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?

15. Chapter 15

~Horsemen Divided~

Four days earlier, when War first saw Azazel's planned training schedules for the Gremory devils, he saw that his 'training' was underwhelmingly lacking and shortsighted to say the least. The intensity and the method of the training Azazel had in mind for them would only be a short term thing, to ready them solely for the Rating Game to come against Sona and her servants. It was pathetic in all honesty, this was nowhere near enough of a progress for them to be useful at all. But both Death and War had far grander plans for these devils then fighting pointless games against each other, and they plan to whip them into shape enough to truly stand a chance against foes far more formidable than Serafall's four eyed sibling. Thus War came up with a different method, one that would bring adequate results if these devils prove themselves. To this end, War had requested from Usiel, commander of the 7th Legion to send several of his warriors to aid in the training of the Gremory devils. His legion is one of the rare few regiments of angels who are in good terms with the select few pillars of the devil society, the Gremory household among them. Since Issei already had his own instructor and Gasper has no need of one for what he needs to do, four angels from the said legion would suit his needs. These angels would not only prepare the devils for the Rating Game ahead, but for far more gruesome battles that would no doubt follow in days to come, be it from the traitors and renegades of the Khaos Brigade, soldiers of Heaven and Hell, or any creature not aligned with either of these factions.

And on that day, when the six Gremory devils went their separate ways to commence their training, Rias, Akeno, Asia and Kiba met up with their own angel instructors. In Asia's case, surprisingly, Azrael himself decided to impart his immense wisdom and knowledge on the innocent youth in days to come, in free time when he is not busy with his own duties. This was no doubt Azazel's handiwork as he did mention that he knew what instructor would be suitable for the girl. Though they were curious of Azrael's motivation to instruct Asia, the horsemen didn't bother to object, as Azrael's wisdom in magic would indeed be of great aid to expand Asia's magical arsenal, to be more than just a healer on a battlefield.

Kiba on the other hand had a far more violent instructor than the said archangel, a brutal, yet honorable angel champion named Rastion. He was instructed to help Kiba attain his Balance Breaker and hone his fighting skills with the sword to deadly edge. And that is exactly what he intends to do, to prove to the boy that his high speed tactics will not be enough to save him in every battle.

Next was Akeno. The original instructor Azazel planned for her would have been someone who shares her powers and even genes, and in this case it would have been her own father Baraquiel. However, War predicted his parental attachment to his child and saw it to be nothing but a crippling detriment to her training. Instead, War had chosen a more severe instructor than her father, which was a battle mage named Thaddeus, known among the 7th Legion as the Bringer of Storm. Patient and instructive outside the battlefield, but when the battle is joined, he exhibits the same type of ferocity that he would show to any demon of Hell. This is exactly the type of pressure that Akeno needs to endure in days to come, and in the process to at long last accept her heritage and make full use of her lightning powers.

And finally, Rias. Due to the ruinous power that she wields, very few if any angel would be suitable to enhance her magical prowess. If anything, a demon would be a better trainer than an angel in this particular area, but that option was almost immediately thrown out the window as they always demand something in return, and War sincerely doubts that the Gremories would want to have anything to do with those vipers. Fortunately, Azrael proposed for the horseman to employ an angel battle mage not of the 7th Legion, but of the Hellguard instead. It is no secret between Azrael and Abaddon that some among the battle mages of the Hellguard practice using the destructive magics of demons against their eternal enemy. After all, Abaddon is willing to use any means to finally be rid of their foes once and for all. So long as that line doesn't cross too far though. In any case, per Azrael's suggestion, War indeed enlisted the aid of the Hellguard angel Valeria. In days to come she would instruct Rias, both to boost her tactical acumen and improve her magical prowess in every respect.

And so, with Azrael and Valeria instructing the respective devils, the four required angels from Usiel halved to two instead, both instructing Akeno and Kiba. True to War's word, not counting Asia, the training the devils had to endure under their angel instructors was a brutal ordeal. Since day one their sessions were rather battles for survival than your typical day of training. However cruel and sometimes suicidal War's training methods were, it was necessary for these devils to fully experience the life and death situation that they will be in time and again in days to come, just like when they fought Riser's demonic army back at the Rating Game and Katarea Leviathan's throng of renegades that assaulted them during the Three Faction Meeting.

During this time, Gasper had a far more simplistic task, which was to walk among a big crowd of people and rid himself of his agoraphobia. However, due to his past, rather traumatic experiences with the people, stoning him in the face as one of the examples, it was far from simple. But thanks to Death's 'gentle' words, Gasper outright refused to be even near the box, let alone stand on it, so it was a good of a start as it can be, even though it was immeasurably tempting to sit in it and hide. However, the Reaper's demeaning words are not the only ones that echoed in the boy's mind.

"The way you behave right now you will never be the man you want to be, let alone a brave warrior to be proud of."

"If it's to make Issei and others proud of me, then I'll do whatever it takes! I promise I won't let you down sir!"

"Fulfill that promise with deeds child. Then I will believe your resolve."

These three sentences echoed in his mind, but Death's last sentence finally made him frown in determination and take that first step, determined to make good on his promise. One step at the time and he eventually found himself in the middle of the street. But sadly, his confidence quickly crumbled as his body started to shake uncontrollably, his fears all the more unbearable as the crowd glanced at him with confused expressions.

"Are you okay mister?" A small toddler suddenly asked him innocently.

Gasper was jumpscared good as he screamed in fear before he finally fainted and collapsed on the ground, the sheer pressure of his task too much for the boy to handle.

"Goodness, what happened to him?"

"Poor thing."

Lastly, Issei himself. For the next three days that followed, Issei did nothing but run from the dragon's attacks, avoiding his flames so he wouldn't be burnt to cinders.

"That was close." Issei sighed in relief.

"It seems you were able to avoid it this time." Tannin said casually.

"Hey, don't sell me short, three days in and you haven't burned me yet! I'm starting to think you don't live up to the hype!" Issei shouted.

"Fool. You would be nothing but ash the moment I got serious. Now hurry up and achieve your Balance Breaker!" Tannin said before he spewed more flames, prompting Issei to run in panic again.

---

Back to the present day, after the events on Olympus, Rias and the Gremory devils continue their training, doing their best to prepare themselves for the Rating Game ahead while trying not to break their bodies during their sessions with the angel instructors. Currently, after his brief ordeal with Ophis, Death had decided to pay a visit to each of the devils and see their progress thus far by himself, all the while contemplating on the dragon's words regarding the Charred Council, which only confused him a bit. Them going against the very Balance they had upheld for eons on end is a concept that is too ludicrous to even think about, let alone mention outloud. If so, then that would imply that their eons of service to the Council would end up utterly pointless. And the fact that she said that he was caught in their schemes, along with his brothers only raised more headscraching questions. Does that mean that they intend to be rid of the horsemen? Sure there were times over the eons where missions seemed impossible and suicidal to accomplish, but it was never a blatant attempt on their part to send their own enforcers to be executed by the criminals they were sent to kill. Also, regarding the Sins themselves, Ophis may have a point about their allegiance. They obey no one, not even each other, so the attempt to free them would only benefit the Sins and no one else. And if he is to believe her innocence in this matter, who else could free the Sins? No one but the Council themselves would know where the Talisman was hidden, the very item where the Sins were imprisoned to begin with. And in all honesty, that trail of thought is slowly convincing Death of the Council's complicity for recent events. He's not certain about the part where they intend to eliminate the horsemen, but releasing the Sins would be a likely case.

Speaking of the Sins, the fact that Avarice had the pieces of the Armageddon Blade made him question if other Sins had the blade shards as well. And since Ophis gave him two more pieces of the blade, for whatever sinister reason known only by her so far, only three more are left to be found and taken in their custody. Although he has doubts that he will find the last three shards with the remaining few Sins that are yet to be reimprisoned as well, he wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. And if they do in best case scenario, that would be as the saying goes, killing two birds with one stone.

And later down the line, a perhaps more crucial task is left to be done, the very reason why the horsemen bothered to venture to Earth to begin with. To find the conspirator threatening the Three Kingdoms with premature Endwar. As Death replayed many events that occurred in only a few weeks, neither Riser Phenex nor Katarea Leviathan were the criminals he was after. Kokabiel was a skirmish that War had dealt with like any other, and Ophis has no other motive other than to return home, back to the Dimensional Gap, even if it means bringing the Great Red into their reality. He would have definitely branded her as such if the Seven Seals weren't involved into all this. Someone definitely seeks to break them, case in point when Fury and Strife found one of the Seals stolen by Avarice. After the Armageddon Blade fiasco, when the blade was broken in pieces and scattered about, the Seals were also replaced elsewhere. To ensure that the pieces were not gathered again so easily, the Council had taken three of the Seven Seals to be guarded by the individuals of their own choosing. The Council kept one of the Seals, the very one they forged on that day when the truce was made. The second Seal was given to Samael, who on that day was a representative of the Dark Kingdom, to be placed in the vaults of his seat of power within Blackstone Keep. And a third Seal was given to the General of the Hellguard himself, Abbadon, to guard it with his life if need be. As for the whereabouts of the other Seals, not even Death knew for sure, until Avarice somehow managed to obtain one of the Seals. Taking all this into account, only three seals are left, hopefully better hidden than they were before.

All of that being said, even after all the brainstorming he's again back to square one, making him sigh in frustration. Although, he couldn't help but have a slight sense of anxiety at the back of his mind when he thought about that black substance that twisted the Dragon King Vritra into a monster that he and War defeated. When that memory came to his mind, immediately after did he remember his brief tussle with the corrupted angel, Makhala was the name he recalled. Could this malicious plague be somehow connected with the Seals? He wasn't certain, but it's still rather convenient how both of these situations occurred in such short span of time.

But enough of prolonged brainstorms, all these thoughts and questions are to be resolved as days go by. Right now he turned his focus on discovering the progress of the Gremory devils thus far. The first devil he went for was Asia. When he arrived about an hour later, he noticed that the girl was on her knees, her hands palmed together, her eyes closed and head bent down a bit while covered in green, soothing aura, apparently meditating while Azrael hovered behind her.

"This is an interesting development." Death said, loud enough for the two of them to hear him. Azrael and even Asia looked up at the guttural, yet familiar voice, a newcomer that they immediately recognized.

"Death?" Azrael said in slight surprise before he looked at Asia and smiled warmly. "Continue with your meditation, per my instructions."

