Chapter 37 - Battle of Kuoh Pt.1
Streets of Kuoh - Highschool DxD - Half an hour after the end of the last chapter
(General P.O.V)
The moment that Kiba had apported back to safety, the Pendragon Family and their allied forces had become instantly aware of the presence of the enemy, who had been already forced into the open by the actions of the RED team.
Several teams were immediately formed and began leading both the Volunteers from the Youkai faction and the Dragon Tooth Warriors created by Medea into the streets. While initially, the church contingent wanted to strike out on their own, the four were convinced to instead go along with one of the teams to begin fighting the forces of Kokabiel's stray exorcists and fallen angels.
The First team, led by Artoria (Saber) and Mordred jointly, consisted of Kiba, Sayori, Koneko, Kuroka, and a small detachment of Dragon Tooth Warriors. Heading for the forces led by Father Anderson and Valper Galilei, consisting almost entirely of stray exorcists.
The Second team, Led by Artoria Alter and Jeanne Alter, consisted of the Church four of Xenovia Quarta, Irina Shidou, Lint Sellzen, Griselda Quarta, Grey Pendragon, and Fu and joined by a large contingent of Dragon Tooth Warriors and bolstered by the majority of the remaining Youkai Faction volunteers heading for a large detachment of stray exorcists and fallen angels coming from the north.
The third team is entirely that of Raynare and the RED team with what remaining Robots have yet to be destroyed from the previous aggressive engagement of the enemy whose remaining numbers are only in the low 20s with a few of them missing an arm or even their weapon.
The Fourth team is the one defending Kuoh Academy itself, consisting of Rias Gremory, Akeno Himejima, Izayoi Hyuudou, Asia Argento-Pendragon, Mashu Kyrielight, Merlin Pendragon, Medea Pendragon, Kiritsugu Emiya-Pendragon and Morgan Le Fay-Pendragon.
The Final team only consists of two people. First is Ritsuka Fujimaru-Pendragon and Arturia Morgana Pendragon herself, staying in reserve for the moment until Kokabiel himself shows up on the battlefield, Arturia keeping a close eye on the events unfolding with careful and brief uses of her clairvoyance as to not strain her mind.
However, whenever Arturia uses clairvoyance on Ophis, she notes something strange that she's only just realized. The reactions of pain and anguish on Ophis's face ring false to her clairvoyance, as to what this means..
It's something that Arturia isn't 100% sure on just yet, so she decides to not voice her suspicions just yet in case she is somehow wrong, especially when the battle has only just started.
Meanwhile - Team Artoria (Saber) and Mordred
(Mordred's P.O.V)
Jeez, these so-called exorcists are pitifully weak. Well compared to a servant like me and father at least, and both of those catgirls too. Heh, kinda my type I'd say..
I have to duck between a pansy-ass stray exorcist's light sword mid-thought and give the bastard an annoyed snarl before shoving Clarent through the bastard's chest. Now where was I–
"Can you please focus on the fight Mordred?!" I hear "Father" shout from the chaos of the fight, grinning while rushing over to her, cutting a few more of these bastards down like a hot knife through butter, like that one video Fu had us watch to explain her whole Science thing.
I just kick ass, take names and try to become a king in my own right, don't give a shit Fu. I grin when I hear Fu's indignant squawking over the Neural hub due to accidentally broadcasting that last thought~
Sorry, not sorry!
As I join up with "Father" he has the audacity to give me a bland look, the sourpuss…
Speaking of Puss, I briefly glance over at the Catgirl sisters and they've knocked out or killed over..30 or so now. Anyway, me and "Father" (Saber Artoria) put our backs together and look over the stray exorcists that think they have us surrounded.
"Hey dad, what say I kill one half and you kill the other..?" I ask with a competitive grin. At first, I thought she'd just give me a glare but to my surprise, she gives a competitive smirk of her own and replies with.."No no, it's the duty of the parent to make sure their child is well cared for, I think I'll take 70% while you take 30%.."
