A/N: Revised. I may have fucked it up with these revisions though.
Day 2
Lilith was a ridiculously massive city—it would do it more justice to call it a metropolis or a megacity rather than just a city. Its infrastructure stretched out as far as the eye could see, futuristic skyscrapers rising high above the lands. Even the less urban areas of the city had large homes with interesting architecture, each one able to support a dozen people quite comfortably.
At the very center of the city, a monumental construct sat tall and proud upon an elevated, circular foundation—a towering Citadel of unrivaled stature that acted as the establishment of governing for the Four Great Satans. Surrounding the citadel were the smaller but still quite large governing buildings of the remaining Seventy-Two Pillars, each clan building represented by their symbols, colors, and favored architecture.
In a concentric hexagon around the government buildings, the private armies of each respective clan had constructed their own gallant fortresses to show their military might. Beyond a large wall that surrounded those facilities were the business buildings constructed by the rich clan heads and aspiring heirs, immediately followed by their markets of luxury. Farther out were the homes and markets of the middle and low-class—in Lilith, there were no slums, for those that couldn't afford the journey had no place in the city.
The outer edges of the city were surrounded by an impressive hexagonal wall twenty meters thick and seventy meters tall, one that had an extensive number of sigils, runes, and protective inscriptions deep within, all across its length, built to last against siege. On any normal day, atop the wall would stand two-hundred guards per kilometer, towers situated every one-hundred meters, each one housing magical autonomous defense systems with power varying from low-end High-Class devils to even Ultimate-Class. These machines stood cold and motionless, ever-silent as they awaited action.
Presently, however, the wall had double the number of guards, quadruple the number of autonomous sentinels, and more than enough captains, knights, heroes, and high-rank devils to level multiple countries. On top of that, a number of High-Class and Ultimate-Class devils lie in wait in their respective government buildings to be sent off into battle should the need arise—some patrolled the walls already. And even on top of that, the wall had a buffer half a kilometer away, a massive magical dome-shaped barrier that enclosed the entirety of the walled city, able to withstand punishment from even a god. The barrier was a vibrant and translucent red that reached all the way to the clouds, even trapping a few of them within. Beyond that, another barrier stood a kilometer away, this one encompassing the red, a blue sheen to its form. Finally, a third barrier sat three-and-a-half kilometers away, this one a magnificent green.
All three barriers were one-way and could withstand siege, and each one had its own independent alarm system. The total buffer from the wall to the outer barrier was five kilometers—not that big of a distance considering that so many supernatural beings had abilities amounting to super speed.
Even so, the whole display was not only a testament to the strength of the devils, but also to the political state of things. Although Lilith was the capital, it was so far behind any conceivable friendly lines that defenses to such a degree were exaggerated and wholly unnecessary. To have such a display of force meant that the devils weren't kidding around.
This, Tiamat understood immediately when her eyes landed upon the capitol of Lilith and its defenses. And yet, as she and the Doom Slayer reached the crest of a hill on which a road to Lilith had been constructed, Tiamat felt not the least bit deterred—her lazily swishing tail made that evident.
Her desire to learn, to understand her master and his past burned hot, pushing away what reservations she might have had. To be in his presence, to start this little adventure of theirs—it was exciting, and she could not wait to see where the Slayer would take them, what possible conspiracies they'd find themselves wrapped up in, how their relationship might develop as they journeyed.
She stole a glance at the Slayer before returning her gaze to the fortified city with a sigh.
"Ah, Lilith—the Underworld's largest business center and political sphere. Not only do all four Satans work here, but every one of the devil clans has a facility of governing built here. It doesn't offer as much as some of the tourist hotspots out there, but its size makes up for it." She paused as her tone took on a more serious note. "...I must say though, I've never seen Lilith on such high alert since the Great War. You really have stirred the dragon's nest, Master."
Just looking at the city, Tiamat could tell that venturing beyond the barriers would be determined as an act of war. If they wanted to get in, they would need to tread lightly, but given the Slayer's more-than-forward nature...
"Well, this is a bit of a problem," she quipped. The Slayer looked at her.
She gave him a shrug. "Lilith has put up wards to prevent unauthorized personnel—you—from entering without alarm. As is, we're going to have a scuffle if we approach." Tiamat sighed, her eyes cast down at the earth. "I'll try to contact Ajuka to see if we can get in without getting shot at. If we can't though, I'd like to know...will you...kill anyone?"
The Slayer turned, staring into her eyes. She seemed totally the slightest bit worried, but not for his or her safety. After a moment of consideration, he shook his head, then started back on the path to Lilith.
Tiamat smiled at his answer. "I see." She came and met his stride, walking side-by-side with him.
In any other situation, the Slayer wouldn't hesitate to rip and tear if some asshat attacked him first, but this was a special case. He understood that the devils were currently paranoid and were blocking access to their gates—he was a foreigner coming onto foreign land; doing so in such a high-alert situation would provoke them. He understood that some of the guards that stood on the wall were just doing their jobs, protecting innocents living within the city. A single call could resolve this whole situation, and thus, was willing to hold back until the need for his action arises. He also understood that crippling the militaries of Lilith, especially in a world as tainted as this, would leave the city vulnerable to a large scale attack.
His actions would have consequences, both social and political. But did he care about the social and political side of things? As long as no innocents were permanently harmed in the process, he didn't care what happened. However, since healing magic was something that this city was famous for, he had no problem brutalizing a few guards.
When they approached the first barrier, the duo slowed to a stop. The Doom Slayer stared up, noting how the curvature of the field only started several kilometers up, giving the barrier adding credibility to its size. Despite this, Tiamat only required half-a-minute to examine it before she understood it.
The outer barrier had been constructed by Ajuka Beelzebub, one of the only Super Devils to have ever graced the Underworld. Ajuka, scientist that he is, is the most efficient when it came to refining magics and technology. This barrier, while only an alarm barrier, was beyond Tiamat's capabilities of disabling, but within her ability to destroy—only if she kept up sustained firepower for a prolonged period of time. However, she did notice that it allowed her entry since Ajuka was, for all intents and purposes, an ally of hers. In a moment she had found a loophole that would allow her master through.
"Master, your hand, please." She offered her own to him, her tail idly flicking back and forth.
