF DEVIL…?"

Looked like Valstrax too didn't trust Devils too much, judging by the way that he looked at him warily. Something which Vali understood since even he hated Devils despite being half one himself. Furthermore, he resumed his previous crouching position as he made the following declaration, the sounds of conflict escalating behind him. "You lost your family Valstrax and as much as I hate it, we are not strong enough to deal with that Stray Devil. So, if you want to die, be my guest as we will have a hard time dealing with this Stray Devil who could perhaps get away scot free... or, you can help us kill Urizen. I can promise you that you'll have your vengeance that way, so what is your choice?"

"HMMMMM….. BOLD WORDS….. AND A DETERMINED GAZE….. I CAN SEE WHY GLAVENUS… HAS CHOSEN YOU… AS HIS WIELDER…. VERY WELL BUT… MAKE SURE THAT…. DEVIL PAY."

"Oh I will, sky comet dragon." Vali declared confidently, a slight smirk on his lips whilst his gaze screamed with bloodlust, something which Valstrax sported as well. As he said that, Valstrax then turned into a ball of light which then went to Vali. The boy reached out with his right hand, and the moment his fingertips touched it, the ball of light proceeded to glow brightly which blinded him a bit before it died down. This allowed Vali seeing what he had begun holding…

Turned out that he now held what looked to be a mix between two different weapon types: a Crossbow and a Cannon. The weapon had a predominantly silver color scheme like the beast it had been made from, as well as three long Barrels shaped like the appendages that made the original Beast's wings. They each glowed with a crimson coloured interior, and each barrel had been positioned in a triangular formation. (For a better description, check out the Silverwing Cannon, one of the Valstrax's Bowguns)

Eyeing the new Devil Arm with appreciation whilst feeling a new presence connecting itself to his Soul, Vali smirked in happiness as he adjusted himself to the weapon's weight. "Well looks like I have a range weapon no-?! GGGAAAHHHH WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" All of a sudden however, that smirk got wiped off his face when he felt something go wrong with his energy. It had always been a dark, cold power like everlasting darkness, however right now it had started churhing and swirling violently within him like some kind of raging maelstrom, covering him in a silver aura which also made his eyes glow in a matching color. A heavy sense of pressure slammed onto his shoulders, forcing the boy onto his knees once again as he struggled to maintain his breathing, feeling like something was gripping both his lungs tight enough that he almost felt like he'd lost the ability to take in the needed air to survive.

'VALI, YOUR ENERGY IS OVERFLOWING GET IT UNDER CONTROL NOW!'

Fortunately, Albion came in clutch as he soon found himself panting heavily as this phenomenon continued, the fighters near him not noticing due to the intense battle between them and Urizen. As his energy was overflowing within him, Vali felt like he was going to explode from the building pressure that began to stretch itself forth from his lungs to his very HEART. But he will not die, he would NOT let this energy control him, for VALI was always the one in control of his power, no of his own LIFE. This power would kill him? Who the fuck decided that? That damn Stray Devil would get away scott free? Who decided that? Only VALI got to decide whether he would die or not! "GGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!"

His energy exploded that his voice became more demonic as it caught everyone's attention as they saw Vali….. Or what they THOUGHT was was him.

Instead of the half devil boy standing there, what stood in his place looked to only be described as... some kind of a hybrid between a dragon and a Devil. It had a head of a demon with six horns protruding from it's skull, two on the bottom of the head that protruded forwards, two in the middle that looked like an angel spreading its wings, and two on the top which seemed to be merged into a sort of visor over it's forehead whilst the horns themselves pointed backwards. Its skin was a silvery white, somewhat like the White Dragon of Supremacy only some parts of its body were black. The chest had this 'core' of sorts made from blue phantasmal-looking energy at the torso's centre, which then spread out across the rest of it's upper body. Its feet had two long Talons made from the same energy, as well as a third one poking out from the heel. Behind it, two HUGE ass wings which were larger than it was tall, protruded out of the upper back whilst being made of the same energy mostly, but their ends looked to be made from the silvery white armor the majority of its body was made from. The tip of the being's tail also shifted into a tip made from blue energy whereas the rest of the appendage remained scaled/armored.

