DxD 0172: Loki’s Assault (1/2)
Abaddon whistled as he admired the busty Valkyrie with long white hair. “How about you abandon that old geezer Odin and work as a maid in my house?” He offered, making Rossweisse snort and turn away with a cold expression on her face.
“Abaddon, she is a Valkyrie,” Rias said, shaking her head. “Why would she work as a common housemaid? At least give her the offer of making her a member of your peerage.”
“My peerage has very strict requirements, Rias,” Abaddon said. “Only the most competent women are allowed to join in. At best, I could make her my personal assistant.”
“I’m standing right here, damnit!” The Valkyrie lost it. “This is immensely disrespectful. I am a Valkyrie of Odin, the Allfather. I do not need to become a member of a mere Devil’s Peerage.”
“How dare you affront my lord?” Xenovia unsheathed Durandal. “I shall strike you down for such a transgression.”
Just as she raised her sword to swing it, Irina hugged her from behind. “Stop, Xenovia!” The chestnut-haired ex-nun spoke. “You will start a war between the devils and the Norse gods if you strike one of their own in the Underworld.”
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Xenovia struggled to free herself, looking at Rossweisse angrily. “She’s just a Valkyrie, they won’t start a war over her loss.”
“I am Odin-sama’s assistant and Valkyrie, laying a hand on me —“
Abaddon laughed loudly, “Calm down, Xenovia. I’m just teasing her,” He then turned to Rossweisse, “Don’t mind her, she’s just a little sensitive. But do learn to take a little joke in stride. You are a bit too stuck up.”
“S-stuck up?” She straightened as if someone had just stepped on her tail. “Y-you’re stuck up!” She said defensively before turning around.
“Amusing,” Abaddon said dryly. “Shall we get going?” He looked at Satan Beelzebub.
“If everyone is here, I see no reason for further delays,” Beelzebub glanced over everyone in the group. It included Rias and her Peerage, Abaddon and his two Peerage members, and lastly, Sona and her Peerage.
As the light of Beelzebub’s teleportation circle covered everyone, Abaddon heard a voice in his head.
[Hold back on your strength, you are going there to delay Loki, not kill him. Preferably, focus more on the Boosted Gear’s abilities and not your own. I would rather the world not yet know that the Underworld has someone of your caliber in the younger generation. Otherwise, people will come after you. People who will be difficult for even that old coot or me to hold back.]
Abaddon met Sirzechs’ eyes for a brief moment before disappearing.
…
“To think that Loki is still sealed,” Rias spoke, looking at the green glowing pyramid that was radiating an intense light that constantly pulsated. “It has been half a day since he was sent here.”
“The Satans of the Underworld are not to be underestimated,” Rossweisse spoke her thoughts. “Satan Lucifer might have the most infamy among the four, but Beelzebub, Leviathan, and Asmodeus are all powerhouses in their own right. They are capable enough to contend against the God Kings of the pantheons of the world.”
“I appreciate the compliment,” Sona said with a humble smile. “But you’re giving the Devils too much credit. Twelve hours seem to have been the limit of the seal. It seems to be close to breaking.”
“This is going to be the fight of your lives, everyone,” Rias said. “Give it your best and follow our orders as best as you can.”
“Likewise,” Sona said. “Rias and I will be spearheading this operation; you all need to act upon our directives without any questions.”
Unlike Rias’ Peerage, Sona’s peerage, while ready for the fight of their lives, was slightly disgruntled about fighting alongside Abaddon. They didn’t particularly trust the Devil to have their backs. Saji had it the worst of all, having always felt that his king had been stolen from him by Abaddon.
‘I’ll show you. With my new improvements, I’m going to leave you in the dust. Then the President will definitely fall for me.’
His delusional thoughts about his King aside, Saji was a strong fighter and an integral part of Sona’s peerage.
Hearing both kings give their servants instructions, Aika and Xenovia turned to Abaddon, only to see him looking at the sky. The blue-haired knight cleared her throat as Abaddon looked at her dryly.
“Just…” He said. “…follow Rias’ or Sona’s orders. Otherwise, do your own thing. Aika, your skills are a bit more specialized toward breaking magic circles, so try to analyze weaknesses in Loki’s circles so that you can break them mid-cast while Xenovia can use her new sword to protect those around her.”
“Senpai doesn’t seem to be fond of tactics,” Koneko said, making Abaddon look at her with a flat expression.
“I’m not. You got a problem with that?” Koneko shrank back at Abaddon’s intense gaze.
The banter couldn’t continue for longer as the seal’s glow started pulsing rapidly as if it was about to explode. Everyone focused on the glowing structure as they waited for it to break apart. It didn’t keep them waiting for long, shattering apart moments later as the god emerged from the seal.
