The battlefield was drenched in ashes and molten rock.
The once-proud forces of the Tepes Faction were nothing more than scattered corpses strewn across the ruined land, many of them burned beyond recognition.
At the center of this destruction stood Arthur in his Juggernaut Drive armor, his claws dripped molten blood, his wings glowed with crimson energy, and his emerald eyes burned in fury.
The last surviving vampire, the Captain of the vampire army, was now crawling through the shattered remnants of the battlefield.
His once-polished armor had been blown apart, leaving his left side horribly burned and mangled.
One of his legs was gone, amputated hastily with his sword when Arthur's crimson flames had scorched his lower half.
His mouth gaped open, breath hitching, lips trembling.
"I… can't… please…"
The captain wheezed as he dragged himself across the scorched earth.
His blood-red eyes, once filled with pride, now danced with primal fear.
He dared not look back, nor did he dare even think of what was behind him.
He just wanted to live.
But then, a thunderous crash shook the ground as Arthur descended before the vampire, cracking the stone beneath his claws.
The impact alone flung dust and embers into the air, and the captain froze, his nails clawing at the ground as his panic became terror.
"G-Get back! S-Stay away!"
The captain shouted in hoarse desperation.
Arthur said nothing.
His wings flared, his body towering and casting a monstrous shadow, his claws extended, and in one swift motion, he grabbed the captain by the neck and lifted him off the ground effortlessly.
The vampire kicked and twisted, gagging, blood bubbling at the edges of his mouth as he struggled against the crushing grip.
"P-Please... W-We… we were only… following orders…"
That single phrase made Arthur's pupils narrow.
(Only… following orders?)
Back in the town, he could see the screams, the fire, the innocent townsfolk, and the silence that followed when the vampires left nothing behind but ruins.
A low growl escaped his throat.
With no more words, Arthur opened his draconic jaws and unleashed a concentrated burst of Blazing Inferno of Scorching Flames directly into the vampire's face.
The infernal stream swallowed the captain whole.
There was no scream, just the sound of flesh, armor, and bone disintegrating.
By the time the flames faded, there was nothing left, not even ash.
Arthur stood in silence for a moment, chest rising and falling heavily.
Then he looked up.
With a single beat of his wings, he soared high into the sky until he hovered just beneath the top of the purple mist barrier.
His wings spread wide, and the air around him twisted and cracked, red sparks flying off his horns and claws.
And then…
*ROOOOOAAAAAR!!!*
A soul-piercing, rage-fueled roar made the dome itself tremble.
Cracks appeared in the sky above him as he released a tremendous burst of Dragon Aura.
A crimson shockwave of destruction radiated from his body, carving deep trenches into the land below, knocking over what remained of the vampire siege weapons, and even shattering parts of the Tepes Castle's outer towers.
Arthur slowly descended back to the ground, wings faltering as his knees bent upon landing.
He panted, clawed fingers digging into the dirt, and his breaths came in ragged bursts as steam rose from his body.
(You've done it, partner… I suggest you return to normal, or you'll slowly lose your sanity. This power is not meant to last.)
Ddraig's voice in his mind called out, reminding him.
Arthur gritted his teeth, clutching his head for a moment as the voices began to stir again in the back of his mind, now louder and more persistent.
"I know, Ddraig ... I know.... I'm done anyway…"
He muttered, barely audible.
He closed his eyes and prepared to release the form.
But in that moment...
*BOOM!*
A massive blood lance, nearly twenty feet in length, had materialized and detonated inches from his chest.
Instinctively, Arthur crossed his wings in front of him.
The explosion knocked him back, flames and blood tearing through the sky.
When he landed, it was rough; his clawed feet scraped deep across the stone as he slid.
His wings flared outward, scorched and torn, and he grunted, wincing as he stabilized himself.
From the ground, he looked up slowly.
Emerging from a cloud of thick blood mist, King Tepes walked with cold indifference.
His long black cloak trailed behind him, untouched by the fire.
Hovering around him were dozens of blood lances, all aimed at Arthur like homing missiles.
"Red Dragon… It has been quite some time since I was forced to act personally. A rare occasion... but a reasonable one at that. Unfortunate for you, you appear to be reaching your limit."
The king said, his voice deep and eerily calm.
Arthur didn't respond.
