Chapter 1: War

This is going to be new story focused on an Issei who is a Fallen Angel. I was going to say more, but I would rather let you read.

"Talking."

'Thinking.'

Locations

Noises

The Underworld-Grigori

Outside a meeting room in the military barracks of the Grigori stood a boy who looked to be in his late teens. The boy was wearing a black armored combat uniform with black military boots. His hair was mostly black like most fallen angels except he had red bangs in the front. Another contrast from the rest of his people was his distinctive red iris's, no other fallen angel possessed similar eyes.

His name was Issei, just Issei. He happened to be the son of the leader of the Fallen Angels Azazel, his mother was another fallen angel named Azza.

Issei was waiting outside a meeting room, right now the meeting inside was coming to an end. Issei kept leaning against the wall as other high ranking fallen angels began to leave the room. He remained there until the person he was waiting for exited, the look on his face gave Issei most of what happened.

"You look like shit dad." Spoke Issei as he lifted his head up to face his father. Azazel looked back at Issei and gave a forced smile, the pain clearly still visible in his face.

"I'm telling you kid if this war doesn't kill me, I'll do it myself, we already lost around 60% of our population. If this continues then we'll have to pull out soon." Azazel said as he leaned up against the wall with his son while rubbing his head.

That was right, they were in the middle of a war between the Angels, Fallen Angels and Devils. The meeting that had just occurred was a plan to launch an offensive against the devils, the number of losses to expect were exponential.

Azazel and the other Cadre-class fallen angels were working hard to try and reduce that number as much as possible.

"Try and relax for a second, we still have our leaders. If they remain then we can still fight and keep up morale. Having our leader looking like he just seen death naked doesn't make our soldiers want to keep fighting." Issei spoke as he handed over a drink to his dad.

Azazel grabbed the cup and chugged the drink violently, Issei raised an eyebrow to this display.

"Calm down! That poor water. Try not to lose yourself now, I want to know what this offensive is about."

"Shut up. the planning board is inside." Both men then walked into the room. On the wall opposite to the door stood a map of a one of the many cities in the devil side of the Underworld, the marks on the map indicated the battle plan.

Issei walked over to the board and examined the strategy, to his surprise it was flawed. Issei kept looking as he noticed more and more problems with the attack plan.

"Explain!" spoke Issei who was now narrowing his eyes as he looked at Azazel. Azazel sat down in one of the many chairs and leaned back.

"We were going for a full-scale assault on the city north of the devil capital, if we manage to take the city then we can walk through the capital with little resistance. At least that is what we think will happen since we got intel that the angels plan on attacking the capital directly, what do you think?".

Issei looked back at the map and pointed to 8 different spots, Azazel looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you pointing at?"

"The major areas of failure in this plan, for starters the whole concept this is built on. If we do launch a full-scale attack on the city, then that leaves us vulnerable to anyone attacking the Grigori. Not to mention if we do fail then the counterattack will be devastating to our forces as a whole and will most likely result in the greatest number of casualties. The numbers could result in most of the remaining population dying. Now the most obvious part is that the ring of cities around the capital happen to be the most guarded and heavily defended areas in the devil side of the Underworld." Issei then picked up a pen and circled the area towards the center of the frontlines.

"We don't have the necessary supplies to even support such an offensive if it bogs down and turns into a stalemate. The city itself has thousands of standing garrison soldiers along with millions within the 6 layers of defenses around the 6 cities that surrounds the capital. Since the war began, we've managed to break through 5 of the main layers of defenses. But the last layer is still heavily guarded, a direct attack would be met with our flanks being hit hard by enemy reinforcements that will arrive swiftly." Issei then walked over to the table and took a seat, one thing he hated was how bad some plans that the Cadres made.

Azazel then planted his face onto the table, the amount of pressure that he had been receiving for a while now has taken a huge toll on him. The population at large was suffering, Issei had been on the frontlines before. The fighting was intense, Issei was lucky to not be injured badly or maimed like some others he had seen.

"Sadly, it is too late. The offensive is live in 2 days, we only have a small window of opportunity. We don't have time to change anything majorly. For now, go train." Azazel then stood up and walked out the room. Issei stood there and watched as he left, a fair bit of anger came over him at that moment.

"Alright then," Spoke Issei as he gritted his teeth.

Issei then turned back to the map and sighed. He had a feeling that this would all end badly, the only thing he could do now was go back to training.

Training Grounds

"Overhead!" spoke Azazel as Issei swung his light sword towards his head. They had woken up early in the morning and began Issei's 18th intense training session.

Each time one of these would start Azazel would have Issei try to kill him, these would push Issei into breaking his limits. These sessions would last for 6 hours before either party gave out due to exhaustion or they had to be pulled apart by the Cadres.

