Hey! How are you, guys~! Happy late Christmas and happy Late new year! Man, this chapter sure is a roller-coaster of something, and to be fair, I kinda almost cried writing this as a whole. It was... Interesting, going all emotional. Sure, not close to what real writers have, but... I'm kinda blushing Just for remember it. Anyway, anyhow, have a good read~!
As always, DxD doesn't belong to me!
[Well, this is how it is now, Ichijou. We did our best, but things can never always turns out fine for us.]
"Shut up... Shut up..." I said, crawling on the hard floor, feeling all of my energies being sapped out of my body, bruises and cuts all over it. Mizuki-san passed out right next to me, and Ludger is nowhere to be found. And that light by the horizon. That disturbing, foul and hot light... I can't be anything good. I'm trying to reach it, only to play the legless cockroach here. Shit... Curses... Curses... "Yagura... Please... I need your help..."
[Even if I wanted, which I do, if we change places, your demonic circuits would still be fucked up. Worst hypothesis, I might end up killing you by excess of power.]
"Shit..." This feeling is the worst. Powerless, immobile, suffering for my mediocrity and weakness. I hate this, I hate this feeling. There must be something..: anything I can do; even with my shutdown system and weak only... If only I could... I know a way to help to defeat that dragon stuff... If only I could... Yagura...
[Ichijou, I really like you. I won't let you die just because you're being stubborn. No deal.]
"I know, but..." I gathered the rest of my energies to make myself roll and end up with my stomach and face pointing to the artificial sky, all cloudy and dark due to the flashing powers around. I know she won't help me, but at least... "Yagura... Could you help me reach my left pocket?"
[...? Oh-hoh, so you're finally using that? I thought you were saving for that date with that Kamiyama chick.]
"There won't be any date if I die here." I whispered, not having time to deal with her shit-talking. Yeah, time to use that. I closed my eyes, and tried to gather enough strength in my arm. "Please. Just help me... Reach my front pocket..."
[Okay. I'll see what I can do.]
"Thanks..." Maybe... Not everything is lost now...
.
~~x~~
.
"More force into the barrier! We can't let him escape!" I shouted, doubling my own power in order to strengthen the barrier around the five-headed dragon. Akio was helping me out controlling the force field as the Quarta siblings were inside trying to deal with the monster inside. *SLASH! SLASH!*, the twins were fast as lightning, trying their best to damage that dragonic abomination.
"DAMN YOU DEVILS! DIE DIE YOU ALL!" One of the heads screamed, as Basara-kun cut it down with his grandsword. A barrage of black flames and lightning escaped from another head, but he was faster to dodge it.
"Weesh! That one was clos-..." Too late. Lines of black energy suddenly captured him, as they sucked the energy out of him. Fortunately, he was strong enough to withstand such power until his sister comes to his aid, cutting the rest of the absorption lines. "Thanks, sis."
"No prob, Basara-nii." The youngest of the twins said, creating herself a barrage of magic bullets against the monster from the tip of her rapier. They both landed right next to rah other; and resumed their attacks.
"That's good, those two are holding him good." I said, sighing and trying to maintain my own flow of energy in order to stabilize the barrier. That fucking dragon might have an absurd healing factor thanks to both the Evil Dragon Vritra and the Jade Dragon Yu-long, but I believe in both of those idiots. They'll find a way, just like gramps. But...
"Yes, but how about her?" Akio said, such words making a chill run down my spine. I gulped, and without losing the control over my portion of the barrier, turned my head around to land my eyes on the second problem here; and everything I saw was...
"Hold her down! If she escapes, not only she'll destroy the barrier, but also Her own body!"
"Gremory! It's me, Yoko! Can you hear me?! Please, stop!"
"This won't bring Nemis back, Berolina! Stop this! You'll kill yourself!"
"GYAAAAAAAAAH! LET ME GO! I'LL KILL HIM! NEMESIS! NEMESIS! NEEEEEMEEEEEEEESIIIIIS...!"
Red, red all over, just like her hair. In just an instant, Rina-chan lost all that resembled consciousness or reason, and began to fire at all directions against that Miyama dragon. Not only she broke free from Lady Beelzebub's 'surgery', which would be impossible by any means but miracles, but she activated the perfect form of her Alastor Lineage, shown by the bright butterfly wings on her back, giving her another pair along her devil ones.
But things turned for the worse as all of that rage began to affect her body. Her burn marks grew to dangerous degrees, and her own skin began to vanish, oozing Power of Destruction from cracks on it. She's still too young and inexperienced to be using this kind of power! Not only she'll turn into pure annihilation in humanoid shape, she might forever lost her physical body and die! Fortunately, we have two senjutsu users with her to 'drain' the excessive energy out of her. But for how much long?
"Whoa!" I heard from my side of conflict, and *BAM!*, a sword came down flying right onto me and landed on my feet, as another dragon head fell, only to be substituted by another one that grew almost instantly. Basara-kun called for me. "Hey, Aria-nee! Backup!"
