Darksiders DXD

by MysticVegito

The Horsemen of the Apocalypse have expunged all those who would imperil the Balance over the eons. Now humanity is in peril as outside forces plot a premature Endwar that could potentially wipe out the Third Kingdom before it's time. Will the Council's enforcers succeed in rooting out the perpetrators before it's too late?

9. Chapter 9

~A Madman's Scheme~

With Death acquiring two Excalibur swords, Destruction and Mimic, Xenovia and Irina were left unarmed to deal with Kokabiel and the minions that follow his will. Issei, fully aware that they are both going on a guaranteed suicide mission, especially Irina, who was his childhood friend after all, decided to enlist them in his team, along with Koneko and Saji, with the latter rather reluctantly, to help Kiba have his revenge on the masterminds behind the Holy Sword Project, with Death, War, Rias and Akeno unaware of their secret gathering. Xenovia and Irina, knowing that without the means to carry out the Church's judgment are basically going right on a chopping block given the current situation. And so they agreed to ally with the devils, with Xenovia being reluctant at that, despite being unarmed. Currently the devils, along with Xenovia and Irina, are on the move under the cover on night disguised as priests, ready to exact vengeance for Kiba and fulfill Xenovia's and Irina's mission.

At the same time, War returned from his interrogation with Azrael in the club house and is currently having a conversation with his elder brother Death, with the two riders being the only ones present.

"The Archangel Michael?" Death said.

"Yes. Azrael said he was the leader of the Order of Divine Faith, someone who insisted on aiding the humans in any way to prepare them for the Endwar." War said.

"His motives don't concern us. He broke the law by trespassing in Man's kingdom for so long, and he will be punished." Death said strictly.

"That goes without saying. Especially considering the fact that he had two millennia to make his influence on the humans." War said seriously.

"Yes. One evidence is that he imbued the humans with holy element, making them capable of wielding the angel's weapons like the Holy Swords, not to mention the shards of the Excalibur. However, if we are to believe that Yuuto said, not every human survives the imbuing process to wield the said weapons." Death said.

"I'm impressed that he managed to stay hidden for so long without the Council knowing." War said before he looked at Death in frustration. "What is going on here? How could they left us in the dark for all this time? Surely they could sense a presence of a powerful archangel like Michael on Earth far sooner."

"Maybe he went to Earth through illegitimate means, like we do with Vulgrim's Serpent Holes. If what Azrael said is true, then Michael knew he had to take matters into his own hands to save humanity after being rejected time and again." Death said before he looked at his brother. "But we know our duty. Michael will be prosecuted and judged in front of the Council, they will enforce their punishment on the angel themselves." He said, while War nodded silently in agreement.

Then from the windows, Dust cawed as he flew inside and perched on Death's right shoulder.

"What is it Dust?" Death asked curiously, but the crow squawked once as mental images flowed in Death's mind of the bird's discovery. When the crow was done, Death frowned slightly in anger beneath his mask.

"Death? What did the crow show you?" War asked curiously.

"It looks like Hyoudou has assembled a little gang to hunt down Kokabiel themselves. I know because those two females that I encountered are with them." Death said seriously.

"Apparently we need to discipline those devils further." War said seriously.

"My thoughts exactly, brother. Let's go." Death said grimly before he departed, with War following suit.

---

Meanwhile, the devil group and two members of the Church arrived at the location of Kiba's choosing. After examining the abandoned structure, Issei recalled to be the same place where Death quickly dispatched the stray devil Vizer. The group fought the stray priest George for a while before the culprit behind the Holy Sword Project revealed himself, someone Kiba hated to the core. Valper Galilei, the Archbishop of Slaughter himself. But before George could finish the job, they reluctantly had to retreat, for Valper knew reinforcements will arrive at any moment to finish them instead. And so, in a flash of light, the Archbishop and a stray priest disappeared, with Kiba, Xenovia and Irina in hot pursuit.

"Wait, I wanna go too!" Issei shouted before he clumsily landed form the columns above. But he stopped in his tracks when he saw Saji and Koneko not moving from their spots. "What's going on, why have we stopped?" He asked quickly in confusion.

"Goodness, what have you gotten yourselves into?" A familiar female voice suddenly asked from behind them, prompting the three devils to turn around.

"Sona!" Saji said in panic.

"Rias!" Issei said in panic as well.

"I'm sure this will be a lively story, I can't wait." Rias smirked with closed eyes and folded arms, suppressing her anger over the fact that her own servants are helping the members of the Church behind her back.

"Whenever you'd like to start explaining, I'm ready." Sona frowned seriously.

"Yes, please do." Another familiar voice said from their left side, making them all gasp in shock and fear, while Issei and Saji screamed in panic even more than they did with Rias and Sona.

"I would love to hear what you devils were up to behind our backs." Death said grimly as he locked his gaze at Issei and Saji, making their faces go blue in fear.

Not long after the horsemen arrived, the two riders took the devils inside the abandoned building, with all of them lined up in front of the two riders. Koneko, Issei and Saji bowed their heads down in shame, while Rias, Akeno, Sona and Tsubaki looked at Death with serious expressions, with Sona and Tsubaki standing next to Saji's left, while Rias and Akeno stood next to Issei and Koneko to their right.

"I thought I made it perfectly clear that everything you do in this town you report to me. What part of that statement your minds didn't process?" Death said with folded arms as his angry gaze was fixed on the devils, but they remained silent, mostly Koneko, Issei and Saji out of fear of even looking at the rider of death, let alone say anything.

"Speak!" Death shouted angrily, making all of the devils flinch in fear.

"We didn't mean to hide anything from you guys, I swear! All we wanted to do is help Kiba have his revenge on the guys behind the Holy Sword Project!" Issei said quickly in panic.

"And what makes you think a pathetic rabble like yourselves could stand a chance against a fallen angel like Kokabiel? I couldn't care less for Yuuto's thirst for revenge, he can lie down and die for all his worth." Death said strictly in now calmer tone.

"Seems that these devils are in need of a strict discipline." War asked in dead serious tone.

"I'm inclined to agree War." Death said, not averting his gaze from the devils as he walked forward and stopped in front of Koneko, Issei and Saji.

All of the devils present grew rapidly nervous as they had no idea what Death's intentions were, what sort of punishment he had in mind. But this is Death after all, and the pale rider has every intention of showing these devils why even his very name is to be feared. Without uttering a single word, he quickly swung both of his scythes at the same time, the right scythe to cleave Saji upward from right hip to left shoulder, instantly snuffing the life out of him as his limp body crumpled on the ground, and using his left scythe to decapitate Koneko on the spot, her head falling behind her and rolling a few times before it stopped, her eyes fixed in horror even in death.

"SAJI!" Sona and Tsubaki shouted in shock.

"KONEKO!" Rias, Akeno and Issei also shouted in shock.

What made this even more horrifying for Rias is that this was the exact same way Death killed Koneko in her nightmare almost two weeks ago. And if they make anymore grave mistakes like this, then the rest of her servants will follow the same grisly fate.

"Bastard!" Issei shouted angrily as Boosted Gear formed on his left arm.

"Stand down!" Rias shouted angrily before Issei could foolishly charge at the pale rider and get himself killed.

"What?! But Rias, he killed Saji and Koneko, what the fuck?!" Issei shouted in outrage.

"I said... STAND DOWN!" Rias shouted in fury, her words echoing across the room where they are in, silencing Issei in turn, with the devil pawn still gritting his teeth in anger. Rias knew fully well that this time they triggered Death right in the nerve, and they will join Saji and Koneko in the grave if they were to attack him, especially with War around.

Then Death locked his angry gaze at Sona and Tsubaki.

"You have till the count of three to leave before you die with him." Death said in dead serious voice as he gripped his right scythe in reverse grip, making Sona and Tsubaki gasp in fear.

"One… Two…"

Before Death could finish the count, Sona quickly used her magic circle to teleport herself, Tsubaki and dead Saji away from the group back into the Underworld. With that done, Death returned his gaze to the Gremory devils, slightly calming down now that he proved his point. Then he sighed slightly in stress relief. He wanted to execute Issei as well, but for him a good amount of suffering will be enough, at least this time, since he already claimed Saji's and Koneko's lives, along with the their souls to make sure they will never come back to life, an ability that the Council permitted for him to use in his mission after the fight with the demon army.

"Now, what sort of punishment do you devils inflict on your servants for disobedience?" Death asked Rias as he sheathed his scythes.

"We punish them with a thousand spankings." Rias said seriously with closed eyes, barely restraining both fury and sorrow after Koneko's demise.

"Spankings? Seriously?" War asked, finding it hard to believe they call that a punishment.

"A thousand spankings?!" Issei shouted in shock.

"Make it two thousand." Death said bluntly.

"TWO THOUSAND?! Are you for fucking real?!" Issei shouted in greater shock as his eyes almost popped in disbelief.

