The Chaos that consumes the world
V
Grass crunched.
He hurled himself forwards, his body felt like water, the spear twisted in his grasp as he continued the offensive. The speed of the man was greater than his own, if only by a little, but it was quickly becoming apparent it was raw speed alone, his reflexes were unused to the velocity he was travelling with.
He stopped, pulling the spear back and twisting on his heel, sweeping it across the ground and upwards, the tip sang as the blades of wind was launched forth from the end once more, a thin cut appeared through the grass and by the spot of the man's foot, he stopped and kicked back just as it caught the ground of his landing.
A kick, he followed over him, thrusting forwards as he did so.
A twist, they directed the spear upwards and over their head, a mistake on their part, he had thrust with his right arm. His grip tightened on the spear, metal protested with a low groan in the split second before he applied his weight, the defender's knees buckled down to the point where he almost dropped there and then, a widening of the eyes and a flash of panic.
Throwing themselves backwards, the spear continued the descent and touched across the surface of the ground, splintering the ground for the brief second it laid its tip upon it. A jerk the the wrist pulled the spear back, throwing himself forwards once more and swinging it around from the other end, catching the blade of the sword with the shaft of the weapon.
The weapons growled in the clash, sparks flew as they shoved against the other, his hands on either end of the spear.
A single breath.
His whole body twisted side on, the spear sailed right over the right ear of the man and he dragged it back across, twisting the head as he did so and pulling back. Sweeping the air back as he did so, the speed of the shard proved itself superior by a faint margin, but nowhere near enough to save him completely.
Drops of crimson lanced through the sky, a thin streak of red right across the side of the ear, a cut so perfect that without the trail of blood now falling, it would have been impossible to see. Though he did not even bother to admire his token victory.
A shunt forwards and he reversed the spear and swung it down like a hammer, the man raised the sword, bracing it with both hands and looking for a block. Though he knew they would need to be a fool to do such a thing again. As expected, they kicked back at the very last moment and shoved away to the side. His eyes darted to track them down, narrowing as he caught a flash of movement from the corner of his gaze.
The falling debris parted as the man ploughed through it, swinging towards his head.
He released his grip on the spear with his right hand, throwing his arm straight up and pointed to the sky. A clang rang out through the air, he felt the vibration of the arm as the sword struck it with full power, weighing himself down and feeling a faint shove from the speed of the blow, but the strength of the man remained barely above that of a human.
A faint click reached his ears.
His weight fell from beneath him, spinning the arm around and gripping the blade tight in his hand while falling backwards, the bullets shot right in front of his eyes for a single second, he turned and thrust upwards, the head of the spear pierced right through the firearm and knocked it clean from the grip of the fallen exorcist, they pushed off the ground and flipped.
He had to release the sword to avoid being caught in the chin by the flipping strike, taking a single step in retreat as his eyes tracked the man, they were back on their feet before he could assert himself for a follow through. That speed of theirs, he needed a method of either limiting it or taking it from the equation altogether.
A flash of light, the man rocketed forwards and thrust right towards his face. He stepped backwards and leaned to the side, just before the sword could touch him, his eyes traced down as he watched the edge of the sword just glance right past his breastplate, a faint scratching sound reached his ears, like someone dragging fingernails across across a car, as he watched a flicker of yellow dance up from where the sword met his armour.
He brought his elbow up and drove it right down, a second too slow as the man had already passed him by, missing the chance to catch him with the attack. They rushed past him and then up, he glanced up as their blur raced up the side of the house and then into the air, his legs tensed as he bent them, aiming true and then pushing upwards.
If there was one thing he knew, it was that everything fell the same speed.
The sword enhanced one's momentum, not one's propulsion.
He was in front of the man before they could even complete the flip, catching a flicker of their face as he appeared in front of them, with no way to stop, all they could do was bring up the sword in a guard before them as he swung the spear into them with all his might, once more the sword was pushed flat against them and they vanished in the next second, a new hole opening up on the first floor of the house.
A wince split his features for a second.
…He would need to try and get this house repaired for this poor family, if nothing else.
The spear flipped over, resting on his shoulder with the head pointed behind him, he felt a brief jolt and then it shot him forwards with a single powerful gust, turning himself side on and then blowing through the hole he had made, sticking his feet out and catching himself on the ground in a faint bow. His head snapped up, the exorcist was shooting back up, after having been knocked down.
Bedivere moved faster.
His boot slammed hard into the gut of the man, something shifted at the point of contact and gave way, the albino's expression twisted into one of pure agony before he was blasted away, striking right through the wardrobe and then carrying on clean through it and carrying parts of the torn clothes further in, decimating another wall in the process and into the room over.
He raced through, slamming right through the remains and into where the man had been knocked, briefly being alerted by the spray of water as he stared at the decimated shower head lying on the floor while the shattered remains of the pipes dripped water down onto them.
Movement at his feet, the exorcist scrambled upwards and took hold of the shard, rushing around only to be clotheslined by the spear, unable to move far fast in the enclosed room. The momentum of the run sent the man into a spin, flipping underneath the spear with a gasping noise and flat against the wall with another crunch that carried him back into the bedroom.
Whipping around, Bedivere gave chase and followed him through, raising the spear up and thrusting it right down towards the man, catching the flat of the shard once more as it blocked the fatal kill, but the power was enough to break the floor beneath them, a faint rumble and then the footing gave way, the two of them dropping right down to the floor beneath.
Dust fell around them, a single pulse of the spear and the wind was parted in a single instant, revealing them to be in the dining area once more. The exorcist coughed out, flakes of red mixed between as his dusted face looked up in surprise, then narrowed as he rolled away, a sharp kick caught the exorcist in the side and blasted them through the wall and into the kitchen, upwards he went into the cupboards above the stove and right back down into the ground, the doors flying off and mugs dropping down onto the floor with sharp clattering sounds.
