The battlefield was in chaos.
The ruined ritual site was now a war zone, littered with building fragments, scorched earth, and piles of slain shadows that refused to stay down for long.
Arthur flew through the air, trading brutal blows with a towering shadow cyclops.
Each punch from the beast sent shockwaves rippling through the ground, cracking craters beneath them.
Arthur gritted his teeth as his gauntlets met the creature's own massive, inky knuckles, creating a thunderous clash that shook the air.
[BOOST!]
"Hmph. Not bad for a fat piece of crap."
Arthur muttered as he darted backwards to avoid a fist the size of a car.
A giant rock followed, hurled straight at his head.
He ducked under it mid-air, rolled sideways with his wings, and then launched himself forward like a missile, slamming into the cyclops's chest and forcing it back several meters.
"Ddraig, this thing's taking forever. Have any ideas?"
(It's a cyclops. The eye is a very obvious weak point. Crush the eye and the rest will fall.)
Ddraig responded coolly.
Arthur smirked.
"Classic."
He darted upwards in a crimson streak, flaring his wings wide before flipping mid-air and diving straight toward the monster's grotesque eye.
"Good night, you one-eyed fuck!"
Arthur reared back his gauntlet, claws glowing bright, and stabbed directly into the cyclops's eye.
The creature howled, thrashing violently as black ooze exploded from the wound.
Arthur dug deeper, twisting his gauntlet as he forced the beast to collapse under its own weight.
"Down you go!"
Arthur grinned, only to feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
He jerked to the side, barely dodging two shadowed fists that came crashing down where he stood.
The ground exploded on impact, throwing up dirt and dust as two more cyclopses emerged from the smoke, bellowing with rage.
Arthur cursed as he flipped backward mid-air.
"Seriously!? There's more of these guys!?"
He charged in again, ready to rip and tear.
Nearby, Jeanne stood tall atop a broken altar, arms spread wide as a barrage of glowing holy swords materialized behind her.
"Die!"
She fired the blades in a wide arc, sending a storm of radiant projectiles into the oncoming swarm of shadow exorcists.
The blades impaled dozens of them, the explosion of light vaporizing several more, but it wasn't enough.
She spun around just in time as a shadow exorcist leapt from behind, blade poised.
Jeanne snarled, ducked, and drove one of her rapiers straight into its chest, then spun again and decapitated another.
"That was close... I almost lost my head..."
She panted, twirling her swords back into stance.
She didn't stop moving.
Her form was graceful and precise, cutting down foes as fast as they could appear, but more and more began to press in on her from every angle.
Sweat poured down her face as her armor began to crack from the relentless assault.
Siegfried was faring no better.
He stood in the middle of a collapsed pillar, his Demon Swords swinging around him in constant motion.
His Twice Critical had been working overtime, cutting through the endless tangle of writhing tentacles that erupted from the cracked ground and the ruined sky alike.
One of his Twice Critical arms was suddenly grabbed mid-swing.
He grunted as he was yanked into the air and slammed hard into the rubble behind him.
Stone and dust flew as he crashed, coughing and groaning.
"Okay, now I'm officially pissed off."
He spat blood, rising with a glare.
He sliced the tentacle clean off at the root, only to find five more lunging for him.
His blades met them mid-air, but the numbers weren't going down.
Arthur tackled one of the new cyclopses, smashing it into the earth before it could attack Jeanne.
He drove his claws into its neck, twisting with a growl, but then had to leap away as the other one swiped at him with a massive tree it had ripped from the forest edge.
"They just keep coming."
He muttered through clenched teeth.
"Arthur! There's no end to them! They just keep coming back!"
Jeanne called from a distance, leaping backward as several exorcists fired dark projectiles at her.
"Same here! Can't you just make clones or something?!"
Siegfried growled, cutting through another wave of tentacles.
Arthur dodged another swing and drove both fists into the gut of the cyclops, sending it stumbling back.
"I've already had! Look outside and see for yourselves!"
Outside the black dome, multiple clones of Arthur were surrounding the dome, battling to the death to keep the army of shadows from leaving the island and reaching the fishing boats where the people were escaping from.
Ordering them is the clone holding the Excalibur Rapidly, as he cuts down another shadow.
"HOLD THE FUCKING LINE! NOTHING GETS THROUGH US!"
He yelled as he dodged a tentacle and cut it down, only to face more tentacles.
Back inside the dome, the trio found themselves slowly herded back together, shoulder to shoulder now, panting and bloodied.
