"It's really quite fascinating, the ability of Arondight that is," Satanael eyed the dark blade in his hand almost hungrily, "It can copy any attribute and use it. Funnily enough, I never honestly paid that much attention to it until recently when I found myself in my current position, but now that I have, I'm almost grateful."

Kaito had no idea where he was going with this, but he let him talk, and glanced back to meet Irina's eyes.

She wasn't looking too confident now and he couldn't blame her. He didn't feel it either with suddenly being face to face with the flames of a longinus.

'Looks like I need to lead here and come up with a plan.' he thought.

…Fuck.

He only really had one contingency plan here. And it was something he hadn't wanted to resort to unless desperate until he experimented with it a little more and put a little more thought into it.

Honestly, he was just glad for the shit he went through on Monday, or he wouldn't have stood a chance right now.

"It's truly funny how the answer to all your problems can be glaring you in the face, and you just don't notice it, isn't it?" Satanael shook his head in pure amusement, "The answer to my ambition has been in my hands all this time you see."

"…And what ambition is that?" Kaito asked, hoping to stall for a little more time while his thoughts raced, looking for any possible plans he could come up with.

"Why, to create my very own Longinus!" the Cadre proudly revealed, "One that will throw this world into chaos! But I could never find the right conduit to use, until now."

He spread his arms widely, grandly as he boasted, "But now I have it! A holy demonic sword that no race can resist, combined with the cursed flames that can even kill a god!" he laughed and looked up to the ceiling, "All I need is to get my hands on a proper powerful beast to use as a battery and I will-"

Kaito took his chance and exploded forward, kicking off with all his strength and rushing the Cadre as fast as he possibly could.

He moved so fast, to a normal human he would probably have looked like he was teleporting.

His fist lashed out aiming for his opponents cheek.

But just before he could land the blow, a pulse of black flame erupted in the from Arondight and slammed into him.

He luckily got his gauntlet clad arms up in time to block, or else, as it carried him through the air, and he felt searing heat burn into his skin beneath the gauntlets, he would most likely have been cleaved right through.

"…Ah!" Kaito hissed as he landed back beside Irina, arms shaking. Not only the sheer heat that burned him beneath his gauntlets, but the strength behind the pulse of flame rattled his bones.

If he weren't currently boosted twice over, he would have most likely gotten his arms broken for that.

"Heh, nice try," Satanael snorted, "But I'm not that stupid boy."

"Kaito-kun, are you okay?!" Irina gasped in worry.

"I'm fine," he showed her a brave face, forcing a grin, "But looks like he's gonna be a way bigger problem than you were told, huh?"

"Yeah, looks like hehe." Irina loosed a nervous giggle.

'Well that didn't work.' Kaito grimaced inwardly. He just wasn't fast enough to get to him and deal some real heavy damage without the man countering or blocking in some form.

And he didn't have any long range options, save for one.

"So, is this the limit of you two?" Satanael asked, grinning at them almost casually now that the advantage was clearly in his favour, "I'm almost disappointed, you forced me to draw upon the cursed flames and yet you fold so easily when I do. You're not a proper test at all."

"Not yet, I've still got more cards to play!" Kaito shot back.

"Oh?" Satanael raised an eyebrow with interest, "Well, go ahead and show me then, you're at least a bit more interesting than the chit with the Excalibur fragment. You may only possess a paltry Twice Critical, but combined with the fact you seem to be able to use Touki, you actually possess some potential."

That was a backhanded compliment if he ever heard one.

But whatever.

"Alright, here we go then!" Kaito grinned at him, and pulled upon his storage space.

In one hand a familiar hilt appeared, while in the other, a silver futuristic magnum.

Instantly, Satanael's face went blank, "….You're kidding me?" he asked, voice devoid of emotion, "Your final card to play is a freaking mass produced light sword and gun?"

"….Yeah?" Kaito shrugged, lamely.

Granted, not his final card, but more his second final card.

Really, he was just going to use the gun to shoot from a far and the sword to blunt some of those flames and set up a few feints if possible for a big finish.

But the Cadre's reaction, stopped him short.

"Utterly pathetic." any trace of even the backhand compliments the fallen gave him before, were gone in a flash.

"The hell is wrong them?" Kaito found himself asking reflexively, "It's a sword of light and a gun that shoots light, I can't exactly use fucking magic, I'm human without any teacher or anything."

"That's not why I called you pathetic, of course I wouldn't refer to the weapons as pathetic, who do you think designed them you fool?" Satanael scoffed derisively.

"…Well with the way you say that," Irina spoke up, "I guess, you?"

