Before we begin the chapter, I wanted to share a few important announcements.
As a year-end gift, I've released several free chapters from the exclusive Patreon stories for all members. I've also just posted two new stories over there — one for Teen Wolf and one for The Walking Dead — and the first chapters are available for you to check out at no additional cost.
You can also choose to support me for just 5.99 USD. We already have many advanced chapters; for example, this DxD story has already entered the Tensura arc, which will receive weekly chapters averaging ten thousand words each! I know I messed up quite a bit at the beginning of the first part of this story, but I really want to deliver something worthy in Tensura.
Now, enjoy the reading — and thank you for your support as always.
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They took their positions.
Kazuya adjusted his sunglasses with a single finger, the lazy smile never leaving his lips.
Vali hovered a few meters away, supported by his [Divine Dividing], his body wrapped in a silver aura that crackled like lightning under the sunlight. He activated his [Balance Breaker] without hesitation.
"Vanishing Dragon Balance Breaker!!"
In the blink of an eye, the white armor of [Divine Dividing] covered his body. The blue jewels shone intensely, and a wave of demonic and draconic power rippled through the air.
Kazuya merely adjusted his sunglasses again.
"Ah… straight to the main course with no warm-up. Typical of you, Vali."
Vali didn't reply.
He simply charged, a silver flash slicing through the air as it shattered with a deafening supersonic crack. His right fist came like a missile, aimed at Kazuya's chest with enough force to pulverize a mountain.
Kazuya didn't move.
With an almost lazy gesture, he raised his hand and intercepted the blow mid-air, as if swatting away an annoying fly.
The impact unleashed a shockwave that swept the ground, cracking the earth around them.
Kazuya gave a faint smile.
"Hmm… decent strength. You've been hitting the gym properly, huh?"
Vali growled, flapping his wings to retreat a few meters. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second before narrowing into pure fury.
"Don't mock me!"
"Divide!" the mechanical voice of the armor boomed at the same time, reverberating like metallic thunder. The energy around Kazuya seemed to flicker, forcibly drained as though half his power were being torn away.
But Kazuya merely let out a low chuckle, tilting his head slightly.
"Ah… that tickles. Try again. Maybe next time you'll actually hit something."
From the pier, Bikou nearly fell over laughing, leaning on his staff.
"Hahaha! Look at Vali getting wrecked without even breaking a sweat! This is gonna be legendary!"
Arthur, standing beside him, simply crossed his arms, a discreet smile curving his lips as he adjusted his glasses.
"He's persistent, I'll give him that."
Kuroka's feline eyes gleamed as she licked her lips provocatively.
"Nya~ Kazuya-kun is so sexy when he toys with them like this…"
Azazel, still holding his fishing rod, let out a long sigh. "I knew it… there's no peace when these two are on the same planet. Goodbye, quiet day."
Vali ignored the comments, his face tense, rage pulsing beneath his skin. With a roar, his wings flared in a white-blue flash, and he shot upward, tearing through the sky like an inverted shooting star.
"Half-Dimension!" the metallic voice echoed.
The space around Kazuya began to fold and compress, as though the world itself were being forced into a smaller container. Rocks lifted from the ground and shattered mid-air; trees twisted under invisible weight; the air grew thick and suffocating.
High above, Vali hovered, shrouded in light. The blue jewels of his armor pulsed frantically as he channeled more power.
"You're not escaping this one!"
Kazuya yawned—literally. He stretched his arms, muscles relaxed, like someone who'd just woken from a good nap.
"Escape? Why? It's so much fun down here…"
With a light leap, he floated upward, defying gravity as if it were a game. His yukata billowed in the wind like a cape, and his feet never touched the ground again.
The Half-Dimension enveloped him—and still, nothing happened.
Kazuya snapped his fingers, and the world around him simply… stopped.
The compression unraveled. Space expanded once more, as though an invisible bubble protected him and warped the very laws of reality.
Vali's frustration was palpable. Since their last battle, he had trained relentlessly to grow stronger, reaching a level that even Albion had declared comparable to his own peak. He wasn't truly angry about Kazuya's taunts—not entirely. He was somewhat used to them by now. What truly enraged him was how effortlessly Kazuya handled his [Balance Breaker], as if it were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
Once again, Vali had failed to force his rival to use his own [Balance Breaker].
