19 Chapter 19 - Eternal Rival?

Author Note: I hate describing things and eventually gave up on the scale mail, give it a quick google search to see what it looks like.

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The clearing descended into silence as the three were thrown off by the question. Vali glanced at Bikou and Kuroka out of the corner of his eyes and saw them just as confused, deciding to ignore the question for now his eyes narrowed as he looked towards the redhaired lady again.

"Oi, are you the one that's been going on a war path lately?"

He saw her tilt her head with a confused expression on her face and seemingly thought for a bit before apparently understanding and nodded simply.

"Mmm, I'm on a road trip."

"I... see?"

Thrown off again, Vali was a bit confused about what to do. Azazel didn't really tell him what to do if he met the person he was looking for, he just told him to go look for them. Well, his mission was technically completed now, right? This lady was also supposedly pretty powerful since most of the monsters she killed was Ultimate-class.

Vali's face slowly gained a battle hungry expression as his demonic power started flunctuating behind him.

"Hey you're pretty strong, aren't you? I don't know what your goal is rampaging around the supernatural world like this, but I don't really care either. Fight me!" Vali shouted as the Divine Dividing wings appeared behind him radiating with power. Kuroka and Bikou looked at each other for a few moments before just shrugging, they knew Vali wouldn't change his mind when a battle was on the line and they couldn't really stop him even if they wanted to.

They started gradually retreating before stopping when they felt they were far enough, and started watching the show.

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"Hmm? Sure!" Koko said in slight surprise as she put down her helmet and stepped off her motorbike before it pixelated behind her taking the helmet with it. Standing on the ground Koko watched as the silver haired man started slowly levitating as he spread his arms.

"Good, I like your attitude! I am Vali Lucifer, descendant of the original Lucifer and the strongest White Dragon Emperor to ever exist! I hope you can entertain me!" Vali declared grandly hovering in the sky while looking down at her with a slightly dismissive expression as an aura of power spread around him.

Koko kind of just stood there for a few seconds as she looked at him while she scratched her head before suddenly nodding gaining an expression of understanding. Taking a deep breath before she also spread her arms she theatrically declared.

"I am Koko, kind of but sort of not descendant of OGB and the future Pugilistic Machine Empress, bow down before me! Mehehehe!~" After she was done, Koko's face gained a proud expression as she put her hands on her hips and thrusted her chest forward before letting out a satisfied huff through her nose.

"..."

Vali's eye was fiercely twitching as he looked down at her as he felt annoyance and rage course through his body which started shaking slightly, his fist clenched tightly to his side as he glared down at her before he shouted.

"Are you mocking me!?"

"No? Aren't we playing cartoon villains?" Koko answered bluntly in slight confusion as she scratched her head with a lost expression on her face.

"..."

"Pfft-"

The air stilled for a few moments as the clearing descended into silence before Vali heard Kuroka and Bikou laughing their asses off in the distance.

Vali's face was slightly shadowed by his hair as he gritted his teeth so hard he thought he heard them cracking while his knuckles turned white by how strongly he was clenching his hands. He felt a growl at the back of his throat as his furious eyes returned to the still oblivious Koko standing on the ground.

"Fine, you want to play around!? Let's see how long you can keep that attitude!" Vali gritted out as he exploded into motion leaving a sonic boom behind him, turning into a light blue beam of light before shooting towards Koko.

Koko looked at the beam of light approaching her and as it got into range she raised her left hand and slightly backhanded it off course making it miss her entirely. A few moments later Vali turned around and shot towards her again as Koko lightly side-stepped it this time. Going back and forth like this for a while Vali eventually appeared in the sky again as he looked down at her with a scowl.

"You're pretty nimble, huh? I wonder how much that speed of yours will help you when halved." An arrogant expression spread on Vali's face before he shot towards her again with his arm cocked back for a punch. Seeing Koko meeting his punch with her own a manic smile slowly spread on his face, just as they made contact a deep voice rang out from his wings as they flared slightly.

