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Chapter 28: Burning Inside with Madness
Whispers of fate. A very rare phenomenon, but one very well documented to not be considered a mere myth among the supernatural. While they are gods who can claim to control fate and dictate it through the many branches of time to more favorable outcomes, ultimately they are trumped by the real master of fate that is the world. The existence of Whispers gives significant evidence to what gods and other deities like Gaia would rather not be open to discredit their own domains: Earth is a sentient being, and it is the true 'master' of fate. It would need to be if the annals of time will either turn to its destruction. Other sources of evidence can be related to the natural energy in the air that has been tainted by malice as if the earth has been enraged by humanity's audacity in killing it, but none were as concrete as the Whispers.
The Whispers have appeared in very brief, yet crucial points in history. Events include the formation of the Holy Roman Empire, the failed Mongol invasion of Japan, and most significantly during the Great War. Never has it favored one pantheon or individual, and the world only uses the Whispers in order to come about an outcome that would preserve itself. For as long as the earth lives, then so does for all life that has called the world home.
Which made the given situation all the grimmer. If someone like Sephiroth has usurped the Whispers, dictators of the planet's fate then nothing good can come about. The danger they represented was shown when the phantom-like entities rushed ahead like a swarm upon the gathered alliance of devil, fallen, and angel. As the Whispers assaulted them, they were pushed apart as unnatural forces worked to do so. Even those like Ludociel, Zeldris, Sirzechs, Serafall, Merlin, Escanor (who pulled Raynare close to him for her protection), Grayfia, and Meliodas felt as if thousands of grasping hands were trying to pull them back, and it was only their sheer power even among the supernatural that put up resistance. Unfortunately, the weaker combatants like Rias, Erza, Natsu, Albedo, Rinmuru, Xenovia, Weiss, Blake, Gelda, Irina, and the others not so strong to combat Sephiroth could not help the Whispers corralling them and trapping them in a swirling swarm of them they could not breakthrough. Some were not bothered like the fight between Vali and Saji or the battle of Igneel, Grandeeney, and Irene against Esdeath.
A flash of dark crimson and tidal waves of darkness swallowed through the Whispers to halt their swarming. Despite being tools to the world's, now Sephiroth's, control on fate, the Whispers were not invincible forces succumbing to the powers of Sirzechs and Meliodas. Power of Destruction obliterated the Whispers at the existential level and the sons of Satan's Power of Darkness consumed them into nothingness. Combined efforts of ice magic from Grayfia and Serafall halted their advance by summoning large glaciers of blue ice as solid as steel. None of the Whispers stood against the impossibility incarnate that was Aurora either cleaving through them through her created sword, revolver, or blasts of energy from her palms. They were those that went for Eliza tending over the wounded Ruby but never made it when the Archangel summoned an orange barrier around them that made the Whispers disperse on contact.
Yet no matter how many they fell, they were more to replace and surpass their number. That is what made the Whispers the undeniable works of the world on fate; there was no way to truly dispel as they can come in limitless numbers. For Sephiroth, they had served their purpose in giving him space from the most powerful of the Biblical Alliance and he sets his sights back on the prone Ruby. A twisted grin was Eliza's only warning before her former brother blitzed towards in the intent to cut them both down.
It was by Michael's desperate interception that stopped the silver-haired fallen. The ominous steel of Masamune, a holy sword created with a malicious taint, was halted by a golden hard light of a broadsword wielded by God's loyal son. Light emerald and forest green stared down each other; one in dark amusement and the other in gritted determination. Whatever relationship was between these two, it was obvious to the casual observer it was quite venomous, more so from Michael by the glare in his stare.
Sparks of hard light sliding against folded steel flew as the two angels broke apart. The two angels clashed again both carrying no little ferocity in their strikes. There was no defense, only the intent to do away with the opponent in front of them. Even Michael who had arrived to protect Eliza and Ruby from harm was more focused on cutting down Sephiroth rather than driving him away. From the outside observer, it looked like the combatants were evenly matched with the sword. But even Michael knew above all else his former brother was toying with him if that malicious smirk was any indication.
