DXD SI : Chapter 103 : Um....What? (Patreon)

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

Garden

–Magdaran Bael–

He looked up, panting, his body entirely healed, and yet, the exhaustion of having done the same thing hundreds of times had taken its toll on his mind and body. Even with the near unlimited supply of energy that the Mother Tree was providing to him, he could feel the rate of healing slow down immensely.

Injuries that would have healed instantly, basically even before a drop of blood could be shed, took seconds to do so, losing blood that his power had to work to replenish. It was a shit show all around, and worst of all, he could feel his power levels improving. Drastically, at that. 

His Demonic Energy moved more smoothly; the integration with the Mother Tree grew deeper, to the point that the Tree roots had spread across his entire body. His body could better absorb blows from Thor’s fists and even Mjolnir. Yes, he could now accept glancing blows from Mjolnir without exploding into fine mist, even after Thor’s power up. On top of that, Thor’s divine lightning attacks only made him pause for a split second, unlike the multiple seconds he was paralysed when he was hit with even a glancing blow.

The worst part about all of this was that, despite the immense growth he had experienced in this battle, he could tell that Thor was just playing around, and he was still nowhere near strong enough to defeat Thor, or even force a stalemate. Unlike him, Thor did not have an unlimited source of energy, but what he did have was an absurdly powerful physique that would keep on running even if Thor chose not to use his lightning. It was a lose lose scenario for him that he couldn't help but fall into slight despair, even with all the rapid progress he was making.

Standing up from the newest crater the fight had created, he looked up at Thor’s floating form and realised that he hadn’t even managed to make him move from the initial position. It was just a never ending series of punches, slaps, and blows from Mjolnir, but never once had he managed to actually move Thor.

….Not that it would ever make him stop.

Even beyond Vali and what might be happening to her, he wanted to do this because his entire life was seemingly upended because of something he had no fucking clue about. The next chapter of his life after the Bael House was supposed to be far better than this, not being boxed in with the might of the God of Thunder, whose current might was partially because of him.

Shaking his head, he shot up into the sky, his fists glowing a violent purple, as he punched Thor with all he had, as Thor did the same, his fists wreathed in Divine Lightning. The interaction with the Lightning made him wince, but he pushed on past the power interaction and physically touched Thor’s fist before his entire arm was obliterated down to the bone. The only reason he still had his bones was because of the crisscrossing roots that had enveloped his bones and only grown thicker over time, glowing with a green glow, as his entire arm was regrown in seconds.

He was not staying idle while he waited for his hands to heal. Instead, he was using his power to take potshots at Thor, erasing the concept of distance to instantly hit the God with a dozen Balls of his Power of Destruction, and just like the last hundred times he had tried this, the only damage to Thor was his clothing having a ton of holes in them.

He winced a bit as he felt the Mother Tree’s roots grow ever tighter and deeper into his body every time some part of his body was blown away, and the Tree’s roots had to compensate by increasing the internal durability, on top of his own body’s natural response to just strengthen everything after an injury.

It was, frankly, an absurd growth rate, and yet, he knew it was not going to be enough. He ran the risk of running into soul exhaustion and maybe even soul damage long before Thor could be brought down.

His arm healed right in time as he reached Thor and hit him with all he had once more, creating a massive energy shockwave around both of them that only seemed to push him back. It was such a draining fight that he had no idea just how long it had been since he had begun fighting Thor.

His clothing had since been shredded, the armour was gone, and the sword that he had created to concentrate his power in one spot was gone as well, having shattered in two due to a bad interaction between his enhanced power and Mjolnir’s lightning.

After the hundredth blow, he had figured out how to replicate the sword’s output using his body, using the Mother Tree’s roots embedded deep into his body to channel all that power. Enchanting tree roots that were inside his body was an entirely alien experience, and yet, it was something that allowed him to make up new weapons and moves on the go. 

That, and the fact that Thor was playing around with him, were the only reasons he had managed to survive until now. Thor’s goal was clearly just to make sure that he did not leave the confines of the Garden, likely because of whatever had happened to Vali.

But what could it be? Why would everyone be silent about Vali? What did Odin want with her?

What value would a Satan Class Half Devil Longinus Wielder have to Odin when the God in question was probably capable of exterminating any one of the Three Factions all on his own if he so wished?

___xx___

Grigori Prison Grounds

–Vali–

She sat in her prison cell, defeated and all by herself, without an ounce of energy to move, let alone try and get out of here. What was even the point? Even though she gave it her all, she was unable to beat even Azazel, and now that Azazel knew, everyone must know as well, and there was no chance that she was going to beat the people who would do everything in their power to make sure that she did not do what she desperately wanted to do.

She wanted to grow stronger. She wanted to show that asshole that she too could kick shit in. She wanted to prove to her mother that her daughter hadn’t grown up to be a failure. She wanted to one day meet her mother without the fear of being discovered, and tell her everything that had to be erased from her memory, and have the chance to beg for forgiveness.

Sighing, she let her head hit the back of the wall, looking up at the low ceiling of the prison cell she was currently in. Well, the entire floor was reserved for her, with no other prisoner nearby, and an entire contingent of Fallen Angels stationed around her to make sure she could not do anything without escaping anyone’s notice.