"As real as a tombstone." Death said grimly before he looked at Rias. "And make sure you don't hold back in your 'spankings', otherwise I'll inflict on him my own punishment like I did with Toujou and Sitri's devil boy." He said before he turned his back on the devils and left towards the column before leaning on it, folding his arms and crossing his legs.

"Now, begin!" Death shouted from the distance.

Without a single word spoken from Issei, he reluctantly bent forward and Rias formed a magic circle in her hand. Rias then spanked Issei hard in the butt, inflicting a great amount of pain on the young devil, repeating like this again and again as her was mind consumed with anger for what Issei had done in the first place. This was the beginning of his punishment for what she had in store for him when they are done.

When War made his way to the doors, he noticed that Death's expression was rather odd. For those few moments it's like he's not even paying attention to the proceedings.

"Care to share?" War asked curiously.

"No." Death said simply, but War was not the one to back down easily.

"Let me guess, you're trying to figure out who's behind that demonic assault back then?" War asked.

"Obviously." Death said bluntly.

A few moments of silence followed before Death looked at War, who had a look on his face that spelled demand of him to elaborate on the subject. Not being in a mood to keep him in line as well, he decided to just elaborate a little more just to humor him.

"I'm merely solving the pieces of the puzzle of the situation War, nothing more. And yet for all my plans and schemes, I have a feeling someone very powerful is behind all this, someone different from the previous foes we faced, orchestrating the events in the shadows." Death said as he looked down, seemingly pondering in thought, making War raise his eyebrow in slight curiosity. In rare cases like this, Death would always have that look on his face when he is in deep thought, his mask does a damn thing to hide that expression in his face in War's eyes. But War doesn't have a cause to worry, because every time they found the culprit behind the previous crimes, they were always dealt with appropriately.

"Well, we already had a few guesses and all of them proved wrong. I guess only time will tell when the mastermind behind that attack will reveal himself." War said.

"Time is of the essence War and you know it. Every day we spend trying to find a needle in the haystack, the culprit has already assembled a new horde of demons for all we know." Death said in slight frustration as he looked at his brother.

"Complaining about it won't get us nowhere either." War said in his usual, serious tone.

"No, I suppose not. I guess in the meantime I'll Indulge myself with Hyoudou's punishment." Death said as he looked at Rias spanking Issei with angry expression on her face.

"I'll be on my way then, I have no interest in watching the pervert suffer." War said casually as he stomped his way outside, leaving Death alone to oversee the proceedings, with crimson light flashing from every entrance outside.

---

Later that night after they were done, Issei, Rias and Akeno returned to the club house. Rias requested of the two riders for the three of them to be left alone for several minutes, with the riders obliging for they saw no harm in it, judging that Rias did not look happy. And the conversation started with a loud slap to Issei's face, making the devil pawn stumble back a few steps.

"What were you thinking Issei?!" Rias shouted angrily. Now Issei was starting to grow angry as well, having been fed up from the beating he received, as if those two thousand spankings he received wasn't punishment enough.

"What do you mean Rias?! I didn't want Kiba to go stray, so that's why I wanted to help him!" Issei said angrily.

"All you did is you got Koneko killed! Not only her, but you also dragged Saji into the mix! You know fully well that we are under constant watch from those two riders and yet you are STILL BEING RECKLESS!" Rias shouted in fury, making Issei and even Akeno flinch, Issei in fear and Akeno in shock. Akeno knew that Rias was really slow to true anger, but it's only rare that she goes as far as shout that loud at someone. She understood that Issei went way over his head in trying to do anything behind Death and War, but the way she acts, she could be as cruel as the demons.

"I'm terribly disappointed in you Issei. I thought you'd be better than that, that you'd be a lot more cautious after the reckless move you made at the church, but apparently I was wrong. Sometimes I wonder if bringing you back to life as a devil servant was worth it." Rias frowned angrily as she folded her arms in disappointment.

"That's enough Rias!" Akeno exclaimed suddenly as she walked next to her friend, while Rias glanced at her in surprise of her sudden outburst. "He had enough. You are letting your anger consume you."

"He deserved everything he got Akeno and you know it." Rias said angrily.

"Maybe, but if you keep this up, you'll be no better than the demons. Please, calm down." Akeno said seriously.

"As if it even matters to begin with." Issei growled slightly in low, dead serious voice, making the two devils glance at him. "I never wanted to be a FUCKING DEVIL IN THE FIRST PLACE!" He shouted in anger, making Rias and Akeno flinch in slight shock of his defiance. "I don't care if both of you are smokin hot babes with huge jugs in entire school academy. I won't let myself be treated like a brownnosing bitch. I tried to be a good pawn, but it looks like whatever I do I end up a complete failure!" He shouted angrily, for once silencing Rias and Akeno. Rias was about to retort to Issei, but in the end she fell silent from Issei's statement of not wanting to be a devil. "I had it with this! I'm outta here!" He said as he marched towards the double doors.

"Where do you think you're going Issei?!" Rias asked angrily with folded arms while Issei opened the doors.

"Fucking outta here, that's where I'm going!" Issei seethed in anger before he slammed the doors shut, making Rias grit her teeth in anger as she was about to go after him.

"Rias!" Akeno said seriously as she grabbed Rias by the shoulder and turned her around, placing another arm on her other shoulder to calm her, much to her surprise. "Rias, look at me. Calm down, okay? Please, both you and Issei are giving in to your anger. I understand how you feel, but that is something we don't need right now. Calm down."

After those words, Rias's anger was fading away within her more and more until she finally let out a sigh of stress relief, silently walking towards the table and sitting on the chair before covering her face with both of her hands.

"What am I going to do with him Akeno? He got Koneko killed, along with Saji." Rias said in calmer tone before she lifted her head up. "That is something that will definitely not sit well with Sona. She will blame all of us, especially me for allowing Issei to run around unsanctioned."

"Yes, he is at fault here alright. Of Saji I'm not sure, but Koneko knew of the risks and decided to help Kiba all the same. As for Issei, he merely wanted to stop Kiba from becoming a stray devil, it would give both Death and War a cause to hunt him down and end his life." Akeno said in serious tone.

"His intentions would have been justified if he was careful in the act. But he wasn't and Koneko and Saji both paid for Issei's mistake with their lives. He's maybe the wielder of the Boosted Gear, but as of now, I'm not sure if having him around will be a boon or a curse." Rias said seriously as she looked down at the table.

Meanwhile, Issei angrily made his way outside the club house and, big shock, Death and War were leaning on the wall, noticing that the devil pawn looked sufficiently irritated by something.

"Trouble in paradise?" Death asked sarcastically.

"Dude, can you please stop acting like a total asshole for once?! You're really not helping!" Issei exclaimed angrily as he marched towards the exit, slamming them shut and finally making his way home.

"Not gonna chase him down and kill him for that?" War asked curiously.

"And stoop to your level of tolerance? How immature of you to ask it." Death said, making War scowl slightly. "Besides, the boy is all talk, not worth staining my blades with his blood. We have far more pressing matters to attend to in days to come." Death said seriously, while War nodded his head in agreement.

---

The next day, Death gave orders to Rias to find Kiba, Xenovia and Irina and bring them to him. With that said, Rias and Akeno sent their familiars to scour the city for those three, along with Death's companion Dust accompanying in the search. After much searching above and below as the sun sets behind the hills, Rias' bat familiar found the missing Church warriors, Xenovia and Irina, who were badly injured and were left incapacitated on the ground where no human would think to find them. With that discovery, Rias teleported to that location, with Death, War, Asia, Issei and Akeno accompanying her.

"Irina! Xenovia!" Issei shouted as he quickly ran towards them and knelt near them. "Asia, quick!"

"Right." Asia nodded as she knelt near Issei and used her Twilight Healing to mend Irina's wounds.

"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." Death said coldly as he looked at incapacitated Xenovia and Irina in disappointment.

"How could they when you took their Excalibur weapons?" War said seriously while Death looked at his brother's face, having no idea was he jesting or being serious about that statement.

"What happened to you two? Where's Kiba?" Issei asked worryingly, his heart wounded to see his childhood friend bloodied and beaten like this.

"I… don't know. We couldn't… get away from… him." Irina said weakly.

"From whom?" Death asked as he stood near Issei and Asia while War stood next to him.

"Was it Kokabiel?" War asked curiously.

"Please, try not to push yourself." Asia said to Irina in soothing voice as she was channeling her healing ability.

"I… could do nothing... against him." Irina gritted her teeth, struggling to stay conscious even with Asia healing her wounds. Then she smiled gently as she looked at Issei. "Please… be careful. All of you." She said before she finally fell unconscious.

"Irina!" Issei exclaimed worryingly.

"Is the damage that bad?" War asked Asia before the blonde girl timidly turned her head towards the red rider.

