NMHA Ch. 69 - Undone


A/N - Ha ha, nice.

Obligatory number joke aside, this should be the last chapter of the big Summit fight. Naturally, there'll be plenty more battles in the chapters to come, but for this particular arc, we've reached the finale.

So, as we have it:

Azazel and Shem are knocked out and taken captive by Ares and a turncoat Penemue.

Michael and Gabriel retreated after Luna's words started triggering flashbacks in Gabriel.

Sirzechs is aiding the Vatican trio against Indra and Wukong.

Ajuka is duking it out with the Shinto and has taken down Nurarihyon.

Issei and Isaiah beat Georg, but not before he knocked out Gasper and laid some serious hits on them.

Xenovia was off-screen.

The fight has spilled out into the outer Bounded Space.

Luna's still going strong.

Let's keep moving.


Xenovia rounded another corner of the false academy, letting out a grunt as she unsheathed Excalibur Destruction, slamming it into the ground. The force, yet again, dispersed that odd wave of purple mist - yet again - buying her more time to keep moving for the meeting hall. She could hear the sounds of combat even now, though the mixed scents of all sorts of supernatural beings clashing guided her from the start.

"Begone with you!" The exorcist shouted as her holy blade's crash against the ground dispersed those frustratingly persistent mists.

As they were blown away, Xenovia let out a 'kh', slinging the two-handed sword over her shoulder before she sprinted onward.

The mists felt alive to her, which was peculiar given how she could see nobody else. Youkai, Devils, Angels, Fallen, none could be found.

Only the violet mist that sought to consume her.

Yet even so, she felt no malevolence from it. But some things killed others simply because it was part of who they were- no hostile intent required.

She had to reconvene with Mother Griselda, as well as Fathers Vasco and Dulio. If she didn't, there was no telling what might befall them.

...Though it was more likely that whatever would befall them would befall her in particular.

Xenovia's lips thinned at the thought. It was clear that all bets were off. The smell of magic discharging in the closing distance indicated that combat had broken out in the assembly hall, and she had a sneaking suspicion that the mists were the culprit of the rest of the building's complete absence of life.

A part of her wondered if she shouldn't have snapped so sharply at the swordsman. Then they could have perhaps worked together to stop whatever this was-

That part of her was ruthlessly quashed. What that blond had said was absurd. The Vatican, approving of such horrors as child experimentation? Preposterous! He may have even been privy to whatever was going on now!

'But he could tell that Irina had an artificial Holy affinity...'

She would need to purge those unclean thoughts through prayer once this situation was resolved.

Xenovia's face twisted, quickly making a cross with her free hand - she'd have brought out the rosary as well if she had the time.

As she sprinted for the closed doors directly ahead, Xenovia could hear the sounds of fighting, muted, and the scent grew from strong to practically overwhelming. For a moment, she hesitated. That sort of power... Xenovia knew, at that moment, that she would not be able to fully match that power. Not alone.

But a soldier of God could not falter. Nor would she be alone- Xenovia knew that her superiors were just beyond the threshold. So instead of turning back, Xenovia placed both hands on Excalibur Destruction, and swung the blade into the door.

As the doors blasted in, her mind stalled, attempting to comprehend the expanded space from outside it. In that moment, instinct took over, and she immediately dove for cover.

No sooner than she did, a gout of bubbling acid spewed out the doorway. Xenovia's gaze shot over to the god that had fired it. That god was jumped not a moment later by another, and soon their fighting became yet another background noise.

She couldn't focus on them. First, she had to regroup.

'Where are they...?' Her eyes locked onto them. 'There! But- wait, what?'

Once more, the blue-haired exorcist's train of thought froze up. What was Lucifer doing, speaking with her superiors? Was this some trick?

Her eyes tracked Dulio's as best she could, landing on... a Buddha and the lord of the Indian Heavens?

Was this their doing?

It was only when she noticed that Indra had lifted his hand, that his lips were moving, speaking to the Exorcists the same way that the Devil had been.

Yet his eyes were locked squarely on her's.

Sirzechs Lucifer lunged forward, briefly blocked by Sun Wukong, before the monkey king - The Great Victorious Fighting Buddha - was hurled away like so much chaff, exploding into smoke before a beam of Destruction could envelop him.

In that same moment, Griselda appeared in front of Xenovia, the younger exorcist's legs leaving the ground as the elder sprinted out the doorway in a Rapidly-boosted dash. Dulio and Vasco followed suit almost immediately afterward, the former conjuring a glacier to seal the doorway behind them, and the latter's scripture-empowered chant shooting motes of light into the ice, strengthening it.

A moment later, Xenovia knew why.

Even if Sun Wukong wasn't able to keep Sirzechs at bay for long, that single moment was all Indra had needed to tear the building asunder.

That was the last thing she remembered before the world around her ceased to exist.

She'd realize afterward that he'd done far more than just that.


"Ngh!"

Issei stumbled, prompting Isaiah to skid to a stop. He turned around, kneeling down, offering a hand to the brunet.

"You alright?" he asked, getting a grunt and a nod from Issei.

"Y-yeah. Just lost my focus."

The blond frowned. "Are you sure? Georg hit you in the head pretty hard with that last blast- you may have gotten a concussion."

"You're one to talk; I'm surprised you're still able to move with how much blood you've lost," he replied honestly, reaching out with his left arm to grab onto the swordsman's proffered hand.

Isaiah froze. "Issei. Your arm..."

The Red Dragon Emperor blinked, furrowing his brow when he saw the arm itself; scaled, clawed, and crimson.

'Ah... I didn't think about Isaiah's reaction to it.'

"I did what I had to," Issei answered quietly. "Ddraig used my arm to create the Boosts I needed to sucker-punch Georg and put him down."

The blond frowned. "That's... going to be a lot of work to fix. Maybe Valerie could help-"

"It's fine." The brunet shook his head, ignoring the pang that shot through it. "As long as we're able to stop that madwoman, the arm's the least of my concerns."

Isaiah's brow furrowed, but he closed his eyes with a nod. "Alright. If you're sure, then let's keep-"

The hairs on the back of Issei's neck tingled as the air grew charged with static.

Wait, why was his blood thrumming too-?

"DOWN!"

The force in Ddraig's command, along with Isaiah's frantic summoning of what looked like a wall of swords as he dove to the ground, was all Issei needed to do to follow suit.

Even still, Issei's vision whited out as the blast washed overhead, the destruction of the building around them lost in the deafening crack of the lightning bolt that shattered the false Kuoh Academy.


As the fighting spilled out into the rest of the Bounded Space, Luna could see the tears in the seams, catch glimpses of both the effervescent spectrum that laid beyond the false world as well as the mountainous peaks of Takamagahara proper. With the gods hurling increasingly devastating attacks at each other, the Bounded Space continued to groan under the weight of the deific brawls. Attacks that had once been limited to prevent backblast in an enclosed space now devoured mountains, and attacks that broke through metal and stone now shattered the peaceful landscape.

