The Seraphic System
Chapter: 95
Disclaimer: I don't own High School Dxd or any other universe used in this story. However, all original characters, plotlines, and world-building elements created in this story are my own.
Note: I know some of you didn't like the long battle arc. My bad for the long war scenes I should have kept it brief. Though I don't agree with people complaining he's struggling against an alliance of gods lol.
Khaos Bridgade is a serious yet mysterious threat to leaders of three factions even in dxd canon.
Unlike dxd, in PJO Gods do indeed have demigod children so in a combined world dxd-villain-evil-god and mad scientist Angra Maniyu would too. But unlike Greeks or Norse gods of PJO his motivation is strictly experimentation to gain more power and control.
I intended for the battle to showcase the threat Khaos Brigade poses to the supernatural world. I originally intended for it to be short, but after some heavy suggestions from certain individuals , I ended up adding too much and that's how it got so long.
However you have to cut me some slack, so many powerful Gods gathered, it was never going to be easy.
Seraphic will be speeding up now though after some breathing time for Kai, I've got many interesting plans ahead. Azrael's plot line will be explained and in the breathing period you will get to enjoy interactions while we deepen characters and relationships.
In any case, I hope you enjoyed.
(The Evening Star)
-{Ouryuu Nakiri)-
Ouryuu lay sprawled on what felt like the most comfortable ground he'd ever experienced, which was saying something since he'd found himself sleeping on a lot of different surfaces with his training under Tiamat.
His entire body ached in ways he didn't know were possible. Every muscle screamed, every bone felt like it had been individually tenderized by a very enthusiastic chef.
"I'm going to die," he wheezed dramatically, throwing an arm over his eyes. "This is it. This is how Ouryuu Nakiri meets his end."
A soft voice interrupted his melodramatic death speech. "Are you alright?"
Ouryuu cracked one eye open and immediately felt his face turn the color of a ripe tomato.
An absolutely gorgeous angel with flowing golden hair was kneeling beside him, genuine concern in her bright blue eyes.
He wasn't mentally prepared for this.
"Never better!" he squeaked, his voice cracking like a teenage boy's. "Just, you know, taking a tactical rest. Very tactical. Strategic, even in some cultures."
The angel tilted her head, a small smile playing at her lips. "You're bleeding."
Ouryuu looked down at himself and sure enough, there were several cuts he hadn't even noticed. "Oh, those. Minor flesh wounds. Barely scratches. I've had worse paper cuts."
She just smiled at his actions.
"Let me heal those for you," she said, her hands beginning to glow with soft white light.
"No, no- that's really not- Oh that feels amazing," Ouryuu's protests died as the healing energy washed over him. Wounds ditched together and the pain of having his skin torn in multiple areas receded.
It was like being wrapped in the world's most comfortable blanket while drinking the perfect cup of hot chocolate.
Trying to switch to a sitting position, he realised mid-way that he felt way more exhausted than before. Attributing it to the healing process, he turned towards the kind and beautiful angel and gave her the best smile he could.
"Okay, maybe I was more hurt than I thought."
"Yes, it seems most of my siblings are sharing in the same sentiment." She replied lightly.
Ouryuu didn't know how he had found himself in the most secluded kingdom in the supernatural world.
Here he had thought his master had a distaste for the Abrahamic God and his dislike of Dragons.
"This place is crazy," he muttered.
The Angel sent him a passive stare.
He quickly added, "In a good way, A very good way! Your interior decorator deserves a raise."
The angel smiled. "Thank you. Though I can't take credit for the design."
"Right, right. God's work and all that." Ouryuu paused, then looked up at the sky where the battle had been raging just minutes before. "Speaking of which, was I the only one who thought we were all going to die horribly up there?"
"The barriers held," the angel said simply.
"Yeah but still." He sighed. "Here I thought I was strong."
The Angel simply tilted her head. "You are strong. I wouldn't take the very small percentage of the supernatural world that have reached that level too harshly."
"Yeah… I mean. I know the chances of meeting beings like that are extremely low. But still… to have that much power." Ouryuu commented.
"You fought bravely," the female angel said kindly.
"I mostly ran around screaming and trying not to get vaporized," Ouryuu admitted. "But I did it with style, so that counts for something, right?"
"You defended Heaven, which is all that matters in the end. It's not often people participate in the helping of others without a clear benefit. It's a good showing of character that is slowly being erased from humans and the supernatural alike from what I hear." She commented.
Ouryuu was left speechless.
At some point he found himself sitting next to a pretty blonde.
