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"No... That is only the fate of failures and morons."
Anos calmly commented.
That was the result one deserved for trying to use a Sacred Gear, as a human, to rapidly reach a level that gods and devils of every faction had spent centuries, even millennia, struggling to attain.
Whether one passively chose Juggernaut Drive or actively chose it, the end result was still caused by a lack of ability to fully control it.
Later facts had already proven that Juggernaut Drive was not impossible to overcome, nor was it impossible to undo.
It was simply a matter of ability.
"The fate of failures, huh? Perhaps."
Vali grinned.
It seemed the other party was also a proud person, and that made him very happy.
What bothered Vali slightly was that the other party's Juggernaut Drive looked somewhat different from his own.
He had almost become a half-dragon, and the appearance of his armor had turned extremely ferocious.
But the other party looked as though he had merely donned an even more magnificent and overwhelming set of armor, without becoming a dragonlike existence the way Vali had.
Boom!
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
In an instant, the two clashed countless times in the sky.
"Albion, can you sense anything strange about him?"
Vali asked Albion.
At the very least, he himself had clearly sensed it.
[Yes, there is indeed something unusual. Ddraig, have you already lifted the curse?]
Albion called out to Ddraig on the opposing side.
[That is correct, For my current partner, something like that is so simple it could not be simpler.]
Ddraig gave a direct response.
He could sense Albion's current strength. If his partner were not the current Anos Kanzaki, then this battle between Red and White would have ended in certain defeat for him.
"You actually lifted the curse of the Two Heavenly Dragons? Then you truly are my destined opponent."
As Vali spoke, his demonic power erupted again.
If the other party had lifted it, then Vali had forcibly suppressed it.
Although the time he could suppress it was somewhat short, and one could even say he was suppressing it by forcibly burning his own life.
Even so, he could also use Juggernaut Drive with almost no side effects.
However, Vali did not know something.
Juggernaut Drive was only a slightly more amusing toy to Anos.
Unfortunately, Anos had never cared much about things like destiny.
"Vali, are you afraid of someone?"
While clashing with Vali and radiating an overwhelmingly powerful dragon aura into the surroundings, Anos asked the question.
"Hah? Me, afraid of someone? I am..."
"Rizevim Livan Lucifer."
Vali's words stopped.
Because Anos had spoken a name that Vali believed should never have come from his mouth.
"How do you know that?"
Vali's voice trembled.
Where had this person learned that name?
Rizevim Livan Lucifer.
The son of Lilith, the mother of devils, and the original Lucifer.
One of the devil faction's transcendents.
Only...
He was a devil transcendent opposed to the current generation of Satans.
At the same time, he was Vali's grandfather.
He was the son of the true Satan Lucifer, who had once perished together with the Biblical God, and an absolute figure of legend whose name was recorded in Scripture as Lilin.
One could say that this was no longer merely a matter of conflict between the Old Satan Faction and the reformists. Sirzechs knew that Rizevim was far more insane than that.
Rizevim was a world-class terrorist, one who had always been plotting all kinds of things behind the scenes.
That was why, to punish Rizevim and counter his Sacred Gear [Sacred Gear Canceller], Sirzechs had even recruited a group of powerful retainers without Sacred Gears.
Rizevim's Sacred Gear was [Sacred Gear Canceller].
Because of that, even though Vali's Sacred Gear was a Longinus, it had no effect against Rizevim.
Now that Anos had brought up that name, even Vali felt a deep sense of unease.
Because he had lived under Rizevim's shadow since childhood. He even knew that his own father had been killed by Rizevim due to issues of talent and ability.
If he had not escaped later and received care from his adoptive elder sister Lavinia and the unreliable, lazy fallen angel Governor-General, he did not know what kind of person he would have become.
The reason he asked was that he should never have revealed his identity.
He had never told Anos that he was a descendant of a true Satan.
...
Perhaps Vali still did not know that Sirzechs and the others had already traced things to him.
It was not that Sirzechs had any particular thoughts about Vali being a descendant of a Satan. He simply wanted information about Rizevim from him.
In truth, Anos was the same in that regard.
