Chapter 49

"So, what's your excuse?"

I blink…shockingly, those words weren't mine, but instead, Vali's, directed toward Tobio. Though I was admittedly about to ask something similar myself.

Tobio's group quieted down before Tobio turned, his face hardening as he looked at the White Dragon Emperor.

"Excuse for what, Vali?" Tobio asks stoically back.

Vali merely smirks, "For showing up so late, of course. I held back until that big burst of divine power to pull a hero saves the day moment, you know? So what about you?"

My smile fell off.

Of course he did that. Dick.

Tobio frowned as he replied, "Noriaki could handle himself just fine. We held back because we were waiting in the wings in case something happened…like someone else showing up."

He narrows his eyes, and smirks as he continues, "Lavinia caught a whiff of your teleportation circle, so we showed up. Wouldn't have otherwise, unless Loki summoned whoever he wanted there…but Noriaki took care of that before I could jump in."

Right as he finished, Tobio stumbled as he was pushed to the side slightly, and a…very voluptuous blonde in a white and blue witches outfit, with a big puffy hat and all, took his place.

She gave a very wide, very goofy smile Vali's way as she waved at him, "Ara ara? Is that little Va I see over there? It's been so long~!"

I could barely contain my snort. Va? She has a cute little nickname for him?

Vali slowly looked anywhere but at her, giving an embarrassed frown, which eventually settled on me.

I simply chuckle at the display, prompting his frown to cringe further with embarrassment.

Heh. Serves you right, you edge lord wannabe.

Eventually, Vali shakes off his embarrassment and settles back into that same cocky smirk that seems to be his default facial expression.

"So then, Noriaki Kusanagi," he addresses me while crossing his arms, "I see you have gotten stronger if you can manhandle Loki like that."

I eye the maimed, unconscious trickster god on the ground, before looking back at him, "To be honest, the guy wasn't that strong."

"Really?" Vali sighed, a sad disappointed thing, "Unfortunate. Here I was thinking fighting some Norse Gods would be a fun time." After a moment, his expression brightened slightly, "Well, I guess not all hope is lost."

He turned suddenly, facing the direction of Odin with a grin stretching across his face, "After all, there is still a Norse God here…"

My hand immediately went to my sword hilt, a snarl on my lips. "Vali! Don't you fucking dare start shit right now!"

Rose stepped in front of Odin, face hardened and focused, the old god however merely gave the white dragon a snort, disregarding him entirely.

Tobio even stepped forward, arm outstretched to the side, ready to summon his scythe at any moment. The rest of his team looked similar, even Kouki, who was staring bloody murder at me this whole time until now.

Lavinia though, was the only one amongst them that seemed genuinely concerned.

Similarly, the Five Heads readied themselves for battle, and I'm honestly kinda shocked Byakko didn't just try to jump in and start the fight now.

…The Genbu girl is shaking a little though. Nerves? Now? She seemed fine at the meeting though…

Vali gave everyone's reaction a once over, before smiling casually, "What, Kusanagi, that is what terrorists do...besides, you shouldn't talk. I beat you soundly last time we fought, and you aren't the only one who has gotten stronger."

"Soundly!?" I scoff, a little offended, "We fought for hours, what do you mean soundly!"

I'm going to tear him out of his armor and chuck him into the sun, or so help me-!

"Hold up now, rewind that a bit!" Odin suddenly called out, hitting his stick on the hood of the carriage loudly, "Terrorists? You mean, the Khaos Brigade, right?"

Vali waves the old man off, "In a way…we're more like allies. It's easier to do what we want aligned with them than anyone else."

"Oh yeah?" Odin mused, monocle sparkling, "And what would that be?"

Vali smiled wide, "Strength. Power. The likes of which can't be won through peace, but in battles hard fought."

This time, my snort could not be contained, "Vergil wannabe."

Vali's head knocked to the side, as though struck.

"Awww~! Va-kun! If you need strength, don't hesitate to call on your big sister!" Lavinia cooed out, prompting a very slight blush to dust his cheeks.

Then, Tobio snorted, and that seemed to open the floodgates from the other members.

They all pretty much started cooing at him, calling him various embarrassing nicknames.

Lucidrago. Va-kun. Radra. Lucidra.

Ramen Dragon? Kouki called him that one.

All the while, Vali clenched his teeth and started trembling in teenage angst and cringe.

I'd throw in my stuff, but honestly? Team Slash/Dog is doing good work by themselves.

The guy holding a big bo staff standing next to Vali seems to think so too, as his whole body shakes, holding his stomach as his laughing reaches the point it starts to hurt.