"Oh my, you look terrible," the new arrival said, her voice carrying a gentle, melodic quality with just the hint of an accent.
Ouryuu blinked, trying to process yet another beautiful woman appearing in his vicinity. "I... uh... tactical rest?" he offered weakly, his brain apparently having given up on forming coherent responses.
The blonde girl giggled softly. "I'm Asia Argento."
He got a better look at the girl, she didn't look so good herself.
"Ouryuu Nakiri," he managed, then gestured vaguely at himself. "Though I think your colleague here already patched me up pretty well. Shouldn't you rest?"
Asia's eyes lit up with genuine happiness. "Oh, that's wonderful! Though you still look very tired. Here, let me help a little more."
She completely ignored his concern.
Her hands began to glow with a warm, green light that felt different from the previous angel's healing. As the soothing energy flowed through him, Ouryuu couldn't help but think to himself.
All these pretty blondes are going to be the death of me.
Ouryuu was just starting to relax when movement caught his eye.
A figure with black wings was walking through the area, and for a moment, his brain short-circuited.
Is that... is that a Fallen Angel? In Heaven?
Were they being attacked again?
-{Kokabiel}-
Kokabiel stood before the gates of Heaven, his hands trembling despite his efforts to remain composed.
The sight of those pristine golden barriers,barriers that had once welcomed him home were bringing back memories from ages past.
Around him, angels moved, having obviously gone through a massive battle as they tended to the wounded and organizing defenses.
But their eyes... their eyes kept finding him. Wary glances, whispered conversations that stopped when he drew near.
He couldn't blame them.
A Fallen Angel standing at Heaven's gates was not a sight they were accustomed to.
The group of Fallen behind him shifted closer, their presence a small comfort. One of his closest siblings placed a steady hand on his shoulder, while others formed a protective circle.
They understood.
That's why they had joined him and not Azazel. Who was content to live the life he had chosen.
CRUNCH.
Kokabiel's moment of silence was shattered by the obnoxiously loud sound of Aziraphel demolishing what appeared to be an entire bag of chips right next to his ear.
"Really?" Kokabiel muttered, not taking his eyes off the gates. "Right now?"
"What?" Aziraphel said through a mouthful of food. "I'm stress-eating. Sue me. Do you know how long it's been since I had decent snacks? The Vatican's vending machines are terrible."
Even with that Aziraphel gave a weak grin.
Jophiel was pretending Aziraphel didn't exist.
"Jophiel?"
"I'm dissociating." Jophiel replied tensely.
"Dissociating?" Kokabiel repeated the foreign word.
"Here we are, facing Father back from the grave and our siblings who we haven't seen for hundreds of years… and Aziraphel is eating." He muttered, tapping his foot nervously.
Despite everything, Kokabiel felt his lips twitch in the ghost of a smile.
Trust Aziraphel to find food even in the middle of an apocalyptic battle.
Aziraphel grinned impishly, but his expression was serious.
Kokabiel glanced around with a grim feeling in his chest.
Corpses were everywhere, clouds of dark ash that thunders with bolts of pure energy littered the sky. The normally pristine white ground was soaked in rivers of blood.
It reminded him of Hell.
His gaze drifted back to the gates, and suddenly he was somewhere else entirely.
Millennia ago, flying through those same gates after coming back from missions sent by his Father.
The connection to his heavenly domain had been like a constant song in his soul, the lost power that had been taken as he was cursed as a Fallen.
He looked down at his black wings, folded against his back. Once they had been pristine white.
The sound of approaching footsteps made him look up. Raphael was walking toward them, her expression cautious but not hostile.
When she was close enough, she spoke a single word that hit him like a physical blow.
"Brothers."
The acknowledgment, the recognition of what they had once been to each other, nearly undid him.
Aziraphel immediately perked up, chips forgotten. "Raphael! Sister! You look amazing!"
Raphael's response was a glare that could have frozen Uriel's holy fire.
Aziraphel wisely took a step back.
Her attention turned to Kokabiel, and her voice was carefully neutral. "Why are you here? Did Azazel send you?"
Kokabiel straightened, meeting her gaze directly. "No. I came on my own. To help."
"A bit late for that, don't you think?" The words stung.
Before Kokabiel could respond, Aziraphel jumped in, suddenly serious. "Actually, we helped secure the Vatican. The whole thing would have been overrun without us."
Raphael's eyebrows rose in genuine surprise. "You... what?"