The Slayer put his gauntlet in her smaller hand without question, and through the familiar contract, she flooded his aura with hers. After that, she crafted a film of her aura and layered it over the Praetor Suit, taking care to encase the dryad seed as well.
Tiamat noted with slight disappointment how cold and machine-like his gauntlet felt in her hand—she could've sworn it was much more warm and inviting on her head the other day. His energy, however, was comforting to her, yet alien and mysterious. She wondered for a moment what the skin beneath that armor would actually feel like—was it rough and scarred? Or smooth and clean?
She didn't think too hard about it, gently pulling the Slayer through the barrier.
No alarm was triggered. No resistance stopped them.
They repeated the process with the second barrier, which was a little easier considering that it had been constructed by Serafall Leviathan—easier in that Serafall, for whatever reason, considered Tiamat to be one of her besties. Eventually, they stopped at the final red barrier.
When Tiamat finished examining it, she realized that this one, unfortunately, was impassible. It had been created in a joint effort by all four Great Satans and a number of Ultimate-Class Devils to be impenetrable. Not even Tiamat had the power to break this one, and although she had the credentials to pass through, the barrier itself was much too complex for her to apply the loophole.
Knowing this, the dragon made an annoyed, yet resigned expression. "It seems that our luck has run out. I guess I'll have to call Ajuka again. Hopefully he isn't busy..."
It was probably better that the Slayer didn't pass through just yet anyways. The barrier seemed to mitigate energy signatures on both sides, and given that the Slayer's aura was minuscule, coupled with Tiamat's stealth abilities, his energy was likely invisible on the other side. If he were to cross, Tiamat had no doubt that the devils would bombard him with magic.
"Ajuka? Yes, this is Tiamat... Yes, I am fine—did Tannin not inform you? What do you mean you 'find his arrival hard to believe'? No, he is standing here with me, just outside of the city barrier..."
While Tiamat busied herself with conversation, the Slayer turned away to observe the metropolis in the distance. It was quite impressive—larger than many of the cities he'd seen. It made him wonder about the civility of the devils.
From Tiamat's memories, he gathered the devils were arrogant, desire driven beings with a penchant for sin and mischief, but not innate malevolence. He didn't exactly have a clear picture of them since Tiamat's memories were just raw information, and any image he did have was warped solely by his experience with the demons.
Just hearing that word pissed him off, and since devil and demon were, in all practical terms, synonymous, it was hard to imagine them being anything other than monstrous beasts of chaos and destruction, even if he knew for a fact that they are at least communicable anthropomorphic beings—Tannin had been proof of that. As such, this was a perfect opportunity to see them firsthand—from behind the barrier. He made to do exactly that.
The Hellwalker shifted his gaze over to the wall, and with his superior eyesight coupled with the Heavy Cannon's zoom function, he could easily see hundreds of figures standing along it. However, his eyes were drawn away from them, and up to large artillery cannons that sat atop the guard towers. At first, he wasn't sure why his attention was called to them, so he eyed the cannons first, scoffing with scrutiny as the analytical part of his mind took over, but when he studied the cannons carefully, his back straightened in alarm.
They were a familiar design—not quite exact or particular, but the homage they paid was undeniable. Those were Sentinel cannons.
"..."
The Slayer's brows twitched dangerously as the Praetor Suit did a scan, his mind running a mile a minute. He didn't even yet know what the devils looked like, but he did know that they were in possession of Sentinel designs...fucking hell.
As far as he knew, the Sentinels had never settled on this world, and yet, their technology was being used to such an extent. How could this be? The Slayer scowled, the implications not lost on him.
The issue did not lie in the designs themselves—the Slayer didn't give two shits about the technological advancements of the devils; if they get futuristic technology, good for them. What was the problem were the energy sources of those specific designs.
If this world has been graced by harvestable Sentinel, Argent, or, Daisy forbid, Hell energy, it could spell the destruction of this entire reality, and the realities on the adjacent planes of existence to this one, what with this world's many innately corrupt and evil beings. The Argentians and Night Sentinels had been careful to the last plasmoid, and yet the production of Argent Energy had still managed to corrupt and eventually bring an end to the multiverse-wide empire.
All things considered, this world—nay, this universe and its beings are too young, foolish, and already evil to handle the power of Argent. It was one of the reasons the Slayer needed to get his shit back. The fact that his stuff has been around for two-thousand years and the universe hasn't been destroyed yet is in and of itself a miracle.
The Praetor Suit blipped, the scan showing no traces of Argent or Sentinel energies. The Slayer huffed at that. So at the very least, they weren't yet attempting to reproduce such dangerous energies. That idea calmed him a bit, but it still left him with one big question. Where the fuck did the devils get Sentinel designs from? Damn, he couldn't catch a fucking break, could he?
Before his already paper-thin patience could snap, the Slayer stopped himself, reigning the rage with cold, hard, discipline. He would deal with this once they got into the city.
With that, he got back to observing the devils. He turned his gaze to the figures atop Lilith's walls, a keen awareness in his eyes. He identified them instantly.
Hundreds of devils patrolled atop the walls, each one clad in black-red plate that covered the shins, arms, and most of the pectorals and abdominals. Some walked back and forth in pairs, others stood stationary, looking out at the lands, watching and waiting for a potential attack. Many were armed with what appeared to be halberds and...three-pronged pitchforks?
Upon closer inspection, the pitchforks had some complicated mechanisms. The Praetor Suit blipped as it did a scan, and the Slayer raised a brow as the internal components were displayed on his HUD. Coils, batteries, conductors and accumulators. More Sentinel-esque technologies—the pitchforks were actually energy projecting weapons. Snipers and rifles.
The Slayer looked beyond their equipment and to their faces. Each devil had varying expressions on their faces, though their faces were mostly covered from the nose down by various armor pieces. Their ears were pointed, and their hair was a singular shade of red, gelled up in an obscene flame-like fashion. Many stared in his general direction from afar, though none of them could see him.
Among the hundreds of devils, some wore more distinctive and unusual apparel—though some wore armor more befitting of high-borne aristocratic knights, some females wore dresses and what appeared to be maid outfits. It took a lot to make the Slayer do a double take, and this was one of the rare occasions in which he did. He didn't think much of it after that. Their weapons were varying—some had swords, some had shields, some had whips, some had chains, and some had none at all. Atop the walls, these devils patrolled back and forth. Were these the higher-rank devils? He supposed he'd seen stranger.
