Ben 10: Dragon God of Life

by DragneelGiant96

Ever since he was 10, Ben Tennyson has been having dreams of strange creatures, strange events...and a strange green dragon. No one can explain them; they're a mystery. But when he attends Kuoh Academy, he learns that there's more to his dreams than he realizes. Powerful, original version of Ben Tennyson. OOC and AU. Rated M for swearing, violence and DxD nudity. [Ben x Harem]

17. The battle of Kuoh academy pt2

A/N: Welcome, once again, to another chapter of Dragon God of Life.

Little bit upset that I only received five reviews for the last chapter but it's not like I should expect loads of reviews for each chapter. I am thankful to everyone who left a review and am thankful to anyone who takes the time to leave one.

Anyway. Exciting news: the poll for the Vanishing Dragon's gender has been decided I would like to thank everyone who voted in the poll and the outcome will be revealed in this chapter.

Onwards to the next chapter!

(*I don't own either Ben 10 or Highschool DxD*)

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"Finally!" Kokabiel barked with glee as he watched the sword's creation from his ornate chair. "Now I can have the massive power which comes from the culmination of four Excalibur swords joined into one."

"So that's what you're going to use to destroy the town," Rias said with sudden realisation.

Balba sniggered as he turned to face the gathered devils and Holy sword wielder. "You'd best hope your brother gets here, Gremory! He's got less than twenty minutes before this whole town is obliterated and his little sister is vaporised," he cackled maliciously.

"If you would prefer a more dignified death though, you should fight me" Kokabiel declared before chuckling darkly. "You have no chance of surviving but it'll serve as a decent appetiser before the main course arrives."

All ten of his black-feathered wings suddenly sprouted from his back, holding him in the air as his ornate chair dematerialised around him, leaving him floating in the air. "So, are you ready for death, Rias Gremory?"

Rias chose not to respond to Kokabiel's taunt. Instead, she flew higher until she was floating around halfway between Kokabiel and the ground before creating and launching another bolt of destructive magic at the fallen angel. It soared through the air at a blazing speed yet it was no match against Kokabiel who caught the bolt in his hand in the blink of an eye as if it was the easiest thing he had ever done. Before he could demean her power though, Akeno appeared above him and fired a bolt of lightning at him in the hope of catching him off guard and taking him by surprise.

They had no such luck, however, as Kokabiel turned to face Akeno with a condescending sneer on his face as he caught the lightning in his free hand, just like Rias' attack. With the two magical bolts in his hands, he joined his hands together, forcing them together and creating a larger bolt of the fused magics before launching it at Rias.

"Rias!" Akeno cried out as she flew down in front of the Gremory heiress and summoned a defensive magic barrier in front of her in an attempt to block Kokabiel's counterattack with their own magic. This proved fruitless though as the attack decimated Akeno's protective circle and struck the two young devils, sending them flying backwards and causing the two of them to cry out in pain.

While Rias was able to remain airborne, the same couldn't be said for Akeno who had taken the brunt of the attack and fell out of the air. She would've struck the ground if Ben hadn't surged forward and caught her just before she struck the ground, leaping up and catching her in his arms and holding her close to his chest as he landed again.

Had this been any other time, Ben was certain that Akeno would've made some lewd comment about how he was holding her. Now though, however, such thoughts were far from her mind as she looked up to see Ben staring back at her.

"You alright?" Ben grunted as he looked into Akeno's violet eyes.

"Yeah," Akeno replied breathlessly from the recent attack. "I'm sorry, Ben. You wasted all your power on me."

"That doesn't matter right now," Ben told her firmly with a shake of his head. "All that matters right now is whether you're okay or not."

Akeno's cheeks flushed red at Ben's concern for her wellbeing but that was lost on Ben as he knelt down and gently placed Akeno on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Asia already making her way over to them.

"Asia will make sure you're okay. You should stay here for a bit. I'm going to make that bastard pay for that," Ben stated firmly before returning to his feet and walking towards Kokabiel, a fierce glare adorning his face.

"There he goes again," Akeno murmured to herself with a soft smile as Asia arrived by her side and began to heal her wounds at the same time Rias landed on her other side to check how she was. "The passionate hero as always."

"I don't know how much longer we can hold out," Rias said. She hated to admit something like that but she wasn't completely sure they would win this fight.

"Balba Galilei!"

Kiba's sudden voice attracted everyone's attention and brought Ben to a halt. They turned to see Kiba walking the priest who had been largely ignored since the Cerberus' had been unleashed.

"I am the only survivor of the Holy sword project. The only one who was able to escape your slaughter when everybody else died!"

"Kiba," Rias murmured under her breath. She, like every one of her servants, heard the pain and torment in Kiba's voice.

"I refused to die that day because I knew for absolute certainty that I would avenge my comrades one day," Kiba continued, drawing his sword and continuing to bear down on the Archbishop of Annihilation, the man who had caused him so much pain, the reason why he hadn't been able to overcome his traumatic past.

"A survivor of the initial project?" Balba muttered in confusion for a moment before a thought crossed his mind. "Ahh, so you must be him, the one who ran away."

In the blink of an eye, Kiba suddenly disappeared in a blur as he charged towards Balba, his blade raised up as he went straight for the kill.

Kokabiel chuckled at the humorous spectacle playing out below him.

"This is proving to be an interesting night. Freed!"

Just as Kiba made it to five feet from his target, Freed suddenly appeared out of the darkness, intercepting Kiba's charge, stopping it short and knocking his blade away with his own blade of Light.

"You called!" Freed cackled as Kiba was forced to deflect another slash aimed at his head by the crazed priest.

"We went through all the trouble to gather and fuse those Excaliburs together, I want to see it in action. Use it to your heart's content!"

"Of course! You're too kind, boss!" Freed shouted up at the fallen angel as he took hold of the re-forged Excalibur by the handle and gave it a few quick test swings, immediately falling in love with the power he felt in the blade and at how easy it was to wield it.

"Alright, who wants to try their luck against this bad boy then?"

His answer came in the shape of Kiba and Xenovia charging forward and engaging with the crazed priest while Balba took this opportunity to step back so he could also observe the fight.

"Ok, so I guess it's the gay devil and the bitch believer then. Don't disappoint me now you two."

The opening salvo of the fight came from Xenovia who charged forward, her blade reared back before she brought it back over her head in a swift downward strike at Freed which struck the ground when the mad priest suddenly disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Hahahaha! Too slow!" he cackled as he reappeared directly behind the azure-haired swordswoman.

"Now try this on for size!" he cried as he made to return Xenovia's gesture with a slash across her chest though it missed when she performed a perfect backflip at the last second, making sure to deliver a sharp kick to Freed's face as she moved out of the way of his blade.

"Argh!" Freed howled as he clutched the side of his face in pain. "You fucking bitch! How dare you kick my beautiful face! Just for that, I'm going to cut you up so bad the worms won't even have to chew!"

As he said this, the Excalibur in his hands began to glow ominously before it started stretching beyond what was normal shape for a sword. He swung his sword at Xenovia in a series of swift slashes that forced Xenovia instantly onto the defensive.

It didn't take Ben long to recognise why it looked so familiar to him. It was exactly the same power that Gwen's Excalibur Mimic had!

"Not bad," Freed bellowed as Xenovia dodged his attack, "But it's not just Excalibur Mimic that I have now!"

The Excalibur blade took this moment to split into five separate blades, each still elongated due to Excalibur Mimic's power, which arced towards Xenovia who succeeded in deflecting each one.

"…it's a nightmare!" Freed continued sadistically as he appeared to clone himself into seven physical forms, each with the same Excalibur blade as before.

Ben could hardly believe what he was seeing.

'How the fuck can a single sword be so powerful!? It still doesn't have the other Excalibur pieces forged with it but it's still this strong?' he thought as Freed then made the already mutated blade turn transparent and began attacking Xenovia and Kiba who had joined in to support her though, like Xenovia, now found himself defending himself from attacks from all angles.

[Indeed,] Ddraig said, answering Ben's unasked question. [Now you realise what kind of man, Arthur was not to abuse such power.]

Freed's unrelenting attacks were clearly starting to take their toll on his two opponents who were already only just able to hold his attack off. When the assault came to a temporary halt, it was clear from their heavy breathing that it was taking every ounce of their skill to protect themselves from Freed.

"Looks like you two are finally running out of luck!" he cackled as he raised his sword to attack them once again.

[Transform: Citrakayah!]

Before anyone could fully react to the sudden bright light which lit up the school field, Freed was rushed by what appeared to be a blue blur which avoided his blade and, upon reaching his body, delivered a series of several strong punches across the crazed former exorcist's body…all inflicted in the span of less than two seconds.

"Don't forget about me, dickhead!" the blue blur yelled as it pulled away from Freed to stand beside Xenovia and Kiba.

Once he had finally stopped moving at blinding speeds, Ben revealed his new form. This one was similar in height to Xenovia and had the appearance of a humanoid, feline-like creature with a black suit-like colour scheme. His hands, legs, part of his head, and chest were deep blue in colour. His face was sculpted to appear similar to a mask with fin-like appendages protruding from the side of his face. His look was completed by a thunderbolt-like design on his chest.

"Well, well, well," Freed muttered as he recovered from Ben's lightning-fast attack. "It's been quite a while since I last fought you, hasn't it, shitty devil?"

"I've learnt a lot since our last encounter," Ben growled as he raised his fists in front of him. "Why don't I show you?"

Freed licked his lips and chuckled insanely.

