Fate DxD Vol.12
Chapter 64
"The storm is finally over? At last we can breathe properly!" Mt. Lady exclaims, gently stroking Koneko's back.
"...Yes." She said, removing the handkerchief from her mouth.
"And it looks like we're getting the upper hand, which is good news." Observes Death Arms.
"Mt. Lady, we entrust the children to you, we're going to join the others, catch up with us as soon as you can." All Might asks.
"Roger All Might. Come on you heard it kids, let's go." Mt. Lady calls Koneko and Kiba.
All right, then... What the?!" Kiba stopped suddenly, looking to the side.
Numerous bolts of lightning struck the ground, and above all, long black hairs that were unmistakable.
"That's Akeno-senpai over there! We've got to go help her!" Kiba exclaims, running in her direction, closely followed by Koneko.
"What are you doing?!" Mt. Lady exclaims.
"It looks like another student is in danger, let's go!" All Might leapt forward, catching up with the two devils.
"Damn it! When does it stop?!" Akeno snaps, sending another bolt of lightning through a person's body, which disappears just after.
"If you keep this up, you're going to be in for a long time, kiddo." Says a man, seated with a portal to his left, out of which come people who seem to be random.
"Ha... Ha... Ha..." She wipes her forehead, desperately looking for a way through.
"Wouldn't you be better off eliminating her?" Asks the other person next to him, glaring at Akeno.
"One was clear! We're sticking to our guns and not letting anyone through! We've missed several times because we took too many liberties, so now we just wait for them to impale themselves! That's all!"
"You tire me..."
"You really are a bunch of clowns..." Akeno scoffs, half-heartedly, as she knows full well she won't be able to get through.
"Young Himejima! Is everything all right?!" All Might landed a few feet in front of her.
"All... All Might? That's a nice surprise, I'm fine thanks." A glimmer of hope revives in her eyes.
"Akeno-senpai!" It's Kiba and Koneko's turn to show up, stepping up beside her.
"Oh my juniors, it's so good to see you, are you all right?" She asks.
"We can finally breathe so that's perfect, but what are you doing this far into enemy lines?" Kiba asks.
"...And where is the president?" Koneko asks.
"Rias has asked me to go as far as I can to find Senji, but as to where she is, I don't know, I haven't tried to reach her since the storm stopped." Akeno places a magic circle near her ear, but it dissipates immediately. "All contact seems to be cut off."
"I see..." Kiba makes a sword appear, ready for battle. "Then we'll have to manage without her."
"Hey, did you forget about us or something?!" Mt. Lady stops beside them, annoyed.
"Next time listen to us! And don't throw yourselves into battle like that!" Death Arms adds.
"Please, stay focused! The enemy is up to something!" Warn All Might.
Everyone turns to the many people Akeno was confronting.
"...How did you hold up against so many people?" Koneko asks.
"They weren't being aggressive, they were defending the position. This guy create a portal making different people appear and the other stops time in a bubble." Warns Akeno.
"You heard the kid, we're not causing any trouble, so we can leave it at that!" Says the person sitting down.
"You're criminals, we're here to save the hostage but also to arrest all of you. So get ready, villains." All Might gets ready.
"Well, All Might himself wants to stop us, here's flattering me." He stands up, warming up. "Change of plan man, we're going on the offensive."
"Finally something that interests me." His comrade brings his two hands together and creates a bubble, then throws it toward All Might.
The bubble suddenly expands as it approaches the hero and, taken by surprise, All Might is swallowed by the bubble, becoming completely motionless.
"No! All Might!" Death Arms shouts, preparing to jump to get him out of the bubble.
"No, don't touch it or you'll be trapped too!" Akeno stops him.
"Damn it!"
"Tell me darling, the people the other one makes appear, they're clones aren't they?" Mt. Lady asks.
"No."
"What seriously?!"
"They're not clones, but they work in the same way. When hit, they disappears, but they remain people like you and me." Akeno explains.
"I have to admit I'm a bit lost..." Mt. Lady scratches her head.
"Hesitation hesitation! What is my Sigil, is it real people I take hostage and use as a wall, or are they clones I can create?" Laughs the person concerned.
