There came a time and place when someone wanted to make a change to their assembly, and that time had come for one silver haired white dragon emperor. This came in the form of Vali changing his outfit loadout, the first time since he had first left Egypt with Xun Er on their mission from Hathor to investigate the Jewel Seeds.
As a result, Vali had changed his outfit completely, now donning a black leather Trench Coat with an equally black cloth muscle shirt. Multiple belts could be seen around his waist, with each of them framing his waist, thighs and crotch area. On his lower body he wore a pair of black trousers and polished black boots… as well as a pair of nice black shades over his eyes. He had changed this because he had felt that he couldn't keep wearing the same thing every day. Who the fuck would do something as disgusting as wearing the same thing all the time? Perhaps that was due to a lot of the female influence he had been surrounded by growing up, but as a result he had a bit of a fashion sense… especially towards edgy, bad boy, and delinquent attires.
He basically looked like that protagonist in that film called the Matrix.
Right now, Vali stood with his legs spread apart, hands pocketed inside his trench coat while he was joined with his squad of Night Sentinels. Each of them stood on either side of him, numbering about 10 in total with 5 on either side. Nonetheless, they all kept their guard since they were entering the underworld, a species that was close to Demons in terms of naming and species, but only with these so called politics. Obviously as a culture filled with warriors and having trained to act rather than ask questions, none of them felt too keen on this, since the Night Sentinels would rather do actions instead of paperwork and words.
They weren't the only ones with Vali though, for he was also joined by his group: Jin, Xun Er, Karla, Medusa, Siegfried, Childe, Fate, and Nanoha… through the atmosphere around them couldn't be called peaceful. His aura swayed around him with an intense sensation right now, and not only that but Nanoha was also leaking out her own deathly aura, looking like she would explode with fury. One couldn't really blame her though, since her hatred of the Devils was still there, if they hadn't made the evil pieces, then Stray Devils wouldn't exist, and in that case her parents and her…...unborn sibling, would have been alive to see another day. Before she could reach her limits, Fate put a hand on Nanoha who then turned to see her shake her head, which obviously translated to 'not now, wait until the time comes'.
Oh! Let's not forget Arthur as well. After the whole incident with the Bow hero, Arthur had gone and challenged Siegfried to a fight, something which the former exorcist had compiled with since he too wanted to test Arthur's skills as a fellow swordsman. For a while they had fought until it was eventually settled in a draw since they both had the technique of how to use the sword the right way. Though neither of them showed signs of keeping it this way, with the onlookers having concluded that the two would be sparring quite often in the future as fellow swordsmen.
Afterwards, he had decided to join them, becoming one of their newer members… although he could have done without Jin teasing him a lot by calling him a rookie every chance he got. No matter how many times he tried teaching that dumbass monkey a lesson, Jin wouldn't stop. Still, Arthur didn't regret this decision, as he had come to the conclusion that he could finally no longer always be on the run because of his excalibur ruler and Caliburn. Not only that, but if he was in Vali's group then him and his sister didn't have to give a single flying fuck about legendary items, especially since the group's motto was 'you see something legendary or a tempting item, leave it alone, grow on your own.'
Which made Vali wonder why he had the Devil Arms instead of achieving it with his own power. Sure, he was grateful for the dragons who became his Devil Arms but he is in a bit of a conflict because if he wanted to achieve his true strength by his own….. Then why was he getting other people's power and practicing what he preached? Part of him felt like a major hypocrite, and yet he didn't know the answer to that, so he will have to figure that out soon… and it's like the saying goes: rome wasn't built in a day.
As he walked with the Norse faction through the City Streets belonging to the Capital City Lilith, various Devils noticed them. Upon doing so, one didn't even NEED to look at their faces to see the Greed and lustful eyes on them… that is, until they saw Vali at the front of the group to which they QUICKLY changed their tunes.
"Who the hell is that guy, he looks so scary!"
"Dude you don't know who he is?! That's the Hellwalker!"
"WHAT?! HIM?!"
"Yeah! Couldn't believe my eyes but there have been claims that he saved the Norse from the invasion of hell, alone!"
"Oh my Satan is that true?!"
"Yeah, the Norse have never lied before because let's face it, if they hear glory they would practically serenade it for all to hear."
"Oh fuck lets get out of here, I just feel the chills of just being near him!"
Various hushed whispers filled the air around them as multiple fear-filled Devils quickly got the fuck out of their way to avoid Vali's wrath. ESPECIALLY when they noticed how he glared at them with a look similar to the Demons who had slaughtered many of their kin beforehand. They enter a large building that just screams for attention before entering it.
Later
Right now all of the devil are in a fancy place because today is the young devil gathering to see the potential of the devils as many of them were talking to each other, showing off their power or
"Presenting the All-father, king of the gods, and leader of Norse faction, Odin!" A Devil guard bellowed as Odin appeared by the door with his son Thor next to him and Rossweisse on his right side as he in his serious form instead of his usual pervy self. The reason why this was the case was pretty much self-explanatory, but for those who haven't caught on it was simply because this involved matters relating to Hell, a situation which required his FULL attention. "And now presenting?!" The devil announcer paused on what he was about to say as he saw him sweating as if fearing its name. "P-present-ting, the half devil who earned the title, Hellwalker!"
All around the room, the Devils' eyes all widened as this caught all of their attention, including the Gremory Peerage. Among them, Issei lost control over his jaw at the announcement also, for he knew only ONE person had that title. "What, that means-"
"He is the only one who has traversed the cursed realm and walked out of it alive, without being corrupted!"
"IMPOSSIBLE! HOW CAN THIS BE-"
BOOM!
A Devil's head got shot off just as he had made to try and besmirch the claim to be false. As many got out of its way, each of them were forced to comprehend the message these actions provoked: that if anyone dared to mock this name, then they would get punished… SEVERELY.
"For he belongs to an ancient bloodline, the Lucifer clan!"
"(GASP) is that true?!"
Issei gripped his knuckles, already knowing the answer to that question asked by one of the younger Devils. "It is, why are you here now?" He mumbled under his breath, still feeling a bit sour from the sheer humiliation he had suffered by Vali's hand back at the peace treaty meeting.
'Don't partner, remember what he did to you, he is on a whole other level compared to you. You were lucky he spared your life instead of grinding you to dust.'
Issei grit his teeth before wondering why that guy was here, to mock him more?
"His name is!" A blue portal appeared in the room as with a pair of boots taking the first few steps out from it. "VALI LUCIFER!"
Once his name got called out, from the portal Vali's full form appeared in all his glory, the male exiting the portal looking as impulsive as ever, ignoring every Devil who gazed fearfully at him as he could wipe the floor with them. He is accompanied by his group and the squad of night sentinel as they kept everyone's eyes on them as they were stunned at the Night Sentinel's aura which puzzled them. Its almost as if their aura and battle prowess is about…..ultimate level which cause greediness on their eyes for they want them on their peerage and womens lust over them so that they could use them as their own harem(Even the gay men and women (SHUDDER)), fortunately one vicious glare given to them by Childe himself quickly conveyed just how bad of an idea that was to them.
They walked for a bit before they went to sit by a set of empty seats in front of a large rectangular table… which just happens to be next to the Gremory as they glared them before they flinched at the glares the Gremory Group got back from Vali and them. Each of the Peerage remembered how easily they dealt with them.
