Anything you recognise isn't mine.
Ares let out a growl as he paced around the golden barrier in which Aphrodite had seemingly sealed both herself and Roxas. Divine fire coated his fists as he clenched and unclenched them, and glared into the opaque golden sphere.
'That fucking slut, how dare she?!' The God of War silently seethed. He made no attempt to break through Aphrodite's barrier, knowing that when the Goddess of Love truly put her mind to something not phallus-shaped for once, her abilities (loath as Ares was to admit it) rivalled that of the strongest Olympians. That, and he knew that he'd already beaten Roxas once- and would have finished the annoying Nephalem off for good had some crimson-haired twat not rushed in to defend him and transport him away- and that he could do it again, no matter what.
And while he was at it, he'd be sure to punish Aphrodite for the insult to his pride that was her seemingly throwing her lot in with Roxas over him, one of the strongest Olympians. He'd won her once from that pathetically ugly cuck Hephaestus, he could win her again from some little upstart that would meet his end. In his mother's name, of course.
The sight of the golden sphere that surrounded Aphrodite and Roxas began to rise up from its current position, which caught Ares' eye instantly. Cracking his knuckles, he slowly shifted himself into a mid-air battle-stance, certain that something was about to happen. And something DID happen: after about ten seconds of slow rising, the golden barrier shattered, and a streak of mixed gold-and-silver light blazed out from it, at a far higher speed than Ares could possibly react to.
Ares let out a yell of pain as he felt something slashing at his chest, scoring a deep hit on him. His body automatically began healing itself as he turned around, seeing where the man-sized streak of light was going, and sending a divine fireball in its direction. But he was off the mark: the streak was long-gone by the time the fireball Ares had flung at him reached where he had been where Ares had flung it, it had quickly turned and was rushing right at Ares, evidently ready to attack again. Ares let out a yell and threw a fire-coated punch directly in the streak's path, certain that he'd be able to catch this annoying... whatever it was, in a devastating enough hit that it'd go down for good.
However, just as his fist came flying out in a punch, the golden streak changed direction right before Ares' fist would have made contact with it, flew around him and came at him from behind. Ares let out a yell of pain as he was suddenly impaled, twice over, from behind, by two short swordspears. Less than a second later, Ares felt a fist slamming into his upper back, and stumbled forwards in mid-air. Whirling around, the angry god slammed his hands together in a clap that shook the very world around it, but the golden streak that had been annoying him since Aphrodite's barrier broke didn't seem to react to that, flying over him and throwing a devastating punch at Ares' face, that connected with a loud CRACK.
Ares span over and over in mid-air for a couple of seconds, growling as he reached behind him, grabbed the swordspears that were still in his back and yanked them out, tossing them down to the ground and glaring up at the golden streak of light, which ceased its annoying movement in front of him, about twenty feet away: it was Roxas. There was a golden aura about him, his crimson eyes seemed to be glowing, and he didn't seem to need his wings to fly for whatever reason, but it was him, alright. All of his wounds were also healed, rendering just about everything that Ares had done to him earlier- prior to when Aphrodite had stepped in- completely pointless.
Roxas drew Clarent Galatine, his expression stony, and flew at Ares again, swinging at his neck. Ares raised a hand, focusing enough divine energy into said hand to block Roxas' sword, preventing his decapitation. From close-range, he fired back a strong bolt of divine energy that Roxas was forced to float back in order to dodge. He flew forwards again, thrusting Clarent Galatine forward in an attempt to stab Ares through the chest while calling the two swordspears that made up Dáinmung back to his other hand. The two swordspears joined together in Roxas' left hand as he swung the dual-ended weapon at Ares, but the God of War rose an arm up into Dáinmung's path, focusing enough divine power into it that he was able to block the blae, just like when Roxas had swung Clarent Galatine at his neck.
"What the fuck did that bitch do to you?!" Ares shouted, headbutting Roxas to get him away, and sending a wave of divine fire his way, which Roxas dodged.
"Gave me a taste of her power to help kick your ass." Roxas replied, shrugging. "Stupid as the concept may sound, the power of love is actually pretty- well- powerful. Especially when it comes from a literal Goddess of it."
Ares snarled, and fired concentrated beams of divine energy out of his eyes straight at Roxas, who seemed to disappear into the same streak of light he'd originally attacked Ares as a part of, and retreated up into the air. He darted around a little bit, avoiding the God's eye-lasers before rushing back towards him, this time sinking his fist into Ares' regenerated stomach with enough force to send Ares spiralling downward, coughing and gasping like crazy from the force of the punch. The son of Zeus and Hera didn't initially react beyond the aforementioned coughs and gasps, so driven into shock was he by the power behind Roxas' punch.
It didn't make any sense. He was the GOD OF WAR, for fuck's sake. An embodiment of power, battle and warfare, he shouldn't be feeling something like this from a punch, especially from one who wasn't even a God.
But he was. Somehow, in defiance of everything Ares knew and believed about himself, he was. As well as in slight pain, it left him in shock. But that shock was quick... to give way to apoplectic rage. Focusing divine energy into his feet to make him fly faster, Ares bolted towards Roxas at speeds the Nephalem wasn't able to comprehend until too late, grabbing him by one of his feet, swinging him around a couple of times to build up momentum and tossing him down at the ground. While Roxas spiralled through the air, Ares fired a powerful bolt of divine energy at him, smirking as he knew that there was no way that Roxas would be able to dodge and block it, so occupied was he with trying to right himself in mid-air.
However, right before the bolt of divine energy that Ares had fired at Roxas could hit him, it suddenly... disappeared, into thin air, as Roxas finished righting himself. He looked up at Ares, a smirk on his face.
"Nice try, asshole." Roxas remarked, spreading his ten Nephalem wings and floating back up to Ares' level. "Care to try again?"
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Ares screamed, firing more divine energy out of his hands at Roxas before charging at him. However, Roxas simply dropped downwards, dodging both the energy-bolts and Ares' charge, as the energy-bolts faded into mid-air before they could ever hit him. "FUCK! HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT?!"
"Doing what?" Roxas replied. "I'm not doing anything. Your soon-to-be-former lover, on the other hand..."
Ares growled, and locked eyes with Roxas, who steadily rose back to his level. Aphrodite warped to Roxas' side a second later, her white gown billowing around her and her hand stretched out, the same golden aura as the aura that surrounded Roxas surrounding said hand. She flicked her hand in Roxas' direction, and seemed to transfer the golden aura on her hand to him, further intensifying the aura around Roxas.