"I will sir." Asia smiled eagerly before she closed her eyes and continued her meditation, while Azrael hovered in the air and landed next to the Reaper.

"I'm surprised that you would pay her a visit." Azrael said simply.

"What is more surprising is that you accepted Azazel's request to instruct this child. You wouldn't be doing that unless she was something special." Death said curiously.

"Indeed she is. Though she is now a devil, her heart is still that of a human. And what was refreshing for me is that her soul is unblemished by Lucifer's corruption that he unleashed on humanity so long ago." Azrael smiled as he looked at Asia, still meditating on the spot.

"Yes, one of a kind specimen." Death said sarcastically.

Death doesn't believe at all that she is untainted by the sins of the Animus in one way or the other, the biggest proof of that fact being none other than Issei himself, who is arguably Lust personified in cardinal sense of the word. If that were to be the case, then War and Strife wouldn't had the need to cut down so many human lives on that day. Barring mankind, he had faced far too many 'unblenished' beings over the eons that he simply doesn't believe in purehearted people anymore. Even after weeks of knowing Asia, somewhat, he still has doubts for her. From his experience, the 'pure' and magnanimous veils of many wretches that he killed always served a mask to conceal their true agendas, so it stands to reason that Asia would be no exception.

"Aside from that, she also has a gleaming curiosity for magic and its inner workings, and a healthy dose of thirst for knowledge and self-improvement." Azrael said warmly as he looked at the child still meditating on the spot.

"That is hardly a rarity for you Azrael." Death said as he tilted his head a bit and looked curiously at the archangel.

"Perhaps, but over the centuries it became formulaic or outright zealotry for the angels to pursue the knowledge and wisdom regarding only war. So it was refreshing for me to tutor this child to the arts of healing, rather than causing mayhem and bloodshed, as is the norm with my people." Azrael explained in neutral tone.

"Well, since you've taken it upon yourself to instruct her, I expect progress in days to come. I assume that I can expect nothing less of you regarding that fact." Death said in his usual, grim tone.

"There is already progress rider, though im curious how far will she learn before her battle with the devil queen Serafall's sister." Azrael said as she looked at Asia, who was still mediating as instructed.

"Good. I'll take my leave then, so you may continue your tutoring." Death said flatly as he turned his back on the archangel and departed. Although annoyed, Azrael said nothing as he hovered back towards Asia.

---

The next devil he went to pay visit to was Kiba. As he was nearing the devil, even from a good distance he could hear a loud clashing of steel and sounds of metal slamming repeatedly on a shield. When he was close enough, he noticed Kiba sparring with the angel champion Rastion, dashing like a blur and striking about while avoiding Rastion's blows. Despite Kiba's speed as a knight, the angel champion has no trouble keeping up with him, as is to be expected from the veterans of hundreds of battles.

"SWORD BIRTH!" Kiba shouted as he plunged his blade into the ground and conjured row of swords of every shape and size, erupting towards the angel.

As the row of blades were rapidly nearing the angel, Rastion raised his shield and charged forward like a battering ram. Kiba's eyes widened in shock as Rastion rammed through his swords like they were made of glass, and when he was close enough, he bashed his face with his shield, slamming him on the ground, making him lie on his back. As soon as he raised his head, the angel champion's tip of his blade was pinned on Kiba's chin.

"That ability will be the death of you with such reckless use, especially on a superior foe. Either innovate with that power or use it only if you are absolutely certain that your blades will strike their target." Rastion said sternly.

"Duly noted sir." Kiba nodded as he slowly got up, his sword at the ready.

"Again!" Rastion shouted as he took his fighting position, with Kiba doing the same.

From the background, Death noticed that Kiba's progress thus far is not too bad. There was still a lot of ground to cover, but this is an adequate proof that he is starting to improve himself. That said, he turned his back on them and departed, leaving the devil and an angel to spar with each other and continue that progress, hopefully to the degree where Kiba would be of actual use to the Reaper.

---

Akeno was the third devil that Death paid a visit to. Much like with Kiba he could already hear a clamor of battle even from a good distance, only this time he heard sounds of thunder crashing in many directions, accompanied by yellow and blue flashes of lightning. And when he was close enough, he noticed Akeno and Thaddeus flying in the sky, shooting lightning bolts at each other. Even so far down on the ground, Death noticed Akeno struggling against the angel, treating the devil as if she was an amateur. As she shot one lightning bolt after another, suddenly Thaddeus grabbed her lightning bolt and condensed it into a ball, much to Akeno's surprise. Not wasting a moment, the angel waved his right hand back holding the lightning orb, and formed it into a large fishing net before he threw it at the devil. The net quickly reached Akeno before she could even react and enveloped her completely, electrocuting her while she screamed in agony. During that electrocution, she slammed on the ground, and a moment or two later the lightning net fizzled away. While Akeno was noticeably damaged, she was still able to move, though the recent bout left her fatigued, panting to catch her breath and fight through the pain.

"You fight as if this is the first fight of your life devil. If you believe that you will win against every opponent with basic attacks like those, then I'm afraid you are dreadfully wrong. And if this is all the power you can muster, then your life will be forfeit before the battle can truly begin." Thaddeus said sternly as he towered above her with folded arms.

"But I'm… I'm doing all I can." Akeno panted in almost hopeless tone.

"No. Your capabilities are vastly greater than this, yet you deny your own heritage, thus you deny your true potential." Thaddeus said. And just like before at the very mention of her fallen angel heritage, Akeno drilled her fingers through the dirt as she angrily balled her hands into a fist.

"No! I told you that I'll never rely on that power!" Akeno shouted angrily as she looked at the angel, but the hardened battle mage remained unmoved, as if he was a statue in that moment.

"If you wish to be nothing but hindrance to your comrades, then from now on you might as well stay away from the battlefield altogether. So cease with your foolishness and embrace your fallen angel side, only then will your enemies tremble before your wrath." Thaddeus said sternly before he took a few steps back. "Now, rise up and come at me again." He said. And indeed, a moment or two later, through sheer determination and will in those moments, Akeno slowly got up and sprung her devil wings, taking to the skies, with Thaddeus following soon after.

It would appear that Akeno is still stubbornly refusing to make use of her fallen angel power. While it is annoying, Death wasn't bothered too much about it as it has only been four days since their training started. Perhaps during the next two weeks she might find her epiphany and reconsider using the full extent of her lightning powers in battle. If not, then she will prove to be yet another waste of time and lifeblood.

---

The fourth devil to pay a rather short visit to was Gasper. While it is a pathetic sight, at least he's not hiding in a box like he tends to do. It's an improvement in hindsight, but alas it's nowhere near enough of a progress, because on the battlefield he has to be calm and collected, which is a basic step to have a controlled use of his Balor View. Creator help the boy if that bare minimum requirement is not fulfilled.

Next devil on the visit list was Issei. When Death arrived, he noticed Tannin flying about, spewing fire towards the ground while panicked screams accompanied it. The screams of panic that Death recognized to be Issei's, which only annoyed the Reaper. Is this what he was doing this whole time, playing cat and mouse with the dragon? This is definitely not sitting well with Death, as he has plans for Issei and to fulfill them the pervert needs to be much stronger than he is when he started his training. That said, he marched towards the duo, the dragon still chasing Issei and continuing to spew fire at the boy.

"Tannin!"

The former Dragon King suddenly heard the angry voice calling out to him, stopping with his chase as he looked right. When he did, he noticed a rather disgruntled pale rider himself, folding his arms in a manner that screams for him to come over.

"It appears that we have a visitor." Tannin said in neutral tone before he looked at Issei. "We take a break for now boy, make the most of it." He then took to the skies, flying towards the Reaper.

"Yes sir, you're most generous." Issei whined as his legs collapsed and he popped a squat on the ground, breathing heavily as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Quite a surprise that you paid this boy a visit Reaper." Tannin said in almost sassy tone.

"I had to see for myself the progress of the Gremory devils. Speaking of which, how does the pervert fare?" Death asked curiously, even though he somewhat knew the answer at this point.

"All this time he kept running, not even bothering to strike back, let alone unlock his Balance Breaker." Tannin said annoyingly as he glanced at Issei, who was still catching his breath.

"It only goes to show that you are too lenient on him." Death said bluntly before he looked from Issei to Tannin. "When I said that he has to attain his Balance Breaker, I meant that dragon. Employ whatever means necessary for that goal, threaten him and his loved ones if need be." He said grimly.

"Were it anyone else Reaper, I would have called you cruel and heartless. But in your case that's a given." Tannin said bluntly.

"And what would possibly give that away?" Death said snidely, much to the dragon's annoyance at the rider's snarky attitude. "At any rate, I expect this boy to attain that power today."

"Today?" Tannin said in surprise.

"Yes. Now get to it, and know that I'll be watching." Death said grimly as he locked his cold glare at the dragon.

Tannin couldn't help but sweatdrop a bit, mostly at the fact that should his methods not work, then the Reaper will most likely add the boy's soul to his endless tally of collected souls. As annoying as the boy's perverted nature is, he certainly wouldn't want him to end up at the receiving end of Death's scythe. That said, he flew back towards the young devil and resumed his 'training'.

Another hour that passed, Tannin picked up the pace as he pressured the boy every step of the way, where several times he was very close to burning him alive. Some of those times Issei tried to fight back, but immediately after he would return to evading his flames. And during that time, Death was forced to bear witness to this sorry excuse of a training. Is this what Tannin meant about 'dragon training', playing cat and mouse with the boy and by some miracle he would unlock the ultimate power of his Sacred Gear? If so, then the boy doesn't have a prayer against his opponents in the upcoming Rating Game, let alone the battles that would follow afterwards, like Khaos Brigade for example.

"Dude, will you just ease up?! I thought you're supposed to be training me, if we can call this barbeque to be it!" Issei shouted in panic and frustration.

"If you want me to go easy on you, then unleash your Balance Breaker already!" Tannin exclaimed sternly before he spewed more flames at the reincarnated devil, prompting Issei to panic dodge again.

"I'll hardly do that as a charred corpse!" Issei shouted again.

"As I've said before, had this been a real battle, you would have been nothing but cinders the moment it started. Don't expect your enemies to foolishly sit there and wait until you whip out your Balance Breaker. Especially if they intend to kill your loved ones." Tannin berated angrily. Issei gasped in shock at that one as the memory of Asia's lifeless body rushed in his mind, someone who would have stayed dead were it not for his sheer stubbornness against Death. "Precisely. By the time you unleash that power within your Sacred Gear, everything and everyone you had ever loved would be in their graves. So quit running like a cowering rat and attack me!"

