Since I haven't updated for a while, I won't have a huge author's note up here for you guys. Sorry that I took so long to update, but I went to a bunch of tryouts for volleyball since I really wanted to move up to a good club, so I really didn't have much time to write the last two weeks. The good news is that I managed to make Team Rockstar, which made not updating last weekend worth it for me and it really got me pumped up to get back to writing. So, without further ado, here's chapter 7!
Chapter 7
"It might be interesting to see exactly how strong the servants of Rias Gremory are. Not to mention, I'm interested in my so called predecessor." Xenovia replied as her lips turned up into a smile. She had an assignment, but there was no way that a match would waste too much of her time.
"If we're going to have a match, we'd have to hold it somewhere where no one would see it." Rias said, running over possible locations in her head, also intrigued by the possibility of Kiba fighting two Holy Sword Wielders.
"Baseball field." Koneko said, leading to Rias nodding in agreement while Lelouch looked on incredulously. He didn't think that Rias would be so eager to let her servants get involved in such a dangerous fight. He hoped that Issei and Kiba would come out alive, otherwise, his plans would be handicapped.
"I'll put up a barrier. Then you two can fight without worrying about damaging the school." Akeno added, eager to see a fight.
"Even if it's not a serious fight, be cautious of the Holy Swords, they can still hurt you!" Rias informed Issei, who had been forced into the fight along with Kiba, Irina, and Xenovia. They were all assembled on the baseball field, with a large barrier surrounding the combatants, courtesy of Akeno.
"Right!" Issei replied in a shaky voice. After all, he had not expected to be dragged into this fight. Not to mention, Kiba was laughing maniacally next to him and he was really being unnerved by the knight.
"Wow, the Excaliburs are right here for me to destroy! I can't believe how lucky I am!" Kiba managed before keeling over with laughter, forcing his summoned Demonic Swords to follow suit.
"Hm, Sword Birth. So you must be the survivor of the Holy Sword Project." Xenovia observed, although her remark fell on deaf ears as Kiba was still giddy with the realization that he had a chance to destroy some of the Excaliburs.
"Issei, when I found out that you were a Devil, I was shocked." Irina sighed, drawing said boy's attention.
"Do we really have to fight?" Issei asked, although Irina ignored him.
"Destiny really is cruel. I went to Europe because I could use Holy Swords and I wanted to serve God. To think, that my dear childhood friend is now a Devil. If this is a trial by God, then so be it. Now then, Issei, I will deliver judgment upon you with this Excalibur!" Irina lamented, intimidating Issei, who was genuinely confused.
On one hand, Irina had tears streaming down her face and on the other hand, she was waving her sword around enthusiastically. By the way she was rambling on, he wasn't sure if she was crazy or drunk. He was inclined to believe either one of those things at this point.
"Look, I don't know what you're rambling on about, but Boosted Gear!" Issei yelled, making the red gauntlet appear over his arm.
"Oh, a Longinus." Xenovia observed, focusing her attention on Issei.
"If you're going to focus on Issei, then you'll get hurt!" Kiba yelled, charging forward with his Demonic Swords.
With a smirk, Xenovia turned with her Excalibur and easily blocked the strike. As the blades met, sparks began flying in all directions, flying back into Kiba and Xenovia's faces. However, it was clear that neither was going to back off.
"All right Issei, here I come!" Irina announced before she charged at him. Issei was barely able to dodge in time, once again filled with dread due to his proximity to the Exclaibur.
"Boost!" The Boosted Gear shouted, doubling Issei's power. He grinned as he searched for an opening. He was ready to unleash his most powerful technique, Dress Break. Through extensive practice on Asia, Akeno, and Koneko (Who had viciously beat him for it, but whatever), he had perfected his ultimate technique.
"Don't look at her with those lecherous eyes." Koneko ordered, noticing how Issei's perverted gaze had appeared.
"He has a technique to blow away the clothes of women, watch out." She advised Irina, who gave Issei a pitying look.
"What a sinful technique! Please God, forgive this pervert!" Irina prayed, leading to an annoyed look from Issei.
"Why are you helping her?"
"You are the worst. The enemy of all women." Koneko replied.
