A Nascent Kaleidoscope.

Chapter 217: Chapter 208

I should be prepared to assist should the situation call for it. Student and teacher were so alike that they would jump into a potential fight with nothing more than a whim. Was he being considerate in not dragging me into the fight? I had expressed my desire not to wield arms if I was not required to and now he ran off by himself once more.

However, I was glad he trusted me enough to hold onto such an artifact of power.

Looking down at this stone amulet, I could feel it more clearly in my hand. It was as if my own Divinity was stirring because of it.

I felt conflict about this object\'s identity. To know what it represents, the division of a person, the separation of a piece of them that they wished to regain. The Goddess – Athena – wished to acquire this and claim back her true powers.

I.....sympathized to a degree. To wish to be able to live as their true self and not what they had become. I wondered if Master would accept me if I truly became an Oni and gave into my baser desires.

A different set of circumstances, and there might have been a different ending to this whole conflict. A peaceful ending to our meeting, with the Goddess returned her power, and her leaving the mortal realm back to whence she came.

Even if I realized such a thing is unrealistic.

Alas, all sympathy I had for her seemed to evaporate upon threatening my son. If Scáthach had not stepped forward to do battle, I may have taken the role myself.

Despite not wishing to come to blows, I will not allow such behavior towards my Master.

I would fulfill my duty that he entrusted me with and keep this object safe. Though I had no where to put it...these clothes did not have proper space in these \'pockets\'.

I pulled on my loose shirt and dropped it between my breasts.

Certainly, only my Master would be the only one allowed to retrieve it from there.

"Where did he go!?" I turned my attention back to the young girl who Master had been playing around with before previously. Her eyes swept the surroundings before turning back towards me. She wobbled back towards that Divine Sword left in the ground and pulled it back out. "I can still feel it, hand over the Gorgoneion!" She hefted the blade up and aligned it against me.

"Ena, stop!" The man from before came running back over, looking worse for wear as his clothes were little more than rags.

"But she has it!?" The girl called Ena proclaimed. "We need to hide it away before the Goddess returns."

"Ena." The man all but growled. "Stand down." He said pointedly making the girl deflate with a huff of annoyance.

"I could take her." She said under her breath.

"No, you could not." I said firmly. "Wielding a Divine weapon only does so much when you can neither bring out its full power, nor possess the proper experience in true fights. My Master was correct in his words that you lack real combat experience."

The girl grit her teeth and shook in annoyance.

"How about – " The sword in her hand suddenly had a torrent of power surge around it. I prepared myself to summon my sword, but it suddenly disappeared from her hand. "Eh!?" She looked at her now empty hand.

"We apologize for the misunderstanding." He apologized, putting a hand on the young girl\'s hand and forced her head down as well.

"You apologize for accosting us and attacking someone I hold dear?" I was not quite as.....loose with my temper since Master had corrected that part of me. However, such words made my expression darken.

His head visibly lowered. "Please understand. We were told that a God was coming to our land in search of that object you hold. A calamity that would have taken an uncountable number of lives. We tried to act quickly to limit the damages. We didn\'t know who you were accompanied by. Please, allow us to officially apologize to her Majesty, Scáthach."

I was annoyed, but their explanation was a worthy one. Looking at it from their perspective, we were standing in the way of them and protecting our country.

They recognized Master\'s teacher. Yes, her name should hold weight with these \'Campione\' running around. I was slightly surprised they took it at face value, but I suppose the number of those able to assail Gods are lacking, so the evidence was in her favor.

"Raise your heads" I sighed. "I am still upset, but your intentions were Noble so we will not hold a grudge." I do not believe my son would be upset with me for speaking on his behalf. "This is my country as well, I do not wish to see it suffer." It would be more trouble than it is worth to continue this conflict.

"Thank you for your understanding." He replied with a strange hint of sincerity. I was expecting him to push him anger down and only pay lip service, but I detected no deceit in his reactions.

