Chapter 25
I don't own DxD; I just use its characters and techniques. All credit goes to its creator. Same applies for anything that I used from other animes.
Welcome to chapter 25. Last time Raynare's friend Alana was brought back to the ORC to learn more about Faust and Kokabiel's plans. Once they were done it was clear that there was far more to the situation than anybody thought. Now the ORC has to figure out what to do next, especially when Freed and Faust appeared to tell the club that Kokabiel's plan would commence the next day.
(ORC)
"Now what do we do?" Rias said solemnly. After Freed's message, the group returned to the ORC and decided on a battle plan.
"It's simple, Rias. Sona will provide the barrier while you and I make up the attack force." Vali answered as though it was obvious.
"What about Issei and those two perverts? Won't Faust use them against us?" Rias asked curiously.
"I don't know about the perverts, but If Issei could be controlled that guy wouldn't have done something so reckless." Ravel retorted. She hadn't spoke up much but for some reason she felt the need to defend him.
"What makes you say that, Ravel?" Murayama asked a bit shocked at how quickly the Phenex came to Issei's defense. The rest of the group had the same reaction.
Ravel paused for a second realizing that everyone's eyes were on her. "This was a guy, who without meeting my brother, came up with a plan that stole his bride from right underneath his nose."
"Don't forget his sister. He also got his sister at the same time." Bikou interrupted causing Ravel to blush heavily.
"ANYWAY!" Ravel yelled angrily although the crimson blush on her face told everyone it was true. "He planned a way to trap my brother easily and without knowing anything. Someone like him won't go into a situation where he doesn't hold all the cards."
"Nyaa, she's right. That guy's incredibly smart. He wouldn't be controlled at all." Kuroka joined in.
After thinking about what the pair said, Rias realized that Issei was far too clever to fall for Kokabiel's tricks. If he was with Faust it was for a reason. "You guys are right. Issei will be fine. The real problem is what do we tell my brother and sister? My brother would go crazy at the news. As for Serafall, well I shudder to think what she would do." Rias groaned.
"You don't tell them Rias. We can handle this on our own" Vali replied.
"I hope so" Rias said nervously. This was a tense situation and Kokabiel had already shown her power.
"For now let's all get some rest. We can't have a battle when we're all tired." Vali directed. Everyone acknowledged that and went their separate ways.
(Later that night)
Vali was sitting in her room trying to relax. Despite Ravel's words, it was clear that Issei was a factor in the upcoming battle. The question was how much of a factor would he be
"Everything okay, Vali?" Albion asked calmly.
"No, Albion, it's not. I may have to fight against my mate tomorrow. Ravel's right that he wouldn't be reckless, but the possibility still existed that Kokabiel might force his hand."
"Trust your queen. He's manipulative enough to plan many things, so he'll be fine." Albion assured.
"Thank you, Albion." Vali said relieved. Just as she started to go back to sleep a magic circle appeared in her room and out popped somebody she was very familiar with.
"Hey there stranger. You doing okay?" Issei said smiling as he appeared out of the circle.
"Issei! What the hell are you doing here?" Vali said before running to her queen and hugging him.
"Well, I have some leeway, so I came to visit my concerned king." Issei said calmly. Issei could see the happy expression on Vali's face and it made him smile.
"Yeah, it's good to see you." Vali said with a smile before punching Issei in the gut. "ARE YOU INSANE!" Vali yelled at an Issei that was clearly in pain.
"Oof! I deserved that, huh?" Issei shrugged as he got up.
"Yes you did. If I didn't do that, I would've been angry later." Vali said smiling as the two sat down ready to talk.
"Listen, I'm sure you're worried about what to tell Sirzechs and Serafall, but they've already been told the situation." Issei said with a grin.
Vali was gobsmacked. She knew about the eccentric personality of Rias and Sona's older siblings, so to find out they knew about it and had done nothing was insanity. Then she realized something rather important. "Wait a minute! Forget Sirzechs, how did you convince Serafall to not do anything?" Vali said shocked.
"Remember that special mission that Sirzechs sent me on" Issei said with a smirk.
"What about it" Vali asked remembering the strange situation.
"That mission was to be Serafall's bodyguard." Issei said with a smirk.