"I could have just given my body up to you, if you asked." Asia added.
Xenovia shook her head, "I see. It's only fitting that such a greedy Devil would have such sexual desires."
"I sincerely apologize for Issei's lechery." Kiba said apologetically.
"Hey! Wait a minute, why are you apologizing?" Issei yelled out, embarrassed and enraged at the same time.
However, his words went unheard by the two who resumed their duel. Tightly gripping two Demonic Swords, Kiba viciously slashed at Xenovia, trying to utilize his speed as a knight. The blue haired girl easily evaded his attack with minimal effort.
"My sword is made purely of destruction. I can destroy anything with it." Xenovia announced before destroying both of Kiba's swords with one swing. Distracted, Issei barely avoided a quick attack from Irina.
"Boost!" The Boosted Gear called out for the third time, and Issei realized that he had to end the battle quickly before he ran out of stamina. However, with Irina's constant assault, he had no choice but to try and evade her attacks. With another swing, Issei could feel Irina slightly graze him.
As soon as the blade made contact with his skin, Issei could feel all of his strength leave his body. Helplessly, he tried to summon another Boost, but it was clear that it would not help now.
"This is the damage that a Holy Sword can cause to a Devil. You're lucky that I only grazed you." Irina informed the injured Devil.
Lelouch felt a frown tug at the corners of his mouth.
"Akeno, we have to stop the fight soon. Issei looks hurt." He ordered, but she was clearly too transfixed by the sight of Issei vomiting blood on the floor to listen to him.
Watching Issei writhing on the ground in pain, Kiba glared at Xenovia with renewed fire in his eyes.
"Now we will see if your Holy Sword is as strong as my Demonic Sword!" Kiba yelled, creating a massive sword that was easily twice the size of Kiba himself. Even from outside the barrier, Lelouch could feel power radiating from the large sword. With a scream Kiba swung the sword full force at Xenovia.
"You made the wrong choice." Xenovia deadpanned. With a scream of her own, she swung her blade forward. The Excalibur cut through Kiba's Demonic Sword as if it was butter, sending the top half of the sword flying behind Kiba. Lelouch was taken aback. Even a sword as powerful as the one Kiba had created presented no challenge to an Excalibur.
"You should not have sacrificed your speed for strength. With such a large sword, you lost your best attribute, your speed. It's really a shame that you would be desperate enough to do that." Xenovia said regretfully before she smashed the pommel of her sword straight into Kiba's stomach.
The blond knight keeled over in pain, spitting up blood.
"Akeno! Take down the barrier!" Lelouch ordered in his emperor voice. This time, Akeno heard his order and quickly dissolved the barrier sealing the four combatants inside. Both Irina and Xenovia sheathed their swords, clearly the victors.
"Well then, I need to take my leave. I trust that you will remember our little talk." Xenovia said nonchalantly, "Oh, and one more thing. Try and train your servants a little more. The Vanishing Dragon has already appeared and there's no way that you could ever beat him in your current state." She directed her last statement at Issei before she began walking away.
"Wait up!" Irina cried, gathering her things and following suit.
Issei groaned in a mixture of disappointment and pain as Asia's Twilight Healing worked its magic.
"I'm sorry that I lost, Asia." Issei apologized as he inspected his now healed wounds.
"If you had another boost, you might have won." Koneko stated, before turning her head at some yelling.
"Kiba! I won't forgive you if you leave right now!" Rias yelled. Kiba was currently walking away from her in the direction where Xenovia and Irina had left.
"I only lived on because of my comrades. Because of that, I have to avenge them." Kiba responded, turning away.
"Kiba! Why?" She asked, saddened that her knight would abandon her.
Lelouch's lips curled into a frown.
"So, I take it that you're going to take advantage of this somehow?" C.C. asked.
Lelouch nodded slowly. Although this could tie into his plans, it wasn't easy watching his girlfriend being abandoned.
"So, do you want me to get Jeremiah or Gino?" She asked.
Lelouch shook his head, "No, tell them to stay behind to protect Rias. If Kokabiel attacks, we'll need to have enough people to protect her."
"I never thought that I would see the day when you actually cared about someone other than Nunally." C.C. chuckled.
