The Chaos that consumes the world
XIII
Issei felt as though all the confidence evaporated from his body in the split second that he found himself staring up at an actual dragon.
The giant beast loomed over him, eyes burning into his very soul - if he had one - and bleeding its murderous intentions without restraint. Everything else save for the dragon seemed to move in slow motion, a large claw raised itself into the air and clenched around into a fist, a hand larger than his own body swung down.
[Move idiot!]
The world jerked around him, he kicked off the ground and sent an explosion of dust sailing through the air from the recoil of his kick. Moving high into the sky in the span of a single breath and above the dragon.
Yet its eyes tracked him, even as their fist smashed into the ground and rolled it like it was water.
The head whipped up, jaws parted as the back of their throat glowed with clear intentions, an ominous purple colour grew brighter and brighter from the very back of the maw. Issei tensed his body in the air, feeling his momentum cut out completely and allowing him to hover for only a split second.
Everything was moving too fast - he was moving too fast - it was much more than he actually knew what to do with. It was like he'd think about going somewhere, and he was there.
[9]
The number bounced through his head, the memory of the timer he had until this power ran short. It wasn't long, ten seconds at most by what Ddraig had said and, from the sounds of things, he would need to make every single second count if he was to actually stand a chance here. Not just for his own sake, but for the sake of everyone he cared about.
His body rocketed forwards, arm coiled back and swinging an armoured fist forwards with all of his might.
What had been intended to be a punch ended up as more of a shoulder barge, he smashed himself into the jaw of the dragon and bounced clean off it, but not without the thunderclap and pained grumble of the beast reverberating through his bones, his eyes rolled around in his skull as he tried to right himself in the air, barely catching a glimpse of the black silhouette before he swung himself about.
Striking the ground, he bounced twice before he thrust a hand out, grabbing onto anything that would actually slow his travel.
Something crunched between his fingers, falling through the gaps like sand and he barely caught a glimpse of half a brick flying past his face before he struck the ground and stopped, hitting with such force that he had managed to bury his legs in the ground like nails, only just realising that he was near the old carpark of the factory.
His eyes swept to the side, narrowing instantly.
[8]
He stepped forwards, blitzing and lashing out with his right hand, fingers clenched around the metallic shaft of the old lamppost and pulling, ripping it free of the ground with a spray of sparks and rain of dust.
With another step, he skipped forwards and brought it around himself like a bat, a bellowing cry escaped him as he pressed off the ground and into the air, bringing the street lamp above his head and towards the dragon, it had recovered and was charging him down, head sweeping through the air like a hammer towards him.
He swung back, it was a blow that should have - in his mind - been enough to stop the attack or at least halt it.
But he was wielding a street lamp made of old steel.
Folding like a paper straw, the lap sparked from his hand as the head hammered into his body and sent him careening through the sky in another uncontrolled flight, at least until he heard the next sound, a great whooshing noise and a feeling of something heavy shifting the air.
His head snapped down, his eyes bulged.
Willing his body to turn, he just about managed to avoid the jaws of the dragon clamping shut around him, the slitted red eyes locked onto him in an instant and the mouth opened up once more, turning on him and glowing with that same brilliant purple light, he heard the rumble in the back of the throat and felt the heat rising up.
So he did the first thing that came to mind, he shot forwards.
Green light rocketed him like a comet, he felt the impact before he could actually see it, what he caught was a flash of light and then the feeling of weightlessness shooting through his body, a faint ringing sensation as he twisted through the air and turned his head, sweeping it left and right in an effort to find the dragon.
The light on his back flashed once more, slowing his momentum just enough so that he was in more of a controlled flight, though he wasn't quite sure how he knew how to do any of that.
He didn't have long to debate that in his head either, reacting purely on the instincts as they came to him.
[7]
Light propelled him further and further into the sky as he saw the dragon accelerate towards him with a single beat of its mighty wings, he heard the shape crack of the air splitting and felt the explosion of momentum from the monster as it surged towards him faster than he could move.
Crimson danced across his hands, arcing like lightning between his fingers as he slammed his fists together. Whipping himself around and pulling his arms apart, the orb of light grew until it was larger than a melon, his right arm pulled itself back as far as it could go, then he swung down with all his might.
His knuckles pounded into the orb, rocketing it away from him and towards the dragon in the blink of an eye.
It struck the monster dead on, a cloud of black and red smoke fluttering across the length of its body for half a second.
Magenta burst through the clouds, he darted to the left as the pillar of flames raced past his body and into the sky. Whipping his head around to follow it as it continued its course, all of which turned out to be a grievous error on his part.
By the time Issei realised he had taken his eyes off the dragon, it was much too late to do anything about it.
He turned around just in time to fold over the wing as it hammered into his gut, he heard the crack and felt them through his body, splinters ran through the length of his armour as blood erupted out of his mouth, his body flipped over the wing and lost any sort of momentum, the dragon continued up into the sky before it slowed to a crawl.
Hovering for only a moment, then it dropped backwards and reversed course, diving towards him with its intentions clear.
Issei coughed out more blood.
[6]
His hands clenched to fists as he forced his body to respond, flexing his muscles and feeling the power channel through him once more, exploding in a storm of verdant, he rocketed back up to meet the dragon, twisting his body and driving his shoulder into the join between the wing and the torso itself.
It was all he could think of, he felt the resistance against his body and it was more like he'd run right out in front of a train for all the use it felt like. At least for a tense millisecond, a fraction of an instant where it seemed like the stupidest thing he could have possibly done.