Ares, somehow even more angry now than he'd been a moment or so earlier, rushed forward, aiming for Aphrodite this time rather than Roxas, fully intent on punishing his wife/chief lover rather than the Nephalem beside her. But before he could get to her, Roxas dashed forward, clashing with Ares, his Power of Twilight fully out in opposition to Ares' divine power.
The Nephalem and the God pushed against each other for a couple of seconds: both coated in their respective auras, both pushing as hard as they could against each other, and neither seemingly able to move against the other in any significant way. Not until Roxas, in a move that caught Ares completely off-guard, disengaged from the push against him, and suddenly pulled him in closer, slamming his head against the God's in a headbutt powerful enough to momentarily daze the God of War. While he was dazed, Roxas split Dáinmung into two smaller blades and stabbed the dazed God through the stomach, right where he'd previously stabbed him (though Ares had since healed himself of the wounds caused by the previous stabbing), drawing out another yell of pain from Ares.
Summoning the Vindicator to his left hand and Clarent Galatine to his right, Roxas unloaded as many explosive, anti-regeneration bullets into the wounded God as he could with the triple-barrelled revolver, while hacking at whatever was left of his body with his sword. Within a couple of seconds, there was rather little of Ares' body left for Roxas to hack or shoot at: so he paused, instead electing to grab Ares by his bloodstained hair and throw him up into the air, sending a number of powerful bolts of the Power of Destruction after him, as well as several powerful bolts of his Power of Twilight.
Most of the energy-bolts struck what was left of Ares' body, dealing more and more damage to him with every single thing that struck him. His body dropped to the ground, unmoving for a second or two, as Roxas and Aphrodite floated together.
"You think that did it?" Roxas asked, glancing over at the blonde Goddess (and somehow, not allowing his eyes to flick down to her incredible bust, even for a fraction of a second). "Think he's done?"
"Hell no." Aphrodite replied. "When he regenerates, Ares is gonna be even more pissed. Though... that'll just make him easier for you to beat. Especially with my help~" she leaned over and gently pressed her lips against his, before pulling back and looking down at where Ares had fallen, where his body- as she said- was regenerating. Slower than he had been before, but regeneration was regeneration, one supposed.
Roxas shifted back into a combat-stance of his own as Ares' reforming form sat back up, and slowly ascended into the air. What was still there of his face as it slowly returned to full form glared up at Roxas as he rose, divine energy swirling around him. There was no doubt in either Roxas' or Aphrodite's minds: Ares was beyond angry, he was fucking PISSED.
He aimed at Aphrodite first, firing a powerful beam of holy fire her way, but Aphrodite had another of her powerful barriers up and ready to go with one hand before the beam came anywhere near her. She outstretched the other towards the beam of holy fire itself, which began to slowly dissipate the longer that Ares continued to fire it at her barrier. At the same time, the familiar golden aura around her hand began to grow.
"Off you go, Roxas!" Aphrodite shouted, throwing her free hand in Roxas' direction and transferring the golden aura to him, further enhancing the Nephalem's power. Grinning, Roxas flew towards Ares at speed and sunk a Power of Twilight-enhanced fist into Ares' regenerated stomach, summoning Dáinmung back to his other hand again as he did so. Ares gasped, extremely winded by the punch, and doubled over as he flew backwards, coughing up blood as he did so. He quickly righted himself in mid-air, preparing for another such punch, but Roxas had already made his way behind him, raising his fists above his head before slamming them down on the War God, sending him down to the ground again and sending shockwaves all around.
Ares had barely gotten to his feet before he was engulfed in a hugely powerful bolt of golden, divine lightning, fired at him from above by Aphrodite. The lightning, and the power behind it, definitely hurt the God of War, but the fact that it was divine in origin, and striking a God, prevented it from being unbearably painful to him. Ares raised a hand, focusing as much divine energy into it that he could without compromising his healing (which was still going on, thanks to the amount of damage that Roxas had done with sword and gun), and capturing the lightning around it, blocking his chief lover from doing any more damage to him than she was already doing. He was about to fire it back at her, but he was suddenly slammed into the ground and dragged along it by Roxas, who had come back at him from behind. After a few seconds of being dragged through the ground at speed, Roxas lifted Ares up and threw him forwards, sending the God spinning through the air.
Though as he span, Ares was able to- somehow- fire off the divine lightning he had captured from Aphrodite directly into Roxas' path as he flew upwards, shocking the Nephalem greatly and sending him spiralling down. Ares had righted himself by this point, and had an evil, bloodied grin on his face as he made a grab for the falling Nephalem. However, Roxas was able to right himself in mid-air, and manoeuvre away from Ares' outstretched hand, just in time for Aphrodite to deliver Ares another powerful bolt of divine lightning, this time from behind.
Roxas summoned Clarent Galatine back to himself as Ares yelled out in pain, and with one swing, bisected the God of War. Summoning the Vindicator into his other hand, he fired several more times, sending volley after volley of more anti-regeneration bullets into him, and thrusting the blade of Clarent Galatine into Ares' bullet-riddled top half after a dozen or so shots. Aphrodite descended down to Roxas' level as Ares let out a scream of pain from being impaled again, and after sharing a look with Roxas, reached out and tapped the blade of the sword that the Nephalem held, sending some of her godly energy into it.
"Aphrodite?" Roxas looked over at the Goddess of Love. "What're you-?" After a second, her plan seemed to dawn on him, and the Nephalem nodded. "Ahh, got it." Refocusing his attention on Ares, Roxas send some of his dual holy and demonic natures into the sword, the power behind which only made Ares yell out in pain more, as the healing that went on within his upper body began to slow down. That is to say, slow down even MORE than it had already been doing thanks to the anti-regeneration bullets that Roxas had pumped him full of.
Ares yelled out in pain, with his yells growing louder and more pained as Roxas poured more and more power through Clarent Galatine into his body. That immense power, enhanced by the aura of one of the most powerful figures in the Olympic Pantheon, began to slowly overpower the God of War's remaining energy. His body writhed and convulsed, but he was seemingly unable to find the strength to pull himself away. The sudden realisation of the hopelessness of his situation sent Ares into a frenzy, causing him to writhe and convulse even more, to the point that Roxas had to stab Clarent Galatine into the ground in order to trap his bisected no-longer-regenerating opponent where he currently was.
Said opponent's screams were now such that they would have absolutely deafened any human within half a kilometre, so it was a lucky thing that neither Roxas nor Aphrodite were human. Originating from where Roxas had Ares stabbed through the stomach, silver cracks began to slowly appear, and spread out across the God's not-regenerating body.