While this happened, Valis' eyes couldn't be seen but he was looking at his rival and saw that he had grown a bit. "Hmph, it seems you've got a little bit of stronger red dragon."
"What the hell are you doing here? I thought you don't want any part of the underworld." Issei replied hotly, glaring angrily at the silver haired male.
"Simple, I didn't want to be here idiot, but the Norse promised me a very good fight if I accompany them to the underworld, simple is that." Vali replied, not even looking at Issei as he got increasingly angry at what he said.
At this point, his anger made the following retort all but impossible to hold back as Issei scowled at the indifferent Vali. "Is that all you want? A fight instead of worrying the danger of hell?!" he yelled.
Vali glanced on over to Issei through the corner of his left eye. "Yes it is. I live to fight for eternity, unlike you who are obsessed with women's boobs. I at least have a goal set in mind: to get stronger and fight anyone who is strong to catch my attention. Which unfortunately is not a pathetic piece of garbage like you." Vali's eyes glowed as his blue slit eyes were seen through his shades. "So do me-no, ALL of us a favor and shut the fuck up. Like I said before I care not for any of your race."
Issei scowled at his rival but couldn't help but to comply as he was WAY stronger than him, their last 'bout' if one could even call it that was all the proof Issei needed. If he had been stronger, then he would've beat his ass.
With the tensions between these two groups somewhat stabilized for the moment, Odin sat down at the meeting table with the Satans, the Archangels and the Fallen Angel governor. By the all father's side were the following people: Rossweisse and Thor himself.
"Let us begin…..the meeting."
Finally, the meeting began to get underway… although, Vali wasn't listening to one bit of their discussion because he wasn't the political type let's face it, he would get bored sitting down on his butt and do a never ending amount of paperwork.
His group on the other hand Xun Er was checking her nails, Jin sleeping on the table with his drool coming out before Siegfried hit him which almost cause him to fall down before he glared at him, Medusa was on her phone, Karla….. let's just say he always kept an eye on her in case she tried to do anything to him, and Arthur was just sitting like a noble gentleman since he was raised as a noble man.
Vali had his fist in his face as he was close to sleeping.
That is until he da boom.
BOOM!
Opening his eyes wide, Vali shot his head up before looking to the source of the explosion to see the sight of a man who has the appearance of a handsome man with eyes like a delinquent. He had light blue hair that floated behind him with two small bangs, a blue jewel on his forehead and yellow earrings.
Upon seeing him, outrage crossed onto his face while Odin got up from his seat. "Loki! What is the meaning of this?!" he bellowed angrily.
In contrast however, Loki smirked mockingly at him, looking clearly like he was in his element at the moment. For some reason, that pissed Vali off inside, though he remained quiet for the time being. "Meaning? You should know that father allying the norse to another faction will further weaken us all!"
Odin glowered at this, frustration building inside of his chest."You are making a missumptions my son, we need all the allies we can get in order to-" he began to say.
However, a mocking sneer from the trickster God interrupted him. "Fight against the dark realm, I know that already. But that is where our opinions differ it seems, father. We are already strong, strong enough to even push them back, there is no need for us to even join those who are not related to us!" Loki proclaimed.
"Enough of this Loki! We will speak more of this back home."
"No, I will not allow you to ally with the devils. I will stop this, even if it means by bringing RAGNAROK! COME MY SON!" With that declaration, Loki put his hand in front as he made a palm before a magic circle appeared in his hand. For a second, it floated next to him before it began to expand, and in the following moment a giant wolf paw rose out of the magic circle, stepping onto the ground while dragging the rest of the body it was attached to through the aforementioned magic circle. In the end, what stood before the various factions turned out to be a giant wolf with greyish blue and he had two big yellow horns coming out of his shoulders.
This caused various exclamations to erupt throughout the members of the norse pantheon, the said pantheon's gods quickly recognizing the beast that Loki had brought into the building.
"The god devouring wolf?!"
However, Loki cared not about them and instead focused on the one top priority: the old man who he called father. "Fenrir devour Odin!" The man exclaimed, throwing his right hand in Odin's direction.
The wolf roared as it obeyed its fathers command, before breaking into a mad sprint in its mad rush towards Odin. Fortunately for the Norse, it didn't get too far before a set of triangles was formed around him which caused him to be surprised. "What the?! What is this-this magic? BEELZEBUB!" Loki yelled in fury after he recognized the magic aura, glancing to its source to spot Ajuka Beelzebub, who had his hand out. His hand glowed brighter briefly, before the panels formed formed a pyramid, trapping him and his son Fenrir.
"This barrier won't last long because he is a god and I know that he will break out soon. We'll need someone to stop him." The said Devil stated, furrowing his brows as he felt the strain of the God and beast's combined power being contained within his Barrier. A barrier which he teleported out of the meeting room and instead into a large plain nearby. He could instinctively tell what he had said was the truth, and since he had to last as long as possible, Beelzebub would need to give someone else the job of finishing them off.
The gremory and the sitiri got up from their seats before approaching Ajuka. "We will take care of this lord Beelzebub." Rias said with conviction as well as Sona.
Of course, Ajuka did not share the same sentiments that they had. "Are you sure about this? Loki is a god for a reason." he questioned with uncertainty, looking towards the other Devils for possible support.
Rias nodded her head though. "I'm sure we will. Because grown strong and we can't let him destroy the alliance, me and Sona's peerage should be enough for him."
"...Alright." Ajuka said as he was about to transport them before he heard someone clapping and laughing
"Hahahahahhaha!"
CLAP!CLAP!CLAP!
They turned and saw Vali was the one who was laughing and clapping. "This is a good one! Its honestly making me laugh! You against a literal god? HAH! That will be in another hundred years if you could even scratch him."
Rias and Sona peerage were glaring hatefully at him. "Are you doubting our strength?" the former questioned darkly.
Not something that affected the white dragon emperor in any way though. "Yes I am. When was the last time you've actually trained in your whole life? Oh wait I forgot devils actually never trained because they just sit around while becoming fat, lazy and weak."
"ARROGANT MAN! I'll SHOW YOU WHO-"
BOOM!"
"GAAH!" A random devil began to say, before was thrown back when Vali simply backhanded him, sending him crashing into a wall with all of his bones cracked. He would likely need to seek medical attention quite soon. "See? Someone obviously forgot what I did to the LAST Devil who tried to attack me. Heck, even Odin knows you can't even lay a hand on his son."
Sirzechs looked at Odin who showed a neutral face before closing his eyes, signifying that Vali was right.
"You want to fight a god? Be my guest, but if any one of you gets killed, don't say I actually told you so." With his peace said. Vali walked back to his group as the satan sisters were still glaring at him before they were transported away with Loki. Ajuka waved his hand to show the projection to everyone as Vali scoffed. The devils really want to show off their glory.
"I hope she actually does get killed."
Vali heard a hateful voice as he turned around before he saw a beautiful young girl with dark blue eyes. She has long blonde hair tied into twintails with large, drill-like curls and blue ribbons keeping them in place. The front of her hair has several bangs hanging over her forehead, with a V-shaped fringe hanging over the bridge of her nose. Vali notice she was gripping her hands hard enough to almost draw blood. Vali shrugged his shoulders as he cares not for what she thinks of, it's not his business at all.