Then the dragon twisted around his impact, spiralling to the side with a growl of annoyance as it turned to find its footing, so to speak.
Issei saw it shoot up from ground level, for a brief instant it looked like a firework.
The dragon clearly felt it in the next moment, its eyes shot wide and its gargantuan head turned about face in the direction of the light rising up from the surface. Though it proved to be a touch too slow as it was upon the dragon before it could so much as open its jaws, even if it had, the mighty kick which struck the underside of its chin would have surely closed them again.
Wind snapped around him, shunting him backwards as the head of the dragon jerked up.
A snapshot of the purple haired fallen, ten pitch black wings spread outwards behind her.
Then she vanished, accelerating forwards like a blur the likes of which even he had trouble seeing, only to reappear while being flanked by a dozen spears of light, each one hammering into the body like a torrent of rain which peeled away chips and scratches of the armoured hide inch by inch.
The woman vanished, appearing by the head once more and throwing her arms wide.
Light coiled around the air above her head, growing larger and larger until it eventually reached the size of a plane.
Issei gaped under his helm.
With a roar, the woman swung down and propelled the avalanche of light down onto the dragon.
…Or rather, in the direction of it.
The lizard snapped its head up, he felt something shift in the air, like the air being ripped from his lungs, then the maw of the dragon opened wide and he caught only a brief whisper of humming from the throat before the sky was engulfed in purple flames, spreading out from the mouth and stretching across the spear in an instant.
[5]
The explosion sent him hurtling through the air, spinning around without control as he tried and failed to figure out his up from his down. That was without his eyes burning from having night turn to day within the span of a single second.
White patches burnt into his vision as he struggled through the air.
Then he heard it, felt it even.
The whistling which grew louder and louder.
He brought his head about, seeing only the smear of darkness with twin red eyes streaking towards him faster than he could move. It was as though time slowed down around him, yet he was consumed with this same feeling as well. Watching as the mouth of the dragon swung open, seeing the reflection of the fading explosion shining across the rows of razor sharp teeth.
The murderous intentions in the eyes of the dragon as it grew closer and closer towards him.
All of it was happening in the span of less than a second.
But it was a second that stretched for years, images flashed through his mind that he initially struggled to make sense of. Then he realised they were his own memories, playing from oldest to newest as fast as they could, the slideshow moving before he could ever really appreciate any of them.
Then it was over before he even knew it.
Leaving him alone with the head of the dragon closing in on him.
The dragon jerked off course, time flickered back to normal as a thud rumbled through the air like distant thunder, the dragon released a roar as a streak of silver shot right past his head and buried itself into the head of the dragon, its wings spread wide as it swung them down.
The buffeting winds served only to accelerate him closer and closer to the ground until he struck it with a crunch, watching the earth shoot past his head and the feeling of being trapped, Issei's field of vision turned into nothing more than an enclosed view of the sky above his head and the dragon twisting past through the air.
[4]
Seriously?
Issei couldn't even manage the time to groan, pulling his arms up either side and dragging them up. Watching as his fingers stretched to the edge of his boxed up world and gripping tight against the edges of the surface and pulling himself up, feeling the pressure around him cave as he burst from the ground amidst a shower of rock and dust-
Movement flashed in the corner of his eyes, his head whipped around to face it.
The head of some giant monster, a rounded oval like skull, closed in towards him with large fangs looming to press down.
"Shi-!"
An explosion silenced him, the darkened skull became nothing more than a fine spray of mist as the Burial Agent suddenly appeared right in front of him, leg still travelling from where it appeared as though she had kicked.
Issei remained frozen for barely a fraction of a second.
Then light exploded from in front of the woman, it was only a single thin beam that shot forth from her finger but it struck something in the air, then it split apart like a web, growing wider and wider and bouncing off more invisible marks, curving at straight angles and creating a crossbeam.
It abruptly collapsed inwards in the next second, every beast that was caught in the web was shredded into fine chunks, even the ones that had coated in armour were nothing more than mincemeat.
Then she darted forwards and vanished once more, he took that as his cue to move as the ground bubbled like water around him. Vaulting himself into the sky and turning, his eyes shot wide at the display, the ground twisted and dropped into tar, then exploded like a river of flames, only for a blanket of ice to sweep over it.
A thunderclap shattered the ice, a trench carved clean through it and accelerated forwards, dicing the bodies of a variety of animals as it moved, each one frozen at the moment of their deaths with sprays of blood reaching for the sky and locking up.
[3]
Another burst sent him into the sky once more, twisting in the air before he eventually locked eyes with the dragon, still engaged in an aerial battle with the Fallen Angel.
Power coiled behind him, he held it in place as it grew tighter and tighter.
His muscles trembled, the armour shuddered around him.
Cracks spread across his cuirass and chips of crimson steel peeled away from him and dropped to the ground.
Red light cracked between his fingers, holding them close together and forming yet another orb of scarlet, but keeping it close to his chest, holding the burning sphere between his fingers and locking onto the dragon with a singular gaze.
[Interesting. So that's what you're going to do, boy? Risky…I like it.]
He knew it was risky, but at this point he really couldn't think of anything else he was supposed to do.
Rumblings in the distance, the body of the dragon was showered in hundreds of explosions as spears of light formed around it and thrust inwards, yet it remained unbroken from the display and countered with a sweeping storm of magenta flames from its mouth, spilling down and twisting itself in the air to breath in every direction.
He took in a deep breath, it was probably gonna be the last one he managed for a couple of seconds, then he loosened his hold on the power he'd been building up.
Duck, punch.
The head caved in a fraction of a second, blood and gore spilled into the air.