"I can't wait," he retorted before charging towards Ben who also surged forward at blinding speed and the two of them proceeded to battle each other at speeds so fast they were just blurs to the spectators. Ben was quickly joined by both Xenovia and Kiba where the three of them then proceeded to engage Freed in a fight at blindingly fast speeds.

While they fought, Balba couldn't help but edge forward a little as eyes were transfixed on the blurry spectacle before him. Though he was merely human and so wasn't able to keep up with the fight, that didn't stop him from being captivated by its beauty.

"If you really are the sole survivor of the first batch then I must thank you for what you achieved. It's a pity you chose to live the rest of your life as a lowly devil but if it wasn't for you and the other subjects then we wouldn't've been able to succeed and complete the project with the next batch of subjects."

Kiba was thrown off by Balba's confession and was knocked back when Freed struck him in the chest with the flat end of his blade that winded him. Luckily for him though, Ben and Xenovia were there to make sure that Freed didn't take advantage of Kiba's opening.

"Next batch?" the Gremory knight coughed as he regained his breath and glared at the priest standing at the opposite end of the field.

"Of course. We needed more test subjects after disposing your batch in order to complete the project. Once we learned about the gene that allows someone to wield a Holy Sword, we moved onto the next stage of removing it from those who possessed the gene and planting it inside more suitable candidates."

"Once I made this incredible discovery…," he continued as he rummaged in the confines of his robes in search of something.

"…I learnt how to crystallise those extracted genes until I ended up with this," he finished as he pulled out a vial which contained a brilliant blue crystal within it. "This crystal contains the total sum of all the genes I was able to extract from the subjects. It's the only thing they were ever useful for so I'm sure they were honoured to die for the cause."

Freed, who had been listening in on the conversation as he fought with Ben's super quick demonic form and Xenovia's skilful blade techniques, cackled at Balba's words and their clear effect on Kiba.

"Hahaha! Nearly everyone they tested the first crystals on died a horribly agonising death because they were so weak. Everyone except for me, that is. I'm one of a kind, baby!"

Xenovia's eyes widened when she realised she had seen a crystal similar to the one in Balba's hand somewhere before. And then it struck her…

"That crystal," she muttered with realisation. "Holy sword users receive a blessing; a crystal just like that which is placed inside their body. They must have been using them to correct the gene deficiencies."

"That's just typical church behaviour!" Balba growled, suddenly filled with anger at Xenovia's words. "Damn hypocrites. They excommunicated me because of my work and then shamelessly used it for their own ends!"

"There was no need to kill us!" Kiba cried out angrily as recovered from Freed's blow though remained where he stood, so transfixed and horrified at what he was hearing.

"Don't take it to heart," Balba muttered, waving his hand dismissively. "You brats were just a means to an end. No matter what happened, killing you was always the plan."

"We believed what we were doing was for God!" Kiba retorted with anger in his voice, his fists shaking with his fury. "There was no need to kill us! We bore all our hardships because of that faith and then you just…threw us away like trash!"

Balba sniffed derisively, completely unmoved by Kiba's emotional outburst, and tossed the crystal in his hand at Kiba's feet.

"There. Might as well take it. I've got no further need for it. I've reached the point where I can now mass produce them; no martyrs required. Once this town has been wiped off the map I'll travel the world and acquire the remaining Holy swords, create more compatible wielders then wage a war against God and the Vatican. I'll show those foolish Angels their error for not valuing the fruits of my labour."

'So that's why Balba agreed to work with Kokabiel,' Ben thought with realisation as he dodged another lightning-fast slash from Freed's blade. 'They both have a grudge against the Angels and want to start a war.'

Kiba knelt down and carefully picked up the blue crystal at his feet and held it tenderly in his hands.

"How many lives did your research cost?" he muttered quietly after a short moment of silence. "How many deaths did it take until you were satisfied?"

Something then happened. Something which surprised everyone gathered and even caused Freed, Xenovia and Ben to stop fighting for a moment as they were drawn to what was happening with Kiba. The crystal in his hands began to pulsate slowly, several pulsating lights the same colour as the crystal as they suddenly flickered into existence around Kiba and surrounding him. The lights flickered weakly at first but quickly grew in strength until they had grown to the same size as Kiba and morphed into shapes which resembled human beings.

"It's probably because of the various powers present on the battlefield," Akeno summarised as she watched the scene before her with awe. "They, along with Kiba's heart, must have caused the spirits within the crystal to manifest themselves.

Kiba looked up to see the lights swirling around him, but at this point, they had grown strong enough to give more detail in their appearance. He could see familiar faces which he thought he'd never see ever again and it proved to be too much for him as tears started to flow down his cheek.

"I always wondered…," Kiba said in a trembling voice. "Why was it that I survived while everyone else died? It wasn't fair that I lived. There were kids who had bigger dreams than me, kids who deserved to live more than I did. Why was I chosen to survive that nightmare?"

A spirit which had taken the form of a little girl gently tugged on Kiba's sleeve, attracting his attention, and gave him a sincere smile when he looked down at her.

Kiba took a sharp intake of breath at the simple gesture while the other spirits rose into the air and began to circle around him. Every now and then a spirit would hover before the blond devil and speak to him.

[It's okay,] the spirit of a young girl said warmly.

[Let's all gather together,] another girl said.

[Take us in,] a young boy said to Kiba.

[It's time,] another said.

[Our lives will forever be one,] a boy, seemingly the same age as Kiba, added.

Tears were flowing freely down Kiba's face at this point and he lowered his head in acceptance. "Yes," he muttered quietly, barely audible to the gathered spectators. At his agreement, the sprits converged on Kiba, surrounding him in a faint blue light which grew in intensity at a rapid pace.

[He's done it,] Ddraig noted in Ben's head.

"Done what?" Ben asked with confusion as he reverted back to his normal form once more.

[The Knight has peaked,] Azmuth observed with carefully restrained interest at the sight before him.

"What do you mean 'peaked'?" Ben asked again, no more aware of what was going on than before.

[It happens when the thoughts and wishes of the user oppose nature itself, when they go against the natural order of the world. Their Sacred Treasure will peak…or as it is more commonly known: The Balance Breaker.]

"Oh, this is getting interesting," Kokabiel noted from high in the air, sharing in Azmuth's intrigue at the events unfurling before him though he was unaware of it.

"My comrades never wanted me to wish for revenge. They wanted me free…but I'm not. First, I need to destroy the evil in front of me," Kiba announced as he began to walk towards Balba. The priest in question quickly lost his nerve at the look in Kiba's eyes and took an involuntary step backwards as a sword materialised in the Gremory knight's hand.

"Freed! Help me!" the elderly priest cried with fear.

Reacting instantly, Freed broke off from his fight with Ben and Xenovia and leapt into the air, closing the gap on the field in the blink of an eye and landing between Kiba and Balba where he took up an aggressive sword stance.

"You can do it, Kiba!" Rias called out from where she stood.

"Rias?" Kiba asked, casting a very brief glance towards the Gremory heiress before returning his full attention on his crazed opponent.

"Fight like a true Knight of the House of Gremory! No knight of mine would ever fall to such a pathetic foe!"

"She's right, Kiba," Ben added with a firm nod of his head. "You can do this!"

The rest of the ORC began to offer encouragement to the blond knight who was sincerely touched by their affection towards him. He couldn't believe how much he had made them all worry with his desperate desire for revenge against Balba and Excalibur.

"Thank you," he said, truly meaning it.

"Urgh, gross! All this touchy talk about friendship and comradery is making my skin crawl! I can't take all this sappy crap!" Freed groaned as he prepared to attack Kiba. "Perhaps killing you will make me forget all this mushy shit!"

Kiba was unperturbed by Freed's outburst and held his composure.

"I need a new sword," he stated as he raised the sword in his hand above his head and began to chant.

"Dear comrades, whose souls have merged with mine. We shall overcome this together." The sword began to glow as he continued his chant. "All our dreams that were stifled can now come true." Two different lights, one white and one black, swirled around the sword. "I'll create a sword for Rias and for all my fallen friends…."

"Sword Birth!" he cried out, finishing his chant.

The two contrasting lights flowing from the sword grew brighter and more intense. After a few seconds, the light died down to reveal a new sword in Kiba's hands. A sword which resonated two separate powers that Ben never thought would be possible with what he was taught about Angels and Devils.

"It's the sword of the Betrayer. A sword blessed with both Holy and Devil powers; just try and stop it!" Kiba announced as he gave it a test swing to get a feeling of it before taking up a sword stance of his own.

"A sword with both Holy and Devil powers?! How is that possible?!" Rias gasped with astonishment.

"It's not!" Balba spat out, disgusted by the very notion. "A Holy Devil sword? That's impossible! Two opposing elements cannot be mixed together. It would create an abomination!"

Ben was about to make his own comment on Kiba's sword when he hissed at the sudden spasm which ran up his left arm, originating from deep with Azmuth's Sacred Gear.

"What the hell was that about?" Ben asked, glancing down at his left arm with surprise. He had never felt something like that before and he didn't even know what it meant.

[How is that sword possible!?] the ancient dragon muttered to himself, completely ignoring Ben and Ddraig who were wondering what was going on with the divine being. [Balba is correct. There is simply no way an impossible object like that should exist!]

Ben wanted to demand an answer to Azmuth's strange behaviour but he was distracted when he saw Xenovia and Kiba standing together opposite Freed. Unlike him, Xenovia hadn't remained where she stood and had joined Kiba to face Freed again.

"Tell me, knight of Rias Gremory: are we still fighting on the same side?" Xenovia asked, not taking her eyes off of Freed as she spoke.

"I'd like to think so," Kiba replied, imitating Xenovia and keeping his gaze glued on Freed.