All the while, the shredded sky showed more and more of the Gap in which it truly resided.

Fires abounded, and for a brief moment, a memory resurfaced, from all those years ago, back when she was still naive to what awaited her.

("There's a reason why Hell is oft depicted as a burning landscape filled with the agonized screams of the damned."

"Uuuuuffff... Let me guess; scripture's citing some of the worst battles in the Great War?"

"Quite an accurate citation, I will admit.")

All that was missing was the screaming.

Even though she knew it was fake, her heart ached to see the world alight.

Luna knew that this would be a sight she had to grow used to.

"The more things change, the more they remain the same, eh Ajuka?" she mused with a sardonic smirk. "Now, where are you...?"

Her eyes honed in on her prey. A moment later, she was behind him. Another moment, and a seal blocked the forward thrust of Cataclysm Eclipse, the Devil having thrown a hand behind him to block the attack.

Ajuka turned his head, eyes narrowed as he looked at the brunette. "You would attack someone from behind? Unsightly behavior for a leader."

"Against the likes of you?" She scoffed. "I know better than to play nice."

A flood of shards shot outward from Luna with a beat of her Worldweave wings, each shard impacting a magical circle that formed around her, breaking the array and causing the primed spell to evaporate into the aether.

"Don't make this any harder than it has to be," the brunette warned. "Stand down now, and I won't kill you."

She glanced over Ajuka's shoulder, holding up a hand. Amaterasu, Susano'o, and Tsukuyomi all stopped, though the war god in particular looked put-out by the impromptu request for them to leave the two Devils be.

But Luna could see them. She could feel them.

They were tired. Susano'o's brow was scrunched heavily together, Tsukuyomi's eyes were squinted, as though fighting off exhaustion, and Amaterasu's light was weaker than it had been before.

It appeared that with the dissolution of the Bounded Space, the home field advantage from Takamagahara had subsided.

She couldn't see Yasaka either- but she could feel the Youkai, a ways away on the ground. Conscious. Too worn out to keep going.

If they continued to fight Ajuka, Luna was sure that the same fate - or worse - would await the Shinto trinity.

So she nodded in a wordless dismissal, and they did just that, using the opportunity to pursue Sirzechs as his and Indra's clashes tore the sky more and more into shreds.

Ajuka paid no heed to their departure. His eyes remained locked firmly on the woman in front of him, knowing that if he looked away, she wouldn't hesitate. "Even if I did surrender, you wouldn't grant me mercy."

"I'll treat everyone with the degree of fairness they deserve," she replied evenly. "If you are not one of them, then that is not my fault."

"Life isn't fair. You should have learned that years ago."

Luna smiled mirthlessly. "I did, thanks to you, Sirzechs, and Serafall."

"You're going about asking for an apology the wrong way," the Super Devil drawled. The brunette's brow drew together as her blood burned at the blase comment.

"I don't give a damn about an apology anymore," she spat. "I just want to make things... if not right, then at least better. Like I always have."

Then the brunette's shoulders sagged, the mask slipped briefly, her expression softened. "Were we ever friends at all, Ajuka? What did I do to deserve your betrayal?"

The Maou remained silent, though Luna could tell he was mulling over her words. Perhaps crafting his own response. She wanted answers- but every second that this went on was another second of pressure on Sirzechs from now multiple fronts.

Indeed, she could see in the distance that the Shinto trio were now assisting Indra. The world-breaking blasts of divine lightning and profane Destruction now had beams of sunlight, moonlight, and stormy whirlwinds filling the empty spaces between.

"Sirzechs and I are blood brothers." Luna's attention snapped back to the Super Devil, whose voice was measured and cold. "I will not say I fully understand his motives for our actions regarding you. But I would trust him with the fate of the world, much less a single Devil, regardless of how I may feel. Nothing will ever change that."

The brunette pursed her lips, fighting down the frustration that bubbled in her gut. That was it? He was just a sycophant the whole time? "So what, if he said that you needed to suck his dick for the good of everyone, you'd get on your knees? Is Grayfia aware of your little bromance with her husband?"

"I won't bother to give your insult any sort of answer," the Devil curtly replied. "Enough. You said you were here to stop us." He spread his arms, arrays forming around him like so many portals to devastation. "So? Prove it."

She sneered and obliged, trails of red flying behind her as she veered to the side before slamming into the Super Devil. Immediately, she could feel the Super Devil's mastery over his Id, deep and wide, but even moreso controlled, and as the scarlet energy of Luna's rage blazed from Cataclysm Eclipse, Ajuka responded.

As with Indra and Sirzechs, their blows shattered the sky. The world fell away in dissolving pieces as Devil and Devil fought, no quarter given, no mastery unused. Stardust met needles, solar might met the Kankara formula, which in turn was devoured by singularities. Those too were extinguished before Ajuka could claim Luna's conjured black holes for his own. For every move she made, the Maou had an answer. And yet, with every move he made, so too did she. His magical assaults, each spell the kind to tear armies asunder, were met with the oblivion of Cataclysm Eclipse, his traps with the unlimited potential of Worldweave.

Luna could hardly believe it, even if she was experiencing it at that exact moment. All these years, and finally, she was able to stand up to a Super Devil- not the Super Devil, but his right-hand man all the same.

But that was all.

She could tell that Ajuka was pulling out all the stops - save for one; the very same reason he was a Super Devil in the first place. The only thing stopping him from doing just that was the collateral that would occur as a result.

How long would that last?

'Ngh-!'

How long could she?

As the minutes ticked by, Luna's mind twinged. Fighting the top Exorcists, then the Seraphim, then Ajuka to boot was a tall order for anyone, and Luna would admit that she was more a skirmisher than a full-on fighter. Dedicated stamina training could help, but even that could only get her so far, especially in the fifteen years that had.

But she couldn't stop now. She couldn't- she couldn't!

USE ME.

'Absolutely not, I'm not letting you hijack my body!'

Luna was already using Cataclysm Eclipse as much as she could in tandem with Worldweave. Her curse-fueled emotions were already running high, despite the tight control she had over them. Any more, and there was no telling what could happen.

Worldweave itself allowed her to escape Ajuka's every assault - yet could not in turn touch him, that damnable Kankara Formula negating all forms of her attacks.

If only there was some way to remove it from the equation...

USE ME!

'I said no!'

...But she had another pair of wings now, didn't she? Luna's eyes, for the briefest moment, glanced to the ethereal violet sprouting between the other two wings.

That moment cost her- a blink later, and she was flying backwards, smoke trailing from her form from an artillery spell that directly connected.

