"" - Speaking
'' - Thought
{} - Sparda
[] - Ddraig
Chapter 11
…
Ayato sighed as he sat on the sofa with Asia next to him as she asked "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine…" Ayato replied, checking over himself to find no wounds from his fight with Xenovia. He'd asked for Koneko to stop massaging his shoulders although he truthfully didn't understand why she'd started, the white haired girl currently sitting on his other side with a plate of youkan
His attention was drawn as Rias' angry voice called out "Hold on! Yuuto!.
Yuuto looked to be leaving as Rias continued "I won't forgive you if you leave me! You are the "Knight" of the Gremory group. I will also be troubled if you turn into an "exile". Wait for this instant!"
"Yuuto…Why…?" Rias spoke sadly, Ayato trying to decide on what he should do.
…
Ayato and Kurono were warming down from the former's blazer training, his aunt smiling to him as she asked
"What's wrong, Ayato-kun?"
Ayato took a moment to spread his senses to see who else was nearby, only picking up Orihime who was coming to hand them towels and water bottles as he remembered the others were still at the club room.
"Thanks Orihime…" Ayato spoke as he accepted the bottle of water, downing half of it before turning to Kurono as she asked
"Is it about Yuuto-kun?" Ayato's nod was all she needed as she smiled as she walked over to him, resting her hands on his shoulders as she continued
"Do you think of him as your friend?"
"Kinda…I mean he's friendly although says a few weird things" Ayato answered
"I know you've been drawn in a lot by others to help them… but you've always done what you've thought is best so just follow that instinct" Kurono replied with a smile.
"Alright Aunt Kurono…I best make a call" Ayato replied with a small smile on his face as he headed inside.
…
It was the next day off and Ayato was standing in front of the train station with Saji, who asked "So…Why'd you want to meet out here?"
"…He's right. What were you two trying to do?" Koneko asked as she held Ayato's shirt, it had been pure coincidence that he'd met her beforehand. Ayato had tried to write it off as him and Saji meeting up to catch up but she didn't seem to buy it.
"I'm going to ask Irina and Xenovia to give me permission to destroy the holy-sword Excaliburs." Both looked shocked at Ayato after he said that before Saji asked confused
"Why…?"
"I will help as well. It's about Yuuto-sempai, right?" Koneko replied as Saji grew curious.
"Kiba…What's it got to do with him…?"
"I'll explain later…" Ayato replied, Saji nodding before smiling
"Let's just hope we don't get caught…last thing I need is to be punished by Kaichou"
"You'd know you'd like it" Ayato replied with a smirk, Saji looking annoyed and embarrassed while Koneko looked confused as he retorted
"Don't go saying that in front of Koneko-chan"
"Let's go have a look for them" Ayato replied with a slight smile as the trio started off to look as Ayato added
"Hey Koneko-san. You know that Yuuto is a victim of the "Holy-sword Project" and also harbors a grudge towards Excalibur, right?" Koneko nodded at his question, Saji taking in the question with a confused look as Ayato continued
"When Irina and Xenovia came to us, they said this [The Church decided that it would be better to eliminate all the Excaliburs rather than letting them be used by the fallen-angels. Our minimum objective is to get the Excaliburs away from the fallen-angels.] So in other words they have to destroy the stolen Excaliburs or retrieve them, right?"
"…Yes. That's right."
"If we help them retrieve those then by making Yuuto the main person we could help him break one…"
"…You want Yuuto-senpai to overcome Excalibur and to fulfill his wish, right?" Koneko asked, Ayato nodding with a small smile, it made sense that it would allow Yuuto to get his revenge against the sword as he explained so Saji would understand
"Yuuto wants to win against Excalibur and accomplish his and his former comrades' revenge. Xenovia and Irina want to retrieve the Excaliburs from the fallen-angels even if they have to destroy them. We have the same aim then... So what's left is to see if those two will listen to the words of us devils."
"…It seems hard." Koneko spoke
"Yeah…." Saji spoke up with a sigh
"…It's a secret from Buchou and the other members." Koneko spoke as Ayato nodded, Rias would probably say something like
[Even if it's for Yuuto's sake, we can't put our neck in the problems involving angels.]
"…When we go and talk to them it might lead to a fight and the tension between us and them might get even worse."
"So Gen, Koneko-san…you can run if it gets dangerous" Ayato spoke with a nod as he looked back at the pair
"No way…Can't let you go off on your own, even if Kaichou's going to torture me if she finds out" Saji replied with a smirk
"Figured as much…" Ayato replied
"I won't run away. It's for our comrade." Koneko spoke up with determined eyes, which he remembered seeing during the Ratings Game against Phenex.
"Cool…now just to find them" Saji spoke up, looking between them as Ayato closed his eyes as he spoke
"Just leave that to me"
…
It took them about twenty minutes to get to where Ayato had sensed them, Saji commenting that his power had saved them a lot of time as they stopped upon finding the pair dressed in their white robes knelt on the sidewalk.
"Please give blessings to the lost lamb-"
"Please give charity to us on behalf of the father in heaven!"
Ayato shook his head at how much they stood out, people giving the pair of girls' odd glances as they walked past as he thought
'I would've figured that the church would've gave them money'
"How can this be? This is the reality of the developed country of Japan? That's why I don't like countries that don't have the smell of our beliefs."
"Don't say that, Xenovia. We lost all the money we had. So we have to rely on charity from these heretics or else we can't get food, you know? Aaah, we can't even buy a single loaf of bread!"
"Hmph. It all happened because you bought that fake looking painting." Xenovia pointed at a painting of a saint that was drawn really badly.
"What are you saying? This painting has the drawing of someone who looks like a saint! That's what the person in the exhibition said as well!"
"Then do you know who the person in the drawing is? I certainly don't."
"…I think it's…Saint…Peter…?"
"Don't mess around. Saint Peter wouldn't look like this."