"I'm afraid so. Twilight Healing isn't strong enough to restore consumed stamina." Asia said timidly as she finished mending Irina's wounds and proceeded to quickly heal Xenovia's wounds as well.

"Akeno, take the two of them away from here, make sure they get the proper medical treatment. When you are done, return here." Rias said seriously.

"Right." Akeno nodded as she went towards the two Church girls. Asia finished with her healing and Akeno stood between Irina and Xenovia, using her magic circle to teleport the three of them away from the scene.

"The wounds inflicted on those girls looked like cuts from a sharp weapon." War frowned seriously.

"A stray priest wielding an Excalibur." Death stated.

"How do you know?" War asked curiously as he looked at his brother.

"Because Yuuto revealed that information the other day, about a stray priest killing another and wielding an Excalibur weapon." Death said before he looked at War. "If I had to guess, he probably allied himself with the fallen angel."

"It's no surprise, considering it's a normal occurrence for those who were banished from the Church." Rias said seriously with folded arms.

"Yes. The Church." Death said grimly, remembering that they have a word or two to trade with Michael when they find him. Unless the archangel is foolish enough to raise his weapon against them.

Before anyone else could utter a word, Issei, Asia and to lesser extent Rias felt a sharp pain as ominous presence has formed nearby.

"What the…" Issei said before he turned around. "No way!" He exclaimed, knowing that grim feeling all too well.

"Welcome, welcome devils. It's so hilarious how easily you were all baited here." George revealed himself before bowing slightly in mockery. But his grin turned into serious frown as he looked at Death accompanied by certain someone next to him. "Not only Death is here, but War as well? This could be problematic." He thought grimly.

"So you're Freed's brother? Great, another dbag to deal with." Issei frowned angrily. George glanced at Issei in annoyance before his eyes were fixed on the blonde former nun.

"Asia Argento. I remember you working with Freed that day, and seemingly survived Death's onslaught." George said seriously before he grinned wickedly and pointed his Excalibur Rapidly at the blonde girl. "I guess I should rectify that mistake."

"Shut up! You lay one finger on her and you'll regret it!" Issei said angrily as he sprung his left fist forward, with his signature crimson gauntlet forming in his hand. But before either of them could do anything, Rias stood in front of them as she extended her right arm and formed a magic circle in her hand, ready to vaporize the stray devil.

"Whoa, easy there, Ruin Princess. I come before you as a messenger, alright? So hold your fire if you don't mind." George said. Rias would gladly ignore his request, but with curiosity quickly overwhelming her mind, she reluctantly obliged as she stood down.

"A messenger for whom?" Rias asked curiously.

"For my boss of course. Take a look." George grinned wickedly as he gestured his blade upward, with the environment everywhere around them suddenly turning purple, signifying the arrival of a fallen angel. And from what they have seen, it was not just any fallen angel who strolled their way.

"He has ten wings. Seems he's of the leader class." Rias said to herself in serious tone.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, daughter of the house of Gremory. I am Kokabiel." The fallen angel now known as Kokabiel said as he grinned wickedly.

"The pleasure is all mine, I'm sure, and please call me Rias." Rias smirked as she folded her arms defiantly. "So you are the leader of the fallen angels? It's nice to put a face with the name."

"Your crimson hair is quite breathtaking, just as lovely as that of the scarlet-haired devil king, even your facial expressions are similar. That is absolutely nauseating." Kokabiel said as his wicked grin was still present on his face.

"Thank you. Now is there something you'd like to discuss with me or are you just here to review my appearance? Not that I'm rushing you, it's nice to see a leader so close up." Rias smirked, confident for obvious reasons of their victory. Almost too confident in Kokabiel's eyes. But when he looked behind the devils, he understood with perfect clarity why and he was horrified by what he saw.

"What the…"

"Hello again, Kokabiel. It's nice to see you after all these centuries, stirring trouble as always." Death said sarcastically in grim voice.

"The Horseman of the Apocalypse? What in the Nine Hells are you doing here? Not only you, but the Crimson Slayer as well." Kokabiel gritted his teeth in shock and nervousness. With those two present, his plans suddenly got a lot more complicated.

"Oh the usual." Death said as he drew his scythes and extended the blades before holding them in reverse grip. "Purging the Kingdom of Man from warmongers like yourself." He said grimly as War also drew his own weapon, Chaoseater. Kokabiel was thrown off his loop for a while, but he wouldn't let himself succumb to panic as he quickly regained his cool and a cocky grin returned on his face.

"Be that as it may, you will still have to struggle to stop me from restarting the Great War. Follow me to the institution where these devils commune and it is there that we will decide your fate. If you dare." Kokabiel grinned wickedly before a magic circle formed in front of him, sending a barrage of light lances at the group.

"Look out!" Rias shouted as she formed a protective barrier in front of her, shielding Asia and Issei, while War and Death cleaved through the incoming projectiles effortlessly. But when the smoke cleared, the environment around them returned to normal and both Kokabiel and George were gone.

"That fallen angel is starting to be annoying." Death said as he looked at Kuoh Academy a good distance away from them.

"He's merely delaying the inevitable." War said in annoyed tone.

"Wait, is he going to Kuoh Academy? He's going to destroy the entire school?" Issei said in slight shock.

"Of course he's going to destroy it. Kokabiel is a well-known warmonger among fallen angels. He was one of the few lucky leaders who survived the war, but today he sealed his fate by coming here." Death said grimly.

"Damn straight he did! We're going to kick that gutterslut's teeth in before he even realized it!" Issei pumped his fists in confidence, much to Death's annoyance as he grunted slightly.

"We are going to do the 'teeth kicking', you are a mere spectator for this fight." Death pointed out as he looked at the young pervert.

"What?! Seriously?!" Issei protested in outrage.

"Feel free to die if you want cleavage connoisseur, but in case all of the blood from your brain wasn't drained by your genitals, then take my advice." Death jested before Despair and Ruin emerged from the ground in soul-like and fiery auras respectively, galloping and stopping next to the two riders, with both Death and War mounting their faithful steeds soon after.

"Stay put." Death said in grim, cold tone before both he and War jumped downhill. As they were sliding down, both of the riders assumed their human disguises, followed by their own mounts as both Despair and Ruin took the forms of regular horses, with Ruin having crimson color, while Despair had grey color. Then when they reached the streets, they galloped towards the academy.

"What a damn tool." Issei frowned in frustration.

"You know he has a point Issei." Rias said seriously, making him look at her in slight surprise that she is supporting Death's claim. "Kokabiel is of the leader class, someone who can very easily eradicate not only us, but this entire city if he deems it. The fact that we have both War and Death by our side tilts the odds to our favor dramatically."

"Well yeah, since you put it that way." Issei said, inclined to agree with Rias' statement.

"But that doesn't mean we will be reduced to spectators. We will do our part and put a stop to Kokabiel's plans." Rias frowned seriously.

"Then apparently I arrived in time." Akeno suddenly said as she appeared from her magic circle.

"Akeno. How's Irina and Xenovia coming along?" Rias asked.

"Not well. They won't be able to recover anytime soon without Asia's sacred gear." Akeno said seriously.

"In that case Asia, you will go with Akeno and provide any assistance to those two girls. Focus on restoring them back to full health while we deal with Kokabiel." Rias frowned seriously.

"Right, I'm on it." Asia nodded in determination.

"Akeno, after you are done, return to us, we will need all the help we can get in this fight." Rias said seriously.

"Right." Akeno nodded seriously before she walked and stopped next to Asia. Then she used her magic circle to teleport herself and Asia back to the club house where the girls were left unconscious.

"Issei." Rias said.

"Yes president?" Issei asked.

"It's time." Rias said seriously, looking at the academy from the distance before she looked at Issei. "We're going to get a head start and engage Kokabiel in combat, we have to distract him from his onslaught until the riders arrive."

"Hell yeah, balls to the wall." Issei pumped his left fist as his signature red gauntlet formed on his hand.

[BOOST!]

Rias nodded with a serious frown as she used her own magic circle to teleport to the academy.

---

Meanwhile, at the school grounds of Kuoh Academy…

"This will be fun, I can't wait. Today is the day all my dreams finally come true." The Archbishop Valper chuckled in glee as three Excalibur swords were set in a holy rune circle, where moments later a beam of light blasted into the sky for all to see, including the riders from the distance.

"It's begun." War said.

"We need to pick up the pace War." Death said as he kicked Despair on his sides to gallop as fast as he can in his disguise, followed by War prompting his own steed Ruin to gallop faster as well. But if they were to charge forward, it would leave an obvious soul-like or fiery aura during the charge, so that wasn't an option at this point.

---

At the same time, Rias teleported inside the main hall of the Academy, where conveniently Akeno teleported as well after she transported Asia to tend to Irina and Xenovia. Rias was still absolutely livid for what Issei had done, but right now they will need all the help they can get and Issei's Boosted Gear will come in handy to enhance hers and Akeno's power.