"Va-kun? Lucidrago? V-Vali, man! You should've told us more about your time with these guys!" He pats Vali on the back, "It sounded like a blast!"

Vali finally let out a long, pained groan, causing the guy to laugh harder.

Bo staff guy, think that's the current Monkey King, Bikou, I believe his name was?

Tall athletic guy, wearing old-fashioned Chinese armor of red and gold…yeah. Pretty sure that's him.

The other two members of Vali's Team I recognize more readily; the fancily dressed British man with two swords, one strapped to his back, the other his waist, and the small British school girl with a floppy witch hat and staff, both blonde with blue eyes.

Arthur and Le Fay Pendragon, respectively.

Arthur watched the commotion happening before him rather impassively, while Le Fay held a dainty little hand before her mouth, trying not to bust out laughing like Bikou.

Then, as though she sensed it, her eyes flickered in my direction, looking back at me.

Almost immediately, her demeanor changed, as she grabbed her floppy witch hat and used the rim to cover her face.

She wasn't quick enough though, because I could see her face turn into a bright tomato before she could cover it up.

I blink. Huh?

Looking at Arthur now, I suddenly find him giving the side eye my way.

Still an impassive stoic rock of face, yet his eyes had a spark of…judgment, in them?

What the fuck do I do?

Odin meanwhile, during all of this, just seemed amused.

Vali though?

"Alright, ALRIGHT!" His wings, both Devil and Longinus, explode out from his back, "That's ENOUGH!" He calls, almost roars, fists clenched, his aura bubbling to the surface, his demonic power becoming known.

Everyone tenses again, Tobio's scythe forms from the shadows, and I…stand where I have been, getting a feeling for his power.

His power, beyond being wroth with rage, has increased by a good degree. I can feel that much.

Still though, nowhere near as impressive as the insane growth spurt my powers went through.

I could take him. Even without the sun. Even in his Balance Breaker.

Probably even in his Juggernaut Drive.

'I'll show you a real Juggernaut Drive' huh?

That familiar anticipation burns and churns within my gut.

I want this fight that's brewing. But I can't have it here.

My eyes glance over the street, the rank and file lingering…

If a big fight between all of us and Vali's Team broke out, the damage would be catastrophic.

Worse than my fight against the red dragon in Kuoh.

Vali would be forced to go Juggernaut Drive to even have a chance against me, much less Tobio, and all that power concentrated here...two Longinus, a god?

The barriers would snap and fall apart like bundles of twigs.

So, how do I go about getting the fight while preventing collateral…

"We came here to fight the Norse." Vali declared, "If we won't get that here, then we'll just find another place with plenty of Norse…"

Rose's eyes widened, before her glare intensified several fold, "Asgard…? You wouldn't!"

Vali's grin widened as he spoke, "It doesn't have to come to that, of course." His eyes settle on Tobio. "Fight me."

Tobio glares, but doesn't move or say a word.

"Fight me," Vali continues, his grin becoming strained with mania, "go all out. Don't hold back. I'm an enemy now, Tobio. Come on. Do it."

Tobio still says nor does anything.

So Vali continues, "...You wanna know something funny, Tobio? I betrayed the Grigori before they fell apart, and have been a traitor for a long time."

Now at that, Tobio's eyes widened confusion, betrayal, anger.

Vali smirked and went on, "That's right. The Chaos Brigade, with a 'C', that you helped destroy? When it fell apart, it was quickly replaced by the Khaos Brigade, with a 'K'…and I joined them right after."

Tobio's grip on his scythe increased to the point his knuckles went stark white, and finally, the increasingly angry young man spoke.

"...Why." A single world, calm and restrained, yet spoken very near a breaking point.

Vali gained a melancholic smile as he shook his head, "I was never going to get what I wanted with the Grigori. Never could. It was inevitable."

Something in his mind, something in his eyes, snapped at that moment, and the rage became center stage.

Yet, before he could swing his scythe, or even take a step, someone reached out from behind him, and set their hand on his.

He stopped immediately, as the figure of a small girl with long brown hair done up with two small twin tails, stepped right up to his side.

Her emerald green eyes look right up at him, almost glaring, but more in a chastising sort of way.

Oh? Is this the girl Tobio has a thing for? Sae, I believe?

I can see why if so, she is pretty cute.

In any case, she gets on her tiptoes to whisper something to him, and in not but a few short moments, Tobio sighs, before angling a soft smile down at the girl.

His scythe vanishes as he wraps his arm around the girl's waist, pulling her closer and prompting an audible squeak from her.

