::Author's Note::

Well folks! We're finally reaching the end of this Arc. Barring anything crazy happening, it will either be next chapter or the one after the next chapter that ends up being the Epilogue. I'd like to get it all knocked out in one chapter, but there may be too much to cover to get away with that, in which case it'll be two more. What's important is that the finish line is now visible. And to those of you who asked, YES, I am going to begin work on Arc Four as soon as I'm done with Arc Three. No worries there.

I wanted to make a call out to a Guest who commented on my previous chapter. You made a joke I thought was really clever so I went ahead and added it to the writing. If you'd like to be credited for it, please send me a PM so I know who to thank.

With that out of the way, I present to you all (Dear God how did we get here?) Chapter 40.

::End Note::

Fire and destruction. Death and decay. Time and space warped beyond belief. A realm of infinite energy, of chaos unbound. Two forces colliding like freight trains of magical energy. Never in the history of their organization had the ORC done battle on a scale this massive.

On one side, Eurus Agares. A mad Pureblood Devil turned Lich, possessing both the necromantic powers of a spectre of undeath as well as the inherent mastery over space and time that came with her bloodline. The Lich of Eurus was locked in a titanic duel of magic with the President of the ORC and her Queen, using her spectral magic to hurl death curses at her opponents while trying to open black holes around them with her Spacetime Magic. Meanwhile, she conjured spectral servants from her ectoplasmic body that crystalized into cores and merged with the floating chunks of building and debris around them as well as fusing with the earth and dirt at their feet. Forming powerful Golems and gargantuan terrors of flesh that kept the other members of Rias's Peerage distracted.

On the other side was the Gremory Peerage. The Crimson Haired Princess of Ruin had achieved a form of power that allowed her to fight on par with the Lich of Eurus. Countering each of her curses and spatial disruptions with powerful spells of destruction. Each black hole that opened was almost immediately negated by her destructive energy. Meanwhile, Akeno assisted her President with the full brunt of her Elemental Magic. Summoning powerful Atronarchs to counter the Lich's Golems. As she did this, she unleashed her Holy Lightning upon their enemy, casting high level Thunder Spells that broke through barriers and surged Holy Electricity throughout her skeletal body, disrupting her ability to cast spells.

The fighters on the ground were doing their best to offer support, but primarily found themselves in a battle for survival. Koneko was smashing every golem she could while trying to ignore the cuts and scrapes she was acquiring from jagged cement and protruding rebar. She would smash through one, grab the core, and crush it before turning her attention to another golem and repeating the process. Irina focused her attention on the Flesh Golems that appeared from the soil. Using her Excalibur Mimic to cut them down to size before firing a single Holy Revolver Round at the core, shattering it to pieces. Kiba and Xenovia found themselves struggling to fend off Golems, Undead Abominations, and Spectral Phantasms alike in a bid to defend their only Healer, Asia. Who was, arguably the only thing that was letting them go full power for as long as they had. Her Twilight Healing provided the extra longevity needed to continue the fight and push the creatures back.

Amidst the chaos of this titanic battle, Jon was in a desperate struggle up in the skies. Kokabiel's power was nigh insurmountable. His lances hit with a force unlike anything he had ever felt before and when they detonated, the shockwave alone sent him flying backwards and hit him to the bone. It was a crapshoot if anything he threw at Kokabiel was hitting him or not, and it didn't take long for him to be knocked straight back after trying to close the gap between them.

"It's not enough." Jon boosted his power again and rocketed towards Kokabiel once more, avoiding Lances of Light while hurling hideously destructive fire spells his way. He just needed to hold out long enough for his Peerage to finish off Eurus and then they could attack the Angle of Stars as a group.

Back on the ground, Rias continued to trade blows with Eurus. As powerful as she had become, they were still completely deadlocked.

"This battle…" The Lich's voice was like a chilling gale on the wind, making the skin of everything living crawl with its icy sensation. "...it reminds me of my fight with Lucifer's Queen. You possess a Devil's Power to the highest degree, Sister of Sirzechs."

Rias crossed her arms and raised two fingers on each hand into the air, two orbs of destruction and two destruction spell circles appeared to both her right and her left.

"In that case, BE GONE!"

She flung her hands out sharply, casting the spell. A red and black Dragon of Destruction careened towards Eurus which she attempted to deflect with a green magic barrier. The Dragon shattered the barrier and knocked the looming Lich off balance. Rias immediately followed with a spell circle that unstacked to reveal a series of concentrically smaller circles through which she channeled her Power of Destruction. Firing it like a cannon in a small, concentrated blast.

The Lich's chest cavity blasted open and Eurus was completely knocked off her guard.

"Akeno, NOW!" Rias shouted.

Her Queen extended her arm upwards and pointed a single finger in the air. A powerful bolt of lightning hit her like a metal rod, surging through her body upon which she pointed the energy at Eurus's open chest cavity. A large yellow magic circle formed around her finger from which a massive bolt of Holy Lightning soared straight into Eurus's chest. Surging throughout her body whereupon it began to shrink.

"That's it, we've got her!" Rias cheered.

But she had spoken too soon. Eurus grew back to her original size and broke the spell with her own power. Akeno was sent flying backwards, hit with recoil.

"So even the power of Baraqiel has found its way into this fight." Eurus observed as her ribs reformed. "You've sunken low, girl. Siding with Devils the way you have."

Akeno growled at her in rage before blasting her with more lightning. The Lich quickly erected a barrier that completely absorbed the attack.

"Interesting, a propensity for traitors and hypocrites must run in your family, Rias."

The President gritted her teeth as rage and power surged through her body. "I will not stand for your insults to my Brother or my Peerage a moment longer! As done once before by the Silver Haired Queen of Annihilation you shall DIE by my hand, Mad Prophet!"

Back in the sky, Jon wasn't getting anywhere with Kokabiel. The Angel of Stars definitely had his number in terms of raw power.

As the fight dragged on, Kokabiel bellowed in laughter at the struggling Red Dragon Emperor. "I must say, Ddraig! You do not disappoint! This has proven to be an even more amusing distraction than I initially anticipated!"

Jon flared at him before blasting Kokabiel with another Dragon Shot. The Angel of Stars responded by wrapping himself up in his wings like a cocoon, taking the full brunt of the energy based attack without it seeming to even phase him. Once his attack was spent, Kokabiel proceeded to unfurl his wings and taunt him some more.

"And what a lovely young thing Rias has grown into. Perhaps once I've finished destroying YOU I'll spare her after all! She'd make a most amusing slave!"

The Dragon's eyes went wide and his vision became white hot. With complete disregard for his safety, having given in to total animosity, Jon charged straight at him. Kokabiel proceeded to summon another hideously lethal Light Spear, grinning down at him sadistically.

"Fool...so easily goaded."

Kokabiel hurled the deadly javelin at Jon, who boosted his power once more, reared his fist back…

...and completely shattered it.

"What?!" The Angel of Stars was taken aback.

Seizing the opportunity, Jon ignited the thrusters in his boots to full burn and drove his fist into Kokabiel's face as hard as he possibly could. Sending the Angel of Stars flying through a floating chunk of building, then the one behind it, before finally coming to a stop upon smashing into the massive chunk of earth that was directly behind the second building. Jon was on him within seconds, taking a deep breath and unleashing his Dragon's Roar attack. Kokabiel angrily rolled up into a wing cocoon again as the Red Dragon Emperor scorched him with Hellfire.

The massive column of flames finally dissipated and he unfurled his wings, snarling angrily at his opponent. "So you've gotten a bit stronger! You're still no match for-"

But Jon wasn't there. Not even a second later he felt two metal gauntlets drive into his back, the Red Dragon Emperor having flown around the large chunk of earth and drilled his way through it, just to nail him in the back. Jon ignited his thrusters and sent them both soaring high into the air, he then hit him with a flurry of monstrous punches and jabs to the back straight in the kidney area. Finishing with a massive hit to the back of the Solar Plexus.

Kokabiel was sent flying only for Jon to dash in front of his prey and deliver a massive two handed slam back down to the battle below. He summoned a giant ball of red energy which he immediately shrunk into the palm of his hand before grasping it and delivering another Dragon's Shot on his falling opponent.

With a furious roar Kokabiel righted himself mid air and caught the blast, though it continued to push him downward. The shot detonated with enough force to clear all the surrounding debris in the area and hit every other combatant with a noticeable shockwave, bringing the fight on the ground to a halt.

"Was that...Jon?" Irina asked in total awe.

Koneko nodded, a relieved smile on her face.

Up in the sky, Jon sucked in large quantities of oxygen as he attempted to regain his breath. He was now drenched in sweat and his muscles burned. Surely he got him that time. Surely.

Much to his horror, he watched as the smoke cleared and Kokabiel rose back into the air, still very much intact, a shield of white light engulfing his body.

"I must thank you, Ddraig." Kokabiel wiped a speck of blood from his lip and spat out a loose tooth before lowering the shield surrounding his body. "This has been most excellent. It has been centuries since I've faced an opponent capable of dealing damage to me."

Jon's head slunk back and his eyes closed in exhaustion. He still wasn't dead? Even after all that?