He growled once more, dropping to all fours, his claws dug into the earth, and charged as he shot forward at blinding speed.
The king dashed to meet him, blood lances spiraling behind him like comets.
They clashed, claws against claws, shockwaves cracked the land around them as they raced across the battlefield.
Arthur fired crimson beams from his green jewels, incinerating rubble in their wake, while King Tepes conjured barriers of blood to absorb and redirect the attacks.
Swords of blood rained from above, and Arthur spun through them, using his tattered wings like shields, retaliating with a violent spin that tore through the king's projectiles.
They met again, claws interlocking, faces inches apart.
Their struggle was deadlocked.
"Tell me, Red Dragon, do you think vengeance will bring back the town? Those humans you failed to protect?"
King Tepes said, his eyes narrowed.
Arthur growled louder.
"Shut. Up."
He reared back and released a fire breath directly at the king's face.
The king barely twisted out of the way, the flames singing his cloak and hair as he slid back, blood blades whirling around him defensively.
They stood apart now, eyes locked.
"Just to let you know, what my son and my people did may have been cruel to you, but I do what I must for the prosperity of my kind. If sacrifices must be made... then I'll do what I must."
King Tepes said coldly.
Arthur's hands clenched, his Dragon Aura surged violently, and Ddraig's voice echoed again in his head.
(Arthur. Don't. You only have minutes left. Stop this now or-)
"NO."
He growled, his eyes narrowed inside his helm.
[BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!]
Another surge of power rippled through his body, scales glowing red-hot.
"I'm ending this. Right here... RIGHT NOW!"
And then he roared again, charging toward King Tepes as flames and blood clashed once more in a cataclysmic frenzy.
The king removed his cloak and created a blood scythe as shadow familiars emerged around him.
"Then show me more of your rage, Red Dragon."
He called out as he charged forward, continuing their clash.
DxD
Within the crumbling walls of the Tepes Castle, Cao Cao was on the move.
Clad in his Balance Breaker form, True Longinus Götterdämmerung, his golden centurion armor gleamed even in the fires of the collapsing castle.
His ten angelic wings were spread wide as he carved through the remaining vampires.
His expression was grim, one hand gripped tightly around the unconscious Marius, slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
Another vampire rushed at him from a side passage with a blood-forged glaive, but Cao Cao didn't even slow down.
With a flick of his hand, one of his golden feathers transformed into a searing spear of holy light and launched forward, piercing the vampire's chest and disintegrating his body in a flash of burning white.
"Tch… persistent bastards."
Cao Cao muttered, eyes scanning the maze of hallways ahead.
More vampires appeared, but this time, a small squad, armed with rifles and firearms.
"You're not going anywhere, human!"
They shouted, rallying to take him down.
Cao Cao's wings flared.
"Wrong move."
He raised his hand, five feathers glowing between his fingers, then with a calm flick, he sent them forward.
Each feather turned into a spear mid-flight, slamming through the vampires' defenses and reducing them to ash with violent bursts of divine energy.
He turned the corner, boots skidding across bloodied tiles as he advanced.
Yet despite the slaughter, despite the confidence in his strength, there was a furrow on his brow.
"Man… Arthur's going crazy out there. I can even feel that heat from where I'm at."
He muttered, glancing up as another quake shook dust from the cracked ceiling.
He paused briefly in the corridor, feeling the residual pressure pulsing through the air, and the ground rumbled underfoot.
Somewhere above, a loud explosion shook the castle, chunks of ceiling fell in front of him, and Marius groaned faintly, unconscious but still alive.
"Yeah... Whoever's fighting him is fucked."
Cao Cao sighed, pitying the poor fool.
He looked around and noticed something was wrong.
"… I'm lost."
The hallways were collapsing, blocked, and twisted; this entire wing of the castle was beginning to fall apart.
He had taken too many wrong turns while killing everyone in his path, and now the halls weren't giving him a way out.
His jaw clenched.
"…Screw it. Brute force it is."
Without hesitation, Cao Cao spread his wings and shot upward.
His golden armor smashed through the ceiling like a meteor, concrete and stone erupting around him.
Dust trailed his wake as he flew into the next floor, only to find more vampires waiting and getting killed by his hand.
Dozens of holy light spears erupted from his wings, spiraling outward and raining down upon them.
