Xover: Ben 10: Dragon God of Life Ch 41, Ben 10 & High School DxD/ハイスクールD×D

A/N:

Here we are at last, folks! The legendary final chapter of the Juggernaut arc!

We've all been on this road for a long time and we have finally reached the finish line.

I don't want to say anything to delay you from what many of you have been waiting for…so without further ado:

Hope you enjoy it!

(*I own neither Highschool DxD nor Ben 10*)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kill

Destroy

Maim

Violate

Consume

There were little to no coherent thoughts left now within the incomprehensibly warped minds of the quadrupedal spawned servants of Dagon. It was even a stretch to say that they possessed much to begin with…or that they were even capable of formulating such a thing as sentient thought when they were connected to their master and commander but they were, at the very least, able to communicate basic thoughts amongst themselves and work together with some remnant of a concept of self and awareness of their place in the swarm and their basic instinct to follow any and all orders given to them.

Kill

Destroy

Kill

Violate

Consume

This had all come to a sudden and abrupt end when the treacherous, forever-hated enemies of their infinite creator somehow managed to overcome their master's power and broke the connection of his True self with His chosen vessel of resurrection. Not only had their underhanded ploy disrupted their master's glorious plan to escape the twisted cage He was cast into all those eons ago, but their master's despised enemies had also interfered in His desire to devour the lifeforce of His treasonous brother as well as the very essence of the flesh vessel he was trapped within.

Kill

Destroy

Kill

Consume

When their master's physical vessel was destroyed, things rapidly deteriorated for the creatures with the final connection to their beloved master being severed so suddenly. Unlike the other daemons in Dagon's vast arsenal of obedient servants at His command such as the Loboans, Thep Khufans or Vladats who gained an overwhelming boost to their power when connected to their lord and master but could also retain their sentient independence when disconnected from Him, these newborn spawns had never been so detached from their master before so the effect was so much more profound upon its severance and further steepened their rapid spiral towards insanity which was already nearing terminal velocity.

Kill

Destroy

Kill

The final nail in their coffin came when Vilgax, the next highest authority besides their master, as His greatest servant, fled from the field of battle after becoming introduced to something completely alien to the great conqueror: defeat. Like with their master, while they didn't witness Vilgax's departure, they instantly felt the last, dwindling remnant of their connection to their glorious master vanish into nothingness and the enveloping emptiness which took its place.

To these creatures…these Lucubras…whose birth from Dagon's 'divine' dark essence was still so raw….

…this was the final breach which burst the dam.

Kill

Their descent into madness complete, the Lucubra, now possessed by just a single overwhelming thought, reared their heads upwards at their hastily retreating enemy and let out howls and roars of fury at their delicious prey fleeing from them. The mass of daemons, listening now only to the one primal thought left in their infant heads, were about to descend into untold chaos by splitting apart from the swarm and spread out in all directions in search of any food across the Underworld.

Just as this primal thought spread throughout the now abandoned daemon swarm and they started to head out of the city in search of prey, something else spread across them with great speed.

The scent of prey….

Powerful prey….

Mouth-wateringly tasty prey.

Kill

Kill!

KILL!

Almost in complete unison, even without a centralised thought process like before, the heads of countless daemons turned back into the city…towards the centre where the scent was strongest and, as one organism carrying out its basic desire for sustenance, the mass began to move again, slowly at first before quickly picking up speed towards the centre of the city where a figure hovered, the source of their insatiable desire.

Standing far above the ground, on the top of the numerous building still standing, the rest of Dagon's forces, depleted from the fight against their enemy, watched their master's new creation fall to madness and charge further into the city. Unsure what they should do themselves (some even suggesting they should join the Lucubra), they came to a collective consensus when the daemons closest to the city centre were struck by the expanding aura of strange power which steadily sapped them of their strength and burned the bodies of the dead to cinders. The warning they sent out to their comrades was heard and acted upon in complete agreement. With the timing of their enemies retreat from the field with the strange dome of energy, they sensed something was about to happen, something which none of them wished to stick around to see, so they took their chances and fell back, fleeing from the centre of the city and retreating back through the closest dimensional tear to them, leaving the field of battle.

[…3…]

The Lucubra didn't register the warning of their fellow dark servants and continued to run, trampling over any of their brethren who fell without hesitation, crushing them underfoot by the swelling wave converging on their collective target. They neither registered the aura of nausea they ran into nor the sickly burning of their bodies as they got closer to their target.

[…2…]

The swarm met in the centre of the square, not stopping in their tracks as the daemonic wave crashed headfirst into itself, ricocheting of itself as several hundred died from the impact, throwing a ripple of impacts back out from itself as the swarm slowed down to a stop. Their heads reared back to look up at the source of their intense desire, hovering just out of reach of them, and they roared at its defiance, leaping up and snapping at it, they desire to be the one to catch their prey, wiping out any other thought in their mind.

By pure happenstance rather than any idea of strategy, some of the daemons leapt upon the backs of their brethren where they then found themselves closer to their prey. Once this was witnessed by the others, it began a chain reaction leading to a mad dash of bodies swarming over each other, reaching upwards, each determined to be the first to catch their prey.

[…1…]

They were close to it now. As more daemons continued to spill into the square, the floor of which now pale green in colour and writhing in countless bodies. The growing tower was now so close to their target, the daemons at the base of the accidental tower crushed from the weight pressing down on them.

The thought of their dead brethren below them didn't even cross the minds of the others though as they were now so close to their prey that nothing else mattered to them.

So close now…so close to reaching it and tearing into its succulent flesh.

[…0!]

. . . . .

On the outskirts of the city

The allied forces hovered beyond the limits of the city, watching as the daemons which had roared their displeasure at their departure and seemed intent on chasing after them and breaking the now unmanned containment of the city. Some had been briefly hesitant at the general order given to their forces, abandoning their positions to give the swarm free reign of the city, leaving them open to escape out into the Underworld where they would be difficult to quell them in the wilderness. Those veterans who had fought with God and the dragon gods against Dagon in the Great War were filled with even greater concern at this due to the creatures being spawned by Dagon's black magic, the full extent of their capabilities still unknown beyond what they saw today.

However, unlike with their younger brothers and sisters who were spared the horrors of the war, the veterans had complete faith and trust in their leaders and hadn't hesitated to follow the orders given to them, instructing their allies to join them in fleeing from the theatre of battle and gathering at the rally point away from the city limits along with the others.

The fears of the younger warriors was diminished somewhat when they looked back again to see the daemons cease their roaring and turn, almost in complete unison, back towards the centre of the city and charge forward, unhindered by any obstacles now except the bodies of their fallen.

Standing on top of a collapsed building, far from the area they'd been advised to evacuate by Ddraig, stood the leadership of the alliance, bar Sirzechs,

"Is everybody out?" Azazel asked through his communication spell to the linked in squad leaders and received numerous responses and reports in response which he addressed. Beside him, Michael and Odin were carrying out similar actions with their own attachment of soldiers.

Beyond this flurry of activity, Rias and her peerage, along with Jennifer and Gwen, were stood to the side. Rias had just finished catching them up as best she could to what they had missed while they had bought them time to rescue Ben by holding back the never-ending horde intent on smashing through their lines.

Jen had been just as concerned as Rias was, maybe even more so, that Ben still wasn't there with them and they had no idea if he was alright or not. Rias had told her and the others what Ddraig had said…that Ben was safe for the moment.

"What are those two planning to do?" Gwen asked aloud, looking past Rias back into the city with concern as the creatures withdrew from view as they headed deeper into the city…straight towards Ben.

"I don't know but we have to trust that Azmuth and Ddraig know what they're doing," Xenovia muttered as she stood beside Gwen and followed her gaze into the city.

"I know. That doesn't mean I have to like this, though," Gwen muttered in response, clenching her fists at the continued sounds of roars.

"I don't either," Jen added, placing a hand on Gwen's shoulder, partly to comfort her cousin but also to calm herself at the thought of Ben being on his own in a nest of monsters. "What do those overgrown lizards plan to do exactly?"

Despite the situation they were in, Rias couldn't help the small smile which crept into the corner of her mouth at Jen's description of two of the most powerful dragons to ever exist.

"I don't know what they plan to do," she admitted, picturing the strange form that Azmuth's Gear had turned Ben into. "I've never seen or heard of that form that he took. There's nothing like it in my grandfather's book on demons. It's like–."

[…0!]

Rias was cut off as Azmuth's powerful voice boomed out deeply across the city which disappeared in a flash of bright light which forced many to cover their eyes to avoid being blinded by it. As the bright light slowly diminished, the allied forces looked back into the city just as the shockwave quickly followed behind the light with a thunderous boom as it crashed into them and carried on expanding outwards from the city which, itself, was now suddenly encased in a huge dome of green energy as green fire erupted from the centre of the city and spread out, engulfing everything in its path. The sound of the deafening explosion was quickly followed by horrific screeching from within the city, inaudible at first but quickly grew to a chorus of screeches across the city as the daemons were engulfed by the deadly green flame-like energy which swept through them without stopping as it reached through each street, each doorway, and each room as it expanded through the city, searching for anything and everything it could consume to fuel its never-ending path of destruction.

The gathered forces recoiled from the impact and watched in a mixture of horror and fascination – the combination varying from person to person – as the daemons, finally realising the deadly danger they were in, had turned and fled from the green wall of death rushing out to catch them in its deadly embrace. The daemons in the immediate vicinity of the explosion were vaporised before they even realised they were dead while the daemons in the back sensed death rapidly racing through the city to reach them and had turned back to flee, racing back through the city, clambering over their fallen brethren like before, showing even less concern for them than they had before – if that was even possible – and made it to the outskirts of the city.

