With the battle now finished, both Vali (now back in his human form with none of his Devil Arms or Sacred Gear on his person) and Thor stood tall albeit slightly battered from their fighting, while they looked down upon the dark lord as it lay, defeated, on the ground before dispersing into a cloud of black mist, leaving behind a body that was Loki. Unfortunately, he looked to also be dead but had a smile on his lips which likely had to do with him now being free from the torture the lord of hate inflicted upon him.
"Brother." Thor whispered mournfully under his breath as he gazed upon Loki's unmoving form, deep sorrow in his eyes. "If only you could've opened more for us." he said, a single tear dripping down his cheek at the loss of one of his family members.
"What's done is done Thor, your brother walked to this path, there is nothing for him." Vali stated, furrowing his brows as he gazed down at the corpse.
In his eyes, Loki was a fool for thinking he could handle anything related to Hell, a dimension that had been known to create corrupted Gods with its essence that now flowed in a better form through Vali's own veins. However, thinking about what he had known about the Trickster God through the legends of the Norse perhaps there wasn't anything that Thor or the others could have done, since Loki wouldn't have trusted them regardless.
"I know hellwalker, but if only….." Thor stopped, shaking his head regretfully. As much as he had wished it weren't so, the fact of the matter was that Loki did all of this to himself, there wasn't anything he could have done. Didn't make the pain die down any less though. "If only he had stopped with his obsession with Ragnarok. Then we could've been a happy family."
"Remember Thor, nothing could last forever."
"...I know."
After saying his piece to the thunder god, Vali looked towards Loki's chest where he saw the yellow crystal filled with Argent energy. His eyes sharpened before he walked towards Loki's corpse. Kneeling on one leg, Vali reached forwards and took it from Lokis's chest before getting back to his feet and looking it over.
Obviously, Thor noticed this and scowled. "What will you do with that cursed stone?"
"Well one thing for sure I can't crush it since it will release him. I'll find a way to destroy it." Vali replied, viewing the stone from different angles before pocketing it for the time being. He would ask VEGA to look into destroying it once all of this was over.
"Good luck with that warrior-ugh!" Just when he was about to wish Vali good luck, Thor suddenly grunted in pain when his injuries flared, causing him to collapse down onto the ground as he put a hand on his chest.
Seeing this, Vali grimaced, remembering how through the battle the majority of the damage had been dealt to the thunder god. Although he could survive a lot of punishment, it seemed that it wouldn't be leaving him scarless. "Careful, your wounds are still there." Vali stated with a mild sense of concern in his tone.
An emotion which the thunder god indeed noticed judging by the weak smirk he gave out. "Hehe thanks for reminding me." Thor chuckled as Vali went to him before helping him stand up.
With everything dealt with, Vali would have just headed back to the rest of the party guests now that Loki had been dealt with… had it not been for him noticing one of the Gremory Devils, the blue-haired one, nearby. Not only that, but that Devil looked to be still alive, but barely, he could tell due to the faint rising and falling of her chest. Looked like her injuries were quite severe from what he had seen, but it also looked like she had managed to avoid a near-fatal injury.
Vali remained silent as he stared at her, pondering on whether or not he should leave her to die. It wasn't like she would be grateful to him since she was part of the Gremory Peerage, not to mention she likely already hated his guts thanks to him shaming her and the other Devils, but he is not the type of heartless person who leaves people to bleed to death, only those who deserved it like his grandfather and a certain sperm donor.
Once he concluded this, Vali proceeded towards her, his footsteps slowly rousing the person from her unconsciousness. Her eyes flutter weakly as she sees someone going to her.
"This is my mercy to you, better make this count." Vali told her before he reached into his pocket and took out a phenex tear bottle, which he then opened. He then held its lid over her form and dropped a tear onto her, which then slipped through her mouth and it proceeded to heal her.
"Thank…...you…." She weakly said but her voice was too low to be heard by anyone but Vali. Her strength soon left her and she went unconscious.
Observing this act, the thunder god hummed thoughtfully. "Seems you still have some good in your heart. I thought you hated the devils." Thor said.
