"Uh..."
After several dozen seconds, Vali's brows tightly furrowed. He felt as if he were soaking in a hot spring, incomparably comfortable. Then, amid this comfort and everyone's gaze, he slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was Raize, expression calm, withdrawing his hand. The healing light on his body also dissipated. After taking a deep look at Raize before him, Vali took a deep breath and stood up.
"I lost. Thank you for treating my injuries, Raize."
Although he felt a bit unwilling, he had indeed lost. He had not expected Raize to also possess the Red Dragon Emperor's power. With the amplification of the Two Heavenly Dragons' power, even without Juggernaut Drive, the other party had easily defeated him.
Thinking it this way, it meant he had also lost to the unseen Red Dragon Emperor. Vali looked at Raize before him and asked:
"You obtained the White Dragon Emperor's power from me. Then the Red Dragon Emperor..."
"You don't need to think about your destined rival anymore. The Red Dragon Emperor has completely disappeared. I'm referring to Ddraig's existence."
Since he had already used the Red Dragon Emperor's power, Raize did not intend to hide it from Vali. Sooner or later, the other party would meet the host of the Boosted Gear, Issei, and discover that Ddraig had already disappeared from inside the Sacred Gear.
After hearing Raize's words, Vali widened his eyes. Before he could ask anything, a silver-white light lit up behind him. Although the White Dragon Emperor's light wings did not appear, the voice of Albion was clearly transmitted.
"You're saying that Ddraig has completely disappeared!?"
A lifelong rival disappearing was something Albion could not possibly react to without emotion. If Raize had merely killed the host of the Boosted Gear, it would have been nothing, since the system of God would choose a new host again.
But what Raize had just said was very clear. The disappearance he meant was not the disappearance of the host, but the true existence of the Red Dragon Emperor Ddraig himself.
"Before meeting you, I happened to encounter the Red Dragon Emperor by chance, seized his power as well as the dragon soul inside the Sacred Gear. There is no Red Dragon Emperor in this world anymore. Only the remnants called the Boosted Gear remain."
"Then what did you do with Ddraig's dragon soul?" Albion asked in a somewhat low voice.
"It became nourishment. I won't answer anything deeper than that."
"Is that so. The red one has completely disappeared... Heh. We fought for a lifetime, and even after death we had to keep fighting. I never expected Ddraig to end up completely finished just like that..."
Albion's voice became somewhat self-mocking and filled with emotion, then gradually grew lower until it finally disappeared.
Although he found it hard to fully believe Raize's words, his intuition told him that what the other party said was true.
This left Albion feeling somewhat lost. The lifelong rival he had fought against had directly vanished. That meant the White Dragon Emperor had completely lost a worthy opponent.
He did not feel dissatisfied with Raize's actions. Dragons deeply understood the principle of the strong devouring the weak. Being weak meant deserving to be trampled. Even being turned into a Sacred Gear by the God of Bible had not generated much resentment.
After all, it was because he and Ddraig had lost on the battlefield that they had ended up like this. So there was no great unwillingness toward defeat and death.
It was just that, without the existence of the Red Dragon Emperor in the future, there was an emptiness in his heart. After fighting for an entire lifetime, some attachment naturally formed. Its sudden disappearance was bound to feel uncomfortable.
As the host of the White Dragon Emperor, Vali naturally sensed Albion's low mood. He lowered his head, touched his chest, and spoke in a deep voice:
"Albion, even if that interesting rival no longer exists, we still have the ambition to become the White Dragon God Emperor."
Whether Albion heard it or not, Vali would not stop pursuing strength just because a never-met rival had disappeared.
He looked sharply at Raize before him and said very seriously, "If what you said is true, and the true Red Dragon Emperor has already disappeared, then from now on, you will be my rival!"
The true Red Dragon Emperor was gone, but wasn't there someone right in front of him who also possessed the Red Dragon Emperor's power?
Since the other party had copied all of his White Dragon Emperor light wings' power, then he must also fully possess the Red Dragon Emperor's power.
"Yes, yes, say whatever you like. We've finished fighting. Do you have anything else?"
Facing Vali's declaration, Raize calmly waved his hand, indicating it was up to him, and then asked if he had anything else to say.
