Disclaimer: I do not own Fate Stay Night, Highschool DxD or anything else.
Fate: Devil Night
Chapter18: Devil I
Dimensional Gap
Reality Marble: Devil's Requiem
Void
Tohsaka Sakura was many things but stupid was never one of them, which was why when she bonded with the Kaleidostick Ruby she made sure to take as many precautions as she could think of. It wasn't enough, almost immediately after the bonding, her mind was invaded by memories that she was sure didn't belong to her. Not only that but like her sister, she too was brainwashed for about an hour. She would never be able to look at her Sempai in the face ever again, it was embarrassing. The brainwashed Sakura had started to give a striptease when she first saw Shirou after the bonding and after she was back to normal, she'd run back to her room mortified.
Now here she was using Ruby to channel the Second Sorcery...
Kaleidoscope...
The Operation of Parallel World...
With a lot of concentration and lots of help from Ruby, she tore open a rupture in the middle of the Phenex Castle's courtyard and stepped through with it with the he others right behind her. "Go!" Azazel gave the order. It was hell on the other side, flames everywhere and an overbearing heat covering the land beyond the portal. This was it, they'd done it, they'd infiltrated Rizevim's Reality Marble.
Devil's Requiem...
"We need to move quickly," Caster spoke calmly. "The enemy no doubt knows that we are here."
No sooner had she said those words that dozens of Devils, Angels and Fallen Angels descended upon them from above. It seemed that Rizevim had brought an army, that was okay, because so had they. More portals opened thanks to Sakura and Ruby, each one large enough for a Devil, Angel or Fallen Angel to go through. The Biblical Alliance, three different races coming together to fight a common enemy.
"Attack!" Sirzechs gave the command and everyone obeyed. Light-spears and demonic power roared into existence as the two armies clashed, intent on wiping the other out. Out of the Fuyuki group, Shirou and Issei led the charge into the heart of the enemy ranks.
"There!" Xenovia shouted as she cut clean through an angel. "At the back!" Ravel looked towards where her Knight had indicated and saw it, a large spiral tower several miles away.
"That must be where Rizevim is keeping Miyu!" Ravel yelled. "Shirou, Issei, Caster, let's go. Everyone else stay here and deal with these traitors!"
As one her peerage carried out her orders, their King's orders, the orders of the one they'd sworn themselves to serve. Ravel couldn't help but smile at their faith in her and willingness to follow her, even if she led them to hell itself. They flew towards the tower, cutting down anything stupid enough to get in their way and closed in on the lone structure standing amidst the raging flames below. It came without warning, a flash of light was accompanied by Issei pushing them all out of the way and bracing himself as a lone figure slammed into him from above, driving him down to the ground.
"Issei!" Ravel shouted in surprise. She recognized their attacker; it was Vali Lucifer, the descendant of the original Lucifer and the current White Dragon Emperor.
"Vali," Issei gritted out before kicking him off of him. He rolled to the side, mindful of the flames dancing around them and pushed himself back to his feet. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for you," Vali answered almost eagerly. "I knew you'd come here once you'd found my grandfather and I wanted to be here waiting for you."
"Why?" Issei questioned further. "If you wanted a fight, why not back in Fuyuki?"
"Because my grandfather had his own plans," Vali shook his head in disgust. "I wasn't going to involve myself in that mess."
In other words he didn't want any interference...
"You two go on ahead," Issei spoke clearly whole not taking his eyes off the white-haired young man before him. "I'll handle this." Ravel stared down at the two of them for a moment before nodding and turning back towards the tower. Issei could handle himself and would catch up later. She would have liked to have his aid in the fight against Rizevim but he was the best choice to face Vali, someone that they hadn't accounted for.
"Good luck," Ravel said before she, Caster and Shirou flew off towards the tower.
That left them both alone...
The moment that his King and Queen had left the area, Issei seemingly glided forward, crossing the distance between them in an matter of seconds before burying his fist in Vali's gut. The Eight Grand Openings - The Standing Upward Cannon struck home and sent Vali hurling back. The hybrid was surprised by the move however he quickly recovered, even faster than Kokabiel had, and slid to a stop a few feet away. Issei didn't let up his attack, instead hurling Black Keys at the White Dragon Emperor. Vali knocked them away with his wings though they burned slightly upon contact with them and formed a demonic circle in front of him. A barrage of sinister energy lashed out, literally blasting the ground that Issei was standing on in a series of attacks. It missed as Issei threw himself out of way and charged right at Vali once again.