He marched in through the open door, crushing shards of ceramic beneath him as he advanced. Leaning down and grabbing the back of the man's coat and pulling back, tossing him off the ground and directly into the oven with a sharp crash, metal bent with the impact and the man slumped forwards, spilling trays and glass onto the floor once more. His eyes lingered on the seemingly defeated man for only a moment, they returned to the shard on the floor.
A breath escaped him, he dropped down and planted his spear in the ground, reaching out with his right hand and taking the sword by the handle. A shudder travelled through him as he did so, exhaling as his arm trembled, flickers of golden light surrounded it, tendrils reaching out from his limb and towards the weapon itself, just dancing across the surface ever so lightly.
A cough drew his eye, the exorcist rolled off and onto his side, wheezing rather heavily.
He could not leave them like that to suffer.
Regardless of who they were, how they defiled the memory of this sword and insulted the original wielder of it, he would not let them choke to death on their own blood or succumb to whatever injuries they had within them. Standing up straight, he thrust the shard down into his hostler on his waist, made for a sword he no longer had.
His fingers found his spear, gripping it tightly and pulling it from the ground, taking a single step forwards and aiming it right at the heart of the exorcist.
"In accordance with the final rites of the deceased, I shall allow you to offer a final word on this world if you are capable sir." His gaze remained on the man, a low groan was his only response. Clearly they would be getting no final words this day, it was not exactly something he would find himself lamenting, however. "Very well. In the name of King Arthur, Lord of Camelot and Protector of Briton. I, Ser Bedivere, sentence you to death."
He stepped forwards, ready to deliver the final move-
A crack from behind him.
He whipped around, bringing the spear up.
It struck him like a train - he had been hit by one once - and carried him right the way out of the house once more, much like the exorcist, he was now the one struck by the impossibly powerful force. His teeth grit as he pushed them over the top of him, striking the ground hard and rolling along it.
A thud, something striking the ground, his eyes snapped towards the shard which had been knocked from his hand and was now sticking out of the ground in front of him, right past it lay his attacker, similarly in the act of recovery.
A woman, navy blue hair and deep matching eyes, a dark coloured sleeveless attire of what seemed to be spandex with a black skirt beneath, thigh high boots. In her hand was gripped the remains of a sword, or so he assumed, but it was a thin blade with the edge snapped clean in half, a hilt of a simple red 'T' shape.
A Black Key.
Which made this woman either an executor or something else.
He was on his feet, spear in his hand but not assuming a fighting posture as of yet, the woman said nothing either, the two of them stared at the other without offering a single word as of yet. Keeping both the shard and the woman in his line of sight at all times.
"I am here only for the shard." He spoke after a moment of silence, though she did not react to his words. "I shall take it and leave in peace…I ask that you do not obstruct me."
"That is property of the Church."
"It is property of King Arthur."
"And he is dead."
His jaw clenched, he knew that very well. However, that did not change what he had to do. He saw her come to the same understanding in her own eyes, neither one of them was going to back down here. They could not.
"Then there is nothing more to be said."
A faint grunt, the woman nodded her head once. "So it seems."
The blade was hurled right for his eye, throwing himself forwards into a roll as it sailed right over the top of his head, hitting the ground and bracing his hands right behind his head and pushing upwards, throwing his legs forwards in a kick. Meeting no resistance, twisting his head and seeing the woman having dropped down into the splits to avoid his attack.
His body spun over, hitting the ground and kicking forwards and swinging the spear as he did so. A clang of metal, the head of the spear glided along the top of another black key, drawn forth from somewhere and moving right above the top of the woman's head. He pulsed the spear, she pushed up with surprising strength in the instant before the weapon unleashed a blast of concentrated wind, a howl and then the roof of the house was torn open the moment the invisible attack landed.
The spear flung back in his hands, his grip loose enough to allow it right until he was gripping it directly behind the head where he stopped it, reversing his grip and then swinging the polearm back around and towards her legs, she jumped as the attack sailed right beneath her, spinning and sweeping a leg out towards his head, his left hand came up and pressed flat against her heel, shoving back and sending her the other way.
She followed the momentum, swinging back around and throwing herself in from the other side, a helicopter kick with both legs. He stepped backwards as the heel swung right past the bridge of his nose, his eyes widened just a touch as he felt the power of the strike, far and above what the exorcist had been capable of, further doubt was erased the moment she hit the ground and cratered the soil under her feet.
A flourish of movement, the spear sailed in front of his body and a shower of sparks and metal filled his ears, a dozen of the black keys were parried away from his body within the span of that single instant, twisting and dragging the spear across in a line, the wind blade cut right through nothing, his eyes snapped up as he watched the woman spin through the air above him and sweep her leg down.
The spear came up and braced with both hands, he clenched his teeth as she struck down hard against his guard with the heel, his knees buckled and his muscles groaned. A turn, he threw her off and redirected her elsewhere, charging forwards and thrusting at her as he moved, incredibly she turned and revealed yet another of the keys, catching the head of the spear with the guard and shifting it right past her without so much as blinking, the force of the charge carried them both into the ruins of the house a second later.
Hearing the sounds was difficult because he knew what they meant, right up until he didn't hear the sounds anymore. The shattering of wood, the destruction and the chaos abruptly vanished as though they had been put on mute, he just assumed that was the reason the street wasn't in uproar right now about their house being utterly demolished.
Turning himself, he lowered Leona onto the street as Asia flanked around the side, holding up her hands with the familiar green glow encompassing them, the cuts, scratches and bruises along Leona's skin started to heal over, vanishing within the span of a couple of seconds. The miracle was as welcome as one would expect, Romani dropped down onto his knees a moment later and held his hands out before him, the skin an ugly shade of red.
