"My Liege!" Masamune followed hurriedly behind Izuku as he and the four Grand-Marshals walked out into the frozen tundra of Antarctica. They didn't want to damage the mostly rebuilt palace already. "It is too cold out here! Do not worry about destroying the palace! We can rebuild it! I hate to see you uncomfortable!"

Izuku just chuckled and waved off the Celestial Engineer, "Relax, I can handle a little cold."

"At least allow me to get you a coat."

"Masamune," Igris began, "Do you truly believe our Liege to be so weak?"

The Angel froze up and dropped to his knees, "N-No! Of course not! Forgive me, my Liege!"

"It's okay," Izuku assured, asking his soldier to stand, "I appreciate your concern, but I'll be fine."

"As you say! Death is not the end!" With that, Masamune disappeared back into the palace, determined to make it more sturdy than ever.

Izuku turned to Igris, "Death is not the end. You all said that when Bellion showed up."

"It is the Shadow Army's pledge. It is the declaration that our lives as undead will be spent in the service of our Monarch. Because Death is not the end, our new beginning is completely devoted to you."

Izuku tilted his head. "Igris seems different… He's always been calm and collected… but now he seems like he's at peace. Maybe it's because he got his sword back?" The Blood-Red Excalibur sat in its sheath on his left hip, so he could draw and wield it with his dominant right hand.

"The item description… is it just for fun? Or are you really the most skilled knight in existence?"

Bellion spoke up before Igris could, "Oh my Liege, it is in no way conjecture. Igris is indeed the most dangerous knight you could meet in sword combat. With that blade allowing him to draw out his full power, he stands next to us Grand-Marshals as equals. I believe that I would have to face him one-on-one to defeat him."

"So then, are all Divine Weapons this powerful?"

"My Liege, I detest asking things of you, but please, do not insult the skill and power of Marshal Igris by attributing his success as a warrior to his weapon," Bellion kneeled as apology, to which Izuku shook his head.

"No, you're right, that was rude of me… I'm sorry, Igris."

The knight held a hand over his chest and gave a slight bow, "All is forgiven, my Liege. Your question is a viable one. Divine Weapons draw their power from their wielders in a sense. For example, when fashioned, Blood-Red Excalibur looked into my soul, seeking that which made me… me. When it found my passion for swordplay, it constructed itself accordingly. However, when I received it as a mortal, a warrior of the Rulers, I was not truly worthy of it and had to work diligently to obtain the power that now rests inside it."

"Waitwaitwait… a warrior of the Rulers?"

"Indeed, myself and Igris are the oldest servants of The Greatest Fragment of Brilliant Light. When you were still a Ruler my Liege, we were your most relied on warriors," Bellion explained.

Izuku looked over to Igris, shock on his face, "You never said anything?"

Igris awkwardly averted his gaze, "The System remade me into an enemy, so that I could become your first Shadow. It took most of my strength, my sword, and my memories in order to keep you pushing towards being worthy of Ashborn's full power. When my sword was released from the Gate, my memories came flooding back."

"That's why he was so emotional when he said the Shadow Pledge! And why he seems a lot more at peace! He's not some several year old Shadow, he's millenia old! ...And, Ashborn's oldest friend?"

"Well, shall we begin?" Bellion asked, to which Beru clicked his mandibles, like he was laughing.

"Kiek kiek kiek. We thought you were stalling." He extended his claws and the two blades tucked up against his chest as he increased his size.

Lucifer readied both of his Divine Weapons and Azrael floated up into the air behind them, holding a tome overflowing with Mana.


[Item: Genesis Blade.]

Item Class: Divine

Item Type: Longsword

Divine Weapon Wielder: Lucifer

+1300 Attack

The second Divine Weapon of Lucifer. Capable of spewing endless cleansing flames.


[Item: Lance of Longinus.]

Item Class: Divine

Item Type: Spear

Divine Weapon Wielder: Lucifer

+1666 Attack

Lucifer's true Divine Weapon. This Lance has pierced the sides of gods and has higher effectiveness against Higher Beings.


[Item: Tome of Infinite Knowledge.]

Item Class: Divine

Item Type: Spell Tome

Divine Weapon Wielder: Azrael

+0 Attack

Azrael's unending desire for knowledge of Magecraft has earned her this Divine Weapon. In the hands of a lesser Sorcerer, it is useless, but to Azrael, it allows the use of every type of Magic


They all seemed like powerful weapons, with some pretty amazing abilities. Beru didn't have his own Divine Weapon yet, but he was still a Grand-Marshal, so he added plenty of firepower to the three. And yet, Bellion didn't seem to mind in the least as he stood there, waiting for his fellow Shadows to finish readying themselves.