Later (see the full fight of them fighting Loki all the way until the middle)
Upon the battle's beginning, things hadn't swayed into anyone's favor initially. Instead of battling himself, Loki had simply deemed it necessary to have his children and Midgardsormr fight in his place instead, forcing the combined group to split them up and form several smaller groups to deal with them. Rias, Akeno and Sona took on the dragon king Midgardsormr, with the others taking on the wolf children and Fenrir himself.
About halfway into that battle however, things began to change and the beasts began to weaken, allowing things to sway towards the Gremory and Siriti's favor, the two groups striving on while being fuelled by their desire to prove Vali wrong about them. They wanted to prove that they COULD defeat Fenrir's sons and his serpents clones, that they WERE strong enough to be considered respectable members of their society… essentially, their pride had been sullied by the words of mockery that had been aimed at them, and they thus rushed to prove Vali wrong.
Even midgardsormr fell, much to the Norse God's dismay. Upon seeing this happen, Loki showed an angry face, gritting his teeth together while his fists clenched so tightly one could see veins popping out over them. "Grrrrhhhh! My sons, defeated by lowly devils!" he said under a beastly grow that made him seem like he would make like an atomic bomb and explode everywhere, destroying everything around him beyond a multi hundred kilometer radius.
On the devil's side however, the sights before them couldn't have been any more of a morale booster. Seeing that arrogant God who had been so full of himself beforehand getting brought down a few pegs provided a more than satisfactory feeling to them, even if they had sustained minor injuries to their persons to get this far. Heck, from where he had been standing Issei smiled to himself, seeing living proof that he and his comrades were indeed getting stronger. "Hah! Beat that lousy god!(ow!)" he bellowed in triumph, basking in the superiority that his side felt right now.
Something which Loki grew increasingly angry at by the minute. "You! You!... are honestly giving me some quality entertainment, i'll admit." But at the end, his whole attitude suddenly shifted from anger into amusement, his growl becoming a mocking smirk like the one he had on before while his posture completely slackened. Almost as if he had been putting effort into looking fuming before, like it was nothing to him.
"?! Wha?!"
Needless to say, the abrupt change in the arrogant god's demeanor caught the devils completely off guard, each of them becoming confused about Loki's current attitude as he smiled, mockingly. "You've been giving me a good a great audience and a playtoy for my children." he remarked thoughtfully, taking on a pose that matched his tone by putting a hand on his chin and looking towards the prone forms the beasts that he had brought over were currently in. He had a look of calculative amusement in his eyes, like this was nothing that he should be concerned about.
A posture which infuriated the Devils beneath him both figuratively AND literally since, you know, him being a God that could fly without the use of wings and all. "What do you mean? Your children are dead and defeated!" Rias yelled, gesturing with her arms to the absolute desolation surrounding the large plains as well as the smoking forms of the three wolves and serpentine dragon king.
In response to this, Loki burst out into laughter while leaning his head back, a hand over his eyes while he did so. "Hahahahaha you honestly think that my children are dead?!" he bellowed afterwards, leaning forwards with his hand outstretched.
SNAP!
BOOM!
From the moment that the god snapped his outstretched hands' fingers, a series of eruptions occurred all around them, causing the Devil group to gasp and look around frantically to see what had just happened. Although, this soon changed into something they'd wished they didn't know since the sight of Fenrir, Skoll, Hati and Midgardsormr getting up as if nothing had happened to them got presented before them. The Gremory/sitri group collectively lost all their skin color when they saw how each of Loki's children and the dragon king were glaring at them with looks that signified their desire to cause mass genocide.
Looks which their godly benefactor noted himself, his grin widening to slasher killer proportions. "Alright my lovelies, you can stop playing around…. And deal with the nauseous children." Loki declared, his grin downright savage before the beasts roared collectively in sheer delight at the figurative 'releasing of the reins' he had given to them.
The first one to go turned out to be Fenrir, who ran to the Sitri group. Much to their shock and horror, the beast truly HAD been holding back since it moved far faster than it had before, practically becoming invisible compared to what it had been like in the initial battle. At first thanks to their shock the sitri group didn't react in time… thus as a result, it lunged with maw open wide and bit off Ruruko's arm.
"Ruruko!" Momo screamed out as she saw her friend howl in agony. This did the job of snapping the group out of their funk, however this didn't come without any cost at all. Thanks to being distracted by the still wailing Ruruko who had tears in the corners of her eyes, Momo wound up not paying attention to her surroundings and thus, ended up being devoured by Skoll. This happened when she tried to get to her friend, but halfway through the jogging distance the said beast had lunged forth, slammed into her before knocking her down, pinning her before proceeding to tear her head off with its jaws, chomping on it repeatedly before swallowing and continuing its 'meal'.
Regarding Midgardsormr, the massive beast slithered around two of Sona's peerage, crushing them by coiling around them and tightening the grasp till they popped like balloons, covering its form with their blood. Didn't help that their organs and bones got crushed as well. A third member tried to attack in a fit of rage, but the beast attacked first by lunging faster than that peerage member could react, biting that person's head and the entire upper body clean off.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sona screamed as she quickly conjured water snakes to stop the Serpent but unfortunately it proved to be too strong for her. It easily shredded through her serpents by ripping them to pieces with its jaws as well as crushed them with its long body, before it proceeded to shoot towards their creator with the intent of adding another to its body count.
Before it could reach Sona however, a single tongue-like tendril wrapped around its head right in the nick of time, stopping it just short of a few inches from the teary eyed, petrified-looking sitri heiress who fell unceremoniously onto her backside. Utter terror could be seen from within those eyes of hers despite her life being apparently saved for the moment.
Her savior turned out to be Saji, who had streams of tears falling down his cheeks while sorrow clouded his mind, sorrow at the loss of his precious comrades. "I'll turn you into mince meat, snake!" The blonde boy yelled as he prepared to suck the beast dry with his Sacred Gear's ability.
SHING!
"Gah!" Unfortunately for him, Saiji gasped while spitting out blood. Not only that, but seconds later a wave of weakness and fatigue washed over him, and when he looked down to find the source, he found it to be Midgarsormr's snake tail piercing right through his heart.
"SAIIIJJJIII!" Sona screamed the boy's name, the dragon king's tail lifting the lifeless corpse up to its maws. Of course, thanks to Saji's state his Sacred Gear vanished as well, freeing the serpent from its curse. Sona could only watch in absolute powerlessness as she saw her pawn get devoured by the serpent.
While this all went down, Fenrir rushed forth towards Tsubaki beyond bullet-level speeds, intending on ensuring that she met the same fate as Momo did. In a moment of distraction, Tsubaki didn't see it coming and thus its intentions almost got carried out as it thrusted its right claw towards her torso... before its prey got pushed to the side.
"Guh!" A shocked grunt escaped her lips when Tsubaki fell to the ground roughly, before she looked to who had pushed her and she saw that Kiba had been the one who had done the deed. Unfortunately, that had left him open for attack and, as a result, he found himself being pierced through the torso from behind by Fenrir's claw, dying right afterwards.
"NO!" Sirzechs and Serafall got up from their seats as they saw Loki proceed to absolutely SLAUGHTER almost all of Sona's peerage while her queen got herself saved by Kiba… though at the cost of his own life.
