A/N: Hey guys, sorry it took so long to get this out. It's been kicking my ass trying to get it to flow somewhat appropriately and get to where I wanted it to be, my muse not really cooperating, and got a new game that's been eating my time. If any of you ever played Cyperpunk 2077, then you probably understand just how addicting that one game is for me.
Now for a quick Reviewer Review:
1.) To ZonZus, I apologize for the hit to your psyche with the cliffhangers, but again, the mark of a good story teller is knowing how to hook your audience. Thanks for the compliment though, by the way.
2.) Artoria, Rin, and Sakura aren't technically going to appear this arc, but I do have a little something planned during this arc that may satisfy you all.
3.) The One Piece connection between Haki in One Piece with Shirou's Iron Asura is actually an unintended coincidence, though it would be pretty funny doing an omake about that sometime later on.
4.) I appreciate the comments I've been getting about how Shirou managed to put the Chruch, and more specifically Xenovia, in their place. As for those saying Shirou going to get Xenovia, yeah no. She's still going to be Issei's girl, but I plan for the re;ationship between Shirou and Xenovia to become something like Teacher and Student for her to learn how to control Durandal properly.
5.) The Miyama Zero thing...yeah, no...in a sense, that already happened with Shirou and Kurotetsu coming to Kuoh via an emergency interdimensional jump. This'll also be explained when that occurs, and Shirou will make it a point to explain why it is a bad idea to utilize such spells carelessly.
6.) Lastly for now, the reason why Shirou seems so angry is pretty obvious. Or it should be if you actually take the time to actually think about it. If you constantly had to deal with political bullshit caused from the headaches of someone else's stupidity on a near-daily basis, then you'd be pretty pissed off on a daily basis as well. Shirou may have the patience of Buddha, but even Buddha loses patience after the third insult. The world of DxD is mostly him cleaning up someone else's mess and playing the blame game with bullshit politics to avoid the backlash of said stupidity.
Now that that's out of the way, time for the disclaimer...
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Fate, Highschool DxD, or any franchise referenced in this fic, other than OCs I personally created and claimed as my own, otherwise they are the respective properties of their respective authors, publishers, creators, and owners. This Fanfic is a continuation of an AU of Marcus Galen Sands' own fic 'God Slaying Blade Works', with an emphasis on 'what if', using references to other fanfics credited as used to the best of my abilities, a meshing of canon lore in a manner that makes sense without over-relying on plot armor to get by, and my own original ideas thrown into the mix every now and then. This is a FREE FANFIC of a FANFIC, as in an UNPAID FAN-MADE FICTION of a FAN-MADE FICTION that I wrote for ABSOLUTELY NUDDIN'. So if you paid to read this then you got ripped off. And if you do not like it, then you do not have to read this. Nobody is making you.
And now...
STORY START:
King of Wrought Iron Book 2: Guardian of DxD
Sixteenth Forge: Shadows of the Holy Sword's Despair-Church Slayer meets Magus Killer
Kouh Business District
Third-person P.O.V.
The scene was utter chaos. Under normal circumstances, the area would be slightly bustling with the comings and goings of businessmen and women, usually for meetings in the small-time offices and buildings nearby. Under normal circumstances, there would be a few dozen men and women walking about at this time of day, either heading to the night shift or home from the day shift. Under normal circumstances, there isn't a literal battle between Devils, exorcists, and stray exorcists happening right in the middle of said street, in broad daylight, with the few office workers caught up in the scene fleeing for their lives as forces of the Supernatural duke it out with them caught in the crossfire.
This was NOT normal circumstances.
The chaos of the fighting was evident as Xenovia, Irina, Genshirou, Yuuto, and Koneko were facing off against Lyle and Freed, the latter of the two was fighting one-handed. Literally, as he still hadn't replaced the arm Shirou took from him only twenty-four hours prior. So he was restricted to using either a firearm or a sword. He couldn't use both at the same time, which was the only reason why the situation wasn't near as bad for the Devils and Church Exorcists as it could have been. But with the arm he did have, the sheer strength behind it was abnormal. When he swung the Holy Sword in his possession, it was with such force as to create a shock-wave just from the brute force behind it. It was pure arm strength and nothing more.
The impressive thing was that he was wielding [Excalibur Blessing] to do that. That was one of the Excalibur Shards that Lyle stole from the Church's secure vaults. He also left a little something there as a calling card to warn the Vatican just who was behind the plan for the theft, though the Church only recently decided it was finally worth admitting that Kokabiel was involved. The craters Freed left just from slamming the blade into the ground actually rivaled the [Excalibur Destruction] in Xenovia's hands. Genshirou had been knocked unconscious from the blast from Freed's initial attack, and had been pretty badly hurt. Had he not transferred a portion of the kinetic damage from said blast back to Freed using his Sacred Gear, [Absorption Line], he might not have survived.
The pain and shock from the Holy Energy's blast wave still knocked him out though. He'd live, but he'd need someone to heal him later. Koneko was holding out well, trying to support Yuuto, but the Gremory Knight had been blinded by his rage at the Excalibur Shard before him. In the infinite possibilities of the Kaleidoscope, in another timeline, Kokabiel, Valper Galilei and Freed Sellzen would have only stolen three Excalibur Shards and a fourth from this encounter. However, in this timeline, all six Excalibur Shards, save [Excalibur Ruler], were currently in Kuoh during this incident. Thanks to this, Yuuto had been even more erratic to discover that Shirou not only encountered one, he broke it, claimed the fragments for himself, and declared his intention to reforge the blade proper.