"That doesn't look good," Michael muttered at the sight playing out before his eyes. Azazel merely nodded his head silently in agreement as he was already formulating various plans to take care of the stragglers who managed to flee from whatever it was that Azmuth had just done.

This train of thought ceased when the daemons who suddenly found themselves at the head of the fleeing swarm reached the edge of the dome and crashed against it like water against a cliff. The same scene played out all along the length of the dome as daemons crashed into it only to be completely rebuffed from it. The daemons then began attacking the green wall blocking their path in their manic attempt to escape as the flames got closer and closer to them, dragging the daemons in the back of the swarm into its depths.

The concern of any daemons escaping being downplayed…for the moment at least…Azazel just stared in fascination at the display playing out before him. The longer he stared at it, the more questions came to mind which he intended to ask Azmuth when he next had the chance.

A few feet from the fallen angel leader, Rias and the others stared at the scene with similar looks of both horror and fascination.

"Woah," was all that came to Kiba's mind at the sight before him which was more than what many others could say in that moment.

The silent observation was soon broken again by Gwen and Jen who exchanged a look between each other and the city…specifically towards the centre of the inferno where they could make out the distinctive shape of a huge mushroom-shaped cloud rising up high above the surrounding buildings.

"Is that…?" Gwen gasped in shock, her eyes now glued to the rising cloud.

"It can't be," Jen muttered back, her eyes also glued to the rising cloud as her hands reached down her bodysuit and rummaged through one of the compartments in search of something, the action made harder due to her inability to tear her gaze away from the hypnotic sight before her.

She eventually managed to tear her gaze away from it when she finally found what she'd been looking for, looking down at the small device and spherical object she now held in her hand. Those standing closest to Jen also managed to look away from the inferno raging before them all and notice the strange objects in her hands and stared at them with curiosity as Jen fiddled with the thin rectangular device which made some noise as it switched on and handled the spherical object for a moment before glancing at Koneko who stood beside her and held out the grape-sized sphere in her palm to the white-haired Gremory Rook.

"Could you give me a hand here, short round? Could you throw this as hard as you can towards the dome?"

Koneko gave a quick glare at Jen's choice of words but accepted the small object from Jen and took a step forward before rearing her arm back and throwing the object with as much strength as she could muster, sending it soaring through the air and out of sight as it headed towards the dome.

"What was that?" Akeno wondered, her gaze having followed the thrown object before she lost sight of it.

"One of my handy little Plumber gadgets. Never thought I'd ever have reason to use it until now."

"What does it do?" Asia asked, her hands still closed in silent prayer for Ben's safety.

Jen didn't answer Asia's question at first as she was too focussed on the device in her hands.

"Hang on a second…," she muttered, more to herself, as she pressed another button on the device. The moment she pressed the button, the device immediately began letting out a shrill chorus of rapid clicks so fast and close together it was almost a continuous shriek. The loud, unsettling noise from the device caused those closest to them to either recoil, cover their ears, or a combination of both, for a brief moment before the rapid clicking noise suddenly stopped and the device went silent.

They looked between Jen and the now silent device in her hands without saying anything, most of them unsure what to say.

"Shit," Jen gasped, breaking the short silence as she looked down at the silent device in her hands.

"You only just turned that on, though," Gwen added, her gaze glued to the device.

"Yep," was all Jen said in response as she slowly brought her head up to look at the destruction continue to play out before her.

"Does that mean what I think it means?!" Gwen then asked, looking up from the device to Jen before glancing back at the city, like Jen, with poorly restrained concern.

"What is it?" Rias demanded, looking between Jen and Gwen, perturbed by the concerning expressions on their faces which only deepened when Xenovia's expression changed to a similar look of horror as theirs. "What did that device tell you? What are we looking at?"

Jen slowly ran her hand down her face, trying to regain her composure before answering…though she wasn't sure exactly how to answer Rias' question, her gaze transfixed on the dying city before them.

Before she could come up with an answer though, to her relief, Azazel appeared beside them.

"Was that what I think it was?" he asked with a similar, though more controlled, look of worry on his face as Jen had which only concerned Rias more.

Jen just nodded her head in confirmation.

"Fuck," Azazel breathed out as he ran a hand down his face in bewilderment as the continued distant screams of burning daemons drew his attention back to the spectacle playing out before them all. "What the fuck are you playing at, Azmuth? Where the hell did you find that form?"

Rias couldn't take it anymore.

"Can somebody PLEASE tell us what's going on?! Why are you so freaked out? What are we looking at?"

"Oh come on, Rias!" Azazel retorted, looking back at her. "I can accept the confusion from any other devil who's lived in the Underworld their whole life but you live in the human world…in Japan of all places! Surely you've paid attention in your history classes in that school you go to! You should've figured it out by now."

Rias didn't retort at Azazel's response but, instead, looked back at the city, looking at it from a different perspective as she thought back to her school lessons on Japanese history. As she looked at the still present mushroom cloud in the centre of the city with this new angle, the pieces suddenly fit together in her mind and she gasped, subconsciously clapping a hand to her mouth. Beside her, Akeno clearly went through the same process as Rias, reaching the same conclusion, as she also gasped in shock, covering her mouth with her hand, as she came to the same realisation.

"You mean it's a…."

"Yes," Azazel cut Rias off gently with a forlorn nod of his head as he gestured to the domed city. "That…is a nuclear explosion."

Those gathered around their group who'd overheard Azazel's revelation and knew of the significance of those words gasped in horror and stared at the nuclear firestorm raging its way through the city, sweeping through every nook and cranny as it sought out all living organisms and bathed them in radioactive death.

Even Michael barely restrained himself as he recoiled in horror. He'd had his suspicions but it was still shocking to hear them say it out loud like that.

"But…but how is that possible?" Rias managed to ask, forcing her gaze away from the raging nuclear explosion to look to Azazel for answers.

Azazel just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"I have absolutely no idea. Not even in my wildest dreams did I ever believe I'd use the words 'Nuclear' and 'Underworld' in the same sentence but we seem to live in absurd times nowadays. I plan to ask Azmuth plenty of questions when I next speak to him."

Odin attracted their attention with a gruff scoff as he approached their group, having overheard their discussion and finally pulling his attention from the fiery display which still held most of their forces in a hypnotised state.

"Can somebody please put this old man out of his misery and tell me what's going on?" the Norse god asked, grumbling as he ran his wrinkled hand down his long, silvery beard.

Azazel couldn't help but sigh and chuckle slightly, without any of his usual humour in his voice, at Odin as he simply waved off his request.

"I'll fill you in later after all this is over. Right now, you just need to know that it's bad. We need to let Sirzechs know about this when he finally shows up."

"Let me know about what?" a voice called out from behind them. They all turned around to see Sirzechs, bare-chested with large gashes running down his body that appeared healed slightly but still bleeding and were tinged with dark purple energy. His numerous large skeletal wings flapped powerfully as he slowed his speed and came to a stop, landing before them.

"Brother!" Rias exclaimed, not realising how much she'd been worried for him until she saw him standing there.

His wings barely withdrew back into his body before Rias had rushed forward and embraced him in a tight hug. Sirzechs couldn't help but smile at Rias' rare drop of decorum and show of public affection towards him as he returned the hug, instantly realising his mistake as he hissed in unfamiliar pain from the wounds on his chest.

As he grimaced at the pain, Rias instantly broke the hug and stepped back from Sirzechs with concern on her face though he just waved off her concern and gave her and everybody gathered around them a comforting smile.

"Sorry," Rias muttered apologetically, only now seeing the weeping wounds across her brother's torso.

"Hah, don't worry about it, Ri," Sirzechs chuckled. "I'll be good as new again as soon as I get somebody who knows more about healing magic than I do to have a look at me."

Asia slowly raised her hand as she took a step forward, earning her Sirzechs' attention.

"Um, I could try healing you if you'd like."

Before Sirzechs could give her an answer, Azazel appeared before Sirzechs and eyed the wounds with an inquisitive expression for a moment and prodded one of the gashes, earning another short hiss of pain from Sirzechs who glared at Azazel, before bringing his head up and looking back at Asia with a slight shake of his head.

"Sorry, Asia. I don't know if your power will work on this or not but this is a wound emanating with traces of Dagon's power. Even though it's only faint I still think this needs to be looked at more closely before we fix it to make sure we don't miss any tricks that'll bite us in the backside later." He looked back at Sirzechs. "You think you can manage for the time being? You're not going to drop dead on us, are you?"

Sirzechs chuckled at Azazel's style of humour and shook his head.

"No, not just yet. I'll manage for now. It was only a graze."

"Yeah…but you weren't fighting just any old opponent, were you?" Odin deadpanned which earned another smile from Sirzechs. "How did you fare against the conqueror after you convinced me to piss off and leave you alone with him?"

Sirzechs chuckled slightly at Odin before shaking his head.

"We can get into my story later," he declared with some finality as he gestured his head towards the city bathed in green flames. "I want to know what's been going on here. What have I missed out on?"