"But you've been fighting a losing battle this entire time." He continued. "And I don't just mean that you're hopelessly outmatched here. Don't you see? War between the Three Factions is inevitable. Whether it's started by my hand or another, we are destined to enter open conflict yet again. All I want is to be the one supplying the guns, the ammo, the soldiers for my team. I don't see what's so wrong with that."

"How many innocent lives have you slaughtered?!" Jon roared at him. "How many families have you torn apart?!"

"Come now, you can't honestly tell me this is about the humans. You're better than that." Kokabiel shook his head in disappointment. "Don't be a hypocrite, Ddraig. You're just as culpable as I am when it comes to 'innocent lives' as you so aptly put it."

"I don't kill children." Jon spoke vehemently. "I don't commit genocide."

"Oh, EVERYONE always gets up in arms about the children." Kokabiel spoke in mock exasperation. "Honestly, all they gain by being spared is a chance to commit themselves to hollow vengeance like your Knight or live under the rule of a Master who know longer exists like the Swordswomen over there. In the grand scheme of things I'd say killing them is a kindness." An evil grin spread over his lips. "I could retract that kindness if you desire, but THEN who would be the bad guy?"

Something he said caught both Xenovia and Irina's attention.

"W...wait." Irina felt a nervous quiver form in her heart. "What did he just say?"

"Woops." Kokabiel chuckled in amusement. "That just slipped right out, didn't it."

"Answer her!" Xenovia shouted at him angrily, a mixture of fear and concern on her face. "Answer Irina's question NOW!"

Kokabiel's chuckle built into a roaring laugh. The louder it got, the angrier Irina and Xenovia became. Asia felt a palpable dread form over her being, causing her legs to nearly buckle.

"My goodness, I really AM trying to start a war, aren't I?!" He continued to snicker quietly to himself before turning to his wife. "I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore, Darling. Would you like to tell them the brutal truth or should I?"

"It was the final vision…" She spoke in that same hollow tone. "...the last darkness I received before the light's in my eyes fell into the great black void. I saw a bright light in Heaven wither and die, its life and fervor snuffed out from eons of brutal conflict. Starved of hope, and fallen into despair, it flickered and died and all around it fell into a gloomy twilight. Heaven's spark was gone."

The dread in Asia's heart turned into palpable fear. "Wh...what does she mean by that?"

"Cryptic as always, Darling." Kokabiel spoke up with his usual arrogance. "Allow me to paraphrase. You see...after the fighting of the last Great War finally ceased, the battle between God's Forces and the Four Great Satans proved too much for the old being." He was having to physically hold back his laughter as he spoke these next words. "Eventually, the corruption and entropy that had infected his being proved too much for him to handle. In the end…"

A brutally hideous grin formed over his face, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth.

"...God was KILLED along with the Four Great Satans! He's been dead for eons and you fools didn't even realize!"

Every single one of them, Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Asia, Xenovia, but especially Irina, all of them stood in stunned, horrified silence. Their mouths agape and their eyes wide in both shock and dismay.

"N...no way…" Xenovia shook her head in complete denial. "That's a lie...it has to be...there's no way in hell that's true!"

"It can't be." Rias appeared to be just as much in disbelief as Xenovia was. "That's impossible…"

"Every single one of my Wife's visions have come true." Kokabiel assured. "Though we weren't there to witness it ourselves, we know it has come to pass."

"LIAR!" Irina shrieked, frightful tears rolling down her eyes and a fearful quiver in her lips. "I refuse to believe you! It isn't true!"

"Think about it, little girl." Kokabiel pointed towards Kiba's blade. "How could something like that Balance Breaker exist in this world unless God's Divine Grace was no longer here to prevent it? The balance of Order has been effectively disrupted, that can only mean one thing. God is DEAD!"

"It's not true." Asia collapsed to her knees, completely numb to everything as her world came quietly crashing down around her. "I won't believe it. God can't be dead. He can't be."

"All sides have been ruined to the point where humans now dominate the planet." Kokabiel explained. "We rely on an inferior species to survive in this new world all because our sides cannot repopulate the way they once did. Angels sealed away this information so that the God fearing humans would keep on fearing. But the truth is, his grace has not been felt on this planet for quite some time."

Xenovia collapsed under the weight of her own body, a look of pure horror wrought on her face. "Lies...they're all lies. Not the Angels too. Our Sacred Text was one thing. But please, Dear God, not them too."

"Spare me your empty and hollow prayers, Swordswoman!" Kokabiel snarled hatefully. "I could care less about your crisis of faith! What drives ME crazy is that after God and the Four Great Satans died, the Ceasefire was declared!" At the mention of the Ceasefire he despised so much, Kokabiel's temper flared. "Why would Azazel do something like that when we were in the middle of winning?! How dare he try to keep me from squashing my enemies when it was just getting fun! We could have won! We could have been the new Gods of this realm! I mean WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"God...doesn't exist anymore?" Asia slowly rose to her feet, a forlorn, hollow look in her eyes. "Then where has all the love in our hearts been coming from? Where have our prayers been going?"

The Angel of Stars sneered at her derisively. "Michael has been holding his own so far. He is the one who's been keeping Angels and the Church connected. But their influence is slowly waning. It won't be long before their entire infrastructure collapses, and with it, any hope Heaven possess of winning this war."

"The Archangel Michael has been working as God's surrogate? Then...all our Prayers...my family...they're all..." Irina turned green and vomited.

"As long as he keeps the system working, Prayer and Exorcisms still make effective weapons against the Underworld." He then pointed to various members of Rias's Peerage. "But as you can see, even THAT has begun to falter. If you don't believe me, just look around. We have a Hybrid Devil Queen capable of casting Holy Lightning."

Akeno glowered at him murderously.

"A Devil Swordsman with a blade composed of both Holy and Demonic energy."

Kiba dropped to a knee, using his sword to brace himself up.

"And a Holy Sword User who can still wield her blade despite her blood being tainted. The Law of Natural Order first established by God is beginning to break."

The strength left Asia's body and she fell. Koneko quickly caught her as she collapsed.

"Asia, are you okay?!" She asked, doing her best to compose herself.

"It's a natural reaction…" Irina commented in a dead, lifeless tone. Her eyes permanently cast to the ground. "...I'm surprised I can even still think right now."

"As the number of believers continues to dwindle, the balance will continue to degrade. It's no wonder something contradictory like the Holy Devil Blade can exist on this plane. Don't you see now? Chaos is inevitable! YOU are the ones who started it! YOU are the ones who gave birth to us! We will continue this war, and see it to its bloody conclusion!"

Xenovia couldn't hear him anymore. She couldn't hear anything anymore but a loud ringing in her ears and her own, nightmarish thoughts as she descended further and further into a bottomless despair.

"Why?" Tears streamed down her face and fell to the ground. "I gave you everything. All that I am. Even after learning the truth of my Holy Text...I still…" She swallowed back the bile that formed in her throat. "...I still believed. I still wanted to believe you were watching out for us. Why? Why did you have to die? Why have you forsaken us all?"

From the silence that engulfed her, a single voice carried through the darkness and brought her back to reality. It was the sound of someone laughing. As she slowly came back to her senses, she realized she recognized that southern voice that was now bellowing hysterically. Irina and Asia both turned their heads up, having recognized it as well. That obnoxious, overly indulgent laugh that southern men slipped into whenever they thought something was way funnier that it truly was.

They all turned up towards the sky to see Jon keeled over in a fit of hysterical mirth. He was laughing so hard he was crying. As if he had just been told the funniest joke he had ever heard in his entire life.

"What the HELL is he laughing at?" Irina dug her fingers into the dirt angrily.

"Jon...what are you doing?" Rias shook her head at him in complete disapproval. "I fail to see what is so funny about this."

He waved his hand at her assuredly, indicating he was trying to say something but couldn't. After letting himself calm down and wiping a mirthful tear from his eye, he finally spoke up. Addressing the crowd of confused and irate glares that were being cast his way.

"No no no." He shook his head profusely, still snickering under his breath. "I SWEAR I'm not laughing at that. It's just…" Jon stopped himself from laughing again before continuing. "...I cannot BELIEVE any of you are actually taking this seriously. Especially you three." He motioned to Xenovia, Asia, and Irina.

The three believers stared up at him in confusion. No longer angry, but still terribly lost.

"I mean...come on!" He insisted incredulously. "That has got to be one of the STUPIDEST things I have ever heard in my life!"

Kokabiel's amused grin immediately evaporated, replaced with a quiet seething glare. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"I'm calling you an idiot!" Jon retorted, still chuckling to himself. "For fuck's sake! God's DEAD?! As in...the LITERAL creator of everything has kicked the bucket?! THAT'S the story you're trying to sell us here?! You sound like an edgy fourteen year old on a religious subreddit!"

"Jon...what are you saying?" Irina stood back up, life and strength returning to her limbs.

"Yes...please tell us." Xenovia spoke as well, equal parts desperation and hope in her voice.

Asia's eyes opened again and she peered up at Jon with the same look the other girls were giving him.