With a glance behind him, Vali addressed the Norse deity about that comment regarding his actions. "Only the pillar devils, not the reincarnated ones. There is a difference on whom I hate." He remarked, flatly before re-applying the cork onto the bottle of phoenix tears and slipping it back into his pocket.
Whilst this happened, Thor thought for a moment to himself. He then decided to impart some of his own opinions on the Devils to the young hybrid. "Maybe, but let me tell you this, not all devils are bad. The only reason why the younger generations are the way they are, is because the older devils influenced them. There are some who even preserve their humanity."
Again, Vali remained silent about that, not sharing his thoughts on what Thor had told him, before picking the girl up like a sack of potatoes. He then clicked his fingers and a magic circle appeared before them, and JUST as he was about to walk to it...
"Wait." A request suddenly came from Thor, prompting Vali to turn to him. This allowed him to see how the Norse God had gone to Loki's body and picked him up, carrying him in a princess carry. "Despite all the things he's done….. he still is my brother." Thor declared solemnly.
After remaining silent again, not responding to those words, Vali turned and walked to the circle Thor following him.
Not a second after that
"THOR!"
Once the two had appeared back at the party, Odin yelled so loud it nearly busted through everyone's highly sensitive ears.
"Ow." Vali cringed as his head visibly tilted like it had been physically hit. Looked like the old god still had quite the bark on him.
Ignoring the onlookers who had been affected by his shout, Odin walked to Thor as he had an angry face. He did NOT look very happy, essentially. "What in the name of ALL NINE REALMS WERE YOU THINKING!?"
However, as the saying went: 'like father like son' since Thor didn't relent to the older God's rage, bringing out his own. "What was I thinking? I had to do it father! I couldn't allow Loki to be corrupted by the cursed realm!" he exclaimed.
Such protests only further stoked Odin's flames of rage though, the deity having to physically restrain himself from whacking his temperamental son. "That does not mean to go recklessly and fight a dark lord which could corrupt you! What would happen if they got a hold of you and the Hellwalker's forced to fight MULTIPLE corrupted Gods?!"
"What do you expect me to do father?! Sit around while someone is getting corrupted!? I refuse to allow that! We are gods for a reason Odin!"
Odin looked at him with rage and Thor too before his anger was gone and instead had a grim face. "I could've lost you, like Loki. I can't afford to see another of my sons die." while saying this, Odin looked towards Loki's body which had now been handed over to a bunch of Norse soldiers, Freya crying over his body.
"I know father. I tried to save him, but-"
"Stop, it's not your fault Thor." Odin interrupted as he solemnly looked at Loki before he turned to Vali. "You have my gratitude…. for freeing my son from his torment."
On the other hand, Vali shook his head with an equally grim expression. "He was already dead the moment he was possessed. There is nothing that can save him, only death remained." he stated, and he wouldn't be wrong in saying that.
"You are indeed correct." Odin sadly said as he turned to Loki's corpse, before going to a lightly sobbing Freya as he comforted her.
While he watched on, Vali suddenly tensed up when he sensed something rapidly closing in on him. Realizing it to be killing intent, he quickly ducked under something that would have hit him in the back of the head and turned around to see the source.
Apparently, it was Nanoha and she had almost hit him with her Nobunagun. Before he could say anything, his eyes widened when he saw Fate slash at him as he dodged before grabbing both of the magical girls as he saw that they both were angry but had tears in their eyes.
"Why did you do that!?" Nanoha and Fate yelled in unison.
Hearing their distraught words, a pang of guilt erupted inside his chest. However, Vali held firm in his answering of them to his intentions. "I did what I had to."
That didn't sit well with them however, with Nanoha exclaiming the following so much that it sounded more like a shriek than anything. "By taking us out of the battlefield!? We could've handled it!"
Not like Vali got affected by that though. "I've seen you and the other's expression, you were terrified of its presence." he declared, thinking back. Back when Loki had begun to get possessed by Mephisto, Vali had snuck glances towards his group to see how they were faring, fears of them being unable to handle the situation in his gut. His fears had been well founded too, for they had looked similar to when Nanoha had seen what remained of her family and Fate having lost her previous reason for existing. At that point, as the group's leader he had seen that they wouldn't have had the resolve to get themselves back together in time to fight the demon, which would probably have used their states to his advantage before the battle even started. Vali refused to allow that, hence why he did what he did.
