Chapter Twenty-Two - Clashing Swords

By the time that Kuoh academy came into view, Sona had already assembled her entire peerage, each member of the student council splaying their palms, as they worked tirelessly to uphold a glimmering Azure dome that engulfed the high school.

"Thank you for getting your peerage together on such short notice, Sona," Rias spoke to her fellow king as they walked into the courtyard of Kuoh Academy, towards the barrier.

Sona shook her head, "Nonsense, this is a dire situation. I would be more angry if they didn't come."

"You didn't face any issues, did you?"

The student council president's gazes turned pensive, "No, as a matter of fact, Kokabiel had seen us, and seemed to… let us put up the barrier regardless."

"That's odd, but ultimately pointless," Rias replied, her resolve as hard as iron, "We have to finish this… Akeno, did you complete my request like I asked?"

The queen nodded, "Of course, Rias. Unfortunately, your brother's estimates indicate that he'll be able to come here to our assistance in about fifty minutes."

Rias pinched her nose, "Well, there goes the idea of leaving it to the Maou…"

Turning to the remnants of her peerage, Rias began to speak, "Alright everyone, I won't lie, we are up against odds that are incredibly stacked against us… But we can still do this, I know we can. All we have to do is stall for time, if we can maintain even a stalemate until my brother arrives with reinforcements, then that's a complete victory. Please, fight as hard as you can, and please, stay alive for me…"

Issei felt a surge of resolve shoot through him, a blistering heat that crackled in his gut at the promise of the uphill battle ahead. Idly, Issei wondered if that was the influence of the dragon within him. It only skyrocketed when the group stepped past the barrier, and into the warped area that laid within.

The entire sky was one massive aurora, as if the entire galaxy could be seen in this microcosm of the universe. The sight would have been glorious, if not for the stain that tainted the skyline.

Kokabiel. The watcher of the stars sat in a grand floating throne of stone, idly gazing down as his subordinates worked tirelessly on restoring the Excalibur shards to their former glory. His expression was… bored? Like, there was a certain light that was missing from behind his eyes.

One that just so happened to return to him as soon as the Gremory Peerage stepped onto the back field of Kuoh Academy.

"Ah, there you are, Gremory," Kokabiel smiled wickedly, his shark-like fangs bared, "Now, I've been wondering… Who is going to come to your aid? Will it be Sirzechs, or Serafall?"

Even in the face of such an impossible threat, Rias still managed to retain enough charisma to smile back.

"I'm sorry to disappoint," Rias snarked, "But you're stuck with us."

"Is that so…" Kokabiel seemed almost… disappointed. Like a child who didn't get a toy they wanted, "Oh well, let's see how fun you all are then. Valper, how much longer do we have until the Excalibur's are fused?"

The portly man looked up from his work to lock eyes with his superior, "About five more minutes, Lord Kokabiel, if I progress at the speed I'm currently going."

Kokabiel idly twirled a lock of his hair, "Five minutes, hm? Alright then, it would be rude to keep our heroes waiting, so how about I let you all play with my pets a little bit!"

With a wave of his hand, Kokabiel summoned a large, deep red magical circle; which burst with raw, visceral flame the moment it appeared. The devils flinched back, as the sounds of barking, shrieking, and horrid, horrid screams filled the air like a symphony of the damned.

Out from the fire came gnashing fangs and snarling maws. Demented, three-headed dogs that towered over Rias, Issei and the others. Their bodies of hardened muscle and blood-soaked fur, eyes locked onto the group of heroes with vicious, killer intent.

Akeno gasped, "He has Cerberus under his command?"

"Wait, that's Cerberus?!" Issei balked in shock, the legendary hellhound roaring in front of them, "But there's two of them!"

"It's not impossible to think that one could be a scion of the original Cereberus," Rias quickly informed, "Actually, both of them might be it's children."

"Buchou, what do we do, then?" Issei wasted no time in summoning the Boosted Gear, prepared to strike at any point.

"I want you to be on support this time, Issei," Rias directed.

"Wait, wha-?"

"I need you to store power so you can transfer it to me or Akeno when we need it," Rias explained, "You defend Asia, while we take care of these dogs."

Even though he was, admittedly, a little bit disappointed, Issei's common sense could easily grasp Rias' line of logic, "Gotcha. Ready whenever you are!"

[Boost!]

As soon as the cry of the Boosted Gear sounded out across the field, the twin pairs of Cerberus howled, and began to charge towards the group.

While Rias and Akeno flexed their powers, preparing to strike against the encroaching enemy, Koneko instead shot off like a white blur, leaping towards one of the beasts and planting the heel of her foot into the middle canine's skull with a resounding boom. While the middle head was frazzled by the impact, it's other heads were on her in a blink, snapping their massive, drooling jaws at the petite girl, forcing her to leap away; but not before swiping at them with a mid-air sweeping kick.

Koneko skidded to a stop, eyes narrowed in focus. Despite her small stature she stood tall in the face of the three-headed beast before her, cracking her knuckles as she rocked her head side to side, deep craving noises popping as her joints prepared for battle. Her lithe muscles tensed with unparalleled amounts of concealed strength.

"I'll take this one," Koneko grunted.