A mixture of heat and blood loss, he supposed, if his slashed up palms were any indication.
A pair of dainty hands took his into their own, clenching on tight as the glow passed over his own wounds. He glanced up, focused solely on the singular expression on Asia's face, the twist of her lips and the barely restrained grief, it made him all but ignore the sudden lack of pain as he focused solely on the young girl. Then turned his eyes onto Leona for a moment, the two of them staring at one another in silence.
"Come on…" Leona pushed herself off the ground with a grimace, stumbling around on her feet for a second and then rolling her arms. "I'm not going to stick around between a fight with whoever that was and the crazy priest, this is the sort of thing that Rias needs to worry about…" she stopped, her expression pulling into a deep frown.
"Mrs Archaman…he said it was Excalibur, but that-"
"I don't know and I don't want to consider the implications…not right now, Asia." Leona cut her off rather suddenly, Romani was only barely paying attention to the conversation, however, still mutely sat down on his hands and knees as he was still coming to terms with the fact he had been an inch away from dying before he was rescued by a literal knight in shining armour…and then their house was destroyed, the house he and Leona had picked out was getting torn apart.
His coffee table had been turned into a club.
"-oman!" He jumped, something grabbed him by the side of the arm, turning his head up and finding Leona staring down at him, her strained expression lasted until she offered a faint smile towards him, moving her hand up the length of his arm and then resting it on his cheek, rubbing her thumb along it for a moment before jerking her head back. "Come on, up and at 'em, Roman…we're going to have to take a walk…good thing I have my phone with me."
Moving her arm down, she hooked it around under his own and then pulled him up with a display of strength that he was getting used to at this point. Already she was turning and pulling him along the street, all without turning back and fishing her own hand into her inside pocket.
"But…what about Rassei-"
"Ah, Rassei is fine, Roman." He blinked at the sudden voice of Asia, the girl assuming a spot on his left side and taking his hand into her own two, pulling him along as though trying to act as some sort of guide for him. "Familiars have their own little space they go to when they're not called upon, Rassei is there right now until I summon him…Leona can explain it more later…"
He mutely nodded his head up and down. "W-was that guy the-"
"No." Leona answered quickly. "I have absolutely no idea who he was, I'm…I'm just really happy he was there when he was…" she added at the end, suffice to say that Romani was rather pleased about that sudden arrival as well. Considering that without it…
…
"W-what now?"
"I just need to call Rias and then we can-"
Raised voices reached his ears, he paused and craned his head towards them at the turn in right ahead of them. Leona similarly stopped walking and immediately snapped her focus towards it. It took him only a second to realise why she was so alarmed, that being that the voices weren't Japanese at all, they were speaking Italian.
"-ight ahead, Xenovia!" The lighter of the two voices called out as they rounded the corner. "She said it was this-"
They immediately cut themselves off the second they did, having caught sight of them in the middle of the street, staring right towards them. Light brown hair done into long twintails, bright violet coloured eyes and an outfit that was out of place on any teenager, she stared right towards him with a deer in the headlights look that he was certain to have been matching, especially because in her hands was a longsword.
Their eyes flickered between the two of them, then she slowly raised a hand and waved at them a couple of times. "Hello there, good citizens of-ah, wait a moment." she coughed once, then continued on. "Hello there, good citizens. Just think of this as a little
"Irina, what are you-?" A slightly deeper voice rounded the corner, a person wearing a matching black spandex outfit but with an entirely different aura to them, whereas the first girl was rather nervous looking, this one fixed him with a sharp look the instant she made eye contact with him. Dark yellow eyes flickered between all of them rapidly, short scruffy blue hair with a single strip of green across her front bang, a slightly smaller sword held in her hand with a blade of light, her lips instantly drew themselves thin.
He saw Leona stiffen out of the corner of his eyes, then moved his eyes back to the duo.
The blue haired girl straightened, then her eyes moved onto Asia and he saw something flash through them rather suddenly. "Asia Argento."
The way she spoke her name was far from friendly, all but spitting it out as though it was a curse.
"Huh?" The girl with light brown hair, Irina if he heard correctly, turned on the blue haired girl and raised her brows for a moment, then turned back towards them and dropped the look of embarrassment, replaced with something far more severe than before, her grip on the sword visibly tightened as she leaned forwards as though to get a better look. "Hey, it is her, you're right…I know that we read she was here but I wasn't expecting to run into her this quickly. Maybe it was providence?"
He swallowed.
"I do not recognise these two…however I shall assume they are associates of the Devils of the territory, either of the Sitri or the Gremory. Perhaps contracts…" The blue haired girl mused in a low tone for a moment, then drew her lips thin before giving a single shake of the head, stepping forwards and focusing all her attention onto Asia-
She was now staring at him.
His lips went taught, he realised that he had just pushed Asia behind him and then stepped in front of her. More of a reflex but it didn't last long, suddenly he was being pushed back and then Leona was standing protectively in front of him, her body was coiled stiff, all he could do was stare at the back of her head.
"...Xenovia, you know what Agent Bow said."
The blue haired girl, Xenovia, stiffened for a moment before she called back to her ally. "She is right in front of us…her and her sympathisers…" a second later, she closed her eyes and loosened her posture, taking a single step back and then shuffling herself, rolling her jaw from side to side and then speaking once more. "...But you are right. Be on your way, witch. Offer thanks to whatever heathen Satan you now bask in the shadow of, it seems they have opted to spare you this day. We have more pressing matters to attend to than-"
His eyes felt as though someone had set them alight, the pain which he had all but ignored returned with such force that he couldn't help the cry of pain which ripped free of his lips, stepping backwards and moving his hands upwards, pressing his palms flat against his eyes, all but ignoring everything else as the world blurred around him-
Insanity.
The world turns into a symphony of chaos better expected from an escaped zoo.