"Then let's destroy that Excalibur together, shall we?"

Kiba was taken off guard by Xenovia's unexpected suggestion and turned to face her. "Are you sure?" he asked, surprised that she was willing to do such a thing.

Xenovia nodded her head. "I understand that, technically, we're looking at a Holy sword but there's nothing holy about that thing. It's been corrupted by darkness and must be destroyed."

"Agreed," Kiba said, returning his attention to Freed.

Xenovia stopped in her tracks and planted her Excalibur into the ground and held her right arm out, away from her.

"Oh Peter, Basil the Great, Denis, and the Blessed Virgin Mary; please hear my prayers," she chanted sombrely as the space beside her split open to reveal a bright opening, as if to another realm. She reached her hand into the opening and, once it had taken hold of something, pulled it back out, this time with her hand wrapped around the hilt of a large sword.

"In the name of the saint living in this blade; I hereby set you free: Durandal!"

Ben couldn't believe the amount of Holy energy he could feel resonating from the blade in Xenovia's hand. It was almost as potent as the energy he could feel in an Excalibur.

"What the hell is that?" Ben asked with amazement.

[That is Durandal,] Ddraig answered his question. [A sword so powerful that it is considered on par with Excalibur. It's said to be able to cut anything in this world]

"Durandal!?" Balba gasped with shock as he gazed at the blade. "My research never covered Durandal. It should be impossible for anyone to wield!"

"That would be true…if I wasn't one of the extremely rare naturals; one who is capable of wielding any and every Holy sword ever made," Xenovia retorted with a smile on her face.

"I don't believe you!" Freed snarled with anger. "You think you can beat me with that thing? Well think again!" he yelled as he split Excalibur into five separate blades and lunged them towards Xenovia. Unlike last time, however, Xenovia was able to cut through the blade with ease.

"Are you fucking kidding me!" the mad ex-priest hissed as his blade repaired itself and reverted back to its original form. Once it had done so, he disappeared into a blur in an attempt to flank Xenovia and cut her down where she wasn't expecting this. Unfortunately for him though, Kiba expected this and also disappeared into a blur as he engaged Freed in combat. They fought ferociously for a few strained seconds before Kiba's Holy Devil sword shattered Freed's Excalibur, knocking the insane exorcist to the ground.

"You fucking bastards!" he hissed as he released his grip on the hilt of his broken sword. "How the fuck was Excalibur beaten by useless devil scum!?" he demanded before crying out in pain as Kiba slashed his shoulder, leaving a deep wound in his wake.

"Arrrggghhh!" he bellowed before Xenovia suddenly appeared above him and struck his face with the hilt of her huge sword, sending the madman to the floor where he fell unconscious.

Balba couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. A sword which shouldn't exist had just destroyed the most powerful Holy sword in existence.

"How is this possible!?" he muttered, unable to fathom an answer to his own question.

Unbeknownst to Balba, Azmuth was also straining through his memories in search of how such a creation came to be.

[The lines between Angelic and Hellish power was set out clearly by God when He created The System. It's completely impossible for them to be fused together so intricately.]

He trailed off as he thought about the impossible creation then stopped as he came to an answer…a dreadful answer.

[The only way a hybrid like that could exist without causing extreme damage to the world was if….]

"Of course!" Balba's voice announced loudly, unknowingly cutting off Azmuth, attracting Ben and everyone else's attention. "I understand now! If the system controlling the two powers has been severely disrupted, such an impossible creation would be possible! That can only mean that not only did the Devil Kings perish but that God also–arrrrrggggghhhhh!"

Balba Galilei never finished his sentence thanks to the large Light spear which suddenly embedded itself in his back. Shocked by the sudden attack, everyone gathered could only watch as Balba's body lit up before disappearing until nothing remained of him, not even a corpse.

"Oh dear, Balba. You really were very talented. It's just such a shame that you had figure out something you weren't supposed to," Kokabiel muttered with a broad smile on his face as he slowly lowered himself closer to the ground.

"Ok, Kokabiel. What are you trying to do here?" Rias asked, stepping away from the group and looking up at him.

"I thought I'd already told you my plan. I'm destroying everything I find tedious and boring. I need more excitement, the kind of excitement that only war can give me," Kokabiel replied with a malicious sneer.

He then turned his gaze towards Ben. "Hey, supposed 'Dragon All-Father'."

"What do you want?" Ben muttered, not particularly fond of talking to the fallen angel but stepping forward to stand next to Rias anyway.

"I'm still bored. I want some more entertainment before the main event starts. Build up your dragon power as much as you can and transfer it over to one of them," he ordered, gesturing to his companions and Xenovia.

"Why the fuck should I do what you say?" Ben retorted, glaring up at the fallen angel who had started this whole ordeal, hurt his cousin and planned to hurt so many more.

"Are you offering to give us a chance? Don't bother, we don't need it," Rias retorted.

Kokabiel cackled darkly at Rias' retort. "You're being ridiculous, Rias, my dear. It'll take more than a simple power-up for you to defeat me," he replied calmly.

"I've just about had enough of your bullshit, Kokabiel!" Ben barked angrily and felt someone intertwine their fingers with his left hand. He glanced over to see Rias standing next to him, a determined expression on her face.

She didn't say anything to him, nor did she need to; he knew what she would have said. He tightened his grip on her hand, attracting her attention.

"Let's do this," he said confidently.

Rias couldn't help but put on a smile when Ben said this. She didn't know what it was but she just felt safe whenever she was around her precious servant. "You're right. Let's end this."

The two of them began walking towards Kokabiel as Ben's Boosted Gear slowly charged up.

[BOOST!]

They continued to slowly make their way across the ruined school field towards the fallen angel who smirked at them as they approached.

[BOOST!]

Ben continued to boost his power for a few minutes before Ben realised a flaw in this tactic. He couldn't possibly raise his power to its absolute limit. It would leave them with no time to beat Kokabiel in the few remaining minutes before Kokabiel carried out his plan to obliterate Kuoh from existence.

'It's not going to be enough,' he thought reluctantly as his Gear boosted yet again. They had no choice though; there wasn't time. 'But it's going to have to do.'

"I'm ready," he announced to Rias who nodded in understanding. She must have reached the same conclusion he had done. She knew he could have kept boosting his power further but they didn't have time for that.

"Me too," she said firmly and tightened her grip on his fingers for luck. They'd be needing it.

[TRANSFER!]

Rias gasped as she felt all of Ben's gathered power flow into her. Unlike last time, she didn't have to split it with Akeno so she received the full blast of Boosted power. It made her previous boost pale in comparison.

Once she had absorbed all of the power into her body, her entire body radiated pure, demonic energy. Her body was covered by the green aura from Ddraig's Gear and the very space around her began to shake from the enormous power she now wielded.

Kokabiel didn't seem fazed by Rias' sudden increase in power. In fact, he seemed to find it amusing.

"Hahaha. This is getting interesting. I can feel power which is on par with your big bad brother!" he barked with amusement.

"In that case…," Rias began, creating two magic circles which practically pulsated with raw power, "…be gonnnnnnne!" the very ground shook as she released her gathered power and launched the largest bolt of Destruction magic she had ever made in her entire life. It shot through the air on a direct path with Kokabiel who didn't make any move to dodge the enormous blast. Was he going to block it!?

He got his answer when Kokabiel, indeed, blocked the bolt and watched as it dispersed around him, a dark chuckle escaping his mouth as he did so. "Ah, this is so much better! You're almost as powerful as Sirzechs!"

Rias continued to fire her power of destruction magic at him for a few more seconds before he collapsed from exhaustion, releasing her hold on the magic and causing it to dissipate. She had used everything in that attack but it had failed.

Kokabiel truly was a monster.

This didn't matter to Akeno, though, as she flew into the air towards Kokabiel and gathered the last vestiges of her magic together for a final assault.

"Bring out thunder!" she bellowed as she fired a bolt of electricity towards the smirking fallen angel only for him to block the attack by shielding himself with his ten black wings and deflecting the attack with ease. He laughed tauntingly at the raven-haired devil.

"Could it be she who possesses the power of Baraqiel is trying to stop me?" he asked knowingly.

Akeno snarled as she intensified her attack. "Don't you dare speak his name! I am nothing like that creature!" she bellowed angrily.

"Who's Baraqiel?" Ben asked with confusion.

It was Xenovia who answered him. "He's one of the leaders of the Fallen Angels. One who has the power to wield thunder and lightning," she said as she followed everyone's gaze and looked up at the two of them as they continued to battle each other.

"Just like Akeno," Ben realised as the pieces slowly began to fit together.

Akeno's attack lasted a few more seconds before she was too weak to continue. Her lightning faltered and phased out as her breathing grew heavy from exhaustion. Kokabiel chuckled again as he revealed himself again.

"Oh my, say it isn't so! Why choose to fall so far in becoming a devil?" he turned towards Rias with a sneer on his face. "What an amusing assortment of servants you have Rias: The Dragon All-Father who is so hilariously weak, a ruined Holy sword project reject, and Baraqiel's runaway daughter!"

Being the only two present who were unaware of this, both Ben and Xenovia were taken off guard by Kokabiel's last revelation. He might have been slowly coming to the same conclusion by himself, but having the answer thrust at him like this still surprised Ben.

"No way!" Xenovia gasped.

"I wasn't expecting that," Ben noted with shock in his voice and failing to notice Akeno flinch slightly at the way he said that.

"How terribly amusing," Kokabiel muttered with a sneer. "The way you are drawn to inferior products is fascinating; it must run in the family."