"Right!" I summoned another sword from my pocket dimension and tossed to him, taking advantage of the situation to cut a chunk of that dragon's carcass! The swordsman picked it up in midair and slashed a beam of energy against the beast. However, in that moment of hesitation, the dragon charged at me, breaking part of my barrier! I dodged in time, and Akio blasted him with her lightning technique!
"Yare, yare. Dragons sure are troublesome, aren't they? However, this dragon has the limited mind of someone who didn't live even a century, so of course it'd still be a premature and inexperienced one, with so much to learn, yet, thinking that stands a change against us Devils descendants of the Hero of the underworld that has been training since young age. This kind of suicidal overconfidence is adorably ridiculous, if I may~." The good old sadist Akio said, taking flight away from the charging dragon. I landed right next to him and punched another of his heads, with so much strength it exploded in a bloody mess. However, with this, thanks to my fucked-up circuits, I ended up breaking my arm! Shit, I was thinking about Nemesis with this one, and it came stronger than I thought! I gotta stop going personal and go for the kill! I need to remake the barrier and avoid anything else to face the real issue here...
"Aria-san! Watch out!" Something suddenly tackled to the ground, and with it, I escaped for a nail a ball of pure destruction! It was Ichijou's little fox gal who saved me from total annihilation, as Rina was now trying to escape Yuno's magical chains and the Nashiro's constant assault. She's so vicious now, I'm even scared of her. And if this continues, I'm afraid that lord Cohen will destroy a least two worlds. "She's completely out of control! If we don't do anything, she'll destabilize this dimension and destroy the real world as well!"
"Thanks for the obvious exposition, Obvious-woman! This is pretty solid now!" I said back, standing up with Akabane-chan and creating two magic runes in opposing directions, all unleashing a barrage of energy shots and freezing miasma to both sides. The first for the dragon and the second for the rampaging girl! And soon enough, both the twins and white-haired girls escaped against them. However, those weren't enough to deal much damage, and both are coming to each other. "Shit... My energies are in a pinch... I'll have to lose both arms..."
*VOOSH!*
"Huh...?"
"Don't think you're the only one who has some inherited powers." I lifted my head and stared at Alabane-chan, both hands extending against the dragon, firing a true inferno of fox flames! It was so hot, yet so calming for me. However, such power was harming the dragon beyond all I could do. The four of the five heads Basara and Xion tried to cut off weren't regenerating as before, and the main head was screaming and struggling against! "What are you doing now? Go save Gremory! I hate to admit, but seeing her like that leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
"Thank you. Akabane Yoko!" I nodded and forced all of my powers against Rina, who only now was losing the strength and recomposing her humanoid form. Still, her arm wasn't truly recovering and it was marked with black burns and bruises. In a moment of welness, I dismissed the rune and ran towards her struggling self. I'm angry, I'm sad, I'm about to burst, yet Rina must be suffering even more. "Rina-chan! Please, stop!"
"GAAAAAAAOOOOOH...!"
"I know you're upset, but please! If you destroy this place and yourself, Ichijou will be sad!"
"..." And like a flick of a light, her berserker mode went from ten to zero. All of her monstrous aura vanished, and while her being was still emanating an abrasive force of deatruction, it was far more tamed and weaker than before. Did she come to her senses. The others took a distance out of her, as little by little her own power was vanishing in thin air. "Ichi... Jou... -kun...?"
"Yes. Remember him? And not just him. How about that ninja, that witch, the fox girl and that monkey girl? Remember how you used to laugh with them? At them, maybe?" I said, trying my best to come closer, her eyes shifting from the slitted pupils from the Alastor to the regular true purple ones. It's working! I just need to stay calm and question her! "They're your friends, remember? I know you're upset, and you want to burn that fucker Miyama to the core, but if this is gonna cost your life, the one you use to hang and share moments with them, so it's not worth it!"
"But... But I'm not... I'm not the Berolina Gremory they used to know..." And it was the end of that. All of her animosity and power came to a complete stop, and she finally deactivated her Alastor form, her wings turning back to being only a pair of devilish ones. Berolina Gremory was now sobbing, completely unconsoled. Ah, Rina-chan is back. The one we love, the one who can love us back. "... Aria-nee... I don't know who I am anymore... Berolina Gremory... Ludger Bael... I... I just don't know..."
"..." And with that, I sighed. Yep, I won't ever understand This kind of conflict, but I'm feeling right now a mild version of her own pain. Nemesis is... Ichijou is... But at least... She's fine, she's back. And she can now learn more as herself. "I know."
"...?"
"You're you, and that's all you need to know." I heard brother saying something like that before. It is and sounds really lame, but for some reason, she gasped in silence, and lowered her head. I guess... This is how you evolve as a person. "The Rina-chan that I love like a sister that I never had. The Rina-chan that Lord Cohen loves despite everything. The Rina-chan... That can learn how to love herself..."
"A... A-Aria-nee..."
"Rina-chan... Let's go-..."
*DOOOOOOON!*
"What...?!"