If there was nothing else, he should leave and do what he needed to do. Although he already knew the other party's little objective when he copied Vali, the other party still needed to say it himself.
Hearing this, Vali looked toward his team's Bikou, signaling him to speak. Bikou rolled his eyes speechlessly and indicated, "I'm not familiar with him. You say it yourself."
Vali then looked at the other members of the team, who all signaled for him to speak as well. Looking at Raize before him, Vali hesitated, wanting to say something.
After all, in his original plan, he should have sparred and defeated Raize first, then invited him as a strong victor. But now the plan had completely fallen apart.
The other party was stronger than him. All the prepared words were useless now.
"You really don't look like that battle maniac from earlier. Just say it. If not, I'm leaving."
Raize looked somewhat speechlessly at the hesitant Vali. As he said, this really did not fit Vali's personality.
Hearing this, Vali also gave up being roundabout and spoke directly, "I want to invite you to join my team. Is that okay?"
Join Vali's team?
Raize turned his head to look at Vali's teammates beside him. At this moment, they all had somewhat expectant expressions. Kuroka was looking at him with a bewitching smile, while Bikou had a carefree grin.
After all, they had witnessed Raize's strength firsthand. Having someone slightly stronger than Vali join was definitely a good thing.
Raize, who had no interest in wildcats, ignored her and looked back at Vali, thought for a moment, and asked, "What benefits are there to joining your team?"
He actually did not have much interest in Vali himself, but he was interested in the existences with special abilities within the Khaos Brigade. What interested him the most was Ophis.
Infinite power was something he indeed had ideas about. If he could obtain it, that would naturally be excellent.
Of course, he would not tell anyone this. Right now, he was merely testing Vali's bottom line.
Benefits?
Vali looked left and right at his teammates. They all indicated they had no solution and could only rely on Vali's own eloquence.
Each of them had joined Vali's team under different circumstances. Kuroka had originally taken interest in Vali's White Dragon Emperor and Lucifer bloodline, and also wanted to use him to avoid pursuit. Bikou was Vali's friend and had no lofty aspirations.
Arthur had originally been a member of the Hero Faction. Later, he lost interest in its affairs and felt that Vali was easier to communicate with than Cao Cao, so he joined Vali's team, which only wanted to fight strong opponents.
His younger sister Le Fay also joined Vali's team along with her brother.
Now, recruiting a completely unfamiliar powerhouse like Raize was different. You couldn't just expect him to join with a single sentence. That would be far too cheap.
However, Vali was not dissatisfied. After all, they were still unfamiliar. Raize asking for benefits meant there was hope.
Vali quickly thought about how to recruit Raize as his teammate. He lowered his head, touched his chin, and pondered.
Suddenly, he recalled how Raize had previously copied both the Red Dragon Emperor's and his White Dragon Emperor powers by unknown means.
The other party should be similar to him, interested in power and becoming stronger. Vali looked at Raize and tentatively said, "Would allowing you to obtain more power and become stronger count as a benefit?"
"Oh~ Tell me more." Raize narrowed his eyes at Vali, signaling him to continue.
This guy really knew how to get to the point with a single sentence.
There's hope!
A trace of a smile flashed in Vali's eyes. Since the other party was similar to him, things became easier.
Recalling the other party's method of copying others' power, he spoke confidently, "I think you should have the ability to copy other people's power, right? Don't deny it. You can use my Divine Dividing's power, and you didn't take a single bit of my strength. That means you copied it!"
Vali did not feel any weakening of his power. Since not even a trace had been taken or devoured, the other party must have the ability to copy power.
Hearing this, Raize smiled slightly. Being discovered exposing one trump card did not make him panic at all. After all, he would only become stronger in the future, and his trump cards would only increase.
When people focus only on the powerful trump card that Raize has revealed, they fail to realize that he already has even more trump cards.
Raize likes seeing those who think they have grasped his intelligence end up embarrassed.
"Good guess. I did indeed copy your power." Raize smiled as he responded, which made Vali both surprised and even more curious about the true nature of Raize's power.
Raize directly opened a magic circle pattern familiar to Vali on his palm. While Vali was slightly stunned, Raize spoke, "There's nothing left on you that I crave."
