Location: The Azazel Cup Arena - Stage: "The White Room"
Event: Semi-Finals - Team Void vs. Team Emperor
Matchup: Raiden (The Joker) vs. Diehauser Belial (The Champion)
The arena had no features. There were no trees, no rocks, no water. It was an infinite expanse of white nothingness.
Azazel (Commentator): "And here we are! The Semi-Finals! The stage has been set to 'Absolute Neutral'. No environmental advantages. Just two monsters seeing who blinks first."
Diehauser Belial stood perfectly still. He wore his pristine white Champion's uniform. He looked less like a fighter and more like a judge.
Raiden stood opposite him. He cracked his neck, the sound echoing loudly in the silent space.
"No terrain to eat," Raiden noted. "You planned this."
"The environment is a distraction," Diehauser said calmly. "Today, we test the purity of your ability. Can the Gluttony King survive when there is nothing to consume?"
"Start!"
Raiden didn't hesitate. He launched himself forward at supersonic speed.
He threw a punch—the same punch that had knocked out the Evil Dragon Crom Cruach. It carried the weight of a meteor.
Diehauser didn't dodge. He didn't block. He simply looked at Raiden's fist.
[Ability: Worthlessness]
Phwump.
Raiden's fist connected with Diehauser's cheek.
But there was no shockwave. No sound of bone breaking. No impact.
It felt like punching a ghost. Or punching a cloud.
Raiden stumbled forward, off-balance.
"What?"
Diehauser raised his hand. He snapped his fingers.
A simple blast of demonic energy hit Raiden's chest.
BOOM.
Raiden flew back, skidding across the white floor. He coughed, checking his chest. A large bruise was forming.
"My punch..." Raiden looked at his hand. "It hit you. I felt the contact."
"You hit me," Diehauser nodded. "But I rendered the kinetic energy of your punch worthless. It had a value of zero. Therefore, it did no damage."
Diehauser walked forward.
"I can nullify the value of anything. Impact. Magic. Speed. Even your durability."
He pointed at Raiden.
"Worthless Defense."
Raiden's skin, usually tougher than dragon scales, suddenly felt soft. Human. Vulnerable.
Raiden frowned. "Annoying trick."
He opened his mouth.
[Gluttony: Mana Drain]
He tried to eat the demonic energy Diehauser was radiating.
Usually, this would drain an opponent dry in seconds.
Diehauser smiled.
"Worthless Nutrition."
Raiden inhaled the energy.
Gulp.
Immediately, Raiden grabbed his throat. He started coughing violently.
It didn't taste like magic. It tasted like ash. It tasted like emptiness.
[System Alert]
[Energy Absorbed: 0]
[Status: Starvation Mode Active]
[Warning: Metabolic Crash Imminent]
"You rely on eating to fuel your monstrous stamina," Diehauser analyzed. "But if I make the food 'worthless', you gain nothing. You are just filling your stomach with void. You will starve to death mid-battle."
Diehauser fired a barrage of magic missiles.
Raiden tried to block, but his defense was nullified.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Raiden was thrown around like a ragdoll. Blood sprayed onto the white floor.
Rias (VIP Box): "Raiden! He can't eat the attacks! He's taking raw damage!"
Ravel: "His regeneration is slowing down! He has no fuel!"
Raiden lay on the white floor, panting. He was bleeding from a dozen wounds. He felt weak. Hungry. Hollow.
Diehauser stood over him.
"Yield, Joker. You are a creature of desire. But in the face of 'Null', desire is meaningless."
Raiden stared at the white ceiling.
Meaningless?
Worthless?
He remembered the first time he ate a dragon. It was tough.
He remembered eating the Holy Fire. It was spicy.
He remembered eating the Poison. It was sour.
"Who decides..." Raiden whispered.
"What?" Diehauser paused.
Raiden sat up. He wiped the blood from his eyes.
His aura changed. It wasn't the wild purple of Gluttony. It wasn't the brown of Destruction.
It was something darker. Something primal.
"Who decides what has value?" Raiden asked, standing up shakily.
"The laws of reality," Diehauser answered. "And my Sacred Gear."