"He's cracking, Roxas!" Aphrodite called out, her hand on Clarent Galatine as she continued pumping her godly power into it.
"Yeah, I know!" Roxas replied. "That good? That not good?"
"It's good!" Aphrodite replied. "Keep going! Keep pumping that power~!" She licked her lips as the power she sent into Roxas' sword intensified.
'Of course you'd sound lewd as hell during a time like this.' Roxas thought to himself, looking back at Ares as he continued to pump as much power as he could into Clarent Galatine, and into Ares. 'Why am I not surprised?' Little by little, the cracks originating from where Roxas had stabbed Ares began to spread further and further throughout his body, with it looking like his body was splitting apart. The cracks glowed intensely, with the more power that Roxas pumped into Ares, who continued to thrash and writhe around.
After a moment or two, the cracks on- and within- Ares' body became somewhat audible, as the Nephalonic and Godly power that Roxas and Aphrodite pumped into him flowed into the God of War, conflicted with his own nature, overpowered it. Ares had long-since screamed himself hoarse by this point, and he'd stopped writhing and thrashing around between Roxas' sword and the cold, hard ground. He seemed to have resigned himself to the fact that there was no escaping this situation... which was all fine with Roxas. The less he struggled, the easier it'd be to finish this divine prick off, so he could get to more important matters.
The cracks around and within Ares' body slowly reached his head, and his mouth opened in a silent scream as, with what sounded like a mixture between an explosion and a squelch, Ares' upper half blew apart on Roxas' sword. His torso, his arms, his head, all came apart and flew in all directions. His head span over and over in the air before landing on the ground with a dull thud, about ten feet away from where Roxas and Aphrodite were.
Roxas took a couple of breaths, dispelling Clarent Galatine back to his pocket-dimension with a wave of his hand as he looked over at Ares' disembodied head. It remained motionless for a couple of seconds, before rolling a little, blinking. It was still alive... creepy.
Ombra appeared in the hand that Roxas had just dispelled Clarent Galatine from, as he stepped over Ares' fucked-up torso (which looked like it'd been impaled... because it had just been impaled), and looked over at the head, the eyes of which swivelled around. Roxas gave off a little smirk as, with his foot, he lightly kicked Ares' head, allowing it to fall backwards and look up at him... and Aphrodite, as she walked up beside him. Roxas was about to say something, but Aphrodite suddenly grabbed him and pulled him into a deep kiss, which almost made him drop Ombra in surprise.
Roxas initially closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the lips of the Goddess of Love on his own. He could tell she was holding back, but in spite of that, she had a similar quality Lilith: being able to completely overpower any normal guy (and probably a fuck-ton of not-normal guys... or girls) with something as simple as a kiss. Roxas figured that any being with a strong connection to Love or Lust probably had that kind of power, and though he definitely preferred being the one in control in situations like this, he sure as hell didn't mind the reverse if it was with someone like this, like Aphrodite or Lilith.
Or Palutena, but then again, she was a special case among special cases.
Roxas opened his eyes, looked downwards, and had to hold in a snigger at the sight of Ares' disembodied head looking up at him and Aphrodite making out. It wasn't like it could do anything else... or would be able to do anything else, for much longer, considering that Ombra was now levelled at where his godly brain would be. As Aphrodite deepened the kiss with him, sticking her divine tongue into his mouth, Roxas squeezed Ombra's trigger, sending a bullet of dark, concentrated demonic energy straight into Ares' disembodied head, sending it spinning over and over from the force of the bullet hitting it until it came to a stop again.
Now, the head was unmoving. No small rolls, no eye-movements, nothing. It was motionless. Lifeless.
Dead.
"Heh... heh..." A tired, yet familiar, voice chuckled, barely loud enough for Roxas and Aphrodite to hear. Roxas immediately jumped away from Aphrodite (who let out a little moan of longing as Roxas suddenly broke apart, but immediately heard the voice as well. Roxas, by that point, had already dashed off in the direction of where the voice had come from, landing about thirty feet away from Aphrodite currently was, and kneeling down next to a heavily-injured Zeoticus Gremory.
"Shit." Aphrodite muttered, warping over to where Roxas was and bending down alongside him. Thanks to what Ares had done to him several minutes ago, the Gremory Head looked in an INCREDIBLY bad way. Though Aphrodite was great with barriers, and somewhat good with healing, Zeoticus' body was fucked up beyond repair, especially beyond any potential repair that a Goddess of Love could do.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Roxas growled, his hands raising to Zeoticus' chest, where the crimson-haired Lord's wounds were deepest, but healing was never a strong suit of his. Absolutely nothing he could do. "Zeoticus... Grandpa, I'm sorry..."
"Roxas, don't worry... about it." Zeoticus replied. Though every word he spoke sounded like it cost him a shitton of effort, and reaching up to grab Roxas' hand cost him even more, he still did it. "At least you were... able to kill his ass for me." he coughed, his hand slipping from Roxas' and dropping back down to the ground. "I can go on happy with that in mind, at least. Just take care of everyone: Venelana... Rias... Palutena... Logan... Lu... cia..."
Zeoticus Gremory's entire body relaxed, as his eyes seemed to glaze over. Tears dropped from his eyes as his breathing stopped, and he fell completely still. The Head of the Gremory Clan passed on, in the company of the grandson he'd only recently repaired a relationship with, and his newest lover.
"Roxas..." Aphrodite looked over at her lover, sadness in her eyes as she moved over to him, and wrapped her arms loosely around him. "I... I don't know what to say..."
"Then unless you know where Hera is," Roxas replied, his voice unnaturally cold as he stood up, before Aphrodite could fully hold onto him, and taking a couple of steps away from his dead grandfather. "Don't say anything, Aphrodite."
"Uh..." Aphrodite stood up, looking around. "If she wasn't where the fight started... She'd probably be at her temple. Or at least this Mirror Dimension's equivalent of it. It's... that way." she added, pointing in a certain direction. Raylix found himself looking over in that same direction that Aphrodite pointed, as he fully straightened up. He de-summoned Ombra from his hand, and re-summoned Clarent Galatine to it as he spread his ten white Devil wings, his expression hardening.
"Roxas?" Aphrodite whispered, moving closer to him and slowly moving a hand towards his. "I..."
Aphrodite didn't get to finish whatever she was about to say as Roxas launched himself in the direction that Aphrodite had pointed, towards Hera's temple. One instant he was there, standing next to the busty blonde Goddess, and the next he was gone. Quickly looking in the direction he'd gone yielded nothing but a silver blur that could be seen only for a fraction of a second, before that vanished from sight too.
