I don't own anything. All characters and all rights belong to Ichiei Ishibumi*
M for mature topics. No children allowed. *
The Broken Boosted Gear
By Try Another Time
Yasaka and Anubis rushed toward the surface as they tried to catch up to the Welsh Dragon before he did irreparable damage to his souls.
"Are you sure about this? I feel like we're rushing into our demise." Anubis says as he controls the scarabs train.
"Look. I know you do not trust the Welsh Dragon, but I do. I know he's not a monster. This whole thing is all due to what happened to Serafall and Gabriel. You can't hope to understand the pain he must be suffering after seeing them like that. The guilt that he's carrying. I have seen their interactions for an entire month, and I can confidently say that they are not just his allies but part of his family. I must bring him back to reason even if I get burned while trying." Yasaka says as she remembers her personal experiences with Ddraig. "He's not a monster. He cares about those around him and knows he's doing everything for our sake. I'm sure of this."
Anubis sees the expression on her face. "I never imagined I'd see the day in which the Welsh Dragon was supported by so many, protected by angels, fallen angels, devils, gods, humans, Asgardians, and even Youkai. You can't imagine how many lives had been extinguished by him. Dragon hunters of all realms, warriors who sought to test their might, gods unlucky enough to face him during the war, and those involved in the stories of each Booster Gear host died because of him, yet he's now seen as the hope of the Alliance."
"He's not a saint; he has never been one, but nobody can't judge him based on his past. Look at the present; look at all he has done until now and all he could do in the future. Can you claim that he doesn't deserve the things he has achieved until now or the relationships he has developed? Can you call him a monster?" Yasaka asks the god.
Anubis shakes his head. "I know what a monster is, and I never said he was one. I feared the Welsh Dragon like any other god because I couldn't face his strength. Fear of those that are stronger is commonly shared among many of us. I even fear Sekhmet because I have seen with my eyes what she could do if she is allowed to be consumed by her dormant bloodlust. The fear should always distrust the strong, for one can't know what they could do if they snap."
"Is this what every other god of the dead feels? Do they fear his strength?"
"You wouldn't be able to understand how it feels to know that one creature could lead to the death of you and your home. I have been living for eons, fearing the day on which Apophis would destroy my homeland. Dragons don't inspire trust in me, Yasaka, but I guess I can start trying to change after what has taken place on this eventful night." Anubis says as they finally reach the surface.
As the pair look around, they quickly find the Welsh Dragon slowly approaching the screaming figure of the Nidhogg as it tries to escape him.
Ddraig's POV.
"Stay away from me. You killed my Father." The evil dragon screamed as it tried to push his torso away.
Flames engulfed the feet of the Welsh Dragon, and with each step he took, the sand beneath him turned to glass due to his insane heat. His single eye could only see a path forward: eliminating the enemy before him.
"Until none remain." Issei and Ddraig were drawing in their shared anger and sorrow. Neither could see that the fight was over, as no enemies remained alive to oppose them.
"Do it. Eliminate him. Finish your enemy."
The husks screamed at him to finish what his enemies had started. They incited the Welsh Dragon's ruthlessness just like Ddraig had done with each of them several times when his soul was sealed inside the booster gear.
"Stay away!" Nidhogg screamed at him with an indescribable sense of fear. The evil dragon had never faced such a menacing opponent.
The Welsh dragon was vastly beyond his level as he surpassed Nidhogg in every aspect. Seeing how he brutally executed his father without even sweating once reaffirmed that, and now Nidhogg could only try to run away. Its torso wiggled and tried its best to escape, but it was useless.
Ddraig lifted his arm and threw his spear to pin Nidhogg to the ground. Nidhogg coughs even more blood as the spear pierces his chest, which also locks him into place.
Nidhogg feels that the spear's constant rotation causes more internal damage to his body with each second. It was as if a drill was buried deep within someone's body while the tool was still active.
"You're not running away. You will pay for what you did like everyone else."
"What did we do to you? You weren't supposed to be here!" Nidhogg screamed.
"You are going to pay no matter what-"
"Ddraig, stop this." A voice called out as he lifted Ascalon to deliver the last blow to Nidhogg.