A flash of black runs past, a blur of white is tackled by the large mass and reveals it's shape, a dark matty tiger with piercing red eyes, stripes of mild grey to set against the black fur but little else, it's swings it's fanged jaws down against the pinned white hair of Koneko, she holds its jaws back, exertion visible on her face as she does so.
Another shape charges forth amidst the shrieks and snarls of the wildlife, all matching in the dark pattern, their eyes blood red as they run amok.
Steel flashes through the evening sky, a dog is cut down by a sword shaped more like a cleaver, Kiba already jumps away to avoid being caught by the third of the dogs while the others prowl around.
A ripple of light sings and the world is turned on it's head, a horse rears back with a coned horn jutting from it's forehead, light dances around the point before thrusting itself down and unleashing a screeching blast from the tip, flying true and striking a crackle of lighting.
The contest ends and the light pierces through and strikes the dark haired girl in the chest, propelling her backwards into the side of a car, metal bends and breaks, windows shatter.
A shape scuttles close to the ground, dagger-like feet punch holes through the concrete pavement as it carries itself forwards with impressive speed. A hiss ripples from it and something clear is sprayed, someone screams as it strikes their face and they fall backwards, rolling as steam rises up and a terrible sizzling noise fills the air.
Issei stumbles into frame, leaping over the front of a car only for his cover to be torn aside, a monstrous shape appears, a mixture of a dozen different animals, the head on an eagle and the body of a lion, wings spread wide and a howling snarl ripples free of it as it lunges towards the boy-
His world returned once more, taking a deep breath and staggering into his balance, panting breaths left him in and out as he moved forwards and reached out, something caught his front and kept him from falling over but he barely noticed, he could feel the cold streaming down his cheeks, his vision blurred.
Hands twisted, his brought them up and clasped at whatever was in front of him, keeping his head low hanging as he continued to breath in deep gulps of air, pulling his head up and then getting a look at the nearly horrified face of Leona as she kept him in her hands, holding his up and all but ignoring everything else.
"Issei." He gasped out the name, forgoing anything else that could be considered subtle at the time. "Everyone, they're all…they're in danger…there's a zoo a bunch of animals are…" that was all he could manage before the lingering pain returned, his eyes snapped shut and the rest of his words became nothing more than a hiss of pain, twisting his head to the side and shaking off some of the water on his cheeks.
There was nothing else of note about the vision. Just the animals-
Relief started to spread through his body, a glow of light from the corner of his eye, the faint green hue had never been more welcome than right now, the dwindling pain let his mind turn clearer. With the clarity came horror, panic gripped him as the names and faces started to make more sense, he could see what had happened as clearly as though it was still happening.
Turning to Leona once more, he gripped tight at her shoulders and pulled himself up. "They're in trouble or they're going to be in trouble but its-"
"Shhh." Leona silenced him rather quickly, glancing to the side briefly before her focus returned to him. "Let's just get out of here first and then we can-"
There was a crack, like someone dropped a plate on the floor but a dozen times louder. His eyes were on the source before he could even finish, staring at the tall man with white hair from earlier - Vlov, if he got the name right from Issei - the man had his back to them and was slightly crouched down, Romani turned his eyes to the ground and blanched at the fissures now spreading out from the ground where the man had landed, his feet slightly sunken into the road.
Vlov straightened out instantly, stepping forwards and brandishing some manner of forward curving machete, large chipped teeth running along the front of its body. "These individuals are associates of the Gremory faction and under my protection as such. I will grant you only a single chance to explain your actions here, then I shall demand you evacuate Kuoh with extreme prejudice."
The blue haired woman scoffed for only a moment, seemingly undaunted by the sudden arrival of the tall man. "We answer to a higher authority than the Gremory Family. We are here on behalf of the Church and, as such, demand that you desist from interfering until our business here is concluded-"
"That is not a choice you are entitled to make." The man cut her off as swiftly as it was cold, his voice hard like iron. "Your mere presence here is a violation of the agreed ceasefire, there has been no permission granted for your entry and not for the entry of your leader…Return to her and repeat this message. Should you continue to remain in Kuoh without the express permission of either of the ruling families, your presence will be treated as hostile and I shall act accordingly."
Xenovia's eyes narrowed rather seriously, taking a single step forwards and rolling her shoulders. "Am I to infer that you shall obstruct us from carrying out our mandated mission?"
"Until such a time as you have informed us what your mission is, yes." He replied back without even so much as a second of hesitation. "Take yourselves and that fragment of the Holy Sword back where you came from. You are not welcome in this city."
"Just as well, to be welcomed in a den of Devils would shame me inveritably." Xenovia remarked back, she remained stone faced while the brown haired girl behind her was starting to look more and more on edge, leaning towards the girl and whispering something to her, all while keeping her eyes firmly placed upon the man and her hands tight around the handle of her sword.
Xenovia paused for a moment, briefly glancing to Irina and then back to Vlov. "Any disagreements with our presence can be brought to Agent Bow and answered by her."
"And where is she?" Vlov demanded with more edge in his voice.
"That is currently need to know and you do not-"
A single voice cut through the tension, flying in with all the subtlety of a hammer. "Roman-sensei!"
His head whipped around just in time to see Issei stumble around the side of the road and turn towards him, raising his hand and continuing his sprint. "Is everything-"
Romani felt his eyes burn again.
He reacted first, pushing away from Leona and stumbling forwards a few steps before calling out at the top of his lungs. "Issei! Get down!"
The boy looked confused for only half a second, then did as he was told and dropped down to the pavement without a word of question, it was very likely the one thing which saved his life. Everything else seemed to happen in slow motion.