"It seems your sisters couldn't even defeat my son Sirzechs, Serafall." Odin said as he sadly sees the Devils killed by his son and his grandchildren.
"Hold on I'll-" Sirzechs began to say, quickly turning to head off himself. From what he saw, Sirzechs didn't doubt for a second that they wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. He had t get there fast before his beloved little sister got herself butchered by that God and his children.
However, someone soon got in his way by getting in front of him. "You can't, Sirzechs!" That yell turned out to have come from that same person, which turned out to be Ajuka.
Obviously not a fan of this, Sirzechs bellowed the following shout like an order, briefly flaring his demonic power in a fit of fury. "Don't stop me Ajuka!"
After swatting that power burst aside with his own, Ajuka quickly made to force his friend back into a logical state of mind. "Listen to me idiot! If you interfere, then you'll lose your position as Satan!" Sirzechs grit his teeth in anger as he was right after what Ajuka said was true. When they became Satans they took an oath that if they became Satans, they would not interfere with any of the pillars' involvement, including their family.
"Looks like I was right after all, it seems not even your sibling is not strong enough to even defeat him." They turned to see Vali as he was smiling which caused them to be angry as Sirzechs gripped the table that it began to break and Serafall showing icy aura around her which doesn't unfazle Vali not one bit. "You are always so proud of your so-called 'invincible' bloodline that you went and spoiled your sister so much she thought she could deal with anything that's in her way. Didn't even bother trying to get stronger to be able to deal with her own problems, let alone that of her race's. Now look where that led her: a simple, good life….. Turned into a realistic one where it will lead to her death soon."
"ENOUGH!"
Sirzechs yelled as he made a burst of his power, launching it towards Vali for saying what he did, ESPECIALLY with the way he smirked at him mockingly as he did so.
SHING!
SHING!
SHING!
Unfortunately not only was that burst dissipated, but something else happened that snapped the man out of his shock. A gasp escaped his lips when Sirzechs found himself surrounded on all sides by Valkyries who had their weapons at his throat, all the while Odin was in front of him, pointed his spear at the centre of his forehead, Thor having his hammer out, ready to smash the devil's skull from behind. "Odin, you-!"
Before the red haired man could finish his sentence, Odin did so instead with a tone utterly devoid of anything but firmness. Even more so than when he first came to this meeting as his eyes stared coldly into that of the Devil's. "He is under our protection after he proved his strength when he fought the dark realm alone. Not only that but he's right, your sister is not ready to even fight something which is not in her league." Odin said as he turned to Vali. "Hellwalker, if you would please?"
The said male nodded his head for a moment, a mocking chuckle escaping his lips."I know, come on guys, we have something that may make our time here more bearable." Vali said to his comrades as they all smirked. His influence on them was really contagious, it seemed as he stood from his chair, pulling out his shades (which he had taken off before the meeting) and flipping them open before finally putting them over his eyes. "Lets go bring the pain, ladies." Twirling around and making sure his coat fluttered in the generated breeze, Vali adjusted his gloves while he and his comrades looked towards a magic circle that appeared before them, promptly walking into it.
Back to the devils
With the Gremori/Sitri group, everything looked to be an absolute mess. With the corpses of various peerage members scattered around, most of them being from Sona's peerage while a few of them were from Rias's, it looked like a slaughterhouse in here. Out of the entire Gremory peerage, Kiba and Xenovia had been the ones who bit the dust, the latter being enraged at her fellow Knight's destruction and thus had tried in vain to avenge him only to meet the same fate as Momo.
Not only that, but with the way the Beasts moved,it only solidified that they had indeed been playing around with them in the beginning, not even using a SHRED of their full might against them considering the quick casualties that had piled up from their killings. It wouldn't be long before they were all going to be completely wiped out and they didn't seem like they could do anything about it.
The worst thing of all, was that Loki floated up above the carnage looking completely sure of himself, and no matter how much any of them would have loved to wipe that smug smirk off his lips none of them had the capacity to do so.
'Was he…..right all along?' Issei wondered as he saw his friends getting devoured and killed in front of his eyes as he thought about what Vali said to them. 'Am I…...really that weak…?' He saw that Rias was crying over Kiba's dead body, Sona on her knees with blank-looking eyes devoid of any emotions. He looked in front of him and saw that Fenrir was running to him. 'I… am that weak….he was right…. I couldn't even lay a scratch on him…'
The sounds of paws rapidly meeting the ground reached his ears, causing Issei to turn to their source and see that Fenrir was getting closer to his position. Seeing that he couldn't dodge this one in time due to the speed the beast had reached, Issei simply accepted death, the death he had earned because of his weakness and naivety. How he couldn't even see the real truth that Vali had told them: All good things…. Could NEVER truly last forever. 'I'm sorry, I couldn't be the perfect pawn for you Rias….. I always leeched off of your and Akeno's bodies…...even made pervert comments about them.'
Getting closer to its prey, Fenrir opened his mouth to chomp Issei's head off. Distantly, he could hear a sobbing Rias screaming his name like some kind of wailing siren, but there wasn't anything else she could do in her mind. As such, Issei slowly closed his eyes, ready to go on his way to the realm of oblivion. 'I hope….that you can find someone else who could be a perfect person for you instead of being the weakest….you were right, Vali…. I couldn't open my eyes in reality…. I hope that another user…...can be a worthy rival for you...'
Just as Issei was about to enter the realm of oblivion...
"Oi, who said that you're allowed to die?"
BOOM!
ROAR!
A loud explosion sound followed by Fenrir's pained howl filled his ears, causing Issei to open his eyes wide in shock at the unexpected anomaly in the situation that had just occurred seemingly out of nowhere. Seconds later, he recognized the familiar pompous voice and tone behind it though, looking to the source to confirm his suspicions. He didn't have to look very far, for Vali stood in front of the brunette back on him. "If you died, then I would have to wait for many years for another red dragon to appear."
"V-Vali?"
Yup, it turned out that Vali had been the one who had saved his life, having gotten in front of him with a massive gun-like weapon, one which he had aimed and fired a single shot into Fenrir's chest to halt its advance. Not only that, but Issei saw what looked like some kind of black and red aura surging forth over the beast, a similar aura enveloping the gun Vali wielded.
Glancing behind him from the corner of his right eye, one that from his position Iseei could see that if he were facing him the eye would've been concealed behind his shades, Vali smirked mockingly at him. Yet Issei couldn't find it in him to be pissed at the guy right now. "I DID tell you that you were pathetic, pervert. Now let me teach you…" taking a brief pause, Vali turned and performed a high roundhouse kick which slammed into a lunging Fenrir's snout from the side, knocking it tumbling away from them. "How a TRUE battle in this world looks like!"
It wasn't only him either, for the moment that Vali appeared a bunch of other figures descended onto the battlefield. As in LITERALLY descended, since most of them came flying from the skies above like bombs being dropped from dive bombers.
For Fenrir who began to stumble back onto all fours, it soon howled once more when a barrage of bullets and chains got launched at it, the former filling its body with holes that damaged but didn't kill it, while the latter wrapped around its limbs to restrict its movements. The causes of these attacks, Nanoha and Fate, descended forth like angels of death with the former holding out her Nobunagun and unloading on the beast, peppering it with a hailstorm of bullets. As for Fate, the blonde magical girl pointed her Sacred Gear, the Dead Scythe, in front of her with the weapon glowing with power, showing that she was the wielder of those chains.
