Fate: Bonds Beyond Humanity

by Apprentice of Life

In a world where all can be real, what does it mean to be human? What is the meaning of humanity? A meeting between a human and a devil will have them discovering the truth while chasing their dreams. My take on the combined worlds of Fate and DxD with characters from other franchises if they can be adapted to it. Harem.

50. Chapter 50

Fate/Bonds Beyond Humanity

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50- Let There Be Khaos

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Irisviel didn't like the present situation, not one bit. Not only did the organization that her daughter had joined, foolishly in her opinion, was attacking a peace conference, it also had managed to pass through her boundary fields.

'How did they do it?' The homunculus modeled after Justeaze couldn't stop herself from trying figuring that out. 'They managed to enter without breaking the primary boundary field. The second one is steady but it shows some signs of decay.' Which told her that the magicians were starting to run dry. Then there was the third one. 'How they hit our location so precisely.' Looking around she knew, she wasn't the only one thinking about it.

Yet the silver boundary field wavered a little more and the blast was considerable as well. The fact that Maya hadn't shown up yet meant that all magicians were fully committed to defense.

But Irisviel knew the protocols and mentally counted down from 10 when the door burst open. "Freeze!" Maya had invaded the meeting room with a pistol and two men with machine guns. After looking around and noticing only the students from Kuoh were paying attention to her, she put down the pistol as her men left. "Did they breach-"

"No, I have no idea how they did it either since Silver Shield is still up." Irisviel knew Maya appreciated the fast response.

"How long has the attack been going?" Sirzechs sounded cold and harsh while the others watched the combat. "Have we confirmed the enemy's identity?"

Deferring to the Maou was among Maya's orders so she didn't hesitate. "It has been two hours since the first skirmish started. After some problems organizing our force, we managed to fortify our defenses." A more detailed report would be a waste of time so she skipped to what mattered. "Symbols of the Old Satan Faction were spotted but prior information and the enemy support confirm they are also part of the Khaos Brigade. No leadership has been identified."

"So they have the numbers but so far no heavy hitters. Makes sense if they are waiting for us to make the first move." Azazel summarized for everyone. "It was a typical devil tactic during the Great War; send the weaklings ahead to spread chaos, a favorite of the first Beelzebub."

"You don't need to remind us how screwed up our predecessors were ." Serafall had summoned her magic girl wand and her eyes kept darting from one side to the next, her guard up.

Behind her was a nervous Sona who didn't dare to complain about her sister's protection as both her and Tsubaki felt exposed but were still thankful as the rest of their peerage wasn't around.

"Everyone made mistakes on those days, too many." Michael opened his wings again. "Irina, stay back." He prepared to fly but a hand grabbed his arm.

"Where do you think you are going?" Azazel looked concerned and furious.

"The enemy is waiting for one of us, I will go out there and force them out."

"Oh hell, no you aren't. Do you have any idea the kind of mess Heaven is going to be if something happens to you?"

"Our allies are dying. Our siblings!" It was worse than that and both angels could see, their eyes seeing dead fallen angels throwing spears at the barrier.

Necromancers were violating the dead and that only made the Seraph grow more furious.

"Most of them are more like our nephews and they are doing their job." His grip grew tighter and he tried to pull the angel down. Only for Michael to barely move, showing his older brother was still stronger. "We need to see the big picture here. Especially you! Remember that you are the only pure angel around for a reason."

"I hate letting people die."

"Lord Michael, perhaps you should pay more attention to the fight." Xenovia intruded and Michael listened out of respect. "The silver barrier seems to be holding back most of the attacks. If I'm seeing things right, most on our side aren't dying."

Maya took the opportunity to help calm the angel down, the risk of him dying making him VIP number one. "She is correct, Silver Shield was created to help our men to fight to the maximum of their capabilities with little risk. Note that the enemy's spells aren't breaking through it."

Michael stopped struggling and allowed Azazel to pull him back, turning to notice how their side had people going in and out the shield while bullets kept most of the enemy back.

Unfortunately he also noticed fluctuations that didn't belong to a stable boundary field. "It can't hold forever, probably not enough to win without any more losses.."

"It will hold for longer once Irisviel joins in the defense." Since the meeting was already ruined, Maya was going to use all the assets at her disposition.

Irisviel nodded without disagreements, with her mana capacity that was only logical. "With the damage to the school, rebuilding the third boundary field is impossible at the moment. Then-"

"Oi, some of them are moving to the woods." Vali announced outloud. "Is there something important there?"

Immediately Rias began to grow concerned, the members of the ORC sharing the same feeling. "Koneko, Gasper and Liz are back at the club!" She opened her wings and got ready to advance but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. "Brother-"

"Are you planning to cross an active war zone?" Unlike Michael and Azazel, Sirzechs didn't try to force Rias down. His cold stare was enough to make her hesitate.

"But I-"

"I won't let you fly to your death." His head turned as some of her peerage looked ready to do the same. "Neither of you."

"No offense, Lord Lucifer, but our comrades need us." Kiba already had the Knight's Sword on his hands.

"No." Sirzechs made it sound final as Rias freed herself from him and glared.

"If we go around-"

"No means no, Rias."

"I won't let members of my peerage die."

"I am ordering you as Lucifer, stand down."

"Then arrest me after I save them!"

"You can't leave the boundary field." Irisviel inserted herself in the conversation. When she saw Rias about to protest, she shook her head. "I meant literally. I developed Silver Shield to stop any kind of direct mana usage from penetrating it. There is a reason why it needs to open for our men's blasts." She pointed to a hole that was close down just in time for the enemy's spells to collide against it.

Fallen angels and devils all around the school were already showing their exhaustion. The long fight was begging to wear the defense down and they needed to rest. With lesser numbers the rotations were too tight for them to keep going for long and soon the big players would have to intervene.

The same thing couldn't be said about their enemies as their superior numbers kept bombarding the boundary field with all they got while golems and familiars were cut down in droves, the metal striking unimpeded by the Silver Shield.

It was because of it that spears, halberds and swords became standard in the Underworld's army; as the average devil wasn't that strong, they needed an edge. The boundary field was an equalizer like their weapons. In most situations with Silver Shield active the troops could fall back on it holding until reinforcements arrived.

The problem in this situation was that there would be no reinforcements coming. Instead they were already there in the shape of their leaders but that created another dilemma; the moment the leadership moved there would be an attack from a similar or equal force.

And if things went wrong, the casualties may include them and that would definitively jeopardize the peace.

"There has to be some way." Akeno pointed out calmly. "No boundary field is perfect, you need only to see the army to know that." Irisviel frowned but couldn't disagree.

"Teleportation!" Shirou suddenly exclaimed, turning to Rias. "Remember how we beat the Hamelin Flutist?"

Rias shook her head. "If they don't use a pamphlet, we can't be summoned." All in her peerage looked at each other with concern.

"The boundary field won't let that happen, Shiro." His mother informed with a sad look. "The main boundary field and the Silver Shield are especially good at neutralizing teleportation of any kind."

Shirou pointed at the sky. "Then how did they get here?"

"That is the trillion dollar question." Azazel began to mess with something in the pocket of his coat. "Either way, to reach there, we have to pass through the army and the silver boundary field is faltering. Looks like we are running out of time"

Vali chuckled at his guardian's words. "So we need to distract the army. Sounds like fun." Divine Dividing sprung from his back. "Finally something to do around here."

"Wait-" But it was too late to stop him as Vali took flight faster than Azazel could speak. "That brat." Despite everything he didn't sound concerned.

A proud voice proclaimed. [Balance Breaker: Scale Mail.]

The majestic white armor showed itself on Kuoh again as Vali's power seemed to shine like a star, already repealing some of the Old Satan Faction. His power impressed everyone around as some of the devils on their side landed while fallen angels were more prepared for his sudden arrival.

Flying faster than sound, Vali quickly approached than passed through the silver boundary field, surprising Irisviel and Maya, to land in the middle of the familiars and golems assaulting it. A burst of mana destroyed all around as the fallen angels cheered.

"Looks like your boundary field doesn't work with sacred gears." Azazel tried to make it sound like a joke but Irisviel ignored it. "Maybe that was how they got in." A possibility that implied a certain sacred gear that he didn't want to think about but felt he needed to bring up.

Nodding silently, Irisviel placed a hand on Shirou's shoulder. "Your arrows can pass as well. Don't leave the boundary field." He frowned at the commanding tone and she shook her head. "You have people to protect here." Said her while pointing at Medusa. "I will keep the Silver Shield for as long as possible."

"Wait, Irisviel. There has to be some way for us to help those in the club. Please." Rias was begging in her tone and Sirzechs shook his head, silently commanding Irisviel to say nothing.

Revealing a weak spot in their spells wasn't something any kind of magician should do. "Teleportation can work with a medium… and brute force." Irisviel informed them with a smile either way and left before Sirzechs could complain.

Eyes grew wide in realization. "We can use Castling." Her brother was concerned immediately. "I have an unclaimed Knight in my office."

"Rias, no." Sirzechs feared she would reach that conclusion, a function from Evil Pieces that was great to circumvent teleportation blocking boundary fields. "Not only that is the wrong Piece, this boundary field is much stronger than any sealing spell. Moving around with teleportation is harder than you think."

That didn't stop Rias from trying as a magic circle appeared in her feet before Sirzechs could stop her. He didn't try and soon the circle fizzled out. "What the-"

"Kiritsugu-sama is extremely paranoid. When Irisviel-sama meant brute force she was saying more than just using mana. " Grayfia commented much to her King's displeasure. "You need someone with an affinity for teleportation."

"Then help me, Grayfia. Your Power would be more than enough to break the barrier."

"Rias, there is a chance the White Dragon Emperor was wrong." Sona could see that her friend was desperate.

The redhead Gremory glared at her oldest friend. "If it was your peerage there, would you wait?" With that Sona took a step back and Sirzechs knew his sister wasn't going to quit. "Please, Grayfia. Lucefuge's Power of Space is ideal for a situation like this. Even if the Piece isn't a Rook then you can bridge the gap."

"I can't risk your life without permission from my King." The maid's words were final.

Then Shirou Traced his bow. "Then we just have to open a path." Brute force had multiple meanings after all and Sirzechs clearly didn't like the suggestion. "Unless you are planning to knock Rias out, then she will do it anyway. You either help her teleport or we destroy everything until we get back to the club."

At her lover's words Rias motioned to her peerage. "Akeno, you are with me, Asia, stay back. Ise, I need you to start gathering Boosts for everyone. Kiba, once I give you the signal make a wall of sword's in the club's direction. Luvia, support everyone with spells."

"I can help as well." Xenovia touched Durandal's handle and it jumped from its sheath. "Just tell me what to do."

"Me too." Said Irina earning a nod of approval from Michael.

Rias looked at Shirou who nodded. "When we start you support Kiba and-"

"Fine, we will help." Sirzechs cut his sister off with more than a little frustration. It grew more intense at Serafall's giggle and Azazel's chuckle. "Grayfia, since the boundary field disrupts teleportation in its entirety, is it really viable?"

The original Castling was supposed to ignore such restrictions, and use a Rook but that was about to be irrelevant, but Kiritsugu wouldn't allow any weakness in his wife's magic.

"Yes but it will be costly. Especially since I am not connected and it is a Knight Piece." The Queen already knew that would have been the result of any discussion and was already making the proper calculations. "To force the Castling I will need a huge quantity of mana, more than I have or else Rias can't teleport and if the King can't then the spell is useless."

In which case Rias would command her peerage to charge and that was a can of worms Sirzechs won't open. "Use my mana and get ready." Grayfia nodded and began to work. He was already feeling a dip in his reserves and it was growing. 'This is bad.' Already it was clear the improvised Castling would cost a lot.

Due to their connection and status as husband and wife, sharing mana was simple. They could do it at any time and was considered the ultimate proof of trust amongst devils. After all, if in a race obsessed with power those who shared it really loved each other.

A new magic circle began to form, one Rias stepped forward to lay claim as quickly as possible. She felt the connection with Grayfia and her Piece in the club beginning taking shape.

However Grayfia threw a curve ball. "Another thing; Normal Castling allows the King to choose which Piece they are to take in the teleportation. However, due to the special boundary field and the fact we are using a Knight Piece we need to limit the flux of mana to make it happen." Even with Sirzechs powering up the spell, limits were still imposed on it.

This situation shouldn't be happening but nobody expected an invasion in such an excellent defense. "Irina could go, acting like a second 'Piece', if we can make it possible." The girl nodded at Michael's offer but Rias surprised everyone by shaking her head.

"Any of my Pieces are worthy an army of these terrorists." She stated proudly and to not give the enemy exactly what they wanted, an easier target in a weakened Michael as they didn't know what sort of tricks the enemy still had. Besides, she wasn't lying. "Ise, you have the lowest levels of mana so you are coming with me so my brother doesn't exhaust himself."

"You didn't need to remind me of that, buchou." Still the Boosted Gear was out and he was ready to rescue his friends as he stepped inside the magic circle.

Sirzechs felt the drain of his mana but chose to focus on his sister. "Once you arrive, evaluate the situation. If it is safe, stay at the club, if not, make a beeline back here. We will have our forces secure a route."

More could have been said but there was no time. "Akeno, keep everyone else safe." The Queen nodded as they were most likely the ones to reinforce as no one else was coming.

"Don't worry. I won't let them see the front lines." Azazel offered, his eyes never leaving the battle.

With no time for anything else Rias gave Shirou a look and he nodded as the magic circle began to power up.

Grayfia joined her hands and began to move them slowly as space around the magic circle began to bend. That was her separating the Space of the boundary field from the magic circle.

"What is going on?" Medusa asked, curious about the effect the Ultimate Maid power had over the area.

Michael was happy to explain. "The Lucifuge Clan isn't one of the Pillars but Extra Devils made to serve the Lucifer Clan directly. Extra devils are the Clans that aren't considered Pillars and are usually weaker with a few exceptions. Like the Lucifuge Clan who reign over Space."

Azazel would have found his brother's eagerness funny if not by the situation at hand. "A devil could explain more." He waved to Serafall who didn't want to talk directly to Medusa.

Still she spoke out loud for everyone's sake. "The Lucifuge were the leaders of the Clans directly under Lucifer, Six Extra Devils Clans each with defensive Powers focused in controlling the fight and guarding the Maou." She didn't mention most of them died during the war. "In their case the Lucifuge has the Power of Space so the stronger ones can teleport even through dimensions by themselves if there is nothing on the way. It was their Power,with Grayfia's help, that helped develop the Castling spell for the Evil Pieces."

A demonstration was happening right before their eyes as Grayfia's hands moved slowly and methodically using her husband's mana as fuel for her Power. Rias was guiding the magic circle to the unused Knight back at the club so Grayfia allowed her mind to expand in that direction.

Barriers, people, monsters, it didn't matter what was in the way as the Silver Haired Queen of Annihilation's Power won't touch any of them. The only condition it needed was that the 'passengers' didn't fight it and since neither Rias or Issei were trying they would arrive safely.

The two vanished in a red light once Grayfia locked on Knight Piece's presence, certain to appear on the ORC building as the Evil Piece landed on the ground.

Akeno picked it up for safe keeping as Shirou began to move. "Xenovia, watch over Medusa for me, would you? I will get closer to help with the fighting."

While firing arrows was certainly an option, Shirou could do more by just sending a rain of swords. Something that Kiba could assist with and jumped after the redhead, both getting closer to the Silver Shield.

"Lucky us to have a magus and a devil specialized in swords." Azazel frowned as he watched the swordsmen racing in the direction of the woods. "I always hated sending children to war."

"We aren't children." Akeno replied coldly."And the war came to us."

Azazel gave the girl a sad look that only Michael could interpret. "You will always be a child in my eyes."

Akeno didn't react but the pure angel did, his eyes growing wide as he turned to Akeno. "You are-"

"We have no time for this." The Queen refused to think about anything else. "Shirou-kun and Kiba already took the front and we need to help our allies." She turned to Sirzechs. "If we bring the wounded here, Asia can save them." She summoned EM one. "And so can I."