She twisted her body about, magical energy swept through her grasp and outwards into the ground, she slammed her palm down.
The barrier, thinner than paper, formed between her and the charging monster, it struck the shield and bounced off. With a simple flick of the wrist, she twisted the barrier around and thrust it forwards, it surged like a guillotine and split the monster all the way down the centre before continuing on-
A burst of air shattered it like glass, she dove to the side as the attack swept through where she had been stood, cutting a clear gouge through the stone and driving a rather deep hole into the ground, her feet touched the ground for only a single breath before she pushed into the sky.
Her body twisted about, sweeping out and hurling forth the Black Keys as they fell into her hands, they froze in the air, locked in place by an invisible force, then accelerated to an even greater speed, faster than a human would have been able to react.
Her target didn't even bother to track them.
The keys struck their body and shattered into dust, she felt the pulse of magical energy before a river of tar spilled across the ground beneath her, twin eyes flashed and a serpent burst from the river and towards her, at the same time she heard the vibrations in the air of wingbeats coming in from behind her.
It was less than a second to think and even less time to react.
She swung her finger down, sky blue light exploded from the tip and aimed not for the serpent, but for the spot next to the body.
The light struck and bounced, redirected by the flash of a barrier she had deployed in the millisecond before impact.
Fluorescent blue split the body of the snake clean in half before it could get to within half a distance of her, the light continued on and then reflected once more, bouncing past her head, and towards something behind her, a vague screech like an eagle before a sizzle and then silence, she twisted once more and hit the ground, ice shattered under her feet as she pressed forwards.
A shimmer in the air, a space where light bent, she swung her arm forwards at the same time it released a singular beam of brightness, only a streak of light. It hammered into the distortion and split apart, a single beam of light became a thousand shards within a split second, racing towards the target-
She moved, an explosion materialised where she had been standing.
A tremor ran through her mind's eye, her gaze darted all around her as the expanse of air surrounding her body was abruptly filled with blades of wind, only catching them by the blurs as they raced for her body. A split second, shields surrounded her and blocked the attacks, they hammered like drum beats with each impact.
Her body twisted, she ducked up low and swung her leg upwards and across the ground in a roundhouse, light peeled away from her boots and through the air as a crescent blade, racing forwards, her hands filled with black keyes and hurled themselves in the direct wake of the attack.
Swinging her hands left and right, she unleashed twin beams from both palms, they shot straight for the ground before reflecting off the nothing she summoned, their aim shifted and honed right towards the head of the man, the concentrated attack slammed home in a split second-
Her arms came up in a block, light flooded her gaze as heat spread across her limbs, a strong force pushed against her as the momentum of the sudden attack carried her backwards, her eyes focused instantly, staring at the lion shaped beast with a great furry mane, pushing her back while heat billowed from its temple.
Throwing her guard wide, the lion was shunted back and she moved forwards, clasping the upper and lower jaw before pulling in opposite directions. Her teeth grit, feeling a tough resistance before a deep thud echoed through her bones, the jaws snapped out of place before giving way completely.
Another pull, she ripped them apart, tossing them aside and driving her knee up through and into the upper jaw directly, the skull shattered. Her hands formed a singular fist above her head, swinging down into the top and slamming the corpse back into the ground. She pressed forwards, stamping on the head and using it as a springboard for good measure as she charged forwards.
The Devil flashed past her, bringing with them a barrage of ice, the spears of frost struck home and shattered like cheap glass, only for the shards to halt in the air and then melt, the water swung down and coated the body of the man before freezing over them once more, a thick layer of ice coated the body-
It shattered with only a single step taken from the victim, their arm came up, a spiked tendril jerked out from their elbow and thrust for the Devil, they ducked low and swung up.
She kicked off the ground and swung down.
Pain flashed through her shin, a shark burst from the back of the man and locked its jaws around her kick. She felt the grinding of bone as the serrated teeth punctured through her skin and into her leg. Only for a moment.
At the same time, she watched the knife headed fish burst from the chest of the man and strike the Devil in the chest, only just managing to bring up their sword but she heard the crack of something, metal if the glistening shards flying from the face of the blade told any story.
Her hand swung forwards, the shield formed around her foot and spread outwards.
The head of the shark was severed instantly, she pressed off it and pushed herself back into a spin.
Light danced below her, akin to a string helicoptering through the air.
Her feet touched the ground, she watched the glowing rope snap around the body of the man, what she expected to happen was for them to just rip it free. Yet she watched exertion flood through their pale face, only for it to be replaced with confusion as nothing happened. She felt her own sense of bemusement, then dismissed it entirely as some manner of entrapping mystic code.
She knew it would not last for long.
A snap of her fingers formed the invisible mirrors all around her, light pooled across her hands before they swung outwards, hundreds of pencil length arrows of light danced from her within the span of a single second, bouncing with such speed that - for a moment - it looked like a single continuous beam arcing from point to point right in front of her.
They needled the man, striking him with explosions of brilliance that soon shrouded their body in light and dust, a walking thundercloud for all of a single infinitesimal moment-
A thunderclap above her, or something akin to a jet plane breaking the sound barrier broke her concentration, the ringing in her ears came next.
Her eyes swung up, catching sight of the Red Dragon Emperor - their body dancing with scarlet light - shooting across the sky like a comet and slamming right into the body of the dragon like a missile, she watched the beast jerk backwards from the attack, the visible shockwave of red exploded forth from their body as splatters of flesh and scale broke away from the beast.
At least they were useful as a distraction.
Her instincts screamed once more, she sidestepped and swung her palm out.