Once again Tannin breathed fire at the devil. But even though Issei was yet again dodging the flames, an expression of utter frustration and determination was plastered on his face.

"Alright Issei, no more pussying around! It's time for you to go balls deep on this lizard if you plan on getting any stronger!" Issei thought angrily as he continued to run.

"Boosted Gear go!" Issei shouted in determination as his signature red gauntlet materialized in his left hand.

[BOOST!]

Death raised his eyebrow a bit beneath his mask when he noticed how the boy finally went on the offensive. Now he'll see if that will do him any good, though he has severe doubts about it. Tannin breathed fire again, and Issei continued to stubbornly dodge them while continuing to boost himself.

"Go!" Shouted again in determination.

[BOOST!]

"Again!"

[BOOST!]

"Again!"

[BOOST!]

"Gimme more!"

[BOOST!]

"We can do it!"

[BOOST!]

"Further beyond!"

[BOOST!]

After sufficient time dodging and fifteen boosts, Issei finally dashed up an enormous boulder, where he reached Tannin's waist level, which is enough of a height to have a target on the dragon.

"Let's do this Tannin!" Issei shouted as he pointed his gauntlet at the dragon.

[EXPLOSION!]

A whirlwind of crimson energy swirled around Issei, charging his devil power immensely with the fifteen stored boots and readying his projectile.

"About time you went on a real offensive boy!" Tannin smirked a bit.

"That's right, so better be ready! DRAGON SHOT!" Issei shouted as he fired an enormous crimson orb at the dragon.

"Hmph!" Tannin huffed in annoyance to the boy's overconfidence as he clenched his right fist and waved it to his left side. When the Dragon Shot was close enough, with a simple backhand he smacked it up into the sky, much to Issei's shock. Moments later the shot exploded, turning the sky in shining crimson before the light quickly died down and the sky turned back to normal.

"Damn it all." Issei panted heavily.

[Reset!]

Issei collapsed on his knees, but gritted his teeth in seething bitterness and hate, mostly towards himself. Once again he felt weak and powerless to do anything. Is this to be his fate, that in every fight he was to be this helpless lamb in constant need of help? That thought hurt him far more than any physical injury Tannin inflicted on him, or foes before him.

From the background, Death couldn't help but grunt a bit in disappointment. This would have been so aggravating if it wasn't so predictable. While the boy showed a surprising amount of stamina to accumulate that much power, ultimately it availed him nothing, especially at this stage in training. But suddenly his eyes widened a bit as an idea popped in his mind.

"Tannin! To my side, immediately!" Death called out to the dragon. And Tannin, noticing how the boy was completely drained and incapable of doing anything at the moment, answered almost on cue as he few towards the Reaper and landed near him.

"It seems that your methods are not as effective as I thought they'd be Reaper." Tannin said in neutral tone.

"Only because you failed to utilize those methods properly dragon. If anything it put his ferocious side in practice, instead of just fleeing from you all the time." Death said coldly as he continued to fold his arms and look at Issei.

"That may be, but alas it is in vain. Whatever I try that rage only lasts in short bursts, and only when he is berated by someone. This boy completely lacks the catalyst to unleash the Balance Breaker. What would possibly make this brat furious enough to make him achieve it already? Is it really paramount for one of his loved ones to die for him to whip that power out?" Tannin said in annoyance and frustration as he too looked at Issei, who continued to pant heavily, his brain numb and solely focused on catching his breath, thus not even listening to what Death and Tannin had to say.

"Not necessarily." Death said as he put his hand on his chin in thought.

"What do you mean?" Tannin asked curiously as he looked at the pale rider.

"Watch and see." Death glanced at Tannin before he looked at Issei. "Hyoudou, come here!" He called out sternly.

Issei flinched in fear before he quickly stood up, but slowly walked towards Death. Eventually he reached him, but soon he placed his hands on his knees and panted again, as if he ran a marathon, which might as well be so due to the intensity of the training so far, added by his use of Boosted Gear.

"I have a question for you before you continue your little chase. You have a fondness for Akeno's breasts, don't you?" Death asked in fake, curious tone.

"Yea, of course, they're the best boobs ever!" Issei smiled, reenergized at the mere thought of Akeno's luscious breasts big enough to bury his face in them.

"Then let me put it this in a way you will understand boy. If you do not achieve that Balance Breaker, I will slice her breasts clean off." Death said in grim, dead serious tone.

"Huh?" Tannin sweat-dropped at Death's blunt statement in bewilderment. And since Death didn't seem the joking type at all, it made his statement all the more baffling.

As for Issei, he gasped loudly in shock, his pupils narrowing at the very thought of that gruesome scenario.

"You wouldn't dare." Issei said in shellshock, feeling as if he was struck by a hundred light spears at once.

"Care to try me? Not just her breasts, but of little Argento as well. I might even slice Gremory's breasts for good measure. Then you'll have no breasts to look at whatsoever in your little group but that of a flat, crimson chest, unless you're into men like Yuuto." Death said, maintaining his dead serious tone and stance.

That further threat made the world around Issei go black as his mind completely shut itself in, lost in a state of shock and desperation at the one thought that was firmly locked in his lewd thought process.

"Akeno's rack… sliced like ninja fruits? Not even lonely nipples to nibble on? How can I possibly live in a world where she has nothing but tomato sauce on her chest? Not only her rack, but Rias' too? Even poor little Asia, just when her breasts have only started to be gropable!" Issei thought as if his very soul, and all the happiness and joy with it has been sucked from his entire being.

And in those moments his lust induced fury reached his crescendo.

"THE FUCK WITH MEEE!" Issei screamed in fury as he grabbed his face with both of his hands.

[Welsh Dragon, Balance Breaker!]

As ever, Death hit the nail in the head with this idea. As an explosive amount of power was unleashed from his entire being far surpassing the level that he achieved with the regular boosts, a crimson suit of armor started to materialize and solidify around him, the last piece of armor being his helmet.

"And there it is." Death thought as Issei's Scale Mail armor was primed and ready. But Issei was too far lost in his lust induced rage to notice, his blind fury focused solely on the Reaper.

"YOU FUCKER! NEVER! I WILL NEVER LET YOU CUT OFF ANYONE'S BREASTS, AKENO'S BOOBS ARE TOO PERFECT TO BE MINCED INTO SUSHI BY YOU! YOU MONSTER! YOU BOOB HATING BASTAARD!" Issei screamed to the heavens in unimaginable fury.

[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]

Issei's power continues to rise with repeated boosts, intriguing if not surprising Tannin by the skyrocketing surge of power coming from Issei. If he shows this power in the coming two weeks, then he will definitely give him a run for his money, where the real training can begin.

As for Death, although annoyed by the scathing insults, this was definitely the most hilarious of threats he ever made to someone. If Strife was here he would have definitely laughed his ass off, and teased Death for good measure for pulling off a good prank and all that. But like every other threat it did its part well.

"Try laying a finger on her breasts, I dare you! ILL DESTROY YOU SO COMPLETELY YOU'LL NEVER TOUCH ANYONE'S BOOBS, LET ALONE SLICE THEM TO BITS!" Issei screamed in fury again before he charged at Death and punched him hard in the face, sending him flying backwards. But it didn't take long for Death to flip backwards repeatedly and slide through the ground, eventually halting completely.

"Had you had your way you'd slice off everyone's boobs!" Issei shouted as he quickly closed in on the Reaper.

"This is for Rias and her mammoth melons!" Issei shouted as he punched Death in the gut, making the Reaper lean forward in apparent pain before Issei grabbed his head with both of his hands. "This is for Akeno's huge honkers!" He then headbutted Death, but although Death closed his eyes and recoiled his head back, Issei shattered his helmet from the collision. "And this is to make sure Asia gets to keep on growing!" And finally he kicked Death hard in the gut, sending him sliding back for almost a mile, but quickly stopping from sliding further back.

Not a moment too soon did Issei charge again, not being aware that his hits didn't damage Death at all and that the Reaper only humored the boy to better accustom himself to this newfound power. But now, Death decided to act as he shot open his eyes in that instant, and with a blinding speed he grabbed his left scythe and swung to the right, the middle of his scythe pinning on the boy's neck, threatening to decapitate him with a simple pressure of his blade if he tries to move an inch from his position.

"I think I indulged you long enough boy. One more step and your head will part from your shoulders." Death said in dead serious tone as he glared daggers at the boy, making Issei petrify in fear.

"Yes sir." Issei squeaked quickly in terror, sweating profusely.

"Unbelievable. He attained the Balance Breaker just to stop you from slicing women's breasts?" Tannin facepalmed in utter disbelief.

"Precisely what you can expect from a pervert, be it a human or a demon, thus i took advantage of his debauchery as a catalyst for him to finally attain this power." Death explained as he removed his scythe from Issei's neck, but the devil winced in sharp pain before he rubbed his neck for pain to subside.

Suddenly his Scale Mail shattered and vanished, the enormous power that he acquired leaving him in an instant, paralyzing Issei momentarily as he dropped on his back, now officially and completely drained.

"This is what happens when you unleash such a formidable amount of power in an instant without conditioning your body to it. You are fortunate that it didn't explode from the stress of such magnitude." Death said simply, while Issei only continued to pant heavily.

"Mass perversion aside, he at least unlocked his Balance Breaker with rage, as is proper for a dragon. A lust induced rage, but rage all the same." Tannin said in annoyed, yet slightly relieved tone, mostly at the fact that Death will now not kill the boy due to him finally attaining his Balance Breaker.

"Indeed." Death said as he sheathed his left scythe. "Hone that Balance Breaker in days to come Hyoudou, you will need it for what I plan for you next."

But Issei apparently didn't listen as a smile spread on his face at a single thought.

"What a relief. Now that I attained Balance Breaker, no one's breasts will be sliced and diced! Goodie, I'll still be able to fondle those melon sized gazangas and melt my face in them!" Issei shouted in glee.

However, as soon as he finished that sentence he remembered that Death was still around, looking just as annoyed as all those times whenever his perverted tendencies come out in the open.

"Sorry, I'm a perv." Issei chuckled in pain.

"No need to waste breath on the obvious Hyoudou, you'll forever be branded as such. I think a 'Breast Dragon Emperor' would be a fitting moniker for you from now on." Death said bluntly.

[Please don't say that Reaper, I don't want to be a grabbin dragon!] Ddraig suddenly cried out, which surprisingly caught both Issei and Death off guard.