It was Serafall who reacted. "This place already has an infirmary but I can show you the place." As one of the Maou she was well informed. "But we can have the room besides this place made into another."

"I will set up a barrier." Michael offered immediately, trying to keep his mind on the battle taking place. "Neither here nor the adjacent rooms, not a single enemy will get past."

Unfortunately more changes were about to come as they all felt a huge power flying from the university towards the school. The leaders could already tell it was a Satan Class level threat.

Finally their opponent was starting to take things seriously as the Old Satan Faction's army began to spread around to make space for a light blue aura that approached the front. Didn't take a second for the men inside the Silver Shield to redirect all their fire towards it but a magic circle appeared and a huge blast of mana flew in their direction.

It was like a dam had broken and a deluge was unleashed to cover and attack all of the Silver Shield at the same time. It didn't take too long for all that power to damage the shield that had survived so far. There was no denying that the offensive was overwhelming.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Michael shout covered the whole area and he formed a shield around Kuoh as quickly as he could.

It took only a second for the shield to crack as magic circles and shields were hastily raised with Kiba grabbing Shirou and creating a dome of blades to protect him and some fallen angels close by.

Even powered by Irisviel the Silver Shield broke as the magicians, including Irisviel, were thrown back as the crystal ball exploded inwards, exactly like the Silver Shield as the rest of the attack slammed and crushed many inside.

Fortunately for many Michael's quick reaction and the Silver Shield had weakened the blast enough that the deaths were minimal. But there were still plenty of dead as the White Dragon Emperor observed from a distance with his arms crossed.

"Show yourselves, Fake Maous. A true devil came to reclaim what is hers by right!" The voice covered the whole area as the Old Satan Faction army cheered for their leader.

Soon Michael let go of the barrier as those in the meeting room watched the woman descend with her wings proudly on display, her power pulsing around her body and a long magic staff taller than her with a purple gem located inside a half moon.

"Who is she?" Medusa asked as the fight seemed to stop with the new arrival. She cursed once more her lack of power as the situation reminded her too much of Kokabiel. 'She isn't as strong but still.' Xenovia's presence beside her didn't help much as she knew the former Exorcist also had no chance of winning if it came down to it.

Quickly all the fighting died down with even the army of golems stopping and retreating. It wasn't a surprising event as nobody wanted to get in the middle of the crossfire or waste energy now that one of the big players showed themselves. Except that her arrival, as bombastic as it was, meant that there may be others like her around.

Or not, that could be a bluff but if the armies weren't going to keep fighting none of the leaders of the Three Factions would risk calling it. All their eyes were focused on the woman who arrived with a great deal of malice, both in her power and in her beautiful but venomous gaze.

"Katerea Leviathan." Serafall finally answered, forgetting any animosity towards the goddess and with a complex expression on her face.

Katerea stopped mid air and chuckled. "It is good to see you again, Serafall. Tell me, how has it been sitting on my family's throne for the last decades? Comfortable?" Serafall's expression grew cold as her eyes had none of the jubilance from a magical girl. Instead they were the eyes of a warrior who saw too many deaths. "I hope it didn't. Time has come for you to give up my family's throne."

The former Heiress of Sitri took a deep breath to steel herself. "Katerea, you know that what you are doing is unforgivable, correct? There is no turning back from your actions."

"Ehh~ Funny, I could say the same about you who dared to steal a True Maou's throne." At that point Katerea was at the same level as the rooftop of the school. "That is the only unforgivable sin between the two of us, Serafall Sitri."

A loud bang echoed and a bullet blessed by Holy Water flew on Katerea's direction, a sniper recovering enough and taking the shot at his first opportunity. He didn't realize the size of his mistake until it was too late.

For a devil of Katerea's caliber the bullet was just too slow and with a turn of turn of her staff a ball of blue mana the size of a baseball swallowed it and flew in the direction of the shooter.

When it arrived at its destination, the explosion ripped apart a corner of the school and killed everyone in the vicinity.

"Does that answer your question, Serafall Sitri?" Katerea smiled as she felt the life force of the shooter and his companions vanish. She pointed at Serafall with her staff, her demonic energy growing more intense. "I came here to take back the throne of Leviathan! WIth your head!" Her smile was beautiful and full of lust, like a flytrap attracting its prey. "So come, Fake Maou."

'Something isn't right.' Akeno thought with fear as Katerea's attitude was too confident. 'It is like she is ignoring everyone but Serafall.'

Then she felt it, a strong energy pulsing among those in the remnants of the meeting room, her head turning slowly to the one letting out a great quantity of power.

"Michael-sama, please, calm down." Irina pleaded with the Acting God but it was useless.

With an unreadable expression was Michael but all present could tell he was angry, the power building up and up with a weight ready to crush them all. Only the angel's impressive control of the massive power he was letting out protected them even as his vision was completely focused on Katerea.

"Do you think I will allow you to take anymore lives, devil?" There was a threat of death in his tone and they all knew it. All his wings appeared on his back as he showed the extent of his power.

He never had known the men who died with that blast or those that already perished protecting the school but Michael lamented all their deaths. Add that to the guilt he felt for the latest victims as he didn't expect Katerea to kill so many in cold blood, even if they were enemies.

Michael was a true angel that cared about all lives and the fury he felt was as true as his power all in the area could feel.

Yet Katerea wasn't intimidated or even worried. "While it would be a pleasure to take down an angel such as you." Her words carried the most sweet honey. "However this is not a problem for Heaven or even the Grigori, it is a devil matter so if you wish," she pointed to Kuoh's exit, "you can leave whenever you please."

"What are you implying?" Sirzechs asked with sweat on his forehead. Giving his mana for Rias' sake left him considerably weaker.

But even as he tried to hide it, Katerea noticed it. "That while we are enemies, the angels have subordinates that they want to save and my target is her." Her staff was locked in Serafall's form. "So here is the deal, leave with your men, we won't pursue, after the true devils take over the Underworld, perhaps we shall see the matter of peace again."

"You want us to believe you would try to sue for peace?!" Sona shouted out of concern for her sister and disbelief. "Only a fool would fall for that."

"Then all their men will die. Not that Michael needs to worry much as I can only see two Exorcists." She was referring to Irina and Xenovia who were in similar clothing.

Nobody bothered to correct her, it didn't matter. "You speak like you have already won." Because Serafall began to let her power out and Sona grew more worried as her usually upbeat sister had a blank expression that only showed apathy. "I will make sure to give you a painless death."

"Fufufufufu. Like a fake could ever surpass the real deal." Katerea prepared herself as Serafall opened her wings.

Only for Azazel to hold her by the leg. "What the-" The Cadre didn't hesitate and threw Serafall at her sister and Tsubaki, the three falling on the table. "What the hell, Azazel?"

"Good, anger looks better than the blank face you were making. Also, you aren't thinking." Azazel commented with a cheerful smile. "Did you forget we are in an alliance now?"

Katerea frowned before chuckling. "Please, don't act like the deaths of one or two pureblood devils would make you lose any sleep."

"It would, actually. Especially such fine specimens of women. Would be a real tragedy." The fallen angel rubbed his chin with a grin. "Besides, even if I let her fight, it doesn't mean that you didn't come prepared for that exact fight. As her ally, that would be a mistake."

"Your Faction would benefit from any of our deaths. Better yet, you could even kill Sirzechs if you want to destabilize the Underworld." It was both an observation and an offer. "After all, we went through so many painful lengths to weaken him."

"I see, so you predicted he would teleport his sister even with the special boundary field." Azazel concluded. "Well that settles it, we have a traitor among us. Maybe more than one."

"That is right." Katerea didn't bother to deny it. Instead she would use that information to secure the match she wanted. "We didn't know all the details but our mole informed us of enough."

"Who was it?" Xenovia demanded to know, many of the younger generation looking at each other with suspicion.

Akeno was glaring at Azazel's back as the members of the Gremory Peerage made a tight circle around Sirzechs and Grayfia. Irina rushed to Michael's back but the angel remained furious even if his priority was watching over Irina and Medusa.

"Nobody here." Azazel replied with a casual shrug, some not believing in him. "Sure that trick managed to get Sirzechs weakened but everybody knows the kind of siscon he is. I mean, the guy gave his sister a whole town for herself. I bet she is even planning to threaten Sona to get Serafall to fight."

Getting caught like that did bother Katerea as the looks of suspicion turned into fury and back at her. "Why don't you leave, Governor General? Pick the rest of your men and depart. There are plenty of holdings belonging to the traitors that you could seize once we restart the civil war properly."

"So generous buuuut~ I will pass. Didn't you hear me." He used his hands to enhance his voice. "We are allies now, there is no way I am letting you get your way!" Then he shrugged. "But I also don't want to kill a beautiful woman. Can't we have a drink instead?"

Those words made Katerea smile. "We can, if you leave now and forget this foolish alliance." She turned her staff to Sirzechs. "Look at them, they aren't even the real Maous. Sure Sirzechs deserves some credit by the progress he made in keeping all the Clans united in the Underworld." Then she turned her attention back to Serafall. "But Astaroth developed a forbidden technology which infected our race, the Glasya-Labolas didn't hesitate to burn down true devils with cowardly tactics and Sitri corrupted us with influences that stole our fangs. Those three can't be called Maou!"

"Funny, I think they deserve it because they are all true leaders who care about their people. Unlike you who wants to pick a fight she can't win." Azazel revealed two of his wings and began to fly up, much to Katerea's frustration. "But if you want a match, fine. It will be a shame to harm such a cute face but what can you do?"

Serafall advanced with purpose. "Azazel, get back here! This is my fight!"

"No, I got this. Giving the enemy what they want is a terrible idea anyway."

When it seemed Serafall was going to dismiss his words. Michael's wings got in her way. "Why?"

"Because she asked." He pointed to Medusa who was shaking her head.

"If you lose control like this, you won't be different from a monster." Was all the goddess had to say, her eyes looking up as both Azazel and Katerea flew a little higher as she was trying to keep her distance. "Besides, you should focus on keeping your sister safe first."

The descendant of Leviathan knew that a fight with Azazel would set her plans back by quite a bit. "Think what are you proposing here, Azazel. If you die, your Faction will suffer. Kokabiel wasn't the only one waiting on the wings and with you gone then Grigo-"

"Shemhazai, Penume, Barakiel, Tamiel and many others already know my wish. No! We all partake in it." Azazel's smile was confident and refused to be questioned. "There is no fallen angel like Kokabiel around to disagree with that ideal. Sure some may be discontent but they lack the power and resolve to do anything. That is why they joined your little club, Khaos Brigade." He made a show to look around. "Yet there isn't a single one of those cowards here, fancy that."

Katerea had a bad feeling, she really didn't want to fight him. "What about your research? Isn't it important for the Grigori? Aren't you producing sacred gears to-"

"Let me cut out any rumors right here!" Azazel spoke loud and clear, all his wings manifesting as an aura of darkness seemed to just exist on his back.

Some gulped in fear, others in wonder but all eyes were on the fallen angel, on the Governor General of Grigori.

Luvia was one of those afraid. "I can see what Issei meant when he said Azazel's wings 'absorb light'. It is like he steals it for them to take shape."

Akeno was too but she nodded, her hand shaking. 'He is stronger than Kokabiel. Not by much but enough for a clear difference.' And that terrified her.

Inside a classroom in the university building, Georg placed his crossword puzzle on a table and folded his hands behind his back. "This is going to be interesting."

Fortunately for all, Azazel's attention was on the pureblood before him who, unlike many, didn't retreat a single centimeter even if she looked cautious. "My research into sacred gears was never to gear up for war or for a plan of conquest or whatever conspiracy someone came up with in their basement." He placed his hands on his chest with a huge smile. "My research was born to see the potential of the human spirit."

"'Potential of the human spirit'?" Katerea couldn't believe it, many couldn't.

"But of course!" Azazel threw his arms up. "How does a sacred gear evolve? What are the intricacies of its power? The different forms of growth with different owners? Potential development under tests? Trial by fire? So many possibilities! How could I not grow interested?" He opened his arms fully, his gaze on the boundary field above their heads. "When I first gave humans knowledge, I thought I knew everything they could do with it. Same with sacred gears; I always thought that every power would be the same. I was wrong!" His gaze shifted to Katerea with a huge grin. "And I couldn't be happier for it. That is why I started researching them, to see how to push that potential further and then create my own to see how us fallen angels, and now devils and pure angels alike with anyone else I can offer them to, will develop them!" He chuckled, crossing his arms. "Curiosity. That is all there is to it. Very human, wouldn't you agree?"

It was a sentiment the pureblood devil abhorred and she grasped her staff with two hands, taking aim. "Grigori will still suffer with your death!"

"You still don't get it, do you?" Azazel was more amused as a golden aura, similar to Kokabiel's but much stronger, began to emerge. "Amongst the leaders on this meeting I am the least valuable!" Katerea gasped in shock, flying back at his power escalating. "Can't you see? Sirzechs and Serafall are needed for the stability of the Underworld, Michael is my brother and Heaven will fall apart without him! Me? I already got my Will written and plans in place for the sake of peace." A glint of madness showed in his eyes. "That is why if you want to kill any of them, it will have to be over my dead body!"

A daunting task that even the army of the Old Satan Faction weren't sure their leader could accomplish even with their help. Katerea charged anyway, ready to kill him first to then take a piece of Serafall, ignoring who the man was.

For he was Azazel, the First True Fallen, the Scapegoat.

The Winner of the Great War.

…

'Rampage' was the only way that anyone could describe what Leysritt was doing, with her opponents invisible she threw herself into the combat, charging recklessly, throwing swords and swinging her halberd almost out of control.

It was like she couldn't be stopped by either blast or curse, she just turned in the direction the spell came from and attacked it until another spell gave her another direction. When the witches tried to do nothing she moved her arms like crazy, trying to cut anything in her range.

For that reason alone her past self was more than correct in picking the halberd to be her weapon, unlike a sword her reach was tremendous and the damage she did upon contact fatal.

All because she thought it would be cool but it just suited her fighting style just fine.

Dead and dying covered the club's entrance hall as the result spoke for itself, despite invisibility, magic, numbers advantage and the fact that they had hit the homunculus hundreds of times, she didn't fall once, not since she returned to the battle.

"What does it take to kill this bitch?!" Flavia, the head witch, demanded to know while quickly changing her position as Leysritt's halberd smashed her previous location. Then she spun around, trying to get to her. 'At least she is predictable.'

While the leader planned, more spells were flung by the witches, Leysritt took many hits before charging in another direction and grabbing a previously thrown sword. She didn't aim, just threw it in the direction of one of the spells. She didn't bother to watch as a witch was hit on the shoulder, she just kept running in that direction.

Once she got there the wounded witch's eyes were revealed by the hood and they were wide in fear. Leysritt's face was blank as the halberd cut the woman in half even as more spells hit the homunculus.

Leysritt barely held any thoughts in her condition as she dragged the body around and sprayed more blood in the area. It wasn't the first time she did it and some witches managed to escape but two were revealed for a few seconds while the spells in the hoods adjusted.

Not fast enough for them to be decapitated or for Leysritt to notice another's footprints trying to run away. She took a swing with her halberd that failed to connect but the tip of the weapon still cut the hood and revealed the fearful woman behind it.

"Wait!" Were her last words as more blood was spilled, reducing the area the witches could run without their footprints exposing them.

However the homunculus could tell her body was not even close to peaky efficiency, it was almost starting to fall apart with how much effort she was putting on the fight.

Add that to the many curses still in her system and her organs shutting down because of the many, many curses she took through the fight and even she knew that her limits had long come and gone.

None of that mattered to her for she shut out most of her thoughts and senses to become a killing machine that would make the Einzbern proud.

The witches didn't know she was one but if they did then they would also realize that an Einzbern homunculus wouldn't die easily due to organ failure. They were good enough to last for days while the brain and heart were intact and those weren't easily affected by any curses so far.

Still Leysritt kept going on a rampage. It wouldn't be for much longer as she felt every reserve of energy she had gone dry but she also felt alive in a new way.

