Ben 10: Dragon God of Life

by DragneelGiant96

Ever since he was 10, Ben Tennyson has been having dreams of strange creatures, strange events...and a strange green dragon. No one can explain them; they're a mystery. But when he attends Kuoh Academy, he learns that there's more to his dreams than he realizes. Powerful, original version of Ben Tennyson. OOC and AU. Rated M for swearing, violence and DxD nudity. [Ben x Harem]

21. The Summit pt1

A/N: Well everyone, this is it!

Don't misinterpret what I'm saying as me telling you that I'm finishing this story…far, far from it. This is merely the beginning of the climax of one of my favourite arcs of the DxD series to date, the summit!

You've all been waiting patiently for this chapter and I can only hope that I delivered on the hype I raised for it, there's nothing worse in my opinion than bigging something only for it to be such an anti-climax (Omniverse, I'm looking at you!) so I hope you love the first part of this arc as much as I did writing it.

As usual I'll continue my A/N at the end of the chapter and let you move on to the chapter proper.

Without further ado, here it is.

Enjoy!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The two devils made their way back down the stone steps in silence. Ben could tell that Rias was still annoyed at what he and Akeno had done earlier. He wasn't oblivious to her feelings nor Asia's even if it was adorable with how she tried to retain the innocent nature she learned when she was with the church.

When she reached the bottom of the steps, Rias spun around to look at Ben. "This is where we part ways. I've got some more work to complete tonight before the summit."

"What?" Ben asked with confusion. "I thought you'd finished your work already and that was why you came to the shrine when you did."

"Not quite. I only had a brief window of time to come to the shrine for the gift exchange, even if I wasn't expecting to see what I saw when I got there," she murmured with an empty glare at Ben as she said this. "Now that the exchange has been completed, there's some little things to go over before tomorrow so I'll be home a bit late again."

"You know I'm having trouble controlling my body thanks to Azmuth…and someone like Akeno makes it even harder," Ben added quickly, taking hold of her hand before she departed and pulled her close to him where he embraced her gently.

Rias stared up at him in silence for a moment before sighing slightly and pressing her cheek against his chest. "I know, I know. It's just that I find it very frustrating that Akeno's experienced it twice already while I've only experience it once…."

"…you're supposed to be mine and mine alone," the Gremory heiress added quietly with a faint blush appearing on her cheeks and so quietly that Ben almost missed it…almost. He was still able to just hear those last words and it brought a faint blush to his cheeks as well.

"Anyway," Rias continued, quickly hoping to change the subject to something else as she reluctantly broke the embrace and pulled away from Ben. "What are you planning to do with the last night before the summit?"

"I'm thinking of heading back to the school to help out with Gasper's training. The others are there already…." He suddenly had a flashback at the last time the others tried 'training' the young dhampir "…but something tells me that they'll just try to scare the poor guy again."

Rias chuckled behind her hand and looked back to the darkening sky. "Well it seems that we've each got somewhere to be so I'll see you later tonight, Ben," she said as she turned her back to him and disappeared through a crimson red teleportation circle beneath her feet, giving Ben a final wave goodbye as she vanished.

Ben gave her a wave of his own as she left before turning and making his way towards the school, in his mind hoping that Xenovia hadn't tried her usual training method on the poor boy again.

. . . . .

Back at the school

It turned out his fears had been well founded.

No sooner had he made his way to the clearing around the back of the old school building that he spotted the ex-church holy sword user chasing the scared dhampir around the spacious clearing while the frantic dhampir was, at the same time, also dodging cloves of garlic which were being thrown at him by Koneko while Kiba and Asia just stood on the side watching the 'training' take place, each with a somewhat confused and slightly confused expression on their faces.

As soon as he saw all this happening he quickly stepped in and stopped Xenovia and Koneko from torturing poor Gasper before announcing to them that he would be taking over his training from now on as the two of them, while having the best intentions at heart, clearly had absolutely no idea what they were doing. He then asked the two of them to leave the training field as Gasper was still nervous around being near so many people and it would be hard enough to get him to learn to control his power without that added issue to deal with.

The two of them agreed with the logic of his words and agreed to leave them to it. Kiba decided to join them and left too, leaving behind just Ben and Asia to help train Gasper. Once the others had left, he asked Asia if she was able to stay behind with him and assist him in training Gasper in Ben's own way.

When she agreed to help him, they got to work with the training.

. . . . .

(Several minutes later)

This involved footballs. Lots and lots of footballs as Gasper found out once Ben's training had started. Like before, the training involved throwing them at Gasper with the aim of encouraging him to use his Sacred Gear to freeze them before they hit him.

As they progressed through the training, Ben could tell that Gasper was making some improvement, even if it was by only a small amount. Sometimes he would succeed in stopping the ball in mid-air, but most of the time he would end up with….

Thwack!

"Owwww!" Gasper cried as he was hit square in the face yet again by a football and fell to the floor with a red circle forming on his face where the ball had struck him. "Hey Ben, can we call it quits for today?"

"Are you sure? We've still got a long way to go before you've got your power under control," Ben stated as he held another ball in his hand while Asia stood beside him ready to pass him the ball in her hands. "You're improving very quickly, Gasper."

"Am I?" the dhampir asked as he sat up and rubbed his bruised face.

"Sure you are, you can stop the ball once out of every twenty or so tries now. That's a lot better than not being to stop it at all, isn't it?" he noted as Gasper slowly rose to his feet again.

"I guess so," Gasper moaned before a determined expression formed on his face. "Okay then, Ben, Let's keep going!"

"That's the spirit!" Ben said with a smile on his face as he raised the ball behind him in preparation to throw it. "Okay, here it comes."

Only it didn't come. Ben felt some discomfort in his arm and himself unable to move it. He looked back at it to see that Gasper had frozen his entire forearm in place, preventing it from moving, and with the football still held in his frozen hand.

Gasper saw what he had just done and started to cry again while he fell to the floor again, curling up and weeping "I'm s-sorryyyyyy!" he cried.

"Come on, Gasper," Ben said as Gasper's magic broke and he regained control of his arm again. "I've already told you that I don't mind if you freeze me. I'm training you to control your power but you're still a novice so it's expected that you'd freeze parts of me during your training.

"It's no use!" Gasper wailed despairingly. "I'm lousy as a vampire and bad at being a devil. I hate that I constantly let everyone else down!"

Ben couldn't help but recall how Akeno also felt about being born from two different species. How she felt doubt about her own existence, possibly even how she hated her existence. It was an issue which wouldn't just go away overnight. He could only imagine how much they were suffering but he was determined to help the pair of them out any way he could.

"You don't let us down, Gasper. Trust me on this. I like you. You're your own worst enemy if you let your problems control you instead of facing them head on," Ben said firmly, stepping towards Gasper and kneeling down in front of him and placing his hand on the young dhampir's shoulder. "We're both members of Rias' peerage. We're both teammates and I know for a fact that you're stronger than you think you are, all you need is someone to help you learn to control your power."

Gasper looked up at Ben and wiped away his tears. "Y-You're right, Ben. I-I'll do my best," he said as Ben patted his shoulder as they stood back up.

"There you go, I knew you had it in you," Ben declared with a warm smile as he went back to Asia and the basket of balls. "Shall we carry on with our training?"

"Sure, but first…," Gasper stated as he pulled out his paper bag mask and placed it over his head. "I'll just put this on to harness my energy."

"Sure, whatever works best for you, I guess," Ben sweatdropped as he picked up another ball to resume the training, wincing as Gasper was immediately struck in the face with a football again.

. . . . .

Standing at an open window on the second floor of the old school building, Kiba, Koneko and Xenovia watched the training take place below them.

"I have to admit that Ben seems to know what he's doing with Gasper's training," Kiba said as he watched Ben throw a ball towards Gasper who was hit once again as he failed to stop it in mid-air.

"Yeah," Xenovia conceded as she crossed her arms under her chest. "Whenever I tried training him, Gasper would just run away in fear and break down crying."

"I guess it's impossible to say that Ben doesn't care about his friends and wants to help them out as best he can," Koneko said from in between them.