The massive hound roared in fury, lunging towards the diminutive rook with it's claws raised, prepared to hack Koneko to bloody pieces. Yet, with a powerful rising kick of her right leg, the toe of Koneko's shoe met the center of the beast's paw, her massive rook strength causing the monster's limb to go flying up in the air, essentially parried.

Twirling to the right, Koneko quickly shifted to the beast's side; all built and heavy sinew coating thick ribs.

It still crumpled under Koneko's unrelenting fury of blows all the same.

Punch after punch, Koneko continued to absolutely hammer the side of the dogs until their right side misshapen and warped.

The Cerberus flinched back, letting loose a estranged cry of agony from it's three heads as it's broken ribs shifted around uncomfortably in its body. In a desperation move, the creature went for another swipe, which Koneko prepared to deflect like before.

Unfortunately for her, that wasn't what the hounds of hell decided to do.

In a split moment, the creature feinted, instead planting it's paw to the ground, and swinging it's entire body, nailing Koneko with its hind legs, sending the rook sprawling.

"Koneko!" Issei screamed in horror.

The monster pounced, and as Koneko's small body bounced off the ground like a rubber ball, the jaws of the leftmost head snapped around her. Even with her intense durability, the rook couldn't help but cry out in pain as one of the dog's fangs managed to sink slowly into her side. With only one arm free, Koneko could only awkwardly swat at the creature, which, considering her strength, was still effective, but not quite enough to stop the creature from biting down on her more and more.

As Koneko screamed, Rias and Akeno were drawn away from their own fight, where they were juking and weaving around the other Cerberus, peppering it with magical attacks while it dodged with surprising effectiveness. In that moment of distraction; that simple concerned gaze that Rias and Akeno sent towards their beloved junior, they were left painfully open to a surprise attack.

Which was exactly what the monster did.

Asia gasped as Rias and Akeno were both slammed to the ground roughly. Each of the beast's front paws held them down with it's full, hulking weight. They sputtered and gasped as the air rapidly fled their lungs, and the immense pressure threatened to crush them outright.

Eyes darting back and forth, Issei looked on in dread. Could he save them? Perhaps, he certainly felt enough boiling rage to do so. But that didn't stop the major problem; how was he supposed to save all three of them? Did he have to choose who to save? The sudden dilemma that raged on in his head left him paralyzed in fear.

It was nothing short of a miracle that it was at that moment when help finally arrived.

"Let go of her…"

From beneath the feet of the beast carrying Koneko came countless blades. Arching in every direction, blades of all colors, shapes, sizes; hacking and piercing through the creature's flesh as it screamed in pain at the sudden impalement. From the sky descended a single figure, clad in white, blonde hair streaking along in a blur as it grabbed Koneko out of it's jaws.

The blur skidded to a halt next to Issei, dropping Koneko off at Asia's feet as she went to work healing the injured rook's side. Instantly a sense of relief and clarity washed over Issei.

His choice now was clear, no hesitation, no extra judgement.

"Dragon Shot!" Issei screamed, launching his left hand towards the small orb of swirling crimson energy, burning through all his accumulated boosts, the beam was downright devastating.

Pure, unbridled energy shot forth, striking the hell hound pinning Rias and Akeno right across it's right head. The beasts howled, it's eye left as little more than a bleeding socket, yet it still kept Rias and Akeno trapped underfoot. It's snout curling up into what almost looked like a wicked, victorious smirk. It pressed down harder onto it's two captives, as Rias and Akeno screamed out in pain, their strength quickly fading from them as they were left unable to even move their arms.

It was then that two figures burst into the clearing. The first, massive sword in hand, swung upward, flinging the beast into the air. As the giant, furry monstrosity soared in the air, another figure leapt out of the treeline, their hands two massive, jagged blades, which stabbed deep into the Cerberus' back.

The sudden pain caused the creature to stumble as it landed, collapsing ungracefully in a heap, it's nearly black blood oozing out of its body as its eyes slowly shut. The figure who had pounced onto it's back ripped their arms out of it's flesh, dissolving into dust as they went. The person stood up on the overturned Cerberus, huffing and puffing in exhaustion.

"Sorry… We're… Late…" Vin wheezed, hopping off the creature, "We… We had to run… like, nearly twenty blocks straight to get here…"

"Vin!" Issei called, surprised by the sudden reappearance of his ally, "You're alive!"

"Huh?" Vin perked up, "Oh, yeah, sorry about that… I kinda thought I was dead for a second there too."

"Vin, focus," Xenovia hissed, regaining the boy's attention as they faced down the final of the beastial hounds, which had torn itself free of Kiba's bladed imprisonment, and was now charging towards the incensed, desperate to avenge it's fallen sibling.

Vin quickly rolled to the left, and swung his hands upwards, sending a massive spike of crystal directly at the beast's side. Despite the attack landing true, Vin watched in horror as the enraged monster simply continued to charge in a brutal display; it's flesh tearing horribly as it ignored it's snagged flesh in favor of galloping forward, straight towards Xenovia.

Coolly, Xenovia raised Durandal, spreading her feet wide in preparation; right before thrusting the sword forward as the beast charged straight into her weapon. The long blade of Durandal was buried nearly up to the hilt within the middle head, and as the oppressive holy aura of Durandal carried through its body, the final heads on the dogs quickly fell limp.

With a grimace, Xenovia planted her foot on the middle head, and with a heave, yanked the blade of Durandal out of it's brains. A quick swing was all it took to clean all the blood off the sword, as the divine energy that radiated from the sword did it's job well in burning away what little blood was left.

