The giant hall held nothing but the giant cross and the mass tools on a pedestal on the farther end of the room. With a double gate on the opposite side, carved in wood with various icons and religious symbols so no one could misunderstand the purpose of this space.
"Wha-? Where are we? Diodora, where did you take us?" Rias sounded frustrated, probably feeling just as ill as Diodora felt upon appearing in this place. Seemed like the holiness was too much to bear.
"Not me." Diodora grunted, pulling Genshirou along as he separated slightly from the group.
If they found themselves ambushed, it'd be more difficult to simply be gunned down if they kept some distance… Not like it mattered that much with trained soldiers, but still. He had to take precautions, even if it meant startling the others by his actions.
And speaking of…
Diodora started up the teleportation spell again. They might have been brought there, but that didn't mean they had to pretend to be strong and take it. Diodora almost forgot that he could do as he pleased after the initial scare, but a couple of seconds of not being attacked sufficed for his mind to start spinning in the right direction again.
"Wait!" He heard a familiar voice, angry at being ignored and raising his hand in the air "Abhor—."
The witch hunter's power was interrupted when Yuuto surged forward to swing at his head, ducking just in time to pull a gun and exchange sword swings with light bullets and trying to get some distance.
Akeno's hands cracked with lightning, and Rias' own demonic power flared up before the exorcist could disengage from Yuuto.
Foolish. If they planned to ambush them, why couldn't he wait to make them feel safe? Diodora's spell took time, that much had been established in the previous exchange. So why?
He lowered the input, feeling his skin crawl as light made itself known from behind.
Genshirou tackled Diodora at the same time as Star Seeker released a pillar of light in the devils' direction. Forcing Rias and Akeno to fly to the ceiling and for Koneko to duck away, separated from everyone else.
Even Yuuto had been disrupted, even if for a moment.
"Damnit! Abhor the Witch!" The exorcist yelled, activating his Balance Breaker.
Diodora was ready.
"Eh?!" Rias saw herself encased in demonic circles as all powers died out.
Diodora gritted his teeth as he struggled to keep the magic going, fueled by Ophis' power. The circles were demonic in power, and he simply fueled them with the Dragon God's own. So they tried to die on him as the Balance Breaker activated.
Yet he had been ready. Soon enough, Rias disappeared in a flash of magenta light. Hopefully away from this place as the devils and exorcists stared at the now-empty spot where the redhead had been floating.
Diodora panted, feeling his insides burning. Almost like the last time. Except this fire didn't exist, it came from within. From having exerted himself in a way his body couldn't handle. So he panted and saw that it worked.
Then, he smirked.
"You weren't supposed to do that." Star Seeker pointed out, counting the other devils while the other exorcist caught his breath "Okay, yeah. That was sort of pointless."
Was it? If Diodora's spell worked, Rias should have appeared in the Underworld already. From there, it'd be a simple matter of calling the big guns: The Satans.
Or rather, her brother, Sirzechs Lucifer.
It had been the only idea that came to mind in such short notice. Nothing he could think of would've lasted under Elijah's Abhor the Witch, not even attacks or defenses since it seemed like Diodora needed to conjure demonic power fist to use the snake.
Simple powers may have worked, but teleporting someone across dimensions would never fall under that category. It simply wouldn't.
"I would say…" Diodora struggled back to his feet, being helped by Genshirou's strength "...That all of this is what's pointless. Don't you think?"
The witch hunter cocked the gun in Diodora's direction.
Koneko got in his face the next moment, moving a lot faster than she had so far. It confused everyone, and got Yuuto to try to run. To use his Knight speed, in vain.
Diodora took a moment to appreciate the strange flow in her movements, in the way she breathed in before every strike. It made him smirk.
Senjutsu, huh. It took a lot less than he imagined it would.
"Huh." Star Seeker looked impressed rather than confused. She took her attention off the little girl all too soon, however. It didn't give Diodora time to try anything "Weird. I suppose his power is less useful than expected."
"That's what you get from a guy who thinks he's part of the good guys." Diodora shrugged "The world isn't just built on dualities. Even some of your deity's powers can be considered heretical. Which, if that silly name suggests anything, is the main point of the Balance Breaker."
