Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter, and providing feed backs.
Special mention to DJman248 for noticing the breadcrumbs of clue I left with Riser Phenex, even if you didn't guess right what's going on with him this time.
:)
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
To those who never step their feet out of the border of their hometown and villages except to sell their produce, they would likely conjure up the image that the griffin spine mountain range to be a loud, brutal, and completely chaotic place. Since they would only know griffin when their home gets raided by these monsters. But any adventurer who is experienced enough to receive a quest from the guild to actually go into their sanctuary, they would find the place to be quite serene normally. While there are certainly a hint of nature's brutality with the typical cycle of life, most of the time they follow a strict order of hierarchy similar to a human society where the wingless demigryph lives on the border to predate on other monsters (and the occasional human who get lost in the mountain, or unlucky adventurers who encounter them), with green winged and dirt colored furred full blood griffin living on tall peaks, and the white and golden royal griffins living near their monarch to act as their royal guards and commanders.
The last demigryph falls onto the ground with a dying scream as Kyrie looks at her handiwork with a smile of self-satisfaction. She can feel both herself, and her weapon grows progressively stronger even if she knows the Shield Demon is still out of her reach. There's rumor that he managed to briefly fight Pope Balmus, one of the strongest clerics under the sun to a brief standstill, and she knows that the so-called 'heroes' did manage to defeat Pope Balmus together. She knows that she still has a long way to go before she can catch up on them.
"This is the third demigryph hunting party you took down, Kyrie. I think it's time for us to leave, less we incur the wrath of the griffin kings." Kyrie turns her head around and sees Reiner emerge from the bush to the side. Personally, she feels Reiner tends to air on the overly cautious side too often. It probably comes with him being trained for an unspeakable field agent since youth. But his caution does pair well with her own drive for action, and his advice has gotten her out of quite some crisis in the past. Oh well, the demigryph was a good source of experience points for herself and her companions, but they are also highly territorial and well- organized. She knows not to get foolishly greedy and ends up being hunted by entire kingdoms of flying beasts.
"Yes. Perhaps you are right, Reiner. Very well. We shall prepare to break camp and find a new hunting ground." Kyrie puts her ax on her waist and prepares to follow her surrogate brother's advice. But she notices something about Reiner. His eyes look slightly to the side, and unfocused. That's a look she knows well, and it's never a good sign when Reiner looks like this. "Is something wrong? Signs of griffins converging on us? Or maybe even sightings of demons?"
"Nothing that serious... yet." Reiner's eyes regain their focus but still unsure. He scratches his own beard as he looks over at her. "I have been checking out the seal to the Spirit Tortoise Guardian Beast while you were busy raising your levels. I didn't want to accidentally damage it, and release Gaia's guardian of the world. But there are recent signs that people have been there. I don't know what their intentions are, but it's never good when us civilized men start tempering with the power of Gaia."
Kyrie's first instinct was that Reiner mistaken signs of wild beasts for humans, but she quickly discards her doubts. Monsters have much stronger resonance, and instinctual respect towards their protector than humans, so they would not get too close to one of Gaia's holy sites lest they desecrate it by accident. Plus as a seasoned scout, Reiner knows how to differentiate marks left behind by beasts and humans. Immediately, her mind goes back to the last Wave of Catastrophe from sixty years ago, when supposedly the last Shield Demon was resurrected as the aspect of Gaia. "You think it has something to do with the Shield Demon?"
"The Shield Hero is at the capital, getting ready to welcome the second regiment of the heroes' retinue. I don't think he's the culprit." Kyrie fights back a snort. Reiner might have been trained since youth as an Unspeakable field agent, but he can also be rather naive. He didn't even think about a Cardinal Hero's ability to teleport. "I think we should leave some sentinels behind even if we retreat from Griffin's Spine. If the seal for the Guardian Beast is broken... it'll truly be a catastrophe for everyone in the world."
Chapter 35: God, Devil, Hero
"Protect the Cardinal Heroes!" Malty didn't hesitate as she immediately pointed the broken Star Wand at the fire devil lord. She doubts her magic is going to do much against Riser Phenex. That has already been proven since their last encounter. She used her fire spell in an attempt to detonate the ice Riser Phenex covered over his body as his armor and weapon. But instead of hurting the fire devil lord, she ended up hurting the four Cardinal Heroes more. It still doesn't mean that she isn't going to try to help them against this new enemy.
As for the fire devil lord... he didn't even dignify Malty with a response. With the same smirk he always carried on his face, he dashes out of the crater he created, straight at the three Cardinal Heroes in front of him... and in front of everyone. Perhaps he's trying to take advantage of the Sword Hero's absence, or maybe he's trying to close the distance on the Bow Hero. Not that Itsuki managed to cause him any trouble during their last battle. Before Malty, or anyone else had a chance to do anything, Riser Phenex had already moved in front of the Shield Hero who was standing in the middle. Their noses are close enough to touch each other, which forces Naofumi to lean back out of instinct. The smirk on Riser Phenex's face grows deeper as he brings his hand up over his shoulder, like he's trying to pull something out of the emptiness from behind his back. To Malty's (and likely many other's) surprise, he kind of did: a sudden wave of darkness is pulled force from Riser Phenex's back like a cloak, wrapping around himself and the three Cardinal Heroes until there's nothing of them left, but a singularity that seems to devour everything include the light. Malty has no idea what happened, did the fire devil lord... kill the three Cardinal Heroes, or did he imprison them (and... himself?) somewhere else so they can no longer stop the Burning Legion.