"Well, where do I begin?" Azazel began before he, along with everyone else around them, turned back towards the city as the chorus of horrific screeching of the dying suddenly stopped, the silence which followed somehow being even more unsettling than the previous cacophony of dying screeches. As the last shriek died away, the allied forces watched as the nuclear flames raged fiercely for a moment longer before they froze for a moment, so brief that those without enhanced eyesight, like Jen, missed it, before suddenly retreating back through the city at impossibly fast speeds, back towards the centre of the city. As this happened, the huge mushroom cloud in the epicentre of the radioactive firestorm retracted too, appearing to onlookers like they were watching time reversing as the cloud compressed back into a plume as it shrank back in on itself until it was gone a moment later along with everything else, leaving those gathered on the edges of the dead city.

Nobody said anything at first as they stared ahead of them, not knowing what would happen next…or if anything would even happen.

"Preferably at the start," Sirzechs stated, breaking the silence as he answered Azazel's question.

. . . . .

Rias and her peerage led the way back into the city, flying over the still silent city towards the centre. While Rias' view was fixed directly ahead of herself, focussing on nothing else aside from reaching her destination, those behind her, while as determined to reach their destination as Rias was, couldn't help but look down at the now empty streets. Where, once, they'd been unable to see the streets and dark sand from the sheer incalculable number of daemon corpses they'd killed during the battle, now there was no trace that they'd been there at all. In fact, there was no trace of anything from the recent battle, everything scoured from existence, there was no evidence left to tell of what had happened today except from the fresh damage to the scattered buildings and what was left in the memories of those who had fought and survived.

When the barrier had come down before the eyes of all gathered after the nuclear firestorm had finally subsided, if it hadn't been for Azazel physically placing a hand on her shoulder to hold her in place, Rias would have shot off to find Ben without a moment's thought.

She had even been close to challenging Azazel, frustrated at further delays getting in the way of her rushing to his side, it was only when Jen appeared before her, placing a hand on her other shoulder, and reminded her of the dangerous radiation still lurking in the city, that Rias finally saw sense and stopped herself from resisting their advice. Understanding her frustration – and feeling plenty of it herself due to her own, mortal limitations – Jen had then stepped forward and withdrew another small monitoring device from her belt. As she took the device out, Azazel offered his hand to which Jen, knowing his intentions after exchanging a brief look with him, placed the device in which he then held tightly before rearing his arm back and launching the device into the air as Koneko had done a moment ago.

Moving so much faster now than when Koneko had thrown it, in the blink of an eye the device vanished from sight the moment it left Azazel's hand, a thin trail indicating it's trajectory as it blasted through the air into the city though everyone gathered had already turned their gaze away from where the device had gone and were now glued on Jen who had already activated the accompanying monitor to review the results.

Not only were they all – especially those who knew something about the nature of radiation – shocked when Jen reported that there was no trace of lingering radiation that she could detect within the city, they were further surprised when Jen informed them all that it seemed that even normal background radiation had been sucked from the city limits.

Satisfied that there was no immediate danger from re-entering the city, Azazel had finally released his hand on Rias' shoulder to turn and confer with the other leaders about securing the city while Rias, the moment the fallen angel's hand had left her, had flapped her wings and shot forward into the air, leading the way back into the city while the rest of her peerage took off and flew after her while Akeno briefly stopped to grab Jen and lift her into the air before following after them.

As they flew over the last few buildings to the central square, they saw it, like everywhere else in the city, was devoid of any daemonic life…including the large carcass of Dagon's horrific physical form though it came with the addition that the surface of the entire area of the square had been turned to glass from the powerful energy blast.

They didn't stop on their journey for a second though and soon spotted a lone figure through the diminishing smoke and dust, hovering completely motionless a few feet above the ground as it looked straight ahead. It wasn't until they got closer to the figure before it finally moved, it's armoured head tilting up to look at them.

Before Rias could shout out to the figure to ask if Ben was okay, the moment the figure spotted the rapidly approaching group, it nodded its head slightly, as if answering her question, and slowly descended towards the ground, landing gracefully and without a sound as its heavy figure braced itself on the hardened glass beneath it.

The towering, armoured figure then cast another glance up at Rias, its emerald-green eyes glowing brightly, a different tint than what they were used to seeing in Ben's transformations – further cementing the fact it wasn't Ben who had been in control of this form – before the tint suddenly vanished from the figure which immediately sagged and was consumed by red light for a moment before it disappeared to reveal an unconscious Ben standing completely naked in its place.

"Ben!" Rias screamed loudly, a cry which was echoed by everyone around her at finally seeing him again. She picked up the pace at the last few feet as Ben, clearly unconscious, sagged with dead weight, unable to stand on his own in that moment, and fell backwards. He almost struck the glass floor before Rias reached him at last, catching him as she halted his fall at the last second and gently brought him down to the ground, kneeling on the floor as she held his body close to her, one arm wrapped around his back while the other pressed against his chest, her forehead resting against his as tears of joy trickled down her cheeks as she felt the gentle, reassuring beating of his heart beneath her fingers.

"I've got you, Ben," she whispered to him lovingly as she pressed her forehead against his, closing her eyes as she momentarily lost herself in the feeling of his beating heart, each rhythmic beat washing away a layer of the pain and fear she'd felt had built up since he was taken from her.

Rias was joined by the others in quick succession, each one of them expressing their cries of sheer joy and delight at his return to them. So relieved they were to finally see Ben again after what they'd all been through, it took them a moment to realise his state of nakedness, brought on by whatever he had been forced to endure during his ordeal, and a blanket was summoned by someone and placed over his lower half to maintain his dignity as they all gathered around him while Asia rushed to his side, opposite to Rias, and knelt down quickly before bringing her hands up and covering Ben's body with her healing aura.

It took only a few seconds of Asia's healing before the silence of everybody gathered around forcibly holding their breaths was shattered as Ben's eyes flew open and he suddenly sat bolt upright, his breathing heavy and his eyes wide as they snapped around wildly as he took in his surroundings as everybody finally released their pent up breaths at the final confirmation that Ben had come back to them.

Rias leaned forward and held Ben tightly in her arms, her hand still pressing against his bare chest while she brought her other hand up and ran it gently through his dishevelled hair in a calming manner.

"It's okay, Ben," she muttered soothingly, holding him close to her as she pressed her face close to his as she calmed him down, feeling the now rapid beating of his heart beneath her hand. "I've got you. I'm here. You're safe now. Everything's okay."

Rias' words had the desired effect and Ben took several deep breaths as he came to terms to what his eyes were telling him; that he was surrounded by friends and loved ones. As he came to this realisation, the last remaining drop of adrenaline finally left his system and he felt the full weight of his fatigue hit him as his body sagged from the effort of keeping himself upright and he collapsed backwards again into Rias' waiting arms.

"H-Hey, guys," he murmured weakly, looking between each of them in turn, bringing his arms up weakly to reach out them before several different hands met him halfway and gingerly took hold of his, aware of his extremely weakened state but still wanting to respond to his gesture and physically touch him.

"Did we win?" he asked, his answer coming in the form of chuckles and laughter around him.

Ben then saw past those gathered around him and saw the area he was lying in the middle of, finally noting the glass floor he was now lying on.

"W-Where are we? How did we end up outside? What happened to the city?"

He watched as everyone exchanged a look towards each other, none of them quite sure exactly how to bring him up to speed on everything that he had missed.

Their indecision was taken out of their hands at the arrival of Azazel, Sirzechs, Michael, and Odin.

"That's a hell of a long story, boy," Odin mused with the faint signs of a smile in the corner of his mouth and confirmation that Ben's rescue from Dagon's clutches.

"And not a priority right now," Azazel interjected as numerous soldiers flew overhead as they soared through the former battlefield, securing the perimetre and the remaining rifts still dotted across the city, ensuring that there were no enemy forces left in the area…though this was considered redundant as they'd all seen the nuclear firestorm and saw the organic destruction it had wreaked. "It's good to see you again, kid, but what's important right now is finding out exactly what happened after your team entered the citadel. It all went to total shit after you rescued Asia from Diodora."

Azazel locked eyes with Ben with a rare serious expression on his face. "What happened, Ben?"

"I-I don't…." Ben began before Azazel interrupted him with a look of understanding, appreciating what Ben had just gone through.

"What's the last thing you do remember then? Talk us through what you recall."

Ben glanced down as he searched through his recent memories with a grimace.

"I can't remember much," Ben was forced to admit, looking back up at everyone, noting their concerned expressions. "I remember us beating Diodora and Freed and I remember..." He clutched his head with a troubled look on his face. "Shit, I turned into that freaky ghost daemon again!"

He looked back up at Azazel. "I didn't have a choice! Asia was trapped in Diodora's device which was about to kill her and it was the only way to get her out in time!"

"Nobody's questioning your motives," Azazel stated calmly, kneeling down closer to Ben's eye level as Asia took hold of Ben's hand with both of hers and held it to her cheek, glad to be feeling its warmth again. "What about afterwards?"

"Um, ok, I…err…I got Asia free…we fell to the floor and then…and then…nothing else."

"Nothing? Really?"

Ben shook his head. "No. That was the last thing I remember before waking up here surrounded by everybody."

"Shit," Azazel grunted, standing back up and running a hand down his short beard.

"Sorry," Ben apologised. Azazel waved his hand at his apology, not putting any true blame on Ben for the turn of events.

Ben's eyes then glanced upwards, noting the dark Underworld sky…now devoid of the huge, towering central structures that he'd seen moments ago.

"Ok, starting to get worried now. Could somebody catch me up on what I've missed?"