"I'll help you." Akeno raises her hand to the sky and brings down a bolt of lightning on a person, creating a great flash of light. Taking the two heroes by surprise, they are even more surprised when they see him as if he has nothing, yet is swallowed up by a portal, making him disappear. "You see? No consequences to attack."
"Hmmm! I hope it's true! Kids, we'll leave you to deal with the guy who stopped All Might, Death Arms and I'll deal with him and... the... Argh! Who cares, let's go!" Mt. Lady orders, turning giant.
"Roger!" Death Arms leapt forward, striking some summoned person, sending them tumbling and disappearing.
The three devils look at each other before nodding. Akeno unfurled her wings and raised her hand, creating numerous magic circles above them. Kiba and Koneko charge forward towards the other enemy.
Seeing this, the many people coming out of the gate rush towards them.
"They're targeting the children! Gah!" Death Arms tries to intercept them but is stopped by a single person, who punches him and drives him into the ground. "What strength!" He tries to resist.
"Boy, they're fast!" Mt. Lady tries to crush them but most dodge and those below try to stop her. "You've got to be kidding me! They don't even let themselves get run over!" She withdraws her foot and lashes out again, this time to kick, destroying the ground in the process and sweeping away a sizable party."
"Koneko! Kiba! Be careful!" Akeno covered them, raining down lightning and torrents of flame on the enemies.
Back to back, Kiba and Koneko neutralize enemies one by one, taking care not to be overwhelmed. Kiba slices through the opponents, but instead of cutting them, the blade passes through them, but stops them and makes them disappear anyway. Koneko hits them with all her strength, but each of them seems to be clearly stronger than her, almost on the same level as All Might.
"...Why are they so strong..." Koneko stood back to back with Kiba.
"So I'm not crazy, if we take a hit, we'll end up on the floor. But we've got to deal with the guy who stopped All Might, otherwise we'll never finish..." Kiba turns his gaze to the other, who's holding the bubble on All Might.
"Senpai, stay focused, they're coming." Koneko leapt forward, striking several with a kick.
Kiba raised his sword and followed Koneko, covering her rear and quickly eliminating any enemies approaching her blind spots.
Akeno sends out lightning bolts, skewering several enemies before extinguishing itself, and in addition to the torrents of flame, she creates powerful air currents to create tornadoes of fire. Then she turns to the time manipulator, creates a magic circle with her outstretched hand and conjures up a spike of ice, projecting it towards him. The latter creates a bubble just in front, stopping the attack, moves to the side, and makes the bubble disappear, letting the ice spike pass by.
Mt. Lady lands a knee and swings her fist towards the ground, sliding it to do maximum damage, hitting many people.
Death Arms finally manages to free himself, sending the many people on top of him tumbling.
"They've slightly weakened!" He declares.
"Oh really? Then allow me." At these words, he conjured up a new portal, letting many people through one by one.
"It's endless... Mt. Lady! Can you please crush him?!" Death Arms snarls.
"I'd love to! But believe it or not, the more they are, the stronger they are! There's no way I can get through without them knocking me over!"
"Oh bingo!" The Sigil user snaps his fingers.
Taken by surprise, Koneko finds herself in the path of a punch. She protects herself, but the attack is so powerful that it takes her breath away, sending her crashing into a wall.
"Koneko!" Kiba conjures up a second sword and sweeps to maximize his chances, but one of them flies by sending out his fists. He puts both swords in the way, breaking them, feeling the force of the blow pass through his whole body, making his arms tingle.
"That's right Mt. Lady! My power isn't just summoning people, it's also that when there's more of me, the stronger I get!"
"Me? I?"
"Right, all his people are me but from different dimensions, isn't that amazing."
Hearing this, Akeno takes the time to look around, seeing men and women of all ethnicities. Heteromorphs, half-men half-animals, and even some are half-cybernetic.
"They're all that guy huh..."
"Does such a power exist?" Death Arms can't believe it.
"And yes, you can thank Darwin's Game for that. At first I didn't want to use my powers to the full because it tires me out too quickly, but the truth is I'm getting bored with the whole thing. So no hard feelings, okay?" At his words, a dozen portals appeared.
"We'll never make it..." Kiba stands in front of Koneko, who struggles to get to her feet.
"It's endless..." Panic grips Koneko.
"Take flight kids, we've got your back!" Mt. Lady struggles on, eliminating many with each blow, but far too many arrive quickly.
