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(TPD) Chapter 32: The Underworld Supremacy War (1)
🕑 Added 2025-01-09 14:00:10 +0000 UTCChapter 32: The Underworld Supremacy War (1)
Wilbert and Sapphire had departed from the room where Esdeath, Lars, and Ruval were being kept while they were recuperating. Leaving Avalon and Albedo alone, the former unable to retract his gaze from his subordinates and friend.
"They'll be alright won't they?" Albedo broke the silence, even though she didn't care much for the children beyond their relation to Avalon, she still found the usually talkative Avalon going mute rather concerning. Her Majesty and Lady Adaloth were right, he's different when he's out here in comparison to when he's inside the estate.
"They will, Eurus held back on them. I think Esdeath's the only one she actually used her Light Magic on," there were no traces of the constellation-related ability she had once used on Avalon a while back, which was probably for the best.
"Eurus?" She repeated, "Are you referring to the female Cadre?"
"Mhm."
Albedo narrowed her eyes, "If you don't mind me asking, how do you know her name?"
"She told me when we first met," he refused to elaborate, which only concerned Albedo further even if there wasn't anything to probe for. She's ten-winged now, how unfortunate, but in a way it's also a good thing you three are still too weak to face her properly, if she took you seriously then I'm not sure whether or not you'd still be here. "Has Marquis Phenex and Earl Auten been made aware of what happened here?"
"No, not even I have received the official report yet. It will take some time for it to get passed down to the Marquis, and much longer for the Earl," she still wondered how Avalon had found out what happened in such an immediate fashion. The only person capable of obtaining information faster than Zekram's intelligence network was none other than Ajuka Beelzebub. Don't tell me—the rumors about them being father and son were true?
"What's this about my father?" They heard a strained voice speak, belonging to Ruval who appeared to be the first out of the defeated group to awaken, probably by virtue of his Clan Trait. He slowly sat himself up right, clutching his head in pain as he winced from the lingering sensation of Eurus's fist being hammered into his scalp. It's like someone threw a freight train at my head. "Where's Wilbert?" He looked at Albedo, not having the faintest clue as to who she was. I don't remember seeing a babe of this caliber around the city.
"He's gone back to his post," Ruval heard a familiar voice reply, causing his head to jolt to the side as he turned to face it.
"Avalon—!" He tried to get up, but Avalon held him back by a demonic thread before he could do so in order to avoid further injury.
"Your body's still weak, give it some time before you're up and about again." He smiled warmly, extremely glad that his friend was still alright. Even though Ruval wasn't injured any longer, his body had expended a significant amount of Demonic Power to keep itself from succumbing to his shattered skull.
"You're—," Ruval paused, blinking repeatedly while looking him up and down. "—Much bigger than I remember," they both shared a chuckle.
"Time has that effect on me."
Ruval looked at Albedo, "Who's the smoking hot lady you brought with you? I thought you were supposed to be engaged now?"
A vein bulged out of her temple, "You have some gall to speak as if I'm not here, brat."
"Why so confrontational? It was a compliment," he shrugged. "Are you a new member of his peerage or something?" He asked, I'd be careful if I were you. I hear his fiancée's got quite the terrifying reputation, or so his father told him.
"Something like that," Avalon replied before she had a chance to speak, only frustrating her further. "Besides the probable throbbing of your head, how are you feeling?"
"Good enough," he sighed. "I knew there'd be a sizable gap in strength between me and that fallen angel, but she was far more terrifying than anything I could've imagined when I fought her first-hand, if you could even call it a fight." Ruval held the part of his head that she had struck, remembering just how fast she moved before hitting him, alongside the sight of her swatting Lars like a fly in spite of him putting up his defenses with his spatial manipulation.
Overwhelming, was the word he deemed most fitting.
"The important thing is that you survived, because of that you'll be able to use this as a learning experience to better comprehend what kind of strength you're actually trying to attain." He put his hand on Ruval's shoulder in a reassuring manner, "She's had much more time to mature than you have, you'll catch up to her one day."
Ruval scoffed, "You don't believe that, you're just trying to comfort me." He just couldn't imagine a version of himself on par with the monster he encountered.
"Isn't that my duty as your friend?" Avalon didn't deny his claim, "Whether I, or anyone believes you can do it or not is irrelevant. You're the one who wants to defeat her, this is your personal goal, all that matters is whether you think you'll succeed or not."