"Aaah, why did my partner have to be someone like you…God, is this also a trial?"
"Hey don't hold your head down. You really get depressed when you are down, don't you."
"Shut up! That's why the Protestants are called heretics! You guys have different beliefs than us Catholics! Show more respect to the saints!"
"What! What's wrong, it is Catholicism where they still abide by the old law!"
"What did you say, heretic?"
"What did you say, heretic?"
Those two started to argue by banging their heads against each other before their stomachs started to rumble, the pair dropping to the ground.
"…First of all, let's do something to fill our stomachs. Or else it's not a matter of retrieving the Excaliburs."
"…You are right. Do you want to get money from the heretics by threatening them? I think God will forgive us if we threaten the heretics."
"Do you plan to attack the shrine? Or do you plan to steal their offertory box? Don't do either. Let's use our swords to put on a performance. It's an international entertainment that works in every country."
"That's an excellent idea! If we can cut fruits with our Excaliburs, then we can gather cash!"
"Well we don't have fruits. It can't be helped. Let's cut that picture."
"No! You can't cut this down!"
Ayato sighed as they started to argue again, rubbing his head at the headache that was forming as they seemed immature compared to when they were in the clubroom.
…
"Delicious! Japanese cuisine is delicious!"
"Yes, yes! This is it! This is the taste of the food of my homeland!"
Irina and Xenovia started to fill their stomachs with the food they ordered at a family restaurant, Ayato absently wondering how long since their last meal was as he dug into his strawberry sundae as they both whispered to each other
[We sold our souls to the devils.]
[This is also to accomplish our mission.]
Ayato was glad that Saji and Koneko had offered to help share the cost for the meal, given how much they were eating he doubted he could pay for it all himself.
"Phew! Thank you for the meal. Aaaah God, please give charity to these devils."
Irina said while using her cross. At that moment the trio of devils got a headache, Irina quickly noticed as she added "Ah, I'm sorry. I did it without thinking."
Xenovia drank a cup of water and took a deep breath before asking "So, why did you come to us?"
"You two came to retrieve the Excaliburs, right?" Ayato asked, calmly.
"That's right. We already told you that before." Both of them didn't seem like they were giving a low level of hostile intent which was probably because they had just finished their food along with there being no point to battling in a family restaurant and the fact Ayato could fight on equal ground with them.
"The dragon wants to help you destroy the Excaliburs." Ayato spoke up, both of them looking surprised at him as Ddraig spoke up mentally
[I said no such thing…]
'Yeah well it wouldn't do for them to think I want to help them…I'm doing this for Yuuto' Ayato replied, waiting for there reply as Xenovia opened her mouth
"Yeah… Maybe it's okay leaving one sword to you guys. If you can destroy it, that is. But make sure that your identities aren't revealed. We also don't want our high-ups and enemies to think that we are connected to you guys."
"Hey Xenovia. Are you sure? Even if it's Ayato-san, he's still a devil, you know?" Irina raised an objection, Ayato noticing that she was more worried then she was trying to let on probably due to what he'd said last time they met, as Xenovia added
"I know that. But...!"
"The minimum objectives we have to achieve are destroying the three Excaliburs or taking them back. If our Excaliburs are going to be stolen as well then we should break them before it happens. Even if we use the last resort, there's only a 30 percent chance that we will succeed in our mission and return home safely."
"Even so, we thought that the success rate was high enough to come to this country prepared to put our life on the line."
"And isn't that what we, the followers, desire for?"
"I changed my mind. My beliefs are flexible. So I can act in the best way."
"You! I have been thinking about it for a long time, but your faith is a bit weird!"
"I won't deny it. But I think that it's our duty to accomplish our mission and return safely. I'm going to live and continue fighting for God. Am I wrong?"
"…You are not wrong. But..."
"That's why we won't ask for help from the devils. Instead we ask for help from a dragon. The high-ups didn't tell us not to borrow the strength of a dragon."
Ayato knew they were on about him as Xenovia looked over to him as she added joyfully "I never thought that I would meet Sekiryuutei in a distant country like this. Even if you turned into a devil, I see that the dragon power within you is still present. If it's like the legend says, then you can increase your power to that of a Maou, correct? If you gain a power to that of a Maou, then you can break the Excaliburs without a sweat. I also think that it was God's doing that we had this meeting."
"Ce…certainly they didn't tell us not to borrow the power of a dragon… But you are just saying nonsense! Your belief is certainly weird!"
"Weird is fine with me. But, Irina. He's your childhood friend, right? Let's trust him. The power of a dragon."
Irina became silent at Xenovia's words, but her expression showed that she was okay with it for now; Ayato figuring that he could power himself to the max before transferring it over to Yuuto would be enough to destroy one of the Excaliburs.
"Okay. The negotiation is a success. I will lend you guys my dragon's power. Then can I call my partner for this cooperation, then?" Ayato spoke before deciding to call in Yuuto to inform him of what was going on.
"…I understand the situation." Yuuto spoke before putting his mouth on the coffee.
"To tell the truth, I feel unsatisfied when the wielders of the Excaliburs are giving me the permission to destroy it."
"That's a rough way to speak. If you were an "exiled-devil", I would have cut you down without any time to spare."
Yuuto and Xenovia glared at each other.
"Stop it both of you" Ayato spoke, drawing the pair's attention to show his eyes seriously looking at them both.
"So you do hold a grudge regarding the "Holy-sword Project". Against the church and the Excaliburs." Yuuto sharpened his eyes at Irina's words before replying in a low and cold tone.
"Obviously."
"But Yuuto-kun. Thanks to that project, the research on holy-sword users showed results. That's why it created people like Xenovia and I who can synchronise with the holy swords."
"Do you think it's a forgiving act to kill all the test subjects because the project was thought to be a failure?"
Kiba looked at Irina with eyes filled with hatred.
