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Chapter 81: Worthless
~Vali's POV~
The deafening noise created by the people spectating the match was quite irritating, the unnecessary distraction surely going to prove as a slight issue to deal with.
He had fought with a crowd of spectators, but the annoying presence of so many Devils and other mythological beings was more than enough to put a stronger pressure on Vali over the already complicated fight that awaited him.
Diehauser Belial, the Champion of the Rating Games, the head of the House Belial and… someone that was certainly worth of those titles if not more considering the slight energy coming off from his relaxed state.
It was like a calm ocean that was moments away from abruptly envelop him in its immense raw power.
He could match it if he didn't hold back, he knew that, but much to his inner chagrin that wasn't something he couldn't afford to try in this brawl of all places.
Not this early in the tournament and especially not with this challenger of all people.
The gray-haired Ultimate-class Devil seemed calm with a slightly interest glint emanating from his dull eyes while they waited for the start of this important match.
The youngest Lucifer against the Emperor, the youngster against the strong past.
It was ironic how someone like Diehauser had turned out into the worst thing he could have ever tried to achieve in his life, especially after his cousin's death.
Cleria Belial had died by 'forbidden love' when she was discovered eloping with a young human Exorcist, Masaomi Yaegaki, by Devil's society.
Her execution, happening closely to the one issued by Heaven against the young man under their service, spurred some surprise and shock from the Underworld at the revelation of such a scandalous relationship and a handful of people even went as far as consider it an issue born from the Belial's traditions.
Differently from other Hell's clans, the House of Belial was quite reformist and moderated with its following of the laws of the Underworld, something that had always bothered the Old Devil Clique ruling the government from the shadows.
Diehauser was no exception to the humble tones of his family, fostering quite the close relationship with Cleria and… her death didn't leave him without any changes.
Gone was the cheerful champion, instead a very self-disappointed Devil replaced him ever since the girl's death.
There was no passion in winning, not much of an interest to improve with what he had achieved in so little and…
That infuriated the Host of the Vanishing Dragon as he could see the blatantly wasted potential!
"Vali Lucifer," The Emperor spoke with a quiet voice, blinking just once before bowing his head towards the younger Devil. "It's an honor and a flattering development to have you as my next opponent."
Being brought back to reality, the young man hummed as he noticed at the countdown was already down to 5.
Little bantering, nothing meaningful or ever-so distracting… but Vali decided to play around with this introduction.
4.
"Diehauser Belial, I will show you no mercy," The Lucifer stated without hesitation, voice lacking any warmth but also any true coldness.
3.
There was some surprise growing at the comment, but he didn't seem completely caught off-guard by it. "That's some boisterous claim, Scion Lucifer," The man frowned back at him. "I hope you can back it up."
2.
Albion was quiet and quite disdainful of what his plan for the match was all about, finding the lack of major participation to be quite… irking.
1.
He took a defensive posture, the same example was followed by Diehauser but there was just an element of lazy within the way he was guarding himself.
So many opening. All of them fake ones.
"Start!"
Vali bolted backwards as he dodged a quick rush from his opponent, gaining a little edge as the older Devil was forced to give a brief chase to begin some close-fighting against the less-experienced foe.
It was something expected, something that he could have countered by enveloping his body in the Balance Breaker but… it wouldn't work in the long-run.
Not only was that action expected, but the chances of ending up 'surprised' and drained by Diehauser's special ability made it a must to keep a careful mind around this dangerous threat.
In fact, with the Scale Mail failing to already show at the clear disadvantaged, the surprise within the Emperor's eyes seemed to grow even more.
And then the man spoke.
"You are holding back a lot," He commented blandly. "I thought you were above arrogance, Scion Lucifer."
"I am not arrogant, Lord Belial," Vali replied with a hint of boredom, something quite awkward to listen to considering he was facing a losing battle against the close-quarters master. "Actually, I think you are too foolish to see the bigger picture."
Throwing a kick at the younger Devil, which was dodged by Vali by ducking below the lifted leg, the Champion slammed his elbow quickly on the young man's chest by interrupting his rotation to press on the aggressive nature of his own offensive.
