Chapters 96-100

Chapters 96-100

It was the next day, and we had visitors in the Underworld. Baraqiel and I were meeting them in a private meeting room.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Layla! If that dummy Azazel had gotten you hurt, then I don't know what I would have done!" Gabriel said as she wrapped me in a tight hug. She didn't let me go for almost a minute straight.

At least until Michael politely coughed and she begrudgingly let me go.

Gabriel really was as described. She was argued by many to be the most beautiful woman in the entire world, and I could definitely see it. She was definitely a beauty that could topple nations. Thankfully, I had no weird feelings for her. To me, she was just my older sister. One that was very overprotective of her family.

To most people, she was a sweet and kind being, but that's the front she puts on. In wartime, Gabriel was one of the most devoted and ruthless Angels. She probably has a higher body count than any other Angel as she would routinely burn down entire Devil villages in the underworld!

"Yes, I am also glad you're okay, Layla." Michael–the leader of Heaven–said in a much more calm tone. If someone described Michael as one of the most chill and nicest guys in existence, they wouldn't be wrong. He also is one of the strongest. Those gold wings he inherited aren't just for show. Sirzechs Lucifer might think he's the top dog of our pantheon, but he's dead wrong. Michael's gold wings allow him to draw upon the power of Heaven to drastically enhance his own already crazy power. I have no doubt that the calm guy in front could destroy the entire planet.

"Our leader isn't so irresponsible. It didn't take him long to get her back." Baraqiel replied to Gabriel. I could tell he was a bit nervous at having the number 1 and 2 of Heaven in the Grigori HQ, especially with Azazel and Penemue gone. Baraqiel would have no chance against Michael and Gabriel if they attacked. Not that they ever would.

The butterfly effect was a real thing, and it might be arrogant to say, but my existence has definitely chilled Heaven and the Grigori out from constantly being at each other's throats.

Instead, we all chose to hate the devils together!

[Hurray for collective racism!]

'I hate the way you phrased that...but yeah.'

[I know...]

"Uh huh... sure." Gabriel replied back to Baraqiel noncommittally. "I'm sure Layla being spirited away to who knows where for a month had nothing to do with him..." She said sarcastically.

"Sister, I'm sure it was an accident. If anything, it worked out for Layla. I can feel she is much stronger now. And she has 2 Sacred Gears! I didn't think that was even possible!" Michael said happily before frowning slightly. "Although one of them feels... off."

"That's probably Azazel's artificial gear. I'm not sure what he made it out of, and I had to add a focus piece from Earth Marvel to get it working right." I explained.

"Earth Marvel?" Michael asked.

So then I explained to them what I had gone through since I disappeared. I told them of ending up back in our true home universe and living on the half of the world that was left behind.

At the mention of so many people being left behind, Michael and Gabriel looked guilty.

"Remarkable. The people of that Earth haven't seen a single angel for over 1000 years, and they still hold their faith!" Gabriel said while clapping. "I can't wait for the world to unite again. An influx of billions of more believers would be so hopeful to Heaven."

Michael, however, didn't look too sure. "The system is already struggling with the current number of humans. 1000 years ago, the human population wasn't even 1 billion. Now it's at 8. If it suddenly jumped to 16... I have no doubt it would collapse." Michael lamented.

That didn't sound good.

"And what would that entail?" Baraqiel asked. "How bad could a crash of Heaven's system be?"

Michael shuddered. "Well, for one, prayers will no longer be heard or answered. Secondly, the Sacred Gear reincarnation system would also end. And third... We Angels require faith to sustain ourselves. Without it..." Michael trailed off.

"We'll figure something out, Michael. This isn't the first crisis we've faced," Gabriel said. "I'm more worried about the reaction the other pantheons will have. Sure, they'll be happy to have double the territories, but there will also be inevitable conflict that arises when the people from two different Earths are forced to live together. It's a good thing Layla is already getting on top of the gravity issue. You have a really smart human friend for him to have thought of that. That could have been devastating." Gabriel explained as she paced the room. She gave Michael a reassuring smile that seemed to calm him down.

