Act.12 Sake & Brandy Alexander Part 1
20th August, Chikuzen province, Forest of Dead Leaves, Basement 22:07 pm
No one knew what was happening as a matter of fact. It was just 4 minutes since Issei had been separated from the duo of Xuelan and Ravel,with both having fulfilled their respective roles in the course of the plan. The whole ceiling of the building was demolished from the sheer impact of Issei's fall throughout the last storey to the dark basement at the lowest level, smithereens and dust settled in as a form of a smokescreen while he regained his composure but was still shivering from the shock.
And much more shocked was the wounded Rook who's eyes widened in disbelief; she had faith in his ability and was prepared to die for her friend but for him to crash through and save her unadvertedly was a different matter. One could say it was nothing more than a sheer coincidence if those really happened.
The angels were crushed and thrown at random with some of them suffering great wounds and others fled as they saw the visage of the defeated Vali. They couldn't match this monstrosity in any way possible but they would die either way; be it by his or Kokabiel's hand.
"Those of you who are forced to fight against your will...leave. But if you stay... Then you'll regret it." after the smokescreen faded out of the scene, Issei released his grip on Vali and gently placed her on the side pillar of the basement while directing his gaze at the Fallen who remained next to Valper. They fled as they couldn't even dare fight him anymore,there was no reason to die in such a meaningless way.
But of course he expected this much from them. Valper Gallilei smirked with joy and excitement over the reappearance of the this target of the Church's authority. " Oh, so who might be this silly avenger? Oh, yes... The Red Dragon Emperor. I didn't expect you to beat that girl so easily but it doesn't matter. Your friend is dead by now." he chuckled with a ligh voice as he gripped his Excalibur up to his face and slowly moved a step ahead. " You see... I don't like it how people like you get what they want while others like us don't. Don't you think it's unfair? "
" It is. But i don't care now. " Issei took a look at his surroundings and then took out two Desert Eagles, the pair that he payed for anew, with their muzzles directed at the ground and the priest. He shot repeatedly at the Bishop with bullets laced with explosive properties but the Golems protected him head on.
Chunks of rock and dirt were removed by the ricochet of these bullets, their movement was slowed down enough to make a small gap for a throwing knife to pass through them as he used the remainder of his strength to run as fast as he could with both Vali and Xuelan under his arms. He was drained by the little fight they had with the silverish blonde Vali up in the skies, it was technically a tie as neither one did win against the other side aside from both suffering a violent flashback of their pasts. Enough to weaken them both mentally and physically. He was running with everything he had in his legs but was tiring out; the wounds were healed but his sense of dizziness, blurry vision and stress were getting heavy to control as he was barely clinging to the surface of his mind with the dead pulling from within to resurface once again.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! What to do now. I calculated the risk and such but i can't use the bombs yet. Phenex could be inside the building as far as i could tell."
He had passed through the basement and headed over to the outside of the building at the opposite direction with the goal to run towards the forest and hide. It was a dark corridor ahead of him,only pitch black was the color he saw before his eyes; he had enough to make a flame illuminate the road he was on and he kept going forward. Until he reached a dead end with bricks. It couldn't be there,it was never there from the start... It didn't feel like magic nor like an illusion so what was it exactly he didn't quite know.
Blasts of holy light entered the corridor like razor sharp crescents flew through the small space, swirling and spinning like a boomerang would with the target being Issei. "FUCK!" a loud roar escaped from the back of his throat; it was painful and wretched. The crescent slash had cleaved into his back with it taking the brunt of the hit. It burned his flesh a bit as he was only 3% Devil so he was highly tolerant to it unlike normal Devils with only the pain and slowed down regeneration taking any effect. Xuelan felt the radiance pass through her body like a raging storm,further damaging her already semi healed wounds.
"It's not fun if you run away, is it now?...Dragon-san?" slowly with the dreadful clatter of shoes on the black and dusty marbled floor, the Bishop Valper calmly spoke in a relaxed tone with his Excalibur held on his shoulders. Only peace and a boring expression of disinterest glowed through his horn rimmed glasses as the golems walked besides him in rows.
"I was expecting more of a struggle from you as well, Vali. You should have brought some of your buddies at the Khaos Brigade to do the work as you're quite incompetent... " he touched his mustache and moved his fingers over it, " It's you who let that priest get away, wasn't it? Well, it doesn't matter. I still have a surprise for you. "
Bringing the sword down to his legs,Valper smiled and switched the aura of Blood Excalibur to Destruction with a single tap on the pommel. The sword changed accordingly in the form of a large three pronged sword with an axe guard. He held it with one arm despite it's weight and designation as a 3 handed sword as if it were a simple stick with black slashes of destructive energy flying over towards the running away Issei. They were nothing like before- they were magnified in size and were mixed with a reddish tint of blood.
Issei couldn't escape now as he had reset to his base stats, his stamina and energy were consumed for the most with only his body moving in pain and still suffering from the insanity he was battling against. There was no time to think of a plan in this narrow space, his hands were occupied with holding two wounded combatants and if he slipped under,he would probably kill the people he held in his hands and wouldn't realize it.
[Current host of Ddraig, as it pains me to admit it... I require your help. Do as i say and we would have a chance of getting through this alive...Somehow...]
Albion spoke directly through the Divine Dividing to Issei with his voice of power enforced by the World.
Through Issei's mind flashed and idea; crazy. Most definitely crazy and probably stupid but it could work as Vali had regained enough consciousness to finally move but her leg was broken so she couldn't even stand. Before the shockwaves of chaotic matter reached them, with a push of his willpower he used [BOOST], and then within the same span of time switched to [TRANSFER] to use on the current host of the English Dragon with the words, "Go for it. Divide!"
The energy spread throughout Vali's body as a torrent of power reached to her Sacred Gear in manifesting it with renewed vigor. From her back the ethereal energy wings of the White Dragon blazed through the surface, Issei stopped in the last moment and rotated the arm he held Vali in to have her use her Divide on the incoming projectiles. It was surely an unheard tactic - to boost enough so it could be used to divide the energy coming at them in a begrudging union of those opposing elements.
The incoming attack was halved in it's pattern,splitting into tiny ribbons of energy with their course switched to shatter through the walls in order to create a large enough hole to pass through. It was his original goal; to somehow make an opening and try to escape. "* What's happening with Phenex. She should have escaped by this time now so i could blow this place up in the air. No sign yet. *"
["*Issei, watch out for Kiba... He's not in his right up the building. Now! I repeat, he's gone berserk.*"] through his communicator he heard the words of Ravel to activate the planted explosives and get out of there as soon as possible. But she didn't mention her location in the hurry as her communicator just stopped receiving any signal.
"Easier said than done. I'm carrying dead weight so don't expect me to go for it so easily."
With his pained movement he snuck through the hole on the left, connecting to a large spacious room filled with the research of Kokabiel on potential Sacred Gear hosts and weapons. It was a poorly illuminated room with dust and various remains of corpses, from previous experiments most likely. He was still feeling pain from the earlier attacks he took head on as the wounds were healing slower compared to his usual regeneration speed. If one thing was certain, it would be the possibility of getting submerged again and the past possessors rampaging with his body through the semi-constant Juggernaut Drive and would surely kill everything in the room, including Xuelan.
