DXD SI : Chapter 43 : More Disbeliefs & Wake up Call (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

–Zekram Bael–

There was a flashing point of purple right in the middle of the giant crater that Magdaran had created in the middle of the Bael Compound, before he had to teleport away from the spot, appearing in the air, looking down, his face solemn, as the massive, invisible artifact that he’d commissioned was destroyed in a single strike.

It was one of his favourites, having used it to travel in comfort while projecting power everywhere. After all, if all Devils could teleport and he still chose to arrive in that, it showcased a certain level of importance and power, and the others had no choice but to suck it up since the alternative was far worse.

As was expected, anything that he used personally was built using the highest standards, and as such, that throne/room was built by a Minor God, specifically with durability and comfort in mind. Speed was not its forte, which is why it was not able to escape the focused beam of Destruction that completely ate through the protections.

The fact that Magdaran could do that meant—

His thoughts were halted as he felt yet another spike, and he teleported far away, his hand instinctively raised, charged with his power as he watched Magdaran’s fist covered in his energy, right where his head was.

Then, Magdaran moved, and he had to fly back and then teleport once more, appearing quite a distance away, looking at his singed hand with a grimace, and at the now approaching Magdaran with a blank look on his face. There were no expressions on his face, and yet, he knew that he was being approached by his descendant with absolute murder in his eyes. His eyes were two glowing infernos of purple, his entire body covered in his unique mutated Power of Destruction.

Within moments, Magdarn had covered the distance between them, and just like before, was throwing around massive amounts of power in hopes that something would get him, or he was just mindlessly fighting; he could not know.

What he did know, however, was that he could not leave like this. No, if he left like this, there might not be a Bael Compound. Plus, did he not want to test Magdaran? What better way than to duke it out in a fight? After centuries, he finally felt like sparring with someone.

Because he was not going to kill Magdaran here. No, that would be such a waste. His House did not have a Head right now, and Magdaran, with his current displayed strength, had already proven himself to have the strength to hold that position.

Now, all that was left was to show the boy who actually ran things here, before someone came to ruin their fun. After all, a fight of their calibre was bound to draw attention, more so when it was in the Bael territory. He had drawn the boy out quite a bit away from the Main Compound, and they were floating above mostly barren land, so they could go all out now.

He grinned at the boy, and this time, instead of pulling away from his fist, he uncorked a vial, healed his arm, and then punched him in reply. 

His face contorted in confusion and then pain as he felt Magdaran’s Power of Destruction eat away and overwhelm his own before he was blown away by the force behind the boy’s attack. He looked at the bones in his hands with disbelief, teleporting away once more to gain some distance, only to find himself face to face with Magdaran’s approaching fist.

Apparently, he was not as mindless as he had feared him to be. Whatever had happened inside had set him off in ways he could not have expected, as the boy did not stop, did not assess the situation, did not care a bit as he attacked the Original Pillar with all he had. 

The injury on his hand was not worth it to use the limited stock of Phenex Tears he kept on hand, so he just coated it with his Power of Destruction and attacked the boy. 

More than once, he had to dodge a wave of energy that the boy used to attack everything around him because while he could weather a punch just fine, that wave of energy had something in it that just weakens his own power, making him feel as if he was fighting with sluggish energy, as if he was being handicapped by—

His eyes widened as he vanished from the spot immediately, appearing back in his hidden office, his heart heavy with what he was about to do. But he had to do it. He couldn't let someone like Magdaran gain the upper hand. 

But it was abundantly clear that he was not going to beat Magdaran with just the Power of Destruction. The very nature of their power meant that any spell he tried to cast on Magdaran was going to be destroyed before it could take effect. The most effective method to fight members of House Bael was to use higher tier Power of Destruction, as that usually weakened the targets far more than expected.

It was a hierarchy of power, and never in his life had he expected to be on the receiving end of that feeling. All his life, he had only ever felt that when faced with two people. Lucifer, because no matter his power, no matter his bloodline trait, he could never find himself ever facing the Morningstar and Sirzechs, his descendant.

To think that a brat like Magdaran could suppress his power like that, even minutely? It was unthinkable, and yet, that same impossibility made him think of his next course of action. Magdaran had to live, that was non-negotiable, but he couldn't let the boy have the upper hand in the fight. He was an absolute gem in the making, and he had to snatch him before anyone else realised the potential he held.

