DxD - The Last Amagiri

by HolyKnightX

Kensei Amagiri, the surviving heir to the Amagiri Clan, after losing his mother now lives on an island, where he fights for survival with his new friends. Left for dead by the Old Devils and Taro, is found by two legends who'll assist him in taking his fate back into his own hands.

28. Norse Expedition III

Welcome to the next chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, but before starting the story. Let's answer some reviews:

Altair95: Yes, that was an awesome competition between the Kibou and Valkyrie teams. We got to see all of them; Zane, Maria, Hisui, Alice, and Claire showing off what they all learned from their training. Kensei is trying his hardest to keep up with the Chief-Valkyrie herself. But, in the middle of their fight, there was an interruption from a certain evil dragon

---

Norse Expedition III

"Ugh, I can't believe it ended like this."

Ortlinde complained as she laid motionless on the ground unable to even gather her magic power.

"I didn't think that they'd be capable of doing something like this. After a simple strike from the two of them and it made us unable to move a single muscle and invoke our powers."

Grimgerde added after noticing Hisui hauling the both of them against one of the trees, their weapons being all but confiscated as well. Hisui after noticing their confused expressions about what happened a couple of minutes ago caused their defeat.

"Well, that's a thing we call Senjutsu, it lets us sense the presence of others and cause direct damage to the spirit causing effects like this among other things. So, as long as you're a living person, it's quite effective."

Hisui explained kneeling in front of Grimgerde.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Huh, I don't know. One of the things that I used to love doing was tease my best friend," Hisui said as she gave both Ortlinde and Grimgerde a teasing smile that sent a chill down their spines. "Whenever I see someone so vulnerable, then I can't help but have the feeling of messing around with their bodies. And wanting to mess with the bodies of beautiful Valkyrie makes me all excited."

Both Ortlinde and Grimgerde started being fearful of the intentions that the green-haired nekoshou had intended for them, which made it all the more worse since neither of them could move.

"Well, I can't really do that right now," Hisui said shrugging her shoulders and giving up much to their relief. "It's a little awkward having a crowd watching until you're into being watched and besides…ugh!"

At that moment, for some reason, Hisui's face turned into pure disgust as she pinched her nose and turned from the two of them. Ortlinde seemed confused and concerned about the sudden reaction from Hisui who was talking to them in such a lighthearted tone.

"What's wrong, Hisui?"

"Why does it smell like a rotten egg that has been aging for centuries, forgotten about then brought outside to rot some more in the sun?"

Hisui said feeling and sounding disgusted.

"A rotten egg?"

Grimgerde was confused about the sudden if not overly accurate comment.

"Where is it coming from?"

Ortlinde asked confused as well.

"Well, I think that it's coming from there. Ken Ken and Brynhildr seem to be there too and," Hisui sensing both of the presences of Kensei and Brynhildr before her eyes widened. "W-What's that there with them?"

Hisui seemed to let out a cold sweat as she sensed another presence there with them.

"Hisui, is there something wrong with the Captain and Kensei?!"

Ortlinde was getting more worried about the Valkyrie Squad Captain more so after seeing her reaction.

"Th-There's something dark and powerful there with them. Its presence is so eerie and dark that it tops anything I have ever sensed from anyone this far. This is the strongest thing that we've met this far likely even far stronger than us and even Brynhildr."

"Something evil and possibly stronger than the Chief?"

Grimgerde replied worried.

Both of them were worried since this wasn't a part of the Exhibition Match planned by the gods and there was an evil being stronger than even their captain in the same space as them.

"Tch, Hisui please can you undo what you and Kensei did to us. This wasn't a part of the exhibition match and if what you're saying is the truth, then we need to deal with whatever appeared first."

Ortlinde pleaded.

It took Hisui, who was sensitive to the presence of others seconds to respond since the aura she was sensing at that moment was the most evil that he had sensed from anyone human or otherwise.

"R-Right, it'll take a couple of minutes, but I can redo what Ken Ken and I did."

Hisui said as her hands started shining with a brilliant green almost jade aura as she approached them.

---

Meanwhile, in the middle of the battlefield, Zane was still fighting against Helmwige firing off a bullet that broke through her barrier and was prepared to fire off another bullet at her. But, stopped after noticing that there was a sudden flickering light from his Magus Akashic, which was bright enough to distract him.

"Hmm, what's this?"

Zane questioned stopping for a moment.

Not knowing the situation and still in battle mode, Helmwige released a magic attack towards the still distracted Zane. After regaining the sense that he was in a battle, he raised a magic barrier that deflected the attack, but his attention still seemed to be aimed at the grimoire hanged on a chain around his neck.

"What's the matter Annelisse?"

Zane asked wanting an answer.

[There's a dangerous foe nearby.]

"What?"

Zane was surprised as this was the first time that the sentience inside his grimoire, Annelisse would speak out in this manner. But, he was more surprised about the fact that there was a dangerous foe in the same artificial space as them.

"I won't surrender against…!"

Helmwige was prepared to continue the battle but was stopped after a light beam was fired off in her path from Claire sitting at the window sill.

"Now isn't the time to fight against one another," Claire declared before pointing in the direction of the clearing. "I can see that there's what seems to be a dragon where Nii-san and Brynhildr-san went!"

"A dragon?"

Zane was confused about what this meant.

However, those words from Claire were enough for Rossweisse to end her battle against Alice's Ignis who ceased after being ordered to do so by its creator. Those who were able to levitate, elevated themselves high into the air to get a better look at this dragon that Claire had previously mentioned. After getting a better look, all of them did see that there was a black snake-like dragon fighting where Kensei and Brynhildr were.

"Wait, it can't be…!"

Rossweisse seemed stunned after seeing that black dragon, in addition to Helmwige who realized who it was.

"I didn't think that we'd run into something like this."

"What is that?"

Claire who spread out her devil wings flew over to Zane who seemed to also realize what that dragon was.

"It's one of the most heinous kinds of dragons in the world, Evil Dragon," Zane replied glancing over to Claire who seemed more worried after hearing that term. "Those are broken dragons described as being battle maniacs and one of the most brutal kinds of creatures seeking nothing more than destruction and chaos. That one there is called Niðhöggr, the Abyss Rage Dragon famous in the Norse World for chewing on the roofs of the World Tree."

"What's that thing doing here? I know the Norse Gods wouldn't go to these lengths to force us away."

"I don't know why Niðhöggr is here either. But, it does change some things with him appearing here," Zane stated knowing that neither of them could continue their battle like this. "Can you all contact the officials outside? I know that all of them are aware of Niðhöggr appearing here for some reason, but I'd like to…."

"I've been trying since we realized that it was Niðhöggr, but…."

"We can't contact anyone outside."

Rossweisse finished after Helmwige as both did, in fact, have their magic circles activated already and attempted to contact the outside, but neither of them could contact the people outside the barrier.

"There's a barrier stopping communication from the outside world. What in the world caused this?"

Zane wondered confused since no one in the Norse World associated with the Chief-God would add something, which would stop them from contacting the outside.

"But, as Zane mentioned, the people outside are sure to realize the situation and maybe attempting to figure out what's going on at the moment. All we can do right now is come together and handle that thing right now before it causes real harm."

Claire suggested.

"Right, we should inform Maria and Schwertleite first if they haven't already sensed its presence. Then we should contact Brynhildr to see if she had a plan for this situation."

Rossweisse added, which all of them agreed to.

---

Outside of the barrier and inside the arena, there was a commotion occurring after witnessing the arrival of Niðhöggr. Almost all the people sitting in the stands were worried, after both the evil dragon's dangerous nature and the threat of Niðhöggr escaping from the barrier.

"What is that dragon doing there?!"

"What're we going to do if he ends up escaping?"

"Don't worry the Norse gods are here as well."

Some people panicked at the threat that the evil dragon could pose them all, on the other hand, others weren't worried because of the gods there. Among them, there were both Smith and Anne, who were enjoying watching their son and friends fighting against the Valkyrie Squad. However, they were stumped about the arrival of Niðhöggr.

"I wasn't expecting Niðhöggr all of things to appear during their match."

Smith said worriedly about the dragon in the same space as his youngest son.

"Uh, I want them to get my little Zane out of there before that dragon gets to him."

Anne added feeling afraid for her son recalling the notorious past of this evil dragon, in particular.

"There's nothing to be worried about. All of them are there with the entire members of the Valkyrie Squad. Even if Niðhöggr is a powerful dragon, there's no way that he can defeat all of them at the same time," Smith noted in an attempt to reassure his wife who allowed a breath to escape, but there was some doubt. "I believe that Zane and the others will be able to survive this, but evil dragons are vicious creatures who won't be stopped even if they're nearly killed. If they want to defeat Niðhöggr, then they'll need to find a way to kill him or wait to back up. I'm sure that Zane can find a way for them to survive."

Inside the VIP spectator room, where the important figures of the Norse World were also confused about the situation involving the mysterious appearance of Niðhöggr.

"Why did that creature of all things appear here?"

An Elder Elf asked feeling conflicted about the situation.

"Could he have become attracted by the presence of that lad he confronted?"

An Elder Dwarf replied.

"Who knows. Those dragons always act as they desire."

Another Elder Dwarf added.

"This is what happens when you bring foreigners here?"

As the Elders were conversing about the incident involving Niðhöggr, most of the Elder Elves were placing what was happening on Kensei and the others who weren't natives to the Norse World. Odin noticed this situation and seemed to have already contacted the ones involved in creating the artificial space.

"What a time for Niðhöggr of all things to appear here. It already looks as if the Elven Elders are starting to place the blame on Kensei who he appears to have been after. I thought their match was going on nicely until he came into the picture. But, it begs the question."

Vidar noted scratching his head at the situation that was happening before their eyes.

"How did a Dragon Gate appear in the middle of the arena," Odin added before Vidar could finish. "I don't think anyone inside the artificial space activated it, instead it must have been placed there after the artificial space was finished for their match. If that's the case then we need to question the Valkyrie in charge of creating the barrier. Neither of us or the Valkyrie acting as guards were able to contact the people inside the barrier too."

Vidar could hear that even Odin was feeling a little overwhelmed about the situation, which was meant to be what showed the Norse World that Kensei and the others could become their allies. He was finished contacting all the ones in charge of creating the barrier and artificial space, but there seemed to be some issues on their end that needed to be discussed too.

Moments later, the room opened revealing a Valkyrie who appeared to be panicked at the moment and looked as if she had run all the way there.

"What happened?"

Odin worried about the expression the Valkyrie was making.

"O-Odin-sama, th-there's a serious situation about one of the other Valkyrie assigned to assist in the barrier."

The Valkyrie managed to speak out loud causing Odin to become worried, then stood up.

"I'll be there."

"I'll come as well."

Odin turned to see the Elven Queen, a beautiful blonde-haired woman who seemed almost without the slightest fault dressed in appropriate attire fit for a Queen. She approached the Chief-God with her two youngest children still a little worried about Niðhöggr's appearance.

"Queen Ashborn, this situation…."

"Forgive my rudeness Odin-sama," Queen Ashborn kindly stopped him. "I, my husband, and children all came to see the people who gained your attention. And I was impressed by the ingenuity behind all their plan and also admire their spirit. However, with the arrival of Niðhöggr, you'll need all the help possible in handling that dragon if he managed to break free from the barrier."

Odin heard Queen Ashborn speaking to him in a noble tone fit for royalty.

Soon enough, her husband, the Elven King, a white-haired man with a rather well-built physique and gold eyes stood by his wife who still conversing with Odin.

"I agree with Regina," he stated. "This isn't the time to attempt to solve everything alone since this is the time for all of us to come together to solve this situation. And that means pooling together as many combatants from our side as needed to ensure that Niðhöggr doesn't cause another incident. If the group in the barrier does end up solving the issue, then that would put at ease whatever doubt people have about them."

Hearing the comments from both the Elven Queen and King, Odin allowed a relieved sigh to escape his mouth.

"Alright, then do whatever possible to prepare for a potential attack from Niðhöggr. So, King Ashborn please tell all of the warriors from your side and ours to prepare themselves. And Queen Ashborn if you would please come with me to see what's happening on their end."

"Alright, Odin-sama," Regina noted before turning to her daughter and son who was still holding onto her dress a little frightened about the evil dragon. "Your father and I will be heading out now to help Odin-sama deal with the bad dragon. So, can the two of you be good children and stand by your big sister's side?"