The house which he had been running past exploded outwards, the roof of the building was ripped open with shards of brick and tile being propelled along with whatever had smashed right through them, a shape rocketing through the debris and right towards the spot where Issei had been, instead missing the now ducking teenager and striking the blue truck which had been on parked on the edge of the street, the metal skin of the vehicle folded like tissue paper as the shape slammed into it and then rolled over, the momentum ripping the truck in half and sending fragments of glass catapulting through the air.
Romani's eyes followed the devastation as though in a trance, keeping his eyes on the twisting shape as it unfurled itself and revealed. His eyes widened as he saw the same monster from his vision, twin feathered wings of obsidian, an enlarged head of an eagle and the matty short fur of a lion, the heavily muscled body struck the pavement and shattered it in the next moment.
It turned like a blur, striking large taloned claws into the asphalt with a crunch, dragging up clumps of debris between its toes as it tensed its feet, spreading its wings wide as a hiss rippled through the air, Romani felt the trembling of his bones as he stared at the monster which had Issei in its sights.
"What the fu-!?" Issei cursed out in a panic, scrambling backwards and staring in horror at the monster glaring down at him.
A rush of wind and then a sound like a cannon, the monster was then twisting through the air with Vlov standing where it had been a moment earlier, his fist outstretched. He turned, sparing them barely a glance before he spoke up. "Withdraw from here, I shall-"
A howl split through the air, soon turning into a few cries of surprise.
Romani felt his heart still, his body carrying him forwards before he could even control himself and rushing right towards Issei, sliding to a halt next to the teenager and grabbing him by the shoulder, pulling him up in the next moment and dragging him away from the direction of the sounds, another blur came shooting around the corner.
Kiba slammed into his back, sword held up in front of him and braced with both hands, giving a single grunt of exertion before pressing his legs up. Throwing the large dog off himself and rolling backwards onto his feet, swinging the sword to the side and striking aside the next dog as it jumped across towards him, drawing blood and a whine with the swipe at it.
The blonde turned towards them, waving an arm and then gesturing towards the street he had just been rushing from, then turning his focus towards it once more and throwing himself forwards, charging as a blue of movement and vanishing from his eyes. Soon chased down by the dogs, barking all the while.
Romani kept low to the ground after watching it, then swiftly turned his eyes towards Vlov, the man looked frozen for all of a second before he twisted his expression, then waved a hand towards them. "We're under attack. Keep low and avoid fire. We do not know how many our assailants number."
Vlov turned on him and waved to Leona as well. "Stick close and stay down."
And like that, he was charging down towards the flying monster once more, his weapon striking the side of it's head like a hammer, a visible distortion from the point of impact before it rippled outwards and sent it further down the road like a ragdoll, charging down after it without giving a second of pause.
Something gripped his arm and pulled him up, he made a small noise and relaxed ever so slightly when he found it was Leona, though his relief was short lived as the howl of what sounded like an elephant rippled through the air, he turned just in time to see an entire car being propelled down the road, skipping across the tarmac like a pebble on a like as it continued onwards.
"You heard him." Leona yanked him up to his feet in a single motion, then pressed a hand against his back and lowered him down into a crouch, he didn't offer much in the way of resistance as Leona started to usher them forwards at an impressive pace, dragging Asia by her side while he did the same with Issei, the boy stumbling as he tried to reorient himself and muttering under his breath as he did so.
"That was a griffin!" Issei hissed in a low and petrified tone of voice "That was a damn griffin! Why the fuck is there a-"
"Worry about it later." Romani called back to him, pulling him along as he did so as it was the only thing he could think of. "I saw a bunch more and they're all really weird, I think there's a unicorn as well and they all have this black colour with red eyes so I don't even know! Just keep down and stay out of trouble and hope for the best!"
He wasn't even sure if he was capable of that, but it was the best he could do at the time-
Koneko slammed into the ground in front of them, he could already see what was about to happen next as the tiger pounced atop her, pressing a clawed paw right into her chest and pushing down down into the pavement, with a low growl it threw it's jaws towards her head, small hands flew up and clasped around it and held it in place, though with great visible effort as her expression started to strain-
"Hell no!" Issei snarled, pulling himself free of Romani's grip and rushing right towards the tiger, his left hand flashed crimson as the gauntlet formed around his arm. With a cry of effort, he broke the concentration of the tiger, turning onto him just as he closed the distance and swung forwards, a cracking sound as his fist made contact and staggered the beast off the smaller girl, who quickly took advantage to fly up and wrap her legs around its neck and threw her weight to the side.
They both fell down in a scramble of limbs, Koneko swung her fists down into the side of it's head twice before it threw her off with a single jerking motion, sending her flipping through the air and onto her feet, a bone shuddering growl pulled from the tiger as it whipped towards them, right until it suddenly jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the tip of a sword which buried itself into the ground.
Romani blinked twice, turning his head as the brown haired girl - Irina - jerked her arm back and pulled the sword free of the ground, though rather than behaving as a regular weapon, it instead acted like an elastic band and snapped back into her grasp and its original shape, a second later Xenovia moved forwards and landed a rather meaty sounding dropkick against its ribs.
Koneko landed an axe kick against the top of its head, bouncing it forwards before her hands flew up and grabbed the tigers tail and swinging it around above her head for several seconds, with a faint noise, she brought it back down to the earth with enough force to split the pavement apart and indent the body into the solid ground.
The tiger remained still for a second, then started to drag itself back up, right until Xenovia drove the sword in her grasp - a different one to before, this one a bronze colour with a wide axe shaped hilt and a three pronged blade at the tip - right into the neck and twisted it. Romani shuddered at the noise, a wet squelch and a muffled crack, as the tiger went still and limp.
Xenovia held the blade still for a moment, then ripped it free and turned her head towards them. "I hold no love for devils or heathens, but letting these monsters run rampant would be a sin, especially as they endanger the lives here…Do not mistake this for anything other than a shared goal for the time being. We are not allies."