"Obviously, only a genius like me could come up with such revolutionary weaponry to help out you pathetic humans and make you matter at all," Satanael huffed, before glaring at Kaito, "The reason you are pathetic, is because you don't even understand a basic function of your Sacred Gear you piece of trash. It's disgusting that you can't even use the full abilities of something as paltry as a Twice Critical even after gaining Balance Breaker!"

…His attitude was beginning to piss Kaito the fuck off, "Yeah, and what am I not using right smarty pants?" he snarled back.

"You can combine weapons with it you fool and add their attributes to your Twice Critical!" Satanael snarled right back, "Why are you wielding them when you could add them to your Sacred Gear and enhance their performance through it!"

Kaito's eyes widened, "Wait, I can do that?!" he gaped in surprise. He knew Issei could do that with the Boosted Gear, but he hadn't realised Twice Critical could as well.

Though it wasn't like he had any weapons to test it out with before the last few days and he'd been pre-occupied with other things.

"Useless, what is the church teaching you exorcists these days!?" Satanael spat in disgust, "You know what, I've had enough of this, I'm done with you." he rose Arondight up into the air above his head with one hand and the shimmering ebony flame cloaking the blade enlarged turning into a roaring inferno of darkness.

And then he swung and unleashed a wave of darkness that roared towards them.

Kaito froze, staring death in the face.

There was literally nothing he could do that came to mind to stop those flames right now. He couldn't dodge, and he couldn't block, it would eat right through his Touki.

But, he wasn't alone.

"Kaito-kun, get back!" Irina rushed passed him, Excalibur Mimic drawn above her head and the blade shifting from a slender katana, to a massive buster blade, a shining white light powering into the blade.

Just before the wave of ebony black cursed flames that had the potential to kill even a god swept over them, Irina swung and unleashed the light building up in her own blade.

A giant blade of light rushed forth to meet the wave of ebony flame and cut into it. Light sliced into darkness while darkness swept over and subsumed the light.

"Aaaaah!" Irina screamed loudly, a vein throbbing on the side of her temple and sweat pouring from her pores noticeably.

Even as the flames of darkness swept over the blade of light bit by bit, overpowering it, Irina dug her feet in and pumped more and more of her energy her blade.

Until suddenly, they swelled up.

There was an explosion then of pure force and heat and Kaito found himself blasted backwards through the air from a shock wave, gagging as his back slammed into a concrete wall hard enough to crater it and slumped onto his backside.

Only to cough as female body slammed into him a split moment later and knocked the wind out of him.

He lay there limp in the hole his body formed in the wall, Irina slumped over his front, "…You okay?" he asked with a groan, even as she stared dully at a bonfire of black and white flames burning in the middle of the huge foyer.

"…I'm…I'm fine…." Irina struggled to gasp out, but Kaito could tell she wasn't.

After all…he could see down her front since she was sprawled over him sideways.

The stomach part of her bodysuit had been burnt away and the flesh of her toned belly, was red raw and blistered.

The flames in the middle of the room were suddenly swept away by a familiar dark blade and Satanael casually strolled towards them, "Nice try girl, but a mere fragment of Excalibur is no match for Arondight, never mind Arondight with these flames," he boasted, "Perhaps I should praise you for at least holding enough back though that the pair of you weren't burnt from existence? Well done weakling, not that it will do you any good."

'…I have to…' Kaito thought blankly.

There was no other choice. They were fucking dead right now if he didn't just say fuck it and bite the bullet.

Irina stirred in his lap and forced herself up on shaky legs, Excalibur Mimic, once again in the form of a katana trembling in her grip, "You boast so freely…about a sword created by God, the same God you betrayed," Irina scowled at him and pointed the katana at the fallen angel, "You can't win, the grace of God won't allow you to."

Despite the situation, thanks to her faith in God, Irina wasn't daunted at all.

Satanael paused and gave her an odd look, before blinking," Oh right…." he trailed off, before outright laughing, "I forgot! You idiot peons in the church don't know, do you?"

"…Know what?" Irina's scowl deepened.

Kaito's eyes widened, he wasn't going to…was he?

He opened his mouth to say something and stop him, but Satanael continued on before he could even think of anything to say, "You don't know that God is dead." he dropped on the girl bluntly.

"….What?" Irina whispered, before her eyes narrowed in fury, "What are you talking about. God isn't dead, what kind of nonsense are you speaking!?" she snarled, pure rage leaking into her voice.

"Oh, poor poor deluded little peon," Satanael shook his head in pure amusement, "God is truly dead, why do you think I left Heaven in the first place? He's been dead and gone a long time now, when the original Four Satan's died, so too did God."