He looked down at their desperate hopeless faces and sighed, shaking his head at them. "Honestly, you three. Working yourselves into hysterics like that? I can't believe you." Jon turned his gaze to Asia first. "Asia, I know you don't truly believe God is dead. I see you trying to pray to him every night. And despite the constant headaches, you still feel his eyes on you, right?"

Her smile finally returned and her eyes welled up. She wiped a tear from her eye and nodded. "You're right. I still believe in him."

"And Irina?" Jon lectured her sternly. "Father Kyle would be ashamed of you. Letting an enemy rattle you like that. Your Faith is the strongest out of all of us combined. You should know better."

After a moment, she took a deep breath and nodded, calming herself down. "You're right, Jon. Thank you. I just...lost my nerve there for a second."

Finally, he turned to the last believer. "Now Xenovia...I know that you've been struggling recently. I know better than most how it feels to be abandoned. We all do." He smiled at her warmly. "But I also know you still have faith. Even if you've been trying to hide it. It's scary when that faith is challenged, I'm sure. But it's still an important part of who you are. After all, I can see it whenever I look into your spirit."

Xenovia felt her heart begin to race and her body begin to glow. Her pupils dilated and her cheeks flared red. "He...he can see my spirit? He's been looking at my soul?"

Jon then addressed the remainder of the group. "Look, I'm probably the worst person to be making this speech given I was never much of a believer myself. But there's one thing Father Kyle once told me that always stuck with me."

Irina smiled up at him, knowing full well what he was about to say. After all, he told her the same thing.

"Faith is a knowledge within the heart. Beyond the reach of proof." He recited to them. "Now, my faith in God hasn't always been the strongest like Irina's. But one thing I DO have faith in is all of you. Asia, Xenovia, I'm not going to let what these two Jackasses say ruin something that is so utterly important to both of you. Even if that means I have to start praying for the both of you every day for the rest of time."

Asia clasped both her hands up to her mouth, completely overwhelmed with emotion. "Oh Jon…"

Xenovia's mouth fell agape as Jon's eyes met with hers. A familiar warmth enveloping her like a blanket. She remembered this feeling...it was the same feeling she used to get when she would pray.

"I see it...I finally understand."

In that moment...her heart answered a question.

Meanwhile, Irina beamed up at him with pride. Her own eyes began to well up. She was so unbelievably proud of him. In that moment, she could almost SEE Father Kyle in Jon's face.

"You can deny the loss all you desire." Eurus spoke in a grimm dark voice, completely ruining the moment. "But what I have seen is the absolute truth. The Light of Heaven is gone."

"Oh I ain't denying that for a second." Jon retorted without missing a beat. "I fully believe that God is no longer in Heaven. That would make WAY too much sense." He started chuckeling again. "But to say he's DEAD? Now that's just silly."

"My visions are absolute…" She repeated in a completely dispassionate voice. "...they cannot be-"

"Except, you ain't the only who gets these visions are ya?" Jon interrupted her.

For just the briefest moment, he could have sworn he saw a semblance of anger in her cold lifeless eyes.

"Rias filled me in on some of the horribly tragic details involving your freakshow of a family." Jon explained. "Now I can't make heads or tails of most of it on account of y'all being nine different shades of crazy, but from what I did gather it basically works like this. You and your twin sister could both receive the same visions of the future and see completely different things right? She saw all the good parts, and you saw all the bad." After a moment, a slick grin formed on his face. "Have you ever thought that maybe, your visions are only just part of the truth?"

"What are you saying, Jon?" Rias asked curiously.

"I'm saying...Little Miss Corpse Bride here ain't the only voice in this dog show. If we were to say...bring her Twin Sister back from the dead and ask her what SHE thinks of this little vision of yours? What insight would SHE have to offer regarding God's sudden disappearance?"

"Do not speak of her in my presence, Boy." Eurus hissed coldly.

"I'll admit, you got a pretty raw deal." Jon continued undeterred, showing pity for the Lich. "If I could only ever see the bad things that are gonna happen in life, I'd probably go mad too." He then smiled and turned towards his comrades. "But...that's what family is for, ain't it? To get you through those rough times."

They all smiled up at him. Eurus meanwhile, was rendered silent.

"In the south we have a saying. There's three sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth." He explained. "Personally, I think that you and your sister's visions were just two sides to the same story. And if you put them together, then you would get the truth." He shook his head assuredly. "And the truth is, God is NOT dead. Not by any stretch of the imagination."

Kokabiel flared in anger. "Even if what you say is true then it doesn't change the fact his presence can no longer be felt in Heaven! Even if he hasn't died, he HAS abandoned you! Abandoned ALL of you!"

"No!" Jon barked at him defiantly, shutting him up yet again. "He hasn't. God leaving Heaven and God abandoning his children are NOT the same thing. If he left his little palace in the sky, then it's only because he realized his presence there was doing more harm than good!"

Kokabiel, along with every other person there, was completely taken aback by his words.

"Look...as much as I tried to ignore most of the Biblical lessons Father Kyle shoved down my throat, there was one thing that always stuck with me. We're all supposed to be...in some form or other, his children right?" He smiled back down at Irina, Xenovia, and Asia again. "Well...while I can't speak for all parents everywhere, I do know that...there comes a time when a Father has to leave his children behind. Not to abandon them, but because they've grown up."

They looked up at him, hope, life, and fervor returning to their eyes.

"But that doesn't mean he's gone forever. It just means that he expects us all to clean up our act on our own now." He shrugged. "Seems to me like...that's a good thing. He's doing what a responsible parent does, and is leaving our lives in our own hands. The fact is, Earth has grown up. It's time for us to walk on our own two feet."

Xenovia placed a hand against her heart. What he said made so much sense. But more than that, the wisdom in his words touched her very soul in a way she was not expecting. The former Holy Woman remembered that day she first laid eyes on Jon, his power fully on display the way it was now. His terrible wrath, the ferocity of his spirit. And now...the way her whole body warmed up just having his eyes upon him. Finally...she was beginning to understand.

"Could it be? Is he really…"

"Ignorant words spoken from a misinformed cretin." Kokabiel spat at him angrily. "How could you possibly think to know better than the visions of a Prophet?"

"It's simple really, Kokabiel." Jon narrowed his eyes at him sharply. "There's a basic law about Gods of any kind that everyone, even someone like you should be able to understand."

Power erupted from his being, causing Xenovia's heart to leap.

"You can't kill a God, Kokabiel. Here...let me prove it to you!"

She clasped her hands up to her face, her eyes going wide with shock. She knew it! All this time, she knew it!

Jon's body became covered in thick red plates of armor, along with a metal helmet covering his head. Upon dawning his Scale Mail Jon used his boost ability, lighting up the sky with neon green energy and overwhelming power.

Kokabiel reared back and bellowed in angry laughter before casting two hateful eyes at his enemy. "Very well then!" A massive Lance of Light appeared in his hand. "Show me what you've got, Red Dragon Emperor!"

The two charged and their titanic clash continued. Xenovia's hands were pressed firmly against her heart, the spirit she thought she lost now back in full force. She was all but certain of what her soul was telling her. This feeling...it could not be ignored.

Her faith was restored. Through the Red Dragon Emperor, Xenovia could see the face of God again.

Her gaze turned next to the battle raging between the Lich Eurus and the rest of the Gremory Peerage. Her eyes suddenly bore a familiar steely intensity. With her purpose restored, she knew EXACTLY what it was she needed to do.

"Okay…" She spoke through gritted teeth, severity in her voice as she slammed Excalibur Destruction into the ground and raised her right hand out to her side with her palm extended upwards. "...enough wallowing in self pity. It's time to smite God's enemies."

A Holy Magic Circle appeared where her hand was outstretched.

"I call upon my guardians, most Holy Peter, the great Paladin Sir Roland, and the Virgin Mary. Hear my plea and grant me this blessing. Give me the strength to deliver this world from evil in our Lord's almighty name. Amen!"

From the summoner's circle the grip of a massive sword appeared. Followed shortly by a blade of equally massive proportions. Chains surrounded the blade, as if anchoring it to the magic circle. As Xenovia gripped the handle of the sword and pulled, the chains snapped loose and vanished, allowing her to completely free the blade from the pocket dimension she had it kept in.

What lay before them all was a uniquely shaped broadsword with a blue blade and a golden edge. The sword had a semicircular guard on the left side of the handle that extended to the bottom just above the pommel, with a small extension on the right side of the handle. Standing from the tip of the blade, the Durandal was slightly taller than Xenovia, surpassing the latter's height by just a few centimeters.

Kokabiel's attention was momentarily pulled away from his battle to reel in horror at the sight of the blade. "Th...that sword! It can't be!"

Jon quickly capitalized on his momentary distraction and delivered a devastating hook straight into his gut. Knocking the breath from Kokabiel's lungs before following with a haymaker that sent his opponent flying.

Back on the ground, Xenovia brought the massive blade in front of her as the others turned their attention to the newly turned Knight of Gremory.

"Is that...what I think it is?!" Irina did a double take. Unsure if she was truly seeing this correctly.

"This sword is called Durandal." Xenovia declared boldly while assuming a combat stance. "It is a blade on par with the original Excalibur, said to be able to cut anything in this world."