'This is what I was born to do.' The homunculus couldn't help but think as she crushed the skull of an invisible witch, her dead body being revealed and more blood spreading around.

She followed it up by spinning with her halberd extended completely. There was no particular target as she just swung it around to cut her enemies with no mercy. At that point of the fight she had run out of swords and that was the only weapon she had and it was a great weapon.

It was useless when snakes showed up to bite her heels but Leysritt had no fear of poison nor felt pain anymore. She stomped on the critters as she launched herself to the lead witch who kept throwing spells in her direction, finally pinpointing her location precisely.

Flavia tried to run again but she didn't realize that footprints gave her away one too many times and now Leysritt had her main target in sight.

'This is what I was made to do.' Most of her brain functions were already turned off when a chunk of her left arm was torn out by a curse, rendering it useless.

That made her lose her balance and her footing but she concluded the swing and her weapon reached her enemy. It was a deep cut that almost ripped the shoulder off.

The woman screamed from pain but her subordinates were there for the rescue as more spells flew in that direction. A desperate attempt to save their leader as they flung everything they could to no avail. Leysritt ignored everything that sent her path, her vision and body the only things she had.

That and her target that tried and failed to get away.

More curses were sent to kill the homunculus that had been tearing the witches apart, as many as they could with the number they had. There were still ten witches capable of fighting and their murderous intent was obvious..

Their leader was too immersed in pain and couldn't react but Leysritt did, she let go of her weapon and grabbed the witch by the neck to use her as a shield. Multi colored curses connected but not with their target and the remaining witches began to despair as their leader was their victim.

Turned into a meat shield the witch couldn't react as her robes' defenses broke, the enchantments of her body were overwhelmed and so were her bodily functions. Too many curses turned her insides into a mess and she soiled herself while coughing blood.

Leysritt broke her neck for good measure, it wasn't mercy from any potential pain, just eliminating a threat. Her clothes were falling apart with only her armor still intact and she was wounded all over. But with how her body was covered in blood she was just terrifying for the witches and many retreated when the homunculus began to attack again.

They jumped out of the way when a trio of them, invisible so far, revealed themselves pouring all their power in a huge magic circle. Leysritt was stuck on her charge and took the curse point blank, her body finally shutting down.

'I failed.' Most of her functions were already off so she could focus on combat but the accumulated damage and the last curse did the trick. She flew back and hit the ground hard, much to the witches' relief.

"Sensei!" Their target shouted in concern as he had tried and failed to stop the curse's time, it was just too powerful for him. He looked a mess but had few scratches even as the left side of his body couldn't move anymore due to a curse.

Koneko was the only one capable of fighting and the remaining witches looked to the wounded but still standing Rook with a good dose of fear. Much like her friend, the former nekomata had wounds all over and bruises on her arms. Her body was covered in less blood than the homunculus but unlike her friend it was mostly her own.

While Leysritt rampaged, Koneko had held her ground as well as she could but there were always a few witches peeling her with spells. Eventually she got some reprieve when their number was reduced but there was always one or two who kept attacking Gasper and forcing her on the defensive.

The Bishop ended up hit more than once and some curses were affecting the Rook even as she tried to purify her system with Ki. Unfortunately she was exhausted and had no practice so she couldn't even run to support her friend.

"What should we do?" One of the witches asked as she examined their leader's corpse. "We wasted too much time. The operation-"

"Screw the operation! Almost everybody is dead!" Another shouted in fury while glaring at Leysritt motionless form. "We need to retreat! To get away!"

"The Old-"

"Fuck them! Fuck the Khaos Brigade!" The second witch should with even more fury. "This was all our coven! Everybody is dead! Either we join with another or we will have to give up witchcraft!" Many of the women present were born into it and they loved the power they wielded.

But much like many organizations they had enemies and rivals and if they didn't return to the Khaos Brigade that number would grow exponentially.

However many agree with the second witch's thoughts, they all wanted out the terrorist group, especially since they would still be sent on missions on their behalf.

Another witch cursed under her breath. "If the King of Heroes hadn't killed most of us. If Walburga hadn't roped them all into that project. If he just had forgiven-"

"'Ifs' aren't going to help us!" The group of ten began to shout at each other but Koneko refused to relax.

'I need to get to Liz.' She looked back and saw the former dhampir crying. She was worried for her friend but couldn't leave Gasper. Trying to get up, the Rook felt her left leg almost give in. 'Darn.' There was a hole on her leg leaking blood and the bone was broken.

But she still moved, discreetly and as swiftly as she could, trying to get to Gasper. There was a chance that the witches would keep discussing and eventually leave but Koneko wasn't going to risk it. The dozens of bodies spread around the ORC certainly would bring out thoughts of vengeance, not mercy.

"Gasper." Once close enough she whispered. "Gasper. We need to escape."

"But sensei-"

"I can get her after you are safe." It was a lie. Both could barely move but hiding in a room was the only option they had left.

Except that Koneko wasn't planning to hide, just get Gasper out and then get back to kill the remaining witches and get Liz out of harm's way. With how she was her chances were nill but she was determined and wouldn't change her mind.

"Come on." Koneko forced her leg to let her stand but her small frame had already lost too much blood and she tilted. Grasping a wall she managed to stabilize herself but she couldn't pull the Bishop up. "Come on, Gasper. There is a door-"

"We have to kill them." Cat ears twitched at those words as the second witch took charge and glared in the devils' direction. "They saw some of our faces. If we don't eliminate them, Gremory will come for revenge."

Thinking quickly, Koneko raised her voice. "We only saw the faces of the dead."

"Still, better to not risk it." The woman's hatred was clear in her tone. "Besides, your friend killed a lot of us."

Koneko was afraid and Gasper was shaking, struggling to breath. "This won't bring them back." It was a plea since even if she could hold on it wouldn't be for long.

"But it will make me feel better." The woman summoned a magic circle and Koneko threw herself over Gasper to protect him.

But before the spell could be unleashed a sense of dread descended on the club as a powerful aura with murderous intent appeared from the deeps of the ORC.

Koneko smiled and Gasper stopped shaking. "Buchou arrived." She didn't know how but was grateful.

The same couldn't be said about the witches who felt a dread like no other, positioning themselves to aim at the top of the stairs. Only three of them had magic circles out giving their position whilst the other seven just positioned themselves to not get into each other's way.

"Buchou! Calm down!" The voice of a young man was heard. "I'm sure they are safe and-"

"You saw the damage! Stay on guard!" The danger intensified by the young woman's tone as Rias Gremory appeared from the hallway with Hyoudou Issei by her side. Both stopped and the Pawn almost puked at the sight of the lower floors. "It seems some rats showed up in my territory." Her aura grew more intense. "Where are Koneko, Gasper and Liz? Depending on your answer, I may allow you to leave with your lives."

Once they arrived and saw the intact office Rias grew calmer. Then she opened the door and the aura of power began to escape her as Issei watched how angry the pureblood could get.

Because of the damage, the blood and the dead around, with no sign of anyone she cared for, Rias' concern quickly turned to anger and she was in no mood to repress it.

Not with three hostiles already identified from the magic circles that were 'floating' from her point of view. That only made her more concerned which fueled her anger which resulted in even more power unleashed.

Rias' presence and the witches' hesitation filled the younger devils of Gremory with relief. That was until Koneko's instincts felt one of the invisible witches move from her position. She realized that Rias wouldn't be able to feel them.

All her instincts screamed that her King was in danger and Koneko had to do something, she just didn't know what. With no time to think, she decided to get her King mad ."Buchou! We are down here! Look at the blood!"

The first part of the message was the important one as everyone in the building felt Rias' power escalate to new heights, a look of murder in her face. The second had the redhead paying more attention to the area.

Only with the warning did Rias notice one of the footprints changed and, without hesitation, summoned Born to be Wild to shoot in that general area.

The body that fell surprised Issei while the surviving witches were shocked at the speed of the attack. "Ise, take this." Rias called EM 2 from a magic circle. "Fly directly from where you heard Koneko's voice and heal her, do the same if the others are there." For a moment the Pawn seemed to freeze but not because of his skill flying, he was getting better.

No, it was because when nodding and moving in that direction he saw a sight that had his teeth gritting. "Liz-sensei!" Her body was bent in a shape no human should be and there was so much blood he could only be mad. "Buchou! I need to take care of her first!"

She didn't move her eyes from the magic circles on the ground and the pool of blood that had too many footprints to count but from Issei's furious tone it was clear the situation was urgent.

"Stay calm and go to Koneko first, keep your feet away from the blood."

"But buchou-"

"Liz can survive this, trust me." Because Rias really didn't have the patience to elaborate. She wanted to make those who harmed her precious people pay. "She is more durable than you but we have enemies around. Get Koneko." There were many footprints for her to keep her eyes on but the three magic circles helped.

When one of them disappeared, Rias didn't hesitate to shoot at a little above a new footprint. She saw the woman fall with a huge hole in her leg, screaming from excruciating pain.

Those screams were silenced when Rias aimed for the body that revealed itself after death. From who they were facing the witches understood that their robes couldn't save them from the power of Destruction.

"Show yourselves, drop to your knees and perhaps you will leave alive." That was all mercy Rias was willing to give.

Issei saw what happened and tried to ignore it as he took flight. "Koneko-chan! Call again!"

"Over here! Gasper is with me!" Didn't take long for Issei to identify the hallway, see the mountain of bodies around the entrance and just fly past it, his friends the priority.

"Koneko! How many of them are here?" Rias wanted to give Koneko a break but with so many bodies and footprints she needed an estimate.

"Eight alive."

With that Rias focused on the two witches that she killed and the last two magic circles. Already she was calculating where the enemy possibly was and she was confident they were all standing in the same area.

One with the witches with a magic circle, whose position was more exposed, took the initiative. "You said we could surrender, right?" She sounded shy and young. Really young.

Rias didn't give a damn about their age. "Depends." The reply was truthful but at the same time terrifying for the witches. They knew there was something wrong.

"Depends on what, Gremory-sama?" She just wanted to live.

"Depends if Koneko, Gasper and Liz are alive." Wounds could be healed, death was not so easy. "For now only Koneko seems to be fine but depending on the others' condition I will let you go." Because she had no time to apprehend them with a warzone outside.

However that condition didn't calm the witches down as they had rained curses on Liz for hours and they doubted that the woman would live for long if she wasn't already dead. Perhaps they would be more confident in her capabilities if they knew she was a homunculus, an Einzbern one at that.

Probably not because most homunculus would still be dead after how much punishment they put Liz through.

So they didn't want any sort of confirmation, "Kill her!" and unleashed everything they had in Rias' direction.

Every spell and curse was Destroyed together with the hearts and lungs of the remaining witches as bullet holes showed up in the front and back.

'Our robes-'

'Worthless-'

'Gremory-'

Were some of the last thoughts from the last remnants of a now extinct coven, Rias having dealt the killing blow.

None of that was privy to the Heiress of Gremory who opened her wings and flew on the fallen maid turned teacher's direction. She saw how much damage the white haired warrior had taken and could only hope it was too late.

On the other side of the entrance Issei had just landed beside Koneko and Gasper. "You guys alright?"

Koneko nodded with a small smile of relief as Gasper cried in her arms. "Senpai. Sniff, sniff. Thank you for coming."

"No problem, give me your arm." He was surprised when the former dhampir shook his head and nodded in Koneko's direction.

"I was hit with only curses. They will wear off." He was struggling to breath a little but his wounds were superficial at best.

There was no hesitation from Koneko when she offered her arm, showing that she agreed with the assessment. Issei didn't need to be told twice and stabbed EM on an open wound, the scalpel would be incapable of penetrating her skin otherwise.

He was about to start when a scream stopped him. "Issei! Come quick!" Rias' voice sounded so full of panic that he didn't think, just ran, ignoring all the blood he was stepping on.

[Explosion]

Accelerating further he went back to the entrance hall to look at Rias who was kneeling besides Liz's still form. "Buchou! What is wrong?!" When was close he saw why the King was desperate.

Liz had given everything she had in the fight and her body had so many wounds that Issei found it difficult to find any trace of her usually pale skin. It was all red from the blood with a hole on her arm that Rias was struggling to close with magic.

Just a look was enough for him to know why he was called and EM was stabbed on the maid's leg, the limb closest to him, and began to inject the necessary mana. "Gift!"

[Transfer.]

Immediately EM began to shine with the same color as the gem from Boosted Gear as its capabilities were pushed beyond its limits. The usual few seconds that it would take to close a small wound were turned into milliseconds. Every single wound was closed before the counting of three with the exception of the missing part of her arm which took five seconds.

While still drenched in blood, Liz was fully restored and Issei had to jump back when Rias approached her chest and laid her head on it. The Pawn stayed quiet as his King didn't move, obviously looking for a heart beat and Issei grew concerned about how long it was taking.

Rias closed her eyes and just focused on her ears, dread was already beginning to fill her but she didn't allow herself to panic.

Relief only came when she heard an extremely weak beat. "She is alive."

"Then she is going to be fine?" Issei asked with excitement but Rias hesitated. "Buchou?"

No answer came as Rias placed a hand above Liz's head and tried to detect any mana. "She was facing witches, Issei. Curses are their speciality and I am picking some foreing mana in her system." She shook her head and looked at him. "Go heal Koneko and Gasper as quickly as you can, use all the Boosts if you have to." He ran and she looked back at the maid. 'I don't know how to treat this.'

Because there was so much foreign mana on Liz's system that it was a wonder how she was alive. She suspected it was because she was a homunculus but that was also part of the problem.

'Her own reserves are dangerously low, not enough to fight off even the lowest of curses.' Because, much like with hypnosis, curses could be flushed from one's system if they were powerful enough.

As a homunculus, Liz had the ability to ignore it to an extent but her mana was also her fuel. With the wounds she accumulated Liz would have to burn more and more to just keep going.

Then there was the blood, most of it on the ground wasn't hers but Liz still lost a lot. Had she been human, or even a devil for that matter, she would be dead. But that still didn't take into account whatever damages the curses were still doing, how she was being affected or worse, the damage that was already done.

Options were beginning to shrink as Rias debated on cutting herself to feed Liz some of her blood to establish a temporary contract and give her mana. Unfortunately that method was too inefficient and could make little difference since she doesn't know enough about a homunculus' anatomy.

Another alternative presented itself as her last Evil Piece landed in her hand all the way from Akeno's magic circle. It could solve the mana problem and Gasper had some packs of blood around. It would also get rid of the curses so Leysritt would be safe, if not a bit upset but Rias could take the heat if that saved her life.

So the Knight Piece was placed on the woman's chest and it began to shine quickly, the process starting.

Rias felt a pang in her heart of concern and disappointment as the glow disappeared. 'I needed a Rook.' She evaluated. "If I had a Rook then I could Reincarnate her but Luvia is my Rook." She held her forehead in frustration, it was the right decision at the time, a Piece that fitted the former heiress perfectly.

Cursing herself despite the fact that there was no way for her to predict all this ever was going to happen. Knowing that the only options left were not good ones, Rias scooped Liz's in her arms. Blood ruined her uniform but she didn't care, there was only one person in Fuyuki who could help the maid and the devil needed to get to her.

"Buchou!" Issei returned with Koneko right behind him, Gasper on his back and looking extremely weak. "How is Liz?"

"It is bad." She admitted, looking between her Pieces with worry. "We have to go back to Kuoh." No matter how much she wished otherwise, their position was compromised and leaving anyone behind would be too risky. "This place isn't safe and only oka-sama can help Liz. There is also the army outside which means we probably are going to have to fight our way back once we leave the forest."

All three younger devils gulped but Issei and Koneko nodded resolutely, just the sight of Liz's condition was enough to silence any protest or stomp out their fear. Gasper took a look and then shrunk back on the Red Dragon Emperor's back, not wishing to be a burden but unable to move the left side of his body.

Then he had an idea. "Senpai, can I drink some of your blood?"

"Huh?"

"To get rid of the curse."

