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The following is a fan-based
FICTION
High School DxD, New, BorN, Hero and other products related to the DxD Series are all owned by Ichiei Ishibumi, Miyama-Zero, Fujimi Shobo and TNK.
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Chapter 73: Vertical Asymmetry
Cao Cao was unsure of what to think about the sight he was given when he went to search for Azrael.
Not something that he had gone to do out of courtesy, the Angel was an abomination before his eyes and he would certainly be the happiest to eliminate such a dangerous monster from Earth.
The major issue was presented by what had happened back when their forces clashed against the divine guards by the Ama-no-uki-hashi. The heavenly bridge that connected the mortal world to Takamagahara had been fairly easy to reach and mostly cross, the major problems rising when a grand force had met up with the faction before it could have concluded the crossing.
The guards were easy to fend off, but their high number proved to be a reason to worry and be focused during the whole brawl. There had been no peace, no rest, only an intense and over-arching thought that spanned through the rest of the conflict.
With the presence of some of the more war-fueled deities helping them and with Azrael offering his support with his unpleasant power, there had been no doubt in the mind of the wielder of the true Longinus that nothing could have stopped them from truly crossing the single defensive line presented before Shinto Heaven.
Things were sure… until a true agent of chaos had emerged from the direction they had come from. An entire group formed by high-tier members of Grigori, Slash Dog was a dangerous but manageable team that rushed quickly to lessen the burden the Heroes were throwing at the garrison, forcing a two-front fight to happen and…
Then Gods started to die.
Beings that were supposed to represent the highest peak of their respective Pantheons, were easily butchered with by someone moving within the group led by Tobio Ikuse. Someone that Cao Cao had little knowledge of, his appearance giving little to him about this unknown stranger.
Yet it was his style, so brutal and ruthless, efficiently tearing through the brave men and women he had brought to this important event, that offered some sight within the intentions and the means behind this new piece in the board.
A disturbance to his peaceful and logical plans that had made even his heart of steel tremble for just a moment. It was so much… unbelievable, even the sole staring at the calculative manners of such darkness at work was enough to send some chills down his spine. There was something unnerving about the masked fellow, the power displayed by the man dealing non-negligible damage upon his opponents.
Something was indeed wrong with this individual, terribly so.
He would have rushed to the fight too, his battle-sense craving for some serious brawling and nothing of the previous pest-extermination he had been gone for. Who could even dare to refuse this grand deed in the making? To put down a beast of a man?
But just as Cao Cao had been prepared to rush to the battle with this fearsome being, an unholy shriek had him frozen stuck on his position. Eyes going wide open, he had turned to see whom was responsible for such a scary reaction.
Continuous and defiant, the noise originated from Azrael himself as the Angel flung himself at the masked individual. His usually giddy self was now gone, forsaken for a hideous scowl that glowed in utter hatred and displeasure towards… the very man that had caught his attention.
The stranger seemed to barely care for the approaching monster, his posture hardly tensing as the shrieking fiend prepared to lunge at him. His whole body was coated in dark-red energy and through the eye-holes in his mask the human could see… power.
Raw power, emotionless power, aimless power. So much could be said by just a stare of those terrifying eyes, eyes that seemed to tell a silent but tall story of everything and... Azrael looked uncaring of this visible change as he went to engage in some close-quarters fighting with their newest enemies.
They were blurs, a red one against a dark-blue one giving chase to each other, their clashes frequently creating immense amounts of pressure all through the holy grounds and… everyone, both guards and invaders, paused as the shock-waves of the first attack reached their proximity.
The bridge creaked in discomfort at the insane amount of energy involved in that exchange of hits, causing more surprise to rise from those defending the gates, while none of the two fighters seemed to care for the attentive spectators of that soundless and senseless brawl they were part of.
The hero's hold over Longinus had tightened as he felt… small. Minuscule.
Until now, Cao Cao had thought that Godhood was the limit that the world would offer to those worthy of it, yet this… this wasn't a battle of Gods.