It took all of three seconds for Roxas, flying at the speed at he was, to arrive at Hera's temple. The wall that Roxas flew through was instantly blown out, pretty much entirely destroyed as he flew through it, and landed in the main room between Hera and Palutena. It took all of two seconds for all that Roxas needed to see in the room... to be seen.
Palutena was standing, a hand held over her belly, her staff in Hera's hand instead of Palutena's. Hera's free hand was pointed at Palutena, a dark energy forming around it. Roxas didn't even need to think before his body moved on his own, Clarent Galatine swinging at Palutena's mother, his mother-in-law, faster than said mother-in-law could see. Hera didn't even realise that Roxas had cut off her free arm before it hit the ground, and she let out a yell of pain.
"YOU..." she hissed, dropping Palutena's staff out of her un-severed hand and grabbing at the stump that was left of her arm now. "HOW... FUCKING... DARE YOU?!"
Roxas didn't even reply to Hera's remark, dashing back towards her and stabbing her through the stomach with Clarent Galatine. Gripping the sword's handle with both hands, he flung Hera off of his sword, sending her to one of the walls within the room that hadn't been messed up by Roxas blasting through it. A more combat-inclined God like Ares or Zeus would have been able to see Roxas dashing at Hera after she'd been thrown into the wall, but Hera herself absolutely did NOT.
Hera let out another scream of pain as Roxas stabbed her through the stomach again, with enough penetrative force that his sword went all the way through her, as well as through the wall behind her, pinning her there. With the Goddess of Marriage pinned, Roxas infused his fists with Twilight energy and punched Hera in the face, as hard as he could. With one punch, the Goddess' right cheek was dented in, and she'd let out another yell of pain. Another couple of punches aimed at the centre of her face, and her nose was essentially reduced to paste before she could even try to heal herself.
Roxas took a step back as Hera slumped forward, before trying to pick herself up and grab Roxas' sword with her non-severed hand so he could pull it out of her. But before that could even happen, Roxas had summoned Dáinmung and sliced off her hand, leaving her armless and unable to pull Clarent Galatine out of herself. With his mother-in-law now completely defenceless, Roxas threw more and more Twilight-infused punches at her upper body: face, upper torso, chest, anywhere he could possibly reach.
Within three punches, both of Hera's eyes had completely swollen shut. Within seven, there was blood oozing out of her mouth. Within thirteen, her face was completely unrecognisable. He could hear voices behind him, both female and male, but all he could see and hear was the CUNT in front of him that he was pounding the shit out of... and not in the fun way. Palutena had been the best thing to EVER happen to him, and though he was frightened out of his mind at the prospect, he was also incredibly excited to be a father, whether that was to a Logan or a Lucia.
And anyone who wanted to get in the way of that, while his first wife was in the most vulnerable state that she'd probably ever been, would have to deal with him. And Hera was dealing with it, right now.
"Roxas! ROXAS!"
Just before another punch (he'd lost count. Something like twenty? Twenty-five?), his arm was suddenly halted mid-punch-throw by a muscular hand grabbing his own, and yanking him away from Hera. Another muscular arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him backwards, to the point that he wasn't able to punch Hera anymore.
"She's beaten, Roxas, she's not going to try and hurt you, or Palutena!" A male voice that Roxas recognised as Zeus' spoke up. "So, stop! Stop it!"
Roxas threw another couple of punches in Hera's direction. Even if, in the still-rational part of his mind, he knew he wasn't going to reach Hera and hurt her, he still tried a couple more times before Zeus' physical strength completely won out against him, and future attempts to reach Hera were essentially stopped before they even started.
He eventually stopped his attempts, allowed Zeus to completely pull him away from Hera's impaled form. After a copule of seconds, when Zeus was confident that Roxas wouldn't immediately launch back into beating the everloving fuck out of Hera, he let go, allowed Roxas to stand on his own, as Roxas fully got his bearings of things outside of Hera.
Zeus was a couple of steps behind him now, watching him carefully. Aphrodite had arrived as well, had picked up Palutena's staff and given it back to her. Palutena had straightened up, and was looking over at Roxas with a... conflicted, look on her face. Relieved that Roxas had come in, seemingly in the nick of time, surprised that he'd give her mother such a savage beatdown as he'd just done, right the hell in front of her...
"You good, Roxas?" Zeus asked, taking another slow step away from the Nephalem. "You alright?"
Roxas didn't reply, not at first. His eyes had drifted back to Hera, filled up with pure hate for the utter cunt that was his mother-in-law. But he just took another breath, turned around and looked back at Zeus, Aphrodite and Palutena.
"...I'm fine." Roxas replied, taking a couple of steps himself away from Hera, towards the other three Gods. After a few steps, he was in front of Palutena, and his hand was in hers. "Hey, didn't we agree that you'd stay behind? Keep to healing, stay away from... her, all that?"
"Roxas, I..." Palutena made to reply, but her voice trailed off. Seemingly unable to find words beyond the first two, she lowered her head and sighed. "I'm sorry, I-"
"Don't." Roxas replied. "It's okay, this could've gone a whole lot worse, so... no need to worry. But..." he sighed. "You're going home now." Palutena made to speak up, but Roxas cut across her again. "No debate. You're going. Now. No more risking anything."
"I... fine." Palutena lowered her head again, unable to really find the words to argue with her husband. Roxas gently took the staff from her hand, tapped it on the ground, opened a portal with it. He handed the staff back to Palutena, who silently stepped through the portal. It closed a few seconds after she'd left, leaving Roxas, Zeus and Aphrodite alone in the room with-
"Hah... hah..."
The slow, shuddering, heavy breathing instantly attracted Roxas, Zeus and Aphrodite's attention, with the two Gods/one Nephalem all whirling around to look at the green-haired Goddess, who was probably trying her damn hardest to pull Clarent Galatine out of her, but with her lack of strength, it just came off as looking half-hearted.
Roxas immediately readied a powerful bolt of Twilight energy, outstretching his hand, aiming it at Hera's head as she continued, her breaths coming out in rasps as life visibly faded from her.
"I've won..." Hera spoke. "Even if I'm... dying... I've still got... got..."