Before everyone, a second figure falls down from the sky. The dark dark suit wearing devil stands atop of empty space above the singularity Riser Phenex whisked the heroes away. He actually gives them all a courteous bow as he turns three hundred and sixty degrees around before he begins to speak. "Sorry not, companions, followers and allies of this world's heroes. My college has merely borrowed the three Cardinal Heroes. They will be returned shortly."
"The heroes are still alive! All is not yet lost! The devil had an accomplice stand guard around this seal he created. He must have taken the three cardinal heroes inside with him!" Seeing the people around her begin to panic for the sudden disappearance of the heroes, Malty quickly takes charge of the situation. As the holder of the Star Wand, Malty knows that she needs to be the first to jump into the Cardinal Hero's defense regardless that her hero weapon is broken. She quickly raises her hand, and prepares another one of her fire spells. Her fire attack proved to be useless against Riser Phenex, but perhaps it's because he is a fire devil himself. Fire... and the light it produces have long been thought to purify evil in many cultures after all. Maybe it would have more effect on this new devil who seems to have a stronger affinity against the dark.
Even as Malty charges up her attack, she sees Sir Oersted do the same from the opposite side as the golden light construct of Princess Alethea begins to appear in front of him. The young Gallian knight had personally followed, and protected the Shield Hero throughout the majority of the Three Heroes Church's rebellion, and he seems just as eager to jump to Naofumi's rescue now as he was before. The dark wearing devil turns his body halfway, so he's not having his back facing the miracle casting Gallian knight, and he points a finger at the young knight. Much to Malty and Oersted's complete shock and dismay, the golden effigy of his princess lover begins to disperse before the attack could even be fired. The young knight is left dumbfounded as he looks in front of him, clearly not expecting a devil to be able to interrupt, if not to dispel a Chief God's miracle. He's lucky that the darkly dressed devil didn't decide to follow up on his moment of surprise and attack since he is completely defenseless. "How, how can this be?!"
Malty still doesn't know who this second devil is, but she feels lucky that he didn't target her first. To be able to accomplish what he did, suggest the darkly dressed devil to be another high ranking lord like Riser Phenex. Oersted's attack is a new miracle of his own making, and has no long term faith as other, more established miracles. Therefore, it would have been easier to be interrupted, but it's still not an easy feat for a devil to disrupt a spell that was bestowed by the pantheon. And if he had done the same to her fire spell, the sudden and unexpected shift of her internal magic circulation would send a shock into her body that leaves her paralyzed, if not straight killing her.
But he could still do so now, and Malty feels sweat running down her face as she deliberate the choice of sending her attack out prematurely or risk being hurt to continue charging it up. She suddenly feels something lean on her arm, and realizes Flare had pointed her own magical staff over the Star Wand, lending her own immense reserve to Malty. Normally, it would be a good thing to have a fellow mage share the load of casting a high powered spell especially with her damaged heart. But Flare's lack of control makes Malty think she would be doing the opposite of helping, since she's currently trying to condense her fire into a singularity.
That is... until Malty realizes the opposite of what she feared is happening. Flare's mana surges into her spell, but it doesn't break the slowly forming spell. Her magic moved smoothly, joining Malty's own like a different river that's being serenely collected into the same sea. For a brief moment, Malty wonders if Flare's training had paid off and that the young daughter of House Consevatie was an undiscovered genius at spell casting. But then, she notices an empty hand pointed into the small sun that's slowly forming in front of her Star Wand. She turns her face, half expecting it to be Kael'thas but instead sees Azula also standing beside her. The former Siltvelt lady immediately turns her own face again. "We have a common enemy."
Malty feels the miniature sun in front of the Star Wand fully form in the brief moment of her looking at Azula. Without any hesitation, she instantly pushes her spell out at the dark clothed devil lord (presumably). She doesn't know if her attack would have a stronger effect compared to when she tried to use it on Riser Phenex. But the Cardinal Heroes are abducted by the fire devil lord. Doing anything is better than doing nothing.
Itsuki feels his back hit the ground. Not as hard, or rough as stone or metal, not as sticky as mud, or kicking up particles like dirt and sand, and not as slippery as grass. He immediately rolls around and then jumps back up. As the archer, he needs to be very aware of their enemies positioning. He was surprised at the strange place he alongside his fellow heroes got abducted to by Riser Phenex. The Bow Hero's first instinct is that they are in an enclosed room of the size of a basketball court. The room itself is made of gray to completely black, ever shifting stripes and blobs like the inside of a very ominous looking thunder cloud. But the more he looks at the surroundings around him, the more he feels like this 'room' seems to stretch to all directions even below his feet. He quickly brings out a smartphone bow (a form that looks like a crossbow, but has a smartphone on top of the handle) out in an attempt to contact Ren. He finds there's no signal in the place they are trapped in. "I can't get to Ren! Is everybody alright?"