The sound of clapping drew the group's attention quickly, leading their eyes up to the sky, where Kokabiel applauded them with a wide grin on his face.

"Wonderful! The exorcist's survived my little trap!" Kokabiel's eyes narrowed at Xenovia as he licked his lips, "And Durandal was amongst them?! My, my, this must be my lucky day!"

Vin grit his teeth, expression turning vengeful, "Kokabiel…"

"Hahaha!" Valper howled in laughter as the massive pillar of light finally faded, "The fusion is done, Lord Kokabiel! At long last, Excalibur!"

"Very good Valper," Kokabiel nodded, "How about we bring Freed here?"

"Don't 'cha worry boss, I'm already here," The demented hunter leapt out of the tree line, "I wouldn't miss something like this for the world…"

Reaching out, Freed grasped the fused Excalibur, giving it a few test swings as it hummed and buzzed in the air.

"Oh… I like you already," Freed cooed, his manic grin painting an extremely sinister image as he turned to face the devils, "So, who wants a taste of Excalibur, huh?"

The pointed, warped edge of the fused Excalibur pointed towards Kiba, "How about you, blondie? Maybe this time, I'll finally be able to chop you to bits!"

"Very well," Kiba gritted, slowly stalking forward towards the villains, sword materializing in hand, "Allow me to do the honors of destroying those damned swords!"

Kiba blitzed towards Freed, a trail of sword shooting up from the ground as he ran. Immediately, Kiba went for a fatal stab to Freed's side, a blow that would undoubtedly pierce the maniac's heart. Yet even as the blade passed through flesh, Freed just kept smiling.

Looking down in confusion at the lack of a proper response or retaliation from Freed, Kiba realized one crucial, spine-chilling detail.

There was no blood.

This wasn't the real Freed.

His senses burning hot like the sun, Kiba threw himself to the side, right as a jagged, malformed blade struck the earth where he stood not a moment prior. From seemingly nowhere, Freed had reappeared.

Without even lifting the sword from its position, the Excalibur's blade stretched and warped into several jagged spikes, each one snaking towards Kiba like viper's whose holy venom promised only the most painful and permanent of deaths.

Kicking his feet along the ground, Kiba skidded along the ground, getting to his feet right as the blades chased him. Only barely did Kiba manage to escape from the brutal onslaught of arrows.

As soon as he managed to get to stable footing, Kiba shifted right back to the assault on Freed, attacking at hypersonic speeds, slashing every which direction. Yet Freed seemed to keep up with him, no, exceed him. He was faster, he reacted quicker, he was not just parrying and defending from Kiba's assault, but applying pressure, quickly mounting pressure.

With a clash of steel, the two locked swords, Kiba's furious expression contrasting heavily with the elated, demented glee displayed across Freed's visage. He couldn't keep this up. Slowly, Kiba could feel the immense weight pushing him down. He couldn't keep this up, not any longer.

Thankfully, right before Kiba gave in, Freed's eyes quickly darted to his side. The madman broke off from the sword lock, pushing Kiba away with a spartan kick while turning to deflect the falling blade of Durandal.

Xenovia's baleful glare reflected in the sparks that the two holy swords made as they grinded together, "What did you do to her?"

Freed simply sent back a cocksure grin, "You have to be more specific, I kill a lot of people."

"DAMN YOU!"

Rage splitting her features, Xenovia roared as she pushed down harder and harder onto Freed in hopes of forcing the rogue to his knees. Unfortunately, with all the power behind her swings, she overcommitted, as Freed slid to the side, letting all the weight of her sword carry her involuntarily to the ground, leaving her open to a harsh kick to the side.

Xenovia was sent sprawling, right as Kiba finally returned to his feet. The knight charged right back into battle, two swords in his hands. Instead of even parrying, Freed simply leaned left and right, each swing narrowly missing him by a hair.

Swing after swing, nothing seemed to connect to the villain. Kiba knew what the maniac was doing, he was trying to tire him out, find an over-commitment to capitalize on. He couldn't risk it. He needed to establish distance again.

Unfortunately, leaping backward was possibly the worst move that Kiba could have made at the time, as the knight realized all too late when a tendrel of the Fused Excalibur coiled around his ankle painfully. With a yank from Freed, Kiba was lifted in the air, and after being spun around in the air like a lasso, he was tossed away at incredible speeds, crashing through the wall of the main school building painfully.

Sensing blood in the water, Freed began to pursue the devil, leaping up and into the school hallways. Leaving the only last active member of the battle, Xenovia, standing conflicted. Go after Kiba and Freed, or stay to help the others with Kokabiel? The Fallen Angel didn't seem particularly active yet, still opting to lounge about on his throne to watch the fights; but how long would that last?

What if the real danger presented itself to them as soon as she left? What if she couldn't help out when they needed her the most? Deep down, she realized that she didn't want to have another incident like with Vin's first ever stray hunt…

Yet, at the same time, her body and soul were calling in furious vengeance for Irina. Freed… She would beat the answers out of him before taking his head…

"Xenovia," Snapping out of her indecisive reverie, the swordswoman locked eyes with Vin, "Go. We'll handle things here, alright?"