Roxas was the first to notice a magic-circle forming in and around Hera's hand, one with an unknown symbol in the middle. Without even thinking about it, the Nephalem fired off the bolt of energy before Hera even had a chance to try finishing whatever final speech she had planned out. The bolt of energy struck Hera square in the face, with enough power poured into it that her whole head exploded, staining the wall that she was slumped up against with her divine blood. The rest of her body stopped moving, and moved no more. There was no signs of regeneration... Hera- Palutena's mother- Roxas' mother in law- was dead.
Zeus and Aphrodite looked at Roxas, as he summoned Clarent Galatine back to himself from Hera's corpse. The only sounds within the room for the next few moments were the blood dripping from Roxas' sword onto the ground, the soft thud of Hera's headless corpse flopping down to the floor without the support given by having Roxas' sword through it, and the soft breaths of all the living beings left in the room.
Roxas started as he felt a soft hand on his shoulder, realising after a nanosecond that it was Aphrodite's hand.
"Did that feel good?" the blonde Love Goddess asked, her violet eyes looking up- concerned- into Roxas' crimson ones.
"Yes." Roxas bluntly replied, dispelling Clarent Galatine after a second or two. "Fuck Hera. Bitch should've left me and Palutena alone."
"Yeah, she really should have." Zeus replied, sighing. "But... oh well. Nothing we can do about it any-" a magic-circle appeared by Zeus' ear. "Hold on." The Greek Chief God took a couple of steps away from Roxas and Aphrodite, and held a finger up to his ear, where the magic-circle was. "Hello?"
"Zeus!" Another male voice, which Roxas almost instantly recognised as Poseidon, could be heard through the magic-circle, loud enough for Roxas and Aphrodite to clearly hear. "There's something big coming out in the field! I don't know what... oh, FUCK! ZEUS, IT'S HIM! I DON'T KNOW HOW THE FUCK HERA GOT HER HANDS ON HIM, BUT SHE SOMEHOW DID! IT'S TYPHON!"
You could have heard a pin drop inside the room, things were so silent between the two Gods/one Nephalem in the room. Zeus had an expression of pure horror on his face, and Aphrodite's expression wasn't far off. Roxas himself had heard of Typhon, the being that Poseidon had just mentioned. Son of Gaea and Tartarus, the Father of All Monsters, had engaged with Zeus in an incredible battle for supremacy over Olympus, lost, and had been exiled.
One of the strongest beings in the world, with the number of beings that would be able to easily beat him in a one-on-one fight only able to be counted on one hand. If what Poseidon was saying was true, then Typhon showing up was NOT good. In fact, it was just about the furthest fucking thing FROM good that a situation could possibly be. Zeus was the first to move, bolting out of the temple through the same hole that Roxas had made when he came flying through a couple of minutes earlier. Roxas was next, spreading his wings and flying through said hole, with Aphrodite bringing up the rear.
The three of them could instantly spot the problem as soon as they were fully out of the temple. A gigantic magic-circle had been formed on the field that separated the town from the range of hills that the whole battle had started at... and Typhon was slowly making his way out of it. Thirty meters in height, blue skin and wings on his back. His upper body was similar to that of a human- or any other humanoid creature within the supernatural world-, and the lower half, from the hips down, was like that of a snake.
His dark eyes looked extremely bloodshot, there were faint cracks all over both the human-like and snake-like parts of his body, and he was frothing at the mouth. Something told Roxas, in the back of his mind, that this wasn't how Typhon normally looked. Not the half-human half-snake stuff, no, more the bloodshot eyes, cracks over his body, frothing at the mouth thing... or things.
From the hill-range, many more beings appeared, seemingly drawn there by Typhon's sudden appearance. Valian, Esdeath, Akeno, Rias, Xenovia, akame, Kuroka, Neo and Elsha from Roxas' peerage/sub-peerages, Grayfia from Sirzechs' peerage, Imogen and Diehauser, Sephie and Gid from the Lilim, Dulio and Chisato from Heaven, Tobio, Sae, Natsume, Kouki and Shigune from the Grigori, Arthur, Le Fay, Aaron, Camilla, Lance, Garret, Percy and Lana from the New Round Table, Dr. Strange and Scathach from the SSPCH, and Amphitrite, Apollon, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Hestia and Poseidon from the Olympic Pantheon.
"Shit, he wasn't kidding." Zeus muttered, lightning beginning to gather around his body. "Shit, shit shit... Roxas, come with me. Aphrodite, be ready to put barriers up for anyone who needs them!"
Roxas silently followed Zeus, with Aphrodite behind the Nephalem and Chief God as the three of them flew towards the enormous God-class beast. From his size of things, the Nephalem could see a couple of the other Gods, and the more powerful figures from the Christian Pantheon on the battlefield right now, charging up powerful attacks and aiming them at Typhon. Before the first attacks of the battle could even ring out and hit the Father of All Monsters, Typhon looked upon the larger crowd of beings coming down upon him and let out an animalistic roar. Gale-like winds began to pick up all around the area, and powerful lightning bolts rained down from the sky, with very little of the area that the crowd occupied remaining unaffected by the lightning, let alone the wind.
Roxas could see Dulio, even from where he was, as his eyes widened in alarm at what was happening. His hands spread out, using his own control over the weather to combat what Typhon seemed to be able to do.
"He's not himself..." Zeus muttered, from his position next to Roxas, who looked over at him. "When we fought for dominion over Olympus, way back when, he was more focused than this. He wouldn't send a giant area-of-effect attack at a huge group of people like this, he'd have focused down one or two beings at a time. He's a battle-maniac, Typhon, but he's not stupid enough to fight like this."
"You think he's mind-controlled?" Roxas asked, readying Clarent Galatine in his hands and summoning a prepared volley of all the attack-magics he knew. "Or just fucked in the head for whatever reason?"
"I don't think it matters, anymore." Zeus replied, lightning beginning to crackle around his body. "Hera summoned Typhon, he's fighting us, he needs to go down. NOW." The lightning that crackled around his body intensified, with it beginning to congregate around his hands. He rose himself a little bit further into the air, high enough that he was above Typhon, before firing an enormous bolt of lightning down at the beast that he'd fought thousands of years ago. Roxas could feel the power from where he was presently floating, but that didn't stop him from firing off the volley that he'd prepared a moment or so ago, just as Zeus' lightning scored a direct hit on Typhon.