Kiba couldn't help but nod as he watched Ben continue to throw footballs at Gasper who continued to struggle in freezing them before they hit him. "It's an admirable quality, considering all the changes to his body that he has to cope with due to Azmuth dwelling within his left arm."

"The last time I saw him this determined about training was back when we were preparing for our Rating game against Riser," Koneko added as she thought back to how much effort Ben put into his training and how much he grew in strength because of it.

"He really is an amazing person," Xenovia noted as she stared down at Ben with an interested look on her face.

. . . . .

Elsewhere in Kuoh

Sitting on a girder at the top of an empty building site the leader of the Fallen Angels, Azazel, was enjoying the night life of the town he had been calling his home, even if only a temporary one, for the last several weeks.

"It really is a delightful little town, isn't it?" he asked the silver-haired woman standing next to him. "I can't believe Kokabiel actually wanted to destroy this quaint little place just so he could start a war."

"If you say so," Valerie returned in a bored tone as she leant against an upright girder with her arms crossed in a lazy fashion. "Personally, I don't see the downside to destroying such a boring town. It would have given their lives some excitement, even if only for a few seconds."

Azazel chuckled and glanced at the White Dragon Empress with a knowing smirk. "You truly only think about one thing, don't you?" He went silent for a moment before continuing. "I heard that you made yourself known to the Dragon All-Father."

Now it was time for Valerie to chuckle a little. "Can you blame me? I would have been content with that Tennyson boy simply possessing the Red Dragon Emperor's Gear, but for him to also possess Azmuth's Sacred Gear too? That surprised me greatly," she murmured before glancing down at Azazel. "And what about you? Don't tell me you're not interested in him too?"

"Oh I don't deny that," Azazel replied with a smirk on his face. "It's just that I'm interested in him for a different reason than you; I'm not looking to fight the Dragon All-Father. Rather, I'm fascinated by Azmuth for other…academic reasons."

The two of them fell silent as they returned their gazes back out to the bustling town below before Valerie broke the silence.

"I suppose you want me to be present at that boring meeting tomorrow," she said with a deep, lazy sigh.

"Once again, you've got it bang on the nose," Azazel said with a grin. "After all, you are the White Dragon Empress. It would be strange if you didn't turn up if Azmuth and Ddraig are going to be there."

Valerie just sighed again and looked back out across the landscape of Kuoh. Azazel glanced up at her through the corner of his eyes. "Were you so disappointed that you were asked to bring Kokabiel in, thwarting his plans for war? Are you really so determined that war break out again?"

"Why not?" she retorted without looking at him. "I hate my boring life. I hate this boring era my birth thrust me into; a world where God is dead and the Three Factions are vying for peace."

"You truly are the Vanishing Dragon," Azazel commented as he returned his attention back to Kuoh, his thoughts turning to Tennyson and the peace talks tomorrow.

. . . . .

(The next day, after school)

"It's time," Rias told her entourage as a large magic shield materialised in the sky and encased the entire school, cutting them off from the outside world so the talks could proceed without any interruption.

It was finally time.

The time Ben had been anxiously waiting for ever since hearing about it after Kokabiel's defeat. The time for the Three Factions to come together and finally discuss a lasting peace between the three of them.

As he glanced out of the window, Ben could see troops belonging to each of the factions that had arrived at the same time the shield was created hovering above the school and keeping to themselves though Ben did see them throw dirty glances at each other every now and then. Even before entering the meeting, which was to be held in the staff room in the new school building, Ben could feel the tension in the air at what a monumental moment in history he was a part of.

"If the talks break down for whatever reason, this whole place will become a battleground," Xenovia noted quietly as she also stared out of the window, startling Ben at how close she was to him.

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that," he responded as he turned to see Rias leading the way out of the clubroom. Before joining the others leaving the room he cast one last glance behind him at Koneko and the cardboard box in front of the sofa.

"See ya later, Gasper. Don't cause trouble while I'm gone."

Rias had requested that Gasper stay behind in the clubroom while everybody else went to the talks. Her reason being that Gasper was still learning to control his power and potentially freezing members of the other factions wouldn't go down well in the peace talks.

Koneko then volunteered to stay behind and keep the dhampir company while they were gone and was currently sat down on one of the sofas eating one of the snacks from a large box she had brought for the two of them though Ben secretly believed that they were mainly all for her.

"I promise I won't," Gasper replied as he held up Ben's phone which he had been given so he could play some of the games on them. "And thanks for letting me use this."

"No problem. Just ignore any messages if you get any; I'll deal with them later," Ben said in response as he waved a goodbye to Koneko too. "See you later, Koneko."

"See ya," the white-haired Rook said, giving him a quick glance before returning to more important matters. Ben chuckled as he closed the door behind him and went to catch up to the others who were already on their way downstairs.

. . . . .

Staff room, in the New school building

"Excuse us," Rias said as she entered the meeting room, revealing to her and the others that they were the last ones to arrive. A gorgeous, circular table sat in the middle of the room and the representatives from the three factions sat around. The table seemed to be extremely out of place in the staff room leading Ben to believe that it had been brought here specifically for the meeting.

He couldn't help but gulp quietly at the quiet tension which enveloped the room; not to mention the fact that he was standing before the leaders of the three factions.

The Devil faction was being represented by both Sirzechs and Serafall. Sirzechs' Queen, Grayfia, was also present, standing behind Sirzechs.

Azazel sat as the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels while Valerie leant against the wall behind him. Ben couldn't help but notice how Valerie's eyes quickly fell on him as he entered the room but he strove to ignore her for now.

The golden-feathered Archangel Michael was present as the representative for Heaven and the Church and he was accompanied by….

"Gwen?!" Xenovia gasped in shock, taken completely off guard by her appearance at the talks. Ben was also shocked at seeing her again though he was able keep his surprise to himself.

She wore the same white robes she had worn when she and Xenovia had first come to Kuoh to retrieve the stolen Excalibur swords. It was obvious she was still angry with Xenovia over her decision to leave the Church and become a devil as she barely gave her a brief glare before looking straight ahead and completely ignoring her former friend and comrade.

This was still more than she did for Ben who she ignored completely, not even bothering to give him a sideward glance or glare.

"My sister and her retainers," Sirzechs announced on their arrival, introducing them for the benefit of the VIPs of the other factions as they bowed in greeting once everyone had entered the room.

"During Kokabiel's attack a few days ago, they were the ones who fought against him," the Devil King added though it wasn't necessary as everyone had already been given a report on Kokabiel's attack.

"I know. I've already read the report," Michael replied before turning towards Rias and bowing his head slightly. "You have my thanks for stopping Kokabiel's plan, for putting yourselves in harm's way to stop another Great War from starting."

Unsure how to react to the leader of Heaven thanking her, Rias just bowed her head in return.

"Same here. Sorry one of my boys caused you so much trouble," Azazel added coolly as he lounged back in his chair.

With introductions out of the way, Ben and the others made their way over to the chairs behind Sirzechs where Sona and Tsubaki were already sat and joined them. Ben sat down with Rias and Asia taking a seat on either side on him. As she sat down, Asia quickly grabbed the edge of his jacket sleeve in her unease. In response to this, Ben lightly clasped her hand to ease her nerves.

"Now that everyone has arrived, we can finally begin. I trust that everyone present here acknowledges the most important subject to be discussed today, i.e. the death of God and its ramifications now that it is no longer a secret," Sirzechs continued once Rias and her peerage had taken their seats.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Gwen as she visibly flinched at the mention of God's death but she was the only one who actually reacted to this which told Ben that everyone else was already aware of the shattering news before this gathering.

"With that taken into consideration, shall we start?" Sirzechs asked to the table and received no argument for the contrary.

"If I may make a request?" Michael asked, and when he received no rejection he continued. "I've read the report sent to me about the incident, but I would appreciate it if I could hear what happened from those who were present."

"I must admit that I'm also curious as to how your little sister was able to hold off one of the strongest warriors the Fallen Angels possessed," Azazel added, gesturing towards Rias. "Even if she does possess the Power of Destruction, it was still a remarkable achievement that none of you were killed."

Sirzechs nodded his head and turned towards his little sister. "If you would please give us your account of your battle against Kokabiel again, Rias."