Lelouch's shoulders seized up for a moment at the mention of his sister's name, but relaxed as he turned to walk towards Issei.
"Kiba's leaving?" Issei asked, surprised. He had always thought that Kiba was among Rias' most loyal servants. But now the knight was abandoning her without any hesitation, just for a chance to destroy some Excaliburs.
"It seems that way." Lelouch muttered. Likewise, he was a little surprised by Kiba's actions. For someone who usually was composed and relaxed, he was making rather rash decisions right now.
"What are we going to do?" Issei asked, wanting to cheer up his president.
Lelouch gave him a look, "I have a plan."
Lelouch smirked as he watched Saji waiting impatiently in front of the train station. Not only would he be able to gain the trust of Kiba and Issei, but he would gain a connection with Sona's pawn. He knew as well as anyone that to accumulate strength, one needed a strong base of power. If he could make connections with the strongest clans at Kuoh, he would definitely be on his way towards his ultimate goal of staging a coup against Asmodeus.
Presently, his peerage would not be enough. No, he needed to make connections with the Sitri Clan, and fill out the rest of his pieces before he could even think about attacking the Great Satan. A war was definitely going to break out as a result of his actions, and he was not going to be defeated by a lack of preparation.
"Ah! Let go of me!" He heard Issei yell. Annoyed, Lelouch turned around to berate the pawn, but decided against it once he realized that Issei was trying to run away from Koneko, who was grabbing onto his shirt. The short girl had the same emotionless face she always did, although her eyes narrowed a bit as they focused in on him.
"Ah, Koneko. What are you doing here?" Lelouch asked cordially. Although Koneko wasn't terribly important to his plans yet, he still wanted her loyalty, or at least her trust.
The girl didn't respond, merely staring at him in response. Koneko didn't fully trust Lelouch yet, unlike the other members of the Occult Research Club.
"Well, I guess that you can tag along. Come on Issei, let's not keep him waiting." Lelouch said, prompting Issei to follow him.
As the three approached, Saji noticed them out of the corner of his eye.
"Well, why did you guys call me?" He asked, annoyed that they had made him wait.
"Yes, why did you two want to meet him?" Koneko asked.
"We're going to ask Irina and Xenovia for permission to destroy the Excaliburs." Issei said, acting as Lelouch's mouthpiece.
Both Saji and Koneko's eyes widened at this revelation. Almost immediately, Saji turned to run away, but Koneko grabbed his shirt before he could leave, immobilizing the pawn.
"Let me go!" Saji screamed, trying to escape Koneko's iron grip.
"I'll help you." Koneko said. She didn't trust Lelouch, but she was still loyal to Rias and she knew how much Kiba's loyalty would mean to her.
"Don't get me involved with your problems!" Saji yelled.
"Saji, calm down." Lelouch ordered activating his Geass. Instantly, Saji stopped struggling, seemingly resigned to his fate. Lelouch then looked at Issei, "Come on, let's go."
Nodding, Issei left, followed by Saji and Koneko, who was still holding on to their shirts to prevent them from running off, although Saji was now completely relaxed from Lelouch's command.
The group managed to make their way into town without incident, thanks to a subdued Saji.
"Please give charity to us on behalf of the father in heaven!"
Issei was surprised by how much the two girls stood out. Currently, they were standing in the middle of the road and begging, drawing concerned glances from townspeople.
"I can see that subtlety is not their strength." Lelouch observed, not impressed at all by the two.
"This is all your fault. If you never bought that fake painting, we would still have money." Xenovia muttered, drawing an immediate response from Irina.
"What are you talking about? The man in the painting looks like a saint. Or at least, I think he does…"
"Then who is it?"
"I think it's Saint Peter?" Irina said, obviously unsure.
"There's no way that this is Saint Peter."
"Well, I think he might have looked like this."
"Why did I get stuck with you? Is this a trial from God?"
Xenovia hung her head in defeat.
"Don't hang your head." Irina consoled, leading to an angry response from Xenovia.
"Shut up! This is why you Protestants are heretics!"
"What did you say? Heretic!" Irina growled, angry at Xenovia's accusation.