"What the…" Issei said in surprise.

"That's new. I never thought you'd be so emotional over such a title." Death said in slight confusion.

[I am one of the two heavenly dragons, the name Red Dragon Emperor is to strike fear into the hearts of millions! I don't want to be a breast dragon emperor, all hail the grabbin dragon!] Ddraig jested as he cried loudly, the last thing he wants in his existence is for his reputation to be sullied by Issei's unbridled lust for women's breasts.

Death couldn't help but do a muffled wheeze and chuckle at the dragon's expense, finding the dragon's despair morbidly amusing.

"Man dude, you truly are evil." Issei commented bluntly.

"You heard what I said Hyoudou." Death said in his usual, grim tone.

Suddenly a familiar, silver magic circle formed behind him. When he turned sideways, it turns out to be a certain housemaid of the Gremory family.

"Horseman." She said.

"Grayfia?" Death said curiously.

"Apologies for the intrusion, but your brother Strife wishes to see you at present time." Grayfia said formally as she bowed to the Reaper.

"Strife?" Death said in slight surprise.

"Yes." Grayfia said simply. Death was rather confused as to why Strife would call for him so suddenly, but it doesn't hurt to go back to the Gremory castle and find out.

"Very well." Death said simply before he turned towards the Meteor dragon. "Tannin, when the boy recovers his strength continue where I left off. There is still much to do before the Rating Game."

"Will do Reaper." Tannin nodded. That said, Death walked next to Grayfia, allowing her to form a silver magic circle and teleport back to the estate.

But when they left, Tannin noticed that Issei knocked himself into a deep sleep from utter exhaustion. At least he made a significant progress by achieving his Balance Breaker, all that is left is to have him hone that immense power and learn to tap into his Balance Breaker at will.

---

When they arrived, Death didn't waste a moment as he made his way towards the room where the horsemen are temporarily settled while in the Gremory territory in the Underworld. When he reached the double doors, he opened them and then closed them behind him when he entered the room, and he indeed found the rider of shadow himself, twirling his pistols while leaning on a wall next to the window.

"Hey Death." Strife greeted in his usual, laidback tone.

"Strife? What brings you here?" Death asked curiously.

"A little errand, nothing important." Strife shrugged.

"If so, then you should be out there pursuing the Seven Deadly Sins, not idle here and twiddle your pistols about." Death said in frustration.

"More like Four Deadly Sins at this point. Don't worry, I'll get back to it real quick. But first, I need to ask you something. Do you happen to know a girl in Rias Gremory's party club called Koneko?" Strife asked.

"Yes? What of her?" Death asked curiously.

"Kuroka asked me to give her little sister back to her. Do you know where I can find her?" Strife asked curiously.

"And who is this Kuroka? Does she happen to be that cat woman we've seen you with before?" Death asked curiously.

"Yea, that one." Strife said simply.

"Of course, feel free to dig up her grave on Earth, if you can find it anywhere to begin with." Death said sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" Strife asked as he raised his eyebrow in slight confusion.

"That what I said brother. She is dead." Death said bluntly. Admittedly Strife was mildly taken aback, but not to the point for that shock to be visible to his brother.

"You sure?" Strife asked.

"Yes, I've dealt the killing blow myself." Death said coldly.

"Okay, I'll just give her soul then, better than nothing I guess." Strife shrugged as he gestured his hand, waiting for his brother to hand over Koneko's soul, probably.

"Why?" Death asked curiously.

"Because I know that you have your own private stash of souls, just like the rest of us. Since we tend to bump into Vulgrim far more often than any of us would like, more often than not he has one crap after another that eventually help us in our missions. That is why we often have a supply of souls just in case we need him again. So it wouldn't be farfetched if you have Koneko's soul put in reserve as well." Strife deduced.

"What makes you so certain brother? For all you know her soul was yet another of countless souls that were consumed by the Harvester." Death said grimly.

"You only do that when either ordered by the Council or if someone really pisses you off, and I doubt that girl can be placed on either of those on the list. So if it's not much of a problem, i'll be having Koneko's soul now." Strife said in his laidback tone. But he only got silence from his brother as Death stood perfectly still, remaining completely unconvinced, more annoyed if anything. "Look, Kuroka is part of a special team in the Khaos Brigade, led by the White Dragon Emperor as far as i've heard." He said in slightly serious tone.

"Vali?" Death asked curiously.

"Yeah, i think that was his name. And if we plan to have a mole inside the menagerie of terrorists, to give us important intel on Ophis' plans that will just maybe prevent us to more grimdark future than it already is, i'll need Koneko's soul to accomplish that. We both know that Vali is not so reliable with this kind of thing, so if we get her baby sister back, even if it is just her soul, then Kuroka should be willing to help us out. After all, it is in her interest as well that all realms don't go to shit." Strife explained. But after a few moments of silence…

"No." Death said bluntly. Strife couldn't help but be baffled a little bit.

"Why not?" Strife asked, now his turn to be annoyed and mildly frustrated at Death's hesitation to comply with his request.

"One, I know of Ophis' plan since I encountered the dragon myself. And two, i made an example out of that child Strife, so Rias and her retinue do not fall out of line again. I understand your reasoning, but if i were to give you her soul and you pass it over to Kuroka, then she will undoubtedly bring the girl back through whatever means that may be known among the Khaos Brigade. That would only negate the point that i proved to the devils back then, and would ultimately make us look weak and be taken less seriously by the devils as a whole, not just the Gremories." Death explained in neutral tone before he turned sideways, but maintaining eye contact. "So you can tell your girlfriend that her precious sister will remain in her grave. And if you value her life, she better not pursue me in her desire for vengeance." He then started turned his back on Strife and was about to walk away.

"Come on Death, what if you were in her place if someone were to kill Fury for example? You would have done the same thing." Strife retorted in more serious voice. But now Death completely lost his patience at his brother's nauseating stubbornness.

"Have those girl's thighs influenced you that much brother, that you are willing to dance on her strings for her every whim?!" Death barked as he quickly closed the distance between him and Strife, looking at him dead in the eye.

"You know damn well that it's not the case!" Strife retorted angrily.

"But it is Strife, due to your insistence on the matter. Toujou will remain dead, and we will speak no more of this. Am i clear?" Death said in dead serious tone. Strife was really tempted to continue with his argument, but at this point if it escalated further then they will definitely start a brawl.

"Crystal." Strife said reluctantly. As much as he is fond of Kuroka, this is not something that he would physically fight his eldest brother for, not really. As much as he sympathizes with her plight, in the end she is just one of many women he had been with over the eons, none of which he was truly emotionally attached to like he is with his siblings.

"Good." Death said before he leaned his head back and straightened himself. "Tone down on your womanizing brother, there will come a time where it will make you do something really foolish, and force me to take one of your own limbs as a lesson." He said grimly as he again turned his back on Strife.

"Yes, that 'wisdom is great gift' and all that." Strife jested as he rolled his eyes a bit.

"Indeed it is. And you will do well to remember that the next time you make these pointless request of me." Death said as he locked his gaze at his brother again.

"Death!"

Someone angrily barged in their room, surprising both Death and Strife a bit at the sudden entrance.

"War?" Death said as he and Fury entered the room.

"He looks pissed." Strife said as he looked at War, who appears to be fuming mad for whatever reason.

"When is he not?" Death asked bluntly.

"Yea, but not this much." Strife said in slightly concerned tone.

"What is the meaning of-"

"I will ask you only one time! Did you send me to my death that day?!" War cut off Death angrily, very close to lashing out at his eldest brother, but not before having some answers.

"What day?" Death asked in slight confusion.

"The day when we had to escape from Hadrimon with the Ravaiim blood." War said, barely restraining his rapidly rising rage.

Death's eyes widened in genuine shock, for the first time in countless centuries, more so than when he discovered about Ophis' presence in this reality. How? How could he possibly know about that? Who would even tell him that to begin with? So many questions raced in his mind in those several instants. Back then there was absolutely no one, not even Azrael that knew about his true plan other than himself. For the first time in eons he was speechless, something even he wouldn't ever thought to be possible, at least after the Grand Abomination Crisis. For almost every question he would have an answer fitting for his reputation, and for every threat he would have a retort that would silence the amateurs foolish enough to even attempt to go at them, be it with words or blade. And in this particular instance, although indeed he has the answer to War's question, the very thought made him feel a nauseating emotional pain in his chest, something that also seemed impossible to occur in his case.

As for Strife and Fury they couldn't help but be surprised, if not disturbed by Death's shocked reaction, something that they have rarely if ever seen from him.

"Death? Don't you have something to say to that?" Strife said in confusion. He couldn't help but be worried that Death, of all the possible people out there in the universe to be the speechless type, and he's far, far from being such.

"Brother?" Fury said, about as confused, if not baffled as Strife in those moments of silence.

However, Death's prolonged hesitation to answer War's question only confirmed that he was actually guilty of his crime on their youngest sibling.

"So it's true. All of it." War gritted his teeth in utter rage, his very blood boiling at his eldest brother's treachery.

"Brother, i-"

Death was again cut off, this time with a brutal, right uppercut, sending him slamming through the walls and windows, leaving a huge hole in his wake and flying for many miles in the direction of War's punch. Immediately after that did War perform a mighty leap, appearing as if he was flying in the direction where he punched Death towards, leaving severely perplexed Strife and Fury behind.

"This is serious." Fury said in genuine worry.

"Stating the obvious at this point. Come on!" Strife urged seriously before he jumped in the air.

When he did Mayhem materialized beneath him, allowing him to land on his saddle and gallop forward. Fury quickly did the same, summoning Rampage, saddling up and catching up to Strife, the two riders quickly galloping towards their other two siblings.

"Horsemen!" Zeoticus suddenly called out from the hallways in apparent, angry tone. But when he barged inside, he gasped in shock at the destruction he saw.

"Zeoticus! What happened?!" Venelana called out. When she entered the room, she gasped as well at the destroyed wall. However, both she and Zeoticus were more baffled when they saw in the sky many miles from them what seemed like a fiery comet plummeting down, while crimson and shadowy purple lights bolted fast in the direction of the comet.

Miles away from the Gremory castle, Death finally recovered from the sudden, concussive blow as he spun backwards repeatedly, pulled out his scythes and plunged them into the ground, carving a three mile long line before he finally stopped.

"How did this happen? How could he possibly know about my plan that day? And why now?" Death growled in utter fury and disbelief.