"I'm fine. I think Motoyasu is- stop jumping around, Motoyasu!" Naofumi probably wanted to say that Motoyasu is fine, but then he noticed that their Spear wielding friend was jumping and screaming on his feet. Looking more startled than hurt, Itsuki briefly wonders if Motoyasu was simply afraid of heights, since it does look like they are standing on top of an ever expanding void of dark clouds. But then he remembered that Motoyasu was fine when they were aftering the pirates. He was even standing on top of their ship's main mast while threatening them. "Stay together and get ready! I think we'll be attacked soon."
"And miss out my introduction and welcome to you world heroes? I think not! Why, you have to know that the difference between a mere devil, and a devil lord is in their PRESENTATION!" From atop of the 'room', Riser Phenex descends onto the ground with brilliant scarlet fire surrounding him while giving his vain boast. His hands open, arms raised slightly above his shoulders like a burning phoenix. The fire devil lord extends his right hand out, and seems to be grabbing at something in the empty air for a brief moment before holding his hand out to the three of them. At first, Itsuki thinks that he's merely taunting them with the strange gesture, but then he notices there seems to be some kind of bundled gray mist, or cloud dancing in his open hand. "The breath of origin power, also known as the original chaos. From it, three thousand greater worlds, and three thousand lesser worlds are created by those who step into the realm of divinity. What is a mortal in the face of such power, heroes? Even the four of you, who are bestowed the power of creation by Alaya, can't create something out of nothing. Nothing can truly be gained without giving up something in return. To gain, something equal in value must first be sacrificed. It is a truth mortals live by. Yet, the opposite is but a mere thought for those who ascended into the realm of the divine. Do you still struggle against those who wield such incomprehensible power?"
"If the gods and the demons are that powerful, they can all fuck off and leave us to mind our own business. I'm having plenty of headaches without worrying about the Wave of Catastrophe, the Burning Legion, or outer gods invading this world." Naofumi brings his shield forward as he lowers his body, settling into his fighting stance. He didn't let the boasting of Riser Phenex intimidate him, or let the fact that Ren isn't with them discourage him. If the fire demon lord wants to fight, Naofumi will give a fight to him.
"Good answer. It would be quite disappointing if the heroes of this world get cowered so easily. But-" The smirk on the face of Riser Phenex grows deeper as the fire demon's form begins to disappear. Almost like his body has dissolved into the dark cloud itself. Itsuki begins to quickly look around, as do his two friends as they begin to desperately search for any sign of their enemy. "-Do you have the power to back up your words? Power without conviction is pointless violence. Conviction without power is a vainglorious lie."
"Boo." As Itsuki swings his head around, he suddenly realizes a face is so close in front of him that their nose almost touches. Riser Phenex lets out a mouthful of scoldingly hot breath in his face, making Itsuki jump back out of instinct. The fire demon follows him, body straight, legs not moving. Yet never leave Itsuki far enough that the fire demon can't reach him in two steps. Behind the fire demon, Itsuki is aware of Naofumi and Motoyasu giving chase after them while throwing out their weapon arts in an attempt to delay Riser Phenex. And the fire demon simply ignores them all as different kinds of weapon arts explode all around him like cannon bombardment. As Riser Phenex chases after Itsuki, he keeps throwing fire from his hand, not at Itsuki, but at his feet. "Dance, little monkey. Dance to the tune of fire!"
He's not trying to take me out as the weakest link. He's toying with all of us. The realization hit Itsuki quickly. It makes him feel angry to be taken so lightly by their enemy, but the fire demon is powerful enough to take them for nothing. Itsuki grit his teeth and make a decision. It's still incomplete and fragile, and there's fire all around me. But I can't wait anymore in this life and death situation.
"Karakuri: SpringBoard." Itsuki brings out a wooden box from his bow and tosses it behind him. As the sound of wood creaking together, he knew the contraption is working as he intended so he leaps onto it, and it sends him high above Riser Phenex. He quickly aims his bow downward, at the fire demon who hasn't yet reacted to his sudden action yet. "[Bow Art: Million Coins]"
A dark curtain suddenly falls from Itsuki's bow downward, covering the body of Riser Phenex. Countless golden arrows fire from his weapon like coins of death rain from the sky. One of the most powerful bow weapon art, that could be used for multiple opponents, or focused on a single one to maximize the damage. Itsuki hasn't used it in combat situations since unlocking it with his bow, as the one time he tried it while training leaves him weak in the knees for the entire day. But against a powerful enemy like this, he really has no reason to hold back.
The darkly dressed devil turns around to face Malty's attack. He opens both of his palms. From his right hand, a gust of pure blackness emerges. Something Malty expected. But from his left, a brilliance of pure whiteness dawns, which completely shocks the former princess. The devil has both the power of darkness... and light? The surprise didn't end here, as the opposite power which should be volatile against each other like water and fire began to mix, but not exploding like they should. They almost... achieve some kind of strange harmony as they spin around, half white and half black, not fully mixing. Until a black dot emerges in the light, and a white dot emerges in the darkness. "From the original chaos emerges two forms, light and dark, warmth and cold, movement and stillness. One can not be born without the other, giving order to the world..."