"I suppose it's time we got to the real reason we're here today." Gabriel said as she looked at me seriously.

"Hmm? Wasn't it because of the letter I sent you about Asia? How Diodora Astaroth has been bribing higher-ups in the church?" I asked.

Gabriel grimaced but shook her head. "No. That will be dealt with... but it's not the reason. Although I will personally apologize to Asia myself later. And when the Brave Saints system is complete, I would be more than happy to allow her to become an angel."

I smiled. "That's good. She deserves it."

Michael nodded. "Indeed. But the reason we're here is because of the bounty the devils have placed on your group." He said seriously.

I have a bounty?

I couldn't help but laugh. All I needed now was a straw hat and a ship!

"This is serious, Layla," Gabriel said in a no-nonsense tone. "The bounty was issued by Sirzechs himself. $50 billion for you to be brought to him alive. $10 billion for Akeno's return..."

"Over my dead body!" Baraqiel stood up angrily and shouted.

Michael nodded to the man. "Quite so. Your friend who claims to be the goddess Sif has a bounty of $15 billion, and finally, a Fallen Angel named Raynare has a bounty of $1 billion. Thankfully, Asia wasn't issued a bounty as well at least. Sirzechs had, however, privately contacted me and asked about her potentially joining his sister's peerage." Michael finished.

"Of course, we told him that she was no longer part of our faction and was with the Grigori." Gabriel added slyly. I gave her a thumbs up for that one.

Ha! I must have really pissed the devil's off! Serves them right. Although, even for supernaturals, those bounties were an absolute shit ton of liquid capital to throw around. The second I stepped outside the HQ, I'd probably have every kind of supernatural coming for me. All except the youkai who hate the devils for wiping out the Nekoshou at least. That was if I was planning to stick around Earth DxD...

I was not.

I had too much to do back on Earth Marvel, and I was heading back there anyway. Let them search for me all they wanted! They'd never find me across the dimensional gap!

I voiced these thoughts to my siblings.

"That's a good idea. Obviously, you'll be taking Sif back with you, but would you consider taking Asia and Akeno as well?" Michael suggested.

Baraqiel grimaced. "As loath as I am to separate from my daughter so soon after reuniting with her... that might be for the best. No doubt the spoiled Gremory Princess is causing a huge ruckus after losing my daughter as her queen." Baraqiel said.

"As for Asia... I heard about Raynare trying to steal her sacred gear. For shame. What can I expect from a sister who fell due to envy though..." Gabriel said with a sad sigh.

Well, at least they didn't ask me to take Raynare with me as well...

"Ok... it's decided then." I said. "I'll take Asia and Akeno with me when I go back."

They nodded. "Now then..." Gabriel looked at me with stars in her eyes and an excited grin. "What's this news I heard about my baby sister developing a harem!?"

"..."

XXX

-A few hours later-

"So, it's time then? Time to return?" Sif asked me. We were back in Azazel's lab where I double checked the sheet with all of the coordinates.

"In a manner of speaking. We still have to correctly find the correct dimension coordinates. We have a 1 in 15 chance."

With my high luck stat, it shouldn't take too many tries. Hopefully, at least. I reached deep inside of me to my Orb of Anywhere Sacred Gear and activated it.

- 1500 MP!

A large chunk of my MP left me as a swirling black and golden portal appeared in front of me. It was incredibly hazy, and I couldn't see through it at all. That unfortunately meant I'd have to go through.

"Be wary," I said as I approached the portal. "We have no idea what kind of place is awaiting us."

"Of course," Sif confidently replied. In a flash of light, a set of pitch-black armor appeared around her body. It was a set I had borrowed from Penemue's room. Because it was Fallen Angel armor, it was much more form-fitting and sexy than her Asgardian armor ever was. I was starting to find it harder to take my eyes off of her the longer we were together.