This revelation could not have come at the worst time. As if the rise of the Khaos Brigade thanks to Ophis wasn't enough, along with Seven Deadly Sins on the loose, now he has to deal with a sibling who might consume the entire Underworld in his destructive rage, a rage fueled by his decision to send him out there to die to Hadrimon and the abomination weapon Black Mercy.

Not a moment too soon did he notice War plummeting from the sky, surrounded by intense flames, making him look like a falling meteor. And much like the meteor he violently landed on the ground, with a seismic force that send a shockwave in all directions and tore the earth apart beneath him. When the smoke cleared, an utterly enraged War emerged and stomped towards him, glaring at him with a stare that would kill him thousand times over in an instant.

"War, wait!" Death barked, more out of plea than anger.

"For what, more treachery?!" War gritted his teeth furiously before he dashed forward, his Chaoseater at the ready. "I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD!" He roared.

Death now had no choice but to be on a defensive. He quickly pulled out his scythes, attached them and immediately blocked the strike of War's Chaoseater, the collision sending another seismic shockwave that tore the earth beneath them.

While Death and War growled in the temporary contest of strength, the Reaper looked in his brother's eyes, and he could definitely say that in the longest time he had never seen such rage, such fury in his eyes. Death could almost shudder at the unbridled, unimaginably maddening rage coursing through War's entire being right now, on the verge of transforming into Chaos Form. Sure he had seen his brother's bouts of rage before, and frankly got quite used to them, about as normal thing as it can be as breathing. But never at this level, to the point where he is close to losing himself in his berserk state until he gets his kill, especially considering War can be very vindictive when wronged. And considering that this time he had been betrayed by his own brother, that thirst for vengeance couldn't be more apparent. If looks could kill, then Death would have died hundred times over in a blink of an eye. The pain he would inflict on him with gaze alone would make even the Council's paralyzing agony they inflicted on him feel like a mosquito bite, and that in and of itself hurt far more than when he was stabbed by the Grand Abomination Affliction.

And as quickly as that moment came, all too aware of War's monstrous strength Death cancelled the tug of war and dashed backwards, with War in quick pursuit. Thus the battle between brothers had begun, and Death couldn't help but be reminded once again of that day when the Horsemen slaughtered the Nephilim, down to the last man and woman. But that memory vanished as quickly as it came, because Death utterly refuses to kill War as well. He already felt craven for murdering his own kin to near extinction and he certainly doesn't plan on having War join them in the grave. He cares about him too much to even think of ending his life, much like with Fury and Strife. That said, he has to somehow quell his rage without cutting off his limbs or mortally wounding him, otherwise he would make an eternal enemy out of War as well, the last person that he'd wish to be enemy to.

Death and War swung their weapons at each other while dashing and charging about, the clash of the blades so forceful that only continued to tear the earth beneath them, and send shockwaves for miles around. No matter how much effort Death put to make some distance from his youngest brother in every direction, War just wouldn't budge in his pursuit, relentlessly chasing him like a starved, blood man Hellhound. Then one moment, when War blocked Death's scythe he quickly sheathed his Chaoseater and delivered another uppercut right at Death's chin, lifting him up and sending him flying in the air. This time in the same instant, Death flipped backwards and used his Death Grip to try and latch onto War, while the red rider fired his Abyssal Chain to pierce through the Reaper, but both of the horsemen evaded sideways. However, Death grabbed War's chain and was quickly pulled back, and during the pull Death attached his dual scythes and threw it at War, the weapon spinning like a sawblade towards the red rider. War saw the scythe coming and deflected the scythes left with his prosthetic gauntlet, but as soon as he did Death made use of the opportunity and double kicked War in the face, making him arc backwards before Death leapt acrobatically behind him. War gritted his teeth and growled as he briefly rubbed his face and turned sideways, while Death landed on the ground. War charged again at the Reaper, but this time Death quickly used his Aegis Guard to create a dome of protective energy around him. War collided with the orb and was bounced back, and in that moment Death dissipated the orb and raised both of his arms high, summoning dozens of coffins from the ground, and from the coffins fiendish ghouls erupted. When they did, Death pointed at his youngest brother, and on cue the ghouls charged at War. When the red rider was about to charge further, he was swarmed and dogpiled by dozens upon dozens of ghouls, apparently succeeding in pinning him beneath a mound of growling corpses. But predictably, fiery beams shot through the crevices of the ghoul pile and they erupted violently, blood and mutilated bits and pieces of ghoul body parts shooting in every direction and quickly disintegrating in a burst of inferno that War unleashed. When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that War made use of his Stoneskin form, a coat of volcanic stone augmenting his strength and resilience to a concerning degree. Not for Death, but certainly for the Underworld's denizens. War didn't waste a moment as he charged at his eldest brother, prompting Death to pull out his scythes and made use of an Unstoppable ability, an explosion of green, soul-like energy encompassing the rider and augmenting his power as well before he charged at War. When the two riders clashed, War's fiery aura and Death's soul-like aura instantly imploded outward, a destructive, continuous, titanic shockwaves that rapidly expanded for miles and miles around.

Meanwhile, seeing that there will be no further training for good while, Tannin carried Issei back to his resting place and placed him near the campfire. But before he would depart, he noticed a massive, fiery orange and soul-like green auras flaring up towards the clouds, the shockwaves quickly closing in to their location. The dragon quickly grabbed Issei with his left hand, raised his right wing and right hand to brace himself for the incoming, volatile winds.

"By the gods! What is this monstrous surge of power? Are those… the horsemen?" Tannin gritted his teeth as he endured the winds.

In that instant when Tannin was affected by the hurricane winds and shockwaves, Kiba, Akeno, Gasper and Rias were affected as well, doing their best to fight off the intense storm of energy that exploded from the unknown, titanic source, along with all other devils in the Gremory territory many miles away from the horsemen's current location. Not only them, but the devil civilians as well, who were screaming in panic while the buildings cracked and crumbled around them, and the windows shattered as soon as they were struck by the shockwaves.

Back on the battlefield, Death continued to dash and flip about, evading and parrying War's crushing blows. What will he do now? If he proceeds to fight like this any longer, both of them would inevitably transform into their ultimate forms, and at that point their titanic battle would tear the Underworld apart and everyone in it, one continent sized chunk after another. But while he contemplated on how to end this fight without adding salt to mortal wound, War finally landed hits on his eldest brother, cutting his flesh and leaving open wounds, but no bleeding.

"War is overwhelming him. But how? Does he have that much power over Death?" Fury said in mix of confusion, concern and amazement. But upon closer observation on Death's uncharacteristically defensive approach… "No. Something's not right here. I've never seen Death fighting so pathetically. It's almost as if he's letting War deal all those blows."

"He is." Strife said seriously, drawing Fury's attention. "Have you ever seen Death letting someone hit him before, even us?" He asked. Fury said nothing as she continued to look at her brother in silence. "Yeah." He then looked back at the fight below. "He never gave us a freebie on him Fury, not once. And since Death managed to piss off War this much, for whatever reason, taking all those hits is the best he can manage."

"I see. If Death were to fight him for real and if War were to see that he is losing, his rage would be so great that he would assume his Chaos Form in the effort to beat him, and Death would respond with his Reaper Form to counter War's transformation." Fury said in contemplation.

"And if that were to happen, then everyone in the Underworld would be screwed. I think Death knows that, which is why he's taking all those hits from him and not fighting back, minimizing the damage they are causing even now." Strife said seriously as he continued to intently watch the fight along with Fury. "Still, I suggest we ready ourselves to jump in, before they do too much damage."

Fury silently nodded to Strife before both of them continued to intently look back to the fight. Admittedly, seeing her youngest brother fighting so viciously, almost consumed with rage reminded her of the situation when she battled Wrath days ago. This is definitely an example at how you do not fight as a warrior, she experienced it firsthand when she lost to Wrath and he impaled her with an angelic javelin. War is making the same mistake she did, letting his rage dictate his actions, completely blind to the fact that his opponent is superior to him. This time however, it is fortunate that his opponent is his own brother, one who is not as detached from his siblings as the Sin himself.

At the same time, Death and War again clashed blades and came to a momentary stalemate.

"I felt the agony that i could never possibly bare. I wanted to stay dead on that day for my failure, only to discover today that it was you who sent me to my death!" War said in utter fury.

"That deception was necessary War! I could not allow the Abominations to be awakened, not matter what!" Death shouted stubbornly.

"So you decided to deceive me and have me executed by Hadrimon?!" War barked furiously as he pushed Death back and swung his blade furiously, but Death parried him three times before their weapons clashed again.

"We both know that you're not much of liar, i could not risk you doing anything that would reveal our deception! You had to believe my lies, no less than Hadrimon did if we were to succeed!" Death shouted stubbornly again, inwardly pleading for War to listen to reason.

"Enough with your excuses! I HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH OF THEM!" War roared in almost demonic voice, the fiery aura erupting in a titanic pillar that shot up towards the sky through the clouds, threatening to consume everyone in his inferno for hundreds of miles in every direction.

"Fury!" Strife called out quickly in concern.

"Right." Fury nodded as she wreathed both her hands in crimson flames and slowly waved them upward, concentrating her magic to form a colossal, protective dome that contained all the explosive energy War unleashed within, and expelling the harmless amount through the dome itself. Strife on the other hand pulled out his guns, Mercy and Redemption, and readied himself to charge in and stop his brother's rampage.

Things are escalating alarmingly fast not just for Death, but everyone in this realm. Its official at this point, War completely lost himself in his rage, he doesn't care if he has to tear down all of the Underworld if it means making him pay for what he had done. He had been on the defensive since the start, but apparently a clash of two great powers like the Horsemen would mean certain demise for everyone in his realm. So to prevent that from happening and to minimize the already immense, collateral damage from their brief skirmish, he realized there is only one thing left to do, something he would revile in doing at any other time. Not fighting back. Not much of an issue considering his nigh invulnerability, but what will probably be damaged the most from all those blows would be his pride. But a wounded pride is a small price to pay for even a chance to redeem himself in War's eyes.