Michael made another swing with the hard light broadsword in a wide swipe to behead Sephiroth. The milliseconds in the coming blow stretched on for Michael stuck in the hyper-focus of battle. It is how he was able to clearly see the growing amusement in Sephiroth's eyes as the hard light blade approached him. He saw at the last moment where it was too late for Michael to make a feint with the blade Sephiroth suddenly drop his guard, letting the hard light construct continue its course to the neck. Only when it made contact with the fallen's skin, there was no nick or a drop of blood and it felt as if Michael had struck an impenetrable wall.
"Honestly Michael." Sephiroth said in a way that was both mockingly condescending and admonishing, "Paltry light tricks are never going to work on me. You know it takes something more substantial."
To emphasize his point, Sephiroth raised his right hand and Michael felt the hard light sword being forcefully usurped from him. The construct broke down from its solid form to a formless golden light flowing into Sephiroth's right palm. It all happened so fast before Michael could realize the danger as the formless light was used as an explosive blast, literally using his own power against the Archangel. He was hurled across the courtyard till his body crashed through the walls of the academy and landed himself in a random room just on the other side.
With Michael temporarily dealt with, Sephiroth's cat-like eyes settled on Eliza and Ruby. Automatically, Eliza shielded Ruby with her own body, making Sephiroth smirk at the selfless act. A simple swing of Masamune would chop her head off.
A golden blur zipping from Eliza's right drew her attention and Sephiroth with another as steel rang from the clash. Instead of an arbitrary hard light construct, Masaume met real magical steel of Lostvayne belonging to Meliodas. The usual carefree smile on the blonde's face was gone to a deadly serious expression towards the one he deemed a very dire threat even to himself. While Michael was able to halt Sephiroth, Meliodas was the first so far to push Sephiroth away.
As for Eliza, she was more than stunned that the one to her rescue after Michael was Meliodas himself. Waves of nostalgia hit without remorse her from memories long past, and as a result time to her seem to still with her eyes locked on the elder son of Satan. In the microscopic moment with Masamune and Lostvayne locked together, Meliodas' eyes met the stare of Eliza. Both of them never knew what they would feel if they ever exchanged glances, looking into each other's souls. Perhaps too much to hope for anything to spark between them, or at the very least to feel nothing towards each other. Yet...
BA-BUMP
...their hearts betrayed them leaping ever so much just from the exchanging gaze. A familiar upbeat of two hearts woven together through one pure emotion. It brought an unparalleled flowing throughout their bodies from their chests, yet to them it also brought a cold weight on them almost like dread. Even after so long has passed, with so much scorn between them that initially broke them apart, why did this demon and angel still pine for each other?
How is it Meliodas and Eliza still love each other after so long far apart?
(Cue "Against Demons")
That moment was gone as the mood turned back to the desperate battle at play to ward off the ancient fallen. Meliodas sudden attack had driven Sephiroth halfway across the courtyard from Eliza. A flick from Sephiroth disengaged the two from their blade lock, his smirk reduced to a flat line as he stared down at an opponent he could not deny was of equal caliber with the blade. Nodachi and dagger met each other in a song of steel, each swing of their swords adding to the blurry silver storm of motion between them. Sparks flew off till it looked like Meliodas and Sephiroth were surrounded by a ring of orange embers. They were never in one spot, their speeds nearly matching as they disappeared and reappeared across the school grounds and leaving slicing marks in the pavement while none of Meliodas' allies could catch up to assist him.
'He's as strong as I remember.' Eliza thought fondly.
Eventually, there was a change of pace in the duel. Sephiroth has backed away enough to thrust Masamune, a maneuver most would not see coming before it was too late. Meliodas reacted seeing the brief shimmer of incoming steel and positioned Lostvayne in a reverse grip in his right hand at the side of his head to deflect the long nodachi away to the side mere centimeters away from Meliodas' right eye where it could have pierced through his throat. Not letting this go to chance, Meliodas managed to land his left foot on the ground and immediately launch forward, cratering the ground as a result of the strength put into it. The maneuver proved the fatal flaw in Masamune's length design as Meliodas zipped past Sephiroth's guard aided by Lostvayne sliding down the length of the opposing blade, and the further he went the more improbably it was for Sephiroth to pull back.