"Sure but… Saji isn't here and you…" Issei didn't want to sound insensitive and Rias blinked in surprise at Gasper's initiative.

It would make things easier as Gasper would be able to move on his own, increasing their chances, but Issei was the one who spent more time training with the Bishop. Since the Pawn was worried that made Rias worried too and with so many people she cared about in danger that made her hesitate for a second.

Before she could make her mind, Gasper already had steeled himself. "To save sensei, no, to save Liz, we can't waste time." He pulled himself with his right arm, getting closer to Issei's neck. "Can I?"

"Sure." The Red Dragon Emperor didn't wait for permission. 'Can't tell if it was Xenovia's insane training, the pickle we're in or Gasper growing up but he looks stronger.' Still, better safe than sorry. "Don't drink too much."

"Thanks senpai. Thanks for the food."

"Wait what-" Issei didn't get a reply as Gasper bit his neck. "Cha! Don't lick! Only a girl should lick my neck!" Had the situation not been as dreadful, Rias would be laughing. "Are you done?"

"Humhum." Gasper surprised everyone by jumping from Issei's back and landing with a red aura around his body. "Yummy."

"Don't say that!"

"We are wasting time. Liz is dying." Koneko brought on a reality check as she placed a hand on the teacher's neck. 'Work, please work.'

"Koneko?"

"Nothing, Buchou." She had purified curses before and could feel Liz's unstable condition but natural talent only took her so far. "They are eating her alive, the curses." At least she could give a diagnosis but there was nothing good.

"Then let's move out!" Issei shouted as the Boosted Gear kept accumulating power, making his way to the door.

'No sign of the enemy is both a good thing and a bad thing.' Rias thought before opening her wings. "Fly low. We are just trying to avoid noise. Ise, Koneko, remember the formation we used during Riser's Rating Game."

""Yes, Buchou.""

"Gasper, stick close to me." The Bishop did as told with Koneko in front, Issei right behind and the two of them on the back. "You see anything suspicious, you use your sacred gear, do you hear me?"

"Buchou…" There was some shame in Gasper's tone but also resolution. "I haven't stopped using my sacred gear since I drank senpai's blood."

Surprised by the declaration and that Gasper was looking at Liz with great intensity. 'That is how he is circumventing the excess of power. It also buys us some time.' She smiled proudly but Gasper just stuck to her back, paying attention to the weakened maid. "Keep going and place a hand on my shoulder so I can guide you."

The devils stopped for a moment at Koneko's prompting, with her ears and tail twitching it was clear she detected something so they remained silent until the Rook got moving, revealing a trap with curses before Koneko punched them out of the air with a flaming Ki covered fist.

"Woah. That is new." Affirmed Issei and Rias nodded in agreement but the former nekomata said nothing, just advanced.

In a minute they were on the open grounds of Kuoh and if there was an ambush Rias expected it to be there. She didn't even bother to hide her surprise when nobody showed up to stop them and they kept moving at full throttle.

"There." Issei saw the school and noticed the armies above, however something else filled his thoughts. "Why aren't they fighting anymore?"

Not only the armies grew quiet but, the golems were missing with only the most savage familiars still running around and attacking anyone on the ground. Since the Old Satan Faction army was composed mostly of devils, only their side had anyone on land and most of them were wounded.

From the distance they already were in, Koneko caught a glimpse of a shining sword. "That is Kiba."

A flash in the sky stopped any reply as Rias realized why the armies weren't fighting. "The big guns are out."

"What do you mean, Buchou?" Gasper asked, eyes still stuck on Liz.

Another flash confirmed her thoughts as she saw two figures moving at high speeds. "It is why nobody else is fighting up there; they are giving space for the real fight. It is how wars are fought in the moonlit world." Not that different from tales of old wars where legendary warriors fought in a circle of circles that stopped interruptions. 'But who is fighting and what happened to the Silver Shield?'

None of that mattered as they ignored the powers colliding atop their heads and rushed towards the school, Kiba's presence acting like a beacon.

Some creatures tried to stop their run but Issei and Koneko dispatched them without missing a step. Rias was ready to step in but that proved unnecessary so she focused on protecting Liz and Gasper.

It was also fortunate that the armies weren't noticing their arrival because she knew how much of a desirable hostage she was. A loud boom over their heads and more bright likes cutting the artificial night were plenty of reasons to not look down. No one wanted to die from a stray attack.

When Kiba noticed them he smiled and smiled his hand on the ground. "Sword Birth!"

At his command many swords sprung from the ground and impaled many familiars and remaining golems. They also served as a signal for their troops that, when they saw Rias approaching, quickly began to unload every bullet they had remaining. Fallen angels flew in her direction to make a perimeters, as devils began to move erratically on the sky as a distraction.

When Kiba began to walk beside them, the fallen angels' formation broke, not giving the enemy any reprieve. "What happened?" Rias needed to be briefed as more loud blasts showed the fight was growing intense.

"One of the commanders showed up, Katerea Leviathan." The blond directed them closer to the building where Shirou was Tracing EMs for devils and fallen angels alike while eight stood around with a barrier.

It was an improvised medical tent without the tent where first aid was given before the exhausted warriors either got ready to fight again or retreated inside the school. Some had enough mana to treat themselves while others, mostly those already hurt before the barrier fell, needed assistance.

While there was a rotation, just a dozen or so were in the area, Shirou already had made enough EMs for everyone when he noticed his friends' return. "Are you-" When he noticed Liz his eyes grew wide and he placed a hand on her cheek. She was cold.

"She was cursed and is low on mana." Rias had no idea of any extra damage but it was obvious that the situation was bad. When Liz began to breathe erratically, they froze only for her to suddenly stop. "Gasper?"

"Sorry, just a little tired." The Bishop had lost the aura of power he had before, fortunately the solution was simple.

Kiba turned to Issei. "Hand or arm?"

"Arm." The Red Dragon Emperor offered his exposed flesh and the Knight slashed it superficially. "Here, Gasper."

"Thanks again." However they all knew that action only bought them time.

"We have to take her to mom." His thoughts were similar to Rias'. "She probably is still-"

A huge blast came close to their barrier as the flash of light blinded everyone and cut off any thought they might have. No matter how much he didn't want to, Gasper had to close her eyes and Liz's time began to run its course as the fight above her heads intensified.

"What is wrong, Katerea? Need a new pair of glasses? I thought devils were perfect." Azazel joked around as he dodged to the side then down from two different blasts of mana. "Or perhaps you are running out of breath?"

The woman didn't reply as she gritted her teeth and began to spin her staff so fast it was like a blur. Her magic circle moved with the top of the staff but now there was an uncertainty of where her attacks would go and she waited for Azazel's attack.

With a frown the Cadre didn't disappoint her and his power took the shape of a spear taller than he was. "Fine, I will play." He threw the Light Weapon so fast that none in the armies could see it.

If she was honest with herself Katerea didn't either but she unleashed a barrage of mana that destroyed it, resulting in another explosion of light. This time she kept her attacks going in a random rhythm, trying to take the man down before he recovered his vision.

Except that this was Azazel, an angel. "You really expected that to blind me?" He asked as the light disappeared and all watched him fly in a spinning motion, letting her attacks brush against his wings. "You have power but are missing a couple of things."

She ignored him and made a slashing motion with her staff, a blade of yellow mana flying in Cadre's direction.

Azazel didn't bother to contest it, flying around its axis. "Experience." Another spear was formed, thinner and looking like a spike. He threw it faster than before and Katerea expanded her magic circle for defense. "Finesse."

The magic circle broke but Katerea managed to move just before a fatal blow. Her skin still burned as the spear connected with her shoulder and she screamed. Despite the lack of Holy, Azazel's Light was still extremely powerful.

Fighting against the pain the descendant of Leviathan folded her wings and allowed gravity to take her down, the fallen angel pursued but kept his wings open. 'Here comes.'

Just as Azazel expected, Katerea shot more mana in his direction but he easily dodged only the barely necessary amount to let the attack pass, his back not even feeling the heat. When he saw her wings open, he already knew which side she was going to so he turned a little.

After her gamble failed Katerea sent a ball of mana at Azazel as she turned in the direction of some fallen angels. 'With how soft he is I doubt he will risk his men.'

"Bet you are thinking I am a softy that won't risk his men." Her eyes grew wide as Azazel was already to her right. "Desperate already?"

This time she didn't bother with her staff, the angle wouldn't help with it either and she wanted to attack fast. A magic circle bigger than the palm of her hand was formed and she threw as much power as she could.

Not enough as Azazel bashed the small ball away and threw a wave of Light in Katerea's direction. An explosion created a cloud of smoke where her attack had landed and a bigger one was created as result of Katerea's collision with the ground.

Dust was banished by the Cadre's wings as he watched the devil trying to get up with her staff, her body presenting some burns, however superficial. "To be honest I was expecting you to block that. Even went for a kick."

"Tch, curse you, Scapegoat." Katerea glared with hatred as another magic circle was formed where she was standing. She lifted her staff above her head and slammed it into the ground, the yellow light from her circle growing more intense. "Prepare yourself, Scapegoat. I have no intention of letting this humiliation slide!"

"Gonna go for real now? Great!" Azazel also raised the intensity of his power and created ten new spikes of Light. "Show me what you got!"

With a wave of his hand the fallen angel's attacks flew towards Katerea like missiles but the woman wasn't far behind as from her magic circle eighteen tentacles flew up from different points of the circle.

Half of them were destroyed by Azazel's weapons but the rest managed to block the spikes except one until a new tentacle of mana appeared behind Katerea to save her. She began to sweat and Azazel frowned as more tentacles of mana appeared and charged in his direction.

"Die you cur!" Not impressed, Azazel just flew a couple of meters higher and watched as the mana tentacles stopped half way and looked like an octopus flailing around. "What?"

"Connecting mana with a magic circle imposes a range defined by your power and capabilities. That is why most devils shoot their attacks instead of holding them on." Azazel sounded like a teacher and a mischievous smile began to form. "This is really your best, isn't it? Oh boy, here I was treating you like your grandmother but you aren't even half as tough as she was."

"What?" Katerea's voice was shaking as the fallen angels cheered their leader.

"Well, to be fair, you are a little stronger, at least in the mana department. It is on everything else you are lacking, especially the abstinence of something." The Cadre could see how furious the woman looked. "You didn't inherit the Serpent of Doom, didn't you?" Her teeth gritted so hard he could hear them from the sky. "Shesh, I was waiting for you to use it but you don't even have the ability. That was what made the original Leviathan so tough in the first place. I mean, half of that was my fault for fighting her alone but I didn't expect her to summon a downpour so strong that blind me during the fight. She almost got me too."

"Shut your mouth, Scapegoat!" Katerea was livid as many of her army clearly were losing heart. "I may not have inherent Sea Serpent in the End but I am stronger than my ancestor ever was!"

"In terms of raw mana capacity, sure." Azazel shrugged. "But you don't have skill and your grandma would pound you into the ground in a fight." He loved how upset the woman looked. "For real, if you think the little power that you have over her can compete with the absolute domain over the ocean then you are an idiot." He turned to the Old Satan Faction army. "Why are you following someone so childish again?"

"Aaahhhh!" Katerea broke her magic circle and flew towards Azazel at full speed. All the mana she was using was directed to her staff as she approached an amused fallen angel. "Die!"

She took a hard swing with her staff and unleashed a huge ball of mana in Azazel's direction, the thing was the size of the school building and had enough mana packing to blow up half of the town.

Azazel smiled and raised a hand as his power began to form a new shape, a wall made of pure Light.

When the ball of mana connected with the Light it simply fell apart as Katerea utterly failed to do anything against it. While a wall of Light wouldn't show any damage anyway, there was no mana being spent besides the little sustaining it

The lack of need to repair the wall showed how little effect Katerea had. "You know, considering how weak you are, you have to be more arrogant than your grandma. She at least had the power to pick a fight." Azazel made a circular gesture with his hand and the wall bent into a ball smaller than the attack it blocked, way smaller. "Here, have a wrecking ball."

Moving his hand and wings Azazel sent the wrecking ball straight for Katerea who tried to protect herself with a magic circle only for it to be utterly crushed and the Light to keep pushing the woman until she met the ground again, opening a huge crater.

But the damage wasn't done as Azazel kept the ball's existence going since its Light was burning Katerea. With no place to run and the wrecking ball pressing on her, she felt her skin cook and screamed, the painfulled desperation in her voice prompting some of her army to the rescue.

The Cadre saw them charging on his peripheral vision and created a dagger of Light in his free hand before throwing it, killing one of the attackers with barely any effort. "I would surrender if I were you. Still got enough in the tank to take you all." That was enough to make the small squad give up and he let the ball's existence go. "Hey, Serafall, Sirzechs! Should I kill her?"

Back on what was left of the meeting room the Maous looked at each other. "What do you think? It is your 'chair' she is after."

"She wouldn't be getting it anyway, too weak." Serafall replied pensively. They suspected there may be another enemy waiting in the shadows but for the moment things were under control. "So I don't mind but is it worth it? She doesn't have the Sea Serpent in the End. Usually when a Clan loses their Power there is no coming back."

"Usually but there were cases of descendants recovering the Power even one generation apart." Sirzechs remind Serafall and she couldn't challenge him on that.

Someone else would. "Must I remind you, that woman killed some of our guards and placed all lives here at risk. She is responsible for every soldier that gave their lives for us." Michael was still furious even if his face showed only sadness. "As your ally, I must insist she be punished."

"No offense Michael but it is somewhat complicated as we need every devil we can get to repopulate. Also her capture could give us information while convincing the other devils to surrender. Then there is also the Sea Serpent in the End. It would be a valuable asset."

"We aren't at war anymore, Sirzechs."

"Would you mind if the punishment was life in prison with privileges offered if she agreed to marry and sire children?"

"That… seems doable. Isn't she going to cause you any problems? There are also the other heirs of the Old Satans." He turned to Serafall. "Her very presence is a threat to your power."

"I can handle her." Serafall spoke confidently.

"I am sure she could!" Azazel had approached the building but didn't land. "Without the Sea Serpent in the End she isn't really a threat!" He didn't want just his allies to hear it but the enemy army too, to break their morale.

As the leaders of the Three Factions discussed Shirou and Kiba returned with Rias' group without Liz. "Hey pipsqueak, good to see you out of your box." Xenovia wanted to mess Gasper's hair but saw blood and the concerned look on his face. "What happened?"

"Liz is hurt. My mom is taking care of her but she needs proper equipment." Shirou looked outside and noticed that the fight seemed to truly have stopped. "And here?"

"They are discussing sparing Katerea's life or not. Mostly to try and recover the Sea Serpent in the End." Akeno summarized.

"The Sea Serpent in the End? Then it was Leviathan's descendant who attacked." Rias already knew it was the Old Satan Faction but that still surprised her.

Kiba nodded. "That explains why Azazel is still battle ready. There is a chance that the other three will show up."

From a corner of the meeting room, Tsubaki approached her King's ear. "Kaichou, may I ask what is the 'Sea Serpent in the End' that they are speaking about?"

"It is the Power of the Leviathan, the Original one that is." Sona fixed her glasses, feeling relaxed that her sister was out of harm and the fight seemed over. "Between the Four Maous her Power was considered particularly strong. It had the power of controlling all water."

"Isn't that the Sitri's Power?" Tsubaki couldn't hold her surprise and spoke loudly, catching everyone's attention.

"What is the Sea Serpent in the End?" Medusa was now curious and asked the only person who would know and was eager to please her; Michael.

The Seraph cleared his throat and spoke to all. "Sea Serpent in the End was the Power of the Original Leviathan that could be passed to all her descendants. It could control water in all its forms and made Leviathan capable of creating torrential floods, storms from nowhere, tsunamis or get more creative by forming creatures of water that obeyed her commands. Serpents as it were." He looked back to his brother with a nod. "In many ways, Azazel is right in his evaluations of Katerea Leviathan, she has more mana capacity but that matters little. Unlike the original, this Leviathan has no control over water so any of us could have dispatched her easily, Azazel didn't need to step up."