Ayato knew he was right, killing was cruel to people who had been test subjects for their lives, even more for those who believe in God. Irina didn't know how to respond but Xenovia spoke up instead "That incident also became one of the worst cases among us and people felt disgusted about it. The person in charge of that project at that time was said to have a problem with his belief. So he was charged with heresy. Now he's one of those people on the fallen-angels side."
"On the fallen-angel's side? What's the name of that person?" Yuuto asked, taking interest as he looked at Xenovia who answered
"…Balba Galilei. The man who is called the "Genocide Archbishop"."
"…If I go after fallen-angels, then can I reach him…" Yuuto's eyes had suddenly gained a new sense of determination, showing that just knowing his target was a big step for him.
"Then it looks like I have to share information as well. The other day I was attacked by a person who had the Excalibur. At that time, he killed a priest. The one who was killed is probably from your organization."
Everyone was surprised upon hearing that, none of them having expected Yuuto to be involved before them, it also explained why he'd been quiet for most of the time probably trying to come up with a way to defeat the person using it as Yuuto added "The name of that person is Freed Sellzen. Does this name sound familiar?"
Xenovia and Irina both made sharp eyes at Yuuto's words "I see. So it's him."
"Freed Sellzen. Former exorcist of the Vatican. The genius who became an exorcist at the age of 13. He had lots of big achievements because he kept on eliminating devils and mythical
Beasts."
"But he overdid it. He even killed his allies. Freed never had any beliefs towards our God from the start. The only thing he had was fighting instinct and killing intent towards monsters. And an abnormal obsession for battles. It was a matter of time that he'd be charged for heresy."
"Is that so? Freed used the Excalibur he stole to kill our fellow followers. For us to pay the price because the disposal group couldn't take care of him at that time." Xenovia said with hatred, Ayato expecting that the freak of an exorcist would be hated by lots of people.
"Anyway, let's move onto the cooperation strategy." Xenovia spoke as she took out a pen and used it to write on a memo pad to give them her contact details.
p"If something happens, call this number."/p
"I guess Aunt Kurono already gave you my number Irina" Ayato spoke up as the brunette smiled as she nodded
"Yep…Aunt Kurono gave it to me" Ayato nodded in understanding as Xenovia got up to leave as she spoke
"Then that's it then. I'll repay you for the meal another time, "Sekiryuutei"Ayato Hosomaki"
"Thanks for the meal, Ayato-san! Treat me again next time as well! Even if you are a devil, God will allow it if it's Ayato-kun who treats me to a meal! It's okay if it's food!"
"…Ayato-kun. Why did you do this?"
Kiba asked me quietly. He was certainly wondering why I was helping him out with his revenge.
"Well, we are comrades. And we belong to the same group. And you helped me out before as well. It's not like I'm trying to repay you, but I thought I would give you a hand this time."
"If I act by myself, then I would cause trouble for Buchou. That's also the reason, right?"
"Of course. Buchou would get sad if you were to go around in a rampage. Well, the fact that I made this plan by myself will cause trouble for Buchou as well. But it's better than you becoming an "exile", right? Well it turned out to be a success, since we made an agreement with those guys from the Church."
Kiba still didn't look satisfied. Ummm, he's quite hard to deal with. Then Koneko-chan spoke.
"…Yuuto-senpai. I would get lonely…if senpai disappeared."
Koneko-chan put on a sad face. She is usually unemotional, so the sudden change had a lot of impact on all the guys here.
"…I will help you…that's why please don't go."
…Koneko-chan's appeal. Oh crap. Even if she wasn't saying it to me I felt my heartbeat go up. Aaah, I definitely can't betray our group. If a kohai (junior) says that to me, I definitely can't rebel! Kiba seemed troubled, but then put on a smiley face.
"Hahaha. I give up. If Koneko-chan says that to me, then I can't do reckless things. Okay. I will work with you. Thanks to Ise-kun, I know who my true enemy is. But since we are doing this, we are definitely going to defeat the Excalibur. "
Oh! Kiba was eager to do this as well now! Koneko-chan smiled because she felt relieved. Crap! You look so cute Koneko-chan! I felt my heartbeat go up even though I'm not a lolicon!
"Okay! Now we have formed the group to destroy the Excalibur! Let's defeat the stolen Excalibur and that shit Freed!"
I was all pumped! Okay! We are going to go like this! I think we can do it if it's me, Kiba and Koneko-chan! No, we can do it! Wait for us Excalibur, Freed! But there was one guy who wasn't that eager to do it.
"…Ummm, do I have to do it as well?"
Saji asked us while he put his hand up.
"I mean, I'm totally uninvolved in this… After all, how are Kiba and Excalibur related?"
Oh yeah. This guy didn't know about Kiba and Excalibur. To Saji, he probably didn't understand what was going on in the earlier conversation.
"…Let's talk a bit."
Kiba then started to talk about his past after he drank the coffee. The project that the Catholic Church planned secretly. Project Holy-sword. The test to make lots of people who can use holy-swords was taking place in a certain institute. There were boys and girls who had talents at using swords and a possessor of Sacred Gear. Day after day, they were going through inhuman experiments. They were being experimented on and had their rights of freedom taken away. They weren't treated as humans and their lives were ignored. But they had a dream. To live on. They were forced to believe that they were loved by God, and they were just waiting for "that day" to come. They believed that they would become special beings. They believed that they could become people who could wield holy-swords. But the result was "disposal". Kiba and his comrades couldn't use the holy-swords.
"…Everyone died. They were killed. Killed by those who serve God. No one saved us. Just because we couldn't use the holy-swords. Other boys and girls were put under poisonous gas while still alive. They put poisonous gas on us while saying "amen". We vomited blood and suffered on the floor. Even so, we were seeking help from God."
Kiba told us his story. We listened to him silently. Kiba somehow managed to escape from the laboratory, but the poisonous gas had already infected him. Apart from certain people, the test subjects who had lower abilities than average were all disposed of because they weren't needed. Kiba who managed to escape, met Buchou who came to observe Italy as he was dying. And now he was here.
