High School DxD: The Man Who Surpasses God

[ARTHUR'S POV]

*Spits Blood*

I could feel it in the air, thick with tension and the rusty smell of blood.

The sacrificial platform was a mess of destruction, shattered stone and crimson pools surrounding us.

Manthar stood across from me, blood dripping from countless wounds, his breaths ragged and labored.

He was trying to summon another blood portal, no doubt to escape or grab another homeless guy to suck on.

"Oh no, you don't."

With a flick of my wrist, I conjured a barrage of swords and hurled them toward him.

They streaked through the air, slamming into his portal and shattering it before it could stabilize.

Manthar hissed in frustration, his voice ragged with pain and fury.

"You annoying brat!"

He spat, his red eyes glowing with venom.

In response, he summoned a swarm of blood orbs, each pulsing with malevolent energy, and sent them hurtling toward me.

They homed in on me like heat-seeking missiles, but I wasn't about to let them touch me.

Teleporting between them, I dodged most and conjured barriers to block the rest, each one fizzling out with a faint hiss of dissipating magic.

I grinned.

"Is that all you've got?" 

He snarled, raising his staff to unleash a blood-red beam of raw power.

I countered immediately, summoning a Gaster Blaster that fired a piercing white-blue beam to meet his attack.

The clash of energy was deafening, the collision of our magic shaking the entire platform as the beams struggled for dominance. 

"You cannot stop the inevitable, boy! Absalom shall rise again to create an age of bloodshed!"

Manthar bellowed, his voice hoarse but filled with unyielding resolve.

He gestured to the pool of blood around us, drawing power from it to strengthen his attack.

His beam surged forward, pushing mine back, inch by inch.

It was impressive, I'll give him that.

But I wasn't worried.

Not even a little.

"Are you sure about that?"

I asked, smirking as I dug in my heels, channeling more energy into my attack.

"Because you might wanna look down on yourself first."

His eyes flickered with confusion, then widened in panic as he glanced down at his chest.

The moment of realization was priceless.

There, glowing faintly on his chest, was a blue X mark, one I'd planted during our earlier clash, hidden in the chaos of battle.

Before he could react, I pointed my free hand upwards.

Mnthar was then sent flying into the air with a startled cry.

He crashed into the massive chandelier above the platform, his body slamming into it with a sickening crack.

And then, like a pendulum, I swung him.

"Up and down. Up and down. Up and down."

Each impact reverberated through the chamber like a drumbeat of finality.

Finally, with one last, powerful swing, I slammed him back down into the center of the platform.

The stone beneath him cracked and shattered as his body hit the ground, broken and utterly defeated.

Blood pooled around him, his breaths shallow and wheezing.

He was barely alive, and yet his glowing red eyes still managed to glare at me with defiance.

I stood over him, my hands resting on my hips as I tilted my head, smirking down at his pitiful form.

"I told you. You weren't gonna win this fight."

I said, my tone casual as I looked around.

The aftermath of the battle was a grim sight to behold.

The catacombs were a landscape of destruction, the stench of death heavy in the air.

Corpses of vampires were strewn across the stone floor, and the eerie red glow of blood pools reflected the cold metallic gleam of the Terminators standing motionless, their work finished.

In the distance, I saw Belladonna guiding the human captives outside to safety.

"Well, that's one part of the plan done. But where are the others?"

I turned my gaze back to Lord Manthar.

He knelt in the center of the sacrificial platform, bloodied and beaten, his sinister aura diminished but not extinguished.

I stepped toward him, summoning a Gaster Blaster above me, its ominous hum filling the silence. 

"Hey, bloodsucker. Where are the rest of the humans?"

I demanded, my voice cold and resolute.

Manthar coughed, splattering blood onto the stone.

His lips twisted into a defiant, bloodstained grin as he chuckled darkly.

"Why don't you just finish me off, boy? I do not fear death."

He said, his voice hoarse yet mocking.

I frowned, summoning more Gaster Blasters to emphasize my intent.

Their sharp blue light illuminated his battered form and my tone hardened.

"Where are the other humans you're using as sacrifices?"

His laughter grew louder, more sinister, despite his broken state.

Struggling to lift his arms, he gestured broadly at the platform, his grin widening.

"Look around, boy. Where do you think all this blood came from?"

My eyes widened, my gaze shifting to the vast pool of blood surrounding us.

'I hadn't thought much since I was focused on the other human. But now that I think about it...'

I stared closely, something horrifying caught my eye.

"What the fuck?"

Human bodies, faint but unmistakable, were submerged within the pool.

My stomach churned, rage boiling to the surface as I turned back to Manthar.

Without hesitation, I lashed out, kicking him hard in the face.

His head snapped back, and he spat out one of his fangs, his grin unwavering.

"You piece of bat shit! I'm gonna drown you in holy water for what you did!"

I spat, my voice trembling with fury.

Manthar coughed again, chuckling through his pain.

"Killing me won't change anything, it will not bring back the dead."

He said, his tone maddeningly calm.

"Your efforts are futile. You'll never stop-"

"-the inevitable, yeah, I know. You sound like a broken record."

I cut him off, rolling my eyes.

"But what the hell are you talking about? News flash, you senile leech. You lost. The rest of the humans are safe. And last I checked, you need at least a thousand human sacrifices for this stupid ritual of yours."

Manthar's laughter grew louder, and it sent a chill down my spine.

His grin was a twisted mask of triumph.

"Who says anything about needing human sacrifices?"

He croaked.

I froze, his words sinking in like ice water injected in my veins.

"Wait. What are you-"

Before I could respond, I heard footsteps behind me.