An actual grimace of alarm took Sephiroth's countenance once Meliodas was fully behind Sephiroth's guard. Meliodas first delivered a high knee with his right leg going impacting Sephiroth's chin with a satisfying crack. This was followed by a high-speed assault of jabs with Meliodas' left fist meeting Sephiroth's face. As many hits as he delivered, Meliodas had to pause when his body was subject to gravity and short height in comparison to Sephiroth's 6 feet. Meliodas launched back at Sephiroth with his left leg cocked back for a swiping kick, but the pause in Meliodas' assault was enough for Sephiroth to get his bearings and hold the limb back in his right hand.
Masamune held in Sephiroth's left hand glowed a sickly green before he swung it out in an upward motion. Meliodas backed up in time to avoid the slash but held Lostvayne in front of him with both hands to defend against the crescent wave of green energy launched from by the nodachi. It took considerable strength on Meliodas' end to gather enough darkness into his dagger and slice it through.
While Sephiroth may have repelled Meliodas, King came to the fray joined by his wife Diane for additional payback. King opened up launching a hail of steel swords, but then surrounded the fallen angel all held up in certain as though they were held by invisible knights. They charged down Sephiroth from all sides varying from thrusts to slices to wild swings. Meanwhile, Diane slammed her hammer, Gideon, to the ground and then the ground rumbled oddly. Spires of dark brown rock breached through the pavement, sharp enough to pierce steel and flesh, and all of them centered on Sephiroth to ensnare him in earthy jaws as well as trap him in a storm of steel.
Sephiroth took this in with one trailing glance and immediately acted seeing the situation. He stabbed Masamune into the ground, the steel blade outpouring a purple aura, and the entire area lit up in an explosion of energy erupting out of five trails in the earth. The widespread explosion canceled out Diane's manipulation of the earth and destroyed all of King's summoned swords. When surprise overtook their features at the duo's failure, Sephiroth took that small window to attack.
King blinked and his heart almost stopped in shock when his vision was encompassed by the form of Sephiroth looming over him. Masamune would have already cleaved him in two by the hip if Chastiefold's sentience to already move in defense of King before he even knew the attack was coming. Sephiroth hummed seeing his blade stopped by Chastiefold just barely able to stay in place to defend its wielder. The fallen raised his free hand opening his palm that produced a fine white mist.
In a flash of light, King found himself hurled away while everything below the neck of his body was awfully cold and impossible to move. He managed to glance down to see his body encased in a block of ice. Unfortunately, Chastiefold had also been caught in the blast as it lay completely motionless in the icy prison with King's body. Escape himself was not possible with the threat Sephiroth appearing at any moment to cut him down.
Yet there was still safety for King in one factor: his wife.
"I got you!" Diane cried as her hands gently caught her husband and held the literal object of her affection close to her chest for protection. "You okay dear?"
Peeking away at the folds of her hand, Diane saw King look up at the Jotun with a grateful smile. She grinned happily back and clasped her hands back together as she got her attention back to the fight. Eyes widening at the sight of incoming arcs of energy, Diane clasped her hands together around King and her skin turned into dull luster similar to solid iron. She tanked the blasts as best she could, grunting from both the effort and the feel of Sephiroth's energy blades digging into her skin despite casting the spell to turn them into iron.
A blur of motion caught Diane's eye from the corner of her eye, and she quickly swerved her head in the direction to find Sephiroth there with Masamune raised. Her body triggered the flight response to desperately get out the way as fast as possible by sidestepping her massive frame in the direction opposite of Sephiroth. She was partly successful in avoiding the overhead that would have likely cut through her skull, but blood spurted from the fresh wound going down her right shoulder to the hip. Diane could not help herself crying in pain and collapsing onto the school building.
"You are all annoying." Sephiroth drawled.
This time he expected further adversity and it came in the form of Kirito, Asuna, Aurora, and Zeldris together. Yet also from the sidelines Serafall and Grayfia providing support with ice magic. All four of them brandishing their respective blades coming at him from all angles. Sephiroth smirked meeting each other their attacks with deflections of Masamune. The air filled with clashing steel with the results of Asuna being pushed back while the three maintained their positions if barely. Grayfia and Serafall had cast long-ranged spells of ice only to be intercepted by Whispers cutting them off.