"I want to accomplish my comrades' regrets. No, I don't want to make their deaths be in vain. I need to keep on living in their place, and I have to prove that I am stronger than Excalibur."
…What an intense past he had. Asia also had a sad past. But Kiba had been going through a life that was so hard to imagine… To tell the truth, I can't understand the pain Kiba went through. But I think it's hard to live on, just for revenge. Buchou said that she made him her servant so he could use his talents on something besides defeating holy-swords.
"Uuuuuuu…sob…"
We were listening to Kiba's past with serious faces, but we heard someone crying. It was Saji. He was crying aloud. He had so many tears falling out of his eyes, and was crying so much. He also had a dripping nose… Saji took Kiba's hand and said,
"Kiba! It must have been horrible! It must have been painful! Damn it! There isn't any God or hope in this world! Right now I feel so much sympathy for you! Yeah, it's a horrible story! I understand why you hold a grudge against those people from the church and Excalibur!"
Oooh. Look at how Saji is talking.
"
To tell you the truth, I didn't like you before because you were a good looking guy…But it's different now! I will also help! I'm willing to receive the punishment from Kaichou! But before that we have to destroy Excalibur! I will also work hard! You also have to live on! Don't ever betray Rias-senpai who saved you!"
What he was saying was weird…but he was also like me, he was full of passion! More like he was a good guy. Yeah, he wasn't a bad guy. I felt bad dragging him into this, but it seemed like it was alright after all.
Ayato smiled as his friend showed his passionate side as Saji continued
"Okay! It's a good time! I want you guys to hear my story! You guys should know about me if we are working together!"
Ayato arched an eyebrow in surprise as he spoke up "Are you sure…? I mean you wanted to keep this quiet until we came up with a plan for that"
"Well…it makes sense to share it here…" Saji replied shyly before adding
"My dream is to…marry Kaichou… But, you know… marrying her is hard for a guy like me…"
…
Yuuto and Koneko had soon left after they had worked out the details of what they would do to look for Freed, leaving Ayato and Saji sitting there to talk about what the latter had for a plan
"Wait so there's going to be a talent show" Ayato asked surprised as Saji nodded as he replied
"Yeah I saw the paper amongst those Kaichou was handling…it seems like a good time"
"True…although you know the amount of people who'll be after you if you mention her name there" Ayato replied as Saji nodded in agreement as he retorted
"Well that's why I've picked this…" Unfolding a few sheets of paper he handed them to Ayato
who looked over them.
"Certainly fits I guess…but we'll need to get in touch with Ichika and Daisuke to be able to perform…Hey, I am not singing that…"
"Like you know any other songs that fit what's going on between you two" Saji retorted curiously as Ayato sighed
"No…I don't but…I can look…" Ayato took out his mp3 player, starting to look through the songs that was on it
"Come on I'm going to be putting myself out there so you should too" Saji spoke, nudging Ayato, who glanced up at him.
"…Says the guy who picked a song that's sung by three people for me" Ayato retorted as Saji shrugged as he spoke
"You're the lead so you sing the most, anyway me and Ichika will be helping you out with it…but think that'll be the last one… you should like the next one…" Ayato turned over to the next page a grin growing on his face as he spoke
"Oh that's just like you…Ichika and Daisuke'll like this one"
"It fits, doesn't it…" Saji grinned as Ayato nodded as the blonde continued
"Well I'll pass on the details to Uchika and Daisuke and see if they can come…just need to make sure you and me get some time to practice before then so hopefully this Excalibur business will be over soon"
"Here…"Ayato spoke stopping his search as he handed over the earbuds to Saji who put them in
"HIM…? You think this'll work…?" Saji asked as Ayato nodded, leaving the blonde to think as he added
"I guess it does…I mean you wouldn't have picked up that lie detector if you weren't scared of commiting again…Anyway I'll let the other two decide " Saji made sure to note down the song name and artist onto the bottom of the papers Ayato had given him back as he spoke
"Best you keep them otherwise Buchou & Stella might stumble upon them"
…
A day later, Rias and Sona were back in the latter's sauna. Rias told her about what had happened to her Knight along with her Pawns involvement, and the Black-haired girl took in every bit of it. "Really?" She asked, astonished. "Kiba did that?"
Rias nodded with a miserable expression. She didn't know who else to turn to other than Sona. The Red-head just needed to speak to another heir. Master-to-Master. "Do you think…Did I make a mistake?" She asked, as their slim bodies sweated.
"He is still part of your house, right?" Sona asked, concerned.
"Of course, no matter what he says there's no way I'd let Kiba leave me like that." Rias said, completely sure. "…He's just being dramatic." That part didn't sound sure.
Sona noticed that. "Why do you sound like you have trouble believing that?"
"It's just…It's something Ayato told me before." Rias reminisced. "He said; After a person feels like they lost everything, that feeling can't just go away over time. No matter how much you smother them or try to make them forget about it." She spoke depressed. "Maybe I was just being naive when I thought I could make him forget about his revenge."
"I'm surprised, Shirou really said something like that?" Sona asked.
"He did." Rias confirmed. "What's more, the way he said it. It was as if he was talking more about himself than Kiba."
"Has he gone through something similar in the past?" Sona questioned curiously.
"I don't know." Rias said, almost ashamed. "Even though I'm one of his Masters, I knew next to nothing about him before I reincarnated him. And I'm so sick of that fact."
"Is that what you think?" Sona placed a hand on Rias' shoulder. "Rias, you said Ayato left with Kiba right?"
"That's right." Rias answered.
"Then tell me, who do you think is the best person to keep Kiba alive against Excalibur?"
Rias thought for a second. "That would be…Ayato."
Sona smiled. "Exactly, from what I've heard and seen, Ayato always gives it his all when others need his help. Even if you don't know much about him, you know enough to know that they'll be back safe, right?"
