The forest that surrounded the old, desolate building was silent. There was nary a sound nor a living being in sight, other than a group of five that skulked behind a dense thicket of greenery. The trees would not move and the grass would not wave in the wind. "Not the best night for a stealth operation." Issei Hyoudou, one of members of the group of five, had muttered.

"So what do we do?" Rias Gremory asked in response, her arms folded against her chest. Issei shot her an annoyed look and sighed. With their earlier conversation still fresh in their mind, Issei had expected the Devil to remember what they were supposed to be doing. It's not as if they were planning to sneak into the abandoned church and assassinate Kokabiel; Issei had explicitly mentioned that he and the Gremory peerage would launch an assault or skirmish of some kind instead.

"Gremory, we're going to assault the church. You know, that thing where you guys blow everything up?" Rias sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose. She wasn't prepared for what they were going to do. Attacking a Fallen Angel base that may temporarily house one of their strongest warriors was suicide, especially if you didn't have the power to defeat them. But Gremory knew she didn't have to worry about Kokabiel. Something was telling her that Issei could defeat the Angel of the Stars, even if the human did look weak.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it. We defeat the small fry, you take on Kokabiel, and everyone wins. Correct?" Issei chuckled. It was questionable if everyone would win, but the odds did seem to be in their favour.

"Somewhat. Anyway, I'm going to go now. Don't come in until I say you can." Issei watched as Rias sighed before he burst through the thick clump of bushes that hid them from an outsider's view, his hands placed in his pockets. As he approached the large double doors that were made of a hard wood, he contemplated how he would enter the building. Did he want to kick the door open and vaporize anyone that may be in there with fire magic? Or would he jump through the door and create a hole it? Maybe he would destroy the whole wall just by walking through it.

Issei came to a stop in front of the doors. He glanced up at the small circle of stained glass that comfortably sat above the arching doors and huffed in amusement, noting that the church seemed to be more of a small cathedral with its stained glass, high ceilings and spires. It was different from what Issei had seen in his own timeline and the omnipotent human could confirm this. In fact, in all of the other timelines he had seen, it had still been the same abandoned church that had a simple design, not a small cathedral that was grand and luxurious.

With a raised foot, hands still in his pockets, Issei planted his foot against the double doors and forced them open, the hard wood cracking as they smashed against a wall on either side of the entrance. Issei peered into the building, furrowing his brow at the lifeless interior. There were many rows of pews with an extravagant altar that was covered by a golden trimmed fabric sitting at the end of the building on a raised platform. There was also large coloured windows that depicted several religious figures and events, obscuring any view to the outside world, with a large circular pane high above the altar, barely illuminating the walkway between the pews. But, despite the fully furnished and untouched interior, the building was devoid of life.

There was absolutely nothing, "Well, that was anticlimactic." Issei slowly muttered, further observing his surroundings in case Kokabiel had planned an ambush. Not that Kokabiel knew of their planned assault; the Fallen Angel had thought he had done quite a good job in hinting that he was under orders from the Grigori.

However, Issei could see through Kokabiel's earlier statement. The Fallen Angel was betraying Azazel, a topic that Issei had briefly mentioned before their fight, so it would be an embarrassment for Rias to claim that Azazel was at fault for what he had 'ordered' Kokabiel to do. So, with Issei's knowledge of many timelines and his own experiences, the human knew that Kokabiel would be somewhere in the human world.

Somewhere overseas was obviously too far for the ordinary Fallen Angels to travel, so if Kokabiel wanted backup in a fight, he had no choice but to stay in the local area. The town that Rias had lordship over was the best choice, Issei concluded, as he could easily hide from the naïve Devil. It wasn't as if she was powerful enough to take him down in the event that he was discovered, so the Angel of the Stars should be more than confident in his ability to stay safe in case he really was discovered.

Issei slowly approached the altar after confirming that there weren't any enemies that were hidden in the shadows. However, even if Issei did have the ability to strengthen his body with magic, he wasn't able to increase his night vision, so if a Fallen Angel or Stray Exorcist was fully dressed in black and was standing in a corner away from the moonlight, they'd be able to hide from the human as if it was child's play.