And everything went so fast. The warmth that I felt before in such moment with my little sister was abruptly cut as suddenly a explosion happened. The heat, the impact; the sound, everything crippled my senses for a while, and in a second, nothing. No sound, no smell, no sight, nothing, that explosion private me from my senses, as only white and silence was left. The last thing I remember was a really hard impact reaching for my back, and then, nothingness.
After a few seconds of blind confusion, the world began to turn colored and echoed again. My body was now worse than before, I felt like Uncle Cohen had hit me with a nonchalant punch, and immobile. Not just that, as I scanned around with the corner of my eye, I could see that I wasn't the only one who fell victim of such attack: Basara, Xion, Nashiro-chan, Akio, Yuno, Akabane-chan and Rina-chan were also bruised and unconscious next to me, their clothes ripped apart and with no signs of life. This is... This is hell...
"Oya, oya. It looks like the children of the said Hero of the underworld are indeed as pathetic as others says he was." To my complete horror, the voice that came to cut all of that silence wasn't coming from any of them. I forced myself to stand up, almost breaking a bone or two by the weight of my stance, and there he was, the bastard known as Miyama Enma, in the form of that five-headed Hydra abomination, which was scorched whole, burned chunks of flesh decaying from his body as only one head was still standing, now colored purple with two golden devilish horns. He dares to use the power of Master Tannin. Unforgivable. "I can already see the name of the chapter: 'The End'. But this isn't the end of this story, Oh no! This is the end of the Kuoh Arc! As I'm about to show you, you're just the mooks in those other shows that I'll defeat without any effort! The real adventure starts next, when I go to the underworld, the heavens and all the other dimensions to Kill all the divinities and kings in our way! Yes! The ultimate paradise! No gods not Kings, only men! The perfect creation!"
"Y... You bastard..." Was All I could muster, as I heard a crack from my arm, causing a pain so great I was forced to stand down again. Shit... I can't... I can't move... My reserves are low... And I can't even touch him. Is this... Really the end?
"Are those your final words? I was expecting anything more than some cheesy lines coming from one-shot villains, but oh Well, suit yourself and burn now! [SUNLIGHT YELLOW OVERDRIVE]!" He screamed to high heavens, loud enough to almost explode my eardrums and cracked part of this dimension as well. Suddenly, the heat in here began to rise. And rise and rise. The air became a gust from hell, everything vaporized to nothingness, and the area around that monster was turning into lava, as the central head was now glowing golden, as a true Sun in the sky! Soon enough, the heat reached me, and my skin began to burn. Not even my dragonic skin was enough to protect me, as it was now forming small bubbles of burn and almost melting my clothes! "Now, Devils that refused the light, die by the hands of the light! Not the one created by the cursed God in the sky, but from a man, a man that will prove once and for all that Humanity has surpassed the realm of fairy tales and religion, and shall not tolerate your toying and manipulation no more! When I'm done here, the world of the supernatural shall see the terror of the so-called lowly Humans! Now, PERISH FOREVER, DXD CHILDREN AND DAUGHTERS OF THE DEVIL KING!"
Shit! This is how it ends, right? Even if I could move, his power is too hot to even get close to a hit! My arm was now red and exploding in bursts of flesh and pus, and everyone around can't do a thing to stop this. Curses... Sorry Nemesis, I hope I can find you on the other world... No... Wait, how about Ichijou?!
*DRIP!*
"Eh...?" Suddenly, something unexpected fell onto my arm. Running through my already black member, for some reason that wet and cold trace was instantly healing my arm, skin and everything. Also, not just me, all of the arena became darker, and a bright lightning cut through the black frame. "Is it... Raining?"
*DRIP! DRIP! DRIP! DRIP! DRIP!*
"What the hell?! What is this?! GAAAAAAH..!" And it was true, it was a fact. Inside this arena, this artificial reality, was pouring a true storm. A rain in this place... What the hell? Not just that, the falling drops were slowly recovering my wounded body, and the moist atmosphere filling my lungs was curing my insides and restoring my energies. However, the biggest surprise came from the other side: the five-headed dragon was now a soaked mess, all of his heat energy now dead, and suffering in the rain, that was pouring like acid on his scaled skin, melting his carcass in big chunks. "GYAAAAAAAH! WHAT IS THIS?! I KNOW A FINAL ARC BATTLE SHOULD'VE SOME CLIMATIC INTERFERENCE, BUT GYAAAAAAH...!"
What's going on? How can it be raining like that? Not even Yuno can make a climatic spell of this magnitude! Not to mention, this rain has healing properties, but is completely trashing that asshole Enma. I can now stand on my two feet, and my bones weren't crushed and broken anymore. What the... Is this the student council's work?!
*ZAP!*
"HYOOOOOOOH...!"
"Huh...?"
"Yare, yare. I might be a little upset that a Deus Ex Machina saved our asses today, but I must be grateful that luck was on our side today, since it proves that not even destiny wants to work with that asshole Enma. But again, who would, honestly?" Those methodical and passive-aggressive comments, followed by a powerful lightning attack directly against the Dragon Miyama made me realize who wasn't unconscious anymore too. I turned around, and not just the descendant of the Priestess of Thunder and lightning, and the descendants of the Holy swords, the white Nekoshou sage, the rogue valkyrie, the ninefox and the daughter of our lord Demon King were standing against the dragon, healed and recovered and ready to go. "I'll tell you something, maybe that was one of the reason why he adopted so many children: to make company for his lonely and pathetic self. What do you guys think?"