The being however, didn't focus on them as it slouched over on one knee, panting before it looked down at its hands, seeing them now covered in white scales whilst ending in clawed talons that were made from blue phantasmal energy, the forearms being white and armoured whilst blue energy spikes protruded from the elbows. (Link to the devil trigger image /tagged/ devil-trigger-challenge/top. If that doesn't work, type in 'Remus Devil Trigger' into google search then click images)

Eventually, Xun Er became the one who found her voice first as she tried to speak to the being without stammering… she didn't succeed. "V-Vali…... is that…. You?" she questioned nervously, especially when the being raised its head to look at her exposing a maw filled with sharp fangs.

As for the beast itself, it remained silent for a moment save for its labored breathing that had a small growl mixed within it… until a deep, dark and hollow chuckle escaped it whilst it's shoulders trembled in dark amusement. "... yes it is, in fact I feel great." The being explained, revealing itself (or rather HIMSELF) to truly be Vali Lucifer… though he had NO idea on what was going on right now nor did anyone else in the vicinity for that matter.

Though, one of them DID have an inkling as to what had happened… and he did NOT look too pleased about it.

"YOU DARE… ACHIEVE THAT POWER?!"

Looking forth towards Urizen who stepped on forwards, looking like he wanted to erupt into a nuclear explosion and destroy all life around him, Vali couldn't help but growl in amusement since he couldn't really smirk in this form. "Yeah… I think I do." He responded in a taunting voice. Right now, he could feel this form suppressing his Devil Arms, so he didn't have anything to fight with but his hands… not like he minded. It could prove to be quite useful in developing some close combat skills, plus he had some techniques he needed to improve from his predecessor anyways.

(Play Devil May Cry 5 OST - Devil Trigger)

Spreading his wings out and experimentally flapping them a bit, Vali remembered what it felt like to use Divine Dividing's wings, then proceeded to take to the skies just SECONDS before Urizen could impale him with some Tentacles. Although, shortly into his flight Vali's eyes widened when he saw a couple energy spheres coming his way from all directions, leaving his ability to defend himself quite limited… However once they hit and detonated, the smoke dissipated to showcase that the boy turned Devil looked pretty much unaffected, much to the said kid's surprise. 'Whoa, this form seems to have some good defence… I like it.' he thought to himself, smirking internally.

"WHAT?!"

Of course, Urizen did not like the look of this, he didn't like this at all. He knew EXACTLY what this power was, in fact one of the reasons why he'd gone this far was so that he could obtain this power himself more easily, to the point where he had amassed a powerful and dangerous reputation to the point where he had a 'flee on sight' warning placed on him by the Underworld! So, for some unknown brat to be able to somehow achieve what he had been striving towards so easily right in front of him, REALLY triggered the Stray Devil. Therefore, he summoned and fired a bunch of large fireballs at him, prompting Vali to use his long Tail as a whip and deflect them away from him towards the walls surrounding the Throne Room, before following up with a falcon dive towards their user and spinning into a roundhouse kick towards Urizen's abdomen.

This sent Urizen stumbling backwards as, even when the Crystal tried to defend against his strike, Vali's kick shattered it with ease and allowed him to land his blow as intended. Not to mention that the power and force behind the blow had been so great that Urizen had to use his Tentacles to balance himself lest he fall onto his backside. Something which the Stray Devil REFUSED to allow due to it being a major violation to his pride...

WHAM!

Although just as he had managed to stabilize himself, Vali smacked right into him in a shoulder tackle, catching Urizen off guard and this time knocking him down, much to the shock of the recovering group as Nanoha, instinctively sensing something going on here, had paused her attacks to wait for the prime opportunity to jump in again. "Aww, what's wrong Urizen? Or should 'little bitch' be more appropriate here?" Vali questioned, finally noticing how deep and menacing his voice sounded in this form. He didn't mind it too much though as he landed beside the dazed Urizen's head and stomped his right foot onto his face, chuckling in dark, sadistic pleasure as he ground his foot against his enemy. "Where'd all that supposed 'power' go? Or were you just BSing us to get what you want like a lot of Devils tend to do these days? I'd go for that one myself." He sneered, using the three toes to grip Urizen by his head then lift him up off the ground, all before chucking him across the Throne Room… though not before slicing apart his cape with his Tail resulting in his complete detachment from his Tentacles. Didn't want to have him use those against him now.

"GGGGRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGH!"

Utterly FUMING right now, Urizen shot straight to his feet and charged towards Vali, throwing a punch towards him whilst discarding any thoughts about using his demonic power. Vali responded by doing the same, assuming the default stance of the Hakkyokuken since that was the Martial Arts style he had the most proficiency in at the moment. He quickly launched his own strike in the form of a right punch, the two fists connecting between them and unleashing a large, booming shockwave with the two of them in the centre.

Following their separation…

POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-!

Vali unleashed a fast, strong and unrelenting onslaught of mighty blows, empowered by his skill in martial arts as well as his new form. He even added some slashes from his elongated Tail into the mix, striking at Urizen in the head to disorient him and provide an opening for future blows. Every blow slammed into Urizen with such force and impact, that it resembled a truck colliding with someone full force without any attempt to stop him.

Eventually however, Urizen launched a low sweep kick which Vali dodged by hopping into the air then retaliating with a spinning roundhouse kick, which got blocked by Urizzen's right forearm as the left one threw an elbow strike against Vali's torso. At the last second however, the boy-turned-monster curled his wings in front of him to absorb the blow before being knocked back… save for how he wrapped his Tail around Urizen's arm to use the Stray Devil's power against it, pulling it into a forward stumble whilst Vali planted both feet onto the ground and smacked his opponent into it.

When he made a stab into him with his right claw…

POW!

Urizen made to kick at him only for a flying kick from Nanoha to slam into his right leg, the force behind it being just enough to cause it to bend at an unnatural angle. Urizen howled in fury and pain at this, whilst Nanoha wordlessly smashed her fist into Urizen' face, causing it's 'crown' to start cracking until she kicked him across the floor.

"Hey, this is my prey, Nanoha! What are you-" Vali, in irritation that someone joined the fight with him to take his kill, soon realized why arguing with her in this state was a bad idea when she launched a back kick in his direction without looking back, something which Vali easily blocked though it sent him stumbling backwards a bit. 'Ugh! Wha-What the-?!' He wondered in pure bewilderment, especially at the blow that he had received which packed a surprising level of impact and force behind it.

Using this window of opportunity she'd created, the non-responsive Nanoha jumped at Urizen and began dishing out blows of her own that the Stray Devil quickly began blocking whilst his leg returned to a state where it hadn't been kicked in by the small girl. Once his leg had finally regenerated Urizen managed to fare a bit better, though the Stray Devil still couldn't hold off these blows forever in fear of something even worse happening… Therefore, when he saw an opening in her frenzied attacks, Urizen delivered an under-arcing fist to her gut, getting the girl to bend forwards before being sent flying across the room.

Close to where the rest of the group were as they currently were all crowding around Lavinia and Suzuka. Judging from their respective auras which coated their forms, Vali assumed that they were transferring energy into the two, likely to hold the Barrier in place as he could sense the Demons outside starting to get a bit more wild in their attempts to break through. 'Looks like things are getting close to the climax, and Urizen's getting weaker…' the boy-turned-monster thought as he looked towards Urizen, who was already coming back towards him with Demonic Power flowing over his massive form. 'Looks like I'll have to settle this…'

The two once more charged at one another, intending on going into another scuffle like the one they did before… though, just before the first punch could be thrown that would have eventually led to another fist rush like a certain bulky teenager and blonde bulky Vampire, Vali pulled a fast one on Urizen. Said Stray Devil's eyes widened when, out of nowhere, the monstrous form that the boy had taken vanished in a flash of crackling silver energy like a cloak of lightning, revealing his true, human self holding the Devil Arm that he had just acquired… right at the Stray Devil's abdomen. Already, the barrels had begun to glow brightly, and in the following seconds…

BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM!

… Six large red energy blasts burst out from the barrels, two for each Barrel. Each round flew true and with high quantities of force along with speed. Not to mention that combined with the close range that Vali had launched this attack, Urizen couldn't respond in time… thus got a bunch of holes through his abdomen area.

