NMHA Ch. 59 - Burdens of the Mighty


A/N - On to part two. Not doing a half-chapter this time, I don't want to confuse chapter count any more, heh.

Guess who's gotten sick! This guy!

Also guess who's gotten a new job! Also this guy! I start on the first of next month and it'll be a pretty big change of pace.

Big things are happening, both good and bad, and i hate getting sick jesus christ-


Issei could hear a high-pitched ringing in his head. A moment later, he realized that was the only thing he could hear.

'Ddraig?'

"I'm here, Issei."

He could have breathed out a sigh of relief. He couldn't see anything, and he couldn't really hear anything either, but at least he wasn't alone.

'Was that you?'

"It wasn't. Your own sense of danger prompted you to trigger Balance Breaker and Transfer power to the barrier." There was a note of thoughtfulness in Ddraig's voice. "You were able to save a lot of lives."

Wait, lives?

'...Oh shit, Asia!'

Issei tried to rise into a sitting position, but as he did the black world around him began to spin, and he groaned against the nausea. He didn't stop trying though, until a hand came to rest against his bare chest.

Cool. Soft.

He knew this hand.

His own rose to grab onto it, squeezing tightly.

Asia squeezed back briefly.

...Had he gone deaf? He still couldn't hear her. And why couldn't he see anything ei- oh. His eyes were covered, that's why.

Issei laid back down on the ground, one hand rising up to whatever it was covering his face before tearing them off.

Immediately he was greeted with the cut-up and bruised, but relieved, face of his closest friend. Her mouth moved, pointing to an ear, and he shook his head in response. They were also in a tent of some sort - how long had he been out?

Those soft hands left his own and lifted to each side of his head, and from the corners of his eyes Issei could see a faint glow. His eardrums must have ruptured, he surmised with a clinical detachment. Had the blowback from the battle above caused that severe a concussive blast?

He closed his eyes and let Twilight Healing do its work, as sounds other than that incessant ringing slowly but surely returned.

"...What happened?" was the first question that escaped his lips once his hearing returned to a point where he could pick out quiet discussions on the side.

"You started running like our lives depended on it," Asia explained. "You ran up to the Fallen maintaining a makeshift barrier and... ah, transferred boosts? Then the blast hit. I'm, ah, I'm not sure what happened to Lunarunn and Kokabiel after that. Everything is hazy for a half-hour after the explosion."

She shook her head. "I got lucky. I was being escorted by multiple of the Fallen when it hit, so they were able to put up a barrier to keep me from suffering the worst of the blast. There was... a lot of dangerous debris. So when that failed, they used their bodies."

"Not well enough," he growled, attempting to rise again only to have her hand press down on his chest.

"Ise-kun," she murmured. "Those Fallen died so that I could live and continue to save their brothers and sisters."

"...Oh." The declaration struck Issei dead in the chest, and he stopped his struggles to get back to his feet, leaning back on the makeshift bedding from his clothes. At least he still had his boxers.

'Man... how am I gonna explain needing a whole new uniform?' he thought, before breaking out into an amazed chuckle.

"Ise-kun?"

"Sorry. Just thinking." Issei stared up at the ceiling. "How are the other Fallen taking it? Those Fallen dying to keep you safe, I mean."

"...They came because they wanted to protect humanity at all costs. Even their own lives," She stared off in the distance. "They almost seem eager to do so."

"Eager to die?"

"Eager to have a good reason to, more like." She glanced back at the entrance of their tent. "It's like... it's not fanaticism, at least not in the usual sense, but..."

"You're awake."

The tent flap opened and Raynare walked - limped, really - inside, an arm bound in a cast and looking even more beaten up than Asia. It almost looked like the two got into a catfight, and Raynare had lost - and badly at that.

'No, not right now.' He shook himself off that train of thought, before staring at the injured form of the Fallen Angel that had tried to stop him and Asia before. "Are you alright?"

Raynare paused, before shaking her head.

"You'd really ask that of someone who tried to kill you two?"

"We know you meant well," Asia started, before being cut off by Raynare holding up a palm facing in her direction.

"No. Don't talk for him. I want to know Issei's thoughts." Violet eyes drifted from the blonde to the brunet, challenging him. "So?"

Issei stared at the other girl, furrowing his brow as he mulled over her request.

"...You're a bitch," he finally said, eliciting a snort from the one in question.

"I'm not going to deny that," the Fallen replied, wincing as she took a seat. "I can tell there's more. Don't hold back for my sake, Ise-kun. Tell me what you really think."

His mind flashed back to those visions... and the way she had haunted him then. Maybe those visions hit closer to home than he'd like to admit, but his perception of the Fallen Angel in front of them was undeniably colored.

"You're deceitful," Issei continued, expression growing dark. "Manipulative. Cowardly. Sadistic. When you got the idea that killing us was the best idea, you didn't even think twice. You never considered our perspective. In the end the only thing you care about is yourself. Even now I bet you're just looking for validation."

"Ise-kun?" Asia glanced over at her boyfriend with growing concern.

"That's my opinion, Asia. That's the light I see you in, Raynare." He closed his eyes and tilted his head upward. "So. What are you going to do about it?"

"...Process." Her expression was unreadable as she scooted over so she sat over Issei, tilting her head slightly. "Do you hate me?"

"Hating you suggests we were close once." The brunet stared at the ceiling. "I can't hate you. I don't know you well enough to."

Raynare's lips twitched upward.

"You could have fooled me. You hold nothing back with your description. I can't really say you're wrong, either."

Issei gave her a look. "That's not something you should just agree with outright, y'know."

"In case you didn't notice, I don't have much going for me." The black-haired girl raised an arm. "Beaten down in a single punch by some dumbfuck who hasn't had his Sacred Gear for a month, known amongst my peers in the faction for my horrible track record, not even zealous enough to fool myself into thinking that killing you two would have gone down well."

"Then why would you even-"

"Because I'm petty, too." Raynare bared her teeth in what should have been a grin, but came out all wrong. "And isn't that just damn pathetic, that when I try, I can't even succeed at utterly failing my mission to look after you idiot humans?"

"Okay, enough. Why are you here, Raynare?" Issei asked tiredly. "I'm not interested in entertaining a pity party."

She opened her mouth, perhaps to snap back, before closing it. The Fallen Angel sighed, shaking her head.

"It's... nothing, really. I just wanted to thank you. For not leaving me back there. And for saving..." she paused briefly. "For saving as many people as you did."

She stood back up and made her way to the door. "If you're wondering, Issei, it's been about a day since the explosion. Be careful out there; Kuoh is swarming with Youkai, Devils, and both kinds of Angels. There's no telling what might happen."

Then she was gone, leaving Issei and Asia alone, with the former goggling at the Fallen's parting words.

"...Wait, Kuoh's swarming with the supernatural?"

"Mh." Asia nodded. "It's currently divided into four sections, to help maintain order after everything that's happened. We're in the Fallen area right now, right on the edge of Devil territory."

Issei wet his mouth. "...How many people died because of Lunarunn, Asia?"

She shook her head slowly. "I... don't know. The town is severely damaged though, so there's probably at least some casualties. Thankfully, I haven't heard anything about Tou-san, or your own parents, but I've been busy using Twilight Healing to keep people alive."

"This whole time?"