"We've been working with Metatron and that Holy Knight, Vasco," Kokabiel added quietly. "The church is clear now. Metatron's still coordinating the final sweeps."
For a long moment, Raphael studied his face, as if trying to determine whether he was telling the truth. Finally, she nodded slowly.
"You can wait here," she said. "But stay close. And try not to cause any incidents."
As she walked away, Kokabiel let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Around him, his siblings continued their work, but the glances seemed slightly less hostile now.
Progress, he supposed.
"Well," Aziraphel said, returning to his chips with renewed enthusiasm, "that went better than expected. She didn't try to lecture us even once."
Despite everything, Kokabiel found himself smiling
-{Raphael}-
Raphael stood at the gates of Heaven, watching the forms of many Angelic forces as they filtered back through the barriers. All of them relaxing like swans finding their mother as they passed through the barrier.
Even with the gate open, it wasn't exactly… open.
The Heavenly Wards that had dimmed during the assault were slowly returning to its full power, casting everything in that familiar warm glow. The cannons had gone silent.
She glanced up at the Angels on the wall.
The Angels that manned the walls were sweating from the sheer amount of angelic magic that had been used. They had been swapped out over a dozen times to simply keep the cannons going.
Raphael had been acting as the coordinator.
While the communication levels had gone deathly silent, with what was the ending of the massive battle that had made its way onto the doorstep of Heaven.
It had been practically overlapping with dozens of voices just a mere few minutes ago.
Her ears still rang with phantom echoes, and she found herself unconsciously reaching up to touch the side of her head.
She inspected the Angels that were pouring back in. She watched as her siblings wore expressions of cold apathy, mixed with glances of concern at the ongoing battles and the fact that Father hadn't returned.
Many had their golden-white armour damaged. While others gently carried bodies.
She had made a talented section for that, Sariel, Raguel and Remiel were in charge of taking the bodies inside, keeping them hidden to the majority of Heaven's forces.
Raphael wore a sympathetic look.
She wished she could have kept them inside of Heaven.
It was times like this that she missed the empowerment that her Father used to give off, the passive aura that made every Angel connected to him stronger.
Just because they would be getting returned, didn't make it hurt any less and she was sure that there were many who couldn't be reached in time. Those who had their bodies lost.
They were gone permanently.
Unless Father found a new way to deal with that problem, they were to never return. She would never get to chide them for their silly mistakes. Never get to see them bicker, smile, laugh, cry or just exist..
Despite that, all of her siblings gave her hesitant smiles and she could only smile back.
Behind her, she could sense the wards slowly spinning back to life. They were powering up and the area was quickly being covered in Heaven's most prominent power source.
Holy energy.
Heaven's real strength had never been its weapons. It was the barriers protecting it that were the most crucial aspect. If the wards had been active from the start, this entire battle would have been over in ten minutes.
What was most concerning was the fact that they had been disabled. It frightened her admittedly. Something that didn't happen to the Arch-Seraph so lightly.
Raphael was logical. Yet she had watched, as that more logical part of her brain wondered how Heaven would have fared if Father hadn't been reborn.
The answer was, probably death or at the very least a major loss for Heaven. Which would have led to death. Knowing that without her Father's return Heaven truly could have been destroyed was a scary thought.
It led her to wonder if Heaven's forces would have even had the will for another battle?
She snapped out of her daze as reports filtered in through the command crystals.
As she was going through each on of them and grimacing at the sheer volume of causalities, she noticed a brief flash around the corner of her vision.
Freiren had took that moment to suddenly appear.
Raphael turned toward the sudden arrival.
In her hands, she held what appeared to be a crystalline decahedron that pulsed with energy.
"I managed to contain the God I was fighting, Tezcatlipoca," Frieren said matter-of-factly, as if discussing the weather rather than the imprisonment of an Aztec deity. "The sealing magic took longer than I anticipated, Gods are truly mysterious beings."
"You sealed him?" Raphael said slowly, more to herself.
She nodded and extended the crystalline prison toward Raphael. "I believe you'll know what to do with this better than I would."
Raphael's eyes widened slightly at the casual mention of sealing a God, mostly at the fact the Elven mage casually revealed that she knew sealing magic.
She accepted it, her gaze dropping to study the magical lines that resided in the crystal and formed several complex strings of characters that she couldn't decipher, as they kept shifting faster than she could read them.
The crystal grew cold in her grasp.
"The battle progressed well," Frieren continued, brushing a strand of hair. "Unless they have more surprises hidden away, this should conclude in our favor soon enough. The enemy's formations are breaking."