Regina spoke to her two youngest children in a gentle tone, which caused her daughter and son to nod their heads hesitantly. Both of them then approached their older sister who looked the same age as Kensei and the others who were in their second year with white hair like her father and blue eyes like her mother. As both her siblings came to her similar to her mother, she smiled and placed a comforting hand on their heads.

"Elder Sister, I'm scared."

"That dragon is scary."

"There there, our mother and father will be handling the situation now."

She soothed her two younger siblings who were beside her terrified after seeing the dragon's arrival, which seem to work as some of their fear faded. At around the same moment, their father approached his oldest child, while comforting both his youngest children and facing her.

"Sarah, your mother and I will depart to handle the situation. Will you be fine protecting your brother and sister?"

"Of course, I, the First Princess, will fear no Evil Dragon."

Sarah replied haughtily.

"That's my girl."

The Elven King smirked proudly at his daughter's confidence before heading out himself.

---

Outside the VIP spectator room, Odin and Regina being led by the panicked Valkyrie directed the leaders toward a group of Valkyrie gathered around a single one. All of them gathered around a single Valkyrie who was downed with a dazed almost lifeless look in her eyes.

"What happened?"

"Well, we did as requested and gathered all the Valkyrie responsible for creating the artificial space, but she was the only one we couldn't find. It wasn't long before we received a call from her roommate who told us she was in her bedroom and didn't appear to have left."

One of the Valkyrie explained to Odin who seemed to come to a realization.

"So, that explains what happened," Odin uttered. "Someone must've found out that she was a part of the team in charge of creating the artificial space, then took her position. I think that explains why the Dragon Gate appeared out of nowhere if someone already planted it there before the battle started. And that explains the reason that no one on the inside was able to contact anyone from the outside."

"If that's the case, then who would want to hurt or kill them so much they'd bring out Niðhöggr?"

After Regina brought up that question, Odin started thinking about the one person who'd have a vendetta against the Kibou Group from the start and even toward Kensei.

"This sounds exactly what he would do to ruin friendly ties with other factions," Odin sighed before approaching the downed Valkyrie with his crystal left eye which gave off a mysterious light. "I'll remove whatever kind of spell was placed on her."

"Wait, Odin-sama."

Regina stopped Odin from removing whatever spell was placed on the Valkyrie.

"What's wrong?"

"We have to assume that whoever placed this spell on her was expecting that you'd use your left eye. If that's the case, then we need to be careful about how we proceed next. It could react to your magic eye and cause a kind of irreversible effect on her."

"Then what do you suggest."

"It's slower, but I believe that I should be able to undo it using our Elven technique."

"Then proceed as you see fit."

Odin said moving aside allowing Regina to kneel in front of the downed Valkyrie then placed her hand gently on her head. Her hand emitted a gentle blue light as she closed her eyes, which soon covered the Valkyrie.

"All spells are powered with magic power, meaning that if I undo the magic power, then that means that the spell will be released as well. But, this one appears to be quite woven around the spell."

Regina thought as she continued working on the Valkyrie.

"I wish them all well in fighting against that dragon."

Odin sighed.

---

Inside artificial space, Kensei avoided a fire breath fired at him from Niðhöggr, then landed on the ground holding Kurogane in his hand. Since the battle started, he and Brynhildr thought that it would be better to avoid going in a head-to-head clash against Niðhöggr unless needed. It was easier since both he and Brynhildr could launch an assortment of long-ranged attacks.

The entire hamon on Kurogane shined white meaning that he had infused with Metal Element into the blade and unleashed several white Kenatsu toward Niðhöggr. All the metal-infused slash struck the evil dragon's side which caused a light growl to escape from his mouth.

[Gehehehe, you're not making it easy for me to eat you.]

"Stop laughing and talking, it's grating," Kensei declared as he noticed Brynhildr moved right behind Niðhöggr as all his attention was aimed solely at him. "As a matter of fact, I think that it'd be best that you stop breathing while you're at it!"

Without what might happen next, Kensei ran had forward with Shinsoku at maximum speed in apparent reckless abandon.

[Hahaha, rushing in head-on, I thought that you wouldn't make it easy for me!]

Niðhöggr seemed ecstatic after realizing that Kensei was rushing forward toward him, then witnessed Kensei as he sheathed Kurogane and moved it at his side standing in an iai position. He had his hand prepared on the hilt, still carefully watching Brynhildr's position without it being noticed by the evil dragon before him.

"Amagiri-ryuu…."

Kensei prepared another technique as he approached Niðhöggr, then the moment that he unsheathed the blade, the blade seemed to glow with a brilliant white light. After unsheathing it, Kensei held Kurogane using both of his hands and brought it downwards using all the strength he could muster, then covered himself in touki.

"…Mouko Issen!"

(Fierce Tiger Flash)

Kensei brought down a powerful slash focused on Niðhöggr's shoulder, then continued pressing the blade downwards, but his dragon scales were strong. He managed to penetrate the dragon scales and made him bleed, but he sensed it wasn't doing as much damage to Niðhöggr as it seemed.

"I still can't damage him much, huh. I guess that further shows that I still got a long way to go. Sun-sensei mentioned that legendary evil dragons are stronger than Dragon Kings like Yu-Long. And most of the Dragon Kings that Yu-Long mentioned are Satan-Class. I thought that this wouldn't be an easy battle."

Kensei thought realizing the powerful opponent in front of him before giving a confident smirk.

"But, that means this will be some good experience for me to grow even more."

[Gehehehe. What was that about you telling your little brother and sister about how you cut up an evil dragon? If both of them smell about the same as you do, then I might have a reason to visit the Shinto Faction.]

"It's a process. And, I'm sure you'll be dead before planning the trip."

Kensei suggested as Niðhöggr seemed to raise his paw in an attempt to slam Kensei into the ground. Before that could happen, he used Shinsoku to propel himself backward. At almost the same moment, several magic circles appeared all around Niðhöggr. And from all of them, several different magic attacks or various attributes rained down around solely the evil dragon.

All of them came in contact with Niðhöggr being the sole target and Kensei managed to avoid the epicenter. After he regained his bearings, he realized that the entire area where he stood was being attacked and destroyed all of the magic attacks that Brynhildr had launched. Kensei stared at the Chief-Valkyrie herself who floated above the intended target.

Kensei stood there holding Kurogane in the same posture that he had intended to use against Brynhildr as a blue light started to cause the hamon to turn azure. Soon enough, lightning started sparking around the blade before it started covering the entire blade almost as if it was converted into lightning. He also positioned the blade over his head as lightning seemed to gather at a single spot.

"Amagiri-ryuu Ougi – Shin Raimeiken!"

Kensei gathered the lightning into a large sphere floating above his head, teaming with lightning. He later brought his black katana downwards, sending the lightning sphere toward Niðhöggr, who was still under attack by Brynhildr. Once the Shin Raimeiken came in contact with the evil dragon, an explosion of lightning occurred that spanned around him, causing the ground around him to break apart from the explosion.

"Did that work against him?"

Brynhildr wondered as the smoke didn't give a single indication about his current status.

Kensei instead sensed Niðhöggr's presence inside the smoke.

"I wonder if the attacks did do anything against him."

Kensei wondered before realizing that a large shadow shot from the smoke at speeds that he wasn't expecting at all, leaving him almost no chance to avoid. But, he managed to step back at the last second as the ground before he was crushed under the weight. Kensei looked and noticed that both his and Brynhildr's did do damage against his dragon scales and broke them apart, causing some wounds.

[That hurt me, you assholes!]

Niðhöggr shouted visibly annoyed about the attack.

Niðhöggr was now hunting him down like a predator breaking the ground using his paws, but Kensei avoided all of the attacks using Shinsoku to move backward. But, he didn't know how long that was possible since there'd be something that would end up blocking him.

"Alright, then let's try this."

After pushing himself backward on the ground, then placed his hand on the ground.

"I hereby call forth, spears of earth."

At that chant, from the ground underneath Niðhöggr, several earth spears shot upwards in an attempt to pierce it.

Of course, a lot of the spears didn't pierce him and some managed to pierce him, but it was enough to slow him down as Kensei was able to spot to catch his bearings for a couple of seconds.

"Alright, this is a lot tougher than I thought it'd be."

Kensei mumbled to himself.

[You're fighting one of the most vicious dragons in the world! There's nothing that could've prepared you to have faced me! There's no one here able to defeat me!]

"Ah, still doesn't change the fact that you're disgusting to look at. And your breath stinks too. So, please don't talk in this general direction."

Kensei replied smirking as he held Kurogane in his hands.

[You damn little…!]

Niðhöggr raised his paw to slam Kensei into the ground, but before his paw could even reach him, a blast of light shot the evil dragon straight in his left eye. Kensei could sense that light blast came from Claire's White Nemesis and could sense that both she and Alice were still at the stronghold.

[Gwaaah!]

Niðhöggr screamed after losing one of his eyes as purple blood started to burst from the wound.

At the same time, several magic burst attacks started attacking Niðhöggr from different angles, giving Kensei just enough time to avoid them.

"Well, that took longer than I thought."

Kensei replied as Zane landed beside him.

"Well, I apologize for the late arrival. It took a little more time than I thought to get them all prepared.

In the air, Grimgerde, Rossweisse, and Helmwige were firing off magic attacks at Niðhöggr who couldn't get a single chance to counter-attack. Moments later, from all sides, the monsters that Alice created to act as the guards started coming from the forest and headed for the evil dragon.

"I never thought that I'd run into an evil dragon here."

Maria stated as she appeared beside him.

"So, Alice and Claire remained at the base."

"I might sound harsh, but neither Alice nor Claire are as prepared for close combat. So, I thought that it would be best if both of them support us from the tower using their individual abilities. Also, it took us quite some time to rebuild the defensive magics that we build around the tower."

Zane explained as he prepared Nacht and Licht in his hands, then pointed them in the direction of the dragon.

"Maria, can't you create dragon slayers?"

Kensei asked.

"Still in development. Those are the most difficult for anyone to create using either Blade Blacksmith or Sword Birth, the demonic variation of mine. Don't your clan have a technique useful against creatures?"

"Of course. In fact, the Amagiri Clan didn't just hunt demons and spirits, but also dragons. If it were a normal dragon, then it would be easier, but with this one, then I'll need to hit him where it really hurts."

Kensei replied as Brynhildr floated near them as the three Valkyrie and monsters were distracted by Niðhöggr.

"I believe that a conjoined effort from all sides would be the most effective method to defeating Niðhöggr. But, as far as it stands, it appears that we won't be able to continue our exhibition match."

Brynhildr pointed out.

"Well, we'll figure things out after dealing with Niðhöggr first, then we need to figure out who caused that Dragon Gate to be activated. But, I have an idea about who that could be."

Zane added as Brynhildr nodded.

"I agree then. I'll give out the strongest buffs possible using reinforcement magic."

At the same time as those words left Brynhildr's mouth, almost all the people felt all of their physical abilities being enhanced by the Chief-Valkyrie. Much like her other spells, it didn't even take a second for her to activate it on all of them. But, without marveling at the feat for long, all of them quickly moved into action against the current threat in front of them.

Once the magic and monsters settled down, Niðhöggr left from the smoke injured from the assault letting out an annoyed breath to escape from his mouth.

[Gehehehe. Have all of you gathered here together just to become a snack?!]

Niðhöggr shouted out loud.

Neither of them skipped a beat in assaulting the dragon, Ortlinde holding her spear forward towards the dragon, then covered the entire tip in a spiraling wind. She propelled herself for Niðhöggr, piercing his side using the spiraling wind that covered her spear causing a notable grunt as blood spilled. Reacting to this, he had moved so stomp on her using his feet, but she already moved before he could attack her.

After Ortlinde moved, Schwertleite moved, channeling fire magic into her sword, then slashed at his other side, then moved before Niðhöggr could react. Once she moved, Zane had pointed both guns at Niðhöggr, then fired off several magic-empowered bullets at the dragon's face forcing him to close his last remaining eye so he wouldn't lose it. A lot of the bullets also exploded, giving off a bright light that would blind him.

[Dammit, these people are so irritated…!]

Just as Niðhöggr was proceeding to finish his sentence, he felt a hard impact from above his head. Above his head was Hisui who performed a downward axe kick, strengthened by both Brynhildr's magic and her touki.