He dove like a comet, unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks infused with draconic energy in near-continuous succession. Each blow carried enough force to level a city; the air cracked around them, shards of stone and sparks of energy exploding with every imagined impact. But Kazuya deflected or blocked everything with just one hand, spinning through the air as if dancing—as if the world were his stage and he the sole conductor.
A punch came straight for his face; Kazuya tilted his head, letting the fist pass mere millimeters away, the wind whistling sharply. A kick aimed at his abdomen? He casually raised a knee to block it effortlessly, the impact's energy ricocheting and cracking the ground far below, sending small rocks flying.
The sky seemed to tremble under Vali's intensity, the surrounding trees bending beneath the pressure of the shockwaves. Yet Kazuya remained calm, his hair and yukata fluttering gently, utterly unfazed by the chaos.
"Left… right… ah, so predictable. Try something new!"
They climbed higher, piercing the clouds like arrows in slow motion. The sky opened around them, white clouds spiraling apart to reveal the endless blue above.
The wind howled, cold and biting, tearing leaves and stray raindrops free, but Kazuya laughed, his sunglasses reflecting the filtered sunlight.
Vali, panting yet relentless, repeatedly invoked Divide, trying to drain Kazuya's near-limitless power.
"Divide! Divide! Divide!" The armor blazed brighter, his wings expanding into colossal forms as he unleashed the full might of the White Dragon Emperor. The energy around him rippled like living lava, warping the air and bending space.
Kazuya spun through the air with the lightness of a feather, dodging a beam fired from Vali's jewels. The ray sliced a cloud in half, premature raindrops falling onto the lake below and exploding into small waves.
"Wow, almost got me! Almost, huh?" He winked, reappearing behind Vali in an instant via barely perceptible teleportation.
A light slap on the back—nothing more than a nudge—sent Vali spinning downward, tumbling hundreds of meters before stabilizing with effort.
Vali regained control, flapping his wings with titanic force to climb again. His face was flushed with rage, teeth clenched, veins bulging in his neck.
"You… you're not even fighting seriously! Stop playing around and face me for real!" He gathered energy in his hands, forming a sphere of demonic power that pulsed like it had a heart of its own, radiating heat and force capable of tearing the sky apart—then hurled it straight at Kazuya.
The sphere—blazing like a miniature sun—hurtled toward him, dragging the sound of the heavens splitting.
Kazuya didn't even blink.
He simply raised his hand with the same calm one might use to brush away a paper ball. His palm touched the sphere, and for a brief second, the world went white.
The impact was silent for one heartbeat—the kind of silence that precedes the apocalypse—then the entire sky exploded.
A flash so vast it lit distant mountains like beacons, a ring of fire rising into the heavens and dissipating everything in its path. Shockwaves birthed instant hurricanes, and the lake below partially evaporated.
But at the center of it all… Kazuya was still there.
Standing calmly in mid-air, right hand extended, expression relaxed. The energy had been redirected upward, confined within a translucent barrier that rippled like liquid glass. High above, a second, even more colossal explosion bloomed, expanding into space like an artificial sun.
"If I hadn't put up that magical containment barrier… half of Japan would've become a hole in the map," he said, his tone almost instructional. "To be precise, roughly 1.6 × 10¹⁶ joules. That's about… fifty hydrogen bombs. Give or take."
He glanced at Vali, who stared in stunned silence before quickly recovering at Albion's warning to be careful.
Vali barely had time to breathe. When he blinked, Kazuya was already in front of him.
A sharp blow struck the chest of his armor. The impact launched the White Dragon Emperor backward like a missile, piercing clouds, breaking the sound barrier, and leaving a trail of vapor and energy.
Before he could stop, Kazuya appeared again—a silver blur—and kicked him sideways, redirecting him like a pinball.
The impact sounded like thunder.
Vali fell, but Kazuya caught up instantly. He grabbed him by the helmet, spun in mid-air, and hurled him upward—only to appear above and smash him back down with a knee.
With every motion, the atmosphere shattered. Shockwaves rained down, cracking distant mountains.
Vali tried to fight back.
"Divide!"
The voice came muffled as Albion's power attempted to halve Kazuya's strength.
But there was nothing to divide.
Kazuya gripped Vali's face with one hand and pushed downward, sending both into freefall. Wind roared, clouds tore apart, and the ground rushed up in a blur of green and gray.
