Chapter Twenty-Three - Fell Star

Everyone looked on at Kokabiel, their bodies frozen in shock as the bombshell of a revelation shook them to their cores.

"God… God is…" Asia trembled.

"That's impossible!" Xenovia shouted back, "If God were truly dead, then how come exorcists and prayers hold strong?!"

"Michael is doing a great job at maintaining Heaven at the moment," Kokabiel explained, "As long as God's system is in place… All your prayers and holy-magics should still work to an extent."

The cadre rounded on them, "Perhaps you wouldn't be able to tell, having lived such short lives, but prior to the great war, God and the angels held supremacy over most of the world. No devils would emerge from the underworld lest they be smited down by Father's divine power. But now, look at the world. This town alone, owned by not just one, but two devil families, and their spawn at that. If that's not evidence of the sheer erosion of Heaven's strength in the wake of God's death, then I don't know what to tell you."

"He… He can't be truly gone," Asia tearily whimpered.

Kokabiel turned his gaze to the former-sister, who was immediately nudged behind Issei's back protectively.

"I'm so sorry, little one," Kokabiel sadly nodded, "But father truly did die alongside the devil's kings. Truly, it was a day of loss for us all."

"No…" Asia muttered, before losing her strength, and fainting into Issei's arms.

The red dragon shook Asia lightly, "Asia? Hey, are you okay?!"

"I'm surprised she only fainted," Xenovia idly commented, a small, and all-too forced smirk on her lips, as her body twitched, "With such a shock like that… I'm barely even holding on, myself…"

"Enough about that though…" Kokabiel planted his feet, "We're not here to discuss the eulogy of the dead… We're here for one reason: to fight."

Rolling his shoulder, and flexing his wings, Kokabiel smiled, "...Who's first?"

"Issei, protect Asia and keep trying to store power," Rias instructed as she walked forwards, "As soon as she's awake, make sure she fixes Kiba up."

"But… What are you going to do, Buchou?"

Rias tilted her gaze over her shoulder, "What do you think? I'm going to show him why he can't just waltz into my territory and act however he wants."

As her blood-red locks began to rise hauntingly, and the swirling maelstrom of the Bael's signature Powers of Destruction coated her hands, Rias fell into a stance across from Kokabiel.

"Akeno, back me up," Rias asked.

The hairs on Issei's arms stood on end as the distinct feeling of electricity filled the air, "Already done."

"Oh? Well, I haven't tussled with a Gremory in at least a hundred years…" Kokabiel grinned, his muscles tensing with excitement, "This should be a treat."

"IT'LL BE YOUR DEATH!" Rias howled, as a massive orb of energy blasting out of her hands, directly at the mad fallen angel.

With a powerful kick against the ground, Kokabiel skirted his body to the side, the devastating projectile whizzing harmlessly past his head. Feeling a disturbance in the air, Kokabiel unfurled his wings, and with a series of precise flaps, zigzagged along the ground, intricately darting around a cascade of lighting that crashed down from the sky, courtesy of Akeno.

"Your thunder… Oh my, you're Barakiel's daughter, aren't you?" Kokabiel raised an eyebrow.

Akeno's glare hardened ten-fold, "Don't you dare compare me to that miserable creature!"

"AKENO!" Rias yelled in horror.

Akeno froze when she felt a set of fingers wrap around the back of her head. Still she went, still as a statute, as she could feel breathing down her neck.

"A word of advice," Kokabiel whispered in her ear, "Try to not make it so obvious you're distracted."

Akeno never got a chance to rebuttal, as with a mighty shove, her face met the ground hard. Still maintaining a grip on the back of her skull, Kokabiel burst forward into a charge towards Rias, dragging Akeno's face along as he went.

The spooked King could do nothing, as Kokabiel finally tossed Akeno's bloodied and beaten body out of the dirt and up into the air, before sending it flying towards Rias with a mighty spartan kick to the queen's stomach.

Ungracefully, the two collided, tumbling into a heap off to the side of the arena.

"Well, that was… disappointing," Kokabiel scowled, "Who's-"

Kokabiel cut his own line of speech off as his hand darted up and over his shoulder, fingers snapping around the tip of a blade.

"Hmm" Kokabiel hummed, his eyes peeking over his shoulder to see a now-healed Kiba having failed to strike him down with a sneak attack. The cadre used his ridiculous strength to lift the blade by it's tip, and move it, Kiba in tow, over to his front.

"So this is the-" Kokabiel paused as he used his other hand to catch another blade from Kiba, fixing the knight with an unamused look, "...This is the Holy-Demonic sword. It certainly feels like a genuine article."

Coiling his arms, Kokabiel threw Kiba off-balance, twirling around and tossing him off towards the other's like a frisbee.