Raphael nodded slowly, looking back up at the elf.
Raphael had reached the same conclusion.
The Arch-Seraph took a moment to observe the elf in front of her. She was hiding it well, but she was actually tired. It only took a single searching glance to tell that it was something that the elven mage obviously wasn't used to.
"The wounded will need tending," Frieren said after a moment, already turning away. "I should assist with the healing efforts."
"Shouldn't you rest?" Raphael questioned concernedly. "I'm sure everyone is tired at the moment, this invasion was led by many powerful Gods. The fact we made it through with so little death is a miracle."
Frieren paused, her expression remaining neutral as she considered Raphael's words. "I've been tired before," she said simply, her tone matter-of-fact.
Raphael wanted to give her a flat stare for that comment.
"Besides, healing magic doesn't require the same energy as combat spells."
Raphael sighed. "Very well."
As Frieren moved toward the areas where injured angels were being treated, Raphael was left alone once more with her thoughts.
At the very least, this battle was way cleaner than the Great war's battles by many folds. Something she attributed to Father's hand in the battle, unlike his refusal to join the Great War fully.
It didn't make it hurt any less.
Beyond the massive battle itself, many revelations had been made during the battle.
Azrael was alive.
Her eldest sister, who had been lost for so long that most of the Vatican had begun to think of her as more legend than reality. The Angel of Death, who had vanished during the great conflicts, while her name hadn't outright shown her dead. It had been weirdly distorted as if the Heavenly System was unsure.
Raphael's hands trembled slightly.
That along with the death of so many of her siblings.
A lot had happened in a mere hour.
More reports came through the crystals.
Hestia had defeated her opponent.
Dulio's battle was nearing its end as well.
Some of the Gods had escaped during the chaos but some had also been captured.
She took a moment to stare down at the crystal.
Capturing enemies when fighting opponents as slippery as Gods was rare. A God could simply return to their mortal form and kill themselves to reform at a later date.
The fact they had even gotten multiple was a blessing.
The sky darkened, catching her attention.
Dozens of dragons appeared overhead in the skies outside of Heaven, their massive forms blotting out the heavenly light from above and casting shadows.
They moved with a sort of desperate speed, fleeing from a downright-wrathful Azrael. The wards reacted instantly and decided to choose that moment to power up to full capacity.
Half the dragons closest to Heaven's gates were outright incinerated, their forms dissolving into ash before they could even let loose any sort of noise or defence.
The Barriers pulsed as if they were alive and thoroughly pissed off at the intrusion, turning anything that came too close into nothing.
The remaining dragons, heavily damaged and burning, didn't slow down. They kept flying, trying to escape whatever had driven them here.
Azrael moved through them, her form a blur as she systematically destroyed each one. Most fell to her touch, but a dozen managed to pull ahead of the others.
Just as it looked like they would escape, Raphael's eyes caught something, a distinctive mark on the fleeing dragon's side. A wound that couldn't be hidden or healed.
The mark left by Uriel's sacrifice.
Azrael saw it too.
Angelic power erupted from her. The marked dragon didn't just die and revealed itself to be the true body of the powerful evil Dragon. It sent a glance back at her, letting loose a defiant roar.
Before it was completely unmade, every trace of its existence was torn apart. The moment it fell, every other dragon clone collapsed simultaneously, their connection to the original severed.
It seems the massive regeneration factor has finally slowed down enough for such a death.
Below them, the few remaining monsters that had survived the battle were caught by the expanding wards. They were obliterated instantly, reduced to nothing by Heaven's restored defenses.
Raphael looked up as ten familiar forms approached through the gates, moving with the careful steps of those who'd been through hell and back. Most looked like they'd had the fight of their lifetimes.
As my ten siblings returned through the gates, battered from what they called a fight with "Ten Chinese demon gods,"
Raphael felt a familiar mix of relief and warmth wash over her as she watched her siblings return.
She had to suppress her amusement while explaining that their foes weren't actual demons, but she praised them sincerely for their hard-won victory.
Her pride quickly transformed into deep worry when she realized their Father was nowhere to be seen.
-{Azrael}-
Azrael let out a slow breath, hovering in the sky and watching as the last traces of the dragon's presence scattered in the wind. Her fourteen pairs of golden wings folded back against her form.
She could admit, if only to herself, that she was winded.
That dragon had been perhaps the strongest Dragon she'd faced in centuries. The fact it was so powerful didn't help and a dragon's enraged state was always difficult to handle, their power multiplied exponentially when they entered that berserk mode.