And like that, she was away without even waiting for a response, Irina lagged behind her just long enough to send a glance in the direction of Issei. Romani wasn't sure what he was supposed to make of it, he could have sworn it looked saddened for some reason but he couldn't imagine why, though he doubted he would have the time or the focus to really think on it right this second. The girl was gone after a few breaths and charging around the corner where it sounded as though someone had released all the enclosures of a zoo.
"Koneko-chan, you good?" Issei seemingly missed the look and instead focused on the young girl, dropping down to her side as she took in deep breaths. A faint grunt and a short nod were his only answers, something he looked visibly relieved by before he rushed forwards once again, then stumbled to a halt as he beheld something, Romani could see his expression twist from surprise to horror in a split second, his eyes dancing around from point to point.
Advancing forwards, he peered around the corner and choked back a gasp.
Absolute pandemonium would have been a good explanation for what was happening right in front of him, the visions he had received didn't do it either the justice nor the horror it deserved. Flashing his gaze around as he moved from contact to contact, only briefly away from what was going on before a flash of light and a cry of pain drew his eyes to Akeno being lanced by the light blast of the black unicorn and being slammed into a parked car.
A trumpet of an elephant, he turned to see the same sort of black monster with red eyes swinging its trunk around like a mace, striking Tsubasa and sending her spinning through the air as it stomped forwards, only to be stopped by a gust of wind striking the side of it's head, a thin line like a cable wrapped around it's legs, Romani traced it back to Saji and something shooting from his wrist, the elephant paused for all of a moment before powering through whatever was going on.
It was not the only thing attacking, Romani watched the ground split open as a snake the length of a bus ripped itself free from beneath the road, hissing loudly before throwing itself towards someone else, his warning died on his lips as he watched an orb of total darkness crackling with red light slam into the head of the monster, tearing right through it and sending the now headless serpent back against the ground.
Romani blinked twice, watching as Rias swung her arm out with another circle forming around her fingers and unleashing more of the same strange - and rather intimidating - darkness upon the other attacking animals, striking one of the attacking dogs which were still focused on Kiba and blasting it in half.
"Damn." He jolted at the hiss from behind him, Leona pressing against his back with her head over his shoulder. "They're everywhere, someone's amassed quite the collection…alright, we'll have to try and get everyone to push through…not sure how they did it though, but they've got a bounded field up across this entire street, didn't notice it until now…heh, must not want the police or firemen showing up but that works out in our favour as well…"
He barely registered half of what she was saying, his mind darting from location to location until he heard the scuttling sound from his vision. His eyes snapped towards the mop of reddish brown hair from the vision, shouting out as he did so. "Tomoe! Get away from the bug!"
"Bug!?" The girl all but screamed out and jumped into the air as high as she could, turning down and letting out a high pitched scream as the giant centipede sprayed down the spot where she had been with a clear liquid, it hissed the second it made contact with the ground dissolving into a menacing steaming mush, bringing itself up and standing taller than he was, it clacked it's jaws together and was suddenly rushing towards him.
"Fuck that! Promotion: Rook!" Issei all but bellowed, having come back into the fray and swinging his fist forwards, a cry echoed from his gauntlet in a deep and echoing tone. "Boost."
He kicked off the ground and punched the centipede, drawing his hand back a second later and hissing as he shook it from side to side, having all but broken his fingers against the armoured body of the giant bug, it turned towards him and hissed, then made to throw itself towards him, a flash of blue light rushed over the top of Romani's head and struck the bug, soon followed by another half dozen.
"Hah!" Xenovia sliced through the head of the centipede, armoured plates shattered like ceramic, the girl followed the strike through and swept a leg out as she did so, striking the disembodied head and sending it high into the sky and away from the now twitching body as it dropped to the ground and writhed on the spot for a moment. "This spot is-!"
She was cut off rather suddenly, bringing the sword up and bracing herself a deer galloped down and crashed into her, dragging the pair of them right past and Romani onto his backside and around the corner once more, panting rather heavily as he turned his attention to his right, finding Asia and Leona staring back at him with equal measures of shock and surprise, the latter quickly schooling her expression and stepping around him, taking his spot on the corner.
"This is well organised." Leona announced with an audible frown. "And utterly random, some of these just look like regular animals but they're all obviously connected by the same-nevermind that now." she stepped around, cutting her own thoughts short and holding up her hand with her fingers shaped like a pistol. Light danced before them before shooting outwards as bolts of blue light, ducking back around and facing him. "We'd need to fall back, try and get everyone organised because this is a chaotic mess."
He was inclined to agree.
"This way!" Leona shouted out from around the corner once more, swinging her arms towards herself. "Try and form up, we need to get them-"
She suddenly shot back and threw herself over him with little to no warning, he couldn't even get a word out before he was thrown flat on his back, dust ripped through the air as the wall crumpled away into nothing, he coughed out several puffs of grey smoke as he turned his head, squinting as the shapes wrestled around on the ground, just getting enough focus to see what looked like a snake made of dirty water constrict around a large wolf, the two of them wrestling on the ground.
A sharp crackling sound and a bolt of electricity struck the water, the wolf howled and spasmed as it suffered under the assault. Leona pulled herself off him and turned back around, he remained in the ground and coughed several more times, pulling his head up just enough to see the Student Council stumble around the side of the fragmented wall with no small degree of haste to their movements.
"This is crazy!" He caught sight of Tomoe at the front, the young teen letting out a deep breath as she raced forwards with what looked to be the shattered remains of a street lamp in her grasp and swinging it down into the stunned wolf with a crunch, pulling it back and then repeating the process several more times before she jumped backwards.
The electrified water snake suddenly dispersed across the whole body of the wolf, then a blast of cold winds which turned the ground to frost in an instant rolled over it, freezing it solid in the middle of a turn, the wolf with it's mouth open, yet even as he stared he could have sworn that the eyes were still focusing on them, as though it could still see.