"GAH!"

A large gasp escaped him as Urizen stumbled back, his clawed hands covering the massive holes that now took their places on his body. However, he couldn't comprehend them fast enough as, before the healing process could take effect, Vali struck some more by blowing off his right arm as well as his left leg, causing Urizen to howl in pain as he fell onto his side, rolling onto his back as blood seeped out of his various deep wounds.

Seeing that the Stray Devil was on his last legs according to what he was seeing as well as his senses, Vali stepped on top of the monstrosity that had condemned so many innocent lives for his own goals, placing a foot on his neck whilst aiming the Devil Arm, one which he would aptly name [Valstrax], at his face with the intent to finish him here and now. "Hmph, looks like you weren't all talk after all, I see. Oh well, now you're dead…" Vali began to say, before he glanced to the side and noticed Nanoha slowly approaching, still in the daze that she had been in since she'd been distracted and got into this… state, as a result. 'Hmmm, looks like [Valstrax] isn't the only one who wants vengeance…' he thought, watching her every move. That is… until he got an idea. 'Albion, would this work…?'

'I would think so, and if it does it'll be said that they BOTH dealt the final blow, satisfying their desires for revenge at the same time. You'll have to be quick though, Nanoha's on the attack.'

True to Albion's words, Vali noticed that she was already primed for one last assault, her right fist clenched so much that her veins pulsated along what he could see of her arm. Thus, he decided to act while he could, Nanoha already leaping forwards whilst [Valstrax] charged up another set of rounds. He still wasn't sure what this Devil Arm could do essentially, but with some training that can change.

But right now…

SPLAT-SPLAT!

Just as Nanoha threw her fist down at the Stray Devil's head, Vali aimed his Devil Arm at Urizen's heart, timing it so that when it fired the next set of 3 rounds they would end up blowing his heart to bits as well. As a result, when he fired and Nanoha threw her punch… both Urizen's head and heart pretty much exploded in a shower of gore and innards, splattering across the boy, the auburn haired magical girl, and the ground around them.

"Hhhhaaaa….. Hhhhaaaaa….. Finally…. It's over." The boy spoke through heavy pants, stumbling backwards before falling onto his backside. Vali then looked down at the weight on his lap, seeing [Valstrax] sprawled on his lap, before he gave a smug-looking smirk. "Looks like… I fulfilled my word to you, [Valstrax]... hope you're pleased about that…" he whispered, feeling a surge of gratitude coming from the Devil Arm itself which proved the Hybrid right.

Nanoha, on the opposite side of the corpse, fell to her knees with all of her power suddenly leaving her, resulting in Nanoha feeling so fatigued that she could sleep for a week. However, this was outpaced by the sense of accomplishment and relief she felt inside her chest, a small sad and bitter smile on her lips as a single tear ran down the side of her cheek. Memories of her mother and father filled her mind, as well as the revelation that she would never ever see their happy expressions or their tranquility. "...mom….dad…. Everyone…. I've avenged you finally." she whispered, before finally falling forwards in an exhausted heap.

The silver haired teen noticed this, but didn't go to the fallen girl due to being exhausted himself. He couldn't have even if he tried though, due to the rest of the group (with Suzuka and Lavinia amped up with their energies still sustaining the barrier) converging around them. Whilst Fate grabbed Nanoha like a fireman would, Xun Er kneeled beside Vali whilst holding him with one arm behind the back of his neck and the other placing its hand on his chest. Her eyes shone with shock and confusion, especially regarding the changes that had befallen them. "Vali…. What was that form you just had?" she questioned, nobody noticing the faint light that travelled from Urizen's corpse into the arm that housed her Devil Bringer.

Whilst he recovered from his fight, Vali blinked in confusion before he recalled that transformation he'd gone under, becoming just as confused as everyone else apparently. "Huh?... Oh that, I don't know Albion?" he questioned, everyone making room for his Sacred Gear to manifest so the Heavenly Dragon could answer his question.

"...hahahahahahahaha! in all of my years, you are the most unpredictable wielder I've ever seen."

