Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Vali Pov.
"Where are you going, Kuroka?" I opened one eye to see Arthur sitting at a table, calmly drinking tea; he was the one who had spoken, towards Kuroka, who seemed about to slip out of the room.
"Fufufufu, to see our common interest- nya." Kuroka laughed flirtatiously, and I stiffened slightly.
"Serena Prince." I spat out hatefully, Kuroka laughed amusedly.
"Exactly, I'm really curious to see the succubus who was able to defeat our beloved Vali twice, and Bikou-nya." Kuroka laughed amusedly. I felt a pang of irritation.
" Hey! I wasn't defeated! " Bikou complained from the other side.
"Because you did such an excellent job in your brief exchange, what a way to humiliate yourself, being attacked by your own punch-nya." Kuroka laughed mockingly. Bikou blushed slightly.
"Nobody told me about her portals! Who uses portals to fight?! " Bikou asked incredulously while complaining.
"Serena Prince," Le Fay said easily. "A witch, according to herself and the information we gathered," she added with ease.
"A witch who possesses Excalibur," Arthur interjected, sounding genuinely interested. "Or at least, a version of Excalibur she created herself, as well as other truly famous swords and weapons."
"Well, Vali, you lost to a witch using a sword-nya." Kuroka laughed mockingly, and my eye twitched slightly.
"She used sacred and anti-dragon weapons." I grumbled in annoyance.
"And you used Divine Dividing, you really can't complain- nya. It makes you look like a sore loser- nya." Kuroka said, laughing. My eye twitched even more.
"And in the second fight, I won't use your weapons, and I'll still beat you." Le Fay remarked playfully, mimicing lady Prince, and my eye twitched even more.
"My Divine Dividing wasn't working properly with her; I can't divide her power correctly." I grumbled in annoyance.
"Sounds like excuses- nya," Kuroka said boredly. "Learn to use other things if you don't want to be easily surpassed-nya," she sneered. I gritted my teeth.
"Any explanation for why you can't divide her power normally?" Bikou asked from the side. I clicked my tongue.
"If I knew, I wouldn't be here. She must have some kind of defense or something. It works. I could feel her power draining, but only a fraction, not half as it should. Even using several results in varying divisions, but never half." I said, frowning.
"That's worrying," Arthur hummed. "Do you think she'll be able to share that defense with the rest of her peerage? With people outside of them? She's giving away a lot of her creations on that Distracted Globe of hers as prizes," Arthur said matter-of-factly.
"Albion?" I finally asked. Albion remained silent for a few seconds.
"I have no idea what's going on," Albion said honestly, my eyes widening slightly. "My power doesn't function properly against those stronger than its current wielder. In this case, you, Vali, know the limitations. Many people fall into that category, such as the principal gods of the various pantheons."
"But Serana Prince... doesn't fall into that category. She's strong, yes, but not strong enough for my Divide to fail, especially during our first encounter. She had as much power as you, or even less, and yet my Divide failed. And I assure you, there is no god or being whose power I cannot divide."
"The only exceptions are Great Red, Ophis, and Ddraig." Albion asserted firmly; it wasn't even arrogance, it was a simple statement, such was his confidence in his power. "So no, this is... the first time this has happened."
"Trying to divide her power is like trying to tear off something really sticky and dense, while for others it's as easy as separating and draining water. Something is holding her powers together, preventing them from being lost or drained, and not only that, I could sense that her own control over her power is almost perfect; she was able to grasp even the tiniest particle of power and bring it under her control," Albion said solemnly.
"Oh? Perfect control of her power?" Le Fay asked, sounding genuinely interested.
"Yes, I couldn't sense a single wasted bit of her magic while she was using it; all her power was under iron control, which is incredible. Her demonic power is growing by leaps and bounds as a descendant of Lucifer, but even so, her control is still the best I've seen in a long time."
"If she's able to perfect that defense, then I have no doubt that my Divide won't work against her at all," Albion said calmly.
"You'll really need to step up your game, Vali." Bikou mocked. My eye twitched, and I glared at him.
"As interesting as that is, I'm still more interested in her weapons," Arthur said easily. Kuroka snorted and rolled her eyes.
"All you care about are swords, " Kuroka said lazily. Arthur didn't seem angry; he simply nodded.
"Being able to create a bastard Excalibur is truly impressive, but it's not just that. Hrunting, Balmung, Harpe, Gae Buidhe, and other swords—her creation skills far surpass those of Sword Birth and Blade Blacksmith. I really want to know what other famous swords she has in her repertoire," Arthur said, sounding genuinely excited.
"Add, Ruyi Jingu Bang." I said easily.
"What!? My staff?!" Bikou asked in surprise. I rolled my eyes.