"Yasaka…. I must eliminate all of them." The Welsh Dragon said without locking away from his target.
"You need to power down. You have done enough. Any more and you won't come back from this. Stop "Infinity" now." Yasaka said as she approached him.
Anubis remained behind as he saw no reason for him to interfere. It didn't help that he felt too scared to come closer to the dragon.
"I need to make them pay! Gabriel, Serafall, our allies; they are all-"
"They are alive, Ddraig. Nobody is dead."
"No! I won't stop. I need to fix this. I must eliminate all of them." Ddraig steps closer to Nidhogg.
Yasaka rushes forward and stops him as she places her arms around his chest. Her skin is burned upon contact as Ddraig's whole body burns hot due to his inhuman temperature. Even with this, Yasaka endures it and tries her best to bring him back to reason. Luckily for her, the crimson flames surrounding him, such as his halo, seemed to make space for her to approach so as not to consume her.
"I know it hurts. You care about them, and you're blaming yourself for not preventing this situation from happening, but you can't sacrifice your life for a useless vengeance. Nothing needs to get fixed in this situation; we dropped our guard and paid the price, but they aren't dead. You need to come back to your senses. You need to return in one piece to your home." Yasaka says.
But the pain and anger of the Welsh Dragon had taken a deep hold of him as he remembered the injuries his beloved girlfriends had endured.
The missing eye in Gabriel's face, Serafall's unconscious, battered body, and their bloody wings, which had protected him, made him drown in anger as he blamed himself for not protecting them.
"How did I allow it to happen? I was supposed to protect them, but I failed!" Tears ran down his face as he continued forward. He couldn't forgive them or himself, as his mind continued to torment him with images of their injured bodies.
"Stop! You can't continue like this." Yasaka screamed as she tried to calm him down. She bit her lips as she endured the increasing temperatures. "Dearest Gaia, give me the strength to stop him." It was by far the most pain she had suffered for the sake of someone else, but it was worth it as she considered everything that could happen if they lost the Welsh Dragon.
She couldn't let herself back down and let him die for his so-called crusade to "fix" what didn't need to be fixed.
Nidhoog's POV.
Nidhoog could only continue to shake in fear as his executioner came closer. Each step put him closer to the blade that had cut his body into pieces with the ease of a Sushi master as it prepared any fish.
Seeing his face, he couldn't help but notice the pain and anger of the Welsh Dragon as his sword came closer. It wasn't a sight that ignited the will to fight, but instead, the instinctive desire to run away in search of safety.
He had never felt so afraid of dying, but he learned precisely what his victims had felt for eons under this nocturnal crimson sky. Every time, they screamed at him to stop, allow them to live, and forgive them if they ever offended him. He had never shown them mercy, and now that he found himself on the opposite side of the blade, he felt the weight of his actions. The feelings and emotions of those he had killed were now invading his mind as he accepted his defeat.
His mouth betrayed his pride as an evil dragon as he sought a way of stopping his imminent demise at the hands of Ddraig.
"... I'm sorry….. Please…. Stop. I apologize for anything. Please forgive me. I….. surrender." The words escape Nidhogg's lips. He didn't know or understand the reason behind Ddraig's anger, but he could only apologize as he hoped for the best.
For a moment, Ddraig stopped as he heard those words. For a single moment, he thought that there was a way for him to be allowed to live, but his assumptions were far from the truth.
"How dare you ask me for forgiveness!" The Welsh dragon tried to lunge forward but was stopped by Yasaka. The nine-tail fox uses her tails to immobilize him as each one wraps his limbs.
"Stop, Ddraig. You need to power down, for Gaia's sake. Come back to your senses. This won't change anything." Yasaka continued to reason with him.
"You don't deserve my forgiveness! You dared to hurt those that matter the very heavens to me. You don't get to apologize to me after you-"
Before he was able to say another word, his body stopped moving.
"Dango Dango Dango, A big Dango family."
A soft yet charming voice reached everyone's ears. A soft melody that shouldn't have a place in this place or time. A song devoid of maliciousness or the incitement to fight. The voice behind such a song pleaded to the Welsh Dragon for peace and reason. Its charm reached deep into him as it resonated with his very soul.
