The battle between Arishem and Vali Lucifer reached heights that shattered the sky itself. With the Juggernaut Drive fully activated, Vali had transcended his usual limits, his silver-white aura warping the very space around him. His draconic armor pulsed with power, his presence overwhelming, but the Seraphim before him remained unmoved, standing amidst the devastation with an almost detached expression.
"Are you finished?" Arishem asked, his voice calm but filled with an undercurrent of finality.
Vali's lips curled into a wild grin, his glowing blue eyes narrowing. "Not even close."
"Half Dimension!"
With a single declaration, the space around Arishem distorted, folding in on itself. The very fabric of reality twisted, seeking to crush him in half, to compress his existence into nothingness.
Arishem lifted a hand, and his silver wings expanded, releasing a wave of divine energy that forced the warped space outward. The compression stalled, the divine force pushing against Vali's ability with overwhelming resistance.
Vali clicked his tongue. "Tch! Still standing? Then let's see how long that lasts!"
"Divide!"
Arishem felt it—his strength was being drained. The Juggernaut Drive's ability to divide and weaken was clawing at his immense power. His celestial glow dimmed slightly as Vali's power surged in response. The White Dragon Emperor's aura swelled, the energy stolen from Arishem fueling his frenzied state.
But Arishem did not react with surprise or concern. His silver eyes simply narrowed.
"Pathetic," he said.
Before Vali could capitalize, Arishem vanished.
The archangel reappeared in front of Vali instantly, his Hand of Wrath surging forward like a radiant spear. Vali barely twisted his body in time, but the mere proximity of the attack sent a shockwave through his armor, cracking pieces of it.
He retaliated with a tail strike, the motion too wild, too instinctive—he was slipping. The longer the fight went on, the more his thoughts became clouded by the Juggernaut Drive's madness.
And yet, he grinned.
"Boost!"
His power doubled. His speed blurred. He attacked without hesitation, his movements erratic and primal, shifting between teleportation bursts and clawed swipes backed by draconic destruction.
Arishem countered each blow with precision, but even he noted the change—Vali was becoming unpredictable. He fought not with strategy, but with raw instinct and chaos.
A savage right hook forced Arishem to block, the impact sending shockwaves rippling outward, collapsing clouds in the distance. The battlefield below trembled, the sky flickering between light and shadow.
Vali's breath was ragged, but his power only grew. "This… This is what I've been waiting for!" His voice had taken on an unsettling edge, his wild eyes betraying the creeping madness of the Juggernaut Drive.
Arishem narrowed his gaze. This had gone on long enough.
He lifted his hand.
"Benediction."
A pulse of pure white light erupted from his palm, washing over the battlefield like a sacred tidal wave.
Vali's body locked up.
A strange force weighed down on him, restricting movement, suppressing his chaos, halting the uncontrollable rise in his power. His aura dimmed, the instability of the Juggernaut Drive stabilizing against his will.
"W-What—?"
"Divine correction," Arishem intoned. "Benediction cleanses all corruption and disorder. Even your madness is not exempt."
Vali's mind cleared. His instincts reeled back, the rampant, savage destruction of the Juggernaut Drive muffled as if shackled by an unseen force.
But then—
His grin returned.
"Nice trick," he admitted, forcing his body to move despite the suppression. His wings flared, the power of Albion's will surging through him. "But I'm not done yet."
His aura shifted, the Juggernaut Drive fighting against the divine influence. Even now, Vali was adapting, his defiance refusing to be silenced.
Arishem's wings spread once more.
"Then let me silence you."
He raised his right hand, and the skies turned golden.
"Goetia."
A massive glyph appeared above them, shimmering with ancient divine script. The moment it manifested, the very laws of the world shifted. Time slowed, gravity reversed, and space cracked like glass.
Vali felt his soul tremble.
The glyph unleashed its judgment.
Blades of divine wrath rained down from the heavens, each strike an execution of absolute power. The air burned. The atmosphere screamed. Reality itself seemed to protest the existence of such an attack.
Vali roared, throwing everything into one final Dragon Breath, its light clashing against the cascading destruction from above.
The battlefield below was bathed in radiance and ruin.
The storm of divine power reached its peak—
And then—
"VALI!"
A distortion in space. A portal.
Bikou emerged, eyes wide with alarm.
Before Vali could resist, Bikou grabbed his shoulder, the swirling magic pulling them both out of existence.
Arishem's final blow descended—
And struck empty air.
Silence.
The battlefield stood scarred and broken, the celestial light of Goetia fading into oblivion.
Arishem lowered his hand, silver eyes unmoved.
"How tiresome…"
Below, the remaining forces trembled, witnessing the aftermath.
Michael clenched his fist, his golden aura still blazing from his previous battle.
"A power like that…" he murmured, glancing at Arishem with a mixture of awe and apprehension.
The other leaders locked in their own battles felt a shudder run through them. What manner of being had they truly unleashed?
And as the dust settled, as the remnants of war flickered in the air—
Arishem turned his gaze toward the heavens.
"Enough distractions."
He lifted his right hand once more, his silver aura pulsating.
"Let judgment continue."
The battlefield lay quiet for a breathless moment, the aftershock of Goetia still rippling through the scorched skies. Then—
Arishem raised his hand, and a gentle yet divine light pulsed outward. The broken, wounded, and fading forms of countless angels—those who had suffered from Katarea's Sea of the End and the chaos of battle—began to heal. Wings reformed, shattered bones mended, and their holy light flickered back to brilliance.
A calm wind followed.
Then came judgment.
From the heavens themselves, twelve colossal pillars of divine fire descended in silence, each one crashing down like a celestial hammer.
The Descending Pillars of Judgment.
Each column obliterated the remaining enemies—rogue magicians, stray devils, corrupted hybrids—turning them to ash without a sound. The battlefield became a wasteland of light and smoke, silence reigning as the divine wrath finished its purge.
And then—he vanished.
Arishem appeared beside Michael, who had just finished defeating his own opponent, his golden armor cracked but radiant.
The Archangel of Mercy leaned close and whispered something only his brother could hear.
Michael's eyes widened slightly before softening. He gave a single, solemn nod.
Without delay, Arishem turned from his brother and appeared before Sirzechs Lucifer and Serafall Leviathan, his presence heavy, undeniable.
His twelve silver wings folded behind him like the pages of a holy scripture as he spoke with unshakable authority.
"You will hand over Diodora Astaroth to face Heaven's judgment." His voice echoed unnaturally, as if layered with something ancient and cosmic.
"Additionally, the peerage he soiled—those wrongfully excommunicated nuns and defiled holy maidens—will be transferred to Heaven's protection, where they will be cleansed and restored. This is not a request."
Serafall's tone turned sharp, her usual levity completely gone.
"Is that a threat, Arishem? Because if it is—"
But he interrupted her mid-sentence, his gaze shifting lazily to meet hers, void of any warmth.
"You've lived too long to ask such silly questions, Leviathan."
The air tightened.
Even Sirzechs, who was calm as ever, could feel the pressure rising—like a divine trial was already underway.
"Your system protected monsters like Diodora," Arishem continued.
"You have one chance to prove that your so-called new order does not repeat the sins of the old. Do not waste it."
He stood there, silent, unblinking—no fury, only certainty. The kind that couldn't be argued with.
Sirzechs exhaled slowly. "…Let us speak privately. There may be a way to resolve this peacefully."
Arishem didn't nod. He simply turned his back to them and began walking toward what remained of the battlefield, each step igniting runes in the air beneath his feet.
Serafall gritted her teeth but said nothing.
The message had been delivered.
And Heaven… was no longer willing to wait.