Mephistopheles couldn't be happier at this moment. Everything was going just as planned. His magically created clones were keeping everyone at bay while he got to run off with two powerful little morsels. Of course, the little girl with red hair spooked him slightly. Her power was just so… unnatural. He'd kill her quickly. The Phenex girl though. He was going to drag it out. Make it last. Oh it was going to be delicious. It was the least he could do after waiting for so long to have his prize.
"Let me go!" The little Phenex girl cried in his arms as he kept moving.
"Ohohohoho," Mephistopheles cackled, "I don't think so, little one. I've got so much in store for you that I can't possibly let you go. Why, it would make this whole night superfluous if I did that. No, no, no. That simply won't happen."
"You creep!" Rias Gremory yelled as she struggled as well, "My mom will make you pay for this."
"Ooooh~" Mephistopheles cackled, "Now that is an image. I assure you that your mothers are too busy to come save you at the moment. I've got them preoccupied."
"My mom can be really scary when she gets mad," Ravel shouted as she kept struggling. "She'll make you cry all the way home to your mom."
"I don't have a mom," Mephistopheles scowled, "Family. Crying. Such un-devil like things. Why has devil kind fallen so low? It's so sickening. It makes me want to throw up every time you lot open your mouths. Devils have no use for families and we do not cry."
"You're stupid," Rias said, "Devils can feel a lot of things. Families make us feel great. Maybe that's why you're such a stupid clown."
Mephistopheles didn't say anything for a moment. Instead he ran around the corner and stopped, a massive insane grin splitting his face as he gazed at the scene, "Do you see this?"
The two little girls gasped and Ravel covered up her eyes. Before them staff and a few guard devils were all dead, being sliced up and thrown about or even used to paint on the walls. The clones cackled as they went about their work, reveling in the carnage.
"This is what true devils should strive for," Mephistopheles laughed, "A world where we can do anything we want. Where death and destruction reign supreme. Now doesn't that seem like an ideal life?"
"You…" Rias Gremory had never seen such carnage before in her young life. She was but a child and the closest she had ever come to something like this was in her manga. It's why she was at least able to look at it without throwing up, even though she still felt sick. "You're a monster. Devils aren't evil."
"Wrong!" Mephistopheles's grip on them tightened, "We are the embodiment of vileness. To say otherwise is just a sign of being retarded. You're mother must be so sad, but then again, she did seem like a stupid bitch." He laughed.
"Shut up, you stupid clown." Rias snarled, glaring up at him. "You're just a monster. You don't know anything."
Mephistopheles stared down at her before slamming both of the girls into the wall. They cried out in fear and pain as he glared down at her, "I've got a lot of work to do with you devils. One day you'll see it my way. You'll be a monster like me," he chuckled. "Well maybe not, since I'm going to kill you both. Sorry, not sorry."
"We'll never be like you, you... you meanie head!" Ravel shouted at him.
Mephistopheles blinked in confusion as he stared at her for a moment before he broke down in chuckles, "So soft! So innocent! I hate it!" He slammed Ravel into the wall again, "We're devils. Demons. Beings of hell. Words of hate should come naturally to us. When I tear down this world, I'll remake it into a world of spite and vile the likes that you should dream of! Tragic you won't live to see it."
"Leave her alone!" Rias screamed.
Mephistopheles turned to say something but the moment he did, Rias shot a bolt of pure Destruction into his face. He was thrown across the room, letting them go in the process. The two small girls fell on their bums but quickly got up.
"Run," Rias said to Ravel.
"What?"
"Run," Rias pushed her. "Get out of here. I'll distract him.
"You can't win again him," Ravel said pleadingly. "You'll die. Please, come with me."
"He'll get both of us," Rias pushed her again. "Just go."
Ravel whimpered and nodded before turning and running away.
"Do you fucking think that will work," Mephistopheles stood up. Where his nose used to be was a bloody hole. Bone could be seen poking out of it. "You bitch! I was going to play with you, but you're going to die here and now."
"Like you-"
Mephistopheles had shot forth faster then she could react. His foot caught her in the stomach and sent her careening into the wall across the hall. He turned to his clones who now all sported the same wound as him, "Get the bird brat. This one is mine."
