Chapter 78: A Wish to Live

Chapter 78: A Wish to Live

This might be a little too late, but Happy Valentine!

Connla watched them eat. He did not think that they were the kind that needed food to sustain themselves. Nor were they the kind to indulge in their appetite.

Within one of the restaurants, called The Smith, Connla watched the twelve engorging themselves in a grand feast.

Many eyes were on them as they enjoyed themselves with their seemingly bottomless appetite. Crumbs of meat stained the tablecloth, wine splotched the white dirty, and oils greased their hands.

"Bahahahahahahaha!" The extremely obese man clapped his greasy hands with mirth, "Bring me ten more lobsters! And a mountain of clams!"

His white shirt could barely contain his stomach, the human form of Ciratto, eyes covered by the locks of his grease-stained brown hair.

There was a waiter giving Connla the dirty eyes. Connla slowly took out a wad of American dollars and handed it to the waiter both as tip and advance payment for the trouble.

The waiter immediately walked away to inform the kitchen about their newest orders. Among them was a fiery, blazing haired woman, combed in a wild, flaming streak while wearing casual clothes, slurping on the noodles. The smallest one among them was an impish-looking boy in blue shirts and pants, nibbling on the fried chickens.

"...May I speak out of turn, Mala-" Connla asked.

"Macoda." Malacoda reminded.

"Yes, Macoda."

It was a lazy reiteration of Malacoda's name. He was a man with white hair streaked in the pattern of goat horns, a skull tattoo on his forehead, wearing bone-white clothes.

A very human reflection of the demon-goat lich thing.

"You may speak your mind." Draghignazzo, or Dranaz, allowed.

He was a fit human in a black T-Shirt with a picture of a mighty dragon on it. His face it was oddly a human reflection of his true form, very dragonlike.

"...Can you actually get full?" Connla asked.

"No." Cagnazzo, or Gnazzo, answered. He looked a bit savage, a thin almost emaciated man with a face in constant anger.

"...How long are we going to stay here?" Connla asked.

"Until our cravings subside, foolish boy." Alichino giggled. He was still wearing that damnable smiling clown-like demon mask in his human form. He was even wearing the attire of a clown.

"Besides, you should call us your Masters. Since we are training you to become the ultimate warriors you dreamed of." Calcabrina, the largest of the 'humans'... his arms and legs were like the size of tree trunks, the size of his bulging muscles were almost inhuman.

"I understand, but"

"...And the sideshow entertainment is about to start." Scarmaglione was an old hunchback man, eating a large piece of dried pork with his hands.

Connla grimaced as they looked out the window. There were explosions throughout the streets of New York, Manhattan.

Light spheres rained down on the cars, destroying the stores of the restaurant they were in was on a direct road to City Hall, the mayoral seat of New York. The shockwaves from the explosions shattered the windows, prompting the rest of the patrons and staff into panic mode - some of them attempting to run away, while the others scrambled to find cover to hide in.

Connla and his twelve charges, however, remained on their seats albeit the former was not as comfortable as the latter. They just continued eating nonchalantly as they heard shouts.

"Wake up, sheeple! Boys and girls of all fucking colors and bullshit motherfuckers, make way for the new motherfucking messiahs of America! THE PROUD BOOOOYZZZ!"

The Proud Boyz - as they called themselves, was a modern Neo-Fascist movement which recently started operating in the States. They were clad in simple casual clothes - trousers, jeans, T-shirts, jackets, hoodies, sneakers etc. They did not have much sense of uniformity, but the fact they were standing side-by-side together, manic expressions on their faces, as well as strange powers which allowed them to blow things up, were enough to tell they were part of the so-called Proud Boyz.

"For too long, the American founders lied to us! Since the day the colonists landed on soil, God is dead! This land is unblessed, born from Washington's desire to be a fucking landlord! No more will this land be a place of refuge for losers, we are gonna make this country great again!"

One of the leaders glowed with power, aiming his hand at the streets and fired a burst of divine power, rupturing the concrete with explosions, streetlights collapsing as some of the others fired at buildings.

They were all drunk on power, high on power.

"So we're gonna do this right and make way for the REAL GOD of this world and bless America our way! HIS WAY! We are his fucking Jesus to your Nazara! No more immigrants, no more negroes, and no more fucking Asians! Just us patriots who know what's really going on!"

It was said that to test a man's character, give him power. For their true colors shine when they stand in a position where they could not be punished.

Red sirens and police cars drove to the scene, but they were immediately destroyed via blasts of eldritch energy, reduced to metal scrap, smoke, and fire, trapping the corpses within. Curses and screams erupted from the witnesses. There were some recording the scene on their phones.

A few straggling enforcers of the law took potshots at them, but the bullets bounced off their skin like rubber.

"There ain't no angel here to save your asses! Your false corpse God ain't here to hear your prayers!"