Rias turned her head to look at her surprised. Sona looked at the floor with a smile. "And as for Kiba, I believe it's true his feelings may have gotten the best of him. At least for the moment, it seems. I have no doubt he will always be a member of your house. Kiba will come back to you Rias, I know it."
Rias stared at her for a moment in wonder, before smiling. Sona has always supported her, and vice-versa. "Of course, thank you Sona."
"And when it comes to Ayato." Sona continued with a smile. "Something else you already know is that he's not someone that can be tamed, he'll always be a servant in name only."
Rias chuckled. "You're right, I gave up on taming him a long time ago."
Just then, two small magic circles appeared before them. From them stood two small holograms that showed Akeno and Tsubaki. "Excuse us for the intrusion." Akeno greeted me.
"Thank you both for all of your hard work today." Rias said to them.
"It's getting pretty late, isn't it?" Sona asked. "What's going on?"
Tsubaki answered. "The situation is quite grave."
That night, in front of the Old Abandoned Church. The team that was formed to hunt down the Excaliburs had gathered and were standing outside, all ready for action.
Shirou nodded. "Okay, since everyone's here we can begin."
RING!
They were all caught off guard when a ring was suddenly heard.
"It's mine." Ayato took out his phone, annoyed. "Sheesh, somebody better be dying for me to get a call at a time like this." He muttered irritatedly before answering.
"Who is it?"
{It's me.}
Ayato recognized the voice. It was the man that summoned him a short while ago simply to have a drink. Afterwards he became one of Ayato's regulars, he would summon him often to partake in a variety of different things that were meant for quiet enjoyment and relaxation. Ayato never complained when this man summoned him, but right now wasn't the best time.
{I was feeling in the mood for some company and wanted to know if you could come over.}
Ayato sighed and face-palmed. "Look, man, if it were any overtime I probably would have, trust me. But I'm in the middle of something right now. And no offense, I say this in the nicest possible way but…I have something much more important going on than hanging out with you."
{…Well, I guess it can't be helped. I have to call you some other than.}
"Yeah, I'll be more available by then." And with that, Shirou hung up. He turned to the others and put his phone away. "All right. I'm good."
"Who was that?" Kiba asked.
Ayato shrugged. "Just a regular."
Meanwhile, the man in question was at the harbor by the ocean. He currently had fishing gear beside him and was prepared for some night fishing. While he was holding his cell-phone that he just used to call Ayato. He looked at the screen of his phone with amusement.
"Oh well. I did call at the last minute." At that moment a person appeared next to Aza. "Hey."
A young woman with long dark silver hair tied into a ponytail and clear light blue eyes, along with a rather voluptuous figure was seen walking down a path with her hands in her pockets, her face that also resembled Ayato's.
This young woman shared so many traits with Ayato it was almost scary.
"Have you come to keep the sad, lonely old me company?" Aza asked before tossing the lure line into the water and began fishing.
The young woman chuckled. "That's funny." She told him. "I didn't realize you ever got lonely."
Aza just smiled and looked out into the night sky.
After working out the plan to track down Freed they'd spilt into two teams that would spilt those search areas. Irina and Xenovia made up one team that would search the West while the whole rest would search the East. If one group found anything they were to call and inform the other. Although, truthfully, Ayato was more confident his group would find something first because he asked Ren to try and sense the presence of the enemy's location. Ren could only determine it was coming from somewhere on the East side of town.
But they didn't share this with the others.
As they continued searching for the past half-hour they soon came across a place that was familiar to the Devils of the Gremory Peerage. It was the same run-down old building that they fought the Stray Devil Viser in. And it looked even worse than before.
"…! Is that voice you, Ayato-kun? Heeee. Well isn't this a weird reunion!? How is it? Has your dragon power increased? Is it alright to kill you now?" Freed asked with his typical crazy attitude as Ayato guessed that the dangerous sword in the priest's hand was one of the Excaliburs
Ayato ignored him and turned to Kiba. "Get ready, we're about to face the guy whose number 2 on your shit-list. Get it right this time, got it?"
Kiba kept his gaze on Freed's Excalibur and gripped his Sword. "Oh, I plan to."
The others followed suit as Ayato summoned his Boosted Gear to start powering him up.
"First you'll have some extra fuel in your engine."
[BOOST!]
[TRANSFER!]
Having transferred power to his Blonde-haired comrade, Ayato could tell by the look on his face that Kiba had every intention of putting the power-up to good use. Kiba is already fast on his feet, but with his speed doubled thanks to the Boost, and with his focus sharper than last time, he was fairly certain he could outpace Freed.
"Ah Hell, some for me too."
[BOOST!]
[EXPLOSION!]
And with that Ayato Boosted his own abilities with his seal & Sacred Gear and sustained them. In the beginning, both transferred power and Explosion with his Seal would last 5 hours, but after his training, the time limit has now been increased to 2 Days.
Both of them flared up their auras, even bigger than Freed was, Ayato's was Red and Kiba's was Black.
This display only seemed to amuse Freed. "So are you finally done getting ready for your night?"
"Actually yes," Ayato said with a similar expression. "And now we're going to take you to a place I like to call….. SPEED HELL!"
KATCHIN!
The two Devils vanished from where they were standing and speed blitzed Freed, surprised by the sudden strike he reacted on instinct and parried them blocking their attack. They then begin a speedy-quick exchange of strikes on the stone arch. Freed strikes Ayato again, and again, the Blazer blocks his attempts. Kiba uses the opportunity to attack the Exorcist while he's distracted, but Freed manages to block his blade with the dull side of his Sword. The three swordsmen jump off of the wall onto nearby buildings' roofs. They all engage in rapid strikes, running across the roof and then jumping up into the air, all-the-while exchanging attacks.
CLASH! KATCHIN! SWISH! SLASH! WUSH!