'Gh- Raargh, damn it! Stop distracting me you piece of shit!'

It appeared even that moment was enough to put her in a bad spot, however; around her, Luna could see spells forming, arrays upon arrays, becoming engulfed within a sphere of such, every array zig-zagging this way and that. Even without extending her senses, she could feel the innumerable tethers to her body- as she moved, the arrays moved with her.

Apparently Ajuka figured out how she had been warping around and locked the position of the arrays to her immediate spatial location.

Right, he was a super-genius, wasn't he? So everything before now was a study?

...Not quite. She had been pressuring him. But he had been studying her, all the same.

Time seemed to slow as spellfire spewed from the countless arrays in the sky, magic rushing in to pulverize her into dust.

'Warp?' Luna immediately threw out that idea. Even if she tried to catch the Super Devil in his own attack, she doubted it would do anything; he'd just recalculate and make the magic flow around himself. She'd still get wiped out.

'Barrier?' No, not enough time to extend space; there was also the chance that Ajuka knew that she could use that to guard, and she wasn't directly powerful enough to make a traditional one strong enough to withstand the magical macrocosm.

ERASE?

That... wasn't a bad idea, actually. Cataclysm Eclipse might be able to help, but that sort of outflow of power would cause her negative emotions to spike. She was already at the end of her grip on them, there was a good chance she wouldn't be able to rein them back in.

But if that was her only option...

'...But that can't be it, right?' A thought struck her. 'Wait. What about...?'

Another memory occurred, a time when a lavender surge of power rushed forth to devour the light that had sought to purge her from this world. It wasn't Cataclysm Eclipse... but it sure as hell wasn't Worldweave either.

Were her new wings, and the pulse that helped her last a few moments longer against Kokabiel in their first battle, were they related somehow?

But then how could she have used that power, if it wasn't a combination of the two? Or... was it something else?

Too many questions, too little time. The countless circles gleamed, spitting out their deadly payload from every direction.

No choice. Either this, or go berserk. But she couldn't lose control, not now.

'...I don't know what you are or where you came from- but you two are here for a reason, right? I'm gonna need that miracle again!'

Luna flexed all her wings, reaching inward, down to those violet wings, and pulled on the connection there.


("I am you. I am me. I am truth, lies, life, death, reality, illusion, and everything in between. I am a steward of worlds, but a glance away.")

She stood there, the words echoing in her mind. She'd said back then that Ulan was... the embodiment of perception itself, right? But then how would she also be the canvas on which Creation was made? Perception was but a facet of Creation, so the two were not wholly compatible.

Was there another answer? There had to be. There was no other way to justify how Ulan could accept 'perception' as an answer to her identity.

No, not her identity. Her domain. Her identity was still something Luna was working out. But if the dreams she'd been having were correct, then there was much, much more to her patron's story.

Luna opened her eyes to the vibrant grasslands of her inner world, lifting them to the starry sky. Then, she turned to the black hole on the opposite side of the dawn, where the shard of Trihexa resided.

But was the black hole itself Trihexa's presence, or was it something else? Luna had been sure the black hole within her world was the corruptive taint's influence before, but now? Now she wasn't so sure.

The darkness had always been there, hadn't it? Even back when she first met Ulan, they were surrounded by the void.

Her feet lifted off the ground, approaching the gap that absorbed light itself, noting how the world around her grew gray as the brunette drew closer and closer to the event horizon.

Yet now, despite the feel of Trihexa looming around her, she paid no heed and dove deeper still, plunging into the darkness.

Though the animus of the Apocalypse Beast echoed around her, the darkness itself was quiet, comforting, as though welcoming an old friend home.

What laid beyond the rage and hatred of all living things, she wondered?

There was a brief moment where Luna felt the chains of Trihexa around her neck, but pushed the memory aside.

That thing wasn't here, and she had no intention of letting it in again.

What laid beyond life? Death? Truth? Lies? And everything in between?

What held countless worlds, and would hold countless more?

She reached out, and grasped onto the nothing that was there.

Perhaps it was time to find out.


Her violet wings pulsed, and around her, Ajuka's magic ceased to be. It was instantaneous; one moment, the arrays were bearing down on her, and the next they were gone.

The very same pulse caused Ajuka to freeze in place, the shattered sky around them vanishing more and more. The entire world was becoming undone with the force of their blows, but Luna couldn't find it in herself to care. It had served its purpose.

But if she couldn't - wouldn't - erase his Kankara Formula, maybe she could deal with his attacks instead?

Luna opened her eyes and glared up at the green-haired Maou.

Her body felt light. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but she felt good. Not happy, nor excited, like she had when she had been dancing with the Exorcists, but just... good.

HMM.

Even the fragment within her mind seemed mollified - for the moment - by whatever the third pair of wings had just done.

But as quickly as that feeling had washed over her, now it was draining away, her growing fatigue returning in its place.

Concerning? Maybe. Now wasn't the time to ponder.

Ajuka stared hard at the brunette. It had been years since she'd seen that look on his face; the look of curiosity. He didn't understand what it was that she had done. Luna was still trying to figure it out herself, but she could ask questions later.

Once more, the fabric of reality bent to her will, and the distance between them closed.

The dance of death continued. They dove, and weaved, and struck, green against brown, viridians against prisms, and when he cast a touch too slowly, Luna attempted to call upon those wings again.

To no avail.

She weaved herself away, and was immediately beset on all sides, a tsunami of spellfire that saturated the world around her.

'What am I missing?' Luna wondered frantically, warping again and again before gaining enough distance to breathe, silently thankful that even as the magics of every variety tracked her every blink, she was able to buy a moment of time.

She knew her wings could do more than just that! So why were they not working now!?

'Damn it, I can't use these things if I don't know their conditions!' the brunette swore, summoning a pane of folded space in front of her, parting the tsunami to either side as it split upon that pane. She dove a moment later as the attack rounded back upon her, propelled by Ajuka's Kankara Formula.

So she had wings of a beast that threatened to take control every time she overused Cataclysm Eclipse, a psionic bloodline that was running dry if her pounding headache was indication, and a pair of wings with some sort of magic-nulling power and an unknown use condition.

Luna wondered if she'd underestimated just how insanely powerful and experienced a Devil had to be in order to receive the Super Devil moniker.

But then how did the Shinto hold off Sirzechs and Ajuka both, for as long as they did and as well as they had? She knew she could beat Amaterasu, Susano'o, and Tsukuyomi, so why was she struggling against solely the green-haired Devil?

She was missing something. More than one thing. Something about her own abilities, and something about the Devils. And she was tiring, tiring far too quickly. She probably could have fought Ajuka evenly if she was fresh- but she'd come out of battle with the Seraphim, and they were no slouches either, especially when working together.

