Chapter 16 - Night of the Monkey Pt 1

Deep in the unknown corners of a Mystical Realm full of beasts and monsters that were only heard of in the oldest of legends, was a mountain. One of many. However, it was the being that resided on the mountain that made the place unique and a sanctuary for the tranquility of the natural world.

An immortal with bright red hair tied in a long ponytail, sat upon a boulder inside a bamboo forest, meditating. As a gentle breeze blew by, the immortal's dark gray, hooded cloak fluttered lightly, as did his vermillion hair.

There was an aura of stillness radiating from his position as if he had become one with his lush surroundings. Behind him was a large temple made from the wood of the plentiful peach trees down the mountain, and stone from the natural quarries found across the land.

Suddenly, his ears picked up the sound of crunching undergrowth. Something or someone had arrived, riding on the wind. A familiar presence pulsated from the newcomer, but the immortal had picked up on the mysterious figure's energy when it was still hundreds upon thousands of miles away.

The sound of steps grew ever closer until it stopped in front of him, then there was another noise, one that signified that the newcomer had lowered themselves closer to the ground

Without opening his eyes, he calmly stated.

"You have returned,"

"Yes, Master," the voice that replied belonged to someone young, male, and in their teenage years.

"I thought you said you quit,"

"I spent three days reflecting on my actions and words, Master, I made a promise to myself and my kind. I can't quit, not now, not ever,"

"Maybe you should have had them in mind before," the immortal hummed.

"Yes, I should've. They gave me all their support and if I leave now then I've failed them,"

"Well then, what makes you think I want you back,"

The young male gasped "...What?"

"You do not show resilience, you have a short temper, you are arrogant with the minuscule amount of basic abilities you have learned, you are impulsive, you don't listen to your martial brothers and sisters, and you don't respect their age and ranking," said the immortal who was still in a tranquil state, "You've shown signs of selfishness too. If you ask me, you are perhaps, the most troublesome disciple I have ever taken, and I have trained thousands upon thousands of students through the course of many eras. Even that kit that came with you, what was her name…? Ahri has shown better promise than you have,"

The young man sputtered out wordless replies, in shock at what his master was telling him.

The master continued, "Your flaws outweigh your strengths like the sea to a pond. But you can always learn to control it until those flaws disintegrate into dust. Now I never said you are my worst or weakest. While you lack the talent of my other disciples, you have ambition, a goal, and a warrior's spirit. These alone will take you to higher levels and your strength will rise to meet it eventually and go beyond. If you train hard enough perhaps you might speed up that process, although, no promises, many have tried and failed… Which is why I won't be throwing you out today,"

"R-Really?!"

"Yes. However, as punishment for leaving the grounds without permission, and for the disrespect, you showed to your seniors. You will clean the entirety of the temple by yourself for three months while you continue your training. This is your last chance," the immortal opened his eyes, a burning crimson gaze locked onto the disciple who was kneeling in front of him. The boy had spikey, dark brown hair and electric blue eyes, wearing a gray martial arts robe tied together by a black sash.

"Do not disappoint me again, Sun Wukong,"

"Issei duck!" Mori yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth.

He was seated on the grass just in front of the Club Building, the girls of the club were around him although they remained standing.

"Dodge left then jump back!" the blue-haired teen continued to warn.

"Thanks bro!" The Pawn shouted back as he avoided the incoming slashes of a thin-bladed sword.

"Hey! Stop helping him from over there! That's cheating!" the wielder of the sword exclaimed as she pointed her blade toward the martial artist.

She had long, light brown hair tied into pigtails, and wore a sleeveless black skin-tight, short battle dress with black boots. Dark leggings went up to above her knees and gloved arm warmers were pulled to just above her elbow, and a small silver cross hung around her neck.

"My bad sorry," Mori responded.

"Wait, Mori! Don't listen to her!" cried Issei as the brunette charged at him.

[ Focus Partner! ] Ddraig screamed inside the Pawn's conscience.

On the other side of the field, Yuuto clashed blades with a blue-haired swordswoman with a strand of green in the middle, who donned the same battle attire as the brunette with the only difference in clothing being the shoulder pads she was equipped with. The Knight roared as he barraged the young woman with a mix of thrusts and slashes only for her to parry them all away with the gigantic blade of her weapon, and a calm expression sported her face.

"Issei-san, Kiba-san, be careful," said Asia with worry clear in her voice.

Mori sighed as he plopped his head into his hands and quietly sighed, "I thought it was gonna be a normal day, how'd it escalate so quickly?"

It all started when these two swordswomen showed up that afternoon, one named Xenovia Quarta, and the other was Shidou Irina. They were fighters from the Church and had business in Kuoh regarding the Excaliburs, which according to them, had been stolen by a fairly powerful Fallen Angel. The two of them came to Rias not to ask for help but to threaten them to not intervene in their business otherwise there will be heavy repercussions. Issei, being the person or devil that he is, didn't like the way the blue-haired girl was talking to his Club President, they were about to break into a fight when Yuuto suddenly reappeared after going missing for a day and a half. And now here they are, with Yuuto squaring off against Xenovia and Issei was challenged by Irina, who also turned out to be his childhood friend... who knew?

All of this happened within the span of half an hour.

As the match between Issei and Irina started to heat up, Mori took his eyes off of them and looked towards the Knight and Xenovia.

Mori furrowed his brows as he watched his swordsman friend clashing against the blue-haired girl. From the looks of it, there was something off about the way Yuuto was fighting. His movements were sluggish, and his forms were all crooked. The blonde might as well have been flailing his sword around as he was blinded by something weighing heavy on his mind. Every time his swords broke from the collision against Xenovia's much larger blade, he would summon another weapon, and over and over again the result would be the same. It seemed as if all Yuuto cared about at that moment was to land a hit no matter the cost.

