Rias' room, Gremory Castle, Underworld:
The Next Day, Afternoon:
Theo's POV:
"So, how are your wounds?" I asked and Akeno smiled as she laid on my chest.
"They're fine. I just have to take it easy for the next few days." I nodded as Kuroka was humming softly. She softly ran her hands through my hair as I laid my head on her lap and Tsubaki was blushing bright red as she sat besides her.
"You know the other arm is getting cold, right?" I said with an amused smile and she shook her head rapidly as the other two giggled.
"Please don't do anything on my bed, you four." Rias chided and Akeno and Kuroka whined as I just lifted my head up to raise an eyebrow at her.
"Tsubaki and I are just two innocent mice caught in the grasp of these two minxes."
"You're entirely the opposite of innocent." Sona said with a snort and I gave an unashamed shrug as Kuroka and Akeno giggled.
"How long more until the next round? I want to fight already~" I whined and they all, along with Koneko, Seekvaira and Kuisha sighed as Alivian, Gasper and Sairaorg chuckled.
"Of course, that's the first thing on your mind." Rias muttered with a sigh and I gave a sheepish chuckle.
"Are you that hasty to be beaten by me?" Alivian asked with a smirk and I chuckled before I grinned at him.
"As far as I know, our record is 1-0 in my favour. Change that and I might take you serious next time."
"Isa, be nice to Alivian." Rias said with a frown, one that brought amused smirks to the faces of everyone as I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?" I asked, a smirk slowly growing as she blushed slightly and Alivian was now very interested at a spot on the wall.
"It's just good manners to be nice to others."
"If you say so~" I said in a sing-song voice as everyone laughed while she pouted, with no one noticing as I gave Alivian a knowing stare and he gave a sheepish grin.
Oh, I'm going to exploit this to the ends of our existence.
"Who wants to get pizza?! I'm starving!" Sairaorg exclaimed and that was the cue for me to jump from the grasps of my loving girlfriends(Ahhh~~! I fucking love saying/ thinking that!) before wrapping my arm around his shoulders.
"Let us go and conquer the pizzas from the kitchen of the Great Empress Evelina!" I exclaimed eccentrically and he grinned as we turned to Gasper and Alivian.
"I'd rather not die/ Yeah, you two can try and get it." Gasper and Alivian said respectively and I just sighed before I walked out of the room, Sairaorg grinning as he followed after me.
Time for my greatest battle yet: Stealing food from the monstrous grasp of the Kitchen Empress.
Leviathan Castle, Lilith, Underworld:
Later that Day, Mid-Afternoon:
"So how do you feel now?" Sera asked and I smiled as I laid on the couch, with her sitting on the one adjacent to me.
"Much better after our sessions, Sera. I should have found someone to talk to about this sooner." She giggled at my words before she spoke.
"And the extracirricular activities are helping as well?" She asked and I chuckled. "If you mean the shopping trips, then yeah, they're helping as well."
"Good to know. Good to know~" She said, nodding as she just kept staring at me and I raised an eyebrow as I turned to face her.
"Ask what's on your mind." I said and she giggled as she laid down on her couch, with me smiling as we looked up at the ceiling.
"What do you think of the Satans?"
"The descendants or you guys?" I asked and she giggled.
"Why not give me your thoughts on both of them?" I hummed as I thought about my answer before I spoke.
"Well, what I think of the descendants is…that they're a bunch of idiots. Even if they try to restart the Great War and even if they, by some miracle, manage to beat the OG, the entirety of the Christian Pantheon would be weak enough for any of the other pantheons in the world to wipe us out."
"That was our thoughts exactly, but those idiots were too narcissistic and stupid to accept our reasoning!" She exclaimed and I chuckled before I continued.
"As for my thoughts on you guys, Lord Sirzechs is a powerful idiot with a major sister complex. Lord Ajuka is an introverted mad scientist that would see if he could burn the world down with nothing but a can of gas and a stick than rule over Devilkind. I've never met Lord Falbium, but with the words of you and Lord Sirzechs, I can figure out that he's a lazy mastermind that would sleep one second and completely win a war the next."
"That's sounds about accurate. What about me?" She asked and I could detect a slight bit of anxiousness in her tone.
