Arthur stood there in silence, eyes fixed on the curled-up figure of little Jeanne, his heart heavy and mind blank.
What could he say to someone who had grown up in such a cold, cruel place and still kept going the way she did?
He took one step forward, about to say something, anything.
But then the world around him disappeared in a flash.
Arthur blinked and then let out a groan.
"Oh, come on. Are you serious?"
He was back in that same dark place, and in front of him still floated the grey flame, flickering silently like it had been waiting for him the entire time.
He stared at it and then shrugged.
"Meh. I might as well touch this one, too. I'm in this deep already."
He sighed, bracing himself, and reached forward.
The moment his fingers brushed the grey flame, everything shifted again.
This time, Arthur found himself in a sterile white room.
Glass panels, buzzing lights, monitors lined the walls.
A clean, clinical scent clung to the air.
Arthur narrowed his eyes.
"A lab?"
He turned his head and saw a young boy strapped into a testing chair.
White hair, dulled red eyes, his expression unreadable.
"Siegfried?"
Arthur muttered.
The boy sat there quietly as men in white coats circled around him, scribbling notes, typing data into terminals.
"Begin test phase six. Apply weight restraints. Begin physical stress simulations."
Mechanical arms descended from the ceiling, placing weighted braces on the boy's wrists and ankles.
The machine activated, and Arthur watched as Siegfried was forced to run, jump, push, pull, obeying every instruction without complaint.
Arthur frowned.
"TSo this is the Sigurd Institute… I've heard of them. Human experimentation to artificially make a true descendant of Sigurd. Disgusting."
Ddraig's voice echoed in his mind, low and disapproving.
(Typical humans, treating their own kind like a bunch of disposable lab rats.)
Arthur clenched his jaw.
The scene shimmered.
Now, they were in a battle arena, blood already stained the floor.
Arthur's eyes widened.
Siegfried again, but this time standing in the center of the arena, panting.
Across from him, a feral boy, his eyes bloodshot, body twitching, he snarled and lunged at him with claws.
Siegfried dodged, parried, then wrestled the boy to the ground.
Arthur saw it, his hesitation.
Then, with a clenched jaw, Siegfried summoned one of his Twice Critical dragon arms and slammed it down.
Punch, after punch.
Until a minute later, the feral boy stopped moving and silence took over.
"Combat data recorded. Initiate disposal of subject 113."
Came a cold voice from a speaker above.
"Bring out the next one."
Siegfried stood up slowly, his fists clenched, breathing ragged.
He turned his head toward the next gate opening… and whispered just loud enough for Arthur to hear.
"I'm so sorry…"
Arthur didn't say anything.
He just watched as the scene shifted again.
Now Siegfried wore the uniform of a Church Exorcist, his coat stained with blood, light swords in each hand.
A forest clearing burned around him, signs of a violent battle.
He had just fought a whole pack of werewolves.
The bodies of his enemies littered the clearing, some large, some barely older than children.
Arthur watched as young Siegfried sheathed his light blades.
Then a small voice.
"Why…?"
Arthur turned his head.
A small werewolf boy knelt beside one of the dead.
His eyes were wide, trembling with grief.
"Why'd you kill them? They didn't do anything bad!"
The boy clenched his fists, tears mixing with ash on his face.
"They didn't hurt anyone! Why?!"
Siegfried was silent.
"Nothing personal, I'm just following orders."
Siegfried said finally, eyes hollow.
The child screamed and charged with claws raised.
"You monster!"
Siegfried moved quickly, and with one swing, the werewolf boy dropped to the ground, dead.
His light sword dripped with blood.
Siegfried looked at it for a long moment, his face reflected in the steel handle.
"Maybe you're right. But who knows."
He muttered to no one.
Then he turned and walked away.
Arthur watched more as the memories flowed, missions, experiments, and bloodshed.
Time after time, Siegfried was pushed into battles, into killing, into persecution no child should ever have to endure, and he did it all without protest.
Until finally, a cold white lab again.
Siegfried, still young, lay motionless on a metal table.
Tubes snaked into his arms, monitoring devices beeped steadily.
His eyes were open, staring blankly at the ceiling in silence.
Arthur looked down at him and exhaled.
"What the hell is the point in showing me all of this?"
Then a voice spoke behind him.
"Pitiful, isn't it?"
Arthur's eyes widened as he turned.
The lab vanished and darkness returned.
Balor stood there in front of him, no longer shrouded or distorted.
