Now it's almost the beginning of the legendary Kokabiel fight. I really need to rest for a while before I run out of juice. I used up quite a lot with the gaiden thinking of Mizore's plot. Ohh, and please visit the poll. I still need to decide if Haruka should have a harem or not. I'll wait till next week when I will close the poll so please vote.
Chapter 29: Start Of The Battle
Momoka had left right after dinner to look for Sakura while Melia return to the other devils for further explanation. This just left Xenovia, Irina, Yuuto, and Haruka, the exorcist group. Sophia Brave had also left after eating together since the only reason she's with them is Momoka and without her, Sophia decided to leave and rest for the day.
"Haruka, that blonde woman, do you know her? She seems to know Momoka-san."
"I don't really know. I've seen her a few times when kaa-san shows me some of her memories but it's better if we ask her later. For now, I guess we should prepare."
"Prepare?"
"The battle with Koka-chan. I want to see your growth, Irina."
"Onii-sama… but, I don't have any weapon to use. Yuuto-kun still have his [Blade Blacksmith] but I only have a light sword. It won't help against Kokabiel."
"Hmm… Very well, Kiba, Irina, I will lend these to you."
Haruka pulled out a pair of identical golden longswords from his storage space and gave one each to Yuuto and Irina.
"These are! I know that Mimic is with you but…"
"I never expected Ruler to be with you, onii-sama."
What Irina and Yuuto currently held are the final two fragments of Excalibur, Excalibur Mimic that had been Haruka's original holy sword and Excalibur Ruler that he found a few months after his disappearing act. Irina received Mimic while Yuuto received Ruler.
"Obtaining Ruler is quite a hassle. It's hidden in a different dimension. Only my mastery over spatial magic and the resonance between Ruler and the lesser fragments allows me to locate it. It also has lots of traps, riddles, and guardians that protected it."
"Amazing. So this is the strongest of the Excalibur fragment. Its holy aura is very powerful."
"Nowhere near Durandal though. Speaking of Durandal, where's the sword now?"
Haruka asked. Xenovia is also curious about her previous sword though she won't trade Twilight even for a sword like Durandal now but she still wants to know about what happen to the sword after her last mission. She remembered leaving it since she doesn't have the strength to lift it even an inch then.
"Durandal is back with his eminence Strada. There has been no sign of another possible wielder of Durandal."
"Until Yuuto-kun's sword element received another rank up that is. Yuuto-kun currently possess the strongest sword element out of everyone from the new Holy Sword Project. He is almost strong enough to use Durandal."
Xenovia and Haruka are honestly impressed. Unlike natural wielders who relies on both natural holy and sword element, the new Holy Sword Project focuses on the enhancement of the sword element to compensate for the lack of holy element. Holy Swords are in the end swords too and a swordsmen with powerful sword affinity could override the holy element requirement and focus on the steel element which is a more familiar element for humans. To be able to raise his rank to the point of almost being able to wield Durandal, Yuuto's sword element must be very powerful.
"That is impressive, Yuuto. If you ever reach that level, you can use Durandal."
"Ehh? But what about you, Xenovia-san?"
"I have Twilight and I won't trade her even for Durandal."
""Twilight?""
"My new sword."
After that, the teen began chatting about more mundane things like their first day at school and how good Momoka's cooking is. Haruka called them all to bed when it's a little past midnight. Due to how little space they have, Irina slept together with Xenovia while Yuuto slept on the floor. Haruka though did not slept and instead sat on the veranda while watching over them.
"You don't sleep?"
A voice suddenly came from above. Haruka doesn't need to look for him to know who had just came to see him.
"I don't feel like it, nee-san."
Melia Sitri with a pair of her irregular devil wings out floated down to the veranda and sat beside Haruka.
"Again, I'm really sorry about Xenovia."
Melia apologized again to her brother.
"It's okay. It's also mostly my fault so I can't really blame you. What's important is that the matter is resolved now so don't bring it up again."
Haruka told her.
"…You're really nothing like father."
"What do you expect? I'm my own man, nee-san."
"It's just… strange. Well, I never did know your side of the family personally. We've been separated since birth due to the Witch and only got together three years ago."
"Technically, it's more than that but before three years ago, we're enemies whose job is to kill each other whenever we met."
"Hahaha, true. It's a good thing we never managed to kill each other."
"Kill you? matching you is already hard enough. You're a real monster."
"Hmph, if I'm a monster, what are you? How you can be as fast as father is beyond me. Although not as refined as our father, your speed is ridiculous enough to make me think that I'm fighting the old man!"
"Really? I must be quite fast if you compare me to a real demon like the Third Trinity."
The two of them laughed together as they talk about their rivalry. Despite how they met and attempted to kill each other before the revelation about their relation, the two of them are very close sibling. Nobody would belive that Melia is the famed Sitri Princess and Haruka is her rival if they see them like they are now, talking together while laughing like the best of friends.