"A young, powerful woman who has a major sister complex just like Lord Sirzechs, but also wants to find the person of her dreams that can provide for her every desire." I said as I turned my head to face her, smiling in amusement at the glazed look in her eyes and the smile on her face.
"You're just the charmer with your words." She giggled and I smirked as I sat upright.
"I speak nothing but the truth, my dear Satan. Now then, thank you for the wonderful session and I'll see you next week." I said as I stood up from the couch, walking over before giving her a soft kiss on the forehead. She looked completely dazed as I smiled and nodded at her, completely hiding the massive amount of giddiness and happiness I felt at being able to do so.
In a flash of blue, the Azathoth crest appeared under me and the last thing I saw was her slowly touching her forehead before I disappeared.
The Next Day, Afternoon:
New Satan Stadium, Lilith, Underworld:
"Welcome all to the Semi-Finals of the Reincarnated Devils Ranking TOURNAMENT!" The crowd roared with glee with Reval, the four of us smiling as we awaited the matches to be announced.
"A few days ago, we started with 320 different fighters, but now! We have just the four men in front of us! The four who have conquered their foes and climbed their way to the top four! Now, who will truly be the victor at the end of the day and whose dreams of winning this tournament will be stopped?! Let's see as we reveal the new match-ups!" As Reval finished, the monitor under the announcer's booth turned on and our names appeared before they were quickly shuffled around. We just kept watching it and as it came to an abrupt stop, I grinned as I saw the match-ups.
"And there we have it, folks! Our first match up is Sectaas Barbaros vs Isaiah Azathoth!" I grinned at Sectaas and he was smiling back as we nodded at each other.
"And our second match-up for the semi-Finals is Diamante Fleurety vs Alivian!" Alivian took a deep breath before he nodded at Diamante, who smirked as he nodded back. "And now, let's not keep everyone waiting! Will Alivian and Diamante please leave the arena?!"
"Good luck." Alivian muttered as he walked past me, giving me a pat on the shoulder.
"You need that luck more than I do." I said with a smile and he chuckled as he nodded, walking up to the balcony.
"Please try and make it to the Finals. I'd rather not have an easy win." Diamante said as he smirked at me and I grinned.
"Worry about your own match. Alivian is not the average devil." He chuckled at my words before I turned to Sectaas, who had a tight grip on his hilt as he had a stoic expression.
"And now, without further adieu, let the first match of the Semi-Finals…begin!" In the blink of an eye, the screech of metal on metal echoed throughout the arena as Sectaas and I clashed in the middle, my twin black-crimson and grey-white falchions clashing with his broadsword.
"Oh? A falchion user and a dual wielder at that, huh?" He asked in amusement as he glanced at my blades and I shrugged as I kept him from pushing forward his blade.
"I am a Knight. You should have expected a blade." I said and he chuckled as we pushed away from each other, skidding to a stop a few meters away from each other.
"So, why are you not using that aura enhancement move of yours?" He asked as he slowly got into a stance, the blade pointed at me and his left foot slightly in front of his right.
"I've never actually had a fight where I can go all-out with just swordsmanship, so I wanted to fight against you with just my blades." I said with a shrug as I let my blades hang loosely at my sides, Sectaas frowning as he saw the disastrous amount of weak points in my stance.
Before I could continue speaking, he blitzed forward, going for one of the weak points, but his eyes widened as I grinned, weaving around his blow before the black falchion in my right hand slammed into his chest. The chainmail he was wearing under his shirt saved him from being bifurcated in half, but it didn't save him much of the pain as he was sent flying back.
Without stopping, I rocketed after him, his eyes widening as he quickly got out of the crater he made on the wall, with me stopping my attack as I watched him jump away.
'I'm playing too much with my food.' I thought with an amused smile, Sectaas staring me with a frown as he slowly got back into his stance.
"Do you like it? I call it the 'No-Guard' stance." I said with a smile as my blades were hanging once again at my sides, his frown deepening as he tried to figure out how to attack.
"It is a very unorthodox stance, something I've seen rarely used." I chuckled at his words before I disappeared, Sectaas raising his blade to block my downwards strike. The ground under him cracked and I grinned as I pushed down further before he roared as he pushed me away, swiping his blade at me before I disappeared and reappeared a few feet away from me.
"Do you mind if I pick it up?" Sectaas asked and I shrugged with a grin.