I wasn't big on metallurgy, though, so I didn't know how its defenses stacked up.

I went through the portal first, and Sif followed close behind me. "It appears to be a city of some kind." Sif commented as she took in our surroundings.

"It's more than that. We're in Times Square." I said while also taking in the sights... except. Something with this Times Square was very wrong. Weeds were growing all along the sidewalks and streets. There wasn't a single person in sight. In fact, I couldn't hear anyone nearby at all. It was as if New York City had been completely abandoned.

That was not a good sign. On top of that, I was getting some bad vibes.

This clearly wasn't Earth Marvel. I spun around back towards the portal to tell Sif we should leave when, to my horror, the portal had faded away.

"SHIT!" I cursed loudly. We were stuck here until I recovered 1500 MP to send us back to try again. My MP recovery rate is comparable to my Intelligence per hour. That meant with 200 Intelligence, I'd only recover 200 MP an hour...

"We're stuck here for a few hours," I said to Sif's inquisitive look. "I don't have enough mana to send us back right now."

Sif nodded before once again looking around. "This is Midgard, yes. A version of it at least? I wonder what has befallen it for it to be abandoned so?" She commented. That was a good question.

We might as well search for some clues while we were stuck here. Did Thanos snap away the entire population in this reality? I looked into the sky and saw a few birds flying around, though. Animals were still here in the abandoned city, so that shouldn't have been the case.

"Layla, over here!" Sif called out towards me from behind an abandoned car that was covered in weeds and vines. I walked behind it and almost gagged at what I saw on the ground.

It was a corpse...

A human corpse. It looked like it had been eaten... recently. The bite marks also didn't look like they came from an animal.

[Oh, that's not good...]

'What is it, system? I'm getting some serious bad vibes now.'

[Quest Issued! Survive! → You have ended up in the Marvel Zombies Universe! Survive and escape!]

"Marvel Zombies! Oh fuck! Sif, we gotta get out of here!" I exclaimed before grabbing her arm.

"Uh, Layla. I think Midgard has a bit of a Draugr problem..." Sif said, and I heard groaning. They were coming from everywhere. From every single building nearby, I started to hear the shuffling of feet. Why the hell couldn't I sense them before!? In fact, I still can't sense them.

[They're nothing but animated corpses moving because of a virus. There's no magic in them to sense.]

A huge horde of walking corpses slowly started to emerge from all around us. We were completely surrounded!

I ran over to Sif and scooped her up in my arms before deploying my wings and taking to the air. Being able to fly was the best. Fuck you, zombies! I'll just stay in the air and wait for my magic to refill from up here safely!

CRACK!

"WHAT!? Is this live, Jarvis?" Andrea's eyes widened at what she was looking at. The most beautiful woman she'd ever seen with four sets of Black Wings on her back was fighting the Zombie Hulk and actually putting up a decent fight. She could fly and conjure dark purple laser spears that could actually injure him! Even Andrea's strongest repulsor blasts failed to ever so much as scratch his skin!

"It is live, ma'am. And there's more. Look here!" Jarvis switched the camera feed, and Andrea saw another beautiful woman with golden hair and pitch-black armor smashing her way through a large horde of zombies with nothing but her bare fists! A few zombies tried to occasionally bite her, but their teeth always ended up shattering against her armor! Andrea wondered what metal that was made of!

"Do we know anything about these two? The blond one is tall and could be an Asgardian. As for the one with wings... are Angels real?" Andrea asked Jarvis.

"There's never been any concrete proof of their existence, but it was speculated that they could have been another space-faring race similar to the Asgardians." Jarvis said as she continued watching the fight. The black-winged angel took a heavy blow to her side from the Hulk but managed to stab a spear directly downward on top of his foot. The Hulk was pinned to the ground as she rapidly flew around him and started hammering him with stabs from all directions.

