Hello, Vinzelles here. Welcome back to A Path to Freedom.

It's been 10 days, but this time I wasn't being lazy, I swear! I've been revising this chapter (twice in fact) and a few others, and it's actually a lot of effort when the draft is as messy as I said it was.

Only one review in the meantime, which wasn't anything special (thank you for writing it nonetheless, Ulysses07) since it just said something like "No grammar errors and the story is good. Keep it up!". Not with those exact words, but something along those lines.

In these 10 days, I also had the chance to see what exactly would happen if I removed from the synopsis my warnings about the content. And what do you know? I got more favs and follows than I usually get when I upload a chapter! Of course, my warnings are technically still one click (or tap for mobile users) away, but it just goes to show that initial appearances are a pretty big deal when writing a story.

What else? Ah, right. I'm gonna be a bit busy for the next few weeks, so I might have to keep uploading erratically for a little while. But it's no big deal. I mean, I only have to do revisions, right?

Wrong! I actually also started writing Arc 4! As you might recall, it's the first original arc. No bases at all for the writing, aside from the ideas I had for the arc itself. It's... a thing. A bit hard, in fact, but I can keep going once I have more free time again.

For now, we have the brief battle between Xenovia and Soleil, and Orochi and Raynare.

I'll see you at the bottom. Enjoy.

Arc 3 Chapter 3 - Forced Alliance

The group followed Orochi and Raynare outside the old building and through the backyard, which happened to have a wide open space, undoubtedly well suited to do battle.

Fed up with Xenovia's unfair insults towards Asia, Orochi had coerced the exorcists into fighting against him and the Fallen girl.

However, it almost seemed as if the two of them had something else to say to the exorcists, and were using a duel of all things as an excuse to express their thoughts.

It was going to be a longer afternoon than Anya had anticipated.

"Asia, are you okay?" she whispered to her servant.

"S-Somewhat, Buchou-san..."

"Despite the fact that he went too far," spoke quietly Unryuu, "He kinda one-upped me on the duel idea. Had he not done it, I would have. Don't mind their words, Asia-chan."

The former nun smiled at her. "Thank you, Unryuu-san."

Some meters ahead, Xenovia and Soleil were discussing what had just happened.

"Damn him, my wrist still hurts. He won't get away with this even if he's your friend, Soleil."

"Don't drag me into your quarrel, at least I realized in time what I was doing, unlike you. Be grateful Boss is giving you a chance, his physical strength has increased immensely from when we were kids, and his former shortcomings in other fields are not a thing anymore apparently. Be on your guard while you fight him."

At the head of the group, Raynare was rehearsing the plan she and Orochi had concocted.

"Are you certain she can be reasoned with? You told me she's an hopeless airhead."

"The moment you tell her about Freed, she'll be all ears. Soleil is surprisingly diligent when she uses her brain."

"What about the other?"

"I said I was going to teach her a lesson, and I plan to do exactly that. But I'll go easy on her, harming her severely will stir up all sorts of trouble. You can just worry about telling Soleil what you know, and we'll go from there. For now I'll lead Xenovia away, so that you can talk freely. I'll leave the rest to you."

"...Understood."

The group finally reached the garden. Orochi, Raynare and the exorcists took their positions.

"Hey Anya!" He started shouting. "Put up a barrier! I need to be able to fight properly!"

"Screw you! Why don't you do it?! You created this mess in the first place!" was the answer from the sidelines where the Devils settled to watch the fight.

"Tch, should have seen that coming."

With a resigned look on his face, he pointed two fingers at eight o'clock behind him with his arm. An orb of wind started gathering several meters away in the spot he indicated. He then brusquely bended his arm at eleven o'clock, and the orb suddenly bursted.

*BANG*

It produced a shockwave that tore into the ground, tracing a line that separated him and Xenovia from Raynare and Soleil.

"Totentanz." (1)

The wind gathered in the opening in the ground, and multiple tornadoes spurted from the fissure, forming a barrier of solid, body-shredding wind.

The Himmelskugel was Orochi's base for most of the spells he had memorized. It was merely a mass of compressed air that blew wildly within a restricted spherical space, but it was particularly versatile due to how he was able to control how the winds within the "orb" would blow. He could generate it some space away from his body, or around his hands and feet as an enchantment of sorts. The latter use was in fact what he had decided to favour when he decided on what to implement in his fighting style. (2)

Just then, he had set free the winds within the orb and had forced them all in one direction. Specifically, the order he gave was for them to carve into the ground in a straight line and have them emerge and dive in succession within the fissure created, in a cycle that would make them operate as a barrier within the Totentanz spell.