But this one had possessed an absurd healing factor on top of everything else. Every wound she'd inflicted had sealed itself within seconds, forcing her to completely obliterate it rather than simply defeat it.
Mixing that with the Dragon continually using dark and forbidden spells that caused backlashes to the body as payment, a backlash his insane regeneration factor bypassed. Was always going to be a hard battle.
Still, she was confident she still would have won alone… admittedly it would have taken a lot more time and a lot more power.
She looked around the battlefield, her eyes scanning for familiar presences.
The battle was all but won.
The clashing powers still lingering in the air showed how massive this battle had been. Perhaps the biggest one in a few centuries. It wasn't everyday that so many God-class and even super class beings fought in such a capacity.
She found Gabriel and Michael floating together, speaking hurriedly and both looking distressed.
For a moment, Azrael hesitated.
Shame crept up her spine at the thought of approaching them after being absent for so long.
How could she face her beloved siblings after disappearing without a word? How could she explain where she'd been when they'd needed her most?
She squashed the feeling down ruthlessly. This wasn't the time for self-doubt or guilt.
Azrael approached them.
Gabriel noticed her first, turning with eyes that held a mixture of relief and surprise.
The silence stretched between them for a long moment.
She had a desire to shrink when Michael turned towards her.
Then Gabriel spoke, her voice tight with worry. "Father is missing."
Azrael flinched and reacted quickly. Her eyes immediately swept the area again, this time searching desperately for any trace of their creator's presence.
She activated her sight. A world of souls floating around her. Gabriel's and Michael's were massive next to her and she began quickly scanning the void once more.
Nothing.
The familiar warmth was completely absent.
"What happened?" Azrael asked hurriedly.
Gabriel explained quickly howFather had saved Gabriel and engaged the enemy's leader directly. Now, he was presumably wherever this Architect had decided to take them. Father was tired, the Architect was at full strength and perhaps with back up.
Panic began to claw at Azrael's chest.
She once more reached out with her senses, trying to locate Father's soul signature. Every angel could sense their creator to some degree, it was fundamental to their nature.
But even when she stretched her awareness as far as it would go, she found nothing.
That meant only a few possibilities.
Either Father was dead, which she refused to consider, or he was somewhere protected by incredibly powerful barriers.
The kind that could hide from Godly detection skills.
Maybe a private sub-dimension created specifically for concealment. Or perhaps somewhere with protections as strong as those the Yokai used to hide their settlements from the outside world.
"I can't sense him either," Gabriel said, reading the expression on Azrael's face. "I've tried everything."
Gabriel closed her eyes and began to glow with soft light. Her messenger domain powers activated, sending out divine signals across multiple dimensions.
When that failed, she pushed harder, her form beginning to shift.
Azrael watched in silence as Gabriel entered her true form.
The love in Gabriel's eyes as she searched for their Father was overwhelming, the desperate need to find him and ensure his safety. Azrael buried her own emotions at seeing that expression. Now wasn't the time.
Even in her full angelic form, Gabriel's search came up empty. She slowly returned to her normal appearance, shaking her head in defeat.
"Nothing," Gabriel whispered. "It's like he doesn't exist anymore."
Azrael's mind raced through the possibilities.
Barriers dedicated to hiding could be incredibly effective, especially against detection. There were different levels of concealment magic. The lower forms were relatively simple, they might hide someone from casual observation or even focused searching.
Gabriel's messenger abilities could probably pierce through most of those without much difficulty.
But this had to be one of the higher forms.
The kind of barrier that required immense power to create and maintain. Something designed to hide from the senses of beings as powerful as Archangels.
Those took a lot of resources to make.
Those barriers worked by creating a kind of sensory dead zone.
The more powerful the barrier, the more energy it required to maintain.
And barriers strong enough to hide Father would need a constant supply of massive amounts of power. Either the enemy leader was incredibly strong, or they were drawing energy from some external source.
It wasn't surprising for a being calling themselves a name such as the 'Architect.'
She had already seen all manner of items in this battle that presumably came from him, even if she had arrived guiltily late.
"Show me where the portal was closed." Azrael demanded, an idea forming in her mind.
-{Odin}-
Odin stood motionless on the golden ramparts of Asgard, his single eye fixed on the distant figure skulking through the realm's outer reaches.
His hands were held behind his back, watching and thinking.
Loki moved with the careful steps of someone who hoped to go unnoticed, but little escaped the All-Father's gaze. Though by the way he tensed, it seemed Loki had sensed his gaze.
Time was changing.