"Dango? Who's singing this song?" Nidhoog's eyes looked around for the source, but he was unable to find it. His body seemed to relax as an indescribable sense of peace invaded him.
As his eyes returned to face Ddraig, he noticed how his complete body started falling to his knees as his sword was reabsorbed into his arm. Ddraig's temperature began to descend as he continued to cry. Such a sight shocked him as he didn't expect him to fall victim to a simple children's song.
"I was supposed to protect them. How could I face them after this? I'm the one that should endure such injuries, not them." Ddraig screamed. "How could I have allowed this to happen? All this power means nothing if I can protect them. Why did I allow them to get hurt?"
Yasaka continued to embrace him as she felt his body grow colder with each second. "Is alright. They did it to protect you. You can't blame yourself for this—power down. The time to fight is over."
The power of Infinity started to vanish as the song's influence affected the dragon. His pain and guilt remained, but the music made it much more manageable as reason returned to his mind.
Ddraig's POV.
"... This is her voice…. Ingvild. Such a charming voice. I hope to meet her one day. Ddraig, it's time for me to return. There's no more need for us to fight." Issei told his partner as he shut down their abilities and brought their powers back to zero with the help of the song's influence.
The crimson flames around the area began to return to his body—each one getting absorbed, leaving no flames behind.
"... I can't stop this pain. I was supposed to protect them. I can't face them."
"I know, but you'll have to pull yourself together for their sake once they open their eyes. Besides, we can't continue like this; we have reached our limit. I know you can feel it. Our time has decreased; we're closer to the end of our lives. Infinity is not viable, at least not for now. We can't use it again."
"This isn't good... Issei. I can't do this alone. I'm not-"
"Don't say that; you have everyone to support you. You can continue even if I'm not there, but it won't be long before I return for good. You have been doing great until now. These memories are proof of that. Never doubt your choices; I trust you with any choice you make. So continue on, partner. I will finish my training before I return. I'm close to achieving that goal. I just need to slay it once, and I'll be satisfied. Until then, you just have to do your best."
"Is not that easy. My grasp over this body is growing weaker."
"Ddraig."
"What?"
"You got this. Even if you feel too weak to move a muscle, you'll manage somehow. You can do it. If I can face Gautama's training in pure solitude, you can make this body listen to you. You're the best of us two, so don't doubt."
Ddraig sighs as he feels he can't go against the former human.
"Don't take too long. I need you back."
"I'll try to return as fast as I can. Until next time, partner." With those words, Issei disappears once more, leaving Ddraig alone.
As soon as Issei disappears, Ddraig feels how his body has become much harder to control. His limbs barely listen to him as his soul loses more of his hold over his body.
"This is bad. I'm losing….."
"Is alright. Sleep. I'll carry you." Yasaka says as she reads his mind. "Everything will be alright."
Ddraig closes his remaining eye and allows himself to finally rest after pushing his body to its limits.
With his body falling completely unconscious, the song ended as its singer saw no need to continue.
Yasaka's POV.
The nine-tail fox smiled as she placed Ddraig's head on her lap. "I'll take us home. Leave the rest to me."
"Is he down after listening to that song?" Anubis asks as he comes closer.
"He is, and that's enough for me." Yasaka caresses Ddraig's hair as she feels relief at his peaceful expression.
"You're injured; we should get you some help," Anubis suggested.
Yasaka shook her head. "This is nothing. A few burns won't kill me. This is the least I can do. Can you retrieve the spear? It won't be hard to remove it."
"Are you serious? That dragon is still alive." Anubis argued.
"Leave it to me then." A voice said. The pair looked around for the source but could not find it.
Suddenly, a scythe appeared from thin air before its sharp blade sank into the flesh of Nidhogg. The dragon screamed as the scythe grabbed a hold of his soul.
"This would be the first time I captured the soul of a dragon and an evil god on the same night. I thank you, Welsh Dragon, for offering me such a chance." The young shape of Bennia Orcus appeared on top of the dragon's torso before she began to pull Nidhogg's soul into the lamp in her left hand.