Sephiroth dashed forward for the attack, faster than most combatants could see. Kirito widened his eyes as all of his senses screamed danger and he positioned his dual swords into an X formation. His reaction was just in time to redirect Masamune from piercing his throat as the long nodachi was caught between his two swords where it then delivered a bleeding cut on Kirito's nape and continued to pierce through his throat.
Sephiroth raised a brow. "Impressive reflexes."
"Kirito!" Exclaimed Asuna in fright for her husbanding, charging down Sephiroth at lightning-fast speeds.
Sephiroth was faster and, with Kirito still attached, swung Masamune to intercept Asuna, flinging both wife and husband away added by a wave of Whispers to hold them in place. He deflected a bullet from Aurora as she held her own sword to deliver a strike at his flank. A pulse of magic from Sephiroth and the Nephilim found herself somersaulted up into the air by an invisible grip and crushed into the ground hard enough to bury the upper half of her body.
"That's it!" Zeldris roared, raising his blade above him. "Everyone, get as far away as you can from me!"
"Oh shit, he is going to do the thing." Ban muttered dashing away from Meliodas' brother.
Meliodas widened his eyes in alarm and looked at everyone. "Do as he says, right now!"
Everyone complied to varying degrees sensing the severity in Meliodas' tone. Those weakest at the sidelines chose to take shelter in the school building led by Vulcan and Palutena. Escanor scooped up both Merlin and Raynare before they could protest. Eliza being the closest held Ruby gently but was afraid to move in danger of aggravating Ruby's wound. However, a slab of ice suddenly grew from below Ruby, tapering off from the ground once it grew a few inches, and floated into the air carrying the young godling like a stretcher. She blinked in confusion and widened at the source.
Of all the people that came to her help, she never imagined it to be Serafall. Pink-violet and baby blue met in a brief yet intense stare and nothing about it seemed easy. It was the first time they even locked eyes with one another, and the last time they did was in the Great War. Back when Eliza was still a warrior of heaven and Serafall a frontline fighter of the highest caliber. In that Great War, a brief glance between these two was enough to signal for both of them to not simply battle but try to kill each other as viciously as possible. Neither ever coming to finishing blows and retreating with injuries. The animosity between them went deeper than any foul rivalry between a devil and pure angel can possess. When it came to Eliza and Serafall long ago, their hatred of each other stemmed from the fact they loved the same man.
But that was then and this was now, and both of them have changed in many ways. Serafall was not the vicious warrior she was in the Great War. The constant killing, witnessing the death of her friends, and the terrors of war cowed Serafall into what she is today. Eliza had forgone the path of the warrior and swore to be a pacifist having had enough of seeing all the needless death the Great War had caused. Whatever foul history between the two was practically nonexistent, but the past was echoing in Eliza's head and she could not help but ask.
"Why?"
"Why not?" Serafall chirped with her smirk. "I can't let you and the good girl get hurt now, can I? After all, the summit now makes us friends."
"I can believe that from any other devil." Eliza pressed on, the words spilling out her throat before she could stop them. "But you're not any other devil. Not after what we've been through."
"Ah." Serafall responded, her smile shaking a little. "Perhaps, but there is no way I can't let you get hurt, much less die. Meliodas would be sad if that ever happened to you. And I don't like him being sad."
Something was being pulled at Eliza's chest, making her freeze up on the spot. She only moved when the slab of ice carrying Ruby started to move away at Serafall's command. While her body moved automatically, her mind was elsewhere echoing the hidden message in Serafall's words.
Meliodas still loves you.
And those words scared Eliza to no end.
During everyone fleeing away from Zeldris, Aurora kept Sephiroth distracted to give the demon prince time. Once he deemed everyone at a safe enough distance, Zeldris summoned all of his power and focused it on swirling around him. To the outside observer, rings of shadow were orbiting around Zeldris. Aurora saw the buildup of power and immediately dashed away from Sephiroth to get far enough away.
"Ominous Nebula!"
The shadows orbiting Zeldris increased at unbelievable speeds to the point they became invisible, and their constant rotation around his body created a powerful vortex overtaking the entire school grounds. Everyone instantly felt a strong pull on them, forcing those outside to anchor themselves to stay in place with great difficulty. Those inside were more fortunate, but even they felt the pull of Zeldris's technique and they had no resistance to it being too weak to do so. Eliza clung to Ruby's body was pressing her back against the wall where she felt the vacuum-like pull.