As soon as War charged forward, Death didn't even bother to take a fighting stance. Much to Fury and Strife's surprise, Death lowered his scythes and slouched his shoulders a bit, appearing as if he was thoroughly defeated. War didn't even hesitate to inflict pain on Death as he hacked and slashed at his eldest brother, while the Reaper could only take each and every hit, shredding his purple shroud and mutilating his chest. Then War swung his sword in an uppercut, sending Death flying upward. As soon as he did, War leapt up and quickly reached his eldest brother, before he proceeded to hack at Death further, this time even slicing off both of his arms. When he did the red rider impaled the Reaper through his chest, making him groan in pain. Then War attached a chain from his Abyssal Chain on Chaoseater's ring pommel and kicked Death away with the blade still impaled on his chest. When he was far enough, War spun Death in circle like a tornado before he swung him down, pulling out his blade in the process and seding him plummeting towards the ground, crashing violently and leaving a massive crater. At this point Death's chest had been mutilated beyond recognition, but War was far from done from delivering his punishment. War retracted his chain, grabbed and sheathed Chaoseater, bolted downwards and charged his Tremor Gauntlet, readying to punch Death as soon as he was in reach.

Fury realized what War plans to do and enhanced her protective dome further, while she and Strife galloped to help Death subdue their youngest sibling. Alas, before they could do anything War struck Death with the Tremor Gauntlet, a kinetic force of electric energy so violent that it unleashed a storm that forced Fury and Strife to shield themselves from the aftershock, while the thunderstorm shattered Fury's dome, the electric explosion imploding for many miles in every direction. But fortunately, due to Fury's shield the aftershock was nowhere near as cataclysmic, cause without it he would reduce a large portion of the Gremory territory into a desolate wasteland.

After the smoke finally settled in, Fury and Strife were protected by the black rider's energy shield before they landed on the ground and dispelled it. Then they noticed Death and War in the middle of an immense, mile deep crater, with War being on top of Death while electricity zapped, crackled and popped around them, prompting them to ride towards their siblings.

As for War, after dealing all too cathartic blows on his eldest brother he finally felt his rage dissipating. Even though he was still livid beyond belief, confusion started to creep into his mind as he looked at his eldest brother, who at this point looked utterly pummeled, nothing left of his chest save for his spine and good portion of his flesh around it.

"Why? Why didn't you block any of my attacks? You could have done so with no difficulty." War panted in anger and confusion, while Fury and Strife arrived to their side, but were completely ignored by the red rider.

Despite his body being practically destroyed at this point, it was nothing compared to the agonizing, craven guilt that he felt when he betrayed War that day, resurfacing to gnaw at his entire being once again, this time stronger than ever, due to his own brother wanting him dead for what he had done. Again the same voices cried out, just like that moment when War was in a morose haze, eating himself alive from the inside at the failure to keep the supposed Ravaiim blood from the enemy hands. This time however, he intends to tell him the truth. It was because of his deception and lies that shattered his bond with War, and he doesn't plan on worsening his relationship with his remaining sibling any further than he already did.

"I'm... sorry, War." Death said almost in a whisper in a cracked, seemingly pained voice.

"What?" War said, for the first time in thousands of years genuinely shocked, much like Death was before their fight. And like his eldest sibling, he too never knew that he could process such an emotion anymore. After all these eons he thought he had seen and heard everything, finding it impossible for him to be legitimately shocked by anything. But this... this was something he would never expect from a brother who is known far and wide for his ruthless and cold personality, as is fitting for the Reaper.

"I am so sorry. For lying to you back then. For sending you out there to die. There were certainly other ways we could have taken the blood away, without endangering your life to that blasted weapon. But there was simply no time for an alternative, every moment was vital when faced against a weapon such as Black Mercy. Had I told you the truth, it would only cause us to bicker until Hadrimon finally charged in that cave and kill us all." Death said in low tone full of regret, possibly the only time after so many millennia that he felt this way.

War was now going through a maelstrom of emotions he never thought to experience. Confusion. Shock. Disbelief. He was practically left speechless, something he never thought would happen to him in his eternal life. Just like he never would have thought that Death, of all the people he had ever known, including Fury and Strife, would ever sound so defeated, practically begging for his forgiveness. It was admittedly uncomfortable and downright pathetic for such a feared being to beg for his forgiveness, but he can't say he didn't had a good reason for it. After all, he put his life on the line for his brother, especially when he defied the Council themselves when they attempted to kill the Reaper in their effort to squeeze the information of the Abomination Vault out of him. Still, he was completely taken aback at how broken his brother appeared. Not in body, that's an impossibility at this point, despite being brutally damaged, but in spirit. Not even once, over the countless millennia that they had known each other eversince their race came to be, had he ever seen Death like this. He had witnessed his never before seen remorseful attitude during the Abomination crisis, where his very tone and body movement betrayed his regret towards the conception of the world-shattering weapons, but never to this extent. And in truth, had he behaved normally after the secret was revealed, and had he not put such a pathetic show when they dueled, then he might have resented every iota of Death's being until the very end of the universe itself for keeping such a secret for so long. Now though, he doesn't even know if he wants to forgive him, even after they went through everything together over the eons, both good and bad.

After that, War slowly got up and dematerialized his Tremor Gauntlet, while Death's regeneration slowly kicked in, repairing his pale flesh and restoring his upper body, allowing him to get up.

"I know i have betrayed you brother. But I do not care if it takes me until the Apocalypse itself, i will find a way to make it up to you." Death said in stern, regretful, yet determined tone.

"Do not even bother. I looked the other way with your past transgressions, but not this time. No more." War said in dead serious tone, glaring fiery daggers at the Reaper before he finally turned his back on him.

When he did, Death remembered War's words when he prevented his execution during the Grand Abomination Crisis.

"You stood beside me as we faced not one, but two of the Grand Abominations. You understand them better than the Council possibly can. If you say that we are better off keeping the others locked away, i trust your judgment."

Trust. That is no longer something he had from War, and he might have lost that trust for good this time. Even Fury couldn't help but feel the same way as War by Death's actions. Being literally stabbed in the back would be but a graze compared to the metaphorical damage he inflicted on his brother, and by extension her. Although she and War do not often see each other eye to eye, even she couldn't help but be utterly disgusted for what Death had done. She is certainly not innocent with her shenanigans over the eons, most recent being her involvement with the Lord of the Hollows, but not even she, for all of her all too apparent flaws would ever willingly send her brothers out there to their certain deaths.

"Are you going to turn your back on me too?" Death asked expectantly.

"Don't expect me to give you a pat on the shoulder. You had your share of low blows on us over the eons, but for what you did to War, even for you that was too much." Strife scolded in almost dead serious tone before he too departed.

"Yes. It was." Death said to himself as he looked down on the ground.

The Reaper stood all alone in the barren crater, the wind blowing being him, making him look rather defeated or outright broken right now. Even though he was eating himself from inside out of sheer guilt, there was only one question that kept repeating in his mind. How did War find out about what he did to begin with? The only answer he has to that question must be after their recent skirmish with Sloth on Olympus. But he immediately dismissed that notion as there's no way, out of all of the Seven Sins for that pile of necrotic heap to know his secret. He may not know right now what specific Sin informed him of what he did, but they are definitely involved with that revelation. Innumerable curses on those plagues of Creation. This must have been a part of their plan, to divide the Horsemen so they could die by their blades one by one, realizing that united the Sins do not have hope of winning against them.

Alas, it was no use playing detective on that matter as he now has a far bigger problem at hand, and that is how he is going to start redeeming himself in War's eyes.

---

Later that day, Strife went to pay a visit to Kuroka again, this time to break the news of her sister's death, something that definitely won't sit well with her when he informs her of that. Soon enough he saw her leaning on a tree, looking every bit as sensuous and alluring in that black kimono as she ever was. Boy was it really tempting to just shut his mouth and ravage her silly on the spot, but this was something that can't be kept in the dark, not unless he intends for her to blame him for keeping that secret for too long.

"There you are cowboy." Kuroka said with a lustful smirk as she turned around and was slowly approaching Strife. "It's not really polite for a lady to be waiting this long, you kno- huh?" She suddenly said in confusion as she noticed that Strife is not being his laidback, jovial self right now. "Strife? You're looking unusually serious. What is it?" She asked in confusion.

"There's no easy way to put this, so I'll just come out and say it, alright?" Strife said in unusually serious tone.

"Strife?" Kuroka raised her right eyebrow in confusion and slight concern.

"Kuroka... Shirone is dead." Strife said grimly.

At that, Kuroka gasped loudly while her eyes widened in shock. Even saying that Kuroka was shocked and distraught by the news would be an understatement.

"Dead?" Kuroka whispered in cracked voice.

The moment those three words were uttered did they echo in her mind, and the world around her went dark and silent, the only thing she can hear would be the beating of her heart and buzzing in her ears. No. Shirone, her little sister, dead? Torn from this world before she could even had a chance to reunite with her? The state of shock and sorrow that gripped her mind slowly turned into utter denial, simply refusing to believe Strife's words on the matter.

"No. You lie." Kuroka lowered her head and gritted her teeth in mix of sorrow, anger and denial.

"Wish i did. But sadly no." Strife said seriously.

Those words didn't help to better the situation at hand, as Kuroka's state of sorrow and disbelief quickly turned to thoughts of vengeance.

"Who did it?" Kuroka asked, her anger slowly building up.

"Kuroka-"

"You know who killed her Strife! Who is responsible?! Is it one of your brothers?!" Kuroka snapped as her angry, yet tearful eyes focused on his yellow visors.

Strife didn't had the heart to tell her that it was his own brother who killed Koneko. But there was no need to tell her that since Kuroka already knew that answer, solidified by Strife's silence and hesitation to provide such an answer and the fact that Death and War made their stay with the Gremory devils this whole time.

"It's Death, isn't it! I'll make him pay for what he had done." Kuroka seethed angrily before she turned her back on Strife and marched forward.

"Kuroka, no." Strife said seriously as he grabbed her left shoulder.

"Hands off Strife." Kuroka threatened in a dead serious tone, her body already starting to tremble from the ever increasing, vengeful fury in her entire being.

"You're not thinking straight, you can't possibly avenge her by dying." Strife said in serious, yet concerned tone.

"Move or i will kill you too, along with your brother!" Kuroka snapped as she glared daggers at the rider.

"Stop and think about what you're doing. You're in pain, i get it, but-"

Strife was again cut off when Kuroka suddenly attacked him, upheaving the earth beneath him into pillars deadset on hitting him. Strife dashed back on instinct and immediately he was beset by row after row of earth pillars, making him dash and nimbly avoid each and every one. But at one point two massive pillars erupted from both of his sides and seemingly crushed him where he stood.

"Come on Kuroka, cut it out." Strife suddenly said behind Kuroka with folded arms, prompting her to turn around in surprise and shock. "You know damn well you don't have a prayer against me in a real fight."