They all aimed their hands ahead at the mayoral office building, City Hall.

"May GOD bless the Proud Boyz of our New America!"

Connla watched them fire upon the mayoral office with impunity, not caring that they would murder hundreds of innocents in their 'social justice movement.'

However, dropping from the skies were two large spear-like pylons on each side of the street.

The spears extended, showing the interconnected lattice of circuits flaring to life. A sheet of light connected them, a wall of force reflecting the barrage of energy, catching the attackers unprepared as they howled from the force of their own attacks fired back at them.

Connla watched with interest at the new development - as the panic died down within the streets from the reversal of roles.

From the sky, another object landed before the group. Followed by another, and a third, their landing indenting the concrete floor.

"...What the fuck?"

The gang was baffled.

The objects that landed were humans, or at least humanoid. They were sleek, dark blue armor, but the design was too alien. It did not look like each of them was crafted by human hands and machines in a top secret government facility.

The armor was sleek, smooth curves as if it was sculpted by the hands of nature judging by the natural design, dark blue lustrous metal covering polymer-lattices, their helmets not sharing the same design.

They were not sure if the armor was made of some organic material or metal at first glance, it looked like something made by artists, no signs of absolute symmetry and sharp angles.

They rose from their knees, now standing over the guffawing terrorists.

"...Listen up, boys." The one at the vanguard spoke to them. "By the authority invested in me from the President of the United States, you are under arrest for assault, damaging public property, reckless murder, acts of terrorism, and so forth. You have the right to remain silent; everything you say can, and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right for an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights as we read them to you?"

"...What kind of Iron Man Robo Coppers role-playing bullshit are you trying to pull!?" The leader replied before he threw an energy sphere at him.

The man drew a baton from his hip and smashed it into dissipating particles, causing the hoodlums to stare at the man dumbfounded.

"You have assaulted a legal officer of the newly formed international organization, Pandora's Aegis. From now on, lethal force is authorized."

They lowered their poise and entered a stance.

From the dorsal of their left arms, the armor formed a round shield of light as the other two drew their batons, each now crackling with an electric current.

"This Oh, hell no! Blast these fuckers to kingdom come!"

They all immediately rose to their feet and charged their energy attacks in their palms.

However, the soldiers moved fast. Despite the hoodlums being endowed with enough power to take on a high-class Devil, each of the armored soldiers swiftly pierced the distance and bypassed their kill range.

The moment they weaved into their formation, they sealed their option to use energy attacks, since they would risk severe friendly fire casualties in such close range.

Each baton strike hummed with a crisp electric impact, striking the chin, neck, and temple in sequence from man to man.

Connla noted that their movements were too militaristic - mixed martial arts refined solely for humans. Effective against normal humans but useless in a superhuman brawl.

Each of their helmets were different.

One of them had an X-visor of crystal matter, the second had a T-visor, the third a simple O visor.

"Eat this!"

One of the terrorist hoodlums punched the one with the X-visor in the face and discharged a great deal of raw power point blank, engulfing the soldier in an exploding radiance.

He grinned, only for the said grin to fall when the armored-man grabbed his throat and lifted him in the air with unnatural ease, the smoke fading to reveal that there was barely a nick on his visor.

"...That tickled." The man stated before he threw his screaming form at a cluster, human bodies knocked down and up like bowling pins.

Connla widened his eyes, thoroughly impressed, "...How did you know that this would happen?" He accused more than asked the demons who were still eating while watching the show.

"Telling would spoil the fun." The child in blue giggled with mischief.

They were strong, too strong to be human. Connla would have heard of such exceptional warriors in the supernatural world. Yet their use of modern dialect was too human for them to be any other race.

They used their shields to reflect the energy attacks back at them and use their batons to attack, bashing them all bloody with military finesse.

One of the terrorists flew in their direction, rolling beside Connla's chair, battered bruised and blue, swelling from his left eye.

The three soldiers stood over groaning bodies, all of the terrorists writhing in their stewing defeat.

Their visors were undone, the glass sliding away to reveal three Human faces. One of them was Caucasian, the other two African American.

"You You fucking nigger!" The one closest to the twelve's table cursed with the forbidden word as he got up and aimed a hand at the twelve.

"Don't take a step closer, government dogs! I'm not gonna be taken in by some knockoff War Machine! One step and I will kill them! I will fucking kill them with the power of GOD!"

It immediately turned into a hostage situation. Although Connla honestly could not believe how terrible this man's luck was to pick the table hosting the most dangerous beings in this world as his target.

If only he knew

"Hoh?" The fiery orange-red haired woman snarked. "Someone's little wee wee feels small today."

"...What did you say, bitch?!" The man turned to the woman, ensnared by her provocation, her attack on his masculinity.