"Good, we're all here." Rias smiled a bit.

"Yeah, everyone except Kiba." Issei said. He was about to mention Koneko as well, but since he was responsible for her death by the Reaper's hands, he knew better than to voice her name in front of Rias.

"I'm sure he will arrive too. For now it's just the three of us till the horsemen arrive." Rias frowned seriously before she looked at her devil pawn. "Issei, I want you to be on support this time."

"Support?" Issei asked curiously.

"Yes. Akeno and I will deal with any foe Kokabiel might throw at us. And if he were to fight us, we will need your sacred gear to boost our power." Rias said seriously.

"On it." Issei nodded in determination as he clenched his gauntlet in front of him.

"Akeno, you and I will be the first line of defense of our school. Let's give them a run for their money before the riders spoil all the fun." Rias smiled, making Akeno giggle a bit.

"Yeah, let's give them hell." Akeno smiled.

"But I want you two to me mindful, especially you Issei. This fight might be as dangerous if not more than a fight with Riser and his demon army." Rias said cautiously.

"Right. Promotion to queen!" Issei said the words as his power and attributes were magnified with the said promotion.

As the three devils went outside, they noticed Valper's holy rune circle larger in scale than the nearby gymnasium.

"Whoah. What in the world is that thing?" Issei asked in surprise at what he saw.

"It seems like he's fusing the three Excaliburs into one. That is just so Valper, you know." Kokabiel said casually as he was sitting on his hovering throne, his bloody now eyes fixed on Rias. "So, is big brother on his way yet, or are you relying on the horsemen to aid you?" He then chuckled slightly at the thought. "You are fools if you believe they are your allies. You are nothing but expendable assets that they can easily get rid of when you outlive your usefulness, or even when you downright annoy them too much."

Sadly there is truth to that fact as Issei thoroughly remembered Koneko's and Saji's recent executions by Death himself.

"It doesn't matter what you say, we're here and ready to fight. That's all that matters." Rias smirked, but was immediately on guard, along with Akeno and Issei as Kokabiel casually snapped his fingers and a double-bladed light lance formed above him three times his size. Then he threw it lazily at the nearby gym, exploding violently and completely destroying the gym without the slightest difficulty.

"No fucking way." Issei said in shock.

[What's wrong kid? Are you scared?] Ddraig suddenly said from Issei's gauntlet.

"I've never seen that big of a lance of light before dude, it's like from another dimension." Issei said in awe of Kokabiel's power.

[Of course it's from another dimension, look at it. We're talking about a man who survived the wrath of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.]

"Seriously?!" Issei said in shock before he glanced at Kokabiel. He was the one who survived Death's and War's onslaught all those years ago? With that shock in his mind, he glanced back at the gauntlet. "Do you still think we'll be able to beat him?"

[When it comes down to it, I'll beat him even if I have to turn most of your body into a dragon!]

"Most of my body, huh?" Issei smirked at his gauntlet before he looked at Kokabiel. "Well as long as you leave me the important parts."

"You are fools if you think the three of you will make a difference. But since you came all this way to see me, I might as well let you play with my favorite pet!" Kokabiel said wickedly as below his throne the beam of light covered in purple lightning blasted on the ground below him. From it, a fallen angel magic circle was created and a huge, fiery pit was formed. And from the pit a raging inferno blazed, with a beastly roar echoing within the flames as a shape of a giant three headed dog made form before it stepped forward, his body composed of hellish fire.

"Cerberus?" Rias said in slight shock.

"Living at the gates of the Underworld, it's the watchdog of Hades." Akeno frowned seriously.

"Wait, Hades? You mean the Greek god of the Underworld has sided with the fallen angels?!" Issei said in shock, knowing a bit about Greek Mythology from a certain video game he loves to play.

"Apparently. Even so, bringing him to this world is forbidden. Let's deal with him quickly Akeno." Rias said seriously.

"Right." Akeno said as she sprung her wings, along with Rias and shot airborne.

"Issei, use your Sacred Gear to enhance our power!" Rias commanded.

"Right! Here we go! Boosted Gear!" Issei shouted as he started to charge up.

[BOOST!]

While in mid-air, Akeno changed from her school uniform into shrine maiden outfit and was now ready for battle. The Cerberus made the first move as he spewed volley of fireballs from all three heads at Rias and Akeno. The two devils managed to evade the attacks, with Akeno even throwing ice winds to freeze the fireballs mid-air before they fell and shattered on the ground below. Rias and Akeno maneuvered airborne and struck with the destruction blast and lightning bolt respectively, exploding violently and forming a cloud of smoke around the Cerberus. But they quickly discovered that they only managed to stun the three headed dog for a few seconds. The Cerberus roared as he stomped on the ground with his right paw, shooting five large fireballs in the air towards Rias and Akeno. Rias shot the three incoming fireballs with destruction blast, while Akeno froze one fireball and quickly raised her shield to defend herself from another. But the three headed hellhound did not stop as it continued to fire volley of fireballs at Rias and Akeno.

[BOOST!]

"Damn it. Rias and Akeno are getting bombarded up there. I have to do something to help them." Issei gritted his teeth as he was about to make his move.

But suddenly, the middle head of Cerberus ceased firing and growled at Issei while the other two heads continued to shoot fireballs from their mouths. The middle head stopped for a moment, gagging a bit before it spewed from its mouth five hellhounds the size of a small elephant.

"What the…!" Issei shouted in shock as the bodies of the spawned hellhounds fully formed, growling as they locked their gazes at Issei and ran towards him. "Oh crap!" He shouted in panic as he started to run from the hellhounds who started to chase him.

"Issei!" Akeno shouted worryingly. Then she gritted her teeth as she fired a powerful chain lightning on the five hellhounds, electrocuting them in place and killing them.

"Whoah! Thanks Akeno, you're a life saver!" Issei smiled as he waved his hand in the air.

Akeno panted a bit before she smiled and nodded at Issei, but was too distracted to notice the incoming fireballs in her way. Rias reacted quickly and flew towards her, raising her shield and blocking the fireballs, letting them fizzle harmlessly after the impact.

"Be careful Akeno, you put a good amount of energy in that attack. We'll need every bit of power if we are to defeat both Cerberus and Kokabiel." Rias said seriously.

"I know, but Issei's multiplier would have resetted if he were to use his attacks to defend himself and we need that power to enhance our own." Akeno said seriously.

"Yes. I know." Rias frowned seriously.

Then two devils were again on the move as Cerberus continued to spew fireballs from its mouth. Rias noticed that the middle one is halting in its assault again and has spawned five more hellhounds.

"We need to take out the middle head, Akeno! That one produces those fiends who are attacking Issei!" Rias exclaimed seriously.

"Right." Akeno nodded as she readied her lightning attack while dodging the fireballs. But her attention was quickly drawn as she noticed that the fireballs were tracking her and Rias now like homing missiles, having no choice but to nullify the attacks. However, they weren't able to help Issei at the same time as now he has to fend for himself.

"Damn it. Alright then, I have no choice but to fight, which is fine by me." Issei frowned in determination as he readied his gauntlet for battle.

But just as three of the hellhounds leapt on Issei, suddenly they were impaled by many swords from the ground, much to Issei's surprise, along with Rias and Akeno.

"Kiba! You made it!" Issei smiled brightly, with Kiba nodding with a smirk before he returned his attention to the two remaining hellhounds. Using his speed, he quickly beheaded the other two hellhounds, with their limp bodies crumbling on the ground. Then Issei's gauntlet flashed bright green, with a dragon insignia forming in the gem.

[It's the signal, we have reached an appropriate multiplier for fighting.]

"It's seems kinda convenient to have that built in." Issei said.

[Let's chalk it up to you and the sacred treasure maturing, what you want you be a reality and all that.]

"Alright then, heads up ladies!" Issei said.

"Ooh, fun." Akeno smiled excitedly as she flew towards Issei, along with Rias to finally get a taste of the Red Dragon Emperor's power themselves.

"Boosted Gear Gift!" Issei shouted as he jumped and touched the two girls at the same time.

[TRANSFER!]

Rias and Akeno moaned seemingly in pleasure as they can feel their power multiplying manifold, while Issei plopped on the ground after transferring that much power.

"Oh yeah." Akeno smirked confidently.

"I'll say. Now let's finish this! We may not be able to kill the hound of Hades himself, but we will drive it back where it came from!" Rias commanded.

"Right!" Issei, Kiba and Akeno nodded.

"SWORD BIRTH!" Kiba shouted as he plunged his weapon into the ground, conjuring row of razor sharp blades at the Cerberus, while Akeno threw one lightning bolt after another to force the three headed hellhound back near the hole where he came from. Once he was near enough, the volcanic beast roared as he slammed his paw on the ground, sending a fiery shockwave in front of him, destroying every single blade conjured by Kiba and forcing him and Issei to dodge sideways.