"As you command, Lucifer," Rias said with a formal bow of her head as she stood up from her chair. As she did so, Ben quickly took hold of her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze so as to calm her nerves. It seemed to work as Rias appeared less nervous as she stood before everyone along with Sona who had joined her and began to recount the events of everything that had happened with their encounter with Kokabiel, starting from when Gwen and Xenovia arrived in Kuoh to their battle against Kokabiel and how its conclusion at the White Dragon Empress' arrival and subjugation of Kokabiel before their eyes.

The representatives each listened to Rias and Sona's reports in silence though they each reacted in different ways – from a sigh to a scowl, and even a smile from Azazel at points – as the report was given until finally….

"…and that is my report on the events that took place in the incident with Kokabiel," Rias declared as she finished recounting the events.

"I, Sona Sitri, confirm the veracity of the report given by Lady Gremory," Sona added from beside Rias.

"Thank you very much for your reports," Sirzechs said to the two High-class Devils.

"You make me so proud, Sona," Serafall whispered with a beaming smile, causing her little sister to blush in embarrassment and quickly return to her seat.

"Now that you have heard the report from those who were there, do you have anything else you'd like to bring to the table, Azazel? Like, how was Kokabiel able to do all of this without the knowledge of the Fallen Angels?" Sirzechs asked as the entire room looked to the Governor-general who smiled as he began to explain.

"If you must know; Kokabiel went silent a few years ago and started becoming withdrawn from the other Grigori members and myself in particular, acting on his own without my consent or leave to do so though he made sure to restrict this to things that wouldn't attract too much attention. Despite the steps he took to hide his impending betrayal, it was no secret that he despised me for ending the war after God and the Devil kings died so it wasn't difficult to work out that he wanted me gone so he could take my place and take control of the Grigori and the Fallen Angels. Still though, I was surprised when he actually went ahead with his plan."

"Once I learned that he had made his move I sent out the Vanishing Dragon to…apprehend him and bring him in to answer for his treachery," Azazel continued waving his hand before him in a bored fashion as he told his story. "Once brought to us, and as of right now, Kokabiel is now serving out his punishment in the lowest level of Hell where he will remain frozen for the rest of eternity. I believe a copy of everything I've just said was already forwarded to you before this meeting started."

"It was," Sirzechs agreed as he pulled out a piece of parchment from underneath the small pile of paper laid out before him and glanced at it briefly before returning his gaze to Azazel, "But I just wondered if you had left anything out of it."

"Hey, where's the trust? Aren't we supposed to be building bridges here?" Azazel complained though this was offset by the small smirk on his face. "Well, I can't I'm offended by your suspicions. Moving on though, if everybody is asking for something before these peace talks begin properly then I would like to request something too."

"And what would that be?" Michael asked with mild curiosity.

Azazel chuckled and leant back in his high-back chair before continuing, his eyes fixing on Ben. "I'd like to hear from the one who essentially ordered these talks to take place in the first place. I'd like Azmuth to share what he knows with us, seeing as he seems to be so knowledgeable about God's thoughts; something He seemed to even keep hidden even from his right-hand Angel, isn't that so, Michael?"

Though he made no visible expression, Ben couldn't help but note that Michael tensed slightly at Azazel's words.

"I'm not fond of this but I agree with Azazel on this," Serafall said politely, glaring slightly at Azazel while he smirked back at her. "Yes, the idea of this peace summit was circling our factions for some time, but it was due to the Azmuth's insistence that he speak to Sirzechs privately where he virtually called for this meeting all by himself."

"Is that so? Do you make a habit of letting a Lower-class Devil dictate your decisions, Sirzechs?" Azazel asked with an innocent smirk on his face as he ran a hand under his chin idly.

Ben couldn't help but swallow at the way Azazel was phrasing his statement. He was making it sound as if it had been himself who had spoken so freely to Sirzechs and demanding they hold this meeting.

Sirzechs seemed to notice this and came to Ben's rescue. "Not so. The secrets of Sacred Gears are still largely unknown, and while there are Gears with sentient beings inside them, they've never actively acted without their wielders knowledge. This is such a case; while Azmuth may be sealed within his Gear he still, very much, has a mind of his own which he showed to me that day. Ben had no knowledge as to what Azmuth would say…and if anyone in his position had the gall to refuse Azmuth's wished then I'd love to meet them," he explained calmly, casting a subtle wink to Ben as he said it, sending a wave of relief wash over him.

[It is as Lucifer says. I would appreciate it if you left my partner out of matters he had little say in, Governor-General. He merely did as I requested of him and took me to a private audience with Sirzechs, but something tell me you already knew that?] Azmuth's powerful voice echoed around the room, taking everyone except the four leaders, Grayfia and Valerie by surprise at his booming voice. The emerald light on the back of Ben's hand glowing with each word he said.

Azazel chuckled and held up his hands in a placating manner. "Ha-ha. Guilty as charged! It was just my way of making you show yourself to the rest of us 'mortals'," he admitted, saying the last part sarcastically with a wide grin on his face.

Azmuth merely grumbled with irritation at Azazel's antics. [You have a unique way of looking at things, don't you, fallen angel?] he growled in annoyance to which Azazel merely responded with another chuckle.

"While you're here though, Azmuth," Sirzechs started, trying to keep the conversation relevant to the meeting. "Would you please share some of your knowledge with us? As Azazel already noted, you appear to know more about God's thoughts in His final decades than even Michael which I find hard to believe."

"I, too, would like to hear what you have to say, Dragon All-Father," Michael added somewhat stiffly. It was obvious that he was extremely curious as to what Azmuth knew considering he was a Dragon God which stayed in this dimension at times few and spread to have any reason to have such knowledge.

[I suppose it's time at last that I share what I know with you,] Azmuth agreed though he managed to keep his annoyed tone of voice.

"Splendid!" Azazel exclaimed joyfully as he snapped his fingers, summoning a chair similar to the ones that he and the other leaders sat in into the space around the table between him and Sirzechs. "I think it's only proper that Ben sit at the table if what he says has anything to do with our talks."

Ben didn't move initially as he was so taken off guard by the way the conversation had gone. It wasn't until Sirzechs nodded his head slightly in confirmation that Ben rose to his feet.

Now it was Asia and Rias' turn to give his hands a comforting squeeze.

He sat down in the high-back chair and found himself feeling extremely conscientious on how he was sitting. He then summoned Azmuth's Gear and laid it on the table while he rested his right hand on his lap.

[Before I divulge what I know, I want to know why such a monumental summit like this hasn't taken place until now. It can't simply be due to past grievances between your three powers, can it?] Azmuth asked the four leaders around the table.

"I'm afraid that was, indeed, one of the main reasons such a meeting hasn't taken place in the past," Michael admitted with a sigh.

"Not to mention how our society suffered from a civil war between the Satan faction who wanted to continue the war against the Angels and Fallen Angels, completely ignoring how the war had almost decimated us, and the Anti-Satan faction which wanted to keep the ceasefire and ensure the survival of our race," Sirzechs explained as he recalled the part he played in the civil war which won him the title of Lucifer when it was finally over. "If we hadn't stopped the Satan faction from breaking the ceasefire which had beenagreed upon by the Three Factions after the deaths of God and the Four Great Satans then I fear what would have happened to us."

"It was believed that the façade that we were still at each other's throats was necessary to prevent other mythologies from attacking us due to the belief that God was still alive," Michael added.

"That combined with the fact that all our forces had been decimated in the war and the human world had also been ruined after the war," Azazel noted from where he sat. "Our first priority has been replenishing our forces with humans. Even after all this time, our numbers still don't come close to what they were before the war."

[I see,] Azmuth muttered as he listened to their different reasons. [I suppose I can understand your reasons but it is still stupid that you never came to the table until now. Had you made peace already you could've worked together to recover from your wars and be in a much better position where you're not at each other's throats.]

The four leaders fell silent as they thought about Azmuth's words and, despite their desire to find some fault in his words, some reason to justify the system as it had been, but they couldn't think of one. Had they come to the table sooner then who knows what state their factions would be in today. None of the faction leaders wanted the war to start again as it would lead to either the immediate extinction of their race or delay it for a few centuries.