The evil dragon pleaded for mercy, but there was none to be found for him as Bennia easily captured his soul. Even at a young age compared to others, she demonstrated her mastery over the tasks of a reaper.
"Orcus's daughter? What is this? You shouldn't-" Anubis was stopped by Bennia, who raised her hand.
"Lord Anubis, with all due respect, we both know that we can't remain neutral with all that is happening. You can feel it, don't you? A new enemy has broken the balance, and they will disrupt the very order we seek to follow." Bennia said as she removed the spear from Nidhogg's lifeless body. "This shouldn't become a regular situation, Welsh Dragon. Although I enjoy harvesting the souls of your enemies, I prefer not having to carry your weapons or your body after each fight."
Ouros allowed itself to be pulled out, but once it was free, it slithered away from Bennia's grasp before approaching its owner. The spam of Ophis shrank in size, and once it was small enough, it coiled itself around Ddraig's wrist.
"A thanks would have been welcome," Bennia told herself before she retrieved her scythe.
"What do you mean by breaking the balance, child?" Anubis asks.
"The souls of those who died at the hands of Ddraig tonight aren't ordinary souls. They are weak, shallow, and vile as if they were mass-produced without consideration for quality. I wouldn't call them proper devils either." Bennia admits.
"Devils? But there's no possible way our allies would betray us or have so many troops under their leadership." Yasaka argues.
Bennia smirks. "Right on the spot. There's not even a million pure devils alive in all the realms. These devils are not the same. I read the reports from back in the day, and this only happened once when the original Lucifer was alive, which means that someone has control of his tools and powers, but they are using them without the same care he did. Someone is creating an army of devils, and I think we might meet them soon."
Bennia turns her eyes to the sky as she feels a disturbance within the realm's natural barrier.
Several space breaches open as more enemy ships appear.
The reinforcements had arrived to finish the job.
"This has to be a joke. More enemies?" Anubis began to panic at the sight of 5 more ships.
Yasaka's eyes widened as she saw them appear. Her mind began to think of millions of possibilities to defend not only herself but also Ddraig and Anubis.
But before the enemy forces could even try to make a move, one of their ships was taken down by an unexpected projectile.
"What?" Anubis asked in shock.
"They are here," Bennia said with a smile. "They won't get their way with the Alliance here."
As the first ship fell, the others followed suit as more attacks began to hit them from far away. Each projectile was precise and deadly as the hull of the ships and barriers could not defend against them. The troops inside escaped their fallen vessels and began regrouping into smaller teams with clear objectives, but luck wouldn't smile at them.
A magic circle appeared next to Yasaka's face. "Yasaka, do you have Ddraig with you?"
"Shiva?"
"Yasaka, answer the question."
"Yes."
"Very well. Stay with him. We'll take care of the rest."
The groups of mass-produced devils were quickly intercepted by troops of the Alliance, who started arriving in masses, ready to extinguish the very lives of their enemies.
Their numbers might have been higher, but with opponents such as Thor and Athena present alongside Shiva, they could do little to face them.
30 minutes later. Ruins of Ra's temple.
The forces of the Alliance were on the move as they aided the locals with rebuilding their homes and buildings. Materials from the outside were brought in large quantities as the need for rebuilding was a significant concern. The unicorn was resting right on top of the ruins as a sign of the massive support the Alliance was determined to offer to its new allies.
There had not been any deaths, which was good, but now they needed to rebuild everything they cared about from basically zero.
While this was happening, Ra and many of the heads of the Alliance met in a large tent that was prepared within the ruins of the temple.
As the blue falcon and the primordial god of destruction met each other, they could only help but smile as they shook hands but said smiles quickly disappeared as the group's concerns regarding these new enemies became the top priority.
"Eury, do you want to begin?" Shiva asked the goddess as he took his seat alongside the rest.
The young daughter of Hephaestus nods as she activates a display that shows several images of what had taken place. "Our mission was simple: hunting Apophis and sealing his soul. Our group was composed of three teams, including all of this realm's deities and our own forces. One team involved support and surveillance, another was focused on securing the safety of the realm's denizens, and the last team was tasked with hunting Apophis. Our efforts, as you could see outside, were fruitful as we achieved the goal of hunting the dragon."