"Impossible!" Kokabiel was still reeling from the fact he was seeing that blade again while simultaneously having to fight off an ever stronger growing Red Dragon Emperor. "I was all but certain that bloodline was extinct!"

She smirked victoriously. "You thought wrong. The Roland bloodline has survived to this day. I am one of the last of the TRUE Holy Sword Users."

The earth beneath their feet began to tremble as the swords power slowly engulfed her being. Xenovia's hair began to blow upwards and small chunks of the ground around her floated off into the sky.

"This kiddo cuts everything he touches to pieces." She calmly explained, her eyes beginning to glow with untapped power. "In the years since I became a Holy Sword User I've only ever tried to use him once before against a Devil Pureblood of extraordinary power. During that fight, I caused an 8.2 magnitude earthquake that nearly wiped out a small indonesian town. I've never tried using his power since." A devilish grin spread across her features. "But seeing as we're technically not even on the same plane of existence anymore. What we have here is a rare instance where I can let loose and break everything in sight."

A single blue beam of light rocketed into the sky from off her body. Rias was completely taken aback by this development. With the Durandal, Xenovia appeared to possess powers on par even with HER.

"Rias, Akeno...my comrades." Xenovia brought the blade behind her, preparing to strike. "Please stand back, I would really rather avoid hitting you and I'm not entirely sure I can control this just yet."

Rias's perplexed amazement turned into a burning excitement as she grinned wickedly down at her new servant. "Well since you asked so nicely." She turned to the remainder of her Peerage. "You heard the woman! Everyone get back!"

Once they were clear of the blast radius, Xenovia gripped her sword tight and swung with a beastial warcry, her target...everything.

A wave of blue fire coated the field of battle like a Tsunami, turning everything it touched to ashes. Though Eurus herself remained standing, the flames scorched her skeletal body, causing her to wail like a banshee in pain. Every single one of her undead servants, her disciples, her golems, all of them were reduced to ash.

"Incredible…" Akeno marveled. "...with a single swing…"

Xenovia, upon seeing the devastation she had just wrought upon her enemy gazed at her sword, and then at the palm of her own hand before gripping it into a fist and chuckling in sardonic amusement. Her eyes began to glow red as her Devil heart beat madly in her chest. "You know...I get it now."

"Get what?" Rias asked with a hint of giddiness in her voice.

"How it feels to be Rias Gremory!" She declared whilst laughing at her own obscene power. "At least a little bit, Ms. President. All this power at your disposal, how could you NOT feel a little prideful towards it." Her gaze turned up towards the cold dead eyes of her adversary. "I must say, it's impressive that, despite how hilariously amateur this little act of terror your husband has committed is, you still obstinately refuse to move out of our way."

"Am I supposed to fear you? I am beyond such emotion." The wispy voice of Eurus replied.

Xenovia shrugged indifferently. "Your feelings on the matter are irrelevant." That same, completely out of character look of malevolent glee formed on her features. "It doesn't change the fact you're about to go from undead to just dead again very very soon."

Her wings sprouted from her back and she took flight. Irina's heart quivered nervously. The tone of Xenovia's voice, the pride, the arrogance. This was not the woman she used to know. And now? Seeing those two batlike wings as she took to the sky, their truly was no denying it anymore.

Xenovia was a Devil now. One of the Gremory Peerage. Her skill as a Hunter, and now both Excalibur Destruction and the Durandal had found their way into the arsenal of the Underworld. The legions of hells forces were only getting stronger. Meanwhile...the Church's future was uncertain.

As was hers.

Xenovia flew up to eye level with Eurus, assuming the front position ahead of Rias and Akeno.

"Ms. President, if you will allow your newest servant to make a selfish request. I would like to take point and destroy the Lich personally."

Rias folded her arms and gave her a curious look. "Oh? And why should I allow that?"

Xenovia slowly twisted her head back towards the President, her blood red eyes casting a look pure bloodlust over her shoulders while she bore her teeth in a smile that reeked of twisted pleasure.

"Because after years of systemic oppression, I'm finally starting to enjoy the work I do. This the most fun I've ever gotten to have in my life."

Rias's own Devil's Blood began to boil in excitement as she replied with a wickedly cacophonous laugh of her own. "Well who am I to spoil you of your fun then." She turned back towards her Queen. "Akeno, we're hanging back for this one. Provide supporting fire as needed but otherwise do not interfere."

"Our new Knight is growing into a mature young Devil it seems." Akeno's face was flushed with arousal, a wicked gleam in her eyes. She bit the tip of her finger in excitement and her panties became soaked at the sight of Xenovia's grin. "If I wasn't sure before I am now. I have a new woman in my life to play with."

The Knight of Gremory turned her full attention back to Eurus and readied her blade. "Now then, allow me to teach you in the ways of a True Holy Sword User."

"Pointless." Eurus hissed before conjuring a ball of green temporal energy to her hand and throwing it at Xenovia.

The Knight swatted the ball of energy away with a single swing of her blade.

"Okay...now it's my turn." She spoke in a low, threatening tone.

Xenovia sliced the air with her blade, creating a blue shockwave that cut deep into Eurus's skeletal armor. She followed it up with another, and then another after that. With each swing of her blade she created a wave of razor sharp energy that cut through the Lich and then through whatever debris happened to be standing behind her as well.

"Enough!" The Lich wailed like a banshee before bringing her skeletal palm down to swat Xenovia like a fly.

Her boney hand shattered into a million pieces as Xenovia smashed her overpowered blade into the palm of her enemy. She then charged straight at her other limb, slicing clean through both halves of her forearm, shattering it and severing her other hand.

"More…" Eurus calmly demanded before drawing further upon the ethereal realm they were located in. Her hands regenerated like building blocks as she brought the green energy into her body and grew in size.

Not done yet, Xenovia turned sharply around and dove straight for the Lich's midsection. With her sword out above her head she began to spin on her central axis like a drill, drawing energy around her that formed a corkscrew like pattern around her body. Like a spinning heat seeking missile Xenovia smashed straight through Eurus's skeletal being. Upon which she would dive straight back down and hit her again, and again, and again after that. Knocking out chunks of her torso, her spine, a portion of her jaw, as well as knocking out reserves of her power.

"More!" Eurus cried more desperately now.

She continued to consume ethereal energy and chunks of matter around her to regenerate and grow in size. Until eventually she began swallowing up the very ground the others stood upon.

"Everyone, into the sky!" Kiba warned before sprouting his wings and taking off.

Kiba quickly grabbed a bemused and befuddled Irina before taking off as well. Followed almost immediately after by Asia.

Xenovia finally stopped spinning long enough to size up the new stature of her opponent. Eurus was now the size of a twenty story building. She towered over EVERYTHING.

"Foolish Mortal!" The Lich's deathly voice bit into her opponent's skin like the icy sting of an arctic flurry. "I am the very essence of death itself! A being who bends space and time to her will! My power is limitless!"

The Knight's gaze turned towards Jon before falling to her navel as she shut her eyes and placed a fist against her chest. "There's only one who can claim to have limitless power. Your wrath is nothing compared to the power of my Lord."

"Still you cling to meaningless texts and hollow faith?!" Eurus's energy flared in manifestation of her anger and frustration. "Who do you think you are to ignore my visions like so many others?!"

A steely look returned to Xenovia's Devil Eyes as she brought her weapon to bare once more.

"I am a Hunter. And YOU are my Prey!"

Eurus raised her massive arms into the air to summon more of her deathly powers. Upon which five massive blasts knocked her off balance. She turned her eyes to see Rias Gremory hovering several yards away, five red and black energy balls above her head.

With a wicked grin, Rias raised her hand in front of her, sending five more massive blasts her way.

"No…" Eurus felt her form shrinking.

"Akeno!" Rias ordered.

"I hope this is as painful for you as it is arousing for me!" The Queen of Gremory raised two electrically charged hands into the air, summoning a massive stream of lightning from the sky that surged through Eurus's body, shrinking her even more.

"No!"

Xenovia built her psionic energy into the blade and aimed it straight for center mass. A massive blue beam of light ripped straight through the Lich, completely destroying its central chest cavity.

"NO!"

"Rias, Akeno!" The Knight called to them both before raising her blade up into the air again.

"On it!" Akeno snickered devilishly before licking two electrically charged fingers and raising them into the air. A jolt of electricity danced into the air before being drawn to Xenovia's blade like a lightning rod. Rias channeled her own demonic power into the blade next. Red particles of destruction drew into Durandal and danced off its surface.

The two opposing energies merged together at the tip of Xenovia's sword, forming a massive ball of light as she added Durandal's blessing to the power. With both hands firmly gripping the handle of her weapon, Xenovia brought the blade down with a single sharp pull. Launching the ball of light like an iron round from a cannon. Breaking the sound barrier in the process.

As the ball of light hit Eurus's gaping chest cavity, it spread throughout her ethereal being, changing the color of the energy in her undead body from green to white. The Mad Prophet shrieked in unholy agony as the coalesced magics burned her from the inside out. Bright white lights bursting from her eye sockets and cracks of white energy forming along her skeletal frame.