Oh no she didn't..
"Oh no you don't, you don't get to pull the parent card on a competition!" I say while looking right at her, only to see she's already thrown herself into the frey. Huh, didn't think she'd pull such a dirty move.
Several stray exorcists think to try and take advantage of my distraction but I quickly turn around and gut the bastards, splitting them in two in one swing and resting my sword only right shoulder and give them my usual winning grin.
"It's gonna take a lot more than a sneak attack to defeat a servant you pricks!" I declare before throwing myself into the fray again. Fuck I missed this shit, getting to actually throw myself into the thick of battle like this again.
Shame shit like this tends to happen rarely..
(P.O.V Change: General)
As Team Artoria (Saber) and Mordred continue fighting, watching from atop a nearby church bell tower is Father Alexander Anderson, grinning with anticipation before spotting Kiba fighting particularly hard against the forces Alexander was given.
The blonde-haired young woman is now wearing a strange red cloak with a black body suit while wielding two Chinese Falchions with a proficiency that even Alexander could admit could rival his skill with his Bayonets.
"Ah, looks like the lass is back for round two, although this time the bastard Valper ain't here to interrupt the fight this time.." The golden blonde Priest says before taking out some of his blessed Bayonets and leaping off the bell tower straight into the carnage.
He cuts through the Dragon Tooth Warriors blocking his path with ease as he heads directly for Kiba with a psychotic grin, the blonde woman notices and gazes at him with a hardened look before cutting down some of Alexander's own forces before the two clash.
"Tch, where did all of this strength come from lass, you didn't have those blades nor the admittedly sexy cloak on ye when you got curb stomped by me earlier.." Father Anderson says while Kiba only narrows her eyes while pushing forward, making Father Anderson's eyes widen before the grin he has on his face only gets more manic.
"Fucking finally, It was getting a wee bit boring when we fought last time but now I can finally go all out!" Father Anderson Says before pushing himself recklessly, making no real effort to dodge the cuts on his arms and legs while trying to get a clean hit himself.
However, he clearly sees that while his opponent's new style has seemingly a ton of holes, almost all of them are false openings. The keyword being almost…
At last, he gets a clean thrust into Kiba's right shoulder but the lass barely even seems to flinch, the blessed bayonet gliding over the shoulder bone and cutting into flesh. However, Father Anderson can tell that Kiba most definitely felt that, judging by the clenching of her teeth harshly and the brief flicker in her eyes.
Kiba is merely turning that pain into cold fury, ignoring the pain in an effort to try and stay in the fight. "So lass, it seems that whatever process that gave you this sweet ass new abilities and weapon seems to have not settled in just yet has it~!" Father Anderson says, guessing correctly that Kiba has yet to fully adjust to being a Demi-servant mentally and is still in the process of blending together with the permanent install of the Archer Servant.
"T-true, as much as I h-hate to admit it, I'm still g-getting used to this…" Kiba says, gritting her teeth while trying to fight with her right arm now being more or less useless, sending the twin chinese falchions away before fighting Alexander Anderson with a single blade in her left hand and then she bizarrely forces a blade lock.
"Heh, think you can keep meh down for any one of your posse here to get a good hit in..?" Father Anderson asks while keeping his attention around him. However, Kiba only grins and simply responds with…"No, the better user of this particular archer class just needs me to move my head.."
Father Anderson is briefly confused before looking past Kiba's now slightly tilted head and sees a faint red light. Two people stand at the highest point of Kuoh Academy, one a black-haired woman wearing the attire of Assassin Emiya who has her hand on the other one, the source of the red light.
A Twelve-Year-Old Shirou Emiya is the first (Albeit currently temporary until he's older) Demi-Servant of Archer EMIYA. Supplied the Prana by his mother, Kiritsugu, and guided by the instincts of his Older Counter Guardian self in the card, fires an altered form of Gae Bolg changed into an arrow, and fires right at Father Anderson.