The young woman with the sword seemed to scowl but didn\'t speak, taking a back seat to her superior.

He properly stood up straight. "Our organization would like to extend our help for anything you require in the future."

"I see, a bribe is it? Are you hoping that we will develop a sense of gratitude or see your actions as deserving a debt from ourselves?"

"Yes." He said without any shame.

I raised an eyebrow at his forwardness. "Your honesty is praiseworthy. Very well, I will accept the friendly relations you wish to extend. Though I fear we may not be in contact very often." I did not know Master\'s intent for this world, but setting up some kind of relations would not be detrimental.

"You honor us." He bowed again. "May we ask your name for the future?"

Hmm, I\'m curious. Did they think Master and I are riding on Scáthach\'s fame and power?

"I am Minamoto-no-Raikou." I introduced myself with a small smile.

And it was quite amusing to watch their expressions go blank.

"Ahh, aaah" We all turned to the distressed noise as that other young woman who had fled before came wobbling back over, clutching her heart.

"Yuri!?" The Ena girl went running over "What\'s wrong?" She quickly caught her friend before she fell to the ground.

"He\'s coming." She said quietly. "The God of Storms is descending on the world."

"Wait, Grampsy is coming here!? Is that why he took my sword back!?" Ena voiced her thoughts. "Why is he coming back here!? He said he wouldn\'t come to the Human world?"

I fear I was missing some context, but I made sure to remember this information incase it became important for later.

The young girl let out a scream again. "Something else is coming!" She grabbed her head.

Oh my, was this one of those Hime-Miko\'s I heard about? The ones able to perceive the flow of the world and scry certain things?

"Nooooo." She whined, as if in pained. "I-it\'s growing. The Tree that supports the world, it\'s here!"

Tree that supports the world...master?

Oh Master, what have you gotten yourself into.

I didn\'t wish to even send him a message lest I distract him.

A God then this girl scryes Master\'s Spell......there is no possibility that this is a coincidence.

***

Wilhelm POV

The Scale Mail covered my body. The powerful force of Ddraig\'s power enveloped me and I felt a sense of power.

Not that just.

The Staff of Magnus floated nearby as my Yggdrasil loomed overhead.

The God had descended upon this world, stepping across the water as he stared at me. An undiscernible look flashed across his face as he parried my Gungnir.

The Golden spear retreating back to my side, ready to attack again.

"I don\'t understand...." Susanoo spoke as he continued walking. "However..." His face broke out into a grin. "It does excite me."

He\'s talking about killing me so easily, yet is still smiling and happy to fight.

[Don\'t bother trying to understand him.]

Yeah, I know. Gods aren\'t human, they have different mindsets. Even with Meridia I have to be careful to make sure we\'re both on the same page with things.

"Boost, Boost, Boost Boost." I called out, letting my power flare up to match his. The moment he stepped through the crack in space, his full power started blaring out for the world to see.

I mentally called my other swords back to my side. They hovered around me protectively, just like Gungnir.

"Strike." I called out to my fake Phantasm once more. The spear of Odin moved through the air in impossible ways as it collided with the Storm God once more.

Susanoo laughed as he swung his sword at the oncoming Spear. It\'s frantic and illogical movements seemed to be irrelevant infront of the God\'s eyes as he measured the distance perfectly.

Every time his Sword struck my Gungnir, part of the Magics that held it together were torn apart, revealing Gae Bolg underneath. My Yggdrasil mended the concepts, but it was clear that his Sword was somehow able to cut away at my spells.

My draconic wings flapped and I burst forward to also engage. The Storm God jerked his head towards me, his eyes gleaming as he watched my movement. His Divine Sword knocked Gungnir to the side as I was upon him, Mirage in hand.

I swung down, meeting his blade head on. The collision sent waves in every direction, the force blowing away the water for dozens of meters.