They hit the earth.
A crater bloomed like a giant flower, the impact forcing the air outward in a visible wave. Dust, rocks, trees—everything vanished for kilometers around.
At the center of the devastation, Kazuya sat casually atop Vali's chest, elbow on his knee, chin resting in his hand, observing his opponent like someone watching a curious animal struggle to stand.
"You're as durable as ever, Vali~chan." The lazy smile returned. "Still want to keep going?"
Vali spat blood, his helmet cracked.
"Damn you…!"
Before he could finish, Kazuya vanished, and Vali struggled to pursue in a frantic exchange of punches and kicks…
In one moment, Kazuya landed another punch to his chest—like a freight train. The ground beneath cracked, and before Vali could react, his body was hurled backward, smashing through one rock wall, then another, and another. The nearby mountain rose in a wave of stone and dust before being completely obliterated by the force.
The boom echoed for miles.
The entire valley seemed to shudder.
Kazuya appeared above the cloud of debris, sunglasses still perfectly in place, yukata fluttering lazily.
"Hmm… think I overdid it a bit. Hope he's still in one piece. Would be boring if it ended so soon."
A blue streak cut through the dust in the same instant.
From within the wreckage, Vali emerged—but he was no longer the same. His [Balance Breaker] armor had shattered and reformed into something alive, organic. Four pairs of draconic wings extended from his back, floating motionless yet warping the space around them with their own gravity. Three tails writhed from his lower back, ending in crystalline blades that sliced the air with a high-pitched whine. His helmet had fused with his skull, curved horns sweeping backward, and his eyes… pure white, pupilless, radiating cold, merciless light.
"Juggernaut Drive…" Albion's voice finished, and the world seemed to shrink under the weight of that transformation.
The sky paled.
Clouds dissolved into a colossal vortex as Vali's aura exploded outward, spreading like an ocean of light. Blue sparks danced through the air. Raw power warped space, creating flickering lines as if reality itself couldn't withstand what stood before it.
Down below, Bikou's eyes widened.
"Whoa, he actually pulled out the trump card… This just got real!"
Arthur lowered his head, voice calm but firm.
"If this gets out of hand, half the region could be wiped out."
Kuroka let out a sultry sigh, though tension laced her voice.
"Nya~… if my Kazuya-kun weren't so strong, I might actually be worried right now."
Azazel set his fishing rod down and dragged a hand across his face.
"I knew it'd come to this… He really pushed the kid to the edge. This is starting to get concerning."
High above, Kazuya merely tilted his head.
"You really have gotten stronger. But if this is your trump card, I'm afraid the fight has to end…"
Vali offered no reply.
With a roar, he vanished.
A blue flash streaked the air, and the impact arrived before the sound. Kazuya blocked the strike with his forearm, but the force pushed him back several meters. The ground below exploded across kilometers, the air bending under the pressure.
Vali pressed the assault—rapid, precise strikes, each heavy enough to tear space itself. Kazuya dodged, spun, and sometimes let punches graze mere millimeters away, laughing, taunting, playing.
"Faster, Vali. You're almost… almost making me use a real hand."
"SHUT UP!"
Vali's fist connected cleanly with Kazuya's face. A perfect hit. The sound rang out like a detonation.
But what followed made Vali freeze.
Kazuya slowly turned his head back, smile untouched.
"Nice. Now it's getting fun."
He vanished.
Vali felt the impact before seeing it. A kick slammed into his abdomen, crumpling the armor. Air fled his lungs. Before he could recover, another blow struck from the side, then another, and another—each delivered with the precision of a predator toying with prey.
With every hit, Vali was flung in a new direction, his body ricocheting off compressed air.
It was a brutal dance. And Kazuya was enjoying himself.
Suddenly, he stopped mid-air, arms crossed, letting out an exaggerated sigh.
"Alright, enough wrecking the scenery. This is turning into a minefield of craters."
He opened his palm.
Golden runes spread across the sky, forming perfect geometric patterns. In seconds, a colossal structure materialized above them—a magical barrier that swallowed the entire horizon.
Daylight dimmed.
The sky became a translucent square of magical energy, completely isolating the battlefield from the rest of the world.
Inside the dome, the wind died. Time seemed to freeze.
Kazuya looked around, satisfied, and snapped his fingers.
"There. Now we can play without anyone complaining about collateral damage."