"You…you liar!" Irina spat and Kaito grimaced, closing his eyes. She shook her head fiercely, baring her teeth in a venomous growl at the Cadre, "God is alive, I can feel his love even now!"

"All a lie little girl," Satanael laughed, "It's all Michael, he's the one responding to your prayers now, pretending to be God and leading you all astray. Your belief and your faith are all a pathetic little lie."

Irina practically locked up and a tremble ran through her body, "….No…it can't be." she denied.

"Oh but it is," Satanael maliciously denied right back, "You just don't want to believe it. I'm half tempted to leave you alive now that you know, so when you ask the higher ups of your precious church, I can see the despair on your face when they either have you killed or excommunicated you, either or would be a delight to see really!"

Excalibur Mimic slipped from Irina's grasp and clattered to the ground as the girl herself slumped to her knees, "No..no…" tears budded in the corner of her pretty purple eyes eyes, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and utter despair took over, a tormented scream leaving her lips.

It was piercing shriek that shook Kaito right down to the core, but he didn't open his eyes.

It only lasted for a few seconds, before Irina went utterly silent as her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she passed out.

The information was so shocking and rocked her so deeply, she couldn't process it and her mind retreated into herself to block the sheer despair that rocked her at most likely, the very soul.

"How melodramatic," Satanael rolled his eyes, "Now you've just ruined my fun, just as useless as the Twice Critical fool aren't you girl?" he walked over to her and lifted Arondight up above his head.

And he swung down.

The blade never met Irina's body though.

Because a gauntlet clad fast caught the blade itself and stopped it in its tracks, "…What!?" Satanael blinked, and looked at the person the arm belonged to.

To find Kaito, glaring at him coldly.

"You…? What?" Satanael gave him a confused look, "Your magic power, it's grown all of a sudden, and your…faster as well, you weren't that fast before."

He was.

Right now, not only his magical power, but his physical abilities had increased by a rather large margin all of a sudden.

"I didn't like listening to that." Kaito informed him, his voice almost calm.

But not quite.

Deep within him, a fury roared like flame and embers licked at his lips, smoke escaping from them.

And so he opened his mouth.

And Kaito roared.

Red hot flames howled into existence and washed over Satanael at point blank range.

Going back a single minute in time.

"You…you liar!" Irina's voice echoed in his ears as Kaito closed his eyes and retreated into his very core.

He found himself standing in a familiar void, twin dragons of crimson red energy lazily flaying through the air above him.

He could hear everything going on outside, but he only listened with one ear. Instead, he focused his full attention on the dragons made of energy.

With just a thought, he willed them to land before him, and they did, bowing before him in mere moments.

Over the last three days, since he had learned about his ability to enter here, he'd returned multiple times.

He'd explored this void.

And he'd explored his control over this draconic energy.

The leftovers of Ddraig.

And he'd come up with a plan using Ddraig as reference. Just in case he ever needed it. Just in case he needed to power up in a pinch.

It was almost too simple to do.

But then, wasn't it always said that Sacred Gears responded to the users desires? And above all else, what Kaito wanted was power.

He simply hadn't done so, because he hadn't wanted to deal with the devils finding something even more interesting about him.

But that didn't matter now.

"Come." Kaito commanded

A trail of energy seeped from one of the dragons, slithering over to Kaito's chest and slipping through, entering inside him.

Filling up his his insides.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Irina's piercing scream of utter despair shook his the insides of his soul-

As he sacrificed the organs of a human.

And forced them-

To evolve.

It was only the eruption of a wave of pitch black cursed flame that saved Satanael from being consumed by dragon fire.

That was fine.

It blocked his vision after all.

He was unable to see as Kaito, blurred and moved.

The teenager rounded the fallen angel and shot at him from behind. A kick shot out aimed at the back of one of the fallen angel's knees and made contact.

The fallen stumbled back just in time for Kaito to clasp both gauntlet clad hands together and spike him straight in the back of the skull.

A surprise yell of pain left the once soldier of God's throat as he found himself launched across the room and smashing into and through the concrete wall on the other side of the room, bouncing straight outside in a rain of debris where he fell in a heap.

With how weakened he was, if the Cadre wasn't currently wielding Arondight, his skull would have most likely been crushed.

On seeming instinct alone, the fallen angel, even dazed as he was threw himself to the side as Kaito followed up, his foot crashing down where the ancient mans head was a split moment previously.

His wings whipped out, firing off a barrage or razor sharp feathers towards Kaito's back, only for the teenager to spin and duck beneath, allowing them to pierce into and through a large tree behind him, and then thrust one of his fists out towards the fallen as he came to a stop on his knee.