"NOW!" Rias shouted as she threw an empowered magic circle in front of Akeno, aimed towards Cerberus. Akeno fired a powerful lightning bolt at the said circle, where it was greatly magnified and struck the beast in a mighty thunder, enveloping the Cerberus completely as it whimpered in pain. The force of the impact was strong enough to throw the massive beast back inside the hole where he was spawned. When Cerberus fell down, Rias conjured a magic circle around the hole and sealed it, preventing the beast from returning.

"That was really awesome! Nice work everyone!" Issei said excitedly.

"Awesome is a bit of a stretch." Kokabiel suddenly said in boredom. He was entertained from the entire bout, but was now really bored as he desired for some up close and personal action.

"Take this!" Rias shouted as she threw a large destruction blast at Kokabiel, but the fallen angel smirked as he simply waved away her blast, where it exploded violently nearby and leaving a massive crater at the point of impact.

"Impressive, look how much stronger you've become now that you have a little bit of Dragon Emperor inside you. Sexy, and fascinating as well." Kokabiel grinned wickedly.

"It is complete. Finally it is done!" Valper suddenly said in glee as the ritual was completed, with the circle starting to expand in size.

"So that's it. You plan to use the power of the three combined Excaliburs to destroy this town." Rias said seriously.

"I suggest you leave quickly, this whole area will be destroyed in less than fifteen minutes." Valper grinned wickedly.

"Oh crap." Issei thought in panic before he looked to the city outskirts to his left. "Where the hell are Death and War? They should've been here by now."

"If you want to save it, you'll have to defeat me. Oh no." Kokabiel mocked as he sprung his ten wings and hovered in the air, having more wicked grin on his face as he was eager to begin the slaughter. "Ready Rias Gremory?!" He taunted as the throne behind him disappeared.

"I'm ready!" Rias shouted before she conjured a massive destruction blast at Kokabiel, but the fallen angel easily caught and condensed it in a large sphere. Akeno struck too, but her attack was condensed as well before he combined the two powers into a massive, black-red sphere.

"Fools!" Kokabiel shouted arrogantly as he threw the sphere at Rias.

"Rias!" Akeno shouted as she quickly came to her aid and immediately raised the shield. But Akeno's shield was quickly destroyed and both of the devils took a great deal of damage from the attack, sending two devils flying down.

"Akeno!" Issei shouted as he caught Akeno before she could hit the ground.

"Rias!" Kiba shouted as he was about to run and catch her as well to stop her from slamming into the ground.

But suddenly, Kiba stopped in his tracks as a massive, armored gauntlet caught Rias by her back.

"What?!" Kokabiel exclaimed in shock, his face starting to sweat as he recognized the newcomer all too well, or two for that matter. When Rias turned her head behind to see who her savior was, turns out it was Death and War. The two of the Four Horsemen have finally arrived on the battlefield.

"War?" Rias said as she blushed slightly, but the rider dropped her down rather unceremoniously.

"I think the advice that Death gave to Hyoudou was extended to you as well, Gremory. It was very foolish of you to face Kokabiel head on without us." War said with his usual, serious expression and tone.

"We knew what we were doing, we had this fight under control." Rias said in slight frustration as she was patting her butt to clean the dirt from her skirt.

"You were trying to prove yourself and that nearly got you killed. Stay out of this fight if you want to live." Death said grimly before he extended his scythes in reverse grip and marched forward, with Rias pouting angrily at Death without him noticing.

"What kept you so long anyway?" Rias asked War curiously.

"We were delayed." War said simply.

---

A few minutes earlier…

The two horsemen were riding forward before the environment around them suddenly turned purple, immediately putting the riders on their guard. They were then ambushed by a squad of Dreadspears, a fallen angel variant of the lance wielding angel soldiers, several Black Wardens with shadowy wings, sporting the twisted versions of the rapid fire guns called Damnation, and fallen angel champions, hulking juggernauts with shadowy wings wielding sword and shield. All of the ranged weapons were aimed at the two horsemen.

"Move!" Death ordered as the fallen angels opened fire.

The riders' mounts maneuvered quickly to dodge the shots, while the horsemen parried and sliced through the projectiles. Then one of the fallen angel champions swooped down and charged at War, but the red rider leapt in the air from his horse while Ruin submerged in the ground on time, with War grabbing one of the Dreadspears by the neck, slamming him into the ground before he grabbed his lance and impaled it on his chest. Death did the same by jumping from Despair, with the steed submerging into the ground as well while Death used his Death Grip to latch onto one of the Black Wardens. Death dodged the rapid shots in mid-air as he darted past the fallen angel. Then he used his Death Grip again to latch onto his back and immediately pulled out his twin scythes, impaling them on his back before he decapitated him, forcing him to let go of his weapon as it dropped on the ground, along with Death and the dead fallen angel. War pulled out the lance from the dead Dreadspear and threw it like a javelin onto another Dreadspear, killing him mid-air before he dashed around in fast need to equip himself with Damnation gun. As Death landed, he used his Murder ability as he summoned a flock of crows from the ether, pestering the fallen angels above and distracting them from their target. That gave War the opening to freely head towards the Damnation gun and equip it.

War then fired at the lesser fallen angels, killing them with almost perfect precision as they fruitlessly tried to dodge the shots from the gun while trying to get rid of the flock of crows, with Champions and Black Wardens being successful at that. Death charged onto another Black Warden, but as he was about to leap into the air, a fallen angel champion charged at Death, but the pale rider nimbly jumped sideways to avoid the shield charge. The champion stopped in his tracks as he swung his sword upward, with Death using his two scythes to parry the shadow sword, resulting in a momentary stalemate. Thinking quickly, War set the Damnation gun ammo into an overload, resulting in an explosion in a few short seconds, something that War is counting on. He then threw the entire gun behind the champion while War drew his Chaoseater, preparing himself for the charge. Death noticed the weapon and quickly broke the clash, leaping backward moments before the weapon exploded violently, forming a cloud of smoke. The two remaining champions and a Black Warden were left blind as they couldn't see the horsemen in the smoke. Using that opportunity to his advantage, War jumped in the air and threw his Chaoseater at the last Black Warden, with the weapon impaling on the fallen angel's chest, killing him as the fallen angel fell on the ground. Meanwhile, Death approached the severely battered champion and looked at the fallen angel dead in the eye, with the champion's voice quaking in fear.

"M-Mercy." Champion said as he reached out his hand towards the rider, but Death said nothing as he mercilessly cut the champion down, his head parted from his shoulders.

War landed near the corpse of the Black Warden and pulled out his sword from the corpse's chest. The last two champions charged at the two riders, commencing two duels at the same time. The duels lasted for a while, with the riders clashing their weapons with those of the champions, dodging, parrying and reposting in turn while the champions did the same in retaliation. The riders had only slight difficulty in breaching their defenses when they protect themselves with rather sturdy shields, but knowing that time is of the essence, War and Death knew they had to dispatch the two champions quickly, for they knew that beam of light spells bad news and who knows how close Kokabiel is of reaching his goal. When the momentum arrived, War punched the champion in the face with his gauntlet while Death kicked another champion while doing a back flip. War then used a focused Blade Geyser as many blades erupted from the ground, impaling the champion where he stands. At the same time, Death used his Teleport Slash to disappear and reappear behind the champion, cutting the fallen angel multiple times as its body crumpled on the ground in bloody gore.

After they were done dispatching the fallen angels, their bodies disintegrated in purple fire, the evidence of the carnage erased and the environment around them returning to normal. The riders then quickly assumed their human disguises since they were still distant from their destination. With that done, the two riders nodded to each other before they mounted their steeds and rode forward.

---

Present time…

"What do you mean by that?" Rias asked curiously.

"We had a squad of Kokabiel's loyalist fallen angels to deal with, that's what I mean." War said in slight annoyance as he drew his Chaoseater and marched forward with his brother, with the riders' gazes fixed on Kokabiel. Before Rias could spoke however, she spotted Kiba marching towards Valper.

"Kiba?" Rias said in worry that Kiba won't do anything reckless.

"Valper Galilei. I'm the survivor of the Holy Sword Project, or more accurately of those you tried to murder. I was able to live because I was reborn as a devil. I refuse you die because I knew one day I would avenge the deaths of MY COMRADES!" Kiba shouted in anger as he gripped his Holy Erased and charged at Valper.

"Kiba, no!" Rias shouted worryingly.

In those few moments, while Issei rushed to help Kiba, Kokabiel charged a light lance and threw it at Kiba and Issei. But Death in almost instantaneous speed to everyone except War dashed in front of the way of the blast and sliced the lance in half, making it explode in the air harmlessly. Everyone was stunned by Death's sheer speed that far surpassed even that of a knight. No one but War and to some extent Kokabiel were able to follow his movements.