However, what they did NOT expect was for the Heavenly Dragon to be in such a positive mood right now, so much so that it kind of unsettled the silver haired Hybrid since he usually saw him as similar to those kinds of old army veterans. "What do you mean Albion, can you speak clearly?"

"That form you accomplished….. Is known as Devil Trigger."

"A….. devil trigger?"

"A devil trigger is a special power possessed by demons, devils, or hybrids which allows them to release their inner supernatural potential. In the old age where demons the ancestors of the 72 pillars had a special transformation that allowed them to be feared in the supernatural world, what makes them dangerous was their Devil Trigger, a power which could potentially rival a super devil. Over the years they began to lose their devil trigger because their race was turning into a devil instead of a demon which your grandfather did not accomplish but counts as a super devil. The crimson satan too. So its rare for anyone to get a devil trigger."

"If it's so rare, then how did I accomplish it?"

"I noticed that when you constantly gained Devil Arms, the more they saturated your Demonic side with their ambient energies. This happens because they are tethered to your very soul, as such, slowly but surely your Demonic Side gradually grew stronger and stronger till the point where, like a bomb, it literally EXPLODED. Like what had happened before. What this means is that eventually your power would 'erupt' like a Sacred Gear's Balance Breaker finally activating, and transform you...into your Devil Trigger. Congratulations Vali, you accomplished what many would dream of, partner!"

Vali was silent as he ponders the information that Albion gave before he gave a smirk. "Hehehehehe, beat that Rizevim! Look I got what you don't!"

"Look, the crystal!" Whilst he had been in his little moment of celebratory glee, Vali got pulled out of his reverie by Medusa pointing out something. Everyone looked over at Urizen's corpse upon her pointing at it. Once they looked, they saw the same crystal which guarded Urizen the entire battle, slowly rising upwards from his torso, soon floating right above it. Each of the girls eyed it warily, wondering what it would do to avenge it's master… before their expectations got SHATTERED when it broke into pieces. However, instead of just breaking apart and that being that, something got revealed to be INSIDE of the Crystal. That turned out to be... some kind of sword which hovered above the Stray Devil's corpse.

Vali became the one who summarized their feelings about this phenomenon. "What… the fuck a sword?" he questioned, the girls nodding since that was what they were thinking too.

The sword had a tsukamaki handle giving it the traditional diamond shape in the negative space. The handguard was a gold and a deep navy blue color, shaped like a hexagon with two trapezoidal halves, each with gold dot pattern patches in a grove like motif with gold rings, inside of which being various circles in clusters of three, arranged in triangular patterns, and the gold habaki/fuller is also with a similar embossed pattern. The hamon featured was a kawazuko choji or tadpole head clove flower styled hamon, similar to those found on blades historically made by Osafune Nagamitsu. The blade has also been given prominent temper lines. The sheath is blue, with gold dot accents.

After staying above the corpse for a few seconds, the sword then began to float towards the group as they got on guard. Eventually, they saw it floating on over to Xun Er or, to be more specific…. Vali.

"Uuuhhhhhh... what?" the boy wondered as the sword floated before him, so confused at the sight that he didn't notice [Valstrax] retreating from reality into his Soul as one of his multitude of Devil Arm weapons.

"Wait a minute…. That's a demonic Sword!"

However, Albion seemed to know EXACTLY what was going on here, to which Vali's eyes widened. He recalled a bit of what the Heavenly Dragon had told him about Demonic Swords one time when he'd asked about the differences between them and Devil Arms, prompting him to question one of his most important companions. "You mean to tell me that this stray devil has a demonic sword that became a crystal? Wait hold on how can it be in perfect shape if we destroyed the crystal!"

"If I were to guess Urizen found a way to use this sword as a protective barrier, that way it won't shatter completely."

"Huh… then why is it in front of me?"

"Some say that a holy or demonic sword has some kind of sentience to it, proven by how it can choose a new wielder or go to a different one even if it already has one, so take it. Looks like it's yours from now on."

With that said Vali got up and looked at it before slowly putting his on the sheath before it stopped floating. As he looked at the sword he admired the katana before unsheathing it as he looked at the beautiful craftsmanship. "Whoa… I gotta say the person who made it must've put a lot of work into it. Hey Siegfried what demonic sword is this?"