"Right," Xenovia nodded, before racing towards the hole blown into the school, leaping up into the hole in an incredible display of athleticism.

That simply left Vin, the devils, Valper, and of course, the big man himself, Kokabiel. Said cadre-class gazed down in disinterest at the lack of any entertainment, and with a sigh, stood up from his throne. His cloak falling from his shoulders to reveal a sharp black suit.

"Well then, since we have nothing else to do…" Kokabiel smiled as he floated down to the ground, his throne crumbling away to nothing, "I might as well play with you all for a while."


Kiba groaned as he slowly lifted himself from the rubble left behind by his… impromptu entrance into the school. Taking in his surroundings as he coughed from the dust, he could see that the classroom's were labelled with a '3' at the beginning, so that must have meant he broke into the third floor hallway.

He sharply inhaled when he tried to move his torso. Looking down, Kiba's eyes went wide as he found a piece of rebar skewered through the left side of his stomach, staining his once semi-pristine Kuoh Academy dress shirt a dark red. If he was going to have any chance at beating Freed, he would need to get himself patched up.

Quickly, Kiba drew upon a mental map of the school. The nurse's office would have enough things to at the very least remove the bar and stop the bleeding. But it was on the first floor, and if he was on the third…

It was going to be a challenge to get there. Still, he had to try, at the very least.

So slowly and carefully, Kiba began to limp down the hallway; each step heavy, every breath strained. It was going to be a slow process, but it could be-

The sounds of a pair of feet tapping against the rubble on the floor sent a shock through Kiba's system. The blonde devil nearly dove into the first classroom he could find, shutting the door, and doing his best to suppress his aura.

"Yo-hoo~! Blondie, come on out," Freed called playfully as he stalked down the hallway just mere feet from where Kiba was hidden.

Yuuto didn't dare even take a breath, as Freed's footsteps slowly subsided. Until he was absolutely certain that the psychopath was gone, he didn't dare stir from his spot. Sneaking out of the classroom, Kiba crept down the halls, making sure to stay out of any pool of moonlight that bled through the windows.

At one point, Kiba came over to the stairwell, but the sounds of footsteps soon made him plaster his back to the corner that kept him hidden from Freed's view. He should've given Freed more credit, the man, for as unhinged and insane as he was, was incredibly tactical. He was purposefully blocking the one staircase in the school.

Kiba bit his lip, how was he supposed to…

His blue eyes turned to the windows outside, and his mind connected the dots.

Now perhaps trying to get to the nurses office while grievously injured by climbing out the window was a bad idea, but considering he had basically no other options left, he'd take what he could get.

Grasping the side of the window, Kiba flicked the lock off, and tried to make the window pane move. Good news, although it was sticky, his enhanced devil strength made it more than possible to still open it.

Bad news?

It made a lot of noise.

When the window began to let out a horribly screech of protest, a jolt of fear was sent through his body. The squeaks of Freed's sole against the linoleum serve as an imminent signal of his doom. Although he wished it could have been easier, Kiba forced himself out the window, grabbing hold of the lip of the window sill. He could hear Freed get closer and closer to the window, and silently, he wondered if running was even possible anymore.

Yet, Freed never arrived, as the sounds of clashing metal echoed out from inside the hallway.

As soon as he could, Kiba dropped down from the windowsill, his wings spreading weakly to help mitigate the fall to the first floor, where he was able to quickly smash a window, and climb inside unnoticed. If he could get patched up just enough, then Asia could probably handle the rest.


"FREED!" Xenovia roared, lunging at the madman, Durandal set to split him in twain, if not for the man's refined reflexes, "I'll make you pay for what you did to Irina!"

"Irina? That was her name?" Freed sneered, "She certainly didn't give me an introduction when I was hacking her to bits!"

Another howl of rage reverberated from the incensed swordswoman, as she began her own assault. Unerring, unyielding offense, nearly smothering in it's absolute domination. She didn't give Freed a single second to attack, always forcing him on the defense.

"Aw~ Are you mad about how I hurt your little friend?" Freed giggled, "You know, the last thing she ever did was beg for her mummy and daddy…"

Xenovia froze, eyes wide, "You didn't…"

Freed's glare darkened, as a snide smirk spread across his lips, "You fell for it."

The one, singular moment of shock and horror was enough for Freed to finally begin attacking again. His strikes were unpredictable, disjointed, like he could attack from all angles at once. Every time Xenovia thought that she was able to defend properly, a new element was tossed at her to leave her scrambling to block, if only by a hair's breadth.

They locked blades, right as the Fused Excalibur hummed a dull golden glow, and from right behind Xenovia, a clone of Freed, sword in hand, swung at her. Thinking quickly and trusting her instincts, Xenovia used all her strength to shove Freed from their sword lock, before turning to face the wall of the narrow hallway. Dashing towards it, Xenovia planted her feet on the side of the wall, running up it, before flipping in the air, the soaring arc of Durandal's blade successfully parrying both the original Freed and his clone from their attacks.

Unfortunately, as soon as she landed, she was in for a world of pain, as the toe of Freed's boot connected right to her face, sending the girl sprawling backwards with a bleeding nose, and a dazed brain. In her temporarily delirious state, Xenovia sustained a heavy kick to the back of her knee by the clone, forcing her to kneel on the ground, and hold up Durandal as both Freed swung their blades down onto her.