Satanael's eyes widened as the black gem atop the gauntlet, glowed with bright white light.

He swung Arondight out just as a bolt of light erupted from the gauntlet gem like a bullet and cleaved through it.

"You…!" Satanael snarled, but never got to finish as Kaito followed behind the bolt of light and rushed him.

"You shouldn't have told me I could do that." Kaito bared his teeth and ground his foot into the ground just before he reached his opponent and torqued to the right, twisting directions in a split moment and unleashing all the momentum built up with it in a rapid jab at Satanael's kidney.

A wing blocked the punch just in time and an echoing snap resounded. Satanael snarled and swung Arondight, ebony flames erupting along its surface once more.

Kaito pulled his head back, the flames tickling along his neck but not quite touching, before pushing off and burying his other fist in the once angels stomach.

Satanael's eyes bugged out and spittle flew from his mouth, but before he could even get the chance to recover, Kaito's first fist wound back around and smashed into his cheek hard enough to send the fallen skidding across the ground.

Once again he never got the chance to recover before Kaito was upon him, a thrust kick catching him in the stomach and full on sending him spinning, while the teenager buried a rapid fire set of gauntlet clad jabs into his lower back, before grabbing him by the neck and pulling him back into a rising knee strike that was promptly buried in the base of his spine.
The fallen's eyes rolled up into the back of his head and his limbs went limp. Fingers uncurled from around the hilt of the blade in his hand and it tumbled to the ground with a clatter.

And the fallen followed a moment later as Kaito let go.

"Impossible….impossible…" a choking wheeze left the Cadre's lips as he lay face first in the dirt, his fingers scrabbling in the grass as he tried to feebly reach for Arondight.

A yell of pain erupted from his throat as a foot came down, stomping straight on his spine and pushing him down, "You brought this on yourself, mate." Kaito growled at him, smoke emanating between his lips as he drew on his magic power.

It may have been a better idea to grab the sword right now. But he wasn't sure what would happen if he did. Arondight may have been corrupted, but it was still a Holy Sword at one point, and only natural wielders of them could pick up the blade.

Not only that, it was a demonically corrupted blade now. Who knew if it wouldn't start draining his life force or something?

Though, it may be fine if he were still wearing his gauntlets if he picked it up.

"No, it makes no sense….it may be a pitiful Sacred Gear, but it still takes time to master abilities…how could you use the feature so quickly," Satanael glared up at Kaito from the corner of his eyes where his face was buried in the dirt, "Not only that…how? How did you do it? Twice Critical does not have a dragon instead, they are mere inferior copies of the Boosted Gear crafted from the flesh of the Red Dragon Emperor."

'So I was right, more or less.' Kaito thought, "I've been using Twice Critical for years," he scoffed, "And Sacred Gears respond to desire, it's pretty obvious how."

To be exact.

When he returned from his soul after sacrificing all of his organs to the draconic energy within him and forging them into the organs of a dragon. He could feel…the connection between him and his Twice Critical's grow.

He'd simply willed the light gun and sword inside and willed the gauntlets to draw upon them.

And they did.

It was just the same as how he simply knew upon returning from his soul, that the magic swelling and growing within him, could be ignited within his dragon lungs.

It was incredibly convenient.

Though to be honest, he'd been expecting it to be enough to possibly trigger his Balance Breaker.

Sadly, he apparently didn't have such an easy convenient way of unlocking his, like the stupid pervert.

"…I see…Of course, how obvious…" Satanael mumbled, his eyes closing in apparent defeat as Kaito inhaled deeply.

He only had enough magic power left right now for another breath of dragon fire. The one he'd unleashed not long ago, had drained half of his reserves in an instant.

It was awesome actually, that he now had something proper he could use it with.

"See ya, Satanael." Kaito bid the legendary ten winged being goodbye as he prepared to exhale and drown the man in a wave of dragon fire.

"Yes, goodbye boy." Satanael replied.

And his eyes snapped open, silver eyes glowing with bright light. An instant later, a pillar of light erupted from his body and Kaito barely managed to get his gauntlet clad arms up in a cross block before it slammed into him and shot him into the air.

It launched him dozens of feet into the air and sent him flying back where he crashed into and through a tree and then landed on his back a moment later on the ground with a groan.

Giving him a prime view to stare up and watch as Satanael rose up into the air, an aura of purple light surrounding his body.

"To think I've been pushed this far," the Cadre's shook his head as he stared down at Kaito, "Boy, this is the end for you. But, rejoice and take pride in the fact that regardless, you have claimed the life of Satanael, Adversary of God!"

Kaito growled and forced himself to his feet, "So you're full in and using your light and not caring about your injury even if it kills you?!" he shouted, "Forgive me if I don't roll over and die!"