Diodora flexed his fingers, calling for power. It didn't readily answer, but he had been in contact with the snake before. It tried to reach out, its overwhelming power simply not finding the usual channel used by Diodora.
He forced his smirk to cease as he struggled.
"But we are." The Star Seeker gave him a confused smile "We are the good guys. Isn't it obvious?"
Genshirou roared, his Sacred Gear finally activating as he ran toward the witch hunter. Face twisted in pain.
Elijah tried to react, but Koneko didn't give him the room to fire his gun. Instead, the little girl smashed the weapon to bits with a good uppercut. Sending holy element flying in the air as she stepped back to avoid it touching her.
Diodora frowned, the Miracle Child didn't seem bothered by this turn of events at all. Even with two other devils being unable to do anything, this much should have shaken her even a bit. It should have made her react somehow.
Unless she could just snap her fingers and have them all gunned down from outside. Unless she was trying to bluff. But which one was it?
"Don't be ridiculous." Diodora tried to sound calm, tried to make it seem like he understood his situation clearly and felt like everything was still okay "No good guys make so much trouble for others, use these underhanded tactics and exploit their enemies' weakness this savagely."
The snake found purchase in his body, letting its power flow in a way that made Diodora's skin burn. As if the flow made it so his bones and meat parted to give room for it.
He gritted his teeth in pain, but a magenta magic circle appeared in front of each hand. He tried to smirk.
Star Seeker leaned in a bit, impressed.
"Look who's talking. Aren't you so full of surprises, mister devil guy?"
Star Seeker threw her hand out, Diodora fired a bolt of Infinite's power. The golden and magenta energy clashed in mid-air, forcing them both to dodge as they were diverted by the opposite force without stopping.
In any other situation, Diodora might've marveled at the girl's power. Except that she had diverted his own overwhelming power. And he knew that he was doing the equivalent of swinging an endgame weapon like a tennis racket. Had she been weaker, or had he had a bit more experience using the snake like this, things would've gone differently.
But she wasn't, and he didn't. So they used their own powers to trade blows instead of physically coming close. They danced around the space, with Diodora trying to give Genshirou and Koneko as much room as they needed. And tried to keep the Miracle Child away from the other two that couldn't fight until Elijah died.
Or, well, one.
"Yuuto!" Diodora screeched, because the mental spell that kept his mind clear had dissolved along the other devil powers "C'mon, man! I need you here! Now!"
Star Seeker chuckled as she projected pillars of holy light that almost sandwiched Diodora when they moved toward one another. The man within Diodora let out a guttural scream as he forced devil wings out and got to the air, feeling alien in his current body for a moment that might as well have been an eternity.
Had that been the premonition of death? Would he have left the body and become some sort of ghost? Or would he have been purified along that devil body? He didn't know, and his heart pulsed in his throat as Star Seeker followed him in his retreat with spears in her hands.
He shaped the energy into a barrier, but instead of projecting it in front of him, he made it detonate in an area. Sending the Miracle Child back down, and giving him enough time to land back to his feet before following through with more bolts of energy.
Rough, barbaric. He couldn't even think of any other way to use this power, yet it didn't even occur to him to catch his breath and weigh his options.
Star Seeker shrugged the dust off and sent herself back as she traded more power for spears and holy fire, almost trapping Diodora again as he used another burst of power to force the flames away so he could escape.
"You're all bark and no bite!" Star Seeker cheered as she created half a dozen light spears and threw them one by one, almost playfully "Look at you, running around like a headless chicken!"
"Fucking kill yourself." Diodora spat as he stopped the rain of spears with more of Ophis' power, feeling his hands numb as he kept channeling power through them.
"That's not very nice of y—!" A clap of thunder interrupted Star Seeker, and the lights went out for a moment before the smell of burned air spread around the hall.
Star Seeker had been thrown out of one of the windows, and Diodora took a lungful of air before he looked at the one responsible for it.
