DXD SI : Chapter 101 : I can't injure you? Who decided that?! (Patreon)

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

Inner Sanctum, The Garden

–Magdaran–

Looking at the blank look on Thor’s face and the way he had a loose grip on Mjolnir’s handle, he couldn’t help but curse the situation. It was not a good one for him, from any perspective. Thor was not only far stronger than him but far more talented when it came to combat, on top of being intimately aware of his strength, his combat style, and how his power worked. 

Hell, even before Thor underwent a fucking real life lightning tribulation and came out stronger for it, he couldn’t defeat Thor in a one on one battle, not with Mjolnir anyway. Even without the Divine hammer, it was really hard to injure Thor in a manner that would permanently put him down. Knocking out the God of Thunder was really hard when the God in question has a recorded history of using his lightning powers to keep his heart beating when he was young and was attacked by multiple beings stronger than him. It was a badass story that he heard many times from the Asgardians he had the fortune of meeting, training, and ranking with. However, that same story felt like a horror story right now.

Sighing, he hefted the sword in his hand and asked Thor, just in case this was some misunderstanding.

“What are you doing here, Thor?” He knew it was foolish of him to expect that a Thor who was waiting for him outside his Garden with Mjolnir in hand was just here to raid his fridge, but he just couldn't help having that delusional hope for a second, because he did not want to fight Thor.

“I can’t allow you to leave right now.”

“Why?”

“I have my reasons, and you have yours. Draw your weapon.” Thor’s voice boomed all around him as he clenched the sword in his hand. Seeing that he had no choice and that Thor was not going to budge, he activated the enchantments in the sword, causing its edge to light up with a dark edge that seemed to suck light in. Then, the entire sword was set ablaze with a purple fire, as he manifested his cloak behind him, going all out from the start.

After all, against Thor, there was really no use in doing otherwise. His armour, his boots, and everything else lit up with all the enchantments he had carved onto them, using up the energy already stored within them, and once the battle began, they would absorb any ambient energy to fuel themselves. He would not have to worry about providing energy to anything save for the sword.

The dead point sword, as he had taken to call his masterpiece in offensive enchantmenting, was capable of projecting absolute void in a single point, using his powers to create what was essentially a small black hole, consuming everything around it to reduce it to atoms. It worked on most materials he had tested. 

It should work even on Super Devil power territory, but the keyword there was should. He had no field data on the sword being used on beings of such power. He supposed that he was going to get that data today.

Thor took one look at the sword in his hand before nodding in approval. “Good. Now, come at me.”

He looked at the still loosely held Mjolnir, his message clear, but seeing that Thor did not care much for his sword, he did not look the gift horse in the mouth and charged forth, using his power to erase the concept of distance as his sword arrived instantly in front of Thor’s chest, the tip pitch black as he aimed to slash at Thor, only for the sword to be halted by a single finger.

He watched on in grim horror as Thor raised a single finger of his non-dominant hand and stopped his sword from advancing any further. If there was something that could console him about the failure of his weapon, it was that Thor was not stopping the blow with just his physical body. No, that would have been truly ridiculous. Thor had coated his finger with his Divine Energy, visible in the slight whitish tint his finger got to stop the sword. Thor pushed his sword back, and he had to immediately retreat, lest Thor simply break his sword with his finger.

It was absurd just how strong Thor had gotten with that single event. If it had been before, Thor would have alteast been forced to raise Mjolnir to halt the sword’s advance. He would have accepted that defeat, as Mjolnir truly was a one-of-a-kind weapon. 

That opening move alone had cemented his defeat, as he now knew that no matter what he did with his power, defeating Thor was going to be impossible. Still, he couldn't just sit there and wallow in his defeat. No, Vali was out there, being attacked by Azazel of all people, and Odin and Thor were clearly in on it, which meant she was in danger. He had to be there for her. 

Maybe all of this was not about hurting Vali, but then why do something that would specifically keep him busy for a relatively long period of time, and why send in Thor, arguably the strongest person in their circle, to keep him stationary?

A flare of his power created a hole in space, one that was promptly smashed to bits as he had to lean away from the arc of lightning that spread all around him, eventually creating a curtain of lightning that sealed the space around his Garden. It was…a masterful display of intricate magic, something that Thor was not capable of before. Was this also a result of Thor’s recent power-up? Or was this something they had been keeping secret from him, just so he would have no idea of this when he was inevitably ambushed?

This whole thing was making him revisit every single interaction, every single visit, every single conversation, and every single decision he had ever made in the company of the people he had called his friends yesterday. It was not good for his paranoia, as he found it being validated because the moment he had put his guard down in all his years of life and let some people in, he had found himself betrayed by the same people.