Everything with the dark dressed devil happened quickly, before Malty's attack even reached him. Yet they paradoxically happened slowly, to the point that Malty easily observed the whole process, and heard every syllable coming out of the devil's mouth. It doesn't sound like the poisoned whisper of a malicious entity trying to lure her into a trap, but more like an older, wiseman trying to impart his own knowledge onto the young. It reminded her of all the lectures she received from Uncle Aldrecht in her youth, even down to the detail of him showing her magic to help further explain his own lessons. Of course, she's not going to take a devil's words at their face value. Yet, try as she might, she can't connect the entity she is seeing with the malicious liars taught by the church. Is this the true seductive power of a devil?
Malty's miniature sun rams head first into the darkly dressed devil's defensive barrier like a moth flying into fire. To her complete surprise, there's no explosion as both spells meet together. Her volatile spell, but it didn't blow up. It looks like a balloon leather ball fallen into a net instead as the white light and black darkness seems to gently shift and caress her fire, until it slowly dissolves into nothing. Besides Malty, Azula suddenly screams out as if she just saw a ghost (no, but a devil lord). "How can this be? [Heaven and Earth Great Shift] being used by a devil?!"
"Do not get obsessed with the form we are born into, young fire dragon. For all our lives, we may be born as a devil, a dragon, or a mere human. It makes no difference. But in the end, all of us go on the road to discover our true self. What motivates us? What do we wish to achieve in our life? How will we go about chasing them? To not be distracted by those who confuse us and lead us astray is the path to true enlightenment about ourselves, and the universe." Malty could hear every syllable from the darkly dressed devil lord once again, yet it feels like only a second has passed. Once again, it feels less like the seduction of a demon, and more like the wise teaching from a sage. It seems to have an effect on both Azula and Flare, as both of their eyes become cloudy and unfocused.
Malty shakes her head, closes her eyes, trying to focus her mind... What's the most important thing for her... right now it's helping the Shield Hero Naofumi Iwatani, who had been abducted by the fire devil lord known to them as Riser Phenex. She opens her eyes as the Star Wand takes the form of the standard sword wand. The princess turned slave lets out an inhuman scream as she runs forward at the devil lord with the sword wand in hand. She doubts that she is powerful enough to hurt him in any way, but she is Naofumi's first companion... his partner. If she charges first, perhaps she could inspire others to follow her example.
It didn't take too long for Malty to be overtaken by someone. Three steps, to be exact as three birds, one red, one white, and one black, each one completely surrounded by fire of the same colors, overtakes her and soars towards the still unnamed devil lord. Kael'thas, and his fellow Vermili princes had all taken their beast form and attacked the darkly dressed devil with their all. It reminded Malty when the griffin king Waerjak challenged Fitoria. Their bodies collide into the two colored barriers of the devil lord, with more force than Malty's own attack as three colored fires splash over the ground, disintegrating grass, and even melting the earth. The clash between them feels like days, yet seems to end in seconds when the three Siltvelt princes are sent flying back. They all flop onto the ground, unable to move, or return to their humanoid form.
"Attack, my brothers! [Lightning Spear]!" Malty didn't let the failure of Kael'thas and his fellow Sitlvelt princes deter her, she continued to charge at the darkly dressed devil lord with her sword held high. Behind her, she can hear the battle cries of the newly formed Sons of Biscas as hundreds of golden lightning bolts fall into the two colored barriers of the still unnamed devil lord. They didn't fare much better than her own fire attack as they fell into the net of white and black, slowly fizzling out.
" Do not try to confuse us, you demon! In the name of my Goddess Aqua, I will banish you!" In front of Malty, among the many southern fighters who come to join the Cardinal Heroes, a knight in dark, heavy armor charges out. He is currently holding a large broadsword with both of his hands. Every step he makes in his armor makes the earth itself tremble. A blue light of the same color and same name as his unheard goddess extends out from his sword, making it look even larger than it already is. " In the name of my GODDESS! [ AQUA PURA]! "
"A faithful of the goddess of water, healing and purification? Did you not hear her command before your incarnation?" The unnamed devil lord sounds genuinely surprised this time as he turns around to regard the zealous knight (who is starting to remind Malty of Lautrec, not a good sign for the knight). He turns around and puts both of his hands in front of him, seemingly putting genuine effort in his defense this time. The sword of aqua light and the barrier of black and white collide together, and this time, the attacker isn't instantly thrown back.
Malty didn't pay for the clash between the armored knight and the darkly dressed devil. This might be a chance to attack the agent of the Burning Legion in the back, but killing the devil lord isn't her main goal here. The Cardinal Heroes are still trapped inside whatever the sphere is, and she needs to get them out so they wouldn't be facing the other devil lord alone. She doubts her broken Star Wand is enough to break the seal on itself, but she still plunges it into the energy sphere. For a brief moment, the sphere doesn't seem to change in any way. But suddenly, a surge of purple color courses through her sword wand, and begins to ripple through the rest of the surface. The surface of the egg-shaped energy sphere no longer looks smooth as it begins to twitch. And suddenly with a loud bang, white light and dark shadow begin to leak out of the energy sphere. Malty had one second to realize that something is happening when a body collides into her and knocks her rolling on the ground. The world spins around her, until she feels someone holding her up from behind. Malty fights back the urge to close her eyes and sleep, looks up and sees the fire devil lord standing besides the darkly dressed devil lord. "Having trouble keeping the mortals of this world back, Diablos? Did you grow weaker?"