"What did you say? Heretic!" Xenovia snapped in response, butting her head against Irina's. Just as the two began to argue, they were interrupted by the rumbling in their stomachs.
Lelouch sighed. The Church was honestly not going to get very far if these were the kind of agents that they sent out. Still, the Church's lack of foresight might just end up becoming a huge advantage later on.
"Say, we were just about to eat, why don't you join us?" Lelouch asked with a bright smile on his face, walking up to the two as if he had not just been observing them.
Lelouch watched the two girls eat wordlessly. Xenovia constantly shot him dirty looks, but he tried to ignore them. After all, could he really blame her? He did have a bit of a reputation now, mostly due to his victory over the supposedly invincible Riser Phenex.
Meanwhile, her partner was enthusiastically mowing through plate after plate. Lelouch was definitely not as concerned about this one. After all, she did have childhood ties to Issei and she was definitely a much more pleasant person.
"It's really embarrassing to be helped by a Devil." Xenovia sighed, finally putting her fork down.
"Wait a second, we're giving you free food and that's all you have to say?" Issei asked incredulously. Lelouch was not as concerned. After all, he did possess the entire Murmur Clan fortune and a meal, however expensive, would barely make a dent in his savings.
"Thank you for the meal. God, please give charity to these Devils!" Irina thanked, pulling out a cross. Leouch, Issei, and Koneko collectively grabbed their heads in pain at the sight of such a holy object.
"Sorry." Irina apologized, quickly putting her cross away. Issei and Lelouch rubbed their heads as the pain subsided and Koneko went back to eating her slice of pie.
"So, why did you help us?" Xenovia asked. Lelouch smiled. The girls certainly didn't beat around the bush.
"Well, I know that you two have come here for the Excaliburs, right?" Lelouch asked.
Xenovia nodded slowly, "Yes, we've already told you this."
"We want to help you to destroy the Excaliburs." Lelouch said tentatively. He wasn't sure if they would agree to help him, but it was worth a shot. If he was ever going to secure a base of power, he couldn't have weapons as powerful as the Excaliburs floating around when he couldn't use them. It was only natural that he wanted to destroy them.
"Okay, I guess we can let you destroy one of them." Xenovia replied. The negotiation had definitely gone a lot smoother than Lelouch had expected. He was fully prepared to the use his Geass to get them to bend to his will, but now, it seemed like he would not have to resort to that.
"Wait, are you sure? After all, they are still Devils." Irina voiced her concerns. Lelouch certainly did not expect to be the one who would need convincing.
"The truth is, I'm actually a little skeptical about our chances to defeat Kokabiel with only the two of us." Xenovia replied.
"I know that, but still…"
"We either have to destroy the Excaliburs or take them back. Alone, we only have a 30 percent chance for success."
"But we agreed that percentage was high enough to come on this mission."
"Still, it's almost like self sacrifice to go in alone."
Irina's face showed the conflict she was feeling inside, "Isn't that just a part of our job as followers of God?"
"Our job is to complete our mission and to live on to fight for God." Xenovia corrected.
"But still, help from a Devil?"
"That's why we're going to get the help of a Dragon, not a Devil. Our higher ups never said anything about Dragons."
"Ah, so you two intend to use Issei then." Lelouch interrupted.
Xenovia nodded, "The power within you can be increased to that of the Maou. If you do that, you will be able to easily destroy an Excalibur. Not to mention," She glanced at Lelouch, "You must possess the same level of strength as well."
He smiled a bit at the compliment, "Very well then, Issei and I will lend our power to you for your mission."
"To tell the truth, it's not the same if I get permission to destroy one from the wielders of Excaliburs." Kiba said. Issei had gone ahead and summoned the Knight to the same restaurant.
"Feel lucky that we're giving you this chance." Xenovia said coldly.
Kiba glared at her in response.
"So, you really hold a grudge against the church and Excaliburs, huh?" Irina cut in, breaking the two up.
"What do you think?" He spat coldly.
"But because of the Holy Sword Project, people like Xenovia and me can now wield the Excaliburs."
"So do you think the results were worth the deaths of everyone who was classified as a failure?"
Irina had no response, instead, she looked to Xenovia for help.