"Forcing me to spend magic power on a stupid barrier before a fight, damn that Anya..." grumbled Orochi.

"So, you truly are capable of casting spells. I suppose I'll have to heed Soleil's advice and be on my guard. But I suggest you do the same with me!"

Xenovia, having said that, removed the cloth from her weapon. It was a huge two-handed sword with a long grip and a cross in the pommel. Its guard was shaped in the form of an axe, and the enormous maroon blade with 3 tips radiated immense power.

"This is Excalibur Destruction! Like the name implies, this blade contains enough destructive power to shatter anything it comes into contact with! I don't know how strong you really are, but you are no match for this sword!"

"...Indeed, it seems like I will be in a lot of pain if that thing ever collides with my body." admitted Orochi without shame. "Thankfully I don't plan to ever let it touch me."

The boy raised an arm and pointed at Xenovia with a single finger.

"Let us begin then. Heilig Pfeil." (3)

Xenovia couldn't even begin to react.

She heard a whistle. Something flew past her, grazing her cheek, and exploded behind her.

*BOOM*

Feeling the resulting shockwave lightly hitting her back, the girl started to tremble in response.

'W-What in the world was that?! I couldn't see it at all!' she thought.

"You seem surprised. Ever heard of an air gun? ...Who am I kidding, you probably haven't. I know how people of your kind behave. Completely self-absorbed and lost in your little bright world."

Orochi bowed formally at Xenovia like a butler would, as if to mock her.

"In that case, allow me to show you just how wide the world truly is." (4)

"Whoa! That was dangerous?!"

"Goodness, he's already trying to crush her will to fight."

"Y-You... He... Bah, I don't get it at all!"

Having witnessed what looked like an invisible attack exploding behind her partner, Soleil was baffled to say the least.

Was Orochi's mother truly capable of such things, after all? He had told her that he had learned from her, and was only able to reproduce spells that she could perform. An attack that couldn't be seen sounded incredibly convenient, however; in fact, it sounded like the perfect spell for an assassin.

Fortunately Orochi had decided to not hit Xenovia directly, and merely used it as a warning shot.

Quickly deciding that Xenovia was getting what was coming to her, Soleil put her train of thought back on track.

"Say, do we really have to do battle? I kinda like you, you know?"

"...I'm sorry, what?"

"Ah, I guess Boss didn't tell you. I'm bisexual."

"SO YOU'RE ACTUALLY HITTING ON ME?! Is that orientation even allowed in the Vatican?! Kamakura wasn't joking, you really can be a pain in the ass!"

Raynare was quickly realizing that talking to Soleil about a serious topic was going to become harder than they had predicted, and was already losing her patience.

"Might as well." answered the human girl, completely unbothered by the Fallen's shock. "You don't really seem like a bad person, and Boss trusts you enough to pit you against me."

"Errr, no, that was our plan in the first place." deadpanned Raynare. "While the blockheads fight, I'm supposed to give you a lead for finding the thief."

"Eh? You mean you know something? Why didn't you say anything earlier?!"

"Because Kamakura doesn't want to leave this matter alone, for reasons he refuses to explain to me." said Raynare wearily. "He's being paranoid, which means this is important business to him. So here's the deal: I'll tell you what I know, and you let me and Kamakura help you two out in return."

"W-Well, I'm not sure if I can make that kind of call on my own." said a flustered Soleil. "While you might not be Devils, it isn't any better if you, a Fallen, jumps into the fray."

"Missy. Even if you say no he will tag along, or most likely force both of you into submission before going off on his own in the worst case scenario. You're going to need someone that can keep him in check, because I can guarantee you that the Devils are already unable to do so."

"Are you able to do so?"

"...Somewhat. Better than nothing though, yes?"

Soleil pondered briefly the matter at hand, before sighing. Despite the fact that she still looked skeptical in Raynare's eyes, at least she seemed to know better than to question Orochi's forcefulness in what looked like a time of emergency for the two exorcists.

"Screw it, I know better than to think we'll actually be able to get rid of him. I'll talk to Xenovia after this."