Akeno had fallen to her knees, lightning cracking between her fingers and tears running down her face. The usually perfect and teasing young lady was nowhere to be seen, and instead Diodora found a girl hurting not only physically, but in a deeper way.
She flexed her fingers, and they shook as she struggled to move them. Using this power took more of her than anticipated, but at least she could do something.
Holy Lightning. Was it because it belonged to someone that once was an angel? Or did Abhor the Witch work in a more strange way than Diodora anticipated?
He shook his head, not the moment to wonder about it.
"You can fight." He commented neutrally, getting the raven haired girl out of her turmoil. Even if only for a moment.
"I-I…" Akeno struggled to form words, eyes wide open and not really seeing Diodora. But witnessing something else instead. Not here either physically or in time. Somewhere remote, somewhere Diodora couldn't follow her.
"I won't tell anyone if you do the same." He smiled a little, even if he didn't know she'd register it "It'll be our secret. Just yours and mine."
"Akeno-senpai!" Yuuto cleared the space between them and helped his upper classmate to her feet, tugging two blades under his armpits.
He was ready too.
"Yuuto, I…" Akeno nervously looked around, eyes still glazed over but more present. More in the here and now. She looked at Diodora and lowered her eyes "You… You are hurt."
Diodora looked down again, showing them his hands.
They had become almost entirely charcoal black, with purple-ish cracks glowing faintly where power still coursed through them. He flexed his fingers, or tried to, but too little of their mobility remained to actually call them functional.
Too much adrenaline, too much 'oh god oh fuck' to notice. He shook his head, not wanting his brain to catch up and make him feel how painful this actually was.
"Never mind that. Elijah…"
Star Seeker fell from the roof, landing on her feet by spreading her wings and catching herself on the last second, killing all momentum so she could simply plop to the ground a couple centimeters.
She looked fine, happy even.
"Sorry about that. Shall we continue?" She smiled at them, stretching her arms and popping her shoulders.
Diodora heard Yuuto suppress a scream as he rushed her, slower than usual but still faster than anyone could predict.
He swung at Star Seeker, and she answered with a light spear on her left arm. Either grinning or showing her teeth as Yuuto pushed her back, but was unable to land a clean hit.
She parried him, and used her other hand to fire divine power at Diodora and Akeno.
Said girl tried to conjure lightning, but it was too slow to counteract. Diodora used more of Ophis' power to dispel Star Seeker's own attacks and answered with his own bolts of power. Less, because he could hit Yuuto, and more hesitant now that he knew he was slowly killing himself from the inside out.
Why couldn't it be like in fiction? Why couldn't their abilities become a net gain while put together? They had more room against Star Seeker now, but they couldn't work at 100% even if Elijah had died. It felt like they hadn't gained any edge at all.
"Yuuto!" Diodora howled as he felt the snake's influence creep up his arms, feeling his chest start burning "Get the witch hunter! Now!"
Rias' Knight, however, couldn't hear him. Yuuto kept fighting as fiercely as he could, his face clearly straining as he bled from his lips from biting down on them too hard. Fighting way too fiercely.
They had been trapped in this church, obviously with the intention to be put down. Like animals. If that hadn't triggered something in the blond, then Diodora might've wondered if this truly was Rias' Knight.
Yet he couldn't be left to wander in his memories. Just like Akeno, Diodora needed his whole mind in the present. Because otherwise they wouldn't survive. They only needed enough time. Rias would come. Diodora believed, because otherwise things would be too dire to really keep resisting.
No. Never. If the world pushed him down, then Diodora had to find a way. Pull a trick, deceive the enemy, create a solution. He wouldn't be put down like an animal, he wouldn't just let these assholes walk all over him like this. If he had time to dwell in his misery, then he had enough mental fortitude to think how to get out of this. Only losers moaned and cursed their misfortune.
It's why his brother was considered such a failure back home. It's why Diodora managed to be liked by their father while that guy sank.
Star Seeker created small screens of holy light to deflect Yuuto's swords, giving herself enough room to keep Diodora and Akeno occupied while she fought in close quarters. She looked a bit excited, but her face had turned into that of someone fully immersed in things. In the zone, so to speak.