Yet as they're fighting, The Knight and Pawn duo sprint out at speeds that start to surpass Freed's, nominally surprising him. The reason being that because Ayato had already faced Freed numerous times he could easily read his movements while not allowing him to do the same. And Kiba, now that he had calmed down he had more control over his Technique, his refined and graceful Swordsmanship was finally showing itself superior to Freed's wild Swordsmanship.
CLASH! KATCHIN! SWISH! SLASH! CRACK! BREAK!
But the Sword wasn't an Excalibur for nothing. After flaring up more of its aura, his speed further increased. Suddenly, the two Devils disappear from sight, and Freed's eyes widen in surprise at their increased speed. He is barely able to block both of their attacks, and the three continue with the High-Speed Hell. With the increased speed, the two of them keep up their pressure on Freed. However, even after Kiba goes on the attack, Freed is able to block it, to his shock. Freed then goes on the attack himself and destroys Kiba's Sword.
However, Freed realizes this was his intention all along when the blonde Knight vanishes and the Silver-haired Devil appears with an overhead slice. Which Freed dodges. The Stray Priest started to get frustrated at being stuck on the defensive considering his two opponents far outclassed him Technically. Even though he couldn't sense any notable disadvantage in speed among them. Kiba appeared with a new Demonic-Sword and this time they exchanged in rapid strikes while speeding around the entire location.
CLASH! SLASH! SWISH! KATCHIN! SHING!
The two on the ground had moved from where they were standing when this all started, from their perspective it just looked like a Golden flash of light was colliding with a red flash of light and a Black stream of darkness, and all they could hear was the constant sounds of steel clashing against steel. It was all too fast from any normal eye to keep up with but they were trying anyway.
KATCHIN! CLASH!
As the three of them continued their rapid strikes and clashing they soon made their way back to the top of the building's roof. And while on the surface their battle seemed to be a stalemate, in truth the balance was about to tip and one look would tell you which way was going to go at this point.
"…huff…huff." Freed was breathing heavily and his face was dripping with sweat.
This was their true objective. Shave away Freed's stamina. All of the high-speed fighting and the pressure they created by staying on the offensive was for this. While they were all moving at the same speed, Ayato and Kiba obtained this speed through training and understood perfectly the limits of how long they could move at top speed. But Freed was different, Freed only gained this speed through a weapon he recently acquired and had never been pushed to his limit before, thus he had no idea how much stress moving at top speed for this long could do to his condition.
Another problem was regardless of how much he didn't act like it, Freed was a human. The biggest weakness that humans have is they are much more fragile than the other races. They have less endurance, case in point if a human and a Devil competed to see how could outlast the other at the same level of difficulty, the human would tire out first 100% of the time. Knowing that fact, they made Freed go at top speed as long as it took to reduce him to this state.
Those on the ground saw this as well.
"I see, so this was their plan." Saji noted.
"They kept pouring on the pressure and made him rev up his engine at Max until he ran out of gas." Koneko summarized. "Humans aren't built for moving like that and that psycho couldn't slow down otherwise they'd have shredded him to pieces. They made it so there was no other way this could have ended.
Saji Smirked. "Of course, this is how Technique-Types fight. Guess Kiba really did follow Ayato's advice during their Private Training
**Back on the Roof.**
"…huff…huff." Freed whizzed out.
"What's wrong? Tired so soon?" Kiba asked, unmerciful.
"That's the price for going to Speed Hell unprepared." Ayato taunted.
"Don't…Don't fuck with me!" Freed shouted, still exhausted yet gripping his Sword harder. "This isn't enough to stop me…I can still keep going for hours if I have to!"
"Unfortunately we don't plan to wait for hours." Ayato said before he vanished from sight once again and appeared on Freed's right. "We're ending it this minute."
Ayato smashed a body blow into Freed with his right fist. Ever since he used Ryuuzetsu always swung it with his left hand and used one-handed Sword attacks and maneuvers. This always left his right arm free and gave him a chance to punch his opponents, like right now. Freed coughs out some blood after taking Ayato's body blow and hunches over.
"Now Kiba!"
Responding to Ayato's signal Kiba rushes in and takes advantage of Freed's momentary immobilization. Once he is right in front of him, Kiba grips his Sword with both hands and slashes out a strong horizontal slash that cuts Freed in the center of his body and creates a large gash going from his stomach to his shoulder.
"That's what high-speed battling is like." Saji answered, fazed. "While it seemed like this fight could take a while, fights like these actually end pretty fast. One missed-step and it's over."
"Speed fighting is different from power struggles." Koneko added. "Instead of being an all-out brawl where you keep going until you drop, these fights are one-shot kills where landing one blow is all you need to win."
Back on the roof, Ayato sheathed his Device and looked down at Freed. "That takes care of that. Now all that's left is to destroy the Sword."
Kiba nodded. "Right."
Freed coughed out some blood and struggled to move. "Fuck…Ayato is one thing but…When the hell did the other one get this good?"
"Hmm, how interesting." Suddenly a new voice spoke out. Everyone present looked in the direction the voice was coming from, walking out from the shadows of the inside of the building, there was an old man wearing priest clothes standing close to Freed. "Sword Birth huh? It's a Sacred Gear that can have an infinite number of powers depending on the possessor.
"…Is it you old-man Balba?"
Everyone became shocked at Freed's words.
"…Balba Galilei!"
Kiba glared at the old man with eyes full of hatred.
"I certainly am." The old man admitted it normally.
"Freed. What are you doing?"
"…Old man, hurry up and give me more of that pain-killer stuff!" Freed exclaimed, impatient.
Balba sighed and reached into his pocket. "You get cut up far too often." He throws a syringe to Freed.
Freed grabs a syringe and injects it into his neck with a look of madness. After the intention, Freed's wound started to close until it was completely gone and Freed stood up as if he was never cut. Everyone was shocked by what they were witnessing. With a primal grin, he lifts up his Excalibur again. "Kuhahaha! That's the good stuff!"