“Petty tricks, Beelzebub. I was merely having some fun,” The god, expressing a dignified aura, floated up in the air as if looking down on his surroundings.
“Loki-sama,” Rossweisse spoke up loudly. “Your affront to the Allfather is unforgivable, but he is merciful. Surrender now, and you may yet be given a pardon for your actions during the summit.”
“And who is going to pardon me? The Allfather? You?” Loki scoffed. “You may be Odin’s most talented Valkyrie, but you are nowhere near capable enough to challenge a god. A pity really, I was expecting a little more during the opening act of Ragnarök.”
“Stubborn as always,” Rossweisse said. Loki didn’t bother replying and instead spread his arms apart as multiple beams of light escaped them, impacting the cliffs all around them as his summons appeared. Fenrir and the wolf’s two children, Sköll and Hati, appeared, growling at their groups. Before they could even process the appearance of the newcomers, more lights escaped Loki’s palms and formed into multiple giant scaly eastern dragons. The battlefield now had five clones of the Dragon of the End, Dragon King Miðgarðsormr.
“This is going to be a problem,” Sona tensed up.
“Did we plan on seeing so many legendary monsters in this fight?” Irina asked, slightly intimidated by the presence of three huge wolves and five dragons that were all large enough to dwarf her completely.
“We did, but there are no countermeasures specific that can be taken against them,” Rossweisse said. “The best we can do is to make sure that we protect ourselves from Fenrir’s fangs, which are said to be able to kill gods, devil kings, and even dragons.”
“Let’s just make sure that we don’t become test subjects for those fangs,” Rias said. “We have a very limited supply of Phoenix Tears, and Asia’s healing ability has limits.”
“Saji, restrain Fenrir,” Sona said, “Rias, send someone to suppress the wolf. Momo and Reya, you two take on that clone of the dragon of the end with Ruruko. Tsubasa and Tomoe can take on Hati. Lastly, Tsubaki, make sure to move around the battlefield and use your Sacred Gear to protect anyone from stray attacks.”
“Kiba, Irina, and Xenovia, you three need to work with Saji to take on Fenrir. Koneko, work with Akeno to restrain Sköll. Gasper, look over the battlefield and do your best to use your Sacred Gear to freeze the monsters in time if someone is about to happen, and protect them. Aika and Asia can stay with Gasper,” Rias gave her orders. “Lastly, Sona and I can work together to take on two of the clones of dragon clones.”
“I shall focus on the fourth clone,” Rossweisse said.
“Guess that leaves Loki and the fifth clone for me,” Abaddon said with a predatory smile.
‹BOOSTED GEAR — BALANCE BREAKER›
Draig’s loud voice announced Abaddon’s activation of Sacred gear as he boosted himself and took flight. The teams all burst into action and took on their respective opponents as Abaddon flew up to one of the serpents and sent a barrage of Destruction attacks at it. It roared at him angrily as he merely dodged the attacks while boosting himself further.
As he hit his tenth boost, he transferred all of it into an attack that obliterated a quarter of the snake.
“You must be the guy who loves calling himself a god,” Abaddon said.
“I am a god, brat,” Loki said irritably, making two complicated blue magic circles in front of himself as they sent a barrage of attacks at Abaddon.
“Maybe so,” Abaddon said, slashing his arm and releasing a wave of Destruction that destroyed the attack in its tracks. “Though it doesn’t particularly matter to me. I’m just here to stall you.” Abaddon made multiple elemental attacks teleport all around Loki. The god was a little startled, but his reaction came quickly enough that he could defend himself from the attacks with relative ease and even deflect the attacks back at Abaddon.
“A magic-based fight against the God of Mischief himself,” Abaddon said, his excited smile evident despite the helmet covering his face. He nullified the attacks that Loki deflected back at him and sent a single concentrated burst of destruction at the god, “Sounds fun.”
“You’re still a few millennia too young to duel me in magic, brat.” Loki effortlessly deflected Abaddon’s attack and created multiple circles in front of himself, almost as if creating a cage. He snapped his fingers, and that cage of magic circles disappeared from its position, appearing around Abaddon instead.
An explosion ensued that should have easily incapacitated if not killed Abaddon, but he merely released a shaky breath, “That was risky,” Abaddon said as the dust was blown away, revealing him being covered in a thick layer of red that signified the presence of an invisible aura of destruction energy around himself. “To think that this used to be my signature ability merely a few months ago … good riddance,” He thought out loud, “Let’s take things up a notch, shall we?” Abaddon himself teleported right behind Loki, punching a god.