"Oh boy, where to start?" Azazel muttered before he caught sight of Baraqiel, accompanied by two fallen angel soldiers behind him, flew over to them. "Rias. You want to take a stab at this?" he asked before he and the other leaders focused their attention on Baraqiel, a group of healers – a devil, angel and fallen angel – approached Sirzechs and, with his permission, began examining his chest wound.

"Me?" Rias asked in surprise, glancing over at Azazel who'd already turned his back on their group, before she looked back down at Ben who she still held tightly in her arms, as though afraid he'd leave her side again if she let go of him. "Okay…uh…right…okay. Ben, what do you know about a creature called Dagon?"

. . . . .

"What?! You're kidding, right?!"

"Nope," Rias replied with a small, gentle shake of her head after she'd finished bringing Ben up to speed on everything that had happened in the last few hours that he'd missed out on. "That all really happened."

Ben, now standing back up on his feet though with some help from Rias – whom he leaned on for support – due to his energy still being low after being sapped from what he'd been subjected to. The towel covering his lower half had been replaced with a simple shirt and a pair of jeans through some magical assistance from Akeno. He had listened to Rias explain what had happened after he had fallen into a trap laid by a monstrous creature known as Dagon and the concentrated effort from the allied forces which had been focussed on defeating his physical manifestation which was using his body as an anchor to break through into reality from the Dimensional Gap. As Rias told him about the fierce battle that had been fought against the vile form, both to save his life and to prevent the grotesque beast from returning from where it had been imprisoned, the others around him jumped in at points in Rias' story to tell him of their own challenges against the swarm of monsters which had suddenly appeared all over the city after the trap was sprung.

Ben couldn't speak for a moment as he took in the terrifying, yet also fantastic, tale of the rest of the battle he'd missed out on and glanced between everyone, seeing their dishevelled and exhausted appearances after everything they'd been through…for him.

As this thought entered his head, his eyes watered slightly as he smiled gratefully at each one of them.

"I-I can't believe you guys went through all that for me. Thank you so much. I'm so sorry I put you all in danger, that I wasn't there with you."

Rias held him tighter with her arm wrapped around his back, supporting him in place, while she cupped his cheek with her free hand and turned his face towards her.

"You have nothing to apologise for, Ben."

"But I do!" Ben retorted, taking a deep breath as he looked into Rias' eyes as he gently stroked her back before looking around the group again. "I fell into that trap that caused all of this to happen. If anything had happened to any of you because of my mistake I'd–."

Ben didn't get to finish that sentence before somebody had rushed forward and wrapped him in a fierce hug. It took him a moment before he realised it was Jen who had embraced him but he returned the hug as best he could with one arm, wrapping it around her waist and squeezed it tightly, matching her intent.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," she muttered close to his ear as she continued their strong familial embrace. "You don't need to ever think about that now."

"But…," Ben began but Jen pulled back to fix Ben with a fierce, teary-eyed stare which shut him up.

"No! It's finished. The battle is over and we're all okay, got it? Not one of us would've done anything different today. Azazel wanted us to stay back while they dealt with that thing but we refused to just sit back and do nothing! Hell, I told Azazel he could go fuck himself if he thought I wasn't going to do everything I could to bring you back home." A small smile formed in the corner of Jen's mouth. "What would mum and dad say when they learned their second favourite child had gone?"

Ben couldn't help but return the smile.

"Why? Where did you go in that scenario?"

A laugh escaped Jen as her eyes continued to water, threatening to spill down her cheeks, and she embraced him again.

"Bastard."

"Fucker."

"Dickhead."

"Bitch."

They finished saying their insults, enacting the sibling tradition of letting each other know everything was good between them, and Jen finally broke the hug and stepped back from him. This action seemed to signal the opening of the floodgates as Ben quickly found himself swamped by everybody standing around as they took turns embracing him in a tight, loving embrace. Each one of them expressed their delight at his return to them and even Gwen had stepped up with a smile and closed fist which Ben met with his own, gently bumping her fist with his own and each giving the other a small nod of appreciation.

As he did this action, Ben's eyes flickered towards Azmuth's Sacred Gear, which was still exposed, and his mind went back to the last part of the story Rias had told him. He'd been shocked beyond words at learning that he'd somehow taken on the form of a creature he'd never seen before that wasn't only extremely powerful but it's immense power came in the form of nuclear radiation! He'd listened to Akeno, Koneko and the others tell him of the difficulty they had in just holding the line against the seemingly infinite swarm of malicious monsters only for this new form to not only somehow seal off the city limits in a dome, trapping them all in one place, but also had the power to wipe out all of the creatures in a single attack, leaving no trace of them behind.

As he finished accepting everyone's joy at his return – grasping Kiba's forearm who gripped his in return – Ben looked down at his left hand, silently glancing at his open palm before turning it over to look at the dial.

"I wonder what the hell that form that killed those things was."

"That's what we're interested in knowing too," Azazel replied, attracting the group's attention as he and the other leaders approached their group again, having finished organising their forces around the city and issuing orders. "That was some form you took on to finish that fight."

"I've never seen such power in a single demon before," Sirzechs added, a plain shirt now covering his chest after healers had finished examining him for now, finding nothing which concerned them in that moment.

"That's if it even was a demon," Michael added softly, the image of its power playing out in the archangel's head.

"Good point, Michael," Azazel nodded before casting a glance at Sirzechs while gesturing to his now covered chest. "And that's rich coming from you. Didn't you just finish fighting Vilgax?"

"What?!" Rias gasped in shock, joined by Akeno and Koneko in shock at Azazel making his statement so casually.

"Not important right now," Azazel stated, waving his hand to stop them getting off track as he returned his attention back on Ben while he slowly paced back and forth between the two groups. "We were talking about that radioactive powerhouse you now appear to have in your arsenal of transformations."

"I-I don't know what to tell you guys. I've never seen that form you described anywhere in my Gear."

"You sure? You didn't just forget to mention it?"

"I think I would've said something if I found out I had a form that was essentially a nuclear bomb! I'm telling you, I've never seen anything like what you've described before and Azmuth has never mentioned anything like it."

Ben's last comment brought Azazel up short and he stopped pacing and turned to face Ben.

"Now that you mention it, where the hell are those two? If anyone knows for sure as to what happened today, it would be them. They should be able to explain a few things for us and stop us from chasing our own tails."

Ben gave Azazel an apologetic look, shrugging his shoulders as he looked down at his hands, both of which still clad in his Sacred Gears.

"I don't know. I thought the same thing as you and have been trying to speak to them through our mental link but they haven't said anything back. I can still feel their presence deep within my Gears but nothing else."

"Really? Hmm, I wonder why that is," Azazel pondered, stroking his beard as he often did when deep in thought.

"Perhaps they are recovering from protecting the kid from Dagon's black essence for so long?" Sirzechs suggested.

"It's possible," Michael added, agreeing with Sirzechs' suggestion. "Even though still incredibly powerful, they are still a fraction of their former selves before they were sealed away in their Gears and while it was only a fraction of Dagon's power which managed to slip through, he doesn't share the same restraints as Azmuth."

"It's amazing they were able to protect the boy for as long as they did," Odin continued Michael's through process. "I imagine it was because of Azmuth that he was targeted in the first place. Nothing like a little revenge against a hated enemy to stir a foul creature like Dagon."

"Revenge? Hated enemy?" Ben muttered in confusion, not having a clue as to what they were talking about. From the looks of those gathered around him, he wasn't the only one confused by this trail of conversation but either none of the leaders noticed their confused expressions or they did but weren't going to fill them in.

"I suppose it's possible they're just resting and recovering their strength," Azazel mused though he didn't appear convinced by his own words. "It seems we'll just have to wait until they return before dragging more information of them.

Ben couldn't help but deadpan at the image of someone as stubborn as Azazel trying to drag information of out two dragons just as equally stubborn…if not even more so…with him stuck in the middle.

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of clapping and light laughter to his right. He looked over to see Valerie slowly approaching their group with Sun and a blond-haired young man he'd never seen before walking behind her before they came to a stop a few feet away from them.

Ben took a step towards them, stumbling a little before he was caught by Rias who shared a private look with him, wordlessly asking if he needed to lean on her again. Ben, just as silently, rejected her offer and gently brushed his hand over her forearm as a way to offer her some comfort as he took a few steps past her to stand opposite Val. He was joined by Rias who, even though she respected his decision not to lean on her in that moment and appear weak to his rival, still wanted to support Ben by standing beside him, reminding him that he wasn't alone, as well as the others in their group though there wasn't the same hostility towards Valerie's group as there would've been a few hours ago.

"I've got to hand it to you, Tennyson. You never cease to surprise me. I thought I'd seen the extent of your chaotic nature when you did the impossible by taking my power and created an entirely new demon sub-species but it seems I was so wrong. Even though you're still so new to the supernatural world, you've already done so much to upend the established norm." She subconsciously licked her lips as she seemed to look at Ben in a new light. "I'm curious to see how you grow from here and what else you change."

Ben was thrown off by Valerie's actions and the strange look she was giving him but quickly recovered.

"I heard that you and your followers stepped in to help us out."

"It's true," Rias confirmed, stepping closer to Ben, her gaze still fixed on Val after the look she had given him. While she was just as thrown off by it as Ben, she couldn't overlook their actions today. "Valerie joined the fight directly against Dagon's physical form while her followers helped hold off his swarms of monster minions."

Ben nodded his head slightly at Rias before facing Valerie again and bowing his head slightly. "Then I must thank you for your help today. I don't want to think what would've happened if you hadn't decided to help us. I won't forget what you did today but, that being said, your actions today make me wonder where things stand with us. Don't you still wish to kill me one day?"