[Divide]

Vali's smile widened in glee before his eyes suddenly shot wide open in shock for an instant before his body was flung away leaving a sonic boom behind him.

The battlefield descended into silence for a few moments before Vali shot back into the clearing with slight shock still visible on his face. Looking down at the hand on his slightly shaking arm with widened eyes he stilled for a moment, before clenching it tightly as he turned to glare at Koko.

"Why can't I divide your power!?" Vali shouted in anger mixed with confusion.

"...I dunno?"

"What do you mean you don't know!? The Divine Dividing wouldn't just stop working for no reason!"

"Maybe because my power is mine, so you can't take it?" Koko suggested while scratching her head."

"..."

"Are you an idiot!?" Vali for the first time in his life had the urge to cry not because of sadness or happiness, but because of the annoyance filling his body. Resisting the urge to childishly stamp his feet to express the sheer annoyance filling his body he seethed quietly.

[Calm down Vali] Divine Dividing flashed as Albion suddenly spoke up.

Vali stood in silence for a few moments before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Ouh, thanks Albion I needed that." Vali regained his calm as he looked back at Koko who was staring into nothing. Seeing her being so dismissive of him his annoyance flared up again before he pushed it back down.

"Humph, I don't know how you're blocking my Dividing but if you think you've won just because I can't use it, you're dead wrong."

Vali jumped and started hovering in the sky again as he spoke up with a serious expression.

"You may have a bit of strength, but I haven't even gotten started yet. Albion."

Vali's body suddenly started gradually getting covered in armor starting with his arms then legs, his chest and finally his head. The armor was made of a sleek white material that composed most of it's surface area with a few blue orbs of energy embedded in the chestplate, on his forearms and on his knees. A sleek tail extended from his upper back as his wings flared out and got slightly bigger. A heavy voice spoke up as the armor appeared in all it's glory.

[Vanishing Dragon: Balance Breaker]

Vali now wearing the scale mail looked down at Koko while hovering in place as he crossed his arms in front of him. Koko was looking at his armor in curiosity while holding her chin in thought as she hummed.

"..."

"Your tail is sitting too high."

"You-!" Vali felt his annoyance return with a burning vengeance as he clenched his fists and grit his teeth till they were cracking as he resisted the urge to start screaming before he heard Koko speak again.

"The transformation was cool though! Look, I can do it too!"

Vali's annoyance receded slightly as he quickly looked back at her, did she also have a sacred gear? He didn't sense a sacred gear on her but maybe she made something to hide it? If she was also capable of using balance breaker, then it was probably pretty strong if she was capable of getting so strong as a human. Vali's thoughts suddenly froze as he thought of something, was it possible for her to be the wielder of the Boosted Gear?

If she did have the Boosted Gear, that would explain her strength despite being a human since it was possible for high-tier sacred gears to alter their host's body more suitable to their specifications. For example the Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing could turn parts of the host's body into a that of a dragon's. Maybe she dragonified something that wasn't outwardly apparent? Was he finally able to meet his eternal rival? Just as Vali's excitement was reaching it's peak he heard something weird.

"Nyoom, woosh~ Bang! Shhhhaow-"

Vali looked on blankly as Koko was making transformation noises with a face of concentration as she made her Punching Rig gradually appear on her body part by part instead of the whole rig at once, making a different noise and pose each time another part appeared.

Eventually materializing the whole thing Koko struck another pose with her hands on her hips and a serious face before she very badly mimicked Albion's voice.

" Woosh, Koko Power: Balance Breaker." She then crossed her arms in front of her chest keeping a serious face as she looked up to Vali.

"..."

Vali's figure was deathly still for what felt like a few minutes before he very, very slowly brought his hands up to his face and cupped it, a few seconds later he suddenly started frantically clawing at the top of his helmet while letting out a inarticulate scream.