"Good. Then I'll start by telling you that just yesterday I've walked into an old acquaintance of mine. A total creep, that Freed Sellzen. He had already murdered some priest when I noticed him, and he held what I believe was an Excalibur fragment."

A flash of recognition appeared on Soleil's face.

"...He has been excommunicated a long time ago due to his brutal methods and loose tongue. ...So now he's associated with that person."

"What person?"

"The thief, we actually already know who it is. We simply didn't know the size of his forces."

"Ah, that's how it is. I was almost afraid that you had no information at all. Who is it then?"

"The Fallen Angel Kokabiel."

"...You're fucking with me."

"Sadly, I am not. He has apparently already defected from the Grigori."

Raynare facepalmed at that piece of information.

"SHIT! Are we actually going to fight a fucking Cadre?! I have to tell Kamakura after this, although I doubt he will change his mind."

"...After this?"

"Yeah. You're fighting me now."

"EEEEEH?! BUT I DON'T WANT TO! I'M IN LOVE!"

"STOP SAYING THAT!"

Raynare was finally too fed up to consider holding back. She unfolded her six wings and prepared a spear of light in her right hand. Instead of having the usual pink hue, it was completely transparent.

"You're good research material, Soleil-san! I have calculated that this spear of mine should barely be able to match that Excalibur fragment of yours, and if I have to confront Freed again I shouldn't let this chance go to waste!"

"WAAAAAAAAHHH, YOU'RE MEAN RAY-CHAAAAAAN!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAAAAAAT!"

A spear of pure light and an Excalibur fragment clashed in a blinding flash.

The boy had fired something invisible towards her, and missed on purpose.

So Xenovia had started running. She had decided that fighting in an area that was too open would end in Orochi's complete victory, so she took her distance and dived between the trees while Orochi was leisurely chasing her in a light jog. All the while, the white-haired boy was taunting her from afar.

"What's wrong, Xenoviaaaa? Is this all that your big words from earlier amount toooo?"

The Brand reacted. Someone had just dived behind the tree to Orochi's left, which was promptly slashed in half a split second later. Xenovia passed through the falling halves of the poor plant, and made an upper slash towards Orochi.

He didn't even seem fazed.

He disappeared before the blade could touch him. However Xenovia was prepared: her instinct had always been one of her best friends in her line of work, and it had already warned of incoming danger from her blind spot. She used her own momentum to spin around and try to drive Excalibur Destruction's blade straight into Orochi, however he was ready and waiting. He had enchanted his left fist with a Himmelskugel, and was throwing a punch at her after using Gespenst to get behind her.

The fist surrounded by compressed air and the blade collided, creating a powerful shockwave that shook the trees with tremendous vigor.

"Hah! Not bad, but you're never going to survive like this!"

Orochi broke the stalemate by forcing the blade to the side, stepped forward and raised his other arm and prepared to perform what looked like a palm strike.

"Vakuumwelle!" (5)

Which promptly landed on Xenovia's abdomen, robbing her of all breath.

That wasn't exactly a complicated spell by any stretch of the imagination, but rather a combination of wind magic, martial arts and physics laws. It was a variation of the Himmelskugel that only generated a mass of compressed air on the palm of the user, rather than around the entire hand like the normal spell. That mass would then be pressed onto the opponent's respiratory system, any one organ of choice in that system, and the winds would explode and collide with the body in order to force out of it all the oxygen they had accumulated through the simple involuntary act of breathing.

Xenovia had been struck in the diaphragm, an all-time favourite sweet spot for Orochi to hit when he fought. She was pushed back, and immediately kneeled on the grass, her breath harsh as she tried to get back up by using her sword as a pivot.

She couldn't defend at all. Not only was Orochi too fast for her, but his sheer physical strength was more than a match even for Excalibur Destruction, and he only needed to parry her blows in order to strike back without fearing retaliation, what with her being too busy trying not to be torn to shreds by his enhanced punches.

Not even that would help her against him, who was an opponent that couldn't be defeated in a contest of strength.

Picking herself up quickly, Xenovia charged again and swinged at Orochi's head.

In response, he simply put an enchanted hand in the blade's way, straightening his palm so that it looked like he was going to meet the sword with the tip of his fingers.

Except it didn't. The Excalibur fragment suddenly slid out of the way, cutting only through the edges of the orb of wind surrounding the boy's hand. The tip of the blade ended up colliding with the ground after being somehow deviated from its original course, and opened huge cracks even after Xenovia made an effort to restrain the sword's destructive force as it hit the earth below her feet.

