high school dxd: volume 1-25

"Oh if this isn't my dear uncle. The preparation is set. What will you do? Do you want me to further strengthen you now?"

Marius asks. The men say it as if they are speaking to us.

"Vampires who are the eternal residents of night were beings with many weaknesses."

"The sunlight, a cross, and holy water... Despite being a more superior species than a human, we acknowledged their prosperity due to having those weaknesses."

...Do they want to say that Vampires are the best?

I sigh as I listen to them, but they speak even more nonsense.

"We will recreate ourselves into a new being that will surpass Vampires by using the Holy Grail!"

"And by replacing the humans, we must conquer this world. By being conquered by us who are the superior beings, the humans will be able to receive their actual desire where they will become our livestock!"

...Livestock huh. I wonder how far they need to look down on others. Just like the blood lines of a small group of Devils, they can't help themselves but to appear really important and look down on others.

One of the men sighs as if he is grieving. The higher-ups continue to speak.

"Even though we couldn't help the increase of our livestock that has been left alone, it surely was a long time till we got here."

"I agree. However, the world will change to the state which it was supposed to be now."

"The only thing left is to eliminate the current King and Carmilla in order to start a new world. Then we can move onto the final phase of our plan where we will recreate all of the residents of this country."

"Even though this country was able to get the Holy Grail, that King of ours was urging about maintaining the current situation and rejected the idea of the Vampire's evolution. He was too much of a fool."

Marius nods his head and directs his smile to us.

"—And so, well, the higher-ups that followed me have such opinions. I only care about continuing my further research on the Holy Grail."

...This guy is also crazy in his own way. For that purpose he brought the Khaos Brigade into this country, he stirred up all of these geezers, and then made them start a coup d'état.

All of this just for the sake for his own research on the Holy Grail—.

And he even killed Valerie who he deemed as worthless now.

Azazel-sensei narrows his eyes.

"...You guys sure are having a rough attitude right now, seriously. But you know, a Longinus is truly an outrageous masterpiece. Just having someone born with it can break the principle of this world."

Sensei looks at me and Vali.

"...Me too?"

I point at myself. Sensei puts on an expression where he looks shocked.

"You might not have realised it, but you broke many kinds of principles."

Well, that may be true if you put it that way...

"...Having people like you in possession of that Sacred Gear will be dangerous. I will have you hand that Holy Grail over to us. I will also allow a battle to start here depending on your answer."

Rias warns Marius in such way.

"You people are also using the Sacred Gears and Longinus as you like too... Don't you think we can't come to understand each other simply due to the differences in what we value and the culture we have?"

Sensei replies back to Marius's words.

"Then I will have you hand that to us Grigori. The research about them is our speciality. We can do things from keeping it safe and even seal it away. If you really don't want to, then you can even hand it to Odin or Zeus. Anyway, that thing is dangerous. Due to its traits, it's something we need to keep our eyes on or keep it away. But I guess there's no way you will listen even if I say this much."

Even Sensei is smirking at his own words.

Marius simply makes a faint smile. Obviously there is no way he will hand the Holy Grail to us so honestly.

I also say it to him after taking a step forward.

"Just give it back to us already! We are all sick of your Vampire's ideal, pride, and values! That Holy Grail is too dangerous to be used in your ideals!"

I can't allow them to misuse it any longer! If we can't talk some sense into them, then we have to take it by force!

While leaving me behind who is getting pumped up, the Vampires says it to Rias and Sensei.

"Sister of Maou and the former Governor of the Fallen Angels. Even the world of Devils has noble blood standing at the top while others simply follow them since the ancient times. That was how the truth was supposed to be."

"Your kind also used the humans as your source to live. In our case our food happened to be the humans but we shared the same idea."

"Rias Gremory-dono, since you are also a pure-blood noble, you should be able to understand us. The difference between the nobles and the other—"

"Fufufu...fufufufufufufufufufufufu...rubbish...this is too ridiculous..."

A creepy laughter echoes throughout this ritual area and interrupts the Vampires performances.

Everyone looks around the room and gathers their gaze at one point.

—It's Gasper.

There's a black aura coming from his body and it eventually covers various parts of this room.

Gasper who stands up slowly has his eyes glowing dangerously which I can't possibly think comes from this world and he uses them to glare at Marius and the higher-up Vampires.

"The nobles...and the other beings besides them...?"

The ritual area—eventually gets tainted with darkness.

There can't possibly be anyone who can stop him here—.

"Show me the power of the so-called superior beings all of you are speaking about—"

Darkness...it's jet black...and dark... The room gets swallowed by darkness where it consumes everything, and it turns into a field where you can't sense even a glimpse of light.