"Anyway nee-san, you have read the newest report, right?"
When Haruka mentioned the report, Melia's face turns hard and serious. That is the real reason why Melia came. She had just read the report after dealing with Rias and Sona. Needless to say, she became very anxious when she read that their mortal enemy is involved with the Khaos Brigade.
"The Golden Witch is the supreme leader of Khaos Brigade and she has Ouroboros with her. No wonder we cannot find anything about Khaos Brigade's core leadership and even barely scrape anything about their organization. The Golden Witch herself is the leader. This is more than just bad, Haruka. If father were to know about this, all the Trinity will come here with limiter released. Nothing will be left and even then, we won't know if she's truly dead or not."
"Yes. This is a game for her. She let me knew about her existence."
"So the clock had started ticking. What are the chances of her backing up Kokabiel?"
"Considering the timing, I don't know, there's a good chance that this is Kokabiel's own idea but I can't deny the possibility that this is her opening act."
"It would be easy if this is just Kokabiel but if this is her opening act…"
Haruka understood the words left unsaid.
If this is the Witch's opening act, things will definitely go wrong.
Melia and Haruka decided that they shouldn't go to school the next day to prepare for anything. Although they are sure that there will be no sudden, large scale attack from the Witch herself, there's always the chance of Kokabiel's movement being the Witch's opening move.
"From the records I've read about her, the Witch loves to make everything grand and she's rather straightforward. Of course, she can be subtle to the point of unnoticeable when she wants to but she prefers straightforwardness when facing her main adversaries, preferring open confrontation than underhanded tricks which according to the records is due to her opinion that an open victory is the sweetest victory."
"So she's the type who prefers straightforward action game than puzzle game. I did get that kind of feeling from her."
"What is scary is her patience and her insight. Father had tried baiting her a few times in the past to lure her into a trap using himself as bait, something that she usually cannot ignore. But she never bites any trap. She is very patience and she's as sharp as any divine blade."
"So if she were to be involved in this Kokabiel case, what do you think will her goal be?"
"The most likely reason would be… us, I think."
"Yes, the children of Morimiya Kazuya, an obvious target for the Golden Witch. What do you think she might do?"
"I don't know. There are many things she could do like give Kakabiel reinforcement, gave him power, and maybe some other things."
Haruka suddenly stops in his track nd his eyes squinted.
"Haruka?"
"This is her opening act alright."
Haruka then point ahead of him. Melia follow the direction he is pointing at and her eyes landed on a figure currently walking towards them from the opposite direction. It was only then that Melia realized how the street is empty despite it being only slightly past noon. She did not even realized until now that they're inside a powerful bounded field.
"Golden Witch."
"Shidou Haruka."
The woman stopped in front of Haruka as they address each other. Melia though is mildly shocked at the identity of said woman.
The Golden Witch, the original First Trinity. She had changed her form from what Melia saw in the archives. She used to be taller almost to the point of being a giant when she fought in the Final War. It turns out that it's not so final after all with the Witch herself still alive. Now she only possess average height and she looks younger than in the archive. The current form of the Witch is slightly taller than Melia who is on the shorter end. She is also stunningly beautiful with smooth skin, unblemished face, and long flowing golden hair that had become her trademark. Her golden hair and eyes are the most eyecatching feature of her as they are pure, glittering gold, something that should not be possible on anything other than sculpture made of gold. She wore a beautiful white dress that befits a noble of very high standing and a pair of glass heels like what Cinderella wore. She is the perfect image of a beautiful princess and regal queen which would make every other princesses green with envy due to her beauty.
But Melia and and Haruka thought of her as terrifying, a very terrifying beauty with more focus on terrifying. Here is the woman whose sole purpose is to destroy their father's life and them by extension and even with all the power they wield, both of them know that they can't defeat her.
"Why are you here, Witch?"
Haruka asked, looking completely calm although he is actually nowhere near calm at the moment. His instinct is telling him to run as fast as he can.
"Fufufu, you two should've already guessed it by now. How can I miss the opening show of my greatest work to date?"
Answered the Witch with a smile that sends chill down the two Trinity children's spine.
"So you're behind Kokabiel's madness?"
"How can I resist? Three Trinity children are in this town, it's too tempting as a setting for a grand opening act."
"What are you planning?"
"Ohh nothing much. I'll let Kokabiel play for a while with the minor characters until he serves his purpose and then I'll release you."
"Wha-"
Before Haruka and Melia realized what happened, the sky's color suddenly changed as if a curtain of golden light had come between the sun and the earth. It's a massive barrier that covers the whole area they're in.