Igris stepped forwards, "I shall referee this match! As our physiology's don't allow us to die, the battle will be decided as such: If a Shadow takes three fatal strikes, they are determined dead. I will make sure to call out these strikes! If Bellion takes three strikes, he loses! If all three of his opponents take three strikes each, they lose! Is this understood?"

"Crystal," Lucifer said, hefting his spear into a throwing position.

"I am prepared," Bellion said, still standing with plenty of openings in his relaxed form.

"BEGIN!"

Beru was the first to shoot forwards, his claws outstretched. If he made the first mark, and maybe the other two, he could become the true Grand-Marshal of the army and lead it for his Liege. He would earn so much praise!

"Hmph, you're too excited, bug." Bellion deftly sidestepped Beru, using his palm to push the Shadow to the side as he unsheathed his sword with his other hand and sliced it in the direction of Azrael and Lucifer. The sword looked more like a centipede made up of several segments rather than a single blade. And much like Izuku remembered from his first appearance, the blade split apart forming a sharp whip that danced through the air. It sliced apart the three spells that Azrael had shot at him and knocked the Lance of Longinus out of the sky, sending it rocketing back to Lucifer's hand.

"In one motion, he dealt with the attacks of all three Grand-Marshals! Is he even a Grand-Marshal himself? This feels like the power of Beru and Kamish when they were fused! Shouldn't he be a Primordial Grade?!" Even against Bellion's wishes, Izuku couldn't help but think that his Divine Weapon was a huge part of his power.


[Item: Centillion.]

Item Class: Divine

Item Type: Chain Sword

Divine Weapon Wielder: Bellion

+1750 Attack

Centillion becomes an extension of its wielder, responding to their mental commands and moving telekinetically. It's edge can even rival other Divine Weapons.


Beru immediately spun around after being pushed to the side, slashing his claws viciously at Bellion's back. But the Grand-Marshal was already in motion, his sword retracted. Beru stopped halfway to the monstrously powerful being, but it was too late. Centillion shot forwards, expanding its reach just far enough to cleave Beru from the collarbone down to his waist.

"Grand-Marshal Beru has earned his first fatal strike, he has two more left."

Bellion got up in Beru's face, sending Centillion whipping behind him as a defense as he drove his palm into the ant's already regenerated chest. Centillion once again knocked spells and Longinus out of the sky while its master created a massive crater in Beru's chest. Since he had already regenerated by that point, "Grand-Marshal Beru has earned his second fatal strike, he has one more left."

"I was wrong again. The mental agility he needs to control his Divine Weapon behind him, and strike Beru at the same time. And that pure strength. I think Razar has been the only one able to manhandle my strongest Shadow like that."

The palm strike sent Beru rocketing backwards, allowing Bellion time to turn and meet the Genesis Blade head on with his own strike.

Lucifer had used Longinus to deflect Centillion while he flew closer, close enough to swing the Genesis Blade. But Bellion almost shared a mind with his Divine Weapon, he knew that Lucifer was coming and dealt with that reality with a scary calmness.

With their blades locked, they seemed evenly matched in pure strength, but before Lucifer could try anything, the tip of Bellion's blade snaked out, intending to spear Lucifer through the head. Lucifer didn't have time to react, so instead Azrael used Gravitation Magic to yank him back.

[Azrael is using Gravitation Magic: Absolute Pressure.]

The ground surrounding Bellion cracked and cratered into a deep bowl, but the Fallen Angel barely seemed bothered. In fact, Izuku was surprised the ground broke as little as it did. It seemed that the enormous amounts of Mana that had soaked into this place made the very landscape more durable.

Still in midair, Lucifer called the dropped Longinus to his hand and launched it forwards like a missile as Bellion "dealt" with the gravity magic.

Bellion, like the elegant being he was, leaned to the side, snatching the spear out of the air and whipped it back… right into Lucifer's forehead.

"Grand-Marshal Lucifer has earned his first fatal strike, he has two more left."

"Wha-" Azrael didn't have any time to wonder why her spell didn't work as Centillion's segmented blades tore her body apart.

"Grand-Marshal Azrael has earned her first fatal strike, she has two more left."

Izuku squinted, "Even I would've felt Azrael's magic… how is he still so fast?!"

[Bellion's Passive Skill: Endless Void is active. Endless Void negates all debuffs that come from beings weaker than him.]

He was on those two faster than they could realize. Their bodies stitched themselves back together just in time to be surrounded in a cage of Bellion's black blade. It rapidly closed in on them, shredding them like a meat grinder.

"All three Grand-Marshals have just one fatal strike left!"

Bellion landed heavily back on the ground. Without any wings, he could only rely on the momentum of his legs to keep him airborne. The three Shadows, regenerated and regrouped, faced him as one.

"Have you recognized the difference between us yet?"

"Kiek kiek kiek."

"Do you really expect us to surrender in front of our Liege?"