It's an automatic direct hit no matter what Anderson does, the arrow going right through his head. It sends his body flying back, and for a moment Kiba thinks it's over, turning her attention away.
However, Father Anderson's body suddenly plants its feet into the ground, the hole in Father Anderson's head very quickly regenerating as if it were nothing while the mad priest grins. Kiba very narrowly dodges a sweeping slash from the priest, her eyes widening as she had not expected Father Anderson to survive being shot through the head like that.
"Ah, it's been a while since I had to rely on meh regenerations to keep me in the fight, although it looks like the little tyke that tried to nix meh isn't able to keep it going.." Father Anderson says with a grin.
True to his word, the young boy is simply unable to keep going or else the use of the Archer Class card or else it would have long-term health risks for the boy, so he removes his gift from Zelretch and has his mother send him back to the manor, the plan having failed to work.
However, Kiba is soon saved by an unlikely savior in this moment as Sayori Genshirou suddenly latches her Sacred Gear, Absorption Line on Father Alexander's body and begins to absorb the advanced regeneration from the Mad Priest.
"Well that's something you don't see every day.." Father Alexander says to himself, struggling to move while the Absorption line is in effect. It's literally taking him all of his strength to simply try and turn to throw a bayonet at the interfering Pawn.
However, Kiba quickly sees this as her opportunity and using the power of her permanent Demi-servant status as Archer EMIYA, traces one of the blessed bayonets that Father Anderson uses and stabs him in the heart.
Normally this wouldn't do anything but with the Advanced Regeneration being stolen from him, he merely chuckles, knowing his end draws near and welcomes his death. "Heh, Not the death I had in mind…if only you were here, eh Alucard…?" he says weakly before he finally falls down.
"Sorry for interfering but I just couldn't let you continue taking him on alone.." Sayori says, pulling the line out of the dead body of Father Anderson and attaching it to Kiba and letting her benefit from Father Anderson's Advanced Regeneration to heal from the wounds she sustained from the fight just now.
As the fights around them are dying down and the remaining stray exorcists start fleeing from Kuoh, Kiba grabs one of them and flat-out asks…"Where is Valper Galilei…?" The extremely scared stray exorcists is quick to squeal and say..
"I dunno, last I heard he got grabbed by Lord Kokabiel for something before the battle even started, please you gotta believe me.." It's then Mordred comes up behind Kiba with a particularly bloodthirsty grin and says.."Is that truly all you know or do I need to ram my sword up your colon until I replicate a certain Romanian Tyrant's legendary form of execution~?" making the stray exorcist just rapidly nod in absolute fear.
Then Mordred smiles almost too cheerfully and has Kiba let the man go, with the man running off while leaving a suspicious trail of liquid. Kiba just looks disgusted while Mordred bursts out laughing.
"Behave Mordred.." Artoria (Saber) says while calling in that the forces led by Father Anderson is dead, his forces are scattered and Valper has been taken by Kokabiel before the battle according to field intel gathered.
In the end, they're told to return to Kuoh Academy briefly to take a break from the fighting before they will get some new orders. The entire team apports back to Kuoh Academy where Yasaka greets them and motions them to the school Gym where Merlin is using her magic to look over Kuoh, also trying to look for Kokabiel…
However, only Yasaka notices Angela suddenly come onto Kuoh Academy as she quickly heads over to where the RED team and Raynare are at..
Meanwhile - With Team Alter
(General P.O.V)
The fighting is perhaps the most intense and the most chaotic with this team as there is both Stray Exorcists and Fallen Angels here. While Artoria Alter and Jeanne Alter, along with the Church four alongside the Youkai Handle the ground forces of the stray exorcists, the Fallen angels have to deal with two very different aerial threats.