As the final death consumed her, Eurus's thoughts turned to her past. A little girl with snow white hair. Ostracized by her clan. Abused by her parents. Neglected. Abandoned. Next, she thought of another young girl. One raised on the shoulders of her peers. Adored and cherished by all. Loved. Admired. Respected.

"Maevra...you were always the strong one. They called you the bright light of our Clan. The hope of our people. You stood above everyone, an inspiration to all."

More memories came back. Two sisters, twins, absconding away from the light and the dark to meet in their secret playspace below the stairs of the family estate.

Two sisters, the best of friends.

"I just...wanted to stand next to you. To be by your side. You weren't just the light of our people…"

A single tear rolled down Eurus's skeletal cheek.

"You were my light too. My ONLY light. And in the end...as I am consumed by this darkness...I...have...nothing…"

The Lich of Eurus crumbled into dust before blowing away into nothing. The negative zone they were standing in twisted and contorted as it began to crack and fall apart at the seams.

Time stopped, went backwards, then stopped again. The world reformed around them and unpaused itself as they were all sent unceremoniously tumbling back into reality.

The Phylactery containing Eurus's soul fell from the sky before clanking against the asphalt and rolling harmlessly until it came to a dead stop.

Asia stared down at the Phylactery in stunned silence as she descended back down to the Earth along with the rest of her Peerage. Leaving only Jon, Rias, and Akeno remaining in the sky. She slowly reached down and picked up the Phylactery, the spirit within it now felt so cold...so empty. But she was certain that at the very end, she felt something akin to sadness and remorse in the Lich before she was destroyed. It broke her heart to imagine what awful thing made her this way.

"Maybe now you can finally rest in peace." Asia hugged the Phylactery to her chest. "I'm sorry that this world was so cruel to you."

"Do you make it your personal prerogative to shed a tear over every broken and useless thing you come upon, girl?"

With the threat the Lich possessed now gone, all eyes turned to Kokabiel. Who sneered down at Asia derisively.

"Spare us all your excessive tears. What you're holding is nothing but garbage now."

Asia's face contorted into a bitter, hurt scowl as fresh tears formed in her eyes. "How can you be so cruel? She was your wife! The mother of your children! She gave her life fighting for you! They all did! And you would just cast that all aside as if it were nothing?!"

Jon's helmet vanished from his head, allowing him to cast two concerned eyes down at Asia. All this death, cruelty, and barbarism was likely becoming too much for her.

Kokabiel scoffed at the compassion filled Bishop, completely waving off the hurt in her voice. "Oh spare me, Child. Eurus and her spawn served their purpose, but it was inevitable they would need to be sacrificed at some point. Unlike your foolish Master, I don't attach emotional sentiment to MY Servants."

Rias flared at him angrily, her power erupting once more. Asia, meanwhile, clasped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with horror at his words. Her lips began to quiver as she lowered her head and dug her nails into her palm with one hand while gripping the crystal tightly with the other. She looked as if she might start breaking down at any moment. To think that something so wicked, so heartless, could truly exist in this world, was almost more than she could bare.

"Save your breath, Asia." Rias insisted while glaring up at Kokabiel in disgust. "A creature like him could never hope to understand what love feels like. He's nothing but a hollow shell of a being. Devoid of any true emotion beyond his megalomaniacal lust for power and glory. Your pure heart is wasted on a monster like him."

"Aww, Rias you wound me. I think I'm going to cry." Kokabiel mocked before laughing cruelly. "Give me a break! Mercy and compassion are traits only found in the weak willed and fragile! All power demands sacrifice and pain! The universe rewards those willing to spill their life's blood for the promise of glory!"

Asia's entire body trembled as tears streamed in rivets down her face. Koneko frowned softly at her before reaching a hand out to touch the Bishop reassuringly.

"Asia...are you okay?"

Her head snapped upwards to reveal not a woman on the brink of sobbing, but a sharp, hateful, angry glare. Asia's lips were contorted in rage none knew she possessed and her teeth were bared like that of a canine.

Most surprising of all however, was how her emerald eyes had changed to Devil red. They NEVER did that. Not for her.

Asia placed the crystal in her skirt before placing both hands out in front of her with one hand interlaced over the other, palms extended upwards. Her hair blew into the sky as she summoned a powerful swirling orb of life energy. The sudden shift in character and burst of power that came from Asia was so jarring to those around her, Koneko especially, that none of them said a word as she charged up her energy. To do what? They had no clue.

Kokabiel cackled in obtuse laughter. "Oooo, I think I hurt her feelings! Don't make me laugh! What exactly are you planning on doing with THAT, little girl?! You intend to heal me to death?"

A knowing grin formed on Asia's features. "It's not for you." Her intense gaze then turned to her Dragon. "Jon!"

The ball of energy scattered into ethereal rivets and headed straight for him. Realizing he was being called, Jon snapped out of his shock induced stupor long enough to cross both his gauntlets in an X formation, absorbing the life energy into the gemstones on his armor.

The surge of power he could feel coming from his boosted gear made his arms start vibrating.

"Holy shit…" Was all he could say in response.

All eyes turned to Asia as she glared up hatefully at Kokabiel. Tears still streaming down her mad face.

"As long as I've lived, I've always tried to be kind to everyone. I never wanted to use my powers to hurt others. Because the truth is, I HATE this. I hate everything about it. All this blood. All this death. All this sadness. I HATE violence." She steadied her trembling lip before continuing. "But right now…the only thing I hate more than violence...is YOU!"

Kokabiel's amused smirk fell into an angry scowl.

"And that's the first time I've ever said that of another person!" She continued, her blood red eyes honed sharply on him. "Even when I was Raynare's prisoner, I still felt sorry for her! I still tried to find compassion in my heart for a woman who actively tried to kill me!" Asia shook her head emphatically. "But not you! I won't show any compassion for you, Kokabiel! Because you're an insane degenerate piece of filth who doesn't deserve life!"

"Did she REALLY just say that?" Irina mumbled, a dumbfounded look on her face. Kokabiel, meanwhile, looked genuinely perturbed by the Bishop's sudden boldness.

Asia turned her attention back to the man she loved. She stomped her foot on the ground defiantly with her fists clenched up to her chest. "Jon! I don't care what you do with that energy I gave you! But promise me this! Promise me you'll use it to take him down and...and...just…"

She shut her eyes tight, breathed in sharply, and screamed.

"KILL THIS FUCKER!"

Every single member of Rias's Peerage as well as the President herself had relatively the same reaction. That of their jaws hitting the floor and their eyes bulging in sheer unbridled shock. Who was this woman? Because it sure as hell wasn't meek and timid little Asia.

Whoever it was, she had just lit a massive fire under everyone's asses.

Jon grinned at her, pride shining in his eyes. "Well yes Ma'am!" He called before saluting. Clearly beyond impressed, judging by the tone of his voice. He then turned to Rias. "You ready, Love?"

"Oh absolutely." She had the biggest, most tickled smile on her face imaginable. And the look in her eyes let him know she was ready for blood.

"My my, it seems our Knight isn't the only one growing up." Akeno pressed a devious little finger to her lips. "How bold our dear little Asia has become."

"Seriously…" Irina shook her head in bewilderment. Even SHE couldn't help but be impressed. "Where the hell did that come from? All this time I thought you were a quiet little wallflower."

"Clearly our Bishop possesses far more strength than we give her credit for." Kiba spoke approvingly. "That was Badass, girl."

Xenovia nodded in agreement. "It certainly was something."

Rias's Bishop saw all of them staring at her in admiration and almost immediately reverted back to timid mousy little Asia again. Her face heated up in embarrassment and her eyes reverted back to their natural color.

"Oooooh, come on guys!" She whined. "Don't embarrass me like that!"

From the corner of her eye she saw Koneko staring up at her with a gaping mouth and heated face. Her pupils were dilated and she was fidgeting in place. As if trying to hold back from doing something.

"Wh...what is it?" Asia asked nervously.

"No it's just…" Koneko was trying to find the words. "...I'm pretty sure this is the most turned on I've ever been in my life and I kinda just want to pounce you right now."

Again, Asia's face heated up like a thermometer and she wailed in embarrassment. Hiding her crimson face in her hands.

Up above them, Jon's focus was now entirely on the Angel of Stars. The helmet of his Scale Mail reformed on his head and his visor gleamed with untapped power.

The Red Dragon Emperor hit his boost ability and power erupted from his being. Power enough to send a shockwave in all directions that blew everyone's hair back, even Kokabiel's.

The Angel of Stars bellowed thunderously in unsettling laughter. Pure malice in his eyes.

"Now THAT'S more like it!" He brought the full extent of his monstrous power to bare, as fifteen hideously deadly Spears of Light appeared above him. "Come Ddraig! Let us do battle as true beings of Myth! This shall be most entertaining!"

From beneath his helmet, Jon smirked. "I'm not here for your entertainment, Kokabiel. And I have no intention of fighting you alone."

Kokabiel looked terribly confused for the longest time. It wasn't until Jon curled up his armored body and opened a series of missile silos on his back that it occurred to him what he was doing.