Unfortunately, none of them would be fatal unless the angel could hit his brain. Andrea cursed as the Hulk was smart enough to shield his own head with his giant arms.

"Jarvis, open the bunker doors. I'm flying out," Andrea said as she walked over to her armor. It was a bit scuffed up and lacking a paint job, but it still worked.

"Are you sure, ma'am?" Jarvis asked her with concern.

Andrea nodded. Those two were never-before-seen beings on this world. That meant they had to have come from space. Could they have a way off this hellish planet!? Andrea could only hope they did. She had to go help them if that was the case!

XXX

"This not-jolly green giant just wont freaking die!" I shouted angrily as I stabbed the Hulk for the tenth time! He wouldn't go down!

'Status'

[Name: Layla of the Fallen]

[Title: Angel of Hope]

[Level: 12]

[Sacred Gears: Purger of Darkness, Orb of Anywhere]

[HP: 3000/8200]

[MP: 200/2000]

[Vigor: 220]

[Strength: 70]

[Intelligence: 200]

[Luck: 100]

[Skills: Observe 3, Angelic Mastery 4, Acting 3, Light Manipulation 5, HP to MP conversion]

[Perks: Never Tell Me the Odds, Mana Replenisher, Lucky Shot, Mana Burst]

[Drawbacks: Sin of Lust]

[Available Free Stat Points: 0]

[Skill Up Point: 0]

Shit! my HP and MP were both getting close to dangerously low levels. I used [observe] on the Zombie Hulk but it didn't work. It was like something was blocking me from seeing anything except his name. Knowing I was in an apocalyptic marvel universe, it was probably some evil or insane god.

[The Zombie Hulk - $ ( 4 0/'&(& /!(&]

The Hulk charged forward again, attempting to grab me. I had painfully learned not to let that happen before. I spread my wings out and launched myself backward, escaping his grasp.

Throughout our entire fight so far, the Hulk had been protecting his head above all else. Everywhere else I stabbed him, he didn't seem to care. That obviously told me that he had the same weak point as any other zombie, yet I just couldn't land the blow on him that I needed to put him down.

I had wasted over a dozen supercharged [Lightspears] and burned through a lot of precious MP...

"Die, you monster!" I heard Sif shout before a rusty bicycle flew towards the Hulk and harmlessly bounced off him. To my shock, the Hulk was actually puzzled about such a pathetic attack and just took a moment to stare at the bicycle in confusion.

I raised an eyebrow at her for her choice of an improvised weapon.

[Sif used confusing Rusty Bicycle! It was super effective!]

Sif blushed at me in embarrassment. "That was all I could find!" She pouted.

I laughed. "I didn't say anything..."

"You were thinking something rude..." Sif said as she stumbled up next to me, covered in the blood and guts of hundreds of other zombies. She looked winded and took a few deep breaths. "I've—never had to fight off so many Draugr at once! Not with my bare hands! And I can't believe the beast destroyed my sword! It was a gift from Queen Frigga! A relic of the Valkyrie themselves..." Sif lamented as she held up the handle of her ruined sword for inspection.

It might not have been just the Hulk who destroyed her blade. It could have also been damaged when fighting Grayfia. Either way, she needed a replacement. She wouldn't be doing any significant damage against him with just her bare hands.

I conjured a sword made of light and held it up to her. "Here, this is the best I can do. We gotta take the Hulk's head off to stop him."

Sif took the [Lightsword] from my hand and held it up to her face. Her frown turned into a smile. "It's warm and feels like you, Layla..." Sif said as she started caressing the [Lightsword] in a way that I might describe as lewd...

I blushed at the sight. 'No! Bad horny thoughts! Now is not the time!' We had a Zombie Hulk to kill!

The Hulk snapped out of his confusion before grabbing the bicycle and throwing it at us. I laughed as I casually blocked it with a [Lightshield].

