"...is a plain forgotten death."
The declaration was not a shout, but a whisper echoing in the debris of the ruined castle. Jay didn't wait for a response. He lunged forward, his feet barely touching the debris as he accelerated into a blur of black and violet.
He swung Ame-no-Habakiri in a wide sweeping arc. The world-cutting slash roared through the air, a crescent of spatial distortion that sought to bisect both Devils in a single stroke.
Knowing the lethal nature of the strike from that jet-black blade, Rizevim and Euclid leaped into the air. The massive defensive barrier Euclid had created earlier was caught in the wake of the swing as it was cleaved cleanly in two before dissolving into particles of light.
BOOM
The nearby towers behind the Devils was struck by the residual force of the blow. The ancient stone walls were pulverized, the entire section of the castle collapsing into a jagged ravine of rubble.
Rizevim, now floating effortlessly in the sky, looked down with a playful glint in his eyes.
He raised his hand, and the dark mana in the air condensed with terrifying speed.
A demonic bullet so massive it cast a shadow over the entire castle courtyard, materialized above him. It was a sphere of condensed demonic magic so immense, it's vibrating with the power of a Super Devil.
"BOOM!" Rizevim screamed with childish glee.
The bullet tore through the air with supersonic speed, the friction igniting the atmosphere into a trail of crimson fire. Jay didn't move from his spot. He merely flicked his wrist, a spark of purple flame dancing on his fingertips.
Rupture
A jagged, enormous tear in space opened directly in the path of the projectile. The void yawned wide, consuming the demonic bullet whole, swallowing the explosion before it could even begin.
The sky went silent for a heartbeat, the vacuum of the spatial rupture sealing shut with a dull thud.
In that momentary silence, Euclid appeared at Jay's side. His demonic sword was already in motion, a lateral slash aimed at Jay's ribs.
'Try using that ghost-like technique again, you bastard!' Euclid grinned as he thought, his face contorted with a mixture of hatred and desperation.
Then dozens of silver magic circles manifested around Jay in a tight sphere, primed to detonate the moment he tried to shift into his intangible state.
Jay didn't even flinch. His body flickered, not into a spectral form, but through Voidwalker that placed him directly behind Euclid's guard.
BOOM
The explosion magic detonated, but it hit nothing but empty air.
Jay swung Ame-no-Murakumo, the silver blade crackling with archaic lightning. Euclid, acting on pure veteran instinct, managed to bring his own demonic sword up to parry the strike.
CLANK
Sparks flew as the two blades ground against one another.
At that moment, Rizevim surged downward from the sky, his hand outstretched to seize Jay's head from behind.
Jay sensed the displacement in the air and erupted a wave of Incinerate Anthem flames toward Euclid to force him back. In the same motion, Jay spun his body 180 degrees.
CLANK
Murakumo collided with Rizevim's bare hand. The Devil's skin was as hard as refined dragon scale, the divine steel of The Cloud Gathering sword unable to bite into the flesh.
Jay immediately activated Phantasmagoria as his body turning into a purple-hued specter. Rizevim's follow-up punch passed harmlessly through Jay's chest.
With another rapid rotation, Jay brought Ame-no-Habakiri around. Rizevim, anticipating the spatial bypassing nature of the jet-black blade, retreated in a flash of silver light, putting dozens of meters between them.
But Jay wasn't aiming for the Son of Lucifer.
His blade was already wreathed in a blazing purple flame, the edge of the sword humming with the frequency of a world being torn apart. He whispered a single word into the cold air.
"Cleave."
SHIIING
Euclid, who was still mid-air after dodging the previous burst of flames widened his eyes in absolute horror.
He hadn't expected Jay to switch targets mid-motion. The dark purple slash didn't travel toward him as it simply manifested inside the space he occupied.
SPLURRT
A fountain of blood erupted from Euclid's midsection. The cut was deep, jagged, and bypasses his natural demonic durability as if it weren't there. It looked less like a sword wound and more like a monster had tried to tear his stomach out with a single bite.
Euclid screamed and teleporting away in a panic.
Luckily dodging the three more violet slashes appeared in the space he had just occupied, narrow misses that whistled through the air. He reappeared a hundred meters away, gasping for air as he crouched behind Rizevim for protection.
COUGH
Euclid spat a thick glob of blood onto the stones. He looked down at the massive scar bifurcating his torso, his hands shaking. He felt a soul-deep humiliation. How was he, a high-ranking Devil of the Lucifuge line, being dismantled by a human for a second time!?
"That sword..." Euclid wheezed, his voice laced with venom as he muttered. "It must be that sword. Without those toys, he is nothing!"
Jay stood casually among the ruins, his dual blades held low. He looked at Rizevim who still wore that insufferable amused smile as he glanced back at his bleeding subordinate.