Starting to lose morale, Akeno lowered her hand, as if defeated, not seeing how to defeat them. When she suddenly feels a rather familiar energy, she turns to see four green lights in the distance. Then a sword passes by her, impaling an enemy, then two more, a dozen more, a forty-sword attack, falling from the sky in a shower, crashes down on the opponent. The time manipulator steps in front of his colleague and creates a bubble in front of them, protecting themselves.
Four familiar people appear from the rubble, charging sword-in-hand at their opponents, slashing and slashing relentlessly, throwing swords above them, bringing them down to create space.
"Senji-kun!" Akeno exclaims. "No, clones?"
"Akeno-senpai! I think it's the first time I've seen you so defeated. Keep your shoulders high! It's not over yet, if they've followed me, reinforcements shouldn't be long in coming."
"Reinforcements? That's it! That's good to hear!" As if regaining new strength, Death Arms, resumes the fight in full force.
"Ah! What's 4 more ridiculous clones going to do?!" Scoffs the portal creator.
Strengthening their bodies, the four clones pass through the countless people emerging from the portals, as if dancing, slaughtering everything around them. One of them approaches Koneko and Kiba. He passes quickly, helping Koneko to her feet.
"Kiba, I'll carry her, we'll join the others!" He said.
"...Yes... Yes! I'm ready!" Kiba gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, feeling terrible for having accepted defeat so easily.
Senji leapt up, closely followed by Kiba, passing over the enemies and landing near the heroes.
The time manipulator watches the scene with amusement, having no fear of losing. He turns his gaze to Mt. Lady, who continues to decimate the various people who are his colleague, to no avail, as even more come out of his portal. But somewhat annoyed, he creates a new bubble and throws it at Mt. Lady, who expands enough to absorb her completely.
But out of the corner of his eye, he saw a clone of Senji leap into the air, a cracked sword in hand, leaking flames. He throws it at him, aiming directly at him.
"He's been waiting for this, the little bastard!" The time manipulator, taken by surprise, cancels his attack and throws himself to the side to dodge the weapon, which lands right next to him.
"Thanks kid, I couldn't have done anything to stop it!" Mt. Lady exclaims in gratitude.
"No problem, anyway I suspected he'd get impatient at some point, they're all like their boss." Senji explains as he lands.
Thinking he's avoided the worst, the time manipulator rises to his feet, only to feel an unstable energy emanating from the blade, which suddenly explodes. Both being hit, one cancels his bubble, releasing All Might, and the other cancels all his portals.
"What the?! How come there are so many of them all at once?! Young Emiya?! What are you doing here!" All Might doesn't understand what's going on.
"Later the explanations All Might, we must take advantage of the fact that the portals are no longer there to take the offensive." Senji explains.
"Ah, that's right he stopped me in time. I'm not up to date on what happened, but in broad strokes, these are all our enemies aren't they?" Senji nods. "Very well... So!" All Might raises his fists and throws them, striking into the void and unleashing a powerful current of air, hoping to sweep them all away, but none moves, only shielding their faces from the mighty wind.
"That's not good..." All Might sighs.
"All Might, the more they are, the stronger they become!" Exclaims Death Arms.
"It's problematic, there's no end in sight..." All Might looks at the many enemies in front of him, who seem to be an army ready to take Fuyuki.
"Ahahahahah! Even the great All Might is powerless against my army of myself! What a delight! Then allow me to enjoy it even more!" The portal creator rises theatrically and again creates a dozen portals.
But two small arrows of elements pass through his body, in non-vital places, but enough to take away all his strength.
"Beurgh... Who... did this to me..."
"Hmpf! You got what you deserved! Now hold still or you'll make it worse for yourself." On top of the debris of a building stands Uruchi, light arrows between her fingers.
A blade of light cuts through the enemy lines, closely followed by Garrett, her sword glinting with a bright white light, she throws another blade of light, eliminating many of the enemies in front of her.
"We've come to the rescue!" She exclaims, placing the tip of her sword on the ground, assuming a heroic posture.
"Say instead that you got lost, and I guided you here." Uruchi said with a deadpan face.
"It's...!" Garrette begins to blush with embarrassment. "It's a detail, but now that we're here, it doesn't matter!" She resumes her heroic posture.