"Wrong."
Raiden's stomach growled. It was a sound like a tectonic plate shifting.
"I decide," Raiden grinned, revealing bloodstained teeth. "If I say it's food... IT'S FOOD."
Raiden opened his mouth.
But he didn't aim at Diehauser. He aimed at the concept of "Worthlessness" itself.
Diehauser's eyes widened. "You can't eat a concept that negates value! That's a paradox!"
Raiden's jaw unhinged. The spectral maw behind him expanded, becoming larger than the arena.
[Beelzebub: Paradigm Shift]
[Technique: The Gourmand's Delusion]
"I'm assigning a value to your 'Zero'," Raiden roared.
"Your Worthlessness... tastes like Ice!"
CRUNCH.
Raiden bit the empty air.
Glass shattered. The invisible field of "Worthlessness" surrounding Raiden cracked.
Diehauser stepped back in horror. "You... you forced a flavor onto my ability?!"
"It's cold," Raiden chewed aggressively. "Crunchy. Like eating a glacier."
He took another bite of the air.
CRUNCH.
"And a bit minty."
[System Update]
[Consumed: Concept of Nullification]
[Converted to: Cryo Energy]
[Stamina: Restored]
Raiden's wounds began to steam and close. His aura returned, explosive and terrifying.
"You can't make things worthless, Diehauser," Raiden stepped forward, the floor cracking under his renewed weight. "Because to a starving man... even the plate tastes good."
Diehauser panicked. His composure broke.
"Worthless! Worthless! WORTHLESS!"
He fired wave after wave of Nullification beams.
Raiden walked through them, opening his mouth and eating them like Pac-Man.
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.
"More!" Raiden laughed. "I'm getting full!"
He reached Diehauser.
Diehauser tried to erect a barrier of Absolute Zero Value.
Raiden pulled his fist back.
He concentrated all the energy he had just eaten - the energy of "Zero" converted into "Power."
"Here's your change," Raiden whispered.
"Sovereign Smash: Value Overflow."
BOOM.
He punched Diehauser in the gut.
This time, the kinetic energy wasn't zero. It was Infinite.
The impact was so strong it distorted the white dimension, creating cracks in the fabric of space-time.
Diehauser's eyes popped open. He coughed up bile.
He flew backward, skipping across the dimension like a stone on water, until he hit the invisible wall of the arena.
CRASH.
Diehauser slid down the wall, unconscious. His "Worthlessness" was shattered.
Raiden stood in the center of the fractured white room.
He burped. It sounded like a blizzard.
"A bit bland," Raiden critiqued. "But filling."
Announcer: "U-UNBELIEVABLE! The Champion is down! Diehauser Belial has been defeated! The Joker has eaten the invincible 'Null'!"
Rias and Issei ran onto the field.
"Raiden!" Issei cheered. "You were awesome! You ate math!"
"I ate logic," Raiden corrected, stretching his arms. "Logic is high in fiber."
He looked up at the VIP box.
He saw Sirzechs clapping.
He saw Azazel laughing.
And in the shadows, he saw a figure he hadn't expected.
A man with long blond hair, dressed in golden armor.
Indra, the God of War.
Indra wasn't clapping. He was smiling. A predatory smile.
Location: The Tournament Brackets
The screen updated.
Final Match:
Team Void (Captain: Raiden)
vs.
Team Heaven (Captain: Indra)
The crowd gasped.
Team Heaven wasn't led by Michael or a Seraph. It was led by the Hindu God Indra, who had entered as a "Guest".
Rossweisse fainted. "A Chief God?! We have to fight a Chief God?!"
Raiden looked at the screen.
"Indra," Raiden muttered. "The strongest War God."
Runeas Gremory appeared beside him.
"Indra is dangerous, Raiden. He is on par with Shiva in destructive capability. And... he wants to recruit you."
"Recruit me?"
"He collects strong warriors for the war against the Evil Gods. If you lose, you belong to him."
Raiden smirked.
"And if I win?"
"Then you become a Legend."
Raiden tightened his gloves.
"I don't care about legends. I just want to know if lightning tastes like lemon."