Vali and Saji, the latter more scuffed than the former, had to forcefully pause their fight as they were suddenly pulled by Ominous Nebula from midair. Saji tried stopping himself by having all of his draining lines anchoring to the ground. The White Dragon Emperor on the other hand was having more difficulty as he figured out some desperate way to escape Ominous Nebula. He had tried using Divine Dividingon the pull itself to halve its strength, but it always came back in full force the next second. In the end, the Lucifer descendent had to force himself to the ground and use all four limbs locked onto the ground to keep him in place. It wasn't even a permanent solution as the pull on him was strong enough to make the pavement crack.
Not even the Whispers were immune to the pull of Zeldris's technique. These entities who were once swarming could not control themselves from succumbing to the vortex. Reaching Zeldris showed the deadliness of Ominous Nebula as once the Whispers were in arms reach were instantly sliced to ribbons. Some would say it was the shadows orbiting Zeldris, but it was actually the demon princes himself cutting them down at speeds that rivaled the realm of the gods. They would mistake him for being completely still the entire time, not knowing Zeldris was reacting to everything that came close to him with swings of his sword.
That was Zeldris's goal in ultimately eliminating Sephiroth by pulling him with Ominous Nebula and slice him down to bits with his Full React. It was working so far with Sephiroth himself being dragged towards the son of Satan. Clear concern was on his face as the fallen angel found himself unable to break free from the pull of Ominous Nebula. The most resistance Sephiroth could make was stabbing Masamune into the ground, but even that proved temporary as Masamune was dragging through the ground by the pull of Ominous Nebula. Aurora was teleporting around the place to escape the vortex's pull and got Kirito and Asuna to safety within the building.
For added measure, Aurora teleported one last time and reappeared in front of Sephiroth close enough for him to see the cheeky grin on her face. Too busy keeping himself pinned in place, he did not have the chance to guard against the kick to his face and was sent sprawling through the air towards Zeldris. When Sephiroth looked back, it was to see the Nephilim with that same grin added by a raised middle finger.
"Screw you." Aurora mocked before teleporting away.
'I'll remember that.' Sephiroth thought to his head, putting his attention toward Zeldris who waited eagerly for the fallen to come close.
His dark green eyes steeled and he prepared Masamune in a reverse grip. Zeldris was stunned at first by Sephiroth's lack of worry, but composed himself to a neutral facade and entered a low stance for his Full React. The seconds ticked by as Sephiroth was pulled closer to Ominous Nebula and the space of high-speed death ruled by Zeldris and the blade in his hands. For Sephiroth, the only way to see it through was to answer speed with speed as well.
"Octaslash."
Masamune sang as Sephiroth cried the technique, and the nodachi disappeared into silver wind too fast to see. With Sephiroth in range, the invisible swings of Zeldris's blade reacted to cut him down. Instead of Sephiroth being reduced to pieces, he still went forward as it turned into a competition of speed with Sephiroth's own handiwork with his sword. From Sephiroth, he delivered seven slashes with Masamune to ward off Zeldris's attacks and move forward unabated. At the last step, it was decided who would come out on top, and those seven slashes served their purpose protecting Sephiroth for the eight.
(End OST)
A rending of flesh and the clash of steel marked the sudden end to Ominous Nebula and the sight that greeted put even Meliodas in shock and Gelda give a cry of alarm. Sephiroth's blade had been swung forth having dug itself a few inches into Zeldris's right flank, causing blood to pool on the ground. His Full Reaction had made in time to angle his blade in the way of Masamune before it could reach his organs, much less get to his spine, but the damage has been dealt.
"No way." Ban gasped in shock. "That guy matched Zeldris's Full Reaction with his own speed. What the hell is he!?"
"Brother!" Meliodas exclaimed, dashing to Zeldris's rescue.
Even with the bloody wound, Zeldris was still furiously defiant at the fallen that has him at his mercy. Sephiroth took in the demon's wrathful look with an amused smirk while twisting Masamune to elicit more blood to spill.
"I have to say your speed is remarkable." Sephiroth complimented. "Very few can force me to go at my top speed. Any slower and I would not have emerged unscathed. Take that as you will in your final moments."