The Slayer tilted his head slightly in curiosity. So those were the devils? They're definitely magnitudes more human-esque than he'd imagined. He really shouldn't have been so pessimistic, even if he owned the right to such an attitude. Tannin had shown that they would be, at the very least, a civil people.
This did nothing to stop the Slayer's analytical combat mind, however. He'd lived long enough to have the ability to know people, read them in the blink of an eye, and what he saw on the faces of the devils told him that combat was ninety-nine percent assured and unavoidable. The moment the Slayer crosses that barrier, access granted or not, they will attack, no doubt about it whatsoever. It would be best to devise strategies to fight them based on what he had so far, then adjust accordingly on the fly.
Thus, the Slayer took to systematically day-dreaming about the various ways he would RIP AND TEAR—er, nonlethally subdue his opponents. Eventually, he was interrupted.
"Ahem." The Slayer turned as Tiamat finished her call. As he expected, she gave the Slayer a look of mild concern. "Ajuka has granted us access—he has directly called off the guards at this sector and temporarily disabled the alarm, but from what he's gathered about you, he doubts that his orders will prevent any conflict," she said defeatedly.
"Ajuka would come to fetch us himself and perhaps even send Tannin, but the wards are absolute, and will alert the guards to any foreign presence. On top of that, getting you the credentials to pass in Lilith's current state would cause more political outrage. Luckily, Ajuka managed to section off the majority of the guards so we will only need to fight this section if necessary. From here on out, nothing can be blamed on us, politically at least." She paused. "...Also, Ajuka wanted to let you know that only reason he is allowing this is because I gave him my oath as a Dragon King that we won't kill anybody."
She smiled softly as the Slayer absorbed the information. "Is that...okay?"
The Slayer nodded, then gave the city one last look from behind the barrier.
"Hm, good. I will be right behind you, Master."
He grunted. Knowing his luck, he had a lot of work to do. On that note, as Tiamat covered him in her aura, he took a single step through the barrier.
When the blinding quasar of terrible energy appeared, more than half of the guards were sent into a terrified frenzy. The guardsmen fumbled with their weapons as they rushed to their positions on the walls, captains and knights failing horribly to keep peace and order per Ajuka's orders.
"What the fuck is that!?"
"Battle-stations!"
"Oh, shit me!"
"I-It's the evil god! By Satan, we're doomed!"
"Quiet! Nothing gets past these walls. We won't falter."
"Run! Sound the alarms! Threat is at maximum!"
"Wait! Cease this foolishness you idiots! Ajuka-sama ordered us not attack, no matter who comes through."
"Fuck those orders! We're all gonna get killed by that thing!"
At the same time, atop the guard towers, the large, house-sized artillery cannons swiveled as their systems detected a gargantuan foreign signature, far larger than any should be allowed across the barrier.
Miles away on the Slayer's end, as he took one step into the barrier, the Praetor Suit blared a low, rumbling warning, the HUD flashing, "LOCK-ON DETECTED!"
Almost instantly after, the Praetor Suit started playing a prelude to The Super Gore Nest, the speakers thundering both inside and outside his helmet.
"..."
Fists clenched, the Slayer cracked his knuckles in preparation, his blood already steaming. Just because he knew this shit would happen didn't mean it wouldn't piss him off.
An exasperated Tiamat stood herself next to the Slayer, a look of disdain and disappointment on her face as she watched the devils from afar. Her ears twitched at the metal sound of the Slayer's choice of music, and it didn't take her long to realize what it meant.
"So we're throwing down, are we?" she asked. The Slayer gave her a dry look, even as his fists continued to tighten. "Very well. But first—"
The Dragon King raised her hands, and by her will, the sky moved. From nothingness, a massive multi-city-block wide magic circle appeared hundreds of meters above her. The Slayer stared at it with interest. With a snap of Tiamat's fingers, the circle expanded and stretched to the ground until it became a square encompassing the entirety of their sector, stopping just within the walls of Lilith. After that, the square faded away, replaced by a field of dark blue energy. A cubic barrier.
Tiamat had created a combat arena half a kilometer in depth using a cube-shaped barrier. On a whim. Devils panicked seeing that any possible reinforcements or escape routes were cut off.
"There, how's that?" She asked, her head held high as she crossed her arms. The Slayer let out an appreciative grunt as he admired the handiwork. He could definitely work with this. "Hmph. Child's play. Shall we begin?"
As she said that, the only two cannons trapped within the barrier finished turning, balls of energy gathering at their muzzles, each one tracking either the Slayer or the dragon. The Slayer only responded by stepping forward.
"Very well. Let's take the fight to them."
Within the Praetor Suit, The Super Gore Nest blared.
In a fraction of a second, the two moved, blurring from sight as they dodged the cannons' powerful beams of devil energy, which flew over their heads and glassed the landscape behind them. Before the beams could even actually explode on the ground, the Slayer retaliated instantly, his gauntlets blurring so fast that weapons appeared and disappeared from his hands in less than the blink of an eye. Nobody even saw what happened—one moment, the cannons were firing, the next, one guard tower was collapsing atop the wall, heaps of dust and rubble billowing into the open air and onto the ground.
Tiamat blinked, surprised at the speed of the Slayer's attack, then she followed his example, a magic circle appearing in either hand, one white and one blue. She brought them together, grunting as she shot a spiraling ball of blue and white that crackled as it visibly slammed into the remaining cannon, exploding spectacularly. The guard tower collapsed backwards, crashing into the edge of Tiamat's barrier.
The devils nearby shouted as they were caught in the destruction, and the devils that weren't caught in the debris lined up along the wall in a disorganized panic, but by the time the first devil was ready to attack, the Slayer and the dragon were already halfway across the terrain. One by one, they returned fire, countless streaks of devil magic sailing at the battlefield like a rain of small stars. Most were inaccurate, and when they struck the ground, they threw up great plumes of dirt and ash, making it harder to see what was happening.
In a blur, Tiamat dodged between what attacks managed to get close, then she took to the skies when it became clear that the rain of magic wouldn't stop. Her appearance from the smoke surprised the devils, and before they could snap out of their shock, she flapped her wings and dove for the wall. Like a bullet, she spun as she wrapped her wings around her body, a boom reverberating throughout the battlefield as she broke the sound barrier.