"It had nothing to do with her, I would step up for any enemy."

"And try to show off." It was impressive how Michael could keep a straight face while calling Azazel off.

"Screw you, it was an awesome speech and you know it." The Cadre didn't even bother to deny the accusation.

"Thank you, Michael." The angel nodded at the goddess' gratitude. "Now if you want my opinion, capture her. Anything else can be decided after but as Sirzechs stated, she may have information."

"But she will be punished, correct?" Michael insisted and Serafall nodded. "Very well then. After that we shall deal with the army since they must be running out of options."

"Then can we ask Irisviel to drop the boundary field?" Rias asked before Shirou or Koneko could. "We have too many wounded and one of our friends was cursed."

Everyone of the ORC was concerned but unfortunately Sirzechs couldn't give them an affirmative answer. "Depends if the army will surrender or not. Grayfia-" He noticed his wife's concerned look and stopped. "What is wrong?"

"I felt a disturbance in the area…" Her Power was reacting to something and her eyes searched the room with caution. She would find nothing as her senses felt Space bending somewhere else.

During the leaders' talk, Katerea had managed to recover some of her motor functions. 'Curse you, Scapegoat! Why did you have to be here?' Her skin had been peeled off in almost all the front of her body and she had third degree burns all over. 'That cursed Light! That fucking Crow!'

"I see you are in trouble, lady Leviathan." One of her soldiers was suddenly by her side and she half expected Azazel to shoot him. Instead it was like the fallen angel wasn't seeing him even when looking in their direction. "My lady, I must remind you that extreme measures exist to be used."

She knew what he was referring to and growled, trying to get up. "I need to keep it hidden for Sitri."

"You won't be able to face the traitor unless you defeat the Scapegoat first, my lady. He is your opponent and a powerful one at that." Only then Katerea noticed his voice was familiar but she couldn't place it to who it belonged. "You need to use the Snake's power, even not the one of Doom."

"You are right." The armored figure nodded and stepped back, disappearing from her vision as Katerea collected a small vial from her dress. Inside it there was a small snake coiled into itself. "Awake." The command broke the top of the vial and the snake rose from its sleep.

It was a creature more dark than even Azazel's wings with the eyes to match its color and the moment that the cover of the vial had popped off a powerful energy began to surge.

Observing its move Katerea couldn't help but compare it to a dark fire in the perfect form of a snake as it began to leave the vial.

Everyone in the battlefield felt the sudden presence and Grayfia's concerns were dismissed as they all turned into Katerea's direction. "This isn't good!" Azazel began to fly back at full speed as Michael recreated and reinforced the barrier around Kuoh with Serafall and Grayfia's help.

The looks of worry on the adults' faces didn't need explanation as they all felt the crushing presence that was starting to dominate the area; Shirou felt dizzy at the sudden strong smell, Koneko almost passed out for a similar reason as she wasn't used to that much power and was forced to retract her tail and ears to muff it a little.

[Partner, something really dangerous is coming. Stick to Lucifer and Michael and don't do anything stupid.] For Ddraig to warn him like that, Issei knew things were bad.

All that happened in a few seconds before a pillar of dark mana formed a tower on the point Katerea was, Azazel reaching it a second too late. The oppressive presence mixed with Katerea's own even as the color of the mana remained in the darkest shade of black ever seen.

It was like the new form of her mana was sucking all the color of Kuoh while it coalesced around her.

Soon the pillar became more defined in shape as it began to grow smaller. "Hahahahahaha!" Katerea's maniacal laughter seemed to cover all of Kuoh and the soldiers of the Old Satan Faction called the Leviathan's name in a terrifying song.

Azazel knew the situation became extremely perilous and moved his right hand to fetch something from his suit.

Only for the dark mana to tie itself to his hand faster than the fallen could react, much to his surprise. "What was that you were saying about range?" Little by little the mana retreated into her body with the exception of dark ropes around her voluptuous form. "I suppose there is no problem if there isn't a magic circle, right?"

Katerea's skin was fully restored even as her clothes were damaged, her hair was completely loose and moving with the dark energy while her left breast was exposed. Then the dark ropes began to move around her, taking the shape of snakes as they moved to improvise a fix to her clothes.

On seeing that sight, Azazel noticed that what was holding his right arm was also a snake. "Damn, I was hoping it was just a mistake or a lie but you guys really have Ophis on your side." The snake tying his arm let its tongue out as the Cadre tried to break free.

"The Ouroboros Dragon may be a whimsical creature," she pulled her hand back, forcing Azazel's arm to move, "but she is generous to her allies."

"So much for the superior race, you are using the power of another." That was a mistake as Katerea showed him a smile with only fangs for teeth.

Despite the scary smile, it was obvious she was furious by the accusation as the devil threw herself towards the ground with Azazel in tow. "We are devils! We use every resource for victory!"

'Drat!' Even the strength of her mana was amplified and despite his many wings, Azazel couldn't do anything as Katerea landed and slammed him on the ground. The size of the hole in the point of impact was so big that cracks were forming in the school building. 'Need to get rid of-'

There was no time for him to conclude his thoughts as the snake in his arm was pulled and Azazel was dragged first on the ground then through the sky before creating a Light dagger and cutting the snake which disappeared in a dark cloud of smoke.

Katerea's smile looked more uncanny as veins pulsed on her forehead as she moved her hands to unleash two beams of darkness towards Azazel. The attacks were much faster than anything the devil used before but Azazel was moving the moment he saw her hands move.

While the descendent of Leviathan wasn't using magic circles anymore, Azazel managed to anticipate and dodge the attack, observing how strong Katerea became. He wanted a precise number as he reached for his suit once more.

"Behind you!" Michael couldn't bear the thought of his brother dying and his warning alerted Azazel at the right time.

He turned around and realized that the attacks weren't beams of energy but more snakes made of darkness. 'Wonder what Medusa is thinking about that?' The Cadre had no idea from where the thought came from but his surprised mind just had it as he made a barrier.

The Light did nothing to the snake so Azazel speculated that there was little demonic power in it. Still he wasn't in any position to stop himself as once again he connected to the ground, this time with a barrier to prevent any damage.

With his hands busy securing the barrier, Azazel began to concentrate, planning to break out and escape. Only to feel a huge amount of energy and see the second snake coming from the side.

"You gotta be kidding me!" The first snake kept trying to close its jaw as the second one glowed with more darkness. The dark energy was pulsing and the fallen angel knew enough to know the result would be explosive. 'This is gonna hurt.'

With far more intensity than any of her previous attacks, Katerea's explosion was devastating and a huge cloud of dust reaching the heavens was the first visible result.

The second one was a new crater that was bigger than the last as the woman laughed with mania. "What is wrong, Scapegoat? Ran out of tricks?!" Her demented eyes turned to the school, more specifically towards Serafall. "You are next!" Another snake was formed before it could leave her hands; a spear of Light pierced her heart. "What?"

"Did nobody teach you to not lower your guard before checking if the enemy is dead?" Azazel used his wings to get rid of the rest of the dust, his suit damaged and he was bleeding a little but not worse for wear. "Amateurs shouldn't be leading armies. They tend to send their men to their deaths."

"Why you-" The spear on her chest began to glow more intensely. "Scapegoat-"

Then the Light exploded in a blast that could kill many HIgh Class devils at once. But Azazel's expression remained neutral as he waited for the result.

Once Light disappeared everyone could see how Katerea had a huge hole in her torso and blood everywhere. That should kill any devil.

Except she wasn't dead. "You will pay for this!" Dark snakes began to move and as her flesh regenerated. Azazel noted one of them was disappearing, transforming into the necessary components to restore the devil. "Prepare to die!" But the power didn't seem to diminish, if anything it grew with Katerea's rage.

"So each snake is the equivalent of a life? Not weird since Eternity can starve out Death." Finally Azazel placed his hand on his suit and pulled out a dagger that looked like the head of a big spear. "If I fight fairly, maybe you have a chance of winning," it was a gold dagger, ornamented with the image of an European dragon going around it and a cyan green sphere as the pommel, "lucky for me, I came prepared."

A cyan green aura surrounded Azazel as Katerea threw more giant snakes at him. The fallen angel raised the dagger close to his eyes, ignoring the threat.

"Balance Breaker!" All were surprised by the sudden declaration as an aura of cyan green and gold exploded from Azazel's body. The snakes collided with it but failed to push and were instead disintegrated.

From the light Azazel emerged, covered in gold armor that was familiar to everyone for it looked almost exactly like Scale Mail. But there were some differences beyond the color; it was bulkier for a start, especially the shoulders and tail. The helmet also was different with four horns making it more distinct, two around his lower face and another two at the top.

One thing it was missing was the pair of wings, Azazel only had his own out but those gave him a menacing aura that the armor complimented.

Another difference were the gems and the eyes that, instead of sky blue, were all cyan green and all pulsed with power that was easily identifiable to many. "Dragon…" Said Sirzechs with a small smile. "To think his sacred research had gone so far."

"Father would be proud." Michael said after a sad sigh.

Opening his wings proudly once again, Azazel looked down at the furious Katerea. "Down Fall Dragon Armor. The accumulated result of years of research and the help of a dragon." Gritting her teeth the Leviathan descendant looked at Vali's armored form then back at Azazel. "Oh yeah, you are seeing this right. I made the Balance Breaker based on Divine Dividing. It was fundamental to make an Artificial Sacred Gear this powerful." His fist connected with his palm, letting out a loud noise heard throughout all of Kuoh. "Wasn't planning to use it but since you borrowed Ophis' power, it seems only fair."

…

From the same classroom he had been since his arrival, Georg used a magic circle to watch the battle undetected. Fixing his glasses the magician studied Azazel's new armor with interest.

"Cao Cao and Gilgamesh must know about this. Azazel's research is way beyond anything our spies found." Waving his hand he created a magic circle of a different color and used it to create a bubble that he touched with a finger before touching his glasses. "I must record this. Any data on Azazel's work can only be helpful in the future."

Unfortunately that meant he couldn't work on his crosswords anymore but that was a sacrifice Georg would gladly make for the sake of the Hero Faction.

…

Just Azazel's new presence was enough to make Katerea's nervous but most of it was buried beneath the ever fury. "It doesn't matter which lowly dragon you got your power from!" She shouted as darkness compared to the enormity of outer space poured from her. "I will crush you!"

The snakes holding her outfit reacted and even more mana was spilled from her hands as four giant dark snakes charged at the armored fallen angel. Azazel observed the fluctuation of power, noticing how one of the snakes around Katerea shook and grew less dark.

'So that is how it is.' All serpents began to glow as they got closer and the explosion that came after wasn't a surprise to anyone.

Katerea was ready to declare her victory since the blast was so intense that even the boundary field shook in its wake. Many of the devils and fallen angels still in the air fell down at the intensity of her power and the descendant of Leviathan was ready to release more.

"Yes, with the power of Infinity-"

"Skill, skill, skill. All comes down to skill." The devil's eyes grew wide in surprise as the gold figure landed behind her, his cyan green eyes judgemental. "Infinity or not, your skills suck."

Panicking at the surviving Cadre, Katerea began to turn with dark mana growing stronger in her hand.

But then an ax made of Light, with two sides that were separated giving the impression it could also be used as a spear, cut the pureblood devil cleanly in half. Arms and waist were separated from the body and Azazel's Light was so intense that it instantly cauterized the wounds.

Didn't stop Katerea from screaming. "Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhg!"

Partially due to her fear and partially because of their function, the dark serpents began to move as one of them broke into a dark cloud that worked hard into bringing the body back together.

"Oh no you won't!" Azazel brought the ax back into a returning swing from the same arc, planning to cut the dark cloud with his Light. Katerea saw it and, despite her hand being cut off, unleashed another serpent that pushed the fallen angel back. "So you can use your limbs even like that?" This time he didn't let himself be thrown around and cut the giant snake to pieces, darkness disappearing harmlessly. "Good to know!"

Light was channeled on his ax as Azazel threw a swing regardless of the distance, a slash of Light flying in Katerea's direction. The devil's waist had just reconnected with her torso when she opened her wings and dodged to the side, failing to evade the attack and losing her left arm.

Another snake grew agitated and its darkness grew dimmer as a cloud of darkness collected the arm and quickly reconnected it. "Haven't you learned, old man? I am immortal!"

"That confirms it, you are more arrogant than your grandma." Azazel joked half seriously, pointing his ax at her. "And in case you couldn't tell, these snakes have limits. Notice how two of them are already gone and another is close to disappearing." Katrea didn't want to hear him talking so she threw another eight snakes in his direction. "That means your healing has a limit. So much for a limitless being!"

When the snakes got close enough, Azazel flew up and watched as they hit each other without exploding. Since Katerea wasn't skilled enough to control that particular aspect he could only blame Ophis.

If he so desired, Azazel could rain hell on Katerea and overwhelm her since he knew the power had a limit. Even if Ophis represented Infinity she couldn't bestow infinity on someone else and he realized the snakes only represented the aspect but couldn't have it

Not the ones chasing him as he kept flying higher nor the ones directed connected to Katerea's body. 'Is that all Ophis was willing to give or all Katerea could take? Need more testing.'

Reaching the boundary field, Azazel did a flip and landed on his feet to wait for the snakes to reach him. Despite insulting Katerea's skill he had no intention of underestimating her so his attack was calculated. He let the devil think he was hesitant to fight when he actually knew that with his armor victory was mostly guaranteed.

Once more he observed Katerea and the snakes still holding her clothes. 'Welp, one is still agitated alright.' When the four snakes arrived in his location, the Cadre jumped and began to fly at full speed, arriving at the devil's location in the blink of an eye. "Get good, scrub."

This time Azazel made sure to cut the snakes around Katerea's body with a double slash in an 'X' pattern and then cut her head off for good measure before jumping away.

'Now let's see what happens, shall we?' Azazel wasn't surprised when Ophis' snakes moved despite being cut to pieces.

While two of those regenerate, one of them became smoke and began to restore Katerea who still wasn't dead and began to unleash blasts in his direction. Those were leaving magic circles even if still dark in color.

Azazel didn't even bother to dodge the attacks as he kept observing the devil. "Running out of gas? Can't blame you, or the snakes, keeping you alive probably is consuming whatever power Ophis gave them."

"Shut up!" Katerea made a magic circle bigger than her body and unloaded as much power as she could.

Once again Azazel didn't bother to move and took the attack directly which resulted in another explosion. "Just pointing out that you are running yourself into the ground. Look." He pointed to the snake that was holding her dress and Katerea noticed it was the last one, much to her horror. "Those snakes are how much your body can take, of that I am sure. That is why everytime one disappears you get weaker. Probably because you can't use all that power at once."

"I- you-" She tried to formulate words but knew he was right. Her body wasn't responding as she wanted and her reserves, that once felt unlimited, were almost dry. "Curse you, Scapegoat! I curse you from the deep of my soul!" Fury helped her power maniphest again but it wasn't even close to what she displayed before. "If I was born with as much power as you I would-"

"That is Envy speaking, finally something you have in common with your grandma." Azazel chuckled as Katerea grew madder. Then he released his power which, combined with the armor's own power, easily crushed her own, making the devil fall to her knees. "Let me remind you that you lost not because of power, but skill." He chuckled again. "Also, this armor had nothing to do with Father but is my own accomplishment. Well, mine and the dragon I made a pact with. Did you guess which one? That would help you guess the full extent of our power."

The reminder that Azazel had a dragon by his side only made Katerea more upset. "I said shut UP!" Darkness poured from her body once more as the last snake's eyes began to glow in an intense purple and it started to grow at a rapid rate.

Soon it was so big that its head easily touched the top of the boundary field even as most of it remained on the ground, its tail moving from one side to another. Almost everyone was panicking at the sight but not Azazel who made his ax once again.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" Katerea pushed all the power Ophis gave her into the snake and in Azazel's direction, ordering the mass of darkness to attack. It burned her to do so and she could feel every cell of her body scream.

None of that mattered, she just wanted Azazel dead.