She clicked her tongue. It looked like Orochi had already found her weak point: Excalibur Destruction was indeed capable of immense destruction, but that would only happen if it actually hit anything. All he had to do was to force the blade's course away from his body by compressing the air within the spheres, to the point where they had the consistence of solid objects despite not actually counting as solid.

Destruction's power could not be applied to mere air, no matter how compressed it was.

"You're dead."

Alarmed by that statement, she brusquely shifted her head sideways to look at the boy. He wasn't doing anything in particular though, merely staring at her form.

"If I was anyone else, you would have been killed right now. Do you realize that?"

"Tch. Damn you..."

"Cursing me won't help you. Stand up and keep fighting, at least you're not wasting your breath that way."

She swung at his abdomen, but the boy was already gone.

A foot dug into the back of her knee, making her lose balance again.

Orochi was at her side, and had already put a hand over her face. He then slammed her head into the ground with as much restraint as he could muster.

Which wasn't much at all.

He had easily eluded her elevated sixth sense by simply outspeeding her reflexes.

While the boy rose from his half-kneeling position and observed the surprisingly still conscious exorcist (albeit barely), he couldn't help but think of something dreadful.

'They're not that strong despite having Holy Swords. We're going to have a problem.'

If that was what he had to work with, his death would really become inevitable.

Meanwhile, the clash between Raynare and Soleil continued.

Sparks had been flying around for a little while already. While Raynare's physical prowess was superior to Soleil's, the human had made good use of her weapon.

Several clones of the pink-haired exorcist wielding various different weapons, most likely the result of Excalibur Mimic's ability, had been constantly encircling the Fallen Angel in order to wear her down.

It didn't really work as well as the human girl had hoped. Raynare had had no trouble overpowering and destroying a bunch of clones, so the ones that were still standing weren't really much of a threat.

"I told you to face me! Come out, Soleiiiiiiilll!"

The Fallen charged through, her pure-light spear blowing away a clone with every swing.

She was somewhat able to tell what she had in front of her eyes fortunately. The clones were very realistic, but lacked presence and weight. Their existences were frail, and the same could be said for their weapons, even if their bodies were solid, and as such Raynare was able to smash them apart, unafraid of hitting the real one by mistake.

The winged girl felt a presence heavier than the rest behind her back. She stopped her flight and propelled herself backwards suddenly. And as she turned around, she saw a golden katana approaching her abdomen. Intending to swat it out of the way, Raynare made a wide swing with her spear.

The sword started bending, and literally slithered around the light spear before stretching towards her neck.

However, Raynare was prepared. While she held her spear in her right hand, the three wings in her left side suddenly hovered and bended over her free arm. She then bended her now covered arm to form a shield of sorts, and created countless Fragments from the surface of her black feathers before putting her arm in front of her to parry the blow.

This was a technique she had developed very recently, called the Void Shield, due to its appearance. Since it was made out of her wings, this shield was very easily pierced by a thrusting attack. Stabbing the weapon of choice into the gaps between the appendices would be enough, from her opponent's point of view. However, that was intended: an opponent that expects some level of resistance to their blows, and doesn't encounter any, would surely be caught off guard when they see their weapon vanish into Raynare's personal space, and realize their momentum has betrayed them.

There was, of course, the matter of slashing attacks, since she was nowhere near strong enough to parry them with her wings.

To address this problem, she decided to take a page out of Orochi's book, and employ a subtle tactic of her own: she simply forced a great number of Fragments to sprout from her feathers, forming a spiky shield. She even made sure that they would shine with an intermittent light, as if to intentionally suggest that they were explosive.

No person in the world would ever be brave enough to do a slashing attack, fearing that the Fragments would explode in their face on contact, so the only way to get through semi-safely was a thrust, which would however leave them vulnerable. In other words, she was putting up a psychological barrier, to manipulate her opponent's actions the way she desired. Unable to force themselves to slash, they would make a thrust, and plunge their own bodies straight into the Fragments.

And in appearance, it almost looked like a black hole in the process of absorbing light, hence the name.