'He's not going to win like this,' Mori thought.

A thud caught his attention and he briefly flicked his gaze towards it. Issei had been taken down to his knees, and there was a light cut across his stomach with smoke emitting from it.

"W-What the hell?! B-But it was just...a scratch…" the Pawn coughed as blood leaked from his mouth, and the Boosted Gear dematerialized from his arm.

Irina stood over him with a stern expression and sheathed her blade, "If you had another boost, then you could have definitely evaded that attack. We could have had a proper match. You lost because you used your Sacred Gear while not knowing the power difference between yourself and your opponent. A simple mistake can become critical in a serious fight."

"...Damn it...I lost, in front of Buchou, Asia, and Mori," Issei muttered before falling onto his side.

"Issei!" yelled Asia worriedly from the sidelines.

'So that's the effect of a Holy Sword on a Devil, it was just a graze too. If that had been deeper it might've been life-threatening for Issei,'

"GAH!" cried Yuuto as bile erupted from his mouth. The pommel of Xenovia's weapon was buried into his torso. He flew back and bounced across the ground before coming to a stop.

Mori sighed through his nose as his gaze landed back on their bout, 'Looks like it's wrapped up here as well,'

Xenovia loomed over the fallen Knight, peering down with a piercing glare, "Even if it isn't a hit with the blade, it'll still stop you from standing for a while,"

As the blue-haired swordswoman turned to leave, Yuuto clenched his teeth and tried desperately to push himself off the ground despite the intense pain swelling in his abdomen, "...wait...we're not finished yet…"

"Senpai, I suggest you fight with coolness the next time we fight," Without looking back, Xenovia continued to regroup with Irina, "Rias Gremory, I trust you with the talk from earlier. Also, you should train your servants a bit more. There's a limit for polishing their battling style."

"Damn...you," were the only words that passed through Yuuto's lips as he stared at the swordswoman with hatred, before he sunk into unconsciousness.

"One last thing," Xenovia looked towards the crimson-haired heiress, "Rias Gremory, The Vanishing Dragon has already awakened,"

"What?!" Rias gasped.

"But at the current state of your Pawn, he would be dead in a couple of seconds,"

With that, Xenovia put on her white cloak and began to exit the premises. Irina also redonned her cloak and followed after her companion but not before taking one last glance back at the knocked-out Issei.

Mori stood up and brushed the grass off his pants.

"What a complete defeat," He murmured and went to help his friends.

A couple of hours had passed since the short bout with the representatives from the Church. The rest of the club had contracts to get to so Mori and Issei decided to use their free time to hang out a bit. It hadn't been too long since the last time they did so but with all the hectic events with the engagement and Reiz, it felt like it had been forever.

"How's the face?" Mori asked, handing Issei who was seated on a bench, a can of soda, "And the stomach, and the arms, and the...entire body,"

"Better thanks to Asia," groaned Issei replied as he took the soda and popped it open, taking a big swig, "Ugh, but to think such a small graze from a Holy Sword would hurt that bad,"

"Well, it is your natural weakness," reminded Mori, "Kinda like a matchstick to a hose,"

Issei raised an eyebrow, "Matchstick?... Oh no, was I that bad?"

"Honestly you could've been better," nodded Mori, "But hey, it was your first time going up against such a weapon, so don't take it too harshly. Annnd maybe I should've kept giving you pointers,"

"Yeah, maybe you should've," snorted Issei as he leaned back against the bench, "But on the other hand, there was a part of me that appreciated the fact that you stopped. It gave me a chance to evaluate the fight by myself. All that training would go to waste if I don't fight using my own understanding of, well, the fight. I need my own experience, and I can't keep relying on other people helping me all the time,"

Mori smiled proudly at his friend's words, Issei had changed mostly for the better in the past couple of months.

Then his lips curved up on one side into a smirk, "So was that Ddraig talking, or was that an Issei original?"

"Oh shut up," Issei rolled his eyes as he kicked out at Mori, who only laughed at his reaction, and eventually the Pawn joined in.

As they calmed down after a while, Issei brought up the topic of their troubled Knight companion who would go as far as becoming a stray in order to succeed in his revenge against the Holy Swords.

"You knew right? He's after the Excaliburs,"

The blue-haired martial artist nodded, "Yeah, Rias told me yesterday,"

"...So I've been thinking, what if we destroy them before he does,"

"...Huh?"

"The guy isn't going to stop until those things are turned into metal dust, so why don't we speed up the process for him?" suggest Issei, his gaze was stern as he stared at the can of soda in his hands, "Sure, we might need to convince Xenovia and Irina to give us permission to destroy them, but...I can't think of anything else, any other way to help Kiba and get him back to normal,"

Mori thought about it for a while before responding, "Are you sure? Revenge is a very personal thing Issei, messing about with another being's vengeance isn't the wisest of choices. What if he goes on a rage because we took the 'kills' that were meant to be his? Will he become a full stray and mutate, forcing us to deal with him ourselves? Or will it motivate him hard enough to leave the country to locate and destroy other fragments of Excalibur?"

"I...didn't think about it that way," Issei admitted, "But hopefully it doesn't get to that point,"

"Exactly, it's a risky move. I mean you could always ask Yuuto himself if he's okay with your plan but...you'll need to locate the guy first. Kuoh is a small city and Yuuto sticks out thanks to his looks but finding him will be searching for a specific fish among the thousands of other schools in a reef,"

"So does that mean you're in, with my plan I mean?" asked the brown-haired teen.

Mori shook his head, much to the disappointment of Issei, "I'm going to try to find another way, I don't know how much of the Yuuto we know remains in him, and I don't want to risk tipping the balance in the wrong direction,"

"Why'd I have a feeling that you'd say something like that," Issei sighed as he slid a little down the bench.