The clones took off without a word.
"As for you," Mephistopheles summoned his blade and walked closer. Rias shivered in fear as he did so, "I'm going to skewer you alive. I'll watch your blood flow on my blade and then I'll laugh." He gave a cry and thrust his blade forward.
However his blade didn't meet flesh. It met two blades who blocked the blow from landing.
"The little kitten?"
Archer snorted as he glared up at the older demon. His twin blades struggled to hold back the larger one from hitting him but he held his ground, "We've got unfinished business."
Mephistopheles smiled, "That we do. Prepare to die."
"You first."
Ravel flew as she raced down the hallway. Her fiery wings took her along faster then her legs could hope to carry her. She had to find someone. Anyone. She was going to get Rias some help if it was the last thing she did. She just hoped Rias was alright by the time she did so. She couldn't think of her dying.
She could hear the cackling of the clones growing closer and closer. She cried as she ran, hot tears hitting the ground as she beat her wings as hard as she could. It felt like it wouldn't be enough. They'd catch up to her. Rias would die, just like she would. She was failing.
She gasped when she felt a hand grab her leg.
"Gotcha!" A clone shouted as he slammed her into the ground. "Glad I was coming from the other way since you're so fast. Too bad you were too busy crying to notice."
Ravel whimpered as she was brought up to his eye level, "P-Please…"
"Ooooh, begging." The clone snickered, "What a nice devil. It's going to be so fun to skin you-"
The clone was abruptly cut in half. As it disappeared, Ravel looked up and gasped as she spied her brother. He stood defensively over her, glaring daggers at the opponents before him.
"You will all die here for trying to lay your filthy hands on my sister," Riser snarled.
"You came…"
Riser looked down with a confident smirk, "Of course I did. I failed you once. I will never do that again."
An ear splitting smile came across her face, "Go kick their butts, big brother!"
"Gladly," with that said, Riser charged. His sword cleaved through the skull of a clone like butter. His fire burned them into nothing more than ash. All in all, Ravel was so lucky to have a big brother like him.
Archer would be lying to himself if he said he ever looked forward to fighting another spirit. His memories may have been a bit hazy on some timelines, but he remembered how hard it was to deal with another servant. He even died a few times. Not fun at all. However, this was different. This servant was alive. That meant he was probably stronger than his servant self. Some servants were restricted by how powerful their masters were. An unrestricted servant meant an unrestricted power level.
That's what Mephistopheles was showing him as he slashed and clanged his sword against Archer's smaller ones. Archer was thankful he was part cat. It gave him the flexibility he needed to dodge the strikes he knew he couldn't block. He leaned backwards, avoiding a strike that would have taken off his head and jumped back. Only for his enemy to close the distance.
"Why do you run like a coward?" Mephistopheles asked as he kept up his assault, "Are you not a former servant such as I? Stand and fight!"
"I'm not a crazy bastard like you," Archer grunted as he was pushed back by a stab against his blades. "I know when and where to pick my fights. You on the other hand, are a fool who thinks he can take on a den of wolves."
"Wolves?" Mephistopheles stopped to stare at him in confusion. Then his face contorted in rage, "Wolves? They are not wolves. They are chickens ready to be slaughtered. I must guide them back to what it truly means to be a devil. They are a disgrace. If I didn't want to save them so badly, I'd feel insulted by the comparison."
"Save them?" Archer threw his blade but it was deflected by the former Caster servant. He recalled it, "You kill them left and right for their power. You're literally trying to kill children. You are no savior. You're a power hungry dictator in the making."
"Silence!" Mephistopheles strode forth and kept hammering into the younger former servant. "You know nothing. You will die here today and never witness Hell's rebirth. The world will shake and humanity will feel the fangs of its better soon enough. As will Heaven and all those other bastard religions."
"Now you're talking nonsense," Archer was using his magical energy just to keep up. A gash to his arm told him that he couldn't keep this up forever, "You just like killing, so stop trying to be all high and mighty."