"You wouldn't dare!" He shouted in rage.

"Oh but I would." He assured before releasing his full salvo. "Boosted Radiance!"

Green orbs of light fired from the silos in his back plates and rained down on every single one of his comrades. Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Xenovia, Kiba, even Irina, they ALL received massive boosts of power, Jon's Transfer ability having been fused with Twilight Radiance to propel their abilities beyond anything they could have once conceived of.

"Now then!" Rias's power exploded as her voice boomed over all of them. "Members of the ORC, bring this bastard DOWN!"


Sirens blared in the massive concrete halls of the Nexus as Wesker battled with Sammy in an all out war. Both sides throwing everything they had in their arsenals at the other. Sammy blasted Wesker with purple fire who responded by surrounding his skin with the black tentacles on his body. These fleshy masses hardened to be as tough as steel, absorbing the heat of his attacks and protecting him.

Wesker retaliated with wild swings of the massive boney scythe that had replaced his right arm. This thing could cut through damn near anything as Sammy quickly learned after their chance encounter with a layer of reinforced rebar. That scythe appendage of his could also stretch out ridiculously far and made getting in close to hit him with his gauntlets extremely difficult.

"Why can't you understand?" Wesker took another wild swing at Sammy who barely had time to dodge as his opponent brought the boney scythe down into the concrete floor before dragging a massive divet into its surface. "Do you truly believe the world can be saved?"

Aika flew over his head and rained Arcane Missiles down upon him. Wesker curled up his tentacle scythe and absorbed each attack before lashing out with his left hand and lassoing her with a single black tentacle. Aika yelped in surprise moments before being slammed hard onto the concrete floor.

"Natural selection leaves the survivors stronger and better. War and pestilence rids us of the loathsome resource consuming masses while leaving the others to adapt and overcome."

Aika backed away as Wesker brought the scythe down once more, only to be scooped up and saved at the last second by Sammy.

"What do we do?! Our attacks don't even phase this guy!" She insisted in a panicky voice.

"I'd use my absorption line but he doesn't have any magical energy to steal." Sammy growled.

After a moment, an idea occurred to her. "Maybe not him...but I do."

He quirked a brow at her worriedly. "You sure about that? If you give up any more juice you could pass out. You'll be completely vulnerable."

"Then I guess it's up to you to make sure I stay safe, Dragon." She teased him, trying to put on a brave face.

Sammy then pushed her out of the way moments before Wesker grabbed him with another mass of black tentacles, bringing him close to his face. "The human race requires judgement! You must see this, surely?!"

"And you're the one who's gonna judge them, eh?" Sammy challenged while summoning his absorption line and struggling to get free. "Do you get all your ideas from fucking comic book villains?"

"You are ignorant! Just another unworthy specimen attempting to play God." Wesker growled before morphing his boney scythe into a spiral drill and beginning to spin it rapidly. "But I will make you understand! The only one who deserves to play God is my Lord!"

As he prepared to deliver the final blow, Sammy fired his absorption line at Aika and began draining her power as fast as he could. She helped the process along by willingly channeling magical energy through the line to him, creating a surge of power that caused the markings on his skin to light up. Aika collapsed to the ground and passed out, just as he predicted.

Meanwhile, Sammy summoned his strength and broke free of the tentacles, burning through them in the process. With a Feral Dragon's Roar he then knocked wesker back, scorching his skin.

"Funny you should mention God." He was smiling now, the Dragon's Mark on his body glowing neon red as he approached Wesker. "See, I represent one of the single most powerful races in all the three realms. And all this time, I can't say I've ever once tried to play God." Sammy shook his head. "No...all this time…"

Thick plates of black Exoskeletal Power Armor covered his body, charged by a plasma based core. A round metal helmet covered his head, with two square, robotic eyes boring into Wesker's being. A massive black Minigun shaped to look like a Dragon's Head appeared on his back which was attached to a robotic arm that auto loaded the weapon and moved it to his hands, ready to fire. The gun spooled up and he finished his thought.

"...I've been playing human."

His Minigun fired, sending over six thousand rounds a minute towards his opponent. Wesker quickly tried to block by forming a mass of tentacles into a makeshift wall in front of him. But the green plasma based rounds melted through the steel tentacles like wax, forcing him to use more and more just to keep the wall up.

Meanwhile, Sammy slowly approached Wesker's wall of tentacles before shouldering his minigun again and raising both fists into the air. Two massive flame throwers appeared on his wrists which he fired at point blank range. Twin purple flames sprouted from the guns in a thick cone pattern that completely incinerated everything in front of him. Wesker surrounded himself in a dome of tentacles, desperate to keep the flames at bay.

When Sammy finally stopped blasting him with flames, Wesker was in rough shape. Most of the protective tentacles were gone and his skin had been badly burned.

"I...will not lose...to YOU!" He barked angrily, now struggling just to remain standing.

"Hate to break it to ya, Pal. But this ones already over."

His chest plate opened revealing a cylindrical plasma core building up energy.

"Game over!"

Sammy fired a deadly plasma grenade at him. Wesker attempted to block with his scythe hand but it was futile. The last of his black tentacles were blasted to pieces and the Chief of Security was sent flying onto his back. Armless, powerless, and his flesh seared. He was done.

The armor plating covering Sammy began to recede back into his gauntlets and boots from where it came, before vanishing entirely. The mark receded form his body and Sammy collapsed to a knee, exhausted but still in one piece. He'd never used that form in combat before. And frankly, there was no guarantee it would have worked.

All things considered, he really lucked out there.

Upon catching his breath, Sammy stood back up and ran over to the downed Aika who was still unconscious. After gently patting her face a few times she began to stir.

"Wake up, Aika. Seriously." He insisted. "Sona will kill me if I let you die down here."

She groaned complacently before finally opening her eyes and sitting up. "So...did we win?"

He shrugged. "Eh, more or less." Sammy checked the ammo reserves on his Desert Eagle. Seven shots left, not exactly ideal if they ran into anymore zombies. "Come on, we need to get going."

He offered her a hand up and the two began limping their way back towards the control room. Upon passing Wesker, however, they noticed he began to stir. Sammy immediately aimed his gun with his free hand as their downed opponent slowly opened his eyes.

"You're too late…" Wesker commented in a weak tone. "All you've done here is delay the inevitable. Those sirens you're hearing are a warning that the missile is about to fire. Even if your friends attempted to manually disable the launch sequence, it won't stop the rockets from igniting. You've failed."

Sammy and Aika gave each other concerned looks for a moment…

...before both of them broke out into knowing grins.

"Yeah...about that." The Black Dragon King chuckled at him in a coy manner. "See...we was never actually planning on stopping the launch."

Wesker slowly turned his head towards him, casting two confused and nervous eyes his way.

"In fact…" Aika added with a slick tone. "...we were counting on the missile firing."


Delta Squad fought their way to the blast door leading to the missle silo. They didn't have long to pull this off, which only fueled the extra momentum they put into their legs. Matsuda lead the charge alongside Rei, who used her new powers to harden her skin, deflecting the bullets of the Husk security personnel stationed around the silo while he shredded them with his Lancer. Upon reaching the blast door, Saya immediately began hacking her way in on the nearby computer console.

"Cmon, we need to hurry!" Motohama insisted, already getting antsy.

"Rushing me is not gonna help!" She shouted back while furiously inputting console commands. "Okay, I've got it!"

The blast doors began to slowly creak open, moving so agonizingly slow it was physically painful.

"Oh you've gotta be shitting me!" Matsuda began pacing around like a caged animal.

"Can't you make it open any faster?!" Rei asked hurriedly.

Saya growled at them before baring her fang. "Go pull on it if it makes you feel better! That's as fast as the damn thing goes!"

The moment the doors were even remotely wide enough to allow them to squeeze through Delta Squad kept moving. A group of Husk security blocked their path armed with assault rifles. Matsuda sprayed them with Lancer rounds while Rei charged ahead, popping them in the head with her rifle while using her gymnastics to stab the remainders with her bayonet. After expending the last of his ammo, Matsuda finished off the last one with his chainsaw, completely shredding the husk into mulch.

With them out of the way, the group sprinted down the hall into the massive silo where the Bio Weapon was located. The missile was damn near the size of a high rise hotel.

"How the hell do we find the dispenser system on THAT thing?" Rei asked in exasperation.

"It's over there!" Saya pointed to one of the missle entrances a couple yards away connected to a series of gangplanks.

The group immediately began running towards it despite their reservations.

"How do you know this is the correct entrance?" Matsuda asked nervously.

"I memorized the schematics for the missile before we left." Saya explained confidently. "This is the one."

Rei chuckled in amazement. "Honestly, what the hell would we do without you, girl?"

Saya shot her a slick grin. "Burn to a crisp after hopelessly getting lost in a massive missile silo."

It didn't take them long to reach the outer door. Saya immediately found the emergency hatch and popped the steel shell while Matsuda pried it open. Once Delta Squad was inside they located the central chemical dispenser and got to work. Motohama stayed behind, using his sniper rifle to pick off the husks on the gangplanks above.