He possessed Connla's body now.
His hair hung loose around his face and his eyes, now without the shades, were black and red, staring at him with arrogance.
Arthur narrowed his eyes, his Boosted Gear gauntlets glowed.
"Balor."
He said calmly.
Balor smiled as he spoke.
"You've seen the truth, haven't you, Red Dragon Emperor? The way the world devours the strong. The way it feeds on the innocent."
Arthur cut him off and scoffed.
"Tch. Spare me the philosophical speech. I don't need you to tell me how the world works."
"Oh, but you do, Cambion."
Balor said, stepping forward slowly.
"Because you still think you can save them. Jeanne. Siegfried. Even Connla."
He stopped just a few feet away.
"You think there's something worth saving in all that suffering. But let me tell you the truth, there's nothing left. Not in them. Not in you... Only I can bring you and all of mankind salvation, and only I can free this world from their torment, and themselves."
Arthur narrowed his eyes.
"You talk too much, you know that?"
Balor chuckled softly.
"Maybe. But you'll see. The whole world will see my truth."
The shadows around them thickened.
Arthur took a deep breath and exhaled.
"You know what? This is starting to get pretty boring, so I'm just gonna kill you now."
As Arthur said it, Balor was speechless.
"... Heh."
Then a low chuckle echoed throughout the endless black void, bouncing off the unseen walls like a sick rhythm of condescension.
"Hah… Ahaha… HAHAAHAHA!"
The sound started small, a chuckle of mockery, then slowly grew into full laughter.
He leaned back, arms open wide, his voice drowning the shadows themselves.
"You think you're going to kill me?"
His grin was twisted, deranged with divine superiority.
"Tell me, Red Dragon Emperor, has there ever been a single Longinus user in the history of your pitiful kind who has slain a god?"
Arthur remained silent.
Balor's sharp teeth gleamed beneath the red glow of his eyes.
"None. Not a single one. Not even your most revered predecessors have achieved such a feat in their lifetime."
He began to float upward slowly, the shadows around them thickening.
From the endless dark, eyes began to open, dozens, then hundreds, of glowing crimson eyes glaring hungrily down at Arthur.
"I've scoured the memories of your allies."
Balor said with eerie amusement, pointing a crooked blade of black shadow straight at Arthur.
"I am aware you haven't achieved Juggernaut Drive yet. Not even a flicker of Balance Breaker. So tell me, you filthy halfbreed..."
His voice sharpened to a cruel, piercing edge.
"How exactly do you expect to kill me?"
The silence hung heavy.
Arthur's head was lowered, his red bangs covering his green eyes.
The black tentacles around Balor twisted, crawling toward him, coiling like serpents ready to strike.
Then, Arthur exhaled slowly and spoke.
"…Who says I haven't unlocked them yet?"
Balor froze.
His smile dropped.
"What?"
Arthur raised his head slowly, revealing his eyes now glowing faintly beneath the shadow of his hair.
"Here's the thing. During the second year of my training montage, it only took me less than a week to unlock my original Balance Breaker. And it took me a month and a half to unlock my Juggernaut Drive. The funny thing is, I cannot be bothered using them when everyone around me is embarrassingly weak."
He said, voice calm, composed, and he took a step forward.
"You think I'm powerless against you, that I can't stand against a god."
He took another step.
"But the reason you're still alive and still breathing in front of me... is because I let you."
Balor's many eyes began to twitch.
"And the reason that this situation escalated towards this very moment… is because I was curious."
Arthur's voice was dark and cold.
"I wanted to see what a so-called god would feel like. And honestly?"
He stopped walking and narrowed his eyes.
"I am utterly, immensely, and extraordinarily... disappointed."
He gave a low exhale through his nose.
"You..."
Balor's aura flared in outrage, a guttural roar of offense vibrating through the darkness.
"Arrogant piece of MORTAL FILTH!"
The red eyes around them flared, and a deafening beam of crackling energy burst.
Hundreds of lasers rained down all at once, converging on Arthur in a destructive storm.
*BOOM!*
The impact created a massive explosion, crimson light flooding the darkness for a moment as the dome shook with force.
Balor threw his head back in laughter again.
"You fool! That's the price for insulting a god!"
But then...
The smoke was forcefully parted.
And a wall of crackling, violet-red energy stood between Arthur and the countless blasts.
Balor's eyes narrowed. "
…What?"
It was the Power of Destruction, manifesting as a barrier, erasing the beams like its nothing.