"I guess the bad blood between our factions still boiled for those who fought through the war and believed that the ceasefire was sufficient to prevent another war. Though, by the incident which caused this meeting to take place, it's obvious that there are those who have found the status quo undesirable for whatever reason," Azazel commented as he leant his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his palm.

"The seeds of discontent," Serafall muttered quietly.

"It's not just my faction which exhibits this sort of behaviour," Azazel retorted, causing Serafall to frown at him.

"I ask that we stay on track," Sirzechs said, stopping Azazel and Serafall from exchanging any more ill-intended words.

[I agree, Sirzechs. Now is not the time for childish bickering,] Azmuth chided and, while Azazel merely chuckled at being told off by the emerald dragon Serafall pouted at Ben's left arm.

"If you would please continue, Azmuth," Michael said, returning the conversation back to Azmuth.

Azmuth took a deep breath before continuing. [It is no secret that God was angry with His son, Lucifer and the Devils he created for rebelling against Him, nor the Fallen Angels for going against His teachings. It is also true that, during the early centuries of the war, He was content to see both the Devils and Fallen Angels wiped out entirely.]

"That's not entirely a big secret," Azazel chuckled openly. "It was common knowledge that God wasn't exactly on friendly terms with our two factions."

[But what you don't know…,] Azmuth growled, not liking how he was interrupted by the Fallen Angel. […is that God saw what a terrible toll the war was taking to the Earth and His creations. He looked into the future and saw that unless He did something, everything He had created would be destroyed and the Darkness would consume this dimension.]

[He was also reminded that, despite all of your actions against Him, you are still His children, and like every parent who lashes out at their children for going against them, He regretted how His actions had caused all the death and destruction in the world and desired to end the war before any more of His children were destroyed. He knew that the Devils and Fallen Angels would never return to Heaven by that point as you had found your place in the world without His protection or guidance. He knew you would never forgive Him for what He had done to you nor would you ever perceive Him as your Father ever again. That didn't dissuade Him, though, from His desire to stop the war before it eventually led to the destruction of everything,] Azmuth continued, his voice echoing around the room which had fallen deathly quiet at what the emerald dragon was saying.

Azazel, now leaning forward in his chair as he listened to Azmuth's story, raised a hand and spoke up.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not sure how the Great War could've led to the death of everything. Sure, it was an extremely violent period in our history but it was hardly enough to end it all," he wondered out loud, glancing at the other leaders who shared his look of confusion. "He didn't happen to go into more detail did He?"

[No, He didn't say exactly how the universe would be destroyed but He has never been wrong about these things before so I never asked,] Azmuth replied before continuing his tale. [With His goal in mind, He sought me out when I returned to this dimension and, after telling me of His regret and the vision He saw, asked me to help Him carry out His plan. I didn't know what I could do to help I had known God since the very beginning and was the one god that he could trust completely and fully confide in, so I swore to help out in any way I could. I had seen what the war had done to the world and the amount of death it had led to for a senseless cause for all three factions involved. There were several steps He took to, not only bring the war to an end but to also survive and raise yourselves out of the ashes from your worn-torn world.]

"What sort of changes were these?" Azazel asked with genuine curiosity now.

[He saw that the answer to your future survival lay in His youngest and most precious creation: Humanity, but they had been tailored to favour the Angels over the other two. That's why they're the only ones who are capable of wielding His ultimate tools: The Sacred Gears. It was also why any human who allied themselves with the Church could possess the power of Light weapons as they fought against Devils. He knew that, should the war be over, the most logical way to restore your numbers would be to look to the humans. However, He had created humans to be completely independent from your three factions, their free will was His main concern even if there was some bias towards His side by the reasons I just stated. He altered The System which gave Him power from the prayers and worship of humans and made it so all Three factions would be able to turn to humans and reincarnate them to replenish your numbers.]

"Hang on," Sirzechs said, interrupting the emerald dragon's tale this time. "It was Beelzebub who invented the Evil Piece system that allowed us to turn humans into Devils."

[That might be true but it would never have succeeded had The System not been altered to allow it to happen. No matter how intelligent your friend might be, Sirzechs, he wasn't capable of doing it without God altering The System beforehand,] Azmuth replied impatiently before continuing. [In the later years of the war before I was sealed within my Gear He started to act with more urgency than before. When I asked Him about it, He told me that He had foreseen His own death and needed to do as much for the survival of His children before His end came. We had planned a new set of Sacred Gears that wouldn't favour any of the three factions, ones that would affect each of you equally. I am only aware of one such Gear that was finished completely before I was sealed away and it is in this room right now,] Azmuth declared and everyone started looking around the room in confusion for a moment before it suddenly struck Ben.

"Asia's Twilight Healing?!" he declared abruptly, glancing over at the blonde ex-nun who gasped and held her hands close to her chest.

"Of course," Michael said with a slight nod and smile as he turned to towards Asia along with everyone else in the room, much to her embarrassment.

[Correct, Ben. Miss Argento's Sacred Gear is the only Gear in the whole world, both natural and supernatural, which can heal all, regardless of what they are. While it's true that there are other Sacred Gears in the world which can heal others, they are limited in what use it on, namely humans and non-demonic creatures, while the one miss Argento possesses is the only one which doesn't discriminate between the factions and can heal Devils AND Fallen Angels as well as humans and Angels. It's ironic that, even though it was intended to hopefully 'heal' the gap between the three factions should the human who wielded it join one of them, she was cast out because it could heal the Church's enemies and you were all ignorant of God's intentions when He built it.]

Azazel chuckled under his breath. "Irony doesn't even come close to describing it," he muttered as he scratched the stubble on his cheek.

'How could I have not noticed that?' he thought to himself.

"So how did you end up sealed in a Sacred Gear?" Serafall asked with intrigue.

"I'm curious about that too," Sirzechs added. "Rias informed me that you did it just to experience life in a new way but I find that hard to believe. I just can't understand why you would willingly give up your physical body and bind yourself to the human who would come to possess your gear. You knew the process was irreversible so why do it?"

Azmuth didn't answer Sirzechs' question immediately and the whole room grew silent as they awaited his answer. Ben, too, was curious as to why Azmuth did what he did. He knew Azmuth wasn't lying when he said he wanted to see life in a new way but he had always thought that there was more to it than that.

[It might be known to everyone that the Dragon Gods are old but you struggle to fully comprehend just how long I have existed. Though our physical bodies would normally last just as long as our spirits would, the same couldn't be said for me. I am the only god who can pass freely through the Dimensional Gap and into other dimensions and, after eons of exploring these realms, the journey began to take it's toll on my physical form.]

"I can see how regularly breaking through the fabric of reality would do that," Azazel nodded in understanding. "The fact you can do it at all is impossible already."

[So I told God about my worsening condition. While I wouldn't die from it and my spiritual form was untouched, my physical form was slowly being weakened and corrupted by my lifetime of continuously breaking through the barriers of reality. I told God this and He offered to help me in whatever way He could as gratitude for our friendship. We came to the conclusion that abandoning my body and sealing myself in a Sacred Gear was the best solution so I assisted God in designing and creating the vessel in which my soul would forever be sealed within and, once my physical body could no longer sustain my soul, it was taken from my body and placed within this Gear whereupon I eventually became linked with Ben,] Azmuth concluded.

"So how come you never said anything until now?" Azazel asked off-handedly.

[I have no clear answer to your question, Governor-General,] Azmuth admitted with a small sigh. [I can only guess that my being sealed within this Gear had some undocumented side effects of clouding my memory of the last few decades of my conversations with God. It wasn't until the battle with Kokabiel that the mist lifted off my memories and I knew I had to do something after seeing how close you were from reigniting the Great War all over again.]

"I have another question if you don't mind, Azmuth," Sirzechs said, still reeling from the bombshell Azmuth had just dropped on his society's perception of how God acted during the war. Until now, Devils have believed that God had rejected them completely and that they could all just be erased from existence for all He cared.

When Azmuth made no comment otherwise, the Devil King continued to ask his question. "If God saw how He would die then why didn't He avoid it so He could do more for His plan to end the war and help us rebuild?"