The Lucifer flinched, feeling the stinging sensation of the blow spread across his entire torso, numbing it a little as he managed to back away again from the exchange of attacks.
"Forgive me, but I've to say that this is just downright childish," Diehauser continued to comment, sighing tiredly as he punched right through the younger Devil's guard. "I've heard- I've seen your prowess during the battle of Tokyo, against Kokabiel and-"
"You- You still don't understand what is going on, don't you?" Vali coughed a little, a devious smirk finally appearing on his face. "To think the one that discovered the 'King trick' could be so clueless about such a simple trap. I'm truly bored by your mind, Belial."
The blank mask seemed to crack momentarily as a little but non-negligible spike within the older Devil's energy was more than enough to confirm the sore button.
"It was Rizevim-"
"Actually no," The silver-haired Lucifer scoffed at the mere mentioning of his grandfather, the man being ever-so secretive over the identity of major supporters within Qlippoth.
No, the information came from a fortuitous development that had happened days ago after a peculiar experience.
Something that was meant to give a major boost to fight… actually ended up giving a more intimate insight upon his rival's mind.
Endless secrets all held within Hoitsu's inner self, so many and so massive for a single individual to keep onto without having someone else discovering all of them.
It explained so much, but it also give him infinite questions over the past, the present and their future.
And that was what truly worried Vali, to deal with such a secretive individual about trust and truthfulness of the actions that led them to this point.
Was he angry? No.
It was blatant to see why it would have been urgent to keep it all bottled up, some of the unknown elements discovered being world-shaking and worrying for an existential perspective.
But the Lucifer wasn't certainly someone that lingered upon his existence, the 'why' he was alive in this blank world being fairly unrequited and unneeded as he was fine by merely being alive.
No, he was fine with it as it all had a logical sense, the world was rolling within the requirements of a human mind.
It wasn't chaos that created the world, nor was random the happening of certain event; it all stemmed from the imagination and references to a bleaker world in terms of moral corruption that breed this reality.
Truly a horrifying development but also unfortunately much better than just… having nothing to stand onto.
He sighed, mind returning to the current state of things and away from the difficult debate as today's match was going to be the real mean to reach out to Hoitsu.
Only the brunet could give him some straight answers instead of information without context, something that was much required about some… strange bits of the 'canon' timeline that just didn't make any sane sense.
He just had the time to blink before he was forced to quickly tilt his head to the side, the swift punch from his opponent.
Diehauser looked annoyed, the mere mentioning having indeed brought a new state of restlessness within the man.
"And what kind of trap are you referring to?" The Belial inquired with a forced tone. "From what I've seen, you have just played around and failed to bring up anything to-"
He stopped as his advance was paused by… something latching onto his left leg.
Grey eyes running down to the leg, Diehauser was impressed by the natural affinity displayed by enchanting, reinforcing and manipulating simple dirt into becoming some resilient mud from a fair distance from the area of casting.
"Ingenious, but… useless."
The older Devil freed himself by moving his leg out of the restriction, his raw power being more than enough to outmatch the little attempt to halt his attacking drive and-
"Not the trap," Vali muttered as he threw out of his hand a small white orb that was quickly flying towards the distracted enemy.
The Belial brought his right hand up, his open palm ready as the explosive Light Bomb utterly vanished before his eyes.
There was no surprise in his mind, the nature of his 'Worthless' ability being well-known to him as its capacity had served him well in the Rating Games-
CRACK!
Pain erupted from his face as an armored fist slammed with unexpected speed and power, the effective result being his sudden flight away from Vali's proximity and several meters away from where the youth was.
The pure-white Balance Breaker dissolved mere moments later as the young Lucifer started to walk, his intent approaching the slowly-recovering Diehauser.
"Your ability, the ones that nullify any techniques, spell and Sacred Gears' states," Vali proclaimed with a minor scowl now visible from his face. "The one you so consider 'Worthless', but could become so much great with proper training and practice."
The man sighed while he stood up, his robes were now sporting several cuts all over it but overall he seemed fine.