He shouldn't have wasted time talking there! What a rookie mistake and he should have known better. He should have just burnt him with dragon fire when he had him pinned!

"That's fine boy, it's not like I plan on staying dead long," Satanael smirked down at him from above, "Still, I will have your name boy. I will remember you as the one who came the closest to ever killing me and keep you as a reminder as I ascend above all others."

What a fucking blowhard.

But if he wanted to make the exact same mistake Kaito just did, then he was all for it. "It's Kaito, Kaito Evander," he replied, fists clenching as he prepared to move, "And how exactly do you plan to come back from the dead after this?" he asked, fishing for information.

His eyes flicked to the dark coloured blade laying the grass about twenty feet away, before going back to the fallen angel above.

"It's really rather simple," Satanael's smirk widened, "Let me ask, why do you think I came here, to this town specifically?"

"I was told it was so you could use the sisters of the Satan's as shields to stop anyone really powerful from coming after you," Kaito replied, inching ever so slightly a bit over, every little inch would count here, "But I'm guessing that's wrong?"

Well, it was Irina who told him. And she got that information from the church. The church that was notoriously incompetent

"Pfft, as if I would need to use that trash as a shield," Satanael scoffed, "But, I suppose it's not that far off. Tell me, did you know that in the past another devil ruled over this territory?"

"No." Kaito lied bluntly.

But yes he did. This was the territory of Cleria Belial once upon a time before she and her lover from the church were betrayed and put to death.

…Because she'd stumbled upon something she shouldn't have.

"Well they did, who it was, does not matter, they are dead and gone," Satanael continued, "What does matter, is I came upon some information about her and her lover not long ago amongst some top secret messages and learned she had left something here."

"…And that would be?" Kaito pressed lightly, inching just a little more over.

"Why, this of course," Satanael laughed and held his hand up. Light swirled into existence and formed into a simple wooden box that he opened to show off, what looked like a single set of glowing red chess pieces, "Her evil pieces."

"….That's your big plan?" Kaito stopped and gave the fallen angel a deadpan stare, "Reincarnate yourself as a devil, seriously? All that grandstanding…for that?"

Satanael's laugher increased in volume, "Not quite as simple as that boy," he shook his head, "While indeed I plan to use the queen piece to resurrect myself, I'd hardly be able to ascend to the heights I want with such a paltry boost."

He reached into the box with one hand and grasped a single piece, before holding it up.

Kaito stared at it blankly for a moment, before his eyes widened. Because, while he wasn't the biggest chess fan, he well knew the pieces.

…And the piece he held in his hand, was not normal.

'A king piece?!' he gaped. Cleria Belial had a king piece in her possession before she died? ..Why? How…when even!?

"This is a very special evil piece known as a King Piece," Satanael happily explained, "When a devil takes one of these within themselves, it gives them a massive power boost. Up to one hundred times their initial power actually. Can you imagine boy? How powerful I will become with it? How powerful I will become once I fashion Arondight into a new Longinus? I will be unstoppable. Nobody will be able to stop me. Not Michael, not the Satans and definitely not that cowardly fool Azazel!"

'What the hell is my horrible luck!?' Kaito screamed inwardly.

This was bullshit!

Why the fuck was he getting involved with shit like this, this early?!

No, seriously. It had literally only been a week today since he'd gained the memories of his other self. And since then, he'd fought a toshi, a homicidal priest, the spirit of ancient Chinese Emperor….and now this.

A Cadre with plans to apparently reach if not surpass the level of the Four Satans, all of which that could fight and defeat gods while at the same time, making himself an all new Longinus Sacred Gear.

Issei Hyoudou didn't need to deal with shit like this for ages and that bastard was freely gifted one of the most broken abilities in this entire universe!

Life was seriously, never fair.

And chapter 7 up and ready to go, and my didn't a lot happen this chapter?

Even weakened Satanael showed why he was a Cadre and Kaito only just barely won, with luck, if that went on any longer he was gonna end up shishkabobbed. Dragon body parts, evil pieces, king piece, Satanael's corpse and even Arondight. It's a lot to get thrust on you all at once. Poor little swoll boy. Not to mention, poor poor Irina-chan, learning already that big daddy G is dead and gone. Anyway, up to chapter 15 on the Pa-atreon if you want to read ahead.

Anyway, shameless Pa-atreon plug. I've got one, go by the same username on there, easy to find and all that jazz. Support me if you want, it'd be swell, but don't feel pressured lads and ladies, I'll be uploading my stuff outside it regardless and not keeping it all behind a paywall or anything like that.