"It's no worse than some of the hardest-hit areas in Afghanistan." She smiled, but there was something to Asia's expression that sent a flicker of worry through Issei.

He decided to act on that worry. "...How close was I to joining the bodies, Asia?"

It was a couple seconds before his girlfriend replied. "Too close. You saved a lot of people, but you ended up draining yourself so completely that your heart stopped." She swallowed hard. "Twice. I had to look after you the longest."

"Shit..." Issei groaned and stared up at the ceiling. "Well... that explains why I feel like I ran headfirst into a train."

"I'm just glad I could bring you back. It's only because we're so close that your body accepted my own energy to keep itself going." Asia's smile turned brighter. "Don't worry; I'm tired, but it's nothing I can't work through. I'll just need to pace myself for the rest of the week."

"...Is that why Raynare thanked me? Actually, if I nearly died from exhaustion, then how am I back up after just a day, anyway?"

"...Your ability to recover stamina is ridiculous, Ise-kun." Asia giggled. "I would go so far as to say it's absurd, even. A perk of the Boosted Gear, I would presume."

"I always did get back up real fast after those beatings, whenever I peeped on the girls..." Issei mused, before breaking into a sweat as Asia smiled sweetly at him. "But I've, uh, not done anything of the sort for a while, y'know! I've been going clean ever since this all started!"

"I know, I know, and I'm proud of you for going for so long without relapsing!"

"You say that like I'm an addict, or something," the brunet deadpanned.

"You mean to say you aren't addicted to a woman's... ah, parts, Ise-kun?"

Issei's deadpanning stare toward Asia intensified.. "...Oppai are perfectly natural to have a hyper-fixation on."

"Do you even know what a 'hyper-fixation' is, Ise-kun?"

"When it's about oppai! Of course!" he squawked, waving his arms before cringing as his muscles protested, before breaking into a laugh. That too was cut off as his body protested the sudden rapid movements again.

She giggled, shaking her head with exasperated mirth. "I'm really glad you're okay, Ise-kun. You really worried me when you ran off... then again when I had to keep you alive."

"Thanks. Sorry for worrying you." He rose back up, and this time he was able to fight off the vertigo. "I should probably see for myself, shouldn't I?"

"I'll help you up," the blonde offered, letting out a small squeak as she helped Issei to his feet and briefly had to support his whole weight while he regained his balance.

"Thanks again." He smiled at Asia, which she returned despite the healing cuts and bruises on her own face, and the somewhat tattered state of her clothes.

Which reminded him.

"...Wait. Where am I going to get new pants?"


Kokabiel wasn't sure what exactly happened. Even now, it still boggled him.

He had Lunarunn on the back ropes. He had been wearing her down. He had been winning.

He even managed to take off one of her arms.

But that was after...

("...You share her face.")

Then things blew up. Literally. The force of the explosion had stunned even Kokabiel, the raw power behind what had to have been the ignition of a literal star in front of his face had certainly done its damage, even if he did his best to ignore it.

Certainly, Kuoh was nowhere to be seen.

...Nor was the ground, for that matter. All they were left in was a field of floating stones, with the backdrop of the stars twinkling everywhere he looked.

'Does that mean we're not on Earth anymore? Or was the damage that severe?'

No, the other pantheons would intervene if Lunarunn had threatened their territories. He was strong, but if that had happened by this point, they'd both already be dead.

In other words, they were elsewhere. But the question was, where? And how?

He fought off the groan as he was torn from the rock edifice that he'd found himself embedded in, and then sent skidding across its surface like a sponge to a particularly stubborn piece of gunk on a wall.

It was painful, he thought. Painful, but not particularly damaging. His body was technically a construct of divine light, so even the fact that his face left a bloody smear on the ground - as Lunarunn sent him shooting across the planetoid with said face planted on said ground - there was little actual effect.

Kokabiel let out a grunt as he flexed his power, breaking the telekinetic hold over his body briefly enough to lunge back in, prodding and poking with a spear.

Lunarunn didn't seem the same after what he said.

She seemed absent, not all there. Distracted. Her eyes, even if they followed him, were hazy, lacking focus.

Yet her power had intensified dramatically. Enough so that even now, his spear was only able to find enough purchase to draw a single bead of blood from the remaining arm that blocked it. He deftly disengaged with a snarl, calling on the stars to answer his command.

Her mouth opened, voice low and soft.

"...I didn't know."

As the light of the stars around them embraced Kokabiel, he inspected her. She didn't just seem distracted, she seemed... lost.

"Awfully convenient, that." he replied, shaking his head. "You have her face and her power. You cannot argue that."

Nor did she try to.

"..." Luna glanced away, crossing her free arm with the stump of her amputated one. She had stopped screaming after the explosion that transported them to some sort of space - it wasn't the Dimensional Gap, it wasn't a kaleidoscope and was instead filled with distant stars - but she still stared at her lost arm with disbelief, feeling the stump with her remaining hand, whenever she had the chance.

It wasn't the expression of a battle-hardened warrior, not someone like him.

It wasn't the expression that plagued his vision, either, whenever he stared at her directly.

The two wore the same face, but there were differences.

Was that intentional? Was it an act to get Kokabiel to lower his guard? If so, then she had to have been one of the best damn actors he'd ever seen, and he had known the original Lucifer!

...He couldn't risk it.

He couldn't risk Father's legacy being destroyed.

Especially by one who wore the face of-

The flash of emotion that raced across his mind at the reminder sent a new surge of conviction through Kokabiel, allowing him to gather his power and call the stars to his side, using a portion to unleash a barrage of streaking spears upon the floating Devil.

It would be - and was - deflected, the projectiles curving around Lunarunn to no effect. But that was a diversion, letting him get in once more with a hand wrapping around her foot before he sent her flying down into the same planetoid that bore a red streak from his face, followed by a swipe to the side.

She was there, like he expected, having blinked away from the throw, but she blocked his weapon telekinetically once more.

Her eyes flashed white, and Kokabiel braced for impact.

Light exploded before him as sound lost meaning, the shockwave causing his whole body to rattle as she detonated... something between them, sending him shooting away with smoke trailing behind him in his impromptu launch.

Had she created another star for a fraction of a moment again?

Was she literally creating nuclear explosions?!

He flexed his twelve wings, stopping as his eyes flicked from side to side to locate his foe.

She was still there, eyes still hazy, but widening as she stuck out a hand in front of her, a sphere of something appearing just off the palm.

That sphere gained a ring of white to frame the sphere, that white light sinking into the sphere before screaming forth in a torrent of white-and-nothingness that consumed all in its path... and even everything just near its path; even the nearby asteroids sloughed into slurry and poured into the beam, just from being in proximity..

Kokabiel himself could feel an inexorable pull as he shot downward, immediately putting more energy into escaping the gravitational force of-

His eyes widened as he realized just what Lunarunn had done, crashing into an asteroid as he stared up into the void to see that the Worldweaver had cut off that beam, staring side-eyed at her remaining hand.

From that distance, he could still hear a chuckle.

"So that's it, huh...? This whole time?"

Distracted again. What kept taking her attention away?

No matter. He lunged forward, ready to bring her down in her moment of inattentiveness, eyes shadowed by her hair.

Then the light spear emerged from her back, having found its mark without resistance.


"...What?" she could understand Kokabiel's confusion. She'd meant to move. Was she unbalanced by the fact that she was missing an arm, and it threw off her reaction?

