Disclaimer: Neither High School DXD nor Elder Scrolls belongs to me, all rights to their respective owners.

Chapter 21

— The best way to fight a vampire is to always be aware of your surroundings —

Isran to Edzard in the fort of Dawn.

Two vampires patrolled one of the castle's battlements. Their steps were firm and their pace of walking calm, as they felt completely confident of the safety of the barrier that surrounded the area. As they walked, one of the vampires saw one of his companions fall dead by an arrow that had pierced his skull. Seeing this, the vampire quickly tried to raise the alarm, but was unable to do so, as his head was split open by an ax.

Edzard withdrew his ax from the vampire's skull and began to walk the battlements. As he walked, he felt someone land near him.

"You must have waited a few seconds before firing that arrow, Asia." Edzard said as he turned to see his wife.

Asia looked away in embarrassment, as her reckless action may have caused them to lose the surprise factor.

"Sorry, Ed." Asia said lowering her head.

Edzard sighed and then began to pat Asia on the head. "Quiet. Just be more careful."

'The truth is that she is very bad at stealth. Especially if she considers that her constellation gives her the blessing to hide in the shadows.' Edzard thought as he walked again with Asia.

They had both been walking the winding passages of the castle for almost an hour. They had entered through the sewers. They had then made their way up the pantries and began to move slowly but steadily towards the room where the Dhampir should be found. In order to be able to position himself well and know which way to go, Edzard used the spell of clairvoyance. The vampires still did not know of his presence thanks to the fact that they had burned the corpses of vampires with the solar fire spell.

'It's only ten minutes until Marius's ally arrives.' Edzard thought as he looked at the pocket watch he had bought in an antique store.

"Asia. We must hurry. We run out of time."

Asia nodded and they both started running.

As Edzard and Asia continued to enter the castle, in a luxurious room a young man sat on a comfortable sofa. The young man had a beautiful face like a doll. He wore aristocratic clothes.

"It's time." Marius Tepes said as he looked at the clock on the wall.

The moment he finished saying that, a silver colored circle appeared in the center of the room. This circle had in the center a crest shaped like a silver-colored four-winged bat that has devil horns on its head. From the circle appeared a handsome young man who appeared to be in his twenties with silver hair tied in a braided hairstyle, who was wearing a silver robe with detailed accessories.

Seeing his guest, Marius got up and with a fake smile on his face bowed in greeting. The newcomer did the same as the vampire. After that, they both sat facing each other on a sofa each.

"I was waiting for your lord to arrive, Lucifuge." Marius said looking at the devil in front of him.

"Do not worry. My lord will come, but he will do it in a few minutes. He is busy with something." Euclid Lucifuge said.

"I see. I assume you are authorized to begin negotiations?"

"Yes. My lord has given me full authority to initiate negotiations until he arrives."

"Very well. Then let's get started."

Edzard burned the body of the vampire he had recently killed. Beside him, Asia was keeping an eye out for any vampires to appear. So far, they had been lucky, as they had encountered few vampires since entering the castle keep.

"Ed. How much left?" Asia asked as they started to advance.

"Not much. The room is on the left turn." Edzard replied.

They both walked down the hall and when they turned left at the next intersection, they saw a huge double door. Edzard stepped forward first and put his hand on the door latch. Turning his head, he spoke.

"Asia. Try to find out how many individuals are in the room."

Asia nodded and used the detect death spell, but couldn't see anything. So frowning, she switched spells.

"There is only one individual." Asia said seeing only a red dot in the room.

Edzard nodded and slowly turned the latch. When the door was open, they both crept inside.

The room they had entered was a very spacious one, very well decorated with many paintings and handicrafts that, from their appearance, must have been very expensive. In the center of the room was a king-size bed and in it was a young woman sleeping. This young woman had short blonde hair, plus she was very attractive.

Edzard approached slowly and placed a hand on the girl's head. Closing his eyes, he began to read the girl's mind. Seconds later, he opened his eyes and frowned.

"Ed. What's going on?" Asia asked as she approached and saw the frown on her husband's face.

"It's just how I thought it would be. This girl has been forced by her brother to use her sacred gear over and over again."

Asia looked at the resting Dhampir and felt sorry for her. However, before they could say anything, the Dhampir opened her eyes.