Valerie tapped the side of her cheek for a moment before her smile broadened and she shook her head.

"No. That doesn't really interest me anymore. You've made things far too interesting already and I want to see where things go from here. I've recently learnt a few things that change things for me. I've learnt about something I now want to prove myself against and make my new dream come true."

"So…you don't want to fight me anymore?" Ben asked, only to be met by loud laughter from Val.

"Oh, of course we're still going to fight from time to time," she stated so calmly as she brushed away an imaginary tear from her eye. "I might find you interesting now and not desire your death anymore but you're still my rival. You certainly aren't getting rid of me that easily."

Ben was unsure how to respond to Valerie's statement at first, having not expected her to reveal any of this, so he resorted to changing the topic as best he could.

"So, why are you still here? I understand you joining against Dagon and his forces but I'd have thought you'd leave immediately afterwards now that you're right in the midst of your enemies."

The smile didn't drop from Valerie's face as she just cast a glance towards Azazel who stared back at Val with an impassive look, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the exchange between Ben and Valerie in silence.

"What do you think, Azzy?"

Azazel took a moment before answering, doing his to not break face and let the essence of a smile creep onto the corner of his mouth at Valerie's use of one of her nicknames for him.

"I think that I've told you enough times not to call me that…but in regard to the current situation and in light of your significant aid today, I believe we can overlook your current allegiance for today."

"Wonderful!" Val exclaimed with faux delight and a clap of her hands before returning her attention to Ben while taking a few steps to the side, gesturing for Ben to join her. "Come here, Ben. There's something I wanted to show before I head off.

Ben hesitated for a brief moment before he stepped forward to stand beside Val who cast a glance upwards towards the clouds of dust and dark sand which obscured a large portion of the sky above them.

"Sun? You think you could…?" Val called out over her shoulder while making a swiping gesture with her hand at the clouds above them.

Rather than directly answering her, Sun just took a step forward, twirling the staff in his hands at blinding speeds before swiping his staff in a wide arc towards the sky, causing a wave of air to arc out into the sky and sweep aside the debris in an instant, clearing the sky above them to reveal a sight that made Ben's jaw drop.

Hovering high above them, slowly drifting through the Underworld sky was a truly colossal red dragon, a dragon far bigger than anything Ben had ever seen in his life. If he had to guess its size, he'd put the length of the dragon close to a kilometre long at the very least with the wingspan of its huge pair of wings being even bigger than that. A huge horn, taller than most buildings, sprouted from the top of his huge snout like a blade carving its way through the sky as the titanic dragon glided effortlessly through the air.

Ben's eyes trailed down the length of the dragon, running down towards it tail which he found still slithering out of a gargantuan rip in the fabric of space where the rest of the beast already slipped through to emerge in the Underworld.

"What the…?" Ben exclaimed, unable to finish his sentence at the sight before him.

"Ben Tennyson. I present to you Great Red. Often known as DxD, he is the True Red Dragon God Emperor."

"Fuck me," Ben gasped, unable to tear his gaze away from the awesome sight before him.

Val chuckled at Ben's choice of words.

"I had a pretty similar reaction when I first saw him. Words fail to adequately describe him, don't they? I'm surprised neither Azmuth nor Ddraig mentioned him."

"Yeah, they seemed to have forgotten to tell me about him," Ben muttered, a pang of annoyance rising inside his chest at Azmuth and Ddraig's failure to tell him about the dragon before him. He faintly recalled the name being mentioned some time ago but hadn't considered it as significant at the time.

A thought suddenly entered his mind. "Hang on. Dragon god? He's related to Azmuth then?"

"Funny you should ask that. Another title Great Red goes by is the Dragon God of Dreams…he is the older brother to Azmuth, the Dragon God of Life…and the younger brother to Dagon, the Dragon God of Nightmares and Destruction."

""What?!"" was the collective cry of shock from Ben, Rias and her peerage, Jen and Gwen at Val's bombshell.

Ben spun around towards Azazel who had an annoyed expression on his face and sighed heavily.

"Is that true?"

"Yes. It's true. After today and knowing that Azmuth had deigned not to inform you of this yet, I'd intended to fill you in on a few things but also in light of everything that you kids have been through today, I wasn't going to drop something that big on you without letting you rest a bit beforehand…." He cast a slight glare towards Val. "…but it looks like that plan went to shit, didn't it?"

Val, unfazed by the glare directed her way, just shrugged her shoulders. "I'd say I was sorry about that but we both know that I'd be lying."

She then turned back to look up at Great Red with Ben doing the same. "It used to be thought by everyone, Ophis included, that Great Red chose to live in the Dimensional Gap, flying around in there for all eternity, but recent events have opened my eyes to the truth. It's true he chose to live in the Dimensional Gap…but that was only so he could forever stand guard to his older brother's prison cell after he was thrown in there after he waged a Great War against his two brothers and God eons ago."

Val held her hand up, fingers spread out, towards Great Red as though trying to reach out to touch him.

"My new dream is to be the one to kill Dagon." She closed her fist tightly. "To do what the other two dragon gods…and not even God Himself…could do! Someday I will kill Dagon and take his place in the Dragon Pantheon as the True White Dragon God Emperor, the pinnacle of strength and power."

Val slowly lowered her to her side while they all stared up at Great Red, watching his majestic, crimson-scaled body glide through the dark Underworld sky.

"It's been a while, Great Red," a voice spoke out, surprising everyone who looked around to find a young girl with long raven-black hair hovering a feet away on Ben's right, positioned in a way which made it appear she was sat on the edge of ledge even though there wasn't anything beneath her.

"Where the fuck did she come from?!" Ben exclaimed, taken completely aback by the stranger's sudden appearance.

"I wondered if you'd show your face again today, Ophis," Azazel stated casually, surprising Ben by how close he suddenly sounded and, as he glanced a little further to his right, he saw that the fallen angel leader and Sirzechs had positioned themselves a few feet back from being directly between him and Ophis without him noticing either of their movements.

Behind him, Rias and their others were just as shocked at her sudden appearance too.

"Where did she come from?" Kiba wondered, his hand instinctively reaching down for his sword before he forced himself to stop.

"She wasn't there a second ago!" Xenovia exclaimed, recoiling along with a few others in surprise at her appearance.

The name that Azazel had given the new arrival suddenly dawned on him a split moment later.

"Wait a second. Did you just say Ophis?!" Ben gasped.

"He sure did. Ben, say hello to Ophis, the Dragon God of infinity, Ouroboros Dragon," Val said casually with a small smirk at the shocked look on Ben's face.

"But isn't she the bad dragon?" Gasper whimpered from behind Koneko.

"Yeah, she's the leader of the Khaos Brigade," Koneko added with caution in her voice.

Ophis completely ignored their comments as she continued to stare skywards at Great Red.

"Surely you now understand why Great Red dwells in the Gap," Azazel said to Ophis. He wasn't under the illusion he could suddenly change the dragon deity's mind just like that but if he could just get them to consider things in a different light then that would be something. "You have no true desire to involve yourself in mortal matters and I understand why you may feel you were kicked out your home but even you must realise the importance of Dagon remaining caged and Great Red is the only one capable of ensuring he remains in there."

"Just like he did today?" Ophis retorted simply, no emotion in her voice as she made her comment which caused Azazel to grimace at her simple question.

"Fair enough. I see your point there but what happened today was completely unforeseen. We had no idea that he was even active again let alone planning something like this," he tried to counter but Ophis shrugged him off.

"It makes no matter. One day, sooner or later, I will return to my home and finally have my silence once again."

"YoU aRe MoRe ThAn WeLcOmE tO aSsIsT iN fReEiNg Me FrOm My PrIsOn!"

The ground and even the air itself seemed to shake and vibrate as the heavily distorted voice echoed deeply, the sound carrying throughout the entire city.

Ben groaned as he brought his hands up against his forehead. He forced himself to look upwards where he saw the several rifts still dotted around the city which had been used by Dagon and his forces during the springing of their trap. Each of them looked very different from a moment ago in that the edges of the rifts seemed to be crackling, as if reacting on a molecular level to being in contact with real space. While this was happening to them, black tentacles also protruded a few feet from the swirling immaterial matter within the confines of the rift edges; some rifts had several smaller tentacles while others had single, slightly larger black tentacles reaching out from them.

"Fuck!" he said through gritted teeth.

"What's happening?!" Xenovia cried, her voice only just audible over the noise.

"What the fuck is that?!" Jen cried out as she fell to her knees, her hands covering her ears as best she could to protect her vulnerable human hearing from the incredibly powerful vibrations from the voice as it spoke and continued reverberating even after it had finished speaking with such force that, even with her ears covered, she was in significant pain as thin lines of blood were already starting to trickle down the sides of her face. Thankfully, Asia noticed Jen's pained cry and while she still felt immense discomfort from the intense sound, her devil hearing protected her in ways that Jen's human hearing didn't so she rushed over and knelt by Jen's side and held out her hands which began healing Jen, repairing the damage faster than it was being caused.

Ben looked away from the defiled rifts above him and spotted Ophis staring up at them with an emotionless expression on their face, appearing completely unaffected by what was happening around them and unfazed by the intense vibrations.

"As tempting as that idea is, Dagon, I'll have to pass on your offer," the dragon god replied simply, identifying the owner of the deafening noise.