The shield cracked open like a cocoon, and Arthur stepped forward.
But he was different.
From his back, eight demonic dragon wings now unfurled, his skin radiated with demonic power, black horns curled from his temples, and a spear-like tail swayed gently behind him.
Balor flinched back.
Arthur's aura wasn't just different, it was overwhelming.
He calmly summoned Excalibur Ruler into his hands, then the other six Excalibur Swords hovered around him in a circle.
He glanced at Balor.
"You should be honored, Balor. You'll be the first one to get a taste of this new Balance Breaker of mine. It's something I've been working on alongside Ddraig for a long while now. Even I have no idea how this fight would go since I just got the other Excalibur fragments back."
Balor's expression tightened as he hovered higher.
"What… what are you doing?"
Balor's voice cut in, uncertain.
Arthur took a breath and brought his blade forward, both hands grasping the hilt, its blade pointed straight upward, and the other swords stopped circling around.
"Let's do this, Ddraig."
Ddraig grinned excitedly.
(Right!)
Then Balor felt it.
A chill in the air.
A force that had no shape yet weighed down on existence like gravity itself had been doubled.
His own body recoiled without his will.
And then he sensed it.
A feeling that didn't belong in this world... something terrifying.
In his very soul, something screamed at him to stop Arthur... NOW!
Balor shot forward, eyes glowing like hellfire.
The tentacles lashed from the darkness, thrashing forward to stop him.
The many eyes began firing again, chaotic beams of crimson destruction launched from every direction toward Arthur's position.
But it was too late.
"…Balance Breaker."
Two words slipped through, and his eyes opened.
"Longinus Imperium Dominator."
DxD
From the outside of the black dome, a faint glow began to stir, subtle at first, then it glowed brighter.
Then the dome began to pulse, its blackness cracking with crimson veins of heat and energy until it resembled a red-hot lantern ready to explode.
A loud crack echoed out as a hole tore open from the side of the dome, light flooding out in a blinding rush.
Two figures were thrown from the breach, Jeanne and Siegfried.
Both hit the ground hard, unconscious, their bodies skidding a short distance before coming to rest on the invisible floor of the void.
Jeanne's armor was broken, and Siegfried's cloak was torn, their breathing shallow but alive.
Out of nowhere, a figure emerged near them and lifted them both on its shoulder.
DxD
From within the dome, the sound of a raging inferno roared, the kind that devoured everything.
Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the black dome began to collapse inward, consumed by the inferno that raged from within.
All of the many red eyes that once glared from the darkness were now gone, dissolved like paper in fire.
Inside the firestorm, Balor was hurled down from the air and slammed into the ground hard enough to cause the entire realm to shake.
He let out a hoarse cry, covering his face with his arm as the unbearable heat scorched his skin.
"W-What the?!"
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
He was a god.
He wasn't supposed to feel this immense pain.
Balor squinted through his fingers, and what he saw made his eyes go wide.
Standing tall through the inferno was a silhouette.
Eight massive wings stretched behind him, draconic and demonic in nature.
His horns curled back with a regal shape, as if forming a halo.
And in his right hand was a massive, double-edged greatsword with a knuckle guard.
The blade glowed from its golden edge, its hilt thick and ornate, its length forged with crimson steel.
Six exhaust vents along the other side of the blade spat bursts of flame like a motorcycle, and a glowing green core pulsed at the sword's heart.
It was unlike any sword Balor had ever seen, but the power it gave off was unmistakable.
"What form of power is this?"
Balor whispered in disbelief.
Arthur's eyes opened, brighter than the inferno around him.
He raised his left hand.
With a single motion, a crimson-red sphere from the Power of Destruction appeared.
From it, a single blade emerged, dark, jagged, and burning with raw destructive energy.
He moved his Destruction Blade in his left hand clockwise.
Another blade emerged, then another, and another.
Twelve Destruction Blades hovered around him, each one acting as an extension of his will.
Balor staggered to his feet, his divine form still crackling with burns.
He clenched his jaw as he roared, his body shrouding itself in a tower of swirling blackness. From the writhing tower erupted dozens of shadow tentacles, each one surging forth with enough force to level cities.
"You dare! You filthy HALFBREED! You dare stand against ME!?"
Arthur simply looked forward and spoke one word.
"…Shut up."
Then, slowly, he began walking.
Balor screamed and unleashed the first wave of tentacles.
They lunged at Arthur, twisting and shrieking like living creatures.
But each time they neared him...