A massacre, a blood bath promised to those that even thought of joining in that 'simple' one against another. His breathing was almost non-existing and… then the most horrifying noise he had ever heard rouse once again, this time the pitch sporting shock and pain as the Angel was sent careening away from the tiny encounter.
The masked individual roaring in utter fury, clothes torn and revealing part of his part of his chest and his left arm. Scales, dark-red ones lapping over the pink skin of a human being.
An abomination both within and outside.
Just as he readied his Longinus to jump the melee and halt the advance of the fool, he saw it.
His eyes were now devoid of any emotion, only power and with a powerful outburst, his truest self manifested but briefly.
The end, the finish line for the lives of those that lived for justice but also for infamy. It was the impartial judge of everything, the one that revealed a similarity to the damaged Azrael.
Raphaeline, the aide of the Being of Death, had stared from a safe distance as her 'chief' seemed to be unwilling to get up, groaning in pain as he snarled.
"FILTHY L-LIAR!" He had suddenly roared back, only to pass out and with him the deadly aura that had surrounded him only now.
The masked figure had been utterly enraged as he had slowly started to take more steps towards them.
It turned out that there was only a singular choice to make, quite straightforward as the leader of the Hero Faction turned to his comrades and proclaimed the bitterest word to ever order as a leader.
"Retreat!" He croaked in panic, almost flinching at the voice remaining in his throat.
There was no hesitation as everyone had then proceeded to jump off the bridge, ready to dispatch their teleportation seals and return back to their headquarters. Even the panicking female Angel managed to rush to take the wounded Azrael and pull him away from the bridge, activating the seal provided by Indra.
Landing on the safe haven that was the Hindu Deity's garden never gave him that much relief and… dread. The God had been there to wait for their glorious return, other representatives that he had invited for the occasion being there to witness the event and… things had taken a sour turn when the truth had been delivered to the group of divine beings, their reaction giving off much of their inner fury regarding the outcome of this raid.
A defeat that wasn't supposed to happen, Cao Cao did felt the shame and the embarrassment of having been unprepared for the counter-attack presented by that Crimson Demon. Yet he was glad of the fact that Azrael had been injured by this unfortunate turn of events, providing a more than legitimate proof to the angry deities that the difficulty had been far beyond the capacity of the group.
What was supposed to end in a complete and utter breakup of their alliance because of their failure proved to be something that brought more worries and a need to form an active coalition.
The news that Grigori harbored a God-Slayer, someone that was capable of killing deities with ease, was enough to lift some concerns from everyone but also bring some opportunity to demonize the situation.
It should have been difficult, but twisting the tale to fit the rhetoric of their side proved to be easier to corroborate than planned and more Pantheons had started to lean towards their direction.
A good achievement, but far from granting the immense advantage a successful raid would have provided to them. A distraction to give a decisive blow to the Three Factions would have been essential to win the war that was to come. Yet his hopes hadn't realized, a miser reward forwarded by the always-cruel fate around them.
With his musings ceasing so did his wandering to seek out Azrael, the Angel having missed some of the important gatherings organized for the occasion. Wary and cautious, Cao Cao ventured in the lair of the monster with keen eyes and sharp hold over Longinus.
He walked inside the large room that was supposed to hold the Angel inside and… he found him.
His coat was now lying on the floor, tears and burns visible from the distance as the tall abomination was staring… at himself?
Raphaeline was a few meters away from him, not daring to stare at the terrifying glimpse upon the insanity of the beast. She glanced at the human, her eyes revealing quite the nighmareish experience behind the last few hours before resuming her silent stare away from the monster.
Littered with scars, the body of the Angel sported cracks of energy, never-ending whispers of dreadful last wishes from the souls accommodated within his flesh were leaving from those as Azrael silently glared at his chest.
At first, Cao Cao had thought that the Angel had yet to notice his presence and he was certain that it was far too distracted by his wounds to mind the weaker being but-
"To think that there could be a heretic in my own garden." Azrael muttered absently, his eyes lingering back to Cao Cao before snapping back on his own torso. "To think that… a monstrous thought like that would be born from nothingness."