"I think you talk too much. Shut up for once, stupid Akio." The white-haired Valkyrie said, snapping her fingers and opening a barrage of powerful electric shots, their affectedness only enhanced due to the storm. Inside the whirlwind of thunder and Ice, I heard a hoarse and powerful scream of agony and pain! Now we have the upper hand!
"Yare, yare. Now that's just rude, Yuno."
"Don't fight, you two. Caring is sharing! This goes for both lovers and victims, nyan~!" Was Nashiro's word of interruption, as she jumped in front of us all and launched several homming energy missiles against the agonizing dragon. Several, innumerable holes were being opened in his scaled flash, as his voice was now only a plea of mercy! "Don't you agree, Yoko-nyan~?"
"As long as I'm the main girl, Ichijou can date anyone. You're kinda right!" And from my side, Akabane-chan summoned two torpedoes of massive fox fire and launched against the dragonic beast. He was launched in midair. "Not that I care that much. I know he loves me enough."
*VOOSH! VOOSH!*
"Yeah, you all are right. Sharing..."
*ZING ZING! SLAAAASH!*
"... Is caring!" Were the Quarta siblings' final. Fast as Akio's lightnings, they cut through the storm, barrages and runes, and by under that falling dragon, they cut the rest of their carcass, heads and claws alike, only remaining the body shaped like a head of a dragon.
However, suddenly, I felt an enormous pressure against this place. An eerie, disturbing yet powerful aura was surrounding this place, and before I knew it, I looked up to see the reason behind all of this power, only to see an gigantic sphere of power of destruction above our heads, with enough energy to drawn the clouds closer to it. And the only using it was no one than Rina-chan, all of her wings unfolded on her back, as she was so viciously aiming against the dragon.
"No... Nonononono! This can't be! IT CANT!" The head of the dragon said, crawling like a worm to look at the heavens and the power of annihilation above. "YOU CANT KILL ME, DAMMIT! I AM THE HERO OF HUMANITY! I AM THE PROTAGONIST OF THIS STORY! IF I DIE, THE RATINGS WILL FALL, AND WE WILL BE CANCELED! DONT YOU DARE...!"
*SNAP!*
"GYAAAAAH...!" Before he could spit even more nonsense from his mouth-body, something akin to a string rolled and bounded him to the ground, closing the thing that resembled a mouth and making him uncomfortably wrapped in a single point. From where I could see, that powerful string was attached to Rina-chan's arm. She was looking at the monster with nothing but contempt.
"Would you shut up? I'm trying to concentrate here." Was all she said, before sharping her eyes and launch that sphere of pure destruction against her victim. "[ANNIHILATION NOVA]!"
"GYAAAAAAAAAH! NOOOOOOO...!"
*DOOOOOOOOOON...!*
And it happened. With nothing to protect him, the dragon that was an unholy combination of the six runaways was engulfed in black light, as the power of destruction devoured them whole. It landed, it destroyed, it annihilated, it's massive power strong enough to explode in a pillar of pure death, which impact was enough to shove the clouds away and slightly clear that artificial reality. In the end, where Miyama suppose to be was now history, a massive crater of nothingness in the middle of the false school ground. Rina-chan descended from her place, and didn't fall face-first thanks to Yoko-chan, who picked her in midair to safely land them both.
Everything was so fast. But I think... We won this time. Total annihilation, and death. This is the end of Miyama Enma... For now. The first to cut the silence and the pouring was Basara, who nonchalantly said...
"But~... Doesn't matter. All of my girls can share me instead. This includes Xion-nee's harem. Isn't that right, sis?"
"Meh, shut up."
"Guys..." I couldn't stand this anymore. We were... We were so close this time... I felt despair, I felt fear, I couldn't stop shaking and I really thought I was going to die. I couldn't maintain my stance no longer, I fell on my knees and... "WAAAAAAAH~! We were so close! I was so scared! Fuck! Shit! This was so SCARY! WAAAAAH...!"
"Wow, what the fuck, Aria-nee!" I could hear Yuno scolding me, as they came closer for my aid. Akio was the first to aid me in this pathetic state, hugging me tightly as I was still fountaining out of my eyes! Holy mother, that was the shit! "Err~! C'mon! You're not like that! Recompose yourself, Aria-nee!"
"WAAAAAAAH~! Shut up! I can't be the only one who was scare shitless by that thing!" I said back, as everyone, including Rina-chan and Akabane-chan went all 'eeeeh~?' With awkward faces on me. Wait, they planned something... Without me?! "Wait... Guys, what are you..."
"To be fair, Aria-nee, we're not stupid as you assume we are." Basara scratched his cheek with an awkward smile on his face, as he's both trying to talk to me, yet going smooth and hesitantly in order to avoid offending me. Too late, I'm already offended! The others did the same, including the stoic Xion.