He exhaled, "What about you? Can you defeat her?"
Avalon shook his head, "I'm not entirely sure—both she and I appear to have grown since our first encounter, and I didn't actually get to witness her current strength myself so I can't compare us accurately." He continued, "Speaking of her, I heard she kidnapped a runaway child Lars and Esdeath found?"
"Yeah, according to Esdeath he had the strange ability to half her power which ended up hurting him after he used it."
Avalon hummed, having a faint feeling that he heard of the power before. Got anything for me? He asked his assistant.
[Young Lord, there is a Longinus by the name of Divine Dividing that contains such an ability, but I find this fit unlikely if the child they found was in fact a devil. Only a human should be capable of awakening a Sacred Gear.]
A part of Avalon swore it was supposed to know who the child was, but the dots just didn't want to connect. Granted, Grigori was known for collecting Sacred Gear wielders, which would explain why they would go after someone who they believed was in possession of such a valuable one.
"Do you know anything about it?" Ruval noticed Avalon's state of contemplation.
"No, I'm just thinking about how to proceed from here." He tapped the brunt of his chin.
Albedo chimed in, "What you're supposed to do from here on out should be obvious. You've confirmed that your subordinates are alright, all you need to do is bring them home and return to Her Majesty at once—before you end up in more trouble than you're already in."
She watched his face intently, getting the foreboding feeling that her words weren't actually getting through to him—and that she was probably going to get sunk deeper into the hole he had dug the both of them into.
"They attacked my children, and my friend."
Her face paled, knowing exactly where his train of thought was headed. The destination guaranteed to land her in enough muddy water with Zekram, enough water to drown her entirely as a matter of fact. "Avalon," she said his name like a dog owner who knew their pet was about to do something bad. "Avalon, look at me."
"I'm looking," said the man wearing a blindfold. A mischievous fox-like expression hidden under his facial attire.
"Her Majesty will annihilate you."
"How can you say that? You don't even know what I plan on doing," he huffed.
"You're planning on chasing after the Cadres, who are more likely than not back in one of the fallen angel cities right now. Which would be akin to you lathering yourself in sugar and stepping head first into a hornet's nest."
"But Albedo," he put his hand on her shoulder, his face stiffening. "I'm the strongest."
"No you aren't, you're being both extremely foolhardy and delusional." She could already visualize Zekram handing her a termination notice. "You'll either end up dead, mortally wounded, or imprisoned. Please try to make a semi-sensible decision for once in your life, for Her Majesty's sake." Knowing full well that his decision hadn't changed in the slightest, she turned to Ruval with a pleading look. "Can you talk some sense into your friend?"
This time it was Ruval's turn to put his hand on her shoulder, "You should just give it up, that word doesn't compute for him."
Avalon was in fact, dead-set on retribution.
"At least take your sister with you since the rest of your peerage is injured," the best Albedo could do at this point was try to mitigate his chance of death.
"She'll take too long, and I can handle myself just fine." As if he'd just give up such a rare chance to spend some time away from her, "You'll be there to protect me anyhow, I'm sure everything will go swimmingly."
"Don't be ridiculous, there's no way I'm joining you in diving head-first into a death trap."
Even though Albedo by no means could be described as weak, she had never actually fought a Cadre before, especially not one of Baraqiel's caliber, and definitely not Eurus'—at least not with her current strength. She had no clue whether she was actually capable of going toe to toe with one or not, and completely lacked the experience to give her enough confidence to try.
Following him to Mortis without Zekram's permission was one thing, but attacking a fallen angel settlement without a proper force, and without permission at the same time? That was just borderline insanity, and she would have absolutely no part in it whatsoever. If you're feeling suicidal—then at least leave me out of it! It's not like they could even ask Wilbert to join them, since he was too injured to fight properly and was under strict orders to defend Mortis to the fullest extent.
Moreover, Grigori's technology was still a huge threat alongside their Cadres, and chances were they had given the equipment being used to defend their cities a significant upgrade after already losing one.
Avalon wagged his finger at her, "You shouldn't underestimate yourself Albedo, just think about how impressed Zekram would be if you took down a Cadre?" The Tomoe inside him started to flare to life, "You've been stagnating for a while haven't you?" He hit a sore spot in her confidence. "This could be your chance to move past the bottleneck you're experiencing, your value in Zekram's eyes would only increase if you succeeded."