"I didn't just copy your White Dragon Emperor's power. I also copied your past memories, combat techniques and experience, and even the magic you learned. If I didn't hate devils, I could have even copied the Lucifer bloodline in your body."
These words directly shocked Vali and his teammates. All of that was copied as well!?
If he wanted to, he could even copy Vali's Lucifer bloodline. What kind of monstrous ability was this!?
Could this be the true form of his Sacred Gear's power?
"No wonder fighting you felt like looking into a mirror." Vali smiled bitterly. Since the other party had even obtained his memories, that meant the other party already knew his objective.
"Let's be direct. I can join your team, but only join your team. I'm not interested in anything else. You understand what I mean, Vali."
"I can also help you achieve your goal. The condition is your grandfather's soul, and that you help me find the Longinus Sacred Gear, Sephiroth Graal."
Raize directly stated his conditions. This was merely a cover. His true objective could not be told casually. Hearing this, Vali looked deeply at Raize, who was smiling faintly.
His intuition told him something felt off, but asking for his grandfather's soul and having him help search for the Sephiroth Graal were acceptable conditions for Vali.
He knew information about that Longinus Sacred Gear. It was said to be used at the Last Supper, a vessel that once held Jesus' blood, an item capable of overturning the laws of life.
Thinking of the information he had investigated about Raize's deceased family, he roughly guessed the purpose behind Raize searching for this Sacred Gear.
As for his grandfather's soul, although he did not know what Raize wanted that disgusting grandfather's soul for, he only needed to confirm one thing:
"If I give it to you, will you let him continue to live?"
He could give his grandfather's soul, but he absolutely could not allow him to continue living. That kind of person should completely disappear.
"No. I want his soul as a sacrifice."
Raize naturally understood Vali's meaning and directly explained the use of the soul. Sacrificing such a powerful soul to the system was no worse than a Heavenly Dragon.
Wanting the Sephiroth Graal was also for his family. Although he had some items in the game that could revive the dead, the limitations were not small.
Since there was a local item capable of resurrection in this world, Raize naturally would not let it go.
"Deal. Welcome, Raize."
Vali smiled and extended his hand. He agreed to all of Raize's conditions. He would help search for the Sephiroth Graal, and since Raize was interested in strong souls, handing over his grandfather after killing him was no problem.
Raize grasped Vali's hand and responded with a faint smile.
"Please take care of me from now on."
---
After venting through a battle, Raize felt completely refreshed. After Arthur's sister Le Fay withdrew the barrier and tidied things up, Vali led his new teammate to another place.
Originally, they had planned to head to a ruined realm drifting within the dimensional gap to gather resources and search for opportunities. However, because of Raize's matter, they were delayed for some time.
Now that Raize was willing to join Vali's team, he was naturally included among those heading there.
Since they were no longer going to a specific ruined realm just to collect resources, and the team had gained a major combat force, exploration was obviously the better choice.
Raizen and Vali's group were currently traveling through the dimensional gap toward a certain destination. Arthur was maintaining a transport bubble that carried them forward. Looking at the overwhelming sea of twisted colors ahead, Raizen found the place rather novel.
However, what interested him more was Vali's memories and the dimensional remnant he spoke of, because such a place clearly did not appear in the original High School DxD story.
Then again, this world was not a pure High School DxD world. Surrounding the main human realm were several other planes tightly clustered together.
The place Vali and Raizen were heading to was especially dangerous. The so-called dimensional remnant lived up to its name—it was a destroyed world, fragments of a world that had already been destroyed.
Ruined realms drifting through the dimensional gap were like meteors in outer space. They were usually blocked outside the boundaries of worlds by multiple transcendent-level powerhouses. The Great Red was one such transcendent existence protecting their world. In the planes adjacent to the human realm, there were many beings no weaker than the Great Red, all doing the same thing.
That was because ruined realms brought both benefits and danger. Just as meteors were valuable, ruined realms were no exception—but the harm they caused was far greater than meteors.
No one knew what kind of chaotic things might exist inside those destroyed realms. You might find priceless treasures within, but the far greater possibility was encountering a lethal existence.
Even gods faced the risk of death if they entered.