"We were faking our defeat in order to launch a surprise attack against that asshole Miyama. However, the plan quickly changed as he was about to burn us alive." Xion recalled, crossing her arms. The rest only nodded. "If it wasn't for that sudden rain, well, you can say we would be some BBQ by now."
"Speaking of which, does anybody knows from where that came from?" Yuno asked. Indeed, what as that rain about? It couldn't be Yuno, nor Akio. Both are really good mages, but to make it rain like that with all of that magic circuits? Unthinkable. I don't even think I saw a pour this big since we met Hwan Jin-young for the first time... Wait. "Does anybody care, actually?"
Everybody also shook their heads. And that's that.
"Anyhow, I'm glad that everyone's okay. Specially you, crybaby Aria-san. Wait until Ichijou hears this one." Yoko said, coming closer to me to pat me on the head, as I dried my tears up. I don't know if I should be relieved or angry at that gesture, so I could only sigh. Yep, Nemesis is... Ichijou is... But at least it's over. And I'm... Not happy about it. I heard steps coming closer to me, and so, I lifted my head, only to stare at the crying face of my another beloved redhead. This one calmed me down a little. Yes, after all of that, at least... Someone has improved a lot. "And I brought someone who wants to say something to you."
"Aria-nee..." Rina-chan. I can't feel any animosity coming from her now. She's back in being the Berolina Gremory everybody... Some people... People that matters love and respect. Her flow Crimson red hair, her innocent and simple face, and gentle, fragile stance. She sighed, and opened a weak, timid smile, extending one of her hands to me. "Let's go home, now."
Yeah... This is it. It was painful, full of losses, and I lost a great friend of mine. But still... But still... This is over. We won, that Miyama idiot turned into dust, and now, we shall began everything again, flip a new page. Yes, first let's go home...
"Yeah, let's..."
*BUM!*
"What...?!"
*SLASH!*
"Ah...!" And in a blink of an eye, something happened. It was too fast for even me to keep up, but in a second, no, less than that even, the sole abruptly opened, and from it, I could only see a flash of light ascend to the skies. However, this wasn't the first thing I noticed. The first thing was... Rina-chan's right arm came flying off, as there was only a bloody mess where originally was. It landed not too far away from us, and as expected, it took her a few seconds to realize her loss, as she came down screaming in pain. "Gaaaaaah...! My arm...! My arm...! Aria-nee...!"
"What the hell?!" Shit! T also took me quite a while to properly react to that. I called for Yuno and we both tried to stop the bleeding and heal the wound as we can, as the other circled around us to protect and detect any possible threat that could do harm to us. "What the hell... This was... This was... Ugh! What's going on?!"
*BAM!*
"Eh...?!" But before someone could give me an explanation, something really heavy came down crash-landing next to us, the impact almost putting everyone off-balance. When the dust cleaned off, we saw another abomination exalting a dragonic scent: it was a tall, really tall, humanoid dragon, with class for feet and arms, colored all black and purple, shining jewels all over it's metallic body that resembled a more intimidating Scale mail armor, and instead of eyes, there was six jewels incrusted on the helmet, forming a six-pointed star. And this smell... This is... Master tannin's scent! "Guys! Watch out! This guy... This guy is...!"
"Yo, missed me, you little shits?!" The armor roared at us, his voice strong enough to tremble this entire space. This voice is indeed from that asshole Miyama, as he stood up and clenched his fists a few times; as he was like testing this new form of his. What is that?! "That one was a close call. If it wasn't for my plan to escape that carcass from before and morph myself into this new form, [ADAM SINNER BURST], I might've died! But alas, the protagonist can only die so much only to come back stronger than ever! Now tell me, DxD children and co., tell me this... Do you have anything at all to counter this my new form?!"
"..." I came out as a mute as he extended from his back six dragonic rainbow wings, and from his arms and legs sprouted tentacles and extra arms. That thing wasn't anything that I ever see before. This smell, this power, it's not something we can't defeat with a few sacrifices. Shit... If only Lord Cohen was here...
"Nothing? Not even a joke or a sentence? Very well then!" And so, he dashed against us, leaving nothing but destructing behind him, as he came closer and summoned every possible weapon and rune behind his back! This is gonna be tough, but I'm all healed now! This time... I won't go down so easily! We all stood against that monster, with the exception of Akabane-chan and Rina-chan, and wait led for the worst! Here he comes! "Perish from the realm of man, SUPERNATURAL SCUM!"
*BAM!*
*CRASH!*
But before any of us could do any drastic move, something far more sinister happened: the artificial sky above our heads suddenly crashed whole, not only unmaking the barrier, but also entering this artificial reality without any drawback! We all looked up there, as the artificial purple atmosphere turned back to the usual night black one, and saw only a shining white point.
"Another of your friends, Miyam-...?!" I couldn't finish my sentence, because a chill ran down my spine, worst than anything I've aged before. I already faced against dragons, monsters and even some pretty high-class Devils, but nothing has ever made me like this. This is... Fear. I looked around, and it wasn't just me: everybody was equally as shocked! "What is this... My body... Is trembling..."