[I asked Him that very same question when He told me about His vision. He revealed that He could avoid His death but that He wouldn't do so. Though He understood what it meant for Him to die, He saw His death as the catalyst required to finally bring your three factions to the peace table. I asked Him how He could be so sure that this would happen and that the three factions won't just continue killing each other. He replied that He knew they would stop fighting for two reasons. The first one was that he had seen it happen before when the three powers stopped fighting, if only temporarily, in order to deal with the destruction caused by the Heavenly Dragons in their brutal battle which crossed over onto your own battlefields causing indiscriminate destruction everywhere they went…,] Azmuth went on to explain.

[The other reason was that, unlike the other powerful religions, pantheons and mythologies in the world, He was the only divine being for Christianity. If He were to perish then it would force you to come together, if not in friendship then the simple desire to survive against any external mythology which threatened your existence, particularly with your depleted numbers after the war. He understood that this wasn't the best idea but the task He had to do was too important for Him not to do.]

Azmuth took a deep breath before he concluded his tale. [I know without any uncertainty in my mind that He would have given anything to see His children around this table and talking about peace. You may have your own grievances against Him and I don't blame you, and neither would He, but in the end He still cared enough about you all to sacrifice Himself to stop you from fighting amongst each other.]

The room fell silent as Azmuth finished speaking as everyone struggled to take in the full magnitude of what exactly they had just heard. Ben was just as bad as the other leaders sitting around the table in that he couldn't fully believe what Azmuth had just told everyone.

The silence was eventually ended by Azazel who released his pent-up breath and leant back in his chair as he digested what he'd heard.

"I guess that answered my question," he said, unable to think of anything else to say. As one of the few angels and devils who existed before the Great War erupted, he had had his entire view of God and His intentions turned on their head.

"Well I…I suppose we should thank you, Azmuth, for telling us all this. It's made the success of this summit even more important," Michael said as he, like Azazel, also leant back in his chair and thought about the information he had been blasted with. Behind him, Ben could see that Gwen was staring at the wooden table in front of her with her eyes wider than he had ever see in his life. He glanced over at Rias and the others to see Xenovia and Asia in similar states of shock.

His attention was diverted back to Sirzechs when he spoke to him.

"Thank you for that, Ben. You may return to your seat," he said kindly and Ben complied with a respectful bow of his head as he stood up from his seat and returned to his seat in between Rias and Asia. As soon as he sat down, his hands were immediately taken by Rias and Asia again who squeezed them tightly. Asia took it further and clung to his shirt with her free hand and pulled herself closer to him for comfort after hearing Azmuth's revelation.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that war is the last thing any of us want for our people, am I correct?" Michael asked the three representatives before him.

"Yes," Serafall replied after a short pause with a nod.

"You're right. It pains me to say it but should the Great War between us start up again then the devils will be destroyed," Sirzechs admitted. "Hearing Azmuth's speech has only made my desire for peace stronger than ever."

"I believe so, too," Michael agreed before he and the two Devil Kings turned to look at Azazel who had his arms crossed and rested on the table.

"Aw hell. Looks like I gotta agree with the rest of you or I'll look like the asshole," he said nonchalantly.

"Would it kill you to be serious for once?" Sirzechs asked his Fallen Angel counterpart.

"Fine," Azazel retorted in a bored tone before starting again. His expression and tone completely different to how he had been in the meeting so far. "We can't have wars between us anymore. As Azmuth made it clear to us, we are the only mythology without a living god leading it and can't afford to be at each other's throats when an even greater threat could jeopardise all three of us. As much as we might hate the thought, the world has continued to turn even without God watching over us. It's a hard truth to accept, but it's still the truth."

Ben felt Asia tense at Azazel's untampered words and couldn't help but agree with him, even if it felt wrong to do so.

After this, the conversation moved on to talk about other matters though it was clear that the previous tension in the room had vanished after it had been made clear to everyone that nobody wanted to restart the war which took so much from all of them.

"Before we take the next step and make all this official, there's a little…complication that must be taken care of first," Azazel stated, silencing Michael, Sirzechs and Serafall who all gazed at him. "Once again it isn't only our three powers that need to be considered. We need to consider the two people in this room who have the power to influence the world as they once did so long ago. I am, of course, talking about the Red Dragon Emperor and the White Dragon Empress."

He looked towards Ben. "I understand that you are the Dragon All-Father but you still possess Ddraig's Gear so I would appreciate your thoughts."

"I don't care what happens as long as I can fight a worthy opponent," Valerie announced in a bored tone from her place in the back of the meeting room.

"How did I know you were going to say that," Azazel chuckled as he looked back at Ben. "And yours? What do you want to do, Ben?"

Ben didn't say anything at first as he knew that everyone was looking at him and waiting for his answer. He squeezed both Rias and Asia's hands before he spoke. "I'm still very new to all of this and don't really understand everything that's being discussed but I realise the significance of possessing both Azmuth and Ddraig's Sacred Gears and that I have some influence in the supernatural world now. I'm fascinated by everything in the supernatural world and don't want it destroyed by war."

"Then answer this for us then: What do you plan with your power?" Azazel asked lazily, masking his genuine curiosity at Ben's answer.

Ben looked down at the floor for a moment as he thought about his answer, looking back up when he had a response.

"If it's for the sake of my friends and family then I'll use my power to protect them."

Rias squeezed his hand even tighter and gave him a bright smile when he looked at her.

With their answers given it was time to move on, the summit agreed to a brief break before moving on to the peace treaty and what it would entail. Ben suspected that it was also to help the four leaders to come to terms with Azmuth's words as some of them were still clearly having some difficult.

As Grayfia handed out cups of tea to everyone from the tea cart which she been standing beside since the meeting began, Ben looked at the clock on the wall and was surprised to see that it was almost 10 o'clock. It had been almost two hours since the conference which would decide the fate of the Three Factions and the Human world had started. It would explain why he was feeling so sore from sitting down for so long, even with the brief moment he stood up to sit at the round table while Azmuth revealed his tale. He looked over at the others with him to see that they were all feeling sore from sitting for so long too.

"What was the question you wished to ask me, Dragon All-Father?" Michael asked, surprising Ben at being directly addressed by the Archangel.

He was so surprised that he momentarily forgot what his question had been but it soon came back to him. "Yes, there was. I'm grateful that you remembered," he replied politely to which Michael smiled in response.

"I made a promise to hear you out," he reminded Ben warmly.

"Very well," Ben said as he took a deep breath. "I want to know why you exiled Asia from the Church," he asked as everyone around him stared at him in astonishment but he wasn't backing down. He had asked his question and wanted an answer.

"I have my suspicions why you did it but I'd like to know why. I've never met anyone who loves God more than her," he continued, his eyes never leaving Michael's.

"I can only offer my deepest apologies for that," Michael admitted with a regretful sigh. "After God's death…only The System remained, and the only way we could keep it functioning was by using our power to administer divine protection, mercy, and miracles. Even with me as its head, we are just barely holding on."

"So, there was a system failure when God died?" Ben asked and Michael nodded.

"Indeed. It takes an enormous toll on anyone who uses The System, except God of course, and even though we Seraphs have been able to keep it running it pales in comparison to how it used to be when God commanded it. We rely on the faith of believers to keep it going and they're already declining steadily so we couldn't risk any other additional negative effects to it."

Ben nodded his head slowly in understanding. "I can understand that. Human worshippers wouldn't have accepted someone who could heal both Devils and Fallen Angels as well as humans."

"Yes. It only makes me regret my decision all the more after hearing Azmuth's story. We failed to see her as the gift she truly was and cast her out in our ignorance," Michael admitted sadly.

"That's why I was exiled too," Xenovia deduced, cutting in to the conversation. "Because I knew that God was dead."

"Indeed. It was unfair on you, but something we believed was necessary. If it was ever made public that God was dead, then the whole system could fall apart. I can only apologise for what we did to you two. You are hardly heretics and we should have taken the time to discover another way," Michael apologised as he bowed his head at them as the two in question stared at him in wonder. Even Gwen was taken aback by his words and her stoic façade broke as she glanced at Xenovia with new-found sympathy.

"There's no need to apologise, Lord Michael," Xenovia said. "I must admit that, since I grew up in the church I do have some regrets but I can say for sure that I'm more than happy with my new life as a Devil."

