DXD SI : Chapter 41 : FIGHT SCENE! RAH! [Nah, it was a Slaughter] (Patreon)

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters appearing in High School DXD or the Anime or the manga whatsoever.

Bael Territory, Underworld

–Magdaran Bael–

“He will be here soon.”

“I see.” He replied, staying silent as he continued walking to the staircase that led to the Throne, his mind alert, waiting for the trap.

His mind was also entertaining an absolutely useless line of thinking. Why would Zekram need stairs to get to his throne? He can fly and teleport.

“Y-Yes,” Zephyr replied, his hands fidgeting under the subtle pressure he was exerting on the man, his own Power of Destruction easily overpowering Zephyr’s weaker one. He knew how Zephyr must be feeling right now. After all, he felt something similar when he first met Sirzechs. Zephyr was simply stupid and self assured enough to never bother investigating why his heir felt like a hole to him, or did the moron did not have the required brain cells to develop that sense?

“...You wanted to know more about your mother, yes?”

His eyes sharpened at that, the pressure in the hall increasing, as he nodded slowly. Zephyr brightened a bit as he took out a folder from his own pocket space, “While we are waiting for the Ancestor to arrive, why don't you take a look at the files I promised you? Sorry it took so long. I was in closed doors training with the Ancestor.”

He gave the cowardly devil a look at the clear lie but took the offered file and took a step back, standing at the absolute edge of the platform. He knew it was a trap, most likely to distract him, but he didn’t care. He had to know, the burning need within him slightly overpowering the need to keep himself in a position of advantage at all times.

The first page was clearly about an entirely different woman. The names were right, there were descriptions of the battles she fought, the time period was right, and yet, the face was fake, and that’s how he knew that Zephyr had not given him the truth. Good. He was afraid that if he was told the truth immediately, he might immediately erase the Devil out of anger, robbing him of the satisfaction of revenge.

He snapped the book shut and immediately noted Zephyr being pulled back, his eyebrows raising as he looked behind the Throne platform, seeing a Devil pulling Zephyr back, while the Devil in question was flying towards him. 

The file disintegrated in his hands, he floated back a bit, turning around to see another Devil charging at him with his fists raised. The devil in front of him, who had pulled Zephyr back, had raised a spear at him and was also pulling him towards the spear, which did not look Holy but radiated enough magic for him to know that it was a magical artifact.

The devil in front of him was somehow influencing gravity, not unlike that of the Rinnegan’s Pull. He was also likely pushing himself towards him, and now, he was pulling the Devil behind him as well, setting both of them on a crash course towards him.

All of these thoughts went through his mind as he debated on what to do. Ofcourse, a clean takedown was the easiest part. Flood the area with his power of Destruction and then watched as they were erased, but before he could do that, he felt yet another Devil somehow appear spontaneously in his sensing range. No teleporting spell, no magical buildup, no wards hiding him.

Then, he felt the Devil’s power wash over him and realised what it was.

The Agares, and their Time Power.

He likely used a combination of their Temporal Barriers and Time acceleration to appear in front of him so fast. The Paimon, because that’s what the devil in front of him with the gravitational pull was, and the Agares were likely a combination created to slow down his movements.

Zephyr must have been really freaked out by his speed last time, but didn’t he understand? Did he think that he wouldn't be able to stop them? He was more confused than alarmed here, as he felt the Agares' power try to slow him down.

As he watched all three of them converge on his location, with Zephyr standing behind them, his gaze fixed on the confrontation, he looked straight at Zephyr and grinned, his power coming out in precise bursts.

A single flex erased the influence of the Paimon and Agares on his body, a light flick erasing the tip of the Spear, and shattering the rest, before he turned around and punched the Devil with a punch of his own, his hand simply going through the Devil’s hand until his hand reached the shoulder.

Before the devil could even scream about it, he knocked him out and flung his body out of the hall at the same time. Turning around, he flicked two balls of his Power in the direction of the two pillar devils, enveloping them completely.

They flinched, closing their eyes, hands raised as if calling on their powers, but they did not die. After all, how could they do so without his permission? 

“Stay there,” He said before turning his attention to Zephyr, who was looking at the proceedings with not nearly as much panic as he should. After all, the combo was decent enough, if one took into account the near non-existent brain of the devil in front of him.

“Did you think they were going to stop me?” 