Jeanne wiped a smear of blood from her cheek.
"We need a plan."
Siegfried breathed heavily, slamming Gram into the ground for support.
"Unless that plan involves us getting killed, then I'm all ears. I'm running on fumes right now…"
Arthur growled, wings flickering as he clutched his Boosted Gear.
"We're not done yet. We have to save Connla before he's done for!"
[BOOST!][TRANSFER!]
He gave Jeanne and Siegfried another Boost as they continued to push forward.
...
A few minutes later.
...
"Damn it! There are too many of them!"
Jeanne yelled, her voice hoarse with exertion as she braced herself against a broken wall.
Her armor was cracked, blood running down the side of her face.
She raised her rapier and unleashed a flurry of holy swords, slicing through the incoming swarm of shadows that screeched and dissolved in mid-air.
Her chest rose and fell heavily, her eyes burning with defiance.
A few meters ahead, Siegfried roared as he cleaved through another shadow beast with Gram and Balmung, his Demon Swords crackling with demonic energy.
"I swear I'm gonna skewer every last one of those cultist bastards once we're done with their group project!"
He spat, slicing off a massive tentacle that had tried to coil around his leg.
His coat torn and bloodied, and one of his Twice Critical arms barely clung to his back, but he kept fighting, driven by the same fury and stubbornness that Jeanne shared.
A short distance away, a thunderous crack echoed through the corrupted skies as Arthur dove from above, Boosted Gear at hand.
He plunged his gauntlet deep into the singular, massive eye of a giant shadow cyclops, and with a brutal twist, he ripped the eye out of its skull, causing the massive creature to convulse before collapsing into a twitching, shapeless blob of darkness.
Black ooze sprayed the ground as Arthur landed in a crouch, panting heavily, his hoodie in tainted and his gauntlets stained with black residue.
"God, that was gross…"
He muttered as he wiped his mouth with the back of his arm.
Just then, a clone of Arthur arrived with Excalibur Rapidly at hand.
"The town has been cleared. We've evacuated everyone to the boats at the shore. Its only us left now."
Arthur gave a tired but firm nod.
"Good."
He walked over to the clone, snatched the Excalibur Rapidly from its hands, and summoned his Excalibur Destruction, now dual-wielding both blades in either hand.
"Sieg, Jeanne!"
Arthur called out, his voice cutting across the battlefield like a whip.
"Keep pushing forward, we gotta-"
He was cut off as the earth shuddered beneath their feet.
A horrifying howl split the air as the ruined tower at the heart of the town erupted.
A geyser of writhing darkness shot skyward, spiraling violently, and the shadows churned, howled, and fused into a massive, swirling vortex.
Everyone froze.
Jeanne's eyes widened as she stepped back instinctively, mouth agape.
"…We're too late."
She whispered, her voice trembling.
From within the heart of the vortex… something moved.
Something massive.
A gigantic form began to emerge, seemingly made of shadow, its limbs formless yet solid, constantly shifting and twitching like they couldn't decide on a shape.
Countless eyes blinked open across its surface, each eye a different shape and size, each radiating hatred.
A deep voice resonated from everywhere and nowhere.
"FOR TOO LONG I HAVE BEEN ENSLAVED BY THESE PATHETIC WORMS. FOR TOO LONG HAVE I WATCHED FROM BEYOND MY PRISON. AND NOW THAT I HAVE BEEN FREED. NOW... I SHALL MAKE YOU SUFFER... I SHALL MAKE ALL OF YOU SUFFER... ESPECIALLY GOD!"
Arthur's eyes narrowed as he watched the massive entity take form.
His grip on his holy swords tightened, and six demonic dragon wings unfurled from his back.
"Looks like this party is getting crazier by the second."
He muttered, his voice low.
Ddraig stirred within him.
(Yes, indeed. But remember, Arthur, there is still a chance to stop him. He is still recovering his full strength. If he manifests fully-)
"I know."
Arthur whispered, stepping forward.
His blood was boiling in anticipation as the usual, familiar itch, that unexplainable, chaotic urge to fight something impossibly strong, bubbled beneath his skin like fire.
A grin tugged at his lips.
"…You sure know how to make an entrance, big guy."
He flared his wings and crouched, both Excaliburs glowing, and Boosted Gear beginning its chant.
"Okay then, let's dance!"
[BOOST!]
Arthur flew like a missile through the air, eyes locked on the writhing, monstrous form of Balor.