[Damn, cat!]

After realizing that someone had attacked him from above, he then moved his head and opened his mouth wide in an attempt to devour her whole.

"Nope~!"

Hisui playfully stated before covering her feet in green flames, then formed wheels beside her ankles, which used to propel herself from the dragon's mouth.

After doing one final backflip, then landed on the ground Hisui propelled herself forward for the dragon, aiming several kicks from various angles. In response to the dragon aiming to hit her wherever she attacked him, Hisui avoided them similar to a cat dancing around.

"Hahaha, there's no way that an evil dragon will be able to catch a fleeting cat," Hisui said playfully irritating Niðhöggr the more she laughed. "Especially, after this cat was trained by one of her most favorite person in the world and was given the Nekoashi Style."

Hisui as she continued kicking Niðhöggr in different spots on his body.

Neither of these was normal kicks, all of them were infused with senjutsu meant to lower Niðhöggr's aura and make him easier to attack without worrying about the dragon's natural defenses.

"Alright, Hisui!"

"Kay!"

Hisui cheerfully said as she moved backward using a backflip as Maria placed her hands on the ground.

"I might not be able to create a lot of them, but I can mix a few dragon slayers in the bunch. Blade Blacksmith!"

Maria announced as several holy blades sprouting from underneath Niðhöggr, who winched from the pain as some blades were piercing them and the sensation was familiar.

[A Dragon Slayer?! No, don't think these poor imitations are enough to defeat me!]

Niðhöggr roared as the blades pierced through him but continued fighting back against them as the blades had started breaking apart as he moved. He opened his mouth wide as he breathed out, pointing in the same direction that Maria had been standing. Maria moved to the side at the same time that Niðhöggr released a powerful flame breath in her direction. But, she realized something at the last second in avoiding the fire breath.

"That's in the same direction at where Claire and Alice are."

Maria realized that alongside Zane and Kensei who glanced in the same direction.

Acting quickly she placed her hand on the ground, then released Blade Blacksmith again.

In front of the flames were several holy swords that specialized in absorbing flames, then Kensei and Zane also placed up barriers using their own magic. The barrier around the stronghold should be capable of holding back the fire breath, neither of them wanting to take the chance. It was just enough to offset the flame breath, it continued forward but didn't reach their tower stronghold.

"Alright, let's go."

Kensei said as he propelled forward using Shinsoku, which the others followed wanting to end the battle before Niðhöggr caused any more damage.

From the left side, Kensei, Brynhildr, and Hisui aimed their attacks; on the right, Maria, Ortlinde, and Schwertleite aimed their attacks; and from above, Zane, Rossweisse, Helmwige, and Grimgerde aimed their attacks. Time for them seemed to slow down as all of them prepared their individual attacks against Niðhöggr from all sides, but a sense of foreboding started to overcome Kensei.

"Huh, what's this feeling?"

Kensei questioned as his instincts seemed to have been telling him something was going to happen.

Following those instincts, he grabbed both Hisui and Brynhildr by their wrist causing them to stare back at him in a surprised manner. Before either could raise a single question, he tossed both of them high into the air using as much strength as possible.

"What's Kensei…?"

[Master avoid tell them to avoid Niðhöggr!]

Zane was surprised as he heard Annelisse speaking out loud, which caused him to shout.

"Everyone, get away from Niðhöggr!"

Hearing Zane's warning caused those who were standing on Niðhöggr's right side to move back from him as ordered by the magician.

[All of you can suffer!]

Following his rage, Niðhöggr unleashed a black miasma from his entire body that spread outwards in the entirety of the clearing like a mist. And Kensei who was busy moving Hisui and Maria from it didn't have the time to avoid the black miasma himself.

"How did Kensei react to that?"

Ortlinde questioned surprised.

"He always had some weird inborn combat instincts, but I was surprised he was able to react to that before that happened. What is that mist?"

"Niðhöggr can release a miasma from his entire body. It's dangerous for anyone to come into contact with it."

Schwertleite replied causing Maria to become worried for Kensei who wouldn't avoid it.

"Dammit, Kensei is still in there."

Zane was worried, realizing that it wouldn't do them any good if they went in there to rescue him. Both Hisui and Brynhildr who he had saved from the miasma felt responsible for his exposure.

---

Inside the black miasma, Kensei was forced into kneeling on the ground on one knee. His skin was peeling off in response to being exposed to the miasma as blood leaked from his arms, which became darkened. He thanked his instincts, which also forced him to hold his breath since it would have been worse if he inhaled the miasma. It would've then invaded his lungs and tainted them, which seemed to stretch across his cheeks.

[Gehehehe, where did all that provado go?! To think that some human had the gall to attempt to talk back to an evil dragon who outranks anything that he's faced….]

Kensei who had looked to the ground, lifted his head in defiance, staring straight into Niðhöggr's eyes without the slightest hint of fear. Niðhöggr seemed stunned and almost frightened out of some instinctive fear, which told him about a potential threat to his life. Despite being affected by the black miasma that covered him from almost all angles, his will wasn't deterred or stopped in the slightest.

[Wh-What the hell is this kid? I have infected most several humans and beings stronger than them using the very same miasma and all of them were begging for mercy. But, that human wasn't deterred at all after seeing that I'm superior to him. It appears as if even if I beat him down and break all the bones, then he'll continue to pursue killing me almost like a….]

Kensei seemed to narrow his eyes into an intense glare, which radiated with a fierce blue light.

"Kensei!"

Brynhildr soon arrived wrapped in a barrier as she retrieved Kensei, who didn't resist her assistance in the slightest as she quickly moved from outside of the miasma.

"Return to your strongholds, Niðhöggr's miasma will start affecting everything around him!"

Brynhildr shouted, which all of them agreed to without hesitation.

Brynhildr retreated to the place where Hisui stood, then teleported back to their base because a magic circle was placed there. Zane and the others, on the other hand, returned to the tower using the same method. Even though all of them escaped, Niðhöggr didn't move and stood in the same place a little stunned after his previous encounter with Kensei. However, as Brynhildr said, the black miasma he released was spreading outward toward the surrounding plant life causing them to wither and die.

---

Meanwhile, inside the base that the Valkyrie Squad set up inside of the forest, a bright light flashed as all three of them appeared there. After all of them arrived there, a sense of relief was released from their tense bodies that had just been in battle against Niðhöggr.

"We need to do something about the miasma that came in contact with Ken Ken!"

Hisui said as she noticed Kensei was having a hard time moving his hand and even had to drop Kurogane on the ground. Brynhildr reacted then retrieved some medical supplies that her team members found inside their base in their preparations.

"The first thing that we need to do is remove the miasma somewhat using blessed water, that'll help."

Brynhildr suggested as Kensei seemed to have been attempting something, but couldn't move his hands.

"Can one of you help me take off my shirt? I'd do it myself, but I can't move my hands let alone my fingers."

Kensei brought up causing Brynhildr and Hisui to almost blush at the suggestion as both of them seemed to want to move forward. Though realizing the gravity of the situation, the two of them started to assist him in taking off the upper part of the combat uniform that Zane's brother had made for them. After managed to take it off, the two of them could see that the miasma has blackened most of his upper and lower torso.

"That hurt more than I thought it would."

Kensei pointed out.

"The fact that you're even able to stand and remain active after taking being hit by Niðhöggr's miasma. Most Valkyrie and heroes were unable to even move after being struck in the past by it from all the pain that they were experiencing after simple contact."

"Ken Ken trains his body in different ways a lot more than most people would."

"I was told that I had better physical abilities than a normal child and most people. So, since the incident six years ago, I experimented with training methods from the Amagiri Clan and Chinese Kenpo that focus on the constitution. To think Claire thought that I was weird for preparing to be poisoned, but it looks like it paid off," he said but even Brynhildr still thought that it was weird about the fact that he prepared for that and about the fact he was able to do it. "I hereby summon water from the purifying spiritual springs."

At that chant, Kensei summoned purified water that released a blessed power, then it was poured downwards on top of him like a waterfall. In response to this, the black miasma that had corroded his skin was started to vanish as the blessed water came in contact with his skin. A relieved sigh escaped from his mouth as he felt all the pain started to fade away.

"We still need to prepare for dealing with Niðhöggr."

Brynhildr said as Hisui reached inside her pockets to retrieve her Oracle Phone.

"Zane and the others should be there too. So, we'll contact him using this."

After placing it on the table inside of the strategic room, Hisui pressed a button on the Oracle Phone, which had a holographic projection brought up with a video call request being sent to Zane. Seconds later, it came up giving a clear view of the tower's strategic room where Zane stood by with Maria, Alice, Claire, Rossweisse, Schwertleite, Ortlinde, Helmwige, and Grimgerde.

{Is everyone on that end alright?}

Zane asked.

"Aside from my hands up to my forearms being pretty much almost completely numb, then yes."

Kensei replied in an attempt to alleviate some of their worries, but it didn't work much as Alice and Claire still had a worried look on their faces.

{Nii-san, will you be alright after healing your arms using senjutsu?}

"If I had a couple of minutes, then there's a chance that I can regain feeling in them. But, I don't think that dragon is going to wait for us."

{I can see that. Since it looks as if he's approaching this base since it's the closest one here.}

Maria added after looking outside the window.

{All of Alice's monsters are intercepting him, but the miasma he's releasing right now isn't making things easy for them. It's melting most of the monsters that she created, including Ignis, but he appears to be holding out longer than the others.}

{Ignis won't be taken out that easy!}

Alice seemed to add after Maria cheering for her monsters, which were attacking him as energetic as possible.

{It looks as if the miasma is starting to clear up more than when it was first released.}

Zane added.

"Brynhildr-san is there anything else we need to know about Niðhöggr?"

"Yes," Brynhildr sighed at the response that she was about to give them. "Even if we kill Niðhöggr this time, He'll return as many times as possible."

{What does that mean? Is he immortal?}

Claire asked not liking the sound of those words.

"In a way, all Evil Dragons of the same nature as him can revive themselves as long as their soul is untouched," she replied before continuing. "But, Niðhöggr can resurrect himself as he desires no matter what happens to the point where he can even survive Ragnarok if that event occurs."

{She's right. As long as his soul isn't sealed, then he'll continue coming back no matter what happens. However, at the moment I don't have a technique that works on souls. Even then, we'll need to first worry about killing him this time and worry about the next time.}

"Don't be worried about that. If he returns, then I'll terminate his soul if I have to."

Kensei stated as he walked forward, then tried lifting his arms and move individual fingers, but the miasma did more harm to him than he thought.

"I have a technique that might kill him, but it'll need to be a precise hit, or else it won't be as effective."

{I know that the technique is effective against dragons, but it needs to be powerful enough to kill him in one hit if possible. All of our previous attacks head-on and it didn't deter him in the slightest. I guess that despite all of this Niðhöggr truly is an evil dragon. He'll continue pursuing us until he dies.}

Zane thought as he stared outside of the tower to find Niðhöggr still fighting against the monsters.

{I have an idea, but it requires all of us to pool our powers together for this attack. Alice, how long can you make monsters without Hisui or Kensei to recover your stamina.}

At those words, Alice thought about it to herself and wondered about it.

{I could probably last for ten minutes if I create the same monsters and not create more powerful ones like Ignis. At most, they would more for distractions at best against something like him. But, if everyone is going to be trying their hardest in this, then I'll keep pushing until I can't anymore.}

Alice said more strong-willed tone as she seemed to resolve herself to push as far as possible.

"Then, I'll get healed up as much as possible."

Kensei replied noting that Alice smiled back in response to that.

{And we'll get things prepared so that Niðhöggr will be hit with something that he won't forget. Aside from all of the monsters, there were also some traps that I had set up around the tower too. And the others that we set up to prepare for our uninvited guest.}

Zane noted strongly before turning off communication with them and preparing things on their end.

"Well, then I should start healing up my wounds."

"Uh, Brynhildr, I was wondering if you could do something for us."

"Huh, what?"

Brynhildr was curious about what Hisui could be requested of her to be asking like this.

"Is there a private room and could it be possible to make it so the people outside couldn't see what was going on inside of the room."

Brynhildr was once again confused about the sudden question. It wouldn't have been odd for Hisui to request a room inside of their base for preparations, but making it so that the audience couldn't see what was happening in it was a little odd to her.

"It'll be a simple task, but is there some kind of technique that you don't want to revealed."