He doesn't even look at Vali anymore, so he doesn't see the look on Vali's face morph into one of sheer disappointment.

"Getting baited so easily by your little tough guy edgy anti-hero act." Tobio scoffs in distaste, presumably at himself, "I won't start anything with you today to satisfy your battle lust…but when you're done LARPing, we'll be waiting for your apology."

Vali's eyebrow twitched, "Act? LARPing? Are you just making excuses because you're whipped now?"

Tobio chuckles, "No, no…we still have your old notebooks you know?"

Vali froze.

"You know the one," Tobio continued ruthlessly, with a wide reminiscing smile, "with all your future special attack names, and edgy catchphrases and lines to say when you meet your 'destined' rival."

Lavina chose that point to add in, "One of my favorite lines is…" she hums and the next time she speaks, her tone and voice deepens, but not that much, "I feel regret that I was born into this era. A world without God. I would have wanted to defeat God!"

…I think she was trying to sound like Vali, but uh, that didn't work. At all.

Still, very chunni. Definitely something Vali would say.

In fact, I'm pretty sure he did.

Vali meanwhile, simply stared at them, red streaking from ear to ear, "...give them back!" He half whispered, half yelled, much to everyone's amusement.

Lavinia gave him a sweet smile, "Come back and take them then, Val-kun~!"

Vali looked away, clicking his tongue with distaste like the proper edgy chuuni half-devil he is, prompting Lavinia to giggle, which just made him more embarrassed.

The poor guy is already getting destroyed, and it's not even my turn yet!

Seeing Vali isn't going to make a move, Tobio turns away from Vali, "Now then, we'll be watching…but I don't suspect much else will happen after tonight. Right. Vali?"

It's Vali's turn not to answer, and he does his job excellently.

"Besides," Tobio continues, a small smirk spreading across his face, "there's somebody else who can handle you just fine."

Vali perked up suddenly, finally looking back toward the ground.

Then he flinched, as right in his peripheral vision, golden glowing eyes, my eyes, stared at him.

Vali jerked away, floating a fair few inches back as I was, after all, right in his guard.

He quickly adopted an eager smile as he faced me though.

Bikou blinked, the Monkey King slowly looked my way with a curious gaze, "...Huh."

Arthur merely looked at me fully, while Le Fay?

Poor girl saw how close I suddenly was and nearly gave a startled shriek. Instead, she merely bolted and hid behind her brother more.

…Okay, seriously, what the hell did I do?

More importantly, though, I'm up two for suddenly blitzing guards today, huh?

Also, Tobio's a bro for easily setting that up for me.

Definitely getting him a drink after this.

"Try not to hurt him too badly, whatever happens." Tobio says as he and his team walk away, into a freshly made magic circle.

I'm pretty sure that was aimed at me.

Vali seems to think the same, as his eyebrow twitches, and I smirk at him.

"Alright then, Chuuni Dragon Emperor," he twitches again, prompting Bikou to give a cough of laughter, while I crack my knuckles, "my turn."

Vali gets low, immediately ready to burst forward, but I hold out my hand to halt him, "None of that now…we are in the streets after all. If we fought right this second, we'd destroy the district…that, and…" I ran my eyes across the gathering of Clan and Youkai, "Well, if we started something…everyone else would be liable to jump in."

Vali scoffed at that, "My team can handle some trash."

"But so many? And the Clan Heads? Along with Odin's Escort and myself?" I add, "Can you and your Team really take all that?"

Despite it all, his smile grew cocky, "You underestimate our power, Noriaki Kusangi."

Why is this guy still saying my full name?

Oh. Right. It's supposed to make him seem cool.

"He is correct, Mr. Kusanagi." I blink the shock away, as a polite male voice breaks into the conversation.

Arthur comes floating up, slowly, his hand drawing the sword sheathed at his hip.

The sword is pretty damn long, kind of like my sword actually, with a hilt that could easily pass for a greatsword, a round pummel at the end, and a huge cross-shaped guard.

The blade's edge is golden, and, all in all? I have to say.

It looks kind of silly to me, not going to lie.

He stops a few feet away from me, and points the sword at my throat, "There is nothing that I, with the Holy King Sword Caliburn, can't cut."

At that exact moment, the entire blade of his sword bloomed golden, radiating a Holy Aura denser, purer, and far stronger than even several Shrines I've been to.

All condensed into a blade a few feet long.

Definitely the strongest Holy Sword I've felt.

Shame it still looks like it's overcompensating for something.