"HAAAH!" Grey cries out as she is a golden blur in the skies, having already gone Super Saiyan Two and is wreaking havoc on the dozens of Fallen angels in the sky who aren't even able to land a hit with their light spears and sometimes even accidentally team kill themselves when Grey ends up tossing one of the wingless bodies of their fellow fallen angels right into an incoming light spear.
"Super Black Kamehameha!" Grey cries out before using said Super Black Kamehameha to vaporize a line of several Fallen angels in the sky before Kai Kaiing away and blasting the Fallen angels that were trying to skewer her from all sides when she had stopped unleashing the technique and get blasted by several Ki blasts for their trouble.
"Hey, c'mon can't you be fancier with your moves or what?!" Add says, having been brought to the fight on the whim of Grey who is regretting it now. She dodges another light spear before blasting the offending Fallen Angel and responding with.."Oh I'm sorry, I'm not my sister who's a fucking Goddess who has full access to the template I have and the template of one Madara fucking Uchiha Add.." while speaking in an annoyed and sassy tone to Add who merely gives a low whistle of approval.
"Being in this family has really given you a spine eh girlie, at long fucking last I say!" Add cheerfully says, the cube mystic code just not shutting up. Soon enough though Grey is joined by Fu who floats over idly with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Huh, I never did get around to having a conversation with your cube friend since you rarely take him out.." Fu says while not even looking behind her while blasting another fallen angel in the face and sending the dead man falling down to the carnage below.
"It's a travesty I tell you, all the hot women and grey here won't lemme out!" Add bemoans while Grey just gives the cube a flat look before responding to his complaint with.." Because you'd talk about our curves a bunch before complaining that you don't have a body of your own to enjoy it.."
Add just looks up at Grey's currently green eyes before simply grumbling and remarking.."You know me far too well.." Before giving a petulant huff. As Grey rolls her eyes in exasperation, both Fu and Grey turn their attention back to the battle as they resume their systematic decimation of the Fallen Angels in this part of the battlefield.
With Fu sealing away the power of light from the Fallen angels briefly before cutting them down, leaving them either confused at the loss of their power, horrified that a demonic being can do that or just oblivious to it before their death.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield below, the two Alter Women, Jeanne Alter, and Artoria Alter, tear through the stray exorcists by the dozens, flames blasting through several at once while Jeanne stabs another as Artoria mixes in brief uses of Mana burst in a way that it doesn't too badly damage the street, taking at least roughly three dozen Stray exorcists in just a single mana burst.
The Church Four However are having the most trouble, having to be supported by the Youkai volunteers as the sheer number of stray exorcists and even some Fallen angels that decided to stay on the ground to act as defacto commanders in the midst of conflict.
Griselda grimaces as she continues to cut down the stray exorcists, remorseful that so many would turn from the church and end up following a man like Kokabiel. While she is limited to the same Light Sword and exorcist gun that is standard to her opponent, she shows exactly why she was known as one of the top 5 female exorcists in the church as she cuts down these former members of the church with such ease it looks like a graceful dance.
Lint Sellzen is also working hard to keep up with Griselda, having holstered her gun and decided to pick up one of the abandoned light swords to dual-wield two in order to get an advantage in a close battle.
Internally, she's saddened by how so many would throw themselves into the pit of hell that is war, all for a single Fallen Angel, even it is Kokabiel. Giving a short prayer with every kill, she hopes that they will be judged fairly as they enter heaven..
Irina is having particular trouble trying to fight these Stray Exorcists as she wasn't exactly expecting to go into this assignment killing fellow humans, especially former members of the church at that.
As she hesitates at one particular point, she suddenly gets kicked in the gut by a stray exorcist who grabs her Excalibur mimic, only to be rejected by the blade and forced to drop it. One of the Fallen Angels spots this and immediately swoops in to grab it and try to take it to Kokabiel.
Only to end up being killed by Grey the moment they take to the sky, the blade falling back into Irina's hands by sheer luck who gives a quick prayer before resuming the fight. All while trying desperately not to be a burden to the Youkai Fighting alongside her.
