(TPD) Chapter 50: Adrian Shephard (Volume 2 END)

Chapter 50: Adrian Shephard (Volume 2 END)

Chapter 50, that’s another milestone for the books. 

This chapter might not be as long as the others, but it is probably one of, if not the most important chapters I’ve ever written for this story. 

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One by one, Azazel, Michael, and Sirzechs all allowed the monument to take their print—officializing the agreement between Heaven, Grigori, and the Underworld to form a united front to combat the threat of the Old Satan Faction, The Malebranche, and the Infinity Dragon. 

“Now that we’ve signed the pact,” Sirzechs turned to face Harmonia. “What would you have us do?” 

“There’s going to be a meeting soon, taking place between the Old Satan Faction, and a group known as Hexennacht, or the Witch’s Night as some call them.” Her expression turned grave, “They’re a group of Stray Magicians broken off from all corners of the world—and their numbers aren’t exactly something to glance over.” 

Azazel furrowed his brow, “I don’t mean to interrupt you. But are Stray Magicians really something we need to be worrying about at the moment? Looking at the list of enemies we have before us, I’d say they’re pretty low priority.” 

Michael and Sirzechs nodded their agreement, Avalon choosing to remain uncharacteristically silent for some reason. 

“They’re in possession of Incinerate Anthem.” She stated clearly, getting pretty much the expected reaction from the figureheads in return. “While True Longinus, and Dimension Lost still hang in the balance—that Longinus had already come into play.” 

Incinerate Anthem was a Sacred Gear considered as a Holy Relic, believed to be the Holy Cross upon which Christ was crucified. 

The Sacred Gear itself granted the user the power to command unbelievably powerful Holy Fire, which posed an enormous threat to Devils in particular, who were currently the strongest faction amongst the alliance. 

And what most unique about Incinerate Anthem, was that it could transfer itself to another host of its own volition—even if its current host was still alive. 

“Do we know how powerful its current host is?” Michael inquired further, obviously having a personal interest in a Sacred Gear with such a close tie to Heaven. 

“I’m afraid not, for the same reason you couldn’t detect it while you were in Heaven. The Infinity Dragon’s interference is simply too powerful for us to combat—” 

“It’s bad manners to speak about someone behind their back,” a commanding, hollow voice with more weight to it than anyone present spoke. 

And in that instant, everything, and everyone froze. 

Not the sound of breathing, not a single footstep, not even the gentle breeze causing leaves to swish and sway in the wind. 

Just absolute silence. 

Except for one. 

What the hell? Avalon frantically looked around, poking his brother in the cheek and receiving no reaction from him whatsoever. Tomoe? Are you there? 

“No, he’s not. I don’t want to be interrupted while we’re talking.” 

The voice sounded like it was coming from every possible angle, making it quite literally impossible to locate. 

“Who are—” His scenery changed mid-sentence, causing him to stammer with his mouth wide-open. “You?”

Wherever he was now, it clearly wasn’t Mount Olympus, or anything even resembling the land of the Greek Pantheon. 

Rather, it was a simple room, with a singular window attached to the wall—leading out to pitch darkness, and no door to be found. 

Avalon found himself sitting down on a comfortable, cushioned chair, with a table in front of him and most strikingly of all, a woman sitting opposite him. 

A woman that he could see, in spite of the fact that his blindfold was still supposed to be on. 

He reached for his face, wondering not only where his facial attire had gone, but why on earth his face itself felt different than usual. 

“Try not to take too long, keeping time paused like this can be bothersome even for me.” She had long, silky black hair—and dark, lusterless eyes that didn’t contain so much as a spark of light within them. 

Her ears were pointed, similar to Lars, and she wore a Gothic Lolita outfit—with the chest part left open for some reason, and tape plastered over the nipples of her large breasts. 

But Avalon wasn’t even remotely interested in her appearance, not when he caught sight of his own reflected in the alloy of a nearby teacup. 

His skin was a touch paler than usual, pretty much the exact same as the woman sitting opposite him, and his eyes were light-brown in color, with red-rims around them and deep eyebags that made him appear more exhausted than he had ever been. 

He wore a tightly-fitted white sweater, a pair of jeans, and sneakers. 

And he recognised quite literally everything that was on his body, on a personal level. 

He wasn’t Avalon anymore. 

What kind of sick joke is this? 