"Mmmm, I see a man with a serious erectile dysfunction. I wonder how many were disappointed when it comes down to it."

Her words snapped something within the man.

"You-"

Bang!

Before he could utter another word, a new hole opened his head, blood and gray matter escaping through the side of his skull.

The African American held a smoking pistol, alien make, sculpted out of organic-themed metal, the barrel fresh hot. He holstered the weapon with a sigh.

"...Apologies for the disturbance, ladies and gents." The same soldier nodded with a polite tone and a small smile on his face.

Connla only stared at Libicocco. Since when did she learn how to speak American so fluently and with such ingenuity? He was with her all this time watching them as their escort and yet

"You folks alright?"

Connla blinked and noticed that the soldier with the X-visor checked in the building. The other two were busy knocking the others out and cuffing them with handcuffs made from the same alien material. He could sense that the aura of the terrorists were dimmed severely the moment their wrists were bound together.

"Yeah we're unharmed." Connla decided to answer in English.

The soldier looked around. His eyes were glued to the twelve, all of them still eating amidst the chaos, "...You people seem to be having a good time. You look like you're at a movie theater watching an action flick."

"Ahahahaha!" Ciriatto banged his stomach with mirth. "We are tourists! America is a fun place!"

"The live action stunt was amazing. Direct interaction 3D as they say?" Graffiacane asked.

This one was a human with a strange bulbous-shaped head and noodle-like long arms. This one's power was not as impactful as the others, but it was designed for the sake of cruelty.

Scarmiglione's power was to mutate the vessel to greater heights to accommodate the increase in power of Libicocco, albeit it was a painful risky process, forced leveling and evolution with great cost that could cripple the user.

Grafficane's power was to literally enslave the souls of those the user defeats or kills and binds them to the wielder permanently.

Demons were extremely difficult to kill as their souls were not bound to Heaven or Hell, and they could revive themselves in a period of time.

It was through this power that Lucifer bound the souls of the Demons he found and killed to use against the Tribes. The wielder can also draw power from those enslaved or sacrifice them, make them take the damage or use them for sacrificial rituals.

"...I see. So you're tourists?" The soldier sounded relaxed.

"We are not from around here. Your Hollywood movies are more extreme than I thought to spend this much for 'special effects.'" Barbariccia was an african american adonis, another odd one at the table.

Still, Connla had absolutely no idea how the Malebranche pulled off the modern human tongue so well. They were adapting a bit too fast for his tastes.

He wondered if Farfarello was cheating and feeding them American speech in their binge eating.

"I doubt Hollywood deserves that much credit." the super-soldier retorted with small amusement.

"Hey, Johnson, grab that body and get your ass back here! We're not rounding up these assholes alone!" the soldier's comrades called out from outside the building.

"Alright, don't tighten your sphincter too much!" The soldier - Johnson, then returned to address Connla and the Twelve, "Tell the owners that the Government will pay for the damages for us, will you?"

He grabbed the corpse and hoisted him over his shoulder and exited the restaurant through the window.

The 'tourists' then watched the armored-soldiers regrouping and rounding up the terrorists, bunching them together in the streets in handcuffs. They tried to call upon the power of GOD and free themselves judging by their struggles, but their power was blatantly sealed by magical and scientific means.

Some attempted to run away, almost tripping. The soldiers immediately caught up to them and smashed or shot their legs. The spectators winced at the brutality as they dragged the terrorists into the center.

The soldiers moved and formed a perimeter around their prisoners, the three equidistant from each other.

"HQ, we got the package. Perimeter is established for pickup." Johnson placed a finger on his ear and called.

From their feet, arcs of energy trailed and connected to the feet of the other two simultaneously, forming a ring around the prisoners.

The formation reminded Connla of the teleportation circles the Devils like to use to transport themselves for some reason and his hunch was proven correct when the soldiers teleported away with their prisoners.

The spectators were now speaking American lingo, commenting on how they vanished, those who witnessed such profound miracles of magic and science for the first time.

Connla started a telepathic transmission back to his comrades back home, "...Cao Cao, are you there?"

[Yes, what is it, Connla? Are those twelve becoming too much for you? Should I send back up?]

"No, no, those twelve have been behaving, surprisingly speaking." Connla replied to his leader, "However, something interesting came up, I'd like to talk to everyone about this once we return."

Back to the lab of Ajuka Astaroth - the room where Sona and Tsubasa were put in suspended-animation; the rest of the peerage, along with Rias and others, were still waiting and milling around in a tense and somber atmosphere of the observation room directly connected to the lab.

It had been over an hour since Issei and the leaders went to visit the demons, around the same time when Gabriel returned with the badly-injured Serafall, who attempted to 'negotiate' with the demons ahead.