Hati and Skoll managed to dodge the surprise attacks aimed at them unlike their father, the attackers revealing themselves to be Xun Er and Siegfried. The former had attacked using her Devil Bringer's massive spectral arm to punch at one in an overhead smash, while the latter had attacked using the winds from Balmung. He didn't have any other weapons on his person at the moment, but even when Skoll tried to lunge at him with speeds that were almost the same as Fenrir's he managed to dodge it rather easily by flipping over the creature, sending it flying with a stronger whirlwind generated by the demonic sword.
Midgarsormr saw that its brothers were getting their asses kicked by these new arrivals, but before it could move to join them a series of blasts rained down upon it. From the skies, Jin came flying downwards on his Nimbus with his Staff at the ready, whacking at it in the face after flying up to that said area. The serpent recoiled from the blow, but it didn't damage it too severely so it simply roared back at Jin before making to swipe at him with its Tail. A strike which got interrupted by a shower of energy arrows that impaled over half its entire body, the cause turning out to be Childe who fell from the skies above and landed on a nearby pile of debris, clad in the armor that his people were known to wear into battle. Thus, the two boys quickly proceeded to get into focus and team up against the massive Serpent, trading roles between them in their strategy to attack and defend in unison.
This left Vali and Loki, the former summoning his Sacred Gear while dismissing his [Valstrax] and levitating upwards so the two were eye level. "You!"
The silver haired male, in response to the Norse God's proclamation with the added finger pointing he did, simply rolled his eyes while pocketing his hands in his coat with a dismissive, uncaring aura around him. This wasn't the case internally though, as he had to hold himself back from leaping at his opponent and enjoy a fight against a God. Last time he had fought a foe like this had been back in the norse region, although he figured Loki had an abundance of techniques under his belt, being more of a magic type from what little he had heard from other norse residents. Apparently the guy liked keeping secrets from his faction, just like a lot of sleazeballs… that just made him all the more dangerous in his eyes. "Yeah, who else would you expect?" Vali replied, putting on the facade of someone who would be like 'yeah, you're no problem for me so I'll just be doing my own thing while you tire yourself out'.
A facade which Loki seemed to have fallen for initially, before he restrained his urge to yell at him again and took a few deep breaths. Obviously the Norse God hadn't planned for this meeting, though Vali believed that he should have anticipated his arrival at least. He was a goddamn battle maniac who sought powerful foes for gods (ow!) sake! "Why do you side with the devils? You hated them!"
Yeah, that was a fair point, one that wasn't wrong in the slightest honestly. Plus that was probably why Loki hadn't planned for Vali's intervention and thus was caught by surprise. Not to mention that him and his group were FAR stronger than the Gremory/Sitri Peerage combo down below. With these thoughts in mind, Vali shrugged his shoulders. "Ehh, I do hate them and love to see them go extinct but there was one problem. They have the red dragon emperor with them. If he dies then I would have to wait for another hundred years just to find my rival." He explained, before a small sinister smirk formed on his face that looked like one a Devil would make when everything came together. "and besides, he still has some room to grow until we will finally have our destined battle." Vali explained, his smile enlarging into a bloodthirsty grin which enraged Loki.
"I've tolerated your existence because of your title,hellwalker! But you've tried my patience long enough! First, you had the weak aliens join us, further weakening us! I've tolerated them because of you, but no longer!" Loki bellowed, letting out his divine aura which made the surviving Devils beneath them flinch at the power level, but not Vali and his group (they were still busy battling the beasts). All the while, Vali stared at him with his bloodthirsty before his eyes glowed brightly with his own demonic aura counteracting that of the Norse God.
Instantly he shot forwards, donning his Balance Breaker to close the distance between them for a haymaker to Loki's chest. The said God managed to defend himself in time though by projecting a Magic Circle in front of him, Vali's fist slamming into Loki's circle harmlessly. Sparks flew between the offence and the defence, until Vali pulled his fist back and went for a multitude of kicks that Loki used the same defence for until the 10th one where he suddenly vanished in a flash of blue light, cousin Vali to quickly lose track of him. 'Teleporting magic, huh…?' Vali mused…
Before he found himself face to face… or faces, with a whole BUNCH of Lokis that surrounded him.
'Huh?'
There looked to be 5 Loki's around him, forming a star-like formation while each of them had the same smug ass grins on their faces.
Vali's response? "And just when I thought one arrogant God wasn't enough… what, you made this technique to play with yourself since nobody goes up to you or something?" Vali questioned as he summoned his [Astalos] swords and activated their ZANDATSU ability. In an instant, each of them got sliced to pieces faster than the multiple Loki's could react, their eyes widening being the only thing that remained of them before their inevitable destruction. Lightning arced across Vali's arms as he gritted his teeth behind his helmet, mentally counting his lucky stars that he didn't use the ability for too long.
Still, soon enough he sensed a gathering of power from nearby, and thus sharply looked upwards to see the Norse God floating above him with a hand outstretched above his head. Above him, Vali saw what looked to be a bunch of magic circles above his head. These magic circles soon began shooting out these small bits of light that turned into the slashes like those from a sword made from pure divine energy, launching themselves straight at him.
Oh, he wouldn't let them hit him, though. To that end, Vali unfurled his wings and ascended higher, avoiding a good portion of them before shooting about in an aerial acrobatic fashion to avoid the others, eventually seeing an opening and switching his equipped Devil Arm to [Valstrax] and unloading a couple rounds enhanced by the aforementioned weapon's Dragonblight. They flew true, moving far too fast for Loki to dodge and as a result, they slammed right into his abdomen and chest area, afflicting him with the Dragonblight.
Looking down at himself as his body turned red with an oppressive aura forming over him, Loki scowled with a concentrated look on his face, clenching his right hand into a fist. "I see… so this… is THAT Dragon's… power…" he spoke slowly, his speech being affected by the Dragonblight as well. It looked like even the Norse Trickster God had heard of this Devil Arm's former form then, which made sense considering what that Dragon had been like.
This didn't bother Vali however as he began gathering Argent energy into his right hand, forming a large sphere that was the size of a basketball in it. The whole sphere had a crimson color to it, with circles of electrical energy surrounding and crackling around it, before Vali pointed it at Loki and unleashed a massive beam from that sphere towards his foe.
BOOM!
A loud explosion got made when the beam made contact, covering the air with smoke and obscuring the Norse God's form from view. Though Vali didn't hesitate to wait around and gave a single flap of his Sacred Gear's wings, dispersing the smoke and seeing that Loki was nowhere to be found. "Tch, guess I should have known he'd be able to dodge that one…" the male mused to himself, before sensing something nearby.
Not a second after he did so, the sound of someone chuckling got heard by him and it sounded close too. Looking at the source of the laughter, Vali found it to be Loki who floated about 40 feet away from him at an even height to him, looking a little worse for wear. However, his robe being torn at the right sleeve from the elbow downwards served as proof that Vali's attack had indeed caused some damage, albeit minor.