'Shit, I might not have what it takes...!' Luna's teeth grit at the prospect of just not having the stamina to take Sirzechs's right-hand man down. Or worse, being beaten in turn. 'No, not now. Not during the Dawn Legion's debut!'

USE ME!

And it was back too. She was getting really sick and tired of Trihexa butting in. Whether it was the amplified emotions, her Worldweave-induced migraine, or some mix of the two, she lost her temper.

'Shut the fuck up! Unless you mean to offer me advice that won't lead to you trying to take control, shove your comments up your sealed ass!'

Yet, the insistent demands of the fragment ceased all the same. The pressure on her mind from both her increasing fatigue and Cataclysm Eclipse remained, but at least now she didn't have to deal with that damned annoying voice in her head telling her to stop holding back on the Tainted Gear!

...It was a small comfort in the face of what seemed to await her, though.


Issei rose out of the rubble of the destroyed academy, hacking up the dust that had made its way into his lungs. He pounded his chest, shaking his head to clear it up as much as possible.

"Isai- cough- Isaiah!" he called, to which the rubble nearby shifted, an arm lifting some of the wreckage upward and to the side, the rest of the blond following that arm.

"I'm okay," Isaiah coughed back. "What about you?"

"...Could be better," he admitted, groaning as he lifted his draconic arm to his head, rubbing it roughly. "Ngh... I'm not sure how much more of this I can take."

"At this point, I'm more concerned about whether we can stop the fighting at all." The blond pointed upward. "Look."

The Red Dragon Emperor did, and immediately looked away with a cringe. The prismatic lights beyond the confines of their world - the Dimensional Gap? - did not play nice with the pounding in his head.

But he was able to see enough of what Isaiah meant. The gods were up there now, throwing around attacks that could level cities. He was sure Lunarunn was up there somewhere too.

"Damn it..." Issei hissed, shaking his head. "Fuck!"

"Issei, we need to reprioritize," the swordsman walked over and grabbed Issei's shoulder. "For now, let's look and see if anyone else is still out from the blast. We can't stop what's going on up there, but we can still save those who were trapped down here."

"Wise words, young man."

Issei and Isaiah spun to see Odin standing there, seemingly unperturbed by the mayhem above them, though the way Rossweisse wrung her hands was indicative of her own discomfort.

"Lord Odin," the blond bowed. "You honor me with your compliment."

"Bah, enough of the formalities." He waved off the bow. "Dragon boy, do you really think you could change what's going on up there the way you are now?"

Issei started, but paused. He wasn't in good shape- Georg had really done a number on him, and it took him, Isaiah, and Gasper to get past the master magician. Even then, Gasper had been knocked out and sent to Heaven-knows-where.

"Probably not," he admitted. "But- but I have to do something! If I don't-"

"Focus on what you can do," Odin interrupted Issei. "Do you think you could face Sirzechs Lucifer, even at your strongest?"

The Red Dragon Emperor paled at the thought. Maybe if he had Juggernaut Drive active right at the start he could take on Sirzechs, but the level of power Sirzechs stood at boggled the imagination.

That wasn't even going into the side-effects of spending his own life as a resource for nigh-unlimited Boosts.

Odin pointed upward. "In case you hadn't seen it, the Dark Moon's locked in battle with Ajuka Beelzebub - one of the most powerful individuals in existence, and as much Sirzechs's blood brother as Loki is mine. Neither of 'em are holding back- I may be powerful, but even I would struggle to best any of the three Devils still in the sky. Especially with the reveal of the girl's third pair of wings?"

"She's got a third pair?" Isaiah blinked. Issei did too, sharing a look with the blond; when had Lunarunn ever had more than the one, then the pair from her 'Tainted Gear'?

"Aye, took me by surprise too. Last time I saw 'em was back when-" Odin froze, his face immediately settling into a scowl.

"Lord Odin?" Rossweisse inquired.

"I remember those wings," he muttered. "I've seen 'em somewhere before. Pretty sure I've spoken with the person who had those exact same pair. So why do I not remember their name or face?"

"Maybe it's just been too long, so you've forgotten?" Issei offered.

Odin's back stiffened, the already heavy air growing heavier with the Allfather's irritation. "I do not forget, Hyoudou Issei. To this day, I remember every life, every blade of grass, that Frigg drew a promise from to not harm Balder. I remember Yahweh, and the depths of the power that put even Great Red to shame."

His expression darkened. "Yet this individual? It is as if their very identity was purged from memory itself. Something sinister is afoot."

"What about Trihexa?" Issei tried, stepping forward. "I've seen It before. It's definitely strong enough, could that be the reason?"

"Trihexa is a creature of mad destruction - a beast made to destroy worlds. I remember a time it ran rampant, and it was not an 'intelligent' one." The Allfather shook his head. "Trihexa may obliterate an individual, aye, but to remove them so utterly that even Mimir's knowledge cannot identify the individual from whence those wings originated? To do that would require a tier of power to match Yahweh Himself, and an intellect capable enough to be that thorough."

"And Trihexa isn't that smart?" Isaiah guessed.

"Rage is a power in and of itself. Many an einherjar is able to tap into it to empower themselves - but it comes at a cost. Reason being the foremost; it is that same lack of reason that prevents Trihexa from undoing Yahweh's seal."

Issei frowned, but he could see what Odin meant. In none of his visions did his encounters with Trihexa indicate that it was a creature capable of reason. It sought to destroy, yes, but not... erase.

Sort of like Lunarunn now, now that he thought about it.

But another vision rose to the surface- about a man who seemed so very tired of the world. Who cared so little that he didn't even realize he'd murdered everyone that Issei had loved.

Who had spoken but a single word, and the brunet had dropped dead.

"...What if someone could control Trihexa, though? Or channel its power?" he asked, voice low.

Odin stared at Issei, then looked back up where blasts of magic met flares of sunlight and spots of endless darkness.

"Then Lunarunn is more dangerous than any of us could possibly imagine," the Allfather finished, voice grim.

"Then... you'll help fight against her?" he asked, unsure.

"No." Odin peered ahead. "Not until I can see for myself the type of individual she truly is."

"Then you're sitting on the fence?" Isaiah guessed, getting a nod from the Norse leader.

"I want no part in Ragnarok. However... what path leads to Ragnarok eludes me at this time." He frowned. "With proximity comes clarity, and yet I cannot see what allying myself with the Worldweaver would result in."

"So you're gonna do nothing?" Issei demanded.

"Again, my vision fails me but rarely. But I can say one thing for certain;" Odin fixed Issei with his singular gaze. "Reckless action truly will bring about Ragnarok. I cannot risk such, especially now of all times."

The brunet had to bite down his response. Odin wasn't going to do anything? Then what was the point of him being here?!

He turned his head to see someone sprinting by, panting heavily. Isaiah recognized them first.

"Xenovia?"