"By all means." Quickly raising my blades to the sides, I blocked blows from two different Sectaas appearing besides me, the one in front of me slowly vanishing like a mirage.
"Duplication Magic?" I asked, but neither of them answered before my eyes widened as I looked up, a third Sectaas coming down with an axe-kick and I quickly pushed the other two before flipping back, his kick smashing into ground before he grunted as a thrust kick sent him barrelling backwards.
Quickly blocking a strike from the left Sectaas, I jumped over the leg sweep of the right one before raising my legs and creating a shock wave rune on my feet, letting it blast the third Sectaas who was trying to get me with a thrust sword attack.
Using the momentum of the shock wave, I quickly flew away from the three as the two Sectaas ran after me, the third one flipping with the shock wave before he also rocketed towards me. I grinned before I blurred, the three Sectaas reciprocating my grin before they disappeared as well.
The screeching of metal and the explosions of sonic booms echoed loudly throughout the arena as we flashed across it, my blades blurring as I kept all three of them at bay while trying to counter their blows only for another duplicate to block it for them.
Quickly unfurling my wings while flipping over the double slash attack from two of them, I blasted into the sky, creating numerous Holy Blades above me before with a wave of my hand, I sent them all blasting down onto the arena. Three pure white auras appeared around all of them before they rocketed towards me, their blades being coated in the same aura before they blurred.
Sparks flew and metal screeched as blades flew in every direction, the three Sectaas deflecting the flying blades as fast as they could while flying up to me as fast as they can. I just grinned as I created more and more, sending them rocketing downwards to replace the ones that they broke.
"And it seems that we are now stuck in a stale mate as Isaiah tries to take out Sectaas and his clones before they could reach him, but Sectaas is also stuck trying to deflect the onslaught of blades as Isaiah gives him no time to rest! Who will triumph in this stalemate and who will fall?!" Sectaas was keeping up with my attacks as he constantly deflected before one of them grinned as his two clones decided to sacrifice themselves and blurred behind him, both of them roaring as they slapped the sides of their blades against his feet in unison and sent him flying like a bullet towards me.
A crimson aura exploded around him before it transformed into the visage of a horned demon around him, a large greatsword appearing in his grasp before both he and his demon thrust their blades forward. Quickly raising my arms in front of me, I grinned as all of the broken blades shot into the air, surrounding the shocked Sectaas in a spherical barrier before runes lit up on all of them.
"Endgame." I chanted and the metal and runes fused into one giant ball before I heard Sectaas shouting in pain as the sphere glowed a bright white.
'An orb made out of the metal of Blade Blacksmith, all of the blades having been enchanted with Holy Energy boosting runes. Even if you have an overall of Major God class Devil, that will still hurt like hell.' I thought with a smile as I waited until his cries died down before I quickly shattered the ball, watching the severely burned body of Sectaas fall to the ground.
Quickly flying to catch him, my eyes widened before I dove towards the ground and just in time as a blade pierced the air where my head previously was. Looking up, I stared in shock as a bleeding Sectaas floated in the air, blood slowly flowing from the burning slashes on his right arm and chest as he gave heavy breaths. Looking back at the other Sectaas, I was just in time as he grinned at me before crumbling to the ground like dirt.
"Duplication…and Elemental Magic…" He gasped out and I chuckled as I flipped over, landing in a crouch on the ground as I waited for him to land.
"Are you sure you don't want to give up? I'd rather not you aggravate your wounds any more." I said with a frown and he chuckled before he grunted as he tore his shirt apart, revealing the broken chainmail he was wearing under it as he tied the shirt around the wound on his arm. He then ripped off the chainmail, leaving him in nothing but his pants and wounds as he gripped his sword with just his left hand.
"Tis' but a flesh wound." He joked with a smile and I rolled my eyes with a chuckle before I sighed.
"Fine, I guess I'll finish this for you as fast as I can." I said before Storm King's Aura roared to life around me, a crimson nodachi appearing in my grasp. Slowly getting into a crouch, I held the blade up to head-level as Sectaas got ready to counter and I gave him a final smile and a nod before I lunged.
'Hiken: Tsubame Gaeshi.' Before he could blink, a horizontal slash sliced through his blade and gave him a shallow cut across his chest. He didn't even get a chance to gasp from that as I came down onto his head with a vertical slash, twisting the blade at the last second to hit him with the blunt side.