"Boost."
His speed doubled and Issei crossed the distance in a flash, his fist coming down on Vali's position. The White-haired hybrid jumped back as the fist came down, narrowly missing him and striking the ground he'd been standing on. It cracked, cratered and then exploded outwards sending dust into the air. Vali's eyes widened at the sight before he grinned and the white wings on his back glowed blue.
"Divide."
Issei gritted his teeth as he felt half his accumulated energy vanish along with the physical boost and be absorbed by his opponent. Divine Dividing was the opposite of the Boosted Gear and he knew what that entailed. Where the Boosted Gear doubled the user's power, Divine Dividing halved an enemy's power and added it to the user. That was fine, it was a challenge, he always loved a challenge.
"Show me more, Kotomine Issei," Vali spoke calmly. "Show me your strength, show me your skill, show me your power, I will crush all of it and defeat you here." It was like looking at a mirror, after all hadn't he wanted to crush those with strength that set them apart from the masses? Vali was the same, he too wanted a challenge, and he had found it in Issei.
"Boost."
"Divide."
Again Issei's strength doubled and again it was halved before it was absorbed by Vali. This wasn't working; Vali was just going to keep absorbing his power, stopping him from doubling and increasing his own strength at the same time. He needed a game-changer and he had one. More Black Keys appeared in his fingers and he threw them straight at the White Dragon Emperor. Vali merely flapped his wings once, releasing a pulse of blue energy and swatted them aside.
They were just a distraction however...
"Ddraig!" Issei shouted as he charged. "Do it now!"
"Maxbooster!" Ddraig roared from his Sacred Gear. "Explosion!" Vali's eyes widened in surprise as he felt more than saw Issei's energy shoot through the roof to ridiculous levels and vanish in a burst of speed, reappearing right in front of him faster than he could react.
'That's too much,' Vali thought as Issei's gauntlet-covered fist came at him. The fist made contact and the world shook from the impact. Dust sprang up into the air as the ground beneath them cratered, snuffing out the flames dancing around them in an instant.
"Reset."
"W-what?" Issei asked in surprise as the power vanished. Vali had caught his fist with his own gauntlet-covered hand and held it there. In fact it wasn't just his hand that was covered either, it was his whole body. Shining white and blue, it was a reflection of Issei's own armour that Vali now wore.
This was...
"Balance Breaker," Vali spoke clearly from behind the helmet. "Scale Mail."
So that was it...
"You..." Issei trailed off at the sight of it.
"I wasn't expecting you to be able to maximise the number of boosts that your body it capable of surviving in a single boost, I commend you for that, my rival. You have forced me to use my Balance Breaker first," Vali said as he gave a bloodthirsty grin. "Good, I would have been sorely disappointed if that wasn't the case," Vali was already using his Balance Breaker and would no doubt be expecting Issei to do the same just to keep up with him. It was tempting, after all he had needed it to defeat Kokabiel, however he was different back then. Back then he had only been human, he was a devil now.
"Blade."
Issei gave out a roar of defiance as he pushed his fist forward into Vali's grip and the top of the gauntlet opened up. A sword sprang out and for the first time since the battle had begun, Vali wasn't just surprised, he was shocked, recoiling to try and get away.
"Ascalon!" Issei called out he drove the blade into Vali's chest plate.
His armour cracked open like an egg as the sword cut straight through it like butter with all the force of a sledge hammer. Vali was hurled back by the blow, his wings, both devil and Sacred Gear, coming up to defend him from the blow. Ascalon: The Blessed Sword By Which Force is Slain was a B-Rank Noble Phantasm once wielded by Saint George, the Dragon-Slaying Saint who was famous for killing a dragon in the defence of others. It was considered the 'invincible sword' because of its ability to defend against all harm, though this same ability could be reversed so that it could be used offensively too.
"That's..." Vali gritted it in shock. "How did you get your hands on that?"
"It chose me, just like Durandal chose Xenovia. I didn't ask for it, all I know was that one day I was taken to the church where it was being held and it reacted to me. Since I was the only one who could use it, the church gave it to me so that I could better kill monsters. I wasn't going to return it to the church after I became a devil though," Issei explained. Of course like Xenovia it was only because he was a natural Holy Sword wielder that he was even allowed near it, never mind being gifted with it.