"I did not expect to fight a chosen champions of the Goddess Aqua." The darkly dressed devil lord, now known as Diablos, is much more serious than his flamboyant companion. Riser Phenex turns his head around, looking at the heavy armored knight who is staring at them from about 20 paces away with what seems to be renewed interest. "It doesn't matter in the end. This is not Aqua's many worlds. Herself, and her followers only have limited divine power."
"And the goddess of uselessness continues to be a nuisance. Very well. Are you ready to up the game?" Riser Phenex slowly turns around to look at the side of the heroes' retinue. Malty looks around herself too, and sees that the three Cardinal Heroes have already stood up, ready to fight the two devil lords. Out of them, Itsuki seems to be exhausted, as he's only standing up thanks to Rishia holding him. And his legs are still twitching even when they aren't fully trying to support his weight. It seems like the Bow Hero was unfortunate in that he became the main target of the fire devil lord while abducted. She also notices Eclair standing behind her own body, and realizes that it was the last Seaetto who helped stop her fall.
A sudden wave of pressure pushes against Malty, making her fall back into Eclair's body and nearly causing both of them to lose their feet. She looks forward, and sees both of the devil lords looking different from they were before. In Malty's mind, she knew Riser Phenex and Diablos were a pair of powerful demons, but the way they carry themselves and their demeanor is very different from how she imagined a demon would look. Riser Phenex wasn't that different from the common flamboyant, prideful... slightly arrogant noble scion from a decadent and ancient noble house. And Diablos... he carries himself more like the mix of a courteous butler and a wise sage, to the point that Malty mistaken him for the servant of Riser Phenex first. But now, both of them look as how Malty imagines a demon should be. Their eyes both become longer, and narrower, gleaming with malicious twinkles. The corner of their mouth looks elongated, like their faces are about to split apart and their teeth look like saw blades. Their fingers become much more elongated, and sharp as blades. Either they are revealing their new form again, similar to when Riser Phenex brought out his ice armor, or they stopped holding their demonic power back. Riser Phenex opens his mouth, his voice sounds very different from before. Much deeper, and booming. " Behold, the power of [Shura]!"
As his voice falls, the fire demon charges at the three Cardinal Heroes in a dark silhouette. Naofumi immediately steps forward, and holds his shield out. The Shield Hero didn't make any noise, but a golden hue covered emerald shell appears in front of him even as he braces himself for impact against his shield. Riser Phenex easily breaks through Naofumi's barrier like they were a sheet of wet paper, and knocks the Shield Hero stumble back. Even their world's strongest shield (even considering that Naofumi didn't have the time to bring out his [Crown Shield] and is still fairly under leveled) is no match for the fire devil lord who stopped holding back. Motoyasu quickly stepped up and lunged his spinning spear at the devil lord's heart in an attempt to stop him. He isn't the only one, as Yatsuhashi swings his curved greatsword at the devil lord's neck, trying to force the opponent to step back. On the other side, Diablos is fighting against the many southern warriors, but aside from the champion of the Goddess Aqua, he completely ignores everyone else's strike, letting the many weapons uselessly clash against his own darkness-covered body.
Almost as if the effect was prophetic, Riser Phenex also ignores the attack aimed at his own body, Yatsuhashi's greatsword, and Motoyasu's legendary spear also bounces harmlessly off the fire devil lord's skin without leaving any damage. The two of them are knocked back with the recoil of their own attacks instead, as the fire devil continues to lunge after Naofumi. Malty knows that she needs to do something, but she doesn't know when her magic was completely useless, and no weapon could penetrate the devil lords' defense. She feels the support behind her disappears, as Eclair steps forward between Riser Phenex and Naofumi. Her blunt, runic bronze sword burns with green spirit energy. This time, the attack was powerful enough to force the fire demon lord to protect himself with his clawed hand.
Or rather... it's not the power behind Eclair's attack, by the type of her attack. When Riser Phenex first attacked them at Balafon village, his attack completely ignored everyone's defense till the shepherd boy Minato used his strange spirit magic to block it. Eclair's sword has her ancestor's soul inside to empower it, as the effect must be very similar. With her mind made, Malty quickly cast [Unstoppable Force] spell on the young lady knight, giving her a boost to her attack power. Clouds of steam erupt from Eclair's body, giving her a similar aura to the fire demon lord who wraps dark smokes around him like billowing smoke as clawed hands and screaming swords clash repeatedly at each other. Naofumi also manages to use this chance to step away from Riser Phenex, casts the physical form of his shield away in an attempt to bring out his [Crown Shield] back.
"Protect Master Shield Hero, my brothers!" The blue armored knight commands, and his fellow demi-human knights answer. Golden lightning coats the surface of their weapons as they surge forward, swarming at the demon's sides to help Eclair in any way they can. The fire demon lord seems to be annoyed by them, as he lets out a roar that knocks away the demi-human knights except for their blue armored leader, and a long haired female. With this, the body of Riser Phenex flashes with another blur. Eclair's sword, the trident of the blue armored knight and the spear in the long haired and dark winged woman all lunge forward at the fire devil lord, trying to stop him from doing whatever he is preparing. But they are too late, as their target seems to dissolve in his own dark mist through their spirit power and lightning-covered weapons. The black mist blows past them, and the body of Riser Phenex appears in it once again as his claw shoots out at Naofumi. His [Crown Shield] still hasn't come to form yet, and the Shield Hero is at his weakest.