Red eyes fell on the two-unknown people in front of her.

"Who are you?" the Dhampir asked.

Edzard frowned more when he heard the tone of the young woman's voice. Her voice sounded distant and tired. In addition, the Dhampir's eyes were glassy as if her mind was not in her body.

"We are two people who want to save you from your brother, Valerie." Edzard said.

Valerie Tepes looked at Edzard with a blank look. While her eyes did not show her emotions, she was amazed that they knew her name, since she never introduced herself to these two strangers.

"I don't need to be saved. I am happy to help my brother." Valerie said.

Edzard frowned.

"Are you really happy to help someone who is only using you for their own plans and will discard you as garbage when they get the chance?" Edzard asked.

Valerie tried to answer, but Asia stepped forward and cut her off.

'Ed is being very rough with her. It looks like he's seeing Serana in her.' Asia thought as she looked at the Dhampir.

"Valerie. Have you no wish?" Asia asked as she took the Dhampir's hands and showed a kind smile.

Asia's smile made Valerie begin to remember her only friend. The moments of happiness that she spent with him, made an emotion that she believed lost to return.

"I… I…. I want to see it again. I want to see my friend again." Valerie said as small tears began to form in her eyes.

Hope blossomed in Edzard's heart as he watched Valerie's tears.

'This is good. This shows that her soul is not totally broken yet. There is still a chance to cure her.' Edzard thought. He knew that the Dhampir had a broken mind and soul, but he didn't know to what level. Fortunately, being able to show sadness made him see that the girl's soul could still be healed. 'I know that some scrolls and tomes of magic that I have brought from Nirm have knowledge of Soul magic. Hopefully I can find something to heal her with.'

"Valerie. My name is Edzard Rolandson and the young woman next to me is my wife, Asia Argento. We are both people who travel a lot. If you come with us, we can find your friend." Edzard said extending a hand towards the Dhampir.

Valerie looked at the outstretched hand for a few seconds. She didn't know why, but she felt that she could trust Edzard's words. So she slowly she began to reach out her hand. However, when she was inches from taking Edzard's hand, the door was opened.

Marius was looking at Euclid with a smile from ear to ear. He had gotten the devil to give him part of his research on the sacred gears. The business had been a complete bargain for him, as the devil's only requirement had been that at some future point he allow them to use the power of Valerie's sacred gear.

"It really is a pleasure to have done business with you." Marius said as he drank some wine.

Euclid nodded. He had accomplished the task his lord had asked him to do.

'With this we are one step closer to our goal.' Thought Euclid looking at Marius. 'It would be so easy to kill him, but just as my lord says. Even vermin has its uses from time to time.'

Marius started to get up when the door to the room was slammed open. Turning his head, he saw that the culprit was a low-ranking vampire who was hyperventilating from exhaustion.

"What does this mean!" Marius yelled furious at the vampire's disrespect.

"Lord Marius. We have intruders." The vampire said as he got down on one knee.

"Intruders?" Marius asked looking at the vampire. "How is it that you have realized that?"

"Yes. We found out thanks to the fact that many guards are missing."

"Have you searched the castle for the guards?"

"Yes. But we have not found any trace of them."

'What would an intruder want here? Gold? No I dont think so. What could be here for a group of idiots to infiltrate such a remote place?' Marius thought. Seconds later his eyes widened when he realized what the intruders wanted. They were coming for his beloved little sister. So without wasting time he turned into a flock of bats and made his way quickly to his sister's room.

Euclid looked at everything with a calm expression, but deep down he was thinking. Coming to the same conclusion as Marius, he got up from the couch and asked the vampire about young Valerie's room. When the vampire responded, he went there, not before having killed the vampire.

Edzard looked at whoever had opened the door. Thanks to Valerie's memories, he knew that the young man in front of him was Marius Tepes. He frowned at the sight of the vampire's red eyes, as they reminded him of the eyes Harkon had. Eyes of someone who is willing to commit any atrocity just to fulfill his ambitions.

Marius frowned in anger at the sight of the two masked individuals near his sister.

"Get away from my sister!" Marius yelled making Valiere flinch slightly.

Seeing this, Edzard got up and stood between the vampire and the Dhampir.

