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The following is a fan-based
FICTION
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Chapter 17 - An Even More Bizarre Return (Brief but Ruthless)
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Hunson was the first one to raise a hand. "How bad would have it been if that priest got things his way?"
"Very. His plan would have allowed him to extend his control of Gravity into the universe itself and caused it to collapse and reform with no form of magic able to prevent that," Michael answered, causing the Lord of the Nightosphere to hum and nod, half-surprised but overall unfazed.
"So, what you are telling us is that something that could have ended the entire timeline happened without us knowing," Ikra remarked mirthfully. "That sounds fun, but how come, you know, we were not warned of this?!"
The Redeemer tensed up. "We-"
"It's alright," Michael interrupted, smiling in agreement. "I am sorry to say this as this highlights weakness about Heaven but... it caught us off-guard at the time as we did not expect Pucci to get so close to realize the ritual."
"I thought God would have had dat one predicted," Grim pushed, aware of the 'Big G' as he was keen to call him when mentioning him to Mandy. "After all, he tends to flaunt it a lot around others."
"As much as his Omnipotence can notice potential threats, it is not perfect. Not when fellow Divine forces steps over in an effort to aid someone like Enrico Pucci."
"Who would want to aid someone like the priest? Mandy prodded with a hint of confusion. "I understand that Chaos Gods may be involved, but to the extent of ending reality altogether and give power to such a pawn? Ludicrous."
"That's because you are considering known deities, when in truth who was supporting Pucci was a lingering anomaly of divine might."
HIM whistled. "That's a lot and yet not much."
"Mostly because there is no exact way to understand it beyond what we have about this sort of phenomenon. Which is that Dio Brando's dying belief mixed with his hold over Fate allowed for a Divine Miracle to unfold in Pucci's Destiny. Somehow, Dio was able to 'Bless' Pucci into achieving Heaven."
A Divine Miracle was more than just turning water into Wine when used by someone which had control over fate. Mandy had already seen this in the past, where some individuals had the ability to defy death despite death being able to claim so many.
In the old age, Grim Reapers struggled to bring down some of the more obscure gods that 'left' on their own decision. But nowadays even mortals could defy that expectation. Her mind was brought back to that old woman that used to beat Grim in every challenge. She perished, obviously, but she didn't 'die'. The process of 'Death' goes beyond the mere departure from the mortal coils, but the capacity to be 'claimed' by Death and then brought to the right realm of the afterlife the soul 'deserves'.
Yet, none of those mortals had such a pull to enforce a Divine Miracle. For it to happen, the Soul had to have been sacrificed to some extent and, considering what precepts of the ritual they were able to glimpse through the memory, Dio sacrificed his normal soul for Pucci's blessing, yet his Stand lingered long enough for Pucci to take and turn into a Soul Shard to then 'reincarnate' Dio. It was an imperfect homunculus, but it was enough to provide the fuel for his Evolved Stand.
Then, the gate for the next evolution was open... until Arthur destroyed him by being a 'Destiny Defier'. Grim had once used the term around her to define what sort of individuals could dominate Grim like they did back in their childhood. Billy was one too, unsurprisingly, which explained how the process of Death never went through as properly as it should have.
Still, the end result was unchanged- her brother not only tore apart an attempt to destroy reality in this universe, but also got himself the abilities to defy deities if put against those. And this thought was weaponized by HIM as the red-skinned bastard growled at these words.
"So, you're saying that Heaven has been hiding a Devil-Slayer which also work as a God-Slayer depending on the circumstances?"
Michael grinned. "Why, yes. Why do you ask?"
"This is a breach of the trust between Hell and Heaven, one that could lead to war."
"Would it now, HIM? How so?" The smug air from the Archangel stunned even the Redeemer, but HIM remained unperturbed by this attitude.
"Because you have been grooming someone that could easily kill us all for a small issue."
"Just like you have tried and failed to groom a child you forced Blossom to conceive? The result of a Devil and a Metahuman who could reach the level needed to also slay Gods if needed?"
The sudden silence manifested by HIM was delicious to Mandy, but it also made sense to her. No one has ever learned the true why HE had forced this conception and why HE had 'trained' his daughter into an agent meant to face extreme conditions. But considering HIS lingering hatred for God, it was feasible to say HE wanted a God Slayer, or maybe a Devil Slayer to expand his current realm and reach within Hell.
"It's not the same thing-"
"And yet you are now nervous because the chance to reclaim 'your daughter' is no longer on the table. It's clear that for you the girl is nothing more than a piece in a chessboard- one you lost and that you are not going to get back."
"Then I will make you pay for daring to deny my rightful request," HIM snapped, standing up from the table with a hideous scowl on his face. "I will raise my legions and raze Earth like my predecessor did."
Michael's smile... vanished. But instead of fear or unease, there was only... viciousness.
"I think you will need to leave this meeting alive to do this, Kare."
The use of his real name was not delivered without purpose. Before HIM could have retaliated for this public revelation, something struck him silent. A sharp blade protruding between his eyes. A sword had stabbed his forehead from behind. His eyes wide open as his sunglasses fell on the ground.