"That explains how you know her, but how the hell did you convince two of the biggest sis-cons in the devil world to not do anything" Vali asked calmly. She didn't have time to argue about what the hell happened.
"Let's start with Sirzechs." Issei said with amusement. Vali nodded which gave Issei license to continue. "While you grilled Yuuma about our date, I went to see Sirzechs to explain the situation. He was furious and wanted to do something but promised that Kokabiel would be beaten and that Rias would never be in true danger. Considering my track record already, he quickly calmed down."
Vali was shocked that her queen had that much insight, "Okay so what about Serafall"
"After I found out about Faust from Arthur I called Serafall. Between being on her show and the mission I had to tell her what happened. She understood what I was doing, but I had to promise Serafall that Sona won't be in direct danger. That and agree to stay on her idiotic show." Issei said with a smile.
Vali couldn't believe that her queen was that clever and reckless. He thought of everything that Vali was worried about. "Okay then, I just have one more question." Vali said sternly.
Issei had a good idea of what she wanted to ask. With his trademark smile he embraced his king once again and planted a chaste kiss on her lips. The two dragon's tongues clashed for a moment before Issei removed himself. "No Vali, I'm not your enemy. Think of this as me controlling things from the other side." Issei said before leaving in his magic circle. Vali could only watch on in a daze, stunned once again by her queens mysterious actions.
(Scene Skip)
Back at the base, Issei had just arrived in what he thought would be an empty room. Unfortunately for Issei he wasn't alone. "So, did you enjoy your trip to see the White Dragon?" Kokabiel said with a sneer.
"Yes I did. I'm surprised you give me so much leeway, Kokehead." Issei said with a smirk.
"I'll ignore that nickname, boy. However to answer your question I give you leeway because, frankly, outside of me, none of the people here can kill you. Faust is useless against you and you'd slaughter Freed even with the Excalibur. Therefore our little non-aggression pact will work fine." Kokabiel explained nonchalantly.
"Sounds good to me and how about we sweeten the pot. I'll actually sit here like a good dragon and not do anything in the big battle tomorrow. However, I have one condition." Issei said smirking deceptively.
"Oh, what condition is that?" Kokabiel responded with a smirk of his own. He could see despite his calm appearance, the Red Dragon would attack any minute if he felt like it. So agreeing to his terms would be fine. Well at least pretending to agree.
"Do not tell the devils and their allies about the death of God." Issei said with a smile to the shock of Kokabiel.
"How did you know that?" Kokabiel asked with a stunned expression. The secret of God's death was known to very few people and this brat wasn't one of them.
"Simple. If God really was alive, do you honestly think he would've allowed the Holy Sword Project to exist? Valper would've been mercilessly slaughtered before things got as bad as they did." Issei said with a smile.
Kokabiel couldn't believe how the young man had figured out the truth. "HAHAHAHA! To think one of our closest secrets was figured out so easily. You really are an interesting person." Kokabiel laughed. "Very well, I'll keep that secret, but I can't promise others will. Valper is a scumbag, and even though I don't like the way he operates, he's far too useful to let go." Kokabiel agreed before leaving.
"He's not gonna keep it a secret is he partner"
"No chance in hell. So let's prepare something just in case" Issei said calmly. Grabbing his phone he made another phone call just to ensure that things went well.
The next day was Saturday, so the gang didn't have to worry about attending school. This gave everyone the entire day to prepare a strategy to deal with the fallen angel cadre. There was no doubt that the gang was nervous with everything at stake. By the time nightfall arrived, everyone had their tasks confirmed. Sona and her peerage would cast the barrier around the school. Kuroka Koneko, and Bikou would reinforce the barrier with their senjutsu. Le Fay and Arthur were going to confront Faust. The Church Duo and Kiba would face Freed because of the Holy swords. That left Rias, Akeno, Vali, Kiryuu, and Raynare to face off against Kokabiel. Murayama and Katase would deal with Matsuda and Motohama. The two didn't mind mostly because they were used to attacking the perverted duo. Asia and Ravel were healers, so they were going to stay away from most of the fighting. As for what happened if Issei appeared, Vali assured the group that Issei wouldn't fight against them. Telling them how she knew that was a bit tricky.