Odin could feel it in his bones, in the very fabric of the Nine Realms. The slow, steady current that had defined the last few centuries was accelerating. Events were beginning to cascade, one into another, building toward something significant.
He'd felt it most clearly when God's presence had suddenly blazed to life in Rome almost a year ago.
It had been brief and the first time in hundreds of years that the Abrahamic God had shown himself to still be alive.
For years, Odin had suspected the worst, that the old God had finally succumbed to whatever forces had been wearing him down. Those ancient beings of pure corruption that had crawled out from the spaces between creation itself.
The Things That Were Before.
They predated even the Age of Gods, when Gods had risen in rapid numbers across the realms.
He knew them to have some sort of personal enemity with Yahweh, though he had never gotten the God himself to speak further on it and there had been no sign that they even existed for the past thousands of years.
Besides the Devils.
Which was another problem entirely.
To think that one brat having a tantrum could lead to a Faction that could rival the Norse…
Then again, he did have a brat of his own who seemed just as troublesome.
On the matter of God dying…
It would have been a genuine loss.
Despite their theological differences, the two had maintained an amicable relationship throughout the eons. Heaven had once served as something of a trading hub for the various pantheons, and their interactions had been frequent and cordial.
Not to mention, Yahweh was one of the only Gods that has befriended Shiva, that weirdo. In hindsight, it was natural for those two weirdos to be chummy with other. Tsk tsk.
Now, he had shown himself in a rather abrupt and exposed manner.
It was both exciting and worrying.
Exciting for potential future prospects and worrifying, because he and the other Gods have become cozy.
There was change coming. Ready to sweep them into another era of unknown chaos.
Other signs were accumulating as well. Stirrings in the underworld. Unusual draconic activity.
Reports of ancient seals being tested and tampered with.
Yes, this century was shaping up to be far more interesting than the last few.
Without a word, Odin stepped forward and vanished, reappearing silently behind a cluster of golden trees near Loki's path.
Rossweisse remained at her post, unaware of his sudden departure.
Loki continued his approach, seemingly lost in thought. When Odin emerged from the shadows, his son froze mid-step.
"Father," Loki said smoothly, inclining his head in a respectful bow. "I wasn't aware you were expecting me."
"I make it a point to notice when my family returns home after a long departure," Odin replied mildly. "Your travels have kept you away for longer than usual."
"The mortal realm offers many... distractions. You know how easily I become absorbed in their little dramas." Loki replied.
"I thought you still found mortals repelling?" Odin asked.
"Well, Mortals do love their 'peace' but they can be amusing," Loki paused. "Though I confess I've been too preoccupied with my own pursuits."
"Of course." Odin stepped closer, his single eye studying his son's face. "I do find myself worrying about what has so much of your attention, you aren't creating another creature that's going to investably cause another conflict are you?"
He didn't need another overgrown snake trying to devour another God.
The Shinto hadn't been too happy about that. It had taken quite a huge sum to fund the crecrswords by their Dwarves to appease them. It was at least comforting to know that Kusanagi had become one of their most famous swords, despite not even being made by them.
Sucks to suck.
Loki's face scrunched up into the most scandalous face he could have possibly imagined.
"Of course not! Good idea though, All-Father."
Odin stared at him.
Something was different.
There was a certain malice behind his eyes.
Loki had always had a knack and obsession with causing chaos.
Still, he shook his head.
"You better not cause too many problems brat. It seems something is at play."
Loki's eyes practically gleamed. "Oh? You think?"
"You wouldn't happen to know about the tampering of seals across multiple Pantheons would you?" Odin abruptly asked.
Loki gave an innocent smile. "Not a thing, All-Father."
Odin kept a frown from his face.
Even as he turned, he didn't miss the slightly malicious smile that Loki gave, despite the God's belief that he couldn't.
Loki was up to something and he had a feeling it wasn't just about causing chaos this time,
-{Kai}-
I fell back, getting a look at the sealing formation.
Black lines were burning into the ground as a web of formations was slowly circling in. It was radiating an insane amount of power. The power that was fueling it was divine of origin.
I was only able to watch for another second as it finally compressed, a crack of power and a burst of light revealing a single black gem that now lay on the decayed ground.
A breath escaped me and my body slackened.
With the Architect having been sealed within his own sealing spell, I had won.
My body quickly reminded me of how far I had pushed myself, a searing pain travelling through me as I quickly came to realise that I could barely move.
Yep.
I was done.
For An Extreme Workout and pushing past your limit with the power of your mind, you have gained.