His outrage of Shirou having the remnants of the insult to them both in his possession not-with-standing, Yuuto felt the need to destroy them if for no other reason than to try and get revenge against the swords he felt had wronged him and his friends as part of a misguided attempt at getting closure. His hatred was so great, he had been blinded to the situation he was currently involved with. Despite having only one arm to fight with, Freed was giving them a hell of a fight. Lyle was supporting the homonculus while simultaneously evacuating the mundane populous to keep them out of the fight's crossfire. The craters born from the clashing between Freed and Yuuto was very damning as to how powerful they were, yet Yuuto's blades were the ones breaking every time they clashed.
[Sword Birth], Yuuto's Sacred Gear, was a creation-type Sacred Gear, and as such was reliant on the image and emotional state of the wielder to create quality weapons. Through Shirou's training camp, he taught Yuuto to keep his cool and his mind clear on what he wished to create. Currently, there was no sign of the teachings Shirou gave him, and it was costing Yuuto badly. So tunnel-visioned was he on Freed and [Excalibur Blessing], he nearly got his head blown off by Lyle shooting at him, forcing him to back off using the momentum of Freed's inhumane strength on their final clash coupled with his speed and reflexes as a Knight Piece.
"Oi! What the fuck took ya so damn long, Lyle?! What, did ya need to flirt with every one of the bitches in an office uniform before getting your ass in gear?!" Freed practically all but screamed at his partner vulgarly as he growled a bit in pain. His wounds hadn't fully healed yet, and Valper hadn't finished growing the replacement for his still-missing left arm yet. The strain of this fight simply exasperated the pain he was in and aggravated the still-healing wounds he suffered. Lyle simply never took his eyes off of his opposition.
"...No, but one of us had to prepare a possible escape route or two. We're drawing too much attention in broad daylight."
"Tch." Freed clicked his tongue in irritation. "What kind o' shitty Devils attack in the daytime?! It's when they are at their weakest!"
"Does that Devil look like he particularly cares right now? All I see is someone out for blood." Lyle's rather calm response to his partner's antics in a perfect deadpan to the current situation, until a shout more akin to a metal blade scrapping metal blade than a human voice suddenly stopped all in their tracks with just two words.
"KIBA YUUTO!!"
Yuuto suddenly paled an ashen white in response, before he turned tail and ran away from the two startled stray exorcists. Lyle also moved on instinct as he suddenly jumped back, strengthening himself utilizing an exorcist technique with light energy as he did so and utilized evasive movements earned through years of hard-won experience in life-or-death battles against the supernatural. Freed however, recognized the voice in question, eyes wide, as he simply dodged out of the way but never strayed far from his original spot. What caught their attention was a series of identical swords, fired like arrows, that suddenly impaled themselves into the ground up to six inches of their blunted tips, cratering the ground in a spider-web about a foot each from the sheer force of the impact.
"The fuck?! Did he just fire swords like-!?"
Suddenly an electric spark of bluish-purple jumped to the blades surrounding Freed, causing them to begin glowing red-hot on contact with the obviously unnatural high-voltage arc of supernatural lightning, as his eyes widened in disbelieving shock at what he knew was about to happen…
"OH FU-" *BOOOM*
Lyle was right to move. Freed had just barely managed to avoid dying outright, but now he was crippled even worse than he had been before. He was still alive, but Freed wasn't going to be in fighting shape for at least a few days after this, minimum. The blackened sludge within his body had kept him together and hardened enough to mitigate the damage, but he was severely burnt and the exorcist robes he was wearing had taken a significant hit, barely covering his modesty with what rags survived the fiery heat and concussive blast. The writhing of the substance keeping him alive beneath his burnt and exposed flesh was grotesque. All in all, Freed Sellzen was NOT going to win any beauty contests in the future, period. As it was, his body was barely holding itself together currently. He wasn't going to be able to do much as it stood right now for much longer.
When Yuuto turned, he saw Shirou and Kurotetsu, along with Issei. Shirou had his black bow out, a monstrous behemoth of a weapon bigger than he was tall, standing on the edge of the roof of a building about two city blocks away, with Kurotetsu on the ground by them while sparking arcs of the same bluish-purple electricity that detonated the swords his friend and partner created and fired off. Issei was looking after Koneko, Irina, and Genshirou, while Xenovia was struggling to her feet from the surprise attack that sent that car cartwheeling and knocked Irina and Koneko out. They'd live, but they'd need Asia to look at and heal them before any further combat could be done by any of them.
The 'arrows' that Shirou fired off were actually from one of his fragment's lifetimes. That one had become known in that iteration of Emiya Shirou's life as the Second Magus Killer, and received the designation of the Queen's Silver Dog as well as theNoble Color Silver thanks in parts to his advancements in the field of projection, which hadn't had any advancements in over a thousand years. He also was partially turned as well by the Tenth Dead Apostle Ancestor Louvre's Daughter as a failed pseudo-vampire in the form of the new Tenth of the Twenty Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors, replacing Louvre in the same incident he was 'invited' by Lorelei Barthomelloi to study at the Clocktower on a full-scholarship and her personal sponsorship, as the first Living Apostle known to the Moonlit World by the title of the Ash of Miracles.
