The Seraphic System
Chapter: 94
Disclaimer: I don’t own High School Dxd or any other universe used in this story. However, all original characters, plotlines, and world-building elements created in this story are my own.
Pa/ t reon details below the chapter if you're interested in seeing some content in advance.
Note: Decided to give you guys a longer chapter instead of splitting this into two chapters. I hope you enjoy it!
-{Micheal}-
The three-headed dragon's roar split the sky as Michael dove beneath another blast of forbidden magic.
The blast wasn’t simple as it left crackling tendrils that moved through the sky like static, lashing out at anything it could. With the edges of these tendrils giving off a strange aura.
Azi Dahaka's massive form twisted through the air, each head tracking his movement independently. Black flames poured from the left mouth while the center head charged another spell that made reality ripple around it.
A ball of strangely gathered air was released and exploded when nearing Michael, creating a vacuum that tried to suck him in. Only to be set alight in a truly massive explosion of black-purple flames.
Michael banked hard right, golden light trailing from his wings as he accelerated. His Heavenly domain over power surged through him, amplifying every movement and strike.
The holy energy around his sword blazed brighter while he carved through the dragon's attempt to cage him with some sort of wind magic.
Azi Dahaka’s third head released some sort of sound blast at Tiamat's massive blue form as she slammed into Azi Dahaka's flank, her claws raking deep gouges that immediately began healing.
The evil dragon's regeneration didn’t seem to be letting up, wounds closing at a rapid rate. The sound blast attacked her senses and a powerful swing sent her flying back.
A wave of black flames spread out from the previous attack. Michael spun upward, then down, further avoiding the retaliatory swipe from Azi Dahaka's tail. Three massive claws sweeping by.
The appendage was easily the size of a building, crackling with corrosive energy emitting from his sickly body.
Michael had to move back in an explosion of speed, avoiding the wave of corrosive mist that descended from the action.
As the Dragon roared and thrashed around with its powerful limbs, Michael caught sight of pulsing blue objects engraved into the underbelly of the Dragon’s skin.
Micheal’s attack came immediately
Heavenly Domain: Conquest’s Sigils.
Massive letters of holy power lit up in the sky, connected to angelic script and his Heavenly Domain. They began to rapidly attach to the massive Dragon in the midst of sending another attack his way.
The first sigil created a large shockwave that blew the Dragon back slightly. A chain reaction occurred, each sigil erupting into larger shockwaves till the last one blew hundreds of plated scales off the Dragon’s side.
Azi Dahaka roared in pain and fury, Michael's attack burned through scales and flesh. But even as black blood sprayed from the wounds, they were already closing.
Michael frowned at the draining of his angelic reserves. He truly wouldn’t have minded a draining ability with his creation, but as Father had so wisely put it. Angels weren’t made to take.
Those were his idle musings as Tiamat began attacking Azi Dahaka again, drawing the attention of two heads.
Michael seized the opening. He shot forward and began slicing his sword in a power arc through the Dragon’s scaled neck.
Pulse.
A pulse emitted from the sword and burnt an area that cleared the corrosive mist surrounding its body.
His sword phased and expanded, holy power boosted by a flash of purple. He released his Heavenly Domain skill at the same time, explosions occurring all over the Dragon's body as its neck was sliced into.
The sword was only able to get halfway through due to the sword's length and the sheer size of the Evil Dragon’s neck. That didn’t matter though as Michael backed away in the air and released his sword's power.
A thin explosion cut through the rest of the way.
One of the heads was cut off, falling to the ground below. The other two heads immediately snapped towards Michael.
It seemed like the regeneration had finally slowed down only for a massive green pulsed to erupt, the casing of multiple healing spells speeding up the healing factor to insane levels.
Azi Dahaka's remaining heads threw back. His massive form convulsed as hundreds of magic circles materialized around him in perfect magical circles, each one crackling with different elemental energies.
The draconic power makes the air waver.
The barrage came instantly. Ice spears the size of trees, lightning bolts that split into seeking serpents, fireballs that exploded into smaller homing projectiles
All of them were relatively small spells packing a lot of demonic power, but the sheer tide of them was cause for concern.
A circle of golden power formed in Michael’s hand and his Heavenly Domain of Protection came to bare. Clapping his hands together a pulse of white magic erupted like an explosion, sending the massive barrage of spells spiralling away.
But Azi Dahaka wasn't finished. His center head opened wide and began drawing in air with tremendous force. The suction wasn't just pulling in debris.
it began attempting to absorb the life force of every creature below. Angels, monsters, even the landscape itself began withering as their essence was drained into the dragon's maw.
Michael felt a hint of panic for a brief moment as he saw his siblings begin to struggle. He prepared a major attack that would override that before Azrael intervened.