Kuroka shouted angrily as she turned her hands into roots and burrowed them in the earth, quickly reaching beneath Strife before twisting and entangling his legs, preventing him from moving anywhere. But Strife stood perfectly still, his arms still folded. Kuroka then extended both of her hands, conjured blue Senjutsu fireballs and fired them at the rider. However, Strife pulled out his right saber and casually slashed away each and every fireball before they could even reach him. Kuroka continued her barrage in a vain hope that at least one of them would hit him, but Strife then pulled out Redemption and fired at the nekomata. If it was any other opponent that bullet would have resulted in a headshot, but in Kuroka's case it only grazed her right cheek, prompting Kuroka to stop her barrage and process the pain inflicted, also noticing a cut with a drop of blood flowing from it. But that only infuriated the nekomata further as she now conjured four Senjutsu rings of fire and threw them towards the rider. But almost on cue Strife quickly sliced through the roots immobilizing his legs, freeing himself, sheathing his saber and casually catching two rings in each forearm. Surprises and shocking reactions keep piling up as Kuroka noticed how Strife is now spinning those rings on his foreams like hulahoops, before he promptly caught the four rings, two in each hand, crossed his arms and then threw the rings of fire like frisbees towards her. In that instant the four rings were dangerously close to making contact with Kuroka, two rings moving past her hips, while the other two went past both of her cheeks, before all four them chopped through multiple trees behind her and crashed in the background, causing a blow forest fire behind her. After she shaked off the shock she again glared daggers at the rider, who now had a serious look of his own. And thanks to the flames burning behind her, it made her furious visage all the more terrifying, to anyone but the horsemen like Strife.

"That's enough Kuroka, I mean it this time!" Strife shouted seriously. Sadly, Kuroka lost all sense of reason, enraged and distraught as she was at the loss of her beloved sister.

"I will bathe in your blood!" Kuroka screamed in rage as she made use of a technique known as Touki, augmenting her strength, defense and speed to a noticeable degree. Then she casted four illusions and darted about Strife, moments away from attacking him again.

"Yup, she totally lost it." Strife said to himself before he sighed a bit, and he reluctantly placed a strange bullet in the barrel of his oversized revolver and cocked it back into the gun. "Hate to do this, but you leave me no choice."

Before Kuroka would attack Strife again, he reluctantly fired a static shot from his gun Redemption, a chain lightning that struck both Kuroka and her illusions, the said illusions dissipating into nothingness while Kuroka was forced to endure the electric impact of Strife's shot. Not long after did Strife stopped, since he planned to electrocute Kuroka just enough to temporarily paralyze her body and stop her from going nuts on him, which he did as she fell on her knees, looking utterly broken and defeated right now. It's a sight that Strife would have enjoyed seeing on any other would be horseman killer out there, but in Kuroka's case he could only feel bad for what he did, considering he always had a blast everytime he's with her.

However, before he could march towards her…

"Not another step horseman."

An unknown voice called out to him.

"What now?" Strife sighed in frustration before he turned sideways. When he did, he noticed not one, but two newcomers, a blonde swordsman with glasses and another man in strange outfit and staff.

"I'm afraid your little torture session is at an end." The blonde man with glasses said seriously as he held two swords, one large and one medium sized blade.

"Now if you'd be so kind and hand us over Kuroka, then we'll all be outta your hai-"

The man with staff was cut off when Strife again fired a Static Shot, this time with no hesitation whatsoever. As they were both electrocuted they were forced to drop their weapons, before they were promptly sent flying back and crashing through the trees behind them, knocking them down to lie bloody and unconscious beneath the shattered trees.

"Not in a mood to deal with you clowns." Strife said seriously before he sheathed his weapon and returned his attention to Kuroka, who looked utterly defeated and broken right now.

"You're going to kill me too?" Kuroka asked sadly, not even bothering to lift her head.

"Don't worry, they're just knocked unconscious, but they'll be snoring like this for a while." Strife said casually as he glanced at the newcomers he quickly incapacitated.

"Just kill me, so I can join my sister." Kuroka said in low and cracked voice void of a glimmer of hope.

"I won't!" Strife said sternly as he grabbed her hair and pulled her head up, so he would make eye contact with her. "And if you think going suicidal on me, I'll break both of your arms. You feel me?" He threatened seriously.

This time however, Kuroka said nothing as she started to snivel and sob, closing her eyes as tears flowed from them. Apparently the pain Strife inflicted on her lifted the haze of anger and denial in her mind, and the full weight of her loss finally came crashing down on her. Now Strife said nothing as he silently pulled Kuroka in a hug, allowing her to cry on his chest uncontrollably, until there's no more tears to shed.

But as soon as he did, Strife turned his head to the left, and from the corner of his eye he noticed someone hovering above them. That third newcomer was Vali, who had a neutral look on his face as he gazed at the horseman with folded arms. Strife was certainly in no mood to deal with another amateur right now, White Dragon Emperor or not, so he gave Vali a dead serious glare, meaning that if he were to foolishly charge at him like those other two punks did, which Vali knew by names of Bikou and Arthur, then his death will not be swift. At any other time Vali would have relished the challenge that Strife would offer, but due to his rather humiliating execution by Death, he now had this strong sense of caution that prevented him from charging towards the rider of shadow, practically rooting his body in place. That fight certainly made him far less of a hothead and battle whore like he was before. For him it was a thorough wakeup call, that no matter how dangerous his Divine Dividing may be, that doesn't make him invincible, and the Reaper more than proved that fact wrong. He would have been disgusted at himself for thinking this way prior to recent events, but after the Reaper literally made his head roll on his first death, he now has a whole different point of view at his opponents. All that being said, added by him noticing that Kuroka was in good hands right now, he turned his back on the two and flew away. With him gone, Strife returned his attention to soothing Kuroka and easing her pain in any way he knew.

For ten minutes straight Strife continued to soothe Kuroka by rubbed her back and the back of her head.

"I'm sorry Kuroka. Truly i am. I know how you feel all too well." Strife finally spoke in grim tone.

"What would you possibly know how it feels to lose a sister?" Kuroka sobbed and hiccupped.

"More than you think." Strife said in grim, almost dead serious tone. Kuroka couldn't help but lift her head, her teary eyes curiously gazing at the rider, who was looking towards the horizon, apparently lost in thought. "I have lost a sister, eons ago. Not just one, but hundreds of not just sisters, but brothers as well. And it's a pretty depressing feeling when you see them dying around you and you're powerless to do anything to save them." Strife then looked at Kuroka. "So yeah, i know exactly how it feels to lose a sibling, be it a brother or a sister. And in my case it would be both."

"Is that really true Strife?" Kuroka asked in slightly sympathetic tone as she sniffed a bit.

"I would have traded both Heaven and Hell to make it a lie. But sadly it's not." Strife said grimly as he looked towards the horizon with a pained look in his eyes.

While it was true that the Nephilim had died on that day, he omitted the fact that he was the one who killed them, along with Death, War and Fury, down to the last man and woman. But that rather painful detail was something that Kuroka didn't need to know, it was painful enough even thinking about it, let alone saying it outloud like he did now.

"I never should have let her go." Kuroka suddenly said in deep regret.

"What do you mean?" Strife asked in curiosity and slight confusion.

"I never should have left her by her lonesome, on that day when i killed my devil master, when I should have kept her by my side." Kuroka said sadly as she looked at Strife's chest in regret.

"I heard that story, about how you got crazy with your powers and brutally killed your master. But apparently your side of the story is quite different." Strife said seriously.

"It is." Kuroka sniffed before she recollected herself a bit, breaking from Strife's hug and sitting next to him with knees close to her chest, while Strife popped a squat as well.

"I don't remember much about my past, I didn't bother to ponder on such a thing if it didn't involve Shirone. But the fact of the matter is that there were only two of us at the time, left to fend for ourselves in any way we could. And it was up to me as her older sister to raise her. A part of that duty was me becoming a reincarnated devil. What fools we were that day, to believe that that devil took us in out of kindness of his heart. It was all too late when I discovered that the devil I served was a power mad lunatic, treating his servants as lab rats for his twisted experiments. He had driven them mad with sudden, explosive power ups, the same treatment that I received, just so he could witness the true power of Nekomata for himself." Kuroka explained as she looked down at the ground close to her feet in thought, in calmer, more serious and spiteful tone the more she went into details.

"But that wasn't a thing that really ticked out off, was it?" Strife asked in serious, yet curious tone.

"No." Kuroka answered with now more noticeable bitterness and anger in her voice. "That psychopath intended to make me go mad with power and leash me against my own sister. Even though I felt the insane power overwhelming my senses, it was my instinct to protect Shirone that went into overdrive, and I brutally killed that sick bastard. It did cost of me becoming a stray, but I didn't care as I knew what I had to do that day." Her angry frown then softened into one of regret. "But in my agitated state, I knew I couldn't be even close to Shirone, i would only risk killing her too. That's why I had no choice but to run away. Since then I became one of the most wanted criminals among the devils, a cruel price that I paid simply for protecting my sister. I can't even begin to describe that pain when I realized that I left Shirone all alone to be hunted like an animal, all because of what I did. Thankfully, the devil king Sirzechs took Shirone in and placed her in his sister's care. At least I had solace that Shirone would be taken care of, until the day that we finally reunited. But now…" She explained, her tone turning sadder the further she told her tale, until at the last two words she didn't had the strength to continue any longer as sorrow started to grip her heart again.

But before she could allow it to eat her away inside, she got up, wiped her tears with her long kimono sleeve and took a deep breath, allowing her to breathe more easily.

"I have nothing against you Strife, but it is Death that must answer for his crime. He took my sister, and he will pay for that with his life." Kuroka said in dead serious tone before she turned her back on Strife.

"That's impossible for you and you know it Kuroka." Strife said sternly as he got up, prompting Kuroka to stop, but her back still facing him. "I can't even begin to count how many people tried to kill him over the centuries. Even demon lords, archangels and other ancient beings didn't do any better. No matter what tricks they had up their sleeves, they all ended up at the end of his scythe. I know what he did was wrong, but going after him will only lead you to your own grave. Do you really want to throw away your life like that? Would your sister really want you to go out there and kill yourself?" He said seriously as he slowly approached her until he was at hands length from her. After a few moments of silence, Strife placed his right hand on her left shoulder. "Trust me Kuroka, you think you can defeat him, but you can't. I fought alongside him for eons on end, and I better than anyone should know what Death is fully capable of. And I'll be damned before i allow your head to roll on the floor, and your soul to be yet another out of countless souls to feed his scythe, which is a fate worse than death."