"Time to finish this once and for all." This attack reeked of desperation but it was still powerful. Azazel charged at the giant snake while concentrating all of his Light on his ax. "Geronimo!"

Nobody could believe the fallen angel just jumped in the direction of the giant snake like that, most couldn't even comprehend what they were seeing.

The snake saw the fallen angel coming and opened its maw. Not that Azazel cared since he accelerated and all the giant ended up doing was swallowing him whole.

For a second there was panic in the fallen angels' ranks as they feared for their leader, another second and the devils, all of them, were worried about a new explosion as the giant snake began to glow.

In the third second there was a glow but it wasn't purple, it was gold and the snake was shaking all over as its body began to bloat. The giant was so big that it changed the landscape everytime it moved and when its body began to change things got worse.

At the fourth second Azazel bursted out from the back of the snake's head, his Light shining so intensely that it was like he was a pure angel once again.

"Sorry, looks like I am too spicy for you to swallow." Azazel once again studied Ophis' power as the titanic snake began to break apart in mottes of mana. "Different but not surprising, not with your condition." He turned to Katerea who was having trouble breathing.

But it wasn't just that as her skin was pale and she was drenched in sweat. The noble lady was gone and in her place was a defeated woman who only had enough strength to look at her enemy with hatred. She lacked the strength even to stand and the only reason she could look at Azazel was because she landed on her back, her clothes torn and exposing more than what was proper.

"You shouldn't… be that strong." The descendant of Leviathan managed to say. "It is all… this dragon's fault."

"Got that right, if my dragon friend hadn't agreed to a deal, I would mincemeat." Azazel moved his ax to his shoulder for support even if it had no weight. "But I don't wanna hear that from you since you had Ophis on your corner. The reason why you lost was because of your lack of skill. And now you are all out of extra lives."

Katerea's look of hatred turned to fear and she tried to muster the strength to keep fighting only to fail as her body protested and she felt sick. She rolled on her stomach and threw up before turning her head to glare at Azazel some more, fear still present but frustration was the dominating emotion.

Even afraid of death she wasn't going to beg. "I will be avenged. The Old Satan Faction will take their pound of blood at the extinction of the Leviathan's line."

"Stop being dramatic. Gee, you sound like my brother, not a compliment by the way. Besides, I am not planning to kill you." That surprised Katerea. "Didn't you hear my allies? They want you alive and you aren't that much of a threat anymore." He also wanted to observe the consequences of using Ophis power in an individual.

Already Azazel could see that Katerea's teeth had returned to normal but couldn't tell if her mana returned to its original color or not, she was too spent for that. There were still other things to observe, however, like her back that was hurt by the fall even if it was a small wound which meant no more healing.

Yet the Cadre was also feeling there was something different on Katerea's body, something that his eyes hunted behind his helmet with no clue what he was looking for.

"NO! I won't accept this humiliation!" Katerea vomited more as her body was simply unable to come up with any power even as she managed to get up. "I will kill you! I will kill you even if it is the last thing I do!"

That would be bad for his allies who wanted the woman alive and he wanted to study her more. "Oi, oi, you barely managed to scratch my armor with Ophis' backing. Trying to fight now is just suicidal and there is no need for that." Obviously logic wasn't working for her as she kept trying to draw more power. 'No other way around it, gonna knock her out before-'

"I fear the King Crow is right, lady Leviathan." One of the devils from the Satan Faction army, indistinguishable from any other, appeared beside Katerea. "In this kind of situation, it would be better to retreat."

Surprise took over Katerea's fear. "You are-" It was the same devil who motivated her to use Ophis' power.

Azazel was stunned. 'Where did he come from? I felt no one approaching and he didn't show up on my peripherals. Is he that fast?' Cautious from the new arrival, Azazel raised his ax again, extending its pole to turn it on a halberd. "You think that escaping me will be that easy?"

The new arrival turned his head to Azazel for one second before looking down at the defeated Leviathan. "Please, forgive me for the rough ride." Obviously he planned to carry the woman and escape.

Something Azazel wasn't going to let happen. "Hold your horses." He went for the kill not underestimating the unknown devil and also to keep Katerea's safe. A magic circle appeared to the side and the masked devil grabbed Katerea like a bride and jumped on it a millisecond before the Cadre had them. 'What the- That circle!' Recognizing it, Azazel expanded his senses and noticed the two devils in the air. "Not so fast!"

Another magic circle showed up and the man flew directly to it, appearing amongst the Old Satan Faction army from apparently nowhere. "Hold your ground men! For Lord Lucifer!"

Most of the devils were terrified of Azazel's power and even more terrified when the armored fallen angel came at them like a demon out of hell chasing the two devils. However some did positioned themselves to fight, raising their weapons bravely and preparing magic circles to unleash whatever they could.

"For Lord Luci-" That man never finished his line as he and another eleven were cut down in an instant.

Azazel gritted his teeth as that cost him half a second that the fugitive got just a little more distance. The fallen angel's eyes could see how his body entered the familiar magic circle and appeared in another location at the measure it got in with Katerea always in his hands.

"The most troublesome Clan to catch in a chase." It wasn't helped by the fact more members of the Old Satan Faction threw themselves on his way. "You all are a bunch of pain in the ass!" Azazel unleashed his power all around him, killing hundreds.

The fugitive didn't care as he focused on his escape, Katerea was safe in his hands and holding his neck as she recognized the magic circle as well and felt confident they would get away.

Only for her protector to turn to the side as a fast sequence of magic circles with silver color appeared and disappeared, a figure entering on one only to appear a few centimeters from another.

The armored devil tried to accelerate but it was too late as Grayfia Lucifuge stopped in front of him, the boundary field still meters away. "I can't let you escape." She said with sad eyes. "Please surrender yourself and give us Katerea, brother."

Without hesitation the devil used a hand to remove the mask and throw the helmet away to reveal a good looking silver haired with his hair in a long braid that reached his back.

"Sister, step aside, I am under orders of Lord Lucifer himself. The real one." His tone was smooth until the last part as his hand returned to hold Katerea's legs.

"Euclid…" Grayfia sounded sad and her expression was full of angst but only for a moment as she steeled her resolve. "You know I cannot allow her to escape, in the name of Lord Lucifer."

Her brother gritted his teeth hard and had a look of utter disgust. "It isn't enough that you sired a child with that traitor but calling him 'Lucifer' makes your actions worse."

The two siblings stared at each other, one with passionate rage while the other presented placid sadness before magic circles appeared behind both of them and they flew in just when Azazel was about to grab Euclid.

"Goddamned! That is why fighting Lucifuges is a pain!" Azazel looked around and found Grayfia blocking Euclid's path as both made new magic circles to jump inside.

Since the pursuit began Euclid could count on his Power of Space to get away from Azazel but Grayfia had the same Power so she could read where he was going and block him. It was a common phenomena when devils of the same Clan faced each other, both knew their own Power's weakness and they ended up canceling the other.

Euclid tried to get some distance from her sister but everytime he tried to move to the space above her Grayfia would make a magic circle that stopped him just short and forced him to move to the side before she grabbed him.

Both kept alternating between magic circles and empty space with Euclid unable to shake his sister off. Perhaps if Katerea was stronger she could help him but in her condition it would be better for him to ditch the descendant of Leviathan if he wanted to escape. Unfortunately taking her away was his mission and Euclid refused to fail.

Making the matters worse was that Azazel was tracking them both with more precision than he should. 'As expected of the Governor General.' Euclid recognized his efforts as Grayfia's magic stopped him from moving where he wanted again. 'If this keeps going I will run out of mana before I can get to the boundary field. At least I can take solace that I may escape later if Azazel tires enough.'

Euclid knew that either he will create an opportunity or someone will do so for him.

…

"How can they move so fast?" Asked Irina whose eyes were jumping around the battle like many others who couldn't understand what was going on.

"As was explained before, Grayfia's Power is over Space. With it she can use magic circles to teleport around even in a boundary field like this if she either has a connection or line of sight. You can fight it off as they need contact and just by using mana you can disrupt it." Michael, who disliked the look of confusion in his subordinate, quickly explained. "However, to another Lucifuge to reveal themselves." He turned to a concerned Sirzechs. "Who exactly is he?"

"Euclid Lucifuge, my brother in law."

"Wait, you have a brother in law? Grayfia has a brother?" Rias' shock surprised all members of the ORC. "How did I never hear about… He is with the Old Satan Faction, the Civil War…" Pieces fell into place and she offered her brother a sad look. "He hates us?"

"Mostly just me both for my part in the Civil War and for taking the title of Lucifer." His eyes never left his wife as she kept blocking Euclid's way. Azazel was right behind trying to catch them but the younger Lucifuge was skilled and always escaped by a hair. "He is a direct subordinate of the most powerful descendant of Lucifer. The only living one we have knowledge of."

"That man… What must he be planning to send someone here?" Michael sounded worried about the prospect. "I thought you told us that he didn't care about the Underworld."

"He doesn't. Or at least he didn't." Sirzechs was also worried and his eyes never left his wife. "Either way, we will have answers soon. Even with the Power of Space, escaping this boundary field is impossible unless he takes the school building out." And with Michael standing guard, none of them believed it was possible.

"But then why is he trying to escape?" Shirou asked with folded arms, looking around the area. "Or why isn't the army as well."

"Emiya is right." Sona commented after fixing her glasses. "This situation is extremely odd."

"Not just that but the fact that Rizevim is connected to Khaos Brigade and sent his right hand man here makes things even more confusing." Sirzechs added to the conversation, making both students blink. "But that is why Michael isn't going out yet. We are missing something."

Most of the younger devils looked worried and nervous but Serafall tried to cheer them up. "Don't worry, everything is going to be okay. Grayfia is going to catch her scoundrel brother and he will answer all our questions. Then we will make everyone stand down and have a nice chat."

Kiba shook his head with a look of contemplation. "No offense Serafall-sama but I doubt that is going to happen."

Akeno caught his train of thought. "'A cornered animal is more dangerous' huh?"

"Hey, no need to look like that. That is why we are here." Serafall said confidently. "Without anyone to contest us, either they surrender or else... That is how things are."

"A lot of people are still going to die." Asia was conflicted at the notion and joined her hands in prayer. She still couldn't include God's name but for the souls of those who would perish she would risk it.

Issei nervously raised a hand. "Excuse me but who is Rizevim?" All leaders looked at him, Serafall with a wince, Sirzechs with annoyance and Michael with visible angst. "Sorry."

"No, it is fine. Since you are here, you have the right to know." Sirzechs paused, trying to figure out the best way to explain.

Michael showed unusual impatience by going ahead. "One of Lucifer's sons and a monster with no regard for life of any kind." His distaste was evident as his eyes were stuck on Euclid. "That is why his interference is so dangerous, if he is planning something it cannot be any good."

"Perhaps you should make a move." Medusa suggested with a collected look that immediately drew attention. "Just debating here helps nothing and we still have two high level fighters and everyone else around, one of you should help with the capture."

Before any further debate all looked up as Azazel unleashed a rain of Light spears in the area Euclid was to show up, the devil's many magic circles destroyed as he made more to help him evade.

"That is why inserting yourself in a high chase like that is a bad call, goddess." Serafall commented with a cheeky grin. "Because you can get on the line of fire."

Medusa shook her head and looked at Shirou. "I agree with my protector's previous assessment; if this Euclid is trying to escape, he will have some sort of trick."

…

Euclid knew that just charging in the same direction would tip off his pursuers of his escape plan so he kept moving to the sides while trying to go higher without moving to the exact right spot.

But he refused to go lower since his sister would just move her protections down for every centimeter he gave to lock him in place. Had Azazel not had the dragon armor or he didn't have to protect Katerea then Euclid could have already escaped by just throwing his power around and forcing the fallen angel to slow down.

Devoted as he was, the thought of abandoning his mission didn't even cross his mind as the high speed chase kept going. High speed only from Azazel part as the members of the Lucifuge Clan didn't need to accelerate to cross great distances. To them distance could be irrelevant but with the boundary field forcing more mana out the distance was small compared to their normal.

Azazel created a ball of Light in his hands before clapping it, trying to blind Euclid and so cut the use of his Power. It would have worked if the man didn't hold Katerea in front of him to use as a shield. The attack wasn't harmful anyway.

With the Light at her back Grayfia was unaffected and charged at her sibling, bending Space and appearing right above him only to notice that he already had a magic circle at his feet. It was an indicator of the direction he was going so the Strongest Queen began to move the magic circle blocking his movement down a little.

When Euclid disappeared, both her and Azazel kept their pursuit going with different means; Grayfia kept her altitude to cut his escape route while the fallen angel charged the moment he saw the devils appear out of nowhere a few meters below.

The Governor General wasn't surprised when another magic circle appeared and changed his trajectory the moment Euclid flew on it. That event repeated twice more in the same direction as Euclid was veering to the right constantly, Azazel expecting the man to return to his army for reinforcements.

Only when Euclid appeared in the middle of the fallen angel army was that Azazel knew he had been played. "SPLIT UP!"

A more disciplined army, made of experienced fighters, would execute the order immediately. These were a younger bread of fallen angels, however, and plenty of them wanted either glory or to impress him.

In that moment the deal to bring weaker troops bit Azazel in the butt as plenty of the young fallen angels ignored the order and summoned their weapons to kill Euclid.

Things got worse when some charged and others threw their spears only for the devils to vanish and the fallen angels to kill each other, much to their horror.

No matter how much Azazel wanted to keep his pursuit he had to slow down or risk killing even more with his overwhelming power.

He approached his men while ordering the whole time "Nobody move! Spread around to not give him a place to hide! If you see them, don't get in the way!" His priority was his people's lives and he was too busy trying to save one of the soldiers to notice Euclid slipping away from the side.

This time the silver haired devil wasn't teleporting but flying at full speed in the direction of his escape route. His sister's barrier could do nothing in this case.

It wasn't a proper boundary circle and barely could be called a barrier as it was unable to stop him from physically moving in any other way but that was why Grayfia kept up with his moves from above, appearing in front of him just in time for an interception.

Both of them knew that there was no way for Euclid to win in a fight, not against Grayfia whilst Katerea was in his arms.

However Euclid's Master had anticipated Grayfia's presence since it was common knowledge that where Sirzechs went, his Queen wasn't far. With such an important meeting, even if Serafall was the Head of Foreign Affairs, Sirzechs' presence wasn't a surprise, if anything it was expected.

And so Euclid retrieved something from his pocket, a white ball with a black pattern of wave-like going around it. Grayfia had no way to know what it was and she was single mindedly focused on stopping her brother. For either love or duty she didn't think about it since it would be a distraction.

Only when Euclid's thumb broke the top of the ball did she realize it was an egg. "With Lord Lucifer's regards."

From the egg a swarm of wasp-like creatures were born in an instant, all looking at Grayfia maliciously before charging in her direction faster than any devil.

There were at least thirteen of those, all gray and black, much like the egg, bigger than normal wasps by a considerable margin, two stings and three pairs of wings each that made an extremely irritating noise that had both purebloods clenching their teeths to try and ignore it.

Unlike most insects their eyes were red, each of their jaws moving uncontrollably as they flew faster than Euclid towards Grayfia. Katerea felt her ears bleed but her protector was prepared and focused only on his sister and his exit route, trusting the wasps his Master's ally had provided.

The Strongest Queen didn't know what those creatures were and didn't allow herself to be distracted, her brother was still charging at her so she concluded they were bait. Instead of stopping, Grayfia created a new magic circle and unleashed a laser to pierce through the insets and cut one of her brother's wings.

She didn't expect the gray wasps to converge on it and started to devour her mana while making way toward the devil. Grayfia undid the magic circle to stop the laser but the wasps kept going at her, even bigger than before. Still not understanding what was happening she wouldn't allow her brother to escape so she threw a punch at the creatures.

It connected easily, tearing one of the wasps into pieces before it kept moving and killing even more. However there were thirteen of them and just four dead didn't stop the others from biting and stinging her.

And the noise, the noise was too much and started to affect her, forcing the Queen to flail around, trying to kill them as their corrosive saliva damaged her skin and maid uniform.