Azrael's power surged over the battlefield and severed the effect the Dragon was producing with a surgical precision. A quick glance showed the death angel's battle with the clone was nearly over, her normally calm expression replaced by frigid look.
Michael had to control himself.
The dragon's wounds sealed completely as stolen life force flooded through him. His scales took on a sickly luminescent quality while his remaining heads began weaving complex patterns in the air.
The only place that didn’t heal was the wound Uriel had inflicted, a massive section of missing scales.
It still radiated holy power that burnt into the Dragon’s side like a festering wound. There was also a lack of corrosive mist present in that particular area.
The creature was using techniques forbidden precisely because they destroyed the caster along with everything around them. Only something had changed that fundamental rule. Those pulsing blue objects in the dragon's underbelly, they had to be artifacts enhancing his capabilities beyond natural limits.
Tiamat engaged Azi Dahaka in her large blue draconic form.
Michael moved and began carving through the air in perfect vertical lines, each slash creating pillars of golden light that hung suspended in space. The strikes formed a three-dimensional grid pattern around the dragon's wound, each line pulsing with concentrated beams of holy energy that were further boosted by his power domain.
The attack triggered the holy power from Uriel's lingering sacrifice.
As the final vertical slash completed the pattern, Michael thrust forward. The grid of light suddenly contracted inward like a closing cage, each line slicing through the same space simultaneously.
The technique created dozens of intersecting cuts that formed perfect cubes of severed flesh, each slice igniting with amplified flame.
The Dragon cried out, his wounds, already unable to heal due to Uriel's sacrifice, suddenly expanded as the grid strikes tore through corrupted tissue like it was paper. Holy fire spread along each cut, creating a network of burning channels that carved deeper into Azi Dahaka's massive form.
Black ichor sprayed from the wounds, each drop hissing as it hit the air.
There was a lack of healing that made a humourless grin unbefitting of an Angel spread across his face.
Azi Dahaka's form began to blur and warp as the space magic took hold. Teeth were bared. The Dragon’s body trembled from strain and Michael had the sense to immediately back away.
It seemed the Dragon was finally showing the last of its cards.
‘Good.’ Michael thought.
The Dragon was close to the just death it would be receiving.
Space bent around him, creating impossible angles and distances that made targeting him nearly impossible. Balls of distorted space began firing out and creating zones of bent space that attempted to suck everything into its epicentre. The space began affecting the battle below, mostly affecting Angels with all of the monsters dead.
A brief call and Michael watched out of the corner of his eyes as the Heavenly Army retreated.
Michael dove toward the dragon's exposed underbelly, forced to weave through the balls of distorted space with difficulty.
Tiamat took the brunt off the Dragon’s focus as he caught her eyes with a slight nod. She was holding up well. Especially with the sheer amount of space magic that was being used.
Azi Dahaka's rage reached new heights. His spatial magic intensified, creating tears in reality that bled dark energy. A red glow accompanied his form as he went into a true Draconic rage. His power is rising again.
The dragon's voice boomed across the sky.
A ripple spread across, locking all sorts of movement and teleportation.
Michael narrowed his eyes, he let out a sigh. His eyes briefly closed and he stayed afloat in the sky.
A golden light abruptly erupted from his form as he activated his true angelic nature. His physical body became the anchor point for something far greater, a massive construct of pure angelic energy that manifested behind him.
Pain erupted through his body.
The very last of his power went into his true form.
Tiamat roared, her form growing with golden horns erupting from her head.
It was only a brief surprise that Tiamat’s power rose tremendously. A blue glow covered her and the wounds she had gathered from fighting abruptly vanished, a surprised sound of pain from the Evil Dragon showing they had transferred.
He closed his eyes and fell back into his massive true form.
His true form was a colossal giant of golden power standing hundreds of feet tall. Its torso was composed of interlocking patterns that pulsed with light.
Seven rotating rings replaced where a head should be, each inscribed with flowing script.
The being's lower half dissolved into streamed ribbons of light that anchored directly into Michael's form. Hundreds of blazing eyes were scattered across the construct's surface, each one tracking the enemy dragons with cold wrath.
The massive Angelic Body raised its hands and clapped them together.
Michael strained further.
He had kept his hand from using this technique due to the backlash it caused, but with Azi Dahaka gone the battle would be won. So he saw no harm in speeding up the process.
Tears in space formed and quickly bending through space towards him.
“Null.”
The special techniques vanished.
“Grounds of Santicity.”
One ring pulsed and all of the dark magic that meant it was destructive and harmful in its very nature was promptly banished, a wave of light seemingly creating an area where everything looked brighter.
He breathed heavily in the sky, blood pouring from his eyes.
Azi Dahaka stepped back, the corrosive power attempting to cover its body absent.
Michael stared down.
“You have overstepped your bounds, Dragon.” His voice boomed, akin to his Fathers voice. He couldn’t help saying, the image of Uriel’s death enraging him.