"I see…" The said god mused as he looked at his wounded arm for a moment, noting the vicious burns covering it as well as some slight steam trails rising from it. "This is the Argent Energy from Hell… somehow you have managed to tame that wretched realm's energy and infuse it within yourself, converting your demonic power into Argent Energy which has proven itself far more powerful in a number of cases…" he mused thoughtfully, before clenching his injured fist and infusing the limb with his divine energy, restoring the limb to normal with a significant amount of effort. Even someone like him was susceptible to Argent Energy there. "Thinking about it, perhaps because you didn't think to do so, but using it against Ares would have been an effective move considering the corrosive effect it has on us Gods…"
Overhearing Loki's ramblings, Vali made a mental note of that one so he could use it for future events. Thinking about it Loki wasn't actually wrong either since he had heard that Devils and Gods were BOTH susceptible to Hell's influence with the former being a favorite for them, plus in the latter's case it was able to corrupt a fair amount of Gods too. Not bothering with this stuff for the time being though, Vali switched to [Astalos] before shooting forwards with its power flowing through his veins, making him look like a literal lightning bolt as he closed the distance between him and Loki, proceeding to launch a rapid flurry of slashes.
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
Vali went, hacking away at the Norse God's defences to wind up launching more than several dozen slashes in a single moment. Slashes that Loki managed to mostly defend himself against till the last 5, which broke through and cut through his robes without any trouble, blood squirting out of those wounds which were also cauterized by the Lightning-powered Devil Arm. "Ngh!"
After grunting painfully at the electrical damage he sustained, Loki teleported away after launching a couple balls of divine energy at Vali that were the size of pellets. Vali didn't wait to see what they would do however, quickly flapping his wings forwards to propel himself backwards before each pellet exploded with enough force to rival a plastic explosive, before he zeroed in on Loki's energy signature with his senses and promptly flew on over, switching his Devil Arm to [Glavenus] this time since he was in danger of overusing [Astalos] at the moment.
Keeping it in Axe Mode, Vali saw Loki summon more magic circles to his person that he promptly began to destroy by firing a bunch of MAG SHOTs at them, blowing the magic circles to bits before he blasted forwards at full speed, [Glavenus] switching to sword mode.
SLASH!
Instead of going towards Loki however, Vali flew right by him and slid to a halt, confusing Loki momentarily before the reasoning presented itself in the following seconds. That being a long slash that appeared over his form for a few moments, before it exploded into a fiery explosion that caused him to scream out as he got sent crashing into the ground below. Switching [Glavenus] to axe mode, he aimed it down towards where Loki had fallen before unloading a bunch of MAG SHOTs down on his ass.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Following these actions, Vali proceeded to slowly descend downwards while clearing the smoke away with a few swings of his Devil Arm, revealing the battered and bruised Norse God Loki kneeling on one leg, although he soon stood up to float up to his level once more, looking rather ragged but still angry.
"Well well, your assumption was correct after all."
"You! How are you this strong before!?"
"Simple, I trained."
"BULLSHIT! A half devil like you couldn't possibly be this powerful! How did you attain this power?! HOW DID YOU EVEN REFINE ARGENT ENERGY WITHOUT BEING CORRUPTED!?"
"Hmph. Why should I tell you trickster god? A foe like me would be an idiot to even explain their power and speaking of idiots." Vali said as he looked at his group. Loki also followed his direction before he became furious.
The reason why?
Simple, all of his children lay on the ground, defeated by Vali's companions. Fenrir lay down on his left side, defeated with the combined effort of Medusa and Jin, Skoll and Hati defeated by Xun Er and Fate as they were restrained in chains by Fates sacred gear and finally Midgardsormr by Nanoha and Childe. The last one had to have been one of the most slippery foes they had fought against so far though, mostly due to it easily dodging their ranged weapons despite its sheer size and length, but Nanoha had managed to use her removal technique on her blood to make her adrenaline go faster, so that time around her can slow down in a manner akin to Vali's ZANDATSU. As such, she had used it to shoot the clone serpent before it could react in time, and had promptly managed to hit it. Childe had then used this chance to rain arrows upon the serpent . Nanoha had recovered shortly before using lots of energy to kill the Midgardsormr as she was joined with Childe before they unleashed their attacks on the serpent, resulting in a win for them upon seeing their foe sprawled out on the ground defeated and killed.
Seeing all this REALLY drove the trickster god over the edge as he began to rant like a spoiled child, his eyes becoming practically bloodshot. "USELESS! ALL OF YOU ARE USELESS!" he bellowed so loudly that everyone throughout the entire battlefield could hear it.
Those words REALLY rubbed Vali the wrong way though, his eyes narrowing darkly as killing intent rose within him. Those words served to remind him of his sperm donor and his grandfather, much to his irritation as he proceeded to growl out the following words through gnashed teeth. "Oi oi, they're your children trickster." he remarked.
That only served to infuriate the God even further, who then proceeded to throw his arms to the side whilst declaring the following words with an almost psychotic smile on his face. "THEIR NOT MY CHILDREN! THEY ARE FAILURES TO ME! THEY ARE NEVER USEFUL AT ALL!" he declared, no remorse whatsoever.
The moment he heard that, Vali felt something within him snap. He had enough. "Alright, that's it. I may be a cold-hearted man, but I hate where people use their children as pawns for their own gain." Vali declared with a scowl, as he remembered all kinds of cases where children were used as pawns. Cases he had been taught about by Albion and Hathor when he was young, such as the times where political arranged marriages were prominent. Heck, he himself almost became one of those unfortunate cases, if those old satan bastards had caught him, and Fate could also be counted since she was made from the DNA of a dead girl only for her sperm donor to use her for her own objectives. Never treated her like she should have once.
Loki grit his teeth in anger before he roared. "You…... pushed me to this! I WILL SEE ALL OF YOU BURN FOREVER IN THE PITS OF HELL!" He took out a yellow stone which made Vali on guard as he sensed a massive amount of Argent energy in it as he narrowed his eyes on it as he watched Loki who crushed it on his hands and the energy flowed through him. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS POWER! I CAN FEEL IT! I CAN-what?"
Before he could finish his sentence, something clicked in his mind when a faint shudder overcame his body, followed by this deep cold feeling of dread. Glancing downwards, he looked towards the remains of the stone he had crushed, becoming paler by the second. It became obvious that Loki had felt something was wrong, but by this point it was too late.
He swore he heard the death toll bell ring in his mind once he heard a small, dark yet sinister voice chuckle ominously within the back of his mind.
'Thank you for crushing the stone norse god. As repayment I shall deal with the Hellwalker…..by taking your body!'
"NO-STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Over on his end, Vali's eyes widened when he saw Loki grab his head in pain, nails digging into his scalp hard enough to draw blood. Not only that, but he could also see veins crawling across the sides of his head and forehead, as well as his limbs. Various bone crackling sounds could be heard from the god as his wide open mouth started to turn its teeth into long fangs, his tongue starting to morph into a forked one in a highly disturbing fashion. Before long, Loki looked towards Vali with eyes redder than his own argent energy, filled with utter panic, fear and despair as he reached out with a rapidly vein-covered hand that slowly began to sport jagged, twisted and clawed nails. "HELP ME!"
"BROTHER!" Upon seeing this transformation taking place, utter horror assaulted him as well as the urge to act. Before anyone could stop him, Thor yelled out for Loki as he quickly flew off towards the direction of the battlefield faster than any previous times before.