That was Brynhildr's assumption, but Hisui seemed to flush lightly as she brought up the topic, which was rare in someone who showed not hesitance before. At least, that was what Kensei realized and it didn't take him long to realize the reason behind the sudden request.

"Brynhildr-san, can you do that for us?"

"Yes, it'll be finished in no less than a minute."

Brynhildr replied confidentially she then left to the private room where the 'technique' would be performed, which increase the healing process for Kensei.

"Are you sure about this?"

"This is the easier way to heal someone with senjutsu aside from that method," Hisui said smiling faintly glancing to the side. "Besides, it was because Brynhildr and I didn't react fast enough that you ended up being affected by Niðhöggr's miasma. So, this is the least that I can do to return the favor."

Kensei knew that Hisui was always honest about what she was feeling and never seemed to hide anything. But, there was something about hearing those honest words from her that caused his heart to beat a little faster, and a soft smile formed on his face.

"Well, then I'll accept the gesture."

Kensei said placing his hand on top of her head, then brushed it past her cat ears causing her to smile brightly happier that he accepted.

---

As Brynhildr explained, it didn't take her a minute to finish the preparations in the room, meaning that no one out of the barrier will be able to see what was happening. Kensei sat in the middle of the room legs crossed looking forward without giving a single sign of turning around, his shirt was still off. Hisui, on the other hand, stood behind him, her hands were fiddling with her shirt's buttons.

Hisui stopped after reaching her green bra, which matched the same color as her hair and ears. No, she went on to take off her bra, revealing her modest chest. Having finished removing her upper clothing, Hisui approached Kensei who was still sitting on the ground with his back turned. She soon approached him from behind, then she wrapped her arms around his uncovered upper body.

"…."

Kensei blushed lightly as he felt Hisui's breasts pressed up against his back as she hugged him tighter.

"I'm going to start. You should activate yours too."

"Y-Yea."

Kensei breathed out and started to control his ki, then started enhancing his natural healing, which would recover his stamina. But, this was more focused on his arms that were damaged from Niðhöggr's miasma. Hisui also did the same thing, matching his rhythm in manipulating his ki so that she didn't mess anything up. Because both he and Hisui were performing the same treatment, both felt a warm sensation that neither of them could at all deny felt like an incredible experience.

"How does it feel?"

Hisui asked feeling her cheeks becoming hotter.

"It feels incredible. I never thought about performing a senjutsu treatment like this. I'm able to somewhat feel my arms and move my fingers."

Kensei replied unable to lie about that fact.

Leaving aside the fact that she had her soft uncovered upper body pressed up against him, there was something in feeling the sensation of their ki mixing that he loved.

"I see."

Hisui said as she pressed her cheek against his back.

She focused on his arms, which were getting better after visually and he even said he regained feeling.

"I don't know whether it is due to inexperience or the miasma itself, but it is a little difficult healing all the damage done to your arms and body. If it were my mother, then she would have them healed to their original condition in a single session."

"Ah, you did say that your mother was a doctor."

"Yea, she's good enough to heal almost anything that her patients have, but there are sometimes things that even she's unable to fix completely. After all this, do you want to come with me so that she can check up on your arms?"

"That sounds good. I did meet Zane's parents, so I think that it would be good to meet yours."

"That's good. I'll even warn mom ahead of time to handle dad before we come," Kensei laughed nervously after he heard those words, recalling that Hisui's father was a little doting if on overprotective. And so, seeing his only daughter with a boy might end up being an unpleasant experience. "Well, you'll have to prepare yourself."

"For your dad?"

"Nope, my mom. Who do you think I got my personality from?"

Kensei grimaced since Hisui on her own and at her best could be a handful, but then you have to consider that it was her mother who got it from. As that thought entered his head, he later felt Hisui pressing her soft lips against his cheek as she kissed it.

"Wh-What was that for?"

Kensei was so surprised that he almost turned around, but stopped himself after recalling that Hisui didn't have a shirt on at the moment.

"How sad, I thought that I could give Ken Ken a good look at the breasts I'm developing for him," Kensei heard a faint laugh escape from her mouth that almost seemed disappointed. "That was a good luck charm for our battle against the rotten dragon who ruined our exhibition. So, are you prepared?"

"Yea, I'm almost good enough to where I can hold my sword and fight, thanks."

"Then let's go kick that pompous dragon's ass."

"Right."

---

Near the tower stronghold that had its barriers reconstructed by Zane with the assistance of the Valkyrie Squad, Niðhöggr was almost finished going through Alice's monsters. Most of them were holding on, but the others were almost melted by the miasma that still wafted off him. However, it looked as if it started fading away lesser than it was before and looked as if it wouldn't deter them from fighting.

[Is that brat in there?!]

Niðhöggr called out getting the slightest hint of Kensei's smell around the tower, which he stood in front of.

[That brat is weaker than I am, but…I can't seem to get rid of that feeling as if I'll end up being killed. But, why am I even afraid, I can resurrect myself as much as I want.]

Niðhöggr didn't understand it himself, but there was something that he felt after staring in those shining blue eyes that glared back at him. It was something that caused him to shake and feel the slightest hint of fear that was just enough to make him feel unnerved. Him, an evil dragon who lived for destruction and chaos.

[It's not that I'm afraid of what he is now. But, is it what he can become…is that what unnerved me?]

Niðhöggr didn't know what it was, but there something about Kensei that unnerved him.

"Yo, Niðhöggr!"

Zane came to the stone window and peered down toward the evil dragon.

"This is the last warning that we're going to give you! There are several gods and warriors outside including the Chief-God and his son watching the match! No matter how powerful you are, you won't be able to defeat them! If you tell them who sent you here, then the Norse gods might show lenience!"

Zane offered as he stared down at the evil dragon who seemed amused about those words.

As Niðhöggr laughed about the attempted 'reasoning' of Niðhöggr, Zane had his hands beside him and activated a magic circle, then started moving it around using his fingers. Not realizing the true intentions of Zane, Niðhöggr who stood at the bottom of the tower started laughing louder.

[Gehehehe! Do you think that I'd go for something like that?! I am an evil dragon, I raze lands and devour lives as I desire without caring about whoever gets hurt! I could annihilate an entire species and continue laughing!]

"I thought that you'd say that. So, take this as a little present."

The second those words left his mouth, several magic circles were activated around Niðhöggr, which triggered a series of explosions around him. It caught the attention of Niðhöggr who looked around almost irritated about the explosions that occurred.

[Ha, do you think that'll…?]

"Maria."

"Got it."

Maria activated Blade Blacksmith, creating several holy swords that sparked with lightning around Niðhöggr in an almost circular formation.

"Claire."

"On it."

Using her demonic power, Claire created a series of dark clouds overhead that seemed to sparkle with lightning. But, before Niðhöggr could even react to the assault, Zane gave the final commands.

"Valkyrie."

[Here it comes!]

Around the dark clouds were multiple magic circles created by Rossweisse, Grimgerde, and Helmwige, which had lightning sparking around it. Seconds later, the magic circles released lightning, which triggered a reaction from the dark clouds that started brought the lightning together around them before coming down as several bolts of lightning. The lightning was attracted by the lightning holy swords stabbed in the ground around Niðhöggr.

[What the…?]

Niðhöggr questioned about the phenomena but soon received an answer as the lightning was all gathered and in a powerful display shocked the dragon from all sides, wrapping around his entire body.

[Gagagagagagagagagagagagaaa!]

Niðhöggr was electrocuted from all sides as he felt his entire body being shocked and stunned right into his very nervous system. If they hadn't attacked like this, then the lightning wouldn't affect him that badly.

"I don't think that we would have thought about a plan like that."

Rossweisse brought up as she looked down.

"I thought about different plans based on our individual skill sets and Maria's sacred gear, which can produce an assortment of effects as long as she can imagine and create them. In this one, Claire produces clouds releasing lightning, the Valkyrie adds onto it using theirs, and Maria's lightning holy swords that have some dragon slaying attributes added onto them. All that together is something that even Niðhöggr won't be able to ignore and it'll give enough damage to stun him."

Almost all the people in the room marveled once again at Zane's ingenuity, he managed use think of an attack, which made use of their different abilities into a single move.

"It's almost terrifying how he could think about a tactic such as that even against even Niðhöggr. I can't help but feel a little worried about having to fight against this group again if he's coming up with ideas like this. I can't help, but compare him to some kind of Dark King watching as the battle continues as he plans."

Helmwige pointed out a little worried.

"I think that them being able to fight against us, the Valkyrie Squad makes me a little worried about the next fight we might have against them."

Ortlinde added.

"I don't know how I feel about being called something as ominous as a Dark King. You make me sound like some kind of monster," Zane mumbled wondering if it was a little similar to a Dark Horse, a term meant for an unknown person who becomes victorious in competitions against rivals. "I feel as if I'm going to get a bunch of different odd nicknames in the future."

"I don't know. I like the sound of that, the Dark King?"

"How about the Netherworld Lord, Pluto?"

"The Dark Mage King."

Maria, Alice, and Claire teased Zane as all three of them stared at him wearing a smirk on their faces.

"W-When did I become a chuunibyou?! Those nicknames make me sounds arrogant!"

Zane replied as his friends seemed to love his overreaction, which was something that most of them wouldn't see most often, and that made it funnier.

"Well, too bad. We might end up spreading those names."

"Can we please focus on killing Niðhöggr? He's still stunned down there."

Zane said as he prepared Nacht and Licht in his hands, his cheeks being flushed from the embarrassment of the nicknames his so-called friends came up with.

They still laughed, then prepared themselves for the counter-attack against Niðhöggr. Almost all the five Valkyrie Squad members started to jump outside of the window, remaining afloat around the stunned dragon.

"I'll ensure that we weaken Niðhöggr enough until we can initiate the plan."

Maria added as she also jumped down toward the ground.

"I'll continue backing everyone from up here."

Claire added after watching them leave as Alice took a seat because of the overuse of her sacred gear creating monsters to counter Niðhöggr.

"I'll be resting here for a bit. The most that I can do is let Ignis continue fighting at least."

Alice replied notably exhausted.

---

Outside, Zane landed on the ground, then started firing off several different magic-empowered bullets aimed at the stunned Niðhöggr. Since he couldn't dodge and because Hisui previously lowered his aura, his attacks did a lot more damage than before. Their entire group all started to tag-team against the evil dragon with the close-combat fights such as Maria, Schwertleite, Grimgerde, and Ortlinde all attacking him using their respective arms.

Holding twin swords in her hands that gave off a more potent holy aura before she leaped into action unleashing a barrage of slashes. She watched as purple blood started spewing from Niðhöggr in response to all of the attacks, she aimed at them, but the wounds weren't fatal.

"Even after all this, he's still durable enough to handle these attacks. I guess that's a legendary dragon for you. I can see why dragon slayers are the most difficult to produce if these are the kinds of dragons I'll be facing."

Maria knew that even if she could produce dragon slayer swords, neither of them were of the same quality as the swords that she normally produced. Most of the dragon slayers she produced would either crack or break after a single or second strike against the dragon. So, she made the usual holy swords to attack instead.

In the air, the Valkyrie who specialized in magic attacks unleashed their attacks after seeing that the close-range combatants were out of the way. Ignis who Alice managed to regenerate, albeit at the expense of more stamina on her end, released several fireballs from his right hand. As Niðhöggr was taking all these attacks from the various people who he intended to kill and devour, several rampant thoughts were going through his head.

[I was going to devour every single living thing that was in front of me. That was the deal between us wasn't it…right. I do what I do best and that's annihilating all life around me and laugh about it afterward. But, now, I'm the one who is being embarrassed because of the likes of these people…these lower lifeforms. These insignificant beings who're lower than a god and lower than a dragon. I'll, I'll….]

Amid their attacks in holding back Niðhöggr, the evil dragon began releasing a dark aura, which wasn't unnoticed by those fighting against him. Neither of them was adept senors like Kensei or Hisui, but all of them could sense the power radiating from him was getting stronger than before.

"Is he getting stronger?"

"Isn't this…?"

Rossweisse and the other Valkyrie Squad uttered hearing something about this before.

"People around the entire factions have heard that no one would anger a dragon whether it's a low-class or high-class for one reason, in particular," Maria uttered as she could feel the sweat starting to build up as the aura that Niðhöggr was releasing terrified her. "This is that state, isn't it, Zane?"