"Just go along with what you've got now, it's a start," said Mori as he stretched his arms, "As soon as I got something I'll tell you. I have a feeling that this whole thing is bigger than just Yuuto and his Vengeance against the Excaliburs,"

"Got it, thanks bro," Issei pushed himself off the bench and back onto his feet, "I might ask Saji if he wants to join me,"

"Good luck, with someone like Council Prez looming and her infamous strictness behind him, it might take a bit of a more...forceful approach to convince him,"

"I'll keep that in mind,"

"Right then, I'm gonna head off this way, see ya later Issei,"

"See ya,"

...

...

...

"...I got nothing," Mori said as he was laying on his bed and staring up at the ceiling.

A whole day and a half had passed since his conversation with the Pawn. The sky was a shade of dark blue as the sun began to sink under the mountains.

"I honestly can't think of anything!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air as he sat up, "Has all the stupid high school biochemistry finally fried my brain?! Why can't I think of a better plan than Issei!?"

Mori's face slapped against his pillow and he let out a muffled groan.

"Dang it, if only Gunseng was still here I could ask him what to do, but nooo, he just had to go on an important mission all of a sudden," he ranted into the pillow before turning around onto his back, "I got a lot of stuff I wanna ask him too… Honestly, where did he even go?"

"Ugh, if I knew this was going to happen I should've just said yes to Issei's request," Mori said with a yawn, "I don't wanna spend the rest of the weekend studying. It's been so boring here recently,"

As Mori stared at the ceiling, another thought crossed his mind, "...I wonder how Reiz is doing? Did he meet his mom again? Is he still in the Underworld? Cause he hasn't appeared back in Kuoh yet…. I wonder if I'll meet more strong people like him from here on out, I sure hope I do,"

*DING*

The notifying ring from his phone removed him from his audible thoughts and he reached over to grab it.

"Huh? I didn't think it had any battery left,"

When he saw it was a message from Issei, he swiped to see what it was about.

[ Mori we might need your help ]

A grin formed on the teen's lips as he sprung onto his feet.

"Yesss, finally some action," he cheered to himself before replying.

[ On my way, where u at? ]

[ Honestly idk, near the park I think ]

[ Be right there ]

With that Mori tossed his phone onto the bed before dashing to the closest window. After sliding it open, he took a few steps back before performing a flying leap into the clouds.

"Ok, I didn't really think that through but…hey it worked," he said to himself as he looked down at the nocturnal luminescence of Kuoh Town.

The wind was crashing against his face and his blue hair fluttered rapidly. He soared for a while longer before gravity took charge and Mori began to descend a bit faster than he would've liked.

He landed on top of a building with a roll to spread the impact, miraculously there were no cracks or kicked-up fragments caused by his landing as he had used his innate energy to soften his fall greatly at the last second.

Without another wasted second, he bounced from roof to roof until the famous Kuoh Park was in sight. There were no buildings between the closest rooftop and the gates of the park so Mori was left with no other choice but to jump once again.

It was a single-foot take-off from the edge of the building, and Mori sailed smoothly through the air before landing softly and balancing on top of a streetlight.

"Right, I'm here," he murmured, "But where are they?"

While keeping his guard up, Mori headed deeper into the park, towards the dark gaps between the trees whose leaves were still as stone.

"Issei!?" he yelled with his hands around his mouth, "You there?!"

"Issei!?" he called again but as silence was his only response, his brows furrowed, "Weird,"

"Anyo—!?"

Suddenly a body came flying out from the shadows of the shrubs and collided with a tree trunk. It was a teenage boy with short, dark blonde hair and the Kuoh Academy uniform worn rather neatly. Around his hand was a small black, almost glove-like gauntlet with a purple gem in the center. The boy coughed up blood as he hit the ground, but then grit his teeth while pushing himself up and wiping the crimson liquid from his chin.

It was only when he stood up did he notice the azure-haired boy staring at him with a bit of shock evident on his features.

The two males blinked a couple of times before registering who the other person was.

"Hey, aren't you…that guy on the school council?" Mori asked, pointing at the blonde with a slightly raised finger.

"Y-Yeah…and you are…," the blonde began but was cut off as his legs began to stagger underneath him. Only when he regained his balance did he continue, "Issei's friend right? The Errand Runner? Secret Fighter? Dan Mori?"

"Mhm that's me," Mori confirmed.

"The name's Genshiro Saji, Sona Sitri's Pawn," the blonde introduced himself, patting off the dirt from his chest, "Really wish we did this under different circumstances,"

The martial artist looked a little puzzled and replied, "What circumsta—,"

The hairs on the back of Mori's neck suddenly spiked up as he sensed something coming their way. Instinctively, he leaned back, dodging two thick bullets of silver coming speeding toward his head, simultaneously he also gently kicked Saji out of the way just in case of a third projectile.

"Who's there?" Mori growled.

His answer came in the form of psychotic laughter ringing from the trees.

"GYAHAAA~! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Fuuuuuck, if it isn't the little blueberry. I haven't seen you or my poor lost arm in forever,"

From the shadows of the trees, Freed the Stray Exorcist stepped out into the moonlight with a maniacal grin on his face. In one hand was a long stylish sword that was intricately engraved with different patterns and somewhat glowing. Freed's other arm was completely metallic down to the fingers, with a stretchy, rubber-like material connecting the joints.

"Careful Mori, you see that sword in his hand? That's an Excalibur," Saji warned, "And that arm, it's not just a normal prosthetic,"

"Got it," nodded Mori.

"Ya see blueberry, I hafta thank ya for tearing out my arm," Freed cackled with one eye bulging larger than the other, 'If you didn't I wouldn't have received an upgrade to it. Before it was just an arm, but now after a couple of tweaks, it can do things…like this!"