There is also a change to Gasper who is the one that created this darkness.

His whole body gets covered in darkness which makes him lose the shape of a human, and he starts to take the form of a creature.

Both his arms gets longer and thicker where there are sharp claws growing out from them. His back gets bigger where many wings grow out from it. His legs also have reverse joints.

His head also forms into a shape that makes it appear like a Dragon. He has many sharp fangs growing out as well as a horn, and his red eyes glow very creepily.

"Koooooooooooooooooooooooo...!"

A beast like howl echoes throughout this world of darkness—.

...What appears there is huge creature that is about five metres tall and has an aura of darkness emitting out from its whole body.

...You are telling me this is Gasper's true form...?

I—no, we, the Gremory group, can only watch as our body shivers.

Vali is the only one who crosses his arms and watch silently...

"...This phenomenon is..."

Even Azazel-sensei who has rich knowledge of the Sacred Gears puts on serious eyes at this situation.

"T-This is...!"

"What on earth is this!?"

Even the Vampire's higher-ups have their voice shaking at seeing that appearance.

Only Marius remains calm and looks at Gasper very carefully as if he's trying to analyse him.

"...Please calm down, uncles. This must be the true form of Gasper Valdi that Euclid-dono reported to us about. However, there is nothing for all of you to fear about. It will be a laughing matter if we, the Vampires that have evolved, were to lose against a power possessed by a mere half-blood."

The higher-ups who were told such can only nod their head strongly.

"I-I see. That's right."

"We are Vampires who have attained a transcended power due to the Holy Grail. For us who have moved to the next stage, we can't possibly lose to a mere half-blood—"

Then one of the Vampires gets swallowed by a huge mouth which resembles that of a crocodile that was born from the darkness down low—.

"What was that about...the next stage?"

Gasper who is laughing hard...or should I say who he originally was.

From the various parts of the room, black creatures I have never seen before appear. A three headed-Dragon, a butterfly that has the form of a lizard, a creature that is like a Dragon and a flower, and a single eyed giant... Such creatures appear from the various parts of this field of darkness and they start to walk towards the Vampires.

The Vampires are shaking after seeing this scenery. Only Marius is acting calm, but one of the men makes an angry expression and starts to create bugs and beasts from his body as well.

"A technique like that isn't just your ability only! A mere beast born from the darkness can't possibly —"

Swish. The man who just shouted out gets taken away by a bird monster.

He gets surrounded by monsters at the location he is taken to, and then—.

"S-Stoooooooooooop!"

He gets eaten without being able to do anything—.

...What the heck is this. ...Gasper, are you doing this...? Can you even create terrifying things like this as well...?

So this is Gasper's true power and also his true form—.

I can't keep myself from shaking, but the monsters of darkness increase and corner the Vampires as they cover this field.

But the monsters don't show any sign of hurting us.

"Hii!"

"I-It can't be! Our powers won't work despite the fact that we evolved!"

"W-What is this!?"

"What on earth are you!?"

The Vampires resist desperately, but the monsters come back from the darkness no matter how many times they are defeated.

"Do you know why your Vampire's powers aren't working properly? That's because I stopped your power that has been strengthened by the Holy Grail."

He's stopping their ability!? H-He can even do a feat like that!? T-Then it's normal for those Vampire geezers to be having a hard time!

They finally get their legs caught, and then the darkness covers them to make sure they can't change their body.

"Ku! A disgusting "imitation" from the human's womb to gaaaaaa!"

"Don't come any closer! You low liiiiiife! W-We have noble blood...and we have so much history and tradition that you can't possibly imagine—"

"—Do it, eat them."

The higher-ups of the Vampires get eaten by the monsters of the darkness with that signal.

Due to this extreme scene, Asia closes her eyes and blocks her ears.

After the higher-ups of the Vampires are all eaten by the monsters of the darkness, a single man starts to clap.

Marius is even putting on a face filled with confidence even while under this situation.

"Marvellous. Lately there have been many half-bloods born with abnormal powers. They are mostly Sacred Gear possessors...but you are very exceptional among them. I see that you have a potential that rivals the Holy Grail. How about it? Will you help me with my research?"

His ambition for his research must be insane since he can ask that under this situation.

But Gasper's reaction is simply that of anger.

"...You mean like what you did with Valerie?"

"Does it make you angry? Well, please hear me out. To begin with, the research about the Holy Grail is—"

A sound of the wind. Gasper stretched out his arm and swing it to the side.