In that iteration of his life, there was a drunken crazy old Irishman of a Mystic Code Crafter whose forge was where this particular arrow came from the madness of his insanity: Lord Sirius McGinty:. It was a single-use Mystic Code, not a Noble Phantasm, that he forged based on the concept and design of a grenade as its basis. Unlike most Magi of the Clocktower, this drunk old Irishman actually was one of the few to keep up to date with modern advancements in technology, and was a Lord despite not being the typical one, nor very well liked for his crude and crass demeanor. In that world, he was also the one who forged Kiritsugu's personal mystic code, the First Magus Killer's [Thompson Contender]. The fragment of Shirou's from that world saw the old drunkard like a grandfather, who also let him copy quite the number of his experimental mystic codes for his later use and even testing as the Second Magus Killer. While a normal grenade arrow would have simply detonated on impact, this one had been modified by Shirou in this instance to be used by him and Kurotetsu in a tag-team attack.
But these aren't normal exploding arrows either. Oh no, these were thermite bombs in the form of a sharpened metal stick! The aluminum and iron oxide used in these explosives mystically created through a chemical reaction resulted in an explosive force of super-heated fragments of rusted shrapnel that would continue to burn the unfortunate target and proved that Emiya Shirou was in fact capable of chemical warfare to a limited extent. The blast was even more devastating if Shirou overloaded them with prana to increase the blast's destructive range and efficiency, but he didn't this time to avoid causing too much collateral damage. In that fragment's world, he used them against the crew of the Eighth Apostle Ancestor, Fina-Blood Svelton, the White Knight of Altrouge Brunstud, when he was forced to reveal his Apostle nature and essentially declared war on his fellow Ancestor for his audacity of harming his friend, Ryuudou Issei, damaging his soul on a foolish whim to gain leverage with hostages during the negotiations after pushing his fragment's buttons until he crossed the one line he was warned repeatedly never to cross.
Unlike Fina-Blood's crew, Freed may have avoided dying entirely thanks to his condition, but he was still being burnt from the inside by the rusty shrapnel still burning away at his innards as he was being cooked alive from the inside. The usual form of these nameless mystic codes would detonate if they were struck anywhere but the tip. Shirou however modified these ones so they could be remotely detonated either by Kurotetsu using his electric generating capabilities or any source of sudden intense heat. The first shots were meant to limit their movements while Kurotetsu detonated their self-contained explosives with a high-voltage spark of electricity.
Yet it wasn't this fact that suddenly caused all present who were aware enough to pause somewhat. Even Freed felt the vulgarities dye on the tip of his tongue at the sheer blood lust the two gave off individually...as well as the Iron Asura and Steel Oni that Shirou and Kurotetsu was both emanating respectively. The murderous intent they were both generating alone was not something one would ever expect to see in such a peaceful era. Yet the murderous glare got Freed to say only one thing in response before he and Lyle continued their battle.
"...well fuck this shit. I didn't think anyone could have that much blood lust and still be considered laid back..."
For all his faults, on that one Freed wasn't wrong. Based on the Intel they received from Valper's informant, Emiya Shirou was a fairly laid-back individual who was rather legendary for his hospitality towards his guests, so long as they follow his rules. As for Kurotetsu, he was believed to be a rather stoic and inexpressive living construct with an artificial soul, but still a sentient machine. So for either of them to release this much murderous intent by themselves, they were both seriously a bigger danger than they were led to believe was even possible in such a peaceful era. But together? They each released enough murderous intent to give even a dragon pause, and both wore it like a god-damned coat! Lyle instantly reevaluated his threat assessment and decided running was the best option they had right now if they didn't want to die. It was the opening to start running they needed right now, though…
"Freed. Keep them occupied." Lyle said as he began throwing talismans around that would assist in their escape plan. He generated a barrier that would keep himself safe for a few moments as he prepared...
"Tch, sure leave the injured cripple to-WAH! YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Freed's outburst was due to Shirou firing off a certain red spear like an arrow, just barely dodging to the side before getting clipped slightly by the blade. It pierced Lyle's barrier and nearly took his head off, had he not dodged it at the last possible second as it shattered his defensive barriers. Lyle's eyes widened in realization as he jumped out of its intended path. He knew it probably wouldn't last long but this was-!
...No, it didn't just pierce his barrier, he realized; it practically ignored it entirely, the spar practically neutralized it without ever needed to bypass his defense! What they didn't know was that spear was [Gae Dearg], the Crimson Rose of Exorcism, and the spear of Diarmuid of the Love Spot, the Lancer of the [Fourth Holy Grail War] that had the power to pierce any magical defense and cut any magic off from its source so long as it pierced it. Although he failed to kill Lyle, he did however succeed in disrupting his barrier, forcing him to dodge behind a raised piece of the road and a couple of demolished cars, acting as his barricade against further direct ranged assaults.
While Shirou was focusing on Lyle, Freed suddenly had to deal with Issei and Yuuto in a tag-team assault. The latter of which were having a bit of a more difficult time with their opponent thanks to his possession of [Excalibur Blessing], but his injuries also helped slow him down, though not by much. Kurotetsu stayed back to keep the injured safe and support Shirou or Issei and Yuuto as needed. The fights were something none present able to watch could take their eyes off of, especially Xenovia, as she noticed in growing frustration just how outclassed she was watching Shirou take on Lyle...and the similarities in their fighting styles before she jumped in to triple-team Freed with the maddened Gremory Knight and Red Dragon Emperor…
P.O.V. Shift
Magus Killer versus Church Slayer
Shirou was utterly livid with this situation. He could understand if Issei or Genshirou were the only ones behind this since they were relatively new to the supernatural side of the Moonlit World, but the fact that Xenovia, Irina, Koneko, AND Yuuto had also taken part? To say he was pissed was an understatement. He wanted to strangle whichever one of them was the one who had the brilliant idea to begin a supernatural battle, in the middle of town, with the uninitiated all around to witness the spectacle, in the middle of the Root-damned afternoon during fucking broad daylight hours! So now here he was, firing off arrows, trying to keep Lyle pinned to one spot and not pulling anything as he and Kurotetsu tried to contain the damage they caused with this fight.