7 STR
5 MAG
2 VIT
4 DEX
For entering the God-class your body has adapted under pressure and the new addition of a God-class core of magic, you have gained.
25 STR
10 DEX
10 MAG
20 VIT
For making a Breakthrough past the barrier, you have gained.
20 STR
20 VIT
I stared at the system notification, the numbers blurring slightly as exhaustion weighed down on me.
That was a lot of power ups…
The barrier?
Under normal circumstances, gains like that would have me celebrating. At my level of power that was a month's worth of work. I had known for a while that my system grew under pressure.
When I had come to Heaven my power level had come to a halt.
The God-class had been a struggle to climb to.
The divine shard didn't offer me pure power besides my Semi-Divine form. It merely offered me what I assumed was some sort of inheritance from God.
I had reached the God-class on my own. While I'm sure the prodigy perk helped and my system seemed to have given me the ability to get to this level, I had still trained and fought extensively.
But I felt nothing. Not right now.
The faces of the angels who had died kept flashing through my mind. The ones who wouldn't be coming back. The ones whose bodies had been too damaged to resurrect.
It was a dampener that left a sour taste in my mouth.
I sighed.
I pulled up my status, more out of habit than genuine interest.
{Name: Kai}
{Power level: 20,060}
{STR: 347}
{DEX: 285}
{VIT: 250}
{MAG: 412}
{CHA: 50}
Not exactly a balanced sheet.
Still… I was now probably stronger than Dulio.
My magic stat was notably prominent. However, the substantial stat gains I'd received simply from advancing my magic to God-class levels had helped significantly in creating better overall balance.
A sigh escaped my lips as I lay there on the scorched ground, staring up at the dark sky.
[Quest Completed!]
My body untensed and further slackened.
There goes my arms.
The Beginning Of The End? [Completed!]
Description:
A force marches to conquer Heaven. Including the Architect's forces, old enemies of Heaven and those who wish to enslave Angel kind for themselves.
If not stopped, Heaven will fall. Its Treasury looted, its population enslaved and its legacy wiped from history.
Objective: Defend Heaven. [Completed!]
Reward: Chakra Seed, Ring (Nenya), Phoenix Blood, Power Stone Fragment, Energy Bracelet, Judgments Verdict (Cannon) Spirit Turtle Lion Egg. Soul Bestowal, Aura Forge.
That…
That was a lot of rewards.
{Chakra Seed} (Legendary)
{Description: A crystalline seed containing the potential to grow into a chakra fruit. When planted it slowly absorbs the surrounding vitality to grow into a complete chakra fruit.
{Effects:
Chakra Network Creation: Establishes a complete energy circulation system within the body
Elemental Affinity: allows various elements to be bent with chakra techniques.
Enhanced Physical Capabilities: Dramatically improves strength, speed, and endurance through energy reinforcement
Potential gift: Can develop into special chakra-based abilities.
Chakra Boost: boosts any residual Chakra.
One-time usage: this seed can only be used once.
{Ring (Nenya)} (Legendary)
{Description: The Ring of Water, one of the three Elven Rings of Power, though not connected with the One Ring. Crafted from pure mithril.
{Effects:
Concealment and Protection: Creates powerful illusions, wards and boosts perception.
Preservation Magic: can prevent decay and preserve even realm and race.
Purification Power: can aid in cleansing corruption and evil influences from land, objects, and people.
{Phoenix Blood} (Legendary)
{Description: A vial of crimson liquid that glows with inner fire, taken from the legendary immortal flaming bird. When used this blood will bind itself to the nearest organism.
{Effects:
Regenerative Enhancement: Accelerates natural healing to supernatural levels, regrowing lost limbs
Phoenix Fire: this vial of blood can be used to grant Phoenix fire. Along with imbuing a heavy fire attribute that naturally boosts any flame related abilities.
{Power Stone Fragment} (Legendary)
{Description: A shard of deep purple crystal that contains a fraction of an Infinity Stone's power.
{Effects:
Energy Projection: Grants the ability to whoever holds it to project various forms of destructive energy
Energy Source: works as its own source of energy.
{Energy Bracelet} (Rare)
{Description: A black bracelet that builds energy and releases it into a blast of energy.
{Effects:
Energy Pulse: releases a pulse of gathered kinetic energy. Which is built up by continual high impact shocks when worn.
{Judgment Verdict} (Epic)
{Description:
{Effects: A large golden twin railed cannon that fires high-piercing energy shots.
Penetrating shot: all energy shots possess immense capacity to pierce and breach through defences.