Sona came around the corner next, sweeping her gaze over them and catching sight of him with a baffled expression. "Archaman-sensei? You should be-nevermind." she cut herself off, then turned to the rest of the student council, briefly glancing over her shoulder "Saji, fall back and keep the target drained. Tsubasa, go for the legs and keep it restrained. All others, keep their focus split. Tsubaki, when it charges again…"
Another trumpet and a thudding sound, Romani flinched at the noise once more and the familiar cry of Xenovia - which at this point was becoming a common sound - and briefly caught sight of Irina flipping past and lashing the sword in her hand out like a whip once more, he was just excusing it altogether at this point, the girl's feet hit the ground and she pulled forwards.
He blanched, the elephant came tumbling around the corner being led on by the trunk with the elastic looking sword buried in it's skin and the blue haired teenager still standing atop its head, swinging her sword up and down into it while it tried to shake her free, howling and snarling all the while.
His eyes burned, he opened his mouth to shout out once again, not sure how he knew but only that he did. A single word flickering into his mind as he did so. "Spider!"
The shout brought some confusion, at least until Xenova was tackled by the aforementioned thing and knocked right off the top of the elephant. Irina looked baffled for all of a second, then the elephant yanked her backwards and into the air, swinging her around before jerking it's trunk to the side and sending her crashing into the top of a nearby house, shattering the tiles as she did so.
"This is getting out of-"
"Shiiiiiiit!" Issei's scream blundered right through, the boy blasting past them as he dangled around the neck of the unicorn, looking as though he was trying to choke it out in the process, the beast bucking up and down as it tried to shape him free, all the while he flailed around with only his arms keeping him attacked. "Boost!"
The horn atop its head pulsed with light and then flashed outwards in a bubble, Issei being propelled backwards and twisting through the air until he crashed down into the ground. Another thin line looped around the neck of the unicorn and pulled it to the side, drawing a whine from it as it stumbled, the light looked to flash once more before it dwindled ever so slightly.
A shadow moved above, then lightning fell onto the top of the unicorn, casting its shadow across the whole street as it became nothing more than a dark silhouette amidst a backdrop of golden yellow. Romani hissed and covered his eyes, feeling them burn out with the intensity of the light.
This was turning into a prolonged fight, it had been an oversight to merely refer to this woman as better than the exorcist, she was in a league well above them. This manner of fighter that would not be out of place during his own era, that was high praise indeed but he did not have a chance to voice it, neither one of them really had a chance for that.
He sidestepped the swipe and then turned, bringing the spear across and down directly into the guard, the weapons groaned against one another before he heard a faint cracking sound, clearly the woman did as well as he saw her eye twitch ever so slightly, it was then that she twisted her body and drove the spear down into the floor, he leaned backwards and avoided the thrust for his neck, pushing against her and sending her moving past him.
Her body twisted as she went on one leg, the sudden high kick caught him in the cheek and had all the force of a sledgehammer for what was otherwise a graceful movement, a faint gasp escaped him as he stumbled backwards, quickly focusing on the woman once more as she turned and flourished her arms once more, the whistle of flying blades and the clang of steel rang out once more, a repeat of their earlier tactics-
A blur, she rushed forwards rather suddenly and without warning, he realised his mistake the second she was close enough, her arms wide as though going for a tackle. He drove his left knee upwards then faltered as her tackling arms suddenly swung inwards and slammed down against the rising knee, pushing herself up and driving her forehead into his own, his vision whited as he fell backwards with a gasp.
She went for another high kick.
He caught her ankle with his bronze arm, she paused for all of a second before she went airborne, he yanked her up and then swung her down into the ground with all his might, shattering the floor and bouncing her off the ground with a gasp, as she came back up he twisted the spear around and struck her in the abdomen with the butt of the weapon, propelling her out of the house and flying back into the street once more.
He turned and charged back into the garden, ignoring her for a moment as he reached out and clasped the still buried fragment by its handle, ripping it from the earth and slotting it back into its place at his hip. He had what he came for and that was the first break he had managed to get from the woman in what felt like years, they had only been fighting a couple of minutes at most.
Not even allowing himself a chance to breathe, he pressed onwards, vaulting over the wall and taking off away from them as fast as he could, the only real grievance he had was that he had lost sight of the fiend who wielded the fragment, he had hoped to finish them before they could do more harm, but it seemed they escaped in the chaos of his fight with the woman.
Another jump, he landed down into the street, turning left and right before he made to turn once again, then paused as the strangest of sounds reached his ears, whipping his head around and furrowing his brows, it almost sounded as though he heard an elephant in the distance, but there was surely no earthly way that was what he heard. A glance left and right revealed that no-one had emerged…
The street went on as though life was perfectly normal.
That…that wasn't right.
Some manner of bounded field compelling them to stay indoors?
It was possible, but-
His senses flared, he turned around and then widened his eyes, bringing up his spear and arms in a block at the very last second, right until the wall of steel met him and he was lifted off the ground, spinning through the air and dimly aware of the fact he had just been hit with a car, not run over by a car, someone had just thrown the car at him.
The weightlessness lasted until he struck the ground hard, rolling for several seconds and then finally coming to a halt, thrusting his arm down and trenching his fingers through the road to slow his momentum, the car rushed over the top of him and was presumably destroyed if the chaotic mess behind him as any indication. His head snapped up, the spear still gripped in his left hand and then angled over his body, supported by his right arm as the woman fell upon him again, pressing down hard.
He pushed her over the top of him, turning and following her only to pause as he stared at what was happening right over the top of her shoulder, his brows furrowed and his lips parted. The woman clearly noticed something was amiss, chancing a glance over her head and then double taking, the two of them joined by the single bewildering moment of watching a group of teenagers fight an elephant.