Cao Cao smashed through them, using his momentum to burst through yet another floor above. Again and again, he tore upward, crashing through levels of the castle, wiping out any threat in his path.
He emerged through the highest ceiling with a final boom, shattering stone as he burst into open sky, the ruined Tepes Castle finally behind him.
Cao Cao hovered in midair, the wind blasting past his wings as he looked back at the fortress, half of it in flames, sections crumbling from Arthur's earlier outburst.
He exhaled slowly.
"Finally."
But then… he turned his gaze outward, toward the battlefield beyond the castle, and what he saw stopped him cold.
The entire surrounding area was nothing but devastation.
Forests reduced to ash, the ground scorched black, craters and trenches split open like veins of ruin. In the center of it all, Arthur and King Tepes were locked in a terrifying battle.
"Holy-"
Before he could finish, a shockwave of red energy and red fire exploded outward.
He instinctively wrapped his wings around himself and Marius, shielding them from the blast.
From behind his wings, Cao Cao peeked through.
Arthur was in full Juggernaut Drive, his form still glowing red-hot with fury, while King Tepes stood tall, surrounded by crimson magic circles that rapidly fired blood lances, scythes, and spears in continuous barrages.
Arthur fired crimson energy beams in retaliation, and the two collided again, slamming into each other, clashing in a storm of chaos.
"Damn… You're really going all out, huh?"
He stayed in place for a moment longer, floating there in stunned awe as the titanic battle raged on in front of him.
Despite his cool demeanor, there was a flicker of worry in his gaze.
He watched as Arthur lunged forward like a beast, only to be blasted back by a ring of blood spikes from the king.
Arthur snarled and charged again, his power rising, his voice distorted by the ever-growing fury of his aura.
The sheer intensity of the clash was overwhelming.
If he got caught up in that fight, even in his Balance Breaker form, he might not walk away unscathed.
And Marius, even now, was still unconscious and slumped over his shoulder like a dead weight.
"Nope. Not getting caught in that crap."
With a flap of his wings, Cao Cao turned away from the battlefield and flew back toward the edge of the mist barrier, seeking a safer vantage point.
DxD
Within the ravaged streets of the dhampir town, Siegfried moved like a phantom in battle.
With Demon Sword Gram in his right hand, Balmung in his left, he danced through the battlefield with deadly precision.
Every swing cleaved through armor and bone, every step left corpses in his wake.
Beside him, Heracles fought with brute force, fists glowing with golden-orange light from his Variant Detonation.
Each punch detonated with devastating force, limbs flew, bodies exploded, and blood rained like mist.
"How many of these bastards are there?"
Heracles growled, crushing a vampire's skull under his heel as another group emerged from the shadows.
Siegfried turned sharply, his swords slicing through three vampires in one motion.
"They're weak as ants, but this is taking forever."
He muttered.
Heracles blasted back another group with an explosive wave from both palms.
The shockwave leveled a small shop behind them, sending charred debris into the air.
"Yeah, no kidding. For a town exclusive for dhampirs, this town's infested with these leeches."
Heracles said, exhaling.
More vampires came, hissing and shrieking, their eyes red with bloodlust.
Heracles cracked his knuckles.
"Sieg. Head to the town hall already. I'll hold them here."
Siegfried's eyes narrowed as he parried a vampire's clawed strike and stabbed it through the heart with Gram, pinning the creature to the ground.
"You sure?"
He asked, twisting the blade until the vampire screamed and turned to ash.
Heracles nodded and stepped forward, lifting both hands.
"Trust me. We got this."
Then, with a sharp burst of golden light, a great roar echoed from within as the brilliant figure of a golden lion emerged from the teen.
"Regulus. Time to stretch your claws, bud."
The lion towered over the battlefield, radiant and regal, his mane ablaze with golden energy.
His eyes glared at the sea of vampires with utter disdain.
Regulus glanced at Heracles, annoyance evident in his voice.
"You summoned me for this? You must be getting soft, Heracles. They're not even worth killing."
Heracles grinned.
"Come on, Regulus. Just lend your partner a helping hand, will ya?"
Regulus growled, his mane flaring.
"You better feed me a whole bison after this."
And then he lunged forward, his massive claws swiping through a dozen vampires like paper.
One was bitten in half, and another slammed into a wall with enough force to crater it.