[Spirit Lion Turtle Egg] (Legendary)
An Egg containing a Lion Turtle which can be hatched into a familiar.
[Soul Skill] (Epic)
An orb that can be added to a single weapon, making it develop a unique ability that corresponds with the user over a moderate amount of time using the weapon.
[Aura Forge] (Legendary)
Enrichment which can be imbued into your forge and allows for channeling aura for a smaller empowerment of whatever item you're crafting.
My eyes scanned over the rewards.
That was a lot…
Then again, I had just participated in a multi-god class and super-class battle.
I'd honestly be super annoyed if I wasn't given a lot from the quest. Even if this was technically just a side benefit.
The rewards themselves were interesting.
I could already think of multiple uses that these rewards would serve. This was probably the most I had gotten from a single quest.
After going through how the rewards could be used, curiously, my gaze scanned the last item. Opening my inventory showed that sure enough, the symbol of a canon was at the top.
Judgement Verdict.
Slowly I pulled it out.
The moment I did, the air seemed to very briefly shudder. High above in the sky, a massive shape began to materialize, easily the size of a building. The colossal artillery piece hung suspended for a heartbeat before gravity claimed it.
The ground trembled violently as the Judgement Verdict slammed into the earth with a thunderous impact that sent shockwaves rippling outward. Dust and debris erupted in all directions and I felt the reverberations through my entire body.
Ouch…
When the dust settled, I stared in absolute shock.
I had wondered what the quest would reward me, and it hadn't disappointed me on many fronts but I had suspected that I would get a reward that would better help Heaven defend itself.
It seemed like it did not disappoint.
The cannon was massive, easily fifty feet in length and standing nearly twenty feet tall. Two gleaming golden spikes jutted forward like parallel spears, each one inscribed with symbols.
They didn't glow, but I'm sure they had something to do with the cannons firing sequence.
The spikes were connected by an ornate barrel forged from pristine white metal, inlaid with flowing golden patterns that resembled both angelic script and geometric mandalas.
The base was a a reinforced platform of white marble veined with gold, supported by four massive legs that ended in clawed feet designed to anchor into any terrain.
Crystalline conduits ran along the barrel's length, presumably to whatever power this cannon ran on,
This was even larger than Heaven's two holy cannons. Which had proven themselves powerful in the battle.
I stared at it for a while longer, before deciding to put it back in my inventory until I could speak to Raphael about how we were going to mount this on Heaven's gate.
I tried to put it back in my inventory, but quickly realized the futility, I couldn't even move to touch the thing.
Oh well.
My gaze went back towards my system notifications.
There was another matter that needed my focus,
My eyes flickered to my Divine Shard.
[Divine Shard] {Progress: 24.3%}
[The Shard of God. The resurrected shard of his essence that has merged with the user. As the shard progresses the user will receive more abilities from his merged counterpart. Yahweh.]
My eyes widened and my attention was completely taken.
That was a massive increase in progress.
It was almost double of what I had managed since getting the shard…
Sure enough, it took that moment for two system notifications to pop up.
Skill Gained.
[Artefact Inscription]
Embedding complex magical formulas into physical objects for special abilities and effects.
Skill Gained.
[Holy Spirit]
The Holy Spirit manifests as pure, overwhelming holy power imbued with the force of the Holy Spirit.
[Holy Power Manipulation] and [Holy Spirit] have merged into [Holy Embodiment]
[Holy Embodiment] (LVL: 70/100) {Adept}
A higher form of holy power that allows its user to go beyond simply manipulating it.
[Passive effect: Reduces holy power cost by 60%]
It seemed that the upgrading of my holy manipulation skill had knocked it back down into the adept rank.
Power thrummed through me, holy power soothing my skin. The tiny amount of angelic magic I had left humming in approval. I took a few minutes with my eyes closed, before grunting as my hands raised to my sword.
I paused, looking at my sword.
A name came to mind, one that I felt fit after the sword had survived through such a battle without a single fault.
Vesper, the evening star. The Bane Of hate.
The name came seemingly from nowhere and yet it felt right.
My gaze back to my surroundings.
Now, how was I going to leave this place?
-END-
Note: Thanks for all of your support and comments. With the Architect finally dealt with, we move on to bigger things.
Let me know if you have any suggestions for future Omakes.
If you wish to read up to sixteen chapters in advance among my stories and other things please visit pa/t reon * / Snipez818, the app is charging a lot more for some reason so I suggest using the website.
I appreciate all the support!