"You'd know that if you listened for once." I grumbled in annoyance. "She can replicate most weapons just by looking at them. You stupidly showed Ruyi." I said mockingly. Bikou looked incredulous before snorting.
"Yeah, well, I wish her good luck in raising Ruyi Jingu Bang," Bikou said, pouting. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, well, all that sounds amazing. We already know she's super strong, and considering our fearless leader rejected me, I'll go find her so she can give me some kittens— nya." Kuroka said with a lascivious smile. "She's a succubus who defeated Vali twice, and she's fertile enough to give me a whole litter of kittens. I can't wait— nya." Kuroka laughed happily.
"Good luck with that," Le Fay said with a grimace.
"Do you really think you can infiltrate their city?" Arthur asked curiously. Kuroka just laughed.
"Of course, besides her Peerage, there's no one strong enough to sense me. As long as I stay away from Distracted Globe and the occasional gods who visit her, I should be able to get into her mansion," Kuroka said confidently. I snorted, but said nothing.
"I thought all the spies that the other demons and factions keep sending would end up disappearing," Bikou said, confused.
"They do." Arthur confirmed as he sipped his tea.
"They're weak- nya! Don't worry, she won't find me!" Kuroka said confidently.
"Or we can just go straight there. She offered Vali an invitation to come directly to her city; he could take us with him," Le Fay said simply.
"Ha! That invitation is for him to dance and sing! You know what, you have to take us with you when you go!" Bikou laughed. I glared at him.
"I don't intend to accept their deal." I grunted in annoyance.
"You will." "He will." "Yes, you will." "Yes, he will accept." They all said at the same time. My eye trembled even more.
"She'll let you fight her or her Peerage anytime, you just have to film her TV series, you'll accept, you battle junkie." Bikou added mockingly.
"Shut up." I growled. Bikou just laughed.
"I'll go then." Kuroka purred, turning away.
"Don't let them catch you. I'm not letting you go." I growled in annoyance. Kuroka laughed and winked at me.
"Don't worry, leader, they won't... at least not when I don't want to." Kuroka said flirtatiously. We all rolled our eyes.
"They'll catch her," Le Fay said, rolling her eyes. "I've been studying Pentagram City's magic from afar, and it's simply incredible. It seems to be some enormous ritual. I don't yet know its purpose, but it should be able to defend itself against anything!" Le Fay said excitedly. "I also want to know about the magic she used in the fight against Vali. It didn't seem like magic," she added quickly.
"That's because it wasn't magic," Albion said, and we all stopped. Even Kuroka, with half her body outside the room, simply came in and looked curiously in my direction.
"Isn't it magic?" Le Fay asked curiously. Albion remained silent.
"Albion?" I asked, frowning.
"It's nothing, you can ignore it." Albion finally said, and my eyebrows rose slightly.
"Oh come on, White, you can't just say something like that and tell us to ignore it," Bikou complained. Albion remained silent before sighing.
"During our first fight against Serena Prince, she definitely used magic. The... small world she created around us was a manifestation of magic, of her demonic power. Everything had been created with her power; of that I have no doubt."
"But in the second fight... that... was completely different. Her portals were made of her pure demonic power, as dark as a pureblood demon can create and possibly darker. But then those fire blasts, those gravity wells, the lightning, and everything else? That... that wasn't magic."
"They simply... existed." Albion said easily. I blinked in confusion.
"Wait, they existed? Isn't that what magic does? It's conjuring, transforming its power into other elements," Le Fay said quickly and much more attentively.
"You'd expect so, but that's not what Serena Prince did," Albion said, almost tensely. "Normal magic, demonic power, holy power, and even divine power all work that way—they use their power and transform it. But in between, there are hundreds of things happening: magical formulas and equations, magic circles, intention, and even the gods have to use their authority to transform their divine power into something else."
"But what did Serena Prince do? She completely skipped the intermediate step. She used a power—it wasn't demonic power; it was… something else, like Holy Light, but without the Holiness, just…Light. She used that, and then what she wanted simply…existed."
"There was no intermediate step, no magic circles or magic equations or anything. I couldn't sense anything, as if there were no causal relationship behind her attacks. It simply seemed as if she asked the world itself to create something... no... she simply imposed her will upon the world to create something that didn't exist at that moment," Albion said solemnly. I frowned, confused. That... still sounded like magic, really.
"That still sounds like magic to me," Bikou said, shrugging and shamelessly echoing my thoughts.