Xenovia stirred, coughing heavily as she fought off the dust that had covered her form, rising to a sitting position and staring wide-eyed at the destruction around her.

The entire building was just... gone. From a single stroke from one of the gods that had been inhabiting it.

It was one thing to know of such power, but another to see it entirely.

If it hadn't been for her superiors taking action, she would have-

She bolted up to her feet, whirling around with wide eyes. "Father Dulio! Father Vasco! Mother Griselda-!"

For a long moment, she forgot to breathe. There, flanked by a battered Ubermensch and a Zenith Tempest wielder with blood dripping from his hair, laid...

"Mother Griselda!" she cried, running for the prone Exorcist, kneeling next to her, before looking at Vasco and Dulio. "W-what happened?"

"Indra happened," Vasco rumbled, grimacing. "He blew the entire building apart. We... did the best we could, but we weren't able to fully block the blast-"

"I know that!" she snapped, uncaring about the disrespect at this moment. "Why is Mother not moving?! Why does she look like she's-"

She froze, leaning in to hear Griselda's heartbeat.

Xenovia felt the world around her grow light, almost dreamlike.

"Because she is," Dulio said, softly, closing his eyes as he tilted their compatriot's head to the side.

There was so much red that had been covered by Griselda's hair. So much.

Too much. Too much-

"...How...?" she croaked out.

"I... don't know for certain," Dulio admitted, looking up at one of the remaining pieces of wall that hadn't been blown away by Indra- and the trail of red that ran down it. "But I can take a guess."

"Is-is this a sick joke?" The blue-haired exorcist placed her fingers on the Mother's - her mother's - neck, desperate for a pulse. She could hear her own, but she couldn't feel anything- "This can't- can't be real, can it? You all were fighting! And doing fine!"

"Not... quite." Vasco admitted, looking down. "I have fought my fair share of powerhouses. I can tell when I am not being faced with my foes' full breadth of might." His eyes squinted shut, and despite his powerful frame the old man truly looked his age for a long moment. "That woman- the Devil that incited all this- she could have killed us at any time. Maybe... maybe this is the price of our hubris."

Xenovia stilled. They had been... so easily outmatched? How? How? How could the world be like this?

'The price of our hubris...?'

"We... we could still do something, right?" she asked, breathless, only faintly realizing she'd begun to tremble.

Dulio stared into the sky, voice calm. "I could use Balance Breaker. Maybe even Breakdown the Beast, if the situation calls for it."

Too calm. Xenovia could feel the grief and anger in his voice.

Vasco's head shot over to the younger Exorcist. "Dulio, no. You know what that will do to you."

The other Exorcist's calm facade quickly broke. "We have to do something, Vasco! What good is God's gift to me if I don't use it to stop this madness?"

"Gesualdo!" the Ubermensch barked. "I know better than most the desire to use your power to lay waste to those that hurt you! If you succumb to that rage now, then there is no telling what you may become!"

"Then are we just supposed to walk away with our friend's corpse!?" Dulio spat back, teeth grit and eyes watering as he gestured to Griselda. "She's dead, Vasco! She's gone! We can't just turn the other cheek, not when that Devil's trying to destroy everything we've been working so hard for! We have to stop her, here and now!"

Xenovia felt numb. She heard Dulio's words, but she couldn't - wouldn't - acknowledge them.

Griselda couldn't be dead. She couldn't. Not from something as simple as an extra bit of wall!

And yet...

Back before it all happened, when Xenovia ran into the summit's main negotiations hall, Indra had been looking at her.

He had been looking at her before he made that attack.

Her body felt like ice.

"It's... my fault," the words slipped from her lips, words that both Dulio and Vasco overheard despite their argument.

The two males stopped and turned to face the bluenette. "Xenovia?"

"I-it's my fault," she repeated, trembling. "I... I ran into a room where I knew a fight had broken out, and Indra looked at me, and- and he went and charged that attack. He knew- he knew that you three would-" Xenovia's shoulders hunched as she stared at the fallen form of the woman who had helped raise her.

"Xenovia," Vasco put a hand on her shoulder. "It was our choice- we knew that would put us on the back foot, but we chose to anyway."

Her head snapped up to Vasco, brimming with unshed tears. "But he knew you would! If I'd just been more careful, then Mother Griselda would still-"

Xenovia's breath caught. If she'd just been more careful. If she hadn't gotten so defensive over that blond's insinuations regarding the Church. If she had just kept a cooler head, then the Mother wouldn't be...

Dead.

She shouldn't be taking this so hard. That just meant that Mother Griselda would be resting peacefully in Heaven, didn't it?

But yet, even Dulio was losing his cool, and he'd been in close contact with Michael, who was the current face of Heaven.

Dulio even said it himself.

Griselda was gone.

Gone.

And if Father Dulio said that, then...

It was her fault.

Her fault.

Her fault.

Her fault-

Xenovia slipped out of Vasco's grip on her shoulder, spinning around and running, heedless of the calls behind her.

Where? She didn't care.

She just had to get away.

She had to get away from it all

She needed to run.

Run-

Get away.

Get back.

She couldn't breathe.

She couldn't breathe-

A hand closed around her arm.

The bluenette lost her balance- what little she had left, anyway.

KRRRSH!

Xenovia could feel the rubble digging into her skin- not drawing blood like it would for usual humans, but it still hurt.

"Ngh-!"

She rose, head swiveling robotically to find the cause of her fall, before seeing... the Red Dragon Emperor, battered and bloodied. He groaned, one (draconic) arm against his head...

His other hand, though, laid in front of him.

Had he tried grabbing her?

Why?

"Agh... my head," he groaned, before looking up, stilling when their eyes met. "...Xenovia. What happened?"

"Nothing. Nothing happened." The words were hollow, she knew, but she couldn't find it in herself to care. She turned to leave, but froze as a hand clasped around her arm again. Her gaze returned, a demand on her tongue for him to release her.

"Xenovia..." Issei repeated, bowing his head slightly, as though acknowledging the demand that didn't come.

Yet neither his eyes nor his hand left her.

He stated simply. "I don't know what happened, but it's clearly not... nothing."

Her other hand rose to her face, lightly brushing one cheek before pulling away, staring down at her fingers, feeling the way they were... wet. There was red there, dust too, but it was mixed with a clear fluid.

Oh.

Issei's eyes squeezed shut, but he opened them again, voice quiet. "Why are you running?"

'To get away.'

Xenovia froze. To get away. But... that wouldn't... change anything, would it?

Even Dulio was enraged- not just saddened, but angry.

Griselda Quarta was dead.

Her mother...

'Father... Oh, God...'

The rubble dug into her knees again as her body started to tremble again, something forcing its way up and out her throat.

A pair of arms wrapped around her as her head came to rest against a firm, strong shoulder, coaxing out that vile feeling that had been roiling inside.