Freed pointed his metal arm at the duo, and all of a sudden his steel hand separated into many pieces and peeled back. Ten barrels extended out of the arm, they began rolling rapidly in a circle before a volley of bullets rained down upon Mori and Saji.

"SHIT!" Saji yelled, diving behind the nearest tree.

'Those bullets are fast' Mori thought as the silver projectiles closed in the distance.

At a hair's length away, Mori tilted his head dodging the first bullet.

'But Reiz's lightning is faster'

With even more head tilts and twists and turns of the body, the martial artist successfully avoided the Gatling gun of Freed, much to the exorcist's annoyance.

The white-haired maniac clenched his teeth till a subtle crack was heard, "Fuck seriously?! Again with this blueberry!?"

"Why do you keep calling me blueberry?" Mori shot back, "Is it because of my hair?"

"Yes!" Freed shouted in return, "And ya know what!? I absolutely hate blueberries, I'm more of an apple type of guy! Now I hate those little blue squishy things even more because they remind me of you!"

'Remind him of me?' Mori mentally scratched his head before replying, "Wait! Have we met?!"

"BITCH YOU FORGOT!?" Freed let out an exasperated scream.

"...Yes!"

"C'MON MAN! YOU RIPPED OFF MY ARM! HOW DO YOU FORGET SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?" the exorcist yelled while waving the Excalibur at the teen.

"I dunno, I just did," he shrugged.

"It was three months, seventeen days, and six hours ago!"

"Exactly! It's already been that long so naturally, something like that would be kicked out of my brain's memory files! And also why is that so specific!?"

"Y'know what!? FUCK THIS!" Freed screamed as his eyes went bloodshot from rage and the loss of his patience. "JUST DIE THIS TIME!"

A wave of bullets crashed towards Mori, but he simply leaped over it. Freed sliced his robot arm through the to continue spraying at the martial artist, who twisted and turned acrobatically as he avoided the projectiles in midair.

Using his core strength, Mori straightened himself out in the air.

[ RE - AXE ]

Lifting one leg high above his head then releasing it like a catapult down, Mori's heel crashed into the ground and easily pierced through the hard earth. He was only half a foot away from Freed. The former exorcist leaped back in shock as the splinters of the earth were sent showering upward.

"Eep!" he shrieked as he reloaded his arm.

"That's a warning white-haired guy," Mori declared in a clear and stern tone, "Leave now without harming anyone else and no harm will come to you either,"

"...Pfff….GAHAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Freed laughed maniacally, "Yeeeaaah–NO!"

'I was expecting that but it was worth a try,' Mori sighed lightly, "Can't say I didn't warn you, white-haired guy,"

"STOP WITH THE WHITE-HAIRED GUY!" Freed aimed his Gatling arm and several extra, larger chambers transformed out of the side of his gun-arm, "MY NAME IS FREED!"

With that, the exorcists sent a barrage of small rockets towards Mori.

"Did he just fire missiles from his arm?" Mori murmured with awe in his eyes, "That would be so cool if it weren't for this situation,"

"Did you say missiles?!" Saji hiss-screamed from behind his tree cover.

"Yeah, you might wanna move," Mori nodded nonchalantly and the Pawn of Sona immediately evacuated the vicinity.

"I'll go find Issei and Yuuto and tell them you're here," said Saji as he dashed to another part of the forest.

Mori shot him a thumbs-up as he started to engage in combat once again, "Got it,"

As his focus was shifted back onto the missiles he had one thing on his mind, 'Please work,'

Releasing all tension in his muscles and letting his instincts take over. Mori guided the explosive projectiles with his hands and feet, keeping the high speed, but letting a calm, gentleness take over. Like a rapid current of water that would collide softly against the rocks. In a matter of seconds, all missiles were sent into the air where they exploded, away from any matter of life. A cloud of smoke was all that was left to prove their brief existence.

"FUUUCK!" Freed roared as one eye bulged out, "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!?"

"Uhhh, training?" Mori shrugged.

"THIS FUCKIN' ROTTEN LITTLE BUBBLEGUM ASSHOLE!"

"Hey bubblegum is a new one," said the azure-haired boy as he stood there with his hands on his hips, "I'm kinda missing blueberry already though, you think you can combine them into blueberry bubblegum?

"Just DIE!" Freed kicked off the ground, Excalibur ready to slice his target into pieces.

But all he was hitting was air.

Mori swiftly and simply dodged every strike as if he was toying with him, and there was even a smile on the boy's face.

'I wonder if I can annoy him even more, this is kinda fun,'

"You know," the monkey began, "Issei seemed pretty urgent when he asked for my help earlier, and Saji got injured pretty good, haven't heard from Yuuto though. So I thought whoever was attacking them must be pretty strong," Mori bent and twist his upper body at every angle as he avoided thrusts, stabs, and slices, "But when I got here, I found out that you are the 'threat' that's causing them problems? Really? Y'know, I kinda expected some great evil guy with crazy powers like former black holes out of his hands, or controlling gravity or something but no, it's just some white-haired guy with a pretty cool robot arm, wielding a piece of a sword that belonged to a British King, and along with that, we've apparently met before and now you just really want to kill me, and honestly, I'm sh—I'm shocked,"

The moment he finished speaking, Mori parried away a slash from the Excalibur with his arm and with the same limb, elbowed Freed in the stomach. The former exorcist lurched forward as he spat out blood. The martial artist followed up with a basic high kick into the stray's chin, sending the exorcist into the air and a good way away from the battlefield.

"Huh…well I guess I'm done," Mori said to himself as he dusted off his hands, "Probably should go find the others and see how they're doing,"

Just as he was about to head off to search for his friends, three silhouettes wearing the Kuoh Boy's Uniform emerged from the shrubbery, armed and ready to fight.