Rias stood back up and stared up at the fallen angel with determination and indignation on her face. "Your insulting comments about my brother will not be tolerated; but for insulting my servants you'll pay the ultimate price and DIE!" she declared with anger clear in her voice.

Kokabiel only appeared to be even more amused by Rias' outburst.

"Then by all means, try and destroy me! Possessor of the Dragon All-Father and the Devil King's baby sister! You must have realised by now that you haven't a chance in hell at beating me. You're confronting the archenemy of Devils! I killed so many of your kind during the Great War. You should take advantage of this rare opportunity as you'll never get it again!"

Before anyone else could react to Kokabiel's challenge, Kiba and Xenovia had surged forward towards the fallen angel, their swords raised in preparation to strike.

"Let's see how you handle the both of us at the same time," Xenovia stated as she and Kiba rapidly closed the gap between them and Kokabiel. Once they were within range, Xenovia took action first, leaping into the air with Durandal raised above her head before bringing it down on top of the chuckling fallen angel. Kiba chose to attack from Kokabiel's flank and brought his own Holy-devil sword to bear as he made to slice Kokabiel across his waist.

Kokabiel's smile grew as he created a Light sword in each hand and proceeded to block both attacks with ease. "This is more like it. What's more fun than a Holy sword and a Holy Devil sword attacking at the same time?" he wondered with amusement.

"This," Koneko muttered emotionlessly as she appeared directly above Kokabiel, her fists ready to punch the fallen angel once she had pounced on him.

Before she could land a single attack on him, however, Kokabiel's black wings sprang into view and intercepted her. In quick succession, Koneko was sent flying back, her uniform torn and several cuts covering her body, as well as Kiba and Xenovia who were sent flying to the floor a few feet away from Kokabiel.

"Koneko!" Asia cried out with worry in her voice as she raced over and began to apply her healing magic to the injured rook.

As Kiba and Xenovia struggled to return to their feet through heavy breaths Kokabiel chuckled sinisterly and swung his two swords in an 'X' shape that sent a wave of Light energy streaking across the ground towards the two sword wielders, a deep groove being left in the dirt in its wake.

Thankfully, the both of them were able to recover just in time to block the intense wave as it crashed into them. Unfortunately, this only stopped them from receiving the worst of the attack; it was still strong enough to knock the two of them back to the floor with gasps as their lungs were emptied from the strong impact.

Though Xenovia was having a tougher time recovering from the latest attack, Kiba was able to return to his feet, albeit slowly and forcefully. He didn't take his eyes off of Kokabiel as he made to attack him again.

"Sword Birth!" he yelled as several swords materialised around the fallen angel and shot forward with the intent of impaling him. This didn't happen though as Kokabiel's wings came to his rescue once again, blocking the swords with ease.

"Is that all you've got?" Kokabiel asked as he shredded the swords around him with his wings. His answer came in the form of Kiba lunging at him with his sword raised. He fallen angel didn't even flinch at this as he caught the blade with two fingers.

This didn't dissuade Kiba though as he summoned another sword in his left hand and brought that towards Kokabiel's head as well. Again, though, the fallen angel didn't even flinch as he brought up his right hand to catch the blade with just two fingers!

Kiba wasn't ready to give up though as he created yet another sword, this time in his mouth, and sharply brought it across Kokabiel's face, leaving a deep cut across the fallen angel's pale face and causing him to let out a grunt of pain as he let go of Kiba's swords and held a hand to his face where crimson blood was already trickling down his face.

"Urgh, you cut me!" he grunted with fury in his voice.

In response to this, Kokabiel brought his hand up, pointing it directly at Kiba, and fired a large ball of Light straight towards him. Kiba was saved from the ball just before it hit him by Xenovia who leapt in between them and blocked the blast with Durandal, stopping it in its tracks. With a determined cry, she slashed her sword across the ball, destroying it.

Kokabiel chuckled at seeing the determination in Xenovia's eyes. "Why are you fighting so hard for a group of losers who don't even realise that they've lost their master?" he chuckled menacingly.

"What do you mean!?" Xenovia demanded through deep breaths.

"Care to clarify?" Rias asked with doubt only for Kokabiel to laugh even harder than before at the looks of confusion on the faces of everyone gathered.

"Whoops. That just slipped right out," he chuckled with dark intent before shrugging nonchalantly. "Oh well, I guess I can let you guys in on the big secret…."

"During the last Great War, God was killed along with the four Devil Kings!"

Everyone couldn't speak after Kokabiel's world-shattering revelation, so shocked they were at its implications. Everyone that is, except for Ben who fell to his knees with a pained grunt as his left arm felt like it had cramped up all of a sudden; he couldn't feel anything in his arm except for the feeling that his arm was burning up.

"What is it, Azmuth?" he asked his draconic companion as the pain withered away as quickly as it struck.

The only response he got from the ancient dragon was deep breathing, as though he was trying to calm himself down.

[Hey!] Ddraig cut in abruptly, trying his luck to get a response from the dragon god. [Now isn't the time to lose control and go crazy. You've been drilling that into the kid since you awoke so don't be a damn hypocrite! What's wrong with you!?]

They still received no response from the dragon.

A similar scene took place across the entire battlefield as everyone was still trying to come to terms with the news of God's apparent death. Asia was visibly shaking and trying her best just to keep herself standing but found it too much and fell to her knees in despair. Xenovia fared not much better as she was leaning heavily against Durandal to keep herself steady and gazed up at Kokabiel with wide eyes that showed her shock clearly for all to see.

Even Rias couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"God is dead?" she muttered under her breath.

No, that couldn't be the case. It didn't even sound right when she said it back to herself. She looked back at Kokabiel and glared at him.

"You're lying! I've never heard of anything like that!"

Kokabiel shrugged his shoulders. "I can't say I'm surprised. After the last war, the Devil faction lost all of their Kings and high level devils, the Angels and Fallen Angels had lost almost everyone except for their leaders. Pure Angels couldn't increase their number and pure-bred Devils are just as rare, aren't they?"

"No," Asia trembled. "It can't be."

"All sides had been reduced to the point where they have to rely on humans to survive. Angels, Fallen Angels, Devils; the leaders of the Three Factions chose to seal away this information to keep the God-fearing humans in line and ensure they kept fearing and praying.

Ben grunted as he slowly rose to his feet. "Why the fuck should we listen to a single word you say, asshole? After everything you've put us through tonight, you think I'm just going to believe some bullshit story like that?" he growled, glaring at the fallen angel.

[It's true,] Azmuth's voice spoke out, carrying across the whole field for everyone to hear.

The whole field went silent at Azmuth's words. If there was any doubt amongst the gathered devils and Holy sword wielder then it was completely dashed once Azmuth had confirmed it.

"W-What?" Ben gasped, not sure how to react.

[It's true,] Azmuth repeated sombrely. [God is dead.]

"How can you know though? You told me that He was the one who transferred your soul into your Sacred Gear and that was the last time you saw Him," Ben found himself asking.

[I've existed a long time. I knew God millennia before He ever came up with the concept of humanity, before He even created His Archangels. I have come to sense His presence as well as my own. While a god as powerful as Him could mask Himself from everything else should He wish it, even from other gods, the two of us had what you may call a bond that let us sense the other wherever they were in this dimension.]

[That's what was causing that strange feeling I had,] he added, saying this only to Ben and Ddraig through their telepathic connection.

Ben still appeared confused by this but Ddraig instantly understood what Azmuth was saying.

[You've had that connection for so long that you have forgotten what it felt like before it,] the crimson dragon realised.

Ben was then struck by the reminder of just how old Azmuth was. It was difficult to fully comprehend and this just added to the pile of things he struggled to understand about the world.

To have a connection…a bond for that long, a bond that's older than humanity and even angels…only for that link to no longer be there, to be ripped away?

He couldn't comprehend how that would affect someone and he doubted he ever would.

"Only the leaders of the Three Factions knew of God's death, deciding to keep it a secret from the other powers and deities…," Kokabiel stated, drawing Ben's attention back onto the fallen angel just in time to see anger appear in his eyes. "…but I don't give a shit about why they did that! All I care about is that they decided to stop the war after His death! What the fuck was that about!"

He clenched his fist so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"We were so fucking close to winning as well. With God and the four Devil Kings gone, victory was within our reach…but they fucking wasted it! They dared to stop my fun and keep me from crushing my enemies!

"What was that fucker, Azazel, thinking by declaring that there would never again be a war between the Three Factions?! That bastard crossed the fucking line!"

As Kokabiel continued his angry rant against Azazel and the way the Great War ended, Asia, having collapsed to her knees upon hearing of God's demise had slowly risen back to her feet and clutched at her chest where her heart was and trembled. "God is gone? He doesn't exist anymore? Then where has His love been coming from?"

Kokabiel chuckled at her innocent question but chose to answer it anyway. "I could tell you how but I think it would be better coming from someone with better knowledge than I. So, Azmuth, would you like to answer her question?"

A deep growl emanated from within the emerald Sacred Gear on Ben's arm with such tempered anger that Ben feared that it would be too much for the Gear. It held though and Azmuth calmed down enough to answer Asia's question.

[With God…with Him gone, Michael will have taken charge of the Angels and the Silver City, he will also have been given the duty of watching over humanity in His stead,] Azmuth stated with great restraint, focusing all of his silent fury towards the provoking fallen angel.

"The Archangel, Michael, is acting as God's agent?" Xenovia muttered with a trembling voice as her legs also trembled as they struggled to keep her standing upright. "Then that means our prayers…."