The fact that she had regularly seen Baraqiel around the contingent instead of Penemue told her just how disappointed she was in her. It was just blow after blow, as she just expected the next person to visit to be Magdaran. She had no idea how she could handle being told by the one person she looked up to that he was disappointed in her.

…What else was I supposed to do?

She raged in the privacy of her mind, as she simply had no energy to move anymore. All of her injuries had long since healed, Albion was back at one hundred percent, and the measly restriction seals placed on the entire prison floor would not hold for even a full second, but what was even the point?

She broke out of here? And then, what?

At this point, she fully expected Azazel and Co. to have taken action regarding the Old Satan Faction members responsible for bringing her to Ophis. If it were just those old fools thinking of themselves as something important simply because they happened to survive with the blood of the previous Satans inside them, then she would have simply rebuffed them or killed them depending on how hard they tried, and moved on.

But it was not just them. It was Ophis. The physical embodiment of Infinity. One of the two strongest beings in their universe, and she was promising an endless list of opponents to get stronger.

Because that’s all she knew to do anymore. She wasn’t as good as Magdaran or Azazel when it came to magic and enchantments. She did not have the natural advantage that Magdaran had with his powers, what with his powers being semi conceptual in nature, on top of having the Mother Tree to back him up if need be. She did not have an entire faction behind her. 

She had Albion, and yet, she knew that it was not going to be enough. No matter what she told herself, Rizevim was not some random Devil who had survived for so long based on luck. He was strong, absurdly so, and he knew how to use all that strength. Worse was the fact that he had something that outright nullified her biggest strength. Beyond that, the only way to have a shot at killing a Super Devil was to become a Super Devil herself, and to do so using a different path than Albion was unthinkable to her.

It all just seemed so bleak to her that she fell into the trap and agreed to Ophis’ proposition to fight for her, just to one day grow strong enough to fight Great Red, a being so strong that Rizevim would not even warrant a look. It was so stupid of her, and yet, at the time, it seemed like the obvious choice.

After all, what else did she have to lose?

The answer to that question was trust. The trust that Magdaran, Odin, Freya, Azazel, Penemue, and more had in her. She had broken that trust, irrevocably at that.

It was such a mental blow that she hadn’t even talked to Albion since she woke up. Albion had to channel too much power without entering Juggernaut Drive because she did not want to cause too much damage to their surroundings, and as a result of that, had entered a deep sleep the moment the fight had ended.

Honestly, if she had used Juggernaut Drive from the start, she would have won, but then what? The truth was that the moment Azazel had known about it, she had lost. She did not have the will to fight her way out of the Grigori grounds, which would likely kill atleast a few people. The entire fight was just pointless, but she could not back down, not then.

So, she had fought with all she had, and severely injured Azazel to the point that, had it not been for Magdaran’s magic as well as his deep reserves of Phenex Tears, Azazel probably would have been crippled for life. In return, she was defeated, but nowhere near as hurt as Azazel was. It was clearly deliberate, and that just made her feel worse.

Any moment now, Magdaran was going to come and visit her, after healing Azazel of the severe injuries she had inflicted on the person who had taken her in after she had miraculously expected the House of Lucifer with her life intact.

More like she was let go. She scoffed internally, as she just curled up in a fetal position.

Even like this, her senses told her of what was happening outside her prison cell. Her guards had obviously calmed down after the first few hours, since it was clear that she was not trying to escape. She also spied Baraqiel telling the guards that if she wanted to escape, she would have done so long ago, and there was no risk to their lives.

She sighed and rejected Albion’s request for a talk, as she was not in the mood for anything. Albion was for sure going to advise her to break out of here, but she was just not in the mood for that. Sometimes, not having a body really worked against Albion, as he could not probably gauge the moment and the response appropriate for it.

So, she just blocked him for the moment.

___xx__

It was in the middle of her third round of self rumination when she felt it. Something nudged her, a power that felt so familiar that she couldn't help but straighten up, looking all around her as she felt the power cross vast distances at a rapid rate, straight towards her. 

….Then it hit her.

Her eyes widened as she realised when she had last felt it. It was Rizevim’s power.

Within a second, she was on her feet, already summoning her Balance Breaker when the power hit her. 

…All she could hear as she felt the power tear its way through her defences and enter her body was the faint laughter of Rizevim. If she was not imagining things, then it was a bitter laugh, a defeated laugh.

As if in response, another energy, extremely weak, arose from the depths of her body. Entirely alien to her as well, and yet somehow feeling like a warm embrace. That smidgen of energy pounced on the massive river of energy invading her body, and somehow managed to assimilate it.

It was hauntingly beautiful to watch, even as she ignored the many injuries that were piling up and then healing on their own as the two powers battled inside her body. Her connection with Albion felt so faint as she watched something truly miraculous happen.

The Demonic Energy from Rizevim was being torn apart and eaten by a dark silver light that arose from the destroyed remains of Rizevim’s energy, which was probably meant to destroy her from afar. It was so beautiful to look at that she couldn't help but get lost in the beauty of it.