Struck him in the face at first, then quickly spread throughout his whole body. The initial heavy jolt of electricity was enough to freeze Typhon in place for a second or two, before the lightning seemed to dissipate, and Typhon began moving again as if nothing had happened to him in the first place. He turned around, his attention focused squarely on Zeus and Roxas. Letting out another animalistic roar, Typhon sent enormous spikes of hail down at Roxas and Zeus. The Chief God raised his hand to form a barrier out of his divine energy, with Roxas having to cancel his prepared volley of attacks in order to focus his Nephalonic energy into a barrier of his own. Yet before the first few giant spikes of icy hail could hit Roxas and Zeus, and potentially do immense damage, or at least annoy them, a large golden barrier formed above them, above their barriers, and took the brunt of Typhon's hail.
"Didn't forget about me, did you?" Aphrodite spoke up, floating up beside Roxas and Zeus as Typhon's hail continued to rain down upon her barrier.
"Definitely not." Roxas replied, smirking as Typhon's hail eventually stopped. There wasn't much left of Aphrodite's barrier thanks to it taking the majority of Typhon's hail attack, but Zeus' was only somewhat damaged, while Roxas' own barrier that he'd formed was left completely undamaged.
Dispelling the barrier and pouring his energy back into the volley of attacks that he'd originally summoned, Roxas darted out from under the barriers and flung everything he had in said volley straight at Typhon. In spite of all the power behind it, and as much as he'd thrown, it had even less effect on the King of Monsters than Zeus' lightning had had... that is to say, basically none at all. Typhon didn't even physically react to the volley of attacks that Roxas had thrown at him for a couple of seconds, before he turned towards Roxas, his focus entirely on him and him alone.
An enormous beam of Holy energy came down from the sky, summoned by Chisato, and struck Typhon before he could fire off any kind of attack in retaliation for what Roxas had just done, resulting in Typhon turning his attention back to her. Roxas heard a transportation-circle opening up beneath him, enveloping him, teleporting him across the battlefield, and coming out between Grayfia and Dulio. Judging by Dulio's continued focus on manipulating the weather in conflict with Typhon's weather manipulation, chances are it was Grayfia who had pulled him away from Typhon.
"The fuck was with that stupid move?!" Grayfia shouted. Yup, it was her, alright. "You would've been killed, if there was no-one else here!"
"But there ARE other people here, Mom." Roxas replied. "And it was worth a fucking shot. Even if it did nothing... even if no-one here will be able to hurt Typhon with anything they can throw at him."
"I suppose not." Grayfia replied. "Not... alone, I suppose."
"What're you thinking?" Roxas asked, looking over at his mother.
"Well, how's your Amalgamation?" Grayfia replied to the question with her own question.
And just like that, what had evidently clicked inside Grayfia's mind clicked inside Roxas' as well. His eyes widened slightly, and a small smirk came across his face.
"Pretty good, I think." he replied. "I also think I know what you've got in mind, Mom, and I know that I like it."
"Along with so many other things you love about me." Grayfia remarked, her crimson eyes- so like both her son's- scanning those nearby, before she raised her voice again. "Hasegawa!"
"Yes!" Chisato, dodging a powerful lightning bolt as she made her way over to Grayfia and Roxas, the latter of whom opened three Amalgamation-holes, and began pouring Twilight-energy into the first.
"Focus as much Holy energy into one of my son's Amalgamation-holes as you can!" Grayfia ordered, in a very commanding tone that one knew came from years, probably decades of experience in the field. "He'll be able to build up an attack powerful to really damage Typhon!"
"Good plan!" Chiasto replied, extending a hand towards one of Roxas' Amalgamation-holes and sending an enormous amount of light energy towards the second of the holes, rapidly filling it up with light. Grayfia, as well as that, poured as much darkness-energy as she could into the third of Roxas' holes, with all of them rapidly filling up.
Within a moment or two, all three holes were completely filled up: one with light, one with dark, and one with the product of both contrasting elements. Roxas brought his hands together, bringing all three holes together and combining the powers within the holes, a batch of Twilight energy even more powerful than he was capable of naturally forming on his own within the single large hole.
"Go on, Roxas!" Grayfia and Chisato yelled, in unison, as Roxas flew up high, much higher than any of the other beings currently facing Typhon. Both his hands held high, he let out a yell as he flung his hands down, sending that extra-powerful Twilight energy down at Typhon in a concentrated beam that, contrary to all the other attacks that had either momentarily slowed Typhon down or just straight-up bounced off of him, struck straight through him, carving an enormous hole straight through the middle of him.
Typhon stumbled, let out the first yell of pain that he'd ever let out since his titanic battle with Zeus and the rest of the Olympians, so long ago. One of his human-like hands reached up to grasp the hole that Roxas' twilight energy-beam had sent straight through him, and he glared up at the Nephalem, a look of mixed shock and anger on his face. The Father of All Monsters practically LAUNCHED himself towards the Nephalem, but he was pulled through another transportation-circle just before Typhon's jaws could close around him.
"Ballsy move, to be sure." Zeus spoke up, as Roxas looked up at the man who'd saved him from Typhon. "But an effective one."
"Extremely so." Poseidon, who seemed to have appeared by his brother's side while Roxas was with Grayfia and Chisato. "Gremory, you think you can do that power-combining move again, but with something... more potent?"
"I suppose." Roxas replied, looking down at Typhon, who just came out of his launch towards where Roxas had been before Zeus pulled him away. "You want to power it yourself? Or volunteer someone else?"
"Why do you think I'm here, Nephalem?" Poseidon asked, focusing divine water-based energy around his hands, as Zeus focused the same lightning that he'd fired at Typhon. Both Gods looked over at Roxas, who shrugged.
"Alright, point taken." the silverette Nephalem replied, raising his hands and throwing up three Amalgamation-holes again, just as he'd done with Grayfia and Chisato. And just like with Grayfia and Chisato, Zeus and Poseidon began focusing their respective energies into two out of the three holes, with Roxas focusing his Twilight energy into the third.
Again, within a moment or two, the three holes were filled to capacity with all the energy Zeus, Poseidon and Roxas could force into them, with the holes combining a couple of seconds later, and the resulting product of energy was blasted out of the combined hole as a condensed beam that struck Typhon square in the stomach, again. In a different area that Roxas had hit Typhon with his, Grayfia's and Chisato's attack, but in the stomach nonetheless. The beam carved another hole straight through Typhon, just as his first attack had done- which had begun steadily healing, but much UNlike the first attack, the lightning from Zeus' contribution to the Amalgamated attack was enough to stun Typhon again. The Father of All Monsters let out a shriek of pain, just like the first Amalgamated attack that Roxas had fired off, but with the added effect of paralyzing the God-Class beast, this time for a much longer time than the first attack Zeus had fired off.