Zephyr looked at him with rage written all over his face, “You brat! You should not have forced me to do this.”

He rolled his eyes at the classic cliché, and before he could do anything, he sniped the man with his Power of Destruction, erasing his hands and legs, leaving behind just a bleeding torso.

Zephyr’s eyes turned bloodshot at the pain, but he didn’t scream, which was surprising. He felt a magic pulse from Zephyr, resonating all around the hall. It must be something because both the Agares and the Paimon devils in his grasp began panicking, though they made sure not to use their hands to touch the spheres that kept them trapped.

He looked all around, feeling a familiar sting of Holy Light, once again reminding him that it was wrong on his part to expect anything other than the cliché here. All four corners of the flooring as well as the ceiling began glowing White as the formation that stored Holy Light of all things began outputting beams of energy deadly to most devils.

All of the attacks honed in on him. He spied the burning and sizzling torso of his sperm donor, because the devil was somehow ready to sacrifice himself to—

Oh, wait. Nope. He watched as the man used his pitiful magic to open his pocket space, a vial shattering on him, the liquid healing him instantly, though Phenex Tears could not give him his limbs back.

Then, the man took a black scroll in his mouth, likely to get past the wards here or to do something else. Unfortunately for him, he was not going to risk anything, so a flick of his finger sent a Rasengan of Power of Destruction careening towards his prone form, the ball tearing through his mouth, erasing the scroll and a part of his mouth at the same time.

Oddly enough, he did not feel as much satisfaction as he thought he would at seeing the man in his current state. 

The Rasengan dissipated as he sent yet another ball of his power, enveloping Zephyr and bringing him closer to the two prisoners who were looking around at the hall that was blindingly white, full of Holy Light.

He stood in the middle of it all, his body covered in a thin film of the Power of Destruction, even as the Holy Light continued to ramp up. He could have just stood there and weathered the storm of Holy Light without any damage, but no need to expose more of his power. This much was sufficient. It shouldn’t be too high, lest Zekram be spooked into hiding or making a move against him.

After all, he was aware that even with all this chaotic mixture of energies, Zekram must be monitoring the entire thing.

After a few minutes, the Light Show reached its peak and then immediately disappeared as the store of Holy Light in this palace was deleted. He wondered how Zekram did it? Knowing the guy, it was possible that he must have chained an actual Angel here somewhere and extracted all the Holy Light possible.

Shaking his head, he looked at the now ruined Hall, and at the three Devils who were all looking at him in various stages of fear and anger. Zephyr being the most afraid and the most angry as well.

He had no need of the other two, so he knocked them out and kept them suspended in his Power, while turning to Zephyr, who flopped on the ground, unable to move about because whatever magic he tried to use to gain some mobility, he purposefully destroyed it using his Power.

It was humiliating for him, yes, and yet, it, once again, did not fill him with as much happiness as it should.

Holding the man aloft with his Power, he faced the grimacing face of Zephyr and asked, “Talk.”

The man gave a crazed laugh, his eyes clearly unhinged, his mouth half gone and yet, Zephyr was able to speak clearly enough that he understood him “What is there to speak? You defeated me. Now, kill me and relieve me of this humiliation.”

His voice was clearly defeated and yet….He did not sound as devastated as he should, as despaired as he should. Was this it, then? He just gave up and expected to die, simply because that’s what it meant being the Head of House Bael? That you could one day be killed by someone stronger than you of the same House, all for a position that could barely be considered a puppet role for someone stronger?

His power ate into the stumps of the devil, as he spoke, “My Mother. I want to know about her. How did she die?”

The man looked at him, then laughed crazily once more, “Ahahahah! You mean–Y-You mean to tell me all this–all this was because of that low stock woman? What is—AAAAAAA” 

His vile words stopped as he began thrashing about in pain, his power coming in handy as he used its surgical nature to begin destroying the man from the inside, making him feel immense pain. 

After a few seconds, he let go of his power, his voice silent yet the impending threat of more pain loud and clear to Zephyr. “Speak. What did you do to her? Why did she die on that day? Why did she look so weak each passing day? Why did she care for me even when she was clearly on death’s door? Why did none of you help her? Why did you try to erase everything about her? WHY?! WHY?!”

The man looked at him as if the pain no longer bothered him before he smiled a bloody smile, his mouth opening as he began speaking…..