"Come out,come out wherever you are,little devil boy? Honestly, that Raynare was so incompetent on dealing with a simple human. Can you believe it?" the fat priest was walking slowly towards the end of the corridor with such amusement and disillusionment at the same time,making it hard to understand what was on his face exactly. But Golems weren't beings to question or think about such matters as trivial as these.
Issei was ready to use a custom teleportation circle he had crafted onto his suit's colar beforehand but the activation sequence was extremely wrong and botched; there was another layer present to prevent uninhibited teleportation and movement off the island and one could enter but not get out. It was the one thing preventing him from giving Xuelan the command to blow up the building as well as Ravel's current location unknown.
"Huang Chen, Phoenix Tears! Quick! " Issei bellowed to Xuelan to grab the remaining bottle of the magic elixir she had on her person to use as it was more than clear they had to make their way through the Golems by fighting. Issei didn't take any of the potions provided by the generous Phenex girl as they would be damaged by his brutal fighting style so he had the black haired Rook carry all of them.
Xuelan slid her fingers across a hidden compartment slot in her suit and handed him two small black canisters of the said potion with bitting off the caps of each to make the ingestion easier. Her eyes twitched when he gulped down half of the bottle with leaving her the other one to use.
Time was running out... Within seconds the fatass priest would be here with his full arsenal to counter them and he had yet to secure Ravel Phenex from her exact location as she was most likely struggling with keeping the shivering Devil in one place. "White Dragon girl, just this once! Fight with us and I'll give you the fight you wanted so much. It's a deal!" he roared in a pained growl of power all the while goading Vali to assist him.
With half of the bottle used up,Xuelan didn't have time for her approval as she jammed the bottle in her mouth before Vali could even realize what was happening from the adrenaline rush. It was a gamble they were willing to take - she could betray them or actually help them in surviving this madness. The prize he offered her was more than enough to motivate her to fight back, she was a battle maniac for a reason.
Issei dropped them gently on the ground as placing glass on a table of cards. His wounds were almost healed up to the normal state, the added bonus of having a resistance to Excalibur Destruction was surely to be of great use against the threat the holy blade posed. Xuelan was back on her feet fully rejuvenated and armed with her bladed tonfas in each hand in a defensive stance, relying on her durability as a Rook to stave off the advancing Golems. Vali removed her damaged bolero with a light swung of her left arm to the right while her broken knee was fully recovered even with just half of the regenerative potion as most of her stamina was back to normal.
XXX
20th August, Chikuzen province, Forest of Dead Leaves, 22:03 pm
"You filthy Angel! To think a mere servant could push me back so much when i have the original Excalibur!" Kokabiel shrieked in the enraged voice of the eldritch abomination he was with it's monstrous pressure rebounding through the vacuum his blade produced. The Fallen Cadre was being pushed back despite his best attempts to finish off the Major, he was not even tired of the assault of the multiple Excalibur clones being hurled at him every second.
Castor swung his daggers forward in the direction of the filthy Angel while having planned a possible escape route all the while. The swing of his daggers created a rift in space, it's holy properties were augmented by tapping into the ley lines of the island directly to deliver a brutal X shaped wave at Kokabiel's sword arm.
Before the impact could take place, Kokabiel erected a barrier of Excaliburs in a circular construct to shield himself from the incoming blast. The usurper of Excalibur proved his mastery with the holy relic despite being linked with it for less than 10 minutes, surpassing any previous wielder but King Arthur who had mastered it's secrets fully.
Matter versus shield collided against each other, ripping large chunks from the soil beneath their feet. Craters were being made by their ongoing strife, the whole battlefield was being morphed by the sheer tenacity both displayed in their combat style. The air was burning around them in white flames of radiance as his shield blocked the energy based attack with ease, it was getting harder to see in the blinding light it had made from the counter of two similar elements. But it was just enough to place his bet on that.
Castor was already upon the Cadre with both daggers aimed at his eyes to blind him. It was within the fraction of a second; in the last moment before his blades could connect the hit, an Excalibur Rapidly flew up to his face to parry the left knife while it wasn't so fast to stop the momentum of the other weapon with the result - Kokabiel's right eye was damaged beyond repair.
It was all a faint - Castor Zeble brought his right foot towards his face with a boot knife extending from it's sole while using the distraction he created a nanosecond ago. His blade ran against the skin of his neck,slashing an artery before being thrown off and barraged with Excalibur Destruction clones to act as a decoy while Kokabiel could pause for a second to stop the bleeding.
The Destruction blades ran amok with no accurate direction to aim for, be it due to their hastily deployment or due to the reaction speed he had deployed to dismantle each one of them but not without suffering damage to his white wings as Destruction was beyond their capacity to stop it's attack in it's tracks.
"You are good! I haven't had so much fun since ages." the bloodshot eyed Angel of the Stars could not contain his joy any longer than this. His face was painted with blood from his damaged right eye but there was still life in it, judging by the disgusting twitch it made. " You must be some new child of the Heavens, i have never seen you till this day, young Angel!" an audible laugh of irony and ridicule escaped from his twisted in a ugly smile mouth.
"Not an Angel. They didn't do anything to save them!" and Castor unleashed a multitude of fiery orbs of dark flames with the smell of brimstone emanating from each consecutive projectile. They were being knit from thin air, combusting and growing in size with each second before their initiation.
It wasn't the abandoned building they were by- a new landscape of the greatest blackness with it's crushing vastness was laid before the eye of Kokabiel. No buildings or life were present inside this closed off area of utter hopelessness, a place within reality and as well so distant from it's systems and reach. Time didn't exist as a concept in the shroud of darkness... It was beyond an artificial reality or another dimension... Nothing. There was nothing in there...but FEAR itself.
Kokabiel gasped in awe and fear by the beauty of each swirling with power flame.Terror gripped his every fibe,screaming for him to run away but he could not. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever witnessed in his milenia old existence; those were the ethereal, metaphysical flames of Gevurah, The Sephirah of Severity. And he was there no more... A silhouette of power and scorching heat was there in a humanoid shape with nothing but flames and a red hand were present. Something beyond logic and understanding, above all comprehension and any system to maintain the material world from causing a rift to the other side... Those flames did not burn within the frames of reality, they were burning through the soul and The flames associated with the Hand of God, the left hand of red which took shape on Castor's corresponding limb,ready to unleash the power with a name he was known for; not just the Unstoppable Soldier but...
"There is no need for you to reveal yourself to this false Angel. You should keep that for the final battle, my friend." Azazel was already there behind Castor. It was unexplained how he appeared on the field or if he had watched the whole skirmish from the sidelines. It didn't matter anymore - he was here for a reason.