Upon him asking, Siegfried hummed in thought as he examined the blade. Part of him felt a little jealous that Vali had such a weapon and not him, but that part was his inner swordsman and only that. However, that soon became replaced by his confusion about the blade's identity. "Hmmmmmmm…. This one I don't know sorry." he replied, shaking his head with an apologetic look on his face.

Something which surprised everyone since this guy was their resident demonic sword expert due to him wielding so many, whilst Vali looked on over to his Sacred Gear for answers again. "Albion?"

"Same, which is strange. I know every demonic and holy sword, but this one I can't recognize it, it must be either a recently made or a long forgotten one."

"Hmmmm… in that case I'll call it… Yamato."

"Fitting name but now we have to get out of here, call a God or someone to destroy this tree as we dealt with the main culprit. all that is left is someone powerful enough to destroy this tree!"

"I already contacted the Shinto Gods and they sent Susanoo!"

"Good now can anyone project a magic circle powerful enough to transport all of us!"

"On it!"

Suzuka and Lavinia stopped projecting the barrier, leaving behind enough power to sustain it temporarily whilst they could make preparations to escape, as Lavinia swung her wand and conjured a magic circle to teleport them out of here, seeing as the demons began to start breaking through the Barrier. Siegfried and Medusa ran to the circle before they were joined by Fate carrying the unconscious Nanoha, and Xun Er. Vali ran to the circle with Lavinia and Suzuka before the circle disappeared as the demons were on the throne, sensing that their prey was gone.

---

A magic circle appeared by the street as the group got out of the circle before behind them the circle disappeared. They looked at the tree as Vali sensed a divinity by the tree which he believed was the storm god, Susanoo. They saw the god cut the tree before it started to decay, all around them the roots decayed as it turned to ashes before all the others sighed in relief as Vali sat on a destroyed debris. "It's over finally."

Xun Er nodded in agreement as she sat beside him. "I'd say so Vali."

"... haaaa this princess is glad that the fruit wasn't produced, if it was then we would have a hard time against that Stray Devil." Medusa proclaimed, getting nods of agreement from the group, at least the ones who were conscious. None of them looked away from the reality of the situation, that if things had gone just a LITTLE bit differently, then they may not have been as well off as they had. Each of them could think of MANY ways in which it could have gone horribly wrong, most of them involving the Seed's completion.

However, eventually Xun Er began bringing up one topic of conversation that needed to be discussed as she looked down at the unconscious Nanoha. "But….. what happened to Nanoha's eyes?" she questioned, frowning as she recalled the transformation which had taken place back there.

For some reason, a haunting sense of cold dread entered her when she thought about the eyes which Nanoha sported back there.

Similar expressions of confusion formed on the rest of the group whilst Fate adjusted her grip on the unconscious girl, now carrying her like a prince would their princess as they reflected on the transformation.

After a short moment of contemplation, Siegfried's eyes widened when something clicked inside his mind, prompting him to click his index finger and thumb together. "Hmmmm her eyes turned black as her pupils turned white which means…. She must belong to the Kure clan!" he exclaimed in startled bewilderment. Although in his mind, after seeing what he had of her during their time wandering the destroyed streets of Uminori together after returning from that Cave, he could sort of see it.

However, these words only left the other children confused, as Vali soon questioned him about this statement. "The Kure clan, what do you mean Siegfried?"

"That would be us, children."

Siegfried didn't get a chance to respond though, since a masculine voice spoke up before he could. Each of them gasped at the sudden intrusion though, and thus they promptly turned around to see who had spoken. This allowed them to see a bulky man with straight black hair left to hang in a bobcut style, strong facial features and a generally stern expression on his face. His eyes were the same as Nanoha when she had turned, sending shivers of dread down not only Nanoha, but Fate, Medusa and even VALI.

"Who are you?" The said silver haired Hybrid questioned, warily. He didn't get it himself, but just by looking at them he felt like he wasn't ready to fight them. That if he did then he'd die.