"How much time do we have before the launch?" Saya asked while breaking open her briefcase and inspecting each glass vial of blue liquid.

Rei checked the screen next to the feeding system and gulped in fear. "You don't wanna know…"

"You're certain this will work, Saya?" Matsuda asked nervously while helping her place the vials into individual feeding tubes. "It's a big risk."

"A little late to be asking that." She insisted while placing the final vial into the dispenser and making her way to the administrators terminal. "Trust me, it will work. Once Tsubaki explained the principles of how Alchemic Formulae work in comparison to standard Chemistry, solving the Decay Rate Algorithm was as simple as working out a math equation."

After punching a few keys, the vials began to dispense the compound into the central payload canisters onboard the missle.

"Did that do it?" Rei asked.

Saya nodded. "Yep, we're good to go!"

"Then now would be a VERY good time to leave!" She insisted while pointing at the built in monitor on the missle. Which at that moment was counting down from thirty seconds.

Without another thought they exited the central dispenser before slamming the missle door shut and dead sprinting down the gangplank moments before it detached from the missile and began to retract. The ground beneath their feet trembled as the rockets Stage One Thrusters kicked on. A fire built beneath Delta Squad and the sky above opened up to them as dirt and grass fell into the silo. They knew they were quickly running out of time.

"We're not gonna make it!" Matsuda shouted over the roar of rocket thrusters.

"Just trust me! We'll make it!" Saya assured.

Moments before they made it to the blast door the rockets ignited. All four of them dove through the whereupon Saya hit the button to shut the doors. A wave of fire came barreling towards them as the blast doors took their sweet time closing.

"Everyone behind me!" She ordered.

They all ducked behind Saya as she summoned her Psionic Power and raised her hands out in front of her. Moments before the fire incinerated them it was caught in a net of psychic energy, held back by the sheer power of her mind. As the pressure continued to build, however, it became clear she wouldn't be able to hold it for much longer.

"I...I can't…" Her face was turning red and sweat was pouring from her brow as she struggled against the force of the afterburn. "It's too much…"

"Saya, listen to me!" Motohama stood up and spoke to her desperately. "You've got this! Just a bit longer, the doors will be shut in just a moment!"

"Motohama!" She cried back before dropping to a knee. Pockets of fire came bursting out of holes in the psionic barrier as it threatened to collapse. "I...I don't think I'm-"

"I love you!" He shouted to her. "Saya, do you hear me?! I know I haven't said it out loud before but it's the truth! I love you and once we're out of here I'm gonna ask your father for permission to marry you!"

Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head at his words. Rei covered her mouth with her hands while Matsuda's jaw damn near hit the floor.

A fire lit under her ass. Saya's eyes began to glow even brighter and her fang grew in size. With a feral scream of anger she forced the flames back.

Moments before her power finally gave out, the blast doors shut. They were safe.

Delta Squad took a moment to process the fact that they were all still very much alive before Rei and Matsuda burst into ruckus cheering, grabbing hold of each other and jumping in relief. Just happy to know the other was still alive. Saya collapsed to her knees, completely spent. While Motohama ran up to check on her.

"You okay?" He asked worriedly.

"Dammit…" She grumbled before finally turning around to cast her gaze at him. "...I JUST did my eyebrows!"

He held back his snickering at her slightly singed brows before shaking his head at her and beaming in ecstatic relief. "I think you'll live, Honey."

Motohama pressed his lips firmly to hers. Saya went wide eyed in indignant shock for a moment before relaxing into him and wrapping her arms around his neck in a loving embrace.

They did it. Delta Squad beat all the odds and completed their mission.


The Angel of Stars was on the ropes. His battle with the superpowered Occult Research Club having taken a drastic turn against him. What started as a manageable if somewhat aggravating one on one with Ddraig was now a complete beat down as he found himself on the defensive for the first time in decades. While the Red Dragon Emperor continued his onslaught in that ridiculously powerful Scale Mail armor of his, Rias Gremory used her newfound Form of Destruction to barrage him with high tear spells designed to utterly annihilate normal opponents. Perhaps most infuriating of all was Baraqiel's daughter. That insipid lightning of hers could come from anywhere, and not even his strongest Javelins seemed incapable of reaching her from the distance she could cast her spells.

In the midst of their battle, Rias caught him with an Orb of Destruction that he wasn't fully prepared for. The blast knocked him off kilter and sent him flying out of control. Jon seized the opportunity and brought his fist down into Kokabiel's chest, sending him careening back down to Earth where the ground forces awaited him. Akeno kept up the pressure by raining down an onslaught of lightning from the heavens above which Kokabiel managed to avoid by landing on his feet and absorbing the electric attack with a well timed barrier.

With an angry growl he then tore his tattered robes off his body, revealing the chiseled, battle hardened muscle lying beneath that came from literal eons of warfare. He summoned two Blades of Light, one in each hand, as Kiba dashed towards him at damn near untrackable speeds. Wielding his Holy Devil Blade, the Knight of Gremory entered a fierce duel of swords with the Angel of Stars. His speed eventually won out and Kiba proceeded to cut and slice away at him, zooming in and out from seemingly multiple directions at once as he cut away at Kokabiel until his opponent took a knee. At which point he came to a dead stop, his back turned away from him as the Knight snapped his fingers, summoning a circle of blades in the sky that he brought down upon Kokabiel. The swords detonated on contact, sending Kokabiel tumbling across the landscape.

Next to fall upon him was Koneko. Who leapt up into the air and smashed her right fist brutally across his face. Using the excess energy in her system to fuel her muscles and smash through every guard he put up, be it magical or physical. She hit him again and again, breaking bones and lacerating organs with every swing. Until at last she finished it off with a spinning roundhouse kick that sent Kokabiel careening into the dirt, leaving a trail of uprooted earth nearly half the size of a football field in length.

Xenovia capitalized on Koneko's momentum and brought Durandel down upon her opponent. Kokabiel jumped out of the way despite his injuries and took flight. Barraging her with a flurry of Light Spears. With a single swing of her blade she destroyed the spears, sending a wave of power that blasted him out of the sky and back onto the ground. He quickly stood back up and summoned a barrier which she immediately smashed through. As well as the the next one he summoned and the one after that. The Angel of Stars was repeatedly pushed back further and further with each swing of her blade. Until, with a beastial warcry she brought the blade down in a downward slash, sending a massive wave of energy that pushed him back towards the rest of the group.

Irina channeled the energy given to her by Jon to morph her Excalibur Mimic into an entirely new form. A serrated broadsword with segmented links that she could use to extend its range. With a single fling of her wrist she launched the whiplike blade at him, driving the tip of her sword into his shoulder and drawing blood. She then drew back with a sharp pull, dislodging the blade and bringing the weapon back to its original form before charging him. Kokabiel summoned a blade of his own and the two clashed. Just as it seemed like he might get the upper hand, she used her superior agility to dive directly behind him and roll before jumping up with a twirl and segmenting her blade again in the process. Slicing up his back in a single move. She began spinning in the air, using her Psionic Energy and the sword to create a small hurricane that blew him away.

Having been knocked to the ground yet again, Kokabiel slowly stood up. Beaten, battered, and covered in his own blood. The members of the ORC all slowly descended upon him, encircling their wounded prey, sans Asia, who kept a respectable distance a few yards away. Rias descended from the sky, standing directly in front of him as he glared up at her bitterly.

"It's over, Kokabiel.' Rias declared with finality, her arms crossed in front of her. "You have been judged and found wanting by this Peerage, by the Three Factions, and those you so callously slaughtered. As heir of the House Marquis of Gremory, I hereby sentence you to death!"

She conjured five orbs of Destruction, intent on delivering the killing blow.

"Do you have any final words?"

After a moment, his bitter scowl curled into another malicious grin. He slowly began to chuckle, this chuckle built up into roaring laughter as he cast his head up towards the heavens, relishing in his own mirth.

The members of the ORC and Irina all exchanged nervous looks with one another.

"I must say, this truly has been a battle for the ages!" He cackled in delight. "Not since my duel with Cardinal Vasco Strada over eighty years ago have I enjoyed such a healthy challenge!"

"You're insane!" Irina shouted at him angrily. "Even now that's all you can think about?!"

He shook his head, still snickering quietly to himself. "Well...it's not JUST that. I'll admit." A sickeningly wide grin formed on his lips, baring all his razor sharp teeth. "It seems to me...you lot may have forgotten about something kind of important."

It was then they realized. Off in the distance, they heard the unmistakable sound of a rocket taking off. Up on the hills at least seven and a half miles away, Kokabiel's WMD took flight from the hidden silo below the ground. The rocket bolted up into the air, heading high into the atmosphere well out of reach.

Irina's heart sank deep into her chest and she dropped to her knees. "No...they didn't make it. We failed."

Kokabiel reared back and laughed hysterically yet again. "Yes! In just a few moments that missile will hit the atmosphere, saturating this entire planet with my virus! At last, the Great War shall begin again in full force!"

The Holy Sword User dropped her weapon and collapsed onto her hands. "It's over...this is it...armagedon."

The members of the ORC all exchanged knowing looks with one another. Now it was THERE turn to start laughing.