Nobody had dared to stop him, but when looking at his father they would have been stunned by the sight that had greeted them. Even more so than what was being presented on the screen. Odin right now, looked nothing like the proud norse god king that he should be, instead he looked paler than a corpse, his mouth and eyes wide open and his grip on his staff lightning so much that any ordinary object would have SHATTERED under the pressure. Heck, his staff even showed signs of cracks in it. "It…. can't be…" he muttered in horror under his breath.
Something which did NOT sit well with the rest of the group, having never seen the norse god act this way. Whatever was happening it had been enough to spook Odin like the boogie man did to children, and THAT wasn't a good thing. "What is it Odin?!" Sirzechs yelled in confusion and fear.
Odin's eye flashed as he began to reminisce on the memory of when he was young as he stood with his father, they stood tall while one of 'them' loomed ominously over their realm. "It's…. It's…. The lord of hatred….." Odin stuttered, while on the screen the silhouette of a figure could be seen floating ominously behind Loki, looming over him like a puppeteer controlling his puppet.
The figure itself… well, horrifying could not even come CLOSE to describing the disgusting sight it sported. The figure looked to be much taller than Loki was, sporting a humanoid-looking torso without any flesh, showing the muscle fibers beneath. From it, protruded two long spindly arms that had massive bulbous bulges for elbows, ending in elongated and wicked-looking clawed talons made from chitinous material. From the torso's lower back protruded two long bones, ones that ended in two long bony digits and a single opposable thumb each, basically they were wings made entirely from bone. Wings which also had dozens of chains hanging from their bases. From its shoulders, protruded a pair of large horns that were shaped rather oddly, somewhat like a 'u' shape when looking at them from a certain angle. Two smaller horns protruded out the figure's head which looked somewhat like a humanoid skull with two glowing hollow red, soulless eyes filled to the brim with malice and darkness. Finally, it completely lacked a lower body, instead having a single elongated spinal cord for a more serpentine-like appearance.
Seeing this figure looming over his wayward son brought a single name to the forefront of Odin's mind, one which he had hoped to NEVER have to utter again. Yet right now, he had no choice but to do so which confirmed to not only him but those who also knew that what loomed over Loki right now, was someone whom asgard feared GREATLY. "Mephisto."
Back to Vali
Vali stood there in silence as he stared at the… god? Demon? He wasn't exactly sure right now since the thing floating before him felt more like a mix between the two… with the demon part in the dominant role. Looked like, to him at least, that something had 'hijacked' Loki somehow, and he had a feeling it was to do with that stone the god had crushed, but whatever the case may be the results were not pretty. Not to mention that even after all those previously described changes, some more had finally taken place, completing this 'possesion', changes such as darkened skin to that of charcoal, a hollow red mouth interior same with the eyes. The nails had extended to the length of short swords too, with what looked like horns coming out the shoulders and out the forehead, a single elongated spinal cord protruding from the tailbone to act as a tail.
All in all, not something that fit the image of a 'god'. Rather it looked more like the exact opposite.
The most glaring issue here wasn't any of this in Vali's mind however, for he focused solely on how much power he could feel from this twisted being. As such, while externally he remained neutral, internally that would be a different story since he was preparing his energy as it stared at him. Instinctively he could feel that this thing that had taken over the now completely possessed Loki, had to have a LOT of power, more so than the trickster god himself if the way that he had acted beforehand had any indications, not to mention that whatever could possess a freaking DEITY wasn't something to be underestimated. 'Get ready guys…' Vali thought to his various Devil Arms and Albion. 'Looks like we're about to be put through the wringer…'
Down below, Vali's group and what remained of the devil forces throughout the battle looked up at the two in a stunned manner, or to be more specific at the sight of the demonic creature that Loki had become. Even while they were so high up in the skies, it excluded so much power that it made them almost faint from the emotions that it invoked within their beings. Though this didn't apply as much to Vali's group, especially Nanoha and the girls who had feelings for the silver haired male, feelings that spurred them with the urge to take action.
However, before they could do anything like that Vali (as if he had foreseen what they would do before they even confirmed it for themselves) snapped his fingers, multiple teleportation circles appearing on top of them that descended, leaving him alone with the demon. While one might call him a fool for facing this thing alone without backup, he was not. This thing reminded him HEAVILY of the Icon of Sin, which told Vali that the others wouldn't be able to handle such an opponent yet.
"Hahahahahaha… ahhhh, we meet at last…..Hellwalker."
After a moment of staring each other down, Vali scowled when he heard the demonic entity possessing Loki speak, sending its voice through the norse god's mouth while the said being chuckled mockingly, a twisted smile on Loki's face. Still, the fact that it could talk showed a level of intelligence to go along with that power, which spoke a lot to the silver haired hybrid while he responded with a mildly intrigued tone. "Another demon that can talk? What a surprise, is hell that desperate for more power because I'm ready to fight even the toughest ones you have."
"... Blame yourself, Hellwalker. You have been a thorn in our side ever since you destroyed the well, killed our brother, and denied us the higher dimension we'd craved."
"Kin, huh? I'm going out on a whim here and guess that thing on Mars above us was one of yours…?" he questioned, gesturing to the planet which was way too far from earth to be seen from here. However, his message was clear to all who heard it whilst those who had taken part in that event (Vali, the norse and Ludmila) remembered it well. "In that case, I guess you're the same thing as that, ya damn skeleton." Vali further stated after briefly seeing the silhouette that Odin had seen previously.
"Insolent fool! I am Mephisto! Lord of Hatred and one of the three dark lords Hell!"
The tone that he had used was NOT something that 'Mephisto' as it called itself liked to hear it seemed, a vicious hissing sound escaping the possessed god's lips while the tongue slickered about like said creature's would on occasion. Seeing this Vali rolled his eyes while crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Wow a dark lord? My luck has been getting better now. Wonder what's next?" he mused, thoughtfully while his bloodlust began to build.
Even so however, he remained aware of the severity behind this situation. None of this was very good, since if this was truly a Dark Lord then it's likely that this whole battlefield will become a desolate more of a reason to send his companions back to the meeting place for their safety.
BOOM!
However, it seemed like one more addition to the party had arrived at that moment, preventing the two from engaging each other for the time being. This became proven thanks to a loud booming sound accompanying the explosion of dirt that signified someone having crashed near their position. Vali looked to the right and spotted the source of the explosion emerge from it, clearing it away with a swing of a large hammer. That person turned out to be Thor, his eyes glowing bright blue in a manner akin to the demonic-possessed Loki with sparks of lightning arcing from his frame to the immediate surroundings.
After emerging from the smoke, Thor's eyes shone even brighter while he pointed his raised hammer at the demonic being. "Release my brother demon!" he yelled furiously, his voice thundering (pun intended) across the battlefield while storm clouds formed over their heads that covered the skies across several hundred miles in any direction.
Something which obviously was caused by the thunder god's power, yet it only caused the demon to scoff, a mocking laughter escaping it afterwards which sent echoing laughter through the air.
"If you want him, then you'll have to take him-"
Briefly pausing, Mephisto flicked its tail downwards and conjured a streak of lightning towards its tip, one which then got aimed and launched towards a rapidly approaching Vali who had clad himself within his Balance Breaker once again. Seeing that his surprise attack had failed, that attack having consisted of him wielding [Astalos] and using ZANDATSU with its power to close the distance and hack the being to bits, Vali frowned under his helmet before he smirked seconds later, feeling glad that this foe wasn't like the wimpy sorts who whined about sneak attacks. As evident by the demon floating higher into the air with lightning arcing around one hand and frosty vapour covering the other.