While he spoke, Meliodas made it leaping in the air with Lostvayne cocked back for a wide swing at Sephiroth's neck. The fallen angel did not dine to look back when the Sin of Wrath swung his blade only to be met with a honeycomb-like barrier made out of spectrum light. When Lostvayne made contact with the barrier, it glowed till it was pure white before retaliating against Sephiroth in a concussive explosion knocking Meliodas back and smoking his body from the holy effect in it.
With Meliodas out of the picture, Sephiroth delivered a kick to Zeldris causing the demon to grunt in pain as Masamune was forced out of his body in a spray of blood. As he was staggered, Sephiroth dashed forward with Masamune held back in preparation to decapitate his head from his body. Masamune sang through the air, but instead of reaching Zeldris's neck, a golden blur tackled him out the way. At the end of the nodachi's swing, strands of 'gold' fell through the air, and he looked to the side to where Zeldris was positioned with his apparent savior.
Michael had reentered the fray and saved Zeldris's life pushing him out the way of danger at his highest speeds to reach the demon. At the moment Michael tackled Zeldris out of the way, he projected a golden light broadsword and held it behind him to deflect Sephiroth's blade away from himself. However, Michael didn't go unscathed when Masamune traveled up the broadsword to cut off the Archangel's long hair. The fair appearance the long hair gave was reduced to a shorter cut ending halfway at the neck with only two bangs of blonde hair to frame his face. What was left of his waterfall of golden locks were the scattering strands of golden hair fluttering all over the place.
Michael faced Sephiroth with a grim frown that seemed to express a more masculine look compared to his fair appearance from before. Sephiroth on the other hand sported a maniacal grin as if he was excited seeing Michael's look, and it unnerved everyone nearby at the malicious glint in his eyes.
"Now where have I seen that look before?" Sephiroth asked no one in particular. "I'd much prefer you like this, Michael."
The way Sephiroth spoke Michael's name was in a mocking manner as if he preferred an alternative to the name Adonai granted the golden-winged Archangel in his creation. Michael flinched before settling into a stoic demeanor.
Sephiroth raised his hand and the Whispers returned in greater force. They came out the woodwork from the cracks in the ground, from the very air, and crashing out the windows. By his will, they scouted out the grounds, parting away those like Igneel and Grandeeney till they dragged his prize out from the academy building. From the upper floors, Eliza and Serafall were pushed out with the still unconscious Ruby. The Archangel set up an orange barrier to stave off the Whispers while Serafall kept up her ice magic to keep Ruby steady, but they had fallen into Sephiroth's grasp all the same.
Meanwhile, Alucard was cocking up his guns and his eyes trailed over to the other fallen angels. For the entire time, Ludociel and Azazel have not moved from their spot. Rather their eyes widened like saucers were stuck on the form of Sephiroth while the rest of their bodies were petrified like stone. Alucard knew fear when he saw it and he literally tasted it off from the pair of former Seraphs of Heaven.
"You reek of fear." Alucard noted, his gaze switching between the pair and Sephiroth. "You're so scared of him, you can't even move."
"You don't understand, Dracula." Ludociel spat both heated and fearful. "He's the Usurper, and before that one of Father's first children before Lucifer. We were there when he rebelled and we have all the reason to be afraid. You simply can't comprehend the magni-"
"What I comprehend is that you two are being a bunch of pussies cause your big bro's back to ram your tiny little asses again." Alucard interjected, but there was a threatening layer along with his joking manner. "As for me; don't know, don't care, and don't give a fuck. All that matters is how many holes I can fill him up with. And yes, that was a secret homo joke."
"You think you and your guns will stop him!?" Exclaimed Ludociel.
"Don't insult my toys." Alucard replied, raising his right hand where a sigil burned a hellish red on the back. "Though I may have to up the ante. Release Restraint: Level One."
Darkness exploded off of Alucard's body and countless eyes opened from within the shadows. He emerged, his outfit replaced by a grey straight jacket hugging his body. A howl soon joined as the shadows birthed a giant mangled form of a wolf ready to tear into flesh. They both exploded forth towards Sephiroth with maddened glee, and the fallen angel responded with quick swipes of Masamune. Even as entire swaths of their bodies were cut away, Alucard and the giant dog regenerated the next instant, allowing the strongest vampire to get in close.