His arm pulsed, he could feel it vibrate the second he caught sight of two other teenagers wielding rather intriguing weapons as well. His eyes remained focused on them for all of a second before he understood what they were swinging around, then his focus shifted back to the woman as she turned back around, adjusting her posture and staring at him with hard unyielding eyes.
They both knew what those weapons were and what his intentions were.
…But he was still a knight.
The spear reversed in his grasp, he twisted it around and then pulled his arm back like a javelin, the woman pushed off the ground towards him, but not before he hurled the weapon forwards with all his might, shooting right over the top of her head and propelled by a cannon blast of wind from the back of it, he heard the road crack behind him, but tensed his posture, catching the tackle of the woman with his hands and digging his feet in hard.
Fingers intertwined, they pushed hard against the other as he watched the spear strike home, driving itself right through the side of the elephants head and out the other end, punching a hole which all but obliterated the skull of the monster, it's trumpet cut short as it fell down, only to turn into a black puddle on the floor and sling away.
"That was foolish." The woman spoke again for the first time since their fight began.
"Yes." He admitted it readily. "But I am not so driven as to lose sight of myself. I am here for the Excalibur shards and I will not pull them from the dead hands of children if I can help it."
His right arm twisted, the woman gave a single twitch as he pulled her forwards and then drove his metal elbow into the side of her temple with an echoing thud, then swung up into her gut with his knee and folded her over it, pulling his left hand free of her grasp and throwing it upwards, she twisted around that blow and swept her leg out, catching him in the back of the shin as she spun around.
He fell backwards, she twisted back around and thrust her leg outwards and right into his gut, he felt the breath leave his body in a single rush as he fell backwards, rolling for what felt like miles and then coming to a halt once more, snapping his head up and sweeping his metal arm in front of his face, parrying away the flying keys once more, leaning to the side and catching the next by the handle.
It was unbalanced with a rather short handle, but it was better than nothing.
He glanced past her, both them and the Devils had shifted their focus onto him, the two other exorcists looked as though they were seconds away from rushing towards him. He grimaced deeply as he weighed up the chances of him winning this and getting the shards. It was painful to admit it, but this was not going to happen any time soon.
The black key was tossed aside, burying itself into the road.
His right hand thrust forwards, a faint rumble in the distance as the thrown spear shot back towards him. The woman - in the middle of charging him - kicked up from the ground and flipped backwards, avoiding the spear which would have otherwise slammed into her back.
The spear impacted his waiting palm with a metallic clang. He would offer more thanks to Jedidiah for this addition.
At the same time, his left hand dropped down and clasped the handle of the sword.
The woman completed the flip and snapped her eyes onto him instantly, where she then widened them as she likely realised his intentions. Already moving to pursue, but he gave her little chance as he turned on his heel and sprinted away as fast as his legs could carry him.
He won a single shard, he was not going to risk losing it to get two more. Not right now.
Romani kept on staring where the man had been stood, it had only been for a few short moments that he was even there before he turned around and ran away with such speed that he left behind an actual afterimage of himself, the only reason he could even come up with that suggestion was because of the fact he had seen the wind abruptly rush away from him and the image just fade away into nothing.
He remind leaning against the remains of the wall, blinking several times before shifting his focus onto the blue haired woman who remained, her hand still outstretched in the direction of the man before it fell back to her side, he caught a faint click of the tongue from her direction before she turned, then seemingly locked eyes with him for all of a second, twisting her face for a brief instant, then moving past him and towards the others.
"Agent Bow!" Irina's voice called out "We-"
She was silenced with a sharp look from the woman, a swift jerk of the head and the two teenagers dragged themselves towards the direction of the woman, it was only then that he noticed the other students had all gone ramrod straight, with the exception of Kiba who looked as though he was glaring hard towards the trio of woman, that almost insane look in his eye being rather disturbing.
The woman took in a deep breath, then stepped forwards, folding her hands behind her back as she did so. "I am Agent Bow. Seventh Seat of the Burial Agency. Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri, step forward so that I might address you."
The teenagers looked horror stricken at being addressed, mutely moving forwards.
"...The Church has authorised me to speak with you in regards to our mission here…And nothing else. This is neither a request for assistance nor is it a plea for permission. We shall remain here until our objective has been completed. Any attempt to block us or otherwise impede us shall be dealt with swiftly and with extreme prejudice. That is all."
With that, she turned around and started to walk in the direction that she had come from, all the while saying nothing and not even giving a hint of-
She stopped walking, then turned her eyes towards the direction of Asia, the second he heard the young girl let out a whimper, he was dragging himself towards her as best as he could, though the blue haired woman didn't so much as register his actions as her gaze remained unbroken.
Then she all but dismissed her as though she didn't exist.
…He had never felt more relieved.
The trio of women continued their walk without saying even a single thing.
A crunch against the ground and a wet splat drew the eyes of everyone to sound.
Falling dust from where something heavy struck the ground, he felt the vibration directly beneath him, through the shadow he watched a humanoid shape rise up and then move out of the cloud of debris.
Vlov appeared from the dust pillar, stepping off the body of the griffin with a blank expression as he called out to the retreating trio. "Your demands shall be accepted only if the nature of your mission is explained. Nothing more and nothing less will be accepted. Any attempt to conceal the nature of your objective will be treated accordingly. Do you understand?"
The trio of women remained silent, the younger pair traded glances and then turned to the older one. The blue haired woman turned around and locked eyes with the man, Romani felt as though the tension of the staring contest was about to crush him, a tickling sensation as though any second now the peace would end and a fight would break out-
"...Acceptable. You will be given basic information and nothing else."
"Agreed." Vlov responded with, at a rather impressive speed as well, his shoulder relaxed ever so slightly.