Suffice to say, all of them were worried sick, especially after they saw the state of Serafall when she was brought back in. The demons had once again shown that they had no intentions of building alliance or corporation, they wanted retribution over a grudge from eons ago. How would Issei convince those demons to help, when they were relishing the sight of devil capital in ruins and plague?

They heard the door open, but they saw Saitama walking in with Genos. Those expressions implied that they were not having a good day.

"Mr. Saitama." Rias was the one to greet the older man, "How are things outside, at the capital?"

The man sighed as he ran his hand over his bald head, "...A complete shitshow, but at least those who evacuated are no longer in the red zone."

Genos followed suit, "Those who had been exposed to the toxic mist and mutated are being rounded up. We simply don't have enough secure unoccupied space to hold them currently. Our current focus is to neutralize the mist and deal with the stragglers that might be hiding somewhere, like underground for example."

"...By the way, where's Ise?" Saitama then asked.

"...He" Rias and the others exchanged nervous glances.

"Oh, wait, never mind. What's he doing?" Saitama asked as he looked out the window.

"...Eh?" Rias and the others were confused.

Saitama pointed out the observation window. Everyone looked outside to see Issei walking towards Tsubasa and Sona.

"Since when did he?" Saji muttered, baffled by Issei's sudden return.

"...Did he succeed?" Koneko asked with hope.

"Hey, what are you doing here?! How did you bypass the Lord Lucifer?! W-We didn't see you there!" The scientists wearing hazmat suits were shocked to see the strongest Crimson Satan behind the boy that suddenly appeared in the laboratory without warning.

"I thank you all for your hard work." Sirzechs nodded at the workers. "Using my authority as Satan, I authorize what is about to happen."

"M-My Lord? I do not Wait, what is he doing?" The scientist asked when Issei approached the square glass prison containing the girls in ice.

Issei inhaled and exhaled a gout of dragon fire at the container, engulfing them in flames.

"W-WHAT?!"

Back in the observation room, everyone's eyes widened at Issei's stunt.

"What the hell is he doing?!" Saji was the first to yell while slamming his palms on the glass, before he quickly bolted out of the room, followed by the rest of Sona's peerage.

"Ise" Rias muttered worriedly before she and the others followed suit, going out of the room.

Back to the workshop, the scientists were in panic - some were busy protecting the equipment from the sheer heat of Issei's flame, while the others were not sure whether to step in when Sirzechs held his hand out, silently telling them to do nothing but watch the ice encasing their patients melting down.

Both Sona and Tsubasa's bodies fell to the ground as soon as the ice holding them was nothing more than a puddle of water on the floor. Then, the mutation that was halted by the extreme cold temperature began to continue its work. Necrosis started to grow on their pale skin, their expressions were suddenly contorted at the sudden pain, and their bodies began to convulse.

Issei walked up to them as they began to have difficulty breathing, and inhaled.

We demons can also 'fall' like angels do, when under extremes.

He pressed his fingers on their foreheads.

Those that fell are called Fiends. It is not like the Chimera state that the Devils enter when they become feral. The Chimera state is nothing more than a warped fusion of Lucifer's corruption and their inner beast taking form, infected with a hunger for power and soon, human flesh. Then Devil flesh. Then for the suffering of all that is good.

He closed his eyes and focused.

When we fall, we are consumed by the extreme emotions and anguish, becoming a warped reflection of our Demonic Awakening. Berserk. Usually, those that failed to achieve this become Fiends as a byproduct, too weak to handle the backlash of emotions. But they can be saved. We pull them out of their inner turmoil through intense meditations and secret techniques. Despite their rampage, they are still there, unable to control their actions.

How is this relevant?

The disease it uses the Devils' tendency to mutate and go berserk against them, infecting their being and usurping their control through this flaw. They are in a corrupted Chimeric state, their actions controlled by a confused child in perpetual anguish, desperate to live.

And?

You don't actually need to cure them to save them. The flesh doesn't matter ultimately in the end. You just need to preserve their sense of self. In other words

"Don't worry." Issei spoke to both Sona and Tsubasa as they went into seizure. "...I will save you no matter what."

You just need to save their minds and souls. And bring the creature peace.

Can't you save them with your overpowered Wish Magic?

Yes. But there is more importance in saving those you love with your own hands, Issei. As proven in history, one cannot just simply rely on a higher power alone. And the most convenient way brings little in the end. There is little meaning in living that way I will grant you your wish to save those you love. And there is something you need to see in doing this.

What about the rest? Can't you revive those that died?

We'll handle that. Their souls are neither in heaven or purgatory. They are still stuck in the cancerous flesh, tied to the child that wants to live in Lilith. The disease grips their soul as well as their flesh, thus when relieved of their corporeal vessels, their souls are later tied to the cancerous mass that infects the city. They cannot move onto the afterlife as long as even the tiniest spore of the child remains. Hence, we can revive them if their minds choose to cling onto life.

Choose?