"Of course... Well, is there anything we need to know?" Uruchi asks, turning to the heroes.
As they explain the situation, the enemies slowly but surely disappear one by one. The person who started it all is on all fours, struggling to keep from passing out.
"How long do you think you'll last?" Asks his colleague.
"As long as I can... I don't intend to end it like this..."
"You could have said you didn't know, it would have gone faster."
"She knocked me around pretty good, the kid, and with precision too. Their school's no piece of shit... Kuoh right... That was... well done..."
"Why you're complimenting her, you'd better be calling her names mostly."
"Sorry, but I can't help being fair play. From now on, do what you want. Personally, I'm going to let loose one last time!" At these words, all the others him charged at the heroes and children.
"...They're coming, get ready!" Koneko is the first to notice.
"There are so many of them that the ground is shaking..." Senji remarks. "What do you see from your point of view Akeno-senpai?!"
"The one who brought all these people in is on the ground, he must be out of action, but the other one is still standing!" She explains.
"I sure hope he's on the ground, with what I gave him!" Uruchi exclaims, using her arrows of light to eliminate as many enemies as possible.
Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning passes over us and falls among the enemies, carving out a huge crater.
"...Did you do this Akeno-senpai?" Koneko asks, surprised.
"No! That's ...!"
A figure leapt out of the crater and landed next to one of Senji's clones, tossing her hair back in place.
"Hi Senji, so how did you find me, ballsy isn't it?" Yan Min asks, looking proud but slightly short of air.
"Fufu... I can't believe she's hitting on him even in this situation..." Akeno laughs lightly.
"Yan Min, I'm glad to see you, that was a perfect attack, but it's not over yet." Replied the clone.
"Hmm, you're just one of his clones... and where's my real Senji?" Yan Min asks.
"Into the warehouse, he goes to find Youta."
"Senji-senpai is already there? This is suicide..." Koneko gets angry hearing this.
"Stay focused! They're picking up the pace and if we don't do something we'll be submerged!" Uruchi exclaims, beginning to tire.
Indeed, the thousands of people in front of them resemble a tidal wave, rushing towards them at full speed.
"We'll win no matter what!" Garrett raises her sword and swings blades of light.
Koneko dashes towards them, using her small size and agility, dodges all the blows and using her rook piece, beats each of them in one blow.
Death arms follows her closely, covering her back and using the space created by Garrett's blades of light, so as not to be trapped like the first time.
"Death Arms, sensei, I'm following you." Koneko moves closer to him, some bruise present on her body.
Mt. Lady grows and wreaks havoc, kicking and punching, draining their numbers at breakneck speed. But to her astonishment, none of them panic; they continue to act in the same way, foolishly attacking everything in front of them.
"Would having weakened the original have made them complete idiots?" She wonders, before withdrawing her foot to prevent them from knocking her over.
Kiba creates a blade made of ice and makes a horizontal strike, freezing everything in front of him.
"Well done young Yuuto!" All Might says as he throws himself into the battle, striking so hard and fast that his movements are barely visible.
But after just a few seconds, one by one, the enemies freed themselves from their icy prison, and began to attack again.
"It was a good idea but Kiba-kun doesn't have enough mastery yet to keep them in an ice prison for long." Akeno watches the battle, raining lightning down on the enemies. "Yan Min has come to our rescue, but she's already clearly tired. If this continues, we'll be forced to flee, but that'll mean dropping all these super-powered people on the battlefield, which is no good at all..."
Suddenly, a powerful elemental arrow hurtles past the entire team, passing through a whole row of clones.
"An attack this powerful... It's Furan-senpai!" Uruchi turns to see the president of Maken-ki.
"Sorry we're late everyone, we tried to keep up with Senji-san's clones, but they were way too fast." She said, firing another arrow.
She's closely followed by Rin, who throws a multitude of colored gems, hurling themselves like missiles at the enemy. A huge wave of destruction sweeps through the army of enemies, then another... Akeno heads for the origin to see Rias somewhat on edge.
"Ara Ara, you seem to be really concerned about something Rias." She said.
"Akeno, I'm glad to see you and yes. The more I think about this battle the more I think it makes no sense, it's just a gang, not an army, so why force the fight in such a way, it can't be just to humiliate and kill Senji, it makes no sense..."