[Layla used Protect! It was super effect–]

'Shut up, System!'

"Let's finish this monster now!" Sif cheered as she brandished her energy blade and ran forward.

She went right, and I went left.

"Grrrrrrr!" Zombie Hulk grunted and threw a devastating punch at Sif. The air around his fist vibrated from the friction! This time she didn't try to block and slid underneath his fist. She swung her light blade upwards and left a deep burning gash trailing up his arm.

At the same time, I flew forward and went for his legs. If we could stop him from moving, then we could finally finish him! With a spear in each hand, I stabbed forward towards his knees. The Hulk shifted out of the way of one, but his right knee ended up skewered.

Sif circled back and slashed the tendons on his other legs. The undead green giant dropped to his knees. He was down both his legs and an arm!

"Graaaaaaaarrr!"

"Die, monster!" Sif took advantage of him stumbling and leapt up high to finally cleave off his head!

This was it! We finally got the bastard–

FWISH!

"Aargh!" Sif screamed in pain as an arrow, of all things, slammed into her neck, and she dropped to the ground, clutching her throat!

"Sif!" I screamed her name in panic as I rushed over to her. The Hulk tried to swipe for me, but it was still crippled. The Zombie Hulk had a much slower healing factor than the normal Hulk did thankfully.

I told Sif to clench her teeth as I summoned my [Purger of Darkness] Sacred Gear. I quickly yanked the arrow from her neck and immediately started to heal her. Paired with the Extremis inside her, her neck healed quickly.

Sif sat up with a cough while I examined the arrow in my hand. It was tipped with vibranium...on top of that, the archer had managed to hit her exposed neck with perfect accuracy while we were fighting at super speeds. The list of archers who could pull that off wasn't long.

FWISH!

I heard the sound of another arrow sailing towards us. I threw up another [Lightshield] to block it. To my shock, my shield had a crack immediately from where the arrow had struck it! Vibranium was OP!

That was when I saw it—them. The hordes of zombies in the streets that had been surrounding us parted, and a new group marched their way forward.

"What the hell, did hard mode just get turned on!" I complained when I saw who had shown up.

[You should probably run away for now...]

Hawkeye, Captain America, Black Widow, and Thor. All of them looked very dead, of course. Above us, I could hear the sound of thunder rumble out as the clouds started to darken, courtesy of Zombie Thor. He was gripping Mjolnir tightly, which was still working for him for some reason... Sif froze up upon seeing the undead Thor.

"How the hell is he still worthy of his hammer after becoming a flesh-eating zombie!?" I complained out loud. "Also, I think it's time we make a retreat from here." I said to Sif. The Hulk looked like he was already starting to heal, and we were struggling when it was just him.

"That's a great idea, Angel!" A robotic voice boomed out loudly from the sky. I looked up and saw a suit of armor flying over us—although it looked like it had seen better days.

"Tony!? Is that you?"

The Iron Man—WHO HAD TITS!?—swooped down next to Sif and me. Without giving us any room to argue, the Iron Woman wrapped an arm around each of us before I felt a bit of whiplash as we blasted off into the sky not a second later.

"ROOOOOAAAAARRRR!" Behind us, I could hear the angry roars of the Hulk.

CRACK!

"Woah!" Iron Woman dove to the side right before a bolt of thunder fell from the sky, narrowly avoiding us. Hanging over the woman's shoulder, I could see Zombie Thor was flying in the sky after us. He raised Mjolnir towards us, and it started arcing with electricity.

Not on my watch!

Using the last of my MP, I summoned dozens of [Lightspears] in the air all around us. I willed every single one of them to fly towards Thor and explode.

A massive explosion of thunder and light ripped through the sky and covered our escape...

[You have leveled up!]

I was kind of bummed we couldn't kill the Hulk and lost out on that formula reward, but I was more glad that we'd gotten away for now. What I really wanted to know though, was who was the woman in the armor who pulled us out of there?

XXX