[The System that God created not only set out the foundations for the Three Factions, from dictating how an angel Falls to how uttering His name causes pain to devils, it also enabled Him to hear the prayers of humans and angels. Despite the void left by His death, it will still be in place and managed by the angels. Because of this, prayers will endure and exorcisms are still possible…to a certain extent. Even if it isn't Him, someone will have been listening to humanity's prayers.]

This proved to be simply too much for Asia and she fainted at Azmuth's words, collapsing to the floor. As she did so, Koneko knelt down by her side to check she was alright…physically at least.

"Asia!" Ben gasped as he watched her collapse into unconsciousness.

Xenovia cast a quick glance back at Asia's unconscious form and returned her gaze back on Kokabiel. "It's a perfectly natural reaction. I'm actually surprised I can still think right now," she murmured through bated breath.

"It's still nothing like what it was when He was around though, is it, Azmuth? Without Him there to maintain the System, anomalies have been allowed to slip through it, anomalies like that impossible Holy Devil sword your servant holds. I assume the drastic fall in human believers has also impacted it too," the fallen angel added, taking great delight in stamping out any small comfort that they might try and take upon hearing such explosive news.

"And that's why the war MUST continue. I WILL have my victory over the devils and angels even if I have to take your head, Rias Gremory, and throw it at your brother's feet!" he bellowed loudly, pointing at her and clenching his fist as he did so.

Rias was trembling and struggling to keep herself together. Akeno noticed this and reached out to her.

"Are you okay, Rias?" she asked with concern.

"I let my pride get in the way again," Rias muttered with fear in her voice as she looked down at the ground. "It's all my fault."

"Like fuck I'm going to let that happen, asshole!" Ben suddenly shouted, stepping forward until he was standing by himself opposite Kokabiel. He then pointed at the fallen angel with left hand, the emerald gear glimmering in the light of the still-raging inferno that used to be the gymnasium.

"Like hell I'm going to let you hurt Rias and start another war! You think I'm going to just stand by and let you destroy this town? Let you disrupt the peace just so you can get a kick from the chaos which will ensue?"

"Ben," Rias gasped, surprised by Ben's outburst.

Kokabiel chuckled at Ben's emotional outburst. "I don't care what you do, boy. I just know exactly what's going to happen. What? Do you think you can stop me? You? A lowly reincarnated devil and two ageing dragon fossils?"

Before the fallen angel could taunt him in any other way or before anyone else could say anything, the jewel in Ben's left arm lit up brightly and shot upwards into the sky, illuminating the entire area in the familiar green light from when he transforms. It was so bright that everyone had to cover their eyes to avoid the worst of it. The pressure which was coming from Ben was also causing the ground to shake and vibrate as it struggled to stay held together.

"What's going on!?" Rias wondered with confusion as she struggled to keep herself standing from the vibrations running through the ground.

"I recognise that light," Kiba revealed.

"It's the Sacred Gear releasing power after becoming perfectly aligned with its master's wishes," Akeno explained.

"You're going to pay for what you've done, Kokabiel!" Ben shouted as the Sacred Gear began to vibrate with newly awoken power. Everyone watched as the gauntlet morphed, changing its shape until it had a more streamlined appearance than before as well as short, sharp spikes protruding out from his knuckles and several larger spikes which now ran down the length of his forearm.

Before anyone could fully react to the light or the sudden change in his Gear's appearance, Ben was engulfed in an emerald light even though he hadn't touched the dial.

[Transform: Water Hazard!]

The emerald light which had obscured Ben from everyone's view diminished to reveal his red, mollusc-like demonic form. The gathered devils and Xenovia took in the sight before, their eyes widening at the form they were seeing for the first time.

Ignoring the stares he was getting, Ben bent his knees a little and glared up at Kokabiel again.

[BOOST!]

"Let's do this," he growled with a deep voice before he quickly fell into a sprint directly towards the fallen angel.

"An Orishan? I've never killed one of those before. I'm sure it'll look very nice hanging on the wall of my trophy room," he grinned darkly as he created a spear of Light in his hand, the largest one he'd made so far, and threw it at Ben just as he launched himself into the air, directly at Kokabiel.

He had thought that that would be it and smirked victoriously at having swatted away an annoying fly. His smile instantly vanished though when Ben, still charging towards him, batted the spear away with the back of his left arm, knocking it to his side where it exploded violently, leaving Ben completely unharmed except for a small burn mark on his arm where he had touched the Light weapon. In his overconfidence, Kokabiel had not only thought he could destroy Ben like it was nothing but he also missed the water whip in Ben's right hand that suddenly wrapped itself around his waist.

"What the…?" he started but was interrupted by Ben.

"Is that all you've got, Kokabiel!?" he shouted as he retracted the whip in his palm which brought him face to face with Kokabiel in just a few, short seconds which was all he needed to fire a concentrated blast of water from his left hand and aim it at Kokabiel's chest at point-blank range.

Kokabiel grunted at the sharp pain he felt pulse through his body, a feeling he had not felt in a very long time.

[BOOST!]

Ben wasn't done with him yet though. As Kokabiel reared back from the blast that Ben fired at him, Ben pushed himself forward and delivered a powerful left hook to the fallen angel's head that sent him falling out of the sky and towards the ground.

Centuries of instinctive experience took over at the last second and Kokabiel re-orientated himself at the last second so that he landed on one knee with a grunt.

"There's no way a demon can get that powerful!" he growled as he looked up at Ben who was returning to earth. "What the fuck are you!?"

"I'm Ben Tennyson," Ben replied as his feet touched the ground and he began walking towards Kokabiel. I'm a reincarnated devil who possesses the power of two incredibly powerful dragons. I'm still learning about my abilities but I fight to protect my friends and those I care about. I might be new to this power but I'll make sure you don't forget my name!"

Akeno couldn't help but giggle quietly into the back of her hand from her spot near the back of the gathered group of devils. "Ufufu. That's Ben for you."

She then cast a quick glance towards her best friend.

'I'm sorry, Rias. I'm starting to like him too,' she thought to herself with a small smile on her lips.

"This is interesting, boy. Very interesting indeed. I must admit that you may have some strength…," Kokabiel glowered as he returned to his full height and threw another spear of Light at Ben. This time, Ben fired a jet of pressurised water at the spear, destroying it before it even got close to him. Just as he was about to launch his counterattack though, Ben was taken by surprise when Kokabiel suddenly emerged from the thick steam and swiped at him with his wings, slashing across his chest and pushing him back a few feet.

"…but it's still nothing compared to me, boy," he jeered as Ben grunted in pain, placing his armoured hand over the spot where Kokabiel had dealt the powerful blow.

If he'd thought that would deter Ben then he was very wrong.

"You think so? You think this is all I've got?" Ben retorted hotly before he was consumed by a bright green light again.

[Transform: Rath!]

The light disappeared to reveal the large, muscular, humanoid tiger-like creature that was his Appoplexian form.

"Didn't he have to turn back into his normal form before changing into something else?" Kiba asked with confusion, his eyes transfixed at the intense fight happening before him.

"It would appear that's no longer the case," Rias replied slowly, her eyes still wide at the sight before.

Ben let out a defiant roar before charging forward and throwing himself at Kokabiel. The powerful fallen angel, believing that the demon heading towards him would be just like the Appoplexians he had hunted in the past, grew confident again and shot forward too.

The two powerful beings met in the middle of the field and began engaging in a brutal fistfight with each blow sending out small shockwaves with each blow. Each of them had abandoned any sense of skill and, instead opted to simply bash their opponent into submission.

This tactic may have worked for Kokabiel in the past when he fought other Appoplexians but he wasn't fighting any demon though….

[BOOST!]

Ben roared again, right in Kokabiel's face, before delivering several brutal punches to his opponent, each one more powerful than the last, and forced him onto the defensive.

The intensity of the repeated blows led to Kokabiel being forced to protect himself by surrounding himself in a cocoon made by his wings.

This tactic worked at first, offering him some respite from the brutality of the demon's attack, but it proved to be merely temporary as, after only a few seconds of protection, they were slowly forced apart thanks to Ben's incredible strength, much to Kokabiel's shock.

"How the fuck did you do tha–!?" he seethed before howling in pain when Ben cut him off mid-sentence by delivering an incredibly powerful head-butt to the fallen angel which caused him to momentarily lose concentration and let his wings break away and spread out behind him again.

"Arrrggghhh! Fuck!" the fallen angel screeched as he clutched his nose which had been broken by the sheer, unrestrained power of the Appoplexian head-butt. He was cut off from his howls of pain when Ben took hold of the scruff of his shirt and pulled him close to him.

"LEMME TELL YOU SOMETHING FALLEN ANGEL, KOKABIEL!" the orange-furred humanoid tiger demon bellowed at the top of his lungs, his voice carrying across the school field. "RATH DOESN'T LIKE IT WHEN YOU TRY MESSING WITH HIS THINGS! HE DOESN'T LIKE IT AT ALL!"

Kokabiel could only glance up at Ben's towering form. He had already fixed his nose back into place and now couldn't help but release another dark chuckle, his wings spreading out wide behind him. This only served to make Ben even angrier.

"LEMME TELL YOU SOMETHING ELSE, KOKABIEL! RATH DOESN'T LIKE IT WHEN YOU LAUGH AT HIM!" Ben roared as he pointed at Kokabiel in a threatening manner.

Kokabiel just continued to chuckle before he suddenly delivered a swift uppercut to the bottom of Ben's jaw, causing him to release his grip on him as he sent the hulking demon flying backwards.

"For such a low-ranking devil to strike me, you're a truly interesting individual, boy!" he chuckled darkly.