"Mori we're here to help!" Issei shouted as he jumped forward with the Boosted Gear shining under the moonlight.

Saji and Yuuto followed him, both with their respective weapons in hand. All three young men had noticeable bleeding cuts and deep-blue bruises. The Knight was gripping onto his sword arm where along with blood, smoke seeped from the gaps between his fingers. Another smoking graze was located on his left thigh and right flank.

"Where is he!?" the blonde swordsman growled as he limped over to Mori and Issei, "Freed, where'd he go?"

"Oh him? Taken care of," Mori replied before looking Yuuto up and down, "You okay?"

"Fine, just some light injuries,"

"Light?" said Saji as he was checking a gash on his arm, "This guy took two slashes and a holy bullet and is still standing. From what I can see, looks like Gremory Knights have durability as well,"

"They were merely light cuts," Yuuto replied as he dispelled his sword, "I was lucky, and I'm still faster than that stray exorcist,"

"Speaking of strays," said Mori as he looked at the Knight, "What's your situation now Yuuto? The last time we saw each other, you even considered leaving Rias's team. So are you still in or are you out?"

"Still in," Yuuto managed a small smile that curved up into a slight smirk, "Don't worry. Who knew that Hyoudou Issei of the Perverted Trio isn't half bad at the art of persuasion?"

"Hey!" The Pawn snapped his gaze to Yuuto, "I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult,"

"Koneko helped," Saji added, "Honestly I think it was due to her cute charm that got to Kiba in the end, not you Hyoudou,"

"Well that's certainly possible," Mori agreed.

"...I feel like I'm getting dissed," Issei's brown eyes narrowed, "Am I getting dissed?".

"Only if you think of it that way," the blue-haired martial artist chuckled, "But it's good to have you back Yuuto. Even if you did only leave for like…two? Three? Days,"

"Three and a half," the Knight confirmed as he sat on the ground, tired from the fighting.

"So how many of the Excaliburs have you destroyed so far?" Mori asked.

"None," Issei sighed as he sat down too, "Damn it. If we got Freed it would've been our first but the asshole got a mechanical upgrade,"

"Where's his body anyway?" Saji asked, blowing air on his wounds.

"Good question," was the honest reply of Mori.

Then he waved his hand in a circle towards the treeline, "When I kicked him, his body kinda flew in that general direction,"

"Great, so that means we have to go fetch it," Issei groaned.

"Nah I'll do it," Mori offered, "I'm the uninjured one out of us four at the moment, and it is my fault that he went that far. So I'll be back in a bit,"

"Thank you," said Yuuto.

"The three of you stay safe," Mori waved a quick goodbye before jogging in the direction where he kicked Freed over the trees.

The white-haired exorcist staggered through the forest with the Excalibur fragment in one hand. Dapples of moonlight seeped through the gaps between the leaves.

He paused to support his body against a tree as he began to cough in a fit. Looking down at his hand, he saw that his white glove was now stained crimson with his blood.

"Fuuuuck," he groaned and kept strutting forward.

He was sure that he was going to be dead from the fall but luckily for him, the tree he landed on had a layer of leaves, thick and soft enough to cushion his fall. But a tree wouldn't heal his broken ribs and ruptured organ.

"Fucking blueberry trash *cough* got me again," he snarled, "Damn it! Even with a fucking Excalibur and an upgraded arm,"

"For now I'll retreat, then I'll come back. Stronger than ever, stronger than any fucking devil, angel, fallen angel ever to exist!" he swore to himself under the gritting of his teeth, "Then they'll know true fear, then they'll pay for messing with the great Freed Sellzen!"

*STEP* *STEP* *STEP*

Freed's head snapped in the direction of the footsteps, he pointed the Excalibur in the direction of the sound and reloaded his Gatling robot arm.

"Who's there!?" he hissed, half expecting Mori, while half expecting his boss, a certain vampiric-looking Fallen Angel Cadre.

Instead, an entirely different silhouette appeared.

It was a man that looked to be in his early twenties. He wore a gray business suit and trousers, along with leather shoes and a black dress shirt accompanied by a white tie. His hair was a short dark blue with his bangs parting in the middle, revealing his forehead. Another notable feature was that he was tall, easily six feet and over. His face could also be described as beautiful but masculine at the same time.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Freed spat.

But he got no response.

Instead, the young man kept walking until he brushed past the former exorcist's shoulder as if he wasn't even there.

"Hey! Bitch! I'm talkin' to you!"

Once again the male minded his own business and continued down the forest path.

"Are you fucking ignoring me!? How rude you fucker!" growled Freed, "Ya know what?! I'm feeling fucking mad right now! First I get humiliated by a piece of chewed-up bubblegum and now I'm being mocked by a little pretty boy, suit-wearing, uptight bastard!? Enough! I WANNA KILL SOMETHING!"

The stray raised the Excalibur and lunged forward.

He came to a sudden stop, and he felt out of breath and very light-headed as if he had just run three consecutive marathons. His mouth was dry…very dry.

Freed began to wheeze as he felt cramps and weakness in his legs, causing him to collapse onto his knees. His eyes began to irritate with an itchy dryness and dark circles appeared beneath both of his sinking eyes. Breathing became much harder as with each breath, it felt as if more oxygen was leaving his body than entering, despite being surrounded by trees that produced the chemical. He rasped for air and moisture as he dropped onto all fours, coughing profusely, as his entire mouth down to his throat was void of all liquid. An insatiable thirst and hunger overtook him as he began desperately swallowing his nonexistent saliva. His skin began to crumble all over like a grape that spent too long in the sun, and the color drained from his face. His metal arm began rusting at an alarmingly fast rate, each second the arm would turn even browner, and more flakes of rust were shed until finally, it was nonexistent.