He pointed at Vali, his sharp smile returning.
"So, White Dragon Emperor… want to see what comes next?"
The glow in Vali's eyes was pure hatred and pride.
"Bring everything you've got, Kazuya!"
"Everything?" Kazuya raised an eyebrow, amused. "Ah, Vali… you couldn't handle everything. But I can give you a taste."
As he finished speaking, he deliberately removed his sunglasses and hung them on the collar of his yukata. His blue eyes—cold and infinite as the abyss of the sky—were finally exposed. The lazy smile remained, but now it carried a razor edge, like a sword slowly being unsheathed.
Vali, deep in Juggernaut Drive, felt a primal shiver run down his draconic spine.
Albion whispered in his mind: [Be careful, partner…]
But the pride of Lucifer's descendant allowed no retreat. His wings spread to their fullest, tails whipping the air, and he roared.
"Come on!" Vali shouted, his voice distorted into a layered echo—as if he and Albion spoke as one.
No matter how prepared he thought he was, he was caught utterly off guard by what happened next…
Kazuya blinked, appearing instantly in front of Vali. His right fist moved in a lazy, almost casual arc.
But the impact… oh, the impact was like the birth of a star.
The punch struck dead center on the organic armor, right where the blue jewels sat. A wave of pure energy exploded from the point of contact.
Vali was hurled backward like a leaf in a hurricane, his body slamming into the inner wall of the barrier. The structure—designed to contain attacks capable of erasing entire nations—cracked. He spat a jet of blood…
Yet he quickly recovered, tails lashing to propel himself forward again.
"Half-Dimension Overdrive!" he roared, compressing the space around Kazuya into a sphere of gravitational collapse. The air became a black vortex, pulling everything into an infinitesimal point.
Kazuya extended his left hand, fingers spreading as if plucking an apple from thin air. Instead of resisting, he seized control of the vortex—then reversed it. With a casual backhand, he batted the gravitational sphere back at Vali.
The impact was the second blow. The reflected energy struck Vali like a planet colliding with another. His organic armor twisted, white scales cracking and dissolving into particles of light. He was flung into another section of the barrier, body spinning out of control.
By some miracle, he survived the attack.
But Kazuya gave him no chance to catch his breath. He simply advanced, moving at a speed that transcended time itself. His knee drove into Vali's abdomen first, crumpling the armor like tin foil. Then an uppercut to the chin, snapping the head back with a thunderclap. Finally, a spinning kick to the flank that sent Vali flying like a rogue comet.
The three strikes fused into one moment of absolute destruction. The already-weakened barrier couldn't withstand Vali's body slamming into it again. It exploded in a cascade of magical light, golden fragments raining over the valley like falling stars.
Vali fell. Still wrapped in Juggernaut Drive, his body carved a fiery trail through the sky. He crashed near the lake, creating a colossal crater the size of a stadium, its edges smoking and rocks melted. The shockwave caused the lake to overflow, massive waves crashing against the pier and nearly sweeping the group away.
The Juggernaut Drive dissolved on impact. White scales evaporated, wings and tails retracted into dissipating light, leaving Vali in human form—or what remained of it. He lay at the crater's center, body battered: deep gashes across chest and arms, purple bruises spreading like spilled ink, bones likely broken in multiple places. His clothes hung in tatters, exposing pale skin marred by energy burns and dried blood. He panted, eyes glassy, silver hair caked with dust.
Kazuya floated to the crater's edge, sliding his sunglasses back on with one finger. The lazy smile returned, as if nothing had happened.
"Hey, Vali-kun. Still alive down there? Good fight. But next time, try not to push so hard. You're still far too weak to challenge me…"
Vali slowly lifted his head, spitting more blood, but a faint, proud, stubborn smile curved his lips.
"Next time… I win."
Azazel came running down, followed by the group.
"Damn it, kid! You're a mess. Come on, let's heal this before it becomes permanent."
Bikou laughed, relieved. "Haha, you got absolutely destroyed! But hey, you survived the crazy human."
Kuroka leaped to Kazuya's side, rubbing against him. "Nya~ You were amazing, Kazuya-kun. You're perfect for giving me strong kittens~"
Arthur simply nodded, helping Vali to his feet. "Respect. But train harder. He didn't even use his Balance Breaker."
Kazuya chuckled softly. "Let me heal you, Vali…"