"Dragon's Outrage."

Zane uttered as he felt the pressure from Niðhöggr being stronger than it was before, although, beforehand, but it could be because he was toying around with them. However, now….

[I'll slaughter all of you!]

Niðhöggr released a fire breath stronger than anything that he had released thus far.

All of them managed to avoid it, but the fire breath tore through and burned down several trees within its wake in a straight line. They became more alert as Niðhöggr pursued them at a speed most of them couldn't follow at the start, Zane being one of them as he was a second late in escaping into the air.

"C-Crap."

Zane muttered but noticed that something had pushed him into the air instead.

After looking again, he noticed that it was Ignis who now stood before Niðhöggr, but Zane wasn't able to tell if the act was because of its own instincts or Alice's intentions. However, it didn't change the fact that he was saved as he fixed his posture in the air. Ignis, however, was bitten in half by the rampaging Niðhöggr, which soon triggered an explosion of flames from close-range.

"Zane, what're we going to do now?! He's going a high gear from this point forward!"

Maria questioned as she held her holy swords in her hands.

"We'll continue holding him back until Kensei, Hisui, and Brynhildr arrives. This plan hinges on all of us working in unison with one another."

Zane replied as he realized Niðhöggr had come from the smoke and crawled toward all of them aggressively.

"Blade Blacksmith!"

Maria activated her sacred gear again, summoning a greater amount of holy swords in front of herself and them acting as a barrier against the charging evil dragon. Niðhöggr charged forward breaking through the swords one by one using incredible strength. Zane later landed beside her creating several defensive barriers in front of them in an attempt to stop him too.

The remaining Valkyrie Squad members arrived too, acting their defensive magic circles on top of Zane's. It was because of this that they stopped Niðhöggr's pursuit of them, but he still proceeded to break through them. As he continued breaking through the barriers, they continued reforming them, which was almost a struggle.

However, at the same time, they realized that Niðhöggr couldn't keep launching random attacks and annihilating the area, which might include the tower beside them.

"We can't let him keep rampaging and launching attacks. Or else, he might even hit the others."

Zane grunted as he held up the barrier he created, then noticed that Claire was focusing another light blast in the rifle in her hands. Claire focused her aim at a particular spot before pulling the trigger and aimed in front of him, a blast that triggered a blinding light.

[Raaaah!]

Niðhöggr was blinded by the light as he started rampaging around, then flayed around.

Although he hadn't recovered from the blinding light, he released a fireball toward the direction that it came from, which was the tower. Realizing this, Claire and Alice took cover hoping that the defensive barrier placed around it would be enough. The moment that the fireball struck the barrier, the entire tower shook violently and the barriers placed around were almost destroyed in a single attack.

"Claire, Alice!"

Zane became worried and shocked that the barrier was almost destroyed in a single attack.

Niðhöggr went in to launch another attack, which could potentially annihilate the entire stronghold with almost all of the barriers strengthening it destroyed. He went forward activating a magic circle underneath Niðhöggr, which would be able to subdue him, but the dragon didn't seem affected.

"I'm not telling those two get hurt!"

Zane poured more power into the magic circle, causing a light reaction in Niðhöggr, but he didn't look even fazed enough to stop the attack. In an attempt to increase the effect, he started creating more magic circles on top of it, which seemed to work somewhat, but it still wasn't enough to stop them. Maria and the Valkyrie Squad seemed to also move in to stop Niðhöggr from attacking.

"Come on, I can't even remember to contact my own family from time to time. And now, I'm unable to even protect one of the two girls who mean to world to my best friend," Zane seemed to be more frustrated as he started to pour more effort into the magic circles. "If I'm unable to do this, then I have no reason to call myself a friend, a magician, or a craftsman!"

[That's the resolve that made me chose you.]

Zane heard Annelisse speaking to him out loud as the Magus Akashic started to shine around his neck and grew into a full-sized grimoire.

"What do you mean chose me?"

[I'm sure that the Chief-God will inform you of my origins, so I'll leave that part to him. But, right now, at this exact moment, I'll acknowledge you as my Master. For your intellect, desires, and talent has been accepted by one of the legendary grimoires. And for that, I'll allow you access to my power aside from my knowledge.]

"Well, if it helps us win this, then I'll accept it."

Zane replied.

In response to those words, Zane received information in his head from Annelisse, which had caused his eyes to widen in response to them.

"I see, then let's do it."

Zane held out his hand, then the grimoire started releasing a magic power originating from itself.

Moments later, that magic power was used to strengthen the magic circles that he had created around Niðhöggr, which produced the effect that he was looking for.

[W-What?!]

Niðhöggr was confused as the magic circle managed to stop his fireball attack from hitting the tower and it even stopped his movements. However, while still enraged, he continued to attempt to break free from the magic circle that was entrapping him.

"Zane, what did you do?"

Maria questioned stunned about the effect the magic circle had.

"I guess that the Magus Akashic can do more than record magic and techniques that I come into contact with. It can also strengthen the magic and spells that I use," Zane said before looking at his grimoire. "I can also tell that Annelisse has insane magic power, dwarfing mine completely."

[D-Don't think that this will be enough to stop…huh?!]

Niðhöggr was stopped again as magic chains appeared around him and started wrapping around his entire body without ceasing.

"I can see that last attack that you launched blew apart a second of our stronghold. But, it's a good thing that we already departed for that breath hit."

Brynhildr floated in the skies as she pointed her magic sword toward Niðhöggr.

[D-Damn, Valkyrie!]

Niðhöggr groaned as the magic chains were binding him alongside the magic circle underneath him.

Before long, Hisui could be seen arriving beside her friends.

[Huh, where's that brat?!]

Niðhöggr demanded as he glared toward Hisui who playfully pointed toward the air above him.

Right above Niðhöggr, Kensei was standing above a shikigami he created to stand in that position as he let out several breaths from his mouth. Around his hand up to his arm were bandages that Brynhildr and Hisui placed around them. Held in his hands was Kurogane, which he channeled power into before intentionally falling forward off the shikigami that he created.

"Focus and draw it out, enough power to even pierce through a dragon's scales," Kensei uttered calmly to himself eyes closed and almost in a chant before opening them wide. "Amagiri-ryuu Hiken…."

The aura that was channeled into Kurogane extended around the blade and lengthened it into a long sword as Kensei reached his intended target.

"…Metsuryuu-no-Tachi!"

(Dragon-Slaying Long Sword)

Kensei stabbed Kurogane directly into Niðhöggr's head, which did pierce his scales, but he continued forcing the blade deeper and deeper past the scales.

[Raaaaaaah!]

Niðhöggr roared as he felt the blade piercing through his scales.

"I'll continue pushing this blade in until it breaches your skull."

[Y-You damned bra! Y-you're nothing more than a meal. Yet you dare fight back against….]

"Your first mistake was treating me like a meal, instead of a threat the first time we met. The second mistake was underestimating us," Kensei said as he glanced downwards as his eyes shined with a fierce blue light giving off a similar presence that he had done before. "And your third was aiming that last attack at Claire and Alice."

[Kuh!]

Niðhöggr felt frightened again as he sensed that presence from Kensei who continued forcing the blade deeper in his head past his scales. He could feel Kensei's intense eyes aimed squarely at him, which made him feel a sense of terror similar to what he felt before.

[W-What the hell is this? Even if this brat can pierce my scales, his strength isn't even close to matching mine! If that's the case, then w-why am I the one who's terrified. N-Now that I think about it, he a human, but he doesn't smell like a normal human and even his presence is irregular for a human. What the hell is this…?!]

"Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Kensei shouted as he stabbed Kurogane deeper into Niðhöggr's head piercing through his skull.

[Gah!]

Niðhöggr shouted as his skull was pierced through.

[D-Don't think for a second, t-that this will kill me.]

"I know," Kensei agreed. "I'm not strong enough to kill you alone right now. And as much as I hate to admit it, but you're a lot stronger than I am. But, you have terrible timing coming here at the same time where a lot of strong people happen to be gathered together!"

Having said those last words, Kensei pounced off Niðhöggr, revealing a paper talisman that was attached to the button of Kurogane. At the same moment, several magic circles from the Valkyrie Squad including their Captain were created above where Kurogane was stabbed into. There was also Zane, Maria, Hisui, and Claire who flew down with Alice, all amassed their powers together.

[Let's eliminate the dragon!]

Their attacks were all released onto Kurogane with the talisman absorbing all of it, then was challenged inside of the blade. Kurogane released a brilliant light as the attacks were focused on the wound causing purple blood to leak out from his entire body.

[W-What the hell are you?]

Niðhöggr asked one more time as he stared at Kensei.

"The names Kensei Amagiri, the Amagiri Clan Heir. And the next time that we meet will be the last time."

Kensei boldly said pointed his finger at Niðhöggr wearing a confident smirk.

At the same time, Niðhöggr lost all the light in his eye as his body fell to the ground.

[Yahoo, we did it!]

All of them cheered as the artificial space even seemed to crumble apart, causing a bright light to force them to cover their eyes.

---

Once Kibou Team and Valkyrie Squad reopened their eyes, they found themselves standing in the middle of the stadium again. There was a silence as the people sitting there glued their eyes on them before there was a clap, which caught their attention. Around them, the Valkyrie involved in creating the artificial space also clapped their hands together after seeing the match themselves.

[That was an amazing battle!]

All the people in the stadium cheered for both their battle them and the Valkyrie Squad, but their battle against a legendary evil dragon. There wasn't a single unhappy or unimpressed person standing in the stadium causing all of them to feel the enthusiasm from them. Amid all that, there was a magic circle that seemed to appear on Niðhöggr's corpse, which remained near them. It started spreading a magic circle around Niðhöggr's corpse in a quick-paced manner.

"Huh," Hisui's ears started twitching as she turned around to see the magic circle around Niðhöggr, then without the slightest hint of hesitation, she warned them. "Everyone turn around!"

"What?"

Kensei first turned around to see a magic circle expanding around Niðhöggr's corps, which caused the others to become alert about the magic circle.

"Is that…?"

Zane seemed to realize what the magic circle was.

"A self-destruction magic circle?!"

Brynhildr becomes alert then approached Niðhöggr in an attempt to disarm it.

"Create a barrier around the stadium so the audience won't get involved," Brynhildr ordered the Valkyrie Squad, in addition to the others who nodded their head. As she head in the direction of the self-destruction spell to disarm it, but the expanding magic circle continued acting as a barrier that kept Brynhildr from the spell itself. "This was planned if Niðhöggr lost."

Brynhildr removed the defensive barriers in front of her, but the barriers continued forming one after another at a speed that higher than what she could remove.

"Tch! This is one of the highest-level defensive formations. It's forming almost faster than I can remove them."

Brynhildr clicked her tongue annoyed.

"Well, you're not alone!"

Kensei said as he, Zane, Maria, Hisui, and Claire came to Brynhildr's aid.

Kensei covered Kurogane in touki, then started slashing apart the barriers in front of him. Zane fired off some magic-empowered bullets. Maria created two holy swords in her hands, assisting in slashing apart the barriers. Hisui covered her legs in touki, then started kicking apart the barriers. And Claire released demonic bullets that were imbued with her clan's famed Worthless, which negated the magic barriers in their path.

It was because of the six of their conjoined effort, that they were able to get some headway in getting through the barriers, reaching their intended target.

"Kuh!"

Kensei felt pain in his arms, which was caused by Niðhöggr's miasma but pressed forward.

"We're almost there!"

Brynhildr declared.

Before long, all six of them reached the self-destruction spell, but it started letting out an ominous light.

"Tch! We have to destroy it before it explodes. I don't have time to negate it."

Brynhildr said as she brought out her magic sword, then channeled magical power into it meant to cause nothing less than destruction. Kensei allowed his touki to exploded outwards without caring about his current condition.

"I got that. Amagiri-ryuu – Zanmaken Sanken!"

Both of them, unleashed a powerful conjoined attack aimed at the self-destruction spell, slicing it in half, causing it to lose its effect. Kensei and Brynhildr allowed a breath to escape from their mouth.

"That was an amazing spectacle."

A new voice arrived, which was revealed to be Odin clapping his hands.

Together with him were Vidar, Regina, the Elven King, and the formerly downed Valkyrie.

"Hahaha, you guys surely put on a good show in front of everyone," Vidar joyfully said. "I can't even see all those gods having the slightest trouble in accepting you all."