Chitin shattered and crunched, the scorpion tail was torn in half and sent flying through the air. She skipped backwards further as spears of bone hurled themselves through the spoke towards, at least two or so metres in size and piercing the ground with hefty crunches at each instance.
Another skip backwards-
Something clasped hold of her hand and pulled, she was jerked to the side by the sudden force and it seemed to be barely a second on time.
A singular stream of hissing liquid spat right past her face and into the distance, she heard the hiss and whipped her head around to stare at the oily slime melt through the rubble like it was bath foam. She allowed the grip to pull her further until she and whomever grabbed her were behind cover.
Then her head turned, her eyes narrowed to slits and she readied herself for another attack only to be met with surprise when her saviour released their hold on her and whipped around, clenching rubble between their fingers and hurling it with all their might.
"We can fight later over whom will carry the Excaliburs out of here." The platinum blonde knight spoke with a swift tone of voice, she noted that he no longer seemed to have his spear on hand. She couldn't see it anywhere near him, at least until they held their hand aloft and she felt the pulse of magical energy.
The spear slammed into the bronze-
No, not bronze.
It was silver now.
And the Holy aura it radiated had grown far beyond what it was when they had first met, something to be concerned about for another time.
The metallic arm clasped the spear and twisted, blades of wind cut through rubble with clean swings and passed through flesh as easily, a thrust from the spear sent a shot right through the head of another of the beasts, its body flung back by the force of the untouching attack.
With a turn, the man was facing her once more and boring down into her eyes. "Unless you would try and make this a battle between three different parties?"
By all rights, she should have fought him here and now to reclaim the Excaliburs he had stolen, but it would be stupid at a time like this. Regardless of what she personally felt about the situation, the man was right. This was something that needed to be put off until a better time.
"...Fine. I need another minute for my spell to work."
"Then a minute you will have." They turned, she gripped their cape before they could completely escape. Though they did not turn, she knew she had their attention with that simple move.
"We will conclude our business when this is over."
"...Indeed."
He pulled from her grasp, shifting through the air and moving forwards like a cannon, the recoil of his charge whipped against her face and sent her hair aflutter as he moved right into the thick of the fighting. She knew nothing of this man at all, there was nothing denoting anything. A complete unknown.
She would need to make a note of this in her report.
Information gathering had gotten sloppy, it seemed.
Romani blinked, then coughed out heavily, dust ejected from his throat in long painful wheezes as he slipped down the rubble he was lying upon, rolling all the way down to the base before landing on his back. The last impact had felt like a punch to the face, somewhere from above but he couldn't really see.
All he saw was a flash of light and the next thing he knew, he was lying flat on his back and with a numb sensation all over his body.
"Wh-wha…" He slurred out the words, hazily blinging focus back into his sight as he turned his head about, looking to see if anyone else was nearby. Something grabbed his shoulder, not too roughly, and steadied him, propping him up against an incline and pulling their grip away.
His eyes blinked several more times, colour and definition flowed into them as he stared at the person who had helped him.
She was Irina, Issei's old friend.
The girl spoke up after a second. "Are you alright? It looked like you got the worst of it…" she took in another deep gulp of air, stumbling a few shaky steps and then dropping down to the ground. Her eyes looked clouded over, covered in cuts, bruises as well as what looked like thin needles stuck all in her shoulders and across her back.
Romani's eyes shot wide, he crawled across the ground to her and laid her flat on her front, looking over and grimacing. Already the skin was starting to swell at each needle point, they seemed to be some sort of porcupine like barbs but he didn't think they'd produce a reaction like that.
Dust swept over them, he ducked forwards and covered the girl's body with his own.
The sound of scrambling footsteps, and suddenly half the student council came rolling down the small incline into the little fortification.
Along with Konkeo, who had one eye crusted shut with blood, along with half her face and her left arm hanging limply by her side. The girl breathed feebly, crooked breaths and accompanied by a wheezing cough.
Romani felt sick.
Even as the familiar feeling of Asia's power washed over him, the exhaustion remained, dragging his eyes over to the girl and feeling his stomach plummet right the way down through his body.
She was dripping sweat like a waterfall, eyes hazy and looking to be on the verge of passing out entirely. With trembling hands, she unleashed more of the healing before a gasp escaped her.
It abruptly cut out, she slumped forwards onto her hands, coughing and dry heaving.
"I-I'm sorry…I…I can't…I can't…"
Romani could see it, he could see it clear as day.
She had pushed herself too hard, she was on the verge of passing out because of how much strength she was using.
He couldn't do anything for-
A roar split through the air.
His head turned to the thunderous yell, his eyes widened as he caught sight of a blur falling from the sky.
One that looked suspiciously like Issei.
And was heading right for them-
[Sorry boy. That's all I've got for you. Blame your own weakness.]
Issei wanted so desperately to say something to them, but he found himself drawing up a blank on what he was supposed to say. The last of the armour disintegrated from his body, leaving him in a freefall through the air and back towards the ground.
Everything sped up after he struck the dragon.
At least he hurt the damn thing.
He could see it too, in the furious gaze of the dragon as it swung its head around to face him with a snarl, it visibly puffed its body out with a faint glow surrounding it. The same build up of flames in its throat as the wings on its back suddenly went still.
The muscles flexed.
The dragon dropped down like a lead balloon, right towards him with mouth agape and ready to snap shut the moment he touched its tongue. He could see it in his mind's eye, the moment it got close enough the damn thing was going to swallow him whole.
"Shi-!"
"Holy Lighting!"
Electricity streaked through the air.