He threw a jab with the limb being sliced to pieces, then raised a gun with his right limb that was cut off by Masamune. That left Alucard behind his guard without his arms but left Sephiroth open for the vampire to unhinge his jaw lined with flesh-tearing teeth. Sephiroth's face flashed with alarm and pain as Alucard sank his teeth into his shoulder, drawing out gouts of blood quickly being drained down the vampire's gullet. It only lasted a second before Whispers appeared out of Sephiroth's body flinging Alucard. While he left with a sizable chunk of flesh he happily consumed, Alucard's eye twitched at the sight of the Whispers seeping at the wound and knitting it away.
'Cheating dick!' Alucard thought.
"Oi, replacement Lucy, you take a crack at this silver pinhead." Alucard called out as he landed on the back of his giant hellhound.
Instead of charging in for another go, the hellhound made a retreat, eliciting a raised brow of curiosity from Sephiroth. He did not have to wonder so much when his senses screamed of danger and he positioned Masamune in front of him alongside the toughest barrier he could cast. These defenses were met by what can be described as a tidal wave of potent Power of Destruction by none other than Sirzechs Lucifer. All of this power streamed out of one palm so casually where any other Bael of Ultimate-class would be instantly drained to match an inkling of the display of Power of Destruction. Issei, who was watching from within the building with the ORC, knew Rias had nothing on her brother's current level and he even thought it was all the way up there to what Meliodas can do.
The only reason Sephiroth was not instantly annihilated was due to Masamune splitting the tidal wave as the barrier he set up recently instantly fallen. His face shifted into a serious countenance, and it was a feat on its own that he was lasting so long against Sirzech's unrestrained might. Sephiroth's troubles didn't stop there as he caught the sight of Grayfia landing at his flank and then using her ice magic to summon pure cold crawling towards him. It was already freezing over his feet to keep Sephiroth in place.
But Grayfia's appearance also provided a distraction. He raised his right hand from the grip on Masamune and power gathered at his palm. It first started in a ball of fire three times the size of his head, then shrank down as the energy condensed turning the ball to a fine blue. More power was added as much as it was condensed till a golden spark the size of his palm.
"Giga Flare."
The words were spoken softly as Sephiroth threw the golden spark forward. It sailed towards Grayfia unexpectantly through the crawling frosts and slowed down as it got closer to the Lucifuge. Her eyes were drawn to it when it slowed barely a meter apart and widened in shock realizing too late the power packed into it. A moment of silence before the spark detonated in an explosion that shook the entire school grounds.
"GRAYFIA!"
Sirzechs cut the flow in the Power of Destruction and raced to the cloud of smoke with all twelve wings in use. His arms opened in a wide berth when he entered the cloud and latched onto the body he knew was Grayfia by touch alone. He exited out the smoke with his wife held bridal-style. The devil king took in the sight of his lover with grim unease. Grayfia was knocked out by the concussive force of the explosion and even now her face squinted as she was slowly coming back to consciouness. Burns sported all over the front of her body all the way from her knees to her torso. Her maid outfit provided little protection as most of it was scorched away to attack at bare skin and they were few spots redder than most at her, collar, neck, and then stopping at her cheeks. Yet as much as it pained Sirzechs seeing Grayfia so injured, it still relieved him when he heard the clear thump of her heartbeats.
With Sirzechs distracted, for now, Sephiroth continued on his merry way to kill the heiress of Heaven along with Serafall and Eliza protecting her. He was met with resistance as Escanor and Raynare leaped in the air to strike at behind him with axe and sword respectively. Sephiroth blitzed into motion swinging Masamune in a wide arc too fast that Escanor could only block the blow and hug Raynare close to his body to protect her from the blow she did not perceive. Sensing another attacker, Sephiroth went on to kill off the remainder and took in glee when his blade sank through the neck. He was impaled long enough for the body to dangle in the air for the fallen angel to muse over. One thing he did not expect was the man to still be alive.
"Ow." Gurgled Ban as blood fell from his mouth and impalement of the nodachi in his throat.