Two shouts, coming from either side of his back. The Cadre backflipped over the two targets who passed by harmlessly underneath, a crystal arm blade awkwardly clashing with Durandal. As soon as Kokabiel landed, he quickly leaned backward as both weapons swiped at the air right above him.

"And there are the exorcists… You know, I have to wonder," Kokabiel spun around, his lanky leg catching both of them and knocking them aside, "Did Michael really think it wise to just send some children? I'm surprised you didn't run away as soon as the church took their eyes off you."

As the two shifted to their feet, the impressive shadow of Kokabiel loomed over them, like a phantom with glowing red eyes in the pitch-black of midnight, "I admire that courage… What's driving you then? Is it a desire to protect? Or is it simply mindless subservience?"

Vin's gaze turned venomous as he seethed through clenched teeth, "It's revenge, you sick bastard."

"Oh?" Kokabiel chuckled, "Revenge? Revenge for whom?"

That set Vin off, the boy leaping to his feet with a howl, his blade swinging each and every way as it tried to impale Kokabiel. The man simply backpedaled, shifting his lanky body to narrowly avoid each strike, which were punctuated by a scream from Vin.

"THIS!" Swing, miss.

"IS!" Stab, dodge.

"FOR!" Slash, evade.

"ETHAN!" Skewer, parried.

"Ethan?" Kokabiel titled his head in curiosity, right before he swept out Vin's feet, planting a foot on Vin's chest when he crashed to earth, "Who?"

Vin's eyes went wide, pupils dilating. Every hackle in his boy raising as he snarled and gnashed in pure, unbridled fury. From his feet, the glow of his Sacred Gear blasted with the heat of the sun, as a titanic amount of crystals began to leap from the dirty, dusty ground. All around, everyone watched in awe as more and more crystals were made. The sheer force might have very well been enough to take down the Cadre himself…

Which only made everyone's hearts sink more, when Kokabiel's expression darkened, and with a single backhand, shattered everything to bits.

In that horrific, dreadful moment where time itself seemed to slow to a crawl, and clarity was brought to everyone's mind, Kokabiel, his hair covering his face, began to speak. Slow. Deliberate.

"Revenge is a fool's errand, boy."

Time finally returned to its proper speed when Kokabiel's foot met the side of Vin's head in a brutal roundhouse kick, sending the boy flying far across the field. Laying motionless in the same area that they'd just defeated Freed and shattered Excalibur.

"VIN!" Xenovia screamed, before her gaze locked onto Kokabiel, "You monster!"

"Yes!" Kokabiel narrowly dodged Durandal's bite, summoning a single light-sword of his own, "You have Durandal… You were holding out on me last time."

"To avenge Ethan's death, I'll smite you from this earth!" Xenovia screamed as she and Kokabiel began to clash blades.

"Yes, fight me like you mean it!" Kokabiel cheered, the two quickly becoming a flurry of blades.


From the sidelines, Vin slowly struggled to stand once more. Bruised and battered, the boy looked down to his Sacred Gear… The last time that he tried to fight Kokabiel, he'd awoken to a new power… What if he could-

[I'm going to stop you right there,] Bheithir's voice rang out within Vin's head, [I will not grant you any more of my power. I've already saved you once before, and the cost was steep.]

Vin bit his lip in frustration, of all the times where this dragon could help…

[I will not waste the power I accrued across multiple of my previous hosts just for your sake, child. Unlike what you think, your life means little more than another period of waiting for me. If you want to live, then find a way to save yourself.]

Vin murmured a curse under his breath at the obstinate dragon. What was he supposed to do, against that thing!? Vin slammed his fist against the ground, recoiling when his knuckle was cut slightly against… a sharp edge of the broken Excalibur.

As the gears in Vin's head began to turn, he gently reached out to pick up some of the shards.


"Take this!"

Both Yuuto Kiba and Xenovia Quarta bore down on Kokabiel with all their might, blades slashing out in every which direction. If it were any normal man, then they would have been slaughtered a million times over, but that wasn't who they were facing. They were facing Kokabiel: the watcher of the stars, an existence powerful and noteworthy enough to be recorded in the bible…

And true to his pedigree, Kokabiel showed that he was easily capable of doing more than just keep up with the two hyper-sonic sword-wielders. His blades and wings lashed out, extraordinarily speedy, but oh-so controlled. Each parry, block and riposte was expertly calculated, and soon enough, Kokabiel had them both open.

Casting away his blades, the Cadre shifted his body, nailing Kiba with a kick, and Xenovia with a punch. Thankfully, both were able to somewhat mitigate the blows by blocking with the flats of their swords, but the sheer force and power behind the pair of strikes was enough to send them flying backwards.

However, by the time Kokabiel stood back up normally, he had failed to notice a small, white-haired rook that had slipped just under him.