"What will you do if I don't?" Edzard asked without looking away from the vampire.

"Damn bag of blood." Marius said as he clenched his teeth from the anger he felt. After all, how dare this damn walking blood bag respond to his superior like that.

Marius's anger increased when he saw the other individual take Valerie's hand and help her up from the bed. Without waiting another second, he lunged at the female figure helping his sister. However, he failed to do anything, as his body was sent flying through the air thanks to a powerful blow to his chest.

Edzard had hit Marius in the chest to prevent him from attacking Asia and Valerie. Looking around, he realized that he could not get out the way he had entered, as Marius had caused a great noise when he hit the wall at the end of the hall.

"Asia. Let's go." Edzard said as he reached over and carried Valerie on his left shoulder. Raising his right hand, he created a ball of fire. The fireball was thrown and headed for the bedroom window.

Booom!

The explosion caused the room to fill with dust. Wasting no time, Edzard and Asia ran to the gap that now had the wall, then leaped.

As Edzard and Asia fled with Valerie in tow, Euclid appeared and showed slight surprise to see Marius embedded in the wall.

"Are you okay?" Euclid asked.

Marius grunted in response as he slowly began to climb out of the wall he had ended up embedded in.

"Don't just stand there looking. I need your help."

Euclid looked at Marius. Sighing, he spoke.

"Why would you need my help?"

"Two guys have kidnapped my sister. By appearance, a man and a woman. When I tried to get my sister back, the man attacked me. The woman did not. That makes me believe that the man is the stronger of the two."

"I see. From what you just told me, it is impressive that you were hit so hard by a human. However, what does that have to do with me?"

"That bag of blood is not a normal human. It is possible that it has a sacred gear. Also, it seems they want to take Valerie away from here. I don't need to let you know what will happen if we lose my sister."

"I see. I guess I can help you. I cannot allow an asset as valuable as your sister to be taken from us before my eyes." Euclid said as he approached the hole in the wall. He frowned when he saw them. They were very fast, having crossed much of the distance that separated the keep from the outer wall. Given the speed at which they were moving, it would be a matter of a few minutes for them to escape. Stretching out his hand, he created a circle of magic. From the circle, a blast of ice sped toward the kidnappers.

Edzard and Asia kept running as they leapt through the castle towers. They had managed to travel a great deal of distance thanks to that.

'Just a little more and I can open a portal to get out of here.' Edzard thought as he settled Valerie a little better in his arms. This he said because thanks to the castle barrier it was impossible for him to use his shadowkey. However, his eyes widened when he felt something rapidly approach his back. Turning around, he saw a great blast of ice rush toward them. Gritting his teeth, he reached out his left hand and released a great torrent of flames.

The two spells met and created a huge explosion that completely shook the castle. The gusts of wind generated caused Edzard and Asia to land on top of a square tower.

"Asia. Prepare to fight." Edzard said as he set Valerie down. He put his hand to the Dhampir's forehead, used a spell to put her to sleep. After that, he laid her down and created a barrier over her.

As soon as Edzard finished saying those words, Marius and Euclid appeared in front of them.

Edzard's gaze fell on both of them. It only took him five seconds to realize that the silver-haired man was the more dangerous of the two.

'His power level must be surrounding the same as a legendary dragon or it could even be above that level.' Edzard thought worried, since he couldn't face both using all his power. After all, if he fought with everything it was very possible that he would end up completely destroying this place. That action could cause Asia to die in the middle of the battle. 'I could face one of them without resorting to my dragon aspect, but the other would cause me a lot of trouble.'

Edzard stopped thinking about facing them both when he felt Asia touch his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw her nod. Edzard's eyes widened when he realized what she was trying to tell him.

"Are you sure?" Edzard asked in Tamrielic.

Asia nodded. "Yes. I know I will never have the same level of power that you have, but that doesn't mean I can't fight. Besides, if I don't fight and they find out, they'll be upset."

Edzard didn't need to think twice to know who Asia was referring to. After all, they were friends with both. Smiling under his mask, Edzard visibly relaxed and focused on the silver-haired subject.

"It's in bad taste to go around kidnapping someone's younger sisters." Said the silver haired man looking at Edzard and Asia.