"Huh, so this is your backup, DxD children?" I heard from the other side. That Miyama bastard was looking the same thing as we were, turning all of his attentions to that point in the sky. By his tone of voice, he was both excited... Yet hesitant and even scared? "I knew that you had the Sekiryuutei in your army of hell, but to think that his biggest rival was also in it... I'm impressed!"
"Biggest rival?! Wait, don't tell me...!"
I turned again to that same spot on the sky, it's blinding silver shine dying out, revealing what was hiding all along: white shining scales as armor, claws of a true dragon for hands and feet, tail, head, torso and legs all covered in blank silver armory, his piercing blue eyes cold enough to hit my deep soul, and last but not least, a pair of white dragon wings made out of light, shining like a second moon on the night sky! I can't believe it! I dunno know if I should be fearful or enchanted, but there it is, Gramps', and now Ichijou's, biggest rival, the soul of the Light wings of the White dragon emperor, the [DIVINE DIVIDING], one of the thirteen legendary Longinus sacred Gears and sworn enemy of the Red welsh Dragon emperor Ddraig...
The white English vanishing dragon emperor Albion!
"The one and only Hakuryuukou!" We all screamed, as the dragon descended from the sky to the floor. Even from here I could feel an immense strength coming from it. So chilling and powerful, I wonder if Lord Vali has something to do with this kind of power even though this is a completely new host. The white dragon then chose the line between us and the Miyama asshole, as the flap of his wings came to a stop, and he was about to put his claws on the floo-...
*BAM!*
"..."
"..."
...
It fell face-first on the floor.
...
What?!
"Sorry, sorry! I'm not used to land, so I always fuck it up! Sorry, sorry! It won't happen again!" And comically standing up and putting it's arms on it's hips, probably to look as cool as possible after that freaky accident, a female voice echoed inside the armor. Huh, a girl is the current host. I was kinda expecting this since people love to turn Lord Vali into a chick in fanfiction. The tense aura suddenly befell us again, and she turned to the dragonic armor that used to be Miyama Enma(PhD in Assholeness, a minor in bastardy and a bachelor in studies of being a douche.). "Let's cut to the chase, shall we? I could sense an extremely powerful presence coming from this place around, but a good friend of mine said It was coming from a different dimension, so I passed by to check it out. I assume it is you, am I right?"
"Huh, so even the Hakuryuukou acknowledges my strength, this must be something." Mused the hydra dragon, which speech was dripping on pride and arrogance. "Yes, indeed, I'm the strongest here! Not even the descendants of the Red dragon could take me on!"
"Awesome! Let's fight! I'll totally deck you in the shnotz!"
...
Pardon?
"Huhuh, what a vulgar language, something I wasn't expecting from the White dragons, one of the two heavenly dragons, only under the infinite ouroboros Dragon God Ophis and the True dragon of dreams, Great Red." Chuckled the Hydra Dragon, now adopting a fighting pose, his body glowing in pure energy and the brinks of his body exhaling pure power, the ground under his feet trembling from the massive magnitude. "But if it's a fight you want, I'll gladly show you my power! I'll show you that not even the strongest dragon is match against the power of my intellect and human will! I'll show you that-...!"
*ZOOM!*
*DON!*
"Gh...!" And by the mother of all ironies, in just one seconds, faster than I could keep up with, the vanishing dragon simply blinked from in front of us to the other side of the arena, leaving no sound or image behind, like she was there the whole time. I turned my eyes to the Hydra dragon, and he was just as bewailed as me, but with a twist: his whole left arm was ripped off! "Gah! Bitch!"
"Kah, kah! Got your arm, Mister~!" Laughed the vanishing dragon, tossing the arm in her possession to a random direction, and unfolding even more her wings, turning her full attention to it's adversary! "My turn!"
"As if! Take that, you lowly minor character scum!" And growing another arm where the ripped one used to be, That Miyama asshole made a double-punch motion in front of him and created a massive barrage of golden, purple, blue, violet, green and grey runes, that launched several magical shots from within! Again surpassing our expectations, the White dragon flew into the heart of that monstrous attack and so-nonchalantly dodged against all the treasures and energy spheres that was been thrown against her! This robbed a gasp from the Hydra Dragon! "Impossible!"
"Pow!" That comical sound effect the dragon muttered was muted by the sheer impact of her punch against Miyama's guts. So powerful, it blew a shockwave that affected is too, and which sent Miyama up to the skies! It cracked part of his torso and armor as a whole, as it was now crumbling into nothingness! Strong! "Tch! Look at this, I thought you'd be up for a challenge, but you're just another inconvenience I have to face, like cow shit stuck on the road."
"WHY YOU! DISAPPEAR...!" Apparently, Miyama got fed up to deal with it, as he summoned all of his six pairs of rainbow wings, and began to gather energy above his head. Extending his arms to the skies, he began to form a massive ball of dragonic power, so massive, it was pulling small objects in like a true black hole! If that hits, it won't only destroy us all, but the whole Kuoh city with it! "Now, disappear! WHITE DRAGON EMPERO-...!"