And that is exactly what had happened.

A man pushed himself off of a wall in a corner and silently approached the altar, stopping short of the extravagant structure. He clasped his hands together in a prayer, muttered a few words to himself and turned around, his red eyes sharp. He wore a black fedora, black coat, black pants and an unusually dark red scarf that covered his mouth with a pair of black boots that covered his feet. There was a gun that sat in a thigh holster and a sheathed sword that was connected to his waist.

"A Stray Exorcist…" Issei whispered to himself, his fingers twitching in anticipation, an indescribable feeling welling up inside of him. Issei's breath quickly became ragged as a grin spread across his face, insanity threatening to consume him as the Stray Exorcist slowly made their way down the stairs of the platform that the altar was built on. Issei's mind temporarily became blank before his thoughts came back to him, all preconceived notions of stopping his insanity disappearing in favour of thoughts that involved the murder of the Stray Exorcist. In the back of Issei's mind, he knew he had fallen to his insanity once more.

"Indeed." The man's gruff voice echoed throughout the hall as he spoke, sending shivers down Issei's spine. The omnipotent human's grin morphed into a toothy smile of madness, a quiet chuckle building up in his throat. "My name is Freed Sellzen. What is yours, human?"

"My name is Issei Hyoudou. It's a pleasure to meet you." Issei bowed so as to mock the Stray Exorcist. Freed stopped short of Issei and stretched his fingers out as he prepared to grab his gun, intending on ending the human in front of him.

Freed wasn't killing Issei because of his friendship with a Devil but because of Issei's insanity that had been displayed as soon as Freed had shown himself. It was quite pitiful in his mind. After all, a human that had fallen to madness instead of harnessing his powers was something that required some pity, even if it was just a little bit. "You…are you associated with the Devils of this territory? I sense their presence in the area…" Issei's chuckled in response, his eyes tightly shut.

"Even if I told you, it wouldn't matter." Freed rose an eyebrow in response to Issei's ambitious statement.

"Hoh? You think you can beat me, human?" Issei chuckled in response and was in front of Freed in an instant, his hand in the form of a fist as he pulled his arm back. Freed widened his eyes in response and twist his body to the side to dodge the strike, surprise consuming his mostly concealed face.

"Of course I can, Freed!" Issei muttered as his initial strike missed, multiple thoughts rushing through his mind. The rational side of Issei was telling him that Freed wasn't supposed to be sane; the Stray Exorcist should be the deranged man that had a vulgar mouth and a violent personality. His irrational side ignored his rational side and told Issei that all of it didn't matter and that as long as he killed Freed, everything would be ok.

Issei realised that it was his irrational side that was feeding his insanity, but it was too late to stop his transformation. He was already insane and had become what Freed should be, but as the Stray Exorcist dodged another strike from Issei, the omnipotent human came to realise that it didn't matter. Not in the middle of a fight, anyway.

Freed's change in personality was a difference in this current timeline, Issei had quickly noted as he dodged a swift jab from Freed. It was strange when Issei thought deeply about it. Had he really noted many differences in other timelines? Sure, there were some things that would stay the same, but was it ever this different?

It wasn't. It never was. In hindsight, Issei should have realised that he was the one that changed, nothing else, and because of his changes, every event would end in various ways. He was always the cause for everything that happened. He was the one that made things change.

But now…now it was all different. From the Ars Goetia, to Rias' bratty attitude and now Freed. The changes weren't many, but they were still there and they puzzled him. But Issei had to dispel his thoughts. He needed to defeat Freed and then Kokabiel before he could think about such things.

Issei caught Freed's fist as it flew towards him and grinned as he began to twist it, a growl coming from the Stray Exorcist, "Oh, no you don't." Freed muttered as he reached for his pistol, his hand immediately on the grip as he drew it from its holster. Issei was forced to let go of Freed as he jumped to the side. A bullet – a real bullet – was fired from the barrel, the gunshot echoing throughout the hall.