A large figure jumps in front of the Shield Hero, the curved sword in his hand aiming at the neck of the fire devil lord. The action is so similar to Yatsuhashi's earlier attempt, Malty mistaken him for the Shield Hero's bodyguard for a brief second. But the sword is ragged like a lump of rough ore dug out of the earth and pushed right onto its hilt instead of being a well forged and polished blade. It is also black in hue, with a few shades of blood red in between instead of being fully red. That's when Malty recognized the figure being her sword trainer Zellus. His sword manages to pierce through the devil's protective mist, even drawing blood from his neck. But at the same time, the claw of Riser Phenex already punctured his stomach.
"Screw you, Being X!" An unfamiliar, but hate filled voice is heard by Malty as a small figure dashes in front of Naofumi as Coach Zellus slowly falls to the ground. The first thing she recognizes is the petite woman's golden hair, and large blue eyes as she crosses both arms over her head into a block. The pendant in front of her chest is glowing golden, and her eyes slowly turn into the same color as golden symbols begin to appear in the air in front of her like a litany written on a scroll. They look fragile on the first glance, like a tower built atop of sand, or a tree without roots. But the clawed hand of Riser Phenex can't pass through them, when he easily tore through Naofumi's strongest defense from before. The fire devil lord is even knocked back by the recoil. Voice coming out from the short pig girl's mouth. She sounds like a pious man of faith giving a prayer, or holding a sermon even as she wears the stealth focused uniform of Shiltfreeden Shivs. She may be a beastman, but she is also a Chief God's living saint walking among them. "Oh Lord! I beseech you to save my homeland."
"To let your flock not fall to the darkness; to light the way to our salvation!" Rays of brilliant light pour from the sky, showing everyone with a hue of gold. Malty could feel her body grow lighter, even the slight piercing sensation she feels inside of her from on the verge of over casting her spell grows dull to the point of neglectable. All the warriors who are knocked down by the two devil lords slowly get back up, as if invigorated. Malty even sees the bloody hole on Coach Zellus' stomach knitting itself back together. As for the two demons... their black mist began to evaporate, their movement slowed down. "God's miracles are great."
"Praise the lord. And he shall save you." The Chief God's golden litany soars through the short space betweens Tanya, and Riser Phenex. It engraves into the body of the fire demon lord, making him scream in pain while smoke rises from his body. The god's miracle really is the bane of demons. Although it does beg the question why a Shiltfreeden Shiv (a secret agent) has the potential to be a saint for the church.
"You still have a long way to go, Lord Phenex." A completely unfamiliar, but smooth as silk voice comes out from a well dressed gentleman who suddenly appeared besides Riser Phenex. He places a hand on the flailing fire devil lord, and the glowing golden litany shoots off from the demon's body and disappears in the air. Tanya's eyes return to blue as she falls forward, she doesn't fall face first into the ground thanks to her companions grabbing her from behind. Diablo also jumps away from the heavy knight to stand besides the new figure. "You shouldn't use [Shura] form when you have little control over it. It leaves you vulnerable to attack."
"My apologies, Master. As before, I had let my pride get the better of me." Riser Phenex turns his head to look at the well dressed gentleman, and falls on his knees. The young gentleman didn't say anything, merely giving him a nonchalant wave. He might look no different from a high class tycoon, more merchant than a noble. But to have a powerful devil lord kneel down... he is obviously more than who he looks to be.
"Who are you?" The [Crown Shield] appears on Naofumi's arm after a brilliant flash. The Shield Hero steps up in front of Tanya, his eyes staring cautiously at the two devil lords, and the one who they call their master.
"I am The Devil." Everyone around him becomes tense, as they rebrand their weapons and get into fighting stance, Malty included. The church taught everyone that there are many countless worlds of order-aligned devils, and chaos-aligned demons outside of their world. But only one would call himself The Devil, the archenemy of their gods. Yet, to Malty's surprise, The Devil takes a step back, and begins to wave his hand with a deep blush on his face. "Ah. Please, don't act so passionately. I should have been more precise with my language. I'm not The Devil of your world."
"What do you mean, you aren't ' The Devil of our world'?" Malty nearly tripped over her own feet. She already expected the normal looking gentleman to be a powerful demon. But she certainly never expects any devil from any world to be this... aloof, almost like a real human. Then again, maybe that's also a part of his deception? Demons, especially order-aligned devils, tend to be very good schemers and tricksters.
"You didn't think your world was the only one, did you? Princess? Your Heroes are summoned from other worlds, and some of them have their own gods and demons." The Devil points his finger at the three Cardinal Heroes standing among the fighters in front of Melromarc Castle gate. He points his finger at Tanya, and the unnamed Gallia heavy knight next. "And here. You already have proof of champions of other gods outside of your own pantheon. They were incarnated into your worlds in the name of their specific gods - to fight against this threat that's been slowly tearing apart the many worlds."