"It relieves some of my guilt to hear you say that," Michael admitted without hesitation before looking at Asia. "And how do you feel, Asia?" he asked the ex-nun who held her hands together as if in prayer.

"I'm happy with my new life as a Devil. Ever since I became one, I've met so many wonderful people and have been able to speak with Lord Michael himself, it's an honour!" she admitted with a faint blush on her cheeks.

Michael chuckled and gave Asia a warm smile. "Both of you have such forgiving spirits, and I am grateful for that."

"Oh yeah, I thought I'd heard about you before," Azazel stated as he stared at Asia who trembled under his gaze until Ben placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "Weren't you killed by one of my former subordinates who went rogue?"

"Yes, she was," Ben said clearly as he took his hand off of Asia's shoulder and placed it on his stomach. "The bitch even tried to core me like an apple. There seems to be a running theme of Fallen Angels rebels causing trouble, doesn't there?"

"Naturally, I take full responsibility for failing to keep my underlings in line," the Governor-General "I shall endear to redeem the reputation of the Fallen Angels by doing something to help you understand your power and teach you to be the master of it and not the other way around."

As soon as he finished saying this, the entire room felt a strange aura wash over them as the whole world seemed to glow purple.

Ben instantly recognised it as Gasper's time stopping power.

. . . . .

"What the hell?" Ben asked as he looked around the staff room to notice that the room still appeared to be dark purple in colour.

He looked behind him to see that Asia, Akeno, and both Sona and Tsubaki had become froze in place.

"It looks like you saved me again," Rias' voice spoke up from his left. He glanced at her before looking down to see that his left, which had summoned his Gear subconsciously was still wrapped around hers. His Boosted Gear had also been summoned as soon as the wave hit them. He let go of Rias' hand and looked around the room in confusion.

"This is definitely Gasper's Forbidden Balor View but it's different from before," he muttered to himself.

"It appears so," Azazel stated, hearing Ben's assessment and agreeing with it. "Fortunately, those of us with superior power or holy swords weren't affected by it."

"Why would this happen now? There's no way that Gasper would do this willingly; I don't even think he can do this on his own yet," Ben said with confusion, unable to work out what was going on.

"It appears to be—."

An explosion outside the room beat Azazel to the punch.

"—a terrorist attack."

Everyone rose from their seats and rushed to the window to see what was going on. When he reached the window, Ben looked out to see a swath of robed people hovering above the school and firing bolts of magic at the school, only for the bolts to be halted by the secondary barrier surrounding the conference room.

"Who are they?!" Ben exclaimed as he watched the robed men and women continue to attack the conference room.

"Magicians," Azazel explained from beside Ben as he also looked out of the window. "They use a type of magic loosely based on the magic created by the legendary magician, Merlin. It's a bastardised version of his magic but still potent when taught correctly. They're what you would consider to be mid-class devils in terms of power.

There was another series of small explosions against the conference barrier but these were different from the blasts from the magicians' assault. Once he could see through the dust cloud, Ben made out another group of people which were emerging out of portals all over the sports field. These were a very different group of people than the first. Instead of wearing black robes, this new group appeared to be wearing full suits of European medieval armour. Most of them appeared to be wielding swords which fired magical projectiles at the barrier. These armoured terrorists were also equipped with large, angular shields which were red in colour, the same red as the capes that nearly all of them wore. The last of these armoured 'knights' to emerge from the portal appeared to have swords too but they were kept in their sheaths as these 'knights' seemed to favour magical crossbows which, when they fired them, let loose larger magical projectiles than the ones released by the ones using their swords and caused much larger explosions than their comrades.

"Ah shit," Azazel grumbled with slight annoyance. "The last thing we need is these guys crashing the party too."

"Why? Who are they?" Ben asked as another flash forced him to place his hand in front of him to cover his eyes from the bright light.

"They would be the 'oh so refined Order of the Forever Knights'," Azazel explained with a fearless smile on his face. "Originally created by the knights who followed George and aided him in battle and declared they would follow his teachings forever. That was until George died and his sword, Ascalon, was returned to the Church – as per the arrangement George had with them – where it was then given to the Angels to keep safe. His followers didn't take kindly to this and declared that supernatural beings weren't to be trusted and should be eradicated, vowing to scour the natural world clean it of any and all supernatural creature."

"Their Order carried out their 'duty' for many years before they fractured over lack of leadership. It was believed that it was only the knight who wielded George's sword could lead the Order and without it, nobody could keep them united. The Order fractured into three different factions, each with a different 'duty' they needed to carry out. Only one faction retained the original goal of the new Order after George's death."

"What did the other factions want?" Ben asked as he watched the knights assault the barrier.

"Well there's the faction that became fixated on dragons, declaring that all of Azmuth's draconic creations were abominations and need to be eliminated and then there's the boring faction that just wants to take over the entire world. I believe that might the faction that's attacking us right now…ah yes, there it is. I recognise the crest of King Driscoll's faction."

"How strong are they?" Ben asked, concerned at the firepower they seemed to possess.

"Hmm, about the same as those magicians. They also use a bastardised version of Merlin's magic, though they use combat magic instead of the arcane arts which magicians use. They are more deadly than magicians in that they are skilled combatants and don't wholly rely on ranged magic as magicians do," Azazel explained.

"What is this power?" Michael asked as he watched the magicians and Forever Knights annihilate the soldiers of the Three Factions who had gone to the meeting as security for the summit though had fallen victim to Gasper's power and were unable to do anything except disintegrate into dust as they were blasted by magic projectiles and cut down by magical blades.

"It's the young dhampir," Azazel informed the Archangel as he watched his subordinates die in droves as the enemy pressed the advantage of their surprise attack. "He must have been coerced into achieving 'Balance Breaking' conditions. That's the only way to explain what's happened here."

"His Sacred Gear allows him to stop time," Sirzechs said in agreement with Azazel. "It appears as though Gasper has fallen into enemy hands."

"Dammit!" Ben growled in anger. "I guess this means they've also taken Koneko captive too!"

"Terrorists dare to take members of my household hostage?! They'll pay for this with their lives," Rias declared with unbridled fury that her dear servants had been taken against their will and forced to hurt others. A dark crimson aura gushed out and surrounded her body as she said which only highlighted how angry she was.

"They're using teleportation magic," Michael noted as another wave of magicians and knights appeared and joined in the assault with their comrades. "That can only mean there's someone who's connected to the gates from within this barrier."

"Are you saying that we have a traitor amongst us?" Ben asked, that being the only answer to what was happening.

"It appears so," Sirzechs said. "They couldn't've timed this attack any more perfectly; they can send in as many troops as they want while ours are completely sealed off from us."

"That and the way they used that half vampire kid really backed us into a corner," Azazel added. "Our first priority right now should be stopping Gasper's power before it grows any further. If they continue to increase the dhampir kid's Balor View, then it may be able to stop us as well which is a big concern if I don't need to make that clear to everyone already. With the considerable military power they've assembled, it's clear that they intend to annihilate everything within the barrier the instant that we also fall victim to that kid's power."

"But then there's also the barrier surrounding this school. It's the only thing keeping us all trapped in here without any backup, but it also keeps our conflict from leaking out into the public and I don't need to tell you what sort of unwanted attention that'll bring."

"We must tread carefully," Sirzechs said with caution. "If we should go outside and counterattack then it could be playing right into the wishes of whoever is masterminding this whole thing. I'm eager to meet them so perhaps it would be best to keep the enemy out of here and hold them back until their boss becomes bored and makes themselves known to us."

"With all this being said, we leaders can't move while we make our preparations. Someone's going to have to free Gasper from the old school building which has become the terrorists' base," the Devil King added as he turned back to face the room.

Ben couldn't help but agree with Sirzechs' assessment. If they couldn't free Gasper in time, even the leaders of the three factions would be destroyed and then all would be lost.

"Sirzechs, I'll go! Gasper is my precious servant and it's my responsibility to bring him back," Rias declared firmly and with fiery determination.

"And how do you plan on getting to the old school building?" Sirzechs asked, casting another glance to the window where the laser show was taking place. "Not only have you got to get through all of those magicians and knights out there but who knows how many there are in the building itself. Normal teleportation has also been blocked by magic."