"Such an action would be quite shameful," Azrael opened her tome once more. "Divine Weapon Trigger!"

[Tome of Infinite Knowledge's Trigger has been activated. Up to four targets can have their Stats tripled. Targets: Lucifer, Azrael, and Beru.]

"Divine Weapon Trigger!" Lucifer shouted along with Azrael, revealing yet another function to the overpowered weapons.

[Lance of Longinus's Trigger has been activated. The Lance is granted one sure strike that can only be deflected with a far greater force.]

[Genesis Blade's Trigger has been activated. The upper limits of the blade's flames have been unlocked for one singular strike.]

The Lance, wreathed in the powerful cleansing flames and buffed by Azrael, surpassed supersonic speeds, Beru and several dozen elemental attacks from Azrael following it.

Izuku was certain that this would at least take one of Bellion's "lives," but as the Shadow had proven so far, he was far from a quitter.

Centillion sprung into action once more. But it didn't go for a final strike. Instead, it instantly formed a spinning vortex of blades in front of him, like a black hole absorbing light. All of the attacks collided at once. The vortex pulled away the elemental attacks and the flames of the Genesis Blade like they were nothing. It also shredded Beru's outstretched left arm. But it couldn't stop him or the Lance completely. With a bright flash of light, both Beru's right arm and Longinus broke through the defense, stabbing Bellion through the chest.

"Hmph. It seems there are still some heights to surpass." He nonchalantly lopped off Beru's head and thrust his sword forwards, stabbing out in the direction of Lucifer and Azrael. Lucifer was in the process of recalling Longinus from Bellion's stomach, but Centillion was faster. It came out Lucifer's back and wrapped back around, stabbing through Azrael and emerging from her own chest.

The whole interaction was so fast, that Igris didn't even have a chance to update the score.

"All three challenging Grand-Marshals have taken three fatal hits, while Bellion only took one! Bellion wins and retains his title as the true Grand-Marshal of the Shadow Army!"

Izuku clapped his hands together, "That was incredible! Even though you three lost the battle, you did well to match up to a superior fighter!"

The Angels and Beru kneeled, "Thank you, my Liege!" Pride flowed from their Shadowy figures as they were acknowledged.

"And Bellion…"

Bellion raised his head, "Yes, my Liege?"

"I can see why you've resided as both the leader of the Shadow Army and Ashborn's most trusted servant even after all these millenia." Izuku smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. The Shadow was a few heads taller than even the gargantuan Thomas Andre, so Izuku's hand went up to chest height even though Bellion was kneeling. "We're going to need all the power we can get and after seeing your display, I believe you should be the first unfused Shadow to reach Primordial Grade…" Izuku trailed off as he opened Bellion's Stat chart and looked at the Evolution cost.


Bellion:

Level: 10/30

Species: Fallen Celestial

Grade: (True) Grand-Marshal

Skills:

[Endless Void: Endless Void negates all debuffs that come from beings weaker than him.]

[Divine Weapon Link: Can telekinetically call his Linked weapon back to him.]

[Regeneration: As long as the Shadow Monarch has Mana, Bellion can regenerate.]

Mana required for next Evolution:

[75,012,165/125,000,000]


The part that stumped Izuku was not the insane amount of Mana needed left to evolve him, which would take a little under a hundred days to generate naturally or the fact that it was already somewhat filled. No, the part that stumped him was Bellion's species. He was a Celestial type Shadow, which meant that like the other Angelic Grand-Marshals, he shouldn't have been able to evolve any further. "So then… what will he become?"

"Thank you, my Liege. I will treasure this opportunity. I know we still have quite some time to go before we can reach that Grade, so perhaps you would like an introduction to your new forces?"

Izuku shook off his confusion and smiled, "That would be cool," He agreed. "Well… Come Forth."

Two-hundred-thousand Shadows sprouted from the ground, all of which were already kneeling. The three Dragons in the back of the army had their heads bowed low.

What surprised Izuku the most about the army was that all two-hundred-thousand forces looked incredibly similar. Aside from the Dragons, all the angelic knights looked the same.

"We are the forces Ashborn stored away for a rainy day. At least… that's what he told us. I believe that he simply wanted to keep his original forces safe from destruction."

"Ahh…" Izuku thought. All the Shadows looked similar because they originated from Ashborn's army when he was still a Ruler. They weren't stolen from any of the other Rulers. Only the Dragons were taken from Antares, Izuku figured.

[200,000 Fallen Seraphs Commander Grade.]

[3 Ancient Dragons Grand-Marshal Grade.]

From each and every one of them, Izuku felt an outpouring of emotions. They'd been separated from their Liege for so long, that even Ashborn's host was enough to draw tears from their eyes.

"My Liege," Igris began, taking his rightful place to Izuku's left as Bellion stood to his right, "What shall our next move be?"