Hearing those words at least relieved them since that situation relieved them as it was the entire reason that all of them came to the Norse World.

"Greetings," Regina said respectfully bowing her head. "I am Regina B. Ashborn, the Elven Queen. I would love to say that I'm impressed with the performance that you've all put on for us. And also the bravery that all of you have shown in the face of an evil dragon."

In response to those gentle words and the queenly atmosphere, Kensei and Maria bowed their heads first. None of their friends realized it wasn't odd for them considering they were related to samurai and knights respectively. Soon enough the others followed suit and bowed their heads.

"I am, Amund B. Ashborn. I might not look like it, but I was a warrior before marrying my wife and becoming King," the Elven King added, but even if he hadn't Kensei and Maria could see it for themselves based on his stance. "I must say that witnessing all you fighting against Niðhöggr has stirred up my warrior's heart. If either of you returns to the Norse World, it would be an honor to have you all visit our home. I'll also be sure to put in a good word for you all if anyone has a problem with allying with you all."

Kensei and the others almost couldn't the kindness and generous words from both the Elven Queen and King. In response to this, both of them bowed their heads one more time as both started heading toward their group. Both of them arrived in front of their oldest daughter and two youngest children, their oldest daughter seemed to take a long look toward their group before heading off.

"Well, I'm sure that you're all exhausted after that experience. But, I believe that we should return to the meeting room back at Valhalla."

"I think that it would be best to discuss this incident too."

Zane replied as he nodded his head agreeing with Odin

---

Afterward, Kensei and the others did receive more praise and cheers from the audience who all returned to their usual lives. As Odin stated, all of them returned to Valhalla to discuss what happened, but not before receiving praises from the people there too.

"I offer my greatest apology, Captain Brynhildr."

The first thing that the downed Valkyrie did was bow her head in front of her leader.

"Please don't bow, there's nothing that you have to apologize for," Brynhildr reassured as she placed a hand on the Valkyrie's shoulder. "We were all deceived in this situation. Please explain what happened."

"Well, I was preparing to create the artificial space that would be used with the others, but I heard a knock on my door. It was my mistake in checking who it was first, but I didn't think that anyone would assault me. And before I knew it, whoever it was placed their hand in front of my face, then I was knocked unconscious."

Brynhildr could hear the regret that was in her Valkyrie's voice as she explained the situation, then Odin followed on with the conversation.

"I must say that the Elven Queen's intuition was correct. The magic placed on her was a complex one that would have caused her mind to be completely erased if I had tried removing it using the usual method. As always those Elves impress me with their unique techniques."

"Unique technique?"

Kensei was interested in those words.

"There isn't in detail about all their techniques since most things from the Elven Land are kept secret. But, Elves are much like Devils in some ways, both their races have longer lifespans than other species. And some can cause various supernatural phenomena without magic circles. But, some Elves are a little haughty and look down on other species," Zane explained before continuing with one last line. "It should also be noted some Elves hates being compared to Devils."

Hearing Zane's explanation caused them to gain more insight about the Elves, but neither of them could sense it in the Elven King or Queen.

"Are there suspects in what happened?"

Maria questioned interested in the incident involving their case.

"It should be noted that we didn't cause the artificial space to break apart and return you to the stadium," hearing those words from Odin caused them to feel worried. "It appears as if there was also a self-destruct spell added to the artificial space so we couldn't attempt to trace back the Dragon Gate to whoever planted it there just in case Niðhöggr lost or he killed you all. As for the suspect…."

"It's Loki, right?"

Zane guessed and the others agreed to as he was aggressive to them all from the moment that he met them.

"He has always been against other factions more so those from the Christian ones the half-breed girl there have connections to. It could be more because their religion has started spreading into ours causing some believers to switch their faith into them," Odin replied. "Or it would make things more complicated for him."

"We always have that guy under surveillance in case he attempts anything with that son of his or anything else," Vidar added after his father. "But, we have confirmed that he hadn't left his residence since the meeting. So, we can assume that he did something else to get in contact with Niðhöggr."

"Well, he isn't called a trickster god for nothing, huh," Zane replied. "Well, I'm sure that the Norse gods are more or less interested in forming a co-operative relationship with us since that battle involving Niðhöggr. But, I'm sure that Loki is going to keep voicing his opposition against it."

"As an evil god, he doesn't have the right to complain about what our side decides. And I can tell that all the other gods came into an agreement after seeing the number you all did on Niðhöggr near the end. I'm interested in what all of you are going to do what this plan of yours in the future."

Vidar added as he stared in Zane's direction, but noticed that the others seemed to be almost in the dark about it.

"Well, I'll be telling them about the idea after we return home. But, before that, I wanted to know more about this."

Zane signaled to the Magus Akashic around his neck, which Odin nodded his head to.

"I had planned on telling you either way since you needed to know where that came from," Odin stated before he coughed in his hand. "Do you remember the first time that you sound it?"

"Yea, I was returning a book that I borrowed from the library in Midgard. I found the Magus Akashic placed in the same spot where the book I was going to return was. I returned the book, then asked the librarian about it, but he hadn't seen it before and said I could keep it if the owner wasn't found. After I read the first place, I heard Annelisse and since then no matter where it went, the grimoire never left my side."

Having heard Zane's response, Odin nodded his head since it matched what he was told a long time ago and gave him an answer.

"Well, it wasn't by chance that you found the Magus Akashic. It handpicked you from the start," Odin had said the same things Annelisse told him. "The Magus Akashic was one of the grimoires created by an evil dragon."

Kensei, Zane, and the others were surprised about that fact considering that they just fought an evil dragon. Realizing an evil dragon's nature, the grimoire that Zane had was created by one, which could cause trouble for Zane, however, the fact that it didn't do anything to him settled those worried feelings.

"What evil dragon?"

Zane was interested in hearing about this evil dragon.

"First off, let me explain that evil dragons are more or less obsessed about their particular desires than others. Niðhöggr, for example, being an evil dragon filled with so much greed and vindictiveness that he can resurrect himself as long as he desires it. This dragon, in particular, was obsessed with magic research to the point of creating several other grimoires was named the Grand Mage Dragon, Zirnitra."

Hearing that name caused Zane to looked forward to becoming more interested since there was someone able to create Magus Akashic, a grimoire that has an actual consciousness and life.

"Where's Zirnitra? Was he or she terminated?"

"She wasn't terminated, but she can't be said to be dead in the normal sense," hearing those cryptic words from Odin confused even Zane for a moment. "There was another evil dragon aside from Zirnitra who practiced magic too. One of the three strongest evil dragons, Aži Dahāka commanded over a thousand different magics including forbidden ones. But, Zirnitra wasn't obsessed with commanding magic, but the pure and the simple research in it to the point of desiring nothing more than that. She also gained an interest in humans who studies magic, because of their creativity and ingenuity. Curious about them, she wrote different normal grimoire then sent them out to be found by magicians who managed to use them to advance their research."

Everyone in the room took in what Odin told them all, being more impressed after hearing more about Zirnitra.

"She must have loved magicians after that?"

Maria uttered surprised that an evil dragon could even begin to express anything like love or interest in humans, even those who practiced magic.

"It wasn't enough to assist them using grimoire, Zirnitra wanted to see their progress herself, and that ideal led to the creation of grimoire like that one," Odin added holding his finger at the Magus Akashic. "To that end, Zirnitra enacted a final magical feat on par with the sacred gears. She split both her soul and will into different fragments, then sealed all those fragments into grimoires housing a certain area of magic. Whenever someone who has the qualifications for that magic appears, then the grimoire will appear in front of them and will be bounded to them. In the end, after the owner dies, then that grimoire disappears until the next holder appears, and so on."

"That's almost like what happens whenever a sacred gear possessor dies, afterward the sacred gear goes to another person each time. Zirnitra must've based it off that concept too."

Hisui said out loud becoming interested in that as she could sense a soul inside of the grimoire, but never would have thought that might be the case.

"So, then Annelisse is one of Zirnitra's fragments. How many are there?"

"I don't know. Even for me, I've met two owners before and both of them caused trouble similar to those who had one of the Heavenly Dragons in them. In those cases, the owner became too immersed in their magic research, eventually, losing their sanity. That's the reason that I wanted to ensure that the grimoire in his possession was one of them. I did hear about the Magus Akashic once, but I never met them. Zirnitra's will to groom magicians and research magic was passed down to the beings referred to as the Index, but neither of them wasn't fully sane near the end."

Odin finished handing out the information to them, Zane took in the information as he held the Magus Akashic in his hands. A grimoire that houses Zirnitra's soul and will, wasn't something that he expected to hear from the Chief God. He could tell that there was some mental exhaustion from using the magus Akashic, but at this point, it was almost nonexistent. However, hearing what happened to the previous owners of similar grimoire hadn't at all deterred him in the slightest.

"It's a shame, I really wanted to meet Zirnitra in person, but I guess I kinda did," Zane said before staring forward wearing a confident smile. "But, I'm interested in seeing what Zirnitra wanted people who received those grimoires wanted to become. I'll continue working together with Annelisse until the end."

Kensei, Maria, Hisui, Alice, and Claire smiled at Zane's response feeling the confidence behind them. His words also caused a smile to form on Odin's face.

"Hearing those words are enough to reassure me that you won't end up like them. I have to apologize, though, I did want to celebrate after all this, but the Norse gods have some work to do."

"It's a shame. I wanted to share at least one drink with these guys. Based on their ages, they wouldn't have done it, but the Norse World doesn't have much concern about drinking ages as long as you're a warrior."

"Well, maybe next time. I can't blame anyone there to be in for a celebration considering what happened. Well, I think that we could go for a meal at least."

Kensei pointed out as the others beside him agreed to at least having something to eat after all that.

"We could head out to my parent's house and eat."

Zane brought up that point, but a raised hand caught their attention.

"If I could bring up a suggestion on that matter."

Brynhildr raised her hand and brought up a suggestion to all of them.

---

Several minutes after returning from the meeting with Odin, they returned to the Wayland Residence to switch in their normal clothing after taking a bath. Their group later arrived at the home belonging to the Chief-Valkyrie that was located in Asgard, a modest home that could fit several people, but it wasn't anything extravagant. Everyone from the Kibou Group since a celebration party couldn't be held due to the timing, Brynhildr suggested that all of them came together at her home for dinner instead.

Upon entering Brynhildr's home, Kensei, Zane, Maria, Hisui, Alice, and Claire were surprised about the pleasant scents that invaded their nostrils. Standing in the kitchen was Brynhildr dressed not in her Valkyrie armor or even professional attire, but instead a natural outfit and apron that make her appear more like the perfect woman. All the other Valkyrie Squad members were also dressed in normal attire and sat in the living room.

"Hello everyone."

Rossweisse greeted them as they walked into the living room, where they sat on the couch.

"Surprised to see the Captain cooking?"

Ortlinde asked smiling lightly.

"I would say, surprised since she invited us for dinner," Zane said. "But, I wasn't expecting it to smell this good."

"Well, the Captain does invite us for dinner from time to time after working a long day," Schwertleite added more pleasantly. "Whenever the Captain isn't acting as the Chief-Valkyrie, she's a lot less strict with all of us, so this is something we look forward to. That and her cooking since she's one of the best cooks in Asgard."

"Well, if this dish was made in this amount of time. I'd love to see what she can cook after preparing," Maria said in an impressed tone before switching to Hisui who seemed annoyed about something. "Hisui, is there something wrong?"

"N-No," Hisui for the first time seemed to wear a forced smile on her face. "Come on, she's a super beauty, skilled and powerful, smart, and a great cook. Is she attempting to compete with us with all other women or something? I can even say that the food doesn't smell good."

Hisui seemed at a loss about the entire situation in front of her.

"Oh, I see that Kensei and the others have arrived," Brynhildr spoke from the kitchen not entering the living room herself. "Well, I finished preparing what I could. So come to the dinner table to eat."

After receiving that signal from Brynhildr, everyone sitting or standing in the living room headed inside the dining room where the table, bit enough for them all stood. The homeowner herself removed what seemed to be apple pies from the oven, then placed them on one of the trivets on the table.

"Alright, now why don't we eat?"

Brynhildr pleasantly said.

Kensei didn't want to admit this out loud in front of the others, but seeing her in this light was a little captivating to him causing him to almost flush. This didn't go unnoticed by Claire and Alice who sat beside him, before long, he felt them pinching his arm. It didn't hurt him much if not at all, but he received the message from them then gave off a lighthearted laugh.