"Curse those horsemen." Kokabiel growled to himself in anger and fear.

"You are forgetting who you're fighting against Kokabiel." Death threatened in cold, dead serious tone.

"No. You have forgotten who you're fighting against, rider." George suddenly said as he approached the Fused Excalibur. "You killed my brother, horseman. I will have my revenge by making you pay for what you have done, I will break your teeth in through your…"

Suddenly he was silenced as something pierced his chest. When he looked down it was Kokabiel's light lance that inflicted a mortal wound on him.

"W… Why?" It was all that George said as his body fell down, disintegrating in sparks of light and with him, the light lance as well. Then Kokabiel telekinetically summoned the Fused Excalibur to him, boosting his strength with immense power resulting from combined swords. Realizing the severity of the situation, Kokabiel knew he would have to take this fight seriously or his death will be a certainty.

"Fool. The runt has no idea who he's dealing with. I'm not sure if even I can beat the Reaper, let alone War as well." Kokabiel thought in extreme caution as he looked at Death's orange, soulless eyes.

"So much for that act. And speaking of vengeance…" Death said as he glanced behind him, his gaze fixed on Kiba. "It's time."

"What?" Kiba said in slight confusion.

"You said you wanted your revenge on this human for killing your comrades." Death said before he glanced back at Kokabiel. "Now it's time to make good on your oath."

Kiba nodded seriously before he fixed his angry gaze at the old man. He would have dealt his punishment on the human himself, but Kiba hates this man to the core, so it's only fitting that his blade is to be stained with the rogue priest's blood instead.

"I'll make you pay for everything you have ever done to me and my friends. It ends here." Kiba said angrily.

"Please, please don't kill me. I'm sorry, please forgive me. I regret what I did, truly! Please, show mercy!" Valper whimpered in cracked voice as he knelt on the ground and cupped his hand, praying with all his might that he will by some miracle be spared.

Death and War grunted slightly in disgust. It always ends like this, villains groveling at their feet, begging for mercy whenever the tables turn on them. It became predictable to such a degree over the eons that it's either funny or pathetic, though in Strife's case it's equivalent to someone telling him a good joke.

"Mercy? Mercy?!" Kiba growled in fury before in an instant, he swung his sword and decapitated Valper on the spot, much to the surprise of Rias, Akeno, Issei and to lesser extent War and Death.

"Kiba." Rias said in shocked voice. She knew that he was eager to exact hot vengeance on Valper for what he had done to his friends, but for someone like Kiba that was a really ruthless decapitation.

"This was the mercy you showed to my friends. Now you were given the same treatment in kind." Kiba seethed with anger as he looked at the priest's decapitated head, but it slowly dissipated when the deed was done.

The riders were honestly expecting for scenario where Kiba spares the cutthroat, right before the priest retaliates when Kiba's back was turned, but for someone of Kiba's polite and friendly mannerism, they were only slightly taken aback in that moment at how someone of his personality can be so ruthless. Nothing new for the riders, not by a longshot, but in Death's and War's case, it amuses them to see someone actually fulfilling his vengeance instead of hesitating when the moment of revenge is at hand and eventually spare their lives. War in particular respected revenge as he can be pretty vindictive himself. He was the only rider out of the two to share Kiba's point of view at the situation, but he would never say it out loud.

"Congratulations." Death said, much to the devils' surprise and War's slight curiosity. "His debt has been paid in blood and you finally avenged your comrades. Now the main festivities will commence shortly."

"I will deal with him." War said as he stood next to his brother.

"Since when are you calling the shots?" Death asked in dry tone.

"Since the time you beat Riser Phenex in combat. Now it's my turn." War smirked a bit as he looked at his brother.

"You don't even have wings War, how do you think you can keep up with a fallen angel on the ground?" Death asked curiously. War said nothing as he took a few steps forward and a pair of large, fiery wings sprung almost instantly from his back. "So, you finally mastered the Shadowflight?"

"Yes. Now these wings have use for more than just gliding for a few miserable seconds. I can maintain them as long as I want and maneuver the skies with ease." War said, gripping his Chaoseater before he flapped his fiery wings and took to the skies, sending violent winds in every direction on ground level, stunning the devils a bit from the force of the winds produced by War, while Death merely shrugged those winds like a breeze.

"Not bad War. Not bad at all." Death thought, feeling slightly proud of his brother's achievement, but of course that's something he would never say out loud. If he didn't voice that in the past, why should he now? In front of these annoying Gremory devils no less.

War commenced the assault as he charged at Kokabiel, his Chaoseater ready to make good on its name. Kokabiel readied his Fused Excalibur and parried the attack of War's blade. When the swords struck at each other, gale winds struck violently in massive radius, stunning the devils below as they tried to fight off the winds.

"Whoah. What power, it's incredible." Kiba said in amazement.

"Yeah, and the fight hasn't even started." Issei said, about as amazed as Kiba if not more. Rias and Akeno shared the amazement as they silently watched the fight unfold in awe.

War and Kokabiel then continued the fight, maneuvering airborne at fast speed, their blades clashing as one tried to break the other's defenses. But even with the Fused Excalibur, Kokabiel was staggered back with every powerful blow dealt by War and his ancient weapon. Even with someone of his immense power, he knew he has no hope of victory against War himself, so he decided to immediately make use of the Excalibur abilities before the fight goes really downhill for him. Kokabiel raised his sword high and divided into five. Then he used the speed of the Excalibur Rapidly to dash like a blur in seemingly every direction. But even with the fight against someone like Kokabiel, War was not impressed by his increase of speed with the Excalibur Rapidly. Death and Strife could move much faster than this, even Kiba's speed was that of a snail in comparison, which is how he was able to parry every single blow he threw at the rider with ease. Kokabiel's five forms attacked the rider one by one, but War was able to parry every strike of their blades, taking the fight a little bit seriously than his bout with Kiba.

"Wow, what speed. Kokabiel is not giving War a second to retaliate." Issei said in awe of the fight.

"It doesn't look too good for him." Akeno frowned seriously.

Rias remained silent as she looked at Death to see his reaction on War's fight, with the pale rider folding his arms as he observed the bout unfold. It was unnerving that he was so calm, as still as a corpse, not worried in the slightest. She can't tell from his mask the fact that he doesn't simply care whether War will win or lose, or that he is that confident in his younger brother's strength that there was no need to worry at all.

After one of Kokabiel's copies attacked the rider, War grabbed the Excalibur sword with his gauntlet and swung his own sword at the fallen angel, cleaving him in half and making him disappear. Then he quickly sheathed his blade and used his Abyssal Chain to pierce the second copy by the shoulder, pulling the fallen angel towards him and impaling him through the chest with Chaoseater using his gauntlet, making him disappear as well. The third and fourth copy attacked War from both his left and right, but War caught the third one's blade with his gauntlet and parried the fourth one's blade with Chaoseater. Then he delivered a power strike in circular motion as both of the copies were cleaved. With the deed done, the four copies returned to the fifth one, forcing Kokabiel to regress to his single form. When he did, he panted a little in fatigue, while War remained unaffected by the bout in the slightest.

"He's… amazing." Rias said to herself, really impressed that after all that high speed dashing mid-air it didn't affect War at all. But in all honesty, after seeing what War was truly capable of back at the Rating Game with Riser, she knew that Kokabiel lost the fight before it began.

"Transparency!" Kokabiel shouted as the Fused Excalibur started to disappear, along with the wielder himself, making War frown seriously. "What will you do now rider? You can't attack me if you can't see me." He mocked as he used the Excalibur Rapidly to dash at fast speed around War.

"Well… you're half right Kokabiel." War said seriously as he used one of several enchantments infused in his blade, one of them being Hellfire, an element harnessed from Hell itself during his many sojourns to that accursed realm. The combination of invisibility and super speed was not bad, but nothing that the Four Horsemen haven't dealt with in the past over the eons. There was one thing Kokabiel blindly didn't count on: His massive level of power. His combo won't matter if he doesn't bother to suppress his power, which is how he can tell at what position he is.

Then in that moment Kokabiel charged at the rider, War quickly raised his Chaoseater and unleashed a violent, circular burst of Hellfire, stunning Kokabiel and staggering him back, his clothes caught on fire in several places, along with four of his ten wings. In that moment as Kokabiel was distracted with putting out the fires, War dashed forward and raised his left gauntlet, punching Kokabiel in the stomach hard and sending him darting towards the ground like a meteor, crashing and completely destroying half of the school house in the process, the debris and dust blowing in the direction of Death and the devils.

"War! We're trying to protect our school, not destroy it!" Rias shouted angrily.

"Your precious acedemy is not my concern." War shrugged as he continued to look at the rubble where Kokabiel was buried after the crash.

"Seconded." Death said casually, making the devils look at the two riders in bewilderment.