"It's almost a shame to destroy you…almost," he sneered as he used magic to instantly repair his clothing.

Ben growled deeply while Rias just stared forlornly at their foe.

'After all that. After everything we threw at him, he's still ready for a fight?!' she thought despairingly as Kokabiel wiped off the last bit of blood from his face.

Ben wasn't out of the fight yet. He quickly picked himself off the ground and growled deeply as he punched the palm of his hand and began walking towards Kokabiel again.

The tense atmosphere was suddenly joined by the sound of laughter, taunting laughter.

"Hahahaha."

"Who is that? Who's there?!" Kokabiel demanded, looking around in search of the infuriating sound.

"Oh, Kokabiel; you sure know how to understate things," the voice called out from above them, shortly followed by an incredibly powerful magical strike on the roof of the dome surrounding the school which destroyed it instantly, vaporising it quickly while also sending Sona and her peerage flying back from the unexpected shockwave that accompanied it.

[He's here,] Ddraig murmured under his breath to Ben and Azmuth though Azmuth appeared to have completely withdrawn back into his Gear to process his loss.

Ben reverted back to his normal form in a flash of light, grunting slightly at the bruises he felt forming on his body.

"Who's here?" he wondered, joining everyone else at looking up where the laughter and voice had come from.

His answer revealed itself in the form of a pure white light which illuminated the whole school like daylight. Hovering in the epicentre of the light was a humanoid figure clad in white armour with several brilliant sapphire gemstones fitted in several places over their body. Their face was completely obscured by the armoured helmet they wore though long silver hair spilled out of the back of it and cascaded down the figure's armoured back.

"What is the White Dragon Emperor doing here?" Kokabiel demanded with a glare as he took flight again and rose several feet into the air.

Ben's eyes widened as he looked back at the new arrival.

'The White Dragon Emperor?' he thought with dread as it suddenly clicked in his mind.

'Albion.'

[Yes. Keep your guard up, kid. You're in no state to fight him as you are,] Ddraig warned him even though Ben could feel Ddraig's attempt to quell his desire to battle his 'brother' again.

When the figure gave no answer to Kokabiel's question, the fallen angel sniffed derisively and waved them away.

"If you're here to continue your little spat with the Red Dragon then you're too la–…," he began to say before he was cut off mid-sentence when the figure disappeared and reappeared when they struck Kokabiel and blasted him into the ground. Without giving him chance to recover from their unexpected assault, the white-armoured figure reached down and ripped off two pairs of the fallen angels black wings.

Kokabiel cried out in agony as his wings were pulled out from the root.

"What are you doing?!" he howled as blood began pouring out of the holes where the wings had once been.

"I've always hated your wings. They remind me of a filthy crow," the voice, a female's, stated as she threw away the bloody wings in her hands. "Azazel's are much deeper…like everlasting darkness."

"You fucking bitch!" Kokabiel bellowed as he tried to get back onto his feet before being dealt a swift backhand from the mysterious woman. "What is the fucking meaning of this?"

"Someone who's fallen lower than the ground hardly needs wings, do they?" she sneered as she stared down at the fallen angel below her. "Such is the fate of traitors."

Kokabiel's eyes widened at this. How did Azazel discover his treachery? He wasn't ready to move against the Governor-General yet! He had intended to challenge him once the war had begun where he could then topple Azazel and take control of the rest of the Grigori and lead them to victory.

With his remaining wings, Kokabiel shot up into the air and created the single largest spear of Light that Ben had ever seen in his life; easily several times the size of the one that had obliterated the gymnasium.

Just as Kokabiel was about to throw the humongous spear down at the armoured woman, she simply brought up her hand. As she did so the air in front of her began to shimmer.

[Divide!] A deep voice boomed from within the armour that Ben guessed must've been the voice of Albion, the Vanishing Dragon.

The spear instantly shrank a few feet from the magical ability and this continued for a few more seconds until the humongous spear had been reduced to nothing, surprising everyone present.

"What was that?" Ben gasped in shock.

[That was Albion's ability, 'Divine Dividing'. Unlike with my power where I boost your power every ten seconds and can give it to others, Albion's power is to halve the power of others every ten seconds, stealing it and granting it to his wielder.]

"What have you done!?" Kokabiel demanded as he felt his strength escaping his body.

"You'd better hurry up and do something or, pretty soon, you won't even have the strength to defeat a human," the armoured figure stated with amusement.

The effects of her magic quickly began to show on Kokabiel who found himself unable to even stay in the air any longer and descended back down to the floor.

As he landed, Ben was shocked to see genuine fear on the fallen angel's face as he tried to back away from the armoured warrior.

"Zs'Skayr! Help me! Where are you hiding?! We made a deal, you cursed daemon!" he cried fearfully before he was tackled by the Vanishing Dragon who dragged him up into the air, his wings hanging limply by his side, too weak to keep him airborne anymore.

"It doesn't look like your friend is coming to help you. They must know it's over for you and have abandoned you," the armoured woman noted as she brought back her fist before punching Kokabiel in the face and causing him to cough up blood and teeth.

"Azazel has let you go along with your treacherous plan long enough. He asked me to bring you in at any cost…even if I need to use all of my power. Be grateful he still wants you alive!"

As she said this last bit, she flew upwards with the screaming Kokabiel still in her arms before twisting in mid-air and plummeting back down to the ground at a blinding speed.

"Azazel! No!" Kokabiel screamed as the two of them struck the ground and disappeared in the large explosion and cloud of smoke that followed after.

Almost at the same instant he was gone, the large magic circle that Kokabiel had created to destroy the town and start his war rose a few feet up into the air before it shattered, breaking apart and disappearing into thin air.

"Let's make it more interesting, shall we?"

Ben let out a sigh of relief, grateful that his friends and family were now safe, but instantly stopped and took a sharp intake of breath when the armoured woman stepped out of the smoke and crater that she had made when she had dealt with Kokabiel.

Without saying a word to them, she walked across the field until she reached Freed's unconscious body.

"We have a few things we need to discuss with this stray priest. We'll take him off your hands," she stated simply as she reached down and grabbed Freed by the scruff of his robe and dragged him away.

[Are you going to ignore me, white one?]

The armoured woman stopped dead in her tracks but kept her back to Ben.

[I had heard that you had been awoken, red one?] Albion replied, the gem on the back of her right hand glowing as he spoke.

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

[As have I. How many years has it been since we last encountered each other? It's our destiny to fight one day, but that isn't today.]

[Is there something concerning you, white one? I can't sense the same level of hostility as before.]

[I could say the same thing about you, red one. Your hostility is also lower than the last time we fought,] Albion replied as his wielder finally turned around to face Ben though she remained silent and simply observed him.

[It seems that we both have other things on our mind other than fighting,] Ddraig observed neutrally.

[Perhaps,] Albion replied before changing the subject. [So where is he, the one who created us? Where is Azmuth? Don't tell me he's hiding from me.]

Ddraig took a few seconds before responding.

[No, he's still reeling from the news of God's demise. It affected him more than I thought it would.]

Albion didn't seem to care about that though.

[Pity. I'd heard the stories of him having returned to us in the form of a Sacred Gear. I would've taken great pleasure in hearing how the great Azmuth came to be trapped in the same prison he locked us in. Even you must find humour in the irony, brother. I can't say that I envy you, Ddraig, sharing a host with that fossil.

[It isn't an ideal situation but I've learnt to adapt.]

[I see. We shall witness the result of your union when we next fight.]

The armoured woman then pointed at Ben with her free hand.

"Get stronger, my rival. You have a long way to go before you reach my level. I plan to test my power against a dragon god and I want to fight a worthy opponent. Don't disappoint me."

She was then engulfed by a white light and was transported who knew where with her task done and her targets dealt with.

Everyone stared out at the destroyed school field where the interaction had taken place in silence. It wasn't until Sona and her approaching peerage arrived to see what had happened that the tension finally broke and they all released their pent up breaths and relaxed.

The threat was over. Kokabiel had been defeated and they had saved the town and stopped a war.

"Rias," Sona called out as she came to a stop beside Rias and examined the poor state the school had been left in after the battle.

"Sona," Rias murmured in greeting as she turned away from the field to see her friend and her peerage standing beside her.

"I wonder why the White Dragon Emperor suddenly showed up out of the blue like that," Sona wondered as she looked past Rias to the spot where the Vanishing Dragon had just disappeared with her arms crossed under her chest and a frown on her face.

"She came because Azazel wanted her to bring him in for being a treasonous snake and trying to get him dragged into a war with angels and devils again. I don't think she even realised that she just saved our town though," Rias explained, adding the last part with a small smile.

"I agree. I doubt that was even on her mind," Sona stated in response before turning to her queen. "Tsubaki. We made a start on repairing the damage done to our school before classes start in the morning."

"Let us help you. We did cause some of the damage after all," Rias interjected though Sona just waved her offer away.

"No need. Thanks for the offer but looking after the school is the student council's job after all," she declared with determination before heading off to begin repairs, issuing orders to her peerage as they followed after her.

Standing a few away from Rias, Kiba stood in silence as he looked upon the ruined school.

"I can't believe it's finally over," Ben sighed with relief as he came to stand next to the Gremory, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Kiba slowly shook his head as he stared at the spot where Balba had been killed.

"No, it's not over," he muttered with understanding. "There are others who took up Balba's research. My fight is not over yet."

"A fight for another time, Kiba," Ben cut in, squeezing his shoulder slightly. "Just stop for a moment and look at what you've been able to do. You've managed to face your past and have been forgiven by your fallen friends. You were even bold enough to risk damaging the entire world to get that awesome sword of yours."