Xenovia however has no such problems as her stubbornness proves to be an asset in this situation as she relentlessly fights the stray exorcist, although a bit arrogant as she doesn't use Excalibur Destruction's full power except for when fighting fallen angels.
As th fight continues, it seems that the bulk of Kokabiel's forces has converged at this particular battlefield, with both Artoria Alter and Jeanne Alter noting how some of the houses and even buildings have been destroyed and there is a fair bit of collateral damage taking place.
While effective in numbers, the Dragon Tooth Warriors are quickly being decimated by the Fallen Angels mixed in with the stray exorcists although the loss ratio still has the fight being a slow but hard-won assured victory with the servants, Grey and Fu in play..
Meanwhile - the RED team and Raynare
(General P.O.V)
Raynare grimaces as she stabs another stray exorcist, her clothes and wings utterly coated in blood, some of it from stray exorcists and some of it from….well..
She watches as one of the few fallen angels that are still alive from the earlier engagement violently stab RED Heavy in the chest multiple times before heavy gets a sticky bomb on the back of his head and it explodes soon after, blood and gore from both him and the now blasted apart Fallen angel coat her body again.
Soon enough RED medic rushes over and points his medi-gun at a particular piece of gore from heavy's body as it glows red and starts to reform RED heavy back to being fully alive and ready to return to the fight.
"THANK YOU MEDIC!" RED heavy screams before revving up his beloved Minigun Sasha and unloading a full mag on a ton of stray exorcists. This has been a repeating tactic for the last half hour and she quickly got over the shock of seeing her mercenary friends die after the very first time it happened.
She soon sees RED demoman in his Demoknight loadout blur past her and severs the head of one of the fallen angels before he starts carving his way through more stray exorcists. He suddenly gets shot to bits before the stray exorcists turn their guns on RED heavy.
However one of them spots the RED pyro rushing at them and before they can get away, they're all lit aflame with the burning stray exorcists bumping into the non-burnt ones and causing a cascade of flames to occur among the enemy.
"Ach, I wish me body didn't have to get burnt too.." RED Demoman says from behind Raynare, having respawned for the 4th time this fight and takes a swig of his alcohol bottle and burps before throwing it into the flaming, panicking mass of exorcists and making it all of the more worse as the booze just adds fuel to the literal fire.
"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that you were our pyromaniac, not the actual Pyromaniac.." A voice says before RED spy decloaks behind them. While RED spy grimaces at the blood-soaked Fallen angel on their side, he turns to RED Demoman and asks.."So, how many did you take out before you died this time?" before RED Demoman uses his fingers to drunkenly count before shrugging and taking a swig of yet another bottle of booze.
"How is a man that has only one eye and is constantly drunk your demolitions expert..?" Raynare can't help but say despite having had plenty of other opportunities to do so..
The RED spy just gives an amused smile before he replies.."Perhaps I'll tell you that story over a bottle of fine wine…?" Raynare actually considers it since she can tell this may be a story worth needing to get drunk for in order to comprehend it..
"Later perhaps.." Raynare says before throwing a light spear and having it nail a line of stray exorcists which get hit by a rocket from one of the few remaining robots. Having gone from the low 20s that they had since the start of the re-engagement to merely having 5 of them, although two of them are heavily damaged despite still functioning, the Robots are doing their best to get shots in before they're scrap metal once more.
However, they're not the only mechanical aid at this point as the sound of multiple things beeping before a large hailstorm of fire slams into some stray exorcists that get too close to the RED base house, being effectively killed by RED engineers multiple level two turrets all while he relaxes on a mechanical lawn chair, complete with beers and a small umbra to keep the shade out.
"He's been in that chair for the last 20 minutes.." Raynare mutters, utterly baffled at how the sentries he's built haven't run out of ammo yet. RED Spy just shakes his head and activates his cloak, disappearing into the shadows in order to make another round of ambushes with his Ambassador revolver occur..