As his hands closed around the spear, the words echoed in his mind, his decision made.

A Super Devil in the making.

How foolish he had been to even contemplate the King Piece. The boy was destined for things far greater than that. But before that, he had to be reminded of the reality and the pecking order in the Underworld.

A few deaths, property damage and having to fight him personally was nothing in the face of obtaining a Super Devil, and with Three Super Devils on his side, he could finally see a way to get rid of the biggest ticking time bomb that the Devil race had ever produced, Rizevim.

A surge of renewed ambition at seeing Rizevim at his feet, a Lucifer at his feet, made him snatch the Spear from the containment unit, barely flinching as he felt his skin sizzle at the minute Holy Aura that leaked from the tip of the Spear.

He had never expected to have to use this on his own descendants, but life had a way of surprising people, even someone like him.

He disappeared from his spot, appearing in the skies above the Main Compound, and had to immediately raise the spear above him, and even then, he grunted as Magdaran punched the Spear with all his might, his face still blank, his eyes still glowing, the compound around him absolutely decimated in the short period of time he had spent in his personal Armoury.

He stopped pushing as he let himself plummet to the ground, using his power to erase the ground until he stopped, then burrowed into the ground and teleported once more, as he felt the brat destroy the entire area around him.

Magdaran really was hell bent on killing him, it would seem. 

He had to hold the spear in front of him once more as Magdaran sensed his arrival. One flaw of dragging the Spear around him was its absolute weight. It did not like Demonic Energy, and as such, teleporting with it was as if he was carrying around a thousand people in the same spell.

That small delay gave Magdaran enough time to arrive at his destination before him. It was such a pain, as he had to fend off attacks from his bloodthirsty descendant while trying to create some distance, as wielding the spear was not possible for him.

The best he could do was let the containment leak some of the Holy energy within in a certain direction and drop it, as even being in the same vicinity was the same as a death sentence. 

Fortunately, he was not without options here. The spear took time and was unwieldy but was absolute in its application, while he had other things that acted much quicker but yielded much less damage.

He took out one such vial of Holy Water, blessed by a congregation that had one of the Seraphs in attendance, and as such, should be more than enough to deal severe damage to Magdaran.

He grunted as he was blown away by Magdaran’s punches, and he let himself get carried away to gain some distance. He had realised that Magdaran was not in control of himself here. He was not teleporting, not using precise bursts of his power like he was absolutely capable of, not trying to do something different.

He was just punching him with his fists coated in the power of Destruction. But that alone could not account for the sheer might behind the punches. It felt as if he was being attacked by a Sage specialising in Touki, an art that was all but impossible for devils. To think that on top of his Demonic Energy being so potent, Magdaran had managed to cultivate his physical body to such a level.

A chuckle escaped him as he was blown back once more. He felt nothing but happiness at seeing another one of his descendants grow so strong, and this time, not even Runeas could claim partial credit for this.

But he was not nice enough to act as a punching bag for his descendants, no matter how strong. Which is why the next time he was punched, he threw the vial of Holy Water at Magdaran, and immediately flew back, expecting a wave of Power as Magdaran lashed out at the damage.

Only for Magdaran to take that head on and freeze? 

His hand stayed on the spear, as he felt Magdaran freeze, and then his aura was abruptly compressed, appearing the same as before. 

A step into Ultimate Class.

He watched as Magdaran’s head remained on a swivel, taking in all the sights around him.

The destroyed compound. The gashes in the land. The crater in the center of the Main Compound. Destroyed paths and more.

And then, Magdaran’s head whipped around to look at him, and for the first time since the start of this fight, he saw emotion there. He saw a great deal of shock, confusion, anger, regret, and even a little bit of fear before Magdaran teleported away.

He sighed mid air, his hand that held the Holy Spear slacking a little bit. While the Holy Water did not injure Magdaran as he had hoped, it did snap him out of it, and that was enough for the day.

Now, to deal with the aftermath….

He disappeared from the spot, and after carefully storing the Spear, he appeared back above the Main Compound to see Sirzechs himself surveying the area with a frown on his face, seemingly waiting for him.

“Who did this?”

“Who called you?”