Izuku reached into his Inventory, pulling out the golden cube that took Burnin's life, "We bring the rest of the Rulers to earth."


Shadows: Total count: 309421

2,300 Superhumans - Elite-Knight Grade

881 Shadow Infantry - Elite-Knight

700 Death Knights - Elite-Knight

584 Direwolf Lords - Elite-Knight

433 Greater Elemental Spirits - Elite-Knight

354 Kijin - Elite-Knight

328 Metal Slimes - Elite-Knight

282 Shadow Nomu - Elite-Knight

68 Lava Golems - Elite-Knight

63 Shadow High Orcs - Elite-Knight

49 Angel Archers - Elite-Knight

40 Obsidian Beetles - Elite-Knight

34 Greater Fire Spirits - Elite-Knight

33 Yetis - Elite-Knight

25 Shadow Bears - Elite-Knight

21 Lava Titans - Elite-Knight

15 Ice Golems - Elite-Knight

10 Amphitians - Elite-Knight

6 Ice Foxes - Elite-Knight

Stain (Human) - Elite-Knight

785 Soul Eaters - Captain

672 Arch Demons - Captain

400 Templar Paladins - Captain

154 Shadow Wyverns - Captain

149 Dragon Knights - Captain

100 Arch Liches - Captain

67 Perfected Elemental Spirits - Captain

50 Saints - Captain

45 Oni - Captain

30 Angel Mages - Captain

30 Draconian Cannons - Captain

23 Stone Goliaths - Captain

20 Earth Hydras - Captain

20 Quetzalcoatl - Captain

20 Angel Knights - Captain

20 Fire Serpents - Captain

6 Magicians - Captain

3 Shadow High Orc Bodyguards - Captain

Gipsy Danger (Earthen Behemoth) - Captain

Lucky Seven (Earthen Behemoth) - Captain

Cherno Alpha (Earthen Behemoth) - Captain

Romeo Blue (Earthen Behemoth) - Captain

Crimson Typhoon (Earthen Behemoth) - Captain

Smokey (Ice Bear) - Captain

Slice (Human) - Captain

Twice (Human) - Captain

Chimera (Human) - Captain

Tank (Nomu) - Captain

200,000 Fallen Seraphs - Commander

34,031 Seraph Berserkers - Commander

27,690 Seraph Knights - Commander

16,157 Seraph Sorcerers - Commander

7,829 Seraph Monstrosities - Commander

5,623 Seraph Silencers - Commander

5,162 Seraph Priests - Commander

4,031 Maker Seraphs - Commander

10 Soul Kings - Commander

8 Prime Draconians - Commander

Hawks (Human) - Commander

Crust (Human) - Commander

Yoroi Musha (Human) - Commander

Fat Gum (Human) - Commander

Best Jeanist (Human) - Commander

Gang Orca (Human) - Commander

Esil (Seraph) - Commander

Zeus (Disaster Oni) - Commander

Poseidon (Disaster Oni) - Commander

Hades (Disaster Oni) - Commander

Ares (Disaster Oni) - Commander

Artemis (Disaster Oni) - Commander

Kojin (Undead King) - Commander

Striker Eureka (True Titan) - Commander

Karkinos (Angelic Wyrm) - Commander

Ifrit (God of Fire/Spirit) - Commander

Pektra (Prime Draconian) - Commander

Fenrir (Direwolf King) - Commander

Masamune (Celestial Engineer) - General

Ken (Celestial Brawler) - General

Seimei (Celestial Spellweaver) - General

Ronin (Celestial Spearman) - General

Saishi (Celestial Healer) - General

Hyo (Ice Elf) - General

Tusk (High Orc) - General

Siddharth (Human) - General

Aurum (Spirit God of Time) - General

Argentum (Spirit God of Space) - General

Hinata (Holy Being) - General

Tatsuya (Holy Being) - General

Glaedr (Dragon God) - General

Thorn (Dragon God) - General

Firnen (Dragon God) - General

Saphira (Dragon God) - General

Uramoth (Dragon God) - General

Shruikan (Dragon God) - General

Igris (Knight King) - Marshal

3 Ancient Dragons - Grand-Marshal

Azrael (Celestial Spellweaver) - Grand-Marshal

Uriel (Celestial Healer) - Grand-Marshal

Sariel (Celestial Brawler) - Grand-Marshal

Raphael (Celestial Behemoth) - Grand-Marshal

Lucifer (Celestial Spearman) - Grand-Marshal

Nakir (Celestial Engineer) - Grand-Marshal

Arkas (Celestial Mercenary) - Grand-Marshal

Beru (Perfected Nomu) - Grand-Marshal

Kamish (Ancient Dragon) - Grand-Marshal

Bellion (Fallen Celestial) - Grand-Marshal