"But it isn't." Le Fay said immediately, standing and trembling slightly. "Are you sure you didn't overlook something, Albion? Magic doesn't work like that; no system works like that. Magic allows you to transform magical power into something else. Magic serves to defy the laws of physics, but you can't violate the laws of causality in such a... such a casual way! "
"That's... inconceivable! It would take something... something completely superior! Even the divine would have difficulty performing such feats! It's possible, certainly it is, some gods can do it, but not so casually! Not in such a way that it would seem she'd created a whole magical system around it!! That's inconceivable, it's impossible!" said Le Fay, pacing back and forth.
"Unless you're someone special, someone... with an affinity for creation." Albion said softly. Le Fay stopped and frowned before opening her eyes in shock.
"No!" Le Fay said breathlessly.
"Oh, believe me, I've tried to convince myself I misunderstood him. Even after all this time, and with him sealed inside a Sacred Gear, it wouldn't be difficult for me to recognize him. It doesn't feel like HIM, but his power? Yes, it feels like what he was capable of," Albion said solemnly, a hint of fear in his voice. My eyes widened. Fear? Was Albion afraid?
"B-but that's impossible!!" Le Fay said in denial.
"Impossible? Nothing is impossible for HIM, that's the point." Albion scoffed.
"Who the hell are they talking about?" Bikou asked, confused, as he looked around.
"The Biblical God." Le Fay murmured, horrified and breathless, breathing so slowly I could barely hear her. I froze, completely frozen, utterly rigid, all my limbs feeling heavy. And I wasn't the only one; we all remained completely silent.
" T-t-the Biblical God?" Bikou stammered in shock, eyes wide. "Wasn't he supposed to be dead?! And you're saying it's a girl? A succubus?!" Bikou asked, waking us all from shock.
"Are you sure, Albion?!" I demanded immediately.
"I have no idea," Albion said easily. "As I said, she didn't feel like him, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if he were capable of creating contingencies in case of his death, but it's also quite possible that I'm completely wrong."
"But... he was able to transform my body and Draig's into Sacred Gear, he was able to imprison our souls in his Sacred Gear system and reincarnate in heaven along with all the other existing Sacred Gear, and it still works after his death, he created the angels, and he created thousands of other things."
"So yes, I would truly believe it if He were able to return from the dead," Albion said solemnly. I stared at the wall in shock.
"God... is she? Is she a Succubus?" Arthur asked in shock, his face completely blank.
"I said I believed He was capable of creating a safeguard against his death, but I never said I knew how it was created," Albion said dryly. "He definitely didn't use the Sacred Gear system since Serena Prince isn't human and never was. So the method is completely unknown."
"Was Serena Prince able to find a fragment of God? Is she a genuine reincarnation of God's soul? God created a safeguard for the descendants of his angels, and she just happened to arrive as an unlucky daughter of Lucifer? These are questions we can't answer, questions that surely neither the Angels nor Serena herself has the answers to." Albion finally said. I still felt dizzy.
God? Was Serena Prince a God?
I could feel my body tingle with excitement as a huge, wild smile began to spread across my face. I could feel my blood pumping hard as my heart pounded so hard I could feel it thumping in my chest.
"God," I murmured excitedly. "That means if I can defeat her, I'll surpass you where you failed, Albion." I said with an enormous thirst for battle. Albion remained silent before bursting into laughter.
"Yes, I suppose so, Companion, if Serena Prince turns out to be God, then we have a huge reckoning to settle! " Albion said with the same excitement.
"Can we please not anger the God of the Bible?!" Le Fay said fearfully. "If she really is God, and Albion was able to realize it, I don't think Michael and the others didn't realize it. I don't want all the angels chasing us to hell for fighting against God; historically, that didn't end well for any pantheon." Le Fay said, her voice trembling slightly.
"We're terrorists, different factions are already hunting us, and the Angels were already one of them, so what does it matter! I say let's do it!" Bikou said excitedly. Arthur sighed.
"I remind you, Vali, that your Divine Dividing doesn't work properly with her," Arthur said dryly.
"That means I have to keep training." I said without hesitation, while Bikou nodded excitedly.
"Fufufufufufu." Kuroka, who had been silent, began to laugh loudly, then smiled with a completely lustful expression and a flushed face. "The children of God?! Does that mean I can have the children of God-Nya?!" Kuroka asked excitedly, not even waiting for an answer, she simply teleported to the underworld.
"Should we stop her?" Le Fay finally asked. I snorted.
"I'm not going to waste my time with her; I have more important things to do," I said curtly before turning around and leaving the place where we were temporarily staying.
"Wait for me, Vali, I'm coming with you to train!" Bikou said, quickly following me.
"I might need some training," Arthur said as he stood up. Le Fay groaned loudly as she massaged her temple.
"Alright, let's go." She sighed before the four of us teleported to an uninhabited area of the underworld, far enough away from everything. I would have to learn to fight without relying on Divine Dividing if I wanted to stand a chance against God... against Serena.
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