She couldn't keep up. Despite her experience over the years against these exact same Excalibur abilities, they were never wielded in combination, and by people as brutal, underhanded and sadistically cunning as Freed Sellzen. Even her vast vestiges of strength weren't enough…

Out of the corner of her peripheral vision, Xenovia could see something glinting outside the window, the moonlight reflecting off of something out there, perhaps a bench of something… Yet when Freed also took a glance at it, his eyes widened, rapidly flipping away.

It wouldn't even be a second later when a hole was blasted through that same window, an object soaring through and striking the clone of Freed right through the head as it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Wheezing, Xenovia looked up, her jaw going slack when her eyes landed on the sight of Excalibur Destruction.

Both her and Freed turned back to the window, watching as a mysterious armored figure, their body cloaked in darkness, merely nodded, before leaping away into the night.

Freed fumed, "Oh not that asshole again!"

Xenovia stared for a moment as the impromptu gift. Could she trust that this wasn't a trap? It all seemed a bit too convenient. Still, she reasoned, it was certainly preferable to simply getting killed.

Reaching down, Xenovia's left hand grasped the comforting and familiar hilt of Excalibur Destruction. Forcing herself to her feet, Xenovia stared down Freed in bitter contempt.

"Prepare yourself, Freed."

"Uh huh, sure," Freed waved her off, but still reciprocated Xenovia's gesture, falling into a stance, "Whatever you say, just make sure to scream for me~!"

The two clashed over and over, for all of Freed's trickery and speed, Xenovia had overwhelming power. They would trade blows back and forth, three or four blows from Freed before Xenovia would find an opening to deal one or two devastating strikes.

Freed swung his sword to Xenovia's right, but she simply blocked it with Durandal. Summoning another clone, Freed made it swing at her left, which she stopped with Excalibur Destruction.

Although it seemed like they were at a stalemate, Freed grinned, and summoned a third and fourth clone to attack directly from the front and the top respectively. Her senses blaring into overtime, Xenovia leapt backward, swinging her blades in wide arcs as she went, deflecting the previously trapped sword, and keeping the forth clone's blade from giving her a brutal, bloody haircut.

She skidded down, nearly to the end of the hallway before she stopped.

"You're proving to be fun prey! But unfortunately, all hunts do have to end!" Freed laughed maniacally. "So, let's see you stop this!"

Powering up the Excalibur, Freed shot off at supersonic speeds towards the wall right next to him, planting his feet and spring-boarding off of it, then to the next one, then the next, until he was zipping back and forth along the two walls like a pinball from hell. As he began to do so, numerous clones appeared behind him mimicking his movements.

And then he activated Transparency, and Xenovia lost all sight of him.

For a brief moment, the girl panicked, unsure of how to defend against such an assault, before steeling herself, and focusing. He could mask his visual presence, but if she keyed-in, she could feel the air shift as he went.

She strained her ears, squared her stance; and then, it all began. Each careful deflection reverberated through her body from the force of the impact.

A faint hum coming from her left.

Right.

Left again.

Above.

Below.

Right.

Left.

And then finally, two simultaneous one coming from the right and left. Xenovia tightened her grips on her swords, and braced as the immense force bore down on her from both sides. Yet she remained resolute, and as she felt the invisible presence vanish on her left side, but not her right, she knew that she found the real Freed, and with a defiant slash, Excalibur Destruction finally tasted flesh once again.

In an instant, Freed reappeared to her eyes. More worn out, a decently deep cut tracing along his right shoulder, arching blood down his sleeve and staining his coat.

"You bitch!" Freed howled, charging towards her, until a blur of white shot out from the darkness, skidding across the floor, winding up behind Xenovia, while a thin blossom of blood spurted from a cut on Freed's thigh.

Standing up straight, Yuuto Kiba leveled his blade at Freed. Despite their recent successful counter-attacks both Kiba and Xenovia were in a definitively worse condition than Freed. While Freed only had mere flesh wounds, a few bruises and a cut on his shoulder and thigh; Kiba had long ago opened his shirt, leaving his chiseled chest exposed. A heavy wrapping of gauze covered his abs, a distinct crimson stain leaking through underneath the bandages.

Still, he could fight, and that was all that mattered.

With not another word shared between them, Kiba and Xenovia rush forth to face Freed. Kiba leapt over head, as Freed was forced to defend from Xenovia's dual-bladed assault. With Kiba now behind Freed, they could finally turn the tables. Shash after slash, the two swordsmen tried to take down Freed, each one being blocked expertly by a combination of Freed's natural skill, and clever use of the Fused Excalibur's abilities.

Yet, if one were to examine Freed with a careful eye, they would notice that the man had finally begun to take labored breaths. A clear sign that while they were not immediately inflicting damage, they were, in fact, wearing him down.

"Alright, enough of this shit!" Freed roared in frustration, "Time for you two to DIE!"

Spinning around on his heels, Freed's sword swept around, coiling like a snake as it smacked against the defending heroes with impressive force, lifting them off the ground and sending both of them crashing outdoors through the hallways windows.


"Take this!" Vin surged forward, crystal arm blade at the ready, prepared to skewer the sneering Kokabiel at the drop of a hat.

Unfortunately for him, the fallen angel had other plans, as he grabbed the teen's bicep, halting the progress of the blade, before delivering a judo throw over his shoulder, letting Vin crash into the dusty earth of the back field ungracefully.