The human blinked at the depiction and frowned.
"Are you referring to the masked fiend?" His tone was the same as usual, elevated but heroic, yet it somehow lacked the normal confidence it had. For good reasons, he admitted.
The Angel spun around a furious expression snapping on his face as he scowled. "The greatest of sinners, the one that defied his wish, for the sake of some silly hopeless soul!" He ranted angrily. "He isn't supposed to fall so deep in the worst, yet he did. He dared to-" A pause, then a blink as his tense posture eased and in that moment Cao Cao realized that he was shaking a little.
The blood-lust echoing from the Angel of Death was almost unbearable, only pure willpower was having him stand composed and not on the ground and unconscious as the younger Angel was. Raphaeline had fainted, the powerful outburst being too much for her and… the human blinked as his eyes landed on Longinus and he froze in shock.
The weapon was groaning, as if it had just survived an attempt of being bent by something and…
It had been the peer pressure!
It was an impossible connection, yet that would explain why it did felt… way stronger than anything he had ever felt. His mind remembered the thoughts he had back during that brief engagement between Azrael and the masked being, only for his realization to hit a cold point.
This Angel… he was beyond God?
The creation of a Deity was never meant to surpass its maker, an absolute law that had been imposed to all deities from an unknown time. The collective agreement had lasted until now among all Patheons… yet here it was.
Azrael was the proof of the fool play of the Christian God, the conception of a being that not only nodded to his own rules but also defied the standards by ascending beyond the divinity and into the idealistic.
He wasn't staring at the Angel of Death.
No, this was Death itself, the concept given thoughts and emotions. A desire for something.
His eyes widened as he saw the being now smiling and tilting towards him.
"You realized, didn't you?" He tilted back to a normal position, face-palming a broken snort. "Of course, the hints and the fight. But mostly the defiance." He sighed and nodded. "Truly amazing but also… amusing!"
"Y-You-" The human's voice was failing at the depraved magnitude before him, the final abomination. "You are-"
"Azrael." The Angel finished for him, his index suddenly pressing the hero's lips close. "And you will say no-thing~ about it or next time you will not be around to see… anything, I guess."
The threat wasn't lost to Cao Cao, no response about it, neither an act to boldly defy such an ultimatum, nor an acceptance to the subjugation. There wasn't a need to do that as he could now see his soul screaming from the glowing cracks on the monster's skin.
"Good boy!" The fiend replied with an appreciative tone. "Now, go to Indra and tell him that I was just thinking how I could graciously help you all with the next task. We need to be quick after all."
W-What?
His smile widened. "His arrival." He explained with a crazed look. "He is nigh! My God is almost here~!" A dark chuckle echoed through the humongous room as Cao Cao turned around and rushed away from that horrible place of madness.
This… this wasn't what he wanted!
It was a quiet day in Kuoh Town.
The time spent at school was quick and uneventful, providing me just a little reprieve from what was planned to happen later that day.
Once more, my duties as the Treasurer of the Student Council proved to be lessened by the sharp and precise cuts applied by Sona and the new and well-managed budget showed already some pleasant results as trips out of the 'normal' town were now planned to happen more frequently than in the last few years.
A small boon to the students now that they weren't drained by the lack of proper funds because of silly clothes and other ineffective expenditures for the school itself. Clubs received an improved monthly income that increased the overall quality, something that was mostly noticed by the sport-related teams as new equipment to replace the obsolete one was now affordable for them all.
Kunou had decided to linger behind this very day to see what kind of issues I had to go through with my role in the Student Council, a mere visitor that was granted just a glimpse in the maddening thing known as paperwork.
Which possibly scarred the girl about ever dealing with any tall towers made by papers and ink.
'It's amusing how rulers back in ancient times would be annoyed by the regular sessions of court and I'm almost intrigued to see their face before such a 'terrible threat' as paperwork.'
One of these days I will find a way to get you out and face it for a full day.
'Challenge accepted.'