Several moments of silence followed, with Strife waiting in anticipation as to what Kuroka will do next. He could definitely see from the trembling of her body that she was extremely tempted to lash out at Death and have her dose of vengeance for Koneko's death. If it was literally anyone else than his brothers, he would have freely offered his help to behead the criminal responsible, but in this particular instance his hands are tied, and he can only hope that she will see reason. Ultimately, Kuroka decided to stay her hand, absorbing Strife's warning and seeing reason behind them. If anything, she would dishonor Shirone even further if she were to go out there and get herself killed, or worse have her soul be reaped by Death.

"Then there truly is no justice in this world." Kuroka said in low, bitter and heartbroken tone as she bowed her head and gritted her teeth.

"Aint that the truth." Strife said in morose tone, mostly referring to the extermination of the Nephilim. But not willing to ponder on such a painful and morbid memory again, he turned his attention on the swords that that blonde guy with glasses dropped, his thoughts being his own the longer he looked at the dropped weapons.

---

Meanwhile, seeking for a distraction that doesn't involve slaughtering hordes upon hordes of demons or angels, War opted for a more productive route as he went to pay a visit to each devil and see their progress thus far by himself, much like Death did before. But upon second thought, he was in no mood to check up on every single devil in their little band, so he went straight towards Rias. And when he arrived he noticed her flying about, dashing airborne and firing destruction blasts at Valeria, who was relentlessly chasing her. From their little skirmish he could tell that Rias barely made any progress thus far with her basic training, or at all. And that is taking into account that her retainers performing intriguingly well under their selected tutors. War now hissed a bit in frustration, realizing that currently there is only one way to truly strengthen the ruin princess: Train her himself. That was something he does not entirely excel at. Leading an army, entrenching a defensive position, preparing a fortification or an entire complex for a siege battle, those things among other tactical strategies he can do. But tutoring someone is something he's not really fond of, especially when it considers the devils. But as he constantly reminded himself of late, despite his frustrations of having anything to do with beings remotely related to the Second Kingdom, all of this will benefit the horsemen in the longrun, and by extension the Balance. So he might as well endure the thought of training a descendant of two faced backstabbers of Hell, for the time being at any rate. Besides, with the boiling rage in his very blood over Death's betrayal of trust, he is in real need of a distraction, anything to divert him from the urge to tear the whole Underworld apart.

"Valeria! To me!" War shouted loudly.

Rias and Valeria ceased with their duel and looked at the newcomer. And Rias couldn't help but blush a bit when she noticed that War of all people arrived to check on her, but was still confused as to his reason behind it. While she descended down towards the ground, Valeria flew towards the red rider and landed next to him.

"You called, rider?" Valeria said as she landed next to the rider.

"You are relieved of your duty angel, I will tutor the Gremory devil from here on out." War said sternly before he marched forward a few steps.

"You? With all due respect, she needs a proper instructor to hone her powers, she is yet to even begin to-"

She was cut off when War suddenly glared daggers at her. The angel noticed that the rider was furious for whatever reason, and was clearly in no mood for any sort of argument whatsoever, unless she desires to taste the fury of his Chaoseater. Knowing this, she reluctantly backed away.

"If you insist, horseman." She bowed slightly in respect before she sprung her wings and flew away.

With her dismissed, War jumped down and landed not far from Rias.

"Gremory." War said simply.

"War? Where did Valeria go? We are yet to finish out training session." Rias asked curiously.

"From this day forward I will be your opponent." War said seriously.

"You? But why?" Rias asked in surprise.

"In days to come you will be pitted against insurmountable odds Gremory, and I need to see if you are willing to fight against such foes to the bitter end. Come at me with everything you have, show me the fruits of your training thus far." War said sternly.

Rias couldn't help but be nervous at this new predicament. After all the horsemen were never known as the gentle types and War is certainly no different, so if he plans to train her, then this will indeed be a brutal gauntlet for her, far more than what it was with Valeria.

As if Fury's meddling with the Lord of the Hollows wasn't enough, Death's dark secret that was revealed between the horsemen only widened the chasm between them. Although In the past the horsemen had many disagreements with each other's decisions and actions, the today's rift between the Four could not be more apparent, which only bodes ill for the Balance. Still, in spite of this fact, the horsemen will perform their duties to the Council as they did for countless centuries, but with their unity severely compromised that task will be all the more difficult.

---

A/N: Here it is everyone, chapter 15. Clearly as i go through more and more chapters it takes longer to update. And that's because, playing bunch of video games aside, we are slowly reaching the mid game of the story, especially with all these plotlines that just keep lining up, Seven Deadly Sins, Khaos Brigade, the divide of the horsemen etc etc. So yeah, it might take longer to update, but the quality of the chapters will stay the same (hopefully).

Btw, i was recently thinking whether i should start reading the Light Novel or not. Is it even worth reading to begin with? And if so, from where should i start reading? I have watched all 4 seasons of the anime and read the manga, so plz don't tell me that i have to read from the very beginning :D

-Bladewolf101 Well, no reaction to it as of yet, as you may see in this chapter :D

Yup, too bad that plan backfired on them completely with the Tree of Knowledge. But as much of a sarcastic, delightful bastard Death may be, even he would think that Council backstabbing them would be a stretch, at least to his knowledge at this point in time.

Basically. Dunno if Akeno x Issei will continue to be a thing due to Strife the Harem God being around, but we'll see as the story progresses. (poor Issei, I only realized now that his harem narrowed to only two girls at this point, Akeno and Asia :D) As for War and Rias, who knows? War might tolerate her more as time passes, at least that much for their cause to uphold the Balance.

-Gamelover41592 Thanks, good to be back :)

-Primus1661 Yeah I was never really a fan of how such an ultra powerful being is literally just an overpowered child, so I made a few tweaks where she is more cunning and dangerous than her childish appearance would suggest. As for the horsemen power ups, that remains to be seen, for now they have the powers that they get in their own games.

-It is ON yup, the horsemen certainly got their hands full this time. More updates are to come, though the reason why they're so slow is cause I spend way too much time playing games while coming up with story direction that isn't half baked or outright bad when rushed.

-DOOMRAIDER Yeah, Death threatening Ophis with Oblivion part was from your suggestion from last chapter, so tnx for giving me that idea :D Couldn't have said it better myself man, i also later on came up with this headcanon that if even the Horsemen cant cut it, then the Keeper will step in and wreck shit for the Council.

I dunno, I'm refraining if not really fond of the idea of Creator popping up to do a reset button on the universe or whatever, because… too much ex machina for my taste? I dunno, seems rather anti climactic and too convenient. I mean sure people can come up with a creative idea how to bring him into the fold, but for me it's more compelling for the horsemen to be left to their own devices and make do with what they have to deal with the situation, be it against the Council or otherwise, like the plotline where they train the Gremory devils to make full use of their abilities and Sacred Gears for their own ends. If I were to do that bit in future chapters, it would probably turn out as some kind of joke with Wicked Killington or something, talking out of my ass on the last part :D

Yeah, but that's what made Fury so interesting as a character. When you play through the third game you realize that she has severe flaws, basically Seven Deadly Sins packaged into one as revealed near the end of the game. And it's also rather amusing and cathartic that when she fights the Sins, she's basically looking herself in the mirror as to what she is, very prone to anger as demonstrated against Wrath, succumbing to her lazy side against Sloth etc. And it couldn't be more apparent then against Lust. When she manifested Fury's desire to be the leader of the horsemen, she was disgusted at how her own brothers were groveling at her feet, they were basically as you've said, mindless drones, and then she was like 'screw this nonsense'. That's the type of character progression that I'm trying to convey in this story as well, a very flawed character embodying the negatives of the Sins, but slowly gaining clarity and becoming the enlightened person (arguably) at the end of the game.

Indeed, though it can be excused for this particular instance, cause seeing ultra powerful killing machines fighting a giant, fat dung fly in their own domain is not really a normal occurrence for them, be in on Olympus or especially Earth. My take on Athena is that she does live up to her name as goddess of wisdom, where she knows a lot of things, but not where she can see the future as Samael does for example, going all 'I knew you'd come to this temple, at this exact hour bla bla bla'. And not being outright retarded like she was in other franchises like God of War, hence her smarts when she refrains from digging deeper into War's thoughts.

I dunno about Batman who Laughs version of Athena, sadly I never read through that story, but my god is she an idiot in God of War series. I mean sure Athena and other Olympians were accurately portrayed as the arrogant dickheads they were in ancient times, but… COME ON dude! I mean ATHENA, the supposed 'goddess of wisdom' had the brightest idea to make Kratos the God of War and have him eternally live on a daily with his nightmares of killing his wife and daughter, instead of letting him end his ten year misery after being lied to that he would start fresh. And then in the second game she and the other Olympians had the gall to do Pikachu face when Kratos goes on attacking cities throughout Greece. Good grief :D

-Brayan Heller You people really want for War to fall in love with Rias and stuff, do you? Sadly none of that, and that only makes sense to those who actually played the games and understood his stoic character.

-jeremiahkelley93 Thank you

-Greer123 No, but for War it certainly was a betrayal when your eldest brother sends you out there to take a flesh bullet to the chest. That's what I love the most about Fury, how with every Sin she fights she sees also parts of herself in them, like looking in the mirror. She even said himself how she was jealous, lazy etc. All good here thank goodness, same best wishes for you mate :)

-Pedro Alonso Buby Huayanay Zamudio Thank you, glad you like it. Probably, I have ideas as to what other powers the horsemen will get, but no concrete decisions as of yet.

-Axccel Pretty much, but instead of purging the Underworld in flame for disrupting the Balance, Death came up with a solution that they pay back for that thievery by serving as fodder or tools for the horsemen, and utilizing Sacred Gears of the humans they abducted for their own ends, like they have plans for Issei's Booster Gear, Asia's Twilight healing etc.

At least that's the idea I tried to convey in the story :D

-Gods Angry Man Plot as thick as Fury's thighs :D Thanks, here's the update.

As always, thank you guys for the reviews, faves and follows, and as i've said, ill try to update them asap, but it's kinda tricky to do that the further we go into the story. I mean i can, but only if i want is to post a half baked cringe or outright garbage, and that's the last thing i want cause even for me that would be soulcrushing :D So again, thank you all and i'll see you in the next chapter :)