"Suck it," Koneko grit, as she used all her enhanced, titanic strength to push off the ground, and drive her first into Kokabiel's chin in a textbook uppercut. The impact was so grand that a resounding boom passed through the field, swept up wind shaking leaves off of trees, and scaring away birds.

For a moment there, everything was quiet. Koneko's fist still pressed against the underside of Kokabiel's jaw, the area of impact a darker red than the rest of his pale flesh, the bruise quite literally smoking, as if Koneko's fist was like a gun.

Yet, as the two remained still, Kokabiel's eyes tilted down to meet with Koneko's own widening cyan irises.

Kokabiel grinned, "That's the spirit, that actually felt like a punch."

Gangly fingers tightened around Koneko's wrist, as he wretched her fist away from his jaw.

"Let me return the favor…"

Before he cocked back his left fist, and proceeded to absolutely drill it into Koneko's stomach. The rook's expression for once, taking on something other than annoyance or indifference, as he wide-eyed and pained self shook from the blow.

As soon as Kokebiel let go of her wrist, she dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, and involuntarily began to empty her stomach.

"Now, who does that leave me to play with?" Kokabiel looked around, "Looks like the swordsmen can go for another round… Lucifer and Barakiel's spawn are still down for now… Oh~"

Issei couldn't help his shudder as Kokabiel's eyes locked onto him and Asia.

"The Sekiryuutei… Yes, now that would be a fun distraction until a real challenge gets here…"

Slowly but surely, Kokabiel began to walk towards the two. Asia, still unconscious, was practically defenseless, and in the face of the nightmare before him, Issei didn't feel much safer. Still, he had to defend her, he had to defend this town!"

[Boost!]

"Oh?" Kokabiel raised an eyebrow amusingly, "You're planning on doing some big attack? Well, I must say, it's a shame you'll never be able to use it!"

He was right, Issei realized. How long would it take him to charge even three boosts? Certainly way more time than it would take for the Cadre to cross a field. He simply didn't have enough time to-

"Issei!"

The sound of Kiba's voice stirred him from his thoughts, as Kiba leapt back into action at Kokabiel, "We'll hold him off!"

"You'll hold me off?" Kokabiel chuckled, as he grabbed Kiba's blade, "And how exactly do you intend to do that?"

Kiba didn't reply, instead summoning another blade and slashing at the fallen, only for it to be caught again.

[Boost!]

Kokabiel leaned in, his face inches away from Kiba's own, "You know, I'm getting a sense of deja-vu here."

Yet Kiba's eyes didn't reflect shock, fear, or even hesitation, but rather, triumph. Almost like…

Like he had the cadre exactly where he wanted him.

[Boost!]

"!"

Kokabiel pulled his head back, right as Kiba summoned a third sword, gripped between his teeth, and with a ferocious flick of his head, slashed directly at the villain's face. Kokabiel screamed out in pain, letting go of Kiba as he stumbled back.

It was only thanks to his quick thinking and reaction time that Kokabiel has kept himself from sustaining any grievous damage, but he was still left with a sizable cut to his cheek, which oozed blood slowly down his face, and most importantly, stung like something else.

Despite that, Kokabiel still laughed, his eyes glowing, and his body trembling with manic glee, "Oh ho ho~ That was a good one. Brutal, savage… It reminds me of the Great War."

Right before Kokabiel could continue his assault on Kiba, a loud, booming voice echoed out, drawing the fallen's attention.

[Explosion!]

Across the field stood Issei, a determined look on his face as the emerald orb on the Boosted Gear shone brighter and more brilliantly than any of the stars in the synthetic night sky.

"Thanks for the assist, Kiba," Issei leveled his best glare against Kokabiel, "Now eat this! DRAGON SHOT!"

Right as a small orb of swirling red energy popped into existence, Issei cocked back his left hand, punching it with all his might, and from that, a devastating beam that engulfed Kokabiel.

All hope shattered the moment that ten pitch-black wings erupted from inside the beam, and fanned it away to nothing, revealing Kokabiel with naught but mere singes lining his suit. Looking down at his smoking clothing, and… pouted?!

"You ruined my suit," Kokabiel frowned, "That was at least a-"

"KOKABIEL!" Vin shouted, triumphantly standing tall, prepared to fight with the last of his strength, "For the sake of-!"

Kokabiel tossed a massive light spear at Vin, much to everyone's horror.


For Vin, everything slowed down, each agonizing milli-second passing by like a video game, frame by frame. He watched as the light spear headed towards him, the exact same thing that had brought about Ethan's untimely death. Could he possibly save himself from this?

As ashamed as he was to admit it, in those moments, Vin seriously pondered a question: did he want to die? If he simply resigned to his fate now, he would go out relatively easily. One unspeakable moment of pain before everything would cut to black. What was his life worth living for anymore? His family was gone, they didn't remember him, no matter how many times he would wake up in the morning and for a brief moment wonder why Lisa hadn't come to wake him up yet. His casual, happy life was over: he was a soldier now. He was being sent to fight impossibly horrifying creatures almost every three weeks it seemed like.