"So you know about it and… you lured me into thinking you were too arrogant to properly react in a formal fight," He coughed, yet the noise did show a minor hint of amusement and renewed interest. "Bloody brilliant."
"Not as brilliant as you paint it, considering the impressive mind you have," The Lucifer's scowl increased while he continued to chide his opponent. "A few years ago, this cheap trick would have been easy for you to catch before it even began… yet now you are so geared for Rating Games, to make them pleased of your fake loyalty to even consider making a proper study of this fight."
A snort left Diehauser's lips. "You know a lot, don't you?" He asked softly before steeling up his entire frame, preparing his guard once again. "But still, I guess I should be a little more 'honest' with my actions rather than showing some politeness."
"You speak as if you stand a chance against me," Vali continued with a sigh. "Yet you fail to understand that with your ace dismantled as it is, there is no chance for you to win."
"Another trick?"
The scowl returned. "This will be much more than a simple one."
But before the younger Devil could do anything worrisome against the Belial, Diehauser bolted towards him, his speed tripling from his initial one as he let out a little more than half of his full power.
The gloves were mostly off and now it was time to teach a lesson to a pompous brat.
Before the Emperor could even try to deal the first attack upon the calmly-waiting Lucifer, the young man brought his open palms near his forehead and… yelled.
"SOLAR FLARE!"
Diehauser's eyes were wide open at the two shouted words, bringing him even more pain as the following blinding light led him to pause and flinch at the sudden ambush.
The technique had been sudden but terribly effective in its deployment, giving the opportunity to Vali to fully unleash a counter-attack in the form of a beating.
Donning once again his Balance Breaker and switching to the Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive, the young Devil didn't hesitate from pummeling the disoriented opponent, his much-stronger hits bringing more pain to the distracted Belial.
The damage was non-negligible and his mind was screaming to react at this sudden brutality, yet the lack of sight and focus was more than enough to ruin any chances of recovering from the unrestricted offensive.
It was five minutes of silent beating, with the attacker keeping his lips closed while he smashed the Emperor to the floor and-
THUD!
The final hit was a left punch by his stomach, forcing the man to recoil before being slammed down on the ground once again.
"And with the preparation done," Vali commented quietly as he took to fly over the aching frame of the older Devil. "I shall end this fight at once."
It was going to be flashy, just like many spectators wanted from such fights and… it was about time to bring a message to Hoitsu. A proper one this time.
Stopping mid-air, the Host of the Vanishing Dragon brought his both his hands together at chest level facing the same direction while curling his gingers.
Energy started to channel in a dark-gray orb forming onto his hands, a circular aura forming around his entire armor.
He felt a grin forming, the tense preparation and the careful concentration of the massive amount of energy converging to his palms bringing him a sense of… giddiness.
Was this the same feeling that Hoitsu felt when using this kind of techniques?
Interesting.
"Galick-!"
The mere muttering of the first word caused a sudden intensification of his efforts, drawing more on his mental concentration as to not destabilize and explode the orb.
Diehauser had barely risen up from the ground, looking shocked and barely awake to see the scene unfolding.
Vali forced both of his palms in front of him, forcing the orb forward as it exploded in a beam of gray light with a soft purplish undertone.
"GUN!"
The blast was strong, but carefully calibrated to not be a killing blow as that wouldn't be convenient for anyone, especially the young Lucifer.
Considering how stingy the commission of judges for the matches was, being owned by members of the Old Devil clique, it was best to not ruin too much any of their 'puppets' before the entire Underworld's eyes.
The explosion was incredible, but nothing that truly threatened the spectators nearby as the inner barrier did well in their job of protecting the bystanders sitting behind them.
Moments of quiet passed thorough the coliseum, enough to wait for the dust and the smoke to settle down and reveal a wounded but still-alive Diehauser.
The man looked barely lucid as medics were quickly sent to recover him and escort him out of the arena, the proclamation of Vali's victory following soon after.
With a little sigh, the young Lucifer landed down near the staircase that led to the contenders' seat, dropping from his Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive and back to his base form.
Just as he made a few steps to reach the booth, he stopped as he noticed a shadow coming from the end of the stairs and… he sighed once again as he noticed who it was.