"I—" She hesitated, one side of her desiring praise from Zekram more than anything, and the other part confident that Avalon was just trying to goad her into going with him and lead her to be scolded by her master instead.
He was right about the fact that her strength had stagnated for quite some time now, and the looming fear of Zekram one day deeming her lack of growth as a suitable reason to dismiss her was most certainly real—but the fear of displeasing her outright wasn't any less terrifying.
"This war might not have long left Albedo, depending on how everything goes today could even be its end. I doubt you'll get another chance like this for quite some time, so it's either now or never." He decided against pushing her any further, confident that his words had done enough. If she proves capable of sufficient growth, then maybe I'll just snag her from Zekram—Albedo can be her engagement gift to me.
Ruval watched on with growing intrigue, affirming to himself that he would note down the persuasion tactics Avalon was demonstrating right before him, they could come in handy for him once he succeeded his father after all.
Albedo hurriedly shook her head, scurrying to regain her composure and come to a decision. "You're dealing with the backlash we'll get from Her Majesty when we're back."
There's my Albedo, he grinned. "Fret not, I'll handle everything regarding her." I have a feeling you're stronger than you think, I just need to help you wipe off that rust so I can see what's underneath. Knowing Zekram, she'd never settle for an ordinary servant, not one that she keeps so close to her.
Ruval, Avalon, and Albedo's heads turned to face the door simultaneously, hearing the sound of someone knocking on it followed up by the sight of a woman nervously looking in at them nervously.
"Sorry, I was getting some softer pillows for them but didn't want to interrupt your conversation," Sapphire apologized, who Avalon had naturally sensed the presence of the whole time. "Are you really going after the fallen angel's who attacked Will by yourselves?"
"That we are!" Avalon smiled, wrapping his arm around Albedo's shoulders much to her chagrin. "You interested in coming with?"
Naturally, Sapphire wasn't even remotely alright with letting the people who attacked her brother and the children she had been looking after get off scot free.
Her thirst for vengeance was without a doubt—awake.
"Would that be alright with you?" She was half-expecting a back and forth argument consisting of Avalon telling her that, "You're too weak to come with my amazing blindfolded self!" or something along those lines.
"Of course! The more the merrier!" He approved cheerily, confirming the three-man squad. Or more accurately, the one man and two women squad.
"I know this is a little late to be asking," Sapphire hesitated, the three having already left the walls of Mortis. "But are you seriously planning on fighting while wearing that?" She pointed to his outfit consisting of his pink Levi-tan pajamas fluffy slippers—which certainly wasn't the most combat-ready apparel out there.
"Of course, there's no greater defense than Levi-tan's divine protection."
Sapphire turned to Albedo, making a face that asked her if he was being serious, and getting a facial expression in return which indicated that he was in fact—being serious. Is this what the Blindfold Devil's really like in person? She sighed, "What about tracking? How are we actually supposed to find where the Cadres went?"
Avalon exhaled triumphantly and tapped his nose, "I have a particularly good sense of smell."
It didn't matter if Eurus and Baraqiel tried to mask the presence of their Light Magic or Holy Power, Avalon didn't need to search for them through that medium if he didn't want to. He already remembered Eurus's scent from quite some time ago, and being in the same room as Wilbert who had been fighting with Baraqiel had exposed him to the Lightning God's scent.
Sapphire deadpanned, Smell? You're going to track them all the way from here with smell alone? Are you secretly part Demonic Beast or something? Even if Avalon's reputation was public, information regarding his abilities was still kept strictly under lock and key.
Avalon's nose told him that the Cadres had fled north after kidnapping Vali, which was the direct of none other than the Fallen Angel Capital, Valkorion, with Krovos being to the east of Mortis. Meaning that he'd be diving head first into the most fortified fallen angel territory there was, where the Governor-General himself was more likely than not residing.
"You're confident that you'll be able to track them accurately with just your sense of smell?" Sapphire still doubted such an outlandish claim.
"Yeah," he replied without hesitation, not a hint of doubt evident in his voice. "Now if there aren't any further questions, shall we proceed?"
They nodded in unison, officially departing from friendly territory and heading in the direction of Valkorion.