"GOOD!" Zeus yelled, applying an amplification-spell to his voice so it was loud enough to be heard by all allied parties. "ALL FORCES, ATTACK AT ONCE, ON A SINGLE POINT OF TYPHON'S BODY! ON MY COMMAND!"
"And I guess we do what we just did, again?" Roxas asked, looking between Poseidon and Zeus and re-readying another trio of Amalgamation-holes. "Because it sure seemed to work pretty well, last time."
"YES, I SUPPOSE THAT- sorry- yes, I suppose that would be a good idea." Zeus replied, cancelling his voice-amplification mid-sentence. "Well, Nephalem, let's get to it."
Roxas smirked, and allowed Zeus and Poseidon to fill two out of his three Amalgamation-holes with more power, while filling up the third with his Twilight power. As all of this was happening, the Nephalem could see the battle that everyone else was having with Typhon. Formerly disorganised and more focused on avoiding the wrath of one of the strongest beings in the world, everyone seemed more willing to actually engage the Father of All Monsters. He noticed Chisato and Grayfia co-ordinating powerful attacks of light and darkness into specific spots on Typhon's body, getting at least some reaction out of him... which was something, at least.
He noticed Isane charging up and transferring great amounts of power to many of the other fighters around Typhon, increasing the potency of their co-ordinated attacks. Another smirk formed on his face when he saw Rias, among the others from his peerage, co-ordinating a particularly powerful attack that almost sent Typhon stumbling over. Roxas didn't have the time to enjoy any of the other sights of battle, however, as the three Amalgamation-holes filled up, and Zeus and Poseidon stopped filling.
"Alright, off you go!" Zeus shouted, as Roxas brought his hands, and the holes, together once again, combining the Godly and Nephalonic powers into one almighty potential attack once again. Seconds later, said almighty attack was fired out in another concentrated beam that struck through Typhon's chest, heavily damaging and paralyzing him again.
"ATTACK!" Zeus yelled out, his voice amplified once again. And everyone else surrounding Typhon, pretty much in-unison, let out further attacks of all sorts of natures, concentrated around the area that the most recent energy-beam that Roxas had fired off had struck the beast. Though he was mostly-paralyzed, Typhon let out another scream of pain as the combined power of all the further attacks struck him, halting his attempts to get back up and continue the fight.
And Typhon wasn't able to get back up and continue the fight in any form, thanks mostly to how incredibly outnumbered (and, debatably, outgunned) he was in comparison to the anti-Hera forces. Any attempts to do so were met with being blasted back down to the ground by great numbers of focused attacks. In the end, an ultra-powerful combined blast from Zeus, Poseidon and Roxas, powered up even further by transferred power from Isane, with Valian having Divided Typhon's power as best she could seconds beforehand, was what was required to finally destroy the Father of All Monsters for good, blow him the fuck out of existence.
There was silence all around for a moment or two, as the reverberating noise from the final attack that struck Typhon rung out across the area. Zeus and Poseidon floated forward, towards the crater where Typhon used to be, and Roxas made to join them for a second before pausing, turning around, going back the other way. Aphrodite, one of the few to notice, followed, along with Valian, Akeno, Rias and a few others from Roxas' peerage.
"Roxas?" Rias called. "What's up? Where are you go-" she noticed that Roxas had landed, and flew down to land alongside him. "Are you okay?"
Roxas didn't answer, only looking down at the ground. Rias followed where his eyes were heading, and almost fell over backwards at the sight of her father's dead body. Roxas let out a quiet sigh as Akeno stepped forward, instantly throwing her arms around her fellow Bishop as Rias- understandably- burst into tears at the sight of her father's corpse. Hearing his aunt crying at the loss of her father- his own grandfather- was almost enough to send Roxas over the edge into tears himself, though he was able to hold himself together.
He hadn't remembered crying since Vasco's death, and didn't even remember the last time he'd cried before that. Truth be told, the idea of telling Sirzechs and Venelana that their father/husband had been killed in battle, and their potential reactions to such, would most likely bring him to tears more than seeing Rias crying, sad as that already was to see.
It was a couple of days after the climactic battle in Greece, that had resulted in the deaths of Hera, Ares and most members of what used to be the Khaos Brigade. While most involved in that battle were focusing on rebuilding what had been broken thanks to the now-deceased Goddess of Marriage, or just moving on with their lives, Valian Lucifer was doing neither of those things.
Rather, she made her way into the largest and most advanced Sitri Medical Facility in the Underworld, the Serafall Memorial Hospital, right behind her far more famous great-grandmother. The Devils (and some Succubi/Incubi) that saw Lilith and Valian upon their entrance immediately gave them a wide berth, with only one amongst them working up the courage to ask them the purpose of their visit. Valian wasn't exactly tuned in to what Lilith gave as an answer, considering that she already knew why she and Lilith were there, having been told exactly why by her great-grandmother moments beforehand.
After the employee that had approached Lilith and Valian gave them directions to where they needed to go, satisfied with whatever answer Lilith had given them, and left the Prime Succubus and her great-granddaughter alone, Lilith moved off, with Valian silently behind her.
Valian's body was essentially on autopilot as she followed Lilith throughout the gigantic hospital, with the whole walking trip taking fifteen minutes, more or less. Lilith eventually stopped, with Valian almost bumping into her as she came to a stop herself, outside one of the more expansive treatment-rooms within the hospital- which, in spite of its size, had only two beds, both of which were occupied.
Valian took a couple of small steps towards the large window-wall that separated her and Lilith from the room that they were looking in on, and its two occupants. Said occupants, the only beings in the room at the moment, were unconscious, and covered in bandages that covered various injuries that they'd suffered during the battle in Greece two days ago. Serafall definitely looked the worse for wear, mostly thanks to the fact that she was the only one out of the two that Valian wouldn't have recognised as her, if she didn't already know beforehand: practically her entire head was covered in enchanted (most likely. The medical field wasn't the White Dragon Empress' strongest suit) bandages, with a good chunk of her body as well. Fianna, on the other hand, at least had her signature blonde hair out in the open, so Valian was able to recognise that it was her. Sans that, she looked almost as bad as Serafall, with bandages covering both her arms and one remaining leg, with the other one most likely blown off during the fight.
"And no power left, meaning no healing it, either." Lilith remarked, seeing where Valian was looking. "Must suck for a former Phenex, to be on the edge of death like this."
"But hopefully, she won't be." Valian replied. "At least, not for long. Hopefully, right?"
"That's for him to decide." Lilith replied, pointing with one of her tails to the door that she and Valian had come through in order to enter this private, top-class ward, which was opening again. Ajuka Beelzebub, dressed in his signature green robes, made his way through the door (which shut, seemingly automatically, behind him) and towards Lilith and Valian.