The devils barely had time to react when she unfurled her wings and struck the wall with a mighty war cry. There was a quake as a large chunk of the wall shattered, powerful lightning dancing all across its length, and with that attack, nearly a quarter of the devils were wiped out, knocked unconscious or paralyzed, their armors smoking from the heat.
The devils that barely managed to dodge looked on with wide eyes.
"N-No way! So many in a single hi—GAH!"
They were silenced when Tiamat appeared, picking them off with ease.
The Slayer, still running across the field, spared a glance to the top of the wall, where he could see flashes of lightning, likely Tiamat's strikes. He turned his attention back to his side of the wall.
Now it was his turn.
As countless streaks of magic fell down on him like a shower of bullets, he accelerated, dodging only what he had to with minimal movements. The closer he got to the wall, the more frenzied the magic became, less like a spray of explosive bullets, and more like a hose of lightning-fast bombs, but no matter how panicked the devils became, they still never managed a single hit.
The Slayer side-stepped a stream of fire, vaulted over a mound of earth, ducked beneath a flurry of crystalized magic, then in a burst of speed, he shot at the wall in a powerful leap, his fist drawn back. When his fist struck, it was as if an actual meteor had crashed into the wall.
The wall's magic shielding shattered like glass, then the stone caved inwards in an implosion that boiled the air with heat, the tremors so powerful that they traveled throughout the wall, massive cracks running up and down its surface, even down into the earth, causing the battlefield to undulate, then shatter into an array of land fragments that all had differing elevations. Large chunks of the wall fell to the ruined battlefield below, and any and all attacks atop the wall halted as the devils stumbled—even Tiamat was caught off guard, stupefied by the sudden undoing of the very landscape around her. In the aftermath of the punch, it appeared as if a massive half-sphere had been carved out of the wall. By then, it only held itself together by a thread.
The Slayer wasted no time. He dug his fingers into the cracked surface of the wall and threw himself up at lightning speed, repeatedly smashing his fingers into the rock as he climbed. When he reached the top, he threw himself high into the air.
As he rose above the wall, his eyes darted around, counting each devil, their states of dress and readiness. When he reached the apex of his leap, he pulled his fist back once more, then dove. The devils had only time enough to be terrified by his aura, then he struck the wall even harder, his fist crackling with energy.
It was too much.
The wall shattered apart in a wave, each and every pebble equivalent to a droplet of water derived from a tsunami. The shockwaves passed through the stone like a current through a wire, dispersing in the earth with such strength that the tremors vibrated Tiamat's barrier itself, causing the crushing of nearby buildings, and the fracturing of the landscape and outside wall even further. No devil was spared from the shaking, and every last one was thrown into the air, their bodies collapsing under the quaking of their own bones. Some of the devils along with a massive amount of the debris crashed into the walls and ceiling of the barrier before falling helplessly to the ground. Others crash-landed, digging small trenches or making craters.
The Slayer landed gracefully, ignoring the bodies and rubble that rained down from the sky. He rolled one of his shoulders when a stone bounced off of it. He was certain that he managed not to kill anybody—he'd directed the energy of his punch into the wall rather than let it disperse on the surface, so nobody should have died. If they did, then oh well.
There was a heavy thud as Tiamat landed by the Slayer's side. She didn't look at him, only surveyed the amalgamated landscape.
"That was quite the punch, Master."
He gave her shrug in response. This was nothing.
Among the smoking, charred rock and brick, craters and splinters, devils arose. As they recovered, they looked around at the destruction, their expressions foggy and confused. Eventually, all of their eyes fell upon the Slayer and the dragon, and fear dominated their minds as they bore witness to the weight of the cosmos.
Many fell unconscious out of sheer fear, and the only ones that remained were a select few captains and knights, and a few High-Class devils. But even if they could just barely withstand what little aura the Slayer exuded, the captains, too shocked and awed by the oppression of a Primeval's mere presence, turned pale shades of white like paper, unable to move, and the High-Class devils were put into states of fear-driven denial that one man could be this strong, so they immediately prepared for battle.
Tiamat quieted, clicking her tongue once she noticed the devils finally beginning to move, some dragging or levitating the unconscious from battle, healers struggling to use their magic as anxiety overtook them.
"Their pride has gotten the better of them. Either that, or they're so terrified that they've lost all reason. We should finish this quickly."
"..." The Slayer said nothing. He leaned forward, and once Tiamat understood his intent, she did the same. As one, the duo took off with outrageous speed, charging straight into the fray.
"W-What the hell are they!?"
"T-They're coming this way!"
"We need reinforcements!
"D-Damn this! I will not throw my life away like—"
"Wait, the Red Army is here!"
The air shifted. Something was approaching. Without need for a warning, the Slayer stopped immediately. Tiamat stopped with him, perplexed by his decision.
That changed when three hulking figures landed heavily before them. The Slayer splayed his fingers and crouched, prepared for anything, but when he actually saw what landed in front of him, his eyes widened imperceptibly.
On two of the figures, folds of red plate ran along armor, on the pauldrons and greaves especially. Along the breastplates and the abdominals were horizontal grooves for flexibility. Attached to the right gauntlets were retractable blades, and the left gauntlets were nonexistent—instead there were guns attached to gyroscopic elbows. Above their right pauldrons, extending from where the trapezius would be, there were ordinance launchers. Their helmets were crusader-era in appearance, but behind the grills, there was only darkness.
The third figure was much larger and bulkier, standing seven meters tall with a massive, truck-sized broadsword in two red gauntlets. On either shoulder were large, table-sized beam cannons, and attached to both gauntlets were smaller, narrower auto-cannons of the energy variety. The helmet was blood-red, and had artificial horns poking out on either side.
The Slayer scowled.
More Sentinel technology. Though they were painted a blood-red rather than the traditional green for the heroes and officers of the Night Sentinel warrior caste, there was no doubt about it. These were autonomous Sentinel armors and a miniature Sentinel battle-mech. The devils were more intuitive than he thought.
"The cavalry is here!" devils cheered.
"Two Blood Marines and a Crimson Juggernaut... We're saved!"
"Beat them! Show them not to mess with the devils!"