Would choosing to fight even matter? And if he did survive, what would he be by the end of this? Just a pawn again? Sent to face a possible much less merciful fate?

Was… Was he even living his life anymore? Or was he simply complacent, mindlessly heeding the beck and call of the ones who wrapped the shackles around his wrists, and dragged him into the dark.

But then a part of him recalled something. Maybe it was his life flashing before his eyes, but he could vividly recall so much in that little microcosm of a moment. The warm, care-free loving smiles on the faces of his old family, memories that inspired such bittersweet happiness.

The mischievous glint in Vanessa's eyes whenever she would think of some new fun activity to do, or some crazy prank to pull.

The loud, brash, but innocent moments exchanging jabs and jeers with Ethan while playing games together in the common room on their lazy Saturdays.

The quiet, serene presence that followed Jafar around everywhere. Like a blanket that would come to sooth you, make you slow down and decompress, just from being around the kind soul.

The numerous training sessions where Vin would finally achieve something that he'd been trying to learn for weeks, only to see a distinct glint of pride and such happiness in Griselda's eyes for a brief moment, before she would force it under her stoic demeanor.

The fun times spent doing even the most basic activities with Ezekiel, who's mannerisms and chuunibyou tendencies made anything from washing dishes to performing push-ups interesting and humorous.

Irina's wide, unabashedly dorky and sweet smiles, one's that she would give Vin numerous times as they chatted during school hours.

And Xenovia… The woman that he could seriously say that he possibly loved. Someone who had stuck by him, someone who he could aspire to be like, someone that he wanted to give the world to. And every time that he would see her light up in a new emotion, his heart would perform backflips. Someone who loved him in the same way.

Maybe it was selfish of him, but he wanted to make more memories, with more people… He wanted to live…

So, with both hands, and all the energy and focus he could muster, Vin swiped upward with his hand, and created the biggest wall he could make.


If there was one thing that you could say about Vincenzo Corsetti, it was that the boy had… a spotty relationship with the concept of luck. It always seemed like he had pretty good luck, only for said good luck to come around to bite him right in the ass. In that way, you could almost call him cursed.

But despite that, despite being cursed with the most rotten, backwards luck, Vincenzo Corsetti was still a lucky son of a gun.

Fun fact about crystals, they can refract light; and at just the right angle… reflect.


"Now, as I was saying…" Kokabiel began, before…

*PING*

*PSHTCH!*

As a spray of blood coated the right side of his head and shoulder, Kokabiel froze stiff. His head slowly turned to look over his right shoulder, eyes widening as he witnessed something horrific.

His top rightmost wing had been blasted to bloody pulp, leaving nothing more than a stumpy bleeding appendage that drove Kokabiel mad with anger. How dare they! His last stand wouldn't be against children, it would be against the Maou, or whatever powerful deity they sent after him!

His pupils shrank in barely restrained fury. For one to destroy one of his wings… For it to be a mere human boy who did it, with the Cadre's own attack, at that… It was a humiliation beyond measure.

It took not a moment for Kokabiel to flash across the field, literally smashing through the crudely-constructed crystal barrier, and wrapping his right hand around Vin's throat, using his strength to lift the boy off the ground as the offending teen gasped and desperately grabbed and clawed at Kokabiel's forearm.

"For what you've just done, I will ensure that you face the most painful, prolonged death possible, boy," Kokabiel hissed, "So much so, that you'll wish that spear had killed you."

Kokabiel's grip tightened, as Vin could feel his windpipe being crushed, his strength leaving him rapidly by the second. His arms soon lost the energy to continue their protests, instead limply falling to Vin's sides.

The darkness in the corners of Vin's vision began to grow, as Kokabiel reared back his fist, and planned it into Vin's face. Instantly, his nose was broken. Then again. Then again. Then again, and again, and again.

Each punch only further dazed Vin, true to his word, Kokabiel's beating wasn't ever creeping to the territory of being fatal, but damn, was it skirting the line. And without the breath to even regain any true coherence, Vin couldn't hope to fight back.

Distantly, Vin could hear the voices of his comrades screaming… But it all sounded like it was coming from the other end of a far away tunnel. What could he hope to do to-?

The feeling of something pricking his hand brought revelation to Vin's rapidly disoriented mind. Slowly, Vin shook his sleeve until the shard of Excalibur was clutched in his hand. In his foggy, oxygen deprived mind, his grip on the impromptu weapon was… warm? It was awkward and a bit itchy to hold, but nonetheless, Vin still used up every last bit of effort he had within him, and drove the blade into the Cadre's forearm as hard as he could.