"...You'll need more than a Holy Sword to face me," Vali declared as his armour re-materialised over his body fully restored. He was right; using Ascalon again wasn't going to work, not now that Vali was expecting it. He had to call upon every ounce of strength he had if he was going to not only survive but also win.
"Balance Breaker," Issei incanted as crimson armour materialised over his body. "Scale Mail."
Not even a second after his armour appeared, Vali was already upon him, the white fist coming down on Issei's face. The Res Dragon Emperor was faster and managed to block high, sending his attack over his head. The white tail lashed out, catching Issei in the side, stunning him long enough for Vali to correct his balance and lung back at him.
"Boost!"
"Divide!"
Their fists connected and the world around them cracked from the impact, the ground cratering beneath them as they struggled to overwhelm the other. They traded blows, their fists hammering away at each other, their armour absorbing most of the damage; however it was quickly becoming obvious that Vali had the upper hand. The echoes of 'Boost' and 'Divide' rang out across the battlefield as Vali absorbed more and more of Issei's doubled power. It was coming down to a battle of attrition, and Issei knew he couldn't win such a contest. He broke off, flinging himself away from his opponent, and formed a single crimson sphere on his right hand. It wasn't the best he could manage, but it was on the same level as the one he used to kill Kokabiel, so at the very least it would hurt Vali.
"Dragon Shot!" Issei called out as he threw the energy ball.
It vanished in an instant...
"Compression Divider!" Vali countered with a roar. Issei's eyes widened as he felt more than saw his energy ball disappear, it's power halving until there was a minuscule amount of Prana left in it, by which point it couldn't even scratch some paint never mind destroy Vali's armour.
'Shit,' Issei thought. 'He can-'.
"Release," Vali spoke clearly as he raised his other hand.
From the Jewel, a beam of white light exploded outwards, obliterating everything it touched, scorching the ground as it crossed the distance between the two. There was no time to dodge, only defend, so Issei quickly brought his arms up in front of him and braced himself. The beam washed over him with force of a freight train, tearing apart the landscape as it went. Issei's armour took the brunt of the blast as it was melted and his new Devil body took the rest. The blast died down a moment later to reveal his bleeding and burned body.
He was still alive...
"Partner?!" Ddraig shouted in his ear. "Are you okay Partner?!"
"I'm...fine..." Issei gritted out. He was most certainly not fine, not after surviving a direct hit from his own Dragon Shot, an attack that had been enough to kill a Fallen Angel like Kokabiel. These injuries would no doubt require Asia's Twilight Healing in order to recover from. For now though she wasn't here to support him, he was on his own. He only had one option left at this point...
Of course it would come to this sooner or later...
"You are strong, my rival, but you never have had a chance from the start," Vali told him.
"I, who is about to awaken," Issei began to chant. "Am the Heavenly Dragon who upholds the Principles of Domination from God."
"That's..." Vali's eyes widened at the words.
"I search for the Infinite and pursue the Dream," Issei continued as power started to leak out from his Sacred Gear in larger amounts than even he had experienced before. "I shall become the Red Dragon of Dragons," this went beyond mere Sacred Gears; it was something else, something that only the Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing were capable of. By completing this aria they could unleash the full power of the dragons sealed within the Sacred Gears.
"You know what the cost of this is, don't you?" Vali grinned at the sudden turn of events. "You really are a worthy rival, Kotomine Issei."
"And I shall show you all True Crimson Light," Issei finished. "Juggernaut Drive."
Power, unadulterated power exploded from him as his armour rematerialised over his body and suddenly expanded, becomes leaner, more aggressive looking. He was large, easily ten feet long, with glowing emerald eyes and an aura so potent that the air itself was dying around him. The flames had been snuffed out by the power that rolled of him in waves as he reared his head back and roared.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"
No human could make that sound nor could a devil, no, this was a dragon's roar. The sound echoed across the battlefield and slammed into Vali like a physical force, knocking him back several feet. "So that's you're Juggernaut Drive," Vali grinned. "It's wonderful."
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"
"I, who is about to awaken," Vali started as his grin widened. "Am the Heavenly Dragon who has taken the principles of supremacy from God," Divine Dividing and the dragon within it, Albion, responded to his words, his aria. There was no other choice; to defeat Issei as he was now would require the full power of the White Dragon Emperor, something which required the activation of his own Juggernaut Drive.
"I envy the infinite and pursue the dream," Vali continued as his body shone a bright blue. "I shall become the White Dragon of Supremacy."
It was an oath...
His oath...
To become the strongest...
