Disclaimer: I do not own Fate Stay Night, Highschool DxD or anything else.
Fate: Devil Night
Chapter14: Excalibur III
Human World
Japan: Kuoh
Kuoh Academy
Sona Sitri otherwise known as Shitori Souna was the heiress of the Sitri clan, one of the seventy-two Pillars of their society. Though she specialized in water magic, her true strength came from her mind and her ability to think up the most complicated of strategies within seconds. Her peerage also lacked the raw power or any kind of special ability, instead being for all intents and purposes normal reincarnated humans. But that was fine, because that's what she wanted them to be, after all the current Lucifer's peerage didn't have a single Sacred Gear among them and they were regarded as some of the strongest devils ever. All they needed was time to train and grow strong enough to face down even the most monstrous of individuals in the world.
Sadly it seemed that time was the one thing that they didn't have…
"Kokabiel is heading for the academy," Saji's voice radioed in. "I'm sorry Kaichou but he blew right through us."
"Its fine," Sona responded simply. "I'm just glad that you're all okay."
"We've got wounded," Momo added. "Kiba-kun and Touji-san are injured. Two of the Exorcist girls are hurt too though one of the others is healing everyone, devils included."
"Healing devils too?" Sona frowned at her Bishop's words. "A Sacred Gear perhaps?"
"Her name is Asia," Momo explained. "She said her Sacred Gear is named Twilight Healing, I believe it can healing any creature no matter their race."
"We'll worry about that later," Sona shook her head. There was more pressing concerns then a young priestess with the ability to heal devils, like the fact that one of the Grigori leaders wanted her and her best friend dead. "For now we have to worry about Kokabiel."
"He will be here soon," Rias spoke up from the side. "We don't have a lot of time."
"I have already sent a message to both Sirzechs-sama and Serafall-sama," Akeno told the two Kings of Kouh.
"Akeno! How dare you act without my-" Rias started as she turned towards her Queen.
"I understand your desire to avoid stirring up trouble for your brother but the scope of this matter has exceeded our ability to handle on our own," Akeno cut her off. "We have to bring in the Maou on this one Rias, you know that."
"…Fine," Rias conceded her point. "I get it."
"It will be at least an hour before backup arrives from the Underworld," Akeno informed them.
A split second later a white blur descended from above, his sword swinging down at the surprised Reya as he did so. A loud clang rang out across the courtyard as Tomoe using her Knight-class speed quickly moved to aid her comrade and deflected the attack to the side. Her katana strained and then shattered a moment later, surprising her as the attacker laughed. The white-haired priest continued laughing as he pressed his attack, his new and improved Holy Sword in his hands.
Freed Sellzan laughed as he swung at the fleeing devils before him, his newly forged Fused Excalibur in his hands. It was the result of re-forging six of the Excalibur fragments into one, something that Valper had discovered how to do and Kokabiel had managed to accomplish. However it wasn't the true Excalibur as long as the seventh fragment was not a part of it, and that was something he would have to find later after he was finished here.
"Die, you shitty devils!" Freed laughed as he lunged at the unarmed Tomoe.
Tsubaki rushed in from the side and unsheathed her Naginata, deflecting Freed's strike. Much like Tomoe's katana before her, her Naginata shattered upon contact with the far more powerful weapon causing Freed to laugh even more. This was amazing, he'd never felt so powerful before, powerful enough to kill everyone and everything he could. Tsubaki backed away from him as he pursued her, intent on slaying her where she stood with his Fused Excalibur.
Just then Rias, Akeno and Sona attacked from above, unleashing a barrage of attacks down upon him. Rias' Power of Destruction was the first to hit him followed by Akeno's Thunder and Sona's Water magic. Freed saw this coming however and quickly swung his Fused Excalibur up to meet the barrage of attacks. All three of them were repulsed by a small wave of dim golden energy, wiping them from existence before they could touch him directly.
"Is this the best that the sisters of the Maou have to offer?" Kokabiel asked the question as he however a few feet away observing them. "Pathetic."
"Kokabiel…" Sona trailed off as she glared over at him.