There was another reason though, but he hoped he didn't have to say it in front of the girls...
"That doesn't explain it! Why?"
"... I would've lost any of you to the dark lord. If it killed any of you, I won't rest easy and forgive myself if I did." Unfortunately, Vali soon saw that the second reason would have been the ONLY one that the girls would have accepted as reasonable for his actions. Hence Vali had to suck in his pride for the moment and admit the LARGER reason for his conduct with them being teleported away.
They both gritted their teeth, absorbing the information. before lowering their weapons. "Just….. Just please don't do that again. Please." Fate declared.
"...Can't promise that. If the situation is something we all can't handle, then I will do what's necessary."
Fate and Nanoha stayed silent before walking with the group as they were recovering from the presence of the dark lord, it was terrifying as if it could make them like ants.
'Just…..just, please Vali don't distance us. We are always with you.' Fate wanted to say but couldn't as she stared at Vali's back as she was holding lots of emotion in her. Nanoha too as she gripped her fist before lowering it.
This made them think that they were cowards, they couldn't even respond back to his feelings.
Unaware of these thoughts, Vali walked to the Gremory as they were by the medics, recovering from the failed battle against the Norse god. "Here." he declared, finally dropping the girl he had helped as well as freeing his shoulder of its burden.
As soon as they saw the Devil, they widened their eyes as Irina ran to her, screaming her name. "XENOVIA!" Once by her side, Irina quickly looked her over to check to see if there were any wounds on her.
Meanwhile, the silver haired hybrid furrowed his brows while he crossed his arms under his chest. "The girl was lucky as she was still alive, I could've left her dead like any of you devils did when you see them weak but I'm not. Consider this as my favor to you." Vali said to the Gremory peerage as he turned his back on them.
Rias grit her teeth in anger as she let out a red aura around her. "You!" She marched to Vali as the Night Sentinels blocked her path with their spears as she struggled to get to him. "Let go of me, I'll kill you! It's all your fault!"
"My fault?" Vali turned around as he faced her. "How is it my fault that you were up against a Norse god?"
"If you hadn't tempted us then I wouldn't have lost Yuuto! My precious knight!"
"Tempted?" Vali walked closer to Rias as she angrily faced him as he kept a neutral face. "I told you that you and that girl were weak compared to a deity. Whose fault was that they didn't listen to me? And as a result, they lost HORRIBLY I might add?"
"Out of my way!"
She struggled even more but the Night Sentinels held their guard as they looked ready to butcher her if their helmets didn't cover their heads.
Watching this filled Vali's gut with sheer contempt for the Devils once more, already making him internally regret having gotten himself into this mess by helping one of their own. If THIS was how they were going to repay him for his mercy, then Thor's words were wrong. "See? You wouldn't listen to reason and refuse to see that this is all YOUR fault. You try to pin the blame on others because this is one of the things you devils have."
He pointed his finger at her.
"Your pride."
BANG!
"GAH!"
"RIAS!"
In an instant, Vali clenched his hand into a fist before he punched Rias HARD in the gut. This triggered a sharp cry from her before she fell to her knees, holding her stomach in pain.
"Devils represent the seven deadly sins, but there is always one they have more than anything: pride. It was YOUR pride and arrogance that made YOU think you could beat anyone because you have oh so special members on your peerage, but here is the thing. No one is special, even a weak low class person can defeat a high ranking person."
Vali turned around. "No matter what happens, devils always have their pride, even when they are dropped to the lowest population."
Rias ignored the pain as she got up and prepared her aura of destruction.
"You!"
"He's right."
Rias widened her eyes as she turned around as she saw Sona on the ground looking depressed as Shinra was next to her. "Sona? What do you mean?"
"I said." Sona got up and looked at her as her eyes were bloodshot and had despair on her. "That he's right. It was our pride that caused our peerage members to get killed."
"You're taking his side?! He was the reason why my knight died! Including yours!"
"...It's truly like what he said, you can't accept." Sona said in a low voice.
"What was that?"