Then he collapsed on the ground with a thud. The stray exorcist Freed was dead.

The young man in the suit looked back at the freshly dead body of the stray. He strolled over to pick up the Excalibur before walking away.

But not before leaving a company card on the ground.

Mori pushed aside low-hanging branches and waded through the thick undergrowth.

"I swear if it's not this way," he said under his breath, "It's not like he could suddenly change directions mid-air while falling right?... What if he teleported away?"

The martial artist exited the maze of trees onto a natural dirt path. A couple of squirrels who had been foraging for nuts sensed his arrival and scurried off into the shaded safety of the trees.

"Dang it, I should've knocked him out instead," Mori mumbled as he began to walk down the path.

It was a quiet stroll, peaceful almost. Until the azure-haired boy spotted something in the distance. A body laying on its front.

"Yes!" he cheered as he quickened his pace, "That's him…maybe,"

When he arrived, his brown eyes widened at the sight. It was Freed's corpse, his visible skin, now gray and all dried up as if he had been assaulted by the sun's rays in a desert. A pile of rust where his arm once was, his white hair had fallen out with only a few strands remaining, and his eyeballs slid out of the sockets. There was barely any flesh left on him, his skeletal structure could be seen clearly under his wrinkled paper-thin skin.

Mori quickly whipped his head around, scanning the premise for any sign of what could've done this to the crazed exorcist, "What the hell,"

'Something got to him before I did," he then realized one more horrifying fact, 'The Excalibur fragment, it's gone!"

Mori closed his eyes to focus and send his energy out to blanket out the area, there must've been something he had missed.

'Over twenty small chi signatures, small animals no doubt…then there's…there's nothing else,'

The martial artist sighed, opening his eyes and scratching his head before he crouched down to inspect the dead body of Freed.

'He looks like he's been dead for weeks but it hasn't even been ten minutes since I kicked him over here. And the state of his body is weird, for his arm to rust like that it would require years in a high moisture environment, but his body looks as if it's been left in a place high heat for weeks. Along with that he also looks kinda…mummified? But his clothes are mostly unchanged. What did this? Or is it… Who did this?'

Suddenly Freed's body began to crumble and Mori jumped back. Flakes of skin started peeling and falling off until only a skeleton was left. A clothed skeleton on a bed of powdery dead skin and rust.

"Okay…I could've lived the rest of my life without seeing this, but now it's stuck in my mind forever," Mori said with a look of disgust, "Might as well head back, the insects should clean the rest of this up,"

Mori spun around and started to walk away. He didn't even take two steps when a small gleam on the ground not far away caught his eye.

Redirecting his course, he approached the source of the reflective light and found a small card on the ground. The gleam was caused by a metallic edge on one side of the card.

"What's this?" he murmured while picking it up only to see a thin barcode, so he flipped it around.

"Azure Scales?!" Mori gasped as he looked over the card again and again, "The biggest media and entertainment company in the world? What? Why would this be here?" he looked back at the corpse of Freed, "Was he a fan? Or a former worker?... Or was the one who did this to him from Azure?"

He stared down at the card in his hand for a few seconds longer before he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"That's not super important right now, I gotta get back and tell the others what happened first," he said to himself as he pocketed the card and began to run in the direction from which he came.

The second Mori returned to the area where he left Saji, Issei, and Yuuto, he was blinded by a flash of bright light.

"Gah! What the–?!" he exclaimed as he covered his eyes with his arms.

Lowering his arms, he blinked and rubbed his eyes until the shiny sparks he could see went away and he regained his sight.

Alongside the three male devils, two more people wearing skin-tight black battlesuits had arrived in the brief amount of time that Mori had been gone.

'The Church girls?... wait why are all their weapons out? What happened?' he wondered as he made his way over.

"Irina, we are going after him," Xenovia declared as she printed away.

"Okay!" Irina replied and dashed after her partner.

"I'm going too," Yuuto said through gritted teeth and clenched fists, he snapped around and ran at full speed, "I won't let you escape Valper Galilei!"

"Hey! Wait! Kiba! What's going on!?" Issei sputtered as he tried to make sense of the situation but the three sword-wielders were already gone, leaving behind dispersing dust trails

Mori stood there blinking with a confused expression all too evident on his features, "I missed something…I definitely missed something,"

"Mori you're back," Saji said, noticing the blue-haired teen after being the first to recover from the daze of the sudden departure.

"Y-Yeah, I'm back,"

"Did you find anything?" asked Issei as walked over.

"Well—," the martial artist began before familiar voices cut him off.

"Yes, we would like to know as well,"

"I thought that the flow of power was irregular tonight, guess it wasn't just a 'feeling', "

"This is certainly troublesome,"

The three young men froze.

Turning their heads slowly to the side, they saw the bright-red hair of Rias Gremory and the black bob cut of Sona Sitri. The two heiresses were standing there with sternness radiating out of them.

"Issei, Mori. What is the meaning of this? Explain,"

The three of them exchanged glances and gulped, nervous beads of sweat accompanying them.

Truth be told, Mori wasn't one hundred percent sure of what was happening either, he only arrived twenty minutes ago. All he knew was that they tried destroying an Excalibur fragment, the mission went wrong, he arrived, beat Freed, Freed somehow died, and Yuuto ran off with the Church girls. He didn't know how to explain it to Rias, but he knew it was going to be a pain…however…Issei can, right? He was the one who orchestrated this whole plan after all.

Besides, he didn't need to tell them of his findings of Freed's dead body and Azure Scales right away, right? The missing Excalibur, maybe, yes, but they could wait twelve hours until the next Club Meeting in the morning.

Mori decided that there had been enough crazy for one night and took a couple of steps back. However, his small steps couldn't escape the eagle eyes of a serious Rias.