"You mean, The Burning Legion." The Devil nods his head at Naofumi's statement, further confirming the answer he received from the Avatar of Alaya and the speaker of Yggdrasil. Malty isn't sure how this would affect the Shield Hero. On the one hand... It's good that he is now being publically being affirmed by a godly being in front of so many people. On the other hand... The one who is affirming his statement is The Devil of another world. Would it give certain ambitious figures more proof that he is a demon himself? The Shield Hero takes a step forward. "If The Burning Legion is causing so much problem, to the point where even the gods and devils of other worlds took notice, why haven't all of you done something about it?"
"You will find that there's certain perks mortals enjoy that don't extend to the divine. We, who are creatures of the alignment and divine sphere, can not do as we please all the time. Because it would result in so much destruction of the worlds, the sin we carry would bury us till the end of eternity. Freedom is a cruel gift from God that could only be enjoyed by mortals." The Devil shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head. "The Burning Legion is powerful, to the point of shaking the many different worlds across the timeline. But it is still a mortal threat in nature. Gods are not supposed to use our power to directly harm mortals. Not without dire consequences, at least. And we can only indirectly give power to our mortal champions to have them act on our behalf."
"And your godly duty requests your presence right now." A dry, emotionless voice comes from behind The Devil's feet. He shifts away, revealing a strange looking white animal on four legs. It looks like a cat, but has very long ears drooping down from the side. Strangely, the voice reminds Malty of someone she knew. For some reason, all three heroes seem to act even more tense after they saw this harmless, and adorable-looking animal. Naofumi even took a few steps to stand over her.
"Ah, Kyubey. All business all the time. Are those four chaos leeches causing mischief to my sister again?" The Devil slaps the back of his own head. He turns to smile at Naofumi. "Right on time too! Aren't you going to say something to the Shield Hero before we leave?"
The name, it's almost exactly like the name of a certain emotionless rabbitman who died to save Naofumi and herself back when they were betrayed by the Three Heroes' Church. The Shield Hero shakes on his feet, he takes one step forward and asks with an unsure voice. "Kyubei?"Comment by Smith Wesson: Interestingly, why was Kyubey the Incubator not reincarnated as a cat demi-human?Comment by Wang: Because canonically there was a rabbit man, not a cat man.
"I am Kyubey. The angel of my Goddess Madoka. I was also Kyubei, the demi-human companion of the Shield Hero Naofumi Iwatani." The little animal's tail swings once, as he turns his face to look at the Shield Hero. "My goddess incarnated me to this world to learn what it feels to live as a mortal. It was an... educational experience."
"So you really were Kyubey, the Incubator... and you are more than what I thought. What about Farkas? Is he also working for some other god or demon?" Naofumi's eyes slowly pull from the white cat rabbit as he looks at The Devil. "And you... you called Goddess Madoka your sister?"
"The one you know as Farkas is a native soul of this world. And right now, his soul has been accepted by the afterlife of his kind, the heavenly horde, after his honorable death to protect you. As for myself..." The well-dressed devil slowly raises his hand over his head and snaps his finger. His body instantly changes without any fanfare, into that of a young-looking boy in a plain-looking shirt. Malty thought he looked too much like a human before, but now he seems to be a very normal-looking human boy. Yet somehow, all three Cardinal Heroes stumble on their feet (Malty noticed that Tanya and the heavy Graile knight also mimicked the heroes' action) "Perhaps this is the form you are most familiar with? Most of the world's interlopers seem to remember me like this."
"You really are Tatsuya Kaname!" The Shield Hero's voice is filled with shock, aside from it being a Q'ten Lo style, The Devil's real name ends up being much more simple than Malty ever expected. "But I thought the devil was-"
"Homura-nee? She had been liberated from her self-constructed prison since the last cycle. But a God will always need a Devil, so the world would not grow complacent and stagnate. Just like my sister Madoka has the Divine Sphere of Hope and Wish, someone needs to take over Despair and Curse. So I stepped into Homura-nee's place." With another snap of his finger, The Devil Tatsuya Kaname grows back into his well-dressed young adult form. He turns to look at the two devil lords next. "I would like to let you two stay longer, Lord Phenex, Lord Diablo. But duty calls, and we need to ensure the safety of our own worlds first. Let's go give those four chaos leeches a good whipping first before worrying about the Burning Legion."Comment by Smith Wesson: Did you take into account the upcoming Walpurgisnacht movie/OVA? _Assigned to _Comment by Wang: He comes from a timeline of a fanfiction I never wrote, so probably not.
"If I could ask for a boon, my master?" Riser Phenex looks up at The Devil Tatsuya Kaname. His body is suddenly consumed in a red hot flame as his voice becomes more passionate and severe. "After our duty, I would like to return to this world. I have finally found the whereabouts of The Burning Legion after so long, I would like to settle the grudge I have against them."
"The same for you, Lord Diablo? Even knowing that you wouldn't be able to fully descend into this world with your full power due to Divine Limit Fifteen Thousand, and your death at the hand of The Burning Legion will be the end of you?" The Devil looks at the more serene devil lord. Diablos doesn't speak, or let his own power leak out of his body like Riser Phenex, but he nods back to his master with the same determination. "Very well. I grant you both of your wishes. But as always, duty first. Let's not keep my sister waiting."