"As you wish. I'll let you handle it then." Castor's voice struck a chord in Kokabiel's ears as the Fallen opened his remaining eye to only see there was no darkness or flames. Like it hadn't existed, an elaborate illusion perhaps but so real it was beyond any doubt it was terrifying to the marrow of his bones.
"So it seems your little game is over, false Angel. To think you would cause another war just to fulfill your ego, isn't that stupid? It ends here,Kokabiel. " Azazel had instantly turned towards the treacherous Fallen with his famed steel like gaze while maintaining the feeling of carelessness as his hands were lax and crossed over his chest with nothing to do but wait.
"You filthy traitor! How dare you call me a false Fallen? If anything", Kokabiel's anger spiked to optimal levels with multiple Excaliburs raised over his wings as projectiles, brimming with the power of Rapidly to enhance his speed and agility against the Governor. Nothing in his wretched tone was saying that he would give it up like that," you're the traitor who destroyed our pride and dignity! Haven't you had enough already? "
"For some great tactician you don't even know anything, do you now? Such a pity..." Azazel's voice sounded a bit off. It didn't feel like normal to Kokabiel as he had known Azazel since long ago, it was something unexplainable in the back of his head. Like it was something else entirely.
"YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!" charging straight with every blade he had created, Kokabiel flew upwards with directing the swords to act as arrows to rain upon the fool who dared question his authority and pride. Sword after sword began to fall with incredible speed at Azazel's direction, not stopping even for a second in their trajectory to gut and pinn down the First Cadre on the ground.
"Stand back, my friend. Let him have his fun while he can." with a strange motion of his fingers, Azazel pushed away Castor to a safe distance away from the target zone. An elemental shield wrapped around the African soldier and pushed him back to protect him from the blades of the Artificial Sacred Gear of Kokabiel.
Large flashes of light spread throughout out the whole forest; it became day for a single moment before night returned to it's rightful place in the next. It was dusty, the wind created from the aerodynamics of the clone blades had cleaved the ground in two - rock,soil, trees and every unfortunate critter was split into tiny pieces, hard enough to recognize what they were before the attack. And it was what he wanted to do,even Kokabiel knew Azazel couldn't withstand so much of an concentrated attack of an original Excalibur and on top it was a hundred of them that destroyed half the forest in one swing.
"It certainly does sting a little. It would be a pity to destroy it but I'll have to live without it." It was impossible, so impossible for the raven haired Fallen to hear his voice given his knowledge of Azazel's capabilities. It was surely by some trick again as he always knew he was a coward like no other.
From the dust arrived Azazel. But what was frightening about it was the fact of having his whole body stabbed with blades and not having used his wings at all to try to counter them. No blood was present when it should have been there as every Fallen bled like any other human being or Devil would. The earth was cracked across it's surface on hundreds of chunks around.
"Nice toy but not enough to kill me." he extended his hand, riddled with swords, towards the holy blade deep within his skull to remove it. A tight grip was pressed onto the handle of gold, twitching and swerving as he pulled it out of his face only to give him a whimsical smile."And that's the difference between an Original Being, a True Fallen. If you only knew, I'm sure you'd feel terrible about yourself." the rest of the duplicate swords of Rapidly were telekinetically removed from his body and fell of on the ground with no energy left in them. There was no blood,the gaps within the body closed spontaneously like some of the highest thaumaturgy spells possible. The miracle of Rejection...
Kokabiel could never forgive him this insult concerning his origins as he knew better than the hated Azazel. A barrage of black Nightmare scimitars were fired like a machine gun with their conjurer holding Ruler and a Rapidly to teleport and accelerate to the point of being nothing but a simple blur to the naked eye. Azazel continued to walk calmly against the volley of Nightmares as they had no effect on his mental state - he had conquered his fear of being alone in the dark forever and now they were nothing but mere sticks to poke at his thoughts. He even grabbed one just to mess around with the one eyed adversary.
Azazel moved upon instinct with only four wings revealed as he considered him worthy of such a number. He lifted the Nightmare copy above his head and with a gust of air became a blurry shadow, similar to Issei's visual and audio distortion ability only black in color. He moved to intercept the headed his way with matching speed while Castor was observing their fight with a loaded handgun for something he was instructed to do. Due to Excalibur Ruler's ability to tear holes in the fabric of reality due to it's Control ability, both were sucked up inside the vortex that formed with some of it spilling out on the material plane.
The two signatures clashed with similar but opposite forces- it was hard to keep track of their movements with a normal person's eyes as their fight was brought into the metaphysical realm of concepts. Within that vortex was their skirmish for dominance with both powers matching up to each other; Kokabiel began to mix his light spears with the properties of Ruler to subjugate his former leader as well as to summon a few guardian hounds to devour Azazel. From within the space behind him were three pentagrams and through these gaps came into being three hounds of black fur and red eyes with the sigil of Ruler over their foreheads.
The giant hounds jumped straight for his shoulders, their jaws extended towards his muscles with the command to tear instilled in them by the power of Ruler. Kokabiel moved in behind them to land a blow to his heart, but the hounds he sent crashed back at him with each one having a broken neck. Their blood sprayed the face of the red eyed lunatic with a warm,fuzzy feeling better yet undisclosed.
"Is that all you've got, Azazel! You can't beat me even with your regeneration speed - i just have to throw you out of here into the Dimensional Gap and it would be all over." he was laughing in such a disgusting way, only expected from an arrogant man who didn't care for his subordinates at all. He kicked the hounds by the side and stopped for a second in midair if a sky existed on the metaphysical plane.
"You didn't know, did you? All those years ago you made Raynare fall and twisted her personality until she became like this,you sent her to kill the boy,right?. As expected of someone who can't bear the presence of the Heavenly Dragons. " Azazel made a remark, tying it back to the Second Faction War where Kokabiel's pride was so much damaged as the Welsh Dragon tore 3 sets of wings from his back. Something he would never let go of until the dawn of time.
Kokabiel began to throw the spears he had made after the first one with such anger it would make the nicest person ever to cower in fear over his menacing glare. "Tell me something Azazel" he began with his melodical voice of power, "Why did you do it? We could have won! And what's with that damn ring you are wearing non stop for 19 years?!" he roared in irritation with his leader.
"But first... Do you know what my name really means?" Azazel created a strong enough barrier to contain the subjugation of his being by the aura of Ruler. A few more pentagrams layed over the main one while he directed this innocent and yet so stupid question.
"Who has any time in dabbling over names,only fame and power are of matter to me. You're weaker than us even with that unnatural modification you performed on yourself!" instead, this time he personally drove his blades into his shield with enough pressure to crack it had enough resistance to divert his attack from being lethal.
"Then i shall tell you. It means for removal", pulling out a feather from one of his wings, Azazel pushed back from the barrier to a safe distance before he could continue, " It means something non-existent as well as the ritual of the scapegoat. You are a worthy adversary to bear witness to the truth you have been spared of. Then i shall show you who i really am." and his eyes glowed violet...
The nonexistent sound of a male goat burst into the ears of Kokabiel, bringing terror and death to his senses. No sound existed within the core of the metaphysical plane of existence yet he could hear it loud and clear with the song of the desert singing symphonies of the dead... The song of Death..