"Mori, where are you going?" she said in a sweet tone that was cloaking a different emotion.

"Uhhh, I gotta—um…," Mori pointed in random directions, "I still have a biology assessment to finish writing, so…,"

"Wait! Don't leave me, man!" Issei cried.

But his cries were unheard as Mori took off, faster than any of them could blink.

"We can deal with him later, Rias," said Sona and she pushed up her glasses. The spectacles gleamed.

"Yes, that's right," replied Rias, "Now, my cute Issei, where were we?"

"Eep," the Pawns of both households squealed simultaneously in fear as they held tightly onto each other.

Unknown Location

"Bizarre,"

A male fallen angel wearing glasses and a lab coat said as he jotted down notes on a clipboard.

"Very bizarre," echoed a female fallen angel who also donned a lab coat.

The two black-winged humanoids were carefully examining a fuzzy pink fruit on top of a pedestal. The room they were in was nearly identical to a science lab, although, with the addition of alchemy sets, shelves of mysterious ingredients, and enchanting tables, it was evident that there was more of a focus on magical research than human sciences.

"Its chemical formula seems to have some similarities with the white peach variants of the mortal world but…," the male scientist began as he inspected the peach.

"It's different…," the female finished, "It's just plain different, there's no other way to properly explain it. We've run tests on it multiple times and each time the system can't find an answer,"

"We can't find a source either, whether it's from Heaven, Underworld, Asgard, Olympus, or some other realm. It's like it just…exists,"

"These are the only things you two discovered in the three days I gave you to research this thing?" Kokabiel growled with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

"Unfortunately, yes," replied the female scientist.

"We wish it were otherwise," added the male.

"And it's edible?"

The male nodded, "As we said, from the chemical breakdowns we did on it, it would practically mirror the white peach in the taste. Perhaps a bit juicier and sweeter but that's it,"

"Skin seems to be more durable too," said the female as she set down her clipboard.

Kokabiel pondered for a moment before waving it off, "Fine, forget it… Tell me about the shard,"

"The shard? From the sealed safe?" the male asked, receiving a nod from his superior.

"It's been flashing gold a lot more lately, around five to seven times a day for about ten seconds, but aside from that, it's still ready for use," said the female, as she looked over to the table where the now open safe was placed upon.

"Good," said Kokabiel as he walked over to it. A magic circle appeared at the tip of one of his fingers and he sealed the safe once more as he closed the lid.

"It's time," declared the Cadre.

"Good luck sir," the two scientists said in unison as they bowed, "We await to serve you again in the War,"

Kokabiel didn't respond as he transported the safe away via teleportation, then he began to make his exit, summoning a larger magic circle under his feet.

Just as he was about to disappear, his sharp, thin eyes flicked toward the peach once more, staring at it. He growled under his breath and snatched up the peach the second he teleported away.

Kuoh

…

…

…

It was nearing midnight.

Mori flopped face-first onto his bed.

'Ugh, tonight was crazy…still though,' he reached out to his bedside table and picked up the company card, 'Azure Scales Entertainment… didn't their head arrive in Kuoh a couple of days ago…Nah, it can't be, it's just a coincidence…right?...eh, whatever,' he tossed the card back onto the table, 'Time to sleep,'

The martial artist's eyelids began to slowly shut, and he was soon sent drifting into the world of dreams.

…

…

…

His eyes suddenly snapped open.

An intense wave of malicious energy had appeared all of a sudden, sending a torrent over the entire town.

Mori leaped off his bed and ran to the closest window to see what was going on.

'What the hell is that?!' He wondered as he looked around, trying to pinpoint its source.

"...The school," he whispered as he sensed a group of devils and that evil aura in the same direction. The newest energy signature heavily overshadowed the rest which were dwindling slowly but surely.

Not wasting any more time, Mori whipped around and got dressed in the same outfit he used during the fight with the Reiz. A slightly oversized white t-shirt with Kuoh Academy's gray track pants, and a pair of orange sneakers.

And for the second time that night, Mori leaped out the window.

Bounding from building to building, the martial artist couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. However, he knew that was anything but the truth. A barrier must have been constructed so the people of the normal world wouldn't suspect a single thing.

He closed his eyes and focused. A burning tingling started to swirl in the back of his eyes and when he reopened them, they were no longer dark brown, but red and gold.

And in the distance, he saw a giant pink-purple dome where the Academy was.

'Guys, whatever's happening, wait for me, I'm coming,'

15 Minutes Ago

"My servants and I will continue to uphold the barrier to reduce the damages. I want to try to minimize the damage as much as possible but it looks like a collapse of the whole school will be inevitable. We're facing a Fallen Angel Leader after all,"

Sona told Rias who responded with a nod.

"Thank you, Sona, we will do the rest from here,"

"Rias. Our enemy this time has the power to destroy this region several times over. It's still not too late to get your brother,"

Rias shook her head, "You didn't call your sister either,"

"I have already informed Sirzechs-sama," Akeno said as she walked up to the two heiresses.

"Akeno!" Rias raised her voice in irritation, but her Queen's stony face was unwavering.

"Rias. I know that you don't want to bother Sirzechs-sama. This is happening in your territory, your base, and it hasn't been that long since the last time your brother used his authority to help us. But this is a different story, a Leader of the Fallen Angels has arrived. With our current power, we can't deal with this ourselves, and we'll die trying. Let's borrow the strength of a Maou,"

The Gremory princess opened her mouth to retort but stopped herself, she took a deep breath then nodded.

Akeno's frown curved up into her usual smile, "Thank you for understanding the situation. Sirzechs-sama's reinforcement will arrive in an hour,"

"One hour, very well. In that time, we, the student council, vow in the name of Sitri to keep the barrier in place," declared Sona as she loosened her wings and flew back to join her peerage in securing the protective field.