"You see, I can't have you two end things too fast. Kokabiel is not powerful enough to serve as your adversary so I took the liberty of using him to provide the two of you with a suitable opponent. Don't worry, if your friends survived Kokabiel, you can help them. You two will be kept here with no way to escape until Kokabiel finished the summoning. Enjoy my present, children of Cain."
Leaving those words behind, the Golden Witch disappear in a flash of golden light while Haruka and Melia are trapped inside her barrier. It certainly doesn't look too good for them, especially now that they have confirmed that the Witch is involved with Kokabiel's plan. Haruka punched the wall closest to him which creates a large crack even when he held back his strength. They have been trapped and now they can do nothing until the Witch releases them, leaving the others to fend Kokabiel off by themselves.
-Xenovia pov-
It was around half past four when we received a call from the devils. Melia and Haruka had gone missing ever since noon and no one had been able to find them. The devils surprisingly don't have her phone number and Sona Sitri only has her old number that she no longer use. Of course, there's no way that the devils would have Haruka's phone number so they have no choice but to ask us for help.
The reason? Kokabiel had begun his assault and is currently in Kuoh academy, preparing a ritual while being aided by thousands of Fallen Angels. That is definitely bad news and we will need the power of the strongest exorcist and the young super devil for this battle so the devils asked us to contact Haruka as he is most likely with Melia.
Which he is. I confirmed it when my phone got through to his.
"What?! You're trapped inside another dimension?!"
I almost screamed in outrage when I heard Haruka's explanation. It actually made sense though. Haruka and Melia are our strongest fighters next to Ophis and since Ophis is absent, they became much more valuable next to Issei.
"I'm really sorry, the Golden Witch suddenly appear and trapped us inside a powerful barrier. Neither me nor Melia can dispel it so we have no other choice than to wait. The Witch is straightforward and she told us that the barrier will go down when Kokabiel finish his ritual or when he is defeated. We CANNOT let the ritual be finished. This is a ritual situation! You know the drill!"
Ritual Situation, it refers to possibly the worst kind of mission an exorcist could get. This originated from the time when a group of powerful exorcist almost ran the risk of facing a Cthulhu monster when a group of stray magicians attempted a Cthulhu ritual. The ritual was half complete and a part of said monster was summoned. Many exorcist lost their life that day and it became a traumatic experience to the survivors. A hundred and fifty was sent, twenty survived. Haruka was one of them along with Sister Griselda, eminence Strada, and Dulio Gesualdo.
If Haruka said Ritual Situation, then this is probably on the same level or even worse than what he had experienced. The line disconnected as I slowly turn to Irina and Yuuto-kun.
"Ritual Situation."
They immediately understand the graveness of the situation when I uttered those two words which became a nightmare to exorcists. God protect us all. We will need everything we have for this fight. The only ace we have left is Ise-kun and if the Golden Witch is involved, I don't know if Ise-kun could be counted on. I don't doubt the Sekiryuutei's strength but if it is the Golden Witch that Haruka and Melia and even Ophis fears is the mastermind, I don't think I could feel confident at all. Nevertheless, we have to fight. We have not other choice. Although all I get is bad feeling, we have to fight.
I just hope we can all return home safely. Thousands of Fallen Angels and Kokabiel himself with the Golden Witch in the background, I don't like the chances at all.
Damn E-rank luck meeting the Witch herself and all. The story returns to Xenovia and the rest once more and now Haruka and Melia are also out of the picture. I don't know how else to make the Kokabiel fight lasts more than a single paragraph other than keeping Haruka and Melia out of the fight until the big stuff. Yes, Kokabiel is not using that spell, what was it again, Earth Breaker? he's not destroying the whole town, he's summoning the Witch's little distraction which is much worse than what Earth Breaker could do. There is a reason why the exorcist fears ritual situation so much and this is the reason why they still fear it even now. So, what will Koka-chan summon? A Cthulhu monster? an Evil God? a True Demon? Well, all I can say is that it will make the characters stronger and Haruka and Melia will be forced to go all out. Anyway, more Xenovia awesomeness in the next chapter. The Witch of course have countermeasures for Ise in case he is present and Koka-chan is too weak to stand up to him but she never suspected Xenovia. Seriously, I think the real protagonist here is Xenovia. There's just too much Xenovia and now we're back to Xenovia again after focusing on her during Tatenashi arc (well, she was the final boss then). Actually, I think that Xenovia is the most important character in the story, even more than Haruka and Melia herself.
Anyway, review and stuff, like usual. And please don't forget the Haruka harem vote. I will close it next week since Mizore and Kurumu's appearance in the story will be coming soon. They'll appear right after Kokabiel arc, transferring to Kuoh like the usual. Of course, more characters will also appear during the three faction meeting and surprise surprise, the Commander will make her full appearance during Khaos Brigade's introduction! I will have a field day when she finally appear.