Eight more wings of darkness spread throughout his back with a shockwave that shattered all of his opponent's armament, stunning him long enough for the ritual to begin.
Azazel placed the feather before his eyes in what appeared to be a mundane gesture,only for his wings to glow darker than anything the world had seen. From within that feather a myriad of chains appeared around his whole body, bathing him in tainted ichor more vile than any sin of man could commit. A giant transmutation circle formed below his feet and many more around his body as the darkness dispersed into oblivion...
Twelve wings of splendor were revealed before the world as each chain was broken down into nothingness. The darkness retracted back into the form of a black armor surrounding his lower body and shoulders. Armor black and horned as the skull of the goat,with black Aramaic and Enochian scriptures glowing onto his arms and chest in the language of the Angels. And on top of Azazel's head was the skull of a male goat with the inverse pentagram on it's forehand, framing his face with two horns of white. The goat chosen for removal to die in the desert by God's will through the choice of the Israelites.
Extending his gaze towards Kokabiel, the words of truth he uttered were -
"And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel."
Chains of black bones spread throughout the surface of Kokabiel's body, rattling and screeching in every human tongue,both dead and living with the scream of the goat piercing through his soul to the core, "I am the True Azazel of this world, the sacrificial goat of the desert. I am the Angel who taught humanity the crafts of weapon and beauty and the witchcraft of the mages. And you shall be the sacrifice for removal! The goat for Azazel!"
His mind was in shambles; any higher reasoning was demolished with leaving only the primal instinct to survive driving Kokabiel to flee in terror. Whatever was left of his pride was now in vestiges,no words but screams were being retched out of his existence as the knowledge of dying was deeply engraved into his core,lobotomizing him beyond any recovery with the instinct to run and run before his eyes could see as he didn't even pay any attention to his missing left arm. It was the last thought he could ever make before escaping this plane of existence to the real world where Castor was waiting for him.
Kokabiel ran towards him mindlessly screaming as he only saw the burning with dark flames silhouette and it's red left arm stretched out towards him...
"May God judge you for the sins you have committed and grant you salvation. Rest in peace, wicked Angel." and with the pull of the trigger ended his life...
"Well that wraps things up. Shall we go home and have a drink,Major Zeble?" coming out of the rift in his laid back nature, Azazel dusted his jacket from any speck of dirt before closing in on the dead Star of Heaven.It was like nothing had transpired at all,it was that impression that Azazel made to the African man. Without a second to spare he asked,"Arthur couldn't arrive neither the Doctor. What exactly happened? "
"He had an unexpected surgery to perform and sir Mason wasn't feeling well. It's been quite bad for him these days,he shouldn't strain himself much." Castor's eyes were locked to the ground. Azazel could feel a deep sense of uneasiness and worry from the African Major, the way he averted his gaze and his grim tone unlike his usual gentle voice was more than enough to make him believe there was something wrong with the Irish swordsman.Something really wrong…
Castor lifted his head after a few moments of self reflection.What he was going to ask made him a bit concious of himself, "Would you mind- he began only to be interrupted by the Governor of the Fallen.
"On the contrary. Be my guest", courteously giving permission to devour him, Azazel had no intention of this to go to waste as the power of a Cadre could aid them directly in the approaching Apocalypse if should they fail. And Castor did what was necessary of him.
After having finished with his feeding,Castor could not contain his curiousity over the thing Azazel had done – to reveal his real identity like if the World recognized him and tried to remove him by sending him back to the other side?
"Was it necessary? Seemed like an overkill to me."
"Don't worry,I believe he was worthy enough to hear the truth…" Azazel looked over his onyx ring with a melancholy glimmer in his ring was something really important to him,it was the German who crafted it to let him freely roam in his own was the thing that fooled the system in believing he was still bound in Dudael.
"So what do his memories have in them? I say we have work to do left."
"I'll tell you on the way.."
And more so because of the ability Castor was granted twenty years ago when he was just a 15 year old boy. It had the side effect of granting the memories of the devoured which was quite useful - it was the alternative way to get the location if Vali didn't do her part.
And it's name was the same as his family - meaning the Harvest in one of the African dialects. Granting him the title of …..
XXX
20th August, Chikuzen province, Forest of Dead Leaves, Basement, 22:10 pm
Issei and company were struggling against the small army of Golems despite their best efforts to make a run for it. Even with their rejuvenated bodies due to the Phoenix Tears, the mental strain on their minds was debilitating with each second ticking away in the clock of time. It was especially hard for Issei as he was holding out barely with the voices in his head whispering and screaming for the blood of the wicked priest and much more of everything that lived in this abandoned building of death.
"I'm wondering if you were so powerful how did you end up dying to a mere Fallen,boy?" Valper was continuing to watch their struggle with the Golems as his mouth curled into a pensive smile. He was right but he clearly didn't know of anything else about the boy nor the curse that depowered his body and mind. If it were not for it,he could have used his magic skills to kill her but for the curse taking away all of his natural reserves and blocking any of his magic from happening.
Issei didn't pay him any attention as he was busy with chipping away the rock armor of one of the Golems with his strained hands. He slid his clawed arms inside the crack he made only for the Golem to generate two hands and tackle him to the ground. But it was a fact that Issei had managed to locate it's core but it was not one but two,which constantly moved around it's body and even if he disintegrated them fully - they would knit back in existence as he had to manually erase the E from EMETH to deactivate them.
Vali was crazed by the possibility of battling such enemies to test her might against as they constantly reassembled their forms until she had the luck to rip out one of the two cores,the real one and destroy the E thus deactivating it.
"More of these things are coming. They don't have any end, do they. Fuck,if only we could detonate the bombs it would go well. But i don't know if Phenex could survive it even if she's a regenerator."
Issei and Xuelan were glued back to back, acting as a guard for the other. It wasn't something strange for him to do - back in the forest in Argentina he had to fight with Sona acting as his partner in the same manner with each other covering the blind spots of one another. It was a memory he immediately recounted on the basis of being under the same circumstances as before. Vali was more of a loose canon and wasn't particularly interested in team play with them as of the moment.
"Sorry for being so late...Detonate the bombs on my mark. I'll think of something to get her."
While Vali was busy with dealing with a heap of Golems, Issei rotated around Xuelan's side with a rapid swing of his right arm and twisted his punch in a unnatural manner against the head of a Golem, sending it flying backwards. Xuelan zipped to the other side, her bladed tonfas were being used as batons to chip the eyes of a rock giant with a succession of rapid strikes. Then Issei rattled his arms to bring out a few daggers from the remainder of his sleeves to throw on the ground, grabbed the Rook by the forearms and jumped upwards with the ground shattering from his momentum - midair he released the blue eyed martial artist from his left hand and cracked a finger. It was a trigger, relying on sound to activate the trap he had learned from Arthur; the Golems were immobilized by threads of blood red energy and a combustion followed as they were falling through the ground.