"I have an unused rook in storage where my club usually holds meetings," Rias explained, her fiery determination only growing in strength.

"A rook you say? Hmm, "Castling" could work. Seeing as they've blocked all of our teleportation, they wouldn't expect you to just appear in the building and take them off-guard. It's a good plan but I don't want to send you in there on your own.

"Gasper is my precious servant! I won't just sit back and let these scumbags do what they want with him," Rias retorted fiercely and leading Sirzechs to chuckle at his younger sister. He wasn't surprised in the slightest that that was her response.

"May I suggest something, Sirzechs?" Grayfia asked from behind the crimson-haired Devil King. "If you use your power to carry out this manoeuvre then it'll be possible to send another person along with Lady Gremory."

"So Rias and someone else…," Sirzechs began to say but was cut off.

"I'll do it," Ben said firmly as he strode forward and stood beside Rias. "I'll her and everyone else safe from harm."

"How did I know you were going to say that?" Sirzechs asked sarcastically with a small smile on his face before turning serious again. "Very well, you may go with her."

"Wouldn't it simply be easier to just kill the vampire kid and be done with it?" a voice said from the back of the room. Everyone turned to see that it was Valerie who had said this.

"If we wanted your opinion then we would have asked for it," Ben retorted coldly to which she just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly in response.

"I'm just saying. I could even do it for you if you wanted."

"Now, now, Valerie. We're here to make peace, okay? Try to at least act considerate," Azazel chided off handedly.

"I'll try," she replied with a shrug. "I just don't like standing here, doing nothing."

"Well then why don't you go and greet our new guests," Azazel retorted. "Seeing the White Dragon Empress should disrupt their ranks a bit."

"I thought you'd never ask," she called back as she leapt out of the open window, summoned a pair of wings composed of blue light and shot up into the air, disrupting the magician battle formation and he hovered behind them.

"It's time to have a little fun! Balance Break!"

[Vanishing Dragon: Balance Breaker!]

Valerie momentarily disappeared in a flash of white light which quickly unveiled Vali's altered form, revealing her in the same armour she wore when she captured Kokabiel. Her entire body seemed to emit a white radiance.

"So that's what Albion's Balance Breaker looks like," Ben mused as he stared up at her.

'So she can activate her Balance Breaker just like that? The last time I tried that with Azmuth it cost me my left arm and I don't think I'm strong enough to try it again any time soon,' he thought as he looked at his left arm.

As the magicians recovered from her initial arrival, they turned their attention from the conference room to Valerie and opened fire on her. Ben expected her to do something to stop the storm of magic projectiles streaking towards him but she didn't. instead, she just hovered in the air and let the bolts batter against her armour which seemed to receive no damage whatsoever from the deadly barrage.

Once it was over, Valerie just laughed at their pitiful attempt to harm her and released a massive wave of electricity all around him, wiping a large portion of the magicians from existence. However, even as she did this, even more magicians began to appear and replace their fallen comrades.

"Wow, she's strong…like crazy strong," Ben observed from the window as Xenovia and Kiba joined him.

"Yes," Xenovia agreed. "But it somehow feels wrong…dangerous even," she added with concern.

Ben turned his back to the window and approached Rias. "Don't worry, Rias. We'll save Gasper and Koneko from these assholes, you have my word!" he said with confidence.

"I know," Rias replied with a smile.

"One thing before you go," Azazel said as he approached the two of them with two silver bracelets in the palm of his hand. "Take these with you."

"Uh okay," Ben said as he accepted them from the Governor-General. "What are they exactly?"

"These bracelets will control a Sacred Gear to a certain degree. One of my own inventions. When you reach and rescue the half-vampire, put one of them on him and it'll help him control his power and hopefully cancel out what he did with his Balance Breaker."

"Okay, got it. But what about the other one?"

"That one's for you. You've yet to master either the power of the Welsh Dragon or the Dragon All-Father, right? If you wear the other bracelet, it'll be possible to go into your Balance Breaker state without paying any price. The bracelet will be used instead but it wont last forever.

"I understand," Ben nodded and placed one on his right arm.

"That's not all though. A side effect of using this bracelet is that it'll temporarily undo the seal placed on you which restricts the full extent of your Pawn power."

Ben didn't know how Azazel knew about that but, right now, he didn't care as there were more important things to consider right now.

"Because of that, you should only use it as a last resort. You must be careful if you use it to enter your Balance Break mode with Azmuth. True, it may let you use your stronger demonic forms but your mind will still feel the full strain of the transformation as the bracelet only controls your physical capabilities."

Ben was amazed that Azazel even seemed to know how Azmuth's Gear worked as only a very small number of people knew about it and, until that moment, he had believed that it was only Rias and her peerage who knew about it.

"This is only my personal opinion, but in terms of the distribution of piece distribution, Ddraig and Azmuth combined are 8 and you're 1. It might be more accurate to say that it's 8.6 and you are 0.4. using your promotion power helps build the foundation to unleashing their true power," he continued to explain.

"You don't need to tell me that I'm still weak, I'm fully aware of that," Ben admitted without any shame. "That doesn't mean that I'm not going to do anything."

"I'm just letting you know," Azazel said in a placating manner. "I'm not trying to belittle you when I say this. Unlike most of us here, you are one of the only ones who was originally born a human. Even if you possess two of the most powerful Gears to ever exist in this world, it's all meaningless if you, the host, are weak. You will always be the weakest point of your Gears, but if you continue to learn…."

[You seem to have extensive knowledge of Sacred Gears, Azazel,] Azmuth observed, cutting in. [I'd say I was impressed if my suspicion didn't overwhelm it.]

Azazel just smiled fearlessly. "It's fine, isn't it? The one who made the Sacred Gears in the first place is no longer here, so isn't it better to have someone around who knows what they're talking about? I'm fascinated by the Sacred Gears but there's still so much I don't know."

With nobody offering a retort or a response to Azazel's statement, Ben took Rias' hand and gave a short nod to Sirzechs. "We're ready," he declared firmly.

"Very well," Sirzechs said as a small, crimson magic circle formed beneath them. "I'm leaving Rias in your care, got it?"

"Yes sir," Ben replied as the two of them disappeared in a flash of light which, when it disappeared, revealed a single white rook in their place.

The manoeuvre was successful.

Sirzechs picked up the white rook and held it in his hand. "Now all we need to do is hold out until they rescue Gasper. Once they've done so we can begin our counter offensive."

As he said this an orange magic circle formed in the middle of the room.

"We appear to have a visitor," Grayfia observed in her formal manner.

"Well that was quicker than I expected," Azazel chuckled as he prepared himself. "I guess they're just eager to show off reveal their entire plan to us."

"I know this magic," Sirzechs said, turning around just as a figure materialised in the magic circle. "It's the magic circle of the Leviathan family."

The figure laughed as she fully materialised to reveal herself as a tall bespectacled woman with a voluptuous figure and blue-grey eyes. Her long brown hair which complimented her tanned skin had been tied into a bun with a headset. Her attire composed of an extremely low-cut dress with a high slit which exposed a large portion of her breasts.

"Very good, Sirzechs…but then again, nothing goes by you, does it?" the mysterious member of the Leviathan family jeered. "And who else would I find here except little miss Serafall herself."

"What are you doing here?" Serafall demanded as she placed herself in front of her frozen little sister."

"I'd like to know that too," Sirzechs said in a stern voice. "What is Cattleya Leviathan doing here?"

"Who, me?" Cattleya asked mockingly as she raised the staff she held in her hands above her head as it began to pulsate with tremendous power. "I'm just here to spread destruction and chaos!"

With that, the entire new school building blew up in a massive, fiery explosion which consumed everything around it.

Cattleya hovered in the air above the fiery remains of the destroyed school building and felt a wave of euphoria ran through at the destruction before her and it left her only wanting more. The magicians who weren't fighting Valerie and the Forever Knights ceased their barrage and stood, staring at the aftermath of Cattleya's explosion and waited to see the results.

As the smoke finally settled, Cattleya couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of what she saw before her eyes.

The three leaders: Azazel, Michael, and Sirzechs had erected a powerful shield around their entire group while Serafall and Grayfia had ensured that everyone was safely under the barrier's protection.