Balor now hovered above the blackened tower at the center of the battlefield, his countless eyes blinking in erratic, nightmarish patterns, each one pulsing with corrupted power.
His original massive eye was larger than the others, and surrounded by a grotesque cluster of newer ones.
Arthur roared as he tightened his grip on his Excalibur Swords.
"You've got three seconds to let Connla go before I-!"
He never finished as sudden surge of crimson energy exploded from Balor's main eye and a colossal beam fired straight into Arthur mid-sentence, cutting him off completely.
The impact slammed into his chest with blinding force, engulfing him in searing light before launching him across the battlefield like a cannonball.
"Arthur!"
Jeanne screamed, wide-eyed.
"Shit!"
Siegfried cursed as Arthur vanished into the distance.
Without warning, Balor's multiple eyes across his shifting form opened at once, each one unleashing their own beam of death.
Red lasers rained down, scarring the earth and forcing Jeanne and Siegfried to dive and roll across the ruined stone to avoid being vaporized.
"Your fighting, you resistance, they serve nothing but to delay the inevitable."
Balor's voice echoed through the dome.
"Your actions are futile. This... is the true power of a god."
"Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up already! You talk more than a villain in a kids' cartoon!"
Siegfried snarled, slashing down another volley of tentacles that tried to grab his legs.
Jeanne spun, dodging a blast that incinerated a massive slab of rubble behind her.
"Connla! If you can hear us, snap out of it! Fight him! You're stronger than this!"
Balor's central eye turned to them, its expression unreadable but heavy with menace.
"You're wasting your breath."
Balor declared.
Tentacles whipped from the ground and snared both of them, binding their limbs in an instant.
Siegfried struggled violently, while Jeanne tried to summon her swords again, only to find her Sacred Gear inaccessible, locked down by the pressure of Balor's divine aura.
Balor said coldly.
"The boy is gone..."
Then his massive eye darkened, turning black like an abyss.
"And so will you be."
The world around them faded, replaced by an endless sea of darkness.
Back at the edge of the dome, Arthur's body smashed against the warped barrier with a loud crash, leaving a smoking crater.
He slumped down, groaning as he coughed smoke from his lungs.
"Ahh... God damnit... Okay… that one hurt like hell…"
He muttered, brushing dust from his singed hoodie.
But before he could move, Ddraig's voice echoed in his head with alarm.
"Arthur! Watch out! Incoming!"
Arthur blinked, looking forward, only to see the entire shadow army charging toward him from the mist.
A hundred figures, a thousand maybe, roaring like stampeding monsters.
Arthur scoffed, rising slowly.
"You want a piece of me now, you small fries? Fine! BRING IT ON THEN!"
The Boosted Gear on his arms flared red.
[BOOST!][TRANSFER!]
He raised his swords, and a reddish aura coated the edges of Excalibur Destruction and Excalibur Rapidly.
But just as he was about to charge, a thunderous pulse rippled through the air.
The world around him was vanishing beneath his feet, and everything turned black.
A concussive wave of energy sent him tumbling through this new space.
"Oh, CRAP!"
He covered his eyes shut, shielding himself from whatever force was ripping through the air.
Then...
...
Arthur opened his eyes.
The battlefield, the shadows, everything was all gone.
Everything around him was pitch black.
There was no wind, no earth, no direction.
Just… nothing.
Arthur turned, his six wings vanishing as he summoned them back.
His swords disappeared too, flickering away into light.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Where the hell am I…?"
He tried to call Ddraig mentally.
"Hey, Ddraig… you good in there? Any idea what just happened?"
Ddraig responded after a pause, his voice echoing strangely.
(I'm here. But… I have no idea where HERE is. Wherever Balor sent us… it's not longer the physical world.)
Arthur looked down at his feet.
No shadow, no reflection, just more blackness.
"So we're in, what… his domain? His inner world? A genjutsu of sorts?"
(Whatever it is... it's probably not good for us to stay for too long.)
Ddraig answered flatly.
Arthur sighed.
"Great. Fan-freaking-tastic."
He looked around again, hands on his hips.
"Well, since we're here, might as well walk around a bit for any exits."
And so he did.
Time lost meaning.
It felt like hours, maybe even days, but the darkness never changed.
Arthur's footsteps didn't echo, no wind blew, and no sound responded to his presence.
Bored out of his mind, he eventually began humming.
Then singing.
