DxD: The Heir of Asura

{Same Time Frame as Bova, Estate of the Carmilla Royal Faction's Northern Gate}

—Elmenhilde Karnstein—

"Are you… are you alright?"

Elmenhilde could barely breathe under the chaos around her.

"Surrender, vampires of Carmilla!" yelled the second son of King Tepes, ripping apart a devil with his claws. "Half your soldiers are already dead!"

That stung, but he wasn't wrong. The fault lay in their strategy.

"You devils are nothing more than pests!" Manael Tepes shouted, forming a glaive from his own blood and beheading three vampires at once. "The numbers are on our side!"

Elmenhilde paid no attention to his words. Instead, she glanced at the devil next to her, huffing and panting.

"Ingvild?" she called. "We can ask for reinforcements. Don't push so hard."

It was a lie. She knew all sides were short on numbers and could not afford any backup. A large chunk of their army had already been wiped out because of Ingvild's single mistake.

"This… this is what it feels like to be immortal!" cackled a creature nearby. "I cannot be killed!"

It wasn't true. He could be killed — he just wouldn't remain dead.

The being was a dragon, unlike anything Elmenhilde had ever seen.

"Don't tell me," it laughed. "You're giving up already?!"

The dragon's body was made entirely of gases and vapor, like a storm cloud, with random streaks of lightning crackling inside it.

And one mistake by Ingvild had cost them dearly.

The devil queen had used a massive tsunami wave to drown the dragon, believing it would cause the gases of the body to assimilate in the water and possibly kill the dragon.

But back then, the cunning dragon had not shown its main ability.

"Thunder Wave!"

A wave of lightning surged through the platoon near it, paralyzing soldiers on the spot.

Ingvild hadn't realized that the dragon's main ability was lightning, nor its mastery over the element. As the tsunami swept over it, the dragon released all its stored electricity, electrocuting both devils and vampires in the Carmilla faction.

Ingvild bit her lips, frustrated and furious at herself.

Elmenhilde saw her struggle but could do little. She was already fully occupied fighting Manael Tepes, the strongest of the three sons and a true battle maniac.

Still, she reminded herself that it wasn't entirely Ingvild's fault. Even she hadn't expected the dragon to have electricity running through it instead of blood.

"Nyerid Kyerie: Song of the Downer!"

Elmenhilde felt grateful for Ingvild's presence. The Longinus the devil possessed allowed her to weaken and even control dragons to a limited extent.

"That skill again!" the dragon laughed, though anger outweighed amusement in its voice.

Ingvild extended her hands and muttered, "Bubble of Dehydration!"

The furious dragon groaned as a bubble formed around it, sucking the moisture from its body and erasing its very existence, leaving behind nothing but a faint essence.

Elmenhilde had learned that this was a move Ingvild had been training to master, finally perfecting it before joining the battle. So far, it hadn't failed once.

She had erased the dragon more than seven times, each time using enormous amounts of energy.

However —

"Sister!" Manael yelled. "Revive him!"

The problem was a certain half-vampire.

"Attack before the dragon revives!" Elmenhilde shouted. "We don't have much time!"

The issue was Valerie, the princess of Tepes, looking far worse than she had at the devil meeting. Here, Valerie seemed drained, thinner, her eyes dull and emotionless, her energy fading.

'These idiots are practically killing her!' Even though she was the enemy, Elmenhilde felt pity for Valerie. She was being exploited for her Longinus.

"The dragon!" one of the captains yelled. "It's reviving!"

Valerie had used her Longinus for the eighth time, reconstructing the dragon's body and restoring the soul that had perished.

Elmenhilde knew this was no small feat. Even with the Longinus, each revival seemed to cost Valerie a piece of her sanity.

'If she continues, she will die…'

She should have felt relief, but she didn't. Partly because Valerie was being exploited, and partly because, for some reason, Faiser had ordered her not to kill the girl.

'Capture her alive…' Her lips thinned. 'I don't know if that's even possible, Faiser.'

Valerie would almost certainly die before they could even reach her.

Still, Elmenhilde had to act.

"How many more times can you cast this skill, Ingvild?" she asked the devil, who was huffing heavily.

"Twice… at most."

Elmenhilde noticed that Valerie seemed close to her limit as well. So far, their attacks had focused on Valerie because she kept reviving the dragon.

But Manael wasn't dumb. When the dragon was alive, he used it as a shield to protect his sister. When it died, he moved forward with his army, using barriers, blood shields, and even sacrificing soldiers to keep Valerie safe.

Reaching her seemed impossible.

They could push forward bit by bit while the dragon was temporarily dead, but progress was painfully slow.

'Something…' Elmenhilde bit her lips until they bled. 'I have to do something in these last two moves.'

"Can you…" She looked at Ingvild, a flicker of hope in her eyes. "Can you block their vision in any way?"

What she had planned was near suicidal, but she had no choice. This was do or die.

Ingvild furrowed her brows. "One… I think I have one. But I can only use it once, and I'll need the rest of my energy for the bubble spell."

'That will be enough…' Elmenhilde hoped. "Please cast it."

Ingvild didn't know Elmenhilde's plan, but she complied, releasing a wave of water.

At first, it looked like a smaller version of the suicidal tsunami attack she had used before. But this time, it was different.

"Gahahha!" the revived dragon laughed. "The same skill again? You want your army to die, don't you?"

But this time, as the tsunami reached the enemy, it exploded into countless particles that instantly turned to vapor.