Siegfried watched for a second, then shrugged.
"Fine. You'd better catch up afterwards."
With that, he bolted toward the town hall.
As Heracles and Regulus continued to tear through the horde, Siegfried made his way through the entrance.
The entrance to the town hall loomed ahead, its double doors half torn off, blood stains staining the stone walls.
Siegfried entered, boots splashing in dried crimson pools.
"Time to find the kiddos."
Inside, the building was a maze. The hallways were littered with furniture, broken chandeliers, and claw marks on the walls. Every door he opened revealed either empty rooms or fresh corpses.
He climbed the staircase, entering the second floor, where more vampires awaited.
They screeched and lunged at him from the darkness.
Siegfried didn't flinch.
He moved faster than their eyes could follow.
Balmung's blade glowed as he cleaved through three in a blink.
Gram followed with a thrust, skewering two more and pinning them against the wall.
"Still no humans… where the hell are they hiding them?"
He kicked a body aside, continuing down the corridor.
More vampires jumped him from behind, but without even turning around, Siegfried spun Gram backward and sliced through their waists.
Room after room yielded nothing.
He reached the third floor, eyes narrowing.
Something felt off.
The air was heavier here, filled with a subtle, choking dread.
Then, the creak of floorboards was heard.
A vampire stepped out of the shadows at the far end, fangs bared, eyes glowing in the dark.
Siegfried's grip tightened as he easily pinned the vampire to the ground with his swords.
"Okay, bloodsucker, spit it out. Where are you hiding the humans?"
The vampire spat at his face.
"Do your worst, human. I'm not afraid of you."
Siegfried smiled.
A cold, sinister grin.
"Good... I was hoping you'd say that."
Outside the town hall, Heracles was still locked in battle.
Regulus roared again, the shockwave ripping apart the nearby trees and launching a dozen vampires into the air.
Heracles shielded his eyes from the dust cloud that followed.
Then… he heard something.
A distant, sharp scream of agony echoed from inside the town hall.
Slowly, Heracles turned his head toward the building, eyes narrowing.
"What the hell was that?"
Regulus paused, ears twitching.
Another scream followed, this one higher-pitched.
Heracles blinked and… unconsciously clenched his crotch.
"…I don't even wanna know what Siegfried's doing in there."
Regulus glanced at him.
"Focus. We still have work to do."
Heracles nodded, grimacing as he turned back to the battlefield.
The lion growled and charged, his roar flattening more of the vampire attackers, while Heracles detonated another wave with a heavy stomp.
Inside the town hall, another door creaked open.
Siegfried stepped out with a cloth in hand to wipe his hands clean of the blood.
"Okay. Next stop, secret tunnel."
DxD
Back at the battlefield, Arthur and King Tepes' battle had scorched the land into a molten ruin, the once-grand Tepes Castle now little more than a shattered skeleton of its former self, its stones cracked and blackened, its towers collapsing into heaps of dust and rubble.
Fiery embers danced in the toxic air as crimson flames continued to burn away what little still clung to life.
Arthur, in his Juggernaut Drive form, stood tall and savage amid the carnage.
His armored scales bore signs of stress, minor cracks, scarring, and heat fractures, but they were slowly knitting back together as smoke hissed from the wounds.
His dragon wings beat heavily as Arthur neared his breaking point.
Across from him, King Tepes was in far worse shape.
The vampire king's finely tailored upper garments had long since been incinerated, exposing pale flesh now torn, blistered, and burned raw by the crimson flames.
His left arm, engulfed in red fire, was already beyond saving.
Tepes glanced at it grimly, his expression a rare display of concern, then, without hesitation, tore it off at the shoulder with a wet rip of flesh and bone.
Blood sprayed across the blazing hot stone beneath him, sizzling on contact.
Even as his body began to regenerate, the flames within the wound slowed the process.
Ddraig's crimson flames weren't ordinary; they burned everything into nothingness, not even their souls or ashes were spared.
The battlefield briefly quieted.
Then, without warning, Arthur let out a guttural roar that shook the cracked remains of the castle walls.
His wings flared wide, and his crimson aura ignited around him.
With a sweeping motion of his arms, he summoned multiple Scale Mail clones, each clad in the same crimson armor, and they dropped to the ground in formation.