Griselda approached, her sword glinting faintly in the dim light, her expression as composed as ever.

"Arthur, you done with your side of the battle?"

She said, her tone steady but weary.

Before I could answer, a faint, sharp sound cut through the air.

"Gunshot"

Griselda stiffened, a sudden, crimson bloom spreading across her chest.

"*Coughs blood* A... A-Arthur..."

She whispered my name, barely audible, before collapsing to the ground, her body limp and bleeding.

"Griselda!"

I shouted, my heart lurching as I ran to her side.

My hands trembled as I tried to stop the bleeding, pressing against the wound as she slipped into unconsciousness.

My eyes darted around, scanning for the shooter using Observe, but the shadows showed me nothing.

"Damn it!"

I cursed under my breath.

Then, I felt it, a shift in the air, heavy and oppressive.

The blood pentagram on the platform began to glow, its sinister light illuminating the chamber in a hellish red.

The ground beneath us trembled violently, cracks spidering outward as Manthar's laughter grew louder, more triumphant.

"Yes! The plan worked! Now the ritual is complete!"

He roared, his voice rising above the chaos.

Holding Griselda tightly in my arms, I glared at him with pure fury.

"What the hell did you do?"

I demanded, my voice raw with rage and desperation.

Manthar's bloodied face twisted into a final, victorious grin.

"I did what the other vampires thought was impossible! I ressurected the Blood God, Absalom!"

He rasped.

The catacombs trembled, the air thickening with oppressive energy as the ground split open beneath the glowing sigil.

A low, guttural growl emanated from the depths, and an unnatural light began to pour out. 

I could only hold onto Griselda, fury and fear battling within me, as one thought came across my mind.

'Fucking plot twist.'

[THIRD PERSON POV]

As the catacombs trembled, bathed in the eerie crimson glow of the blood ritual, Lord Manthar stood triumphant at the center of the platform.

His battered and broken form seemed reinvigorated by sheer spite and the impending culmination of his dark design.

His voice, though rasped and pained, carried with chilling clarity through the chaos. 

"In the past, to ensure that Absalom would never return, God Himself bind his soul with a powerful seal. The seal was forged with the blood of a thousand devoted followers and the blood of a Holy Maiden. With this seal, Absalom's soul was hidden in a place unreachable by anyone but God."

Arthur's grip tightened on Griselda as he listened, his eyes blazing with fury and dread. Manthar's laughter echoed once more, triumphant and malevolent.

"But God's seal is not unbreakable. For years, I searched for the key ingredients to undo what the Almighty has wrought. The first is the blood of a thousand devoted believers of Absalom. It took years of patience and promises of power, glory, fortune, and pleasures. Fools, the lot of them, so eager to be swayed by empty words."

Arthur's stomach churned as his eyes darted to the numarous vampire corpses and the blood that fowed from within them.

"The second is the blood of a Holy Maiden. This one was tricky as the Vatican guards their precious Maidens zealously, but when I learned of her, the Holy Maiden turned Exorcist, Griselda Quarta, I knew what I had to do. This plan of kidnapping a thousand humans was merely a ruse to lure her here." 

Arthur's heart sank as he glanced at Griselda, unconscious and pale in his arms, her blood now feeding the accursed pentagram. 

"And the final piece of the puzzle..."

Manthar said, his voice lowering almost reverently.

"It is a Holy Relic imbued with power over life, death, and souls. A relic of unspeakable potential. Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon such a prize before my defection from the Tepes Faction."

A crimson portal opened in front of Manthar, and from its depths emerged an object of holy radiance.

The Sephiroth Graal.

Its surface glowed with divine light, illuminating the chamber with an oppressive, holy presence

Even Manthar winced as the Holy Grail's aura burned at his undead form, but he did not falter.

Arthur's eyes widened, recognition and dread striking him.

'Valerie.. but that means they finally split the three grails apart.'

He thought, the worst-case scenario unfolding before his eyes.

Manthar's grin stretched wider as he gripped his staff, now glowing with stolen power.

"And now, watch as I call upon the arrival of the Blood God!"

He slammed his staff into the ground with all his might, sending out a shockwave of blood magic.

Arthur, Griselda, and the Excalibur Destruction were thrown back violently, hurtling far from the platform.

Despite the impact, Arthur clung tightly to Griselda, shielding her from further harm as they crashed into the stone debris.

Manthar raised his arms high as the corpses of the thousand fallen vampires began to wither and collapse into ash, their lifeblood drawn upward.

The blood swirled and coalesced at the center of the platform, forming a massive floating orb of pulsating crimson energy.

The Sephiroth Graal pulsed, and from its mouth emerged a smaller orb of radiant crimson, bound by shackles of pure white light.

The elderly vampire began his chant, each word reverberating with an ancient, sinister power.

"Blood spilled in devotion, now unshackle thy rage."

"Chains of the divine, shatter under crimson might." 

"Soul forsaken, rise anew from the abyss."

"Reclaim your throne, O Blood God, Absalom!"

The white shackles binding the crimson orb began to crack, then shattered entirely.

The massive blood orb was drawn into the Sephiroth Graal, merging with the smaller orb.

A moment of deafening silence followed before a surge of raw, infernal energy erupted. 

A massive, blood-red beacon shot upward, piercing the catacomb's ceiling and ascending into the city above.

The ground quaked violently, the very fabric of reality seeming to waver as the ritual reached its climax.

Manthar's laughter grew louder, echoing through the collapsing chamber. 

"It is done!"

He roared, his voice filled with triumph.

"Absalom returns!"

[AUTHOR'S NOTE]

Hello readers!

Here's a little gift from me to you guys.

Merry Christmas!

Thank you everyone and see you later!