"Baby shark doo doo doo doo doo doo,
Baby shark doo doo doo doo doo doo,
Baby shark doo doo doo doo doo doo,
Baby shark~"
After a minute, Ddraig groaned loudly.
(What is that infernal melody?!)
Arthur shrugged.
"Something that helps pass the time."
(Well, stop it this instant! I would rather be eaten by Great Red than hear that accursed song.)
Ddraig snapped.
"Okay, okay, sheesh. Tough crowd."
Arthur said, raising his hands in mock surrender.
Eventually, after so long of walking aimlessly, they started talking.
Arthur asked question after question, half from curiosity, half to stay sane.
"So, what did you do before you met Albion?"
(I either battled other powerful dragons, which I've easily won by the way, or just collected treasures, particularly ones with magical properties or unique abilities... Speaking of treasure, if you ever meet a Dragon King by the name Tiamat, avoid her like a plague and run like hell.)
"What? Why?"
(Just... trust me, okay? You don't wanna know the details.)
"…Okay. Next question. What did you do during the Great War?"
(Well, I was preparing for my epic battle against Albion when all of a sudden Lucifer arrived. He said something about wanting me to be his great red dragon or something while promising gold and glory. I wasn't paying attention to his dogcrap as they passed from one ear to another. After a while, I got annoyed by his ramblings and just politely sent him off... with an enhanced Fire Breath to the face.)
"…Nice. Alright, next one. Who is your favorite host? Be honest."
(Well, it is definitely not you if you keep singing that godforsaken song.)
"Heh. Alright, fair."
They talked on and on, sometimes in silence, in sarcasm, sometimes genuinely, but time continued to stretch.
Until finally, Arthur stopped walking.
Arthur squinted, and up ahead, he saw something in the distance.
"Well… about damn time we saw something."
Faint at first, then growing brighter as he walked toward them.
They hovered midair, one was a golden-yellow flame, the other was pale grey.
He approached the lights slowly, his instincts on edge.
"So… what do I do with you two?"
Ddraig's voice returned.
(Try touching one and see what happens.)
Arthur hesitated, staring at both flames.
His gaze lingered on the yellow one, something about it calling to him.
"Alright. Let's see what you've got."
He reached his arm out and pressed his hand against the golden-yellow flame.
The moment his skin touched the light, it burst outward like blinding, radiant warmth and everything turned white.
DxD
Arthur blinked as the light faded around him, replaced by a familiar location.
He rubbed his eyes, groaning slightly from the shift, and when his vision cleared, he realized he was standing in a wide, vaulted chamber lined with banners bearing holy signs.
He looked around slowly.
"The Vatican? Why the hell am I in the Vatican…?"
He muttered.
Arthur took a step forward, his boots clicking on the pristine tiles.
Then his gaze caught movement.
In the center of the hall, he saw a small figure.
A little girl wearing a worn training tunic, sweat clinging to her pale skin, golden-blonde hair tied back in a messy braid.
Arthur's breath caught.
"Jeanne…?"
She was holding a wooden sword tightly, her tiny frame trembling as she faced down a grown man, an Exorcist instructor, dressed in full training gear with another wooden sword in hand.
The man barked.
"You hesitate again! That hesitation is weakness, and weakness will see you dead on the battlefield!"
Young Jeanne darted forward, determined, swinging with all her strength.
The man easily parried, twisted her wrist, and smacked her sword away with a resounding crack.
She cried out as she stumbled back, then dropped to her knees, clutching her arm.
The instructor stepped forward and struck her again across the side with the flat of the wooden blade.
"Pathetic! You dishonor the name of Saint Jeanne d'Arc with this display!"
Arthur's fists clenched.
His eyes burned with restrained fury.
(I see. It looks like we're inside a memory of Jeanne's past.)
Ddraig responded in his mind.
Arthur gritted his teeth, eyes locked on the trembling little girl struggling to rise again.
"You're supposed to be her reincarnation! A chosen warrior of Heaven! And you can't even stay on your feet!"
Arthur turned away, jaw tight, the sight gnawing at something deep in his chest.
"Fucking bastard…"
Suddenly, there was a noise from the side.
Doors creaked open, light flooding into the chamber.
Arthur turned his head and saw the scene shift like smoke, warping the world until he stood at the threshold of another memory.
Little Jeanne again, now dressed in ceremonial robes, walked with small steps into a garden courtyard.