It's then that Raynare spots a woman in a thick black feathered cloak, with pale blue hair and golden eyes walking over with a determined look. She creates a scythe of glowing, shimmering light before she throws herself into the back of the stray exorcist forces, catching them off guard before they quickly reform ranks to take on the strange woman.
However, almost as if echoing over the battlefield, the woman's voice begins to speak as if chanting..
"A City Filled with Distorted Masses, within stands a single library.."
The Woman continues carving through the exorcists as the air starts thickening with intense magic, startling Raynare, RED team, and the enemy Fallen angels still alive in the fight.
"Born from the desire of one who is not human, she desired to become human herself.."
The second line sends a ripple of magic throughout the area, the stray exorcists and fallen angels quickly turning their focus on the pale blue-haired woman as she mercilessly carves through them..
"She fulfilled her wish, but gained nothing but heartache.."
The woman's body starts to gain a shimmering white aura as if a bright light is pulsing out of her, the light completely catching all watching off guard and briefly stopping the fight. But it's just enough time to finish her Aria..
"And so, she wished to reopen the library, her E.G.O.."
Her eyes glow brightly with the same white light before she finally says..
"And so, I invite you all to….to my Library of Ruina…"
A bright light suddenly envelops the sight of everyone, The stray Exorcists, the Fallen Angels, the RED team, Raynare, and everyone who was fighting is claimed by the white light..
Unaware that they have suddenly been drawn into a very special sort of power..
Angela's Reality Marble: Library of Runia
(General P.O.V)
When everyone's sight is cleared, they see that they've been transported to a massive collection of books, at least several hundred, maybe even a thousand books, at least enough for several skyscraper piles around them to leave them in various states of brief awe, shock, disbelief, fear, and annoyance.
All while the Pale Blue-haired Woman, Angela stares down at them from her throne made from books. She smiles as she changes her black cloak back to a familiar royal purple elegant librarian uniform before walking down a staircase of books
"Welcome to the Library, for some of you, you are true guests here in my library.."She looks at Raynare and the RED team when she says this before following up with.."As for the rest of you, I, unfortunately, deem you uninvited guests…and well, I suppose I do need to start continuing my collection of books again if I am to revive my former companions for good.." She says ominously before suddenly Raynare and the RED team are removed from the Reality Marble..
As some of the stray exorcists try to rush up the staircase to kill the pale Blue-haired woman, they're cut down by a red blade with a glowing yellow eye on it, A Red-haired woman smoking while holding the blade on her right shoulder looks down at the stray exorcists and fallen angels, the latter quickly taking to the skies in preparation for the fight.
"Jeez, you finally decide to bring back your library and the very first thing you do with it isn't to simply say hello to us again but instead put us to work.." The red-haired woman says to which Angela sighs and replies.."I am sorry Gebura, I have only recently gotten this power through the help of a particular kind young woman and her graal…"
The Red haired woman, now known as Gebura just sighs and snuffs out her cigarette and holds her blade in two hands. She's not the only one soon appearing with Several librarians soon appearing in sequence on the staircase, with the very bottom guarded by a black-haired man with a pale complexion, smiling as he puts his gloves on.
"I had fully expected for us to never be brought back, even on a temporary basis like this..still it's nice to live once more…" The man says with Angela above looking softly at the man before simply saying.."Roland.." With a fond tone..
"We'll talk later about what happened before Angela, for now, I do believe the library has intruders…" Roland says with a fond smile of his own, Angela nodding while the librarians of Angela's Library ready themselves to take on a large number of both stray exorcists and Fallen angels..
The two sides soon rush at each other, and the battle begins..
Meanwhile - Outside of Angela's Reality Marble with the RED ream + Raynare
(General P.O.V)
Raynare and the RED team just look around confused, they're back at the base but all of the enemies are gone. "Sooo uuuh, that just happened…" Says a confused RED scout, to which Raynare soon adds.."Should we try to go back and help…?"