Firing off a group of nameless swords he rapidly traced and launched in a machine gun-like pace, Shirou noticed that Lyle had dodged behind a physical barricade. Jumping forward from the rooftops, he got within a stone's throw away from the stray exorcist when Lyle suddenly jumped out of cover, a pistol aimed right at where he was standing. Normally, Shirou would just block it with a quickly traced shield or slash it out of the air, but a reflexive tracing of the pistol in Lyle's hand made his eyes widen in a heart-stopping spike of terror for a moment and instead of blocking or deflecting he ducked behind a concrete wall leading to the roof access of the three-story building he was on.
*Bang-ZWHOOOOMSH*
Not even one second later following his evasive maneuver, the very spot he was standing upon just moments prior imploded upon itself. Not exploded, IMPLODED. Shirou wasn't sure where he got it from or how it was made without getting up close to check, but whatever Lyle shot at him, it made blocking or deflecting it a bad idea. Never stopping after getting into a crouching combat roll, he pushed forth. Similar implosions occurred in his wake as Lyle took several potshots trying to take Shirou down. While Lyle was taking his shots at Shirou, he began to formulate his counter-attack strategy.
Calling up the particular blueprints he'd need, Shirou began to trace them into his waiting hand while his bow was held in his hands horizontal to the ground as he notched them on the string, ran towards the larger gap between cover and braced himself for his plan. The second he came out of the gap, he wasn't running, but flipping in a combat leap, cartwheeling from one rooftop to the next, bow drawn, and pointed right at Lyle as the Church Slayer found his eyes widened at what Shirou was planning. Firing 'arrow' and 'bullet' in near perfect synchronization, the projectiles met in the middle, perfectly intercepting one another mid-flight.
However, this was where Lyle found himself at a disadvantage. Shirou was creating and firing off 'arrows' like they were going out of style with the production speed of an industrial conveyor line and the startlingly pin-point accuracy with the precision reserved solely for that of a machine. Lyle on the other hand was firing off his imploding bullets with the limited firing rate of an automatic pistol. Although he destroyed a number of them mid-flight, several 'arrows' got through, past his implosions in mid-air, and landed right by him in a ten to twenty meter radius around him. Then, said 'arrows' did exactly what the ones imploded by Lyle's bullets did: They exploded into a smokescreen clouding his view.
The whole thing took no more than thirty seconds, yet both set their next move up using the opening this tactic set up for them. Using the smokescreen as cover, he then flung a few explosive mounds of C4 plastique blocks to stick to a few discrete places near Freed's battle. When the two understood the situation could not be settled in ranged combat, the fight moved to close quarters, and the two changed tactics in tandem, as though both had the same exact thought. Facing the guy before them in ranged combat was obviously a bad idea. So close quarters combat it was then. While Shirou jumped from roof to roof, using cover to ensure Lyle wouldn't get a direct line of sight or a clean shot off, Lyle continued laying the groundwork for his and Freed's escape plan. While taking potshots at Shirou, he also discretely threw a few bomb charges in the form of exploding talismans scattered about and sticking to the explosives he had scattered already.
By Eastern mysticism, what the papers Lyle was tossing about could be seen by practitioners of senjutsu as a human variation of chakra tags that were modified for using light energy instead of chakra for use by the Church's exorcists. They were modified by him, which were created from research he swiped from some heretic mages he hunted on the Church's orders on a job in the past. They were trying to recreate Senjutsu for human use, but utilized magical energy instead of nature energy by converting it into magical energy. Lyle took advantage of this research by modifying it to fall within Church doctrines and such.
His usage of them is contradictory at best, but still not against the Church's teachings for what the followers of the faith were not to do. He just needed to use them for his plan to create an opening to utilize the teleportation tags he still had for him and Freed to escape. When Freed knocked Irina unconscious, they swiped [Excalibur Mimic], and Freed was using already [Excalibur Blessing], with its ability to amplify Holy rituals and aura to give the Devils a good reason to be wary in order to level the playing field as he fought with the Devils. They would have also swiped [Excalibur Destruction] from Xenovia sooner as well, had Shirou and Kurotetsu not arrived when they did.
As soon as Lyle's prep work was finished, that was when Shirou did something that threw Lyle for a loop. He didn't expose himself in the smoke, but threw his weapon at Lyle, the big black nameless bow was chucked right at Lyle in a distraction as he withdrew [Carwennan] from the [Gates of Babylon] and slipped back to circle around. Lyle fired off two rounds at the improvised projectile to hit Shirou, since he had switched to another firearm while reloading his pistol, yet when he lined up his next shot, Shirou wasn't where he expected him to be, causing Lyle's eyes to widen in surprise. Seconds later, Lyle suddenly threw himself to the side, his instincts screaming at him to move. In the end, that was all that saved him from being cleaved clean in two thanks to the ancient dagger's passive trait of absolute halving. The ground where he stood, not so much, as it had a small ditch dug with that one passing slash through the air alone.