"Wielding the power of a Dragon!? Boy, did you forget? I Killed the Yamata-no-Orochi." He laughed, his sword flashing out at insane speeds. "Killing serpents in my specialty!"

Shit, he probably did have some Anti-Dragon capabilities conceptualized in both his sword and himself.

"[Please, like I can be compared to that pitiful snake.]" Ddraig voiced his dissatisfaction out loud.

"Oh?" Susanoo raised an eyebrow as my sword swung past his head with a near dodge on his end. "You just keep showing me interesting things."

A large amount of Magical Power was gathered on his blade as he swung it down.

My Noble Phantasm entered my hand. "ASCALON!" I called out.

To the horizon, the ocean had been cleaved in two.

I grit my teeth under the force of the blow. His Sword, a manifestation of his Authority, it was not something to trifle with. But my Noble Phantasm managed to offset most of the force behind it due to the underlining concepts.

"What?" He looked down, surprised. A continued reaction from the Storm God. "Where are you getting all these things?"

I ignored him and commanded my swords as they all flew towards him.

Whisper left Runes in its wake, actualizing spells that began to bombard the God as I took a step back. He merely raised his arm as they impacted his body, to no avail except as a distraction.

Dawnbreaker burst out in its golden light, slashing through the air as he knocked it to the side. His attention was more on my Sword of Destruction as it was cloaked in my bloodline, crackling the aura of Destruction.

"This damn power..." He growled, grabbing his Divine sword with both hands and swung towards it. The Divine power discharged, completely dissipating my Power of Destruction that had accumulated around my sword, making it fall into the water as if its strings had been cut.

This was getting me nowhere.

I grabbed at my Sword of Destruction once more and had it fly towards my Yggdrasil. "Let the fires of Muspelheim gather once more. The flames of destruction will wipe away the Gods!" I declared as the familiar sword began to take shape over my own.

"This.....how is that thing appearing here?" Susanoo actually looked startled. More so than when I revealed anything else.

I let out a laugh. "The Sword that fells that Gods and brings about Ragnar?k. Specifically forged to slay your kind." I floated up as the fires made the very sea around us boil.

"Twilight of the Gods – Laevatein." I commanded it forward.

The sword that carried the concept of God Slayer, of destroying an entire Cosmology, and burning away what remained. As reduced as my version was, it still held those concepts inside it.

The fiery sword swung through the air as Susanoo let out a shout and brought his Divine Sword up to block.

"DO YOU THINK IT\'D BE THAT EASY?" He roared as the waters around him gather. "Let the storm call come, and my words be heard!" His words vibrated through the air, a command. His Authority as a God was being activated. "The Storms shall heed my call, the oceans shall bend to my whims, and mortals will prostrate at my might. Let lightning fall, and thunder roar, I am the bringer of calamity on the rising tide, I am Susanoo!" He shouted.

The sky immediately became dark as rolling clouds covered the sun. Massive pillars of water connected heaven and earth, their torrents warping the world around them. Whirlpools sprang up in all visible directions.

Thunder roared and Rain cascaded down from the sky, enveloping the God in Lighting as he fought against the foe of his kind made manifest in the form of a spell.

Dangerous.

The Lighting enveloped him, the Water acted like a barrier, as it fought against my spells. These weren\'t normal manifestations of the elements, but creations of his Authority, empowered by his myths and legends.

"Go, Gungnir!" I commanded my spear and once more golden light streaked out.

It collided with the Storm God who shouted out in fury, the collision of powers erupted in a violent torrent of colors. Fire spewed in all directions, My Golden spear.... I felt it dispersed, and Gae Bolg returned to its original form. Lightning discharging out everywhere at the point of impact.

All that remained was a God panting as blood dripped down from several wounds on his body, burns stretching across his chest and arms.

[Your spell reached a God. You should be proud.]

I was, but I had no time to dwell on it.