"Quiet!" A female High-Class devil garbed in aristocratic armor snapped as she stepped forward, raising her hands. Purple magic circles appeared on either side of her, and from them emerged chains of a deep red, each chain tipped with a spear. The chains wriggled and squirmed like they had minds of their own. "Be useful and do something, plebeians—while they are occupied!"
Just as the words left her mouth, the machines moved, one Blood Marine and the Crimson Juggernaut focusing on the Slayer.
The Blood Marine closed the distance with a swing at the Slayer's midsection, but he caught the mechanized arm with ease, the sudden halt of momentum causing a heavy shockwave. Such a blow would have easily carved a High-Class devil in half, but the Slayer didn't feel anything.
With no trouble, he severed its forearm with the Doomblade, and before it could even think about firing its cannon at him, he spun the severed arm in his grasp, then used it to bisect the Blood Marine. The movement was so quick and precise that the surrounding devils didn't even see it happen.
As the Blood Marine fell in-half, the Slayer stepped away just as the Crimson Juggernaut's massive broadsword came down, obliterating what remained of the armor. When the sword hit the ground, the sheer impact of the blade cut a large trench, dividing a hill in the distance, the air pressure easily shredding through dirt and rock, and the winds generated from the blow swirled, pushing knights back, ripping any remaining grass from the dirt.
Devils grinned and cheered as the Crimson Juggernaut showed its true power, but the Slayer didn't flinch. As he jumped to escape the shockwave, he eyed the High-Class devil from earlier, who thrust her hands forward. Deep red chains shot at the Slayer, as did dozens of magic blasts from the rest of the devils.
The Slayer took a single instant to glance over at Tiamat, his mind running faster than the speed of light. Tiamat had just finished caving her respective Blood Marine's helmet in with monstrous strength, her hair flowing powerfully in the wind of her fervor.
In the next moment, as the Slayer reached the apex of his jump, the chains rapidly approaching him, Tiamat took the broken Blood Marine by its legs, magic still crackling from the metal cadaver, and she wielded it like a baseball bat, blue lightning and white fire magic glowing beneath her as she prepared to leap at the Crimson Juggernaut's exposed back, her knees bending just as the Juggernaut began to pull its sword from the ground.
The Slayer calculated at unthinkable speeds, then planned accordingly. When the chains were a meter from him, the Rocket Launcher appeared in the Slayer's gauntlets, and he fired a single rocket in what appeared to be empty space. That was when Tiamat struck the Crimson Juggernaut.
There was an explosion of lightning as metal was crushed, and the Crimson Juggernaut stumbled forward. Its servos locked, it tripped forward, and its helmet fell right into the path of the rocket the Slayer just fired.
The Juggernaut was engulfed in a cloud of smoke and fire, and the shockwave of the explosion was powerful enough to snap the incoming chains and push nearby devils back.
The Rocket Launcher disappeared, and the Slayer snatched the severed magic chains right out of the air just as he landed. He swung the chain quickly, and in one fell swoop, swatted away all incoming magic blasts, deflecting them to other parts of the battlefield. A moment later, the smoke cloud dispersed, revealing the torn-up remains of the Crimson Juggernaut.
By then, realization had finally dawned on the devils.
"He deflected all of our attacks!"
"Wasn't the Crimson Juggernaut U-Ultimate Class?"
"Where did the Blood Marines go!?"
Among the cries of fear and disbelief, one was more shocked than the rest.
"What!? How—!?" The chain-magic devil stammered. She was cut off when the Slayer spun on his heel, eyes glowing with rage, and he threw the chain into a group of knights that had been shooting at the Slayer. The guardsmen didn't stand a chance, and their bones broke as the chain shattered against them.
As the chain-using devil was distracted, the Slayer lunged and grabbed her by the shoulders with enough strength to crack her bones, then he head-butted her. And a nasty head-butt it was. The force of the impact created a wind-generating shockwave, throwing the High-Class devil so hard into the ground, her whole body was planted deep into the dirt. The loud crack was enough to make nearby devils cry out in alarm.
"M-Milady!" a knight cried, his face contorted in worry. It soon twisted into rage. "You bastard!" The devil ran in like a mad man, swinging a large axe in desperation. "I'll kill you—"
His head snapped back, his temporal and frontal bones shattering like glass as the Slayer's gauntlet met his skull. He dropped like an anvil.
The other devils were still frozen in shock, unable to move after having witnessed the fall of the Crimson Juggernaut. Their hesitation cost them—Tiamat weaved between them, striking every devil into unconscious oblivion. Each strike made a loud thunderclap and sent devils, and each subsequent strike was harder than the last.
Suddenly, blasts of concentrated energy zipped past her, and she looked up to see a squad of five female devils approaching from a distance away. Each one had strength equivalent to a High-Class, and above them all, a purple-haired Ultimate-Class devil hovered, her arms crossed under large breasts, a disapproving frown on her face. Tiamat spread her wings and took off to meet them.
The Slayer paid her no mind, continuing his rampage.
By the time Tiamat approached them, she was across the battlefield from the Slayer. Had these devils just arrived?
The lead devil gave Tiamat a dirty look. "...So you're the one causing all of the trouble? How befitting for such a vile creature. Ranna, kill her."
There was a short bark of laughter. "With pleasure," another woman adorned in robes of green, Ranna, said.
Tiamat smirked. So these devils had just arrived. Her barrier must've had been breached, but by whom? Surely none from this group, they were far too weak. Regardless, Tiamat would find them later.
If there was one thing Tiamat loved, it was crushing the pride of arrogant bigots like these. She knew this type—she'd seen it time and time again. These were the ones that refused to believe themselves anything but superior. They haven't yet seen the horrifying aura that the Slayer exuded since they'd yet to look in his direction, nor the power that Tiamat and her master had exhibited. As far as they knew, the surrounding wonton destruction, especially that of the half-kilometer length of wall, could have been done by their own troops, most likely their Red Army.
They were so arrogant that they'd scoff in pomp and snob, ready to strike down what they believed to be inferior. They thought themselves the top bunch, dreaming of their unrivaled power. It was time for a wake-up call.
The devil in green robes, Ranna, pointed a finger at Tiamat, and a magic circle appeared at the tip. Tiamat humored her. She waited, and after a moment, a bolt of devil magic struck her. The explosion was colossal, large enough to disintegrate a suburban house.