They are suffering along with the child. The child's pain is spread to those it infected. If you dally too long, their minds will break. They can still feel the pain of death and destruction of their physical forms.

I don't get it How can someone as powerful and accomplished as you be so You tolerate the humans and the Angels yet you won't give the Devils the same treatment. I know some of the shit Michael pulled and that is probably not the end of it, but don't think I won't notice. Why is that?

Once upon a time, there was an exceptional mortal. He was the direct descendant of the Outsider that Pretends to be All, your God you know who he is.

Issei smiled as he formed a connection in their souls.

He held none of His Father's flaws and was overflowing with philanthropy and wisdom He saw our practices and attempted to spread them to mankind, even if it was under His Father's name. We were determined to make the Pretender suffer, until we met face to face He is too good for your God. In the end, we were friends He sacrificed Himself not only for the sins of man, but the sins of the Angels, all of God's children.

And the Devils?

You do not understand. When you see the Devils, you see hope, friendship, understanding. Love. We are empathetic beings, we feel for the pain of others, kin, more intensely than most of your kind, than the angels. When we see Devils, we see another child born from the product of violation and defilement of someone we know. When we see how they kept worship of Lucifer We do not see hope, but nihilism, for they do not understand the meaning of their actions When we see them, we see the scars Lucifer left behind; And their leaders did nothing, but feed on their ignorance despite the truth being in their eyes. We see a race that fed on the tragedies of others without remorse, that profited and flourished without shame. Hence, we call them a Bastard Race, a race of thieves for they steal from the other humans and their lessers, even in the form of Rating Games. They take and subjugate each other for they do not learn their lessons even with eternal youth in their hands. A race of hypocrites for they fail to understand what it means to hold Lucifer and his concepts in high regard. A race of fools for they delude themselves into constructing thrones of supremacy from sand of false hopes on the backs of the people they're meant to serve.

I get it But still. Why?

You will not understand unless you have those you cherished stripped away by force and feel its loss.

But there's more to it than that, I can feel it.

When you go to Kthon you will know. However, it will scare you. The greatest fear of a just man is seeing evil justified by a greater evil. You will be scared for you knowing this will not save the Devils for that is not your right.

The boy turned to regard her - and both girls on the hospital bed were smiling at him. "Once again, for your help - the Sitri clan is forever in your debt."

Issei gave a small scoff and easy smile, "...Just get better and stay safe until everything blows over, then we can probably talk about debt."

He regarded Tsubasa for a bit longer before he finally walked out of the room.

Nidhogg heaved for breath as he ran through the halls of the hidden fortress.

When he joined Khaos Brigade, he was promised power and battle.

The power of the Trihexa was something he enjoyed, giving him greater strength and more possibilities.

He never expected that within his lifetime, he would be treated as prey.

Never in his life did he know a fear more primal than the thought of facing Crom Cruach face to face.

This Abomination who he was currently running away from - at first, Nidhogg already felt that there was something wrong with it simply standing there before him, when they were first introduced to one another. He did not think much about it, aside from its appetite that surpassed the likes of him, who was once infamous for gnawing and chewing the roots of The World Tree.

Until one day, the abomination set its eyes and bore its fangs towards his dragon compatriots Not to mention their current benefactor insisted they humor that creature, saying something about testing its strength against Evil Dragons.

Grendel - that dumb crazy dragon, relish the entire experience despite losing the earliest; the abomination feasted upon the Crime Force Dragon whom laughed despite torture he was put through.

Nidhogg once resisted - valiantly, if he said so himself. Only to realize that resistance was futile for it tore him apart so fast.

He, a giant dragon of great renown, flew through the halls, nearly crashing into the magically fortified walls of intricate circuit lines and embossing elegant patterns at a sharp turn as he pushed himself to the next perpendicular direction.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

Nidhogg shuddered at the sound. Being eaten twice was more than enough.

He stopped as his Trihexa-attuned instincts flared with alarm. He ducked down as the floor in front of him erupted as twin mandibles of fangs jumped over his head like a shark jumping out the waters for landwalker flesh.

That thing just would not stop growing bigger and bigger.

"L-Leave me alone!" Nidhogg shouted as he flew past the thing's body. It was still going, the rest of its ridiculous serpentine length disappearing into the Qliphoth ceiling.

"Why are you always aiming for me?! WHY?!" Nidhogg shouted as he ran deeper and deeper.

The others already fled the moment they heard its shrieks. They knew better than to get in its way lest they risk becoming its menu, many were eaten in response.

"RIZEVIM! I know you're watching this! Call him off! CALL HIM OFF!" Nidhogg shouted while panting.

There was a crackle in the air, the speakers coming online.

[...Djall. I command you. Please return to the dining table. I understand that you have a voracious appetite but please reconsider eating our allies.]

There was a loud, rhythmic shrill in the halls.