Rias and Vali were currently walking towards the school alongside most of the peerage knowing that Kokabiel was waiting for them. Kuroka and Bikou would meet them at the battlefield.
"So Vali, how do you feel right now? I know you're close to Azazel, and I'm sure this is tough facing off against Kokabiel." Rias wondered. Vali's connection to the fallen angels always bothered Rias, but since Azazel was all about peace, she could live with it. The fact that Issei was with Kokabiel right now worried her far more.
"I'm fine. Kokehead has always annoyed me. Frankly, I've been waiting for this battle for a long time. As for Issei himself, he'll be a problem only if he wants to." Vali analyzed.
"Please, you're worried about nothing. The guy's fine." Kiryuu said calmly.
"I'm surprised you're so confident in him." Xenovia interjected. "The Red Dragon has done so many mysterious things, what's stopping him from betraying us?"
"Yare yare, I let you into my home, I give you a place to stay, and I've watched over you this whole time. What's a guy gotta do to get some faith?" Issei joked appearing before the group. The group was nervous since Issei was clad in his balance breaker for some reason.
"What are you doing here, Red Dragon?" Xenovia said summoning her sword.
"I'm taking care of a little business before the battle gets started." Issei shrugged before flaring his energy to remind Xenovia just who she was dealing with. His childhood friend looked on in shock.
"Issei, why would you do this? Don't tell me you're betraying us." Irina said pleading. She walked up to her childhood friend cautiously and hoped she could stop things from getting crazy
"Irina, get away from him!" Xenovia shouted before grabbing Excalibur Destruction. To Xenovia's shock, Irina glared at him daring her to attack
"Xenovia, be quiet. This is Issei! He's my childhood friend. He would never hurt me." Irina insisted walking up to him happily.
"Irina, I'm glad you're okay." Issei smiled. He grabbed his childhood friend in a warm embrace and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Irina seemed on the verge of tears. Issei was fine and she had so much to say to him. "Issei I-..." Irina started to say before she was punched in the stomach hard enough to knock her out. With her last bit of energy she looked at her childhood friend and said "Why Issei?" and collapsed. Xenovia looked on furiously as her partner was unconscious in her childhood friend.
"I can't let you participate in this battle, Irina. I'm sorry, this has to be done." Issei said with a sad expression on his face.
"IRINAAA!" Xenovia yelled as she prepared to charge Issei. Unfortunately for the group, Issei vanished in a magic circle before she could land an attack. As Xenovia looked on, Irina and her Excalibur vanished from the battlefield.
"What just happened?" Murayama wondered in disbelief. A sentiment everybody seemed to agree with. Even for Issei this was too much.
"Damn him. He will pay for this!" Xenovia yelled out. Turning towards the Red Dragon's fellow devils, Xenovia was furious.
"YOU SAID HE WOULDN'T DO ANYTHING!?" Xenovia yelled furiously. She was about to attack everyone but was stopped by Arthur.
"CALM DOWN XENOVIA!" Arthur said angrily. His power flared up to the point that it quickly paralyzed the church swordsman. With Xenovia's anger tempered he spoke again. "He cares about that girl far more than you realize. Remember that her attack was the reason he infiltrated Kokabiel's group in the first place. He wouldn't do anything to harm her. Now let's focus on Kokabiel."
"But Irina…." Xenovia pleaded. She was concerned about her partner. Despite everything that had happened up to that point, the two were partners and Xenovia was still nervous."
"She will be fine. Luckily for us though, now the true Excalibur cannot be reformed." Arthur defended Issei despite the fact that it seemed a hopeless situation.
Realizing what Arthur was talking about, Xenovia calmed down. Irina wasn't a fighter like her and the fact he only took her had to mean something. After relaxing for a moment the group finally arrived at the school. Sona and her peerage had created a powerful barrier and it was clear that unless Kokabiel used his full power, the surrounding area would be fine.
"Good luck in there, Rias, Vali." Sona said calmly as she took a small second from her work.
"Thanks Sona." The other two girls responded with a smile as they made their way in. When they arrived they noticed Kokabiel sitting on his throne with his usual grin. He was sitting in the middle of the schoolyard, so the classrooms were to his right and the ORC was to his left.