"Underneath!" Issei then swung underneath, he then summoned many light spears above Azazel.

"Perish!" Issei then threw the spears at Azazel. The red spears then flew at Azazel quickly, Azazel responded by throwing magic attacks to counter them.

Explosions rang out as the training grounds became a red-light show, Issei kept powering up and releasing his red aura. Azazel responded by flaring his aura as well, both fallen angels stared each other down.

Issei unfolded all 8 of his wings, each fully spread out. This display was familiar to Azazel, Issei had a habit of using his wings in combat.

They both launched at each other, Issei waiting for the right chance. Once They were 1-foot apart Issei turned off, catching Azazel by surprise when his wings began to cut into Azazel's shoulder.

Once they were on opposite sides of the field Azazel turned back to look at Issei, his wings were partially covered in blood. The feathers were red, Issei smirked.

"I think that's enough for today dad, we need to rest now before we begin our offensive towards the devil's capital." Issei then wiped off his feathers, the blood wouldn't be enough to stain them anyway. He just preferred that they remained clean, he had a right to.

"Alright kid, you rest up while I go speak with the others."

"Bye dad." Issei then walked out the room, he had won that time. It was tiring to say the least, using his full power was still far from happening, but he could expect to end up fighting a very strong enemy. Azazel didn't want him fighting against the angels for some unknown reason, he didn't worry about that though.

Issei kept walking towards his room, the crowded hallways didn't do him well either. He pushed his way past dozens of fallen angels until he was able to get to the plaza. In the plaza was dozens of guards and soldiers that were standing by.

Issei kept walking past them until he eventually made it to his room, luxury for the time period made it a valuable room. He had a large bed and other valuables around the room, he didn't mind it though. It was far better than sleeping in the barracks.

In there it was crowded, and the grunts would always start fights with each other. Issei had to stay in there for months during his initial training, those days saw him being pushed to his limits because of the idiots he stayed with.

"Damn it all to hell." Issei was angered. He didn't mind fighting against the devils, but this war was getting far too out of hand. Since he was born, he was trained to fight in a war that had been raging for years.

One thing he would say was good because of the war is that his battalion he fights under, which also happened to be under Azazel.

Issei continued to lay on his bed.

Knock Knock

Issei got up from his bed and walked over to the door.

Once he got to the door, he opened it. The person on the other side smiled at him, Issei smiled back. It was his mother Azza, she had brought a basket of fruit with her.

"Hello mother," spoke Issei as he stepped out the room. His mother held the basket up higher and handed it to Issei. Issei took the basket and lowered it.

"I heard about your training session with your father, you actually managed to wound him pretty badly. I immediately went to the orchards and picked some fruit for you, sorry I could only find apples though," spoke his mother in an apologetic tone.

His mother always apologized when she didn't have too, she was a more innocent soul. In fact, she was very different from the other fallen angels. His mother was a very nice person without any sin in her heart. Issei heard from one of his uncles that his mother fell from grace because she fell in love with Azazel during the earlier parts of the war.

He didn't bother with the rest of the details because he could only assume what would happen next and that wasn't an image he wanted to remember.

"Thanks for the apples mother, they were always my favorite." Issei then took one out of the basket and bit into it.

Crunch

Issei tore the piece out of the apple and began chewing it.

"What was the commotion from the meeting room earlier? Everyone looked very distraught about what went on in there." His mother gained a small frown across her face. Issei turned his head towards the door of his room.

"Issei what happened in there?" asked his mother once again.

"I'm not allowed to speak about what has been discussed, you'll have to ask dad." Issei didn't like that he had to keep his mother in the dark about certain things that occur in the Grigori.

His mother nodded and quietly walked away. Issei watched as she turned the corner, the look she had on her face made Issei feel guilty.

"I'm sorry mom, but there's nothing I can do."

"I wonder if this will be the last time, I do get to enjoy laying out here," spoke Issei as he laid down on a hill next to a tree. The spot he was in was a 10-minute walk from the Grigori, or a 1-minute fly.

Issei had went to this same spot since he was around 8 years old, it was always a place where he could focus his mind due to the everlasting silence that was there. This is where he was able to discover a special ability that he possesses, he hasn't told anyone about it since then.

'The calm before the storm, a hurricane of black feathers and limbs. Hehe.' There was a love of fighting that he gained since he had been participating in the war. Maybe that was his heart falling into sin or it was just a side effect of the constant fighting he had been a part of.

He was 17 now and had been fighting since he was 15. Azazel had put him in his battalion to keep him close and secure, something that bothered Issei since he was able to fight people far stronger than himself.