Xenovia didn't really know him... but with the whole world turned upside down, she desperately needed someone to hold on to.

So she did, burying her face in Issei's shoulder as she wept.


Lunarunn screamed, a white-hot poker lancing through her skull as she unleashed her strongest chain of nuclear detonations yet.

The Bounded Space claimed by her and Ajuka's duel, now clearly within the Dimensional Gap save a few remaining patches of false sky, lit up with a rosary of supernovas, converging on the green-haired Devil. He responded with Id-infused mana, a spellfire flood of such biblical proportions that even the chaotic, corrosive atmosphere of the Gap was washed away.

So too was both the Worldweaver and the balls of solar fire, the latter blasting off into the endless prismatic abyss while the former was driven into a shattered mountaintop.

She could feel something behind her dig into her skin. Her ribs kept it from piercing anything vital, but she didn't need to look back to know that she was bleeding.

It hurt. It hurt badly. The frustration of not being able to overcome Ajuka, the fact that he seemed to have no remorse for following Sirzechs to her detriment, the whispers from near-overuse of Cataclysm Eclipse, the lack of responsiveness from the pair of wings that would have been her salvation... the lack of responsiveness from Ulan.

Luna was fighting for her life out here, and she was losing. At least with Kokabiel it had been an even match, but here? Would the being that brought her into this world stay away, even as she was ripped away from it?

Too many questions. Too few answers. Too many hurdles. Too many disappointments. It hurt.

But there was no room to cry, so instead the brunette's fury continued to crescendo. With it, she shrieked back out of the crater formed by her impact, weaving and Weaving her way back into the Super Devil's face.

His gaze coldly met her's as another barrier blocked Cataclysm Eclipse. The green orbs narrowed as he scrutinized her for a bare moment, then sent her flying.

This time, Luna was ready, stabilizing her flight midway before Weaving away, avoiding another devastating flurry of spells in the process. Her hand jabbed out, clenched into a claw as she tried to grasp onto the blood vessels of the Devil and tear them all out through his skin.

Yet when she did, Worldweave was unable to enact those changes, and all she got from her attempt was another lance of pain, this time with something hot leaking out over her upper lip as her hand shot to her head.

Against someone with enough strength and conceptual weight, she wouldn't be able to kill them the same way she could a typical person. Her current opponent was far and away beyond that threshold.

Or maybe he was doing something to negate Worldweave itself- he had had plenty of time to study it when she was younger.

How could she have been so foolish? So naive?

Her blood, already boiling, grew hotter still.

"Did you really think that trying to displace my organs would get you anywhere? Clearly, you are losing your touch," Ajuka tilted his head. "Either that, or you are getting desperate."

"Shut up," she hissed, wiping away the blood coming from her nose as her eyes took in the Super Devil. "Shut up, you don't get to talk."

"Really now?" He smirked mirthlessly. "Then you will have to make me."

Cocksure. Unrepentant. Unwilling to make his own choices.

Unwilling to take responsibility.

If he wasn't so powerful, then that could be forgiven.

But as he was?

KILL HIM! Trihexa roared.

On that, she agreed.

Ajuka couldn't be allowed to live. He had to die. Even if the only option was to push even further with Cataclysm Eclipse and deal with the consequences later...

He had to die.

Luna's head snapped up, and she bellowed again, the hideous choker around her neck pulsating with glee as it glut itself upon her Ira.

The next moment, a distorted wing of the Tainted Gear extended, shooting across the distance between them as though launched by a railgun.

The green-haired Devil's eyes widened fractionally as his next barrier shattered under the raw power of the impact. The following wide swing smashed Ajuka in the side, his body blasting through the void, followed by an erratic streak of red.

She didn't let up, feeding more and more of her anger into Cataclysm Eclipse, letting it produce more to feed on as the cursed wings shot forth again and again, her weaponized rage feeding into itself more and more. Luna wasn't strong enough, but she had to win. A single moment would mean everything, and she couldn't die here. She couldn't be beaten, she couldn't fall, she couldn't break. Not here, not now, not until it was all over!

He had to die, he had to die, he had to die, die, d̴̢̖̯̼̿̒͂͝i̵̛̬͓̰̝̎̍e̸̘͕̓͝,̶̢̡͙̪͑͂͛ ̸͓͖͍̿̚͝D̸̼͕͆͒̆̿I̵̙͓͊̈E̸̡̗͋͜,̸̣̞́̔̓̐ ̶̮̱̃͑D̵̞̲͊Ḯ̵͕͎̼E̸̯͕̅̿͠-!


Jaspal stumbled, body hitting the wall as she struggled to regain her balance, grimacing as a wave of nausea rolled over..

It was an action unbecoming of her, one that was quickly noticed.

"Financier!" A tech broke off from directing one of his subordinates, followed by those same individuals. He reached out to help her back on her feet, but she held out a hand.

"I- I'm fine."

"Then..." the technician trailed off as Jaspal rose back to full height, though her face was marred with a look of deep concern.

"Get back to work. We need to ensure contingencies."

The techs who had run up to support her nodded slowly and took their leave. Once they did, Jaspal lifted a hand to her breast, where the Evil Piece within her resided, ruby eyes shifting over to the holographic globe, and the convergence of power in Japan, flickering as though not wholly there.

She wouldn't be able to explain what happened, but Jaspal knew exactly why she stumbled.

That had been the same darkness she'd experienced before. Back when she was younger- weaker. But as quickly as it came...


...

It was gone.

Her rage, the whispers, even the feeling of the shard in the back of her mind, feeding her battle rage to a point of madness, gone without a trace.

All she could feel was... nothing. No anger, no pain, just a blank slate.

Yet she could still think. What happened?

Luna stared down at the bloodied form of Ajuka, his palm outstretched toward her, a magical circle within it. It seemed her little berserk phase had actually done damage, if the way one arm hung at his side as though manipulated by strings and the blood flowing down the side of his head was any indication.

In that moment, she glanced back, seeing the Tainted Gear disappearing into wisps of black smoke, unable to maintain their presence any longer without her anger to fuel it.

Oh. He'd managed to hit her with a compulsion. But it wasn't like the ones she had trained to resist- or was it? She wasn't sure.

But whatever it was, it had stopped her cold.

Then the magical circle in Ajuka's hand expanded.

Her world exploded into a hellscape of spellfire.

Yet, it didn't hurt.

Maybe he'd numbed her to the pain too? To keep her from using that?

It seemed as good an explanation as any. Even as her body was engulfed in fire, ice, acid, lightning, and everything in between, even as it seemed like time slowed to a crawl once more, she felt none of it.

But she was dying. She just knew. She had to move, she had to get out of this, she had to get away...

But her body refused to respond. She couldn't run.

There are some things you just can't run from.