"The incident was… unfortunate. But the man responsible was charged with heresy and excommunicated. Since then, we know that he's joined up with the Fallen Angels."
"What is the name of that man?" Kiba asked, suddenly interested.
"Balba Galilei."
Kiba's eyes took on a new look at the revelation, one of determination.
"If I fight the Fallen Angels, then I'll be able to reach him."
With a much more amiable demeanor now, Kiba took a sip of coffee.
"So why exactly did you do this?" Kiba asked Issei and Lelouch.
"We are comrades." Issei quickly replied.
"It's for Rias, isn't it?" Kiba asked, directing the question more at Lelouch.
"You could say that." Lelouch replied. Kiba nodded, although he didn't look satisfied with the answer.
"Yuuto… I would get lonely if you disappeared." Koneko said with a sad expression, tugging at the taller boy's jacket. Even Lelouch had to admit, Koneko was incredibly cute and sad at the same time right now.
"I will help you… so please don't go." She continued, drawing a look from Issei, who was busy trying to decide if he was a loli-con or not. Kiba stared down at her sad face and smiled in response.
"Well, then, I guess I don't have a choice." Kiba said, appeasing the girl for now.
"All right! Let's go take down the Excaliburs!" Issei shouted triumphantly.
"Do I have to come along too?" The entire table turned to look at Saji, who had remained silent until now. In fact, it was clear that the group had forgotten that he was even here.
"I mean, I have no idea what's going on."
"That's such a sad story! That's it! I'll take any punishment from Prez. Come on, we'll all go and destroy that Excalibur!" Saji sobbed, moved by Kiba's story.
Lelouch sighed. He could definitely see why the boy was only a pawn.
"I guess now's as good a time as ever to tell you guys my intentions as well. My dream, is to make Prez pregnant and marry her!" Saji exclaimed.
"Listen Saji, my goal is similar. I want to grope Buchou's breasts, and suck them!" Issei replied, as if the two were now best friends.
"But Issei, listen to yourself. Do you know how hard that dream is?"
"Listen to me, nothing is impossible!"
Saji nodded in response, "Right! Nothing is impossible."
"All right then Saji, then let's do it together. With both of us, we will can make them pregnant and marry them! We can have sex with our masters!" Issei cried out, drawing tears from Saji's eyes.
Meanwhile, Lelouch was simmering both at their stupidity, and at the fact that Issei's greatest dream was to have sex with his fiancé.
"You really are the worst." Koneko said, once again with an emotionless expression.
"You do realize that you're talking about my fiancé, right?" Lelouch growled.
"This is impossible!" Saji groaned as the group continued to walk through town in priest clothes. They had hoped to draw out the Fallen Angels by posing as agents of the Church. So far, they had searched for weeks without any results.
"Wait a second. Do you guys sense a killing intent?" Koneko asked, alert and searching for enemies.
"Look up!" Saji cried out as a white haired man flew in front of the group with a large sword drawn.
Kiba barely had time to pull out his own sword before the man was assaulting him.
"Freed!" Issei cried out before summoning his Boosted Gear.
"What the fuck? I thought I killed you back in the Church." Lelouch growled, electricity crackling in his palm.
"I'll admit, it hurt me, but all you did was gave me a little brain damage!" Freed cackled, clearly even more insane than before, if that was possible.
"Strech my line!" Saji cried out as a small lizard face appeared on his hand and shot its tongue out as a black hand. The tongue stretched out as Freed angrily slashed at it, only for his blade to pass through with no effect. It latched onto the ex priest's leg and began wrapping itself around his feet.
"Now, Kiba! He can't move!" Saji cried out as Freed realized that he had been immobilized.
"Wait, Kiba! Don't just charge in!" Lelouch ordered, but Kiba paid him no heed, charging forward with two Demonic Swords.
"So, you possess Sword Birth eh? It may be a Sacred Gear, but it can't compete with my Excalibur!" Freed announced before he swung to meet Kiba's swords. With a clang, the Excalibur cut through both Demonic Swords.
"Issei, act as support." Lelouch ordered, before motioning to Koneko. The girl quickly picked Issei up and tossed him at the Knight.