Still, the man did indeed have cordiality on his mind as he lowered his head briefly, raising it back up to lock his gaze with theirs. "My name is Kure Hollis, and the reason why I'm here is because I sensed a family member here in Uminari city….. Or what's left of it." He explained, looking around at the destroyed city, though there was hardly anything behind that gaze of his. Like they were the gateways to nothing but a dark, endless eternal void. He then continued his words after a short silence. "Anyway let me see the girl."

IMMEDIATELY, each of the group members tensed up at those words, with Fate being the one who had been the most cautious aside from Vali. After 'that woman' she found it hard to trust random strangers especially adults… though given her circumstances this was perfectly understandable. "Why would we allow that? First off, you appeared out of nowhere and that's enough of an idea to be suspicious." she questioned warily like Vali had done earlier.

Though, their caution didn't seem to faze the man much, if at all. Vali could understand why, just from his instinctual reaction upon seeing him told the boy that this man likely could kill them all in his sleep. Therefore, why would their warnings bother him any? Still, at least he wasn't like the Winds of Destruction in being prone to being trigger happy, as he instead politely spoke in a placating tone of voice. "I understand your suspicions, but I promise you that I will not do anything to her. I swear it."

Eventually, they looked at one another and realized the same things Vali had. Thus, they let their guards down whilst Vali gave the man a warning anyways. "... fine but if you do, then count your last breath." he stated, knowing how useless it was.

Nodding stiffly at this, Hollis then walked to Fate who glared heatedly at him before he opened Nanoha's eyes, seeing that they were the same as his own. After a couple seconds of examination, he closed her eyes and hummed in a pleased manner. "Looks like I was right after all, thank you for protecting my family member, Erioh would be pleased to see a long lost relative."

Now THIS caught them all by surprise. Relative? But, why would they call Nanoha that? She didn't have any connection to this guy before! Xun Er brought these questions to light, fortunately. "Relative, but Nanoha didn't have those eyes before?" she queried.

For a moment, the man thought to himself before he asked a question of his own. "What's her father's name?"

"... its Shiro. Why?" Vali replied this time, arching a brow and wondering what her father had to do with this.

This served to make the man ponder for a bit, before his eyes perked up in remembrance and understanding. Though, the sight really didn't sit well with them for some reason. "... Oh of course, now I remember. You see. her father used to be a member of the Kure clan, but was unfortunately kicked out because he suffered a genetic mutation, one which resulted in his eyes being not the same as ours."

Hearing that, everyone became slack jawed at hearing that apparently Nanoha may not be 'alone' like she had thought. But, none of them felt sure that was a good thing, as whilst it was nice to hear that she wasn't alone in the world, this 'Kure Clan' didn't seem NEARLY as nurturing as her original parents. If anything, they felt like the exact opposite. "... I see then. that means she still has relatives there." Vali eventually said, nodding his head in understanding.

Something which Hollis appreciated at least, given his lightly softening look. "Indeed, why not you come with me? I'm sure all of you are exhausted from this nightmare." he offered.

"... you got that right, let's go everyone."

---

AN: Hunter here, and here's the next chapter. One of the biggest ones so far, but that's because we wanted to get this done with so we can finally get a chance to skip ahead to when the group are teenagers at last. As pointed out, keeping them as kids for so long… wasn't the best call for us to make, since apparently people don't like reading about the lives of children. In any case, a lot of stuff has happened so far, and things will only escalate from here, so look forward to it. Let us know what you think of the stuff going on, as well as what you might think would happen in the future.

PEACE OUT!

SWEET GOD OF ALL WE FINALLY DONE IT!... My name is Darklord bringing you another chapter of the story! Now we finally finished the Qlippoth tree arc, if you noticed its nearly the same but it doesn't has any demons in the game like the Malphas, nelo angelo soldiers and only one level in the tree, the reason is simple Sparda doesn't exist in that universe which means Vergil and Dante weren't born. Urizen is not Vergil, he was a stray devil that betrayed his master for more power that he killed him and stole the yamato from a demonic blacksmith before he could make its fame known. Vali has the OP sword but doesn't know its full potential so he will discover it later on. For the next arc, I'll give you a hint.

"The only thing they fear is you."

Alright everyone thank you for reading our story, be sure to leave a review if you want and I'll see you next time!

GOOD LUCK!