Commanding a unit wasn't something that was in his goals, fighting as a part of a unit was more favorable. Although, claiming some glory for oneself was also tempting.

Issei laid there in that spot for seemed like hours, even falling asleep accidently.

He laid there for some time before he was abruptly awakened by an emergency siren.

Issei jumped up from his spot and looked towards the Grigori, he could see the swarms of devil soldiers attacking his home.

Multiple high-power signatures were present around the battlefield, the mixture of elements complementing the chaos that was the Grigori.

"SHIT!" Issei unfolded his wings and took off to the Grigori with haste. This was a complete surprise attack from the devils, but it didn't make any sense.

The Grigori had many different layers of defensive magic spells, this would have been able to stop them from directly attacking it.

'No, that wouldn't make any sense. Those spells were made from multiple cadres hundreds of years ago, then someone must have betrayed us. The only problem would be why though?" Issei focused on passing under the radar of the multiple battalions that were attacking the Grigori.

Successfully doing so he went to find someone. The panic inside the building was causing too many problems. People were being walked on and ran over as others were shoved into walls, the Cadres that he could see tried to organize the populace as the others were busy fighting off the attackers.

Issei pushed through large hordes of fallen angels until he found himself outside his mother's room. Knocking on the door multiple times he waited for a response, none came.

"Mom; are you in there?" asked Issei in a worried voice. He should have been on the front lines fighting instead of trying to find his mom, but something couldn't be right if he did that. His mom wasn't a fighter, she was a gentle person. If she were to be killed in combat, then Issei wouldn't be able to sleep at all.

Issei banged on the door harder, he accidently dented it due to him not controlling his power.

"Issei! What are you doing here?" asked a man with silver-white hair and a purple beret. It was his uncle Shemhazai.

"I was looking for my mom, do you know where she is?"

"We sent her to the underground safehouse along with the wounded. Azazel's executive order. Now come, we have to hold the line until the others can gather the army for a counterattack," spoke Shemhazai as he and Issei began rushing towards one of the exits.

Once they arrived outside, they saw multiple Cadres fighting against mass amounts of devils.

"Follow me! We'll stand a better chance if we have each other's flanks. Don't hesitate to ask for assistance, we fallen have to stick together to survive." Issei looked at Shemhazai and nodded, both men gained a serious expression before flying into the air.

Issei watched as they began to be surrounded by hundreds of devil soldiers, in the middle of them was a devil officer that was notably higher in power than the soldiers around him. The man wielded a black sword with an ancient inscription on the blade.

"From days of old I had wished to fight against a Cadre, and today I can see that realized," spoke the man. Issei put his hand in front of Shemhazai, it was a clear signal to him that he wanted to fight this one.

"Oh, someone thinks that this will be easy. Well, I won't go down easily boy." The man then summoned his demonic power through his palms. Issei smirked.

"Neither will I." Issei then launched himself at his opponent. Issei used his speed to get behind his opponent and summoned a red-light spear. The devil quickly tried to block with his sword, both weapons clashing against each other in a struggle.

Shemhazai decided to handle the soldiers, easily annihilating them without breaking a sweat. When it came to power within the Grigori, he was one of the few to be known as strong as Azazel himself, even though he only possessed 10 wings.

As he continued to take out the fodder, Issei was still battling against the devil officer.

The officer swung his sword overhead to which Issei side stepped and countered with a clean stab into the officer arm.

"Uhn!" grunted the officer, the pain from Issei's light spear clearly having an effect on him.

"Painful, yes?" asked Issei as he floated down to face the man.

"What the hell! This burns more than they usually do!" the officer dropped his sword in order to hold onto his wound which was beginning to burn the surrounding flesh.

Issei smirked, making sure his surroundings were clear before getting closer to the officer.

"That's because the light I possess burns at a higher intensity. That makes it far more lethal than an ordinary light spear that the other fallen angels use." Issei then dissipated his light spear before summoning a sword of light which also radiated the same red aura that his spear released.

"But my swords hurt worse." Issei then decapitated the officer with one clean slash from his sword of light.

The devils under his command that hadn't been killed yet turned their focus on Issei, they quickly began to flee.

Issei shook his head and chased after them, Shemhazai following him in case he did something reckless.

The devil soldiers didn't have time to react as they began to be cut apart by Issei's wings. Feathers and limbs began flying around as Issei kept up his assault.

Shemhazai watched the display as he began to contact the other Cadres, the person he tried to get to being Azazel.

After a few seconds he was able to establish a connection with him.

"Shemhazai what's the situation on your side?" Asked Azazel who seemed to be in a situation of the tone of his voice.

"Issei and have taken care of the assault force on the southwestern sector, what's yours?"