This had been the state of the fight for the last little while, Kokabiel dodging their attacks, and merely disarming them, or throwing them aside. The cadre-class never shifted to the offense, he never counter-attacked… it was like he was play-wrestling with them.

Something that only further served to infuriate Vin. The damn guy wasn't even taking the fight seriously. Like he was fully aware of just how beneath him they all were.

His rage quickly halted when he heard a loud crash, which drew everyone's attention. And as soon as he caught a glimpse of blue-hair falling out of a window, down towards the ground, his entire body turned to ice.

"Xenovia!" Vin screamed, as she, alongside Kiba, crashed onto the ground ungracefully. Immediately, Vin scrambled to his feet, running across the field to try and help the two up.

The two groaned, slowly getting to their feet. Their bodies were littered with dozens of hairline cuts thin trails of blood snaking down their figures as they groaned in pain.

"How… How the hell is he so strong?" Kiba huffed in disbelief, "He was skilled, sure… But never this much. Is… Is this the power of Excalibur?"

"No, there's no explanation as to why he could immediately use all those abilities," Xenovia replied, "Even after taking in a crystal supplement to gain the ability to wield a holy sword, it takes months, if not years to learn to effectively use their abilities. I've seen the process first-hand, and lived it too."

"Well, there's a good reason for that," Freed smirked, suddenly reappearing across from them.

Freed threw his gaze over his shoulder, "Hey old man, you want to give your little Ted Talk now? I know you're proud of your work after all."

"Well my-my, Freed. I didn't think that you would be so… courteous," Valper walked up to his side, "Why the sudden change?"

"Eh, it'll be worth it once they know the truth."

"Fair enough, I suppose," Valper nodded, before clearing his throat.

"Now, before I begin, I should ask, are any of you aware of the goals for the Holy Sword Project at St. Catherine's?"

"To either find or create the most suitable candidates to wield Excalibur," Kiba spat venomously, "We were told it was all for God… What a load of bullshit that was!"

"Calm down young man," Valper soothed, "I'll get there. However, you're correct, it was to find or create candidates capable of using Excalibur."

"You should know, son," Valper grinned at Kiba, "After all, where do you think your friends were going before we had to can the whole project?"

"I'll give you a hint!" Freed grinned evilly, "They're real close to you! As a matter of fact, I can hear them inside me!"

Kiba paled, "What? No… No… You don't mean…"

"Oh yes, child. I managed to find the perfect way to make anyone able to wield Excalibur. At first, I thought that I would find one child that could properly wield the swords. But that never happened, so then, I shifted my focus, and through doing that, I came to an epiphany."

Valper threw his hands wide, "What if instead of simply trying to find one child with enough synchronization to the swords, I simply mashed enough together to make up the difference!"

"The crystals that Exorcist's are given to gain the talent to wield Holy Swords…" Xenovia connected the dots, "...What did you do?"

Vin gulped at the insinuation, and like Freed was claiming, he could almost hear something inside him. Like millions and millions of pained, trapped souls… A countless parade of the eldritch trapped within the confines of his soul. His breath quickly hitched as he felt a sense of violation and abject horror well up within him.

"Well, it's rather simple. I borrowed a little bit of forbidden magic, and I crammed those kids soul's into a crystal, like this one!"

From his coat, Valper pulled out a hexagonal bipyramid that shone with a faint glowing blue.

"And the results were extraordinary. The sheer power was more than enough to instantly grant our subjects perfect compatibility with any Excalibur right off the bat… I was set to be the scientist of the century, no, the greatest of all time!"

Valper's emotions grew foul, "But then someone leaked the creation method in a huge scandal. And Michael himself called for the termination of the project. Can you believe that? All my life's work, and right as it succeeds, some higher power says to burn it all away? Like hell I was going to do that! So I did the only thing I could possibly do. I took as much as I could get, and compiled. In the end, I was only able to hide two crystals…"

"The one you see here in my hand, here…"

"And the one inside little ol' me!" Freed proudly declared.

"Yes, and it's such a shame too. Michael knew damn well what he was doing shutting down that project, only to revive it in secret…"

"So… The one's from the church?" Vin croaked.

"Not made of human souls, no," Valper shook his head, sadly, "That fool Michael saw the future of the church's might right in front of him, and decided to go forsake it for merely taking gene samples from compatible people, and placing them in the crystals… Bah, what a fool! They work for sure, but they're so much weaker when compared to my magnum opus!"

Vin finally breathed a sigh of relief, the voices in his head, as well as the invasive feeling in his bones finally subsiding. Maybe he was more unstable than he thought… Bah, now was the time for that.

Kiba shivered in barely suppressed rage, "So you killed us… My brother's and sisters… Just for your little science project?!"

Valper bowed his head, "I see what I've said has upset you… You know what, how about you take this then. After all, a devil like you has no use for such an object, the thing would kill you if you tried to take it in."

With an underhand toss, Valper threw the crystal over to Kiba, who scrambled to grab it before it hit the floor. Weakly, the knight cradled the object in his hands, gazing down at it with tears in his eyes.

"How many of my brothers and sisters did you sacrifice for your own twisted gain?" Kiba asked, his eyes shrouded by his hand.