"Maybe you are right. But it's even worse to force them to do something they don't want to." Edzard replied without taking his eyes off the man.

"Damn bag of blood, give me back my sister!" yelled Marius.

Edzard looked at the vampire and grimaced under his mask. "I do not believe it. I don't plan on giving it to someone like you."

Marius gritted his teeth, but before he lunged at Edzard, he was stopped by his partner.

"Easy, Lord Marius." The silver-haired man said.

"Young. He could return young Valerie to her older brother. You can't see that he's worried about his little sister."

Edzard was silent for a few seconds. Until he decided to speak. "Did you really just tell such an obvious lie?"

The silver-haired young man raised an eyebrow and then put on a kind smile. "I do not understand you. Why do you say that I lied?"

Edzard sighed. "You really think I'm an idiot. It is clear that they are not good people."

The smile on the silver-haired youth's face faded as soon as Edzard finished speaking.

"Oh. What a surprise. How did you realize that we are not good people?"

"I have met various beings with the same eyes as you. Eyes full of greed, cruelty and selfishness."

The silver-haired young man managed a smile when Edzard finished speaking.

"Hahaha!" He laughed out loud. "For Lucifer. You really are kind of interesting boy. You were able to know that I am not a nice person just by looking at my eyes."

The hairs on Edzard's neck stood on end when he heard the tone of voice that contained laughter. It was a sarcastic tone of voice that he had heard from people like Harkon and Miraak.

"Of course a being like me cannot be kind. Since being evil is the essence of every devil."

Edzard's eyes widened in surprise, as it was the first time he had come face to face with a devil. Gritting his teeth in anger, Edzard began to unleash a great killing instinct, as the memories of the visions Akatosh had shown him in the throat of the world returned to his mind.

Marius felt a chill when he felt the powerful killing instinct that Edzard generated. Euclid, for his part, only smiled, since he liked that reaction very much. After all, for him, that was the reaction humans must have when hearing that he was a devil. Because a devil is a being that causes pain and suffering to humans, earning their hatred and fear.

"Lucifuge. You take care of the boy, I'll take care of the girl." Marius said.

Euclid looked at Marius for a few seconds. He already knew why he said that, since he had also felt that the young man was much more powerful than the girl.

Although Marius was a full-blooded vampire and therefore strong, his power level was nowhere near that of the young man. So in the end he would have to fight him.

"Very well. Let's get this over with quickly, as I don't want my lord to encounter this scenario." Euclid replied, then moved quickly towards his target. His speed caught the masked man by surprise, as he was able to punch him in the stomach. Thanks to this blow, he was able to send it flying through the air.

Asia's eyes widened when she saw how Edzard was sent flying. However, she couldn't stay in that state for long, since Marius had moved and was now behind her back.

"It's over! After this you will become my personal blood bag!" Marius yelled as he turned his right hand into a bat's claw.

Asia turned her gaze and raised her right hand. A golden glow appeared on that hand of hers, an unmistakable sign that she was charging a Restoration spell. When the spell was released, it was in the form of a golden-colored radial explosion. This explosion hit Marius's body.

"Ahhrgggg!" Marius screamed in pain as he fell to the ground. However, before he impacted, he turned his body into a flock of bats and returned to the tower.

Asia looked at the vampire. His body was covered in burns from the impact of the sunfire blast spell. This spell had been one of the ones she had created. The damage of this spell was amplified thanks to the necro-mage ability that she possessed. Wasting no time, she began throwing balls of solar fire at the vampire.

Marius watched as the fireballs were rapidly approaching him, so, summoning bat wings, he began to dodge as best he could.

Asia saw the vampire fly, so she started to move away from the tower. She didn't care that he would try to take Valerie away, as the Dhampir was surrounded by a circular barrier that completely enveloped her. This barrier could only be deactivated by the creator of it. Even if she fell, she would not suffer any harm. As she walked away, she continued to attack the vampire with magic.

Edzard managed to steady himself in midair and was able to land safely on the outer wall.

'Shit. That bastard moves fast.' Edzard thought as he looked ahead. The speed of the devil had taken him by surprise, but that was not going to happen again.

"You are good." Said the devil appearing in front of Edzard. "I suppose you have earned the right to know my name. My name is Euclid Lucifuge."