Tracing a nameless short sword, Shirou continued his assault as Lyle responded in kind. Pulling out his twin semi-automatic machine pistols, he fired one's extended clip at the spot behind him before engaging in CQC with Shirou, in a bizarre dance of blades and guns, Shirou's suicidal two-sword style versus Lyle's heretical gun fu style. Shirou and Lyle began a bizarre mirror-image of one another in a macabre dance of death. Shirou would slash and leave an opening for Lyle to exploit, only for Shirou's counter attack to be foiled by attempting to dodge or deflect Lyle's own bullets at point-blank range. Similarly, Lyle would deflect Shirou's blades and attempt to shoot him point-blank, only for Shirou to parry the gun away and prevent him from shooting him. Left. Right. Left. Right. Upper-left. Downward right. Spinning parry and deflecting counter. Their movements, their counters, hell, even their reactions were almost complete reflections of one another. All the way down to their respective styles. Only their choice of arms was the sole distinction between the two at that moment.
'...he uses gun fu...I HATE fighting against gun fu...' Shirou thought of Lyle's style as he eyed his opponent up for their next clash…
'...what a recklessly suicidal style...his whole body is used as a trap...the openings are deliberate...he's completely insane to use such a style...just one second too slow, and he's dead...' Lyle thought to himself of Shirou's style...
After their final clash, the two forced one another back about ten feet from the force of a failed mutual attempt to bash the other. While Shirou had more strength and stamina, Lyle had quicker reflexes and wit. Other than that, the fight was a surprisingly even match. Shirou and Lyle both grimaced as a single thought was shared by the both of them at the exact same time…
'...this guy's an utter pain in the ass...'
...ironically, their style's only difference was the choice of weapon utilized. It truly was as though the two were mirror images of each other. Shirou and Lyle both recognized a dangerous enemy when they saw it. Shirou could have easily dealt with the guy under normal conditions, but to do so would be impossible to fully cover up, if at all with the amount of attention they've already drawn to the area with this little show of theirs. As for Lyle, he knew Shirou was most certainly a legitimate threat to even him. The only reason he wasn't trying to fully go all out was because he and Freed were on the clock and running out of time to escape without a problem. Simply put, they were both at an impasse with the current situation and the time crunch they were both under to make a clean getaway.
The Church Slayer didn't survive this long by being stupid. He knew a worthy opponent when he saw it. Lyle also felt some slight kinship with his foe, as though the two were far more alike than he would have thought previously. The Second Magus Killer was of the same mind, wondering if the foe before him was this world's version of one Emiya Kiritsugu, with a tugging at his lips he could quite suppress as the lopsided smirk that quirked at the corners of his mouth. At the back of their minds, they both couldn't help but wonder, and even began to grin a bit too excitedly for the situation as a singular thought seemed to etch its way into their minds…
'...which one of us is better?'
As they were taking stock of their opponents and surroundings, that was when they were interrupted by [Excalibur Destruction], being slammed into the ground between the two, yet the direction of the blast was towards Shirou, as Freed casually walked towards it, gripping it with his one remaining arm, his wounds sizzling as he gripped the blade, yet shouldering it despite the blatant injuries he's suffering and the pain he had to be in. "You know...you two actually fight just like each other. I can't help but wonder….who taught you to fight, ya shitty brat?" Freed's taunt was directed at Shirou, but the Sword Forger grimaced as he checked on Xenovia, Issei, and Yuuto, only to find the three of them barely able to stand, much less fight. Kurotetsu was also standing guard before Koneko, Irina, and Genshirou's prone form, his body charred slightly from directly taking an Excali-blast to protect the three downed fighters and not able to move much to prevent Freed from going after the wounded again, his body's mechanical parts creaking slightly as he glared murderously at Freed silently daring him to try that again as the Steel Oni manifested I the air above him as he did so.
"Here, catch Lyle." Freed then tossed [Excalibur Blessing] and [Mimic] to Lyle, who simply pulled two talismans out, then both swords disappeared as the were sucked into them, before burning away, sent to wherever their base of operations was currently located. "I got a score to settle with this one, plus interest." He growled out, and Lyle simply stared Shirou for a few minutes as he prepared to set up the teleportation circle to make their getaway. Freed then rushed forth in a mad rush, yet Shirou wasn't fooled by his erratically unorthodox movements. It was the power of the blade he was swinging that made him wary.
Shirou was forced onto the back pedal as he backed up, being forced into dodging Freed's strikes with his pilfered [Excalibur Destruction], the waves of destruction it unleashed even greater than with [Excalibur Blessing], and cratered the ground quite a bit just from the force of the swings alone. And that wasn't taking Freed's boosted strength into account. He was delaying Shirou from dealing with Lyle, and they both knew it. Left. Right. Left. Right. Downwards right. Backwards jumping left. He danced around Freed's swings, looking for an opening to exploit, yet knew he'd only get one shot at it to do so.
Chancing a glance, Shirou noticed Kurotetsu was zapping Lyle's talismans to keep them from blowing up right in their faces, burning them safely, but it was still going to be problematic at this rate. The good news was Lyle was only focusing on using Talismans to keep Kurotetsu busy, and wasn't trying to target the downed enemies...yet something wasn't right here…
'...why is this so easy? Something's wrong...it's never this easy...'