No longer concentrating on anything else, Grayfia kept moving and killing the wasps only to notice there were more than they should. Paying attention to one she managed to slap away, the Ultimate Maid noticed that the pieces seemed to make more wasps, smaller but equally annoying.

Her confusion turned to fury when Euclid passed by her without looking back, ignoring her barrier and moving towards the top of the boundary field for whatever reason. 'He isn't getting away!'

Grayfia created a magic circle on top of herself to pursue but the wasps quickly converged on it and started to devour her mana. Her eyes grew wide at the phenomena as the creatures bloated, gorging from her circle as it broke after losing many parts.

Frail as they were, they were starting to annoy Grayfia and the noise, the constant buzzing around that was more annoying than anything else she ever heard in her life, was starting to hurt her head and steal her concentration.

These wasps, an existence she never heard about until that day, were getting the better of her and allowing her brother to escape, which made Grayfia angry.

Angry enough to unleash an explosion of raw demonic power that covered the sky, the might of the Strongest Queen. "Begone!"

It wasn't magic, it was raw power, the kind of power that could bring down fortresses and armies by itself. While the wasps were capable of devouring it, they had no way to react to the wave of silver demonic energy that assailed them and were all crushed.

Even if her Power was not of Destruction, Grayfia's raw demonic energy erased the wasps completely. Unfortunately for her, her brother was already close to the top, his target for reasons she couldn't comprehend and even as she moved to catch up, she knew it was for naught.

But someone else much faster than her was already on the way. "You aren't escaping, Euclid Lucifuge!" Azazel was covered in gold armor and energy, flying at speeds that Humanity still struggled to reach even with the most modern machinery.

Katerea saw the fallen angel coming and her fear returned. "Euclid, he is coming!" Her voice was lost in the wind.

Not that Euclid would reply if he had heard her, he was totally immersed in escaping and just at the top of the boundary field, an area easy to identify and equally distant in every point of Kuoh he saw his exit ticket.

Another insect, a small bug, so small in fact that nobody noticed it was there when Euclid broke its egg when the skirmish started. He had used his Power of Space to quickly reach the top and hide from view right there, already knowing he would have to make a fast exit.

It was a beetle but a beetle unlike any in nature; gray with black like the wasps but even smaller than them, however still bigger than a normal one. Also unlike most beetles in nature it had six mandibles for faster eating and like the wasps it was devouring mana but from the boundary field.

There was a huge difference between demonic energy, the mana devils used, and other types of mana but from what Euclid was informed that beetle could devour any type if left alone until it reached its limit.

Too many beetles and someone may have noticed the creatures, either a fallen angel with a passing glance or once there were too many holes in the boundary field. Euclid just needed one even if small and with the time that passed he knew its function would be done.

Now all he needed to do was get into range to look at the other side before a furious Azazel got his hands on him. Not an easy feat as the Cadre's speed had increased as much as his power.

Euclid didn't panic either way since with his sister out of the picture he could use Space again and accelerate his arrival to the top. There he saw the beetle he was given, almost ready to explode from having eaten too much.

Just as planned there was a small hole, the size of a nail, waiting for him, the skies outside of Kuoh illuminated by dusk visible.

That was their exit and Azazel watched as Euclid made another magic circle and disappeared. Using his senses he felt the area but found no sign of the devils but didn't stop his flight path, determined to search and destroy his prey.

When he saw the small hole, Azazel muttered a curse and approached it, easily dispatching the beetle before landing upside down. 'How is this possible? I didn't see anything like this during my fight.' He had been too busy and in a completely different zone of the boundary field. Peeking through he saw a silver magic circle and Euclid disappearing with Katerea in his hands just as the hole closed, the boundary field restored. "Fuck."

…

Sirzechs moved to his wife's side before anyone could say anything. "You are exhausted. Did those wasps harm you in any way?"

"I am fine, Lord Sirzechs." The redhead calmed down at her professional attitude which indicated she was really fine. "I apologize for my failure in securing my brother and Katerea."

Serafall stepped in with a gentle smile. "Hey, it happens." Nobody was willing to disagree but Shirou looked at Grayfia with pity.

'To fight her own sibling with such fervor. No, it wasn't a fight but that didn't stop her from trying to stop him.' The Mage of Swords felt a sense of vertigo hit him and shook his head as Michael began to offer any help he could to the devils. 'Could I do the same?' The pestering question wormed in his mind. 'If it was Illya, could I have done the same thing?'

Now that things were slowing down, Shirou began to consider the future and how her sister's organization began to move. They just had attacked a peace meeting of all things, became terrorists for all the intents and he feared how much his sister was involved with them.

'Damned Illya, why did you join a thing like that? Just to avoid destruction?' The two armies still stared at each other. 'Look how much you are already spreading? This was for peace.'

A hand held his and Shirou snapped back to reality as Rias smiled gently at him. "Thinking about your sister?"

"Thinking about the kind of mess she is with this lot."

"So your sister is with these guys?" Issei asked with pity. "That sucks, dude."

"Don't worry, Master. I am sure we can rescue your sister from those villains."

Shirou wished he could share Xenovia's enthusiasm. "Knowing her she is going to be the final boss of the whole thing."

The former Exorcist blinked in confusion. "Why do you say that, Master?"

"You met my mother and heard about my father." The magus began slowly. "And my sister is their daughter. Let that sink in."

The Magus Killer reputation was one thing but everybody that knew Iri could really recognize that she also was a force to be reckoned with.

"Shero, is your sister that scary?" Luvia sounded intimidated.

"When she wanted to be." A haunted look appeared on the magus' face before he shook his head. "But she can also be sweet and I can only hope she had nothing to do with this." Because even as the leader of the attacking army left, his gut told him things weren't over.

Azazel returned to Kuoh, his armor breaking apart and returning to the form of a spear head before it too broke into pieces with the exception of the gem on the pommel. He grabbed it with a frown before landing.

Anyone could tell Azazel was irritated. "Thanks for the help." He spoke to the orb before turning to his allies. "And sorry that I couldn't get them. Somehow they managed to open a small hole on the boundary field and Euclid used it to get outside."

"How is that possible?" Medusa asked what everyone was thinking. "A boundary field like this one would recover instantly if not completely broken. Did whatever they used kept it open?"

"Would you believe it was a beetle that kept eating a small section of it? Big enough for a nail and nothing else?"

"After seeing the wasps? Yes." Serafall replied with a concerned look. "They even managed to hurt Grayfia."

"Euclid came prepared to escape, even if Katerea had Ophis' power." Sirzechs summarized. "They, or better yet Rizevim, knew she was going to lose and prepared an exit strategy."

None of which made sense with how armies of the moonlit world fought, if the leader can't actually hold their own then the soldiers were just bodies being thrown into a meat grinder.

The more the leaders of the Factions thought about it, the less the Old Satan Faction strategy made sense. "Are they ready to give up?" Kiba asked out loud. "Because from my point of view, all those devils still look ready to fight." At the Knight's words everyone turned to the army of devils still standing at ready.

"No drop of weapons, no attempt to negotiate, no final charge." Azazel's frown grew deeper at every observation he made. "They are waiting for someone."

"Perhaps for someone to go negotiate a surrender?" Despite knowing she should stay silent, Irina tried to stay positive and offer an alternative to end the violence. "I mean, they aren't attacking either." She noticed how Michael was smiling, blushed and looked down. "Sorry, sir."

"No, you may be correct. They may be waiting for someone to go and talk about an honorable surrender." The Seraph sounded hopeful and his eyes turned to the devils. "Since Sirzechs is weakened then it would be your place to negotiate, Serafall."

"Actually we may have someone else to negotiate with them." Azazel tried to follow his brother's example but his smile looked forced.

"Would you be talking about me, Azazel?" Vali chose that moment to appear again, still clad in his Scale Mail and looking pristine, like it hadn't seen battle.

Azazel tried to not think about it. "Right on time, Vali. Could you please go there and convince them to surrender?"

"Sorry but that isn't going to happen. After all, they are waiting for their strongest fighter to reveal themselves."

"Look, I know you would like to have a good fight today but enough blood has already been spilled."

"Couldn't agree more but Katerea wanted to go first and they were all anxious to take a crack at the Underworld's leadership. Not that I care much about it but," Vali shrugged his shoulders as some began to look at him with apprehension, "you raised me with a policy of 'ladies first' kind of deal."

"Vali… this isn't the time for jokes." Azazel's fist began to shake and he hid it inside his suit's pocket.

"But this isn't a joke. You know that, right?" The White Dragon Emperor began to let his energy out, Serafall and Michael standing in front of their allies with nervous expressions. "Not like I wanted to fight you with them all around since your armor would counter Divine Diving too well. I suppose that was why you made Fafnir the power source."

Holding the orb carefully, Azazel tried to remain calm. "I didn't make a pact with him to fight you, Vali." But the White Dragon Emperor could see the microscopic changes on his face that showed frustration. "His power was the best one for me and he was one of the few dragons who would accept my conditions."

"Because Greed is such a thing you have in abundance." Vali sounded sarcastic and even with his helmet people knew he was smiling. When he looked up to the army of the Three Factions they all retreated in fear. "Then again, you aren't the type to suspect those close to you, that is why Kokabiel got away with so much." He looked back at the man who raised him. "That is why I am here today, against you."

"So you joined the Khaos Brigade? To pick a fight with the Three Factions?" If someone hadn't understood what was happening, they did now.

Vali shrugged dramatically, shaking his head for good measure. "It looks like that, doesn't it? To be specific, I joined Ophis." He waved to the Old Satan Faction army. "These guys? Don't need them but they want to see me put Sirzechs in his place or something like that."

"Azazel? Care to explain?" Sirzechs sounded calm but with how weak he was his worry was hard to hide. More so because his wife also was exhausted and the opponent would be the White Dragon Emperor. "Where did you find him?"

"Oh, my apologies, Lucifer, I hadn't introduced myself properly mostly because Azazel asked that be done after the peace was signed." Vali bowed with a hand over his chest. "But since that isn't happening anymore, let me say my name, a name that started wars."

From his back eight bat-like wings revealed themselves much to Sirzechs, Grayfia, Michael and Serafall's horror. Most of the younger devils didn't understand the implication and couldn't comprehend how a devil could have more than two wings.

All they knew was that Vali had to be a devil as demonic energy mixed with his flow of mana and made him feel even stronger.

"My real name is Vali Lucifer." Comprehension dawned in all at the implication and introduction. "That is right, I am a descendant of the Original Lucifer and also the White Dragon Emperor." Horror began to fill every devil and fallen angel in the area as the implication was catastrophic to their side. "Nice to meet you."

Michael took a step forward but his disposition was weak and he looked to be hesitating. "Azazel, is he a son of Lucifer or some kind of sick experiment?" This wouldn't be the first time something like that happened.

"He is Rizevim's grandson, a legitimate descendant." Azazel sounded fearful and defeated but tried to smile again. "Vali, why did you join Ophis? Wasn't your goal to be the strongest? It should be your enemy."

"She is only the second strongest and you should know that. That must tell you something about her goal." Vali was having fun, that much was obvious.

"Great Red? Ophis wants to get rid of Great Red?" It clicked on Azazel's mind instantly.

"Bravo, as always you can figure out things fast when you put your mind to it." All Vali's wings opened to their full extension, Divine Dividing the most impressive of them. "Ophis' goal is to destroy Great Red and take back her home. Great Red, Dragon of Dragons, is the strongest and so I shall face it one day!" Then his devil wings vanished and he shrugged. "Besides, the Khaos Brigade is the more fun side to be at the moment."

"Because you want to fight." Shirou advanced, a harsh glare in Vali's direction. "That is what this is about, isn't it? You joined the Khaos Brigade because you want war, not for a goal or a reason, just to have a fight!"

"Can you say that a fight of any other kind is a proper fight?" Vali didn't even bother denying it. "Can you claim that on any other occasion warriors fight with all of themselves and show their true strength? That without something on the line they can truly be called warriors? Of course not!" He sounded excited just by the prospect alone. "Only when lives are put in the line can warriors show their real worth. Khaos Brigade just gives me the chance to get things moving."

"So much to not pick on weaklings." Shirou sounded hateful but that amused Vali more.

He stretched his arms open to invite an attack. "But this is not about weaklings, is it? This is a war between you all and me!" The White Dragon Emperor announced proudly. "You want your precious peace? Then fight me! Show me that your peace is actually worth something or else I will just crush it! Only then will I be satisfied!" Azazel felt Vali's eyes on him. "You asked me what I wanted; this is it! Not peace but fights, fights where I can become the strongest!"

Michael shared Shirou's emotions and prepared himself. "Then I shall give it to you!" Before he could take flight he felt Azazel grabbing his arm again. "Let me go, brother. Last time you could fight but now you are-"

"Would you rather die?!" Azazel's sudden shout silenced his sibling. "Vali is not an opponent you can beat and if you can't see that then you are losing your edge."

"I can't allow him to get in the way of peace." Michael looked at his brother with pity. "And you are in no condition to fight him."

To his surprise Azazel nodded. "Without Fafnir I have no chance but neither does any of you. Or you forgot he is the White Dragon Emperor?"

"But how does he have Divine Dividing?" Xenovia looked frustrated and irritated at the white armored man who patiently waited for an opponent. "He is a devil and the System should only give it to a human."

Sona fixed her glasses to calm herself. "He is a hybrid, isn't he?"

Azazel chuckled in depression, still not letting go of his brother. "Not only a hybrid but a True Hybrid. No weakness, only power." The declaration almost made everyone panic.

"Hahahahahaha!" It only made Vali laugh. "That is right! Unfair, isn't it? Here I am, the grandson of Lucifer and I was born not only with Divine Diving but also had the perfect balance of Devilhood and Humanity! Talk about irony, hahahahahahahaha!" He shook his head and opened his arms again. "Perhaps my existence is a miracle itself?"

The question carried a sarcastic tone but many present began to wonder if that wasn't the case. Even the members of the Three Faction army began to look at each other in doubt if they were on the right side.

Because Vali wasn't like Katerea, a simple descendant of a Maou, he was also an existence so unique that boggle the mind and he was the descendant of the Original Lucifer. Morale couldn't go lower than that as the devils began to doubt themselves and looked unwilling to fight him out of principle.

"So? Who is going to be my opponent?" Vali asked with mirth as he pointed to Sirzechs. "I would like to fight you who is called the strongest but the whims of your sister made you weak, just like Katerea planned. A pity." He skipped Azazel and went to Michael. "Perhaps you, the Acting God? The Strongest Angel, Seraph Michael? Do you wish to cast down another Lucifer?" The Seraph glared but Vali had already moved on. "Or will I get Katerea's dream fight and face you, Serafall Leviathan? It would give me a chance to gauge which one of you is the strongest."

Both were willing to fight but they also knew they had no chance of winning, Divine Diving was a Longinus for a reason and with someone like Vail, a hybrid of immense power, using it they were well aware of how outmatched they were as with a single Divide even Michael will be brought low.

Considering everything, Azazel could only think of one person who could face Vali. "Issei, you are up!"

"Huh? Who, me?" All were looking at the Pawn who grew nervous. "Hold on! I don't understand half of what is going on right now! I get that Vali is an enemy but–"

Azazel, with the cumulative frustration and worry from all that has been happening over the last few hours, grabbed Issei by his uniform. "What didn't you get?"

"What?"

"What didn't you get? I will explain!" They had little time and Azazel ignored Rias' irritated look as she moved to get between them only to be stopped by Sirzechs who shook his head.

It was silently agreed by the leaders that Issei as the Red Dragon Emperor was their best chance out of this mess.

Intimidated by the unusual aggression on Azazel's disposition, Issei began to babble. "I don't know, okay? What the hell does this Khaos Brigade want? Who the fuck is Ophis and this Great Red? What-"

"Ophis is the Dragon of Infinity and was once considered the Strongest Existence. It resided on the Dimensional Gap." Azazel gave no time for question, he didn't know how patient Vali was going to be. He felt he didn't know the kid he raised anymore. "That was until Great Red, also known as the True Red Dragon Emperor, the Dragon of Dragons or Dragon of Dreams, DxD, showed up and kicked Ophis out of the Dimensional Gap for whatever reason. For centuries, millenia, the Dragon of Infinity had tried in vain to recover its home, which was unoccupied when Great Red showed up, until finally it decided to ask for help that no Faction would give."