Edzard looked at Euclid and clenched his fists. Thanks to the sudden blow he had lost his ax, but that was not a problem, since he could summon another weapon or even fight without weapons.

"Since you gave me your name, I will give you mine as well. You can call me Ysmir." Edzard said without taking his eyes off Euclid.

The two enemies looked at each other for a second and then disappeared.

Edzard blocked a blow aimed at his chest with his arm. After that, he threw a quick blow at Euclid's face. However, this was to no avail, as the devil managed to dodge the blow at the last second.

"You really are good. But how will you defend yourself against this?" Euclid asked throwing several spears of ice.

Edzard responded by raising his right hand. From this hand, several fire lances emerged.

Both spells collided and created a strong shock wave that caused both enemies to take a few steps back. In addition to filling the place with dust.

When the dust cleared Edzard and Euclid could be seen rapidly exchanging blows. Edzard threw punches and kicks at a dizzying pace, hoping to overwhelm his enemy, but Euclid managed to defend himself very well. Each blow generated a small shock wave that cracked the ground where they fought.

The fight was even for the moment. However, Euclid made a feint and managed to hit Edzard in the chest. Edzard skidded a few feet as a result of the blow.

'Shit. That hurt.' Edzard thought with a slight grimace. The blow Euclid had given him had hurt. Turning his head, he could see that, unlike him, Asia was holding Marius on the ropes, as the vampire showed several wounds from sunfire burns. Although, Asia was not unscathed either. Her robe showed signs of burns from spells that her ward had failed to completely block.

However, Edzard stopped seeing her, as he was forced to turn his attention back to Euclid. Especially when he created several magic circles in the sky and began attacking him with a barrage of ice spells.

Edzard raised his left hand and created a ward to protect himself. Thanks to his ward absorption ability, he was able to absorb a small amount of magic.

'Dammit. It seems that devils can use magic to bombard targets from long range.' Edzard thought as his ward faded and he was forced to jump in order to dodge Euclid's spells.

"You are good. Above all, dodging." Euclid said mockingly as he continued to bombard Edzard with his spells.

'Shit. How much magic does this idiot have?'

Edzard kept dodging Euclid's spells as he thought of a way to fight back. He knew that his enemy was good at fighting both with magic and with his fists. Furthermore, the devil could fly with his wings, which he could not do without entering his full dragon aspect.

Euclid had a smile as he watched Edzard dodge his spells by jumping between towers and walls. Although he had him cornered with his spells, he knew that he could not spend much magic in vain, as experience had shown him that something unpredictable could arise at any moment. So he decided to end this in one fell swoop. Creating a circle of magic on the ground, it caused hundreds of ice spikes to head towards Edzard.

Edzard saw the ice spikes approaching him. Gritting his teeth, he decided to increase the amount of power he planned to use in this battle. So he extended his right hand and gathered a great deal of magic. The spell released was a great blast of fire that headed toward the ice peaks.

A huge explosion was generated when both spells collided. In addition, the shock wave caused Valerie to fly away and end up falling near the place where the barrier that protected the castle ended. Also, the shock wave caused Marius to unbalance for a second, the second used by Asia to hit a spell across the vampire's chest.

"Are you a human?" Euclid asked seeing how easily Edzard had blocked the spell. "No. The real question is, how much have you been holding yourself back in this battle?"

The answer to this question arose when Edzard appeared in front of him and gave him a powerful blow across the stomach.

"Ughh." Euclid growled as he felt several of his ribs crack from the power of the blow. The blow was so strong that it made him fly away and end up going through several towers.

Euclid got up slowly and when he did he had to ward off an ax kick. The blow caused the roof of the tower to shatter and he fell to the ground. This made Euclid have to maneuver in the air with his wings to avoid hitting the ground. Looking at Edzard, Euclid's eyes widened in surprise, as he could see how two golden orbs shone in the eyeholes that Edzard's mask possessed.

"Looks like I'll have to get serious too." Euclid said before pouncing on Edzard.

Edzard saw the devil fly towards him, so he also lunged at him. This started a great melee battle whose shockwaves began to create gusts of wind that destroyed parts of the castle.

Asia was panting from exhaustion. Her robe was tattered and her body had several bruises underneath the armor. Said armor had saved her multiple times in this battle. Even though she had started with the upper hand in this battle, that changed when Marius forced a hand-to-hand combat using his speed.