"ShAmE. yOu MaY fInD yOu'Ll CoMe To ReGrEt YoUr ChOiCe OnE dAy. YoU aRe NoT mY eNeMy So, FrOm OnE gOd To AnOtHeR, tHeRe Is No NeEd FoR uS tO fIgHt EaCh OtHeR. mY oNlY dEsIrE iS tO sLaUgHtEr My TrEaChErOuS bRoThErS aNd FiNiSh ThE wOrK i StArTeD sO lOnG aGo."

"Are you trying to make a deal?" Ophis asked the disembodied voice, still unfazed by the very air shaking with each syllable the voice uttered.

"MaYbE. yOu StAy OuT oF mY wAy AnD oNcE i Am FrEe AnD hAvE…rEmOvEd ReD fRoM hIs DuTy, YoU aRe FrEe To ReTuRn To ThE gAp. WhAt SaY yOu?"

"I say it sounds like you're concerned we might put aside our differences in light of a common foe," Azazel interjected, standing tall along with the other alliance leaders who had stepped forward to face whatever new trick Dagon could come up with.

If Ophis was annoyed at Azazel butting in before they could give an answer, they didn't show it and just continued to stare up at the volatile rifts around them…though they had altered their posture to one of being alert and prepared. It seemed that while Ophis was confident in their strength and Dagon's present condition, they still weren't willing to take a chance of something unexpected happening.

"HmM. it'S bEeN sO lOnG bUt I sTiLl ReMeMbEr ThAt VoIcE. iS tHaT yOu, AzAzEl? It'S bEeN sO lOnG. i hEaRd ThAt YoU tOoK a LiTtLe TuMbLe SoMe TiMe AgO. i HoPe ThE fAlL wAsN't ToO pAiNfUl FoR yOu."

A horrific screeching sound immediately followed these words which forced all but Ophis and the alliance leaders and their most powerful subordinates to cover their ears fully and recoil from it. The only thing Ben could compare the deafening, ear-splitting screeching to was that of laughter. As nightmare-inducing as it was, it was the only thing that he could suggest it was.

"HoW aRe YoU aNd YoUr AnGeLiC bReThReN dOinNg SiNcE yOuR bAsTaRd Of A fAtHeR pErIsHeD? i wIsH I CoUlD'vE bEeN tHeRe To WaTcH hIm GeT wIpEd FrOm ExIsTeNcE. i WoNdEr If HiS lOnG oVeRdUe DeAtH hAd AnYtHiNg To Do WiTh My LaSt AtTeMpT tO bReAcH tHe BaRs Of My CaGe. I dId GiVe HiM aNd ReD a LoT oF tRoUbLe AnD hE sEeMeD dEtErMiNeD tHaT i'Ll NeVeR eScApE sO pOuReD hIs OwN lIfEfOrCe InTo My SeAlS. bUt MoRe'S tHe PiTy; NoT oNlY dId It CoSt HiM hIs LiFe BuT, aS yOu'Ve SeEn ToDaY, tHe SeAlS wErEn'T nEaRlY aS pOtEnT aS hE iNtEnDeD."

Another horrific screeching sound followed as Dagon laughed again.

"And yet we are still here, Dagon!" Michael joined in defiantly, stepping forward and radiating Holy light, directing it towards the rifts with such intensity that the tentacles seemed to recoil from the pure light. "It's true our Father is gone but he left behind a foundation and legacy for us to follow, and He trusted us to learn from our many mistakes and forgo our differences to come together again as one!"

"Things may have indeed changed since your day, you voidspawned abhorrent mistake of cosmic nature," Azazel added onto Michael's speech, also stepping forward to stand against the impossible pressure Dagon was exuding from an entire dimension away. "Yes, God may be gone and Azmuth sealed away but, as you've experienced today, we are far from weak! I have no doubt you will make another attempt to escape your cage but you will be defeated and, in God's Holy name, we will find a way to end your cancerous existence once and for all!"

A different sound came from the rifts and reverberated the air across the city which somehow made Ben think that Dagon was growling at Michael and Azazel's words.

"TrUe, YoU mAy HaVe YoUr ViCtOrY tOdAy, AnGeLs, BuT yOuR dAyS aRe NuMbErEd. I WILL eScApE mY cAgE aNd I wIlL hAvE mY rEvEnGe AgAiNsT mY bRoThErS…sTaRtInG wItH AZmUtH. i SeNsE yOu'Re StIlL tHeRe, AzMuTh, ThOuGh KnOw NoT wHy YoU dOn'T sPeAk. HeAr Me, BrOtHeR; yOu BeLiEvE yOu ArE sAfE fRoM mE iN tHaT mOrTaL vEsSeL oF yOuRs BuT yOu ArE nO lEsS tRaPpEd ThAn I aM. i WiLl CoMe FoR yOu FiRsT, tEaRiNg YoU fRoM yOuR fLeSh PrIsOn BeFoRe I dEsTrOy YoU!"

A loud, earth-shaking roar boomed out across the city but this one didn't come from Dagon. Rather, it came from Great Red still hovering high above them, its titanic head tilted down towards the city.

"AnD dOn'T tHiNk I'vE fOrGoTtEn YoU, rEd, My EvEr ViGiLaNt GuArD wHo'S wAtChEd OvEr Me AlL tHiS tImE. yOu WiLl SuFfEr ThE fUlL eXtEnT oF mY rEvEnGe OnCe I aM fReE!" Dagon responded to Great Red's roar before he started blaring out a series of completely unintelligible noises which not even the Language ability could translate as the volatile rifts were engulfed in a crimson aura which appeared to stabilise them before each one began being sealed shut, leaving no trace of their existence behind.

"ThIs IsN't ThE eNd! I wIlL hAvE mY vEnGeAnCe, ReD! mArK mY wOrDs…!" Dagon managed to roar loudly as the final rift, the largest one high above the city from which the tendril which had been siphoning his essence into the physical realm, began being sealed shut. Several more tentacles tried pushing themselves through the large rift in an attempt to keep it open though it was clearly no match for Great Red's power as the crimson aura around the rift continued to glow brightly as the rift was slowly sealed closed until the tentacles seemed to realise the futility of their action before quickly retreating back inside the rift just as it was finally closed.

The piercing noise stopped just as suddenly as the rifts disappeared, the city finally returning to silence as everyone recovered from the experience. Asia finally stopped her continuous healing of Jen who was able to stop covering her ears.

"Thank fuck that's finally over," Jen grimaced as she checked herself for any further injuries or damage. When she found nothing, she turned and quickly pulled Asia into a hug and thanked her what she did, embarrassing the cute bishop who's cheeks were reddening from her embarrassment.

"Thanks for that, Asia. I can finally hear myself think again."

"Uh, don't mention it," Asia replied timidly.

The silence brought on from the closure of the last rift was soon broken by Great Red who let out a deep grumble from his belly which was easily heard by everyone despite him still being so far away.

Ben stared up at Great Red who Ben swore was looking directly at him as he bowed his head so slowly he thought he'd imagined it before the titanic dragon slowly turned back on itself and slowly made his way back into the huge rift he'd come from, letting out a final roar of dominance before his huge head disappeared through the dimensional tear.

"So long, Red. Until next time," Ophis mused with a small wave of their hand.

"Is it over now?" Ben wondered, directing his question towards Azazel who was stood just ahead of him.

Azazel sighed as he ran his hand through his hair and turned his gaze away from the spot in the sky where the rifts had been a moment before.

"Looks like it. We really kicked a hornets nest with speech. He's majorly pissed off now." Azazel looked over at Ophis who met his gaze. "I hope you saw through that promise he made you, Ophis. You know Dagon's nature more than most here. I can understand your desire to return to the Gap…even though nothing is actually stopping you from doing so. You see why Great Red must remain in the Gap, right? Dagon cannot be allowed to escape his cage."

Ophis stared at Azazel for a moment before glancing back up at Great Red who had almost completely withdrawn back into the Gap.

"Thank you for your advice and warning, Azazel. I'll bear it in mind." They then turned their head towards Valerie. "Come, Val. It's time for us to leave."

"You got it, boss," Val replied while bringing her middle and forefinger to her temple and saluting lazily. She then gave Ben a similar salute with a wide smile. "See you around, Tennyson. Until next time."

With her piece said, Val re-joined her followers where the blond-haired young man who had unsheathed the blade he had strapped to his waist and then slashed at the air beside him, slicing through the air and creating a small, human-sized rift. Unlike the rifts which were reacting to Dagon's evil aura, this one was normal in appearance, the immaterial matter of the Dimensional Gap swirling around in random patterns.

Val led the way through the rift with Sun and the swordsman following behind her, the rift closing shut behind them without leaving a trace of its brief existence.

When Ben looked back from the closed rift to Azazel he noted that Ophis had disappeared as swiftly and silently as they had appeared.

"Woah, that's unnerving. Is Ophis Batman or something?"

Azazel chuckled and shook his head.

"No but disappearing like that is one of Ophis' annoying specialties," he stated with a chuckle, surprising Ben a little at his understanding of the human pop culture reference he'd just made.

"Now then," he added, turning back to face their group. "I think you kids have been through more than enough crap today. Why don't you head home and take some time to recover from your ordeal."

Ben raised his hand, attracting the fallen angel leader's attention.

"I know it might be a bad time to ask but what does this mean for the Rating Game?"

"Ben!" Rias scolded him lightly while giving him a soft glare as she jabbed his side without any genuine effort behind it. "You think now is the best time to ask that? After everything that's happened today?"