"But I would much rather test this blade's edge against you, rather than dull it against the unworthy." Arthur continues, "It was originally my intention to challenge you as a swordsman, but…something else has come to my attention that you must answer for."

At that exact moment, Le Fay's head pops up from around Arthur's shoulder.

At my blank stare, she quickly vanishes once more, but once again, I'm left wondering…

The fuck did I do!?

I skim through the good old memory banks real quick, trying to find the answer.

Yeah. No. Still nothing. The fuck!?

"Okay okay," Bikou floats on over, standing a golden cloud, "calm the overprotective big brother shtick Arthur."

Arthur gives a faux gasp, looking toward the Monkey King, slightly offended, "It's not being overprotective it's a matter of honor-"

"Honor. Innocence. Chivalry, blah blah blah." Bikou rattled off uncaringly, "You can keep espousing knightly virtues, but we all know the real reason you wanna slash him."

Uh. No we all don't!

"As for me?" Suddenly, I find the tip of a bow staff, pointed at my throat, joining the sword, "I wanna hit em because my senjutsu is picking up weird things from him. That's all."

Arthur joins me in giving a plain stare at Bikou.

Vali floats toward us all, and gives a, for once, contemplative look.

"Everyone wants a piece of him, huh? That does kind of complicate things." He muses.

"Not really." I reply plainly, "I can just fight all three of you at once."

All three guys blink in union.

Vali was the first to respond to that, with a scoff, "You could barely fight me one on one…don't you think that's a bit much for you right now?"

My head snaps towards Vali's direction, a perfectly calm smile etched across my face, "It seems you spent all your time fantasizing about cool move names then training your power-sensing abilities, huh?"

Vali flinches at that, as though struck, before huffing and crossing his arms, glaring straight back, "There's no way you've grown that much since."

I raise an eyebrow slowly, take a breath, and unshackle my power.

I didn't put everything in against Loki, but here, I show everything.

A brilliant golden honey-colored aura explodes from my form, an amalgamation of my energies brought forth.

My face and chest burn as my mark activates and spreads.

The first to pull back? Bikou. He's a Youkai, but not enlightened like his Ancestor, his very being is repulsed by my powers.

Arthur isn't scared but is pushed back by the shockwave simply letting loose unleashes.

I note, in the back of my mind, that Caliburn was cutting my aura until its user was pushed back.

Guess there was some truth to Arthur's statement there, hmm?

Vali meanwhile, simply stared, holding his hands out to either side, catching the two…or I suppose three, because Le Fay is on Arthur's back still, to stop them from flying away.

Then, he smiles.

It has been a really long time since I've seen such a perverse expression of battle lust.

Shame it has to be Vali showing it, and not like a girl.

Or at least a female Vali.

Shame, that.

"This power….you far exceed the state you were in when we fought, by several orders of magnitude." Vali espoused with glee, "Yes…like this, you can certainly handle it…Juggernaut Drive…"

"You'll have to wait until tomorrow then." I state with finality, "We'll set up a nice little place for us to beat each other up, free of thinking about collateral, or anything else."

Vali grinned something fierce, excited, though he tried to hide it as he spoke, "...I suppose we can wait until tomorrow."

Bikou looked ever so slightly nervous, while Arthur glared back, looking about ready to try and cut me regardless.

"Good. Then I think you've held up this convoy for long enough, don't you think?" I 'ask'.

"I suppose we have, hmm?" Vali looks down at Arthur's back and nods, grin never leaving his very punchable face.

At that moment, a magic circle swirled into existence behind the small group.

"We'll meet up outside the Ise Grand Shrine, right after I drop Odin off, we'll head off." I add before they leave, as I Iet my power simmer down, "Sounds good?"

"Excellent." Came Vali's toothy grin reply.

Vali waved for the others to enter the circle, but before he could, I called out one last time.

"Oi, Chuuni Dragon!"

Despite the barb, he didn't even twitch but did stop.

"You better take your defeat as gracefully as I did mine."

Vali merely smirks back at me, "As if I'd lose, Kusanagi." He answered cockily, before crossing through the magic circle.

The others didn't say anything as they turned and crossed.

However, something did happen when Arthur turned.

Le Fay, now freely visible again, peaked out from under her hat and gave me a little wave.

I, of course, give her a little wave back, and a small, albeit confused, smile.

She squeaks. The only thing I've heard her say today. It was cute, I'll give her that, but also…

Arthur whirled around, his sticking out of the magic circle, glaring at me with bloody fucking murder in his eyes before the circle begins getting smaller, his face goes through all the way, and it closes.

