Note: There will be a new update schedule. I'll be doing one chapter on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
"Holy shit," we said in unison. "Look at you."
"What happened?" Rin asked.
"Well, you took too long, and I had to fight Thanos without you," I scoffed.
"Well, you try adapting to getting your soul burned in a minute," he shot back.
I winced, then smirked. "Did the same," I said. "Though my armor and body took a massive beating for it, and to be fair, I didn't get an overpowered upgrade out of it."
He gestured at me. "Then where did this come from?"
"From almost dying to my own fire twice," I said, dispelling Devil Trigger.
The horns retracted, my skeleton and muscles compressed, the wings lost their purple luster, and a pair vanished, and all of my Anathema blades disappeared, leaving me with a new Rebellion.
Rin followed suit, drawing all the energy back into himself. Slowly, his skin regained color, the starry sheen fading, but underneath it all, his armor looked different.
He had a core now—a mini-star at the center of his chest, humming with power.
All of the leather components were gone, replaced by a uniform, glossy, flexible metal surface with glowing lines marking its segments. The runes stood out, humming with multicolored light as they moved in tight, controlled circuits across his body.
It looked similar to what my armor had become at the end before I had to send it away.
I was curious, to say the least, and Rin was clearly just as interested in my armor and weapon.
We traded descriptions, and I was blown away by what I learned, and so was he.
First off, Rin got a Soul Affinity now. Every single one of his attacks did minor soul damage. Fight him long and hard enough, and you essentially fall into pieces literally.
Then, there was his Sentinel armor.
Sentinel II (Rin's Edition)
Devourer Physique: +1200 stats
Evolving Armor
Energy Absorption: Current 400%
Regeneration: 800% boost to natural physical regeneration
Energy Core II:
3,000,000 AE, 3,000,000 (new)
Enchantments:
Ancient Mind Array (Modified – War Gauntlets)
Ancient Time Array
Ancient Space Array
Ancient Durability Array
Ancient Amplification Runes
Absorbed Mutant Abilities:
Energy Siphon — Increased energy draw (Rin)
Metal Shell — Vastly increased durability (Piotr Rasputin)
Super Strength (Piotr Rasputin)
Accelerated Adaptation (Armando Monroe)
Super Speed (Pietro Maximoff)
Mind Shield (Jean Grey)
Adaptations:
Soul Energy Resistance (new)
Liquid Twilight (new)
Metal Control (new)
Rebellion (Awakened)
One of the twin weapons created by the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda, Rebellion was designed to be a companion to Dante and is blessed with the pseudo-divine ability: Unify, granting the ability to fuse two objects or entities together at the cost of massive amounts of demonic and angelic energy.
In its awakened form, Rebellion has lost all subordinate weapons, but in return, it can now be freely manipulated into new and varied forms.
Abilities:
Peak Affinity for all Devil and Angel energies
Mirror Weapons
Energy Projection and Control
Shapeshifting and Mass Adjustment
My armor had evolved in much the same way. It gained Soul Resistance and Liquid Twilight, though not Metal Control, since I already possessed that.
My heart beat a little faster when I finally reviewed the new Devil Trigger notification.
Sin Devil Trigger
True manifestation of Dante's inner Devil and Angelic heritage. It combines the strength of both bloodlines without any of the drawbacks.
700% boost to all physical attributes, energy output, and regeneration
+600 to all affinities and energy control
Jesus Christ.
The Promethean body upgrade was nearly just as good.
(Transcendent) Cosmic Promethean Body (Master)
+600 Strength
+900 Endurance
+900 Vitality
+600 Angel Energy
+600 Demonic Energy
All of the accompanying subskills evolved as well, significantly improving healing and the effectiveness of nearly all my affinities. It reinforced my already absurd foundation, which was almost bittersweet considering what I'd have to do after I dealt with Lauren.
Break it in half.
I had everything I needed to rid myself of Shin permanently, and while I didn't plan on delaying any longer than necessary, giving up that much power felt like betraying who I was fundamentally.
Slowly, I summoned my armor and donned it. It slithered over me like a living thing, insulating me from the vacuum of space. Pressurized air flowed in through the enchantments, allowing me to breathe.
I activated my Metal Creation and Control enchantments.
Liquid metal poured from my hand and wrapped around three of the four Infinity Stones, forming large cubes. I carved bevels into their cages, creating layered protections that prevented them from being tracked, scried, or accessed by anyone without my permission.
Then I sent three of them away with a wave.
The fourth, I handed to Rin.
"Are you sure?" he asked, clearly surprised. I'd given him the Soul Stone.
"Yes," I said. "It'll make you untouchable by everyone. Even me."
Rin swallowed.
It was something we had already discussed in case Shin refused to let go. I needed Rin to be strong enough to burn out his influence and, if necessary, even kill me.
The same logic applied to every other major threat—Lauren, the Demon Lord, Belasco, his children, the Ascendants. Everyone.
Rin pressed the gem into the diamond set within his energy core. It melted into it instantly.
His armor and enchantments surged, spinning up to extreme speeds before stabilizing just as quickly. His energy signature flared, brighter and stronger—surpassing even mine.
"How do you feel?"
"Like I just downed fifty Red Bulls," he said with an awkward laugh.
I gave him a faint smile but didn't push further.
"I'm guessing we're not telling Fury about this?" he said.
"Or anyone else," I said, meeting his eyes. "Yes, even your girlfriend, and you know why."
She hated me. Lauren was sneaky as fuck. And I didn't trust her as far as I could throw her.
He grumbled something under his breath before conceding.
"Fair enough. So, we head back home?" Rin asked.
"After we retrieve the Arch Sentinels," I said. "We should have them preserve a few ships. The tech is too valuable to waste."
"How do you think they'll take it?" Rin asked. "You just took out the biggest warlord in the galaxy."
"The Novans or everyone else?" I asked.
"Both," Rin said thoughtfully.
"Hopefully, as a sign not to mess with Earth," I replied. "Realistically, they'll probably want more. Which means I might need to create more Sentinels, or at least heavily upgrade the ones we have."
"I'm not sure that's necessary," he said. "Your four-man team just wiped out a fleet built to destroy civilizations."
I waved it off. "The guns can always be bigger."
Rin chuckled.
We both teleported, reappearing on the bridge of the ship just in time to watch the final moments of the battle. Only a handful of ships remained—hundreds at most—and Michael appeared to be accepting their surrender.
"I guess they beat us to it," I said.
"The battle strategy was a resounding success, Master," Uriel said.
"I can see that," I replied, turning to face her. "And thank you for the bombs. They helped more than you know."
She gave a small smile and the briefest nod. "You're welcome, Sir."
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