Vali was gaining footing against the running priest, crossing the distance within the blink of an eye and ran her fist across the Bishop's face, slamming him hard against the wall. The recoil of her jab was enough to surprise him, he wasn't fast enough to utilize Rapidly to enhance his reaction speed thus crashing into the wall of the room head first.
Issei descended towards the end of the room with the Chinese girl in tow,grabbed her princess style to make it easier for running and prepared to make a run for it past the remaining Golems. He didn't pay attention to Vali as he placed all of his strength into his legs to escape, but not before having used Presence Concealment to avoid being sensed by whatever was left inside this citadel.
Like an arrow he passed through the corridor and dived in straight for the basement floor and stopped for a second to use a scanning spell to find out Ravel's location. He couldn't do that as he was required to stay still and focus for it to work. He saw the lumped off arm of the young Devil by the side and went to retrieve it, if he was dead might atleast have him buried in one piece he thought.
His scars were burning with an intense scorching heat under his clothes, which meant something was above them. Be it Ravel or some other supernatural being so he had to be careful with how to proceed but he didn't have much time for that so he dropped Xuelan on the ground. Focusing his energy into a giant Dragon Shot of unrestrained magic power,he raised his hand up to the ceiling and commanded it to pierce through the cement, opening a large whole big enough to pass. Grabbing Xuelan and pushing her closer to his body,he dug his legs into the cement to perform a giant leap for a second, destroying the floor in the process until he was at the third storey of the building.
"Let's look around and fast. " through his strained voice he wheezed a simple command as he removed his hands of the black haired Rook and took a moment to relax and catch his breath.
It was another corridor with multiple rooms to search for, only that he relied on his scars to pinpoint the exact location of this aura. It seemed quite familiar as it was the exact same aura generated by the members of the Phenex Family which meant it was Ravel for sure. With no time to lose, both combatants ran towards the door, with a mighty kick the former Rook of Riser Phenex brought down the metal obstruction called a door. Giving them free passage to look around and see what was happening...
Only to spot the young blonde girl beaten and kicked to the side while her regeneration was working to repair the damage she had been subjected to,most likely by Kiba's hand if her earlier statement was to be true. And Yuuto Kiba was nowhere in sight as of god knows when.
Xuelan ran towards the unconscious Ravel Phenex, almost tumbling in her attempt to reach her as soon as possible. With her knuckles tightened in fury, she knelt down to her dear friend who was suffering most likely and wrapped her damaged arms around the slender figure of her former owner's sister in a motherly embrace. She was so careful to lift her up as if she was fragile as glass and one wrong move could have caused her pain. A truly emotional scene for the eyes and the heart but was unceremoniously interrupted by the blunt edge of Issei's voice.
"We gotta move if you don't mind! " extending his left arm to summon the Boosted Gear gauntlet in mere seconds, Issei closed his eyes to focus on calling forth his Scale Mail Balance Breaker only for it to turn on him in this critical moment. Yet he wasn't feeling like he had lost his powers due to the curse as he summoned a magic formula just to be sure he could use magic.
"I'm working on it!" Xuelan was a bit irritated no doubt as she still felt pain from the Excalibur swords even with her healed wounds but he was right. There was no time to waste so extended her Devil wings to make a jump down from the window with Ravel in her hands.
" It seems these wings would get useful. Finally something to do with them."
Since he couldn't risk submerging again as it happened earlier, even rejuvenated he was experiencing difficulty with focusing so these wings would surely benefit as he had never used them for anything, he would never let it pass by that he became someone's bitch by being reincarnated into a member of the Devil race. Still ends justify the means so he instinctively spread out his altered Devil wings with black scales and spikes and prepared to dash through the window as a bullet through a sheet of paper.
"You ready for this? Detonate on my mark." he came closer to the window, it was framed with steel bars to prevent any prisoner the chance of escape but it was no problem for him to slide his hands across it, push his strength over them and rip off the whole window in one swing to make a large hole, big enough for a person to pass through and moved back to make space for the martial artist to go first as she was carrying Ravel in her arms.
Xuelan handed him the detonator as she turned around to face him and only give a slight glance at his wings before jumping down from the window. Issei was in possession of the device as he came closer to the window and thought to himself as he was ready to jump, "As they say - you gotta go with a bang! I'll just say he died and we were to late to save the pretty boy." and jumped down with pressing the detonator as his wings brought him away from the building.
XXX
"Oh my, so this is what it means to get thrown under the bus. In this case a burning house of bricks." from the burning remains of the building sprang forth Valper Gallilei, holding his Blood Excalibur and the Original Excalibur in each hand - in the last moment he stripped Kokabiel of his blade as he deemed him unworthy of using his creation, his dream in such a meaningless way.
Everything was in ruins,there wasn't much left of the building aside from a wall or two if they could be called in that way. The grass was burning around the place with embers and cracking noise spreading out through the whole forest; calmly walking amongst the rubble was the Genocide Bishop all in tatters and blood covered from head to toe. But it wasn't human- even with Rapidly he couldn't have escaped it on time,neither Ruler would have had any effect as he couldn't combine it in time with his magic circle. It was something far more sinister than it was let to believe.
"Ah,such an exciting day it was. That fool should be dead by now but who cares. I've got everything i need plus something more", a wicked smile grew on his blackened face when he looked at both Excaliburs with a gentle look as if he was treating them as beloved pets. Pets that could kill Devils with ease to top.
Suddenly the blood over his face began to revert into a deep red cloth of blood and metal. Part of his own blood rushed straight towards his right hand where he held Blood Excalibur in a tight grip,the sword produced two vine like constructs in order to gulp down the flowing blood. It was because of this that he survived; he had converted himself into blood and hid inside the blade to survive while his body was damaged by the explosion but he still used it as he was bound to it because of a certain procedure. From the blood was formed a knight's armor,black pauldrons and sabatons solidified upon contact with the air. A bloodied long cape came running down over his shoulders to frame his now strengthened physique. And what was most striking was it's similarity to the very own suit of King Arthur wore, only twisted and modified to the tastes of the old Bishop. It was within the memories of the weapon reforged over it's first user, thus granting experience to the newest user slowly with time.
"Now let's get it crackin', I've got heretics and Devils to hunt. Giovanni would be pleased with this work plus I'd get rid of the annoying Dragon Emperor and sooner or later that damn Lucca." he cackled aloud to himself as Golems ruptured through the ground and surrounded him in rows, " I'd even retrieve my beloved prototype. Can you see me now,Shidou? " he wouldn't dare forget about the very same bastard who ruined his life's work 5 years ago in Germany. The one who took away his prototype from him.
He didn't really need Irina; if he did have any use for her,he wouldn't have left her back in the church in Kuoh. It was just to get his frustration over her and nothing else- she would come by her own volition either way as it was her task to dispose of him and the sword. And he would catch up with his first iteration as well as his soon to be complete masterpiece.
"Shhhh,no sound. Only dreams now." was something he felt the need to say as he switched his Original Excalibur into the elaborate scimitar of bones Excalibur Nightmare.