"I assume that you have already dispatched a message to the Maou," Kokabiel mused as he examined them all. "I shouldn't waste time then."
He snapped his fingers and a large magic circle appeared on the ground in the center of the courtyard. A second later the magic circle glowed red and a large black dog with three heads exploded from the center of it. It barked loudly as the magic circle disappeared and it turned its attention on devils present in the area. Yura was the first to face it and barely managed to catch it claw as it took a swipe at her. It wasn't enough however and she was forced to take to the sky when one of its heads tried to eat her.
'There's nothing we can do,' Sona realised as she watched the Cerberus attack the rest of her peerage. 'They're too strong.'
Kokabiel alone could kill all of them by himself but with the rogue priest wielding a Holy Sword—incomplete though it might be—and a Cerberus from the gates of Tartarus, they didn't stand a chance. What could they do against something like that? Kokabiel was someone on par with her sister Serafall Leviathan herself, and the other two were no slouches either. It was possible that they could defeat one of the three but there was no way they could beat all of them at once.
They couldn't hold out for another fifty-five minutes either…
Thankfully their salvation came earlier than they expected as a series of bangs rang out throughout the academy. Miyu stepped out onto the courtyard with her Calico M950 submachine gun raised and firing at Freed. The mad priest was forced to stop and use his Fused Excalibur to shield himself from the barrage of bullets sent at him. Meanwhile Shirou had dropped down between the Cerberus and Yura with his twin Chinese swords in hand, deflecting the swipes from its claws. Finally came the volley of Black Keys aimed at Kokabiel's face which he was forced to deflect with a conjured Spear of Light. He turned to see who had thrown them and saw that it was the boy that had proclaimed himself the Red Dragon Emperor, Kotomine Issei.
"Where's the Phenex girl?" Kokabiel questioned only to feel a massive Bounded Field settle over the academy. "Ah I see, she's hanging back and trying to contain me."
"I'm your opponent," Issei glared up at him from the courtyard below. "Come down here and fight like a monster."
"This level of strength is not enough," Kokabiel commented as he landed in front of the priest.
"How about this then?" Issei shot back as he settled into a stance not too far away from him.
Eight grand openings – The standing upward cannon was a dangerous secret move of the Bajiquan and was his father's most powerful physical attack. By taking a 'moving stance' he could cross the distance between him and his opponent with a sight step. He moved within a foot of Kokabiel and brought his right arm tight against his waist before delivering a heavy upper hook directly to the center of Kokabiel's chest, blowing him back across the courtyard until he struck the side of the main academy building. The wall broke under the impact and exploded in dust as the Fallen Angel crashed through it.
Were he a human then that would have been it…
But Kokabiel was not human…
"Impressive," Kokabiel said clearly as he climbed out of the hole. "You are strong even without a Sacred Gear, human."
Not too far away Shirou was having trouble against the much larger and physically stronger Cerberus. Its head kept trying to bite him as he was concentrating on not being swiped by its claws, something he had survived against by using Kanshou and Bakuya so far. Both blades were incredibly durable despite their rank and they were more than enough to allow him to hold his own. But it wasn't enough to defeat this opponent, and he didn't want to chance using their Overedge state without a plan.
Damn it…
He needed a better weapon…
Emiya Shirou! Understand, you are a maker, not a fighter. Do not think about other things, there is only one thing you can do, so master that one thing. Do not forget, what you must imagine is always that you yourself are the strongest. You do not need outside enemies, for you, the one you have to fight is none other than your own image.
That's right…
The Cerberus was an enemy but it wasn't his real enemy, after all it always came back to him in some way. Could he do it? Shaking his head a bit he searched through what weapons were stored in his Reality Marble and came across one that he thought might do the trick. It was the image of a red spear, cursed and filled bloodlust but powerful nonetheless. From EMIYA's scattered memories he could tell that there was some significance about this particular spear, namely the fact that it had been used on him and several of his other selves.
It was perfect…
"Trace on," Shirou incanted as he projected the red spear into existence. "Gae Bolg!"