"They have healing objects?" Kiba gasped.
"It's almost like Asia's." Ayato noticed.
"Now! Time for round two~" Freed pointed his blade at the two Devils on the roof. "Hey old man, how do I bring out more power from the Sword?"
"Hmph. You still can't use the Holy-Sword perfectly yet. Use the "Element" I gave you more wisely. I'm researching because of that. Gather the Holy element that is running throughout your body to the blade of the Holy-Sword. With that, you should be able to cut more effectively."
"Yeah, yeah!" Freed's Holy-Sword had started to gather auras and started to glow! "Like this! Horhay!"
"Of course not. Freed exclaimed with an expression of excitement. "My Excalibur is "Excalibur Rapidly"! In terms of velocity, it won't lose to anyone!"
"Geez, you guys are so annoying. I Can't Take It! Freed shouted. "I will be escaping now! The next time we meet will be the time of our ultimate battle!"
Freed said that but…
"I won't let you escape!"
There was someone who went past the others at a very fast speed.
KACHIN!
There was a blade clashing with Freed's Holy-Sword that was igniting sparks. It was Xenovia.
"Yahoo! Ayato-kun."
Irina was there as well.
"You're late."Ayato replied.
"Freed Sellzen. Balba Galilei. Rebels. I will cut you both down in the name of God!" Xenovia declared.
"Ha! Don't say the name of the hateful God that I hate! You bitch!" Freed roared outraged.
Freed and Xenovia exchanged Swords, but he took something out. It was a ball of light. Ayato recognized it as Freed used it to escape every time they fought.
"Old-man Balba! We are escaping! We are going to report to the boss, Kokabiel!"
"There's no other way."
"See ya! The alliance of Church and Devils!" Freed threw down the ball of light on the ground.
FLASH.
"We are going after them Irina."
"Okay!" Xenovia and Irina nodded at each other and sprinted off as Yuuto added
"I'm going after them too! I won't let you escape Balba Galilei!"
"Hey! Yuuto! Wait!" Ayato called before sighing at being ignored by the Knight. He turned to see Koneko and Saji loosen there battle stance before following suit, the hairs soon standing on the back of his neck as he heard
"When I thought that the flow of power became irregular…"
"This is certainly troublesome."
"So Yuuto went after that person called Balba?" Rias asked Ayato.
"Yeah. Pretty sure he's with Irina and Xenovia right now." Ayato answered not to worry. "Well, the way he is now, he should be okay."
"We can only hope so." Rias then turned to her White-haired Rook. "Koneko."
"…Yes."
"Why did you do this?"
"…I don't want Yuuto-senpai to go away…" Koneko answered with her true feelings, Rias looking confused rather then angry before saying
"…Saying this when it has already happened won't change anything I guess. But what you two did could have affected the world of devils. You understand that, right?"
"Yes."
"…Yes."
Koneko and Ayato answered as they nodded at the same time before adding as they bowed their heads
"I'm sorry Buchou."
I'm not sorry Buchou
…
That night Ayato, Rias, Stella and Asia slept together in the same room, Rias & Ayato waking from the enormous pressure coming from outside. Rias jumped off the bed and stood in front of the window as Asia also got up after she felt the same thing. Ayato looked down from the window to see someone looking up
"…Freed!" Ayato growled as he looked at the sickening and evoking smirk that was the white haired priest, Freed who started to wave his hands at them
"Well, well, well would you lookie what we have here, so many damn Devils." Freed mockingly addressed them. He then noticed Asia in the back. "Well, if it isn't Asia-tan." His voice made her step back in fear. "The traitor Nun who gave her soul to the Devil. How much do you love your new life as Devil scum?"
"You're one talk, considering you're both a traitor and scum yourself." Ayato reminded him. "Now quit wasting time and tell whoever's out there to come out!"
"Huh? I don't know what you mean~?" Freed feigned ignorance.
"Don't play dumb you jackass, or do you seriously think I can't see that huge power right next to you?" Ayato said patiently.
"It's as he says, now answer." Stella agreed.
"Hyahahaha, well aren't you smart." Freed pointed upwards. "Fine then, meet my boss!"
In his words a barrier covered the sky turning the sky into a purple/black kaleidoscope color. And out of thin air appeared Freed's boss. Kokabiel. He had the appearance of a young man but had pale skin, in fact, it was completely gray. He also had deep red eyes and pointy ears, he even had black hair that was somewhat puffy going downwards. Kokabiel also had spiky teeth, like a beast. He was also wearing black clothes along with a large robe with detailed accessories. What really got their attention was his wings, he had exactly Ten Black-feathered wings spread out.
Ayato could feel an extremely strong pressure coming from him, it was on a whole other level than what he ever sensed from any previous Fallen Angel he ever faced. But his or was what had him on edge, it wasn't as big as Sirzechs' or Grayfia's but it certainly wasn't weak by any means. However it didn't feel Demonic like those two, it felt almost like the aura Excalibur had but with something more to it. Kokabiel's aura felt dirty, corrupted, something that was once clear and then became blackened.
But that made sense after this was an Angel that fell from grace. He smirked after seeing Rias & Stella. "This is our first time meeting, daughters of the house of Gremory. That Crimson hair is beautiful. It reminds me of your brother that I hate enough to make me want to vomit."
Rias & Stella returned his smirk with their own. "Nice to meet you, one of the leaders of the Fallen-Angels, Kokabiel. And my name is Rias Gremory. I am Stella Vermillion Gremory. I will also add one more thing. We and the house of Gremory are a being who is closest to the Maou, and also the furthest from it. If you are here to discuss politics with me, then it's no use."
At that moment Kokabiel reached into his robe and took something out. They looked and tried to make out what Kokabiel was carrying. Upon close enough inspection they could see it was…a person, he was carrying a person.
"This is a gift."
The Fallen-Angel then threw the person he was carrying at them.