Hoitsu had noticed his message. Now it was time to have a proper talk… but who is the real liar here?
~Lilith's POV~
If Lilith had to be honest, when Zekram had decided to settle her by this specific section of the arena, she hadn't expected to end up dealing with this kind of shenanigans.
Especially not from this kind of individuals.
"Truly an interesting development," One of the goddesses sitting by the 'VIP booth' purred intrigued.
She had brown hair combed in a short manner, she had some spectacles and was wearing a dark gray blouse with dark dress pants that ended in a pair of formal shoes.
Yellow eyes were shining brightly at the sight before her, almost elated at the brutality expressed by the fight.
"To see someone as young as little Vali to give a proper pummeling to Diehauser," She praised happily. "I wonder what kind of guy he is and I wonder if he would accept an apprenticeship of sort."
"To think that you would be this much excited for fights, Athena," Shiva mused with a surprised tone. The Hindu God blinked at the giddiness coming from the usually-quiet individual. "Actually, I didn't even expect an introverted like you to be this interested in this fight in particular."
The Greek Goddess snorted at this. "I remind you that I'm also the Goddess of War, Shiva."
"And she is also far more hardcore about single fights than I am," Ares commented quietly, while writing some messages in his phone.
The Greek God of War had half-shaved black hair and a dense beard on his face that seemed to have been tended about a few hours earlier by how well-cut it seemed to be.
He was wearing a military-green half-sleeved shirt and a pair of green-and-brown striped cargo pants that ended in a pair of black boots.
Despite the militaristic outlook and its main purpose, Ares looked completely uninterested by the tournament as a whole and, from Lilith's perspective, the deity looked like a child brought to see some lengthy theatrical work that just failed to catch his attention.
"Seriously, you should have seen how pumped up she was when Perseus went against Medusa."
"The hag deserved that and even more," Athena shot back with a huff, arms crossing close to her bountiful chest. "To think that some morons would spread lies about the origin of our feud. I mean, do you remember what happened to Uncle Poseidon?"
"Uncle P never recovered after that unplanned twenty-four hours session," Her brother groaned at remembering that very instance.
"And the smiling trash had the nerve of choosing my temple of all places to try and get some demi-god children!" Her irritation was palpable while other deities continued to listen to this curious tale, some already giggling and snorting at the terrible deeds suffered by the known Virgin Goddess.
"At least you don't have the same crazy issues like Artemis-"
"Don't even mention that airhead," The woman muttered with a groan, interrupting Shiva much to the latter's dismay. "Seriously, I don't see why 'marrying' that moron of Orion would be a good idea; even as a teddy bear, that idiot is still as perverted as he was back as a human."
"Plus Arti is pretty much focusing on her Huntresses nowadays," Ares added with a frown. "Also, do you remember if Atalanta is still leading or not the group?"
"The poor cub girl?" His sister asked with a surprised look, sighing as she was unaware herself of the matter. "As much as a strict kitty she can behave, I would be impressed if she is still dealing with the complaint list."
Lilith blinked at this, feeling like she had heard that name before. Then she remembered it from one of her mostly one-sided discussions with a certain sack of bones and lies, thus the redhead jumped in the conversation.
"I think Hades did mention that Atalanta was still leading," The former Queen of the Underworld commented with a small smile. "There were attempts to leave, but Artemis stopped her from achieving any of that by-"
"Aggressive cuddling and promises of more vacations?" Athena interjected with an amused glint. "I can see my little sister do something like this and- It's good to see you, Lils."
"'Thena," The redhead nodded back at the greeting.
"Lilith, it's been so long and I thought that Hades was lying about you 'leeching off from him'," Ares said before flinching at the irritated smile on the woman's face. "Still, it's good to see you well and fine."
"I bet Uncle H was giving you hell with his melodramatic monologues about how much of a failure he is with gardening," The brunette said as she tilted closer to the widowed lady. "Still, if you have a chance of seeing him again, mention 'Bone Daddy'. That always gets him jumpy ever since a large number of girls have showed up at his doorstep to 'conquer his heart'."