"We'll think about that later, for now, there's a real army in front of us, so let's stay focused!" Furan calls out to the two young women.
"Is anyone hurt?!" Asia raises her voice to make herself heard.
"All Might! I've always dreamed of fighting by your side!" Kai exclaims, using his alter to steel his arms.
"The honor is all mine, young Kurigasa!" Said All Might, while sending a score of enemies tumbling in a single punch.
"Ah what a pity Azuki isn't here! I would have liked to see her face right now!" Yan Min laughs, striking at high speed.
"Damn, if this keeps up, they'll win..." Panics the time manipulator.
He prepares to create a bubble, but a purple gem falls and slides at his feet, bursting and creating a dome where gravity is much stronger, forcing him to drop into a crouch.
"I was quickly given the rundown, but it was enough to know that you were the last problem. So don't make another move or you'll get a Gandr blow to the corner of your nose." Said Tohsaka, pointing her finger at him.
"What?! How did you get through?!"
"Look ahead, there's not much left of your clone army or whatever, with Mt. Lady and Rias-senpai having a blast unleashing their power, trust me it won't last long."
Indeed, the fight only lasts a few minutes, before there's nothing left but the two gang members, on the ground, exhausted and beaten.
"Phew, finally finished, even for me it's getting to be a lot." Yan Min wipes her forehead, finally freeing herself from the whip.
"Kiba, Koneko, I'm glad to see you're doing well." Rias takes them in her arms, releasing her worry.
"Hmm, I get the funny feeling that you took pleasure in unleashing your destructive power on the enemy Rias, good thing they were only clones." Furan comments, putting her glasses back on.
"...President, I can hardly breathe..." Koneko murmurs, under Rias' chest.
"Oh yes, sorry!" She releases them, slightly embarrassed. "Yes, I've let go, I've released all my frustration and it's done me a lot of good, and it's enabled us to get it over with a lot quicker."
"Good job kids, without you the situation could have turned into a catastrophe..." Death Arms scratches his head.
"Fufu, no problem, after all, we're in Kuoh for a reason aren't we?" Said Akeno.
"Yes, it's our duty as students to help you." Kiba added.
"Ah! You're hardly aspiring shinobi, so step back a bit, this situation is exceptional." Yan Min remarked.
"That's just it, we're aspirants, and we've been given a mission, it's up to us to carry it out, and we're starting to see the light at the end of the road." Rin adds.
"That's right! And aspirant or not, it's perfectly normal to want to fight evil!" Garrett exclaims.
"Haaa... This isn't really the time to bicker, the fight's not over yet..." Furan sighs.
"Very good! Everyone, please! I've tied up our two freshly caught villains! We're going to the camp so young Argento can look after you comfortably and then the heroes and shinobis will take over." All Might declares.
He can see the disappointment in the children's eyes, still wanting to fight and help as best they can.
"All Might?" Kai raises his hand. "What do we do once we're healed?"
"...Children." All Might takes a solemn tone, surprising everyone. "You've all done a great job, you can all be proud of yourselves. But don't forget you're under our responsibility. You weren't supposed to fight, and now that we have the advantage and there aren't many active Eighth members left, we don't need to put you in danger anymore, so recuperate, rest, and wait patiently. I know you want to save Youta and help Senji, but now is not the time for you to plunge into the thick of battle. Leave it to us, please."
"So..." Uruchi steps forward and bows. "Save these two idiots, and scold them for us."
She is closely followed by all the others.
"Don't worry, you can do it yourself when it's over. Well, enough wasted time. Let's go." All Might leads, followed by everyone else.
Conflicting feelings grip everyone, but everyone remembers this video, remembering how dangerous the leader of this gang can be. So they just hope for the safe return of Youta and Senji, not being able to do anything else with their tired bodies and minds.
"Um, All Might? What do we do with the kid's clones?" Asks Mt. Lady.
"Ah yes that's right, I'm going to talk to him, go ahead I'll join you."
All Might moves towards the clones, but strangely neither of the remaining two moves, both facing the warehouses.
"Young Emiya what are you planning to do?" All Might asks, but no answer. "Young Emiya...?"
All Might steps forward and looks into the face of one of them. He's petrified with terror and hatred.
"Senji... No, no way..."