But it was a dazzling gold, not at all like the plain old lighting he had seen before which looked boring in comparison. Issei blinked twice as he stared at it, watched the attack slam right into the head of the dragon, arcs of gold twisted over the blackened scales peeling away sections around the head, it burned with a hiss.
Yet it did not slow-
Something grabbed him by the side, looping an arm around his waist and holding him up, his eyes jerked and he abruptly found himself staring at Akeno, visible strain on the face of the older teen as she held up her hand, the golden lighting flung from the magical circle at the tips of her fingers as nothing more than a wild stream.
His ears roared with the sound of a jet, it was an awesome attack.
That seemed to do nothing.
He probably realised this at the same time as Akeno, judging by the way her eyes widened as the dragon pushed through the all out assault twice as fast as before-
Darkness blotted his vision, the open maw of the dragon was right in front of him, he stared at the glistening beads of spit flying from the sharpened fangs, reflecting the moonlight as the jaws raced towards him from up and down.
He was moving through the air in the next moment, barely catching a glimpse of a flash of purple.
He blinked.
The Fallen angel from earlier, the one who was friends with Romani, floated where he had been but moments prior, her hand outstretched towards both himself and Akeno with her actions rather clear.
She had thrown them to safety.
Her wings flexed, she accelerated-
The jaws snapped down with a crunch, it was a sound that reverberated through his entire body. A sickening wet sound, the snapping was followed by an agonised scream from the woman, the Fallen Angel turned as best she could.
Not that it was much, from the waist down she had been caught in the jaws of the dragon.
Light danced across her hands, he saw the beginnings of the spear-
The dragon whipped its head like a blur.
There was a brief instant where everything seemed to slow down in front of him, he watched the Fallen Angel move through the air, they made eye contact for a fraction of a second.
…She looked so confused, like she didn't understand why she was moving-
And then she was gone.
Something shattered - he saw a fraction as the wind broke - and then the Fallen Angel vanished into the ground as nothing but a streak of colour, striking the earth like a bomb in the same breath, dirt and rubble mushroomed out instantly, the shockwave came next.
Issei felt himself get hit by it, then he was spinning through the air without a clue what was happening or where he was going. His world turned to nothing more than a high speed journey, something that reminded him of staring out of the car window as a child-
He hit the ground, his body went numb as something in his left side snapped.
Except he was still moving, the sky whipped by his eyes once more before it reversed and he was now staring at the ground, striking his face against grass and carrying on, right until his back struck something tough, resistance pushed back-
A shattering, shards of tree rushed past him, the top half of a trunk flew down over the top of his head and he was covered in leaves, his body hit the ground for a final time, the breath exploded from his lungs as he slid through wet mud and finally to a halt.
He couldn't feel anything.
He wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a bad thing or a relief.
He just stared straight ahead.
The dragon flung its head back, beating its wings back and forth to hover in the air, giving a singularly massive roar before turning his head towards him, they locked eyes at a distance of more than the school field.
He couldn't move, he couldn't feel, he wasn't even sure if he could breathe.
Everything just felt so-
Romani stared.
Everything felt so silent.
He was sure there was something happening around him, he was certain that there were noises being made.
But he couldn't hear a single thing.
He just stared up at the sky.
His eyes pulled themselves down, in the direction of the mushroom cloud rising up into the sky where he knew that Penemue had been struck down. He heard it, he heard her scream. A sound that was still playing on loop in his mind, the scream again and again, the crunch through the air and the scream.
Like it was still happening.
…He hadn't even seen it coming.
He hadn't seen it coming.
A scuffle drew his eyes, though he remained standing and wholly unmoving as he watched Leona roll down the embankment and onto her hands and knees. He knew that he should have done something to help her, grab her and pull her up but the movements just didn't register with him.
It was like he was trapped all over again, trapped and unable to so much as lift a finger to do anything.
Leona brought her head up, he found himself captivated by her face.
Because of the horror that he felt, her well groomed hair was matted and frayed, thick with blood painted through her brown lockes of hair, even when she met eyes with him it was as though she was having trouble seeing him, she looked like a mess. No, it was unsightly in every measure of the word.
So why wasn't he doing anything…?
Ah.
Yes.
That was it.
He couldn't do anything even if he tried.
Now Leona was injured and she might end up dying.
He hadn't seen that either.
He hadn't seen anything and even if he had…
Even if he had…
…He wouldn't have been able to do anything.
He couldn't do anything.
Romani brought his eyes back to the dragon, purple light swelled up through its throat and towards its mouth, glimmers of magenta flames burst through its nostrils and from between its lips, the head turned on them and the mouth started to open.
He knew what was coming.
The use of future vision would be pointless because he knew what was going to happen, the dragon was going to breathe fire on them and they would die. Everyone here would die and he wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. He had never been able to do a thing about it.
Because that was just who he was.
…How cruel.
How absolutely cruel.
…Why?
Why did this have to happen?
For what purpose did this happen in the first place? What was to be gained from it?
He just…
…Just anything to keep them all alive, to whatever being was listening, to whatever heard his call for help in his head.
He didn't want to die.
And he didn't want anyone here to die.
It really wasn't fair.
His mind jerked, something felt as though it was holding his hands-
Everything turned black in the next moment.
All he saw was a single burning ring of light, seared into the forefront of his mind.
Everything in her body ached, she'd been running back and forth laying down as many traps as she could, long since having exhausted her supply she brought with her and resorting to making hastily cobbled together lures made of debris.
It was utterly pathetic and the results had been below what she had hoped for, but she knew that. She was running on empty by this point, her magical energy was at an all time low, doubting that she could actually manage anything more than a handful of spells at this point.