"Transfer!" Isseri yelled out, sending his power into Kiba's body.
"Thank you for the help." Kiba said, a powerful aura rising from his body.
"Sword Birth!"
As soon as he summoned it, blades appeared from every direction on every surface imaginable. Cars, streetlamps, and walls all had swords popping out from all areas, completely covering the entire street in metal. Using his speed, Kiba began using the swords as platforms to leap off of, throwing swords all the way.
Freed for his part, remained surprisingly calm. With his Excalibur he easily knocked away every sword that was sent his way.
He had been trying his best not to get involved in the fight. After all, if Kiba wasn't the one who destroyed the Excalibur, he would not have been satisfied. But now, it was clear that Kiba, even when strengthened by Issei's Boosted Gear, was no match for an Excalibur. Frustrated by the ex priest, Lelouch fired off a stream of electricity, which ran along the metal of the swords, which acted as conductors. Freed brought his Excalibur and the electricity that was racing towards him was easily deflected off into the sky.
"Hah! My Excalibur is Excalibur Rapidly. There's no way that I'll lose to anyone in terms of velocity!" Freed boasted as he cleared away the swords in his immediate vicinity with one effortless swing. Seeing a clear path to Kiba, he quickly rushed at him.
Kiba put up his words to block the strike, but the Excalibur easily cut through the two blades. Kiba helplessly dropped the handles to the ground, and fell onto his back. Freed grinned and pulled his sword back for the finishing blow. Suddenly, his body was pulled back and he lost all of his balance.
Lelouch suddenly noticed that the tongue of Saji's lizard had been glowing faintly the entire time.
"This is my Sacred Gear, Absorption Line! It'll drain you power until you lose consciousness!" Saji grinned as Freed tried to get to his feet.
"Kiba! Now's your chance!" Lelouch cried out. Kiba nodded and created one more Demonic Sword.
"Sword Birth. The Sacred Gear that can create any sword, based on the user." A voice rang out before Kiba had a chance to deal the finishing blow. An old man dressed like a priest clothes was standing in the middle of the street, observing the battle.
"Balba Galilei." Kiba growled, his voice full of anger.
"That I am." The old man admitted. He quickly took a look at Freed, who was still trapped by Saji, "Freed, what are you doing?"
"This guy's lizard tongue is keeping me here!" Freed complained as he continued to struggle.
"I guess you can't use the Excalibur perfectly yet. Just focus your holy power to the blade."
Freed did as he was told and his sword give off a bright light. With a wicked grin, he sliced through Saji's Absorption Line, freeing himself.
"Well, nice try this time, but next time we meet, I'll definitely kill you!" Freed cackled as he made a move to escape.
"I'm going to let you escape!" Before anyone could tell what was going on, Xenovia was upon Freed.
"Issei!"
"Irina!"
The brown haired girl came running up to support her partner.
"Come on old man, we need to escape!" Freed said, pulling out a ball of light. He tossed it on the ground and instantly, a bright light covered the entire area, blinding the group. By the time the light had died down, the two were gone.
Xenovia gritted her teeth, angry that she had lost her target.
"Come on Irina, we can't let him get away." The brown haired girl nodded and the two took off in pursuit.
"I can't let you escape Balba!" Kiba screamed before following the two girls, leaving Koneko, Lelouch, Issei, and Saji behind.
"This really is troublesome." A familiar voice rang out.
"Lelouch, what is the meaning of this?" Another familiar voice followed.
Lelouch, Issei and Saji nervously turned around to see Rias and Sona standing behind them.
I know that it seems like Lelouch really didn't have that much to do in this chapter, and neither did most of the main characters besides Issei, Kiba, and Saji, but don't worry, I'm giving pretty much going to give each of the Code Geass characters at least one chapter about them, so don't worry about it. On a side note, would you guys prefer it if I start going off on my own original material after this story arc? It's honestly more enjoyable to write original material than to follow the canonical story, but for now, I have to follow the light novels to set up the main characters and introduce basically all of the characters for now.
Also, expect longer intervals between updates. This update took especially long because I was busy last weekend going to try outs for volleyball instead of writing, but don't be surprised if I take up to two weeks to update.