King Tepes, narrowing his eyes, raised his lone remaining hand.
Black shadow pooled beneath his feet, and from it surged forth a small army of shadows, vampiric knights emerged.
They wailed and hissed as they charged toward the advancing Scale Mail army.
And then, war erupted again.
The two armies collided in the heart of the ruins, scales and shadow tearing into each other with ruthless intensity, the ground cracked beneath the weight of their clashes.
Arthur watched silently until his head snapped back violently.
His claws gripped the sides of his skull as the voices returned, but more intense.
Arthur gritted his fanged jaws, his emerald slit eyes wide in agony as the cries of the past Boosted Gear possessors surged through his mind like a crashing wave.
Madness clawed at the edges of his sanity as space around him warped from the pressure of his inner turmoil.
(Arthur! You're about to reach your limit! If you keep this up, if you go further, you will lose yourself in the abyss forever! Once you do, you'll become nothing but a mindless beast!)
Ddraig's voice rang in his mind, strained, almost desperate.
Arthur hissed.
(I know... I know… but I'm not done yet... Not until... I BURN THEM ALL DOWN!!!)
He slammed his claws into the earth and let out another monstrous roar as a burst of Dragon Aura exploded from his body, flattening everything in a wide radius.
The purple dome above cracked visibly, groaning under the force, the shadow warriors and the Scale Mail clones were swept away from the storm, and even King Tepes stumbled backward, shielding himself with a wall of conjured blood that quickly evaporated from the heat.
Arthur's silhouette emerged from the haze of smoke and flames, crawling low like a beast, steam rising from his armor, green jewels across his body now glowing with rising fury.
"You're losing control, Red Dragon. You're out of time."
Tepes muttered, blood trailing down his chin.
His right hand, still dripping fresh crimson, conjured more blood projectiles, which he hurled toward Arthur.
Arthur didn't dodge.
He barreled forward.
The red beams from the jewels on his body fired with relentless precision, smashing through the projectiles and forcing King Tepes to dart to the side.
Each beam explosion carved trenches through the already ruined ground, some vaporizing the object they touched.
Then Arthur leapt, fangs bared, and collided with the vampire king.
*ROOOOOAAAAAR!!!*
King Tpes summoned shadow tentacles and a pair of blood cleavers as he charged back.
"Bring it on, Red Dragon!!!"
The two roared in unison as they clashed again, locked in a primal struggle.
Blades met scales, blood-soaked claws met shadows, and flames clashed against the shadow.
They circled each other, striking, grappling, and tearing through the rubble.
But then, King Tepes misstepped, just slightly, his footing slipping on the cracked, uneven stone.
That moment was all Arthur needed.
Arthur twisted his body and lashed out with his spear-like tail.
The sharpened tip pierced through the vampire king's abdomen with a wet, crunching sound.
"GAAAAAAHHH!!!"
Tepes' eyes widened as he gasped and vomited blood.
Arthur snarled, tightening the embedded tail as he grabbed the king by the shoulder with his massive claw. His talons dug deep, drawing more blood.
The vampire king roared in agony and desperation, summoning a flurry of blood weapons, swords, spears, halberds, but they barely scratched Arthur's armor.
He was too weakened from earlier.
"You… fool…"
King Tepes muttered, trying to conjure shadows again, but the spell fizzled from his fading strength.
The jewel on Arthur's chest began to glow violently.
[BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!]
Ddraig's voice echoed in his mind again.
(Arthur, STOP! That's too many Boosts for even your hybrid body could handle! You don't know what this will do to you! You'll die!)
But Arthur ignored him.
His expression was pure fury, wild and relentless.
He gritted his teeth and glared at the trapped vampire in his claws.
King Tepes' expression shifted, real fear now creeping into his ancient eyes.
"No… This is... How can this be?"
The jewel glowed bright red as it pulsed outward.
Arthur opened his mouth, and the green jewel on his chest glowed brightly, allowing the gathered energy to surge to the forefront.
[LONGINUS SMASHER!]
These were the last words echoed across the ruined land as everything was engulfed in a bright red light.
All that is left is silence...
DxD
Hello readers!
Sorry for the lack of uploads.
I was lost in the path of hell, also known as College.
This is the last part of Bloobath, so you all better donate your Power Stones.
Thank you, everyone, and see you later!