'This is a disaster...' thought Vahn, appearing high in the sky of Termina, overlooking the ongoing conflict and destruction that had brought much of his carefully crafted realm to ruin. His palace was largely undamaged, but it looked notably worse for wear after enduring the reverberations of several large-scale Magic attacks.
"What are your orders?" asked Grayfia, appearing a short distance behind and to Vahn's left, her expression calm and dignified and her hands folded neatly atop her lap.
Instead of responding, Vahn took in the scene below with his enhanced perception, each second passing approximately forty-two minutes from his perspective. His side had a clear advantage in terms of raw firepower, but the enemy outnumbered them considerably. To make matters worse, it was difficult to determine who was an enemy and an ally at a glance as the forces of various factions had mobilized to protect their assets or take advantage of the situation to reduce competition...
BOOM
Seeing Issei dent the head of a kaiju-sized monster with multiple crimson cores in its head, four muscular arms, and a body comprised of shadowy, purple-hued chitin and plating, Vahn's eyes narrowed. He could sense the energy within the creature surging rapidly, cracks forming across its body before it self-destructed, producing a white and crimson fireball hundreds of meters across, capped by several rings of condensation.
'Giant monsters that explode when defeated...how petty...' thought Vahn, his brows furrowing as Sis preempted his query by revealing (They seem to be resistant to spatial transference, but you should be able to overwrite it and contain them in the Corridor if you touch them directly.)
'What if that's their plan?' asked Vahn. 'They've clearly heard about mine and Vali's bout, and it's widely believed that the Corridor is the source of my power. If they discover a method to travel between it and the outside without our notice, they could harvest its resources to bolster their wealth or strengthen their forces....'
(It's not impossible...) conceded Sis. (*However, the Inner Sanctum of the Corridor is markedly more secure than Termina and Invirtua. All three may be extensions of The Path, but the latter two are incomplete as they were given form by your current understanding and power. To make them real, you would need to increase your Soul Tier and grasp the essence of Creation.*)
'Of course...' sighed Vahn, briefly closing his eyes and exhaling from his nose before looking back at Grayfia and saying, "Work with the others to cordon off the valley and convert it into an evacuation zone. I'll take care of the giant monsters."
"As you will..." responded Grayfia, closing her eyes and offering a steep bow. Before departing to carry out Vahn's order, however, she flitted her bat-like wings and drew closer, causing his brows to rise and a smile to develop across his face as she gave him a peck on the lips...
'Talk about a silver lining...' mused Vahn, feeling markedly more optimistic about the situation as Grayfia gave him a narrow-eyed, incredibly alluring smile before departing, leaving a lingering, pleasant aroma and producing a powerful tempest in her wake. Vahn's first instinct was to follow her, but there were seventeen kaiju-sized shadow beasts and hundreds of smaller variants running rampant. Technically speaking, he wasn't obliged to help those who had settled in Termina, but it wasn't in his nature to turn a blind eye to people in need. More importantly, Termina was the planar world he and Venelana had created together. Repairing it wouldn't be that difficult, but seeing external forces bring it to ruin caused a pervasive chill to fill his mind and righteous fury to swell within him...
With such thoughts in mind, Vahn darted around the ruined Termina using the power of the Pika Pika no Mi, producing bright flashes of golden light. Some of the shadow-formed monsters were able to react to his speed by pure instinct, but all it took on his part was a single touch to deposit them in the Frozen Abyss, where they would quickly accumulate Fimbulwinter's Encroachment and become prey to the never-ending tide of frost-formed wolves that left even Vali at a loss...
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[December 1st DxD/July 24th DBT]
"Oh, wow...this is quite the arrangement..." hummed Azazel, grinning as he entered the conference room where Vahn and most of the executive members of the Dragon's Pavilion awaited him around a circular desk with a well in the center.
"How are the recovery efforts going?" asked Vahn, doing his best not to sound too standoffish as, while he wasn't particularly fond of Azazel, he felt indebted to the Fallen Angel for fighting on their behalf.
Following a curt nod, Azazel explained, "Fortunately, most of the damage was to infrastructure. There were 308 casualties, but considering the size of the enemy's forces, we got off easy."
'Three hundred and eight casualties...' repeated Vahn, closing his eyes and exhaling from his nose. As Azazel had pointed out, there could have been many more, but that didn't make the loss of life any less tragic and insensible.
Opening his eyes and meeting Azazel's gaze, Vahn stated, "Though we mentioned from the beginning that those who settled in Termina would be responsible for their personal safety and well-being, the Dragon's Pavilion will be providing relief to the families of the deceased..."
Shifting his gaze to Sona, Vahn added, "I will entrust this matter to you..." in a solemn tone.
"I will see to it without fail..." responded Sona, offering a curt, affirming nod.
"That's mighty thoughtful of you..." remarked Azazel, exhaling from his nose and sporting a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes as he stated, "That aside, there is something important I wanted to discuss with you and the Dragon's Pavilion, specifically regarding the Ouroboros Dragon God, Ophis."
"Do you believe she was involved in the attack...?" asked Vahn, his brows furrowing and the muscles in his jaw tensing.