Marius can't react to it due to its speed and gets his left arm blown away.

"Oh, oh my... You sure are rough. However, something as mere as this is pointless against my body that has been strengthened by the Holy Grail—"

But his left arm that is supposed to grow back doesn't even though the Holy Grail is glowing in gold.

Even Marius becomes curious at this, so he tilts his head.

"...Huh? What the. My arm isn't growing back... Did the power of the Holy Grail weaken? It can't be. Then what on earth..."

"..."

Gasper swings his arm to the side with force again while being silent.

Marius jumps away from the spot and tries to dodge it, but a crocodile-like mouth appears from the ground again and bites on to his leg.

Gasper's arm reaches him and destroys his right leg.

"Ku!"

Marius falls on his buttocks.

"...So you took my leg this time. But this is nothing—"

Even though he makes the Holy Grail shine, his leg doesn't heal. Even his arm that was blown away earlier hasn't healed yet.

Even Marius starts to change his expression at this and speaks out his doubts.

"...Why? Why doesn't it heal? Both my arm and leg! Why doesn't it show any sign of healing yet!? There also isn't a change of Vampire happening to me as well! Why can't I morph into a bat, a bug, or even a beast!? Is this also because I have my whole ability stopped!? This can't be happening! Unlike my uncles, I'm directly holding on to the Holy Grail so something like stopping my ability can't be happening..."

He becomes shocked at seeing his wounds.

—That's because his arm and leg are getting devoured by something black from his wound.

"...M-My wounds...are being violated by the darkness...? The darkness is stopping my regeneration...? No, something like this can't be happening...! Are you telling me you are even beyond the Holy Grail?"

"What's wrong? If you are going to regenerate yourself, then be quick. I can simply just blow that part away again."

Gasper approaches him step by step.

Marius starts to panic, so he tries to calm Gasper down.

"W-Wait. Calm down. ...I know! How about I make a clone of Valerie for you with this Holy Grail! I can also use some method to find her soul! This isn't a bad deal right? So go back to Japan by taking the clone with you. You should be satisfied with that!"

His words become something that ticks off Gasper even more. Gasper then says it with a small, but heavy tone.

"...Don't speak anymore. The possibility of Valerie reviving and the reason for you to survive isn't the same. –You should just die here."

Gasper closes the distance even more. Marius tries to run away even by crawling on the floor.

There isn't even a glimpse of the confidence he had earlier in his expression right now. Only his despair became stronger.

"G-Go away."

He puts the Holy Grail forward and shouts towards Gasper.

"Go awaaaaay! You disgusting half-blooooooood!"

All of the monsters created within this space surround Marius.

Vali says one thing when he sees this.

"Rias Gremory, you will most likely have restrictions on using your servants in the near future. And I'm not talking about Hyoudou Issei but that. —Gasper Vladi is even more of a dangerous existence than Hyoudou Issei."

"..."

Rias can't say anything back to Vali.

Gasper stands in front of Marius and says this to him directly.

"—You are the only one I can't allow to have even a fraction of your body left in this world. Have your soul devoured as well and die."

Those words become the signal, so all of the monsters jump towards Marius. —In order to eat him.

"A, a, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Only his scream echoes throughout the room—.

Part 4

In the lowest floor of the basement, which happens to be a ritual area, the darkness field start to disappear.

After all of the higher-ups that had to do with the coup d'état were consumed by the darkness, the darkness covering the whole place starts to disappear and the only thing remaining there is Gasper who turned into a monster.

Sensei rushes to Valerie's aid as soon as Marius and the other Vampires died, and he activates a magic-circle to check her condition.

"...There is something which is bugging me."

Sensei has been feeling doubts about the result of this spell since before. Sensei who has been checking her body for a while stops his hand.

"...I see, looks like I can answer my suspicions."

"What do you mean?"

Rias asks. Sensei then points at Valerie.

"It seems like this girl's Holy Grail was a sub-species from the beginning. Another Holy Grail exists when there was originally supposed to be only one. So there is another Holy Grail inside this girl. I did find it weird. Even though it was an extraction for a Longinus, it was too quiet. In my research, I have come to the hypothesis that an extraction of Longinus would be flashier."

[—!?]

Everyone becomes shocked at Sensei's words just now!

Seriously!? So her Longinus is a sub-species and there are two Holy Grails!?

"B-But, I thought there can't be more than two of the same Longinus?"

I ask Sensei. This is what I was told at least. So it means the gauntlet of Sekiryuutei besides mine can't exist at the same time.

Sensei nods.