…I think I'm going to have to beat the answers out of him, aren't I?

And I'm going to have so much fun doing it too!

But first! Responsibilities.

I turn back to the assembled Clans people and Youkai.

"Well, that's all been taken care of, but the night's still young!" I call out, "Get back to your posts everyone! We can celebrate once all of this is over!"

At the mention of celebrations, pretty much everyone ran off to do just that.

The Clan Heads lingered, which was perfect because that included Suzaku…who I flew up to first after sending everyone off.

She looked at me, a bit confused as to why, which didn't fade in the slightest as went up to her.

"You okay?" I asked immediately.

She still looked pretty confused though, "Well…Yes? Loki didn't manage to land an attack on me, on any of us, really why?"

"I wasn't asking for the Loki fight." I elaborate slightly.

She tilted her head at me, more confused than ever, and I sighed, before elaborating further still, "Team Slash/Dog, them showing up."

Suzaku blinked at that. Then faint realization filled her eyes, and she smiled.

Not like, violently or something, it was a small, genuinely sweet thing.

She closed the gap between us, and slowly hugged me, which genuinely caught me off guard, "Yes…Yes, I am fine." She muttered softly, "I've gotten over all of it by now…there's truly no need to worry."

I hug her back, with one hand landing on her head to pet her hair as I do.

"I figured, but, you know…seeing how you were that day…makes a guy worry a little." I mutter back down at her.

Suzaku simply snuggles against my chest, "I figured, but trust me, I am fine now…thank you, for caring enough to check up on me though…it has been a while since I've seen them."

I chuckled a little, "That's exactly why I'm checking, Suza…"

She hummed, before slowly pulling away, her smile staying as she looked up at me, "Time to get back to work, my Lord."

I sigh, "I know, I know…" I wave her off, "Gotta seal Loki up before we head back off…" I grumble, already knowing that when we do head out, it's going to be very…wild.

To make up for lost time, I bet Odin will argue. Something like that.

"I'm looking forward to…celebrating with you tomorrow, my Lord~..." she adds, with a wink and a slightly sultry look, "I know it's annoying right now…but perhaps looking forward to that will help at least?"

…she's implying what I think she's implying, isn't she?

"Well…that does make me feel a little bit better..." I respond huskily, winking straight back, "Can't wait."

She shivers, a hot blush dusting her cheeks as her smile grows, and she quickly rushes off with a giggle.

Yeah. I'm going to ruin that girl tomorrow.

But first, even more responsibility!

I head on over to where Odin and Rose are talking rather animatedly, though as soon as Odin sees me, he ends the conversation…prompting Rose to give an annoyed huff.

"Sooo?" I draw out as I approach, "What are we going to do with Loki?"

Rose looks away as Odin responds, "Bring his body to me, brat. I'll temporarily seal him away so we can get a move on…after all this is over, I'll take him back, throw him into some cave somewhere or something, and see to it he's punished for this."

Rose mumbles something I can't hear, but it's clearly against what he said.

Still, I shrug and float back down to where Loki still lay, unmoving and undisturbed.

Personally? I'd rather just kill him. But even then, he'll come back eventually, and who's to say he'll be better or worse after his vacation?

In any case, I'll let Odin deal with him.

I come back to the pair, holding Loki by his robe as though he were a sack of potatoes.

I drop him like one too, right before Odin.

Odin grimaced, seeing his blood brother in such a state, before kneeling, his monocle beginning to glow.

As he places his hand over Loki's chest, divine power, and magic both seeping out from him, I speak up.

"He told me something, about Ragnarok, about you and him, before he pulled that big finale out there." I began, uncaring.

"Mhmm." Odin hummed, "I'm sure he did."

"He said you two swore an oath, in blood, that you'd face Ragnarok together." Rose, stilled completely, though Odin kept on going like I spoke nothing at all, "He said you broke that oath. To not only him but all the Norse."

Runic circles suddenly appeared, embedded with divine power, all around Loki, forming a box around him…and with a bright, violet flash…he disappeared.

Odin stood and turned away, "I had to choose…better ourselves or keep to an old oath, made when I was young and full of myself. And so I chose."

With that, he walked away.

I crossed my arms and said nothing back to that.

It was none of my business anyway, and in the end, I didn't even truly understand what this whole oath thing truly meant in the North.

I suppose I could always ask Rose, but turning to see her, she looked rather…conflicted. Worried. Contemplative? A whole lot of things.

So I'll leave her alone for now, and instead, go back into the carriage, and wake up my cat.

Who's still asleep, somehow!

I can already tell this is going to feel like a long night…