He was Adrian. 

“You look good,” she commented idly, her tone physically incapable of expressing any emotion. “I was hoping we could talk for a while, one traveller to another.” 

“Who the hell are you?” His eyes narrowed, a sense of fury already beginning to well within him from the sight of his own face alone. “What have you done to me!?” 

He attempted to stand up, but the woman merely waved her finger downwards, an invisible force pushing him right back down. 

“Relax, I just pulled your soul aside for the time-being. Your body is still right where it was,” she pushed a teacup towards him. “Thirsty?” 

“...” 

“I suppose not, what a shame, I was looking forward to sharing a drink with a fellow other-worlder.” She drummed her fingers against the table, as if she were looking for another topic of conversation. “My name’s Ophis by the way, I shouldn’t need to introduce myself.” 

“...Pardon?” 

“Isn’t your hearing supposed to be good?” She tilted her head, “I said my name’s Ophis, are you going to make me spell it out for you?” 

“You’re… the Infinity Dragon?” He almost hesitated to speak, understandably in a state of complete shock, and utter disbelief. 

But taking into account that she had just froze time over an entire Pantheon, which included his brother’s presence—maybe her being such an existence wasn’t so unthinkable. 

“Mhm, that’s me. I thought I was the only one who didn’t belong here, but imagine my surprise when I discovered you and your sister.” 

She leaned forward, her eye contact unbreaking. “And what’s even more surprising, is that I can’t tell where you came from, something’s blocking me from prying any further.” 

“How could you… possibly know?” Not once had he ever considered the possibility that anyone else would uncover the truth, unless either himself or Adaloth were to personally tell them. 

But now, he was being directly confronted with that reality. 

“I’m infinite, the same applies to my knowledge.” She let out a faint chuckle, “Well, at least to a large extent, since the truth regarding you has somehow proven me otherwise.” 

He pressed his lips together, unsure how to proceed from this point onwards. 

“What do you want from me? Assuming you don’t want to kill me.” 

“Like I said, I’m here to talk.” She insisted calmly, “You’ve heard of a place called the Dimensional Gap haven’t you?” 

“I have,” he replied cautiously. 

The Dimensional Gap was a place said to exist between Earth, Heaven, and the Underworld, and was considered to essentially be a Void Gap. 

And unless you had some kind of special protection, entering would result in nothing more than your immediate disintegration. 

“That’s where I was born, for the longest time, the Dimensional Gap had been my home.” For the first time, he was actually able to feel some kind of emotion in her voice. 

It was that of sorrow. 

“Until that unsightly red beast took over, I was able to enjoy my existence away from the endless noise this world generated—noise, which I’ve come to despise more than anything.” She clenched her fist, “The truth is, I have absolutely no interest in your world whatsoever.” 

“Well that’s hardly believable,” he folded his arms and reclined back into his chair. “Not when you have the world-threatening Malebranche in your possession.” 

Ophis scoffed, evidently bemused. “If I wanted your world gone, I’d simply do it myself. But fortunately for you, that’s not my goal—I merely wish to reclaim my silence, nothing more.” 

“I’m afraid I don’t follow,” he tilted his head. 

“I want Great Red gone, in order to reclaim the silence of my home. Everything I’m doing now is for the sake of that goal, whether your world thrives or perishes, doesn’t mean anything to me.” 

She spoke with fierce resolve, as if that was the only thing in all existence that mattered to her. 

But he wasn’t interested in lending his sympathy. “Are you expecting me to pity you or something? Just because we both happen to be from somewhere else? If that’s the case, then I’ll have to disappoint you.” 

“You’re far too weak for your pity to mean anything.” She said with a plain, stole-cold stare that burned a hole through Avalon’s chest. “You, and everyone else lack the ability to mean anything to me, ironically enough—the only person capable of pitying me is the one I loathe the most.” 

Great Red, the Apocalypse Dragon, the True Red Dragon God Emperor, the Dragon of Dragons, the only creature able to stand above Ophis went by many names. 

But each name meant the exact same thing. 

He was the strongest, there were no questions, no debate, no arguments, no misguided beliefs. 

The King wandering the Dimensional Gap could not be challenged, and could not be conquered. 

Not by a Human, Devil, Angel, Fallen Angel, Dragon, or God. 