She didn't know.

But it hurt.

It hurt real bad.

Even now, she could feel the light seeking to devour the dark of her body, erasing her existence.

But what was light? What was dark? Were they subjective? Or was it a matter of absolutes?

The same could apply to the holy and profane.

It was all...

'A matter of perspective.'

Luna could feel her lips splitting, her teeth showing.

'Isn't that right, Ulan? You said all those years ago that you were perception itself. Potential. All that can be.'

Her hand rose.

'But there was more to it. There always was. You held out on me. Didn't want me to know until I was ready.'

It rose to the spear running her through, feeling at it gingerly.

'You tried living in this world once. You were rejected by the law of the world.'

"H-hey... Kokabiel." Luna gasped out. "...Yahweh - gh! - was the Lawbringer... wasn't he? O-of Creation. Ngh... Back... back then."

Maybe there was a reason Worldweave became bonded with Id.

What was that thing that Devils had canonically? What could their magic do? The Power of Creation?

Weren't Demons originally Angels in this world? Servants of God? As such, wouldn't they carry His power, too? Similar, yet different.

'...Heh... that's almost... that's almost funny.'

"He was," the cadre replied, firmly.

...It was no accident, then, that she was a Devil.

"Heh... heh heh." She shook her head and closed her eyes. "Go... go figure. I understand now."

It was almost funny, really. Just how much Ulan hadn't told her, how much she'd missed.

'It would be funny...'

The brunette's fingers wrapped around the light spear.

She was really tired of being left in the dark.

'...if it didn't piss me the fuck off!'

Her eyes snapped open, her fist clenched, the weapon shattered, and she surged forward.

"What are you...!?" Kokabiel's shock was met with a fist to the face, sending him staggering back before a telekinetic burst sent him plowing straight through that same red-streaked asteroid Luna had dragged him across earlier.

"I think I get it now," she declared, voice firming once more, staring down at the holy-filled void in her chest. "What happened, all those years ago."

Luna held up her hand, another white-outlined sphere of vantablack - a miniature black hole, she thought with an incredulous detachment - formed inside it.

She hurled it at Kokabiel, prompting the cadre to veer out of the way, knowing that even he would be badly injured - if not destroyed outright - if he got caught by that attack.

She watched as Kokabiel sped away from the rapidly growing event horizon, before the sphere closed back in on itself and vanished. In its place lay a star - small, dim, but even from her distance she could feel its pull, for the brief moment it lived, before even that winked out.

Luna ignored it, instead resting a hand on the spreading glow in her breast.

"But even if I have her face, I'm not that person." Her eyes glanced down at the cadre. "And I will not be judged as though I am."

Her fist clenched, and she lowered her hand. As she did, the holy energy in Luna's chest flowed out, before dispersing, leaving exposed, unblemished skin where Kokabiel had quite clearly impaled her before.

He bared his teeth as the brunette defied the Light of God, and expunged it from her being. "Yet you use that damnable power the exact same way!"

Luna's lips quirked upward.

"Really? Then I suppose I'll need to branch out going forward."

"Like I'll give you the chance," the cadre barked, more of the holy element racing down from the stars around them as he too made for a rapid approach.

"I told you I would defeat you. Just because I'm down an arm doesn't mean I can't still do just that," she commented, swiping her hand to the side to conjure a minefield of glimmering sparks to meet the ones the cadre unleashed.

They exploded on contact, the entire field around them becoming engulfed in blasts of heat and debris for a moment before Kokabiel dispersed it with a roar and a flex of his twelve wings.

"Enough of this idiocy!"

He was in front of her once again, this time grasping her by the throat and slamming her into another asteroid.

Luna let out a cough as the wind was driven out of her, then she started wheezing, rapidly.

She realized she was laughing the same time Kokabiel did, even as she blasted him back with another telekinetic burst. Not that it deterred the cadre, when he was able to slam back down with another light spear.

"This ends now," he hissed, this next spear cutting the Worldweaver's laughter off in a gurgle as it went through her neck. "This ends now!" Another one went through her chest again. "This ends NOW!"

That one went through between her eyes, pinning her to the asteroid.

"I won't let you destroy Father's Creation the same way you took his life!"

Kokabiel drew back, before the constructs in that chest, neck, and head all expanded outward and exploded, engulfing the body in an explosion of divine power.

"DIIIIIIIIIEEEE!" he roared, his holy fury causing a crescendo in the element he was using to excise the Worldweaver from existence, the brunette's vision going white.


Issei could hardly believe his eyes.

Kuoh was in ruins.

Not just the academy, but the whole town - it reminded him of those two nuclear warheads the Americans had used on the Japanese at the end of the second World War.

Buildings, leveled. Gardens and playgrounds, torn to nothing. Roads, completely demolished.

The only thing missing were the shadows of people vaporized by the blast.

In that regard, he turned to Asia, who smiled slightly.

"When you Boosted the barrier, it, er... expanded? It managed to cover the majority of Kuoh when the explosion hit. It, ah, wasn't enough obviously, but... I think if you hadn't, Kuoh wouldn't even exist anymore?"

Issei swallowed hard. "Where did you hear that, exactly?"

"From yours truly, of course."

His eyes flicked to the side, where a goateed man with black-and-gold hair strolled up to the two.

"It's good to see the hero of the hour back on his feet; after things blew up, we were all fearing the worst - thank Dad that we've just got a ruined city instead of an erased one."

"Eh?" He peered at the man. "...Who the hell are you?"

"I-Ise-kun... that's Azazel-sama. The Governor-General of the Grigori!" Asia hissed, to which the man - Fallen - in question laughed.

"O-oh." Suddenly, Issei felt quite intimidated. At least Asia had found him some pants before they left the tent; otherwise, he'd have been mortified.

"It's fine, it's fine! I'm not really for that formality bull anyway," Azazel waved off the disrespect with the humor of someone in a relieved high. "Look, Issei. I'm not gonna mince words - you did us all a solid here. What Kokabiel did here in Kuoh, engaging Lunarunn in combat, was idiotic in the extreme, and completely unsanctioned to boot."

"...What does that have to do with my home being completely destroyed?" Issei demanded.

"Merely explaining what's going on." The Governor-General. gestured to the ruined town, expression taking on a somber tone. "Simply put... if you hadn't been able to save as many lives as you did yesterday, there'd be even more of this sort of scene in the very near future."

He glanced at the brunet again. "You do know how the sisters of two Satans live here, right? What would have happened if they were killed by a fight between a rogue Devil and a Fallen cadre?"

Issei's mouth turned dry. "War. Wait, then does that mean that Rias-sama and Sona-kaichou are safe?"

"Safe as one can be, directly beneath someone who replicated one of humanity's most dangerous weapons at a tenfold scale," Azazel rubbed his head. "Not that I'd know, personally. I've been too busy rounding up the Protectionists and helping keep the peace - besides, with how protective Sirzechs and Serafall are right now, anyone who so much as tries to wave at their sisters are liable to get obliterated. Now imagine if Rias and Sona were killed..."

"There would be a bloodbath," Issei finished with a sinking feeling. "It wouldn't just be war, it'd basically be another Great War."