Ignoring the fact the quality of those said spells would be sub-optimal.
Ah, she really did mess up here.
Focus blinked into her gaze, Romani was staring down at her with a perfectly blank expression. As though every ounce of emotion had been bled from him. That stung her most of all because she knew, deep down, what he was feeling.
He had no idea what was happening or why.
…She really did screw up.
Heavy gusts of wind blasted against the side of her head, turning her gaze to the sky and glancing up towards the origin. It was telling that she didn't even have enough strength to be petrified of her presumably encroaching death.
She just stared up at the dragon above her, its gleaming red eyes shone with a hidden triumph as the flames lapped away from its maw, drawing its head back and then splitting its mouth open. She watched the flicker of light seep through its scales and up into its throat, building up more and more within.
Even if she couldn't see it, she could feel it.
The shift in mana in the air, it was drinking in every ounce of magical energy it could get its claws on.
At its current rate, she wouldn't be surprised if that blast of flames wiped out the entirety of Kuoh when it landed. The air was no longer breathable for her, instead it was a suffocating cloud, like dense gas. Her intakes became slower and slower, settling in her throat like hands around her neck.
…Was she scared of dying?
Maybe, but it wasn't that she hadn't made peace with it. Death was something that tended to surround her line of work.
…She'd always been more terrified of leaving Romani alone.
This wasn't how she wanted to skirt around that problem.
It wasn't fair.
Romani didn't deserve this.
"Romani…I'm…" The words slipped from her like a whisper, she wished he heard them but she wasn't sure he could. The man was in a trance, staring up at the sky. "I'm…"
Just let her say this one thing-
Romani moved slowly, his hands reached up until they were at full height, fingers curled as though gripping something.
…Huh?
The flow of mana…shifted?
It fizzled between his fingers, faint at first and could be called nothing more than a trick of the light, similar to a lens flair in a photograph.
Then it became light.
The ring grew in size until it had the diameter of a forearm, burning with such heat that it immediately felt as though she was standing underneath a furnace, or perhaps something even hotter. She felt it sizzle away on her skin, the sweat she had been accumulating was starting to boil away.
She didn't feel it.
She was just staring at the impossible sight, the ring of light burning above the head of Romani and with its face aimed right towards the dragon.
Perhaps Romani said something, she could have sworn she heard muffled whispers but she couldn't understand a word of it.
It sounded like gibberish to her.
Then Romani's arms dropped down.
In that same instant, the ring burned as bright as the sun, but she could not tear her eyes away.
There wasn't any sign of delay, the result was immediate. She wasn't sure if that was the intention or if it moved so quickly that she couldn't process it but there wasn't time to afford it.
Nor was there a single sound.
A single unbroken stream of like shot forth from the centre of the circle and was about as wide, it struck the dragon through its right arm in that instant. There wasn't a single time difference between the firing and the impact, it was as though the streak of light had always been there.
The Dragon lurched in the sky, the right arm was no longer attached to the body, fires burst from the wound where the beam had impacted, the scales of the armour melted and dripped down like oil.
But that wasn't all.
The wing directly behind the arm was set aflame, the thin membrane skin lit up as though it had been doused in turpentine and had a match flung on it. Bereft of its ability to fly and with only three limbs left, the dragon plummeted to the earth with a bellowing cry of agony, dropping down in an explosion of dust and debris that obscured its form entirely.
Leona didn't dare rip her eyes from it.
Not for a few moments, not when the trembling shudder of the impact went through her nor when the screams of the dragon continued.
She only turned her heard when she heard the rustle of fabric, her eyes drifted to Romani once more.
He was staring down at-
…Those weren't Romani's eyes.
Romani had the most beautiful green eyes.
These weren't Romani's eyes.
They were rusted gold that she actually thought looked a little ugly on him…
…Who-?
Green flooded through the eyes, then they rolled back into the head of her husband. He dropped down without a word like a puppet with cut strings, falling to his knees and then slumping forwards into the dust with an anti-climactic thud.
All she could do was continue to stare at them.
What was that?
Ignore it.
But what was it?
Ignore it.
She debated in her mind on and off, that flash of light and that display of power, it had been far in advance of whatever she had been expecting. Though the question remained of where it had been before. Though it clearly was something that took time to craft, but then where was this hiding?
There was nothing about any of the records of someone with that sort of firepower.
It could not have come from the Fallen Angel because it had been defeated moments prior.
So then where had-?
"To think there would be that level of attack deployed here."
It took her a moment to realise it had been the man who spoke the words, the otherwise silent figure stood tall. Not even a mark on their skin from where they had been hit, they were not even looking in her general direction either.
Nor did they, even after she slammed a dozen beams of light into their chest, head and throat.
Not a scratch?
There was something she was missing here, something that was stopping her from harming them.
No, their voice just now.
It sounded…concerned.
They were gazing off in the direction of the attack and she could understand it, it wasn't a killing blow but knocking a dragon from the sky with a single blow like that was rather impressive and she wasn't sure if that was the upper limits of the attack or not.
No, if it had hit the dragon in the head, then there was no doubt they would have died.
It was a killing blow that missed.
But it was the chance she needed, the confirmation that she needed as well-
"Aiming at the dragon was a mistake."
They announced next.
Her instincts screamed, she pressed off the ground and hurled herself back-
The ground split open like water, darkness slashed as a giant catfish burst from the rocks and raced towards-
Its head froze solid, then a silver fist smashed into it from the other side shattering the skull into dust as the twin attackers sped by from their attacks. The knight and the Devil barely spared her a glance.