Every variable that determined the strength of an individual was irrelevant in his eyes, the ceiling between him and the rest of existence had yet to be crossed, and maybe that would remain as such for the rest of time. 

“If what you claimed about your intentions are true, then why recruit the Old Satan Faction? If not even you can take down Great Red, then I don’t see what they could possibly contribute.” 

The only hypothesis he could make was that she planned to use the Malebranche in some way, but if that were the case—it didn’t make sense as to why she hadn’t already done so, the Old Satan Faction were already under her banner after all. 

“The Malebranche are indeed a big part of my plan.” She affirmed, clearly having read his mind without his permission, again. “But even with my abilities, assuming full control over their strength would be rather risky. Even if I were to successfully assimilate them into myself and slay Great Red, I’d probably be swallowed by their corruptive strength soon after.” 

“Tough luck then.” He shrugged, not having any reason to care. 

“On the contrary, I think my luck has turned around for the better.” A ominous smile crept up her face, her eyes peering into his face. 

“If you think I’m going to join you, then you’ve completely lost your mind.” Even if he couldn’t read minds like her, facial expressions were still an open book to him. 

“You haven’t even heard my offer yet, a King ought to know how to negotiate wouldn’t you agree?” 

“Don’t care, not interested.” He closed his eyes, folding his hands behind his head. 

“It involves getting rid of the Old Satan Faction.” 

“Eh?” 

“Like I said, as long as Great Red is killed, I don’t care who I place under me nor who I choose to kill.” She leaned forward, “If you take their place as my solution, not only will I help you kill them—I’ll help you create the ideal world you’re working toward.” 

He exhaled, pinching his nose-bridge. “I’ve seen online porn scams more believable than what you just told me.” 

“Is it really so hard to believe? I don’t care for this world, if I can reclaim my silence, then why would I care what’s done with it after I make my departure?” 

For some strange reason, Avalon’s gut gave him the feeling that she wasn’t lying, as justified as he was in not believing a single syllable that left her mouth. 

“I don’t understand why you’d come to me of all people, I’m not exactly Great Red-killing material if that wasn’t already apparent.” 

“Not as you are now, but there’s something you have that no-one else does, and it’s something that could give you the power to take down that bothersome Dragon.” 

She paused, “Your control. With my help, you could become the Perfect Vessel, one capable of commanding the frenzied power of the Malebranche, which were created for your kind in the first place if I’m not mistaken.” 

His eyes widened, catching onto what she was suggesting. “You want me to take down Great Red instead?”

“No, even if you were to absorb all of the Malebranche—you still wouldn’t be able to face him on your own. But as long as you can obtain the leader of the Malebranche, and use that power to command the rest by proxy, we’d be able to kill him together. And once that’s done, this world will be yours to shape as you please.” 

He started to nod slowly, with a look of sheer contempt on his face. “Yeah, and I should just follow along like a good soldier—because there’s absolutely nothing wrong with trusting someone who’d gladly throw all of their subordinates under the bus at a moment’s notice.” 

“Oh Adrian.” She said with an exhale, the mention of the name bringing a distinct, chilling scowl to Avalon’s face. “I’d throw so much more than my subordinates under the bus if it meant I’d get my silence back, the lives of every living creature in this world, wouldn’t equate to even a second of that peace.” 

In that instant, Avalon was left speechless. 

He thought his determination was strong, no—he knew his determination was strong. 

But after hearing the words that had just left Ophis’ mouth, he couldn’t help but feel more insignificant than he had ever felt before. 

It was as if the Infinity Dragon’s desire to reclaim what once belonged to her made his wish appear like naught more than a petty child begging for a toy. 

“Fortunately for you, I’m not making that trade. Instead, I’m giving you the chance to give both of us what we want in the end.” She stood up, approaching Avalon and leaning forwards—cupping his cheek with her hand. “I’m giving us a chance to have the happy ending we both want, my freedom from this world, and your change of it.” 

“...And if I refuse?” He almost hesitated to ask. 

“Then I’ll have to kill you and everyone else opposing me, because what use would there be in letting you live, if you’re not going to be the one to help me go home?” 

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Whelp, there it is. The end of Volume 2, or 2.5 since we’re not going to continue off a time-skip, you can interpret it however you wish. 

No real author not here, just leave your comments and suggestions below as per usual.

And of course, thank you for your continued support.