"What's this? Oh that's adorable! The three great powers put up a defensive barrier together. Adorable and pathetic!" she cackled.

"What do you think you are doing, Cattleya?" Sirzechs demanded darkly as he maintained his flow of magic channelling into the barrier.

"What am I doing? Well that's easy, Sirzechs. I'm here to stop this disgusting meeting. The way we see it, if God and the original Devil Kings are all dead then there should be a revolution in this world, a change in management if you will," Cattleya declared.

"You're wrong, Cattleya," Sirzechs retorted as he glared up at the hovering devil. "Another war is the last thing that Devils need."

"I appreciate your thoughts, Sirzechs, but there's a few of us who disagree with you," Cattleya said sarcastically before chuckling darkly.

"What are you thinking?!" Serafall demanded after making sure her little sister was okay.

Upon hearing her voice, Cattleya's demeanour changed to one of scorn and loathing. "Serafall! You stole my Leviathan title and now dare to question me and my motives?! Just how disrespectful can you be?!"

Cattleya continued to hover while the three leaders maintaining the barrier lowered it to the ground and removed it.

"But there's no need to worry. Pretty soon I'll kill you and reclaim the title which rightfully belongs to me!" Cattleya announced loudly, tightening her grip on her staff as she did so.

"I suppose it's too much to hope that all this is just a Devil coup d'état," Azazel asked with a smooth grin on his face.

"No, I believe there's more to it than that," Michael deduced. "When you look at the company she keeps, it more likely that she's trying to take over the world," he added, gesturing to the armoured knights which surrounded them.

"Oh you got it right on the nose, Michael," Cattleya retorted with a sneer. "This decaying world is our inheritance from God and the former Devil Kings and we seek to seize control and reform it for ourselves instead—."

She was interrupted when Azazel suddenly burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Really?! Decaying? Reform? How cliché can you possibly be? I mean, come on, it's common knowledge that the first villains to die ALWAYS spout crap like that. It's so unoriginal I can't help but laugh!"

"I'll teach you to mock me!" Cattleya snarled as she was engulfed in a powerful magical aura.

"Oh you will, will you?" Azazel said in a dangerous voice, completely devoid of the humour which was there a second ago as a similar aura suddenly surrounded him. "Sirzechs, Michael, I'll take care of her, okay?"

As he strode towards her, Sirzechs gave the member of the former Leviathan family a last warning.

"You truly have no intention of surrendering, Cattleya?" he asked her sternly.

"Not a chance in hell, Sirzechs! Don't get me wrong, you were a good Devil King but that's not going to help you for much longer as we'll replace you with an even better one."

"Very well," the Devil King sighed before he recreated the defensive barrier around him and the others so as to keep them safe from the impending battle.

Azazel unfurled all twelve of his black-feathered wings and levitated off the ground until he was level with Cattleya. "A descendent of the former Devil King, Leviathan. A desperate monster nearing her end. Not such a bad opponent. Not the best opponent I've ever had…but then again, not the worst either," he mused to himself as he stared at his opponent closely. "I think I'll treat myself to a little Armageddon."

"You don't scare me," Cattleya snarled as the two of them rose into the air and suddenly engaged in a fierce battle which lit up the dark sky with flashes of bright light.

As the two of them began their bitter battle, Sirzechs turned towards Kiba and Xenovia, "Michael and I will continue to hold the barrier around us. Azazel has led Cattleya away from us to reduce the damage from their fight but we'll need you two to keep the magicians and knights off our back while Grayfia and Serafall finish analysing the magic circle they're using."

Without hesitation, Kiba nodded his head in confirmation. "Of course, Sirzechs. Please leave it to us."

"We'll keep them off you," Xenovia stated confidently as she raised Durandal in preparation.

"I'll go with you too," Gwen declared fiercely as she removed her white robes to reveal the same combat fatigue she wore when she was searching for the Excalibur blades with Xenovia.

"Are you sure you can work together?" Sirzechs asked as Gwen joined the two Devil Knights, removing the frilly bracelet from her arm which then transformed into her Excalibur Mimic as she did so.

"Yes sir," Gwen told the Devil King without hesitation. "Xenovia and I became friends when we were part of Lord Michael's guard. All three of us have worked together before."

"Good. We're counting on you three to hold them off until Rias and Ben save Gasper and break the others from his power free," the crimson-haired Devil King said with a nod.

The three of them nodded in return before charging forward and plunging into the school yard and began their attack.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A/N: Oooooooh! What a twist! Thumbs up to anyone who predicted the Forever Knights making their debut in this arc. They were my favourite criminal organisation in the cartoon and I was always planning to introduce them into my DxD universe. Obviously I made them a back story to fit into this universe and I hope that you had no problem with the story behind them here.

Expect a lot more violence in the next chapter as well as more revelations on the status of the universe I thought up. A new form will also make its debut next time. The only hint I'll give is that it's cartoon version was a bit too goofy for my liking (not that it was terrible overall) and will have a DxD makeover.

With that said and done there's one more thing I'd like to say before moving on the reviews:

I am fully aware that my story will not be to everyone's liking and that some people just aren't interested in my writing style. As much as I treasure the opinions of my readers, I also value any constructive criticism people may have about my story and try to take it to heart in future.

That being said, however, I don't appreciate it when people simply criticise my work without giving anything constructive to say. Believe it or not, I'm not Shakespeare or Wordsworth; I am nowhere near being able to write such incredible works of fiction, I simply do this for fun and wish to share it with the wider community for the sake of entertainment.

If you have no desire to offer me constructive criticism and simply want to belittle my story then I have no wish to hear your pointless comments.

Now that my rant is over:

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Reviews

Treyalexander63917: You are right, he does need to control his urges. It's just that it's yet something else he has to overcome and learn to live with thanks to the changes he is experiencing thanks to the dragons living within his Gears. You can bet that people will be shocked beyond belief when Way Big makes his appearance but don't expect it to happen too soon. I want his appearance to be unique and not stolen by anything else so please bear with me!

Akuma-Heika: I don't want to reveal anything which could spoil future arcs but I feel it's safe to say that the ultimate bad guy in this story is not sealed in a Sacred Gear. I mentioned at the end of the Riser fight (first season conclusion) and the beginning of the Holy sword arc that Trihexa has been replaced for my story with something else which I believe will suffice for Trihexa's replacement. It was only because of Azmuth and God working together that they were able to seal Azmuth in his Gear.

Spider-Man999: I already revealed that I have an original arc in mind which will introduce the Ben in my story with the other Ben's of the multiverse. I haven't begun to work on the story fully as it will occur sometime after the end of the Juggernaut arc which is some time away so please don't be too miffed if I don't mention it again for a while. I do have a basic outline in my mind though.

Nivek Beldo: Thank you, yet again, for your review. I always appreciate them and see them as how much you like my story for taking the time to write such extensive reviews.

The trouble with crossovers is that I don't want to stray too far from the material which drew me to using it in the first place. I know that people read my story with originality in mind and I try to deliver that but I still try to run parallel with canon moments with a bit of personalised flare attached to it.

To be honest with you, I've never ever heard of fire emblem. It is only by pure coincidence that it appears similar to that, I promise you.

I hope your question about the Forever Knights has been answered in this chapter. They were always going to make an appearance but I promise you that they won't be the last to make an epic appearance in this arc.

I have to agree with you. My favourite scenes with Rias are when she's in 'super jealous' mode, I find her adorable in those moments.

E-BLOK5290: All I am willing to say about Paradox is that he will make an appearance in the future but that he doesn't exist in my DxD universe. Ooh, super cryptic!

Ultimatrix bearer: I'm glad you enjoyed my last chapter.

In regards to your Gax suggestion. Omniverse killed off all respect I had for this modern Ben 10 so I never touched the remake (Why the f**k did they feel the need to remake such a perfect cartoon I'll never know). After reading your review, however, I looked Gax up on the internet and was intrigued by the concept and wondered why it hadn't been done until now. I will change it to suit my story of course but I don't see why it couldn't happen at some point. The only thing you need to wonder is where Ben would ever get the sample DNA from because my lips are sealed.

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I hope to see many more reviews and hear from everyone.

Until next time, ciao for now.