"Man, talk about zero fucks given attitude." Issei said in slight disbelief at the riders taking things so casually without thinking about the destruction they cause, or so he believed.

But before devils could say anything further, suddenly Kokabiel dashed like a blur in seething fury and reappeared in front of War, his four wings burned away, along with his robe and the skin of right side of his face, his left rib, right thigh and left hand.

"War, watch out!" Rias shouted worryingly as Kokabiel roared while swinging his Fused Excalibur in an attempt to cleave the rider in two. But War stood in place perfectly still and grabbed the Excalibur sword with his gauntlet without much effort.

"What?!" Kokabiel shouted in shock, his face starting to sweat as War is now having a dead serious look on his face. The fallen angel tried to free his blade from War's iron grip, but it didn't budge even an inch.

The Gremory devils couldn't believe how much the tables have turned when War and Death arrived. In the beginning of their bout with the fallen angel, Kokabiel had them on the ropes, toying with them every step of the way, finding twisted ways to amuse himself while torturing the devils. But with the horsemen's arrival, he was now the victim and the riders were the one overwhelming the leader class fallen angel with their seemingly limitless power.

"The original Excalibur was much more powerful than this. What you have is nothing but a shadow of its former glory, a parody of what it once was." War said in serious tone as he applied pressure on the blade with his gauntlet, squeezing the blade more and more until finally the sword sundered in large shards, leaving Kokabiel with only the grip of the blade, thus forcing him to drop it.

"You bastard! I WILL KILL YOOOUU!" Kokabiel shouted in fury before he darted in the sky, raising his hands and conjuring a light spear that rapidly grew in size until it was the size of a school house.

"Oh no!" Kiba said in shock.

"What the hell is he doing? Is he going to kill all of us?!" Issei shouted in shock.

"That attack has enough power to destroy the entire town and lands beyond in huge radius. If it sets off, none of us will survive it." Akeno said seriously.

"What?! For real?!" Issei shouted in shock. "Then that means mom… dad… even Asia…" He said in disbelief before he gritted his teeth angrily. "Hey! What the hell are you doing just standing around dude?! Move your ass and stop him before we're all dead!" He shouted, but War remained silent in place, merely looking at Kokabiel above with a same, serious look on his face.

"Quit panicking Issei!" Rias said seriously, making the devil pawn look at her in slight surprise of her rather serious tone. "The only thing we can do for now is believe in War and his abilities. And if things turn to worse, we will jump in and help him beat Kokabiel."

"A very stupid idea." Death suddenly said, attracting the attention of the devils. "War would rather die than receive anyone's help. And in your case, he would most likely kill you if you were to interfere. So I suggest you stay put and let him finish this fight." He said in his stern, cold tone, finally silencing the devils and putting all their hopes in War's next move, most notably Rias.

Kokabiel finally threw his massive light lance at the rider, but War was not worried in the slightest as Death was not the only one equipped with a potent secondary weapon. The horseman calmly sheathed his Chaoseater and then clenched his right fist, gripping it tightly as surges of lightning crackled around his fist, forming noticeably more and more until he flexed his hand back and a demonic looking gauntlet formed in his hand the size of his prosthetic left gauntlet, a gauntlet that Death recognized well. The Tremor Gauntlet, an ancient weapon forged by the demons in league with the Earthshakers, a race of storm giants who not only controlled thunder and lightning, but also have the power to cause seismic earthquakes, shattering the ground ranging from small islands to even entire continents, a weapon that multiplies the user's strength to a considerable degree. And in War's hands, its destructive capabilities are unimaginable. And yet in light of the situation, War knew if Kokabiel's massive attack is to set off this close to town, it could destroy it entirely, along with the lands beyond. And that's where the Tremor Gauntlet comes into play.

War clenched his gauntlet and waited for the light lance to close in. Once it was close enough, War shouted as electric charged gauntlet struck the tip of the lance. Instead of destroying it, War focused the kinetic energy of his attack to punch the lance away instead, with Kokabiel's own attack darting towards the skies, bypassing him at fast speed. The electricity caused by the strike of the Tremor Gauntlet quickly spread across the lance until finally the lance itself exploded violently in the sky in a massive radius, above the clouds reaching out the entire city and beyond, where even from ground level the sound of explosion can be heard.

Kokabiel was left completely stunned and speechless from War's feat of strength. He put all of his energy into his light lance and the rider punched it away like it was nothing. As for War, he had enough of this one sided bout as he sprung his fiery wings and drew his Chaoseater once again before charging towards the fallen angel. Kokabiel had little time to recover from his state of shock as War plunged his blade in the fallen angel's chest, with Kokabiel puking out a chunk of blood in turn.

"It ends now, fallen angel." War stated grimly as blood flowed from Kokabiel's chest on his blade.

Then War pulled Kokabiel overhead and threw him down, making the fallen angel crash into the ground near Death and the devils. With his demise, the holy circle rune that was etched on the school grounds lifted in the air before it dissipated, vanishing into nothingness while War landed in front of Kokabiel, his wings dissipating from his back and sheathing his Chaoseater as Kokabiel's corpse finally regressed in light energy, dissipating until it completely vanished.

"Wow, you kicked that sucker's ass good dude!" Issei cheered as the devils got closer to War.

"Nice work War." Kiba smiled while Rias and Akeno nodded silently in praise.

War was more annoyed by the praise than anything, it's not like he's doing all this in the Kingdom of Man for the fun of it or to show off his skills. When his eyes met with Rias' though, the Gremory princess blushed and shyly looked away, not having the courage to make contact with his blue eyes for some unknown reason. War and Death raised their eyebrows curiously at the sight. While War was oblivious to her rather strange behavior, Death had a good guess of what's happening.

"Hmm. An interesting development to say the least." Death thought, surprised and slightly confused at the same time. This one must be really insane if she thinks War of all people will requite any 'feelings' to her whatsoever if that's what's going on. A ridiculous concept to even think about, let alone mention out loud.

But before either of them could utter a word, a powerful beam of white energy shot towards War at almost instantaneous speed. The red rider was on immediate alert as he raised both of his hands in front of him and defended himself from the sudden assault. The assailant struck War before the punch could reach the red rider, sending War sliding back a few yards before he composed himself and pushed the attacker back while quickly drawing his blade. But the enemy hovered backwards swiftly before the rider's blade would reach him and landed not far from War, covered in white armor similar to Issei's, with the exception of glowing blue wings.

"Wait, is that…" Rias said in surprise as she couldnt believe who she was seeing.

"The White Dragon Emperor." War stated sternly.

"My apologies. I thought that I attacked Kokabiel, but I never would have guessed that I would encounter The Lord of Battles himself." The unknown wielder of the white dragon said, in strangely enthusiastic tone for the riders.

"Kokabiel is dead." Death finally spoke, attracting the vanishing dragon's attention. "And apparently you have a death wish as well."

"Hmm. The Reaper of Souls is here too? Things certainly got a lot more interesting." The white dragon wielder thought as he glanced from Death back to War. "Even so, I doubt I can take on two of the Four Horsemen at the same time." The white dragon thought cautiously, despite his powers and abilities. That said, with little choice, he sprung his wings and took to the skies.

"Oh no you don't." War growled as he sprung his wings as well and charged at the white dragon. "You won't get away after that sneak attack!"

[DIVIDE!]

War's power was cut in half, his body feeling heavy at the sudden decrease in power, his wings disappearing and making him fall down on the ground. Luckily War managed to land on his feet, realizing the mistake he made for charging at the assailant so blindly.

"Have you forgotten that he has the ability to cut your power in half War?" Death scolded with folded arms as he walked and stopped next to his brother.

"Yes, I know, very stupid of me to be so reckless." War gritted his teeth in frustration as he got up and clenched his sword.

"That being said, it would appear that we have found the wielder of Albion, The White Dragon Emperor." Death said as he fixed his cold, ruthless gaze at the assailant.

[Are you going to ignore me, white one?] Ddraig suddenly said from Issei's gauntlet, attracting the attention of the white dragon wielder.

"The dragon hand talked?" Rias said in surprise. This whole time Issei's Sacred Gear was silent to everyone else, but it would appear that the dragon inside Issei has a mind of his own.

[You are still alive, red one?] Albion said as the blue wings flashed repeatedly, similarly to Issei's green gem when Ddraig is communicating.

[I've been wondering when we would finally meet again.] Ddraig said.

[As have I, we are still fated to fight. It is inevitable.] Albion said.

"If you prefer not to be banished into Oblivion as originally intended, along with your wielders, you will not be fighting, at least not in Man's Kingdom." Death threatened in a very stern, cold voice.

[Yes. We know better than to invoke the wrath of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.] Ddraig said after several seconds of intense silence.

[Especially the Reaper of Souls himself.] Albion said.