Shirou's eyes narrowed slightly at that thought, but kept his attention mainly on Freed and dodging the one-armed bull-rush that was [Excalibur Destruction] in his hands. Shirou was about to dodge once again, but had apparently jinxed himself as right then his footing slipped thanks to the force of Freed's last slamming blow shattering the ground beneath Shirou, leaving him wide-open for a direct lethal-force slash separating his torso from his hips! "You're mine now!" Freed began to slash diagonally downwards towards the left in a manner no normal human could ever hope to evade. Even most enhanced humans would never be able to dodge that level of speed, but Shirou was just about to try something drastic when something bizarre happened next before he could…
"AAAAAAAAAGGUAAAAH!" Freed suddenly dropped [Excalibur Destruction], which had begun to pulse a concentrated Holy Aura that actually burnt his hand, forcing him to backpedal to avoid Shirou's counter-strike. The blade then landed tip-first into the asphalt about twenty feet away from the scene of the fight from the force and momentum of Freed's incomplete swing, right by the jogging path along the river. Lyle and Freed then jumped towards it, while the Church Slayer and Magus Killer narrowed their eyes at each other. "WHAT DID YOU DO, YA LITTLE SHIT?!"
"What happened?" Lyle asked his partner without ever taking his eyes off of Shirou.
"The damned thing burnt my hand when I tried to cut this shitty Devil-loving bastard down to half-size!"
Lyle suddenly looked at the blade as Freed tried in vain to remove it from its mooring, but it wouldn't budge. In fact, if anything, it seemingly refused to be removed from that spot. Shirou and Lyle both had a look of realization at the same time for multiple reasons, but Lyle spoke first. "We're leaving."
"What?! But the fucking sword's right here! And-"
"And we drew too much attention right now as is! The overseers are on their way, along with the mundane authorities as we speak. We're leaving. Now."
Lyle spoke up as he pulled out four talismans out and began to make a series of gestures before the two of them began to teleport away. Shirou was about to stop them, before Lyle made a familiar gesture that got Shirou's attention and he began to swear. Lyle's explosive tags he laid out earlier were right over there thirty meters away and about to detonate right next to where Issei and Xenovia were still getting their minds to stop spinning! "Dammit!" Shirou swore as he ran to get them to safety, but then noticed Yuuto rushing towards the two stray exorcists as the teleportation spell Lyle begun started to activate.
"Kiba! Stop! Don't do it!" Shirou warned too late. He didn't even get half his warning out before he was already right on top of the two and inside the teleportation array with them as well.
"Where's Valper Galilei!" Yuuto snarled out, his injuries ignored in his blind fury as he got dragged into the teleportation as Freed knocked him out finally with a bone-crushing punch to the gut. Rushing to deal with the tags, he discovered they were simply duds. He played him! He only understood they were exploding tags that were being activated to detonate the bombs he cast around and set them off through his Pure Silver Eye of Structural Grasping, not that they were duds! It was a decoy maneuver, and he fell for it, hook, line, and sinker like a Rot-be-damned amateur! Gritting his teeth at the headache this just became, he glared at Issei right as he and the others walked sheepishly towards him, or in Xenovia's case, indifferently to his blatant fury with this situation. Koneko at least had the decency to look guilty in the presence of his glare.
"I hope you all have a damn good excuse for this." Shirou monotonously ground out through grit teeth in his frustration at the current situation. Xenovia simply stated right to him(either it be arrogantly or callously, none but her knew) in her response.
"I have nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, I don't answer to you." She smugly grinned at the end of that retort.
"Oh? But you do answer to me, Xenovia. And I am quite sure I taught you better than this. It would seem some disciplining is in order."
Suddenly, Xenovia's face paled along with Irina's, as Issei and Genshirou both looked like death itself had come calling for them and they were about to head to their execution. Standing right there with blatant disapproval in her gait, Griselda was looking at her wards, frowning in major disappointment and restrained anger with them for this stunt. Next to Griselda was a pair of very pissed off Devil Heiresses glaring at their respective Peerage members. Sona walked up to Genshirou and dragged him literally by the ear, despite his wounds and shrieks of pain, while Rias looked around, her anger mixed with concerned confusion. "Where's Yuuto."
She didn't ask. She simply made a statement, yet the reactions of those gathered was pretty damning in itself as the Devils present flinched. The trio of Devils didn't look their respective Kings in the eye as Kurotetsu spoke up. "Gone. The enemy took him when they ran."
"WHAT?! Why didn't you stop them from taking my Knight?!" Rias screeched, but Shirou responded this time, his tone nonplussed and absolutely bland.
"He brought this one on himself. I warned you Gremory, that he was going to do something stupid if the issue of his quest for vengeance was not addressed, did I not?" Rias at least had the decency to look a bit ashamed by that while still intent on demanding answers for what happened here later. While she was taking stock of the situation, Shirou looked at [Excalibur Destruction] and addressed them all as the sirens approached and were getting closer. "We can't stay here. We need to move, now."
"Agreed. But we may need someplace close by we can hide for the time being." Griselda spoke up. Shirou looked at Kurotetsu, and the two nodded begrudgingly at the choice they were going to need to make now. Tracing another copied bunch of the same blades he shot at Lyle earlier, Shirou then proceeded to firing them off to embed into the ground throughout the battlefield, they suddenly burst into thick black smoke, impossible to see through as it clouded the area to cover both their escape and make it look like bombs had caused the fires as they crumbled away slowly, leaving no trace they ever existed behind.
With this, Shirou bought them at least another hour head start while they covered their asses to deal with any traces and cover it up as a mad bomber's terrorist attack. This blade was also from the same drunken Irish madman who created the thermite bomb arrows he shot at the start of the fight. By using the same smoke grenade counterpart to them, he gave a method for them to cover it up later with the mundane masses. Unlike his fragment, however, Shirou's DNA was slightly different, since he wasn't some bizarre pseudo-failed vampire and an Apostle/Dragon/Fairy/Monster/God/Human hybrid, so he couldn't see through the smoke like his fragment would have done.