---
With the three of them traveling by foot, it took them roughly an hour to traverse through the fallen angel territory from Mortis to Valkorion undetected, Avalon having to limit his speed drastically so they wouldn't lose sight of him while remaining at the front to avoid any patrolling units or primitive detection and defensive measures that had might have been set up in anticipation of their pursuit.
They'll be dead weight during this endeavor if we really do end up encountering multiple Cadre-level threats, Tomoe voiced his opinion while Avalon was scouting out the terrain. They're not as fast as you, they won't be able to just retreat as they please if they do end up in hot water—you know that don't you?
It'll be fine, Avalon offered no concrete rebuttal or evidence to support his claim.
"So that's Valkorion," Albedo leaned over Avalon's shoulder to get a good look of the city ahead, the three of them including Sapphire deciding to perch on a nearby hill covered in foliage while they prepared an infiltration plan. "As much as I hate to admit it, it's impressive."
The city's walls were at least double the height of the ones surrounding Mortis, the material used the construct exuding a near-impenetrable aura that even Avalon imagined even Adaloth would need to exert some genuine effort to tear down.
The central tower residing within the city was more akin to a castle when put side by side with the one Wilbert was currently residing in—built with a black and gold color scheme and the upside down cross which was Grigori's emblem plastered firmly in the middle of it for all to marvel at.
The only entrance to the sci-fi fortress-like city was a holographic looking gate at the southern side, clearly encoded with some sort of in-depth authentication feature that was beyond anything Avalon's current engineering know-how could comprehend.
"What now?" Albedo queried, confident that Avalon was more likely than not already able to gauge the situation inside the city from their current distance.
But instead of offering an immediate reply—he slowly started to shake his head as a deep frown encroached upon his face, "Something's wrong." He spoke with a grim tone of voice, doubting his senses for the first time since his rebirth. "There's no one there, Valkorion's empty, a complete ghost town."
Albedo and Sapphire fell silent, staring at Avalon as if horns had just sprouted out of his head. "Sorry, could you repeat that again? I think I misheard you."
"I said it's empty, there's no one inside." He repeated, his mind racing to try make sense of the jarring discovery. What's going on? Is there a masking barrier active that not even I detected? No, that's impossible, but there's no way they just up and left either? He stabbed his temple with his thumb, could they have fled to Krovos instead? No, that doesn't make sense either—how would they fit the entire population, including all the people that were evacuated from Mortis beforehand there?
"...Empty?" Albedo turned bleary eyed, looking back and forth between Valkorion and Avalon, not sure how to even begin to formulate a response. "...I don't understand—what do you mean empty? That doesn't make any sense!"
Avalon tapped his CAD, the light attached to the battery turning green followed up by an electrical whirring sound.
[Controlled Release—50%.]
Nothing.
Still nothing.
Not a single guard, not a single Scourge, not a single soul to be found. No breathing, no footsteps, no presence of Light Magic-possessing individuals. His senses that required the expertise of a Super Devil to be sealed—detected absolutely nothing.
Avalon's pupils contracted, a faint sense of panic settling in. No! This can't be! I'm not done yet! I still need opponents! I still need battles! I refuse to let it end in such an anti-climatic manner! If they really had fled the Underworld, where could they have even gone? The human world was the first place that came to mind, but Avalon was confident that would just lead to them being slaughtered by Heaven instead, a fact which the Governor-General certainly couldn't have overlooked.
Had he somehow struck some kind of deal with Heaven? Was such a thing even possible? Were Avalon's concerns about Heaven and Grigori joining together out of mutual fear that he brought up with Zekram grounded after all?
No, he didn't care about that.
He cared about the fact that the battle he craved had possibly just slipped through his fingers like sand while he wasn't watching!
"I'm going inside to investigate," Avalon declared—taking off without a second thought, desperate to figure out exactly what had transpired within the confines of the walls he was staring at.
"Avalon!" Albedo exchanged a nod with Sapphire before following after him.
Not caring to disable the multitude of barriers surrounding Valkorion, Avalon continued to rush head-first into Valkorion, not a single Scourge or fallen angel present to stop his advance. Mere seconds passed before he found himself on the main street connected to the front gate which he had plowed through using his reinforcement and Touki in unison.
He looked to his left.
He looked to his right.
He spread his senses as far as he could.
And he found—something. Not a person, but the presence of a form of magic that he was indeed familiar with in the distance, reminiscent of Lars's spatial manipulation. In the form of a large arch with some sort of dark translucent matter swirling in the middle of it like an ethereal ocean.