The black-and-gold-haired man nodded his head. "Even now, I'm not sure what's going on in the divided territories of Kuoh. We're a bit too busy trying to clean house in our respective camps to talk freely across them."

The brunet stared at Azazel for a few seconds. "...You want me to ask around and check in with the other factions, don't you?"

"I never said anything of the sort!" The grin on Azazel's face all but screamed that was what he was getting at, though. "Still, considering the Red Dragon Emperor laid claim to Kuoh as his territory, and after protecting it, it's only fair that he'd get free reign to travel the town regardless of which faction controls it."

"And why should I do that?"

"You mean aside from the fact that we graciously let you recover from your moment of heroism in our territory, despite the fact that we could just have easily slit your throat and not have to deal with the Red Dragon Emperor for another two decades?"

"Don't give me that crap. I saved Kuoh and prevented a war from breaking out - To say nothing of protecting your men and women." Issei narrowed his eyes. "I was going to look around anyway, but what do I get out of reporting to you what I find?"

"...Would a new stash of porn to replace the one that was probably lost in the explosion suffice?"

"..." Issei stared deadpan at Azazel. He glanced at Asia, who looked back with an equal deadpan, before turning to the Fallen. "Deal."

"Ise-kun."

"Asia, you know that I listen to you all the time... but you don't understand just how valuable a transaction Azazel just offered. This isn't just any porn stash; it's a vault of classics and exotics, curated by the greatest pervert the world has ever known!"

"Ahahahaha! I see you're a fellow man of culture as well." Azazel put a hand to his chin with a wide grin. "We should hang out sometime. Maybe play a few games, once all this mayhem's over and done with. Anyway, since this all happened on Devil turf, you should probably head back to Kuoh Academy first and speak with them. Gabby's using your dad's place as a frontier base, Asia-chan."

"Even Gabriel-sama is here?" the blonde squawked, eyes wide.

"Yep. Pity I can't chat with her, it's always a delight to see my dear sister." The grin on the Fallen's face turned part lewd and part somber, before it dropped off his face with a shake of his head. "The Youkai have taken over the downtown area and are looking after the survivors. Ideally, you'll want to talk to the Devils, my sister and her contingent of angels, then get down to business with the Youkai."

"Survivors..." Issei grit his teeth. "Just how many people died, Azazel?"

Azazel's gaze met the brunet's.

"A whole quarter of Kuoh's people are still missing. It's looking grim for them, though."

"And my parents?"

He sighed. "...I don't know. You'd need to check with the dispatch from Kyoto; they'll have a better casualty report than I do."

Issei almost ran off to do just that, but something stopped him. More specifically, someone.

Asia took Issei's hand, which he looked down at and squeezed.

"I'll go ahead and find your parents, Ise-kun," she promised softly. "You go do what you need to."

Better her than him. If they were still alive, but wounded, Asia would have a better chance at saving them than he would in a disaster like this.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "Thanks, Asia."

She planted a chaste kiss on his cheek before letting go, bowing briefly toward Azazel before she hurried off.

"...Heh. Looks like you two have something good going on."

Issei watched her go with a faint smile. "I think we always did."

"Look after her, kid." Azazel's voice had dropped to a surprising solemnity. "People like that are one in a million."

He didn't need to tell Issei. The brunet turned around and met the Governor-General's gaze.

"You said that the Devils have taken up the academy as their residence?"


"She's not leaving."

"Son, please listen to reason-"

"I am being reasonable," Sirzechs cut Zeoticus off. "My sister was at ground zero of the greatest breach of the Pact of Secrecy in centuries. The culprit is nowhere to be found, and the catalyst was supposedly a rogue Fallen Angel."

"Which proves our point, Sirzechs," Venelana insisted. "If she was nearly killed by the Dark Moon and a Cadre, then there is no guarantee that it won't happen again."

"Do you doubt my ability, Mother?"

"Of course not-"

"Then you should know as well as anyone that if a hair on her head were to be harmed, then Shiva himself would be appalled by the Destruction that such a fool would wrought unto themselves," Sirzechs's voice was low and soft, eyes narrowed. "There is no place in any world that is safer for her than by my side at this point in time. Rias stays. Do I make myself clear?"

"...Yes, Lord Lucifer," Venelana demurred, prompting a snarl from the Satan before he dissolved the communication array with a swipe of his arm, turning to Grayfia in the same motion. He paused, before breathing out a sigh, resting his arms on the principal's desk of the defunct Academy. Kuoh Academy itself had sustained moderate damage, but many of its rooms were still functional, and it only made sense to use the administrator's room to, well, administrate.

"Do you have something to say?" he asked, eyes softening to match his tone.

"They are worried for their child, Sirzechs-sama. I would be acting similarly, if Millicas were the one in question here." Grayfia shook her head. "Though I do not disagree; right now, it would be a fool's errand to attempt anything without inviting mutually-assured destruction."

"And we can't back out of Kuoh either, lest the others attempt to take advantage of the perceived weakness." Sirzechs ran a hand through his hair with a snort. "You certainly know how to stir the pot, don't you Luna?"

Grayfia bowed her head slightly. "...Sirzechs-sama."

"At the very least, we can go back to the Underworld and say that Rias handled the situation with aplomb and grace, until the Dark Moon proved more dangerous than expected." He set a hand to his chin, rubbing it. "She's gotten powerful enough that pursuing her is an effort in futility. Not that it hadn't been already, but she was presumed dead this whole time, so-"

"Sirzechs-sama." At this point, Grayfia shifted. "...What do you plan to do now?"

"We've already come too far to let things fall apart now." Sirzechs breathed out a sigh. "We'll stay the course. If nothing else, the proximity will accelerate the timetable for the peace conference. Especially if Azazel's telling the truth about the Red Dragon Emperor's apparent actions in saving Kuoh."

"The town is still destroyed."

"It could have been so much worse." He stared up at the ceiling. "At least most of its inhabitants survived."

"And what about Lunarunn-san?"

Sirzechs was silent for several seconds, and before he could respond another communication circle spun into existence. This time, his Bishop spoke through it.

"Sirzechs-sama. The Red Dragon Emperor is at the entrance."

"Excellent. Could you bring him to speak to me, Mathers?"

"Can do."

The sigil disappeared, and with it the Satan Lucifer breathed out another sigh, this one more relieved. "At least there is some good to be made out of this disaster."

"And what about the Dark Moon?" Grayfia repeated herself.

Sirzechs breathed in, then out.

"We will cross that bridge when we get to it. She's out of our reach, so we should not waste energy grasping at air. Morningstar knows I need to ration mine, these days."


Insane.

Rias stared long and hard at the cafeteria table, eyes fixated on a particular darkening in the polished wood.

She was insane. Lunarunn was absolutely mad.

How could she not be, when she challenged a twelve-winged Fallen Angel to a one-on-one?

And then there was that explosion. The sheer flash of light had nearly blinded her through the wardstone, and the shockwave had threatened to bring down the entire academy on their heads.

It would have too, had that Fallen barrier not somehow grown manifold and taken most of the edge off of the blast.

She had an inkling what happened, but Rias wasn't willing to jump to conclusions just yet. The fact that she felt the Pact she held with Issei flicker twice the past day was telling that he had not been in good shape after the explosion, though.

There was good reason to believe he had saved them all.

It nearly cost him his own life, yet he did it anyway.