Or die trying...
"And I shall take you to the limits of white paradise," Vali concluded. "Juggernaut Drive."
Issei was already upon him by the time he finished and brought his claw down when it was caught by another claw, Vali's claw. The White dragon sprang into existence, it's aura as potent and dense as the red dragon's own.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"
They flew over the fiery hell that was Rizevim's Reality Marble and approached the tower, the sounds of battle echoing behind them as they got further away from the two warring dragons. There they were, at the top of the tower, bathed in golden light. A magic circle was engraved over the roof, its power spiralling around it as Miyu and another girl were found lying down in the center. Rizevim was standing over her with his back towards them, looking down at the two girls in front of him. Without a word, Ravel, Shirou and Caster touched down at the edge of the roof.
"Welcome," Rizevim greeted not turning around. "You made it here after all," finally, after all the work he had done, his goal was finally within his reach. Of course it was only fitting that he had an audience for such an occasion.
"Rizevim Livan Lucifer," Ravel spoke clearly, her voice echoing across the roof of the tower. "By order of the Three Factions Alliance, surrender now."
"No," Rizevim responded sounding annoyed at her words. "I have come too far and done too much to back down now, isn't that right Ophis?" It was only then that Ravel and Shirou recognized the girl lying beside Miyu, the girl with long black hair wearing a black dress. 'She' was Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God, one of the two Dragons Gods that inhabited the Dimensional Gap though Great Red was the one that currently occupied that other space.
"What have you done?" Ravel demanded. "How did you subdue a Dragon God?" Dragon Gods were on par with Sorcerers and Aristoteles. The mere idea that they could be subdued and held down like Ophis was right now was terrifying.
"It wasn't easy," Rizevim chuckled I response. "However with the Holy Grail in my possession I was able to connect it with Infinite Dragon and put a leash on her."
A power source...
Rizevim had bound her by connecting her to Miyu, a Lesser Grail, and was using her as a power source for it instead of the souls of Heroic Spirits. Since she was constantly being drained of energy, Ophis couldn't break free, not without destroying herself at least.
That meant...
"What are you planning?" Ravel questioned with narrowed eyes.
With a Dragon God powering a Holy Grail, Miyu could actualise a wish, maybe more than one if Ophis' power was as great as everyone had been making out it was.
"Years ago a friend of mine came to me and gave me proof of worlds other than this one. At first I didn't believe him and I had not way to confirm it with Great Red occupying the Dimensional Gap, however all that changed ten years ago. Two worlds became one thanks to the Holy Grail," Rizevim spoke calmly almost reverently. "Can you imagine what I felt that day? To learn that there were other worlds out there? I asked myself 'what were they like? Did they have Devils there too? How can I reach them?' I soon started trying to find a way to get to them, though with a Dragon God roaming the void between worlds, I had been hitting nothing
but dead ends."
"Until you discovered Miyu," Shirou mused.
"Ah yes, the Ainsworth's little pet project," Rizevim chuckled in amusement. "They thought that they could win the Holy Grail War with her, but you two dealt with them before they could even try."
They remembered the Ainsworths alright, after all it had been Shirou and Ravel who had fought and killed them nearly a year ago. It had been close, far too close, and they'd almost died half a dozen times.
At least they'd saved Miyu that day...
Shirou discarded the memories of his first fight and glared at the devil in front of him. There were things he wanted to ask and plenty that he wanted to hear.
But he only had one thing to say...
"Give Miyu back," Shirou said clearly.
Nothing else mattered; all he cares about was saving his sister and leaving this god-forsaken hell behind. He wasn't going to fail, not after everything they'd been through together.
All he had to do was kill a devil...
"Such conviction, such insolence, as expected of a hero," Rizevim responded looking amused. "I cannot simply give you the vessel, after all I need her and Ophis in order to deal with Great Red and traverse the Dimensional Gap."
"Traverse the Dimensional Gap?" Ravel glared. "You mean to travel to the other worlds?"
"Of course," Rizevim grinned back. "How else will I become 'the' devil, the destroyer, the one who brings chaos if I don't at least try and conquer the multiverse?"
He was insane...
There was no other way to describe it...
"You're completely mad," Ravel shook her head in disgust. "We Devils have evolved beyond such meaningless destruction and death. We'll stop you here and now."
Without another word she exploded into motion, fire erupting from her feet, propelling her forward. She crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye and threw a punch right at his face.