The redhead snorted with a twitchy smile at that nickname. What was wrong with certain girls nowadays?
"I-I will try to do that when I catch up with him once again."
"I feel like nobody else noticed you, Lilith, we need to change that," Ares continued with a genuinely interested tone as he turned to the rest of the group. "Hey guys, you forgot to greet Lilith here! Do I need to remind you whom are we talking about?!"
The loud demand was met with positive chattering as multiple deities addressed the now-blushing woman, slightly awed by how many people still remembered her after so long.
Most of the deities there knew about her through her husband, Lucifer having gone far and wide to keep neutrality during the Great War, sometimes ending up making strong bonds with major gods of different Pantheons.
The Greek one had been one of the first ones that he had entered in contact and Hades and Athena were the first deities to meet with him.
It was surprising to see that she was still part of their memory and… she smiled brightly.
"It's good to see you all here too!"
A resounding roar of genuine happiness echoed from the entire booth as they all tried to get to hold some words with the widowed leader of Hell, some even going as far as to give her quick hugs and praise her well-kept form.
No men tried to do that with any resemblance of lecherous expression, far too many women in the room to survive an eventual collective retaliation from any of them.
Still, just as the entire section lit up at the discussions now focusing with Lilith, the redhead was also asked to reply to some of the pressing questions regarding the members of her family that were competing in the tournament.
"Sapphire is going to fight, I heard," Odin commented with a giddy smile. "Will she don her magnificent armor?"
The question was first met with a furious look from Frigg, the Allfather's wife going as far as starting to squeeze at the old man's left arm and forcing him to reformulate the query with a more appropriate tone.
"I-I mean, will she be fighting with the same ardor she had in the Great War?"
The redhead sighed. "She will be quite annoyed with some of the competitors as she expect her opponents to be as strong as her at least."
"Which is a tall requirement considering that some individuals invited here don't have her potential, experience and years of wisdom," Ares commented quietly.
"And from my understanding Vali is indeed your great-grandson," Shiva joined in with a curious voice. "We've seen just a glimpse of his power but, since I can see a little 'deeper' than many can… I wonder if Lord Zekram got enough precautions for that fight."
Lilith didn't need any specifications to what the Hindu God was referring to.
It was no secret that Vali was trying his best to get matched against Hoitsu and the brunet wasn't certainly backing away from any confrontations against his rival.
Both had been careful to promise to moderate their power to an eventual brawl, but the redhead was genuinely concerned that a simple promise wouldn't be able to keep them from going beyond they had planned.
It's in their blood to find cheerfulness in bringing the heat to the discussion, to spark the fire and create the brightest firework for the sake of improving and showing their progress.
While it was clear that Hoitsu had no blood-relation to the Morningstar Clan, he was still as 'hyped' for this kind of events just like her husband was when they moved to the Underworld.
It was unclear to say what would happen if the young pseudo-human decided to go to that very major step and escalate the conflict to a very explosive stalemate, but it was a sure thing that Vali wouldn't hesitate to bring the fullest out of each other for the sake of 'honesty'.
Oddly enough, this development within her youngest descendant was… actually a positive thing considering the young Lucifer's upbringing.
Rizevim had crossed the line by inciting the abuse, yet most of the fault lied within the now deceased Razevam and his own issues.
Vali's rivalry, albeit violent and aggressive from an external perspective, was actually healthy over the perceived nature of such bond.
Both were endeared by the chance of fighting each other, to strive to beat one another as to push beyond the limits.
Hoitsu's stable life offered to his rival a proper sight over what a normal life should be (or at least as normal as one should be instead of one of complete solitude) and that did improve immensely the boy's efforts to overcome his traumas.
No longer he stuck to the past memories about his dysfunctional family with his parents, now he was looking at the future as an independent but still family-attached young man with a need to continue to develop and fulfill his true potential.
To make things even more absurd, said rivalry managed to turn inconsequential the infamous relationship between the Vanishing Dragon and the Welsh Dragon as Vali barely cared to entertain any hard feelings towards Issei Hyoudou and the brunet was more than happy to keep the status quo as it was with his current life.