RED Demoman and RED spy just look at each other before shaking their heads and answering at the same time..
"Nah" "No"
This confuses Raynare before RED medic puts a hand on her shoulder and explains.."If that woman is who I think she is, she'll be fine even if she does die, she's a part of Lady Arturia's retinue although I never really saw her do much before now.."
RED spy just sighs while pinching the bridge of his nose before deciding to radio the situation to those in Kuoh Academy. It's times like this that he really wants to increase the team's hazard pay if only to help with the headache that comes from mystical bullshit like this.
Meanwhile - Back with Team Alter
(General P.O.V)
The fight is still going quite strong and while Grey, Fu, Artoria Alter, and Jeanne Alter are still going strong, the Church contingent and the remaining Youkai Volunteers are starting to get too exhausted to properly keep up at this stage, with the Youkai taking heavy loses and drastically dwindling their numbers.
As much as Atoria Alter wants to Mana Burst much more freely than she is doing, she can't do that without risking her own allies in the blast. Jeanne Alter herself isn't doing much better as while like the rest of the retinue is still in top shape, the persistent issue of collateral damage is becoming an annoying problem as she has to actively restrain herself from using more of her flames to prevent accidentally hitting some of the buildings nearby or even some of her own people.
However, everything comes to a head when during the battle an exhausted Xenovia suddenly finds herself disarmed by a Fallen angel and is about to be killed by them. Xenovia can't draw out her other weapon in time before the spear will skewer her head!
Splat!
Irina nearby just looks on in horror, freezing at the sight she sees, while Lint just stands there as the battle continues on around her, her focus entirely on what she's witnessing before her very eyes..
As Xenovia slowly opens her eyes, she sees that the spear of light has stopped short of her head as Griselda Quarta herself takes it straight through the abdomen. "W-wha…" Xenovia utters, her face pale and in shock as the light spear is pulled out from Griselda's body, with Griselda falling into Xenovia's arms.
Jeanne Alter sees this and roars out in absolute hatred, rushing the fallen angel and stabbing him straight through the back of the head while using her flames to force the stray exorcist back and create some breathing room for the two members of the church contingent.
"SISTER GRISELDA!" Both Irina and Lint scream as they start carving their way to Xenovia. The blue-haired woman just can't believe what she's seeing right now as Griselda Quarta, her legal guardian at that and if she were honest with herself for just this moment, her mother figure has taken a fatal hit meant for her.
"W-why..?" Xenovia says, utterly shaken and tearing up while Griselda gives a weak smile, the blood loss already taking it's toll as she places a tender hand, albeit very bloody, on Xenovia's face.
"I j-just couldn't b-bare..the thought of losing any of you..I p-promised..m-myself I'd give m-my life to p-protect you three…" Griselda says weakly, Irina and Lint soon surround her as the battle continues on around them.
"Please, stay strong, w-we can find help, surely someone here, one of the Youkai or maybe even of the family w-we'll join soon…?" Irina says, but the four know that Griselda doesn't have that much time…
"T-the three of you have become f-fine young exorcists u-under me…and fine women as well…p-promise me that you t-three will t-take care of each other wh-while I'm gone.." Griselda pleads with her beloved charges, to which all of them nod with tears coming from their eyes..
"I-i'm glad…..I g-go to god now…..I-i'll b-be sure to tell him…about my w-wonderful students…" Griselda says with a weak smile before finally passing away in Xenovia's arms, the Tempest Jewel ring on her finger going from active to inactive, having no target to continuing binding…
"NO, PLEASE COME BACK!" Xenovia cries out begging the dead woman to somehow miraculously return to life but soon their grief is interrupted by a sinister cackling..
"Oh what joys, well she ain't wrong about going to god….because our dear father in heaven….has been dead for a long time…" Says a smooth yet malevolent voice, as Kokabiel finally appears on the battlefield..
