The following morning, Sona was going around the school in her magical girl outfit. She tried so hard to dispel Issei's runes, but nothing she did work. Sona was trying to get to the StuCo room without being spotted.
Whenever Sona was seen by a student, she would grab them on the shoulder and scare the shit out of them before wiping their memory. It wasn't right to scare the people, but it was the only way she could vent.
For the entire day, Sona did not leave the StuCo room. One thing Sona didn't realise is that she was starting to take a liking to the magical girl outfit. Was she embarrassed to wear it in public? Sure, be she didn't mind wearing them in a private place, like her home.
After school, Issei was heading to the ORC, where the meeting between Rias and the church duo would occur. Since Ddraig got out of the Dimensional Farm, he would always be perched on Issei's head.
When Issei arrived in the ORC, the church duo was still not around. That's a good thing since he didn't want them to start their conversation while he wasn't there, and a fight broke out. It took another few minutes before Irina and Xenovia arrived.
Now that all parties have arrived, the talk could start.
"I'm Irina Shidou," Irina said. She then gestured to Xenovia. "This is my partner, Xenovia Quarta".
"I wonder why the followers of God would want to meet with a Devil?" Rias said. She had her hands and legs crossed. "This is quite unusual".
"Recently, the Holy Swords Excaliburs kept by the Catholic Church Headquarter Vatican, Protestant Church, and Eastern Orthodox Church was stolen," Irina said. She was explaining things as calmly as possible. "Of the 6 Excalibur fragments with known whereabouts, the church still has 3 of them, but the other 3 were stolen by Fallen Angels".
"Stolen?" Rias said. She doesn't care for the sword since it is harmful to her people. "What does that have to do with us?".
"The ones we have are from the ones that are left," Xenovia said. She was holding on to the sword that Issei took last night. "The Holy Sword of Destruction, Excalibur Destruction…".
"And the one that I have here," Irina said. She showed them a wrap around her arm. "The Holy Sword of Mimicry, Excalibur Mimic".
"You didn't answer my question. So, I'll ask again," Rias said. She looked at both Irina and Xenovia with a stern look. "What does that have to do with us?".
"The problem is between Fallen Angels and us," Xenovia said. She didn't like Devils. "Just as you were saying, this has nothing to do with you. We don't need the Devils in this town to intervene. So, stay away and let us do our job".
Issei felt that someone was angry. It was Kiba. He was glaring at the Excaliburs and the two women with a scary face that Issei had never seen before on him.
"This is perfect. I've waited a long time for this," Kiba said. He was glaring at Xenovia and Irina. "Finally, I get to enact my revenge on the Holy Swords that took away the life of the people I cared about!".
"Who the hell are you?" Xenovia said. She looked at Kiba and didn't recognise him. "I don't think we've ever met".
"I'm your senior," Kiba said. He had a look of disdain on his face. "My friends and I are why you all can wield Holy Swords. For a long time, I've waited for a day like this to happen. I day I can enact my revenge over the Holy Swords".
Issei saw that Kiba was approaching Xenovia and Irina.
"Sit down. Kiba," Issei said. He didn't care for the so-called revenge of Kiba on the Holy Sword. It's ridiculous. Why hate a tool? It has done nothing wrong. Instead, he should hate the person who harmed his friends. "Or I'll make you".
"No!" Kiba shouted. He has waited for so long. "I finally have a chance to destroy those wretched swords. I will not let it slip by me!".
"I said sit your ass down!" Issei shouted. Draconic Aura erupted from him and onto Kiba, who was slammed to the ground. It was strong enough to cause the ground to crack. "I warned you! I'm the mediator of this meeting. Any hostility towards either party will be dealt with".
"You know, it's funny how you showed hostility towards us, but not him," Xenovia said. She pointed at Issei. "He is also a wielder of a Holy Sword".
Kiba was shocked. Issei was a wielder of a Holy Sword? Really? Which one was a Holy Sword? He didn't remember any of the swords wielded by Issei as a Holy Sword. There was a Lightning Sword named Lightning Edge, there was a Fire Sword name Flame Emperor, but neither were Holy Swords.
Issei sighed, and he took out Balmung. Immediately, Rias and her Peerage felt the power of the sword. But unlike the Excalibur fragment, whose power is half-assed, Balmung wasn't.
"No…" Kiba said. His mentor was a wielder of a Holy Sword. "How?".
"I don't understand your anger towards the Holy Swords. They are nothing more than mere tools," Issei said. Xenovia and Irina looked offended by his words. Mere sword? Excalibur was a testament to what a human can accomplish. "If anything, you should be angry at whoever hurt you and your friends. Because guest what? A sword alone is incapable of hurting another person unless wielded by someone else".
"It doesn't matter!" Kiba said. He was trying to get up, but Issei's Dragon Aura was too powerful for him to resist. "One way or another, I will destroy all those Holy Sword, including yours!".
Issei stood up from his seat and went towards Kiba, who was on the ground. He placed his hand on Kiba's head and used his magic. What Issei did was trap Kiba in his strongest memory. Hopefully, that memory was on the day of the incident of whatever made him hate the Holy Swords.
On the ground, everyone was watching as Kiba spasm…or at least what looked like a spasm. He seemed to be dreaming of something. Whatever Issei did, Kiba doesn't seem to be waking up from it.
"Kiba! Issei, what did you do?!" Rias said. She looked at Kiba and didn't know what to do. "What have you done to Kiba?!".
"He's fine. Nothing is wrong with him," Issei said. He was nonchalant about the entire thing. "I merely trapped him in his own mind. I was hoping that whatever made him hate the Holy Sword would be his strongest memory. That way, he would be able to resolve his issues with the Holy Sword".
Kiba was in his mind. The day was when all his friends were getting killed. They were blocking the men that were killing them from getting to Kiba. His friends told him to run and live. Not only for himself but also for them.
Kiba watched as the friends from long ago died. But one thing is for sure, Kiba saw that his friends didn't want revenge against the sword. They merely wanted him to live. All this time, he was out for revenge, but in truth, his friends saved him so that he could live, not only for himself but for them too.
"I was wrong this whole time," Kiba said. He then fell to his knees. "I've wasted my time thinking about revenge, that I didn't realise none of that mattered to them. All they wanted for me was to live".
Kiba reflected on his action all these years. He was grateful for Rias, but he was out for revenge the whole time. Rias was just a means to get strong enough to enact his revenge. Kiba felt horrible for this. So, he decided that he would genuinely be her sword.
The memory he was trapped in seemed to have come alive.
"You finally understood," one of the kids said. Kiba looked at the kid. "This is for the best. We never wanted you to take revenge for us".
"All we wanted was for you to live when we knew we weren't going to make it," another kid said.
"Go, it's time for you to return," another said.
"But before you leave, we want to give you a gift," A girl said.
A sphere was then handed over to Kiba. He didn't know what it was, but he accepted it. What he was given was a trigger. A trigger for his Balance Breaker.
When Kiba woke up, Irina and Xenovia were already gone. Kiba looked at Issei and gave his thanks. Although Kiba no longer had the idea of getting revenge on the swords, he was still planning on taking down the person responsible for the deaths of his friends.
When Kiba asked how long he was out, Rias told him it had been two days since the meeting with the church duo. This shocked Kiba. He thought it had only been for a few minutes.