Shaking his head, Azazel answered, "Not directly..." before clarifying, "In fact, I believe it's more likely that she opposed antagonizing you, causing the Khaos Brigade to turn against her. Were that not the case, she would have revealed herself during or immediately following the attack."
"Did you confirm this with Vali...?" asked Vahn, causing Azazel's smile to broaden before he revealed, "I did reach out to him and learn that several rifts had formed within the Khaos Brigade, specifically between his party, a burgeoning group called the Hero Faction, and the remnants of the Old Satan Faction. Until recently, Ophis spent much of her time watching over his team's growth. Now, she's nowhere to be seen, and the most probable explanation is that she was captured by the leader of the Hero Faction, an exceptional young man named Cao Cao."
"Cao Cao..." repeated Venelana, her eyes briefly narrowing in concern until Vahn turned to stare at her, prompting her to smile and explain, "As the former Governor General pointed out, he is an exceptional young man who has been making a name for himself in recent years. Most notably, he is the inheritor of the first and most powerful of the thirteen Longinus, the spear used to pierce Christ's side, granting it the power to slay even Gods and Buddhas..."
"And he's not the only one you need to concern yourselves with," stated Azazel, explaining, "Those self-destructing shadow-formed monsters that rampaged throughout Termina were created by another of the thirteen, a Sacred Gear by the name of Annihilation Maker. Cao Cao's True Longinus is unquestionably the most powerful weapon against an individual, but as the name implies, Annihilation Maker generates unfettered destruction by giving form to innumerable Demonic Beasts. If mastered, it's one of the Longinus that could be used to destroy the world as its only limits are the user's imagination, comprehension, and willpower."
"Why would a group that calls itself the Hero Faction target us...?" asked Vahn, frowning deeply as he asserted, "What happened here weren't the actions of a Hero..."
Exhaling from his nose, Azazel revealed, "Each member of the Hero's Faction, as you would be able to guess from their names, is the direct or spiritual descendent of a famous historical figure. They believe that, as Heroes, it is their duty to eliminate evil-aligned supernatural entities such as Devils, Dragons, Fallen Angels, and Youkai."
"Then why are they aligned with a group like the Khaos Brigade?" asked Vahn, feeling incredulous as he pointed out, "The main forces within the Khaos Brigade are Pureblooded Devils who seek to oppress humankind and Mages who have contracted them to gain great power at the cost of their humanity..."
Shaking his head, Azazel contended, "That's something you'd have to ask Cao Cao himself. What I do know is that his group is comprised entirely of humans with powerful Sacred Gears and that Cao Cao is powerful enough to threaten even Gods as, relatively recently, he dealt a near-fatal blow to the Norse God of Thunder, Thor. The old man was not pleased."
"I see..." muttered Vahn, leaning onto the knuckles of his right hand as he contemplated the situation. Ophis's presumed predicament had nothing to do with them, but as long as Termina was linked to the outside, the Khaos Brigade would undoubtedly raid them again.
"The simplest solution to this problem..." started Vahn, opening his eyes and meeting Azazel's gaze as he stated, "Is to oust everyone unaffiliated with the Dragon's Pavilion until we can establish a powerful enough force to contend against anything thrown at us. Even then, I'm not fond of the idea of dispatching forces outside to battle a powerful enemy in their own territory..."
"With your ability to influence the flow of time within this realm, that is certainly one option..." affirmed Azazel, nodding. "However, instead of kicking everyone out, it might be better to bring more people in before isolating the realm. That would give us time to strengthen our forces, and since your greatest weakness is a lack of fidelity, having people from the outside inhabit your realm, grow crops, and reproduce would benefit you greatly."
"He's suggesting you follow the example of other Gods," stated Venelana, explaining, "Without a steady supply of faith, most Gods would lose their power, have their existences diminished, or cease to be altogether. Tiamat is an excellent example of this, as she used to be a Primordial Goddess of the Sea. She is still very powerful, but the circumstances in which she can exert her full power are limited due to the world's restrictions and her lack of authority."
"On the subject of Tiamat, this would be a good opportunity for the two of you to grow closer," stated Azazel, grinning lasciviously as he claimed, "If it's just for a few days, she shouldn't have any issues breaking away from her existing duties and obligations. And with your power, a few days could translate to decades..."
'I have wanted to meet her again...' thought Vahn, running his right index finger over his lips and caressing his chin. He wasn't too fond of the idea of cultivating a population to increase the stability of his realm, but since it would be the various factions who focused on bolstering their numbers, he felt Azazel's suggestion wasn't unreasonable. And if he pumped up the time dilation to the limit of his current power, they could stretch a week in the outside world to fifty years within. The only real downside was that he wouldn't be able to compress time further, meaning he would be confined to the same flow as everyone else.
'That's not necessarily a bad thing...' thought Vahn, believing this was especially the case with multiple children on the way. Less importantly, most of the plots of the various anime he was familiar with would have concluded within fifty years, invalidating his foreknowledge and letting him experience Invirtua organically...
With such thoughts in mind, Vahn dismissed Azazel for the time being so he could discuss the matter with his harem. To his relief, they were more than open to the suggestion, but before separating Termina and Invirtua from the outside, certain preparations needed to be completed...
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