*Shing!*
The Destruction Blades tore them apart mid-air, severing them into nothingness.
Another wave followed, faster, more desperate.
All cut down by Arthur.
Arthur didn't even raise his greatsword as he just kept walking.
"TAKE THIS!"
Balor howled, and from the summit of his dark tower, a massive, hideous eye emerged.
The eyeball, twenty feet wide and glowing with malicious power, began to pull in energy from the darkness, building into a massive sphere of chaotic light.
The pupil dilated, and then a beam exploded from it.
A monstrous blast of energy, easily powerful enough to annihilate mountains, surged forward, screaming across the space toward Arthur.
Arthur moved.
His Balance Breaker, Longinus Imperium Dominator, burned brightly.
He raised the greatsword high above his head and brought it down in a single, vertical motion.
[HEAVENLY DRAGON DESTRUCTION!]
A massive crimson arc of destruction screamed forward, colliding with the beam and cutting through it like a hot knife through butter.
Both the beam and the dark tower split in half in a fiery explosion.
And Balor was flung back into the abyss, shrieking as the force sent him crashing end over end into the inferno.
The explosion behind him swallowed the tower entirely, flames and crimson light dancing in its place.
Balor coughed and struggled to rise, his body scorched, his shadows flickering erratically.
He raised a barrier just in time to save himself from a fatal outcome, but his form was rattled, battered, and wounded.
He staggered, panting.
And then, as he took a knee and stood up, Arthur was now standing directly in front of him.
Balor's body stiffened.
He hadn't even sensed him move.
His mind screamed, his limbs froze.
He unconsciously took a step back.
This familiar feeling of dread... it was nauseating.
"…No… How could a mere hybrid..."
He muttered, eyes wide.
Arthur looked him over calmly, gaze emotionless.
"So even gods can feel fear. How pathetic of you."
He muttered, almost disappointed.
Balor's breath caught in his throat.
He knew it now.
This feeling clawing inside his chest, freezing his thoughts... he had only felt it once before.
When Lugh, the Celtic God of Light, killed him.
Balor clenched his fists, trembling with rage and fear.
"YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF DEMONIC CRAP! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?"
Darkness erupted on the ground like a tidal wave but they never reached Arthur.
Arthur took a stance, both of his blades ignited with power, one of crimson flames, the other of pure destruction.
The air trembled around him as the flames licked the floor, as the wings behind him began to stir.
"You wanna know who I am?"
He looked Balor in the eye.
"Alright then. Let me show you."
The shadows churned around Arthur like a great whirlpool, black tides spinning in on themselves.
The darkness shrieked and twisted, and from its depths emerged colossal serpents, their mouths wide with rows of endless fangs, eyes glowing crimson.
They lunged at Arthur from every direction, snarling, screeching, and then silence.
A second later, the entire mass exploded outward with a thunderous shockwave.
A burst of crimson light tore the serpents apart from the inside, and in the wake of the eruption, Arthur dashed forth like a comet, his wings spread wide, flames bursting behind his back, tail slicing through the shadows.
Balor's eyes widened, and Arthur was already upon him.
Their weapons clashed, flames against shadows.
Balor roared, his arm shaking as he barely managed to block the strike with a wall of black shadows.
The shockwave cracked the space beneath them.
Sparks flew as the two continued to exchange blows in the air, carving through the sky as a god against a demon.
Balor summoned a jagged sword from the dark, formed of solid shadow, and brought it down.
Arthur's Balance Breaker cleaved through it in one brutal swing, shattering it instantly.
In the same motion, Arthur's tail snapped forward like a coiled whip and wrapped around Balor's leg.
"What-?!"
Arthur spun once in the air, his wings flaring wide to build momentum, and hurled Balor upward with devastating force.
Balor's body flew like a ragdoll into the black sky, completely disoriented.
But Arthur was already there above him.
His two swords were raised.
[HEAVENLY DRAGON RAPIDLY!]
The blades came down in an X-shape, searing lines of destruction into Balor's chest and torso, and several cuts around his body appeared instantly.
The force drove Balor down like a meteor, his body spiraling and crashing into the ground with such intensity that it formed a deep crater.
The impact shook the earth, sending cracks spidering through the space beneath.
Balor groaned, black blood spilling from his mouth and wound.
Arthur descended, crashing down on top of Balor's broken body, the sheer force causing the crater to deepen and rupture.
Balor coughed violently, more blood gushing out as his chest caved slightly beneath the pressure of Arthur's boot.