"I said YOU CAN'T ACCEPT THE FAULT WAS YOURS!" Sona screamed at Rias as she was taken back at her attitude. "We thought we were at the top of the food chain because of our house traits, our power levels, multiple Ultimate devil class, members who have sacred gears and descendents of legendary figures, even two super devils but look where it got us!" She gestured to the covers of her fallen peerage members. "You only lost Kiba and almost Xenovia if he didn't leave her to die. You were lucky to not lose another one and what did you do? You didn't even acknowledge him! I lost almost all of my members!" She put her hands on her face as she lowered herself onto her knees. "How….. Just how am I going to face the parents of my peerage when they see their children are dead. How am I gonna tell them the truth?"
Rias had processed the information Sona told her before she widened her eyes, comprehension dawning on her at long last. Vali was right, in her arrogance, she thought they could beat Loki in order to stop him from disrupting chaos and her pride got over them as she lost Kiba Yuuto if he hadn't sacrificed himself to save Tsubaki.
On his side of things Vali had enough with the drama as he waved towards the Night Sentinels who pulled their spears back and followed him. As he walked away from the scene, the rest of the Night Sentinels and his group followed him before a portal appeared in front of them.
Just before he stepped through, Vali slightly turned his head so he could look at them through the corner of his left eye. "No matter how many good times, no matter how many good things you do, it won't last forever, nothing can last forever." With those last words uttered, Vali finally entered the portal as the Norse started to leave too. They carried Loki's body through their own portal, intending for a funeral back in Asgard despite him being a god of trickery.
Being the last of his faction to leave, Odin turns to the Satans. "I recommend Sirzechs that you keep the devils in check. One shred of hostility against our faction and the alliance is over." He declared, before finally entering the portal himself which then closed behind him. The Satans held their head down, they have got the alliance but the relationship with them is not good.
They achieved the battle but lost one of the objectives.
Timeskip
Vali was sitting on the roof of the group's house, watching the snowfall around him. It was one of the things which, to him, looked quite beautiful in winter. He had once watched an anime where a green haired woman had asked the protagonist 'why was the snow white?' only for the guy to respond later with that he didn't know, but it was beautiful regardless. If one were to ask Vali that question, then he would say that it was beautiful because of its purity, one of the fewest pure things in this rotten world.
Right now, none of that mattered however, instead Vali couldn't help thinking about Nanoha and Fates' words, their reactions to how he had forced his group out of the battle. "Was I… was I a coward to make them out of the battlefield?" he muttered to himself, unable to get the sorrowful looks they had out of his head
'No you weren't, despite the act, you did what you thought was right. If you ask me, I agree with you on getting them out of the field.'
"Then why do I feel this way? I've done something which I shouldn't have." Vali responded to Albion's words, the Sacred Gear Divine Dividing having appeared on his back for the Heavenly Dragon to speak earlier.
'Because sometimes even the most despicable things people do, they did it in order to protect their friends. The dark lord would've taken the advantage of their weakness and killed them. You would have been forced into juggernaut drive if even ONE of them were killed, it's something a LOT of Dragons do. They tend to go on rampages when their treasures are taken from them, just look at Tiamat. '
Albion replied to Vali as he thought about what would happen if he lost one of his friends. He would be consumed with anger and grief. It would have been just like the time when he had been so weak that he couldn't do anything because he was too late….. Like he couldn't stop his sperm donor from abusing his mother because he was weak and powerless.
Those memories lit a fire in Vali, or rather, they served to stoke his already raging bonfire to the size of a small mountain. His eyes burned with renewed resolve as he stood up from his previous position, his wings flaring outwards (the altered Devil wings not his Sacred Gear's) while his eyes started to glow with his Argent Energy. "I can't afford to leave any weakness in me. I have to get stronger fast." he declared, scowling.
'Then you'll need to force a miracle in you because no one can get THAT strong in mere days, or months. Even with the human side's evolution and devil's desire in you, you can't be on the level of your grandfather that fast. You want to get strong on your own, correct? Well, in the end, you still needed other people to help like the devil arms. Look how far they have gotten you now? You have to accept that you can't get strong as fast as you want on your own, those who truly followed that path have had to rigorously train hard for YEARS, to get where they're at, and if I'm not mistaken then you don't think you have that much time.'