Rias turned back to face her own.

"Now my servants. We have one hour. We will be on the offensive, and we will go inside the barrier to draw Kokabiel's attention. This will not be like the battle against the Phenex. This is a battle of life and death! Even so, I will not forgive you if you die! We will survive and continue to attend Kuoh Academy!"

"Yes, Buchou!" The ORC replied with determination.

"Good luck in there, Hyoudou," Saji said as bumped the Pawn's shoulder with his fist.

"Thanks, man," replied Issei, before he replied with a chuckle, "How's your ass?"

"Let's…" Saji shivered as the stinging sensation on his buttocks flared up from the spanking he received from his King no less than a few hours ago, "Let's not talk about that…how's yours?"

It was Issei's turn to shiver, "Buchou's love hurts, like a lot. But it's minor compared to this situation that we're in,"

"Yeah, what a wild night huh,"

Issei agreed with a nod.

"So, any sign of Kiba," the Gremory Pawn asked.

The Sitri Pawn shook his head, "No sight, not even a shadow. How 'bout Mori, is he coming?"

Issei sighed, "Called him a couple of times but it went straight to voicemail. Out of all the times for his phone to be out of battery…but you know what, I know he'll come,"

"Yeah…well, I better get going,"

"Yeah me too,"

The two Pawns bumped their fists together before heading off towards their respective teams.

They went straight through the main gate as if they were giving the Cadre a sign that they weren't afraid to die to put a stop to his antagonizing deeds.

"Promotion: Queen," Issei said in a clear voice. A red glow encased his body and a phantom chess queen piece hovered over his head until the glow ceased.

'I'm still not as strong as Akeno-san even after [ Promotion ] but I'll try my best," thought the Pawn.

Though the Academy was large it didn't take long to find their objective.

On the school field, there was a giant suspicious-looking magic circle that stretched to the very edges of the field. Three Excalibur swords were floating, each emitting a harsh light as they bobbed up and down in the air, slowly orbiting an old, gray-haired, bespectacled priest with a mustache who stood at the very center of the circle.

"Valper Galilei!" Issei yelled as he and the peerage made themselves known, and approached the source of Kiba's despair once again.

"What is this?!" the Pawn continued.

"Oh nothing, just me making the three Excaliburs into one," Valper said with amusement ringing in his tone, "It's too bad Freed died and lost one of the shards!" His face flashed into one of rage before changing back into one of self joy, "But oh well, better than nothing!"

"Bastard," hissed Issei.

"Valper!" a new sinister voice rang across the field, causing all the devils to freeze, "How much longer will it take for the Excaliburs to merge?"

The devils raised their heads to the sky and an instant chill went down their spine. The clouds had covered most of the night sky except for the full moon, and in front of the moon was Kokabiel. Sitting on a floating throne casually, his legs were crossed and he was resting his head in one hand.

"It won't even take five minutes, Kokabiel!" Valper replied with a smirk.

"Is that so, then I'll leave it to you,"

Kokabiel then shifted his eyes to the Gremory heiress.

"Is Sirzechs coming? Or will it be Serafall?"

Rias stepped forward, eyeing the Cadre with resolve, "In the place of Onii-sama and Serafall-sama. We—,"

Kokabiel suddenly waved his arm.

First was the whistle of the wind. Then came an ear-ringing explosion.

"Boring," said Kokabiel as he yawned, "Well, that's okay. I'll find something to entertain myself for the moment,"

"...T-The gym," Koneko stuttered, her golden eyes stretched to the ends of the sockets as she looked at where the gym once stood.

An enormous pillar of light erupted from the ground where the gym used to be.

"Y-You're kidding," muttered Issei, who was in an equal state of shock.

'Compared to the Fallen Angels that we've faced in the past…it's like comparing a goldfish to a shark. If I get hit by that…'

[ Are you scared, partner? ]

'Yeah. It's a whole different level. This guy's so strong his name has been recorded in the Bible since ancient times, and he's fought both God and the former Maou and lived,'

[ If it becomes serious, I will beat him even if I have to turn most of your body into a Dragon. Even if we can't kill, I will find a way to immobilize him until the Maou arrives ]

'So he's that powerful huh? Looks like Balance Breaker will be my last resort,'

"Ah, I know how to entertain myself until then," Kokabiel said with a delighted, but evil grin, "I will have you all fight against my pets,"

Kokabiel snapped his fingers.

The ground rumbled and from the depths of the earth, three creatures clawed their way out from the solid dirt. They were longer than a tour bus, with a large stocky body, and four muscular legs. The claws on each foot and the fangs in its mouth were yellow and scratched but still sharp to the point where looking at them would give someone a sensation of being cut. Each creature stared at the Gremory devils with six shimmering, blood-red eyes. Their gray-brown fur flickered in the wind and red hot flames dripped from their jaws. But the most notable thing about the three creatures was that each one of them had three heads.

"Cerberus," Rias spat with disgust.

"Cerberus?" echoed Issei.

"Yes, it's a famous creature nicknamed the Guard Dog of Hell," explained the Gremory princess, "They live at the Gate to Hell, not the Underworld… but to bring not one but three here to the Human World,"

"Is that bad?"

"We have to do it! We have to destroy them, Issei!" Rias declared with determined energy.

Seeing his King this fired up to fight, the Pawn felt a surge of resolve course through his body.

"Yes, let's do this, Buchou!" He grinned and nodded, 'Ddraig, you ready?'

[ Let's do this partner! ]

The green jewel on the crimson gauntlet flared to life with an emerald light.

[ BOOST ]

Part 2 Will Come Out Soon.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2021 EVERYONE! STAY HAPPY AND SAFE!