"You lost again, Euclid," Rizevim said, his voice light and airy. "Now, what should I do with you? You're starting to become a very useless butler."
"I am sorry, Rizevim-sama," Euclid managed to say, blood dripping from his chin.
Rizevim turned his gaze back to Jay, his expression becoming complicated. In his mind, he knew he was far superior compared to the lowly human in front of him.
From a purely mathematical standpoint, his magical capacity and physical attributes were leagues above any human. He could negate the boy's Sacred Gear with a touch. He had fought gods, archdemons, and seraphs whose power could tilt the axis of the world.
And yet, this boy was different.
"Endowed with power beyond measure for a human, but still fights like a starving dog," Rizevim muttered to himself, his smile widening into something more genuine.
Rizevim noticed it in the way Jay moved. There was no wasted motion, no flourish, no arrogance.
Every step was deliberate, every swing was intentional, and every spell was effective.
Rizevim had dueled the greatest swordsmen in history, men who had spent centuries perfecting their styles. But this human, who seemed to follow no established style at all, was the one providing the most trouble to him.
Jay, for his part remained vigilant. He had nearly killed Euclid using the same opportunistic strategy he had employed against Susanoo, because he knew his raw power wasn't enough to finish both of them at once.
'The only troublesome thing is if Rizevim figures out my trick,' Jay thought.
One of the best thing about Jay's magic is that he uses the Incinerate Anthem flames as a medium for his circles, which thus create an incantation-less, circle-less and almost instantaneous activation time.
But if Rizevim touches him and cancels the Anthem as a whole, the core of his magical utility would collapse.
And thankfully, Phantasmagoria was a solid counter for that.
"You know, this battle is going nowhere," Rizevim suddenly said, breaking the tension.
Hearing that, Jay's mind raced. 'Is that all?' He thought.
There was no way a Devil that Azazel described as one of the strongest would have only this in his arsenal. Jay then clenched his hands tighter around both of his swords.
Suddenly, a massive eruption of mana rolled over the mountain range. It was a distant, heavy vibration that originated from the direction of the Carmilla Territory.
Jay's eyes flickered toward the horizon as he felt a specific resonance of a thread of mana he had planted inside of Griselda in that same direction.
Rizevim also looked away, a wide, predatory smile appearing on his face.
'Ah, it seems that the war has started.'
He looked back at Jay, his playful mask fully restored. "Well, Silence-kun, I think it's time for me to go kill some white-fury bastards. Let's enjoy our bloothirsty battle another time."
"You're running?" Jay asked, his voice flat.
"Running? No, no. I'm just busy!" Rizevim laughed. "Let's continue this later. Bye-bye!"
Rizevim reached down and grabbed the crouching Euclid by the back of his collar, lifting him like a stray cat. Before Jay could react, Rizevim launched into the air.
"Cleave!" Jay whispered, sending a world-cutting slash after them.
But Rizevim was too fast. He had witnessed how Habakiri cut through space, and he seemed to know that attempting a teleport directly in front of Jay was a death sentence.
Instead, he used raw explosive physical speed to leap across the ruins, disappearing into the dense forest at the base of the mountains in a silver flash.
Jay stood alone in the silence of the destroyed lab. He didn't chase. He knew that in the open forest, against a Devil of that speed, a pursuit would be a waste of energy. Not to mention he probably already teleported by now.
"Coward," Jay muttered.
With a thought, Ame-no-Habakiri and Ame-no-Murakumo vanished into his pocket dimension. A swirl of purple flames engulfed his feet as he prepared his own departure.
The mana from the Carmilla territory was growing more intense by the second.
Within a heartbeat, the purple flames consumed him, leaving nothing but the smoldering ruins of the Tepes castle behind.
***
Inside the Queen's chamber on the main castle of the Carmilla factions.
The chamber prepared for negotiation was circular, built of pale marble veined with veins of crimson crystal that faintly glowed under torchlight. A single round table rested at its center, polished to a mirror sheen, reflecting the figures seated around it.
Michael and Gabriel sat opposite Queen Carmilla.
The contrast was striking.
The two Seraphs sat without guards, without weapons visible, their radiant presence alone enough to make most beings kneel instinctively. Their wings were folded neatly behind them, feathers pristine, light gathering softly around their forms as if the room itself acknowledged their authority.
Across from them sat Queen Carmilla, ruler of her dominion draped in black and crimson silks that clung elegantly to her frame. A crown of dark crystal rose thorns rested upon her pale blonde hair. Behind her stood two elite guards, silent as statues, hands resting near their weapons, eyes never leaving the angels.
Gabriel folded her hands upon the table, her expression calm but sincere.