{DIVIDE!}
"WHAT...?!" But it wasn't over. I heard from inside those wings a powerful voice announce a command, as the White dragon was reaching a hand for the flying morphed dragon. The ball of destruction suddenly got smaller and weaker, and descended even more into the realms of mediocrity as the wings wouldn't stop it's special calls! That is he special ability of the [DIVINE DIVIDING], the ability to cut the power of all that it touches in half and feed on it! In the end, no power was left in Miyama to control and maintain such power, vanishing in thing air in a dust of light. "No! No! This can't be happening! This never happens to the good guys!"
{DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE!}
{DIVIDE!}
"NOOOOOOOO...!"
"And now... Away with you, mister!" Without losing any time, the white dragon emperor soon boosted herself with the stolen power, making the Scale Mail armor shine silver and glow with such massive power, and took flight to put herself on the same level as Miyama. From it's claws, it summoned a pair of glowing silver spheres and without losing any tempo, threw them against the Hydra dragon, their power I could feel from here! Take this, {INFINITE BIG BANG STORM}!
"NOT SO FAST! I AM INVINCIBLE! SUCH ATTACK WONT EVEN...!" Too late: the dragon even tried to block that attack, and while he did it against those two spheres, when they came in contact with him, instead of disappearing, they exploded in six smaller spheres and dispensed themselves, only to turn back and attack him from behind! "What the...?"
Too late! This time, he couldn't block it, as the six hit his back and exploded in a bright flame! But it didn't stop there! The six spheres then began to rotate and encircle his body, all while hitting and exploding specific parts of him! In the end, those spheres were now taking the shape of an atom, with Miyama as their center, as they grew denser and denser, forming now a ball of light! Miyama was screaming all the way, but he was soon muted as the balls grew so dense they became a single sphere of pure blinding light, that popped in a massive explosion!
We were all dumbfounded about that. Is that... The power of the current Hakuryuukou? So much power, and total control over it too! Damn, if she turns out to be our enemy, tough times might come, worse than today. This is the third time I'm trembling today, and for a good motive. Maybe Even I won't be able to beat her without some more training. From the dust of that explosion, suddenly, came now the five runaways, all unconscious and posing no threat now, and the last that it came was a little girl with her chest wide-open, revealing a black heart, that was still beating, but in a very slow pace, almost stopping...
"This can't... Be... This... Not... Last... Timeeeeee~..." I heard from inside that black heart, the voice of that bastard Miyama, which continued to curse until it died down, leaving us to the silence. Is this the end? I'm not so sure now. With everything that had happened so far, I don't know what is normal anymore. I gulped hard one more time, and closed my eyes. What a day.
"Hey~! You guys~!" That voice came suddenly to my ears, so I opened my eyes, only to see a white dragon Scale mail in front of us, it's arms crossed, golden eyes shining at us, and an eerie aura towards us as a whole. "Tell me, now that old man is gone, I just have you guys to fight me! How about it?! Let's fight!"
{ELIZABETH, FIGHTING THEM IS NOT THE WISEST IDEA NOW.} I heard from inside the wings, a voice I can only assume is from Albion, the Vanishing English white dragon emperor. So, this hostess is also a battle maniac? I wonder how close she is from Lord Vali. {THEY'RE STRONG. I WONT GUARANTEE YOUR VICTORY, NOR YOUR LIFE IF YOU DECIDE TO CHARGE AHEAD. WE SHOULD RETREAT FOR NOW.}
"But, you know what, Arubin~..." She said, bending her legs to them, in a flash, dash against us, both claws ready to fight! "This only pump me up even more to fight them!"
{ELIZABETH!}
"Tch...!"
*ZOOOM!*
"Eh...?" But before she could come clashing onto us, something even stranger happened: coming out of nowhere, something akin to a hook suddenly reached for the hakuryuukou's neck, and pulled her away from us, dragging her all the way to a third individual, a tall and beautiful platinum-blond young woman of spectacled silver eyes, fair skin, hair pulled in a single braided ponytail and wearing a silver suit, and carrying some like a mummy on her arms. Once there, she let go off he white dragon, who stood up to bitch-up about it. "What the hell, Arthuria!"
"Lisa, you should heard Albion-sama more frequently. Bringing you here was an already arduous task. I wouldn't be able to help if things would to turn into a bloody mess. We should retreat for now, since you already had your fun." The blond one said with a sigh, suddenly turning her attention to us. However, I was more concerned about the weapon she was carrying. That thing... Is even more powerful than the Scale Mail it hooked. At first I couldn't tell since it was taking the shape of a hook, but after returning what I assume it is it's original form, I cold-sweated. That shape, that blade, what suffocating and powerful aura... There's no mistake, that blond girl is the hostess of that...
The holy spear of the setting sun, the weapon that pierced the King of Kings(Christianly speaking, of course.) and it's considered the mother of all Sacred Gears, carrying the original name of the strongest ones. The True Longinus.
"Psh! Joy-killer!"