Even Akeno seemed cowed by the fact, unusually silent as she did the exact same thing Rias was doing now, staring blankly at the table, deep in thought.

Had she been holding back? Rias had noted how there was a brief exchange of words between Kokabiel and Luna just seconds before the explosion, but she wasn't able to make out what it was that had been said. Maybe something set her off, literally in this case? There was also the fact that Luna lost her arm just moments before everything went to shit.

Rias rubbed an eye. Even now, they were sensitive and prone to itching, and it was bothering her something fierce.

Not as badly as the fact that the whole debacle was known to the entirety of the three factions, though. She'd worked to keep it quiet, but then Lunarunn had to go and blow the whole thing out of the water.

No, she was not bitter about having the Underworld clamor for her resignation of stewardship. Not at all!

"Rias, you're crushing the table," Sona pointed out.

The redhead in question glanced down, and removed her clenched fists from the now-dented wood.

"...Sorry." She rubbed her head. "It's just... it's a lot, you know? I was trying to keep everything on the hush-hush. I didn't want this to become a big issue."

"And yet here we are, with Lord Sirzechs and Lady Serafall stepping in to handle stewardship now that the town's been divided into four camps." Sona removed her glasses. "You did everything you could. Unfortunately, we walk in the shadows of giants, and in this case we were just about to be crushed underfoot."

"I just... don't get it." Rias shook her head. "Why here? Why now?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Sona glanced over to her Peerage, sitting over at another table - some of them were playing cards. "Momo, Saji. Can you get us some refreshments?"

"Yes, Kaichou!" Saji saluted at the same time Momo bowed, and the two who hadn't been in the game hurried off.

"Things aren't looking good for us, however." Sona steepled her fingers together, looking down. "I appreciate our siblings stepping up to help out now that things have gotten so out of hand, but I expect our autonomy to be sharply curtailed following this event."

Rias bared her teeth. "They can try."

"They will. And chances are high that they will succeed." Sona met Rias's gaze. "It's good that you have a contact in Lord Phenex, Rias. That being said, my own ability to obtain my desire will be... limited."

Rias didn't like seeing her friend like that. Her voice dripped of a grim acceptance, but she knew Sona well enough to recognize the hurt behind it.

"Sona... I-"

"Do not flatter yourself, Rias." Sona smiled, though it failed to reach her eyes. "It wasn't anything to do with you. In the end, the one who may well have killed my dream is the Dark Moon."

"...Do you want to do something about it?" the redhead tried instead.

"I'm not foolish enough to seek death." The Sitri heiress shook her head. "But letting her run amok does leave a... bitter taste in my mouth. The question is, how do I oppose someone who is known for killing heirs?"

"Do you think Kokabiel will have done the job?"

"No." Her reply was swift and equally certain. "Serafall is of the belief that Lunarunn is stronger than even she is. And to back up that claim, she said she's been in contact with the Dark Moon the whole time."

"Oh?" Akeno blinked, and looked at Sona with surprise. "That's peculiar. Why would a Satan maintain contact with a known fugitive?" She smirked. "Ara, does your sister have some sort of forbidden attachment with a criminal? Wouldn't that be quite the scandal~?"

"The way Serafall goes on about 'Yuri-Yuri Love'..." Sona trailed off, pinching the bridge of her nose. "She's unpredictable at the best of times; your guess is as good as mine."

Rias glanced away, frowning thoughtfully.. "My brother has suggested she's had a rougher past than she lets on. Maybe that has something to do with it?"

"An interesting theory," Sona admitted. "And likely something she wouldn't actually share unless it's brought up. I may ask her later. Though I hope you understand that if she swears me to secrecy, I'll abide by it."

"Of course. I'd do the same for Sirzechs."

The typically-bespectacled Devil slid her glasses back into her face.

"Then I'll ask when she gets back from keeping the dialogue with the Youkai Faction open."


When Issei was told he'd be speaking to Rias's brother, he was expecting many things from the de facto king of Hell.

What he wasn't expecting, however, was how Sirzechs was slumped over in his desk, a faint snore rising from him with the silver-haired maid sitting in the corner with faintly narrowed eyes and a stare that seemed to pierce right through him with disapproval. The brunet briefly glanced down before coming to the conclusion that the maid was irritated at his lack of top.

Not that he could have helped it; Asia hadn't been able to find a shirt for him, and he was pretty sure he looked in at least decent shape.

A part of him wondered if his girlfriend hadn't put as much effort into finding a shirt as she did finding him pants.

Whatever. She was stressed, and it wasn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of things.

He waited for a long minute, partly for the Satan to wake up and partly in his own thoughts, before clearing his throat.

"Excuse me."

The snoring stopped immediately, and Sirzechs lifted his head just enough to give Issei a cool gaze. "...Oh. Welcome. Sorry, I was... just trying to catch a few minutes of rest. It's been a very busy twenty-four hours."

"It's... it's alright." The brunet sweatdropped.

...Was that it? What was he supposed to do now?

Issei glanced at the maid again, pointedly not looking any further down than her neck, before closing his eyes. "How, err... how is Rias-sama?"

"Rias-sama?" That was the maid, with a tilt of her head and a quizzical look in her eye. "Elaborate on the name."

"Well... considering she and I have a Pact, and she's one of the two great Onee-samas of Kuoh Academy." He coughed and looked away. "And considering she's the sister of Lucifer on top of all of that... pretty sure she's basically royalty."

"You're not wrong," Sirzech's said, a small grin spreading across his face. "Though that does make me curious; why a Pact, instead of Peerageship?"

"I'd prefer to remain just Hyoudou Issei, rather than live under someone else's whim. Regardless of how well-intentioned they might be," he hastily added as the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise.

"Even if you would get the opportunity to form a Peerage yourself once you got strong enough, with your own harem if you so choose? I could name several Devils out of hand who do just that!"

"What's the point if I take the easy way to my dreams?"

Sirzechs and Grayfia both blinked, staring at the brunet, causing him to glance away and fidget.

"L-look, I'm not sure how you know about that- I'm guessing Rias told you about how I used to be one of the worst-behaving kids in the academy.- but I'm not that shallow." He rubbed the side of his head, particularly his ear. "At least... I hope I'm not. But if you really thought that I'm that easy to sway, then I'd already be a part of Rias-sama's Peerage."

He sighed. "Besides, I'm not an idiot either. I've done my research; hosting a harem - a real one, not a political or exploitative one - is incredibly difficult; it requires discipline, trust, and a depth of understanding between each other that goes beyond just a normal relationship. Even then, there's a reasonable chance it falls apart anyway."

"...Then why would you be a delinquent, like you mentioned?" The silver-haired woman asked, furrowing her brow disapprovingly. "That's counterproductive to the extreme."

Issei glanced away, eyes sliding halfway shut, gritting his teeth as the innocuous question caused something ugly to twist in his gut.

"It's alright, Grayfia." Sirzechs waved her down. "It's clear that young Issei has put a lot of thought into it. I can commend that level of self-awareness; I know many who lack it even back home."

He tapped the desk once. "Plus, I doubt he realized he was the Red Dragon Emperor back then. I bet learning he's the host of Ddraig Y Goch changed his worldview significantly."

"Shut up, don't call me that."

Sirzechs froze, a single eyebrow slowly rising as his eyes met Issei's. The brunet in question glared back, not at all repentant for his snapping at The Devil.