"I like the taste of warm blood in my teeth." Djall's voice echoed through the halls, a more monstrous version of his human voice.

[Why not eat at the table where your prey is served to you? You don't mind cooked food.] Rizevim called out.

"I like hunting And watching my food run for their lives."

[Sadistic, but unbecoming of a noble.]

"Excessive comfort is for the weak."

Nidhogg continued running, yet despite the distance he was making, the voice of the predator still rang in his ears so closely.

A glint flashed at the edge of his sight.

Sharp agony followed, blood and organs spilling from the underside of his lindwyrm body. His roars echoed through the halls as his lifeblood flowed into a pool.

Nidhogg could not see it coming. He looked back, hearing chewing sounds.

His entrails were behind him, barely contained.

Something

He could not mistake that scent. It was the same creature that was hunting him, but more compact.

He was smaller, taller than a human yet smaller than a giant.

Imbricated, metal-like black armor glistening with a lustrous sheen, standing on digitigrade legs, three eyes, a hexagram for the third eye, sigma symbols tattooed on the pupils of the other two.

Monstrous, predatory, his true nature given form as Djall chewed on Nidhogg's entrails that fell out of his stomach, held by the thing's metallic claws - a vicious, humanoid form designed to butcher and devour.

A large mass busted through the ceiling.

On the other side was his hunter's larger serpentine form, blocking the evil dragon's only escape.

There were two Djalls blocking his path.

[...Oh my.]

Even Rizevim sounded surprised.

Nidhogg was speechless. So that was how Djall overcame the bait.

He was a cunning, ever evolving predator. Nidhogg understood why Rizevim went through so much just to contain and control this creature of limitless potential.

The serpentine form was much larger than the one that was captured before. He had three crimson tipped horns instead of one now, the creature opened its mandibles and shooting a stream of fluids.

Stuck like a fly to a spider's webs, Nidhogg thrashed, but his efforts only entangled him further in the webbing. He unleashed his signature miasma from every inch of his pores, but his prized miasma did not do much against the silky thread enveloping him.

The serpentine wyrm threw him to the wall, cocooned and bound.

Stuck.

"P-Please! Don't do this! Mercy!"

The smaller humanoid version approached Nidhogg.

"...Legends don't beg."

His right arm turned into a sharp, sickle, glistening with a sharpness so keen that Nidhogg could feel the blade without it touching him.

The smaller one leapt and sunk his hook into Nidhogg, through the silk, through the scales and hide of his enhanced flesh like it was nothing.

From under Nidhogg's neck, Djall pulled down.

He unzipped Nidhogg down the middle. It was the first time Nidhogg saw all of his organs spill out at once, still steaming hot, smoking.

It was so sudden that Nidhogg could not feel it. And it scared him.

He had never been this scared in centuries.

It scared him even more to see his entrails being eaten in front of him.

The abomination picked up what looked like the sack containing his miasma and bit into it.

Words could not describe the damage to his ego upon seeing the creature chew the poison out of it, fangs of his split jaw mandibles sinking past the epidermis, the organ shrinking smaller and smaller, his most powerful weapon treated as a soft drink.

"Ahhh..." Djall exhaled, sounded refreshed. "Yes, that's it. Did you know humans butcher their animals in an abattoir? They harvest the organs and sort them for later consumption, sell the animal as parts. I'll savor you piece by piece and fully enjoy this."

If it were not for the powers of the Trihexa, Nidhogg would have died. Though death would've been a mercy compared to this.

Confirming the creature's complete immunity to the source of his strength broke all hope in Nidhogg, his pride as drained as his poison sac.

Djall threw the drained poison sac aside as he went for Nidhogg's liver, grabbing it from the pile with clicking anticipation.

He stopped midway.

"...Are you here to interrupt my meal Human?" Djall growled as he turned to the left.

The sensation of disembowelment started to catch up with Nidhogg. It was taking much of his strength to regenerate the lost organs.

A figure emerged from the darkness - a familiar-looking swordsman with silver-white hair, red eyes and a combination of traditional Japanese uniform and clerical clothing.

[Well, well. Who do we have here. How did you find this place, Siegfried? I'm pretty sure we've covered our tracks since Azazel nearly blew up our base.]

Rizevim's amused voice echoed in greeting.

"Honestly, the recent commotion is starting to ferment a rebellion in your castle, Rizevim. One of your underlings reached out to us to make a deal for security reasons But I didn't think it was this bad. Since when do you sacrifice your staff to What is your name?"

"Djall." Djall answered. His larger serpentine clone hissed at Siegfried.

"...You look nothing like your father."

"...Is this your attempt at humor?" Djall tilted his head. "Every single word in that sentence pricks my patience and makes me want to butcher you."

"Moving on, then." Siegfried dropped the playful tone, raising his hands in mock surrender.