It angered him to no end that he had been forced to save Father while he was entrapped inside the strange attack.
Nothing more was to be said.
“Law: Healing is to be halted within a one mile radius.”
The words were spoken, his power taken and his body beginning to break under the sheer power.
His eyes began dreary. It wouldn’t last long.
A few seconds.
He tried to raise his hand only for the angelic construct to shatter. Along with six of the seven rings.
It didn’t matter though as Azi Dahaka let out a roar of agony that split the heavens as Azrael's blade found its mark.
She had finished up with the clone and focused on the main body.
Michael felt relief wash through him. With Azrael's arrival, they could coordinate a final assault on the weakened original. But his relief turned to worry as he caught sight of something falling from the sky above.
A cage of twisted metal plummeted through the clouds and inside it was a figure with unmistakable white wings. His eyes widened as recognition hit him.
Gabriel.
Despite his injured state, he quickly rushed over to her and began helping her exit. He pushed his body, straining his golden wings.
When the door finally swung open.
Gabriel tumbled out in a state of near panic.
Her usually pristine appearance was disheveled, with her wings trembling almost unnoticeably with genuine panic.
Gabriel looked around wildly before her gaze fixed on Michael's face.
"Michael!" Gabriel exclaimed, grabbing his arm with shaking hands.
"Gabriel, what happened?" Michael caught her shoulders gently.
It was rare to see Gabriel so frazzled. She briefly looked over him but shook her head.
Even as she spoke, her healing magic went to work on his body. The burn in his legs that would probably stop him from walking very slowly beginning to recede.
"The Architect," she said, her voice dire. "He attempted to retreat and decided to try taking some Angels with cages built for entrapping our siblings.”
Michael's blood ran cold. "Did he succeed?”
"Thankfully no, Kaiel saw to it" Gabriel's grip tightened on his arm. "But there was a single cage that I was locked in; it was almost perfectly designed to hold me. I couldn't break free and couldn't even use my power properly."
"So he tried to take you?" Michael asked, sensing more to the explanation.
“Yes." Fresh panic entered her eyes. "Kaiel intervened. He threw himself between us when the Architect tried to capture me. He was able to send me back into Heaven but the portal shut behind him.”
Michael felt his heart near halt. Even with his angelic reserves depleted, he was ready to go through whatever was needed to get his Father back safely.
"Where is he now?" Michael asked urgently, feeling an amount of panic that made his eyes dart everywhere.
"Still fighting. Alone against the Architect." Gabriel's voice broke entirely. "Brother, his angelic reserves were already low from the earlier battles. He's exhausted and the Architect has barely shown use of his power.”
Their attention was momentarily taken.
The wind briefly billowed around them.
Azi Dahaka let out a last roar, creating more clones around him. There was a brief worry, as all of them had the same aura. But it quickly became apparent that it wouldn’t be a problem as they all began trying to escape.
The Dragon had decided to retreat.
They didn’t focus on that much longer.
"How long ago?" Michael asked anxiously.
"Just a minute ago" Gabriel shook her head desperately. "We have to help him. I-I just don’t know how. The portal is closed. This is my fault-“
“No, it’s not.” Michael replied with a sigh. “Father has been in a rather dangerous streak as of his new life. By the sounds of it he saved you from a horrible fate, something I’m sure he couldn’t allow himself to stand by.”
Michael took a breath.
“You two have been rather close.” He said, managing to keep the momentary desire to pout. “He wouldn’t have allowed you to suffer.”
Gabriel’s cheeks flushed for some reason.
“Still… they caught me off guard by a mere moment. Tlaloc sacrificed his remaining divine power to suitably hold my attention along with some other sort of mental attack.” Gabriel replied quickly. “Is there no way to re-open the pathway?”
Michael looked in the direction she pointed out and there were no remnants of anything.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t well versed in this type of magic.
“Did you actually enter the portal?” Michael questioned after a moment.
Gabriel nodded. “I was in there for a brief moment before Kaiel managed to get in and teleport me out.”
Michael frowned.
He couldn’t see any viable path.
"He could already be-“" Gabriel couldn't finish the sentence.
"No." Michael's voice was firm "Father is stronger than that. He'll find a way to hold on until we get there. Remember, he survived through a lot of worst odds before he came back to the safety of Heaven.”
But even as he said it, doubt gnawed at him. His mind ran through multiple options, passively watching as Heaven’s wards finally fully snapped back online.
Azi Dahaka was sent down to the ground with a boom and all of his clones were erased from existence itself. The weakened super-class Dragon could only stare in genuine fear as Heaven’s defences came back online.
-{Kai}-
Time slowed.
The sealing spell hit me with a force that was felt throughout my body, driving me to my knees. Immediately, I felt the bindings wrap around my soul.
My body went numb and genuine panic spread through me.