"Gah."
Ayato reacted immediately and went to catch it.
The one who dropped into his arms was…Irina Shidou. She was covered in blood. She was breathing heavily! Her whole body was covered in wounds. Her battle uniform was all cut up like she was sliced by a blade.
"Irina? What happened?"
Even though Ayato called out to her, she reacted painfully and didn't respond. It looked bad.
"She came into my base. So I gave her a welcome. Well, I couldn't catch the other two." Kokabiel said it with a laugh.
Ayato put her down and clenched his fists.
[BOOST!]
At that moment Ayato summoned his Boosted Gear, vanished from where he was standing and appeared right above Kokabiel with Ryuuzetsu already drawn ready to slash Kokabiel. Kokabiel, however, summoned a large Spear of Light and blocked his strike resulting in the two of them being locked in a struggle.
"The Boosted Gear." Kokabiel marveled amused. " I'd see it. Heh, and it seems the Red Dragon Emperor is as reckless as I've heard."
"I see, you're the fabled Kokabiel I've been hearing about these past few days." Ayato responded in the same tone. "I gotta say I didn't expect much from you considering your terrible taste in grunts, but I might actually have fun beating you for a change."
"You're as arrogant as they came." Kokabiel put more power in his Spear. "You should know who you're dealing with, boy. I'm far beyond you."
"Don't call me boy." Ayato put more power into his blade so as to not get overwhelmed. And then, after seeing he was distracted Ayato raised his other fist and punched Kokabiel across the face, right on his cheek. "Call me, the Frozen Beast King.
Once that was done, Ayato moved back and landed back on the ground with the others. He finished with a smirk.
Kokabiel didn't look phased. "Not a bad trick, but I've had tick bites worse than that."
"Oh, then do tick bites leave a bruise." Ayato countered, referring to the bruise on the spot Ayato punched him.
Kokabiel responded with a glare. "How dare you."
"Stop it!" Rias shouted, getting their attention. "You still haven't said what you're doing in our territory. So answer my question." She demanded.
While Rias was confronting Kokabiel, Kurono started to heal Irina just as she was going to use her time manipulation ability to close Irina's wounds.
Kobabiel let go of his Spear of Light causing it to vanish and decided to answer. "I wouldn't do something as stupid as talking with a Maou. Well, if I rape and kill his little sisters, then Sirzechs' anger will be pointed towards me. That won't be bad."
Rias and Ayato glared at Kokabiel with disdainful eyes.
"Bastard." Ayato muttered.
Kokabiel answered Rias' question with joy.
"I will be rampaging in this town using your base, Hagun Academy, as the starting point. Then Sirzechs will also appear, right?"
"If you do something like that, the War between God, Fallen-Angels and Devils will begin again you know?"
"That's what I'm wishing for. I thought that Michael would start a War if I steal the Excalibur... But what he sent were grunt Exorcists and two Holy-Sword wielders. It's boring. I'm really bored indeed! That's why I'm going to rampage at Sirzechs sisters's base. See? It looks fun, right?"
"…You battle-freak."
"Yeah. That's it! I was bored and bored after the war between the three sides! Azazel and Shemhaza weren't that keen on the next war. They then started to collect something boring like Sacred Gear and started to do some weird research. Something useless like that won't be of any use to us! …Well, it's a different story if it's a "Boosted Gear" like the one the brat over there has… But it's not something you can find so easily." Kokabiel then looked at Ayato.
Kokabiel then looked at Ayato, who felt the enormous pressure that his body started to harden as he asked with a strong voice "…Are you guys also after my Sacred Gear?"
"At least I'm not interested in it. But Azazel might be. His collection hobby is crazy. Either way, I'm going to be starting a battle involving the holy-swords, Rias Gremory. For starting a war! A school where both little sisters of Sirzechs and Leviathan's go to. It must be filled with demonic-powers so that I can enjoy the chaos! It's also the best place to release the real power of Excaliburs! It's a good place for the battlefield." Kokabiel replied
"Hahahaha! Isn't my boss the best? His craziness is the best. So I'm also eager to do it. He even gives me treats like this." Freed spoke as he took out an Excalibur in each hand while another two of them were on his hips
"The one on the right is "Excalibur Rapidly". The one on the left is "Excalibur Nightmare". The one on my hip is "Excalibur Transparent". I also received "Excalibur Mimic" from the girl over there! I also feel like getting "Excalibur Destruction" that the other girl has. Hyaa! Am I the first person in the World to be in possession of this many Excaliburs? I also received an element from the geezer Balba that allows me to wield holy-swords. Right now I'm in a hyper mode that allows me to wield all of them, you know? I'm invincible! I'm wonderful! I'm the strongest! Hyahahahahahahahaha!" Freed laughed as if he found it really funny.
"Big talk for a two-time loser." Ayato reminded him, which halted Freed's laughter. "I guess you're only the strongest when you aren't fighting me, 'cause you're always a total bitch whenever we fight." Freed gave him a death glare, but Ayato was just glad he shut him up.
"Balba's Holy-Sword research. It's the real deal if it shows this much result. To tell the truth, it seemed suspicious when he joined my plan." Kokabiel continued.
"What are you planning to do with the Excaliburs!?" Rias asked, Kokabiel moving in the direction of the school as he spoke
"Hahaha! Let's have a War! Family of Sirzech Lucifer, Rias Gremory and Stella Vermilion Gremory and Mio Naruse Gremory!" Freed took out an item to blind them again, Rias spoke up seriously once they could see again
"Ayato! Stella! Mio! We are going to school!"
"Right!" Ayato spoke with a nod.
"Got ya" Stella and Mio Said also with a nod.
...
Harem list: Stella,Rias,Asia,Akeno,Nene,Ayase,Shizuku,Tohka,Kanata,Serafall,Kurono,Xenovia,Irina,Kotake,Kotume,Mio,Yuki,Chisato.