It was…infuriating.

And yet, there wasn't much he could realistically do but fight. Sure, the option of accepting it and taking it all lying down was present, but he had found over the years that it was the coward’s way out, and he did not want to live that way. That would just be a return to his days living under the shadow of Zekram Bael, with the accursed Bael name.

No, he had done too much to escape those shadows, only to end up under the shadow of someone infinitely stronger than Zekram Bael.

And this time, he was not an unknown quantity. Unlike Zekram, Odin and the others were quite aware of his powers and what they could do. Given time, he was pretty sure he could overcome the likes of Thor as well, only requiring more data and more combat to elevate himself. 

So, as he saw it, he had two options here. Accept the fact that he was not going to leave this place, not with Thor himself enforcing the blockage, and then figure out what had happened to Vali and why everyone had collectively decided to keep him in the dark.

OR, he could fight. Fight with all he had. Something that ran the risk of ruining his Garden simply due to its proximity to the battlefield. It must be why Thor had created a cube of his lightning all around them, locking him in this place, so that he would be cautious of hurting his own Garden. Alas, they forgot one thing, or maybe they did not care much about it, but it might just be one of the bigger mistakes they would commit.

He smiled as the lightning cube was completely around the entire Garden, enveloping the vast area, leaving him trapped, and yet he did not feel the slightest hint of fear right now. 

His body jerked forward a bit, Thor’s eyes boring holes into the two massive tree roots that had come from the Garden and stabbed into his back. They looked ordinary until they began glowing a violent purple, before his body burst with an energy shockwave that somewhat destabilised the lightning cage, only for Thor to stabilise it with a burst of his energy, eyes locked onto his purple glowing form.

Yes, they had missed the fact that he was not alone in this, that he was never alone, and never will be. The Mother Tree might not ever develop sentience like a regular Devil, but she was Alive, and as such, had made her choice clear in the battle. 

With that decision alone, he was now free to do as he pleased. The protections on the Garden should hold for now, as long as Thor does not target the garden personally. From what he had gathered from the single exchange right now, it did not look like Thor was here to kill him, or maybe he was just playing around. But that was not the way Thor fights, and even if Odin ordered Thor to kill him and be done with it, Thor would use his full power for that, instead of playing around.

So, there may still be hope that not all was lost. With that thought, he felt the Mother Tree pulse in agreement as he tried once more with the sword; only this time, the energy he just pumped into the sword was a hundredfold, part of which had to be diverted to make sure that the energy containment enhancements on the sword did not crack under the strain of carrying all that energy.

He flew forward, his total concentration consumed by the sword, as he swung the sword quite a distance away, not slashing directly at Thor. A pitch black wave of darkness emerged from his slash and slammed into Thor, and unlike last time, Thor bled. Sure, it was only a shallow wound, but judging by the surprise on Thor’s face, it was unexpected by the other party as well.

After all, he had built quite the stockpile of his energy for the Mother Tree to access, and while he was not quite at the level of a Super Devil, he was very close, and with the help from the Mother Tree, was capable of attacking at very high levels, matching maybe Sirzechs in power output alone, hence the actual injury on Thor’s finger.

His triumph at seeing his plans being successful in action was short lived however, as he saw Thor quirk a small grin, looking straight at him. Thor did not raise Mjolnir, but his entire form crackled with lightning before Thor beckoned at him once more, in a come gesture.

Something about the gesture just pissed him off as he rocketed forward once more, getting used to holding and directing all that energy as he erased the concept of distance between them, reaching Thor instantly, as Thor punched his sword, the blow feeling as if an entire mountain was compressed into a single point and was then launched at him with extreme speed. 

More than the punch, it was the Divine Energy that was the issue here, as he was launched back into the Garden, the Tree Roots coiling beneath him as he and the Mother Tree both worked in tandem to not just reduce the momentum, but also remove the Divine Energy that had latched onto his body and was rampaging around. Finally, he stopped right next to the ward boundary, instantly healing himself as he felt the process take far more energy due to the Divine Energy in that single punch.

“Why are you doing this? What is happening with Vali?” He asked Thor, slashing his sword and sending compressed waves of his Power of Destruction, fueled by the near unlimited power of the Mother Tree coursing through him.

Thor’s hand shot out, punching out the waves, drawing blood once more, but the sight of that injury did not bring him joy anymore, as he knew the wounds were useless.

“I do not know; neither do I care. Now, come!” Thor rumbled as lightning flashed overhead, making him flinch internally, as he knew what would happen if he got hit by the lightning overhead. He was not done getting used to that soul weapon.