"But you two already knew that, didn't you?"
Thor snarled at the demon while spinning his Hammer by its strap like his marvel movie counterpart was shown to do. "I knew you'd say that, yeah." he replied, glancing over to Vali. "Hellwalker, let us fight together this time! I'll spar with you whenever you please in return!" He bellowed to the white dragon emperor.
Freaking dollar signs appeared in Vali's eyes behind his helmet upon hearing that one. Let it be said that he would do anything for a good fight. "Deal!" He bellowed right back, switching over to [Valstrax] to start firing Dragon Bullets towards Mephisto's position, intending on weakening it so that Thor could deal a fatal blow. Unfortunately Mephisto proved himself to be quite an agile fucker and managed to dodge the majority of the rounds, and those which he couldn't dodge due to some tactical gunslinging skills by Vali (such as using some rounds to hide others and thus stop Mephisto from noticing their flight paths) it simply froze them in mid air by shooting arcs of vapor at them.
This still ended up helping Thor out greatly though as the thunder god tore through the skies after flinging his hammer up towards the demonic being like a slingshot, rearing it back while a lightning strike supercharged it which resulted in a lightning-covered hammer striking down towards Mephisto's right horn.
Instead of blocking this, Mephisto dodged it by shooting a burst of lightning to his side, using the propelling force from the eruption to get a burst of speed out of Thor's attack path. Mephisto then held both clawed hands out like he was Jesus when nailed to the cross, lightning arcing over both as he promptly charged up and unleashed a barrage of several hundred electric-made missiles towards the thunder god. Missiles which came at it from multiple directions while some even curved around to attack Vali.
'Dodge those, Vali! They can damage the Scale Mail badly if hit!'
'Got it!'
As a result, both males (Vali having been told to by Albion) had to fly about like their lives depended on it to avoid the rounds launched at them, well, Vali did while Thor just swatted them away through the use of his Hammer before raising it to the skies, supercharging it and finally letting a continuous streak of lightning get fired from the hammer's tip towards his enemy. While this happened, Vali aimed [Valstrax] from a position akin to a sniper's prone one while in mid air after having dodged another missile by sausage flipping, quickly taking the small window of opportunity to retaliate.
In response to this, the Dark Lord held a hand up to the skies, calling down several lightning strikes that circled around him, like a tornado. These lightning strikes were constant, and they proved themselves as worthwhile shields since both attacks got parried as easy as a sword bouncing off a shield. It then proceeded to wrap its arms around itself like it were trying to hold something in, before throwing them outwards, which prompted the lightning strikes to disperse into multiple hundred MORE missiles, each of them targeting Vali and Thor's positions.
"Hellwalker, I'll provide defence, you get in and smack some sense into my brother!"
"Gladly!"
A quick communication between the two males was all that needed to be said for them to develop a new plan of attack, Thor getting in front of Vali and providing some cover for the hybrid of human and devil.
"Ufufufufu, FOOL…!"
Thanks to this, a twisted, cynical and mocking cackle escaped the demons lips with ghastly wipers reaching across the battlefield. All the while it pointed a hand at them and co-ordinated EVERY one of the multi hundred lightning missiles towards Thor with the intent of crushing him with his own element. It did have an awareness that Thor had a resistance of sorts towards lightning that was of a weaker level to his own, however compared to a Dark Lord like him? A Dark Lord who had sealed the fates of multiple gods before this one? There was no comparison between them.
SPEW-SPEW-SPEW-SPEW-SPEW-SPEW-SPEW-SPEW-SPEW-SPEW-SPEW-SPEW-SPEW!
"Grrr… grrraaaarrrrrgh!"
Proof of this opinion came to life when Thor constantly brought Mjolnir in front of him to deflect the rounds, the mystical divine weapon being augmented by the thunder god's energy to help it resist the attacks aimed at him. However, through each hit sparks of lightning covered his arm by running up it and into his shoulder, bring brief spasms of pain through his nerves and causing immense agony to the norse god, eventually causing him to start bleeding from the corner of his lip while he attempted to keep going to provide cover for his ally, his norse pride refusing to let him submit to the enemy or risk being shamed by this encounter for the rest of his eternal existence.
"Ufufufufufufufu… once again, I am amazed at your foolishness, pathetic godling… to think you are arrogant enough to assume that you could hold out against me like this."
Seeing what it did, the possessed Loki cackled darkly, its eyes shining brightly with the ridicule it aimed at him. The demon could see that its power was affecting the God quite a bit, each strike causing the God's arm to move slower and slower gradually, his arm strength weakening thanks to the electricity from its missiles numbing the nerves within. Eventually, it would come to where Thor wouldn't be able to use said arm anymore, and forget about using the other arm it would soon end up in the same state as the other one. Especially with how many lightning missiles that Thor was blocking for Vali's sake, the built up electrical energy would inevitably spread through the norse god's body, eventually causing mass organ failure and numbing him to the point where a fatal enough strike would finish him off. That was one of the reasons why Mephisto preferred lightning and ice powers amongst its vast knowledge of the arcane arts, it's sort of like how predators in the wilds weaken their prey through their own means before striking the final blow.
It would be obvious that Thor knew this as well, his lightning resistance working decently in delaying this inevitable thing since 'resistance' wasn't the same as 'immunity'.
However, when Mephisto looked to the norse god's face instead of panic and fear, all it saw… was a simple smirk. The said god smirked up at the demon, causing it to hum in confusion. "What's the matter, demon? Aren't you going to finish me off? I'm able to do this all day…" he remarked, and he wasn't wrong. Sure all this lightning wouldn't end well for him if he kept blocking them like this, he could feel the power behind each missile when they impacted his Mjolnir, however it would be a while before his arms would be rendered useless in battle. Something which he doubted that the demon had considered since in its arrogance, it looked down on him. "Perhaps a FLASH of humility would be good for you…"
For a moment, Mephisto's eyes narrowed at the man before it, a sneaking suspicion in the back of its mind that there was more to those words than it could initially assume…
STAB!
"?!"
...Those suspicions soon proved to be accurate as all heck thanks to Vali appearing behind him with [Astalos] in his two armored hands. Not only that, but he had quickly stabbed into Mephisto from behind from the back and out the chest using both weapons, a pillar of lightning erupting from the blades to send lightning coursing through the possessed demon's body. Thanks to this being the body of a god it wasn't enough to outright kill him, however it hurt like a freaking BITCH, causing Mephisto to HOWL in pure agony, feeling the electrical energy turn the insides of the body it was possessing.
"GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
In that moment of agony, something became clear to the demon when it glanced behind it at the armored male, even as his wings started to shine and it began feeling its power being rapidly drained from its began to understand exactly what had happened, even through the immense pain it had found itself put under. Thanks to the whole barrage Thor had provided him cover from, Vali had been able to use that to disguise himself amongst the missiles using [Astalos]'s electric powers, allowing him to speed through the battlefield and end up behind it while the demon had been gloating about cornering the thunder god.
So… THIS was the Hellwalker who had given them so much grief, then…?
Looked like it's brother was correct in doing those things...