Gae Bolg: Barbed Spear that Pierces with Death was a B-Rank Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm which reversed the nature of causality so that the target's heart is pierced first and the spear is trust at it second making it so the 'effect' comes before the 'cause' instead of the other way around. So when he thrust the spear forward, it pierced through the Cerberus' heart immediately, cursing the wound as it did so. There was no stopping it, the Cerberus simply couldn't defend against such an unexpected and unorthodox attack.
It was dead within seconds…
Meanwhile Miyu held down the trigger of her Calico M950 and kept firing at the rogue priest before her. However with the Fused Excalibur in his hands, Freed was using its ability to accelerate his natural speed to defend against the barrage of bullets being shot at him. Finally her gun clicked signifying it was empty and instead of reloading, she simply discarded it. Freed knew it was going to happen eventually and had been waiting for it, something he demonstrated by charging right at her with inhuman speed.
"Time Alter: Double Accel," Miyu incanted as she flooded her Magic Crest with prana.
The Emiya Crest glowed as the localized Bounded Field settled over her body and her perception of time slowed. She dodged the initial swing using her enhanced speed and reached for her Thompson Contender intent on firing a Sorcery Bullet at him only for him to swing the sword back around, catching the barrel of the gun and knocking it out of her hand. Unlike the katana and nagitana that it had struck before, the Thompson Contender didn't shatter, instead merely clattering to the floor a few feet away.
"Hahahaha! Die you bitch!" Freed laughed as he lunged at her with his sword raised.
'This isn't working,' Miyu thought as she hastily jumped back. 'At this rate I'll have to us it.'
Being a homunculus she was physically stronger than a normal human and with her father's Magecraft she was even faster than most Knight-class devils. That wasn't even taking into account her ability to use the Third True Magic Heaven's Feel along with her Thompson Contender Mystic Code and mundane weaponry. Even so, she was still just a kid that wasn't even a year old yet, and she had already been exposed to more violence than people thirty times her age had. Her current strength wasn't enough…she needed to be stronger…faster…she was her father's daughter…and her father was a hero.
Just like her brother…
She would become one too…
Or die trying…
Miyu jumped back having come to her decision and landed a few feet away. Freed pursued intent on cutting her down right then and there only to for a light blue magic circle to form under her. It shone in the darkness, illuminating the darkened academy and surprising everyone around her. Even Kokabiel stopped and looked over in astonishment, unable to understand exactly what he was seeing. The light grew brighter as the seconds passed by as Miyu held out a single card with the word 'Saber' printed on it.
"Freed!" Kokabiel ordered. "Stop her!"
Holy Grail…
"I hereby propose, give thy body unto me, give thy sword unto my hands. If in accordance to the summons of the Holy Grail thou dost accede to this will, this reason, then answer me. I hereby swear, I will be all that is good in the eternal world, I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world. Thou seven heavens clad with the Great Trinity come forth from the circle of restraint. Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!" Miyu chanted as a spiral of energy exploded upwards encasing her form. "Install!"
Freed had rushed forward the moment she'd started chanting and swung his sword right at her the moment she was engulfed in energy. A loud clang rang out across the academy as he made contact, cutting through the spiral of energy with one swing only for it to be halted by something within the spiral itself. The spiralling energy died down a second later to reveal Miyu standing exactly where she had been before, only she was much different.
She was decked out from head to toe in armour with only her midriff and elbows not being covered by it. The armour was blue in colour and outlined in gold, giving her the form of a knight. A true knight, the King of Knights, her form. And in her hands was a sword that shouldn't exist anymore, a blade of such renown that its very name was engraved in the history of mankind. It was her sword, or at least a decent counterfeit, if Miyu didn't say so herself.
It was Excalibur...
As a homunculus created by the Ainsworths she had all of their knowledge engraved in her mind and coupled with her ability to use Heaven's Feel she'd been able to progress further in the renegade Magi family's Magecraft than they had. She hadn't just been working on her Sorcery Bullets after all, especially considering just what kind of situations she was likely to face being a daughter of Emiya Kiritsugu and the younger sister of Emiya Shirou.