"I didn't ask to be Ddraig's jailor," Issei drawled.

"Yet you are," the redhead said evenly. "And nothing you do will change that."

"Maybe not. But call me Red Dragon Emperor again and I will walk out of here without another word." Issei put a hand to his chest. "I'm the one that Boosted the barrier to keep Kuoh from being vaporized. Not Ddraig. Not the other Red Dragon Emperors." That hand turned into a thumb, jabbing into his own torso. "Me."

"Something that you wouldn't have been able to do without that Sacred Gear," Grayfia interjected.

"Something that I chose to do," the brunet riposted. "Because for all it's worth, the Boosted Gear's just a fucking glove. A powerful one, and one that hosts the soul of a dragon, but useless without a wearer. If I didn't have it, and saving the people I cared about in Kuoh would have killed me, I'd have done the exact same thing"

He crossed his arms. "You wanna know why I became a delinquent? Because it's real simple: if nobody was willing to look any deeper than the pervert with a breast obsession, then they aren't worth my time."

'And of the four people that did spend time around me, only Asia and Aika were actually decent.'

Considering that a quarter of Kuoh's populace was missing, last he was made aware...

'I really hope they're okay.'

It took a moment for him to realize he meant Matsuda and Motohama too.

"And Rias?" Sirzechs inquired.

"She's... an interesting case." Issei sighed. "She only noticed me because I have the Boosted Gear, but at the same time she's been, ah." He gained a sheepish expression. "I'm not quite sure how to put it, actually. It's weird being 'wanted' by the hottest girl in school, but I'd rather it be because of who I am, rather than what I am. Y'know?"

Never mind the fact that she damn near seduced him into signing a Pact without reading the fine print first. Granted, there wasn't much there that he had a huge issue with, but the memory still left him frustrated and lightheaded in equal measure.

The side of Rias's brother's mouth turned upward. "My dear sister has been a bit of a hypocrite, it seems."

"Sirzechs-sama?" Grayfia said, though she just got a look and a nod from him in response before the Satan returned his eyes to Issei.

"I was wondering what kind of person the wielder of the Boosted Gear would be. Many let the power go to their head. Others, the reputation. Yet you don't seem to be a brute, you are proud enough to want to do things the right way and be more than the title, and you're surprisingly perceptive to boot." A rumble of laughter worked its way out of the redheaded man's throat. "It's little wonder that Rias has been so insistent on adding you to her Peerage."

"The Pact we made is about as far as I'm willing to go." Issei's own lips curled up. "I'll work with her, but it'll be as partners, not as a servant."

"She has few enough of the latter to begin with. Either way, another would do her good." Sirzechs stood, crossing his arms behind his back. "With that being said, she and Sona should be in the cafeteria. Why don't you go talk to them?

"...Normally, I'd say yes, but I'm not sure what happened to my parents. Cell service is still down, and I want to make sure they're okay."

"It should only take a few minutes. I think it'd do them some good to see a friendly face."

"Even a few minutes could be..." he swallowed. "...important."

"Do you have other places to be as well?"

Masaomi's house, to collect information on that part of town from Gabriel. Then following that, the hospital where the Youkai faction would be handling the injured. That was the order Azazel had mentioned, right? "Yeah."

"Then a few minutes on top of that isn't that large a commitment, is it?" Sirzechs stepped around and placed a hand on Issei's shoulder. "I know you're worried, but my sister is worried too. She's been trying to keep everything going on under control, so with everything going to bedlam..."

Issei glanced up at him. He nodded once.

"A few minutes of your time. That's all I ask of you, and all I can reasonably ask, after what you've already done for my family."

Right. Rias would be dead too, if it wasn't for Issei's quick action.

"Having a Satan in your debt would be a massive trump card. Keeping in his good graces would give you even more leverage."

Ddraig wasn't wrong.

"You owe me a big favor."

Sirzechs Lucifer's face widened into a full grin.

"I can live with that. Thank you."


"What about your mother? Your approval of the Red Dragon Emperor will only increase the pressure she places on Rias to add him to her Peerage."

"...We'll have to trust that Rias understands the risks of running this line. She knows what she's doing, and even if she doesn't she learns fast."

He sat back down in front of the desk, a little too roughly he realized. Grayfia had noticed and was by his side in an instant, a grimace rising to his face even as she started to fret.

"Enough is enough. You need to rest. You're juggling so much, between the Baels, the Dark Moon, our own standing, and then there's Falbium and Serafall-"

"I know!" Sirzechs cut in, stopping Grayfia short.

He brought a hand up to his face, silent for several seconds before continuing, voice quiet. "I know. I already told you though, we can't stop now. I have to keep going-"

"Sirzechs, you're running yourself ragged." A hand rested on his forearm. "Please, get some sleep. I... it hurts, seeing you getting worn down like you are."

"Grayfia. You know why I'm doing all this."

"I do. But it's one thing to know, and another to see it."

"Are you losing your nerve?"

"...One of us has to. I don't want Millicas to have to live without a father."

"It's for his sake, and Rias's sake, and your sake, that I'm willing to take that risk."

"Well I'm not!" Grayfia's composure broke for a moment, before she reeled her emotions back in. "Millicas wouldn't. Neither would Rias. Sirzechs... there's still time to turn all this around. Still time to do things another way."

"If you can think of a way to fulfill our goals without putting myself in as much of a bind as I'm in now, I'd be happy to hear it."

She didn't answer. He knew she wouldn't.

"Besides. I've already done enough that even if we did backtrack... nothing would be the same." Sirzechs started tapping the table again, slowly. "In one sense, we've already crossed the point of no return."

There wasn't room for half-measures. Not here. Not anymore.


As the dust began to clear, drifting off into the abyss around him, Kokabiel breathed in deeply.

That wouldn't be enough. She'd already proven resistant to holy energy, given that she'd shaken off getting impaled directly in the chest. Lunarunn had managed to heal from getting stuck in the gut before, so it only made sense she'd be even better at shaking off debilitating injuries like that now.

There was also the chance that what he'd struck was just a refraction of some sort, or that she blinked away after he stuck her through the neck, or the displacement of her body compared to her actual location.

'That was one of her favorite tricks, wasn't it?'

Memories flickered in the back of his mind, of a time immemorial, where he could remember that brown hair. The face, which had for a long moment been clear to him, had faded back into obscurity.

He couldn't remember it. Why did his memory fail him? It never had before!

Yet he knew, all the same, when he spun to the side and deflected a barrage of stardust, the particles shooting off and exploding in the far distance with enough force to cause his robes to fiercely flap, that the features of the one he faced now were the exact same. He knew, from that singular moment of absolute recognition, the same way he knew from the very beginning that this woman was dangerous.

"I took His life?" Lunarunn was nonplussed, shaking her head with an expression of incredulity. "I already told you, I'm not her!"

Kokabiel ignored her words. She certainly sounded sincere, but the elusive memory of the prism-eyed woman who his Father had sealed away - the one that took His life to stop - continued to prod him onward. The Light of God blazed around him as he charged in, sweeping out to catch the Devil in a Holy embrace. Yet even as the resulting burst of light dissipated, Lunarunn was unfazed, both good arm and stump extended to each side, a shimmering sphere around her shattering with the sound of tinkling glass before shooting inward-

"Guh-!"