Internally sighing, Sephiroth flung Ban off Masamune and reveled having finally arrived before the heiress of Heaven. Both Eliza and Serafall erected barriers to get Sephiroth away, but a swipe of Masamune shattered and even landed bleeding cuts on the angel and devil. Sephiroth was now looming over them with Ruby directly in range of his nodachi, yet Serafall and Eliza did not budge. They were intent on not letting the fallen through to Ruby no matter the cost. He smirked willing to pay it in their blood.
From the sidelines, Meliodas watched from the storm of Whispers keeping him back in abject horror. Before his eyes, he was basically watching what was the deaths of two of the closest people in his life. Eliza, the angel that he loved and still loves to this day from the very bottom of his heart, and Serafall, his childhood friend and the one devil girl he will always look after. Was he going to lose people like that again? Just like his mentor Sparda when he refused to follow Satan's will? Like Alistar, Ghrand, and Zula, childhood friends he lost in the Great War?
Was he going to lose them like Mother?
...
...
...
No.
NO!
NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!
NeveragainnevereveragainI'llneverlosethemagainIwillneverlosethemIwon'tletitI'llsavethemI'llsavethemIwon'tletthemdieNOMATTERTHECOST!
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
An absolutely demonic roar shook the entire school grounds. Raw power made everyone still in place, including the likes of Vali, Saji, Igneel, Esdeath, and Michael. The only ones merely pausing were Sirzechs and Sephiroth, and, for the latter, it was timed perfectly before his blade made its way to touch Serafall's neck. His eyes widened in the direction of Meliodas in genuine fear and back away hurriedly to avoid the wave of pure darkness that threatened to consume him. It left Serafall and Eliza unharmed by Meliodas' will and dissipated to reveal the very son of Satan standing in front of them with his back to them. Only there was one significant detail that drew their eye.
In Meliodas' hands was a great sword that was entirely black all over. The foot-long handle and crossguard were made out of black iron that sucked in light around, already oversized for any regular sword. Tightly wound black linen made up the grip of the handle and every inch of it was inscribed with demonic sigils glowing a menacing red easy to see by anyone. What drew attention was the practical slab of solid black steel forged into a blade taller than Meliodas and reaching Sephiroth's height easily. It had a width worthy of a buster sword, and the blade looked to be rusted from the centerline if that rust was as dark as the abyss while the rest was a very, very dark grey all the way to the edge. Despite the dimensions of the weapon, no one would think it was anything out of the ordinary if they didn't see shadows oozing off the 'rust' part of the blade and the thick demonic energies it was polluting into the air. These very same shadows clung to Meliodas' arms and only stopped to his shoulders.
Serafall gasped. "No way... Meli-kun you've..."
"But that's the sword." Eliza spoke in a shaky voice.
"What... What is that?" Sephiroth rasped, his eyes twitching as his facade broke.
He and every angel felt their bodies shiver with an unrelenting cold just in the mere presence of the sword summoned by Meliodas. The demonic energies casually radiating off the blade were enough to do so, and even Sephiroth was affected by his body's natural affliction to the Heretic God's power. Its aura constrained dwarfed High-class devils to ants in comparison, and it forced Vulcan, Icarus, and Palutena to the ground while hugging their knees in some vain attempt to rid themselves of this awful chill to the soul. Those from the Great War like Michael and Azazel knew exactly what the weapon Meliodas summoned from him.
The forbidden Sacred Gear forged by Satan. A dark construct of twisted energies that hacked into God's system becoming the demonic equivalent to the True Longinus, the Spear of Destiny as well as the Lance that Shines to the Ends of the World. Once referred to as the Sword that Becomes a Calamity, it had a darker fame that made it well known to angels. Where the True Longinus was the spear that pierced Christ's body, the Dark Longinus was the blade that cleaved the head of God.
Finally... got it... done. Seriously, this taking way longer than it should be. Sephiroth's introduction keeps on making the list longer and longer because I have to make the fights longer too.
And if you have noticed, then you are right. With recent PMs giving me some insight and after seeing the end of the Seven Deadly Sins manga, the pairing is MeliodasxSerafallxEliza. That will be final, and will fun to type up.
After this, I will work on Fate: Burning Heaven, then back to The Sins' Return, next to Shining Light, and finally making another chapter for The Witch Princess of Chaos.
Up next is Chapter 29: Against the World's Bane
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