"I don't care what you think of me," Mephistopheles was able to smash his foot into Archer's abdomen and send him flying. Thankfully, the cat landed on his foot but was wobbling. Mephistopheles was strong. Any harder and Archer knew he'd be down and out of the fight, "The dead have no time for thoughts anyways."
"Funny, I was about thing." A feminine voice spoke out.
The two male combatants turned their heads and Mephistopheles's eyes widened. Before him was none other than the two local mothers of Rias and Ravel. Destructive energy swirled around Venelana while Jessica's body was red hot from the fire blazing about her. The former Caster turned and cackled.
"Awww, come to save your little baby?" Mephistopheles mocked, "If you had just given me a moment, I'd have done my best to make her look pretty."
"Jessica," Venelana took a few steps forward. "Let me have this one."
"He's all yours," Jessica sneered as she stared down the mad monster.
Mephistopheles held out his sword as his long tongue stuck out of his mouth, "Oh this is going to be fun. I can't wait to rip open your womb and see if it's any good. With a shit daughter like that one," he pointed to Rias, "I'm expecting to find-"
He dodged a bolt of Destruction. It utterly destroyed the wall behind him. Though he didn't show it, his heart was racing in fear. That energy wasn't something for the land of the living. He would have to be careful.
"Do you think you can-"
He narrowly dodged another blast. He gritted his teeth as he kept it up. Thrice during the barrage, the energy would knick him. He could feel small parts of himself being utterly annihilated. He also knew she was playing with him. She hadn't even tried to utterly destroy the place. Perhaps she was worried about her daughter.
He used his magic to power himself forward even faster. He would slash this woman's belly open, no matter what she was up to. Yet she didn't move. Just as he prepared to strike, Jessica came into view and slammed her mace into his chest. His mouth opened up as he coughed up blood. The blow sent him flying into a wall, destroying a part of it in the process. He groggily stood up. The blow was strong. Easily matching a servant's strength, in his case. He could feel several broken ribs as the poked his innards.
Mephistopheles snarled and raised his sword, "You will-"
Venelana shot a bolt quicker than he could talk. His arm was gone in a flash, before he could even blink. "You will shut up." She spat at him.
He stared at the wound for a moment before laughter started to bubble in his throat. They could hear something ticking. He turned to glare at them, "This much I swear. I will have my vengeance." Around him swirled a number of clocks and with a finger, he tossed them forward.
"Move!" Jessica got in front of them and the clocks converged around her. Her energy drew them in and within a second, they blew up. Her screams of pain were carried out around the area.
Mephistopheles growled as he across the backyard. His plan was ruined. HIs arm was gone and he had used up so much energy. It would take ages to get back to where he was before. Still, he had hurt that family. He only hoped that the mother didn't have the same healing energy as the rest of them. Killing the matriarch of this household would have been at least some fun. He would be back, stronger than ever.
He never saw the arrow pierce him or the resulting explosion. Nor did he forget that there were three mothers present this day, not two.
Atalanta would not let a creature scare her kittens and live to tell the tale.
I am so sorry for the long wait. Work has been killer since the holidays started and with so many fics on hand, I never had the time to come back to this story. No matter, I'll do my best to write more this coming year. Hopefully this chapter was satisfactory and you all enjoy it. As well, I'll try and start answering reviews from here on out. Don't forget to comment as they are very much appreciated. Until next time, take care.
1: GARcher
Archer is about Koneko/Shirone's age. I'll keep that in mind. Pairings are still a bit loose at this stage.
2: Nagisa Tr
I got the idea from another fic. Can't remember the name of it and given he knows magic, I thought I'd use it to help me along.
3: xbox432
Going to be honest, I was looking for a way to show off Riser as a badass with some morals. Why? Because people focus way too much on him being a 'jackass' that they seem to forget Riser actually goes through a redemption arc and becomes a pretty swell guy. No. He's usually either killed, humiliated, and made into an even bigger pompous jackass then canon. (Which is saying something since the anime itself made him much more of a jackass then the manga/LN) So he's going to be a better character earlier now.
Well that's mostly because it's more fun to write flashy fights. Having an Assassin just assassinate an opponent does kind of kill fight potential but yeah, I thought I'd spice it up with some actual technique.