The devils giggled and laughed, haughty as could be. "My my, was she so terrified that she couldn't even move? What do you think, lady Lianne?" Ranna chortled.
Lianne, the Ultimate-Class, merely snorted. "What a joke—such an inferior creature. Proceed to—hm?"
The smoke cleared. "Hm, how amateur of you, looking away from your opponent."
The devils gasped and growled, the Ultimate-Class glowering calmly. The one named Ranna faltered. "Y-You're alive? How could this be? My magic is unstoppable!"
"Nothing is unstoppable," Tiamat smirked. She paused. "Nothing, except for maybe my Master."
"Gah, I'll show you—"
"Enough, Ranna." Lianne glared at the blonde haired devil, venom in her tone.
Ranna was shocked. "What? Why?" She feared the answer.
Unfortunately for her, Lianne was a cold bitch. "If you have not the strength to slay even one putrid beast, then you have no right by my side. Now shut up and move, or I'll make you."
Ranna's confidence shattered like glass. In anger, she lashed out at Tiamat, flying at her. "You damn lizard, this is your fault!"
Tiamat didn't waver. Her body brimming with energy, her hair burning brightly, she smirked. With a burst of her aura, Ranna stopped dead in her tracks. The High-Class devils stared in shock, flames of blue and white surrounding Tiamat, the full force of her draconic aura smashing into them relentlessly.
The Chaos Karma Dragon clicked her tongue. "Allow me teach you humility."
With a wave of her hand, fifty magic circles spun into existence on either side of her. She snapped her fingers, and the circles glowed.
On the ground, nearly a half-kilometer away, the Slayer turned his head as what amounted to mini-nuke shook the lands. In a large, faraway ball of flame, a mushroom cloud emerged. Then the shockwave hit. The Slayer stood strong against the winds as knights were easily blown away. He huffed in annoyance. It must've been Tiamat's doing. Once the winds died down, the Slayer shook his head, then the slaughter continued.
Bring it on.
The Slayer rushed a group of Mid and high-Class devils, and one of them, a handsome, blonde-haired man in sapphire-blue armor thrust a spear at him, yelling something about service and honor. The Slayer took it, ripped it from his hands like taking candy from a baby, then smashed the blunt end atop his head, cracking his skull. With a mighty kick, the devil flew, his armor torn apart, his ribs shattered. The Slayer discarded the staff, and before it could even hit the ground, his knuckles found purchase on the maxillae of three more devils.
A taller, beefier, bald and dark-skinned devil in a shirtless-brawler's outfit sought to trade blows with him, sending an energized fist to the Slayer's chin, his muscles rippling. The Slayer caught him by the arm, then yanked him into a metal knee to the jaw, their teeth shattering as they screamed in pain, their organs bruising from the vibrations. A headbutt forced them to their knees, blood gushing from multiple gashes on their head. In moments, two more devils were broken.
The next devil came, a slim, pale woman in a Chinese martial artist's outfit who sent a kick to the Slayer's helmet with a huff of effort. He caught the blow, spiderweb cracks spreading across the ground from the pressure, and before she could react, his forearm cracked against her knee, shattering the kneecaps, bloodied bone shards flying like shrapnel. She hadn't the time to scream as the Slayer swept her other leg from the ground with his own, his metal fist flying at her face without mercy. There was a crack, and her body tumbled across the ground, teeth flying, skull cracked, nostrils gushing blood. Four more devils were brutalized before she stopped moving.
A young brunette woman in what appeared to be a French Maid outfit made her presence know, shouting something about duty and manners, two male devils in heavyweight karate gi jumping in to aid her. The French Maid raised her hands, and massive chunks of earth and rock rose from the ground, then shot at the Slayer, faster than sound. The Slayer jumped and dashed around multiple earthy projectiles, twirling as he moved with finesse, then his knees bent as he kicked off of one of the floating landmasses, shattering it with his strength.
More masses of rock came as he rocketed in a straight line at the telekinetic devil. He double-jumped over one of them, punched another into oblivion, then twisted to the side as one of the karate devils kicked at him. Still soaring at supersonic speed, the Slayer clotheslined the devil, making him cough and wheeze as bones were shattered. Unfettered, the Slayer used the karate devil as a meat shield, smashing him through the next tank-sized boulder, then he kicked off of the unconscious body as if it were a spring board.
Another boulder erupted into a cloud of debris as the Slayer punched through it, then another, larger clump of rock came, a root sticking out of its side. Dexterous, the Slayer spun around the rock, utilizing the root as a swinging bar to propel himself into a flying kick at the next, much unprepared karate devil. His boot crashed against the devil's sternum, pulverizing it, instantly sending him into shock.
Finally approaching the French Maid, the Slayer crushed one last boulder as he soared at the woman. The French Maid only had a moment to show her fear, then the Slayer let loose a powerful blow, right into her gut. She choked, coughed up blood as her ribs snapped like twigs, her less-vital organs rupturing as the impact shook her. The shockwave was immense, and the ground cratered in an explosion as the French Maid flew like a missile, her outfit blown to smithereens, blood gushing. Before she even landed, five more devils fell.
One devil, a man in an unarmored samurai outfit thought to outmaneuver the Slayer, and he used his wings to zip through the air, a katana spinning in his grasp. When the time was right, he dove, katana tight in his hands. He slashed, hoping to cleave the Slayer in half, but his blade shattered as it crossed paths with the Doomblade. Glaring, the Slayer leapt and caught the samurai by the throat, squeezing enough to constrict airflow and cause pain. He spun, slamming the devil spine-first onto the head of another. There was a sickening crack, and both went down, the Slayer falling towards a hooded woman with an unwieldy large scythe.
The woman grunted as she swung her weapon, spinning like a dancer, gracious in her movements. To her immense surprise, the Slayer stopped the head of the scythe with a single gauntlet. Huffing in anger, the Unchained Predator snapped the head right off, discarding the piece as he landed, his knee ramming into the devil's spine. There was a shriek of pain, then a crack as the woman took an uppercut that sent her into the air, blood and spit flying from her bruised lips.
A torrent of weapons made of ice ripped past the Slayer as he stepped away, and he grabbed a kunai from the storm, throwing it back at the sender. The glacial knife shredded right through the devil's femur, embedding itself into the ground behind him. Before the devil could so much as yelp, a metal boot found itself planted in his visage.