The God was a Warrior God, he didn\'t dwell on his new injuries either but instead raised his sword again. The pillars of water turned into cyclones as they attacked my Tree.

My eyes widened at his decision. It was the best course of action, but I did not think he would lower himself to destroy the source of my \'Mortal Magic\'.

"I call upon a Third realm!" I Declared as my Three shook. The Nine Symbols that represented the Nine Realms. Muspelheim was still glowing, but its power was fading after it had been attacked with so much strength. Gungnir had been dispersed so Asgard was practically unresponsive. "Come and –"

"I\'ve grown tired of that annoyance!" Susanoo was upon me, spears of water accompanied his sword as he thrust towards my chest.

I pulled on the last bits of Power contained within Laevatein, having it swing between us. Another burst of power met, and I was blown back at the sudden eruption. His Water-like spears were turned to steam, but I still caught his Sword sweeping through the mist towards me.

The tenacity he had was praiseworthy.

"Boost, Boost!" I called out twice more, and gripped Mirage. "Swallow Returns!"

His sword pierced through my \'fake\' self at the front as Mirage thrust towards his back. It barely pierced his skin, a large hand gripped my blade and it refused to budge from his grasp. He had seen my trajectory and managed to avoid a fatal blow.

"Neat trick." He swiped his sword at me in that moment of intentness.

I raised my arm up to block. My Aura was cleanly sliced through, and my Ebony Flesh spell was shattered, his sword dug into my arm through Ddraig\'s Scales.

"T-Third realm." I pushed back against the edge of his sword, my muscles were strained, not allowing him another inch through my skin. "The Freezing Winds of the Giant\'s Realm." Jotunheim began to glow.

I had no catalyst to help support this, so it was draining away my Magical Energy to sustain certain concepts better. My Staff of Magnus was still floating near the tree and acted as a proper Anchor, but it was still not as good as a true Catalyst would be. Spell circles acted as a substitute, gathering and shaped my desired result.

"Bring about an Endless Cold – Winter\'s Casket!" The power of Jotunheim, the Realm of the Frost Giants, gathered, and fired off a concentrated beam of frost right at us.

I removed my hand from my sword, and opened my palm at him once more. "Dragon Shot." I fired out, this time supported by many more Boosts.

The God let out a pained cry and I jumped away, my wings carrying me a hundred meters to the side. The condensed beam of cold tore through the spot I was just in, assailing the God of Storms and freezing the Ocean itself.

There was no thought in my mind that it was over, and the falling Lightning Bolts were just a reminder of that as I ducked and weaved out of the way as they fell from the sky.

I saw the God Emerge, a cold air of breath leaving his body as the Ice around him cracked and shattered as he let out a shout. The power around him swirled visibly and he clutched his hand towards my Tree once more.

The pillars of water that had been connected the ocean and sky began to bend and all moved towards my Tree.

I commanded my Winter\'s Casket to fire off at them. The condensed cold collided with the oncoming tides, parts of them were frozen and shatters, but they immediately reformed and resumed their attack. The powerful Frozen Air swept in every direction, but the ice couldn\'t hold back the tide.

....Maybe if I had a Catalyst the results would have been different.

I could only look on as the pillars reshaped into spear-like tips and pierced through my Tree. The Magics around it started to shimmer and break apart, unwinding at the seams and ultimately fell apart.

I turned back towards the God who hefted his sword over his shoulder and looked rather pleased with himself. Despite the wounds I had put on his body, he had a big grin on his face.

My spell had been destroyed; the World Tree dispersed from the world. But his Authority still remained, the very ocean around me was his weapon.

[You have a plan?]

"I have something resembling a plan." I confirmed, letting out a few heavy breaths. I took out a health potion and quickly downed it, but I didn\'t think my arm would stop hurting any time soon. It was a deep cut where I could see down to the Bone, and my Aura was pretty low at this point.

Avalon was doing what it could, but mere vapors of Artoria\'s Magical Energy was left.