"What?" Ben retorted innocently, taking hold of Rias' hand with his own and pulling her gently to his side. "Before it all went tits up, we did technically beat that bastard Diodora and his peerage, didn't we?"

Azazel laughed loudly at this, the sound coming off as quite strange in their current environment and very recent events.

"I have to admit, Ben. I wasn't expecting you to ask that so soon after everything that's happened today, especially to you, but I guess it is as you said; your challenge was to beat your opponent's team and you managed to do that with flying colours. Do you agree, Sirzechs?"

They all turned towards Sirzechs who chuckled at the sudden attention being focussed on him.

"I can't fault your logic, Azazel. I'm content that your team won the match, Rias…even if it was a tad unorthodox. Your team will progress to the next stage which will be arranged for a later date."

This announcement caused a cheer from the group who couldn't help but express their delight at their achievement, momentarily putting aside everything that had taken place today. Rias wrapped her arms around Ben who returned her hug tightly while the others either shared a hug with someone or just let out a cheer and pumped their fists into the air.

"Okay, okay. Glad we got that important thing sorted out, you kids should've already been gone by now," Azazel interjected, reminding them of his previous strongly hinted suggestion which they stuck to this time as Akeno created a large magic circle beneath them all, the large crest of the House of Gremory etched into the fabric of the circle, which swept them away from the battlefield in a brief flash of red light.

. . . . .

The moment Ben and the others vanished before their eyes, the smiles and cheerful expressions disappeared from the faces of the gathered leaders, being replaced, instead, by stern expressions as they shared glances with each other and looked out at the glass surface around them.

"How many did we lose?" Michael asked sombrely, directing his question to Azazel who was examining one of the reports he'd been given by a soldier a moment ago.

"Too many," Azazel sighed in response, reading through the report before cursing under his breath. "Shit! Our trap against the Khaos Brigade went off without an issue. If the battle had ended there then we could call today's battle a flawless victory. In this one battle we not only took out a large portion of their forces but we also managed to kill another of their leaders, Creuserey Asmodeus…but then we all fell right into Dagon's trap! Our forces were taken completely off guard and most of our forces were lost in the immediate incursion from his legions of daemons!"

"You can't blame yourself for this, Azazel," Odin stated calmly, his mind conjuring the images of the Valkyries who had fallen at Vilgax's hand while coming to his defence.

"Exactly," Sirzechs agreed, placing a comforting hand on the fallen angel's shoulder. "How could we ever have accounted for this variable? Dagon was considered by all to be a footnote in history, gone forever and his followers either dead or lost to the ether."

"I know," Azazel found himself agreeing to the logic of his comrades.

"Until today, we had no idea he was even making moves again," Sirzechs added with a deep sigh at their failure to even consider the possibility.

"From the sounds of it, it was by chance that the trap was sprung when Ben transformed into the form of one of Dagon's daemons to rescue Asia from Diodora's contraption," Odin added his thoughts to the conversation as he looked back on the trail of events, following them back to its origin.

"Hmm," Azazel muttered as he thought back on his fight against Zs'Skayr after he'd tried to assassinate him. Something didn't sit right for the fallen angel but he couldn't put his finger on it and this annoyed the inquisitive leader.

He wasn't able to ponder his doubts for long before the sound of flapping wings brought him out of it, drawing his attention to the lone devil soldier flying towards them. Even at the distance he was from them, Azazel could see the soldier bore Sirzechs' royal crest on his armour, denoting him as one of his personal warriors. His gaze then fell on the soldier's face and Azazel knew in an instant what sort of news was being brought to them.

"What's happened now?" he wondered, silently cursing as his mind raced with else had happened that they hadn't predicted or prepared for.

"I don't know but it doesn't look good," Michael muttered, having seemingly come to the same conclusion as Azazel, as he and the other leaders watched the soldier rapidly approach them.

The soldier landed before Sirzechs and instantly dropped into a kneeling position as he presented a rolled up scroll he held in his hand to the devil leader.

"My lord Lucifer! I bring urgent news from HQ!" the solider stated quickly, his head bowed as he held out the scroll in his hands. Sirzechs took the scroll out of the soldier's hand, gesturing for the soldier to leave them which he did without word, and unfurled the scroll, his eyes darting across the parchment as he read through its contents, his expression hardening the further through the message he read.

"Shit," Azazel cursed, noting Sirzechs' stern expression. "What is it?"

"A few hours ago, we lost contact with the outposts around the Expanse. The last message received from them stated that they were under attack by a horde of unknown creatures which came from the anomaly."

"Let me guess, their description matches those of the swarm of new daemons which just invaded the city and took us all by surprise," Odin said with a grumble, his grip on his weapon tightening.

Sirzechs just nodded in response as he continued reading through the report.

"Well, at least we know where they came from," Azazel muttered, trying to find some positive from this.

"A detachment was sent to investigate and found the area still crawling with Dagon's daemonic legion," Sirzechs continued reading on through the scroll, relaying its contents to the others. "They engaged but were pushed back from the immediate area. They managed to establish a simple perimetre around the anomaly but it's barely holding and will crumble if the enemy regather their cohesion and launch another attack.

"We can't allow that area to fall to the enemy!" Michael declared firmly, a stern expression on his angelic face. "If that is where Dagon's forces have been hiding all this time, who knows how many are in there."

"And no offence to your people, Sirzechs, but none of them have encountered these things before. Hell, nobody has since the Great War. The anomaly can't be destroyed as far as we know and nobody sent in there has ever returned. We just don't truly know anything about that thing. If we lose control of that area, it would be the perfect launchpad for an invasion into the Underworld and beyond!"

"No offence taken, Azazel," Sirzechs replied, knowing what Azazel was saying about this powerful, relentless enemy. "However, if this was just the tip of the spear of what Dagon and Vilgax are capable of, we won't be able to hold the area with my people alone."

"You won't be alone," Michael declared firmly. "You shall have my assistance in this."

"And mine too," Azazel also declared with a sharp nod of his head. "It's only a matter of time before they come back so we need to make them earn their meals. It might've been an age since we last fought them but we will share our knowledge against this enemy and join you in holding these invaders back."

"Count me in too," Odin added, noting the subtle look of surprise on the faces of the other three leaders who were looking at him. "What? We're already joined in our fight against the Khaos Brigade, right? Besides, my people may not call the Underworld home but I know it won't matter for shit if Dagon manages to break you and destroy the Underworld. He won't just stop there; he wants to destroy everything which, last time I checked, includes Asgard."

"Then it's decided," Sirzechs concluded, rolling the scroll closed again and looking at each of the leaders gathered around them. "We'll draw up plans for a united front around the anomaly to hold the enemy back.

The four leaders nodded their heads in agreement, each one already thinking up plans on what needs to be done. Michael then announced he would be taking his forces back to Heaven to report back what had happened today. He was quickly followed by Odin who bid them farewell for the time being and departed to gather his remaining forces and return to Asgard to recover and regroup from the recent battle.

The two leaders took flight and left the area, leaving Azazel and Sirzechs in the devastated central square of the dead Petrosapien city.

"At some point we'll need to discuss how to capitalise on your fight against Vilgax," Azazel announced, turning his gaze away from Michael as he disappeared behind one of the few high-rise building still standing to Sirzechs.

"For what reason?" Sirzechs replied simply.

"I'm not sure you fully comprehend the feat you accomplished today right now. You may not understand the full ramifications of what you did today yet but Vilgax is THE bogeyman of the Underworld. We won't be able to hide what happened today from our people. They'll be confused and concerned enough after the cameras suddenly cut out when the battle started and when they learn that Vilgax is not only real but alive and thirsty for blood, it'll only get worse."

"And the fact that I not only fought him but managed to injure him and force him to flee from the battle," Sirzechs summarised, quickly realising what Azazel was trying to say to him.

"Exactly! The dreaded monster may be back but you've already proven that he's not as indestructible as many believe and he can – and has been – defeated!"

Sirzechs stared straight ahead as he considered Azazel's words, unable to find any fault in his logic and seeing the positive morale boost it would bring. His gaze then found itself on the spot where Rias and the others had teleported away, his thoughts falling back on what Dagon had said regarding Ben.

Azazel noticed Sirzechs' expression and followed his gaze to the same spot.

"What you thinking about?"

"I'm concerned about Ben. You heard what Dagon said. He's got his eyes fixed on Ben because of his association with Azmuth.

Azazel sighed in understanding. Truthfully, he'd had the same concerns as Sirzechs and was glad he wasn't the only one.

"I know. He might've been blessed with incredible power and near infinite potential but, in the end, he's still just a kid; hell, they all are. Despite everything he's achieved in such a short time, this is something completely different. He's drawn the ire of a creature capable of infinite evil and malice who's declared their intent to destroy him…all because he happened to be blessed – or cursed – with Azmuth's Sacred Gear."

"Look at what happened today," Azazel continued, gesturing to the devastated area they were stood in. "This was just a taste of what Dagon is capable of and it almost cost Ben his life. I don't think even an archangel would've been able to withstand what Ben went through today. Had Azmuth and Ddraig not been able to protect Ben's lifeforce, he would've been snuffed out like that." He snapped his fingers.

"Speaking of, are you as concerned as I am that Azmuth and Ddraig were silent?" Sirzechs asked, looking over at Azazel with a contemplative expression on his face.

"No, I am also concerned about that. It's one thing for the soul within a Gear to choose not to speak but this is something different." Azazel patted Sirzechs on the arm. "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on them and let you know if anything happens."