Kokabiel yelped in pain, tossing Vin aside, the boy immediately gasping and sputtering as breath filled his lungs. As clarity fully returned to his brain, the warm, wet sensation in his hand began to turn stinging, then borderline agonizing. Vin looked down, and screamed when he saw half of his pinkie missing, blood billowing out his little finger like a hose.

Kokabiel continued to groan, as he glared balefully at the shard of Excalibur, buried several inches deep into his forearm.

"Why, you ungrateful-!"

Kokabiel paused when a brand new sound began to fill the air… Deep, echoing booms that arched outside the sky… Before, with a mighty crash, the very top of the artificial sky was smashed to pieces, the barrier falling as the proper night took over: a night filled with the rolling of thunder and lightning.

A stray bolt crashed down onto the field, leaving in its place not cinders, nor ashes; but a man. Tall, sturdy, cloaked in a shall of grey cloth, the man stood tall as he faced down Kokabiel, said Cadre's face darkening into a deep scowl.

"Barakiel… Why the hell are you here?"

"Because Azazel sent me to stop you before anything stupid."

"Stupid? You call this stupid!" Kokabiel spat, "I'm fighting here so that I can give meaning to our brothers and sisters again!"

"My mistake, then," Barakiel nodded, his arms crackling with electricity, "You're not stupid, you're completly insane."

Kokabiel summoned a light sword in his uninjured left hand, as he began to circle around Barakiel slowly, "Do you think that you can honestly beat me in combat? When was the last time we sparred?"

"I don't know, perhaps thirty years ago now?"

"Perhaps… Yet I distinctly remember it being my victory, Barakiel."

"Yet you weren't injured beforehand," Barakiel threw his glance over his shoulder, towards the group of scattered devils, his gaze landing on one of them for a tad longer than the other's, even though the bloodied glare she returned was anything but warm and inviting.

Barakiel paused, his eyebrows widening at the sight of her blood-marred and injured face, before turning back to Kokabiel.

Barakiel's tone went from understanding and soft to borderline venomous, "What did you do to her…"

Kokabiel barked a laugh, "Oh, you know… Just playing around while I was waiting for someone actually challenging me to show up."

Barakiel cracked his knuckles, his fists crackling with fever, "Azazel gave us permission to bring you in by any means necessary, as long as you're alive. And it may be cruel of me to say this… but I'm going to enjoy every moment we're beating you to a pulp, Kokabiel."

"What do you mean, we?" Kokabiel hissed.

Suddenly, the once still air rang out with a series of mechanical clangs and clashes, as an Azure light beamed down on the field like a spotlight on a grand stage of destiny. Looking up to the air, everyone gaped as they saw a figure clad in white and golden armor, their wings like brilliant paintings of cyan stained glass, reflecting and glistening endlessly as the moon was at their back. The sheer display was as majestic as it was intimidating.

"The Vanishing Dragon…" Kokabiel gawked, "So Azazel sent both of you?! Damn you, damn you Azazel!"

Kokabiel leaned out of the way as Barakiel's galvanized fist surged right past his face. The electric-wielding Cadre leaned into the fist, stepping forward, as he seamlessly transitioned into a kick that shook the very air, sending Kokabiel tumbling back at extreme speeds.

Fanning out his wings to slow his fall, Kokabiel failed to predict that the Vanishing Dragon would appear directly behind him in a flash of cyan light, and slam him right in the side of the head with a kick of their own.

Cursing, Kokabiel used his wings to push himself away from the dragon, up into the air, and began to summon the biggest light spear he could, it kept growing, and growing, and growing, until it was the size of a school building.

Cooly, the Vanishing Dragon raised it's open palm to Kokabiel, and it's wings began to pulse with Azure light.

[Divide!]

The spear halved in size.

[Divide!]

Halving again.

[Divide!]

Before the spear begame little more than a simple and unimpressive light spear.

"No," Kokabiel shouted, "No, no, no, no, NO! I planned this for decades! I wanted purpose dammit! I just wanted to die on my own terms!"

"You won't die," Barakiel spoke ominously as he appeared behind Kokabiel, "But allow me to get you as close as humanly possible… To repay the kindness you showed my daughter."

Kokabiel's eyes went wide, as Barakiel used his ten wings to shoot off like a rocket towards Kokabiel, feet slamming into the small of the rogue Cadre's back, making the two rockets down to earth. As they hit solid ground, Barakiel rode Kokabiel like a fleshy skateboard, grinding his face against the ground as they slid. When they finally came to a stop, Barakiel grabbed the back of Kokabiel's head, and slammed it into the ground once, twice, three times over for good measure.

Kokabiel flapped his wings, getting Barakiel off of him, howling in rage, Kokabiel began to take flight at incredible speeds, just a beam of light in the sky. Barakiel and the Vanishing Dragon followed, their speed's rivalling, if not exceeding Kokabiel's own, as they flashed across the air as blurs of crackling yellow and brilliant azure respectively.