While normally a sword would do this much to a Hell Lord, the item itself was not a simple trinket- it was an Angelic Weapon. The owner familiar to Mandy as she remembered Stocking from back the days she hung around her brother. A 'homework buddy', or a cheap harlot depending on her perspective of situations.
The other Hell Lords could only stare as Kaere's eyes twitched angrily as he recoiled from the attack but- He couldn't do much as he found his entire body decimated by slashes and cuts, rendering him a mass of tiny cubes of himself.
"Phew, it's been a while since I did something like this," Stocking hummed, a lollipop in her mouth as she landed back on the ground. With HIM being as tall as he was, she had to jump on his back to get the assault gone through successfully, and the end result was both ruthless and precise. "And now... that little favor of mine."
Michael nodded, and the long-haired Fallen Angel used her magic to grasp into HIM's Fragments.
"N-No! You can't do this! SHE IS MINE!"
He was still limited by the lingering Angelic Magic as a pink orb manifested above its pieces from small particles of energy produced by those. Soon a humanoid figure formed through those and... Mandy's mood dipped to the lowest possible at the sight of her worst enemy now brought back.
It was clear why Grim had been unable to confirm where Blossom had gone after dying, but this explained a lot. HIM had kept the soul close to himself. An effort to preserve a 'last ditch effort' to keep his daughter chained to him in case she became too rebellious.
So, this is where you were hiding.
No longer with glasses and labcoat and with a reshaped version of her old battlesuit, Blossom Utonium appeared.
A halo and two wings appeared by her body, confirming she was still a soul and... a conscious one. Her eyes glowed with power and irritation as she turned to HIM's fragments, smiling viciously at him.
"Hello."
"Y-You are mine! You are all MINE!"
Energy channeled in her eyes as she narrowed those at HIM. "No. We are not. And this is for hurting my daughter, scum."
One detail that rendered Angelic Weapons so dangerous to demons and devils is their power to cripple healing factor. Without it, HIM's already weakened body was unable to sustain the full blast of the former leader of the PPG's eye-laser, scorching him into lifeless dust before the eyes of the other Lords.
Mandy was pissed for Blossom being there, but was glad that she took out the one thorn that had been nagging at her ever since she took over in her fief in Hell. Yet, this didn't mean her pleasure was permanent. Not when she replaced a nagging foe with a legitimate concern for her interests.
She was unsure what else the brunette was up to but-
"I am ready to go."
The blonde paused, perhaps she had misheard. Did Blossom just agree to 'leave' the opportunity to go back on Earth to her daughter and Arthur!?
"What?"
Blossom turned as she spoke up, pink eyes fiercely matching the murderous glare Mandy was giving her with her blood red gaze.
"Hm? It's not like I will stay there for long, so... don't be worried about my departure, future sister-in-law~."
Mandy's jaw dropped at the outrageous rebuttal, but before she could have rejected such a notion, she saw Blossom vanishing in a golden light.
Michael sighed. "I guess it's time for us to leave. We have overstayed our presence and we will leave you to... Well, clean that."
The Archangel aimed his gaze at HIM's lifeless dusty remains, no longer producing the right amount of demonic energy needed to reform from it, and proceeded to vanish together with the Redeemer. Meanwhile the only door to the room was closing again, with Stocking leaving through the door rather than magicking herself out of the room.
Mandy was angry, furious, baffled and, worse, invested in having this situation sorted out without any further shitty escalations. Without saying a word, she turned and started to march out of the room, Grim following closely behind and leaving just Ikra and Hunson in that room.
"So... do you think Arthur banged these two he tagged along at the end of that fun time?" The female mask of Aku inquired, a hint of crass amusement projected through her voice.
Hunson created a cup of coffee from which he sipped from. "Definitely."
At least the Eternal Council of this Century could end in a somewhat positive note...
AN
The Endgame is now near! And after this is over... Blossoming Bond gets a thread!
P.S. The Ref Pic I used of Blossom is an Edit I made. I found the proportions for the head in the original pic to be too small.
REVIEW Q&A
Coldblue2015:
1) Surprisingly enough, there's a lot of God-Slayers and Devil-Slayers around that it is a surprise, but not enough to start a crusade;
2) I don't want to inflate the story too much. So it is Blossom, Ikra and Stocking tagging along, with F.F. and Ermes having been previous partners;
3) At the moment? She will try to find a way to save her ass and get somewhere in the Harem, somehow;
4) Dunno;
GoTeam: To form C-Moon, Pucci used a DISC with The World in it to create Green Baby which was 'Pseudo-Dio' genetically speaking. When Arthur broke his contract with Grim, Grim gave him one last 'out of Death' ticket which was used when C-Moon killed him. Of course, during the clash, C-Moon bleed into Arthur and some of DIO's DNA containing traces of The World got absorbed by Arthur's body. The reason why he didn't become a Vampire is because of his Hamon purging away that corruption.
JustAFan123: The Spin is something that is not present in this world. It will be, however, a main force in the AU Blossoming Bond which will be released after this story is over.