[It's not like I like seeing my subordinates being pitted against my son, but he just doesn't like to sit down at one place for too long and he's a growing boy. He's still growing, honestly. But still, I like to see it as a way to motivate my men to do something to evolve themselves under the duress. I mean, Djall keeps evolving each day, so why not us as well? It is something I want to know, the line separating him from us. We have access to the same origin of our powers yet he keeps evolving more and faster than the rest of us, and my research on the Forced Evolution process is hitting a roadblock]

"How many times must your 'son' terrorize your subordinates until you reach your answer?" Siegfried asked with genuine concern.

"They lack instinct."

Djall's voice earned Siegfried's attention.

"...I finally figured it out. Most want easy power because they don't want to build the instinct to do more than that. A easy way to gain strength because they are addicted to comfort, a shortcut in a meatball."

Siegfried hummed, impressed by Djall's deduction.

[Surely, it can't be just that.]

Rizevim spoke with a curious tone.

"An excuse for the lazy. When they face a larger, more menacing predator, they cower, for they are what the prey is to its lessers. They do not have the instinct To grow. Evolution is the forge of the wilds, a reward for those who endure and strive. Take this meatbag for example." Djall turned to Nidhogg, who was still currently deprived of its organs.

"I hunt him because he has not learned his lesson. Legends state that dragons are the apex predators that dominated the Nine Realms for centuries without question, two of them above all until now. Does this look like an apex predator to you?"

Nidhogg scowled at the abomination, barely clinging on to consciousness at this point, the darkness creeping dangerously close from the corners of his mind.

[That, and you don't like standing in one place too long.]

"...Maybe."

Siegfried scoffed at Djall's weird persona, an immature child with a developing, sage-like intelligence.

"Rizevim, as someone who also grew up in a test tube, I suggest I offer my own experience in how a child like him should be raised or else he will turn maladjusted." Siegfried suggested.

"...Maladjusted?" Djall tilted his head.

"Do you even know how terrifying you are right now?" Siegfried asked Djall.

"...No. I am enjoying my well-earned meal."

That ignorance was both endearing and horrifying. Something must be done about it.

"Well, now I am saying it to you. You have the desire of a caged bird, the desire to fly through the skies. More of a vicious hawk, in comparison. What if I tell you that I know a place where you can move around as you wish, be true to yourself?" Siegfried offered. "A rich place filled with game like never before, a new world teeming with your element, an exciting place where someone like you can thrive. At least long enough to tolerate Rizevim's noble upbringing."

Both Djalls hissed at Siegfried at the mention briefly.

"...What is this place?" Djall asked.

"It's better that I show you. My friends and I practically live there now in a sense to train ourselves. There is even a world turtle there, big enough to hold an island."

Djall's long tongue seemingly licked his lips.

"...I'm listening."

[Interesting I would like to see this place for myself.]

"Hmph, as if you have the time or energy to get out of this place." Siegfried shot Rizevim down, "Besides, I'm doing you a favor here. You just need to let him air out every now and then."

[And how exactly can I do that without the others spotting him? Djall is my son, after all.]

"You just need to know a good place. So?"

The smaller Djall clicked his mandibles in a curious rhythm.

"...Take me there. I'm sick of chewing through metal walls."

Serafall sighed as she walked out of the shower; drying her damp raven hair with a towel. She walked past the fogging mirror, wiping her hand across the glassy surface, she slightly frowned at her reflection.

However, her muse was interrupted when she heard noises from outside the bathroom, followed by a familiar sensation when she was in the medical bay.

Putting on a bathrobe, Serafall walked out to see Cao Cao sitting by the window of her bed chamber.

"What do you want?" Serafall asked with a mild glare.

The hero descendant simply smiled and shifted his sitting position, "Why, to collect your debt, of course."

"Debt? I don't recall you doing jack out there." Serafall returned with a narrowed look, "Ise ended up doing your job."

To his credit, Cao Cao looked surprised, albeit a little, "Is that so? I thought it was Saitama's doing; but no matter, I'm afraid I have to inform you that I, as a matter of fact, have fulfilled my end of the deal." He showed the back of his hand - where Serafall saw a faded Faustian mark.

"Impossible!" Serafall could not believe her eyes.

When a contract was made, especially between a man and devil in this case, the involved parties would bear a mark which would compel them to remain faithful to the contract until their end of the deal was either fulfilled or nulled willingly. The mark would fade, albeit not disappear completely, when the bearer had fulfilled their part of the agreement.

"The terms are, upon agreement, the opposing party, which is me, is obligated to serve the recipient's interests until her wish is granted - Is granted. As in, I don't have to be the one to do it as long as it is granted. The winning condition on my side is the sense of gratification. Also, I did intend to go through with it in case you couldn't get through to the stubborn old veterans. Anyways, you haven't done many pacts nowadays, have you?"