The Slayer touched the ground, and the sound of movement reached his ears, as did the vibrations on the ground. He whipped around, a devil garbed in ninja gear dashing at him in a zig-zag pattern, arms behind their back in an absurd sprinting form. The devil threw a volley of shuriken, all of which the Slayer easily sidestepped. He watched curiously as the man made a series of strange hand gestures, then there was a cloud of smoke as nearly twenty more identical devils appeared.
Clones?
Perfect. The Slayer was getting irritated by the lack of RIPPING AND TEARING.
His eyes glowing with rage, he hesitated no longer, charging into the fray head first. His aura expanded as clones came at him from all directions, but he didn't falter. A clone jabbed at him, but he grabbed the arm, and without mercy, he yanked, seething with satisfaction as the appendage was torn, viscera dying the dirt. The clone shrieked, then its head erupted into a shower of gore as its own arm collided against it, the corpse bursting into smoke.
Another clone came from above, shuriken at the ready, but the Slayer was swift. As the clone came down, the Doomblade severed flesh and bone, cleaving the legs right off of the magical construct. It had not the chance to even react let alone touch the ground, the Slayer grabbing it by the head. He tore it clean in half, bisected it with hatred, red oozing from the cadaver as went up in smoke.
The sound of metal, The Super Gore Nest continued to pound into his ears, the melody of Doom striking fear into any who approached him. Despite himself, the Slayer chose to keep his speed equal to that of his foes, if only to give them a microscopic chance at matching him. It was quite unfortunate for them, however, that a few decades or centuries or even millenia of training and technique was nothing compared to billions of years worth in battle experience. Were the Slayer to take even a single hit, it would be embarrassing—an unspeakable joke.
Metal met flesh once more, guts became paste, and the Slayer ripped and tore through the crowd of devil clones with barbarous brutality and wrathful vitriol. Though it lasted only a few seconds, it was satisfying—much moreso than simply subduing his adversaries. Unfortunately, such satisfaction didn't last, and the Slayer was back to brutalizing his opponents, the original ninja devil screeching as a heavy fist fractured his elbow.
Soon, all that faced him had fallen to his might, but even then, metal still rumbled. The Slayer gathered why as his eyes were drawn up to the sky, where Tiamat was fighting one versus one against some purple-haired aristocrat. As he watched them trade neighborhood-destroying levels of magic, his fingers twitched—he was still unsatisfied, still pissed off. It's been about three minutes since the fight had started, and yet the devils had already lost.
The Slayer grumbled as he gazed around at the endless craters, smoke and dust, fire and ice, blood and bodies, stone and metal. His rage unsettled, his urge to RIP AND TEAR at an all time high since he'd come to this world, he squeezed his fists, huffing impatiently. His aura grew once more, and he glared up at the Ultimate-Class bitch in the sky. He watched to see the extent to which Tiamat and the devil fought, gauging the amount of power they were using. Soon, he understood, and his knuckles cracked as he squeezed his fists shut. He waited, and at some point, Tiamat made a nasty move, kneeing the purple-haired bitch so hard that she dropped like a meteor at hypersonic speeds, straight down into the ground below.
The Slayer had no intention of letting her hit the ground. Yet.
His rage channeled into his fists, he leaned forward and charged. At the perfect moment, he leapt, throwing his fist with strength one last time. His knuckles found purchase instantaneously, and in slow motion, he watched as the woman's face seemed to undulate in pain. The shockwave from the blow was immense, shattering the earth. The devil rocketed across the battlefield, nearly every last bone in her body shattering. She slammed back-first into Tiamat's barrier, causing it to fracture, the combined stress of Tiamat's magic and the Slayer's strength finally bringing it down.
The devil finally crashed a couple hundred meters away in an explosion of dust that rose far above Lilith's walls.
As the dust settled, the Slayer grunted, his anger finally satiated. The Super Gore Nest fell into low guitar rifts as the battle came to a close. Idly, he looked in the direction of the woman he'd just punched. Had he overdone it? He didn't even know if she'd deserved such a blow, but she had been the only devil strong enough to take it...
The Slayer shrugged to himself. She was fine; he had used none of his endless Argent power on her, nor anyone else for that matter—only limited his raw strength. Had he used any Argent Energy like he had on Lilith's walls, even softer blows would have obliterated his opponents. A couple of broken bones was nothing. With enough magic, she should get fixed up within a week or so. Whatever, it wasn't his problem now—they'd attacked first after all.
There was light thud as Tiamat landed next to the Slayer. She crossed her arms beneath her bust as she gave him a coy look.
"So? How did I do?" Tiamat asked expectantly.
The Slayer merely shrugged, much to Tiamat's indignation. Such a level of combat was nothing but a practice bout in his opinion—less than that, even.
It was so frustrating to the Slayer, how he had to hold back so much when his muscles ached for him to throw mountain-shattering blows, or tear combatants limb from bloody limb. Had that one devil not given him the satisfaction of shredding his clones, he would be seething right now...well, seething more than usual.
Tiamat's tail flicked lazily. "I guess you're right. It wasn't anything too crazy."
The Slayer tilted his head. The two stood there for a moment, until they heard the sound of pained groans and bloody coughing.
Tiamat's expression morphed into one of dread. "Uh... How shall we transport these injured?"
The Slayer didn't get to answer, for the shadows of thousands suddenly loomed over them.
Did the headache come? Yes, it did. Did Tannin's foreknowledge of such cranial discomfort alleviate it in any way? No, it did not. When the Blaze Meteor Dragon heard the alarms go off, he immediately knew who it was, but that did nothing to stop the migraines that soon followed.
What had Ajuka been thinking!? The Slayer was, for the most part, a total unknown in the grand scheme of things, and yet, for whatever reason, Ajuka found it appropriate to let the man beat the shit out of his soldiers and cause a political scandal. Ajuka only briefly explained it to Tannin—one, this was a chance to see the extent to the Slayer's strength, and two, if the Slayer really was as strong as was described, it would be better if the Slayer beat the shit out of a couple of guards rather than the entire devil army. Exasperated by such reasoning, Tannin rushed to the scene of the incident to calm things down as much as he could.