When he had still been weak, he had basically never considered matters involving Rizevim.
Because that was not something within the range he should have been thinking about.
But now...
At the very least, Anos felt that Rizevim had to die.
Either Anos would do it himself, or Sirzechs and the others would do it.
In any case, Rizevim had to be eliminated first.
Otherwise, he might sacrifice himself someday to summon the Beast Emperor, causing a large portion of the top combat power in the DxD world to be dragged into an eternal war against the Beast Emperor.
If that portion of combat power were not lost, facing the invasion from the ExE world would not be so difficult and passive.
The ExE world was another world that would invade the DxD world thirty years later.
Even the Breast God, who once blessed Issei Hyoudou, was a high-ranking righteous deity from that world.
The villainous combat power of the ExE world was undoubtedly higher than that of the DxD world.
If the top experts of the DxD world had not been taken out of play, perhaps resistance would not be an issue. But those people were simply too unreliable.
The Beast Emperor 666 was a villain, and he consumed a vast amount of combat power from their side.
The Biblical God 777 had once sealed the Beast Emperor, but died because of it.
The Infinite Dragon God 888 was devoured by Samael the Dragon Eater and redistributed into Ophis and Lilith, greatly weakening her strength.
Because of that, Great Red 999 was left in an awful position. Thirty years later, when the other world invaded, he was the first to charge out.
Then...
Then...
Then Ophis's dream was fulfilled.
Ahem!
Great Red was beheaded.
There was no helping it. The opponent, Regalzeva, was a mechanical life-form deity from the ExE world, bearing the title [Superior Evil God]. His own strength was above True Red's.
On top of that, his subordinates, the Celestial King Lugatim of [Ketu Heavenly Sea] and the Sea King Durmado, both possessed power on True Red's level. It would have been strange if the Red Dragon God Emperor had not fallen.
It was not that Anos had never tried to deduce Lilin's location... It was just that he could not temporarily kill him instantly while ensuring that he could not escape, so he chose to observe for the time being.
According to his judgment, at least in the short term, Lilin should not make a move yet.
"Rizevim is not someone you can touch in the current. As long as you are still using a Sacred Gear, you cannot possibly be his opponent."
Anos narrowed his eyes as he spoke.
That was indeed the truth.
Even if Vali used [Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive], the Juggernaut Drive form capable of instantly killing a top-ranking Grim Reaper at the peak of Satan-class strength, it would still be useless in front of Lilin.
"You know quite a lot."
Vali did not know what Anos meant by telling him this.
"I do know a great deal. You could say I possess a half-finished ability to foresee the future."
Anos spoke as if he were joking.
"Then do you know whether I will become the White Dragon God Emperor in the future?"
Vali released an even stronger surge of demonic power, pushing Anos away from his side.
"No... You do not."
Anos smiled.
Perhaps in the original timeline, Vali had the possibility of becoming the White Dragon God Emperor.
But with Anos here...
That future was absolutely impossible.
Because...
If the White Dragon Emperor was no longer in Vali's body, how could he become the White Dragon God Emperor?
"Why? Do I burn myself out in battle?"
Even after hearing Anos say that his future might have a tragic ending, Vali's mind did not waver much.
At the very least, he had long since prepared himself for the possibility of dying in battle.
"No... It is simply because you lose the White Dragon Emperor, and thus lose the possibility of becoming the White Dragon God Emperor."
Anos said with a smile.
He had always been thinking about helping Ddraig bring his dear friend over.
And without question, in Anos's hands, the White Dragon Emperor would display power far beyond what it could achieve in Vali's.
"Lose the White Dragon Emperor? Has someone set their sights on my Sacred Gear? There really is a transcendent-level being who would make a move against me?"
Vali sighed.
"No... The one making a move against you is me."
Anos corrected him.
"Hm?"
Vali froze.
A few seconds later, he laughed even more freely.
"Hahahahahaha! So you are interested in me? Perfect. I am also very interested in you."
"As long as you can defeat me, then do as you like."
Vali truly did not care much about this matter.
Born for battle, and resting only in death.
He had always regarded that as his destiny.
With that belief and way of living, dying in battle was only natural.
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