Once Brynhildr took a seat at the table, all of them gave their individual prayers, Claire not being affected by this due to her being the host of Radueriel. Afterward, the two teams started eating the food that was prepared by the Chief-Valkyrie. As soon as the first bite was taken, her visitors were almost taken aback by the pleasant taste that touched their taste buds.

"T-This is delicious."

Even Maria who'd be the most composed of the bunched group gasped as she tasted Brynhildr's cooking.

"I never thought that someone could make something better than my mom," Zane uttered before realizing that he had uttered those words. "I don't know why, but I feel as if I hurt my mom's feeling."

"I admit this is delicious. I don't think that I've tasted or cooked anything close to this."

Claire spoke out loud, but admitting to their words affected her pride as a woman.

"You did an awesome job, Brynhildr-san."

Receiving compliments from them, but more so from Kensei, caused Brynhildr to let out a noticeable blush.

"W-Well, I didn't expect to hear such compliments. I cook for the Valkyrie Squad a lot, ya know."

Her teammates were surprised as it was the first time that either of them has seen their Captain this bashful akin to a woman who had just fallen in love. Kensei and the others were also surprised to hear Brynhildr speaking in their native accent.

"D-Did all of you see that?"

"Brynhildr looks flustered."

"Does that mean…?"

"Is she in love with Kensei?"

"Ugh."

All members of the Valkyrie Squad, which consisted of women who hadn't found themselves a lover. And among them, their Captain was likely the biggest late bloomer in that regard. Brynhildr continued acting similarly until their group calmed down.

"By the way, Nii-san. We were coming up with chuunibyou titles for Zane."

"Don't tell him that."

Zane was flushed recalling what Maria, Alice, and Claire put him through, which didn't make it better as all three women looked toward him wearing a soft smile.

"Dark King."

"Netherworld Lord, Pluto?"

"Dark Mage King."

Maria, Alice, and Claire repeated causing Zane some mental pain.

"Please don't repeat those titles if you're intending to turn me into a chuunibyou."

Zane groaned as he pressed his head on the title, causing confusion among them.

"What is a chuunibyou?"

"'Second year of junior high sickness'. It's not a real sickness, but more of a delusion where one believes they're higher than others, often middle school students who believe they have hidden knowledge or secret powers."

Kensei answered Brynhildr who seemed amused about that term.

"Japan sure has some unique names we don't mind here."

"Well, since we visited the Norse. All of you could visit Japan.

Before long, it dissolved into them conversing with one another in natural conversation with one another outside of their professional lives. Brynhildr also pulled out an apple cider that did have small traces but blended into it to where it wasn't noticeable and a pleasant drink to share with friends. After dinner, all of them did continue talking to one another with Alice sketching a picture of the entire Valkyrie Squad and them taking photos of one another using their Oracle Phones.

As the others found themselves eating among themselves, Kensei was called outside by Brynhildr without letting the others realize their absence.

"I wanted to thank you for acting as our host, Brynhildr-san."

"There's no problem. I just wanted to show my gratitude for the battle against Niðhöggr," Brynhildr said recalling the strong sensation of his hand on her wrist after pulling her away. "If it hadn't been for that then I would've been out of commission after being exposed. But, it was that experience that also made him realize that I still have a lot to learn as the Valkyrie Squad Captain and Chief-Valkyrie."

"Really like what?"

"I thought about researching Healing Magic. In a situation where someone like Niðhöggr surfaces, then it'd be an indispensable skill to learn," Brynhildr said before speaking softly acting a little bashful. "B-Besides, it would good to add that onto the qualifications as a potential bride for a certain person."

"What was that?"

Kensei heard Brynhildr whispering and thought she mentioned something.

"N-No, I didn't say nothin'."

Brynhildr nervously said as she spoke in her accent, which Kensei couldn't help but find adorable

"Well, researching healing magic would be something. I think that our group has a total of six people counting me and Hisui who can heal injuries. Zane mentioned that it would be a good idea to research more about that subject in the future since the strongest healing magic can regenerate lost limbs, but that has a price," after those words left his mouth, he looked at his still bandaged arms. "I'll need to see Hisui's mother after we return to heal my arms. I think that fixing the miasma's effects requires someone the higher senjutsu skill."

"It truly was an amazing battle," Brynhildr said thinking about the battle she had with Kensei. "I would have been fine if I did lose to someone like you in a sword battle like that."

"I probably would've lost since you're still stronger than I am. But, I'm still getting stronger since that last battle did make me think about some things."

"Well, then…."

Brynhildr smiled as she brought out her silver magic sword, then pointed it toward Kensei.

"I, the Valkyrie Squad Captain, Brynhildr vow to give you a battle that you'll never forget."

Kensei smirked then brought out his black katana, Kurogane, then crossed it with Brynhildr.

"And I, the Amagiri Clan Heir, Kensei Amagiri promise to show the might of his clan."

He replied responding to the Chief-Valkyrie's vow as their sword's edges scratched against one another causing a notable spark between their black and silver blades.

"Captain, stop shamelessly flirting with Kensei. The host shouldn't ignore her other guests."

"I-I wasn't shamelessly flirting! Ya hear me!"

Brynhildr replied in her native tongue again.

"Well, let's head back before everyone starts gathering outside."

Kensei said putting his Kurogane pack in its dimensional storage, then started walking back inside of the house.

"In preparation for getting married, I mastered all the different things that a housewife would do that ranges from cooking, housework, and even accounting," Brynhildr said with new determination as she clenched her fists as a new fire was lit in her eyes. "I'll make sure he falls in love with me and make me one of his fiancées."

Holding that new determination and mission in her heart, Brynhildr started heading back inside of her home as all of them enjoyed their time with one another.

---

The next morning, Kensei and the others found themselves outside the border that leads inside of the Norse World in the forest where the runestones were located. Instead of being alone at the exit, their group found someone out in front of the entrance. In front of them was Lena, the Dark Elf who their group met with the Valkyrie Squad.

"Greetings."

"Huh, Lena what're you doing here? We didn't see you at the Brynhildr's house"

Zane asked as she approached the Dark Elf who stood in front of them.

"It was more with between your group and the Valkyrie Squad. So, I didn't feel as if I needed to come," Lena had explained before continuing. "Odin-sama had granted me the task of being the mediator between the Norse World and your group."

"Huh, not that I'm not glad about that, but why were you chosen."

"I was chosen because I was the same age as most of you all. I also learned different things from Brynhildr such as management. It was already discussed between Odin-sama and your parents, who mentions that you missed a lot of things," Lena mentioned causing Zane to laugh nervously about how true that was. "Also I was assigned to assist in the building of this base of yours."

"Base?"

At the mention of a base, Zane laughed more nervously as Kensei and the others looked at him wearing a look of curiosity on their faces.

"Well, since that cat is out of the bag no offense Hisui," Zane muttered as that sighing as he turned to face all of them. "Kensei do you know about that plot of land in the middle of the town?"

"Huh," Kensei was confused about the question but realized what he was talking about. "You're talking about that condemned building that wasn't finished. Yea, it was supposed to be a business place, but I heard that it wasn't finished because of different incidents that happened there. Well, it was because of evil spirits who played pranks on the construction workers since the Amagiri Clan wasn't defending the town at the moment. I don't think that no one decided to use it anymore. Wait did you…?"

"I checked it out for myself and that's the perfect place for a base of operation for our group. You mentioned that it adding barriers or magic circles of another faction might end up interfering with the leylines around Kibou Town. But, that place doesn't have leylines that interconnect with the others meaning that we can use that one to create the perfect base," Zane explained as he sounded more excited about the plan. "There are several things that we need to work out of course. But, it'll be easy now that we have managed to form connections with the Norse and it wouldn't be hard for the Dwarves to help with the construction."

"This was what you were thinking about this entire time."

Even Maria couldn't help but sound interesting and a bit elated about the idea of having a personal base.

"Please tell me that you also thought about a cool name too."

Hisui as always sounded excited about it.

"I thought about it a name the entire time and came up with the perfect one. How about the Kibou Alliance?"

The name alone caused a spark something in their heads as the name sounded appealing.

"The Kibou Alliance, huh? That does have a nice ring to it."

Claire pointed out as she thought about the meaning of the town, which meant 'Hope' and Alliance.

"Well, it'll be better when we get things up and running. There's still a lot of planning and building that needs to be finished," Zane said as he looked in another direction. "But, I'm taking a break from that right now. I said that I'd visit my brother whose marriage that I missed."

"Sure, take as much time as you need. We'll return home back at Kibou Town," Maria pointed out then turned to Kensei and Hisui. "And Kensei and Hisui need to visit her mother to fix his arms."

"Right, so we'll see one another later. Lena, do you want to come to meet my brother."

"I have no problem since I'll be living with you."

"Okay, wait what?"

Zane was stumped as she mentioned that she'd be living with him, which caused his friends to stare at him with a teasing smile.

"That was a part of the discussion too. You're mother, in particular, made a big deal about it, too."

Lena replied as Zane couldn't help finding her response too blunt.

[Ohhhhh.]

All his friends smiled at him and making teasing noises at the same time causing him some embarrassment.

"W-Whatever, let's head out and do our own business."

Zane said activating the magic circle for him and Lena to transport to his older brother's home.

"Well, then I'll see you two back at Kibou."

Maria said activated a personal magic circle to teleport back to Kibou Town.

"I'll see you at home, Nii-san."

"Same here."

Claire and Alice said waving their hands, which Kensei also returned as the three of them vanished.

"Alright, can we head out?"

"Yep!"

Hisui announced as Kensei activated an Eastern teleportation magic circle, which sent him and Hisui off towards their intended location.

---

Zane and Lena had arrived in front of a home located in the European town that his mother told him that both his brother and new sister-in-law were living. He stood in front of the front door of the home, but he was a bit hesitant in knocking on the front door, which Lena noticed. In front of them was a modest-looking home that seemed to be perfect for raising a small family.

"Is there something wrong?"

Lena who also hid her pointy ears from normal humans using magic asked.

"I-It's nothing, but I haven't been the most active sibling and even missed several important things in their life. So, I don't know whether or not they would…."

Zane was prepared to ask but noticed two different voices approaching them in another direction.

"Oh, so that was something that you thought about?"

"Hahaha, yea, it wouldn't be that bad of an idea, right?"

"Well, as long as you don't blow up the living room like dad, then it'll work…"

Both those voices soon arrived in front of the house, one of them stopped talking and noticed there were people in front of the door. Zane turned around to find two young men in their twenties, both of them resembled Zane, but the one standing on the left wore glasses. Lena realized who the two of them wore based on the similarities that were between the three of them.

After seeing them standing there, Zane started feeling nervous about them staring at him and started scratching his cheek using his finger.

"Uh, h-hello. Albert and Eric."

Zane said in a strained tone.

"Oh, look of decided to visit for a change," Eric spoke sarcastically as he approached his young brother. "By the way, mom and dad told us about what happened. You meeting with the Chief-God, fighting the Valkyrie Squad, and then fighting against Niðhöggr. And do you know what?"

Eric raised his hand in the air, causing Zane to believe that he was going to bonk him on the head. Instead, he placed his hand on top of his little brother's head in a new comforting manner as he smiled.

"Good job, Zane. It was good hearing that our kid brother actually grow up. But, you still got to work on getting better at organizing your life more properly."

Eric said in an almost proud tone.

"Well, I guess that's Lena here is for."

Zane said glancing to the side unable to look his brother in the eye and admit that.

"What? You mean your girlfriend?"

Eric asked after glancing at Lena who stood there staring blankly deadpan as Zane reacted to those words.

"She's not my girlfriend! She's someone I met and talk to for like two days!"

"You don't shout in front of my face."

Eric replied placing both his fists on the sides of Zane's head, then started turning his fists several times.

Zane recalled all the times that Eric did this several times throughout their childhood, which made it all the more obvious that he inherited their father's rough and energetic side.

"Please don't fight in front of my house. You're going to give people the wrong idea."

Albert sighed after seeing his younger brother's usual retinue in front of his house.

Albert, although, he did use to lecture him all the time did more calmly, inheriting his well-mannered side from their mother. He wasn't strong as there were people who were watching what was happening, but he calmly explained that it was his two younger brothers before sending them off.

