Deus.Ex.Machina Chapter 70

Vali's head tilted slightly. When he spoke, his voice carried the echo of dragon roar. "That's new. Let's test it out."

He moved faster than before, one mont he was across the arena, the next his armored fist was inches from my face.

I brought my spear up to block. Sacred fire t divine tal in an explosion of light and sound that shook the entire colosseum.

"Divide," ca the chanical voice from his armor.

I felt the drain again, but this ti sothing was different. The Kavacha and Kundala absorbed part of the effect, the divine armor's protective properties interfering with his Sacred Gear's ability. Instead of losing half my power, I only lost about a third.

The Kavacha and Kundala had interfered with his Sacred Gear's ability, the divine armor's conceptual protections treating the power drain as just another form of attack to be negated.

Vali's eyes widened behind his helt visor. "Interesting."

I spun my spear in a wide arc, forcing him back. "You're not the only one with tricks."

Vali ca at with everything he had—wings carving through the air like giant swords, armored fists striking with the force of teors, speed that left afterimages burning on my retinas. The Scale Mail armor had removed the ten-second limit on his Divide ability. Now it activated with every contact, a constant drain that would have crippled most opponents within minutes.

But I had advantages too.

The Kavacha and Kundala wasn't just armor—it was a conceptual defense, protection on a divine level. Every strike that connected was weakened, every technique partially negated. And my fire spear cut through his defenses like they were made of paper.

"Divide. Divide. Divide."

The chanical countdown beca a constant chant as we exchanged blows too fast for the crowd to follow. But each drain was weaker than it should have been, blocked or reduced by my divine protection.

Vali's wing swept toward my head in a strike that would have decapitated a lesser opponent. I ducked under it and drove my spear toward his ribs.

He twisted away, but not fast enough. Sacred fire seared through his armor's side plates, burning through tal and into the flesh beneath.

Instead of flinching, he grabbed my spear shaft with both hands.

"Divide."

Power drained from the weapon directly, sacred fire dimming as its energy was siphoned away. But Vali had made a mistake—getting this close ant I could hit him with more than just the spear.

My armored fist caught him in the solar plexus. The punch carried all the force of my enhanced physiology plus divine reinforcent. The impact drove him backward, his grip on my spear breaking as he flew across the arena.

He hit the far wall hard enough to crack the reinforced stone, then dropped to one knee. Steam rose from the dent I'd put in his chest armor.

"You're slowing down," I called, striding toward him with my spear held ready. "Getting tired already?"

Vali pushed himself upright, movents sharp with pain. Several plates of his Scale Mail were cracked now, silver light bleeding through the gaps. "Just getting started."

He launched himself skyward with explosive force, wings beating so hard they created downdrafts that stirred up dust devils. At the peak of his arc, he folded his wings and dove.

Not at —at the arena floor directly in front of .

I realized his plan a heartbeat too late.

The impact when he hit the ground was apocalyptic. Stone exploded outward in a shower of debris, the arena floor cratering like it had been struck by a teor. The shockwave knocked backward, golden armor ringing like a bell as chunks of reinforced stone bounced off it.

Through the dust cloud, I saw him rise. His armor was more damaged now, several plates hanging loose or missing entirely. But his eyes burned brighter than before, and seed to bore straight through my soul.

He ca at through the settling debris like a white cot, moving too fast to track properly. I managed to get my spear up just as he reached .

The collision was trendous.

We went down in a tangle of limbs, rolling across the broken arena floor in a desperate struggle for dominance. His armored hands grabbed for my throat while I tried to drive my spear into his ribs. Sacred fire t draconic power in miniature explosions that left smoking craters in the stone around us.

I managed to plant a boot in his chest and kick him away. He flew backward, wings spreading to arrest his montum, but I was already moving.

My fire spear traced a blazing arc through the air, aid directly at his heart.

He caught it.

Not with his hands—with his wings. The draconic appendages folded around my weapon like a cocoon, trying to smother the flas with sheer draconic power.

"Divide. Divide. Divide."

The chanical chant beca frantic now, his Sacred Gear working overti to drain my weapon's power. Sacred fire dimd as energy was siphoned away, but I just poured more mana into it.

The weapon exploded with light.

Sacred fire erupted outward in a sphere of purifying fla that turned the entire arena into a miniature sun. Vali's scream echoed through the blast as divine fire washed over his armor, burning away draconic power like morning mist.

When the light faded, he was on his knees twenty feet away. His Scale Mail was ruined—plates cracked and blackened, jewels dark and lifeless. Silver blood dripped from dozens of gaps in the armor, pooling on the shattered stone beneath him.

I walked toward him, my own armor unmarked despite the devastation around us. The fire spear in my hand blazed with renewed fury, hungry for more destruction.

Vali looked up at through his cracked visor. For the first ti since I'd known him, I saw sothing in his eyes I'd never seen before.

Fear.

"No," he said quietly. "Not yet."

He struggled to his feet, armor sparking and smoking. Around us, the arena had gone completely silent. Even the gods were holding their breath.

White light began gathering around him again.

His armor began to shift and change, white plates taking on a more draconic appearance. His helt elongated into a dragon's skull, and his wings beca more organic, more alive.

When he spoke again, his voice was barely human.

"I, who am about to awaken, am the Heavenly Dragon who has taken the principles of supremacy from God. I envy the infinite, and I pursue the dream. I shall beco the White Dragon of Supremacy, and I shall take you down to the depths of the radiant white darkness."

The crowd erupted into panicked murmurs. Several of the weaker devils in the audience actually fled their seats.

Vali's transformation completed with a roar that shook the very foundations of the arena.

Juggernaut Drive.

The forbidden technique that temporarily removed the seal on the Heavenly Dragons, granting imnse power at the cost of the wielder's sanity and life force.

The thing standing across from was no longer entirely Vali. It was a fusion of human ambition and draconic fury, a creature of pure destructive potential wrapped in armor.

Golden eyes blazed behind the dragon skull helt as it fixed its gaze on .

"Now," it said. "let's finish this."

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