The fallen angel gave Issei a few seconds to process all that. "So she, it, whatever, just wants to go back home?" That and the fact that Great Red was currently the Strongest Existence were the only things he really caught up so far.

"Yeah but the Dimensional Gap is so connected to all Reality, called 'Dimensional' for a reason, that everybody knows that fighting the Great Red would have terrible consequences." Azazel grabbed Issei by the arms and shook him a little. "Terrible consequences! Nobody sane would accept helping Ophis no matter what she offered, the Dragon of Dreams is too strong anyway. But apparently the Khaos Brigade is insane. Did you catch everything?"

"Yes but…" Issei didn't bother to hide his fear when he looked at Vali, nobody blamed him. "I don't think I can defeat him."

"Got that right." Vali commented with an amused chuckle. "Weren't you telling me before he is too young to face me, what was the word again, ah… 'Comparatively'?"

"That is right, Vali has a Balance Breaker. Issei is not even close to getting his. It would be suicide." Rias could understand that people were desperate but her Pawn had no chance of winning. "He is a fully realized White Dragon Emperor! I won't allow you to have Issei fight him."

"We may have no other choice! His power is the only one that can counter Vali's!" Azazel's eyes were somber and full of hurt. Still he pushed forward. "Besides, Issei doesn't need to fight alone since he is inexperienced. Michael just needs him for support and to counter Divide."

"I could just shoot him down the moment the fight starts, you know?" Vali's words made Rias more concerned, Issei more nervous and Azazel more frustrated. "Are you really that desperate, Azazel?"

Then the Cadre smiled. "Perhaps if you took more interest in my work you would know that I have my friends' backs. Issei!" From the other pocket of his suit, Azazel pulled out a silver bracelet. "With this you will be able to use your Balance Breaker!"

For a moment all playfulness left Vali's form. "What are you playing at, Azazel?"

"I am not playing at anything, just something I invented to help people unleash their Balance Breakers temporarily." He showed his former charge the bracelet with a mischievous smile. "A bit of silver here, a couple of runes there, fire from the White Dragon Emperor, thanks for that by the way." Vali felt silly. "Sure it will only work once and then it will break but for now it can even the playing field."

"Huh! You think just because he will have Scale Mail he will be a match for me?" Now Vali felt insulted. "I will kill you in a second! Him and whoever fights with him!"

Then someone grabbed the bracelet from Azazel, surprising the fallen angel. "With a threat, I can't let things slide, Vali." Shirou stepped forward, the angry look still on his face now paired with a sarcastic smile. "Or are you reneging on the 'not picking on the weak' deal? If so, that is another reason for me to interfere."

"Shirou-" Before Azazel could say anything, lines of mana covered the bracelet and it broke apart. "What have you done?!"

"If Issei fights, he dies, then Rias will get upset." The magus looked at the fallen angel with a smile. "Besides, I promised him a match and I like to keep my promises."

"Oh, think you can keep up already? Just a few weeks ago you admitted to having no chance." Vali was intrigued and more interested than before. "Did you master it?"

"No but I told you before that I could give you a fight you would never forget." Shirou discarded the remains of the bracelet. "I had enough time to prepare so that I can deal with you."

"Interesting." Vali was intrigued.

Almost everyone else was worried. "Are you mad? Do you remember his Divide ability?"

"I must agree with my brother, Emiya Shirou. The White Dragon Emperor is not an opponent anyone can face."

"Was defeating a weak goddess made you think you are invincible?"

"Serafall that was unnecessary." Sirzechs also looked stressed but he was focusing on his sister, noting how she wasn't worried anymore.

If anything Rias Gremory looked confident. "Shiro."

"Yeah?" He completely ignored the leaders of the Three Factions.

"This is not a duel, alright. If you are going to fight, give everything you got."

"Rias, that is a terrible idea. You said before, this is a fully realized White Dragon Emperor." Sona protested, fearing what would become of her friend if her lover perished. "With just a touch he can reduce Emiya's power by half and then crush him. As a human his reserves are already smaller than ours."

Instead of changing her mind, Rias began to grin. "Don't worry, Shiro got this." Some of her peerage chuckled as even Issei looked calmer. "If anything this will teach everyone to not underestimate the Magus Killer's son."

"My old man taught me well. For instance," Shirou pointed at Vali with confidence, "True Hybrid or not he still has Albion, he still is considered a dragon."

It was Vali's turn to chuckle. "True enough."

Xenovia didn't need to hear anything else to drop on a knee and open the briefcase. "Here, my Lord. I wish you luck in the fight."

Shirou nodded and grasped the sword inside it. "Michael, I know I promised to return it to you but I will be using Ascalon for now."

"It is supposed to be a present." The Seraph couldn't help but smile.

"I never accepted it." Shirou began to march forward but someone was still in disbelief from what happened in the last few minutes.

"Are none of you taking this situation seriously?" Azazel was irritated, frustrated and stressed. The jovial older man had lost something and didn't know what. "This is- you are going to- Vali won't be defeated just because you have a Dragon Slayer weapon." His eyes were fixed on Shirou's back, unwavering. "We needed the power of a dragon and the only one who can compete with the White Dragon Emperor is the Red One. And you took the only way we could bring the power out and broke it."

Looking at the fallen angel from the corner of his eye, Shirou could barely recognize the man. "Even if that bracelet could magically give Issei the power to fight he lacks experience. Sending him there would be something I could never forgive myself for allowing."

"He would just be backing Michael up."

"Are you saying that because the odds of your brother winning are that high or because you believe he would spare Vali?" Everything grew quiet and even Vali seemed interested in hearing the answer. Shirou didn't give Azazel the chance to reply. "Anyway, I won't let a friend gamble his life like that, not on my watch." The Cadre could see the resolve in Shirou's eyes until he turned to look at Vali again. "Besides, I know I can, no, I will win."

"Someone is sounding confident. Are you sure you didn't master it?" Vali was growing ever more giddy at the potential fight.

Shirou pointed Ascalon at the White Dragon Emperor. "Just feel that my chances of winning are higher than anyone else's, that is all." He smiled confidently. "Besides, you don't send a dragon to face another dragon, that usually ends with nations destroyed. Better send a knight with a strong steed and a shining sword instead."

Akeno giggled at an impish idea. "Lacking a knight, the Mage of Swords will have to do." At Shirou's flinch every member of the ORC laughed despite the situation.

"A 'Mage' huh? Who gave you the title?" He had Vali's curiosity, something Shirou definitely didn't want.

Indeed he even tried to dodge the question. "A bunch of wannabe knights."

"Hah! Then let's go, Mage of Swords!" It failed as Vali recognized the title, calling it out loud for all to hear.

Then the White Dragon Emperor flew back until he was a few meters away from Kuoh and landed with his arms folded. Nobody tried to stop him and his army cheered. """""""""""Lucifer! Lucifer! Lucifer! Lucifer!""""""""

Tuning down the cheering was easier for Shirou due to a concerned Michael's hand landing on his shoulder. "You shouldn't have to fight. That is our duty, not yours."

"He is right." Serafall stepped forwards, a hard look in her eyes. The bubbly persona was completely absent. "We are the leaders of the Three Factions, this is our peace meeting-"

"And I am the bodyguard of one of the guests." He smiled at Medusa. "Anything to say, my goddess?" Shirou made sure his tone was full of humor.

Didn't stop Medusa to straight her spine and point at his opponent. "As my representative, victory is the only acceptable outcome."

Letting out a sight, Shirou shook his head. "What a demanding goddess I have." And prepared to jump before Rias interrupted him.

"Shiro. I was being serious." Both redheads traded looks as her expression was grave. "Use every resource, don't hesitate." She then smiled. "Then come back to me in one piece or else I will be cooking until the summer break."

"Heh, sure. It is a deal." He jumped out, landing with a roll before beginning to walk towards Vali who stood there waiting patiently.

The redhead's steps were slow but the hybrid held an air of excitement even as he just waited. And wait he did nonetheless as Shirou still didn't look ready for their fight and Vali didn't want to start it too soon.

He wanted all to begin at an appropriate moment when both sides were ready so they could go all out to their hearts' content.

'Is he really stronger? Is he just trying to spare his friend's life?' Thanks to his helmet only Vali knew the size of the grin he had. "Only through combat can one see the truth."

"Never heard that saying before but I disagree" Shirou stopped ten meters away from the White Dragon Emperor.

"Just something I came up with." Vali admitted as he studied Shirou's posture, Ascalon relaxed on his shoulder as the magus didn't look ready. "Ready to start?"

"Can I ask something first? Why reveal yourself now?"

"Already told you that Katerea wanted to fight first." An uninterested shrug followed. "To neutralize Sirzechs, she went on and on about this plan to use Rias Gremory's Bishop to stop the time of the area and everything just to spare our soldiers." Vali looked around. "Obviously it failed but the goal was to force Sirzechs to teleport Rias in the first place so only partially."

"Unlike her you don't sound like you hate your ancestor's replacement." Shirou observed carefully, watching to see how the fight would start.

The redhead wasn't really concerned about any cheap tricks and the silver haired man didn't mind talking. "I don't give a damn. Like I said, I just want to fight. The guy wants the name Lucifer so he can have it."

Shirou blinked in a mix of confusion and bafflement. "I see."

"Ready now?"

"Another one." Part of him wanted to see how much he could push Vali but Shirou was still cautious. "Why didn't you challenge Azazel the moment your ally began to lose? Don't you want to fight him?"

"It isn't the right time yet. Besides, I am more interested in fighting Michael first." Vali knew something was wrong when Shirou smiled.

"That… is the first lie you told all day." Shirou's smile was irritating the hybrid more than he would like to admit. "Or how about we talk about how instead of attacking any of the armies you just focused on familiars."

"You saw that huh?" Already the annoyance was obvious in Vali's speech.

"I was watching your back. Then I saw the man who loved fighting avoid it which was odd. Even with the betrayal since you could have just announced yourself sooner and fought the army." The Mage made a face of fake realization. "Let me guess, it wasn't the right time yet?"

"Believe what you will." On that the White Dragon Emperor failed to hide his irritation, no matter how minor. Despite how the conversation was going and his wish to fight, he also was observing his opponent. "You look more relaxed."

"Yeah, because I find myself feeling better associating with you like this."

"Like what? Enemies?"

"Pretty much." Shirou admitted as he made a flourish move with Ascalon before holding it with two hands "After hearing your philosophy, I got angry, more than I thought I should." Another admission, one that surprised Vali. "But as allies I held my tongue, for the most part. Now as enemies I can say what I think bluntly. Vali Lucifer, you are an idiot."

"Oh, am I?"

"Yes. Becoming the strongest to then die? That is an absolute waste! And power without purpose is a bigger one." Shirou spoke sincerely from his heart, Vali could tell. "And you know what? You are a bigger idiot because your actions do pick on the weak and you just refuse to notice it."

"Huh, then they should stop being weak. If anything I am doing them a favor by forcing them out of their comforts to rise and become stronger."

Both young men stood there in silence as no one could hear what was being said. The armies held their breath, the leaders looked confused and only the two really knew what the conversation was about.

Finally Shirou revealed a sarcastic smile. "I think I hate you."

Behind his mask, Vali did the same. "What a coincidence. I think I hate you too."

Two men with opposite philosophies; one who believed power was a means to protect the things he cherished while the other believed it was a goal in itself and the most important thing in the universe.

With thoughts like those their first real confrontation could only end with blood. "You are an idiot." Shirou repeated as he changed his stance to put his sword at waist height pointing to the school, getting ready for a leap.

"It is like your squire said." Vali opened Divide Diving fully and let his mana cover his body, his arms looking ready for a grab. "This is the only thing I know for real."

Shirou paused, blinked and chuckled. "You have no idea where that comes from, do you?"

Vali chuckled as well, knowing there was some sort of joke he couldn't understand but finding humor regardless. "Does it matter? Makes enough sense to me." A white aura with hues of blue began to cover him. "Fighting is everything and I will show you how great it can be." The wind began to pick up and Shirou's red shroud danced with it. "So get ready and try to not be crushed too fast."

Kuoh started to become suffocating to all present as the massive power of the White Dragon Emperor filled its space. No fallen angel or devil dared to tread in the skies much longer as they weren't strong enough to stay a float.

Like a dominating dragon that he was, Albion's presence made all those deemed inferior submit to him. 'Only the White Dragon Emperor was fit to rule' the power seemed to say, 'and none belong above me'.

How much of that power came from Vali's own feeling or Albion's pride nobody knew but the power kept growing and it was indistinguishable from a true dragon.

However there were plenty who didn't knelt or fell and Shirou was amongst them. Standing in the eye of the storm his shroud danced behind him as his eyes refused to leave the white armor still demonstrating his power.

Only when the winds died down and the presence of the dragon seemed calmer the Mage spoke. "Are you done?"

"Feh, I am waiting for you." Vali replied confidently, arms open. "Start whenever you like."

In the blink of an eye Shirou had covered the distance for an attack, Ascalon shining brightly with power as its blade was shone in a light similar to a blaze.

"Fine, let's dance!" Behind his helmet the White Dragon Emperor smiled as the Mage attacked, unleashing all the power the sword of Saint George had.. "Ascalon!"

…..

First of all, happy New Year, second, yes, before someone asks, Akeno did put the Piece in a magic circle but Rias has access to it. That was also showing that the boundary field had a weakness… or to be more precise a feature.

Think about it, that boundary field was used by Kiritsugu's organization so it would allow the summoning of objects. It also counts as world building because it shows that the devil Kings have full access to their Pieces pocket spaces. For someone like Rias that is just a feature mostly ignored if not useful, to the more cruel or tyrannical ones…

Okay, that said the reason for me putting the previous part was to anticipate the questions that could come from it because I do read your comments and know someone may be confused by it.

Seriously I get that some of you think I don't read any of them but I do and I am grateful for each and all of them. I mean, I am happy with just a 'good chapter' or 'excellent story' or when someone takes their time to break apart everything they liked about it. I love all of those.

But I also love the simple ones like from Dasgun who always comments '00'. Honestly I don't know what it means but I like to think it is a 'good job' or 'I like it'. Dude if you are reading this, unless I am completely off the mark, you don't need to elaborate, keep going.

Yeah, I do read every single one, I just don't reply because A. Spoilers and B. Good lord I wouldn't get anything done.

Do my supporters get more of my attention? Yes, not going to deny it because without them I would have stopped writing and get another job, bills to pay and all that.

The worst part of being an adult really.

Still I do try to read them all and understand even the criticisms because some are fair and useful. Go back to the beginning and you will notice the AN announcing me changing my name. Of course there are some that baffle the mind but things changed as the story grew.

Or the people who wrote those comments grew tired of the story and left because it wasn't their kind of story and that is fair. I mean, the story started with Shirou having basically nothing and it took time for him to get as far as he did.

Time for us to get as far as we did.

Fortunately plenty of you are still around and many of you saw fit to help me keep writing. I will be forever grateful. My supporters do get to ask more questions, not that they do it because they know that I will hit with a 'Spoilers' for some answers but without any of you I would be here.

And this story wouldn't be as big as it is.

Honestly this AN is just a place to try and reply to some of your comments but if I had my way this place would be just to ask for more support or some smaller messages. It is just that some of you have doubts and while I can't reply to them all, as you can see I write a lot before getting to the point, I try to do my best when I can understand the doubt and there are no spoilers involved.

For the most part everything else is in the story anyway, the part written and the parts unwritten.

Thank you all for being here and for loving this story as much as I love to write it.

You can get two more chapter by becoming a supporter in:

P a treon

Apprentice of Life or

P a treon . com (slash) ApprenticeofLife

Until next time.