Black keys fell into her hands, she hurled a dozen out in the next second and then clenched her empty hands into fists. Light spread across the handles of the knives, drawn tight like rope and enclosing around the man.
Her feet hit the ground.
Her hands clapped one on top of the other, then twisted.
The air shimmered around the man, their face shifted for the first time, a flicker of confusion washed over their expression as their eyes scanned the barrier. But that was not what she was aiming for, it was merely a distraction. Or rather, something to keep the next spell enclosed.
Circles flashed to life above and below the man.
They spun, faster and faster until they became nothing more than disks of light, not an ounce of writing clear upon either of them. Her hands clenched into fists.
The Tower Ring.
One of her trump cards.
The air shimmered and hardened, seeped with colour like stained glass.
The eyes of the man narrowed in a moment.
"A bounded field? Quality make as well. I see. So that is your profession."
Their voice didn't shift.
"In that case-!"
Something cracked, her eyes widened as the barrier developed a singular fracture through it.
But that wasn't that alarmed her, she felt the weight of the man in the palm of her hand.
And then she felt the weight of the man suddenly increase to a level that was beyond impossible, no longer did it feel as though she was trying to hold something like a person, instead it felt as though she was trying to hold up a mountain.
She released her hold over the spell.
Black liquid exploded forth from the body of the man and splashed against the interior, it should have been enough to contain it, contain them. Yet she watched the cracks grow larger and larger, splitting right the way up to the summit of the confinement tower.
It shattered like glass, after containing them for barely ten seconds.
How?
How did they-?
"There is no spell designed to hold me." Their eyes tracked her through the spilling tar, shapes burst from the tsunami of oil and flung their way towards her. "But you showed more ingenuity than I would expect from a Church Dog. A pity it is that your Master will never know of your efforts."
They were trying to taunt her at a time like that?
What a joke.
She did not do this for recognition in the first place.
Her body bent, pushing off the ground and twisting, her heel arced through the air and slammed into the lower jaw of a pouncing wolf, the head snapped from the body with a ripping sensation, flinging it away.
Light bounced before her, spreading up from the ground like a mesh fence.
A mental command dropped it down, cleaving through the rush of animals with childish ease, but their lumps were swiftly absorbed back into the muck-
"I heard rumours that Burial Agents could recreate the Miracles of God upon this earth, the previous one I met died too quickly before I had a chance to see such a thing."
They were still talking?
"Talk won't avail you any-"
"I'm wondering if the death of God has affected your abilities?"
Her mind stalled for only a fraction of time.
It was more than enough.
A shape burst from the ground, hammering into her ribs like a train and sending her cartwheeling through the air. Gritting her teeth, she hit the ground hard and followed through with the role, snapping her head up as the large insectoid monster charged her once more-
She twisted her body, throwing all her might into the next punch.
Her knuckles struck the armoured hide of the bug, with it taking only a second to realise that it had died. The armour shattered in the next second, the force of her blow travelled through the head and out the back, blasting a hole through the body and carrying the entire back of the insect into the sky with a shower of gore.
Taking the remains into both hands, she turned her body and pulled with all her might, throwing the corpse of the giant insect back towards the man. It moved for only a single moment before it turned into sludge and dropped into the ground, streaming forth like a river and back into the coat of the man.
A blink.
The air froze, a thin mist fell upon her, pillars of ice jutted upwards from the ground and streaked through the air, curving inwards and slamming down into the man in the same breath.
She pushed backwards, she saw the glitter of light reflected from the spears of ice that formed in the hundreds.
They surged forwards and crashed into the impact sight-
The air ruptured, she heard the shockwave, then the man burst forth from the debris field and slammed down into the field of ice, shattering great chunks from the ground and sending them skywards. Fire billowed out from their hands, the cursed black flames of Vritra, then slammed down into the ground.
All was silent.
Then it was loud, there was little else to describe it, the explosion forced her to twist through the air, her feet striking the solid barrier beneath them and jerking her upright. The sheet of magical energy kept her upright in the air, stepping forwards and glancing down with narrowed eyes.
Fabro pulled his hands from the ground and shook them, cutting out the flames immediately, his eyes snapped up and locked onto hers.
Something else flooded her senses.
Holy energy.
She kept her expression neutral, despite the fact she was feeling anything but.
That was the aura of a very specific Holy Sword they had brought along and it wasn't to be used unless absolutely necessary. For it to have been drawn meant that things were not going well for Xenovia and the others.
…She could do nothing about it at the moment.
The flailings of the dragon were as desperate as they were dangerous, even with its arm missing and being unable to take off, that made it no less dangerous as it thrashed around on the ground, throwing itself forwards like a battering ram with each attack.
Kiba sprinted, pushing up and over the top of the sweeping tail, granting him a brief view of the debris that was swept him by the sudden spin, his body hit the ground in a roll and he darted forwards.
He skidded to a halt, turning his eyes onto the dragon - more specifically, onto the gaping hole where its arm should have been - and then took aim.
"Sword Birth!"
Crimson light flashed around him, the bladed weapons formed in the circles and turned their sights onto the man. Jerking forwards within the next motion and hurling themselves into the charred flesh of the dragon.
It didn't even flinch, he wasn't sure if he actually did much more than give it a few pinpricks, but the dragon did glance at him briefly. A snarl as it turned and opened its jaws with a roar, hurling itself for him as he pressed off the ground, cracking debris under his feet as he propelled himself backwards and out of the reach of the dragon.