Currently she used her Mithril sword to defend herself from the clutches of Marius. The vampire attacked with great speed, trying to overwhelm Asia. however, he couldn't, as Asia was able to block the blows.

"Why do not you die!" Marius yelled as he turned into a flock of bats and appeared in Asia's rear.

Asia whirled around to block Marius's blow. After blocking the blow, she jumped back and began to acrobatically dodge the blows that the vampire gave. With each passing second, the vampire seemed to gain ground against Asia. However, when Marius came within inches of hitting her, the shock wave from Edzard's battle caused the two to be separated.

'It seems like Ed is going to fight more seriously.' Asia thought as she saw the golden glow on Edzard's mask.

"What the hell is going on?" Marius asked seeing how Edzard was able to stand up to Euclid. "How is that bag of blood able to stand up to a devil that is on the same level as a Maou?"

Asia's eyes widened when she heard that, as she was surprised by what the vampire had just said. A small part of her was worried about it, but a large part of her was not. After all, Edzard still hadn't used his dragon aspect.

'Ed is fighting with all his power in his human form. I can't stay behind.' Asia thought as she moved her hand towards her bag. Pulling out a magic potion, she quickly drank the contents of it.

Marius raised an eyebrow when he saw Asia drink the potion. His eyes widened as he felt Asia's Magic levels return to full power.

Asia raised both hands and created an orb of golden magic. spreading her hands, the spell turned into a shower of rays of light that were directed at high speed against Marius. Who, seeing this attack, began to fly to dodge it. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough and several of the rays ended up hitting him. This caused the vampire to head sharply towards the floor.

However, Marius managed to stabilize himself and fly back towards the tower. As he flew, his eyes widened again when he saw six lights appear above Asia's head.

Asia was focused as she used another spell of her creation. This spell generated six lights on Asia's head. These lights began to change shape and turned into six golden swords. Moving her hands to the front, Asia released her spell.

The golden swords traveled at high speed towards Marius, who had to turn back into bats to escape. Unfortunately, he was very slow and one of the swords ended up embedding itself in one of his wings.

"Damn human. How dare you?!" Marius yelled when he was forced to materialize. And it is that the sword had torn off the wing.

After yelling, the vampire reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a vial of blood. With a cruel smile, he drank the contents of the vial.

"What did he drink?" Thought Asia worriedly, she already saw how the vampire's wounds were healed and his power increased slightly.

Marius smiled and quickly appeared in front of Asia.

Asia's eyes widened in surprise and pain, as Marius had given her a powerful blow to the stomach. This blow sent her flying through the air.

"Agh ..." was what came out of Asia's mouth when she hit the wall of a tower. Opening her eyes, she slowly began to climb out of the crater that she had created. If this blow had been received by her old self, it is possible that she was now on the ground dead from the impact. Looking up, she could see Marius flying over her.

'It seems I have no other choice.' Asia thought as she closed her eyes.

Marius watched with intrigue as Asia closed her eyes. However, that intrigue turned into concern when he saw how two rings appeared in Asia's hands. Thanks to the information he had collected and the data he had received from Euclid, he knew what sacred gear those were. So he quickly tried to fly to Asia to prevent her from healing.

Asia released the power of her sacred gear causing a golden glow to fill the area. When the glow faded, she was wearing her silver armor.

"It's not possible. However, there is no question. You are a user of sacred gear who has managed to access the forbidden movement. You have achieved Balance Breaker." Marius said in a panic, as he watched as Asia's wounds began to heal rapidly until she was completely unharmed.

Asia opened her eyes, then reached out her hand and used telekinesis to attract her sword. She had lost her sword the moment Marius had sent it flying. With her sword in hand, she lunged at the vampire. Thanks to her balance breaker, she managed to cover the distance that separated her from the vampire in seconds. Already in front of him, she began to make quick cuts.

Marius deflected Asia's attacks with his claws, but he grew weaker and weaker. This was because Asia's balance breaker generated an aura that considerably weakened vampires and devils. At one point, Asia managed to cut Marius on his abdomen. Marius's eyes widened as he slowly backed away keeping one hand on his abdomen. The reason for his panic was that despite having managed to land blows in Asia, they had not done any damage.