"Yeah, that's right. So this is what happened. I think it is a sub-species where the two of them are considered as one. Since nothing like this happened before, I need to check more thoroughly. —Anyway, she hasn't died. After all, the remaining one miraculously remained in her body. So she will return to her original state if we return back what was stolen. ...Seriously, I can't come to understand the Longinus possessors at all."

At Sensei's confession he made as he sighs—

[Oh.]

Everyone makes a sigh of relief.

I'm so glad! So it's not like Valerie died! Shit! Since that scene happened right in front of me again, I...I'm just glad... I was about to hate how powerless I am to have Gasper and Valerie experience the same sadness as me.

"I'm so glad..."

Even Asia sheds tears of joy.

"Bring that Holy Grail to me."

Sensei begins the spell to put back the Holy Grail into Valerie that was stolen by Marius.

However, for her to have possession of two Holy Grails...is it due to that influence that her mental state was really bad?

As I think such things—I give my gaze to Gasper who has turned into a black beast. The changed Gasper who watches the procedure of Valerie getting revived.

"Amazing..."

When I say that as I gulp down my saliva, Gasper laughs in a small tone.

"I thought you would have known, Sekiryuutei."

Known...? What does he mean?

While leaving me who is finding that dubious aside, Rias asks him.

"...You are not Gasper, are you?"

"Yes. I am Gasper. Except, I can say that I am Gasper, but not Gasper. What possessed this boy when he was in his mother's womb is a fraction of Balor's consciousness that has been broken."

Hearing that, Sensei changes his expression due to the shock.

"Balor!? You are telling me you are the Evil God Balor from the Irish mythology!?"

Balor? Evil God? There's also the word Balor in Gasper's Sacred Gear, right?

"Sensei, is there a relation between Gasper's Sacred Gear and that God?"

I ask. Sensei answers me with excitement.

"...Balor is the most famous God to have the evil eyes. He's also famous to be the God who controlled Crom Cruach. I hear that the Sacred Gear was named as "Forbidden Balor View" as a reference to him. ...But, I can't believe that the actual Balor is actually residing in it. Is the reason why Tathlum from before didn't respond to Balor was due to being a replica of it?"

"That's why I'm telling you that I'm a fraction of Balor's consciousness. I already lost my divinity and only my power of evil remained. The actual Balor was killed by the God Lugh after all. I am Balor but not Balor. I am "Gasper Vladi". Sacred Gears sure are interesting things. They can possess anything from legendary Dragons and monsters to even the power of an Evil God. The God from the Bible who created the Sacred Gears truly must be a terrifying being."

...I-I don't get it, but it seems like Sensei does understand so he nods his head saying, "I get it now~".

W-Well, I will ask him to explain it to me in a simpler way afterwards.

"What did you mean when you said I should have known just before?"

"When you went berserk, the kin of the Old Maou did get his time stopped for a moment right? That's because I got myself linked with your sights. See, just like this—"

—!

What I'm seeing now instantly changes. Hey, am I looking at...myself!? What appears in my sight is myself! Myself in the armour form!

"Just now, I changed my sights with yours. That's why you can see that scenery through my eyes."

...W-Wow... S-So he can even do such a thing. If I think about it, I did hear that I used an ability that is like Gasper's against Shalba when I went berserk using Juggernaut Drive at him. Though I thought that was a part of Sekiryuutei's hidden powers... So Gasper's power awakened along with Sekiryuutei's power.

—Ah, my sight went back to normal.

Kiba who has been listening to that beside me acts as though he is convinced.

"So that phenomenon back then was due to the fractional power of both Ise-kun and Gasper-kun's...!? To be able to resonate with the Juggernaut Drive... Is it something plausible since it's the Two Heavenly Dragon and the Evil God that once controlled Crom Cruach...!?"

Leaving beside Kiba who is all but shaking, Xenovia and Irina approach Gasper timidly.

"A-Are you really Gasper?"

"You kinda became bigger...so I was scared."

Both of them are already used to this form as if they had forgotten the fear they had just a moment ago. Well, even I became used to this appearance... Since a lot happened, my senses are getting weird.

Gasper who doesn't show any response to the two girls' goofiness walks towards Valerie.

Gasper's hand that is all changed starts to pat Valerie's cheek that is lying down.

"For some reason, I felt that I needed to save this girl who is in possession of the Holy Grail. Very strongly, that is. That was a feeling different to my other self who is feeling indebted to her. ...Is this my gratitude towards her? I don't know very well about it myself, but most likely, she had been using her power unconsciously even before it awakened completely. Even the fraction of Balor's consciousness that became me is something she summoned by using the Holy Grail...and did she create me with it...?"