The shimmering, near-invisible shards of the Worldweaver's barrier dug into his flesh, glowing bright before detonating like the stardust she had used before, engulfing Kokabiel in both gashes and agony.

At that moment, he realized she and he had swapped places. He hadn't even a moment to react before the attack struck home.

The timing of her transposition was immaculate, even he had to begrudgingly admit. Any sooner and he could have done something about it, any later and Luna would have struck herself.

With that admittance, however, came a more sinister thought.

'Has she been holding back, or did she just stumble onto some sort of revelation?'

If she'd started with this sort of salvo, it wouldn't have mattered how many of his troops he'd dedicated to pure defense; Kuoh would have been wiped out entirely.

There was still the good chance that it had been destroyed.

The soul-shaking roar of simultaneous nuclear blasts erupted in front of the cadre, breaking his train of thought in the face of imminent threat.

Kokabiel summoned a barrier to protect himself, but that only padded the blow that sent him screeching across the asteroid field, piercing through a multitude of asteroids as his vision realigned with the nothing that remained in the path of Lunarunn's attack..

"I can't take that chance," he gritted his teeth. "Even without Trihexa's mark you threaten the world with your very existence, Outsider."

Luna lifted her hand to her nose and wiped away the freely flowing blood, only for it to be replaced a moment later. Her eyes were bloodshot as well, and her face was pale, perhaps from nausea. "And the fact that I didn't nuke Kuoh the instant we started fighting isn't a reason to at least hear me out?"

For a brief moment, memories resurfaced, his surroundings blurring with a similar scene, if from a different time.

"I won't make the same mistake that cost us our Father."

He murmured the other words that had been brewing, unable to completely cut them out even as he barreled back in, a whirlwind of raven wings and holy light, but Luna appeared to pick up on it anyway, and in a moment it was like her frustration never existed. Her expression fell, and a terrible, infuriating sympathy entered her gaze as she held back Kokabiel's charge long enough to break away..

"You blame yourself."

Those three words, softly spoken right before she blinked away, stopped Kokabiel cold, and prompted the brunette to continue from atop an asteroid to the side.

"So instead of even considering my side, you're closing yourself off, so that you don't doubt the path you've chosen."

That asteroid was obliterated by a beam of divine power that crashed into it from the surrounding stars.

She should have stopped talking, but she continued even as she floated between two large floating rocks, right in the middle between the two.

"But even now, you're hesitating. Because if you stop and think about it... you know there's no need for us to fight."

She threw out her arms again to block the beams of holy light that blasted through each asteroid, almost spitroasting the brunette had they not been stopped by her barriers.

"That's enough, Outsider," he warned, already preparing another salvo.

Luna closed her eyes, a quiet sigh escaping her lips. "I thought it could be the case before, but now I know for sure. We could see eye to eye. I think we just about do."

The brunette blinked away again as the beams burst, annihilating the nearby surroundings. The raven-winged man's voice had turned to a growl. "I said that's enough!"

The cadre turned around to see Lunarunn having warped behind him, reopening her eyes and setting a hand on her breast, voice impassioned. "I know it's hard, especially given my face and my power, but can't you imagine the good that could come from giving me the chance to pick up the pieces my doppelganger left to rot so long ago? Are you truly so scared to give faith a chance?"

"SILENCE!" Kokabiel finally erupted, blasting forward again as Lunarunn grit her teeth, meeting his charge in another clash, barrier versus barrier. "There will be no more discussion on this! My path is clear, and it is paved in your blood!"

Her eyes started shimmering, but not with the power of Worldweave."...Is it so wrong to ask a Fallen Angel to put his trust in the same humanity he Fell for?"

Not when she was the one asking.

"You're no human. You're not even worthy of being deemed a Devil. You're a beast, an animal to be put down, nothing more!"

The dam broke, and with the tears came an indignant fury. "Kokabiel, you're a fucking idiot! There's no difference between any of them, can't you see that?!"

With a swipe Luna disengaged before flowing back in, snapping out like a viper. The cadre felt something impact his gut, before expanding outward, a pulse of gravity that sent his internals churning and his body flying, only to be stopped as an asteroid collided with him at speed, resulting in the destruction of the stone formation in a cloud of debris.

He blasted the debris away before rushing back in with a holy blade, each slash meeting a block from Luna's remaining arm, drawing thin lines of blood up and down it, but otherwise doing no damage.

"Then you really are a fool!" the cadre bellowed, kicking Luna away and unleashing an array of energy beams, streaking in on the brunette in every direction. "It is God's children who will receive the world, not the parasites that turned against Him!"

"And what of humanity!?" Once more, the beams veered off-course, crashing into each other with no effect to the Worldweaver, who was trembling, blood dripping away from her face, and from her eyes, as it mixed with the tracks left by her prior tears.

"What of it?" He shook his head, innumerable lights gleaming around him before they all exploded, leaving Luna nowhere to run as he rushed back in to grab the Devil and pump her so full of holy energy that she'd explode like an overripe melon. His hands met yet another barrier, which he started to pound through, each crash against the pane of space punctuated by a crack and a blast of holy energy. "It is humans who are worthy of His gifts. Not the Angels, who refuse to acknowledge His passing and cling to a bygone era. Not the Fallen, who abandoned Him for their own selfish desires! Not the gods or their pets who have profited off of Yahweh's death! And most certainly not the spawn of those who betrayed everything He stood for! That's why it's called 'humanity', Outsider!"

The last sentence was followed by the sound of breaking glass as Lunarunn's barrier broke, his other hand streaking through to grab her face and put an end to this farce once and for all.

He missed, hand trailing by her ear and through her hair as the brunette lurched forward, and then Kokabiel heard a crunch, leaving him seeing stars as something collided with his face.

Blood poured from Kokabiel's nose as he staggered back, concentration broken enough for Lunarunn to press the advantage, slamming a fist into the side of his face with another crack.

"You're wrong!" she screamed back, pain and defiance intertwined as she unleashed another explosion from point-blank, arm recoiling in a mass of shredded flesh and spraying blood from the backblast of what had already been a shaped charge of an atomic detonation, already reforming as her pupils glowed white and her face ran that same liquid red from overexertion.

Luna couldn't see what exactly happened with Kokabiel after that, but considering how sturdy he'd already proven himself, she knew that it wouldn't kill the cadre. Indeed; his face was a bloody mess, and his eyes were unfocused as he tumbled through the air from the force of the blast.

She waited - spending the time to try and recollect herself - until Kokabiel recovered from the nuclear-powered punch she unloaded into him."You're blinded, Kokabiel! You see humans and see God's legacy, but nothing else!"

"Then tell me what you see that I don't!" he thundered, spitting out a wad of blood. "You, the woman who wears the face of Father's demise and bears the taint of the Beast, tell the one who has lived millennia what he is missing!"

"You're missing the forest for the trees!" Luna grit her teeth. "You ever wonder why, despite being wholly different species from humans, that Devils, Angels, Fallen, Youkai, and everything in between all have human-like forms!?"

"Because they leech off of the heirs of God's will!" He drew back before lunging forward like a mighty arrow, Luna just barely evading the onrush with a deft yank of gravity to propel her to the side.