"It's the only thing I'm allowed to kill; anyway." Came that sheepish reply. She then turned to us, and came closer, sealing away her True Longinus seeing the horror in our faces; only to smile a serene one and hand to us that mummified thing. "I'm sorry if my little idiot brought you all trouble in any way, shape or form. And I hope this little present can somehow make up for the damage, I've encountered her nearby around this place, so I've decided to help. So long, Devils of Kuoh, I hope we see each other again."
"And I know you all are hiding the sekiryuutei somewhere! Tell him that if he wants to fight, he shall seek for the one and only Elizabeth!"
"Hush, you." The so called hostess of the True Longinus, Arthuria, sighed deeply and summoned again the Lance of destiny, forming with it a bubble from the tip of her blade. Both she and the so called Elizabeth then entered it's spherical form and in a second, pop!, like a soap-bubble, it popped in thin air, leaving no traces behind.
That one... Was indeed a uncommon day. Not only we fought the cause of all troubles surrounding Kuoh, his adoptive children and by consideration the six Dragon Kings, we also met and saw the power of the current Hakuryuukou, and her partner, the hostess of the strongest Sacred Gear, the True Longinus.
"Huh~... Huh...!"
"Aria-nee! That mummy! It's moving!" Suddenly, snapping me out of my stupor, Basara suddenly said, pointing at the bandaged thing in my lap. That's right! That Arthuria girl said something about 'repay', but what that suppose to mean?! This mummy now is moving on it's on! "It's alive! Quick! Let's open it!"
"Y-Yeah! Calm down, now! I'll take you out!" I said, ripping the bandages off as quick as I could. The first thing I saw was fair skin, light as milk, easy to touch. That freaked me out a little, since it was apparently a human being or something like that, but as I ripped and unraveled those layers of bandages, something inside of me ticked me off. First, skin, then... Body... Then... Red hair... Wait... This... This can't be! This can't... I turned my hands into claws, and ripped the bandages whole! I was ready for everything, but in the end, that Arthuria girl proved me wrong... It was... It was...
"N-Nemesis...?"
"Aria...?"
...
...
*DRIP!*
"Ah... Ah... Ah...!" I couldn't see. My vision was blurry. I couldn't get up, my legs were shaking, I couldn't speak, all the words in my mouth died out. This is... This is... I don't know what this is... My chest hurts... I don't know what to do... Nemesis... Nemesis... NEMESIS! "WAAAAAAAAH...! NEMESIS! HUAAAAAAAH...!"
"Ehehe... Shut up, Aria. You're being too loud."
"Shut up! You died! Let me be loud just this time, you bitch! WAAAAAAAAH~!" I said, punching her in the face only to hug her with all of my strengths! Waaaah! She's alive! My Nemesis is alive!
"Huh, okay then, you crybaby."
"Nemesis..." We both heard a very familiar voice from behind. I stopped with my crying, only to turn around and see a very shocked Rina-chan standing next to us. First, she was shocked, completely, but then her face began to twitch, as her now purple eyes were crystallizing and letting run small drops of salty water. By the end, she fell on her knees, completely shaken and desolated, while Nemesis sighed, and put herself sat on the floor. "Nemesis... Nemesis...!"
"Hey, welcome back home... Berolina Gremory." The older sister said, extending her arm to Rina-chan's face, only to then pass her fingers on her now Crimson hair. In the end, she faintly smiled. She smiled. "I'm so... Proud of you."
"NEEEEEMEEEEESIS...!" And we all break down crying, hugging our dear redhead for dear life. Even with her right arm missing, Rina continued to hug her sister just like me. I'm... I'm so happy!
It dirt took long to Akabane-chan to show up with both Bro and Kyouka-chan, all somehow beat-up, but completely alive nonetheless. The same goes for the Miyama runaways, as the Devils in charge of healing said that they'll live, and no longer under the control of Miyama Enma. So... This is finally the end of this long, hellish day. And by the end of it, we won, completely.
But, with the White dragon now revealed, together with the current hostess of the True Longinus, I can only wait for worst days to come. Huh, for now, I'll just forget about it, and enjoy our victory... Yes, this is... The end of this long spring.
...
...
"Wait, are you telling me that Nemesis died?!"
"Yuno-nee, don't ruin the moment."
And that's the end of the Miyama Runaway arc! Wow, what a ride, and 50-chapters later, we finally see the White dragon emperor showing up! This is... Maybe going too fast? I dunno, I hope you all are liking this trainwreck of stuff happening. Next chapter... Maybe a lemon? Stuff happening again? Nothing happening at all? I'll try, that's all I can say.
Now, seriously talking, I've been pondering this idea up until now, so I'm gonna ask: should Berolina be one of Ichijou's girlfriends, or she should be just an acquaintance of his? I dunno, maybe it's because their relationship is still new, so maybe trying to work it out won't work like I'm expecting. Then again, they're somehow the Rias and Issei of this new story, so maybe I should give them a shot? What do you guys think? Berolina as one of the 'Ichi-hoes'(what?): yay or may?
Regardless of that, stay golden and have a fantastic year, everyone!