"You are saying that what gave birth to Gasper was Valerie when she was a child...? So the reason why Rias was able to reincarnate Gasper was due to the fraction of Balor that had lost its divinity... And is the reason why Gasper was born with "Forbidden Balor View" due to being attracted by Balor's power...? It sure is like a joke to have the actual being reside in it despite being something that was an imitation of it. Why didn't Crom Cruach show any strong response to him just before? But, that is—"

It seems like Sensei is coming up with many ideas and is now muttering.

Gasper then tells Sensei.

"This form—is at least something created due to the fusion of the Sacred Gear and the Balor inside me. You can say this is the Balance Breaker, but also isn't. Yeah. —I might as well call it the "Forbidden Invade Balor the Beast"."

So you are giving it a name! There are times when something like a name is sent from the Sacred Gear to the brain...but if it's someone who reaches the sub-species Balance Breaker, I did hear that they reject those names and put a name they thought up on their own.

Though the one who named my True [Queen] is Sairaorg-san.

Sensei looks at the condition Gasper is in once again and mutters.

"...This may be something which you can call as a Longinus class soon. No, it already is in a level where you can call it as such. It already became a Sacred Gear that is different to the "Forbidden Balor View"."

Seriously!? So it will become the fourteenth one!? There has only been thirteen Longinus till now but it doesn't mean that they are restricted to thirteen of them. It simply means that only thirteen of them have appeared in this world till now.

That's why it isn't weird for there to be a fourteenth one. But are you telling me that it's Gasper...?

Rias asks Sensei as she breathes in.

"...Are you telling me it's a new Longinus...?"

"Well, I will check for more details once I get back to Grigori."

That's what Sensei simply says.

—Then the darkness of Gasper who turned into a beast fades away.

"...Oh my, looks like I'm at my limit. I will leave the rest to all of you and sleep for a bit."

The darkness starts to fade away, but as he returns to the usual Gasper, the other Gasper speaks as he smiles with a big beasty mouth of his.

"All of you from the Occult Research Club, I am an existence that will taint everything in darkness. However, I promise that I won't hurt any of you at all costs. I did watch over all of you through my other self."

The other Gasper looks around at all of us.

"Rias-buchou, Akeno-san, Koneko-chan, Yuuto-senpai, Asia-senpai, Xenovia-senpai, Irina-senpai, Ravel-san, Rossweisse-san, Azazel-sensei, and the Sekiryuutei—Ise-senpai. After all, all of you are my precious comrades—"

After he finishes saying that to us, the darkness completely disappears and Gasper falls on the spot unconscious.

Rias embraces Gasper who is back to his original form. She has tears in her eyes.

"...I know. I don't care what you are. You are my servant after all. Right, Gasper..."

Seeing such an emotional scene, all the members here nod their heads while having teary eyes.

Yeah, Gasper is our precious comrade! He is my precious junior!

While I think that strongly, Sensei declares that the spell to revive Valerie is completed.

While emitting a bright flash, the Holy Grail that was stolen from Valerie returns to her body.

"She should open her eyes with this..."

Since Sensei says that, everyone watched over her... But she shows no sign of waking up. Sensei becomes dubious and start to check her.

"...That's strange. She is breathing. But only her consciousness isn't coming back...? Is there something else missing?"

Sensei tilts his head at this situation, but a voice belonging to a different person echoes.

"Ah, perhaps her consciousness that has been lost once already won't return unless you put this back in her as well~."

Vali makes an expression filled with rage at the appearance of that person.

"—I really wanted to see you, Rizevim Livan Lucifer!"

The one who appears in front of us is an old man who talks in a weird manner and with a foolish laughter.

And next to that old man— a single cup that resembles the Holy Grail floats in the air. Everyone opens their eyes wide seeing that!

The man—Rizevim continues to speak as he puts on a smirk.

"Yeah, the number of Holy Grails that Valerie-chan possesses is—three in total. So it's a sub-species Longinus which is so extraordinary since it comes with three in one package~. I already allowed myself to extract one of them out before~. Though it seems like Marius-kun didn't realise there were several of them~. It sure makes me laugh coming from a self-proclaimed researcher of the Holy Grails!"

—! There are three...Holy Grails!? And he already took one of them out!?

Rizevim who is laughing vulgarly stops and gives his greeting to Vali.

"Uncha♪ Uhyohyo~! It's your grandpa Rizevim here you know~? Now then, our fun time will start from here~. So all the good kids listen to this old man here, okay☆"

—His evil intention is about to begin.