"Thanks. I'll keep you updated on things down here as they progress," Sirzechs nodded, grateful that Azazel was willing to keep an eye out for his precious little sister and future brother-in-law. It hadn't taken long for him to accept Ben as part of the family, seeing there was something different about him from others as far back as when he came to Rias' rescue from her forced engagement with Riser. He saw how happy he made Rias which was what he considered most important. The fact he also possessed the Sacred Gears of Azmuth and Ddraig was just a bonus.

"Thanks. I'll keep in touch often but I'll watch over them and keep training them to ensure they can face whatever comes their way," Azazel said reassuringly, casting one last glance at the empty spot before turning and walking away, Sirzechs joining him as they left the area.

. . . . .

Demonomicum extract:

Florauna

Appearance: Following similar traits as other inhabitants, Florauna are humanoid in shape…well their upper bodies are humanoid. Their body is composed entirely of what I would describe as thick green vine-like biomatter, they possess a single, large eye in the middle of their face, and four long fingers with razor-sharp claws on their hands. Protruding from their shoulders are large flytrap-shaped flaps with razor-sharp teeth on either side of their head large enough to be able to cover their head (should the need require it).

Below the waist of the Florauna is where similarities with other humanoid species comes to an end as, in place of a pair of legs of any description, the Florauna instead possesses several vine-like appendages which act of legs, enabling the species to traverse the hostile land it calls home with ease where most other species wouldn't be able to.

In addition to the teeth-covered flaps, I have observed black fruit growing from the back of the Florauna. During my research on them, I have only been able to witness them being used in combat, the fruits having a variety of effects, from powerful explosives to various gas bombs, dependent on the demon's desire in that moment.

[Side note: Despite my extensive observations of their species, I have been totally unable to differentiate the differences between the black fruits, whether they were the explosive kind or the gaseous kind. It appears that they are a secret that is known only to the Florauna themselves.]

Bio: Hailing from the giant forests of Flors Verdance, the Florauna find themselves right at home in this hostile environment where the rule of "kill or be killed" is the one and only law. While beautiful in appearance, from titanic trees rising several hundred feet into the air to exquisite flowers found nowhere else in the Underworld, this land is also hostile to all life not originating from within its green landscape where its natural inhabitants have grown and adapted themselves to exist in a perfectly balanced ecosystem.

Differing from most other sentient demons, Florauna don't form familial bonds – their entire species being without genders and capable of reproducing asexually by the spreading of spores – though they do appear to band together to form small 'tribes' wherein they will claim areas of the forest as their territory and hunt whatever prey is unfortunate enough to stumble upon their "gardens", attacking savagely and almost only through pure instinct.

Their hunting skills are unparalleled amongst nearly all other demons I've researched. They possess the extraordinary ability to merge with any plant life, no matter how big or small, and wait for their prey patiently and completely undetected.

[Side note: During my observations (from a safe distance) I consistently found it next to impossible to locate a hidden Florauna even after watching them merge into the environment.]

Should anything entering their hunting grounds prove too strong for a single Florauna, the rest of the tribe has been observed joining the hunt, collectively and indiscriminately attacking their prey until they'd secured victory, their trophy being brought back to the central nest where the tribe leader would be offered first honours for the kill.

Due to their prehensile bodies able to regenerate from almost any wound, stretchable limbs, endless supply of multi-purpose fruit weaponry, and unparalleled ability to hide amongst any plant life, there were scattered reports of Florauna working for individuals on both sides during the war between the Three Factions [it is unknown what payment could've been offered for their service] and acting as assassins with reports of several battles being influenced by the surprise intervention of a Florauna assassin.

Power level: Medium-class Devil

Threat level: Medium (High in natural habitat)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A/N: And that's a wrap, folks!

With the end of this chapter, I can finally bring an end to the Juggernaut arc

About bloody time!

I can't even recall how long I've been stuck on this arc. That's all in the past, now, though! I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone that has been so patient with me continuing with my writing (and even several of you who haven't been so patient! LOL!)

A few things I wanted to run by you regarding this chapter and the previous chapter which I had considered as split parts of the same chapter…even though this chapter still ended up being over 10k words in length!

1) Zs'Skayr's appearance and 'defeat' – We finally have Zs'Skayr big reveal to the world as he steps out of the shadows to serve his master's will…only to immediately be defeated by Azazel. Bummer.

But hey, them's the brakes when you're so arrogant and cocky of your abilities that you act before you think! I had fun writing this and the back and forth in the fight (however brief it was) which I think stayed true to the abilities and characteristics of all involved. The use of possession to get close enough for an assassination attempt and to turn friend into foe, Azazel's specially constructed weapon to deal with creatures with powers of intangibility, and the possession of Baraqiel who managed to break free of it by his own willpower.

That is indeed the end of the villain, Zs'Skayr, he's been with us from almost the very beginning, hiding in the shadows (quite literally) but his reign of terror was short-lived and he fell to his own arrogance, never to be seen again…but then again, what was it they said about Ectonurite DNA?

2) Sirzechs' battle against Vilgax – Once again I'm still self-conscious about how the battle between Sirzechs and Vilgax played out. One thing I struggle with in writing, particularly in such situations, is writing believable fight scenes between characters that have been established as having huge power. When you have cool and powerful characters like that, I hate the idea of ending up writing either goofy or pace-breaking fight scenes with them which just don't end up right, ending up as lacklustre when they should be epic showdowns.

I hope that's what I ended up with but, in the end, it's down to you guys to decide this.

3) The unknown form Azmuth took – For you eagle-eyed Ben 10 fans out there, yes, this was indeed Atomix's debut in my story. He is one of my favourite aliens in the show despite him appearing only a few times. Due to the nature and origin of his powers, I had a problem for a while in working out how to make him fit into the merged world I've tried to create but then it just came to me. Hardly anything is really known about Atomix's background – Hell, even in the cartoon, he was one of the handful of forms that Azmuth unlocked for Ben – so that made me realise that I actually had a lot of wriggle room to find a place for him.

Maybe his history will be revealed when Azmuth gets out of his silent treatment…but then again, maybe I'll decide against it and let you come up with your own theories about his history in the DxD universe. Who knows?!

Also, as I am remaining firm against introducing Alien X into my story for as long as I am able to, this will be the most powerful alien(/demon) from the cartoon that Ben is able to become [Atomix is regarded as the second most powerful alien according to the official wiki]. He won't be used often, ending up as a deus ex alien/demonica for any situation, but I can foresee times when he can come out again in future.

4) Change to Great Red's size – Simple reason for this, really. When I consulted the wiki for ideas and accuracy I found that he is officially only 100m long and that just seemed waaaayyyy too small for a being called the Dragon of Dragons. This did NOT come across in the anime where he looked truly gigantic and awesome.

It's barely a the size of the Empire State Building for crying out loud!

So, because of this alarming discovery, I made an "executive decision" to do him justice and increase his size by about a multiple of 10. By doing this, I can make Great Red and Dagon appear as magnificent and terrifying as I believe they should be. I also consider this as setting a precedent to alter the sizes of other large creatures if I feel they need to.

5) Val's new dream – I think this one speaks for itself, really. In canon, Vali wanted to eventually fight Great Red, defeat him and become the True White Dragon God Emperor, but in my story I believe my version of Vali would quite easily bypass Great Red and, instead, want to defeat something that not even God and two dragon gods all working together were able to kill completely. The temptation and challenge involved in this would be too much for her to avoid.

And with the closing chapter of this arc, I can finally move on to the next arc. I hope you are excited about it as much as I am as this will be the first full-length arc I tackle that is completely non-canon. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time now, sitting on it for literal years until I finally reached this point for its debut! I will explain a little more in my next chapter which I am planning to make a significant start on over Christmas now that I don't have any brain-numbing, body-draining work to go to for a while.

Until then, thank you so much for your continued interest and enjoyment of my story.

. . . . .

Reviews:

Yami Luna Kitsune: Thank you for alerting me to that grammatical mistake. I'm not sure how I managed to make that obvious mistake. I'm inclined to blame my beta reader at the time.

I think somebody else spotted this mistake a long time ago and it just slipped my mind until now but I've hopefully fixed it now. If somebody did raise this in the past and you're still here, I hope you'll be able to forgive my forgetfulness and not correct my mistake until now!

If you still have an idea for a chapter you don't mind sharing with me, I'd be more than happy for you to send a PM and let me know. I'm always open to additional ideas.

I hope this concluding chapter to the Juggernaut arc answered some of your questions.

Bromega2477: Thank you very much for understanding my predicament and I agree with you, the bigger paycheck is appreciated but not as much when it impacts my time when I want to be able to bring my creative ideas to light in some form.

Govind2002vinod: Was it that obvious? Maybe I should've tried to add a bit more mystique to his reveal. I hope I did him justice for everyone's first impression of this version of him.

ACogintheSystem: Yes, I am finally continuing with new additions to the Underworld demon database after a short interchapter hiatus. I still have a copy of demon origins/history which you so kindly suggested all that time ago and have always consulted it first as my starting point for each alien/demon background bio.

Ultra10: I'm so glad you're enjoying this story so much! Yeah, when he showed off his powers, it was hopefully pretty obvious exactly which alien he'd turned into.

. . . . .

Please feel free to leave a review. I might not respond to every single one of them as I used to, I still read each and every one sent to me and treasure each one…though perhaps not the ones which just complain about the story and don't even bother offering constructive feedback.

I wish each and every one of you all the best and I shall hopefully speak to you again very soon!

Until next time. see y'all later!

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