Issei ducked to the side, barely missing the second bullet, before he rushed forward, Freed placing his gun back into his holster with a click of his tongue. Freed's gun wasn't any ordinary weapon. Unbeknownst to Issei, it was capable of firing both normal bullets and light bullets with the flick of a switch; Freed was free to choose what kind of ammunition he could fire if he channelled a bit of his magic into a seal on the trigger. To make matters worse, it wasn't a revolver or a gun that required one to fan the hammer for rapid shots; it was a standard nine millimetre semi-automatic pistol which would allow one to fire all of the ammo of a clip in a matter of seconds.

It was a convenient weapon for a Stray Exorcist that constantly dealt with the undead and other demonic beasts, as well as the occasional human.

"You're pretty good!" Issei muttered as he ducked under a roundhouse kick that would have hit him in the head. Taking advantage of Freed's opening, Issei reached up to grab his leg.

"You are much better than I expected you to be." Freed muttered in response, a hidden grin forming on his face as he used the momentum from his earlier attack to form a dropkick that would surely connect with Issei's skull, even if the transition between movements was almost impossible for an ordinary person.

As Freed's leg fell through the sky, the wind screeching around it as it flew through the air at superhuman speeds, Freed's confidence in his victory skyrocketing. However, as soon as his leg should have hit Issei, it connected with nothing but air, continuing its trajectory until it hit the floor, creating cracks in the stone.

Freed rapidly glanced in every direction possible, trying to find Issei. But he couldn't find him. The omnipotent and seemingly insane human was gone as if he had never existed. There wasn't a single trace of his existence. There was nothing. "What the…" Freed muttered as he realised that the human was gone. A thought had occurred in his mind. Did that human even exist in the first place? Was his monstrous past finally making him insane? Was that human a physical representation of what he would become?

Freed narrowed his eyes. He hadn't looked above him and that was the only place the human could have been and if he wasn't there, Freed would declare himself to be mentally insane. It's not as if the human could be above him, anyway. It was certainly impossible.

Freed, with a knot slowly forming in his stomach, tilted his head back.

His eyes widened from shock. Hanging from the roof – no, standing upside down with the ceiling as the floor – was the human, his feet firmly planted against the stone. "You finally found me, huh?" Issei called out with a grin. Freed opened to his mouth to express his disbelief but in that very moment, Issei's hand was pressed against his forehead.

Freed was forced to the ground, his head smashing against the hard floor, a hiss coming from his mouth at the inconceivable pain, before Issei used the momentum of his fall to pivot his body into a roll, his feet firmly planted against the floor as he finished the smooth movement. He pulled his arm back, his hand still gripping Freed's skull, and threw the Stray Exorcist through a window with ease.

Issei watched as his opponent's back connected with a thick tree, the Exorcist falling onto his stomach soon after. He didn't move. Issei silently declared his victory as he straightened his back.

He fell onto his knees and planted his hands against the floor as the strain of the fight was too much for his weak body. He quietly gasped for air and watched as his sweat dripped onto floor. "Maybe that was overkill…" He quietly muttered to himself. Issei didn't mention his insanity. It was the second time it had happened. It wasn't a comfortable topic to think about.

"Are you…alright, Issei?" Rias called out from the broken window. Although the Stray Exorcist had been dealt with in a timely manner, Issei's behaviour wasn't reassuring in the slightest. Not after the conversation that the Devil had clearly heard from outside the church.

Issei glanced up at Rias and offered a shaky thumbs up. "Yeah…I'm dealing with some inner turmoil at the moment…going a little insane…" Rias furrowed her brow.

"Really?" Issei chuckled in response to Rias' question.

"No…no, I'm not going insane." Issei pushed himself to his feet and offered a small smile that he hoped would convey that he was doing fine. His insanity was only temporary. There was no way he needed to be afraid. He wouldn't lose his mind and kill everyone in the vicinity. Everything would be fine.

He hoped it would be fine, anyway.


Freed, huh? Nothing more to say about that, I guess. Although, maybe Issei's descent into insanity this time wasn't very clear or well expressed…oh well. Anyway, Kokabiel and his army are going down now. Anyway, this took longer than I expected because it's assignment/exam season at school and it's filling my time.

Thanks for reading!

See you next time!