Vin gripped his injured hand tightly in his shirt to try and staunch the bleeding of his finger, when Asia, now awake, made her way over to him, Issei and Xenovia in tow.

"Do you have any injuries?" Asia asked.

Vin nodded weakly, noticing that Xenovia and Issei gazes both landed on a single object in the dirt, his severed half of his pinkie.

Xenovia's expression darkened, "Did he do this to you?"

Vin shook his head, slowly raising his left hand to Asia, the girl gasping in shock, before immediately getting to work.

"Um… I'm sorry," Asia looked incredibly saddened, "I can't reattach parts of the body…"

"It's fine, Asia."

"You didn't answer my question," Xenovia pressed.

Gazing up, Vin watched the three blurs streak across the sky, colliding in glorious flashes of sparks. The resounding sounds of rolling thunder, deep, booming voices, and hissing light like a symphony of bloodlust.

"I did it to myself," Vin replied, keeping his eyes trained on the sky, trying as hard as he could to keep up with the high-speed aerial battle, "I got Kokabiel in the arm, I think. Stabbed him with a shard of that… thing. I was a bit too oxygen-deprived to take much note of where I was holding the thing though…"

"So it saved your life," Xenovia hummed.

"Yeah, it was like a little piece of Ethan and the rest of us got the last laugh," Vin pointed with his free hand up to the sky, "See what I mean?"

The group narrowed their eyes, and true to Vin's word, the streaks of pure white, Kokabiel, had begun to significantly slow down, while the others showed no signs of stopping. Soon enough, Barakiel and the Vanishing Dragon broke off from Kokabiel, flying around him in wide arcs, before zooming towards his front and back simultaneously.

The force of the impact was like a bomb going off. Everything shook with pure force as Kokabiel was slammed in the back of the head and the stomach by two paired devastating blows. The rogue cadre crumpled like a piece of paper under the blows, and fell limp, dropping like a sack of bricks out of the sky, and down to the ground.

Slowly, Barakiel descended down to earth, touching down as he glanced down at Kokabiel, shaking his head sadly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?!"

Barakiel looked up in shock as a now-healed Akeno stormed towards the fallen angel, her expression was anything but relieved or happy as she drilled into the Cadre with a look that could cut iron.

"A-Akeno, I…"

"No, nothing! What, do you just think you can storm in here and save us, and think that this changes anything?"

Barakiel hung his head, but otherwise remained resolute, "... I was ordered here by Azazel on short notice alongside the Vanishing Dragon to apprehend Kokabiel and deliver him to Cocytus before he could cause irreversible damage."

Akeno crossed her arms, "Is that the best excuse you really have? We had everything covered, Sirzechs Lucifer was on his way with his peerage in tow. It sounds to me like you wanted to try and make me forget about everything that you did by trying to instill some damn hero-worship into me."

"Tell me, Barakiel," Akeno hissed, "Did you get here when you did because Kokabiel was a threat, or was it because he was being a threat to the place where I was living?"

"..." Barakiel remained silent for a moment, before turning away from Akeno, walking over to Kokabiel's unconscious and brutalized body, "...I'm heading back. Vanishing Dragon, make sure to grab Freed Sellzen when you leave, alright?"

"...Alright, I'll be right behind you," The armor-clad figure spoke, as his eyes trained on… Issei and Vin.

Barakiel nodded, hoisting Kokabiel's body over his shoulder like a sack of grain, with a clap of his wings and a clap of the clouds, Barakiel disappeared in a flash of lightning.

Without another word, the Vanishing Dragon touched down by Freed's body, roughly hoisting him under their arm.

[Do you really just intend to leave without saying anything, Albion?] Ddraig called out the Boosted Gear forcefully summoning itself onto Issei's hand.

The wings of the Vanishing Dragon pulsed, [Ddraig… It's been a while, hasn't it?]

[Yes, yes I suppose it has… Why the passivity?]

[Simply put, my partner this time is… rather interesting,] Albion gave a throaty chuckle, [It seems your's is also… Curious, to say the least.]

Ddraig growled, [What's your game here, Albion?]

[At the moment, nothing. It's clear that neither you nor your partner are on the same level of power as us, and in respect to my partner's wishes, we'll abstain from doing battle with you just yet.]

[Plus,] Albion hummed, [It would appear that we are not the only dragons here at this time.]

[Isn't that right?] The Vanishing Dragon turned to gaze at Vin, who sweated under the frigid and intimidating gaze of the armor-clad figure.

Vin's Sacred Gear flashed onto his legs, a dim but powerful white glow pulsing from underneath the crystals.

Bheithir let out a withering sigh, [I was hoping that I wouldn't have to deal with this…]

Issei's entire body insinctivly shuddered, "Ddraig? What's the matter?"