I don't know if it was subconsciously or not, but he was barely able to tilt his head out of the way, though not fast enough as I clipped the side of his head and the nodachi smacked hard into his shoulder.
Quickly spinning around him, the back of the nodachi slapped against the back of his head, the sparks on the blade electrocuting him before he gave a gasp before slowly falling forward. Quickly reaching out, I caught both him and his blade before putting him onto the ground, sheathing his sword before placing it on his chest.
"You were a fun opponent to battle." I muttered as I picked him up before walking to the edge, where I handed him over to the attendants before they quickly rushed to the medical room.
"And what a battle that was! Sectaas pulled out all of the stops to try and win, but it seems pure might was just too much for him as Isaiah Azathoth moves on to the Finals!" I smiled at that before I turned to the crowd and bowed with a flourish, gaining even louder cheers from them as I stood back up with a chuckle.
"Ah, and a man of the people at that! Truly, he is a Devil amongst Devils! Now, let's move on to the second match of the Semi-Finals as two giants collide, both of them trying to be the one who will face the prodigious Titan in the Finals!" I walked back to the tunnel that led up to the waiting booth, humming to myself before I smiled as I saw Alivian and Diamante walking past me to the exit.
"Have a nice battle, gu-!" I stopped talking as I saw the look in their gaze. Even as Diamante had a leisure smirk on his face and Alivian looked as stoic as ever, there was a ferocious greed in their eyes that burned brightly, shocking me silent as they didn't even look at me and just walked right past me towards the exit.
"And here, they come! The two giants that will battle each other to face Isaiah in the Finals! Which of these two Queens will get a chance to battle the Knight?!" Reval's shouts echoed throughout the tunnel as I glanced back at where the two fighters were just glaring at each, eagerly waiting for the match to start.
'…Oh, this is going to be fun.' I thought with a feral grin before I quickly rushed up to the balcony, not wanting to miss even a single moment of this battle.
With Alivian and Diamante:
3rd Person POV:
"Let's see how these two top contenders will do in this anticipated battle!" Reval shouted, a gleeful grin on his face and the crowd roared as Alivian slowly took deep breaths, Diamante removing his hands from his pockets and letting them hang at his sides before he slowly crouched down. Alivina let out a final breath as he raised his hands into a basic boxing stance, black scales sprouting around his arms and the sides of his face as his canines & claws grew longer and his pupils grew into slits.
"Let the battle…begin!" Alivian blitzed towards Diamante, blasting through the thick wall of black smoke appearing above him as he pulled his fist back before letting it fly. Diamante's eyes widened as he jumped away, Alivian's fist smashing into the ground and sending a dust cloud flying into the air.
Diamante rocketed around the arena, a tsunami of smoke covered the entirety of the arena before he grinned as he raised one hand to the sky. The smoke condensed into a flurry of fists that launched into the air before they all smashed down onto him.
Alivian just stared them all down before he began swinging, each of his punches destroying every fist he connected with before he glared at Diamante, who looked intrigued at him before he smirked widely.
With a quick wave of his hand, the black smoke slowly turning crimson before Isaiah scratched his nose slightly as he felt his nostrils burning slightly. Alivian began tearing it up and sneezing, closing his eyes and pinching his nose tightly as the crimson smoke was now covering the entirety of the arena floor in a thick mist-like form.
"And it seems that things are getting spicy as Diamante showcases his Pepper smoke!" Alivian crouched lowly before he jumped, rocketing past Diamante and far up into the sky before he stayed afloat as he unfurled his wings. Diamante chuckled before he grinned as he spread his arms to the side, light blue clouds mixing with the crimson smoke and turning it a light violet before he dove into it, completely hiding his form.
Alivian frowned as he stayed floating in the air, not daring to move as he created a blob of water in his hands before washing his eyes out. He then shook his head before glaring at the smoke below him, taking in a deep breath and as his chest expanded, he grinned at Diamante before he opened his mouth with a loud roar.
A blazing sea of raging black flames came down onto the arena, the smoke barely standing a chance as the flames completely burned them away. Alivian didn't stop with the blaze until he was certain that the smoke was completely away, cutting off the flames with a snap as a black cloud of smoke now floated in the air above the arena.
