As Vali and Albion's combined roar echoed through the shattered estate, the world seemed to fall completely dead silent. An immense, suffocating pressure swept over Kuoh Town, and as the blinding silver light faded, a terrifying figure emerged that made the onlookers' legs go weak.
"No way..."
"Those wings..."
Among everyone present, Rias and Sona had the most visceral, horrified reactions. They stared in absolute shock at the twelve massive, glowing wings unfurled behind Vali's armor.
"He is a direct descendant of the original Satans?!" they gasped in unison.
To the younger generation of Devils, it might seem like a mere myth. But to the elite purebloods, the biological markers were undeniable. Only those who truly inherited the blood of the original Lucifer—and the previous rulers of the Underworld—possessed twelve wings, mirroring the highest-ranking Archangels and the supreme leaders of the Fallen Angels.
Vali wasn't just a powerful host; he was the legitimate descendant of the true Lucifer. He was fundamentally different from Sirzechs, Serafall, and Ajuka, who had merely inherited the title of Satan after winning the civil war.
Then again, the harsh reality remained: the Old Satan Faction had lost. They were the defeated exiles.
But for someone with that level of terrifying political and biological pedigree to be living among the Grigori?
Is Grigori using the descendant of the previous Maou for a certain purpose? Rias and Sona exchanged a horrified look. Between Kokabiel's attack and Vali's sudden appearance, it genuinely seemed like the Fallen Angel organization was plotting to ignite a new Great War that would burn the world to ash.
"...."
Miles away in his office, Azazel was likely sneezing, completely oblivious to the fact that his two idiotic subordinates were currently framing him for a conspiracy. Grigori absolutely did not want a war! The Fallen Angels were on the brink of extinction; they just wanted to live in peace! But Azazel wasn't here to clarify, and even if he were, it was entirely impossible to stop the violent clash about to unfold between Finn and Vali.
"Hmm..."
Watching Vali desperately flex his ultimate form, Finn simply thought Vali was an idiot.
It truly didn't matter how visually impressive Vali had become. Finn knew that Vali's biological peak was strictly capped at the Ultimate-Class Devil tier.
Yes, Vali proudly displayed his twelve wings. Yes, he inherited the bloodline of Lucifer. And yes, he wielded the Divine Dividing, the Longinus housing the soul of the legendary White Dragon. Furthermore, Finn knew the innate biological trait of the Lucifer bloodline was the Demonic Brilliance of Evil Light—making Lucifer the only Devil capable of freely manipulating holy light, the ultimate weakness of their own race. It was a trait that historically made them the absolute emperors of the Underworld.
Well, unfortunately for him... Finn mused clinically.
In the brutal reality of this universe, innate abilities did not determine absolute supremacy. If specific abilities were all that mattered, the Power of Destruction wielded by the Bael House would make them the strongest entities in existence, capable of erasing anything.
Yet, the Bael House wasn't the absolute strongest. Why?
Because they lacked the sheer, bottomless reservoir of Demonic Power required to scale that high. Raw energy was the ultimate power.
Vali genuinely believed that he was the strongest White Dragon Emperor in history. But Finn knew better. No matter how hard Vali trained, it was genetically impossible for him to crack the top ten strongest beings in the universe—anomalies like Sirzechs, Ajuka, or the God Indra.
As Finn had always maintained: in this universe, everything was ruthlessly predetermined at birth.
Look at Sairaorg Bael. He was incredibly powerful, but his lack of innate Demonic Power placed a hard ceiling on his potential. To even touch the realm of the absolute strongest, Sairaorg would have to sacrifice his entire life force. Meanwhile, anomalies like Sirzechs could casually sneeze and replicate the exact same level of destruction without breaking a sweat.
Vali was undeniably strong. But his raw Demonic Power tapped out just shy of the true Ultimate-Class tier. He was born as a High-Class Devil. He hadn't reached the apocalyptic level of planetary destruction, which was exactly why the current Four Great Satans largely ignored him.
In the original plot, Vali could fire a beam capable of vaporizing a 5,000-meter mountain. Impressive? Sure. But the Four Great Satans could do that with a casual flick of their wrists.
Admittedly, Divine Dividing was a slightly troublesome weapon. It allowed Vali to halve his opponent's power and aggressively absorb it into his own reserves. Plus, Vali had endured a brutal childhood, tormented by his father, which forged his iron will to survive and train under Azazel.
Yet, none of that mattered to Finn. In Finn's eyes, Vali was just an arrogant, prideful idiot completely blinded by his own pedigree.
Being a Lucifer made him arrogant. Wielding a Longinus made him feel chosen.
But Vali isn't the chosen one, Finn thought, glancing briefly at the terrified, perverted teenager hiding behind Rias. Issei is.
Finn had zero interest in exposing the truths of this world. He knew that no matter how hard Vali and Issei struggled, they would eventually hit a hard biological ceiling unless they received direct assistance from Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God.
Did Vali currently have Ophis's infinite energy backing him? No. Therefore, Vali was just a loud, shiny nuisance.
Even as Vali's armor shifted into a sleeker, infinitely more powerful Juggernaut state, and his twelve wings flared with absolute supremacy, Finn didn't take him seriously.
"Wan!"
Jin, the shadowy black hound, suddenly leaped out of the shadows, aggressively baring its fangs, ready to lend its God-killing power to Finn.
"It's fine, Jin," Finn said casually, reaching down to pat the legendary hound's head. "He is far too weak. Just stay back and protect the others."
"Wan!" Jin barked obediently, immediately stepping in front of Akeno and the holy women to shield them from the shockwaves.
While the Gremory and Sitri peerages stared in utter confusion at the cute, shadowy puppy suddenly acting as their bodyguard, Vali completely froze in the sky.
"You... HOW DARE YOU?!" Vali roared, his voice trembling with sheer, unadulterated rage.
Vali recognized that dog. He knew exactly who its original owner was!
Tobio Ikuse was an older brother figure to Vali. And seeing Tobio's legendary Longinus happily acting as a tamed pet for the Devil who had permanently crippled him sent Vali into a blind, murderous frenzy.
"Enough talking," Finn sighed, his golden eyes completely devoid of patience. "If you want to fight, then fight."
"I WILL MAKE YOU REGRET EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE! YOU ARE GOING TO BEG FOR DEATH!"
Vali exploded into motion. His speed was so terrifyingly fast that he literally turned into a blinding beam of silver light. He channeled every ounce of his hatred, his Longinus, and his Lucifer bloodline into a single, devastating strike aimed directly at Finn's heart.
No one on the battlefield could even track his movement.
Yet Finn?
"Balmung."
Finn was faster.
With a lazy, almost bored flick of his wrist, Finn swung the demonic Dragon Slayer sword.
A blinding, piercing blue light violently erupted from the blade. The demonic energy expanded instantly into a massive, hundreds-of-meters-long crescent of pure destruction. The apocalyptic wave of blue light effortlessly cleaved through the sky, completely engulfing the silver beam of light that was the White Dragon Emperor.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!