"What kind of sacred gear do you have?" Marius asked fearfully seeing the power of Asia's balance breaker. However, that fear increased to great levels when he saw Asia drive her sword to the ground. Without thinking twice, he tried to flee the place.

Asia clasped her hands together and began to accumulate an extremely high amount of magic. She was about to use her most powerful spell. A spell that was based on Edzard's lightning blast spell. Seeing him try to flee, Asia quickly lunged at Marius. When she was within two meters of the vampire, she released the spell.

A huge dome of golden magic engulfed both Asia and Marius.

"AGHH…! AGHHHH!" It was the screams of agony that came from Marius' mouth as he felt every cell in his body being burned by the explosion. When the spell ended, a very badly burned Marius could be seen. The burns were so severe that the vampire's clothing had fused with his flesh. In addition, in some parts of his body you could see tendons, muscles and even bones.

Asia got up and tried to walk, but almost collapsed when her legs gave out. However, she never touched the ground, as she was held before falling.

Edzard and Euclid were exchanging blows at high speed. Each hit created a shock wave so strong that it destroyed part of the castle.

Edzard parried a kick from Euclid with his hand and then grabbed his leg and sent him flying towards a wall. However, Euclid managed to stabilize in the air and was able to land before hitting a wall.

Euclid was breathing heavily and much of his clothing was completely ripped apart. Furthermore, without his knowing it, there were small amounts of frost and imperceptible lightning bolts on various parts of his body. Raising his hand he tried to cast a spell, but his eyes widened when he realized that his demonic power levels were very low.

'What's the matter? I haven't used many spells. Why are my demonic power levels so low? Besides. Why does my body feel so tired as if I had struggled for days?' Thought Euclid worried, since he had never felt so tired. Even when he fought in the civil war he had never been so tired. He unfortunately he could not think much more, since at that moment Edzard appeared.

Edzard's armor had seen better days, as it currently possessed various rips and dents.

'The power of this devil is nothing to scoff at,' thought Edzard, for Euclid's blows had managed to pierce through the legendary-level dragon scales that made up the inner part of his armor. That he knew, because he had several bruises and fissures on some bones of his body.

When Edzard was in front of Euclid, he lunged and began to attack him swiftly. Punching, kicking, spinning kicks, Edzard was using his entire arsenal of hand-to-hand combat. Each of his movements were strong and fast, but arrhythmic. After a quick exchange of blows, Edzard somersaulted backward.

"I see that you are tired. You may not even be able to use spells anymore, right?" Edzard said when he landed.

"How do you know that?" Euclid asked in a tired voice as he felt his mind begin to lose itself.

Edzard put on a mocking smile. "What makes you think I'll tell you something?"

Edzard moved quickly and tried to punch Euclid. The devil responded by deflecting the blow, however, that left an opening in defense of him. Edzard took advantage of that opening and kneed him in the stomach.

"Gahh." It was the only thing that came out of Euclid's mouth as he spat out blood-laced saliva.

Taking advantage of the fact that the devil was holding his abdomen, Edzard gave him a spinning kick. This kick sent Euclid flying until he hit a castle wall. The impact caused several debris to fall on the devil.

"It seems my lightning and frost strike spells are working very well," Edzard thought as he looked at his hands. The spells mentioned were two spells that Edzard had developed for close combat. These consisted of generating small and almost imperceptible layers of magic both frost and lightning on his legs and arms. These spells were based on the same principles as elemental cloak spells. Like those spells, these also depleted the magic and stamina reserves of their targets, the only difference being that these spells did so when there was physical contact.

Closing his eyes, Edzard let out a sigh of reassurance when he felt that Euclid's power had been almost completely exhausted and that he was on the verge of unconsciousness.

A golden glow caught his eye. Turning his head, he could see that said glow originated from a golden orb. Knowing what that orb meant, he headed there. When he arrived, he could see Marius on the brink of death and Asia begin to fall. So he quickly rushed to grab his wife.

"I can't believe you used a spell as dangerous as that." Edzard said as he watched Asia's armor slowly fade away.