A gate? And an extremely high-level one at that, he narrowed his eyes beneath his blindfold. I can't believe it… They really did flee after all! But hold on a second, if they've already fled then why would the gate still be active?
All of a sudden, his nose twitched, his attention snapping to his rear as his gaze became fixed on a now startled figure standing on a nearby rooftop.
"Hahaha! I told you it wouldn't work—Baraqiel! If only you could see your own face right now!" A feminine voice cackled, the woman in question clutching her stomach while pointing at the man standing opposite her. "Did you soil your britches when he stared at you? You did, didn't you? Ahahahaha! I can't wait to tell Shuri about this!" Tears rolled out of the corner of her eyes as her laughter grew gradually more and more uncontainable.
"He seemed unfocused for a second, it was worth a shot." Baraqiel tried to hide his shame, but the embarrassment radiating off him was practically an open book to the woman he had reluctantly been paired up with—Eurus. The truth was that the sudden fear that hit him when Avalon turned to face him at what felt like the speed of light, was almost enough to make him fall on his behind on the spot. "Also, I'm pretty sure I told you about using my wife's name?"
Eurus shrugged, "There's no need to be so uptight, we're both on the same page right now aren't we? As a matter of fact you should be praising me since my prediction about him being connected to the moss-haired brat was right after all." She huffed triumphantly, putting her hand on her chest and puffing it. "However, if just him looking at you is enough to turn you pale as a ghost, maybe you're better off letting me handle him instead."
"I remember you—Eurus," Avalon finally spoke while looking at her.
She grinned, "So do I—not-Souji, though I must say, you've grown quite a bit in the short amount of time since our first encounter." Eurus licked her lips, "Not bad, maybe I'll let you be my boytoy after beating you instead of killing you outright."
He ignored her comment, pointing to the large spatial gate in the distance instead. "What is the meaning of that?"
She looked at him as if he were an idiot, "What's there to explain? It's a gate, you should be more than capable of figuring out why it's there. We're losing, so the Governor decided you can have the Underworld. Shouldn't you be happy about that? That was your objective this whole time wasn't it?"
Avalon paused, forced to come to terms with the fact that she was telling the truth. "You all really just up and left?"
"Duh, retreating is the natural thing to do when you're guaranteed to lose isn't it? I can't even remember the last time I picked up a book yet I know that much," she said without a hint of shame. "There's no need to look so disappointed though, none of those small-fries could be a better dance partner for you than me."
"Did they go to the human world?"
"Do you honestly think I'd answer that for you?" She chuckled.
Taking her lack of an answer as confirmation, Avalon continued. "If all your comrades have already left the Underworld—why are the two of you still here? Did the Governor decide to leave you behind?"
She sighed, "If he had decided on that then the gate would've been deactivated by now don't you think? I'm here for you—Weeping Angel, the two of us still have unfinished business don't we? What better time to settle it than the present?"
Baraqiel scowled, jumping off the rooftop and slowly beginning to approach Avalon. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't pretend like I'm not here," Avalon glanced at him. "Armaros was my closest friend, I trust you don't need any further explanation beyond that?"
"You desire vengeance?"
Baraqiel responded with a simple nod.
"Boring isn't he?" Eurus chimed in.
"Consume the piece," Avalon said out of the blue.
"Pardon?"
"If you want to kill me, you should at least consume the same piece Armaros did when we fought. You won't have any chance of succeeding without it," Eurus smiled, finding Avalon's current attitude extremely endearing. "I'm not saying that to demean you, it's just an honest recommendation."
"Don't you think you're taking me a little lightly?" Baraqiel steeled his gaze, sparks of Holy Lightning bursting forth from his fingertips as he prepared to clash with Avalon.
"No, you're also still fatigued from fighting Wilbert aren't you? Fighting me really isn't in your best interests at the moment."
He smirked, "Like Eurus said—there's no time like the present." He continued to pace towards Avalon, dead-set on fighting him here and now.
"I suppose your closest friend's death was in vain after all," he exhaled, a white blanket of Touki warmly embracing his figure.
What was probably the final fight of the Supremacy War, in spite of the strange circumstances of which it was about to occur, would soon begin.
---
160,000 words and only now is the first volume finally coming to an end—I really made this much longer than it had any need to be, didn't I? Oh well, better late than never am I right?