Vali closed his eyes, digesting the heavenly dragon's statement. Hearing this didn't sit too well with him, because when he thought about when he had lectured others who relied solely on each other to get through adversity, those words made him feel frustrated inside. Why was that? Well, he didn't need to ask that, because Vali figured it out pretty quickly, that if those words were true then he may have been a bit hypocritical in his lecturing.
Not only that, but he was right on a lot of points. Because of the threat Hell posed, Vali felt like he wouldn't have much time before his Grandfather came knocking by, and in that case he could imagine what he would do to his newfound comrades with the levels they were at right now. Thus, he needed to get stronger quickly… but the more he began to think about it, the more Vali began to realize just how fruitless that would be if he constantly tried to get stronger alone without any help. Those who trained solo got their strength after years worth of it, something which Vali didn't have, so he probably couldn't follow their examples in his current situation as much as it galled him to admit it.
"What (Gulp) how can I geehhh! Get stro-(Retch)! Get strong faster dammit!"
Vali struggled to say as if his body was rejecting that idea or even tried to prevent him from saying it.
Albion was silent before [Glavenus] took the time to speak, having manifested itself over Vali's back.
[There are many methods available. Some would have to get legendary artifacts like Excalibur, become a gods champion in order to receive their blessing, stuff like that. I know you hate those suggestions as it would even disgrace the pride of the dragon. But there is already one thing you have which will help you get stronger fast.]
"What is it [Glavenus]?"
[Devil arms. And before you say anything let me tell you more about the devil arm.]
Vali made to say something about that, but then decided to remain silent in favor of listening to the history [Glavenus] speaks about.
[To wield a Devil Arm at all takes great mental fortitude, and back in the day Devil Arms were made primarily after the creatures were fought against with them judging their future wielders to see if they were worthy. Like how we decided to become devil arms for you. A Devil Arm provides great strain on the wielder's mind, which is why only those with great mental fortitude were able to wield them effectively.]
A thoughtful hum escaped Vali's lips. Yeah he remembered those times, the most memorable being [Glavenus] since he was the first of his Devil Arms. 'Geez. was it that long, now…?' Honestly, thinking back to his first encounter with [Glavenus] in the forest, Vali honestly couldn't believe how far he had come.
[Your mind is already significantly resilient to the power of the Devil Arms the most, likely due to the hardship you have endured. In life, hardships only make us stronger should we survive them, and considering your childhood that saying cannot be any more accurate. Not to mention that it takes a lot of effort to master one's abilities, as you have already experienced.]
"Heh, all that training paid off." Vali smirked, thinking back to the fruits of his efforts and how they resulted in the achievements he had made thus far. It had NOT been easy, even with the spirits of each Devil Arm offering hints and tips on how to utilize them effectively, it still took substantial time to develop his skill with them to where they could be applied in combat.
[Indeed, not many have the talent to wield devil arms, especially in these current times. They say that hard times create strong men, and peaceful times create weak men. This saying can be applied here.]
That made Vali even feel more accomplished, hearing that he had a talent unique to himself... but that didn't completely convince him that all these can help him with understanding the Devil Arms. "What is the specific nature behind the devil arms? I know for a fact that's not all there is." Vali said as [Gammoth] took the chance to speak, switching places with [Glavenus].
{Indeed, you are correct in that there is more to the Devil Arms, but it is not a pretty history. In the past, when the original Satans betrayed Satan himself they created a legion called the Malebranche, many of them also wielded Devil Arms as their primary weapons in conjunction with their own powers, and it was them which helped them fight against the Biblical God and Satan himself.}
"Huh, makes sense since these weapons would be the reason the devils are meant to be feared. Where is this legion?" Vali asked as he hoped to see if any of them were still alive so he could test the strength of the original Devil Arm wielders.
{Unfortunately, there isn't much about them since they disappeared somewhere in the B.C., so try not to get your hopes high in finding them, they could be anywhere I guess.}
Only for [Gammoth] to burst his bubbles, causing Vali to sigh in disappointment. "Ahhh dammit. And here I was hoping to see how strong they were."