"I'm with two other Cadres, we're engaging multiple Ultimate-Class devils. Tamiel informed me that our forces are ready for the counterattack. We've already suffered a heavy loss to our garrison units, I want you in charge of the southern sectors defense. Oh, and try to not let Issei do anything reckless or his mother might kill me."

"Don't worry, but from the look of things he can handle himself." Shemhazai then flew down next to Issei who was cleaning the blood off his wings.

"He has a habit of losing himself in battle, that's what I'm worried about."

"Alright Azazel. We'll meet up after the battle is over." Shemhazai then cut his communication with Azazel.

"What's the plan?" asked Issei who had finished cleaning off his wings.

"We hold the southern sector until Azazel calls for a counterattack, you're under my command until further notice," spoke Shemhazai as a magic circle appeared from his hand.

"Alright." Said Issei as he dissipated his light sword.

The two of them then flew towards the southern sector, Issei having a battle hungry grin on his face.

Grigori-Western Sector

Azazel had just ended his communication line with Shemhazai, he looked forwards as hundreds of devil soldiers began to attack the front lines. Leading them were multiple Ultimate-Class devils, who they were wasn't in his interest to know.

"Baraqiel! We're going after the leaders. Their ranks will crumble afterwards. Once the lines fall to chaos then we'll launch the counterattack." Baraqiel nodded to Azazel's orders and began to order their forces to tactically retreat.

"It's about time we get to actually have some fun. I've been looking forward to tearing more of them apart!" excitedly spoke the other Cadre who was with him.

"Something is still bothering me though; we haven't spotted any of the Satan's yet. Kokabiel you're with me on this one alright?" spoke Azazel who was eyeing down the Ultimate-Class devils who began summoning a vast amount of demonic power into three magic circles.

He and Kokabiel counter that by summoning defensive magic circles of their own.

After a few more seconds he devils launched a powerful mixture of attacks at two, both Cadres not budging an inch from their spot.

"Can I attack them now?" asked Kokabiel as the attack began to die down.

"Wait for Baraqiel to return before attacking, that way they can't try to do any flanking." Kokabiel nodded begrudgingly.

Grigori-Southern Sector

It was chaos, the Southern Sectors defense force was annihilated by the devil assault. Issei and Shemhazai arrived to find what they would consider the main devil assault force. The other high ranking fallen angels were being swarmed by devil soldiers and executed.

Wings from both sides made the ground look black, the image making both men real back slightly.

In the center of the chaos were two devils. From what Issei could tell their power was around Satan-Class. Around them Issei could tell that there were multiple High and Ultimate-Class devils present, this put a frustrated look on Shemhazai's face.

"Issei, we can't fight them without reinforcements." Shemhazai began summoning a communication circle, Issei watched the devils closely as they continued to execute the fallen who had surrendered. This angered him greatly, he then tried to go out there and confront them.

Shemhazai immediately pulled him back before he could do anything stupid.

"What the hell, let go of me!" shouted Issei as he tried to free himself from his uncle's grasp.

"You'll die if you try to fight them now, it hurts me too to see them being killed. We can't confront them without being encircled ourselves, wait until we have reinforcements!" shouted his uncle.

Issei kept trying to break free until he eventually gave up, no matter how much it hurt him to do so.

"Fine, but if something bad happens you're responsible." Issei then turned back to face the devils. Soon after the communication got through.

"Shemhazai what's going on?"

"The Southern Sector has been annihilated, two devils of Satan-Class power and multiple High and Ultimate-Class devils are with them. We need reinforcements before Issei, and I can engage them."

"Damnit! Do what you can to prevent them from entering the building. Me, Kokabiel and Baraqiel will try to get there once we're done over here. The other Cadres are busy holding down the other sectors from similar forces."

"Alright." Shemhazai now had steeled his nerves.

"Issei. We have to hold them off no matter what, I do not know when we will get reinforcements. Azazel trusts us to stop them from entering the interior, and we have to protect everyone inside. That is the job of the Cadres and will be your job soon as well." Shemhazai flew up into the air, catching the attention of the devils.

Issei looked towards the Grigori, the image of what would ensue if the didn't stop them now flashed through his mind.

Steeling his nerves as well Issei flew into the sky next to Shemhazai. Both men fully extended their wings, both parties staring each other down.

The beginning of a major battle marking its start.

And that is the end of the first chapter, and I have to say this was different from the storyboard I came up with originally. And I am not mad, the rest of what I planned will still be written to a point, some parts I made were impossible to implement since the time period didn't match up.

Anyway I think that making a story that occurs during the Great War was a good idea and I went with it.

I'm looking forward to the feedback for this, and I thank you for reading.