Ladies and Gentlemen, we got him.
Leaving the school grounds with the kitsune on tow, our walk back home was quite peaceful and lacking of anything worth of mention.
It was by the time that we had finally gotten back to the front door that I felt that… there was someone waiting by the other side of the entrance.
Akeno? Kuroka? Maybe Issei and Asia?
No. I noted grimly as I opened the door and… was greeted by a small group of familiar people led by a clearly-annoyed silver-haired young man. Vali looked particularly annoyed by the possibly (surely) long waiting he had to go through.
Poor lad. I really want to pat his head right now…
…
What? No reaction to that?
'I think that was pretty… cringy?'
Ok boomer!
'Get over here, nineteen-years old!'
I despise both of you…
"Vali-"
"Training."
I stopped mid-greeting, my eyes blinking back at his irritated frown with some perplexity.
"Much childish?"
Arthur shook his head at my words while Le Fey had a small smile on her face, her hand shooting by her mouth as a muffled giggle could be heard much to their leader's further annoyance.
"Hello there, buddy." Bikou was smiling eye-to-eye and seemingly showing a 'tame' approach compared to anything I had heard so far. "Vali here is just dealing with the fact he wasn't given his daily prescription of sparring with someone strong. Kind of a kink if you ask me-"
"Aren't you the one terrorizing kids at the park?" I interjected with a confused frown. The comment had his eyes go wide, his jaws dropping for just a moment before he looked away with a frown and a small pout.
"That's-a low blow here, pal." He huffed before turning his attention towards Kunou. "Hello there, little lady."
The blonde frowned. "Are you a pervert?" She asked with faux-innocence.
The oldest of the two Pendragon siblings snorting at the suddenness of the comment, the maid by his side frowning at him but cracking a smile at the joke too. The magician… went in for a laugh much to the monkey's chagrin and Vali smirked at the comeback.
The lancer turned around and waved his hands in defeat. "Welp, nevermind then." He muttered before distancing himself from the utter sass.
Gah, Kunou can be so savage… and it's our fault.
Yep and I proudly accept the blame for this.
I patted the girl's head, getting a small smile from her before finally addressing the Lucifer.
"I guess we can start soon, the others have yet to arrive and..." I stopped to blink as a scowl was now present in Vali's face.
"Seriously? You don't want to wait-"
"Give me a spar." The young man finally admitted. "I've been having a hard time dealing with my stalker, Lilith denied me the chance of having some training session before coming here and-"
I snorted. "You are aching for a spar. It's been a while since we have sparred together." I pointed out with some genuine surprise about the last bit.
He nodded. "Since the Samael Incident." The Devil-Human hybrid corrected with a sigh. "So a spar-"
"Not yet." I said with a stern tone. "But I think we can do something to pass some time before the full training day begins." I mentioned and he blinked at my mysterious allusion.
Then his eyes widened a fraction. "You mean that technique?" He asked quickly to which I nodded.
"Yep, but I think we should move to the training grounds before I tell you anything about it." I muttered, getting a nod from him as we all moved to the upper floor. I saw Akeno by the living room as she was finishing her homework and I waved at her, the Fallen Angel blinking and then smiling before waving back with a lovely expression.
She is truly… a different person from how we met her.
She is quite graceful, even more than just appearing like that.
My thoughts were kept brief as we reached for the area in less than a minute and, as the team and Kunou sat outside of the arena, I finally addressed with Vali about the Fusion Dance.
"The Metamoran Dance, better known as the Fusion Dance, is a technique that allows two beings to 'fuse in a single entity'." I started to explain with a calm tone. "There are requirements and limits to such a powerful concept, the first being the biological similarities and differences of the two beings."
I pointed at Vali. "I'm a human and since you aren't a full Devil, we are compatible for such ability." I said with a small smile, to which he replied with a little frown.
"So two beings… like a pure-blooded human and a pure-blooded Yokai can't commit to this?" He asked out of curiosity and I nodded.
"The technique is rather strict," I answered. "Even with this little obstacle dealt with, the other bits are fairly limiting themselves."