Flowers bloomed along the edges, and in the center, a group of young girls, also in Vatican attire, sat beneath a tree, weaving garlands and laughing amongst themselves.
Arthur watched as Jeanne approached, timid but hopeful.
She knelt beside them, trying to smile and be friendly.
"Excuse me... C-Can I join?"
The girls fell silent.
Their smiles faltered and one of them backed away, another whispered something under her breath. Reverent eyes, fearful glances.
They stood up quickly, murmuring things about not disturbing a Holy Maiden, and left the garden in a hurried procession, their flower crowns left behind in the grass.
Jeanne remained sitting there alone.
Arthur's chest twisted.
She picked up one of the garlands, looking at it for a moment before placing it back down.
She didn't cry, she didn't complain.
She just stood there in silence.
"..."
Arthur tried to take a step toward her again, hand half-raised.
But the scene shifted.
Now, he saw her walking in the outer garden, arms wrapped around something small, a kitten, dirty and scrawny, purring in her arms.
"Hello there, friend. You look hungry."
"Meow."
She giggled softly and tore off a piece of bread from her pocket, feeding it.
"See? You and me are friends now. I'll take care of you. I promise."
Her smile was bright, but t didn't last long.
In another scene, two priests arrived.
Cold-eyed, tall shadows in their robes.
They frowned the moment they saw the kitten in Jeanne's arms.
"There are no distractions permitted, maiden."
"You are being trained for a divine purpose, not for your childishness."
"But my friend won't be a burden! I'll train harder! I'll do better! Please, just let me keep him, he's not a distraction!"
"Jeanne."
The tone made her flinch.
"This is for your own good."
The kitten was taken from her arms as she cried out, chasing after them with outstretched hands.
"No! Please, wait! He's my friend! I'll do anything, just don't take him!"
Her voice cracked.
"Please... I-I don't wanna be alone..."
But they didn't listen.
Arthur stood frozen, watching them disappear into nothing as little Jeanne dropped to her knees again, staring at the empty space where her kitten had been.
"They took away her only friend... a harmless cat. All because of some twisted idea of the greater good."
Arthur muttered.
(Hmph. That's what you get when giving sinful beings a virtuous ideal, only to have it being perverted for their own gain... or lose themselves in the process.)
Ddraig said softly.
Arthur spat to the side, his opinion of the Church slowly worsening.
The world blurred again.
Now Jeanne stood trembling in a ruined alleyway outside the city.
She activated her Sacred Gear, Blade Blacksmith, rapiers tightly in both hands, facing a grotesque Stray Devil with tusks and bloated pig-like features.
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
"Wait, is this her first real fight…?"
The creature roared and charged.
Jeanne cried out and leapt forward, slicing a precise line through its thick neck, the magic embedded in her blade igniting and detonating in a burst of holy light.
The devil squealed and exploded into ash.
She stood there, panting.
And then ran.
Arthur followed instinctively as the scene changed again.
A woman knelt in the street, cradling a man's bloodied body.
The man's face was pale, his eyes vacant, his life slipping away with every second.
Jeanne stood in front of them, her arms shaking, her hands dropping her rapiers.
"I-I tried... I tried to save him-but I couldn't... I didn't-"
"Why couldn't you save him?! You said you were a saint! So why couldn't you?!"
The woman screamed.
Jeanne flinched as the woman sobbed and clutched the man's body, turning her back to the girl.
Jeanne lowered her head, her voice barely a whisper.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
Arthur stood in silence, fists clenched at his sides.
"She was just a kid… And they expected her to be doing everything."
He whispered.
(She was alone, judged by a name and burdened by expectation. Such a pitiful existence.)
Ddraig said.
The memory bled into the next.
Scene after scene, training, punishment, expectations, loneliness, and more.
Every time Jeanne smiled, someone took it away.
Every time she reached out, someone pulled back.
Every victory was hollow.
Every failure, magnified.
And finally, the scene reached a simple, clean bedroom.
A cot in the corner, a small window looking out to a dim moonlit night.
In the corner, tucked beneath the window, sat little Jeanne.
She had her arms wrapped around her knees, her forehead resting between them, shoulders trembling ever so slightly.
Just quiet, broken breathing, and the occasional shiver.
Arthur stood in front of her, unable to move.
He wanted to say something.
Anything.
But the words didn't come.
He just watched.
And listened to the silence.
DxD
Hello readers!
The next chapters will be pretty long like this one, so I need more Power Stones, please.
Thank you everyone and see you later!