Under the baited breath of everyone, the smoke slowly condensed into one position before it formed into a humanoid form and, to everyone's shock, transformed into a grinning Diamante.
"What? I can manipulate smoke and you didn't think I can transform myself into it?" He asked as his grin transformed into a smirk and Alivian frowned at him before he glanced at the VIP booth, where Seekvaira was staring back at him. She stared at him with a stoic expression before she gave a small smile as she nodded, Alivian smiling back before turning back to the smirking Diamante.
Diamante frowned in confusion at his smile as Alivian floated up even higher away from him, far above the arena before a pitch black abyss wrapped around him. The aura then slowly grew bigger and bigger, covering the sky above the arena before a loud and menacing roar echoed throughout the sky as the aura cracked and shattered.
Pitch black scales absorbed the light around it, with light blue tribal patterns running across its body, and ivory white, razor-sharp claws and teeth shone in the light of the Underworld's sun. Bright crimson eyes glared down at the shocked Diamante and a dark grey aura wrapped around the Eastern Dragon's body as it floated in the air.
"And the battle has reached its climax as Alivian releases his full Dragon form!"
"Try to keep up." Alivian's now deep, gravelly voice echoed as he stared down at Diamante before he roared. His grey aura formed into large orbs around him before they began to rotate rapidly, Diamante creating a sea of smoke around him before Alivian sent the spinning orbs down blasting down onto him.
The smoke condensed into giant clawed hands before Diamante captured the balls in front of him, the orbs spinning rapidly against the hands as fast as they could before he grinned as he crushed them in his grasp. He then looked up at Alivian before he raised his hands to the sky, the hands rising with its motions before they all rocketed up to him.
In the blink of an eye, Alivian was moving, his serpentine body weaving through the air, twisting and contorting around the grasping hands of Diamante as he tried to get an attack in only for even more smoke to join in on the attack.
Alivian's aura condensed around him into numerous, spinning spears before he sent them flying down to Diamante, who quickly moved out of the way as he blasted after Alivian, the sea of smoke flying up from the ground with him as Alivian turned around and rocketed towards him.
Flames and aura over and over with smoke in the air, the smoke condensing into fists and weapons and clashing with Alivian's claw and aura attacks as one tried to take out the other. Alivian and Diamante both roared loudly as Alivian flew into the air, the clouds parting above him before he turned his head back to the ground.
A blazing orb of fire slowly grew in front of his gaping maw before his gray aura slowly began to fuse with it. Diamante just gave a feral grin as he raised his hands in front of him, a kaleidoscope of colours condensing into a pulsing orb in front of him before it slowly grew larger and larger, soon growing to be double the size of Diamante as he aimed it up at Alivian.
"Breath of Damnation!/ Oblivion Wrath!" Both of them roared before they let loose, a pillar of blazing fire flying down to meet a prismatic beam that flashed across the sky. Time came to a slow crawl as the two beams slowly grew closer and Alivian and Diamante gave each a final grin before they clashed.
Space cracked and warped as light met light, fire clashing with plasma as it warped the very air around the meeting point. The two beams struggled as one tried to push back the other before Diamante grinned and Alivian's eyes widened before he coughed up blood, dark blue smoke that was hidden by the bright light of the beams flying into his mouth and nostrils.
As he coughed, he failed to keep his pillar concentrated and that was all Diamante needed before he grinned as numerous dark blue smoke spears pierced Alivian's body from the outside before the prismatic beam slammed into his chest and covered his form in a devastating explosion.
"ALIVIAN!" Seekvaira's scream pierced the air as the explosion died down, Diamante slowly floating down to the ground as he watched the profusely bleeding human form of Alivian falling to the ground like a bloody rock before he slowed down and was caught by Isaiah, who instantly applied numerous runes to his body as well as placing a glowing crimson dirk on his chest.
Instantly, the bleeding slowed down and the wounds began to heal before Isaiah aimed a final glare at Diamante and rushed down towards the ground, not even paying attention to the attendants running towards them as he rushed to the medical room as fast as he could.
A/N: Another day, another chapter.
I hope this chapter showcased how versatile smoke manipulation truly is in the hands of someone with sufficient strength.
Anyway, I was going to do the finals this chapter as well, but I'm going to save that for a chapter of its own. As always, read, enjoy, review and I'll see you all in the next one.
Until then…
Ba-Bye~!