[217] To the Other Side of the World

[217] To the Other Side of the World

Chapter 217: To the Other Side of the World

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[First Person Point in View]

I’ve admitted this before, and I’ll admit it again. The [Dragon Icon] was such a bullshit Icon out of this world. It’s just way too broken.

Even as the White Tiger, I had to admit that Icon was something else. After all, I had experienced the back end of that Icon the most out of anyone else, having fought the Azure Dragon of the Eastern Cosmos for millennia.

Someone said, I fail to recall who, that Quetzalcoatl was the third strongest among the dragon gods in DxD, right after Great Red and Ouroboros. Yet perhaps the gap between her and those two wasn’t as wide as I imagined if she could survive and claim victory against a clearly superior opponent.

She must have used some kind of trump card, I assumed. Overwhelming strength, that was how she won. I worried for a second if this was a trick by the jester like some form of body possession, but my senses didn’t detect anything. Rather, I noticed very little threads of black hair on her, that vanished before I could even properly confirm.

Had she been hiding some kind of transformation all along? I doubted she’d share any information about them now if that’s the case, so I decided to ask something more important.

“Can you continue fighting?” I canceled the hug and asked her, and she chose to push back and hug me tighter. “Uh,” I’ve heard from her before that she took care of her Kukulan alter ego in isolation, but it seems somehow it came out again. In this form, accompanied by her tattered clothes, barely holding her breasts, she was quite something to the eyes.

[Image Here]

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“Why? Do we need to fight more? The enemies are gone, though,” she said, tilting her head curiously. “I can keep going on, although not at the same level as I’ve been going on so far,” she said, smiling up at me, hand going through my hair.

The other girls had already reached us by then, and they could hear our conversation since we had lowered from the sky and now stood on the ground. I didn’t miss the sharp gaze of Elara on us, but she didn’t say anything for now.

“That’s sad, but it’s fine, I have another job for you anyway,” I was planning to leave her back here anyway. Now that she was tired and couldn’t exert her full powers, it was even better for her to stay here. I looked at the girls at the back, finding myself with a sight. Seraphina was healing Yuzuru with her divinity. “Girls, get ready. We’ll be heading toward the Blood Tower, and through that, to the other side of the world.”

Seraphina raised her head in surprise, and the others also looked at me. Elara crossed her arms and refused to speak, while Sieran asked, “Huh? How?”

“The Blood Towers are connected, teleportation from one tower to another should be possible,” I said. Since I was familiar with these types of towers, I knew. “As proof, notice how the Phoenix and the Clown changed spots?”

“Ah.”

“So we’re going to aid the battle on the other side of the world,” I said.

“No doubt they’re fine since they have more numbers than us, so they should be having it easier there. But yes, going there to support them is smart,” Seraphina said, meeting eyes with me for a bit. She revealed a smile for me, nodding at me.

Perhaps it was her way to thank me for saving this world, even if she had a hard time accepting I was the same man she had come to love back in the day. But she wasn’t right, even if we saved half of the world in just a few hours, it's wrong to assume everything was alright before we deal with the other side of the world.

Assuming victory before confirming it was how things went wrong.

“Yuzuru, are you alright? Get up if you are, we’re going to the Blood Tower,” I began to float off the grounds, looking down at them. “Be fast.”

Our group of eight blasted toward the blood tower. It took us some time, but soon barren ice lands that were painted red with monster blood, as well from the reflection of the tower, spread before us. It was a demonic sight.

I focused my willpower, channeling it into the obelisk. The runes on its surface flared brightly. I called upon my full Sage’s authority, slamming my willpower into the thing like a dam breaking with a tsunami. Before long, the runes began to dim, the swirling vortex of energy slowing to a halt.

"I've stopped it, for now," I said, turning to the group. "But to actually remove this thing from the leylines of the planet and return the essence to the world, we need to stop the other tower too. We need to command the two towers at once, with two people controlling it, to actually end it."

“Mhm, is that what you meant when you said you have a job for me?” Quetzalcoatl stepped forward, her eyes still shimmering. Should I call her Kukulan now that she’s in this state?

I nodded. "Yes. Along with that, we need to make sure this tower stays inactive. If the other tower master gets desperate, he might cause a self-destruct of both towers. That’s another reason why you, Kululan, need to stay back here. Your divine will should be able to cancel out such a command if the situation comes down to that."

She looked at me, smiling. "Me? Sure, I’ll stay back then. I wanna fight more though, but I’ll listen to you. I'll make sure nothing happens here."

"Thank you.”

Mem-Cho chimed in, eyes filled with concern. "But what if something goes wrong? Is it alright to leave her here alone?"

I looked at Mem, “She’s not alone, who said that? You stay here too. You, Shoko, and Yuzuru too," I said. "In the meantime, I will take the others to the North Pole.”

“H-huh?! But-”

“It’s okay, I wouldn’t leave you in a possible time bomb if it wasn’t less dangerous than there,” I told her. “Shoko looks tired, especially Yuzuru. Take care of them."

In the end, Mem could only sigh and nod. I’d have given her a parting kiss, but there were some eyes around us that might not appreciate that.

Mem-Cho stepped forward, her eyes filled with concern. "Be careful, Aqua. I know it’s not likely, but the other tower might be even more dangerous."

I gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. We'll be fine. Just take care of each other and stay safe."

Shoko nodded, worry evident in her eyes. "We'll do our best to support Sensei if it comes down to that. Be safe."

Seraphina looked at me, her expression serious. "Are you sure about this? Leaving them behind?"

I nodded firmly. "It's the best course of action. As I said, we need to ensure this tower remains inactive and doesn’t blow up, and we can't afford to take everyone with us. Trust in Quetzalcoatl and the others. They'll be fine."

"And what about us? What's our plan once we reach the North Pole?" Elara said.

I met her gaze, smiling instead of answering with words. Sieran didn’t ask anything, she stuck to my side. After some final words, I placed my hand on the obelisk again. The runes flared to life, and red energy blocks surrounded me and the girls.

The energy pulsed, our surroundings grew red, and in an instant, we were teleported away.

The scene of Kukulan, Mem-Cho, Shoko, and Yuzuru looking at us worriedly faded to black as we disappeared, leaving the Southern Blood Tower and its ominous red glow behind. Only to be replaced by a background identical to it.

Only three bastards remained before my world would be freed. Me and my group moved to obliterate all three of them.

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Author Note: Next chapter is likely on Friday, since I’m leaving my city for a bit.