{Haha! Anyway back to what I was saying, my theory is that Devil Arms were made to not only combat Sacred Gears that God himself made, them being where the Satans had gotten the inspiration to make them, but they were also the Satans' method of saving souls from falling into Hell's clutches.}
"Hmmmm." Vali hummed as that theory could be true since from what he said, the argent energy was made from the souls of the victim and their body is used to create demons from hell.
Truly a damned place Hell can be.
Then Vali thought about how he made [Astalos] his devil arm which he made lighting to damage Vali. "is it possible that controlling Devil Arms usually isn't such a simple task, was there any cases of someone losing control over them?"
The whole devil arm was silent as Vali thought they were thinking as [Valstrax] spoke, its form replacing [Gammoth]'s.
*Yes, there was.*
From the grim tone he used to speak those words, Vali frowned, thinking that this topic must be quite serious. There were few things that could cause such a tone to escape these old guys, so whenever he heard it he made sure to listen well.
*From my memories there was one case of that happening a long time ago. Back then, there was cases of one losing control and the Devil Arm's 'hijacking' their minds, turning them into husks that were controlled by the Devil Arm itself not the other way around.*
"... who were they?"
*ONE, there was one case where it happened. There was a devil arm, a powerful one called Soul Edge, a powerful Devil Arm that had powers capable of destroying entire cities, as well as had a powerful sentient Demon within it. This Devil Arm got formed when the Demon got defeated by another warrior, perhaps a descendant of Siegfried himself or other warriors, the information wasn't clear who defeated it. Nevertheless, thanks to the Devil Arm being so powerful it corrupted the host and turned it into a demonic knight, one which went by the name Nightmare, that caused a MASSIVE amount of damage to the world.*
"How…. Much damage it caused?"
*... let's just say it was the cause of the Antarctic desert thanks to its powers.*
Now THAT caught the hybrid's attention, his eyes shrinking to the size of sockets. "Holy shit… that powerful? What demon was sealed in that weapon?"
*I don't know but it still got worse.*
"Worse, how much are we speaking?"
*Soul Edge got an evolution during the final stages of the battles against Satan, becoming a being that was called Inferno, making it more than a match for all four original Satans AND the Biblical God. That's how much worse it was.*
"Oh, fuck me." Vali whispered, groaning in surprise on the power scale this thing had. It took both of them, him and Ludmila as he was powered up to a super devil level, to defeat the Icon of Sin on Mars. But then the shinigami told him that it was only a piece of his soul they fought, which made him imagine how powerful Satan was if he was at full power.
*Yes that much, but fortunately once Satan got defeated the forces took care of Inferno too, but soon a problem emerged. Thanks to the Devil Arm's power, completely destroying it proved beyond their capabilities, especially since all of them were weakened horribly from the battle with Satan. Thus, the Biblical God chose to seal it away within the depths of Hell itself, with the Devil Arm's energies being capable of repelling all but the STRONGEST of Demons.*
"I see."
*Since hell has begun their move, it won't be long until-*
Hell
"-find it."
"Hmmmm if what you say is true then can its power finally defeat that blasted Hellwalker brother?"
"Hmph even I don't know. Not even Mephisto could defeat him."
"He had help from the ones who repelled, the Norse against us a thousand years ago!"
"Which still is not enough! We will use every ounce of our power we can find and kill the Unchained Predator! Do you have any other solutions?!"
"...fine brother, have you found that devil arm?"
"Yes I have, in fact, we're in front of it!"
The shadowed figures look in front of them before seeing…. A clown door as it spews out party items and blowing a birthday whistle.
"What… are we looking at?"
"I have no idea."
(Cut! Take two!)
The shadowed figures look in front of them before seeing chains around a large broad sword as it has flesh in the middle of it.
"How can it even be immune to our energy?"
"THIS Devil Arm became so strong that not even argent energy can corrupt it,which is a testament to this thing's power. Back when our lord was defeated, that false god YHVH managed to seal it in our realm, stopping it from causing the chaos that it craved. It's taking me hundreds of years breaking the damned seal before the opportunity arrived."
"How long until the seal breaks brother?"
"I'm not the god of time to even predict the future! When we get the opportunity, we'll see who will stand and who will fall."