And on his neck,being protected by the sides of his cape glowed a peculiar strange tattoo with black sigils of Aramaic and Enochian scripture. It was unreadable to almost any supernatural creature other than an Original Being or one who could understand the inhuman language of the Angels. But given it's nature as a dead language, long forgotten by the World it would amount to zero. It was much more of a brand that a single tattoo...
XXX
A few minutes after the explosion, Forest of Dead Leaves, 22:10 pm
Issei was trying to relax from the built up stress before he would head out towards the city and back home. They had hid inside the deepest part of the forest to recuperate and formulate a plan to get away or find Kiba. Issei knew that the old man wasn't so easily to just die and leave things as they may be. And yet he had the feeling of this being connected to a bigger plan, concerning with it tying to the beginning of the Apocalypse as well as the strange feeling his scars produced over the presence of the Bishop.
"That feeling was most definitely familiar. It's like that time at the church - 19 days ago... Freed Sellzen... The Brand of Dominion. That's how he was able to wield the damn blade with ease! Now we should escape for sure if it's that. But why do i feel conflicted over letting pretty boy here. Fuck,i don't get paid enough for this shit!"
"She's regained consciousness! Come over, quick!" the exalted voice of Xuelan struck straight into his ears, he was caught off guard by her sudden burst of relief over Ravel's waking up. There was no worry or fear in her voice,aside from it being a bit painful for him to turn around as her suit was ripped in a few spots,leaving her skin open and he was trying to be a gentleman towards her. He wasn't still used to others touching him aside if he would beat the shit out them, then it was normal for him to apply contact.
"That's fine. Is she in condition to talk?"
Issei remained in position, not having turned around to see her. With his commanding presence he acted quite cold and blunt towards her as if he was a stone with no feelings. It was who he was when on the job - be it courier services or wiping out drug cartels and of the like. And he busted the cap of his pill case,which miraculously survived the onslaught. He poured a heap of his prescription drugs in his palm and slammed them down his mouth, and snapped his jaws to crush them to gulp them down with some pain.
"She seems so. I want to know everything - you two are keeping secrets from me. From your mysterious assignments to your conversations with Ravel" not minding the circumstances at all, Xuelan felt it was right to know what was really happening and the reason they were so secretive over everything. Her brows creased downwards in a complicated look of curiosity and anger. Her patience was running out, if she was to risk her life she might atleast know for what."So will you tell me or not?"
Issei sighed in annoyance towards her request, she was right but he couldn't involve her in this mayhem. She was someone uninvolved in their field of work, he didn't really trust anyone - he even knew his club members weren't to be unconditionally trusted. He just used their services at time but it wasn't far fetched to say he actually enjoyed their company at times.
"Fine. But once you know what I'll tell you", he took a deep breath to use Regenerate:Clothingto fix his suit,placed his hood over his face and just then turned cold with utmost conviction, "There's no going back from 'll suffer for being around me,everyone does.I don't wish to involve you but if this is your choice", he turned around her meekly, " we're fighting a war for the survival of humanity and the world as it is of now..."
"He just suddenly... Woke up and...attacked me. He was restless... He was like possessed, he should be dead but something is still keeping him alive." Ravel finally began to speak, she actually wheezed rather than speak as she slowly rose up back on her feet with her body automatically returning her to her previous state. Her face flickered with life, her senses returned to their adequate function and she was already in top shape. While her brother had a greater regeneration speed,she had more vitality and reaction speed in comparison.
"So are we going to save his ass before that spoiled alpha bitch princess arrives. She's probably here, given her high and mighty persona. There's no way she'll stay put, is there? " Issei raised his shoulders a bit in a dismissive manner - he knew Rias hated being left out and nothing going according to her plans the most. He would have preferred if there were no unnecessary figures in his plan but it was calculated as well what part she would play.
"And we're not the only ones around here..." he suddenly lowered his voice to a minimum; he had sensed two signatures that had spiked exponentially during his flight and just as they unraveled themselves to the world - faded away from his senses. Though he could recognize atleast one of them with accuracy - "That idiot teacher! Unleashing the ability of a Sephirot when unnecessary is something to avoid. Who am i to judge? I go around like an idiot,saving people's asses while shortening my life span. I hope I'll have more time to find out the truth... Then I'll die with no regrets..."
Within the beginning of the forest were heard various noises, ranging from the almost silent night breeze to the advancing tremors of something going through the forest. It was unsettling, this dreadful atmosphere surrounding his senses in a unbreakable cage to get away from. The darkness, the contemptuous sensation of being watched was creeping upon every thought of his own if not the voices whispering to him seductive promises of every kind just to let them get out and do something. And it was a full moon; but it's light couldn't reach the premises of the deepest spot of this forest. A place especially favorite to be chosen to act as the final resting place of suicidal people, for it's sheer magnificence of alluring oblivion and eternal peace. Where no one would even look for them or so they thought.
He tensed up immediately by sensing the slightest presence of magic being used; the first thing to do was to slide down his hands towards both of his steel toe boots and from within a small pouch on each end of his suit clasped 5 throwing knives between his fingers. Momentarily moving in front of Xuelan and Ravel, he took a battle ready stance and pointed each blade towards the other side of the tree encased space. His preferences were towards balanced knives. He even flexed his wrists by throwing two of them just in case, which caused a slight shimmer in the darkness as if a shield had blocked them. Both straight edge projectiles fell to the ground miserably but he didn't have any time for bullshit as he tucked his blades back into his biceps straps and charged straight ahead with a side hook prepared in tow with his fixed gloves just before the barrier could be restored again.
His metal weighted glove was about to deliver a brutal punch with a overwhelming pressure created by it's simple movement, Issei pushed further ahead with a slight bend which was a feint and switched to his left arm to deliver a merciless uppercut right at the center of the barrier point - the result was a knocked out Akeno Himejima.
Her arms were shaken by the impact, enough to fall down on her rear with her body then slamming into the meager grass that grew in that same spot. Her fall produced a slight echo, in turn spreading out to the corners of the suicide moved back and renewed his stance with two Dragon Shot orbs fully charged behind his back - in his reaction speed he had taken his stance,not even recognizing who it might be for a second until his scars sent a psionic signal to his senses that it was an ally...sort of.
Akeno stepped up with a quick jump under the cover of her renewed elemental shield but the very primal force that drove her made her feel insignificant and terrified of this messenger of Death. And the Shadow again emerged from within her mind causing her to freeze in one place out of fear...
Ravel ignited a small amount of flame around Issei as she quickly went to his right side to act as vanguard with her fellow Rook to the right. Through the flickering light that illuminated the space around them,each party recognized the other but still held their guard up as it could be nothing but an illusion caused by the negative energy of the souls that lurked inside this wretched hell hole.
"Issei? It's you, right? " the buxom Queen of Gremory extended her arm with a small lightning dagger between her fingers,the other hand was swirling with electricity as she would not dare be fooled by her eyes. Behind her arrived the one and only Rias Gremory, by her side stood Koneko and a bit behind of them was Irina Shidou with a pair of light blades crossed in a X formation.