Not hot enough to melt skin, but uncomfortably suffocating.

"Now!" Ingvild yelled.

"Fuck!" Manael shouted. "Get this damn steam out of here!"

The dragon tried flapping its wings, but the vapor didn't disperse easily.

Elmenhilde seized the moment to act.

"Do or die!" she hissed, breaking her body into dozens of tiny bats. Ingvild was stunned — she had never seen anything like it.

She had witnessed transformation magic before, but it usually allowed a person to become only a single creature. Elmenhilde, however, became dozens of bats, all flying into the vapor.

The bats moved quickly through the smoke, reaching the enemy in seconds. By the time they realized the purpose of the vapor, the bats had already arrived — right next to Valerie.

Immediately, the bats swirled together, reforming into a human figure — Elmenhilde.

Before her clothes could even form, she lunged at Valerie, her fangs aimed at the royal dhampir's neck.

As the vapor weakened and vision slowly returned, Manael saw the scene.

"No!" he shouted, forming a spear from his own blood. "Get the fuck away from her!"

'Too late!'

Valerie was stupefied, locked into focusing solely on reviving the dragon. She couldn't defend herself. She managed only a glance at Elmenhilde — that was all.

Elmenhilde thought she heard something from Valerie, but dismissed it as imagination. Instead, she focused on pouring her magic into Valerie through the bite.

Hypnosis magic, coursing straight through the blood.

In a split second, Valerie lost consciousness and went limp in Elmenhilde's arms.

"Gah!" That also meant taking the spear Manael thrust at her shoulder, just as the enemy army swarmed toward her with weapons drawn.

Elmenhilde tore through nearby foes with her blood magic, but the approaching Manael and his greater army were beyond her solo capacity.

This was why the plan was suicidal.

"Ingvild!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Finish it! The dragon cannot revive again — kill it!"

"You little skan—" the dragon cursed, or tried to.

"Bubble of Dehydration."

Training with Faiser had taught Ingvild to execute moves far faster than before.

The dragon didn't even have a chance to react. Its body became trapped inside the bubble. As it struggled to break free, its form collapsed, breaking into molecules that were absorbed by the bubble's frame.

It was destroyed once more — this time, with no Valerie to revive it.

Elmenhilde felt a brief sense of relief, immediately replaced by fear as Manael's spear came hurtling close to her face.

"Deep breath!" Ingvild shouted. Elmenhilde didn't hesitate.

She pulled in as much air as possible, blocked Valerie's nose, mouth, and ears with her hands and body, and hugged her close, wrapping them both inside a blood sphere.

She was low on energy, and the sphere wouldn't hold against Manael's attack for long.

"Fucking bitch—"

That was all she heard before a strong shockwave hit, pushing and pulling against the sphere she had created.

It held for a few seconds, then broke apart, revealing her surroundings.

Water. She was submerged. Probably the same tsunami Ingvild had used earlier, though slightly different. It had saved her from Manael's spear as the prince was swept away, struggling desperately to gain control.

"Grab!" Ingvild shouted. Elmenhilde wanted to ask, 'Grab onto what?' — but she immediately understood the answer.

A serpent made entirely of water formed next to her. Elmenhilde grabbed onto it with one hand while the other held tightly onto Valerie. She pressed the girl close to her chest, turning her face inward and holding her tight so no water could enter her nose or mouth.

As her grip tightened, the water serpent began to swim rapidly toward the Carmilla troops, pulling both Elmenhilde and Valerie toward land and safety.

"Soldiers!" Ingvild's voice rang loud and clear. "Make it rain spears of blood!"

Her command wasn't ignored. The whole sky turned red as spears of blood rained down, impaling the Tepes troops instantly. They couldn't defend themselves while struggling not to drown. Even Prince Manael took a hit to his arm, turning the water around him crimson.

"G-Grab my hand," Ingvild said, huffing and looking exhausted enough to collapse at any second.

Elmenhilde reached out and grasped her hand. With all her strength, Ingvild pulled them both from the water, saving the two vampires.

Instantly, taking back command, Elmenhilde ordered, "Everyone who can use lightning magic! Pour it all into the water!"

Their soldiers had suffered from this tactic once before; now it was the Tepes' turn.

The water lit up with streaks of yellow, blue, and white as the lightning from each soldier surged through it. The Tepes faction had no way to defend themselves and were instantly electrocuted by the currents running through the water.

Bodies began to float to the surface. A few at first, then hundreds, and eventually hundreds of thousands. Entire legions were swept up and helpless.

Among that sea of corpses, Elmenhilde spotted a familiar figure.

"M-Manael Tepes!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Manael Tepes is dead! The enemy has fallen!"

With their leader gone, victory was theirs. The remaining troops could be handled easily by the Carmilla soldiers.

"We won!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. She could hardly believe she had survived that hell — and not just survived, but won.

"I-Ing—" she looked hastily toward the devil, intending to thank her. But all she saw was a collapsing figure.

"Ingvild?"

The devil had poured every last ounce of her power into those final two moves. Her demonic energy was completely depleted, and she had lost consciousness. Elmenhilde could hardly comprehend that she herself hadn't fainted as well.

After all, this victory had cost them everything.

"F-Finally…" she breathed out, "It's ove—"

She thought she wouldn't faint.

She thought.

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{A/N: Got a pat reon named RedLamp01 with 30+ chapters + Other Stories. }

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