"Wait, before you go!" A young voice suddenly shouted out at the group of demons and a goddess' angel. Malty turns around, and sees the speaker being Sir Oersted. "I shouldn't trust you because you are demons. But I can't feel any malice from any of you. If you already know about The Burning Legion, aren't you going to leave us some advice. You may be devils, but you are on the same level of divinity as a world's god, right?"
That... is actually a good point. Although Malty isn't sure that she agrees with Oersted's sentimentality of asking for a group of devils for advice. Because they were supposed to be experts at twisting rules to lead mortals into ruin. The former princess then remembers the moment when he almost lost his faith after the Avatar of Alaya and the Speaker of Yggdrasil revealed the true callous nature of their Chief God. Perhaps they did too good a job at breaking the knight's faith.
"I'm going to get in trouble with the divine court for telling you this. But since you are being very sincere... screw the rules this time. Not like following it actually helps with our Burning Legion problem at hand." The Devil Tatsuya shrugs his shoulders as he looks back at the young knight. "Don't ask for divine intervention when you have any trouble. All the gods and demons like to act like we are so much wiser than the mortals, but we really aren't. The difference between us and the mortals, is we are all stubborn idiots because we live for too long, and we have more power to throw around than the mortals. But we are all pretty out of touch when it comes to mortal affairs. Just do your best, and you probably won't do a worse job than us if we try to intervene directly."
Malty can feel her jaw drop. Out of all possible answers from The Devil, this she didn't expect. Maybe he was trying to further erode the faith people have in The Chief God, but then the Avatar of Alaya (who is supposedly the protector of humans) and the Speaker of Yggdrasil already affirmed his cynicism. Regardless, The Devil Tatsuya gives everyone around him one last wave before disappearing into thin air. "So long, mortals of Medea. It's probably best you never see me again in your life. Since my divine sphere is Despair, Misfortune and Curses. And Tanya Degurechaff. My sister has a parting gift for you. Should help you maintain your true self from that fake god of yours."
The sound of something bouncing on the ground can be heard as what seems to be a glass oval egg bounces its way over to the commander of the Shiltfreeden Shivs. The pig girl's face split into a scowl as she picked it up from the ground, and held the glass egg of brilliant pink color in front of her face.
"The agents of The Devil have already left this world, my master. Should we act on our plan now?"
"Of course. It's best that we take care of this world's heroes before they have a chance to grow any stronger. We have waited too long for my liking already." The dark haired young man in his decadently decorated suit narrows his eyes as he puts down the mirror in his hand. "Mirror mirror on the wall. Who is the most realist hero of them all..."
End Note:
As a certain movie maker likes to say: What a twist!
Yeap. That's right, Riser Phenex and big pineapple aren't with The Burning Legion even if they are both demons. They are actually working against The Burning Legion all along. And they been testing & teaching the heroes and their allies by pretending to be bad guys, aside from Riser being a flamboyant troll who honestly got a kick out of messing the heroes. And yes. This chapter shows that other divine beings are also placing bet in this world and The Burning Legion.
On Tatsuya instead of Homura being the Devil of PMMM... as far as the canon is concerned, I didn't make any plan regarding the many spin-offs and the latest movie entry. Him being the devil instead of Homura actually came from a PMMM fanfiction I planned but never write it out.
The plan of that fanfiction idea is in the original timeline, Homura unknowingly had the same effect on another girl similar to Madoka had on her, and that girl has been chasing after her like she chased after Madoka. But the twist is she loves the original, socially awkward, braided haired Homura and not when she kept her hair straight. Eventually, she manages to get into the pocket world Devil Homura used to keep Goddess Madoka bound, usurped Madoka's position as the Goddess, and erased Homura's memory of the later timelines to keep Homura with her.
In the usurper's new world, Tatsuya opened the door to Madoka's bedroom which everyone else ignored on his 16th birthday. Gaining memories of the different timelines the Usurper hide. This caused the Usurper to send out the new Magical Girls as assassins to kill him in fear of him destroying her new world in his quest to reawaken his sister. Causing Tatsuya to go on the run with the Witches and Hitomi Shizuki (aka The Backstabbing Bitch) who inherited the last fragment of Goddess Madoka's power to act as his bodyguards. During the story, Homura eventually has her memories awakened, and gets killed by the Usurper while protecting Tatsuya, sending her into the deep end and wanting to destroy everything to turn back time.
In the end, Hitomi Shizuka sacrifices herself to kill the Usurper, and Tatsuya defeat Festum the First Witch/Witch of Wishes/Witch (she's the manipulator and the real mastermind who send Usurper on her quest) of Blessing to reawakens Goddess Madoka. But most of the world is already destroyed by this point by the Usurper. Tatsuya takes on the mantle of The Devil so he could turn back time with his sister to bring everyone back. And in the new world, everyone's super natural persona are separate from their mortal persona. A new Madoka and a new Tatsuya (they share the original's names but are completely different person) exist with the mortal halves of all their families and friends, while Goddess Madoka and Devil Tatsuya act as super natural guardians with their friends' super natural counterpart to protect their worlds from foreign invading gods and devils.