"Well, since you're here. Why don't we talk inside? My wife and Eric's girlfriend are inside," Albert suggested and walked in front of the front door. "I want to hear how the uniforms felt and did in combat."

"Don't worry about that those uniforms were perfect."

Zane replied as Albert smiled in response to those words.

"That's good to hear. I heard from mom that you created some new weapons too."

"Yea, I'll show you guys later. I think that I want to get reacquainted with you and the women in your lives."

"I see, then come on."

Albert smiled as all four of them entered their room and started to get reacquainted with one another.

---

Both Kensei and Hisui arrived in front of a duplex located in a town nearby Kyoto; posted on the door's left side was a door sign that read, Aozaki Residence; and on the right side was a sign that read Aozaki Practice. Without wasting time, Hisui started skipping in front of the door sign that read the Aozaki Practice. Kensei couldn't tell if it was because of how it was built, but the home looked as if was further renovated to properly fit her purposes.

"Come on, Ken Ken~ I already told mom that we were coming."

"Okay."

Kensei said as he could feel that the house wasn't built like normal homes around the area.

But, that could be because her mother applied youki onto the home to make the conditions more suitable for them, which he could clearly sense. Before Hisui could even knock on the front door, it opened revealing her mother, a beautiful woman who looked to be in her twenties with the same colored hair albeit shorter and eyes as her daughter. Befitting her practice, she was dressed in a white doctor robe worn over a black dress and heels.

"Hello, my adorable daughter~"

Kensei was surprised as even her tone reminded him a lot of Hisui, as she wrapped her arms around Hisui, then started nuzzling her cheek like a cat. Of course, she had cat ears proudly on her heads, but the thing that caught his attention the most was the five tails waving happily behind her.

"Six tails, that's the most that I've seen, but I heard the Nekomata leader had seven. Even using senjutsu, I can't even sense a strong presence from her. She's definitely better than us at hiding her presence using senjutsu."

"Hehehe, mom you're embarrassing me in front of Ken Ken."

Hisui sounded embarrassed, but she also seemed to be having fun.

"Ah, Ken-chan?"

Her mother said as she glanced at Kensei who remained standing in front of the door beside them, not knowing how to respond to interject himself into their conversation. Almost like a phantom, she arrived in front of him without him being able to sense her movement or presence.

"Greeting, I am Hinata Aozaki, the greatest doctor among youkai," Hinata proudly declared as she continued to look at Kensei. "Ah, I see this is the kind of person that adorable baby turned out to be."

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

Both Kensei and even Hisui seemed surprised about those words.

"Eh? Didn't Sakura-chan or Tetsuo-kun mention that? Well, I guess neither of them had the time, and considering all that happened, it's no surprise," Hinata said tilting her head to the side before shrugging her shoulders not at all feeling hurt about not being mentioned. "I was the one who delivered you, your brother, and sister."

""Eh!""

Both Kensei and Hisui were shocked after hearing that confession from Hinata.

---

Kensei found himself sitting in a room build in a doctor's room, with his hands held out and bandages, revealing the damages done to his arms by Niðhöggr's miasma. Hinata didn't look worried about the damages on his arm, then got out acupuncture needles from her desk. Kensei wasn't worried about the fact that needles will be inserted into his arms since he did go through more before.

"I swear, you and Sakura-chan need to be more careful," Hinata said as she started pressed the needles in his arms using her index finger, a green flame on top of it. "Both of you ended up fighting against an evil dragon and both of you ended up damaging your arms. Shouldn't swordsmen be more careful with their arms?"

"So, the dragon mom fought against was an evil dragon."

"Yep, I know that it was a powerful one that caused both her and Tetsuo-kun trouble the entire time. And that one wasn't alone at the moment, other evil dragons went berserk and the different clans needed to all work together to get them all. Well, it might be better if Tetsuo-kun explains the details himself."

Hisui talked as she pressed more needles into exact parts of his arms where his ki flowed the most.

"Yes, but there's something that I do need to ask."

"Hmm, what's that?"

"Is he alright?"

Kensei signaled to the couch in the room where a light-haired man was laying back on the couch. It didn't take long to realize that it was her husband and Hisui's father since she nonchalantly greeted him.

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with him. Well, not physically at least. Ichirou wouldn't stop pestering me about letting the boy Hisui liked in our home. I must admit that I got a little irritated, so I pressed the needle in him so that he'd be quiet and wouldn't do anything drastic. I'll remove it after the two of you leave."

Hinata explained not finding anything odd about that and witnessed Hisui laughing as she poked her father's face finding some amusement in this.

"Yep, they're definitely alike. They both like messing with people."

Kensei smiled wryly.

"This is also a part of a personal examination. So, I'll be asking some questions," Hinata started as Kensei didn't seem to have trouble with that. "So, in a battle against someone stronger has your heart ever started beating faster? I mean aside from when you're alone having fun with my daughter."

"H-Huh."

Kensei didn't realize that the second part would come up, but he could sense that behind him Ichirou's spirit seemed to start fluctuating almost as if he were mad.

"Leaving the second part aside, yes, but isn't that normal?"

"Of course. Now, the second question. Have you ever experienced your power rising with intense emotions?"

"Uh, yea?"

Kensei said thinking back to his last battle against Niðhöggr, where his powers started raising after his emotions started getting more intense against him.

"Now, this is the most important question. Have you considered marrying Hisui?"

"I mean, of course. W-Wait, what?"

"Oh, Ken Ken, I'll happily accept that proposal!"

Hisui happily declared after hearing those words, but Ichirou's anger had raised to the highest point possible after hearing the word 'marriage'.

"Hehehe, teasing Sakura-chan and Tetsuo-kun was so much fun. Those two always liked each other, but it was so hard for those two battle maniacs to admit their true feelings for one another. Well, this should do it."

Hinata finished putting the acupuncture needles into his arms before placing her hands underneath his arms for the left and right respectively.

"Do you know what meridians and chakras are?"

"Well, I heard that meridians is one of the names that people use to refer to all the ki pathways that flow throughout the body. If a person skilled in senjutsu were to hit it, then it'll make it impossible for their opponent to gather aura and could even severely damage internal organs," Kensei replied recalling what he heard from Sun Wukong. "And that the chakras points are inner wells of power that flows inside the spirit, but I was told that I shouldn't attempt it unless I mastered Senjutsu."

That was Kensei's basic understanding of what both of these meant, which Hinata nodded her head to.

"That's the idea. I can see that you had a good teacher when learning senjutsu for the first time since it's something that only the sennin and high-class youkai could learn," Hinata said feeling impressed. "As you continue to master senjutsu, they'll become more open to them and you'll truly be able to master them. In learning of the meridians, you and Hisui will be able to improve your healing prowess. And you might also learn a little more about yourself, as well."

Both Hinata's hands shined with a green aura as ki flowed out from his arms, as his skin started healing returning to its original state for being infected by Niðhöggr's miasma. Kensei didn't even need to move his arms to realize that they were healed to perfect condition. Hinata later started removing all the acupuncture needles, then placed all of them in a place to cleanse them.

"Now, try moving your arms."

At Hinata's suggestion, Kensei moved his arms and hands around, noticing that his arms were, in fact, perfectly healed. He couldn't notice a single after-effect from Niðhöggr's miasma on his arms almost as if he wasn't even affected by it in the first place.

"Wow, I can't feel any pain or discomfort. Thanks for that."

"Good," Hinata nodded her head proud of her work. "Of course, now as payment. I request that you continue to take care of my darling daughter."

"Well, I don't have a problem with that one."

"Including the marriage part?"

Hinata questioned holding her hands together with stars in her eyes.

"…."

Kensei didn't agree with those words, but he hadn't been against the idea, which Hinata took notice of.

"I'm not hearing a no. So, I'll treat it as a yes!"

Hinata declared much to his embarrassment.

"Yep, I'm already the fifth fiancée."

Hisui added after her mouth.

"I don't think that I can handle these two at the same time," Kensei said smiling wryly and twitching his eyebrows. before turning to Hinata. "But, I never thought that she was the person who delivered me, Naoto, and Nari-chan. I know dad met Hisui before, so he'd know that Hisui was Hinata-san's daughter. Why didn't he bring that up? Actually, now that I think about my dad is the kind of person who won't mention anything unless you ask him or something happened where he had to. Of course, mom was the same."

"Now, why don't you go on a little date around town? I need to remove the needle or else Ichirou's heart will stop with all his attempts at breaking himself free."

Hinata said as she noticed that Ichirou had been attempted to break himself free from the induced paralysis more so after hearing marriage.

"That's a good idea. Come on, Ken Ken let's go out on a date."

"Alright, I'm interested in seeing where you lived before."

"Yea~ Then let's go out on our date."

Hisui said as she and Kensei started walking outside of the home after holding onto his arm, then lead him outside.

"Hmm, I'm so happy seeing Sakura-chan's son and my daughter together."

Hinata said as she placed her hands on her cheeks as she sensed the two of them departed into the town.

"Alright, now Ichirou. I'm going to remove the needle," Hinata said as she knelt in front of her paralyzed husband then smiled. "Now if you get up to run after Ken-chan and Hisui, then I'll divorce you in a heartbeat."

Hinata sensed his spirit settling down after those words left her mouth, then removed the needle from him. Moments later, Ichirou leaned upward as a breath escaped from his mouth from relief.

"I wasn't going to do anything to him."

"You do realize that I can tell you're lying? You can't keep doting on Hisui so much or else she'll be less likely to come home and visit. And besides, she and Ken-chan are good for one another," Hinata reasoned as she took a seat beside her husband. "If you stop them from giving me adorable grandchildren, then I won't be happy."

"…."

Ichirou shuttered as he felt Hinata's intense gaze on him.

"So, aside from being an overprotective parent. Did you see anything unlikable about Ken-chan?"

"I'll at least say that he isn't the worst person that our daughter could be attracted to. And I'm grateful that he did protect and save her from those people. But, why are you so invested in them being together?"

"Well, aside from wanting Hisui to be happy with whoever she chose as her mate. Sakura-chan and Tetsuo-kun were good people who we owe a great debt to during that incident. That evil dragon, in particular, rampaged at many locations where youkai resided and the Five Principal Clan wouldn't intervene because of tradition in defending humans. But, those two and the Amagiri Clan came to our aid in those incidents. I couldn't offer much assistance to Sakura-chan in healing her dominant right hand since was still a young doctor and that dragon did more damage than I could fix."

Hinata spoke as if lamenting her previous actions in not being able to assist Sakura.

"It's a shame, I wanted our children to meet sooner," Hinata said as she leaned on Ichirou's shoulder. "It feels like faith that our children met in the same place and I'm happy about that."

"I-If that's the case, then I think that I can tolerate him being with our daughter. I-I wouldn't want her to feel sad or unable to be with someone she loved."

Ichirou replied a little reluctantly, but his words did make Hinata feel happier.

"Thanks, Ichirou!"

Hinata said as she smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"…!"

It caused Ichirou's face to turn bright red from the suddenness, then caused him to pass out wearing a smile on his face. Seeing her husband doing this caused Hinata to release a soft sigh as she placed his head on her lap before smiling.

"Jeez, you're like a schoolboy who got kissed by their crush," Hinata noted before recalling what she sensed from Kensei. "Ken-chan, Nao-chan, and Nari-chan are special children. You shouldn't wait until the last second to tell Ken-chan at least, Tetsuo-kun."

---

A/N: And there goes the next chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, this was the long battle against the evil dragon, Niðhöggr with the Kibou Team and Valkyrie Squad. It was the longest chapter yet, which showed them pulling out all the stops against the evil dragon. Kensei showing that he could endure being hit by Niðhöggr's miasma and Hisui helped heal him through being in close contact. Maria showed that she managed to can create Dragon Slayers. Zane was able to use the Magus Akashic to increase his magic.

They were able to unite all their attacks together and killed Niðhöggr before activating a self-destruction spell in an attempt to kill them. Zane received some new information from Odin about the Magus Akashic and who created it, then all of them had a small gathering in Brynhildr's home. Near the end, Zane joined with Lena reunited with his older brothers with Kensei meeting Hisui's mother.

Kensei's Harem: Alice, Claire, Hisui, Kunou, Yasaka, Lu Lingqi, Mirana, Sarah, Minako, Koneko, Kuroka, Ravel, Amaterasu, Brynhildr.