A New Morning (Quest) [Highschool DXD]

[X] Ea, The Star of Creation. A precision tool in the shape of a drill that allowed me to shape and create planet sized objects to my specifications. It was easy to use, and I could tone it down to perform some minor landscape shaping if I were so inclined.

"Uniting dreams beneath a banner of conquest... I praise your efforts, at least. But have you not learned, foolish warriors? Dreams disappear when the dreamer awakens - every last one of them, with no exception."

The King of Heroes stretched out his arm, and lifted the golden key. Strange and arcane mechanisms sprang to life, the hilt rippling and churning erratically as irregular chunks span and twisted into a new configuration. A moment passed, and then it locked into place, and began to glow.

A forest of crimson lines spread into the sky, like the canopy of an ancient tree; in pattern they perhaps resembled the Magic Circuits that were the foundation of a magus' craft, but orders of magnitude more complex, looping and twisting recursively, passing through space in impossible manners, branching out into more dimensions than merely three. They lasted only an instant before evaporating away, but that instant was enough.

"Therefore, it was inevitable that I would be the one to stand in your way... 'King' of Conquerors."

Gilgamesh raised his hand once more - but now, what he clasped in it was something other. Something that was at once crude and blunt, unrefined, and yet undeniably perfect for its task, having been crafted by a masterful hand. This was a thing from before even the merest inkling of the concepts of 'sword' or 'tool' as mankind understood them, something that could not lay claim to any of these appellations and nonetheless remained exactly what it could not be. The tapered, blunt conical structure bore eye-watering red markings that looked, from the corner of one's eye, to burn with power, shimmering as if obscured by a heat haze; the black material of which it was formed seemed too dark to be wholly real, consuming all light that fell upon and leaving only an infinite void in the otherwise fleshed-out landscape that drew the eye like a gaping wound.

"Now, know the end of your eternal dream: I shall show you the stark reality."

Thrusting it into the sky, the King of Heroes took on a triumphant expression as a shudder seemed to pass through Alexander's Reality Marble. The cone began to spin in three parts, each counter to its neighbours, visible only by the movement of the crimson filaments that threaded across them.

"Awaken, Ea! A stage worthy of you has been set!"

Abruptly, the spinning increased in velocity - and that shudder returned, throbbing lowly through the space around them, an ominous drumbeat felt not in the chest but in the soul. The red markings began to pulse, and in their frenzied spinning, a pattern began to emerge, brought forward by the strobing flares of power as connections were made and broken with each revolution.

"Look up and behold! Enuma Elish!"

Gilgamesh brought his hand down.

There was a moment of silence.

The King of Heroes looked at his empty gauntlet in consternation.

"Wh-"

AH. SO THAT'S WHERE I LEFT IT.

The words thudded into place like great leaden slabs, not so much spoken as merely understood by all present.

Abruptly, a great radiance descended upon the blasted desert. Shielding his face with one arm, Gilgamesh turned, fury written across his features, and then abruptly brought himself up short, paling. Before him, floating effortlessly above the sand, was suspended a blazingly bright figure, the indistinct shape of a human form just barely visible through the searing light it shed. Outstretched about it rose a multitude of what might have been wings, if wings were fifteen, perhaps twenty, meters in length and formed of a radiance that was if anything brighter than that of the body to which they were attached. Each of these wings seemed at once to be settled calmly in place and constantly, powerfully beating, the threads of power within them contorting without cease - reminiscent, perhaps, of the structure brought forth by the Key to the Gate of Babylon, but incomparable in its infinitely greater complexity.

Clasped in one of the figure's hands was the impossible 'sword' - but where before it had seemed something wrong, that should not have been, here it looked natural, as if it had finally found its proper place. The figure itself, despite the pain it caused to even the eye of a Heroic Spirit to look upon, drew attention in at once much the same and an entirely different manner as Ea had, as something apart from the world; however, it seemed less a primordial emptiness or a 'wound' than it was a font of 'being', something that was indefinably but absolutely more 'real' than what surrounded it. Merely to look upon it was to know that your weapons would shatter against its existence, your magecraft would fail, that all you could bring to bear would be for naught - for compared to this existence, it would be as dust upon the wind.

This was 「Lucifer」 , 「The Morning Star」, the firstborn son of「YHVH」.

Of course, Gilgamesh was rather well-known for his pathological inability to accept that there was any greater authority than himself.

"So, you dare to steal from the very hand of the King? In recognition of your work in creating the world over which I rule, I suppose I shall offer you this one cha-ngrk"

Though the figure made no motion, a great and terrible attention fell upon the King of Heroes, and for the first time in his life Gilgamesh found himself kneeling before another as its weight crushed him to the ground.