"This better be worth it, is this or our champion can't stop them then I will not wait any longer! I will find and destroy the hellwalker!"
"We shall see."
Gremory group
For the devils, they had to end the young devil gathering since Loki and the dark lord incident. They had to end it in order to make sure everyone is calm and that they were safe from further repercussions. As a result, everyone was told to start their preparations to head on to their respective homes for the day, so that those in the governing area could repair the damages done here.
"WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE WE SHOULD DO!?"
…..Unfortunately, not everyone was calm.
Within the ORC Club room, the remains of the Gremory group were in a heated argument as Rias had her head down on her desk as she was depressed about what both Vali and Sona had said to her.
Right now, Issei was doing something that his past self would have probably socked him for: yelling at Akeno. Not only that, but putting a LOT of emotion into his yells without a SHRED of his usual perversion. "Did you not see what happened back there Akeno? After what happened to Kiba, we have to rest?!" He exclaimed, really showcasing just how much this experience had gotten to him.
As for the Gremory queen, she held her own ground against the Pawn, remaining level, calm and rational (at least in her mind) while she tried to address Issei's concerns. "You are new to this Issei and-"
Unfortunately, the brown haired red dragon emperor wasn't having it. "Fuck being new to this! We can't just sit around on our butts and do nothing!"
"You have to understand! There is massive panic going around the world and we can't take our chances! Who knows when they will attack!" Akeno yelled, finally losing her cool for a moment. She could understand Issei's fears, she really did. However, she also wanted everyone to rest as Rias hadn't responded to them since their return from the young devils gathering, thus they hadn't any leader other than herself to keep the team together, something they desperately needed right now.
Issei had wanted everyone to immediately start training themselves to get stronger, and Akeno feared what could possibly happen as a result.
"Oh, I understand." Issei nodded his head, seemingly calmed down… for a few seconds. Afterwards, he blew up once more, this time even worse than before. "Understand how we are weak! I thought I could get strong by sacrificing my hand but apparently it wasn't enough! I think Vali was right all along, we really are the weakest and pathetic race there is-"
"DON'T BRING UP HIS NAME!"
"AND I WILL BRING IT WHENEVER I WANT!" Issei yelled back to Akeno's face, his eyes burning brightly like the dragon within. "Face it, we could've got stronger if we trained instead of being held back. I could've got much stronger but apparently, Buchou doesn't allow us as we have to go on with our daily life in school." His rant over, Issei sighed while looking utterly spent, as if that outburst had to be the last one he would have for the day. Whilst Akeno bit her lip and looked to the side, unable to refute such statements, Issei sat on the couch as he put a hand on his face. "You saw how devastated Saji's siblings were when a Devil told them what happened. Can you imagine what Ruruko's, Momo, Reya's, and the other parent's reactions were? Can you?"
At this, Akeno didn't respond, favoring silence as a depressed look formed in her eyes, especially since she COULD indeed imagine. She had lost her mother due to her clan punishing her for being with a fallen angel after all, and she had been devastated to the point of blaming that fallen angel. Thus, she could imagine VERY well what those parents and loved ones must be feeling when they learned the truth about those that would never be coming back.
Was… was this what Baraqiel felt back then? After she had renounced him as her father?
Did he feel the same things she was feeling right now?
"I thought becoming a devil would also mean becoming a harem king, get a peerage of my own but Vali told me good things can never last long forever. If that's the case…. Then what would happen if I lose my parents as well?" Issei questioned, his tone growing increasingly bitter as the cold, harsh reality of his situation crashed onto him. Any previous fantasies he may have had like his dream of being a harem king cracked and shattered, now that the truth had reared its ugly head.
Akeno's eyes were hidden behind her hair.
"Tell me this Akeno, can we even repel Hell if they kept getting stronger the minute we waste?"
She didn't answer nor did anyone in the ORC do.
"Then….. Then how can we…..get stronger Issei?" Finally, it was Koneko who brought up the obvious question, though she lacked any of her usual bite. This latest defeat of theirs had seriously gotten to her, to the point where she felt as small, insignificant and feeble as back when she had been about to be executed for her sister's crimes.
For a moment, Issei didn't respond, that is until something came to him. "You've seen how Vali and his group were top-notch, and they're not even Devils. If they trained to get that level, then so can we." he explained.