Everyone nods as Apophis's very corpse is a few meters away from them.
"But we were attacked by an unexpected enemy. We considered the appearance of Crom Cruach or any of the evil dragons, but what we got was far from what we could expect."
The display changes and shows the unconscious bodies of several team members who participated in the hunt.
The sight of Gabriel and Serafall in such states made more than one of those present angry.
"Our team received a devastating blast that I was unable to track. These new enemies invade the realm while remaining undetected. I apologize for not being able to prevent this." Eury says.
Michael and many of those present shake their heads. "Nobody is to be blamed besides our very enemies. This attack is their responsibility as they invaded our allies with obvious intent to cause damage."
Eury raises her head and turns to Ereshkigal, who's covered in bandages. The queen of the dead summons the three lamps with their prisoners. "Apophis, Nidhogg, and Angra Mainyu, their souls are trapped within these, and I have glanced into their memories. What I saw is far more troublesome than I could ever have imagined. They have the technology and tools needed to easily invade most realms and an ever-growing army with no end in sight. They call themselves Qlippoth and are deeply related to Loki and Rizevim Lucifer. Loki seems to be their de facto leader, while Rizevim is more involved with the Khaos Brigade. Rizevim has control of Lilith, meaning he could continue to create these mass-produced devils with no end in sight. Their goals seemed to involve harvesting souls of all realms for future plans, which likely involved weapons and a gate to bring the beast back."
"How could someone agree to work for such goals?" Set asked.
Ereshkigal places her hand on Apophis's lamp. "The children of Crom seemed to have joined the faction due to the offer of a home for them and their father. I can't speak for the reasons for Crom to join the faction. They seemed to lack knowledge of most plans compared to the next prisoner."
Her hand moves to the Angra Mainyu. "Angra joined their ranks, knowing what Rizevim and Loki intended to do. It seems that few understand what Rizevim and Loki plan to do. Most of those I saw in his memories joined the faction, intending to use its resources to fight against their own enemies without fully knowing how far the faction would go."
"So we have several groups of misguided idiots following a group of insane bastards, just another Tuesday in our line of work. We need to figure out how to attack their main base." Azazel said.
"That will be the main issue as their base is always on the move. Based on what I saw, Qlippoth's base is not a realm but a coalition of ships and mobile bases constantly moving between the dimensional gap and Yggradssil. It shouldn't be possible, but they found a way to achieve such a thing." Ereshkigal said.
"Are you saying our enemies could be right on our door without us knowing?" Ra asks.
"They can, but there's an exception to the rule, as not every realm is easy to breach. Based on their memories, the Underworld, Paraiso, and Earth are some of the few places they can't invade with their ships. Be it due to Gaia's barrier or other factors that we can discuss later. We have to discuss what to do with this information since we have it. They will attack again, and anyone out there could be the next one to fall. We got lucky once, but it won't happen again." Ereshkigal says.
"We need to alert others. If we allow them to do as they please, they will achieve their goals." Anubis argues.
"That's the issue: how many realms will believe in us? How many are going to trust our words?" Set asks. "The situation between many pantheons is not the best."
Everyone agreed with this statement.
"But we need to try. We can send messengers; the rest will be up to them to trust us or face the consequences. This is all we can do. We can't hope to save every realm if they don't allow us to help them." Sirzechs says. "Ra, Set, Anubis, each of the members of this realm; you trusted us with your lives tonight, and we came to your aid. We're willing to do the same for anyone who does the same, but we have to be ready to accept rejection."
Ra nods as he knows that it won't always go their way. "Let us do what we can to prevent the worst. I agreed to send the messengers."
Every other leader nods as they see no other way out but to release the information they have obtained and pray for the best.
That same night, hundreds of messengers departed with classified information, hoping to aid the realms in what was to come.
A war for survival had just begun.
After the meeting. Location: Unicorn's Medical Bay.
Within large glass tanks filled with healing solutions, all those injured in Crom's attack were floating as their injuries were treated with the utmost care.
Nurses and doctors walked around as they continued to survey their patients. Azazel was also inside as he directed each member on what to do with each patient.
Meanwhile, outside the room, Sirzechs, Ajuka, and the Seraph trio could only watch silently as their allies remained unconscious.