"But Balba…."

"…is dead. He's not going to put anyone else through what you went through. Isn't that enough by itself?" Ben asked sincerely, a comforting smile on his face.

Kiba took a moment to consider Ben's words and realised he was right. A small smile appeared on his face before it quickly vanished when he recalled how he had acted over the last week.

"Listen, Ben…," he started, turning to Ben, "…I want to apologise for how I–."

"Don't sweat it," Ben interrupted him, holding up his hand as he did so. "All that matters is that it's over."

"Umm…Kiba."

The two male devils turned around to see Asia standing before them with an apprehensive expression on her face.

"Now that it's over, does that mean you'll come back to the club with us?"

"Asia," Ben exclaimed, concerned at how weak she looked, how close she looked to collapsing, and rushed over to her side to hold her steady. "Are you alright?"

Asia took a moment to answer him.

"Yes, I think so."

'I can't even begin to imagine how she must be feeling after learning about God's death. The Church might have hurt her and used her but it wasn't because of God. She was able to overcome every obstacle she came across because of her faith in Him. Now that He's gone…,' Ben stopped himself from finishing his thought, unsure of where it would go. Instead he simply offered a comforting smile to Asia and held her tighter in his arm, noting that she wasn't blushing at their closeness which highlighted just how worn out she really was.

"Kiba."

Everyone turned to see Rias approaching Kiba with Akeno walking beside her.

"Rias," Kiba acknowledged with a submissive bow of his head.

"I'm so glad you decided to come back to us…and as your master, I can't tell you how proud I am that you have achieved Balance Breaker," Rias said softly, a warm smile on her lips.

Kiba lowered himself to one knee as he bowed to Rias, his sword laying on the ground by his side. "I still betrayed the club members…and more importantly I betrayed you; the one person who saved my life all those years ago. I can't make up for what I've done."

"It's enough for me that you came back to us," Rias responded warmly and sincerely. "It's enough for all of us. But next time, though, don't keep your feelings hidden from us."

Kiba's eyes began to water up slightly at Rias' words and he bowed his head low. "I'll make my vow to you once more, Rias. I, Kiba Yuuto, promise to protect you and your companions as a Knight of the House of Gremory for the rest of my life."

He felt soft hands cup the sides of his face and pull it up until he was staring into Rias' eyes. She had knelt down in front of him and held his face in her hands. She then pulled him to her chest and hugged him affectionately.

"Thank you…and welcome home," the crimson-haired devil said with joy in her voice as she held him close to her.

The embrace lasted a few more seconds before they broke apart and stood back.

"Now then, Kiba. There's one last thing I need to do," Rias stated with a wry smile on her lips as a familiar red circle materialised in her hands. Ben forced himself to keep a neutral face as he remembered what happened to him the last time he saw that smile on Rias' face combined with the small magic circle in her palm.

"It's time to accept your punishment of 1000 spankings," Rias announced, confirming Ben's suspicions.

"What!?" Kiba exclaimed, backing away slightly from her. He heard Ben doing his best to contain his laughter beside him and turned to him. "Come on, Ben. Why are you laughing at that?"

"Hey, you managed to wriggle out of your punishment last time," Ben countered as he smiled at the blond knight. "I had to accept my punishment and it's only fair that you now get yours."

Kiba grimaced at Ben's words. "Shut up, Ben!" he exclaimed as Ben continued to giggle.

. . . . .

Hidden in the depths of the shadows on the edge of the school grounds, far away from prying eyes or devilish senses, a ghastly, spectral creature cursed at the failure of yet another one of its plans.

"Curse you, Azmuth! Curse you and you're Heavenly Dragon spawns!" Zs'Skayr hissed silently.

He had been so sure of the plan's success. Unlike the last plan with those renegade fallen angel nobodies, he had partnered up with Kokabiel, one of the first and most powerful angels God created. It was such an incredible bit of luck that they were able to find someone who wanted the same thing as him…war between the Three Factions.

They had come so close! They had the devils and Holy sword wielder beaten. If it wasn't for the Vanishing Dragon's unexpected arrival they would have succeeded.

As powerful as they were, Zs'Skayr was under no delusion that they could face the White Dragon Emperor and live. They hadn't survived the last 100,000 years as the last of their species by making foolish decisions.

The spectral monster hissed and thought of its next moves, what its next plan would be when….

"Zs'Skayr!"

Zs'Skayr flinched as the deeply powerful voice wrapped around its very being and held it in place simply with their words.

"Who is that? Show yourself!" he demanded, looking around for the source of the voice once he was able to move again.

"Come to me,"the voice demanded coolly, holding the spectre in place again as they spoke.

Zs'Skayr wanted to ignore the voice. How dare it presume it could tell them what to do! Who did they think they were?

However, as soon as the demand was made by the mysterious voice, Zs'Skayr found every fibre of its being unable to refuse the order so it disappeared into the shadows and departed the field.

. . . . .

They decided to wait around until Sirzechs and his troops arrived to explain what happened with Kokabiel and the appearance of the Vanishing Dragon. In that time, Asia had gone around everyone to heal their injuries from the intense fighting. Akeno helped her out where she could but her healing powers were still nowhere near as formidable as Asia's. Kiba was stood up and walking around their group as he nursed his tenderised backside from Rias' earlier punishment.

Ben, on the other hand, was sat away a few feet away from them on a bench by himself and trying to talk to Azmuth which was being met with no success so far. Not even Ddraig had any luck in rousing the ancient dragon from his isolation.

"I guess he still needs more time to come to terms with his loss," Ben surmised as he stared at the emerald-green gauntlet on his left arm.

[Perhaps you're right, kid,] Ddraig agreed with Ben's assessment. [I have never seen him like this before. I don't think there's any being alive who knows what he's going through.]

They were interrupted from further conversation when numerous magic circles bearing the crest of the Devil King, Lucifer, appeared all over the place and devil soldiers began appearing out of them, covering the entire area with soldiers in mere seconds.

Rias approached the nearest soldier who looked to be in charge and began explaining what had happened to him so he could inform Sirzechs of tonight's events.

That was the plan anyway. However, before she could get a word in, the emerald in the back of Ben's left hand began glowing and Azmuth's voice suddenly filled the sports field, attracting the attention of everyone in the vicinity.

[Are you the one in charge of these soldiers?] he boomed deeply, his voice full of authority.

The soldier cast a quick glance at Rias who gave him a quick nod before answering.

"I am," he replied curtly and professionally, nodding his head a little as well.

[Then I need you to tell your master that I require an audience with him,] Azmuth demanded, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Unfortunately, the officer failed to catch the tone.

"Who are you to demand an audience with the Devil King, Lucifer?" he retorted hotly, glaring at Ben darkly for his impetuousness.

A deep growl emanated from within Azmuth's Gear at the officer's response.

[You will do well to remember your place, devil! I am Azmuth, the dragon All-Father, and I WILL speak with your master,] he growled dangerously.

"What's gotten into you, Azmuth?" Ben asked nervously, thrown off by the sudden determination he heard in Azmuth's voice.

[Yeah, you're acting crazy, you old fool!] Ddraig added, just as confused as Ben was at the sudden change in his attitude after being quiet for so long.

It wasn't just Ben and Ddraig who were shocked at Azmuth's abrupt change in tone. Everyone else in the ORC was stunned by the authority in Azmuth's voice. He had always been somewhat distant with everyone else except for Ben but they had never heard him speak in such a manner.

They weren't speaking to the Azmuth who lived in Ben's Sacred Gear now…they were speaking to Azmuth the dragon god.

Eager to avoid pissing off the irate god any further, Rias took the initiative and attracted the officer's attention.

"Please send the request to my brother, Leo. I'm certain he'll agree to the meeting," she asked formally, diffusing the situation as quickly as she could.

The devil officer, Leo, returned his gaze back to Rias for a moment before bowing his head respectfully.

"At once, Lady Gremory," he replied before turning away from them and walking away from them while speaking to someone through a communication circle hovering next to his ear.

Once he was gone, everyone returned their gaze to Ben and the emerald gauntlet which had already returned to its former dormant state as though nothing had happened.

"What was that about, Ben?" Rias asked as she came to stand in front of him, her arms crossed under her chest.

"That's what I'd like to know too," Ben admitted as he brought up his left arm to his chest. "What the fuck was that about, Azmuth? I don't appreciate you trying to pick a fight with one of Sirzechs' men."

[I won't apologise for what I said…not with how close you came to reigniting the Great War all over again. I need to speak with your brother, Gremory, and I won't let petty, meaningless customs get in the way of what I have to say.]

"What do you want to speak with him about?" Ben asked.

[The Three Factions have been such blind fools!] Azmuth muttered to himself, completely ignoring Ben's question. [Their only saving grace is that they stopped the war after God perished. This is not what He wanted! This isn't what He died for! He didn't want the childish squabbles to endure for so long. That's not the path He wanted for you all.]

"Path? What path?" Ben muttered in confusion. He had no idea what Azmuth was talking about.

Before they could delve further into the matter though, Leo had returned.

"Lord Lucifer has agreed to meet with the dragon god and his host in private. If you step into this circle, it will take you to him," Leo explained, creating a small transportation circle beside him.

Ben looked between everyone who looked right back at him with confusion as to what was happening exactly. He wanted to ask more questions but when he received a wave of impatience from Azmuth within his head, Ben quickly stood up from his seat and entered the magic circle.

In a flash of light, Ben looked around the unknown location he had teleported to. Unsurprisingly, it was nowhere he had been before. He was standing in the centre of a medium-sized, circular room which was illuminated by the several torches and braziers that lined the walls. The room itself was sparsely decorated, the only notable piece of furniture being the tall, ornately decorated throne right in front of him.