"That light…" Kokabiel trailed off in shock for once speechless. "Impossible."
"What is this?! That can't be Excalibur! I have Excalibur damn it!" Freed snarled in anger as he pushed down on his sword.
Miyu didn't answer him, instead simply pushing back with her own counterfeit Excalibur and knocking him off balance. She stepped to the side, using her smaller form to duck under his next swing and deflect his Fused Excalibur to the side allowing her to slide her own blade across his and swipe at his face. Freed backed away quickly but it was too late, her sword cut across the side of his face leaving a large bleeding gash in its place.
"With all my power," Miyu declared as she stopped and settled into a stance. "I will end you and that pitiful excuse of a sword right here."
"Gah!" Freed cried out as he held his bleeding cheek with free hand. "You bitch."
Miyu held her sword up over her head and took a deep breath before narrowing her eyes. She couldn't let this drag on any longer, she needed to end this now before things got any worse. That's why when she raised her sword, she started gathering her prana to the blade causing it to start to glow gold in colour. Golden fireflies sprang up all around her and gathered along the blade as she poured her heart and soul into its radiant form.
"This ends now!" Miyu declared as she swung the sword down. "Excalibur!"
The real Excalibur was an A-Rank Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm however Miyu's Excalibur was just a counterfeit, powerful yes but not quite on the same level as the original. Still, it was more than enough to do the job she had for it, namely crushing Freed once and for all. As Miyu swung her Excalibur down it released a beam of golden light right at the rogue priest, surprising him. In his defence, Freed brought his own Fused Excalibur up to cut through the oncoming beam. In the end it came down to the quality of the two blades with one being six-sevenths of the original blade and the other being a near perfect counterfeit.
Freed's Fused Excalibur held strong for a few seconds before it started cracking and finally shattered into dozens of pieces. He screamed as the beam of golden light washed over him, wiping him from existence within seconds and continuing on. After a few long agonising seconds the light died down leaving a long trench through the courtyard with Miyu kneeling at its edge. She panted heavily as the blade in her hand dissolved along with her armour leaving her in her regular combat clothes.
"That was…" Rias trailed off unable to comprehend exactly what she'd just seen.
She'd never seen anything like it…
"Boost!" Ddraig's voice called out catching their attention. "Explosion!"
Issei's speed and strength increased to the point where he appeared to be nothing but a blur. A single punch connected with Kokabiel's jaw and blew him through the whole academy building. He didn't let up, choosing to pursue the Fallen Angel and continue his assault only for Kokabiel to take to the air. His face was slightly bruised but he appeared to be fine, an image he reinforced by spreading his wings and bombarding them all with his Steal Wing feathers.
"Fuck!" Issei cursed as he flicked several Black Keys into his hands and deflected the feathers away from him.
"Reset," Ddraig spoke as the surge of prana he was providing died down.
"Shit," Issei gritted out as he slowed considerably allowing several Steal Wing feathers to get through and graze him.
"Sorry partner," Ddraig spoke from the back of his mind. "You're at your limit."
'What about the Maxbooster?' Issei asked the crimson dragon.
"We've never tested it before," Ddraig warned. "Are you sure you want to try it?"
'It might be our only choice,' Issei responded as he stared up at the Fallen Angel.
"Are you done already?" Kokabiel asked seemingly disappointed.
"Not yet," Issei spoke as gauntlet flared to life once more. "Dragon Booster: Maxbooster."
The Sacred Gear known as the Boosted Gear was able to double the user's strength every ten seconds, but the strength and power of a person's body wasn't meant to be doubled in such a way. Eventually the power exceeded the body's parameters and resulted in it 'stalling out' as it were. Knowing that 'stalling out' in the middle of a battle wasn't an option, Issei and Ddraig had devised a way to Boost to the maximum for five seconds.
It would allow him to use one single technique…
And that was all he needed…
"Explosion!" Ddraig exclaimed as Issei's strength returned to him.
"Dragon Shot," Issei incanted as he formed another crimson sphere in the palm of his gauntlet.