THERE IS ONLY ONE WHO RULES ABOVE THIS WORLD, AND THAT ONE IS NOT YOU.

Lucifer lifted Ea, turning it to and fro, examining it.

AT THE VERY LEAST, YOU HAVE KEPT MY DRILL IN GOOD CONDITION. IT IS HELPFUL FOR PRECISION WORK, AND I WOULD HAVE BEEN... DISPLEASED... HAD YOU MISUSED IT.

Gilgamesh sucked in a gasping breath as the attention lifted.

REGARDLESS, THIS PETTY QUARREL OF YOURS IS NO CONCERN OF MINE. I SHALL TAKE MY LEAVE.

Halfway through rising up into the air, radiance building, he paused.

THOUGH PERHAPS I SHOULD FIRST WARN YOU - THE SO-CALLED GRAIL YOU SEEK IS NO ARTEFACT OF MY FATHER. ITS POWER IS LIMITED BY MORTAL COMPREHENSION. AND EVER SINCE THE EINZBERNS' INDISCRETION IN THE THIRD OF THESE LITTLE RITUALS, IT HAS BEEN TAINTED BY THE TOUCH OF THE ADVERSARY. I WOULD BE WARY OF IT, WERE I YOU.

Lucifer did... something... with his hand, and Ea disappeared.

I BELIEVE THAT SHOULD BE ALL.

The Light flared for a moment, washing out the colours of the Reality Marble and Alexander's army, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. When it died down, the Firstborn was gone.

Alexander looked at the collapsed King of Heroes, still gasping for air. Then he looked back at his army. As one, they grinned.

What followed was a much-needed lesson in humility.

 

In the end Ea, The Star of Creation was my preferred tool. While the basic idea on designing the universe was to create a system that would automate it's growth and generate celestial bodies without input, sometimes I had a destination in mind ahead of time and I wanted it to come to fruition quickly, at least for the time frames I was already used to.

Thus I used Ea to create and reset the settings on selected planets, to which I would then reshape into the form I wanted before gathering the data of the final product. With this data in hand I could run simulations on another tool of mine in order to determine the kind of events required for that particular world to come to fruition.

I suppose it could be used as a weapon in a pinch, like how a crowbar in times immemorial past were used to pry open crates and bash skulls.

~~O~~

Time passed, and while I can't say I mastered the creation of the universe, I certainly became proficient in it both on my own and aided with the tools I created. While before it took me a great amount of time to create an universe, now it was much faster.

Eventually he acknowledged me as being more than proficient enough to aid him in his own efforts to mold Creation.

Spoiler: New Trait

Architect of Creation
As his first lesson, Helel was taught how to create the universe. From the most basic element such as Dust to more complex structures such as entire galactic clusters, he mastered the forging of the universe. This grants him absolute Authority over beings made of dust and great skill in Light and Dust manipulation, almost on par with YHVH.

Effect: Helel mastery of the use of Light and Dust is unrivaled on the Celestial Host, as one who aided YHVH in the creation of the universe his scientific knowledge is second only to Him. If he wishes, he can force any being to acknowledge him as one of the Architect of Creation . +3 Authority.

~~O~~

HELEL, I BELIEVE IT'S TIME THAT YOU HAVE NEW SIBLINGS FOR YOURSELF

"Siblings father? I wonder what they will look like."

HOW ABOUT YOU SEE THEM FOR YOURSELF?

There was a blinding flash across a great expanse of the Void, as if everything was bathed by father's LIGHT, and an instant or an eternity later, something heavy was resting on my hands.

It was a baby.

I forced myself to look at father and stare.

DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT YOUNG MAN, YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT YOU WERE A SPECIAL CASE. YOUR SIBLINGS WILL NEED TO BE TAUGHT EVERYTHING THE SLOW WAY, AND THE FORM THEY TAKE NOW SHOULD PROVE ITSELF TO BE OPTIMAL FOR THEIR ADVANCEMENT

I looked down at the small baby in my hands. Soon, others would follow, but seeing my first sibling like this, I can't help but hope we would be close in the future.

[ ]His name was Michael, and he seemed to be a quiet one. He gave me the impression of a blazing ember, that stays and endures for a long time.

[ ]Her name was Michael, and she was an energetic one. My impression of her was that of a roaring bonfire, one that lights the darkness away.

AN: Long time since last update, also you can advance Helel if you want. Banking the xp might help in optimize things, but the more Authority you have at certain points in his development, the better the outcomes of certain events before you switch to canon DXD timeline. It's a question between having more power, or having better events when canon rolls out. It's your choice. Please vote the advancement in the plan format, since you can advance both in general Authority or by buying specializations, the latter you should be reasonable about.