Akeno's holy lightning crashed against the barriers, forcing Star Seeker to reel and use more power to defend herself. It forced Yuuto to wait for a moment and be there, physically and otherwise.
"Yuuto!" Diodora yelled as he pushed Star Seeker farther back, his eyes burning as he momentarily lost his vision "Witch hunter! Now!"
"I… Yes!" Yuuto didn't have time to go back to his memories, couldn't resist being forced back into the fight.
Star Seeker shot them all with pillars of holy power as Yuuto ducked and ran past Diodora and Akeno.
They both used their own attacks to divert the Star Seeker, but clearly lost even more ground now that the Miracle Child was fully invested in the fight and they were reeling from their physical and spiritual wounds.
Diodora coughed, gagged. Feeling way too sick from the continued exposure to holy power to keep breathing normally. He felt like his stomach would go up his throat, and a metallic taste filled his tongue as he tried to compose yourself.
"You're dying, mister devil." Star Seeker slowed down, blinking several times as she came back from the zone "You're struggling too much."
"You don't even make sense." Akeno wheezed, clearly pissed off and trying to cast more of her holy lightning "Are you here to kill us? Or are you here to threaten us? You can't do both. This is no longer something that can be ended with just harsh words and hollow promises!"
"I'm not explaining a thing to the enemy." Star Seeker replied like it was ridiculously obvious.
Diodora tried to retort, but he spat more dark liquid and clogged his nose while doing it.
"Then why show worry about us? You're so ridiculous it's not even funny." The raven haired Queen retorted. It gave Diodora a few more seconds to breathe.
"Well, that's just common sense." Star Seeker furrowed her brows, confused.
Diodora grinned.
It wasn't like she didn't make sense. No, something even worse was going on. A gap so wide that none of the devils present could understand, not even Elijah who had been following this Miracle Child like a dog.
Diodora painfully got back to his feet, and caught the girls' attention as he tried to laugh.
"I see… So that's how it is." Diodora spat more liquid, feeling his throat burn as he cleaned himself off with the back of his hand.
"What is?" Star Seeker asked out of reflex, not because she felt interest about Diodora.
"You're lucky." He stated, and he couldn't help chuckle again in spite of his wounds. Perhaps he went insane, but he found it profoundly funny "You're way too lucky, you were born lucky… Weren't you?"
Star Seeker's confusion cleared up instantly.
"Yeah!"
"You were born in a golden cradle, were fed with a golden spoon, and all your life has been spent winning." Diodora wheezed, choked on his words. Yet he didn't relent "You were fed kind words and told how utterly amazing your mere existence was… It's not like you don't know that what you're doing is wrong, you simply cannot understand how that matters."
Akeno hadn't commented, Star Seeker looked vaguely interested in his words.
Diodora continued.
"You were born a winner, so you can't imagine yourself losing. You cannot see a future where you are ever wrong."
"I see, I see…" Star Seeker cradled her chin "And?"
"Nothing." Diodora admitted "It doesn't change our predicament, it doesn't change that we're about to die. I just wanted to say that I now understand you."
"I see, thank you for trying." Star Seeker smiled and conjured a light spear "Shall we continue?"
The air itself melted, cracked and dissolved as a magic circle appeared in the center of the room. Obliterating the Balance Breaker as soon as it appeared, with no resistance whatsoever.
"No." Diodora smiled. Feeling tiredness creep up from within his mind as a red aura washed all over the room and destroyed any presence of holiness from its touch "It's time for you to lose, dear."
Star Seeker's expression twisted. From confusion to realization, and then to something that she probably hadn't experienced before. Something that made her confused again.
Diodora turned, seeing crimson hair run down alongside a pure white cape as a devil looked around the hall. Features peerlessly beautiful, but twisted in barely contained rage.
Diodora fell to his knees, feeling honestly reverent for the first time in all of his life.
"Milord, you came." He wheezed, barely awake.
The Demon Lord of Lucifer faced him, aura flaring up as he saw the Miracle Child behind Diodora.
Sirzechs Lucifer took a step forward.