The brunette shook her head, glancing down at her blouse - in tatters, though that was a given - before ripping the remains away with a grunt. Her bra and pendant had miraculously survived thus far, but the wide-necked shirt itself had long since become a lost cause. A moment later, and she had to avoid another onrush, followed by thin beams that forced her to dance and contort to avoid being sliced up or blasted straight through

"And you don't think we'd have more monsters running around if that were the case?! Those that isolate themselves from everything, wouldn't they look completely inhuman if they're not 'leeches'?"

Kokabiel slowed to a stop a ways away and held up a hand, conjuring a massive light spear. "What are you blathering on about now?"

"I'll be honest... I can't stand Devils. Their culture, more specifically." The brunette looked back up. "They indulge in the seven sins and then some, and I for one can't stand the self-serving nature of their society. It disgusts me, and it disgusts me all the more because I know it's not much different than how humans would act in that exact situation."

"You dare insinuate that the progeny of the Demons are the same as humans?" Immediately he hurled the construct at Luna, and once more the empty space became filled with the essence of Heaven, to destroy that which opposed it.

Once more, she blinked away, holding her hand to her head even as she glared back at him.

"Can you tell me in all honesty that humans wouldn't do the same?" she fired back, before continuing. "Besides, Devils aren't Demons. The son should not bear the sins of the father, and even if Devils don't have a great track record... Well, you can say the exact same for humans too. Like I said; they're all people."

Luna clenched her hand into a fist, holding it out in front of her. "And you can extend that to everyone else in the supernatural world! Gods, youkai, dragons, they all have the ability to take human-like forms. They all have their own desires, and their own whims, and they all have pissing matches to prove they're the 'best', like it's going out of style. Yet, to some degree they're all able to get along. They chose to be more human, because it makes it easier to understand each other!"

"What's your point?" he growled.

"My point, Watcher of the Stars, is that your single-minded view on humanity is too focused on humans themselves. The supernatural world embraces humanity, for better or worse, because they recognize that humanity is what connects them all!" she splayed her hand to the side. "Have the gods not led humanity to prosperity before? Have youkai not helped humans in times of need? Have angels not Fallen for the sake of being closer to man than their Father?"

She purposefully met his eyes. "Have you not given your soldiers the order to retreat, because you wanted them to survive facing me? Would you still have done that, were you not inspired by humans so long ago?"

"It was illogical to throw my troops into a blender when it would be useless."

"You say that... but it wasn't until you saw one of them suffocating that you made them fall back," Luna smirked knowingly. "That wasn't a decision made solely in logic. You did it because even if you resent your own people for being selfish, you don't want them to die either."

The cadre narrowed his eyes. "And how would you claim to know the reasoning of a Fallen Angel?"

"...Because that's exactly what I would say here and now, in your shoes."

Kokabiel's eyes widened, and he lunged forward, expression apoplectic.

Luna swerved to the side, arm shooting out, whole body recoiling backward as Kokabiel was engulfed in another blast.

It was weaker than the last time. There wasn't as much of her arm to repair, but putting it back together after shredding it with another close-ranged explosion took longer as well. The only reason, she knew, that she wasn't passing out from the mind-numbing agony was because of the iron grip she held over the well of potential within her mind. Between that and her desire - no, her will - to see this fight to the end, she kept going.

"You wanna know why I keep my scars, Kokabiel!?" she shouted, landing on a nearby asteroid - though it was closer to a planetoid in size. "They're reminders! Reminders of the lives I climbed over to get to where I am now! A reminder that no matter how powerful I am, I started as a nobody, and that I carry more than just my own life into the future!"

Kokabiel landed as well, panting heavily. His wings drooped slightly, even as he angrily glared at the Worldweaver.

"Don't try to seduce me with your talk of 'responsibility', Outsider."

Luna smiled grimly.

"Then I'll do so with the force of my conviction. I'm going to beat you, here and now, and not just for my own sake."

She held up her hand, another pitch black sphere appearing in it. Instead of throwing it, however, she instead guided it to the stump on her arm and then drew back, the white-outlined surface of the singularity spreading outward until it had formed an entirely new hand, one whose fingers she tested gingerly, wincing at the way her head started to spin.

'Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Hold it together, Luna.'

A shuddering inhale gave way to a focused exhale.

"Not just for your own sake?" Kokabiel echoed as he readied one more spear of light. Not as a fire-and-forget weapon, but as a weapon to defy the absence of light itself.

"I don't fight for myself alone. I bear the ones I lost, the ones I ended, and the ones I changed."

There was a brief pause as Luna stared down, her real hand gently scooping up the pendant she still wore, squeezing it gently before she let go and looked back up.

"So I'm going to survive, so their deaths continue to have meaning. So that one day, mine will mean something too."

Luna's smile split to show teeth.

'It's now or never.'

"But until that day, I will live a life to make them proud. It's time to finish this, Kokabiel - Here I come."


Kokabiel wasn't sure what to make of her.

Carry the lives of those she affected?

Survive, to give their deaths meaning?

Survive, so her death means something?

Live a life to make 'them' proud?

Reminders of the person she once was?

This was unusual.

This was... different.

Even if her severed arm was replaced by a darkness that was painful to look at, her eyes shone white, despite the red that freely flowed beneath them.

This wasn't like her.

This wasn't like... her.

How long has it been since then?

How has it come to this?

How was it that he couldn't remember her face?

It was staring back at him, weaving in and out in a dance of death, black and white swirling, surging, striking, strafing, and with each one, both he and his foe gained another wound, evenly matched from their injuries and exhaustion.

But that wasn't her.

Those weren't her eyes.

Those weren't her beliefs.

That was her power, through and through.

But it wasn't her.

He drew back his arm with a roar as he and the brunette got closer and closer.

She still hadn't used Trihexa's taint yet.

She would have.

But Lunarunn hadn't.

And even though she looked on the brink of death, there was a wide grin on her face as his weapon of choice, learned over countless years, met the empty void where her arm once was.

For the briefest moment, Kokabiel's eyes widened.

'That isn't her.'

The arm-shaped singularity pulled at Kokabiel, forcing him to release his spear and back away as the brunette who had released it swung back around with the light of stars in the palm of her hand, flanking him between grayscale gravity and an efflorescent outpouring of energy.

As disarmed as he was, as exhausted as he was, the cadre had given her as large an opening as he ever had this fight. He knew that she knew it, too.

White eyes blazed with defiance and life, a well of potential tempered by a reforged will, unbowed by the fear of the after.

For that long moment, he would have realized in a time of respite, the first Outsider had slipped from his mind.

Kokabiel wasn't sure what to make of Lunarunn.

The planetoid shattered as light and dark, divinity and inevitability, energy and gravity collided.


A/N-

Yeah. Atomic explosions and black holes. This is why you don't fuck with someone who is able to manipulate the fabric of reality at basic enough levels to affect the actions of literal stars. If Luna had been fighting anyone less powerful than Kokabiel, there wouldn't even be dust left.

Hopefully, this shows how she's most definitely in the realm of the Satans (at least!) in terms of ability.

Okay, so that more or less concludes the fighting portion of the climax. At this point, it's time to dig into the aftermath, which we will get into a bit more in the next chapter. It's another big chapter, and there are a few things that I understand stand out right now. Namely, how the hell did they end up in an asteroid field, and how are they able to breathe and speak normally? We'll get into those current mysteries in the next one.

Tempura Wizard out.