"Thanks for taking the time, Ajuka." Lilith remarked, turning to face the second-most powerful Devil alive and inclining her head in greeting. "You're smart enough for me to not need to spell out why I asked to meet you here."
"Not anymore, at least." Ajuka replied, looking into the room that Lilith and Valian (who also inclined her head to him) had been looking into seconds earlier, looking at Serafall and Fianna for a moment. Once he'd had his fill of his two best female friends bandaged up like a pair of mummies, he looked from Lilith, to Valian, and back to Lilith. "If I remember correctly, I don't believe Valian's remaining Evil Pieces will be sufficient to reincarnate both Serafall and Fianna. Two Bishops, two Knights, three Pawns... her Queen piece could be enough for one of them, but the other...? I assume you want to reincarnate both of them, yes?"
"We do." Lilith replied. "You know as well as I do that it'd be a terrible loss for all of us, if Serafall and Fianna were to die. Not to mention the backlash against the Olympic Pantheon, which could very well ascend into full-blown war. I don't like asking favours, especially from faction leaders, but this is the most peaceful option, Beelzebub."
Ajuka remained silent for a moment, his expression unreadable.
"New Satans will have to be chosen..." he muttered. "But they'll have shortlists for potential replacements, so I doubt that process will take too long." he let out a slow breath, before looking back at Lilith. "Are you suggesting that I upgrade some of your great-granddaughter's Evil Pieces into Mutation Pieces?"
"Knew you were smart." Lilith replied, nodding. "Both of her Bishops, please."
"Alright." Ajuka replied, shrugging. "But you know, that means that Valian may have to be excluded from taking part in professional Rating Games. For the sake of fairness, obviously."
"Yeah, that's fine." Valian nodded. "I'm okay with that."
"Just as long as we're able to save Fianna and Serafall." Lilith added. "Should they end up dying from their injuries, obviously."
"Deal." Ajuka replied. He raised his hand in a clenched fist for a moment, before it glowed green, after which he opened his fist and handed a piece of paper, with a magic-circle drawn on it, to Valian. "If Serafall or Fianna die, just activate this magic-circle. It'll take you to my lab, and you can get your Bishops upgraded. Don't go using them in the meantime, obviously."
"Yeah, obviously." Valian replied, nodding as she took the piece of paper, and slipped it into her jacket-pocket. "Thanks, Ajuka."
Ajuka simply nodded to Valian and Lilith, before turning on his heel and walking away, through the door he'd come through earlier, which shut behind him, leaving Valian and Lilith alone in silence for a moment or two, before Lilith spoke up again.
"You can go now, if you want, Valian." the Prime Succubus remarked. "Want to meet up next week?"
"Sure." Valian replied. "See you later." The silverette hugged Lilith (which Lilith was all too happy to return) before leaving through the same door that Ajuka had gone through, leaving Lilith fully alone to look in on Serafall and Fianna's unconscious bodies. There she stayed, as still as a statue, for a few minutes, waiting on the next person she'd asked to join her today. Of course, she could've travelled to his house herself, but...
"Hey, Lilith."
Lilith looked up as Roxas came through the door that Ajuka and Valian had left through, shutting it behind him as he headed towards his grandmother.
"Roxas." Lilith replied. "Nice to see you're alright. Just to say again, I'm so sorry about Zeoticus-"
"It's fine." Roxas cut across the Succubus Queen. "Don't worry about it. It sucks that he had to die, right as we were beginning to truly mend things, but..." he took a breath. "Whatever. That's life. Venelana and Rias aren't taking it the best, though. Neither's Sirzechs."
"Understandably." Lilith replied, nodding. "But, moving on to why I asked you to meet with me out here. I have a... proposition, of sorts, to make to you."
"Uh huh?" Roxas leant up against the nearest wall, his crimson eyes trained on Lilith. "What would that be?"
"Potentially joining the Lucifer Clan." Lilith replied, bluntly. "I'll get right to the point, Raylix. You're far more of a Lucifer than a Gremory, so wouldn't it make sense for you to leave the... hey, what's going on with the Gremory Clan, anyway?"
"Alice is coming out of retirement and handling things on that front, as far as I know." Roxas replied. "She's also taken Millicas under her wings, so she can train him to be the future Gremory Head." he added. "And joining the Lucifer Clan... you know why I left the Gremory Clan in the first place, right?"
"I do." Lilith replied. "But being Heir of the Lucifer Clan, Roxas... it's different from being Heir to one that actually has an active role in Devil society. With me as head, you wouldn't be under as much pressure as far as appearing before your fellow nobles goes, for one."
"Yeah, I'd be under pressure in another, much more pleasurable, way." Roxas replied, a small smirk crossing his face as he met Lilith's eyes. "Right?"
"Look, just think about it, alright Roxas?" Lilith asked, suppressing a small giggle herself as she began making her way towards the door that she'd come through earlier. "I wasn't expecting you to have an answer for me right now, but I just thought I'd pitch the idea to you, yeah?"
"Yeah, sure." Roxas replied, coming off of the wall he was leaning against. "I'll think about it, Lilith."
"Great." Lilith smiled. "You know how to find me, when you have your answer, Roxas."
Within a couple of seconds, she had gone through the door and left the room. After Roxas cast a look in Serafall and Fianna's direction, shoving down the pang of guilt that formed in his chest at the fact that he was (at least somewhat) responsible for the situation they were in, and followed his grandmother from the room.
Heir of the Lucifer Clan, huh? With Lilith as its head? Didn't sound all too bad.
Note to self: NEVER WRITE MULTI-CHAPTER BATTLES LIKE THAT EVER THE FUCK AGAIN!
*ahem*
Anyway, that's the 61st chapter of Nephalem done, and another one down before the end. That bitch Hera is finally finished, along with all her supporters, and... Zeoticus is dead. RIP. Also Serafall and Fianna are... maybe-dead. Maybe-RIP. The next four chapters will be more of a winding down of everything that's just happened, rather than any kind of other big story-arc. Some more low-key stuff, you know?
Anyway, hope you readers enjoyed this chapter, and you have it in you to leave reviews to tell me your thoughts, or if you want to chat with me (about the fic, DxD in general or something else entirely), drop me a PM, look me up on Discord (my name's on my profile) or join my Discord server (link to join that is also on my profile. Just paste it into a browser and take out the spaces). Any of those methods works just fine for me.
Seeya!