I lifted my index finger. "The two users need to have the same energy level during the action, thus it requires attention diverted to make sure to be synchronized regarding that." Then I lifted a second finger. "The dance itself can be… considered funny to a certain degree. It is quite simple, but fairly amusing to stare at much to the users' annoyance." He frowned at this point, Bikou perking at the mentioning of anything amusing coming soon, but then I lifted a third and final finger. "If done properly, the fusion will last a full thirty minutes… without any major boost applied to the form."
"So if we used the Balance Breaker in that form-"
"The length of the fusion would slightly lower. Nothing major as the fusion itself is a very stable form compared to anything similar to it." I assured him and Vali seemed to accept with some irritation this limit to the form.
We started by having our energy synchronize to the same degree, a process that took around ten minutes to complete as we weren't the… most coordinated with our comments.
I wonder what would happen if you played a coop match in Portal 2.
Probably we would fail at everything, swear at each other and then fail some more.
Sounds about right.
After spending fatigue and brain cells over the incredibly simple task, our next step was… the dance itself. I went to do it solo, to show that the positions had to be mirrored by the second user… only for Bikou to throw some amused comments back at me.
The dance was funny, there was no point in denying it, but the fact it came from this individual, someone that thrives in utter chaos and giggles, I found it difficult to keep myself from going to him and bash his skull inward.
I was graced at a certain point from Le Fey. The young Magician pointing out that some of the more complex and more powerful spell could be deemed funny and dumb to look at, but the sheer potential and capacity wasn't something to scoff at.
The white-haired hybrid was silent as he watched and learned the various steps of the dance, then nodding and confirming the fact he was ready for the first test.
Part of me was slightly worried for two separate reasons, the first being that the technique might as well fail as of now, since I was unsure over the full integration of such power within the actual logical side of magic, the latter issue being if we ended up messing up the dance, creating a weaker and deterring entity for Vali.
My worries… proved to be unfounded.
The Lucifer went perfectly with the execution of his part and so did I, the moment our fingertips touched… a blast of heat and energy went to coax us, light blinding us as I felt my mind go blank and…
…
This is interesting.
We blinked at the resulting being, noticing instantly the classic clothes of the Metamorean race and… our power was absurdly high. Even in our basic form, the energy we were currently holding was far greater than Hoitsu had expected.
The formula could have been slightly off, but the results were indeed as positive as Vali wanted them to be. We started to stretch a little and we ended up noticing that the clothes were also fairly conservative compared to Gogeta and Gotenks.
There was a dark-blue shirt covering our chest, gloves covering our hands instead of the common armlets and we felt some pauldrons on ourselves too.
"This is so-" Kunou jumped inside the arena and rushed to ogle at the form with starry-eyes. "Cool!" She exclaimed giddily much to our… confusion?
I think your reactions are overlapping and mixing up into confusion.
Oh? There is someone else in the mindscape?
'It would seem like we all joined together in this entity. I'm Apophis and I can only guess you are Albion.'
That would be correct, yes.
And I'm Shiranai, kind of the Dark side of Hoitsu.
Dark side? Like a completely different being or-
It's a symbiotic relationship. I can't live without him but he could technically live without me, but without the cool powers I could give him.
Interesting. So… this Fusion, what should we… call him?
A curious question, one that I have an answer too.
What?
Our hand reached for the kitsune's unsuspecting head and we started to pat her much to her surprise. "We think you are getting over-excited, Kunou-chan." We said with a calm tone. "But if you want, we can grant you a little spar. Nothing too dangerous."
And your name is?
In due time, Albion. No need to ruin the surprise.
The blonde blinked at the offer, but softly nodded and took a fighting position. We merely crossed our arms close to our chest and waited for her to begin attacking. There was silence, there was calm and… she slowly rushed towards us.
The girl's speed was still as high, if not higher than in the last spar she had with Hoitsu, the boost offered by Lith having still influence her natural self as her attacks would have been nothing to scoff at… if we weren't fused.