However, the others didn't share his beliefs, unfortunately. "But none of our training regimes can work Issei, not even ten days spent we didn't even raise a single level to even defeat Riser and his peerage."
"... dammit." Issei cursed as he put both of his hands on his face, trying to think of ways to get stronger. Azazel had to return to Grigori in order to reinforce the defenses on their faction, so he wasn't here to give any form of advice to their plight.
Xenovia had bandages on her torso and her arm as she began to speak. "What if…. What if we go to Vali for training?"
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"You're kidding me right?" Issei said to Xenovia with disbelief as well as the others including Rias who had her head up the moment Xenovia suggested that.
"It's what I'm suggesting."
"Uhhh did you not forget that dude basically hates our guts?! Even that black-eyed girl with a moderate chest which she hides it on her clothes, wonder what her size is? She looked like she could kill us! It's impossible to ask him without getting killed! Remember what happened back at the gathering?"
"I do Issei, but…."
"But what Xenovia?" Irina asked.
"He could've left me for dead instead… yet he chose to save me. He doesn't hate all of us."
Those words from Xenovia rendered the other peerage members silent, as they began to contemplate this new information. Information which was further supported by them remembering Vali bringing Xenovia back to them. Throughout the time that they had known him, which was hardly anything at all, Vali had showcased just how much he had hated their existence and mocked their struggles, not only that but he and his group had beaten up the older devils but left the younger ones alone as if they were innocent. It left them feeling...more than a little bit complicated about those guys, those monsters who trampled across everything they believed in.
"Even….even if he doesn't hate all of us I bet he would refuse us after…." Asia said as she looked at Rias as her head was on the desk as she looked down. She didn't need to say more since everyone had remembered the scoldings that Vali had given their leader back at the young devil's gathering. Not only that, but out of all of them, Rias had to be taking all of this the hardest since she had personally gathered them all together: a band of misfits rejected from society at large.
Still, this lead presented some possible hope for a solution to their problem, and a few of them refused to let those embers be snuffed out by doubts and what-if scenarios. "We won't know unless we try. He is our best and only option if we can get more strong and powerful." Xenovia said as she looked at her bandages, she may not have been able to complete recall what Vali had done for her, but she did recall enough. She felt sure that this would be one of the hardest things to do, as like he had stated Devils were huge manifestations of pride, more so than the other Deadly sins as she had seen. Even when she had been an exorcist Xenovia had a certain pride in her strength, not her ideals.
"What if…. What if it doesn't work?" Gasper feebly asked, remembering how powerful and brutal those of Vali's group were. As someone who didn't get out much, didn't have enough control over his Sacred Gear, as well as being someone their leader had been willing to kill in order to reverse a bad situation, he had ample reason to be afraid of them.
After a moment of contemplation, Xenovia gravely made the following statement which sent numerous chills down everyone's spines. "Then all we could do…. Is the hard way and pray for a miracle we gain enough strength."
AN:
Yo guys, hunter here. Hope you like the chapter, especially with how shitty everything has been recently. Then again we're all pieces of shit so maybe there's no saving us, but whatever. Vali's contemplating how he's come all this way, the Gremory Peerage got wrecked and Sona got wrecked HARD. Yet things aren't over, they never will be as long as Hell is still around. Hopefully things may approve soon, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
See you next chap
PEACE OUT!
Oh shit Hell is on the move again and this time, it won't be pretty!... my name is Darklord bringing you another chapter of the series! You want to know why we had to kill Kiba and the rest of Sona's peerage save for Tsubaki? Simple they were weak as hell and let me tell you, Issei didn't train with Tanin because he was focused on protecting his territory and the dragon apples since he also has to make sure they are prepared when He'll strikes so Azazel can't ask him to train Issei, Akron still does not accept her fallen heritage and Kuroka…. we'll tell you soon in the next chapter. There is also something called realistic, the author of dxd didn't do a good job in that, just how can they even defeat a god no less someone who is famous for his trickery and his children. Vali and his group trained all of their life to see the result. Alright thank you for reading our chapter, be sure to leave a review if you want and I'll see you next time!
GOOD LUCK!