It compressed in on itself as Issei clenched his hand into a fist before he reeled in back and took a deep breath. He then threw it right at Kokabiel, hurling it like one would a punch before he opened his hand and released the sphere. It exploded forwards in a beam of crimson light, crossing the distance between them within seconds. Kokabiel's eyes widened at the sight before he was forced to wrap his wings around himself to defend against it. The beam washed over him in an instant and tore through the sky, striking the Bounded Field that Ravel had put up to contain the battle.
"Reset," Ddraig finished as the last of the energy left him.
'Did we get him?' Issei asked the question.
The answer he received was a Spear of Light being hurled at him from the sky, one that he was barely able to dodge in time. It grazed his cheek and sent him spinning to the ground, nearly taking his head off as it did so. He rolled for a bit before coming to a stop and looked up at the one who'd thrown it at him. Kokabiel was hovering in place much like before though this time he appeared to be roughed up quite a bit and bleeding from his wings.
"You almost had me with that one," Kokabiel said as he continued to hover in place. "But it looks like this is the end for you."
'Damn it,' Issei thought as he glared up at the Fallen Angel. 'It's not enough.'
"You did well," Kokabiel commented as he formed another Spear of Light in his hands. "There is no shame in dying here."
Dying here…
After finding out that God was dead and that everything he had believed in until this moment was a lie, Kokabiel thought that he should die here like some insect. No, Issei refused to die just like that, his pride wouldn't let him. The dragon in him—the part of him that wasn't Ddraig—rejected the very idea of dying as if he were nothing more than an insignificant lizard. So God was dead, Issei may have felt betrayed by the Church for not telling him and everyone but at this point he didn't care. Even if God was dead, the world was still here and so was he.
Kotomine Issei fought because he enjoyed the challenge…
And there was a challenge floating right in front of him…
God had never been his purpose for fighting…
"I won't die here," Issei gritted his teeth as he clenched his fists at his side. "No matter what happens, I won't lose to you, you bastard!"
"Welsh Dragon Balance Breaker," Ddraig declared from his Sacred Gear. "Scale Mail."
A massive wave of prana exploded from the Boosted Gear and encased its host's body. The prana compressed and shaped itself around him, forming a dragon-like set of armour that fit him perfectly. It was blood red in colour and had a large green jewel in the center of its chest. Another green jewel appeared on the back of his right hand much like the one on the Boosted Gear itself as two red dragon-like wings exploded from his back and spread out.
"That's…" Kokabiel trailed off in shock at the sight before him.
A moment ago the boy was on the verge of being killed and now he was standing tall as if nothing could teach him. Kokabiel hastily created a Spear of Light in his hands but it was too late, Issei crossed the distance between them in a burst of speed and landed a solid punch to his face. The Fallen Angel was sent crashing down into the academy grounds below, cracking the pavement and causing the nearby buildings to collapse.
"Do it Partner," Ddraig shouted from the green jewels.
Issei dropped down to the ground next to Kokabiel and grabbed him by the foot before the Fallen Angel could react. He then hurled Kokabiel into the air, flinging him upwards and away from anyone that might get caught up in what he was about to do. Issei raised his hand towards the Fallen Angel as he tried to recover from the sudden and violent thrashing he had just received giving the armour-clad young man the chance to gather as much prana as he could to his palm.
"Dragon Shot," Issei incanted firmly.
A crimson orb of energy shot up, flying up into the sky and closed in on the airborne Fallen Angel. Kokabiel couldn't help but watch as it came at him and slammed into his stomach, sending him even higher. He gritted his teeth as it burned him, causing his eyes to widen in shock. Not too far away Ravel was paying attention to what had happened and rapidly collapsed her Bounded Field around Kokabiel himself. Then, with a deafening boom, the orb exploded in light, consuming Kokabiel whole and manifesting a miniature sun above Kouh city.
Ravel's Bounded Field held for a few seconds before collapsing…
"Reset," Ddraig said tiredly.
Issei's armour fell away a moment later…
It was over…
Author's Notes:
Here is Chapter 14 and I hope you enjoyed the battle.
Please Read and Review.
See Ya Later…