"Phoenix Fire!" she called out as her fist was engulfed in golden flames.
Rizevim was unimpressed and merely raised his left hand, grabbing the oncoming attack with a look of disappointment on his face. Had she learned nothing? His eyes suddenly widened as he felt more than saw Caster teleport herself behind him using her spatial transportation and thrust a jagged purple dagger at his back.
As expected of the Witch of Betrayal, her preferred method of fighting was to manipulate her enemies and stab people in the back. However you didn't live as long as he did without learning a thing or two. With the least amount of movement required, he let go of Ravel's hand and turned his body just enough for the dagger to miss him.
Only to be struck across the face by Ravel's other fist, this one encased in blood red flames.
"Phoenix Flame," she incanted as she connected.
The flames covering her fist weren't the regular Phoenix Fire she had been using so far, oh no, this was something 'more' than that. The flames compressed and then expanded, her Prana and demonic energy making the flames hotter, denser, more destructive. In their previous fight it had taken Issei augmenting Ravel's strength to land a solid blow on the Son of Lucifer, and even then he had shrugged it off. She'd seen the power of a Super-Devil and knew that they could wipe out whole armies by themselves. Rizevim could even hold his own against Sirzechs and Ajuka while using his Reality Marble. She needed something that could hurt him, and that was this, her Phoenix Flame. With the help of Caster she had created a spell that drew on the already preexisting flames within Devil's Requiem and make then even hotter.
She was using his own Reality Marble against him...
All at once all the flames within a mile of them suddenly disappeared and was shoved right in Rizevim's face. For an instant there was no sound, no cackling from the flames, no war cries or sounds of battle, nothing. All across the battlefield, this hell, everything stopped and many turned. The sky on the horizon turned white, it's black and red glow from dust and ash suddenly disappearing and in its place was silvery white almost like a star had suddenly struck the ground. Then the world shook, the air seemingly being pushed away along with the thousands of warriors on both sides. Even the two battling dragons stopped for a moment to brace themselves against the shockwave before resuming their fight. For a moment Caster thought she'd gone deaf but that turned out to thankfully not be true because sound did return a few second new later. She's thrown up the strongest magic shield she knew of and it had barely been enough protect herself, Shirou, Miyu and Ophis from being incinerated by friendly-fire.
She was at her limit...
She'd poured all of her energy into that shield and had only a small amount left to fight with, at least without tapping into a leyline or something else. After all her Master needed all the Prana he had for what they were planning.
"You…" avoice growled out from the cloud of dust that covered the area in front of them. "You dare."
Ravel landed beside the others and glared back at the Devil in front of them, fire and smoke drifting off of her frame. That was her best shot and it had been enough to harm him, maybe even weaken him judging by the way that the world around them had started to crack. How much energy he using to keep his Reallity Marble going? It required a lot of power to call forth and even then, the user had to maintain their conccentration too. Clearly he was starting to concentrate more on the damage he was taking than keeping up the Devil's Requiem.
Which is just what they wanted…
Shirou took a deep breath knowing that this was it, the moment of thruth. This was the only path he could have taken. Facing mant battles possessed bt the embodiment of his ideals, Archer's Arm and the Archer card, he'd perfected his future skills and Magic Circuits. It wasn't surprising that he'd kept chasing that distant back.
After all…
That man ended up there…
"I am the bone of my sword," Shirou incanted as he raised his hand in front of him.
'There' is what lies at the end of that ideal…
"What are you—gah," Rizevim gritted out as pain rippled through him. The ground beneath Shirou's feet rippled once, then twice the world around them started to crack. This was it, the end of the path he walked upon.
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood," Shirou continued as the ground pulsed faster. "I have created over a thousand blades."
Cutting himself off from the world, losing something with every person he saved, until finally his world was empty.
"Damn you," Rizevim snarled hatefully. He couldn't concrentrate on maintaining his Reality Marble after the damage he'd taken on top of it being invaded like this by some upstart devil.
"Aware of the beginning and aware of the end," Shirou spoke clearly. "Having withstood pain to create weapons I continue to my arrival."
Rizevim tried to charge him but Ravel put herself between them and Reinforced her arms along with her flames. He slammed into her faster than anyone ever had and she held him back for several seconds before he tore through her forcing her to resurrect in fire. Once he was passed her, he threw a blast of demonic energy at the former human.
"I have no regrets, this is the path I walk," Shirou concluded. "And so I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."
Author's Notes:
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See Ya Later…