The rapid rush was rendered void, helpless and devoid of any contact as we easily moved through her punches and kicks. It was so simple and yet… so normal for our whole new self as we felt like it was a common habit.
Muscle memory is combined too?
That would seem the case.
'What an interesting development.'
A boring one at best.
The kitsune ceased her assault and backed away. Her breathing was labored, but she looked merely winded by her lengthy attempt. "Y-You dodged everything, Niicha- I mean-"
"You may call us that, Kunou-chan." We interrupted politely while smiling kindly at her. There was no reason to behave badly towards the helpful blonde.
And there isn't any sign of arrogance.
Truly?
Yes. Many fusions have… quite the cocky attitude to themselves. But this one is incredibly self-aware and focused.
'Maybe the full display of his nature will appear in a real fight.'
"Now, Kunou-chan." We said with a calm tone. "We will go for a very brief offensive. We will hold back to a bare minimum and hit the same spot with only our legs. We can withhold ourselves from going that far but-"
"I-It's fine." She assured quickly. "I know you aren't going to hurt… much. It's training after all."
Indeed. She knows us very well.
Hoitsu. She knows Hoitsu very well.
...Indeed.
Kunou assumed a defensive position and we moved for a quick flurry of kicks, our legs moving at the same speed, if not lower, than the one the girl had used for her attacks. Her capacity to defend herself shone true in that situation as she managed to either deflect the incoming attacks or dodging them with precise accuracy.
We stopped moments later, gauging the full capacity by thinking from that little encounter.
We were going at 10% of our true potential and matching up with Kunou. The girl is just a little off, maybe at 80% of Hoitsu's full power in his base form, thus that means that-
Your base form is strong a little less than 10 times the full power of Hoitsu. And I can assume about a close 9 times as strong as Vali is in his base stance.
Absurd but… totally amazing.
'It would be good to have further experiments about this situation but… I don't think we can with how strong it is. Without someone as strong if not stronger than him right now, it wouldn't work at all.'
That's right. But I think I will stop for now.
I eased my composure and so did the kitsune, allowing another quick session of headpatting. "Thank you, Kunou-chan." We praised, to which the girl mustered a pretty big smile.
Adorable.
"Still, we think we should be saying what's our name." We smiled brightly and then we spoke. "Our name is Votsu, but we can settle for Vox too." We finally said with a strong voice and-
"Pfft- laaame." Bikou said with a dull tone. "Seriously, is that the best you go-" He couldn't finish that sentence as we appeared in a blur in front of him. He jumped and let out a manly yelp as he fell on his butt at our sudden teleportation.
"Hmph- Lame." We replied curtly much to his growing scowl and just as we was about to turn back to look at Kunou, we heard footsteps approaching from the hallway and we glanced to find…
A wide-eyed Akeno, her jaws dropping and her eyes staring right at… the abs that were visible through the dark shirt. She was holding a small tray filled with snacks and… yep, she was ogling at us.
We blinked and we knew that now we would have to explain this to her without getting in any uncomfortable situation. Because while Hoitsu was in love with this lovely lady, Vali was more than happy to stay away from those honeyed scenes.
Seriously, what a troublesome life did Hoitsu have.
AN
Fu-sion-AH!
The power of the two morons is a Squared Moron.
And Yes, I did intentionally leave something about a flashback story about Vali and Hoitsu in the earlier bits of the second segment and also yes, I did brainstorm in trying to get a proper name with meaningful significance with the fusion of the two names… but it was too big of an effort and I went with this one.
Some memes, some preparation and… I think some Omake coming soon. It will be amazing!
Future milestone 1: 1000 Followers and Favorite.
P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin
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REVIEW Q&A!
Na2s: He is not going to make an impacting appearance in the main plot, he will have his unique story. But he will have a big role in the grand finale.
SML Stevhmaklie: Yep.
Guest-Questioner: Tarasu is the MC from the Broken Trickster DXD Timeline, he had been appearing for a while in a few chapters in the past. The 'gruesome' timeline.