As the members of Rias's Peerage began to laugh amongst each other, both Irina and Kokabiel looked around at them, utterly confused as to why they would be laughing about this.

"What's so funny?" Kokabiel growled in irritation.

"You know...I WAS just going to kill you." Rias commented, a sadistic grin now plastered on her face. "Buuuuut, I think you should be allowed to see this."

He narrowed his eyes at her in confusion, not understanding. "See what?"

A horrifying thought crossed his mind. Kokabiel turned his head up towards the missle and then back towards Rias.

"What did you do?!"

She didn't answer. Rias simply continued to grin at him. They ALL did.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" He roared in unholy rage.

The missile reached its optimal altitude and detonated. Kokabiel's gaze turned back up towards the sky, expecting to see a wave of green plague infest the atmosphere signaling the start of his glorious apocalypse. Instead, what he got was an eerie wave of blue miasma. A cyclone of energy formed around the focal point of the storm where his missile had detonated, kicking up more clouds and bursting with heat lightning.

Finally, the soft patter of rain hitting his skin caught his attention. Kokabiel looked down at his hands as droplets of water continued to fall from the sky in increasingly greater volume until they formed a complete shower.

"Rain?" He spoke the word as if not quite understanding it before clenching his fists into two angry balls. "But...this isn't...this isn't right! Where is my plague?! Where is my virus?!"

"Yeaaah, we had the Sitri clan cook up a little...shall we call it...vaccination for your virus." Rias explained.

At the mention of the word vaccination he cast two disbelieving eyes up at her.

"It took them awhile, but our science team discovered a way to counteract the effects of the pathogen." Akeno added, clearly enjoying the look on Kokabiel's face just as much as the President was. "At this very moment, every creature possessing the undead genome created by your virus is being wiped out and every salvageable human currently infected is being reverted back into their normal forms. In other words...they're being cured."

Absolute fury formed in his features.

"It gets better." Rias continued undeterred. "The rain will permeate the air, aerosolizing our cure and saturating the entire atmosphere, insuring even the infected occupying buildings and the ones deep in your little Nexus are exposed to it. Once it's done here, the clouds will move on, saturating the rest of Earth's atmosphere and land masses in our cure. Inoculating the rest of humanity to your disease and rendering them immune."

The gravity of what they had just done was not lost on Kokabiel, even in the seething rage that was building up within him. Not only had they managed to cure the undead he had stationed here in Kuoh, they had essentially rendered his virus completely impotent. The spark that was to ignite the next Great War? Completely ruined!

Furious was ancient history, Kokabiel was a timebomb waiting to go off. They just didn't know it yet.

"Did you honestly think I would stake the fate of the entire world on an all out brawl with the likes of you?" Rias taunted him further. "In a game of strategy such as this you always need an ace in the hole. And ours was a couple of humans with a vial. Your grand apocalypse was just brought to heel by modern medicine."

As Rias continued to taunt Kokabiel, Jon felt something build up within the Angel of Stars that unsettled him greatly. Upon realizing what was happening, his heart stopped in terror.

"RIAS, WAIT!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

An inhuman cry of seething rage burst forth from Kokabiel's being as they were all simultaneously blasted several yards backwards by a massive shockwave of power. The Angel of Stars slowly ascended to the sky, black armor with intricate designs of silver emblazoned on its surface covering his body and two swords of equally intricate design appearing in both his hands.

They thought they had seen the threshold of Kokabiel's power. Clearly they were wrong. This was the TRUE Angel of Stars. The armored Captain of the Two Hundred Watchers. A warrior with eons of bloodshed under his belt.

"KNOW THIS RIAS GREMORY! NONE OF YOU WILL LEAVE THIS BATTLE ALIVE!" The monstrous fury conveyed by his voice was made only the more intimidating by the bestial form his face had morphed into. "I WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU LOVE!"

A vortex of power swirled around him, kicking the rain up into a literal hurricane of wind and water. Thunder boomed overhead and trees uprooted in the massive gale of storm force winds and stinging rain.

Jon, Rias, Akeno, and Xenovia all took to the sky while the others remained on the ground, sheltering themselves from the storm as their four heavyweights did battle with the Ten Winged Angel. Akeno summoned a hale of lightning from the clouds above that hit Kokabiel's form like a metal rod. He absorbed the entirety of the attack before throwing it right back at her. Rias's Queen was zapped from the sky and fell towards the earth, completely unconscious.

"Akeno!" Kiba unfurled his wings and took to the sky, swooping up and catching her midair before bringing her back to Asia for healing.

"What is going on?!" Asia shouted over the torrential downpour and roaring winds as she tried to heal Akeno. "I thought we had won!"

"We did!" Kiba explained. "But Kokabiel is a sore loser! He's tapping into his full power here on Earth! That's the most grievous violation of the ceasefire he could possibly pull!"

"Has he gone completely nuts?!" Koneko shouted in response. "He'll draw the attention of every Satan Class being in the three realms doing this!"

"We just have to hold out until Lord Lucifer can intervene!" Kiba insisted. "I guarantee he can feel this!"

"That's assuming Kokabiel doesn't wipe out the whole city before he gets here!" Irina shouted back, clearly frightened by this development. "What do we do?!"

"We pray!" Asia insisted while continuing to channel healing magic into Akeno. "At this point, that's all we can do!"

Up in the sky above, the air was a cacophony of shockwaves, thundering explosions, and hurricane like power. Amidst the struggle, Xenovia was blasted from the sky next. Crying out in pain as she came careening down towards Earth in a manner similar to Akeno.

"Xenovia!" Irina cried in panic.

Koneko was the next to swoop in and save their comrade from hitting the ground. She returned the unconscious Xenovia for healing, who was still gripping Durandal despite being completely out of it. Asia began channeling healing magic into both of them once, knowing full well her magic reserves were reaching their limits.

"If we lose anyone else it's over!" Koneko spoke up hysterically.

"They can do this!" Asia insisted, focusing all her attention on her Twilight Healing.

Up above, Jon and Rias continued to clash with the Angel of Stars. The Red Dragon Emperor rushed his opponent who responded by rushing him right back. The two gripped each other's hands and pushed with all their might, channeling power into their being in a bid to force the other back.

"YOU WILL LAMENT IN MY WRATH MORE THAN ANY OTHER, DDRAIG!" Kokabiel roared in his blood frenzy. "I WILL STEP ON YOUR TREASURE'S NECKS ONE BY ONE! I WILL SHRED AND BURN THEIR CORPSES! I WILL SLAUGHTER EVERYONE YOU LOVE UNTIL YOU ARE LEFT KNEELING IN THE ASHES AND BLOOD OF EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR!"

"Good God, you need to chill!" Jon grunted against the unbridled fury of Kokabiel's power, his armor starting to crack and chip away as he was slowly pushed back.

"JUST ACCEPT YOUR DEFEAT! NOTHING CAN SAVE YOU FROM MY WRATH NOW!"

With a beastial yell Jon slammed his visor into Kokabiel's face knocking him backwards and cracking the Scale Mail's helmet. He followed with a rocket propelled fist that pushed the Angel of Stars back.

"Rias, I need some time!" He shouted to her desperately.

"I'll see what I can do!"

The President clashed head to head with the full brunt of Kokabiel's obscene power while Jon began channeling every last bit of energy he had left into a red ball between his gauntlets. Everything he had left in the tank. They only had one shot to pull this off and it had to be perfect. As the power between his hands grew in size, he raised it up into the air. Summoning something big enough to finish off Kokabiel wasn't really the problem here. The problem was harnessing his power in such a way as to focus the energy enough to finish him off without also wiping out the city in a Hiroshima sized blast in the process.

While he dealt with that issue, Rias struggled against the full might of the Angel of Stars. The two were locked in a duel of power with the President using the very last of her energy to counteract the city destroying blast the mad man was attempting to create. With one last shout of agonized struggling she counteracted his city destroying spell and pushed him back. Her wings disappeared and her eyes rolled into her head as Rias fell the same as the rest of her comrades. Her form changed mid fall and she redawned her Kuoh Academy ORC Uniform, now completely spent of energy.

Seeing an opportunity and out for blood, Kokabiel summoned a massive spear of light and aimed for her heart.

Moments before he could throw, however, Jon's Dragon Bomb finished cooking. He hurled the massive thing down upon him, giving Kokabel just enough time to raise his hands up and catch the massive red orb. Its power proved to be too much, however, and it began forcefully pushing him backwards. Slowly...surely...it pushed him back down to Earth, slowly engulfing him in its mass and cracking away at his armor.

With one final scream of rage, the Angel of Stars was consumed as the Dragon's Bomb dug its way deep into the Earth. Below the city, below the nexus, deep enough to where the pressure of the Earth itself could smother most of the ensuing blast.

What followed was an earthquake that shook the entire city to its very core. Tectonic plates shifted, buildings toppled, and massive chasms formed. The members of the ORC below held on to each other for dear life as the ground beneath their feet trembled and shook.

Until at last, all was quiet. The hurricane winds subsided. The rain fell into a steady drizzle once again. Peace, at last, had been returned.