"W-what did you say…?" Irina says, hoping beyond all hope that what they just heard was a mere fabrication. Kokabiel grins while holding the chain leash that seems to restrain Ophis, Fu above spots this and soon makes the call back to the academy..
"I said…." Kokabiel cries out as he siphons power from Ophis using the odd set of chains to empower a spear of light before screaming out.." GOD IS DEAD!" With a maniacal grin before throwing the Ophis-empowered Light Spear, at least 10 times as big as even the cadere himself is.
It soars right at Kuoh academy, where it slams into the barrier, the Light spear making a piercing loud screech as it continues to try and pierce through the barrier. Then suddenly, both the light spear and barrier shatter like glass, violently flooding the area with various energies.
However, no actual damage is done to the Academy, nor to anyone in it, much to Kokabiel's disappointment. He snarls at Ophis before asking.."Is This really all the Ouroboros dragon is capable of..?"
However, his answer comes from someone unexpected…
"No, but that'll all you be capable of from this point onwards…" A voice echoes as Kokabiel looks up into the sky to look for the one who spoke to him like that.
Above him, as radiating with a divine aura, is Both Arturia Morgana Pendragon and Ritsuka Fujimaru-Pendragon
Both of them in Super Saiyan Rose form, and both of them are looking right at Kokabiel, ready to finally put an end to this once and for all…
Author's Note
Well, this came out way earlier than I had anticipated, so let's go through it all
Kiba VS Father Anderson Round 2
This was gonna end up happening again as Kiba needed to settle the score. This time coming along with a new Demi-servant status of being the Demi-Servant of Archer EMIYA because of Sword Birth and Blade Blacksmith…
Of course, like with trying to get used to the new body, she had to deal with the new instincts, and new techniques all in the span of roughly half an hour. It was unfortunately just not enough time for her to get used to it, unlike say Shirou who as you can see, easily use it but not without potential long-term risks if used extensively due to his age.
Although Unfortunately for Both Kiba and Shirou, Father Anderson didn't exactly reveal his Regeneration in the prior fight so he kinda got them on the back foot on that account, although Sayori came in clutch with her Absorption Line Sacred gear to siphon that exact regeneration away.
Grey and Fu in the sky
This is to address concerns about not enough DBZ powers being used in fights lately, so since Grey does have the Template, thought she might get a chance in the spotlight for this one, plus Fu showing her combat use of her Seals (Which won't just stop at this chapter…)
RED team and their antics
If anyone's played Mann Verus Machine on Team Fortress 2, they'll know about the fact Medic can revive anyone mid-battle with his medi-gun as opposed to regular Team VS team game-play and with the Mann Up mode reactivated, they will take full advantage of that.
Angela's Reality Marble.
This was hinted at back in the last chapter, but she needed Valerie's help to adjust her soul in a way that would allow her to activate her E.G.O at will and as a result, she can once more return to the Tier X status, albeit only when she has the Library in effect which is temporary.
It's not a case of not having enough power, it's the fact she's having to strain her soul to bring this particular distorted world out, although it's not a True reality marble in this case as it's more her manifesting her E.G.O once more. But for the sake of simplicity and a familiar term, I will refer to it as a reality marble as I understand some haven't played Library of Runia.
Griselda's Death
Yea, this was planned to happen for a while. This is the fanfic's first real death of a potential waifu for the Retinue. Remember the Tempest Jewel Ring requires three days to finish binding at minimum. With them only having been getting the ring for roughly half an hour, nowhere near enough time for her to have a chance to come back.
Lint, Irina, and Xenovia learning of God's Death
While I hadn't planned exactly how the revelation would be done originally, it was originally planned for all three of them to hear this, and thus leads to all three of them ending up excommunicated from the church after this battle.
Speaking of the battle, let's just say don't expect the fight to be as long as you might think to expect. If you've been catching the hints so far, you might have an idea as to what I might mean.
Next time on A Golden Goddess: The Excalibur Arc Finale
See you all next time!