Was this the price of her hubris?

Luna thought she had been strong enough. She almost had been.

But she wasn't.

But even with her anger gone, a simple fact still remained.

He has to die.

Yet, the anger was gone. The taint no longer empowered her.

But without that, what did she have? A power that she didn't know how to use, and another power she did know how to use- but Ajuka knew that one too.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

She was no fool. Luna knew that if she fell, the Dawn Legion would too. Everything she'd built would amount to nothing.

Was it her fate to die alone, to have all her work undone?

She should have died ages ago.

Whether that was as Sol, the human hit by a truck, or as Luna, the Devil who accidentally gave her soul to an outer being.

A soul without a home, or a home without a soul.

But here she was. She was still alive.

Dying, but not dead.

She wasn't dead yet.

Not for a few more moments- instants.

But what could she do?

The world went dark.


LIVE.

That... did not sound like Trihexa. Something was... different.

Though how was she supposed to live when she was being disintegrated?

Luna looked down at her body- the way her body, even in this world, was breaking apart. Reflective of her physical form? Or something more insidious?

EMBRACE.

...No. She would not give control to Trihexa again. She had nothing to give, anyway.

MISTAKEN.

As if. Luna would rather die than give It her soul.

BUT YOU MUST LIVE.

'Not like that.' Not as a puppet.

YOU WILL DIE.

'Everyone dies.'

ALL THINGS DIE IN TIME.

BUT YOUR TIME IS NOT NOW.

'Keeping me alive to release It?'

She turned her head to glare side-eyed at the black hole behind her.

YES AND NO.

It was at that moment, that she realized the voice didn't come from the black hole.

ALL THINGS DIE.

RELEASE IS INEVITABLE.

A beat followed. There wasn't much time left. Even now, Luna's vision was starting to gray, her body from the waist down gone.

Even so, it was more peaceful than she expected.

BUT THIS WORLD IS FROZEN.

IT WILL NOT MOVE ON.

IT WILL NOT LET GO.

Was the fragment of the Apocalypse Beast suggesting the world should have died long ago?

YES AND NO.

'What kind of non-answer is that?'

ONE YOU MUST SURVIVE TO UNDERSTAND.

Which goes back to the question: how?

YOU MUST LIVE.

THAT IS ALL.

Yet Ajuka had bested her- tagged her with a spell that kept her in place long enough to take a point-blank prismatic blast. There wasn't anything more she could do.

THERE IS.

YOU SAY YOU ACCEPT DEATH?

'No, not at all!' All things die, but she couldn't- not just yet-

She stared down at her disappearing form, eyes widening slightly as she realized that her body had disintegrated to the point where the white-and-prismatic wings she had known for so long had dissolved as well.

Only the violet wings remained.

She should have been scared. Terrified, even.

Instead, all Luna felt was exhaustion.

She was so tired of it all.

THEN DEFY DEATH.

How?

YOU ALREADY HAVE. MORE THAN ONCE. YOU KNOW HOW.

'I...'

ALL THINGS DIE. ALL. THINGS.

A flicker of nothing sparked where her anger should have been. She could feel its absence, prompting her to answer stiffly. "Then no matter what I do, I'm a goner?"

NO.

SOLSTADT BROWN IS DEAD. LUNARUNN BAEL IS DEAD.

Wait, it knew about her previous life-?

BUT LUNARUNN NONAME? THERE IS STILL A PLACE FOR HER.

Not for long, at this rate. Everything below her neck, save for the violet wings, was now gone.

THEN BECOME SOMETHING NEW.

SOMETHING GREATER.

Once again, it led to the big question: how?

Luna's eyes closed of their own accord, the soothing darkness wrapping around her as she knew that they too had disappeared.

ALL THINGS END.

In the darkness, someone stepped into view. If she still had eyes, Luna's would have widened, for more than one reason. Even so, surprise radiated throughout her fading being.

The individual smiled.

BUT YOU STILL HAVE A PURPOSE IN THIS WORLD. SO TAKE IT.


Prismatic eyes snapped open.


It didn't make sense to Ajuka.

Panting softly, he lowered his hand. The dissolving body of the young Devil he'd once tutored during his experiments on her bloodline drifted away in the void of the Dimensional Gap.

He wasn't sure why Sirzechs had done this.

Oh, the Super Devil trusted Sirzechs. More than anything else, really. He hadn't lied to Lunarunn when he said that. But even he wondered what this was all for. It didn't make sense. Having Serafall and him turn their backs on the younger Devil right when she'd need them most? Asking them to cut themselves off entirely? Letting a Devil with clearly incredible potential struggle and strain under the pressure their society had placed upon her for being an upstart commoner until she broke?

He still remembered when Serafall came in with the bodies of two wounded Nekoshou and one similarly injured heiress, with a report of a wrecked office space and the pervasive feeling of Trihexa staining the entire place.

He'd gone there himself to confirm. It was definitely there- but there was something else too.

Then there was the 'Evil Essence' as Mephisto dubbed it, which reeked of fell magic from an age long since passed. It didn't take long for Ajuka to deduce where, exactly, it came from.

It reminded him of the Demons, to be quite frank. But even so, he couldn't put his finger on which one.

Ajuka was truly impressed. In fifteen short years, Lunarunn had gone from a mere Underworld fugitive to the leader of a clandestine organization of her own making. More impressive still was how she was able to walk into the Summit, denounce it, and proceed to tear the whole thing apart.

He still wondered if Sirzechs had that in mind when she appeared. Was it, perhaps, an opportunity to bind the Abrahamics further together still by giving them a common enemy? Or had she just gone and kicked over their Tower of Babel for no reason but her own?

Sirzechs had become rather difficult to read, even for him. But Ajuka could tell that even his blood-brother had been surprised with the ease of which Luna had done just that.

She even pushed the green-haired Super Devil to the near limit. Him, the second most powerful Devil alive. Ajuka held the suspicion that, had she been at full capacity and not fought both the strongest Exorcists and then the strongest Angels immediately afterward, she could have gone evenly with Ajuka himself.

He even had to resort to using one of those sickening compulsions that Serafall had insisted they all know, just to snap the brunette out of her rampage.

The Super Devil ignored the way using such a spell made his body itch for a bath. Yet, in the face of what had been increasingly an avatar of Trihexa, he'd had no choice.

But her Id signature, minute though it was, had by now faded away.

It was finished.

Lunarunn Bael was dead.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this."

He bowed his head and closed his eyes. Even if she was an enemy, even if she was someone who he had betrayed, someone he made into an enemy, he respected her for what she had managed to accomplish in her short life. She deserved that much, at least, in death.

Ajuka turned away to spread the news. Perhaps now, the fighting would stop.

But as the communication array spun to life in front of him, he heard a voice from behind.

"...But still not sorry about what you did, huh?"