Serafall could only grit her teeth as she clenched her hand before her chest, where a Faustian mark was almost hidden by her bathrobe.

"...Figures." Cao Cao snorted, "Now that we have come to an understanding, do you have it with you now? The piece of Pandora's Box."

Serafall grimaced, "...I don't have it."

Cao Cao pursed his lips, albeit his eyes were not that disappointed. "...Hm, shame, but perhaps I should have known better that an item of such caliber is not so easy to obtain. Very well, I will return another time. Have a good night, Lady Leviathan."

Serafall's expression was that of an angry scowl as Cao Cao vanished from view. She felt at a loss, she returned to the bathroom to see her reflection in the mirror, particularly the tattoo of a Faustian mark etched on the middle of her bare chest.

You went out a limb to fix things yet you fucked up over something that supposedly your bread and butter. Well done, remarkable job. I bet Sona will get a kick out of this.

The voice echoed from the deepest pit of her mind. The shadow of herself appeared and immediately vanished as Serafall shattered the mirror with her bare fist. As soon as her punch connected, the entire bedroom and bathroom was turned into a freezer, with ice encasing the interior and furniture around.

To be Continued..

Omake: The Daily Life of Two Heavenly Dragons

It was during P.E period in Kuoh Academy

[THAT WAS MINE!]

Irina, who just returned from a quick toilet break, returned to the school's soccer field to see Issei and Vali on each other's throats, with the rest of the guys attempting to break them off.

"What happened?" Irina asked as she regrouped with Xenovia and Asia, who were watching the spectacle with worry.

The 'brothers' were rising in popularity in Kuoh, at least with the females regarding Vali. The White Dragon Emperor was more famous in 'awakening' the dark side within the schoolgirls of Kuoh with certain fetishes.

"Well" Xenovia replied, "Ise and Vali somehow got in each other's way when they went in to score a goal."

Xenovia sipped her bottle of water casually watching the two Dragon Emperors bicker.

"Oh, so it is the usual?" Irina asked, unbothered.

"Mhmm." Xenovia hummed while she was still in the middle of drinking.

The soccer game resumed, but as the match went on.

"Get around them, Vali!" Issei shouted at his apparently 'arch-rival'.

"I'm my own master!" Vali shouted back as he ran ahead.

The rest of the teammates could only groan and sighed in exasperation, and proceeded to do their best to improvise.

Each of those 'brothers' was dominant in the athletic field

But it was so funny how being in the same team downgraded their performance so drastically that the opposing team, filled with mostly normals, could beat them.

Even Saji was on the opposing side, watching with entertainment how the dragons were at each other's throats like in the legends.

"Loose ball!"

Matsuda shouted at the sight of the ball being unattended within the penalty area, then everyone watched Issei and Vali run shoulder-to-shoulder after the free ball.

"My ball!"

"Fuck you, that's mine!"

Vali attempted to undermine Issei by pushing Issei's away by his face; but with his vision hindered, the latter could still make a perfect shot towards the goal.

The whistle blew, signing the end of the game. As soon as the match was officially over, everyone was then greeted by the sight of Issei and Vali literally duking it out with each other.

"You kept getting in my way! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Vali threw a straight, which Issei easily parried in return.

"That's my line, you ass!"

"Should we step in?" Xenovia asked, noticing that Asia had run ahead to stop the brawl.

"Yeah the girls are starting to have fantasies again." Irina pointed at some of their classmates drooling at the 'physical interaction.'

Kiryuu in particular - was furiously writing on her notebook while drooling and giggling like a maniac.

About to head towards their love interest, they stopped when they saw a gleaming adonis statue of silver standing over the two boys.

"...Boys."

Both Dragon Emperors flinched at the sound of their 'coach' from the ground. Vali was looming over Issei whose hands were grabbing the former's hair and face.

They still could not adapt to the presence of their Big Bag coach that could turn them into statues at a single moment.

"As much as I support your physical prowess as alphas, I must harshly criticize your detrimental private competition to one-up the other. I suggest you two get your act together or else I will make you continue this period in your underwear for the ladies. As motivation."

The boys took spit-takes, while the girls squealed at the idea. The angel trio blushed, with Irina and Xenovia swallowing a lump at the prospect.

"Why wait when they can do it now?!" Kiryu shrieked.

She incited the girls into a chorus.

[Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Strip! Strip! Strip!]

The other girls were starting to chant at the 'brothers' to take the dare.

Even Tsubasa was chanting with feverish fervor.

Issei and Vali exchanged glances and shared a nod - reaching a silent accord before they chose to walk away from each other, earning disappointed jeers from the girls.

Silver scoffed before walking away, while the angel trio sighed in relief, believing the Two Dragon Emperors would behave from now on.

.They were so wrong.

Yeah... All of that happened. Thoughts?