"Welcome everybody. I'm so glad you could make it. I assume Sirzechs and Serafall won't be arriving. It's a shame they can't be here to watch their little sisters perish." Kokabiel sneered.
"Hah, Kokehead! You won't be able to beat us. I can promise you that." Vali yelled in confidence.
"Where is Valper, you bastard?" Kiba shouted out.
"Hmph, if you're looking for Valper, he's over there." Kokabiel waved dismissively before pointing to an area near the gym. Recognizing the ones who Faust wanted to face, he smirked before speaking again. "As for that little worm Faust and his cronies, he's over in that direction. By the way, you can kill him if you want. He's outlived his usefulness" Kokabiel said pointing towards the classrooms. Arthur and Le Fay made their way towards Faust along with Murayama and Katase. Like that, the side battles were under way.
"Hmph, why are you being so helpful, Kokabiel? Don't tell me the Red Dragon scares you that much." Rias taunted.
"Hardly, he is powerful, but I can still beat him. As for why I let them go, it's obvious those brats want to kill Valper, and he's useless to me now. As for Faust, frankly I don't like him, although he was useful as a distraction. We can wait for the side battles to end, or shall we begin right now. You make the call, Vali."
"Gotta admit, I don't really care what we do Kokehead." Vali stretched her arms with a smug expression.
"Very well, let's wait. I'm sure the others will make for good viewing." Kokabiel shrugged before snapping his fingers so they could watch the battles on screen. They watched as the competitors arrived at the scenes.
(Kiba and Xenovia)
Kiba and Xenovia made their way over to the classrooms and they could feel the massive pressure. When they arrived two familiar faces were waiting. The first was Freed, who was watching as another man was in the middle of five magic circles.
"Ahh! Hello! Glad you could make it. Now I have another Excalibur to add to those I'm fusing." The man said with a smile. He was a short man wearing a priest's outfit. His gray mustache and small glasses reminded you of a typical B-rated villain.
"Valper Galiel. You'll pay for you crimes against the church!" Xenovia yelled angrily.
"Please, the church is nothing. They shunned my research, but in the end used it for themselves. No matter though. Freed, take care of them. The sword will be ready soon." Valper said coldly.
"Got it, boss." Freed said as he prepared for battle.
(Arthur Le Fay Murayama Katase)
The three swordsmen and Le Fay arrived to find Faust was sitting there smiling. Next to him were Matsuda and Motohama who were holding onto blades of their own. They were still in their uniforms which was a bit of a disappointment.
"Why are we facing those pervs?" Katase groaned.
"So I was right to take these two fools; they can handle you girls while I speak with Arthur and Le Fay. Go get them boys." Faust shouted towards a glazed Matsuda and Motohama. It was clear that they were under Faust's control, but had kept their humanity intact. Well mostly. He did teach them a bit of magic so they could serve as a distraction.
"Yes sir!" The two responded with a reserved glee. Murayama and Katase knew that fighting where they were was a risk, so they moved to a separate area to deal with the perverted duo on their own.
"I can't believe that the association thought so highly of you, Faust. Oh well. I'll stop you here and bring you back to my father so he can judge you for your crimes." Arthur said calmly before taking out his own Excalibur.
"You won't stand a chance, Arthur." Faust refuted before activating a magic circle and summoning ten knights from the association
"Bastard, you would use fellow swordsmen!" Arthur cursed as he prepared for battle.
That's the end of Chapter 25. What a chapter this is. Irina taken somewhere by Issei; Faust and Arthur face off while the kendo duo faces off against the perverted Duo. Meanwhile Kiba and Xenovia face off against Freed as Valper fuses the Excalibur's. Much more to come and things are going to get very interesting next chapter.
Vali's peerage
Queen- Issei
Bishop 1- Asia
Bishop 2- Ravel
Knight 1- Katase
Knight 2- Murayama
Rook 1- Kuroka
Rook 2- Bikou
Pawns 1 Raynare 2 Arthur 1 Le Fay
Pawn 5-8 Open (New members will join soon)
Harem for Issei: Vali, Katase, Murayama, Irina, Kiryuu, Ravel, Akeno, Serafall, Raynare, Le Fay, Rias