"No kidding." he couldn't help but make a dismissive smirk at a stupid question of this magnitude. He still held his hands up prepared but something in him was saying they were who they are.
" As expected of you. Couldn't you just sit on your ass and back off? Well it's as calculated - she really is an idiot... " and placed his hand over his forehead in the facepalm manner.
Ravel extinguished her flame not to arouse any more attention, not that it would matter as the cover the trees provided was quite thick to be exact but still did so. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion towards the Gremory Heiress, "How did you exactly found us out here in the woods?" she was right about it. Ravel believed she couldn't have done that - as to call her mother in order to follow her signature all the way to one of the four main islands of Japan just for this.
"I asked for help...", begrudgingly Rias said in a low voice as if she was feeling guilty over this. To ask for help was quite extraordinary, coming from one who took everything for granted and only thought she could do anything as long as she had her high and mighty get-go. "I contacted Lady Phenex as soon as i could. She tracked your signature all up to this island. Even your brother came over to rescue his little sister." she felt more meek and lousy by the minute over stating this fact.
Guilty. It was that on first sight...
"The hell?! I seriously don't like this girl- thank goodness Issei won against my brother!"
Ravel made a "God why" look with both of her arms around her drilltails and the most striking part of it was her beyond belief annoyance towards the ex- fiancé of her brother Riser. It was no secret she wasn't so attached to the Gremory girl but still would have had some respect towards her if not for the air of superiority Rias had like she was the best.
And true to her word, Riser Phenex had arrived despite his chronic depression after losing the match against her peerage. Deeply scarred, mentally fragile and beyond a doubt scared of dragons,the man had to overcome this mental barrier all for the sake of his beloved sister even if it meant facing Death and looking into it's eyes. The sense of duty overrode the sense of fear in a time of crisis, it was wire framed into every being to stand up to their fears in order to protect those whom they loved despite the crippling sensation of the unknown coursing through their veins.
Riser Phenex was standing at the back of the group, clad in a suit of his own making with eyes rolling forth and back just to avoid his gaze from locking with his. The man was traumatized, humiliated no doubt but had enough mettle to aid his sister even if she was taken away from him. Through shakily steps,Riser Phenex came fort and ran straight to Ravel as Issei understood what was needed - he immediately backed off to a appropriate distance to give the siblings some space.
"How much I've been worried about you! Don't you dare damage your beautiful face,big brother is here! I'll keep you safe from everything." the usually stoic heir was suddenly reverted to an emotional crybaby over his sister's wellbeing. He wrapped around his strong arms around her waist and was probably about to crush her in his "delicate" embrace. Ravel was going to be crushed by his clinginginess as she rotated her neck towards Issei with the most disturbing look, screaming for help.
Xuelan noticed his presence and bowed down with respect towards her former master as he was kind enough to give her a shelter over her head; even if she was free now,she still felt some pain over leaving the stupid handsome as she called him but she withheld it in. Now was not a time for emotional encounters, so she rose up to her feet and stood proud with the fortitude of a battle hardened soldier.
"If everyone is done with the drama, can we just go fuckin save the pretty boy and go home. I don't get paid enough for this shit." Issei just had to unleash his inner bitch to make them start taking the situation seriously. Honestly he was just annoyed by all of this talking just as much as to wave off every attempt for someone to say something. He didn't care about it. It was not his job to save anyone but he took it personally to fulfill the revenge of the blonde Prince Charming, he might have learned something from everything that had transpired.
"Honestly, these people are annoying. I just can't wait to get these things out of my body and bid farewell to everything with this. But then i wouldn't have any way to keep that nun close under my watch neither Phenex unless i remove her pieces as well. I'll just have to bear with it a little longer..."
Koneko was already with a frown for a while but his words made her squirm with contempt for the indifference he had expressed about her dear friend."What does he know about Kiba? Nothing... "
Just enough to raise her arms up, clench her fists and teeth in anger. And move in to smack the dragon.
Only by Akeno's timely intervention an unfavorable situation was avoided between both sides from breaking out like a fire. She knew he cared about other's wellbeing and happiness and it was just his harsh,blunt way to express his thoughts. She had experienced it firsthand so she tried to smooth over the problem by acting as the Devil's Advocate before they were at each other's neck- everyone would have died if such a development was allowed.
"It pains me to admit it", through a blunt sadistic glare to both sides she meddled in this case, "There's a chance he's alive so let's get going. We're a team!" placing emphasis on the last word.
"Fine by me." he turned around with a dumb gesture, ignoring Irina's presence as she always brought bad memories from the past. "But we're not a team - we never were from the start so don't add me up to your quo." he bit back as ferocious as a lioness would at this innocent lie. They were nothing but a bunch of people he disliked and would rather avoid, random cogs crammed together in a clock with no correspondence to the compatibility. Just some random people and nothing else.
"I hear something coming from the skies at rapid speed. And noises coming from the city below." closing his eyes to focus - he could discern the exact nature of the noise spreading through the air. Pained, terrified to death screams of agony were rushing through his ears as a drum. Their erratic shrieks were being suppressed, smoke was being blown everywhere in large gusts of air like a tornado was occurring. An aura he knew well; he knew this malicious presence like the back of his hand. The signature, intensity and power were matching to a Dragon. A berserk, outraged beyond recognition dragon with the thirst for blood and carnage was over the forest in one dash towards the city to devour it's prey uninhibited. It was a Bahamut to be precise... The worst kind of Bahamut there was out there in the big,wide world. A King Bahamut...
XXX
20th August, Chikuzen province, Munakata, 22:10 pm
Once a normal city, Munakata was flipped upside down in just a simple manner of a distraction - from a peaceful night in the city center it went straight to hell by the appearance of a whole army of Golems. Everything was engulfed by the chaos that ensued - Buildings were being destroyed, the very ground was being demolished by the march of the stone giants. Fires burst out in every corner of the city,no place was safe from their grasp. The sky flashed with red tongues of fire and smoke,it was Hell on earth. Children, the elderly; anything that moved was being splattered into red mist and intestines were being splashed over the windows, streets and light bodies in a macabre painting of a Edgar Allan Poe masterpiece. The howl of terror took grip over the city in the least amount of time.
And what was incoming was more terrifying than the giants of dirt... The air vibrated violently in the wake of a black pair of gigantic wings, propelling the monstrosity they belonged to - It's very presence equaled to a inescapable omen of disaster. Power. It was power in fact as the breath of the Bahamut razed the ground, leveling buildings with the dirt in seconds. It's tenacity and bloodlust were incomparable to any other dragon that lived on this planet as it's wings brought it down to the bloodstained asphalt in it's blood frenzy. The dragon flew between the apartments, crashing through the concrete and glass in a volley of fire as it began to chase after the humans who were running away from the pursuing Golems of Gallilei. Extending it's vile jaws, the King Bahamut ensnared a flock of humans as a hungry wolf tearing apart the unfortunate cattle that was in it's way. It whipped it's armored neck upwards in a throwing manner, opened it's littered with hundreds of razor sharp jaws to the sky in a python like manner and snapped. From within it's maw poked a few hands and guts with blood simmered the rubble with a sea of red. The shockwave produced by it's biting strength caused an earthquake, further wiping out another part of the city.