"Lady Lilith, if I may ask," A soft but strong feminine voice intervened and brought her out of her thoughts. "Can I ask you about one individual, a certain Hoitsu Sakakibara?"
Lilith turned her attention to look at a certain… fox-haired young woman.
She had long pink-hair that were tied and kept-short, two pink fox ears visible on top of her head and… a pair of bright golden eyes. A youthful face.
She was wearing a blue kimono with golden-black details and she was showing her bountiful cleavage.
The red-haired woman blinked. "He is my… great-grandson too."
The pinkette's eyes widened in surprise. "Truly?"
"Wait!" Athena jumped at this, "You mean to tell me that the young man, Hoitsu Sakakibara, the one that has his own fan club for good reasons… is related to you?"
"Partly, but yes."
"That brat was in Tokyo," Ares commented with a more interested tone. "He was in the first line when your rebellious sonny decided to 'conquer the city'."
The redhead flinched. "He… was."
"I humbly apologize if bringing this topic up can sound awkward at the moment," The unknown Japanese goddess mentioned. "But I was inclined to know more about the fellow that is taking care of my granddaughter."
"Your… granddaughter?" The former Queen asked in confusion, failing to understand which of the girls around Hoitsu this stranger was referring about.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," She gave a quick bow and nodded, a regal smile appearing on her face. "I'm Amaterasu, Shinto Goddess of the Sun and I consider lady Yasaka, the current leader of Kyoto's Yokai Faction as my surrogate daughter."
At that introduction, her red eyes widened in realization.
"So you are talking about little Kunou?"
The goddess eased at the mentioning of the little girl's name. "Yes, I consider the little kit as my kin. She is my grandchild in all but blood."
Lilith nodded at this and thought well about how to answer this situation.
"So you wish to know a little more about Hoitsu?"
The fox-eared woman nodded. "Yasaka-chan mentioned him with positive comments. Albeit I was skeptical over her handing him temporary guardianship over Kunou-tan, I've heard some positive comments from the child's development."
"Hoitsu and Kunou are quite close as brother and sister, I can say without hesitation that both are quite content of the state of things instead of-"
"Pursuing something a little more scandalous," The kitsune goddess mused with a small smirk. "I guess that I will have some discussion with Kunou-tan as to properly verify this… but I guess you are quite sure of this, Lady Lilith."
"You should see how adorable the cutie is when she yearns for his praise when she does well at school or during training," The kind mother mentioned with a lovely note.
Sadly, this was lost by Amaterasu as the Shinto deity sighed. "I can't much relate to this description as… I didn't have much of a stellar relationship with my brothers."
That caused Lilith to blink in surprise. "Then I… guess it would be best to wait for a proper time to approach the two."
The fox-eared pinkette smiled. "Indeed and- It seems like the next fight has been announced."
The sudden warning got the redhead to turn her attention to the monitor displaying the current selection of the next match.
If before she had been particularly nervous over the situation, now she felt paling at the name displaying on the board.
W-When did he- how did he enter the-
Her mind had to reboot, her eyes going wide open as she caught full sight of the names and the photos portrayed above the words.
Hoitsu Sakakibara vs. Rizevim Livan Lucifer!
AN
Things happen, everything explode boom!
Reference to Orion (Archer) from FGO and Amaterasu is Caster from Fate/Extra…
…
Yep, today I'm truly going all in.
Also quick note to make it clear why this AN is so gloomy: Once again there is someone that is translating a story of mine without authorization in Wattpad. I'm starting to get tired of having to give second chances to those that don't understand the incredibly simple idea of saying that 'this story is not mine, it is owned by SocialistBukharin/JustBukharin'. I know I've already said this in the past, but I can't help but think that my patience is being abused in those cases.
If there is no reply from the post I've sent to the person uploading my chapters, I will have to report the story. Period.
Lastly, some feedback about the tournament arc would be nice as we are approaching the 100th chapter milestone and things need to be somewhat smoothly at this point.
Hopefully things will proceed well and… CIAO!
Future milestone 1: 1170 Followers and Favorite.
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