As for the vengeance-driven renegade Gremory Knight...well...the only hope for Kiba Yuuto now was that whatever the enemy did to him, he'd survive long enough to either be rescued or escape on his own...but given his track record, there was little chance he'd escape unscathed, and they all knew it as they made themselves scarce…
Scene Change
Valper's Kuoh Hideout
Third-person P.O.V. Shift
Valper Galilei was tending to his work, preparing for surgically attaching the newly grown limb to Freed's stump, when the door leading to the improvised operating room suddenly slammed open from a booted kick, with Lyle, Freed, and a large steam locker trunk carried by the two flung carelessly to the floor at their feet. Valper rose but a single bespectacled brow in genuine curiosity to its as-of-yet unidentified contents, but given the obvious angry pounding originating from within of something inside it struggling to get out, it most likely was someone they captured, given the size of the trunk in question.
"You know...when I asked you two to find a suitable location around town, I didn't expect you two to bring something back...though forgive my bluntness, but what happened to you Freed?" The murderous look filled with his pain that Freed gave Valper made it very much clear just how well Freed took that statement.
"What happened is those shitty fucking Devils, those shitty brats from the Church, and some fucking wizard with his terminator pet, that's what!" Freed said as he went over to the surgical instruments, took some surgical pliers, and began pulling the still burning rust in his body out with a grunt of pain.
Valper simply rose his brow higher in confusion, before looking at Lyle. "Translation please, would you Lyle?"
"...we ran into a slight snag when scouting town earlier. Three Devils. Two exorcists from the Church. They attacked us in the middle of town on sight, in broad daylight." Lyle's response simply made Valper's brow furrow in confusion.
"They actually attacked you? Together? Hmph. Seems the Church was forced to work together with the Devils, oddly enough. Though that still doesn't explain how Freed got injured. Again." Freed, almost as though timed perfectly, began swearing profusely as he ripped a rather large and still-hot piece of rusted shrapnel from his wounds, causing Valper to turn and look at him wondering what he was doing.
"...no, it wasn't them who did this to Freed. That would be the wizard he mentioned. He seemed able to conjure weapons of various types, including the one that did this to Freed."
"Just what kind of weapon did he conjure to do that to Freed?" Valper asked in curiosity, his interest peaked. A wizard who used swords, of all things? And could actually injure Freed? Sounds an awful lot like the same one who left him for dead back in the abandoned local church.
"...he created a sword that he fired from a bow..." That got Vaper's rapt attention. "...only these weren't just swords he fired..." Lyle then gave Valper a dead serious look as he finished his summation of what happened. "...they were thermite bombs in the form of arrows..."
Valper actually froze at that, having been rendered speechless at the mere thought of someone generating weapons magically, much less swords of all things, then firing them off like arrows from a bow, and then having the said blade's volatile nature revealed by detonating them so they explode right next to you if you managed to dodge out of the way. The sheer absurdity of it was mind-boggling to consider, yet Lyle said it with such utter seriousness and a completely straight face, he knew Lyle wasn't lying...which raised the next important question he wanted to ask…
"...very well then, I'll bite. What's in the trunk?" Valper was a madman obsessed with [Excalibur], but he wasn't stupid. If Lyle decided to run, it meant that this wizard had means to counter even him, or at the bare minimum, was able to create or take advantage of a situation that forced him to flee. It was whatever had been banging on the inside of the trunk the two young men carried into the room that was the center of his next line of inquiry. Rather than respond with words, Lyle instead responded with his actions, as per usual.
Upon opening and dumping out the contents of the trunk, revealed a head of disheveled blonde hair, bluish-gray eyes burning with unrestrained hatred, and severely wounded and bleeding while heavily restrained, defiantly resistant, and thoroughly raging, Kiba Yuuto burst into the room and out into the open. His glare settled on Valper, whose brow simply rose slightly at the look he was given, as the wounded and captured Devil began screaming at him through his gag. Looking at Lyle in question, the Church Slayer proceeded to remove the gag, and Yuuto's muffled shouts of vengeance suddenly became blatantly obvious.
"Valper Galilei! I'll finally avenge my friends for what you did to us!"
The sheer venom and utter hate in that one statement would have made even the most heartless of mass murderers cringe in fear of what that threat implied for the Archbishop of Genocide, yet instead he simply rose his other brow to meet its other in his hairline as recognition dawned upon him. "Ah, I remember you. Isaiah. You were one of the disposed failures of the Holy Sword Project. So you became a Devil." Valper then tsked in admonishment, yet that only fueled Yuuto's anger at the false priest. "So disappointing, for someone whose family was so devout to fall so far as to become a Devil..." He shook his head, yet Kiba's biting response was most unfitting the image of a knight he worked so hard to maintain.
"We didn't ask to become lab rats for you! Or your twisted experiments! You did that without the Church ever knowing just how bad things were until it was too late to stop your Holy Sword Project!" He snarled that name out like the most vile of curses, before grinning madly. "But now I can kill you once and for all!" Kiba tried to use [Sword Birth], but it didn't work. He couldn't feel his Sacred Gear at all, which was very much concerning for him at the moment as realization dawned upon him.
"Did you really think we would let you use that Sacred Gear of yours here of all places? Those restraints binding your arms are seals designed for the purpose of hindering the activation of Sacred Gears. You won't be creating any swords or trouble for us while those are still on you." Valper then grinned in an ominous manner, as he nodded at Lyle to leave while seemingly asking to no one in particular a request. "May I trouble Your Highness to restrain this Devil for but a few moments?"