From off in the distance, the rest of the Gremory peerage watched on in shock, their eyes wide as a blue glow began to overtake Kiba. Like a sparkling cloud in the air, the glow coalesced into shape after shape, slowly taking form.

Asia gazed, entranced by the sight, "Are those…"

"They're people…" Koneko nodded.

Kiba finally spoke up again, when Valper remained silent.

"You know, there were kids there who wanted to live more than me," The glow continued to take shape, finally forming enough to appear as clear apparitions of people, their eyes sunken in, big black bags under their eyes. Most of their bodies skinny, malnourished, all a sickly pale tone.

"I'd even argue that there were kids more deserving of living than myself," Kiba clenched his teeth, holding back his tears, "So I still wonder, is it okay for me to be the only one who could get to enjoy a peaceful life?!"

Slowly, a small, spectral hand reached up, and gently tugged on Kiba's sleeve. Looking down, Kiba's eyes widened as he gazed at a little girl, no more than seven, who looked up at him, and gave a small smile.

"...You can…"

Kiba's breath hitched, and the tears finally spilled freely from his eyes. Looking around him, Kiba nearly broke down, as the specters of his fallen allies began to swirl around him, the blue light beginning to grow more concentrated.

"Take us in."

"As long as you live, we shall too."

"You are our lasting legacy…"

"So live your life to the fullest, for all of us…"

"Let us become…"

"...One," Despite his tears, Kiba managed to smile.

The blue glow reached its peak, as it flowed straight into Kiba himself. All around, everyone was brought to tears by the display.

[The knight has peaked, partner.]

"What? Ddraig?" Issei gazed down at his left hand, shocked at the sudden interruption of his usually rather reclusive partner.

[When the user's thoughts and emotions reach their peak, and are forced to curb against the natural order of the world, a strong enough will is able to smash through those limitations and achieve an all new level of power…]

[That power is… Balance Breaker.]

"KIBA!" Issei called out to his friend, "You better beat those bastards, because I know that you can!"

"Issei…"

Rias soon followed, "He's right you know? You're a part of my family, Yuuto. So go prove that you're a knight who wouldn't lose to something like an Excalibur."

"Yuuto, I believe in you!" Akeno encouraged.

"Fight!" Koneko succinctly put.

With clutched hand, and tears in her eyes, Asia smiled, "Kiba…"

Kiba stared back at them with astonishment, "Everyone…"

"You're open!" Freed laughed, his sword shooting out to kill Kiba. Unfortunately, he was blocked by the timely interference of one Xenovia and Vin.

Stomping his foot to the ground, Vin summoned a wave of crystals to force Freed to leap backwards, far away from Kiba's location.

"Oh great, you're still alive too," Freed deadpanned.

"Haven't you ever learnt not to interrupt moments like this?" Vin spat, before turning his gaze to Kiba.

"Kiba… I beg of you, let us help you destroy that sword," Vin paused for a moment, "The swords that it once was… They held a lot of important memories… So I'm sorry, but I can't just stand idly while those memories are warped and perverted like that."

"Exactly," Xenovia chimed in, her two swords at the ready, "Whatever that thing is, it's the furthest thing from a holy sword."

"Right… You all have a connection to those blades too," Kiba pondered, "You wouldn't be angered if I was the one to destroy it?"

"If it's broken, that's enough for me," Vin replied.

"Very well…" Kiba looked down at his hand, "Looks like I'm the only one without a weapon, huh? Time to make a new one then…"

Raising his hands to the sky, Kiba focused. All of his energy, all of the aspirations and wishes of his fallen comrades, all of his strength gained in their name… He put them all into Sword Birth, the Gear churning into overdrive from within his body.

From his hands, two twin pillars of light shot into the air, one a blistering holy white, and the other a demonic festering purple. Slowly, the two meshed together, the lights coiling around each other like twin serpents, eventually bursting out of existence in a brilliant plume of energy, as a single sword remained in the knight's hands. An awe-inspiring blade that flowed with both holy and demonic energy.

"This… This is the blade forged of the desires and aspirations of all my fallen brothers and sisters…" Kiba announced, "The Sword of the Betrayer!"

"Now, Freed… Prepare yourself!"

Freed charged, leaping into the air as he came flying towards them, "How about you all just DIE ALREADY!"

"Xenovia!" Vin called. The two shared a nod, as Vin quickly created a spire of crystals, one which Xenovia ran up like a ramp, leaping off to meet Freed in midair.

The swords clashed, but despite its nature as a combination of swords, the Fused Excalibur simply couldn't hold up to the incredible power of both the Excalibur Destruction and Durandal, causing Freed to be spiked down to the ground.

Barely landing on his feet, in time to block a chain of hyper-sonic swings from Kiba, Freed was forced to multi-task, switching focus between the knight and Xenovia who quickly fell to earth as well, the force sending Freed to his knees, allowing Kiba to deal a solid slash to Freed's left forearm.

Leaping backwards, Freed was immediately faced with another opponent. As Vin swept at him with a roundhouse kick, the boy's foot transformed into a crystal blade of its own. The foot swept over Freed, who ducked at just the right moment, the bladed appendage taking several inches off his bangs as he fell downward.