The discussion with Queen Carmilla was drawing to its conclusion, and the truth had been agreed upon.
The war against the Carmilla faction had never truly been provoked by her side. It had been born from the Church itself. The Exorcists acting on unchecked authority had struck first. Their blades had fallen without proof as their faith had become an excuse for slaughter.
Yet the fault did not rest with them alone.
Michael and Gabriel is the one to blame too.
Gabriel leaned forward, her eyes soft with empathy. "The Church acted on grief and blind anger. As the representative of the Heavens, I offer my sincerest apologies for the blood we have spilled on your borders."
Carmilla's expression softened, though only slightly. The weight of an apology from a Seraph was not something easily dismissed. "I accept your words, Lady Gabriel. However, an apology does not bring back the fledglings your priests turned to ash nor your people my kin has killed. I have one condition..."
"Condition?" Michael asked.
"An alliance," Carmilla corrected.
She tapped a slender finger against the obsidian table, the soft sound echoing through the chamber.
"The Tepes have crossed a line that can never be undone," Queen Carmilla said. "They seek to use the Grail to rewrite the hierarchy of our race, to place themselves above all others. That ambition threatens not only my house, but the balance of the Vampire World itself. It is only a matter of time before the Church becomes their next target if that balance is broken. The slaughter at Sucaeva is proof enough."
Her gaze remained fixed on Michael.
"My condition is simple. If the war between the House of Tepes and the House of Carmilla is inevitable, whether now or in the near future, then the Heavens must stand with us. Not as arbiters. As allies."
Michael closed his eyes.
The weight of the decision pressed heavily upon him. To openly join a war alongside vampires was a choice that would send shockwaves through the Vatican and fracture centuries of doctrine. Faith, tradition, and law all stood in opposition to such an alliance.
Yet reality left little room for dogma.
They shared a common enemy.
An enemy of the Heavens.
Then Michael opened his eyes.
"For the sake of the innocent, both human and supernatural, I, as a representative of the Heavens, agree," Michael said as he opened his eyes. "Should war break out, we will provide the necessary support."
Carmilla stood, extending her hand across the table.
"Then it is agreed. From this moment on, those who have slaughtered one another for centuries and spilled endless blood will walk the same path, for the sake of peace in the supernatural world."
As Michael reached out to take her hand, finalizing the pact that would change the course of the war, a sudden, violent vibration rocked the castle. It wasn't just a physical tremor; it was a psychic shockwave of pure, unadulterated malice.
The giant stained-glass windows and the sweeping balcony overseeing the Carmilla Territory seemed to turn black in an instant.
The sun was not setting, but the sky was being blotted out by thousands of presences in the horizon.
From the Queen's chamber, they looked like a biblical flock of bats, a dark tide of wings and hunger sweeping across the sky.
"That's..." Gabriel muttered, her wings unfurling instinctively behind her.
Queen Carmilla stepped onto the balcony, her crimson eyes turning into sharp glowing slits of predatory gleam.
"The Tepes."
Meanwhile outside, on the high battlements of the Carmilla fortress, the atmosphere had turned from tense waiting to sheer terror.
Dulio Gesualdo, the Zenith Tempest sat perched on the edge of a stone gargoyle. His usual carefree demeanor had vanished, replaced by a grim focused stare.
Beside him, Griselda Quarta stood with her hand gripping the hilt of her sword so tightly her glove began to creak.
"Are you kidding me..." Dulio whispered, his eyes scanning the horizon.
Through his unique sensory abilities, he could feel the weight of the oncoming army.
These weren't just low-level Vampires like most of the Carmillas they fought earlier. The thousands of vampires flying toward them were high-ranking nobles, their auras dense and heavy with malicious dark aura.
"Man, I really don't get paid enough for this," Diethelm muttered from behind them. His hands steady despite the sweat on his brow.
Beside him, Mirana looked pale. Her body was still covered in the scars and bandages from their previous skirmishes, and she looked visibly weakened.
Griselda didn't speak. She watched the black cloud approach, her mind drifting to Jay.
On the opposite side of the sky, floating at the vanguard of the dark legion was Marius Tepes.
He looked majestic and terrifying as his massive bat wings spanning several meters, etched with glowing crimson aura. He wore armor of black obsidian and crimson that caught the dying light of the afternoon.
In his right hand, the Sephiroth Graal floated, emitting a soft, golden radiance that seemed to empower every vampire in his wake.
He looked down at the combined forces of the Church and Carmilla, seeing the exorcists and the rival vampires as nothing more than ants waiting to be crushed under the heel of a god.
A wide, manic grin spread across Marius's face. He raised the Grail high, the divine artifact pulsing like a second heart.
"So it begins," Marius declared, his voice amplified by magic until it shook the very air.
The Holy Grail War.