Asia made a face. Her body was sore and her magic reserves were almost depleted. That spell took away a lot of magic. Also, it was very unstable and dangerous, so the only way she could use it was on what she now knew was her balance breaker. If she didn't use it, it was possible that she would be seriously hurt. While this spell was very powerful, her power level increased by six if used against vampires.

"I'm sorry, Ed. But after hearing what Marius said, I wanted to help you." Asia said in a tired voice as she rested her head on her husband's chest. "Help me?" Edzard asked confused.

"Yes. Marius said that the one you were facing was someone at the level of a Maou."

"So the Maou have that level of power." Edzard said when he remembered that the Maou were the leaders of the devils.

"So it seems. By the way. Where is that man?"

"I have knocked him unconscious." Edzard answered starting to walk towards where Valerie had fallen.

"You really are someone very strong. You defeated someone of Maou level in your human form."

"I do not believe it. It was just luck. I managed to defeat him thanks to the secondary effect of the destruction spells. Otherwise, it would have been necessary for me to use one or another Thu'um." Edzard said with a serious tone, since that was the harsh reality. Without the effects of Nirm's lightning and frost magic, it was highly likely that he would have had to use the first word of his dragon aspect.

"I see. Apparently, we were lucky this time." Asia said.

"Yes. Looks like I'll have to go back to training. Since I feel like I am rusting." Edzard said with an anxious smile on his face.

"Yes. I will also train. After all, I must become stronger." Asia said with a smile.

After walking for a while they came to where Valiere was. They both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the barrier had managed to withstand the impacts it had received very well, since there was a lot of debris around it.

Crouching down, Edzard put Asia down.

"You should drink a potion of stamina. That will help you a lot." Edzard said as he approached and deactivated the barrier surrounding Valerie.

Asia did as Edzard told her and drank a potion of stamina.

"Ahh ..." Asia sighed as she felt the potion begin to take effect.

Edzard carried Valiere and began to approach Asia. However, when he took three steps forward he felt a great pain in his chest. A second later, he was thrown into the air at high speed until he came to a stop after going through several castle walls.

"Ed!" Asia yelled in panic as she saw Edzard get hit.

"Wow. I never believed that my beloved right hand would be defeated by a child." He said a shadow standing in front of Asia as he reached down and picked up the unconscious Valerie.

Author's note:

To those who have made it this far, Thanks for reading. Because being honest, I don't know how to write much in English and I'm relying on Google translators and the dictionaries that come with office 2019.

And the operation to save Valerie begins. Edzard has managed to defeat Euclid, but has now been taken out of combat. Asia, meanwhile, has defeated Marius.

Although I said that this chapter will possibly come out in a fortnight, well, I had a good streak and managed to partially pass my courses. In addition, my co-workers have been motivated and we have been able to solve the Christmas campaign very well, so I have been able to have a little time to write.

Now, although mathematically I already passed my courses, that does not mean that I am going to relax, since I want to go out with a good PP this cycle. That's why I have to study for my finals, which are three days in a row. So the next chapter may be out on Friday next week.

About the harem, this is how it is so far: Asia, Lint, Aika, Rossweisse, Valerie Tepes, Yasaka, Ophis, and Ingvild. In the end, I have decided to include Ingvild and keep Aika. With that I have already covered almost all the boxes that I expected to have, only that of the fallen angel would be missing. In addition, a position as a wild card.

In the next chapter we will see the outcome of this operation and we will see some Daedric princes appear.

Ghost151: Thanks for the review. The truth is that I have always considered her potential as a magician. My problem was how to get her into the supernatural world. Although, I already managed to find a way to do it.

Nerdpacalypse: Thanks for the review. I have decided to take the apprentice route, as Edzard is not a god (Yet). On the dragon aspect Thu'um, Edzard won't be able to turn into a dragon for a long time, as that will happen in an arc I call "The Hero's Past." About the potion, do you want Aika's body to explode? I say this because the body of humans on Earth cannot bear to consume anything that originates from Nirm. If you wonder why Asia could bear to live in nirm, well, her father is a Breton. In the end, Aika will be able to use Nirm's magic thanks to something Edzard will do when she joins his group.

Well, I apologize for any misspelling. Do not forget to leave a review if you liked the chapter or if there is something that needs to be improved or if you have any questions about the story. With nothing more to say, until the next chapter.