Arthur raised his crimson greatsword, ready to end it.
But then, a thick, black smoke surged from Balor's form, enveloping the area in a noxious cloud that burned the senses and blinded the vision.
Arthur's blade halted in mid-air as the darkness swallowed his target.
Then silence.
The smoke began to thin.
Arthur's eyes narrowed, he looked ahead.
And there he was.
Balor, panting, shaking, now standing far away, just beyond the perimeter of the collapsed battlefield.
His divine body flickered with damage, but his glare was venomous, hateful, and fearful.
Arthur didn't waste a second.
He charged.
Balor howled and raised both arms.
The shadows around him erupted, forming a tide of monstrous entities, ghouls, beasts, serpents, soldiers, cyclops, all formed of night creatures.
They surged forward like a black tsunami.
Arthur skidded to a halt midair and raised his sword.
[HEAVENLY DRAGON RULER!]
In a brilliant flash, a hundred crimson-clad figures materialized around him, each a physical clone of Arthur, donning the Boosted Gear Scale Mail.
Each one held a Destruction Blade, and their eyes all burned with the same unwavering resolve.
They roared in unison and charged the shadow army.
[BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!]
The clash was cataclysmic.
Red and black collided, their weapons cleaving through their enemies.
The Scale Mail clones fought with unmatched precision, each defending the other's flank while carving through the twisted legions.
Crimson auras surged with every impact, every blade cleaving through darkness like fire through parchment.
Balor stared, wide-eyed.
"This… this is impossible..."
He rasped.
But Arthur wasn't done.
He soared upward during the battle, his red greatsword glowing brighter.
Grabbing the blade with his left hand, the blade shimmered, reshaping into a new form.
[HEAVENLY DRAGON MIMIC!]
The greatsword shifted into a massive red longbow with gold accents.
Its limbs flared outward like red dragon wings, and a glowing string attached to keep them in place.
Arthur drew back the string with his right hand and a single Arrow of Destruction formed, spiraling and pulsing.
Then, with a glint in his eye, he let go.
The arrow shot upward and multiplied.
One became ten.
Ten became a hundred.
A hundred became a thousand.
Balck and red rain began to fall, Arrows of Destruction pouring from the sky, carving into the battlefield.
The land shattered, the sky split, and shadow creatures were obliterated by the second.
Only the Scale Mail clones stood unharmed, untouched by the original's wrath.
Balor desperately weaved through the chaos, his arms raised as he summoned barrier after barrier, each one breaking almost as quickly as it formed.
Arrows exploded around him, tearing through the earth and sending him skidding, bleeding, and gasping.
He raised his eyes and saw a wall of red.
The Scale Mail clones surrounded him.
They charged all at once.
[BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!]
Blades clashed, fists struck, power erupted in every direction.
Balor, now overwhelmed, could barely see through the onslaught.
He cut through a few, blocked others, but for each clone he felled, five more took its place.
Their coordination was perfect and their power continued to steadily increase with each Boost.
And above it all, Arthur hovered, his longbow still aimed, another arrow slowly forming between his fingers, his emerald eyes locked onto Balor.
Balor staggered, coughing black blood, body covered in gashes, armor crumbling.
His thoughts spiraled.
(This cannot be... Am I going to die… here…? By the hands of a halfbreed…?)
That thought stung more than any wound.
It enraged him.
His eyes snapped open with hate.
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!!"
Balor roared, and the shadows around him erupted in a cyclone of madness.
All at once, the battlefield exploded.
A dome of corrupted shadow burst outward, knocking the Scale Mail clones away.
Their armor cracked, bodies scattered, several clones vanished in bursts of red light. The void trembled.
Balor stood in the center of the eruption, body crackling with violent energy, his outline unstable, barely holding together.
Darkness flowed from him like black fire as his figure slowly becoming bigger and bigger.
Arthur's gaze sharpened as he slowly lowered his bow.
He watched carefully as he could feel the sheer wrath boiling from Balor's body.
"…Finally."
Arthur muttered under his breath.
His fingers slowly wrapped around the handle of his longbow, which turned back into a greatsword.
The battle is about to reach its conclusion.
DxD
Hello readers!
This will be the last part, so I decided to make it longer.
The next few chapters will be the finale of Volume 1, as you readers seem to be impatient, which is understandable.
My brain is struggling to make good content for you all, okay?
So cut me some slack, and also some Power Stones while you're at it.
Thank you everyone and see you later.