"Remember that Book I picked out of Gramp\'s Library before going to the Land of Shadows?"

[Splitting the Sky or something?]

"Yeah, I read it randomly and while I didn\'t really reproduce the effects or train it in any way..... but it did give me an idea I\'ve been wanting to try out."

Ignoring the pain in my arm, I called back my most trusted sword. The familiar blade flew through the air, and I gripped Mirage with both hands. "1000 Birds."

The Sword Phantasms fired off towards Susanoo.

The pillars of water reshaped once more, coming to his defense. Like disks of razor sharp blades, the shapened water fired off, intercepting every one of my Sword Phantoms.

The sky above me Rumbled and a massive bolt of Lightning slammed down from above. I gathered the Lightning Armor that was still around my limbs and discharged it all right above, meeting the blow head up.

I didn\'t get a moment of respite as Susanoo moved on me, his Divine Sword swiping through the air.

I brought up Mirage to block, and the force of it made me shudder, but I held firm. "Boost" I grit out again, feeling my stamina getting depleted. "Haaah!" I shouted, knocking his sword back. Raising my Gauntleted hand up I aimed at him again. "Penetrate" I let go of all the boosts I had to power this attack.

The power tore through his stomach, blood was coughed up, but he only took a single step back before his Divine Sword stabbed into me.

My Scale Mail gave way as the blade pierced right through, and my Aura couldn\'t hold up.

I expected pain, as my flesh as cut, but I felt nothing except a little tingling sensation. I looked at him, and his eyes stared down at my \'wound\'.

His sword was impaled through me yet.....the skin that should have been cut apart and the blood the should be seeping out was instead crackling and had turned to lightning.

And I felt a noticeable drain on my little remaining Aura.

"Well....how about that." I muttered in surprise as I realized I had discovered my Semblance.

I kneed him in the wound I had just inflicted upon him, making him stagger for a moment as all my other swords swung towards him.

"Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost!" I swung Mirage, only for him to haphazardly block, but my Fist moved forward too, collided with his cheek, sending him rocketing back.

The God skipped across the water before jumping back to his feet. Burns were scattered across his body, cuts could be seen everywhere. He had a large hole from my Penetrate, and other noticeable wounds from where I stabbed him with both Mirage and Gungnir, yet he was still in fighting condition.

What a monster. Definitely the strongest foe other than Scáthach I\'ve fought thus far.

He raised his hand and clenched it towards me. The rolling clouds moved and as if copying my Thor\'s Hammer, they formed into a figure themselves, more reminiscent of the Storm God. The Waters around me began to conglomerate and cut off any route to escape, forming a barrier in every direction. "Ame No Murakumo No Tusurgi." Susanoo held the sword up. "Become the Storm and return to Origin! The Beast of Disaster, the Serpent of Eight Heads and Eight Tails will devour my foe!" They took on the form of the Yamata-no-Orochi from legend.

[Brat, be careful of that thing.]

Yeah, I could feel the power from it.

Its massive jaws formed of Thunder and Lightning, a body of clouds and water, they hissed and roared up in the sky, all turned towards me as they began to descend.

The full Authority of the Storm God came right at me and he himself was burning away with an obscene amount of power. I could feel that this would be the final clash.

I gathered my Magical Energy, spell circles spinning around my blade once more. "ETHER CANNON!" I roared in response.

"Pointless." He shouted, swinging the Sword and bisected my spell in half. It barely missed me but the ocean was torn asunder. The previous time he made a cut to the horizon, this time, a new gorge had been created and the ocean completely separated as the walls began to try and fill in each side.

"LOK VAH KOR!" The Dragon Shout that was supposed to be able to clear the skies.

The figure above shuddered and part of it was blown away.

"You want to disperse my Authority with that baby Authority you\'re using? Ridiculous!" He snorted and the power returned whole.