It's power wasn't on the level of a Heavenly Dragon but it's relentless pursuit,ferocity and tenacity were more than enough to stall off a normal dragon. Bahamut dragons had the fame of performing cannibalism amongst their own kind and other dragon races,earning them the name of Dragon Slayer as they had killed much more than any other phantasmal being from the current generation. It's special delicacy was humans of all ages and gender,their blood was intoxicating beyond any comprehension which drove them further to pursue.
It was by some power that what was happening was left unknown to Heaven nor Hell. Before it could have continued with it's killing spree, a hail of swirling orbs of red matter exploded upon contact with it's eyes, blinding it for a mere second before it released another shriek of madness upon the world only to be scorched by unparalleled heat from over the distance of twenty meters.
The white eyed Bahamut flexed it's wings and slammed it's tail against the surface to create more tremors and smokescreen to distract it's pursuer. With the strength of a Titan, it dug all four limbs into the asphalt with another mindless roar and then jumped up high with wings extending and sustaining flight. Once having recovered vision, before it's eyes stood an armored being of red with a series of Dragon Shot orbs fully charged and loaded. Issei knew he could only fight against it and drive it away somehow without releasing the full power of his Sephirot or the Juggernaut Drive taking over to kill it. For the manifestation of the Sephirah had profound effects over the fabric of reality and were used as a last resort when it was beyond any hope of survival.
Both Dragons had a crazed glare directed at each other - the Bahamut had just marked him as it's desert while Issei felt rage like never before.
The city would not survive this clash of abominations, nothing would be left if he didn't make it follow him over to the sea which was quite an easy task as once the black dragon had marked it's prey,it would pursue it until it was in it's ghastly jaws.
Issei didn't waste any time to make it chase him; with a swift flick of his clawed gauntlet he sent each orb swirling against the eyes of the dragon, each orb dispersed into tiny ribbons that were altered into beams of energy straight into the soft tissue of it's visual organs, scorching it's scales and coloring it's eyes in red. The King Bahamut was enraged as it released another roar that could be heard over the whole island. And it broke free after the explosion only to give chase after the fleeing Red Dragon Emperor with unstoppable vigor.
Issei was constantly changing the trajectory of his flight pattern to avoid it's snapping jaws in midair, he had to fly with a lower speed to make it chase only him otherwise if he switched to the speed of sound - it would attack another city from above. So he stretched out the normal wings that came in the packet with the Scale Mail Balance Breaker. And within two minutes they were over the Sea of Japan, far away from civilization to minimize any more damage from being caused.
"It's good enough here. I've should have used magic from the beginning."
Issei instantaneously whiplashed both hands before the Bahamut charged it's fire breath, he was drawing a hastily made magic formula with both principles of Bind and Sever. Two pentagrams layed over each other in a flick, the sigils and runes were being interchanged within both circles to form a new Princicle - the Latin scripture emerged on the edges of the circle as two smaller layers began to knit from the resonance of the two compatible spells. It was the strongest 4th tier spell as upper tier spells required more time and certain conditions must be met.
Issei flew towards the Bahamut in a calculated manner, the cannibal dragon lashed out like a cobra with it's jaws going for the kill and to make sure it's desert was nice and crispy, unleashed a stream of toxic flames in front of it's direction. It was the famed breath of their kind that could melt down scales like acid, it was being flung straight ahead as a shotgun pellet.
Issei broke free from it's attack with a quick spin in the opposite side and switched to outmaneuvering it's trajectory but even with his speed suffered 3rd degree burns on his left arm and side. The armor he had was dented and chipped with raw skin,yellowish-white ooze was seeping from his left side as the toxins were beginning to infect his body slowly but his heightened nature was fighting off the malady with remarkable speed by the time the Scale Mail repaired the dealt damage. Like a flash of light, he circled under the Bahamut as he moved faster than it could react. He dug his clawed gauntlets into it's stomach and continued to move as a bolt of lighting with each circle encasing it's gigantic limbs in a connected stream of bindings despite the inertial jerk of his damaged arm. He was bypassing the friction of air to do it with some difficulty as his mind was having trouble in coping with the feedback he was receiving from the initial slip into his inner world, he was barely clinging to the surface with just enough mentality to form a plan on instinct much more than on logic, it was drilled into him by multiple near death scenarios so he could handle it better than anyone he knew.
The seals tore into it's limbs and wings,suspending it in midair motionless. Many more sprouted from the main ones in the form of chains, sealing it's movement enough for Issei to prepare another attack to destroy Bahamut was having difficulty with breaking free from the bindings, it's mindless mentality could now only perceive a distorted visage of the Red Dragon Emperor as a reddish black shadow with no discernable shape and appearance. It was just a matter of time before Bahamut would break free from it's constraints, each second ticking away was crucial in killing it in one go. But it wasn't as easy as it appeared to be.
The King Bahamut was struggling like ghe crazed monstrosity it was by nature; the effects of the 4th tier spell were beginning to fade slowly as the chains rattled and unraveled under the pressure of it's muscular body and it's serrated spine chipping away the bindings. Blood dripped from the places where it was bound like a river but it didn't seem to have a profound effect on it's performance overall, only slightly stopping it's movement.
With the speed of light, Issei summoned his personal magic circle with a dark tint surrounding it, for starters he called forth a phantasmal black pike and a revolver. Grabbing the pike and revolver together in unison and without thinking of the consequences he placed the two objects over his Brand location to do a combination spell with the items. Two phantasmal black hands with eye sockets ruptured through the back plates of the armor, with some pain and miracles he commanded said limbs to clasp together- like a rotating mechanism they morphed into a giant black crossbow with curved blades and two additional appendages with sharp fingers which held the pike, it was morphed into a giant spear like projectile and notched it on the mechanism before taking aim and muttering something.
Within that second he triggered a mental activator with both auxiliary limbs stretching back the ethereal thread to gain momentum while he was aiming for the right eye of the beast; 4 circles layered in front of the crossbow of Emptiness with various elements to pierce through it's organic metal like hide around it's ocular organ. It had broken half of the immobilization seals and was rattling mindlessly to some mixed results.
"~Now now, Issei. Your aim is off to the left,let me help you with that"
Issei panicked by the sound of those words- Raynare was holding his right side with a tight grip and was whispering to his covered by the helmet ear. Her form and voice were flickering between in a violent flashback of macabre phantasms- she was the Shadow and Raynare,both were pulling his limbs with ease to the right with a disgusting giggle. Eyes and no eyes were being revealed and obscured in the darkness constantly, whispers, screams and every sound possible was going through his head the very moment.The world was getiing darker to his eyes,his senses were left in disarray with everything going blank slowly but surely…
"~Come on big boy!Shoot! " she gripped his hand into her palms and pushed him a little…
And it happened...
XXX