[That voice…] Ddraig muttered, [Bheithir?]

Once again, Bheithir sighed, [Hello, Ddraig. Albion.]

[What happened to you? God never sealed you in a-]

[Silence,] Bheithir commanded, [Things change, Ddraig. Now, if you excuse me, I'd rather not mingle with you all. I was perfectly content to hibernate and collect more power.]

[But-]

[If I wanted to talk to you, Ddraig, I would tell you as much,] Bheithir snapped, [Now spare me your insignificant sympathies, and leave me be. I couldn't care less about you and Albion's pissing contest.]

As if to punctate her sentence, Vin's Sacred Gear quickly flashed away from his legs.

[Curious, she's fairly different from what I remember…] Albion commented, [Anyway, we shouldn't keep the Governor General waiting. Don't worry Ddraig, we will face each other soon, Ddraig. Do not mistake our mercy for complacency.]

The man behind the white mask spoke up, "Yes, Hyoudou Issei… Grow stronger."

With that, the Vanishing Dragon took flight into the ever-spanning night…


"Is… Is that really the dreaded Sirzechs Lucifer?"

Xenovia gazed in rapt confusion as across the field, said Maou had just swept his sister into a hug, and with comically large tears in his eyes began to snuggle her like a teddy bear.

"Well, you know what they say about never judging a book by it's cover," Vin zipped up a duffel bag, and stood back up, "Well, that's all the shards of the Excalibur's rounded up… Are you ready?"

As Xenovia gave a tense nod, Vin pulled out his cell phone, flipping through the contacts until he found the number for mission control. Tapping the button, Vin put the call on speaker, as it began to ring.

{This is the Vatican Supernatural Response, Vincenzo Corsetti, report in, are you there?}

"Yes sir, alongside Xenovia Quarta as well."

"I am here," Xenovia added.

{Alright, that's good. Why have you called?}

Vin couldn't help the small smile that stretched onto his face, "Sir… We did it… We completed the mission."

{That's marvelous… But… Where's Irina Shidou?}

"Irina was found by the town's devil's gravely injured, but she's expected to live," Xenovia relayed, "She's being treated at their facilities."

{...You do realize that is highly against protocol, correct?} The voice on the line spoke back, {The three of you will likely face repercussions for that course of action. Now, how did you deal with Kokabiel?}

"We didn't really," Vin admitted, "We were able to arrange a deal with the Fallen Angels, specifically, I made contact with Azazel. They've taken Kokabiel back to the Grigori to punish him accordingly."

{You did WHAT?!} The man on the other end coughed harshly, {Vincenzo Corsetti, do you realize what you've done? You've just violated one of the most important exorcist laws… I'm sorry, but you…. From this point forward, Vincenzo Corsetti, you're excommunicated under treason to the church.}

{As a matter of fact, all three of you are equally likely to be punished.}

Vin and Xenovia shared glances. Irina. How would Irina react if she was excommunicated… They couldn't, they couldn't let that happen.

"With all due respect, sir," Xenovia blurted out, "Irina has nothing to do with this. She's been separated, or otherwise unaware of this entire plot."

{Frankly, I find that impossible to believe.}

Xenovia grit her teeth, "Kokabiel told us the truth… That in the Great War… God died."

{...} The line went eerily quiet.

"Hello?" Vin spoke into the microphone.

{I'm black-listing both of you from any church-oriented facility,} The man spoke gravely.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Xenovia yelled, "Irina doesn't know that, though! She's the one out of all of us who's the most dedicated to the lord, and the church, and everything! She can still be a great asset for you all! Please, believe me! Let her go back. If not us, then her."

{Hahhhhh~} A distant sigh was heard across the line, {Michael did have an eye on her… Fine. She can return, only with heavy punishments and marks to her record. She will fly back to the Vatican with the Excalibur's, while you two… Will not be joining her.}

"Wait a fucking second…" Vin growled indignantly, "You're leaving us here? In Japan? In a country where we can't speak the language, where we don't have any money?! Who the hell do you think you are?!"

{A high-ranking official at the Vatican, and like I had said before; as of now, neither of you are our responsibility. We expect Irina Shidou to reach out to us as soon as possible so that we can arrange her return flight and discuss the mission report.}

{Now, with that said, goodbye.}

The line clicked dead as Vin's arm limply fell to its side.

"What… What do we do now?" Vin asked.

Xenovia kept her gaze on the sight of the Gremory peerage, who were all laughing, smiling, hugging each other as they celebrated their victory. It was frankly, a heart-warming scene, they truly were like a flesh-and-blood family.

"I… I might have an idea of what I want to do now," Xenovia admitted, "But… I don't know if it's the right choice… Are you planning on staying here?"