As expected, the blade slid into a gap between her wings, but at that point Raynare knew. While Soleil's vision was limited by her wings as she charged into her space, the girl wouldn't dare to bend her blade further, afraid of actually hurting her opponent. The Fallen dispelled both her spear and her Fragments, allowed the blade to sail close to her chin, retracted her wings carefully but quickly to avoid Mimic's blade and delivered a mean punch to the human's stomach with her free right hand.

"Ghh!"

"Decent, but you can do better."

The clones around the two girls vanished. As Soleil kneeled to the ground, she raised weakly her own free hand and made a stop sign, signalling that she was giving up.

"Haaa... Haaa... W-Why did it end up like t-this... I am never this unlucky..."

"Come on, get up. Against Kamakura, I'd never dare to whine about an unwanted fight if I were you."

"Haven't you d-done the exact same thing to get away f-from his training? You know, that job at the antique shop..."

Raynare was suddenly flustered.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT? And I didn't run away from training! I'm still sparring with him every day! I just wanted to find a place where I didn't have to think about it for some time!"

"S-sorry... I was just teasing you... Hehehe..."

"Hey, you done there?"

That voice could be heard from across the field. The air barrier lifted by Orochi was gradually disappearing, and on the other side the boy, completely unharmed, could be seen emerging from the woods, carrying Xenovia over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes as he walked over to the girls.

"P-Put me down this instant!" yelled Xenovia, who was so dazed that even her voice was betraying her current state.

"Shut it, you're so off-balance you can't even walk straight right now. Think about how you're going to apologize to Asia after we get you and Soleil out of your ridiculous situation."

"...Damn it all..."

(1): "Dance of the Dead". Fitting considering the winds spurt from the ground. XD It is also a symphonic piece for piano or orchestra made by Liszt in the '800s, based on the slightly better known Dies Irae hymn.

(2): "Heaven Orb". This will seriously be what Orochi uses most of the time, so get used to it.

(3): "Sacred Arrow". This is a Bleach reference, which I included because Quincies are fucking cool. It's really just a projectile of compressed air in this fic, but as you might imagine, when it doesn't pierce the surface of one's skin outright, it still hurts like hell.

(4): This is a reference to the LN of "Chivalry of a Failed Knight". A certain character (she's implied to be incredibly strong from the start, and only gets more ridiculous in later volumes) uses this line when confronting the MC of that novel, and calls him out on his inexperience, despite the fact that the author had often highlighted how said MC actually performs very often almost impossible feats for a human being. He does okay, considering who he's facing, but he's unable to hurt her at all for most of the fight, and ends up losing.

(5): "Vacuum Wave". This one doesn't actually reference anything. There's a Pokemon move named like this, but it's just a coincidence and it can instead be considered as a slightly enhanced palm strike.

Welcome to the bottom.

This is the chapter where Orochi starts actively using magic together with his usual physical abilities. It's quite the effective style for someone who can adapt fairly easily to the opponent he faces. His arsenal will be restricted to only Wind spells due to the Brand, but it will be quite vast regardless. It's all stuff he has learned under his mother's supervision when he was a kid, and he has decided to utilize those memories only now that he knows how to create a core, and only after practicing in safe environments off-screen.

You might be wondering: "Why exactly didn't Orochi's mother teach him how to do that in the first place?". Well, there is a VERY good reason, but the thing is that Orochi himself doesn't know why yet. This is reflected in how he has never questioned his peculiar situation. Already, he's able to cast without chanting, and doesn't understand the reason for that either. The answers are hidden within Annabelle Goenitz's mind, and her obsession with power in particular, and it will be a while before she is explored further.

The fact that Soleil is bisexual is accurate only to the Japanese version of FE:Fates; her sexuality is handled more lightly in the English version and she's a lot more ambiguous, which is why fans of the series might find her slightly OOC if they only know about her English self. She's already trying to hit on Raynare now that it's clear she isn't a threat, haha. Once again you might have doubts, since DXD shows how the Church tends to behave with people who show twisted moralities. Well, let's just say for now that her capabilities are not something the Church is willing to discard too easily. You'll see soon.

That's it for now. I hope this isn't too chaotic, I really do. Of course I intend to keep revising in order to fix up what needs to be fixed, but do keep in mind that due to the absence of Kiba some scenes have been cut and the Kokabiel fight will be for the most part something I pulled out of my ass, so to speak.

Review, you guys. Talk dirty to me! (*sax plays in the background*) Joking, of course.

Next time, a revelation and more scuffles.

Thank you for reading, see you soon. Ciao!