While Sirzechs had to stay the hand of the entire devil defense force AND calm the aristocracy from taking any needless action, Tannin, once he arrived on scene, had to convince and even forcefully remove any jumpy Ultimate-Class devils that were already there, lest they break into the impeccably inconvenient combat barrier that Tannin knew Tiamat had set up, then get torn to shreds by the monster Tannin also knew was in there—the Doom Slayer. It certainly didn't help that an array of buildings near the barrier had been torn apart by some shockwaves.
Unfortunately, though he himself was one of the top high-end Ultimate-Class devils, his authority did not quite equal that of the twenty-plus Ultimate-Classes he had stopped, and thus, after two minutes of heated arguments, he allowed a few devils to go through—Lianne, a low-end Ultimate Class, and her entourage of High-Class bimbos. It didn't make Tannin feel very well, knowing that he might have very-well just sent members of the aristocracy into a bloody meatgrinder—he couldn't know for sure, because Tiamat had made her barrier opaque and presence-concealing. After a tense, admittedly short two minutes worth of silence, one in which Tannin stressed himself out at the possibility of the five-hundred-plus devils being turned into paste down there, something that would inevitably turn into a horrific political and social scandal that would make the Doom Slayer public enemy number one, resulting in the imminent destruction of devil society by said Primeval's hands, the barrier suddenly fractured, no doubt the result of the Slayer-Dragon duo's strength.
By then, thousands of devil guardsmen had surrounded the barrier, prepared to shoot holes into whatever emerged, and Tannin had to forcefully reign them in using powerful bursts from his aura, just enough so that no dumbass would fire a single shot and end up starting the apocalypse. What made it worse was the fact that he had to fight with the Slayer's own emerging, terrifyingly blinding energy. Luckily, the Slayer was not, at the moment, extremely angry, so his aura didn't wash over the guardsmen and send them into spiraling fits of madness. Still, Tannin had to keep thousands of guards, High-Class devils, and even dozens of Ultimate-Class devils at bay for a full minute so that their senses could adjust to the Slayer's energy, just enough such that looking in his direction wouldn't make anybody shit their pants.
Finally, after a combined total of five minutes, Tannin allowed the army to descend—slowly. What he found was both surprising and relieving to say the least. The dragon had expected supreme amounts of death and destruction, and while one of those aspects was indeed prominent, the other was nonexistent. Though the entirety of Lilith's wall in that specific sector had been ravaged along with the grassy plains and hills of the landscape, none had died. Though hundreds of bodies lay flat on the ground, some with blood and even bits of bone exposed, and though the renowned Red Army of Automata had been demolished, none were killed. Sure, some had their joints twisted in awful directions, others had cracks on their heads, and many even had chunks of flesh missing, but nobody died. It was a miracle. Ironic, given that they were devils.
It was then that Tannin realized that he had given neither Tiamat nor the Doom Slayer enough credit. Still, the political ramifications of this incident would be significant, Tannin knew, and as such, the migraines were unstoppable.
Regardless, the dragon allowed himself to slowly descend to the earth to greet the new guests. Of course, he ordered everybody else to stay at the walls, or begin transporting the injured to the proper facilities. He let nobody go near Tiamat nor the Doom Slayer.
With a gentle flap of his wings, he landed a good few meters away from the duo, shifting into his anthropomorphic form. He walked over, waving them down. Tiamat waved back, and the Slayer...just stood staring, his fists clenched cautiously. Tannin precariously eyed the dryad seed in one of the Slayer's hip-pouches. He had to remind himself that the Slayer was, for all intents and purposes, a good guy. It may very well have been why nobody here had been torn to shreds. Knowing the man to be full of anger, Tannin wondered how hard it must have been for him to hold back.
"You've been busy," he stated. The Slayer gave him an unexpected nod.
"Yes, as you can see, we have." Tiamat said, a hand on her hip.
The Slayer moved again, pointing somewhere behind Tannin. The dragon looked over his shoulder, then he realized what the man was asking. "No, none of the devils here will attack you on my watch. You have my word."
Another nod, this one seemingly...appreciative?
"You're welcome," Tannin replied. He eyed Tiamat carefully, then the Slayer once more. "I must say, I'm quite thankful that you've done no real permanent harm beyond the pride of a few nobles," he smiled.
Tiamat chuckled. "Of course, Tannin. Who do you think we are—think I am? Have you such little faith in me? Oh, and I suppose I must apologize for this...occurrence, but to be fair, they did attack first."
Tannin made a face. "I suppose that's true..." He gave the battlefield-aftermath a once over. "...I hope you know that such an act of violence will not go unnoticed outside these walls. By the end of the week, from your actions here today, it is likely that everyone in the supernatural world will know of your existence, Lord Slayer. In fact, expect yourself to be the target of many High-Class snobs soon enough. You haven't exactly made your unofficial debut...diplomatic."
As Tannin expected, at least, from what Tiamat had told her earlier, the Doom Slayer only stared menacingly. "I see...very well. I believe you've been dying to get inside the city. I won't stop you any longer. Come, follow me. We can avoid any unnecessary conflict this way. Ajuka is waiting."
Tannin started back to Lilith's walls, and Tiamat and the Doom Slayer followed him without question. There were expressions of fear and loathing on the devils faces as they made way for the group, but nobody said a word on account that they'd witnessed his energy, AND recovered the body of Lianne and a number of High-Class devils. Though Ultimate-Class devil Lianne had been on the low-end of her class, she was still an Ultimate-Class devil with power enough to easily destroy a city. At the very least, most devils weren't stupid enough to challenge someone with that level of power.
Once the group arrived within Lilith's walls, the Blaze Meteor Dragon opened a Dragon Gate. They stepped through, then disappeared a moment after. Then, there was chaos.
"What is the MEANING of this!?" a High-Class devil bellowed in anger. "How could Lord Tannin let such a...menace, a demon into Lilith's walls?"
"And what of Dragon King Tiamat? Why was she with that thing!?" another raged.
Tannin was correct. Outrage brewed viciously and spread like a fire, as did the news. But along with it, there was excitement, for within Lilith's walls, a thousand Succubi had taken residence—and notice to the Slayer's presence.
A/N: Jawohl! If you like Monster Girl Encyclopedia, go read the double self-insert fic, The New World. Yes this is a shameless self-plug.