"Tis most arrogant of you, Archbishop of genocide, to demand a favor of a King so easily as this. Why not have the failure or the reject do it?"
An airy voice sounded out seemingly from everywhere at once, causing a chill to go down everyone but Valper's spine. He simply and calmly explained it in a manner to appeal to this entity directly. "Because your Majesty, Freed is too badly injured and barely holding together for the procedure as it is. As for Lyle, he isn't strong enough to restrain a Devil on his own, and he still needs to scout out the area for a suitable site to perform the ritual on. Currently, you are the only one who can restrain Isaiah for what I have planned."
There was a few minutes of Silence, before a flash of light along with chains of the purest gold shot out, restraining Yuuto and held him down, any attempts to fight himself free rendered moot due to the strength of these particular chains. They were [Enkidu], the Chains That Binds the Heavens, and the weapon named for the best friend, rival, and only cherished person of the hero of the tale of 'One Who Surpassed All Others', or as modern scholars knew it, 'The Epic of Gilgamesh'.
"Try anything mongrel, and I will kill you for your insolence." The airy tone was replaced with a dangerous seriousness from the otherwise whimsical individual, yet Valper simply rolled his eyes, almost as if to say 'like I would', exasperated by such an accusation as he responded.
"With all due respect your Majesty, there is only one treasure in all the world I care one wit for, and it has been in seven pieces for the last 1,500 years since the death of its original wielder. So unless among your vast treasures you possess the missing seventh fragment of it that's been lost, I couldn't care less for what is a part of your royal vault's contents."
The blatantly disrespectful tone notwithstanding, the only reason why Valper didn't die on the spot for that comment was because Gilgamesh knew he was speaking only the truth. As the descendant, heir, and spiritual successor to the throne of Uruk, Gilgamesh Uruk inherited the ability to see the true nature of others by glimpsing into their souls. Valper's obsession with [Excalibur] was so deeply rooted into his being, he showed little interest in anything else. Even so, the indignation was clearly evident for all present from both parties.
Crimson eyes flashed in irritation as Valper chose not to comment further as he moved to a certain container in the form of a sealed box. Carrying it over, he forced Yuuto's neck down as he bared the scruff of his neck, and opened the box, revealing a spider-like creature that was obviously mechanical, yet somehow also looked organic at the same time in a seemingly wrong contradiction. Lyle's eyes widened and took a few steps back before taking his leave, as he knew what that was and what was coming next. He knew it was probably sacrilege to do so, yet he didn't care and offered a prayer to the lord for Yuuto, as he knew from first-hand reports of just what Valper had planned with that little spider.
He feverishly prayed under his breathe, never caring for the harm it may cause the boy in question for his normally blasphemous act, yet given the circumstances could be pardoned as he rushed out of the room, clearly disturbed by the sight of what Valper did, and praying for all he had that God would have mercy on the poor boy's soul for the experience he was about to undergo. Freed and Gilgamesh weren't any better, but were forced to stay and watch, envying how Lyle didn't have to stay for this horrifying sight. As the spider latched onto the nape of Yuuto's exposed neck, it began to pierce into his body, causing the Gremory Knight to scream in unholy agony as his mind was being suppressed and sealed, essentially fracturing like glass as it cracked while he tried and failed to resist the intrusion upon his mind and body…
...by the time Kiba Yuuto finally stopped screaming, almost forty minutes had passed as the abomination latched onto and usurped his body for itself, sealing his mind away into a prisoner within his own body...in a sense, this was a fate worse than death for the Gremory Knight, as he'd be forced to face those he swore to protect and fight alongside of in mortal combat in the near future…
Scene Change
Kuoh Public Cemetery
Unknown P.O.V.
On the outskirts of Kuoh, is a public cemetery for the dearly departed. The scene is quiet, even for a graveyard, yet it was the scene of a battle's aftermath that gave credence to any sense of alarm. Grave markers were destroyed, shattered, or left crumbling from the obvious battle that took place here, yet throughout the whole battle, only one grave was left untouched by the battle…
By this grave, laying in a growing pool of blood as her crimson life-baring fluid leaked out of her in great quantities, with her spirit utterly crushed, her wings plucked of almost all their feathers, over half her bones broken, if not pulverized completely, and her face and body beaten a bloody red, black, and blue, was Raynare…
On the undisturbed grave, freshly cleaned, save for the smudges of bloody hand prints made by Raynare in her desperation to get up and fight before passing out from pain and blood loss, was an engraving…
Anastasia Kitsugomi
October 14, 1911-December 16, 1947
Loving Mother
Devoted Wife
A Saintess among Heathens
Her Light lost is a tragedy for those trapped in Darkness
...lain before her late mother's final resting place as she was slowly bleeding to death at her father's own hands...
A/N: Next chapter will be a continuation from this chapter where it leaves off. As for references, this chapter took scenarios from the fanfics 'Draconian Fate Works' by Kratos1989, 'From Fake Dreams' by Third Fang, and the DxD/DMC crossover fic 'Son of Sparda DxD'. As for a breakdown of the fight scenes, this is just an idea for what Lyle and Shirou can do. Lyle is essentially the DxD version of Kiritsugu, and by extension, the Church's counterpart to what the Magus Killer was to the Mages Association. Their fighting styles here basically mirror this sentiment perfectly. As for the battle between Freed and the others, consider it mostly the same as canon or the fight as portrayed in 'Draconian Fate Works'. Any weapons used from those fics, look them up to get the full breakdown on them and any possible lore sheets for them. Until next chapter, and stay safe you all, PEACE OUT!