The throne which, he suddenly realised, was currently occupied by a familiar red-haired gentleman.

"Greeting, Benjamin Tennyson," Sirzechs, one of the four great Devil Kings and formerly of the Gremory household, said in greeting as he looked at the young devil before him who had become extremely nervous all of a sudden.

"Um, uh, hello, your majesty," Ben mumbled nervously in response, bowing respectfully at the Ultimate-class devil sat before him.

"I hear you wished to speak with me in private about something," Sirzechs stated as he sat back in his chair, gazing at Ben with a curious, calculating look.

"Umm…actually it was…," Ben began to say before Azmuth cut him off.

[It wasn't him, Devil King Lucifer. It was I who wished to speak to you,] Azmuth declared, his voice echoing around the empty room. [We have much to discuss, Devil King….]

. . . . .

Two days later

Sona and her peerage did an excellent job of repairing the school grounds after the fight with Kokabiel and his minions. They had done a lot of the work already by the time Sirzechs' soldiers arrived who then aided them in the final tasks of repairing the school; tasks including repairing the obliterated gymnasium and fixing the damaged school grounds.

By the time morning came and classes started, there was no evidence that an explosive battle had taken place on the grounds mere hours ago.

Two days of normalcy later, after the bell signalling the end of the school day had been rung, Ben and Asia entered the clubroom where they were surprised to come face to face with someone they hadn't expected to ever see again.

"Hey there, Dragon All-Father," Xenovia said formally.

"Uh, hey, Xenovia," he replied slowly before noting that she was wearing the Kuoh Academy uniform. "Uh, why are you wearing a school uniform?"

"Because she's the newest addition to our group," Rias announced from behind her desk, a cheerful expression on her face. "Say hello to the newest Knight of the House of Gremory."

"No way, seriously?" Ben exclaimed with surprise as he looked at Xenovia who sprouted her skeletal, devil wings from her back to act as confirmation of her rebirth and reincarnation.

"So…why did you choose to become a devil?" he asked the obvious question with intrigue.

Xenovia was silent for a moment before she answered him.

"After our battle with that fiend, Kokabiel, I reported our success to my superiors at the Vatican. When I told them about God's death, they reacted badly. They told me that I had learned something I wasn't supposed to know and that the only course of action they could take was to brand me a heretic and banish me from the Church."

"They excommunicated you?!" Ben exclaimed with shock.

Xenovia shrugged her shoulders slightly in response.

"I can't blame them completely for their decision. With the state of everything in the world, the Church can't afford to let people know the faith-shattering truth. It would lead to the destruction of the Church and everything He built. This was the best course of action."

Ben didn't say anything to this. Despite his wish to, he also couldn't fully blame the Church for their decision to banish her. If it were to be revealed that God was dead it would send a shockwave through the religious world that would affect everybody. It would lead to chaos that the world might never recover from.

"Once I was banished from the church I had nowhere I could go. There was nobody I knew who could help me and, with God dead, I no longer knew what path I should follow. With nowhere to go, I went to Rias and pleaded for her to allow me to become one of her servants and be reincarnated as a devil."

"You will be a very welcome addition to our group, Xenovia. Also, it'll be nice to have Durandal added to our arsenal," Rias chimed in cheerily, eager to turn the conversation to a more pleasant subject. "With you and Kiba with us, our left and right flanks will be secured."

Xenovia smiled at Rias' cheeriness before turning back to Ben.

"I was also transferred here as a second-year student. Looks like we get to spend more time together," the azure-haired knight said with a small twirl, clearly intending on sounding cute.

"You know, you kinda ruin the whole 'cute' vibe when you say that with such a serious face," Ben sweatdropped.

Xenovia placed her hands on her hips and shook her head slightly.

"I tried copying Gwen but it looks like I just can't quite get it right," she sighed at her failure.

"My cousin and the word 'cute' don't go together," Ben grimaced before a serious expression formed on his face. "Are you sure this is what you want, Xenovia? Becoming a devil, I mean?"

"Without God, I have no meaning," Xenovia answered simply before she stopped to think about her answer properly. "But, if I'm honest, I don't really know if joining my former enemy was the correct path. Also, for the little sister of a Devil King, Rias has been exceptionally kind to me. I hope I have made the right decision; I feel like I have but there's so much doubt in my mind."

"You don't want to think about it too much," Ben warned light-heartedly, "It'll make you go insane. Speaking of crazy people…what happened to Gwen?" he asked cautiously.

Xenovia crossed her arms under her chest. "She…she returned back to headquarters," she said sadly, remembering their last encounter clearly. "She went back with the five Excaliburs including my own. The Excalibur that Balba forged with the four blades was destroyed though the core fragments were saved so they could be taken back and re-forged again."

"I can't imagine that my cousin took your decision to become a devil well," Ben wondered, imagining how his cousin would have reacted upon finding out, each scenario worse that the last.

"No, she didn't," Xenovia admitted with a slight shake of her head. "She couldn't understand why I would suddenly decide to leave the church and, completely out of the blue, decide to join the ranks of our enemy. I couldn't tell her the true reason I was banished from the Church without telling her the truth about God. Despite being a Protestant, her faith was always stronger than mine. It would've devastated her to learn the truth. I couldn't do that to her, not after everything we've been through together."

The azure-haired swordswoman then turned her attention to Asia who was sat down on a nearby couch to hear her story. "I owe you an apology too, Asia. I am very sorry for the horrible and hurtful things I said to you. I can't get the way I was treated by the Church for knowing the truth out of my head. I must have made you feel the same way and I am sorry."

"Please don't feel bad for me, Xenovia," Asia said sweetly as she placed her hand over her heart. "Even though I'm a devil now, I've never felt more blessed. I've met so many wonderful people who mean so much to me. I've never been this happy before in my life."

"I see," Xenovia said with a small smile on her lips before she remembered something. "Oh, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"What is it?" Asia asked curiously.

"I would really appreciate it if you would show me around the school sometime," the new Gremory Knight said with a warm smile.

"I'd love to," Asia replied instantly, a bright smile forming on her face at this.

Xenovia then turned towards Kiba who was sat down on one of the sofas in the clubroom. "Also, if it isn't too big of a deal, I thought it'd be fun to try out my Durandal against your Holy-devil sword again."

"I was thinking the same thing," Kiba replied with a smile.

Rias stood up from her seat and attracted everyone's attention. "Now. We've got a new member so let's get the Occult Research Club back open for business!"

[You got it, Rias,] everyone shouted together in unison.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A/N: What did Azmuth want to speak to Sirzechs about? What else did Azmuth remember? Tune in to the next chapter to find out!

At last! I've finally finished the Holy sword arc! Now that that's over I can now start work on the Peace Talk arc. Yay!

In case some people get confused later on, I'll just explain it now. Ben has just unlocked the ability to switch between his forms without having to turn back into a human. He has to still use the dial to start off with (He hasn't unlocked 'master control' yet) but once he has done that he can cut out the part where he reverts back to his normal form and change into whatever demonic form he wants.

. . . . .

Reviews:

Ultimatrix bearer: I've already contacted you through PM but I would like to say thanks again for the review and I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.

Spider-Man999: I hope you enjoyed the beat-down Kokabiel received from Rath. The reason why Way Big didn't show up nor will he do so for some time is because, as I explained earlier in my story, unlike the cartoon, the Ben in my story isn't restricted to a certain time limit I which he can transform. Instead, he is limited to the strength of his body and mind. Way Big is an incredibly powerful being even in the canon universe so it will be a long time before Ben can handle transforming into such a creature.

Nivek Beldo: I agree that the arc was pretty irregular and am grateful to your compliment.

I'm glad you liked the little moments between the fight scenes. I really enjoyed writing those scenes the most. The rivalry between Ben and Gwen was an important element in the original series in my opinion, and obviously with them not having seen each other in years in my story, there's no way their relationship would have progressed to the one we saw in Alien force onwards. I will do my best to make it work and be humorous as best I can.

My plan was just to put Kiryuu in as a very minor antagonist who loves teasing Ben every now and then.

I DO have plans for the future of my story that include more characters from the Ben 10verse.

Apologises for not PMing you this week. I have literally been up to my ears in university work and real life in general. I was only able to give my finished chapter to my beta reader two days ago before I made changes and corrected the mistakes which I had made. If you still want to talk then that's fine with me, just leave me a PM whenever you want.

Ascalon is certainly going to be anything BUT an ordinary sword in my world, that's a promise. Unlike what Issei did in DxD canon, I'm going to make Ben keep the sword (I mean. Who in their right mind would give away such a powerful sword!) but will get more lessons from Kiba and Xenovia.

Omnimania00: Hey there. Thanks for letting me know about your name change.

Of course I'll include the race of Osmosians in my story, I just won't talk too much about them. Still trying to find a way to put Kevin into my story (will probably be a fallen angel or something like that) but remember; there was one other familiar Osmosian in the Ben 10verse. I'm not going to say who as it should be obvious for fans of the show. I have clear plans for introducing him into my story.

Ballsandweeners35: Glad to hear from you again. From what I can see, you were talking to me about not making Ben react so amicably towards Rias after becoming a devil. The issue was that you made that comment after I was halfway through the Riser arc where the foundations of my story had already been laid down.

. . . . .

Thanks again to everyone who left a review and to everyone who reads my story.

If anyone has a question or comment, please leave a review and I'll be sure to answer your question either in my next review section or via PM.

Until my next chapter, see you all later.