"Here? In Kuoh?" Vin echoed, "Yeah, I think I have a few ideas of my own."

"Oh, that's good…" Xenovia sighed in relief.

"I can't decide your own path for you though," Vin placed a hand on Xenovia's shoulder, "And although you might try and say otherwise, you can't decide your path for me, either. Follow your heart. You truly are just Xenovia now… So embrace it, and give Xenovia what she wants, alright?"

Vin gave her shoulder one last pat before beginning to walk away.

"Where are you heading?" Xenovia asked.

"To take a walk," Vin replied, "I'm gonna go make my own path…"

As he stepped out of the gates of Kuoh Academy, Vin turned on his phone, and found the contact he was looking for…

"Hey, Azazel… Think we can meet up?"


Turns out, finding a bar was a lot easier when you already knew the name of it, so frankly, it didn't take too long to flag down a cab, offer some of the last yen in his wallet, and simply say 'Hotch Potch'.

And in only about twenty-five minutes, Vin found himself standing outside of the location. It seemed just as desolate outside as before, but when he went to try to open the door, it easily swung open.

Stepping inside, Vin found the Hotch Potch shockingly more active than it was before. Behind the bar was a new bartender, an attractive woman of silver hair with a very piercing set of violet eyes. On the far end of the bar counter sat… a puppy? Vin idly walked over to the animal and gently stroked it's head, eliciting happy groans from the pet.

From the back of the room came a bark of laughter, "Well now, you ask me to meet up, and when you get here, you don't even get five feet in the door before immediately going for Ran."

"Ah, there you are Azazel," Vin looked over, and the Governor General gave him a smile, "Thanks for agreeing to meet up with me here on such short notice."

"Yeah, you better be thankful," The bartender growled, "I had to close up early because of you."

"And like I said, Sophia, I'll cover everything, plus a little extra to make it up to you," Azazel replied, "Now come over here kiddo, let ol' Azazel here lend you an ear."

As Vin approached the table where Azazel sat, he noticed that the man had set up… Battleship?

"Here, sit down," Azazel prompted Vin to sit down across from him, "Have you ever played this game before?"

"What, Battleship?" Vin raised an eyebrow, "Of course, it's a classic."

"Ah, good, good," Azazel went down to start placing his places; Vin doing the same. Vin looked down at the set in curiosity, the ships were designed as if they were acrylic-poured, with swirling layers of greys and silvers. Rather fancy for a set, they must have been custom made.

"You can take the first turn," Azazel offered.

"Thanks," Vin nodded, "B3."

"Miss. I'm sorry that I had you guys waiting for so long."

"It's fine," Vin shrugged, "It was better than any alternative. I'm just glad to have gotten help at all…"

"Church must have been happy you guys took back the swords though," Azazel commented, "C9."

"Shit. Hit," Vin called, prompting a smile out of Azazel.

"Heh, I still got it."

"So me and Xenovia… We got excommunicated."

Azazel's smile turned sour, "You just got dumped by the church, huh? Damn, and you probably don't have anywhere to go, huh?"

"Pretty much," Vin shook his head, "J10."

"Hit. C8," Azazel replied, "So, do you have any regrets about what happened?"

"I got plenty, but they're all outside of my control, so no use fretting over them," Vin shrugged, "Miss. J9."

"Hit. You've sunk my battleship," Azazel commented, "Still, what if I offered you something…"

"Go on…"

"I've been toying around a lot with different magical artifacts, and I may or may not have… made something similar to a certain green-haired scientist."

"I don't know who you're talking about."

"Beelzebub. Ajuka Beelzebub. Guy who made the evil pieces that the devils have been using to reincarnate humans."

"Okay…Can you get to the point, though?"

Azazel smiled, "Alright then. Kid, no, Vincenzo Corsetti…"

Standing up, Azazel presented the two-holed destroyer piece from his game board, "...How would you like a new job?"


Here we are, at the very end of the second story arc of High School DxD: Alternate. It's been crazy writing this arc, full of ups and downs. But honestly, I loved every second of it. Thanks to everyone for sticking with this series throughout so far. There's no plans at all to slow down now, so expect one epilogue, and then we're jumping into the next arc!

Additionally, I want to thank each and every person who has read this story, we recently just passed 50,000 views, and we are one more favorite away from reaching 300 of those. And to hit these milestones at such a big part of the story, it really means a lot.

For some of you, you may have noticed a cameo from another fanfiction series... Here's a hint, they commented on the last chapter, and I commented on their most recent chapter as well.

Thanks once again to all the wonderful reviewers, you all make every smidge of effort worth it ten-fold. I hope that if you all genuinely enjoyed what you read, you consider dropping a follow, a favorite and you know what? How about you write a review telling me what your favorite part of this arc was and why. That would be really fun to read through.

Thanks everyone once again, and until next time… ROCK ON!