He wasn't sure if it was necessary to bother, a flash of silver and the Excalibur formed like a whip once more and noosed itself around the tongue of the dragon, then pulled. He felt the Holy Aura like fire on its skin, but it was worse for the dragon.
The sword slipped off the tongue, but not before skimming the surface layer of skin from it, blood poured from the dragons mouth as it turned from him and to the direction of the exorcist, but without a limb to correct itself in the charge, it ended up crashing into the ground in a heap.
Rolling on the ground, stuck on its back, Kiba skipped across the ground and twisted his body, avoiding the debris being launched towards him.
He wasn't sure about the others, but he had to trust in their capacity to avoid damage.
A thin line formed around the upper arm of the dragon, Kiba traced it and saw Saji with the other end of the string gripped tightly around his hand, the strange black bracelet spitting out the tight string. That would likely be his absorption line, but he wasn't sure how well that was going to work against a dragon of all things.
Then again, he didn't know the intricacies of the Sacred Gear.
Not that the dragon even seemed to notice in the least.
His feet hit the ground at an awkward angle, leading him to roll to a stop near his fellow Devil and cough out a lungful of air. Pushing himself back to his feet a moment later and glancing at them.
"We need to force it to use its flames again."
Kiba jerked at the sudden voice behind him, turning to see Sitri-Kaichou staring at the dragon with a narrowed gaze. Her eyes glanced at the Devil by her side, Shinra-san looked rather worse for wear.
"I shall try and draw its focus to us. Then deal with it."
The plan sounded rather foolish…but it wasn't as though they weren't pressed for options.
She sounded like she knew what she was doing, but at this rate, he would settle for anything.
With a final earth shuddering roar, the dragon rolled back onto its three limbs and whipped its head around to face them, stumbling forwards with an open mouth and fury leaking from its eyes like a fountain. Kiba grit his teeth, drawing a sword forth and clenching it with both hands.
Use its flames?
It didn't need to use its flames to-
The dragon turned in the next moment, forgetting them entirely and shifting its attention towards someone else. Kiba saw the flash of blue and black, then felt the weight of the Holy Aura wash across his skin, but his eyes saw enough to see Xenovia charging the dragon's feet with a sword that looked rather clumsy.
But there was something about that weapon that felt greater by far than the Excaliburs.
With a resounding cry, Xenovia slid to a halt and swung with both arms, the sword connected with the front leg of the dragon-
Scales shattered, blood splattered across the ground and the full weight of the dragon lurched forwards. Kiba could only stare at the swing decimated the remaining front limb of the dragon while the Exorcist pushed forwards, leaping from the ground and spinning through the air before landing in front of them.
His eyes fixed themselves on the sword.
It was primarily blue in colour, the edges of the blade doused in gold, a long handle with more than enough space for two hands, a strip of matching gold curled from the hilt to the pommel of the blade, the total length of the sword easily being close enough to the height of the wielder themselves.
With a grunt, she brought the sword up, brandishing it with a tight grimace on her face.
"That sword is-"
"Worry not about it." Xenovia replied to him quickly, he noticed the strain in her voice and then her trembling arms, like she was fighting something in the sword he couldn't see. The grimace turned deeper as she pressed forwards. "We must fight quickly-"
"On that, I agree, young squire."
Kiba turned to the voice in a heartbeat.
It was the knight from earlier, striding past them but that wasn't what caught his focus.
No.
It was that in one hand they had Issei draped over their shoulder like a sack of potatoes, lowering themselves down and placing the young devil against a nearby section of rubble and standing back up, turning to face them all fully and drawing Kiba's eye to the second most pressing piece of information.
It was the Excalibur wielded by Xenovia being held in his metal hand without any repercussions in the least-
Light flooded from the sword, sweeping over the Excalibur and rolling over it, he heard the hiss and felt the heat roll off the arm as it and the sword glowed a brilliant yellow, the sword lost its shape, twisting and drooping before - in defiance of gravity - it sharply rose up and climbed higher, flooding over the arm and seeping into it.
Kiba stared, dumbfounded as to what happened.
They just…they just absorbed Excalibur into their arm.
Who was-?
[Interesting. So that's why you're still around?]
It was a deep voice that resonated from Issei, Kiba double taked between it and the seemingly familiar tone it took with the knight.
The knight's expression turned grim, then they nodded.
"I am afraid so."
[Heh. Weakest of the Round Table, just as crazy as the rest of them.]
Kiba blinked as the words registered, he turned on the knight with furrowed brows.
They did not meet his stare, not anyone else's as they stepped past them and in front of the group as a whole. With a flicker of movement, the spear fell back into their hands and thudded into the ground.
"Coming from you, that represents a rather great compliment." The knight replied slowly, almost sounding on the verge of laughter.
[It is. Well then…Try your best, Bedivere.]
…
…
Bedivere?
…Sir Bedivere?
…Impossible.
There was absolutely no way.
There was no way.
It would have been over fifteen hundred years ago.
There was no way that this person was-
"If you are going to so vocally support me, Ddraig, then I have no choice but to claim a victory now."
They couldn't be…
…Could they?
"I shall draw the dragon's ire." The knight - Bedivere - declared. "Commit to your plan."
He pressed off the ground and vanished into a dash the second he stopped, only to reappear in front of the dragon, swinging the spear like a club and a flash of silver, he heard the shockwave when the weapon made contact, watched the head of the dragon snap up and the beast fall onto its haunches.
…All while still trying to wrap his head around what was happening.
[That all? Gawain would have taken its head off with that swing. Even under this moonlight.]
…The disembodied voice coming from Issei wasn't making it easy.