My Wings flapped behind me as I stared at the Storm God. "WULD!" A single word from the Whirlwind sprint increased my speed several folds as I burst towards him.

"Do you think that getting close will mean you\'re safe from my Authority?" Susanoo looked unworried. "Your bravery has been commendable. No mortal had been able to wound me so, and even using Mortal Magics to leave marks upon my Divine Body. I will remember you in the future."

I ignored him and focused on my own actions. I paid no heed to the massive Serpent moving its massive heads towards me, spewing thunder at each hiss.

I stepped on the ocean infront of him, making a platform out of Magical Energy.

"Su Grah Dun." I whispered as wind swept around my weapon. Elementary Fury, a shout that makes my attacks move faster. I felt like I would need the extra little oomph

The Sword Phantoms I use, named after Sasaki Kojiou\'s attack in honor of the idea. The idea of using a single swing of my sword overlayed on multiple parallel worlds, then discharging them all at one point. Thus, one swing becomes multiple attacks from the point of my enemies.

What if I kept all of them on a single swing. All the possibilities contained within a single slash of my sword? It was a thought I\'ve had for awhile, but never used thus far.

I pulled on the Kaleidoscope. Overlayed upon an uncountable number of Parallel worlds, and swung my sword. With the speed added on, it kept on swinging, all at the same spot, all at the same time.

Instead of firing off as Sword Phantoms, all Susanoo could see was my single Horizontal swing coming for him.

He raised his Divine Sword up to block as if it were a normal attack. His eyes only widened in worry when it was too late to react.

My sword did not touch his.

As if passing through, his sword didn\'t move, and they didn\'t connect. My sword swept through his body, cutting it in half, yet no mark was left on him.

The massive Serpent heads stopped their roaring, the rolling thunder ceased. The large pillars of water that had been circling us had fallen back to the ocean and a torrent of Rain was all that followed.

I let out haggard breaths as my sword returned to my side.

He looked at his own sword then back at me before letting out a sigh. "To think I\'d lose to a mortal."

My arm trembled and I couldn\'t feel it properly, but still, I didn\'t flinch under his gaze.

"Does that attack have a name?"

"I haven\'t thought of one yet."

"Haah." Let out a laugh, blood flowing from his mouth in droves. "I couldn\'t even see it properly. So many different swords contained in that single swing. Even using my Divine Power, my insides are all cut to pieces, and I can barely hold on." He bellowed out a laugh even as haggard as he was. "Hey, Mortal." He gaze somewhat softened. "Were you speaking the truth about my mother?"

"I was." I nodded."

"Hmm. Please be kind to her, she is a pitiful woman."

"Of course, she\'s my friend."

He laughed once more. "A mortal claiming a God as a friend. You are a strange one." He smiled, his body falling backwards and began dissipating.

My arms fell to the side, both hurting. My last mental command was to grab everything important and stuff them back in my ring. As if mimicking his actions, I fell back, letting my body float in the water as I gave the skies one last look.

I couldn\'t help but smile though, even with how exhausted I was and my eyes closing.

I killed a god.

***

Sorry for no chapter yesterday. The Interlude you guys will get in a few days ended up being over 7k words long, so I was up till like 5 in the morning writing it and just couldn\'t stay awake when I got home from work the following day.

So, Susanoo is dead. I know some people were miffed on some things, but let me iterate it. Susanoo is a God. Yes, Campione anime is a little....iffy. But I wanted to tweak certain things. Not to mention the Light Novel does it much better. He\'s gone from fighting Undead and humans to Dragons to Servants and now he killed his first God. A powerful God that is in the upper percentile of Gods. And this wasn\'t even Susanoo at his best. His Sword can take control of other Authorities, which MC does not possess. I will provide a more thorough power level this coming DxD arc as I know many people were asking for that. Even if I think the DxD power ratings are kinda dumb.

Anyways, if you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my /astoryforone . We\'re finally back in DxD at this point.