The Super Devil spun back around, firing off another tidal wave of magic toward what he had initially thought was a corpse.

But as the magic blasted forth, the wings on the body flared, a violet wave washing over the magic, then him.

The magic sputtered out, and Ajuka himself felt his reserves deplete- significantly at that.

Then, the body started twitching, followed by a wingbeat, the head of the Devil lolling forward, hanging down, shading her eyes.

"What?!" Ajuka's eyes widened. He'd seen that wave before, when he had her surrounded, but it hasn't happened again until now. Moreover, it wasn't just his unleashed magic this time, but even his internal stores. Were the conditions that she had to be close to death? Or-

"I was hoping that you'd apologize for everything, since you'd have nothing to gain at that point." Dust gathered around where an arm used to be, and became one once more, reformed fingers running through her hair. "Unfortunately, you disappointed me yet again."

This didn't make sense. She was dead. Her body had been dissolving just moments ago, what changed?

"How?" he asked, incredulous. "You shouldn't still be alive."

"Yeah. I shouldn't be." Luna exhaled, voice low and scratchy. "But I guess God decided it ain't my time yet. Not as 'beautiful' as Dante Allighieri made Him out to be, though."

What was she on about? Was she suggesting He was still alive?

Just what was going on?!

Luna held out her arm. "That look doesn't fit on your face."

Her head snapped up, and where a blank gaze had once stood, now something else was there, even if his spell hadn't expired.

Purpose shone from a flat, deathly neutral stare. "Let me fix it for you."

Violet lanced out from the enclosed fist. Ajuka, on instinct, summoned his Kankara Formula array to block the attack, already moving away.

When the Formula array shattered, the beam shearing through his already-wounded arm, the Super Devil's mind whirled a million miles a minute.

That didn't make sense. That was magic, he was sure of it- how had his formula not taken hold?!

A moment later, and Lunarunn was close once more, radiating that violet - magic? Aura? But even being close to it made Ajuka's stomach churn, as though his reserves were being stripped away from him by her very proximity.

No, not stripped away- destroyed. Not even the Dimensional Gap was this corrosive!

Just what happened? Did she awaken some sort of subspecies of the Power of Destruction?

No, not with those wings- those weren't the wings of Bael-

Ajuka froze again, the sheer impossibility of what was before him allowing his foe to swipe her arms out. The violet aura tore outward, his reserves depleting at rates he had never thought possible, yelling out from the agony of having his very Id stolen away.

But by what? By what!? Even if those were the wings and powers of a Demon, how was she able to bypass his Kankara formula? How wasn't he able to make sense of what this power was?

'Focus!' He snapped at himself internally, recovering quickly. 'So the Kankara formula doesn't work- that's fine, I can just-'

"What's the matter?" Luna whispered, head tilted and noses practically touching. "You were doing so well just a minute ago."

He hadn't even seen her move.

Ajuka's arm - the one that still moved - met her stomach, but even as the impact rippled throughout the brunette, she didn't flinch. Nor did magic pierce her through. All he got from it was a grunt.

It was as if the magic had disappeared entirely. Gone without a trace.

"...Is that really it?" Ajuka's head snapped back after Luna smashed into it, letting out another yell as cartilage crunched.

But unlike with most attacks - where his physical form would only show the extent of the damage inflicted on him in comparison to his conceptual weight, this time he didn't just bleed, but bled.

His nose broke, and vitae spilled from him- a ways away, he could feel the pulse of alarm from his blood-brother. Sirzechs could feel what was happening. He'd been injured before- the arm was indicative of such. But there was a vast difference between wounded and savaged, one that in mere moments Lunarunn had forced him to cross.

Ajuka's body was, for the first time in centuries, if not millennia, running low on Id and magic. At this rate, he would-

His thoughts blanked out as a fist struck his own gut, body bending. "You call yourself a warrior, but you've grown soft."

Luna's arm snapped up, as did Ajuka's as her elbow smashed into his chin. "Complacent."

Metal and skin slapped down on both sides of the Super Devil, reeling back as his head rang. "Callous."

Something snapped out from the prosthetic, glowing purple. Luna threw her arm to the other side of her body. "Ignorant."

The Super Devil's vision went dark, and he screamed, hand going up to his destroyed eyes, confusion leading to panic, in turn leading to a lapse in his self-control. A moment later, his back slammed against some sort of stone, something sharp piercing that hand and pinning it to the ground before he could.

His dwindling supplies of Id reached to trigger one of the many, many contingencies he had in place in case something like this happened- they were in the Dimensional Gap now, there was no chance she could still have a ward in place to stop teleportation-

That attempted connection winked out, snuffed like a match without any more fuel to draw on.

Even the contingency switches he had in place to do the same, in case his magic was nullified, none of them worked.

Why did none of them work? He still had magic, it was all internal, so why did each one flicker out whenever they triggered?

"Sad." He couldn't see her anymore, but he could feel her. Feel the way she still drained at his essence, the way her presence stood above him. Just like he could feel Sirzechs's presence explode in the distance, trying to break away from Indra- yet he could feel the Indian god powering up to match. To keep him busy, even as the Shinto gods fell away, unable to keep up now that those two were exchanging blows near the pinnacle of their power. Just like he could feel the walls closing in- his options rapidly closing.

"I never wanted this," the brunette said, a simple statement of fact. "Yet for all your declarations of wanting change, for all your vaunted 'advancements', you don't even seem to care."

She tilted her head and rose back to her feet, something clicking in the blade that pinned his hand to the ground. Did she detach the blade from her prosthetic? "You're afraid to make your own choices. So instead, you let Sirzechs make all the decisions for you, rather than think and act for yourself. Without care of who you've hurt in the process."

The self-proclaimed 'Monster-devouring Monster' held her hand over the green-haired Devil's ravaged form.

She closed her eyes and sighed, softly.

"Ajuka Beelzebub... you are a monster."

At that moment, his reserves ran dry.

He had contingencies upon contingencies. Wards, alarms, kill switches.

But none of them worked.

Yet in that moment, he couldn't grasp onto any of them. He didn't have enough energy for a teleportation array- he should have been able to get away. To escape, and live to fight another day.

That moment, it clicked.

He understood now, what the power Lunarunn had suddenly uncovered was.

Sirzech's aura flared, a last-ditch effort to stop Lunarunn. But she was too far, and even that cost Sirzechs a bolt of divine lightning to the side of his head.

Lunarunn's conjured spear, of a deepest, deadliest violet, pierced Ajuka's body clean through.


A/N:

Exposition, rage mode Luna, a near-death experience, and a Satan getting bodied.

Yeah, I left it there. Also, just before anyone comments, there's a reason for the comeback.

Already a fairly large chapter, and it's been long enough since I last posted, so...

Tempura Wizard out!