The complexity was staggering, layers upon layers of interlocking seals that compressed inward with mechanical precision.
Each layer reinforced the others, creating a prison that could hold something more powerful than just currently was. It was humbling and made my desire to learn sealing even stronger.
Immediately I was trying to look through the seal's structure.
As someone who had barely learnt seal theory and more so spent his time trying to figure out how seals work, mostly mimicking what artefacts possess seals.
It was overwhelming.
The seals tightened.
My vision began to blur as my consciousness started to compress.
Golden chakra chains barely had time to explode from my back, punching through my clothes and driving into the sealing matrix.
The chains attempted to navigate the seal's structure, mapping its weak points.
It surrounded me and I could barely see the Architect lowering his guard as he focused on his own wounds. A slight crazed grin on his face at his supposed victory,
I continued checking desperately.
But there weren't any weak points. Not really.
I tried disrupting the outer layer.
The chains found purchase, began to unravel the first binding, but three more layers immediately compensated.
The seal adapted, reinforcing itself.
This thing was genuinely too powerful for me.
It was like a dome of lines around me, lines that held sealing attributes and were attempting to attack me on a non-physical level that I wasn’t used to. The compression increased. My thoughts became sluggish.
I pushed past my limits anyway.
More chains erupted, dozens of them, attacking the seal from every angle. Pain shot through my system as I forced my bloodline beyond its normal capacity.
Blood ran from my nose, my eyes, the strain nearly tearing me apart from the inside.
Still not enough.
The seal continued its relentless compression. My vision darkened to pinpricks. In seconds, I'd be completely contained.
My teeth gritted and my rage grew.
Markings had spread over my body and the world began to fall away.
It took remembering everything that had occurred in this past hour to not give up. Chains raged around me and I began forming seals of my own as MindMaven was used to keep up multiple actions of attacking the seal from a dozen chains.
The small amount of progress wasn’t enough as I was slowly pulled into a world made to seal me.
Just where had he gotten someone to store this powerful sealing spell?
I felt my knowledge of sealing expanding rapidly for some reason, but it just wasn’t enough. This was a different level of sealing.
My eyes narrowed on the Architect with genuine malice.
Even if I got out of here my chakra would be all but spent. I’d lose. A downright vicious grin spread across my face as the seals began truly sealing me in.
A single chain exploded out and wrapped around a bewildered Architect. Without any hesitation I yanked him back with everything I could and watched as he entered the seal with me.
He had attempted to resist as much as he could but it was to no avail. His eyes were widened as he realised what I was doing and he gritted his teeth. The seals briefly stopped and were forced to re-compensate due to the presence of another.
The mountain of power that had been crushing me down in an attempt to seal me lessened massively as its concentration was split. Still, even as the pressure had lessened, my attempts to unravel myself still proved fruitless.
I had to wonder if this was it.
No one knew where we were.
We would be sealed for the rest of eternity together.
Honestly, I was okay with it.
A glance at the genuinely fearful eyes of the Architect showed he on the other hand wasn’t.
They kept coming and I tried to push them away with only some success.
I was being drowned and I genuinely saw no way out of this.
My angels’ faces flashed through my mind. It had certainly been a journey. Perhaps they would find me at some point in the future.
As I knocked one away it went closer to the Architect and quickly latched onto him.
I paused, for a single moment.
My chains shifted focus. Instead of trying to break the seal entirely, I began redirecting portions of it.
Guiding the sealing energy away from me and toward the Architect. It was like trying to dam a river with my bare hands, but the principle was simple enough.
The Architect realized what I was doing when the pressure around him intensified.
His eyes went wide with understanding and rage.
A wild grin was on my face. My mind was in a haze but with the realisation there was still hope my chains began moving in blurs.
I poured everything I had left into the redirection.
My vision blurred as blood flowed freely from my nose and mouth.
The strain felt like it was cooking my brain from the inside, but I kept pushing.
The seal began to consolidate around the Architect. More and more of the binding energy focused on him as I systematically shoved my portion of the containment onto his shoulders.
His own attempts to escape were working against him now, the violent thrashing only helping the seal lock onto him as the primary target.
His ring flashed and he tried to start sending attacks at me, only for the attacks to be sealed as well.
The Architect's mouth moved frantically, screaming something as the sealing dome compressed around him alone.
I yanked my chain back and threw myself toward the edge of the seal.
Just as victory seemed imminent, the seal seemed to realise my intent to depart. Which came in the form of many new seals trying to wrap around me and drag me down.
I let out a shout, my chakra pulsing with the last of what I have. I began using the only seal I know that could help me. Power dampeners. It only helped in giving me a few seconds.
But that was enough as I practically crawled out.
"That's... impossible," he breathed, tears gathering in his eyes.
There was a difference for a split second, a child who was scared. Then time resumed with a thunderclap
-END-
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