But Vin wasn't done yet. As the boy recovered from his kick, he cocked back his arm, and then delivered a haymaker right down onto Freed's face, sending the lunatic fully to the ground, with a bloody nose to boot. With Vin's foot still in the air, he slammed it down to the ground, summoning a plume of crystal to burst from the ground and impale Freed. The mad exorcist dodged enough to avoid impalement, but his left shoulder caught the bad end of a crystal spike, being painfully stabbed, and carried up into the air, flung off when the spike reached the apex of it's growth.

As Freed soared through the air, both Kiba and Vin prepared themselves. With a shout of effort, both boys summoned a cavalcade of crystal spikes and bladed steels across the ground to meet Freed.

The exorcist fumbled, but was able to sever enough of the blades to at least ensure his survival upon landing.

Immediately, he was assailed by Xenovia, swords clashing every which way, as they ducked, dodged, weaved, and parried each other to a stalemate Yet, as Xenovia continued her flurry of blows, small, nearly invisible hairline cracks began to form along the Fused Excalibur.

To break him off, Vin created a massive crystal spike right at Freed's feet, with said exorcist simply riding it like a platform before leaping off to rain death down upon Xenovia.

However, Vin has other plans, as he created another ramp with a wave of his other hand. One that was positioned right in front of Kiba. Immediately picking up on the idea, Kiba mimicked Xenovia, racing up the pillar at speeds Xenovia couldn't even dream of achieving.

With a final yell, Kiba leapt into the air, sword raised.

"FOR MY COMRADES!"

Freed, surprised, turned around to block the strike, but when the Fused Excalibur met the overwhelming impact of the Sword of the Betrayer, the monstrosity of a sword snapped into numerous glistening shards, much to Freed's horror.

As the two fell, Freed didn't even notice that Xenovia stood directly under him; her left hand free of Excalibur Destruction, instead opting for a clenched fist, until it was too late.

Freed was knocked out cold the second that Xenovia's brutal uppercut met with his temple.

Crashing down to the ground, the shards of the Fused Excalibur falling like glistening rain, Kiba locked eyes with the other villain, Valper, who had been cowering in the background as soon as Kiba had achieved his Balance Breaker and formed the Sword of the Betrayer.

When Kiba bagan to take slow steps towards him, the portly archbishop fell back onto his ass, scurrying away in fear, all the while ranting and raving away like the lunatic he truly was.

"T-That's not possible! Taking in that crystal should have killed you! And in all my years… You just broke the most fundamental rules of supernatural science! There is no possible way that you could mix Holy and Demonic energy together like that, that goes against-!"

Valper paused for a moment, his eyes going wide. For everyone, it was believed that it was due to his fear and cowardice, but that was quickly dispelled when the man began to laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Valper howled in unhinged laughter, "Of course! How could I have been so blind for so long! My eyes have been truly opened! The only way that something like that could happen is if… So it wasn't just the devil kings, but also G-"

Before anyone could even calculate what had happened, Kokabiel turned around from his spectator position, and threw a light spear at impossible speeds; it's target hitting true, as Valper was reduced to nothing but a red stain on the grass.

Quickly, all eyes turned towards the Cadre, who still held the pose from throwing the spear. Kokabiel's eyes widened too, as he looked down at his throwing hand, while slowly returning to his usual posture.

Then a snicker came out of his mouth, before a fit of chuckles slipped out of Kokabiel's stoic and intimidating presence.

"Oh my goodness…" Kokabiel continued to chuckle before clearing his throat, "I can't believe I did that, guess old habits die hard."

Rias was the first to speak, "Care to explain what's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, I just acted on instinct there… I'm terribly embarrassed. Usually, we defend that little tidbit of knowledge very carefully, but what the hell, I'm trying to start a war here, so I may as well tell you…"

Kokabiel pointed a slander finger at Kiba, "The reason you can fuse those contrasting elements, boy, is quite simple. The rules of the world no longer have much weight behind them when their main enforcer is gone…"

Rias' eyes grew wide as saucers, "No… No… That's not possible…"

"Oh, but it is, Gremory!" Kokabiel tossed his arms wide in a theatrical gesture, "As a consequence of the great war… It wasn't just the original devil kings who lost their lives…"

"Yes, that's right, the most forbidden truth of the supernatural world… GOD IS DEAD!"


Hey guys… I'm still alive! I know that I kind of dropped off the map for a little while there, but that was mainly due to feeling a tad burnt out and generally apathetic. I've actually been trying to write this chapter for around eight or nine days now, and it's been a struggle sometimes. Still, I feel like I found the flow, and hopefully Chapter 23 comes easier.

That being said, I want to make a big announcement: starting on Monday, I'm beginning University again, so I'm going to be updating less frequently than before. While the updates are still sporadic, I'd say generally expect 1, maybe 2 chapters every week/week and a half.

Other than that, there's one more detail that you may see appearing across some DxD fanfics… Certain characters of mine may be appearing there. I'll say this right now, this happened with my direct consent, and is NOT people stealing from me. Think of it more as cameos. Cameos that will make sense much, MUCH later.

Before I leave you all for now, I just want to say thanks to all of you again for all the favorites, follows, and especially reviews. It means a lot to me, truly.

If you enjoyed this chapter, please do consider leaving a favorite, follow, or review (or all of the above), it really helps motivate me, and is probably the best way for all of you to help get these chapters out sooner. Next chapter's going to be the second part of the big final battle, so I hope you're all ready!

Until next time, I'm Another_Jojo, and remember to rock on!