"Good. Now out of my sight! And don't make me regret my mercy." Death threatened to the white dragon wielder. The assailant clenched his fists as he begrudgingly turned around, his body enveloped in blinding light and turning into blue orb of light, dissipating more and more until it completely disappeared. With the deed done, Death and War turned to the devils.

"Well, I guess it's finally over." Rias said, sighing in relief.

"Not quite. You devils are going to repair the damage caused to this institution. Also, you will use your devil magic to erase the events of this night's battle from the human's memories inhabiting this town." Death ordered.

"What?! After all that, you're putting us on clean up duty?! Come on dude, that's not even close to fair." Issei complained childishly.

"Life is seldom fair, Hyoudou. Now quit complaining and get to work." Death ordered as Despair galloped near him, with Ruin doing the same, prompting the two riders to mount and ride away from the devils, back to their headquarters in Rias' club house.

"Ugh, he's such a fucking dildohead it's unreal!" Issei shouted as he grabbed his head in frustration.

"Maybe. But on the bright side, they managed to kill Kokabiel and stop the Great War from happening again." Akeno smiled at Issei.

"Well, let's start rebuilding the school. And then I'll deal with you Kiba." Rias frowned seriously before she left towards the ruined school house, along with Akeno.

Kiba now realized the severity of his foolish thirst for revenge as he bowed his head down in shame. He betrayed Rias and her household, he practically left them behind to hunt down Valper and the other culprits on his own. Now he doesn't know if it's even possible to redeem himself to her.

"Don't take her words to heart, Kiba." Issei said seriously, drawing Kiba's attention. "It's more because of Koneko's death that she is like this."

"Koneko's dead? How?! What happened?!" Kiba asked in complete shock.

"Death killed her, along with Saji after our fight with the stray priest." Issei said seriously before he clenched his fist. "It's my fault. I should have let Rias and the others know of our plan to help you out. But it all backfired completely and now Koneko and Saji are dead. All because of me." He gritted his teeth in frustration and clenched his fists angrily.

"That's not true Issei. Koneko agreed to help you, she knew of the risks." Kiba said seriously.

"That's what I keep telling myself. And yet I can't let go of the fact that I'm responsible for what happened to them." Issei said, having a lump on his neck as tears started to form in his eyes, sniffing a bit before he stood upright.

"There's no use inflicting pain to yourself. If anything, I'm to be blamed for starting this whole mess in the first place. If I wasn't so blinded by my own thirst for revenge, you wouldn't had to go through all the trouble of finding people to help me. So ultimately, I am the one to be blamed for their deaths." Kiba said in dead serious tone as he looked down before he looked in front of him. "So I'm ready for any sort of punishment planned on me, no matter how severe it may be. Now let's go, the president waits for us." He said, with Issei slowly following suit, ready to commence the reconstruction of their school.

---

The next day, Death summoned Irina and Xenovia to have a word with them after the last night's events.

"You two couldn't have been more useless than yesterday. You were given the task to find Kokabiel and return to us, not confront him head on." Death scolded with folded arms.

"Well if we had our Holy Swords, we would have at least stood a chance against him." Xenovia frowned slightly in anger.

"Yes, your creativity is astonishing, human." Death said sarcastically, angering Xenovia and even Irina, but they know better than to say anything against the Reaper. "We have acquired the shards of the Excalibur swords that were combined in a single weapon. Now all that is left is to find the culprit who has the tendency to equip the humans with weaponry from the White City's arsenal."

"The White City?" Irina asked curiously.

"A realm that humans know as Heaven." War said.

"Oh wow, you've actually been to Heaven?! Oh dear Lord, it must have been divine!" Irina squealed in pure glee, her pupils turning to stars at the very thought as she cupped her hands in prayer. "So can you tell me what Heaven looks like?! Is it among the clouds, where a large fence gate awaits, the holy, radiant light shining through them with cute little angels leading you in?!"

"Irina!" Xenovia interrupted, returning Irina to reality, much to her annoyance and frustration for being so rudely interrupted. "The Reaper didn't summon us to give us a history lesson."

"Oh right. Sorry, I get all excited at the mention of Heaven." Irina giggled cutely, much to the utter annoyance of the riders. If she were to know how the White City and its militaristic society works, her opinion of the First Kingdom would have been a whole lot different.

"Now, what do you mean of the culprit that you mentioned?" Xenovia asked seriously.

"I mean of your leader, the Archangel Michael." Death stated.

"What?! The great Archangel Michael?!" Irina and Xenovia exclaimed in shock and surprise.

"Yes. That is the purpose of this meeting, for you two to make contact with the archangel and bring him to me." Death said in strict tone.

"I'm afraid it's not as easy as it sounds to make contact with Lord Michael." Xenovia frowned seriously.

"I'm sure you'll find the way. After all, you two are part of the Church, correct?" Death said shrewdly, making the two girls scowl a bit. "Now go, you have your orders." Death commanded. Now his words are really getting on Xenovia's nerves as she gritted her teeth in frustration.

"To hell with all this! I don't care if he's one of the Four, I will not be treated like a lapdog!" Xenovia thought in anger.

"Xenovia!" Irina exclaimed, this time she being the one who tempered her ally's anger as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go. You heard what he said." She said in calm tone with closed eyes before she turned around and walked away, with Xenovia begrudgingly following suit.

"Poor Irina. I know she's the member of the Church and all that, but I feel sorry for her. This is probably the cruelest treatment she can receive from the horsemen." Issei thought before he sighed. "Wish the things didn't get this complicated, or at all. Life would have been much easier and simpler if these dickbags didn't enter the scene."

And so Death and War have acquired five swords of the fabled Excalibur and slain Kokabiel, putting an end to his scheme to restart the Great War that ceased centuries ago, with only two swords left to find. But even with that battle won, Kokabiel was not the perpetrator that they are looking for, for he was not in a possession of even one of the Seven Seals to give them a solid evidence of the impending Endwar. For now, the riders will have to continue in their search and pray that their efforts will bear fruit sooner rather than later.

---

A/N: And here it is, Kokabiel vs War. I know some of you expected for Death to fight Kokabiel, but since he had Fused Excalibur, i thought it would be more awesome for the two swordsmen to duke it out airborne.

-Wacko12 I am yet to see what will i do with Uriel in this crossover, because one is different from the other.

-zhisyamuddin2900 Hahaha,thanks alot man, nah it's okay, it's just so annoying for people to ask me to make the damn Horsemen of the Apocalypse to go all lovey dovey. I played both Darksiders 1 and 2 and know their personalities, so hell no on that part. Thanks for the review and have a nice day too :)

-Gamelover41592 Thanks a lot, yeah i really gave some thought on Michael's background, hope it doesnt put me in the corner. Yeah, things dont go too well with irina and Xenovia, but who knows, anything can happen in future chapters :)

-OmegaDelta Well, i have yet to see what i will do with Ascalon, so can't say anything at this point.

-Deathbigfan It's okay. Well i try. Thanks and you're welcome, hope i dont disappoint in future chapters :)

-Odinson... no. Sorry, but no.

-Elldar Haha, yeah Death has that kind of effect on people across Creation. I thought about it, but i was thinking of tweaking the Reaper Form a bit, so it's not a total spamfest and make him tap into that power only when it's necessary. Or at least not to spam it as much as he did in Darksiders 2 :P

Thanks. I like both Death and War, they are total badasses, so that's why i decided to throw War in as well, especially with the mentioned bond they have after the Abomination Crisis.

How powerful they are? Cant tell exactly how strong they are, but i'd say they are uber powerful especially in their Chaos Forms, since they are the Charred Council's enforcers after all. I mean, they weren't really trying so far, except maybe when they were fighting the demon army in the Rating Game, so we are yet to see how powerful they really are. Will Mortis appear? I doubt it, since i gave Death Frostforged Twins as his secondary weapons.

And no problem, thanks for the extensive review and have a nice day as well :)

-TheFirstHorseman nah dont sweat it it's okay.

And second, yeah, here's my take on the Excalibur arc. I know, didnt do much with Xenovia in this chapter (or at all), but i'm planning what to do with Xenovia in the next chapter. Whether she will become a devil like in anime or will she take another path, that remains to be seen. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless :)

-This guy saids Could be, who knows? :D

-MegaKill Thank you very much. Yeah, i actually plan on going all the way to season 4. At first i doubted on how it will turn out to be, but after watching 9 episodes into that season (english dubbed), i decided to go that far and will probably end the story on a high note after i covered season 4 with a legendary battle in mind.

-MakeWarNotLove Well if you mean by issei using his Illegal Move Triaina or Cardinal Crimson Promotion, then yeah, he would give Death a run for his money. Before that... nah, he would definitely lose, especially if we consider Death's own abilities from Darksiders 2, like Unstoppable, Aegis Guard etc.

-Fortune Unfortunately, not very soon, because for now i'm focusing on this story.

Thank you all for the reviews and as always, i'll see you in the next chapter :)