"The Phoenix Drops were the things that saved them from certain death. Although the healing effects were slow, they did prevent them from dying as they received severe internal injuries. Ddraig's actions prevented the worst, although he didn't realize it then. Lady Gabriel and Serafall should recover in between 2 and 3 weeks, while the others should be up and around in a few days or more. We'll transfer them to Grigory as soon as we finish the procedures." A doctor said as he explained the current situation to those present.
"... What about her missing eye?" Uriel asks. "What's going to happen to Gabriel's face?"
"... We can't repair was no longer there with usual methods. Lady Gabriel's eye was burned to a crisp; nothing remains of it, and it is a miracle that she didn't lose her complete face in the attack. I have to say that the whole situation is a miracle in itself as of all of those present, Lady Serafall and Gabriel received more damage than anyone else, but even then, they didn't lose any of their limbs. Several broken bones and failing organs? Sure, but nothing else was lost." The doctor says.
"They put everything they had into creating barriers to protect those around and Ddraig. They risked their very lives to protect others. I can't be more amazed at their convictions." Ajuka said.
"Should we ask Valerie for help? The Graal could repair this damage, although it would take some time." Raphael asks as he turns to Michael.
Michael remains silent as he sees his sister in one of the tanks. Ddraig was resting in another room, but he felt their conviction. As he learned about what had occurred, he could only acknowledge the determination the pair had shown on this mission. "... no. Replace her missing eye with the one that Ddraig offered."
"Are you insane?" Uriel asks his brother. "You mean to accept something like this?"
"She was willing to die to protect him, and he was more than willing to give his own eye for her. He went on a rampage for her sake, and Serafall, we can all see that it was the trigger behind his actions. Gabriel won't oppose this; if anything, she would embrace this as a symbol of their companionship. They trust each other with their lives, so we should respect that. I know that we could easily ask Valerie to try to heal her, but we shouldn't force that girl to cure something like a missing eye if we can find a donor instead. We can't abuse her powers when we feel like it." Michael said.
Uriel turns to face the tank. "You really think that our siblings would accept this? Gabriel's face won't be the same."
"It would symbolize how far we will go for the Alliance. Sirzechs, if Serafall had been the one to lose that eye, would she have accepted the replacement?" Raphael asks.
"We both know the answer to that. If Ddraig is willing to offer every inch of his body if necessary, we shouldn't reject his actions." Sirzechs says.
Uriel remains silent as he reflects on this. He respected and even applauded Ddraig's actions as he had put everything on the line to avenge his sister's injuries. But it was hard to accept that his cherished sibling would bear the scar of such an event. It was taking a lot for him to make this choice. "... go ahead with the surgery, but get Hephaestus to help with it. We don't know how the flesh of a dragon will interact with her body. It might be best to transform the eye into something different before it is used."
"Very well." The doctor said as he walked away.
"You're making the right choice," Sirzechs said as he walked away.
"He would have made the same choice, so don't feel bad about it," Ajuka said as he departed.
The siblings remained alone as they continued to watch in silence. Gabriel meant the world to them, like all of their other siblings. They only had each other and the fallen angels. A broken family reunited after being enemies for a long time. They knew the ins and outs of their jobs, but fear was always there—a constant of being close to losing another of theirs.
Once gone, nobody could return.
It was always there, and even as the leaders of Paraiso, they also felt its weight.
Raphael and Uriel began to walk away, but Michael remained behind. His mind reflected upon everything that had occurred, and although he initially saw Gabriel's actions as comradery, he also felt that something was different.
Something that wasn't normal.
As he analyzed every corner of her body, his eyes fell upon the "friendship bracelet" now resting on her wrist. It was a detail that nobody paid attention to, but to him, it seemed weird.
"You're not one to be known for using jewelry or any kind of accessories, but why now? Why even have something that matches with Ddraig? Did something happen on the trip? Is it just friendship, or is it something more?" As the one who had crossed the line, he wondered if his sister had done the same.
Was Gabriel the same as him? A seraph that had chosen to embrace such emotions even if it went against their principles?
His questions would have to wait until Gabriel regained consciousness.