'Damnit. Not just one, but two Evil Dragons along with a Holy sword from the looks of it. I could handle both of them, but I don't believe Sir Strada would allow me to face Masaomi and I still can't shake this feeling of trepidation.' Christ thought with a frown as he glanced between his two foes, looking over to Strada to see him still in shock.
Glancing over to Rias & Sona, he was not surprised to see both girls looking a bit nervous & scared as their demonic power radiated off of their bodies, taking a deep breath before clearing his throat to draw their attention to him.
"Sir Strada, I can leave Masaomi to you, yes?"
"…Yes." Vasco spoke with a shaky deep breath as he nodded, Masaomi's body simply giving an amused smirk while Christ gave a thankful smile before turning to the girls.
"You two give Sir Strada support and before you speak, you would just be in my way."
"The little man speaks the truth. You girls are not ready for a fight with the big guns." Satanael spoke with a smirk as the vines under him began to tremble, Christ just glaring at his foe before the building behind Satanael shattered as Heaven's leader tackled him right through it.
Rias was quick to react as she raced after the two, Satanael frowning as he flipped over while kicking away Christ only to grunt as a barrage of Destruction bullets crashed into his back & sent him crashing into the ground.
"Despite what you may think, Lord Christ, I am still the younger sister of the Strongest Devil in History." Rias spoke with a confident smirk as she floated in the air, Christ looking at the defiance burning in her eyes before sighing as he nodded.
"Very well. Then, by all means, assist me as you please."
"Aw~ isn't that nice? Little she-devil thinks that she's strong now." Satanael cooed with a mocking smile as he walked out of the dust cloud, surprising Rias as the man did not look injured whatsoever.
"Let me show you otherwise." In the blink of an eye, Rias was covered in a Destruction bubble just as Satanael appeared in front of her, a mad grin on the body's face as he slammed a scaled fist through the bubble & into her chest.
Feeling a rib crack, Rias stifled her scream of pain and wrapped her legs around his arm while flinging herself backwards, surprising Satanael before his vision was dyed gold as a holy aura fist courtesy of Christ crashed into his skull & sent him careening through the sky.
"Demonic Bombardment!" Rias chanted as a large Gremory crest appeared above the ragdolling Satanael, the scarlet sky darkening before a hail of Destruction bombs rained down upon him.
"Jacob's Ladder!" Christ was not too far behind as he created a large golden cross below Satanael, snapping his fingers & unleashing a beam of Holy energy that pushed the Evil Dragon further into Rias' attack.
However, Christ frowned as he saw that the Dragon was still able to move, watching as Satanael grinned at them before sighing as the Evil Dragon pushed himself out of the pincer attack & rocketed towards them.
With a snap of his fingers, Rias disappeared & reappeared behind with a golden flash as he created a row of holy magic circles in front of him, observing how the Evil Dragon slammed right through all but one whilst also cracking the last one with a happy grin.
Wanting to test something, he ducked & deactivated his barrier just as Rias flew up, watching as the girl created a rather miniature sphere of Destruction energy before flicking it forward with her thumb.
As Satanael looked up the moment the attack touched him, he frowned as he saw the dragon's grin growing as more scales grew out from his skin to cover his body, Rias smirking as she clapped her hands together & expanded the orb tremendously.
'Yep, she's Lucifer's sister.' Christ thought with an amused smirk as he watched Satanael be consumed by a scarlet sun, snapping his fingers & teleporting Rias to his side just as he watched a monstrous breath of black flames completely burn away her attack.
"…W-What?" Rias was surprised to see her Extinguished Star be nullified with a simple breath attack while Jesus finally figured out who they were fighting as he saw the giant emerging from the black flames with a happy grin.
Now as a human-like giant, pitch-black scales covered his arms, legs & chest while bright silver eyes stared down at them. With a pair of silver wings & horns, the draconic being looked down at them with a malicious grin before turning his excited glare towards the cautious Rias.
"Keep going, girlie! Show me more of what you can do!" The dragon growled and Rias glared at him before turning as Christ raised a hand.
" In this day and age, it is never really okay to make mistakes, even if they say it is. We have a drive within us that being the best and the strongest is our only option. We put the pressure on ourselves to be the Beowulf, which only causes us to wake up…"
"The Grendel~!" Grendel growled with a grin as he crouched in the air, Rias' eyes widening as she realized who she was facing.
'…Why didn't I listen to Beowulf & his stories of how he beat Grendel? Stupid, stupid Rias. Wait, it's okay. I have the leader of Heaven with me. That being said, why did I act confident & think I could fight a dragon? Right, Isa's already fighting them so I should do. Hah, me and my ego.'
"Didn't take you long to figure out who I was, but now that you did, what are you going to do?" Grendel asked as his muscles bulged and Christ readied himself as the beast lunged forward.
'Grendel has the most durable scales of any dragon that is not Ophis or Great Red. Normal attacks would barely even tickle him, but there is only one thing that should injure him.' Christ thought as he teleported himself & Rias out of the way, Rias already on the counter as she unleashed a large beam of Destruction energy that sent Grendel skidding backwards.
However, it was not enough as Grendel simply grinned while turning around, Rias cursing as she saw the dragon holding up a single hand to push her blast away while slowly stomping towards them.
"Um, Lord Christ! I might need a ha…what are you doing?" Rias asked Christ as she saw the man sitting cross-legged on the floor, groaning as Christ simply didn't answer while continuing to chant softly under his breath.
'Okay, Rias. Your only ally is currently either asleep or casting a spell with a long chant so you need to give him time to get ready. How do you do that against a dragon that can tank God-Class attacks with a happy smile? Wait, if he has scales, then those scales have gaps in between them. Find those gaps.' Now armed with a battle plan, Rias surprised Grendel as she flew forward while dismissing her Destruction spell, the dragon looking both amused & excited as he felt her demonic energy flooding onto his scales before the world around them shifted.
"Trying to teleport us away, eh girlie?!"Grendel shouted with a grin as he saw that they were only a few meters away from Christ, but Rias simply smirked while holding a dense sphere of Destruction in her free hand.
"Nope, just needed to make some stuff." Rias spoke with a smirk as she activated her spell while teleporting away, a hiss escaping her lips as the skin of her palm was charred before looking at where she left Grendel.
However, she was not surprised to see the dragon walking out of the dust cloud with a smirk, his scales a bit burned but still whole & not damaged at all.
'Okay, I guess it's time for the second plan.' Rias thought with a frown as the Gremory crest appeared in front of her, Grendel looking amused as he stood still while waiting for her attack.
However, instead of a Destruction beam, he was surprised to be smacked back slightly by a thin strand made of Destruction energy, looking at the lightly burned area where the strand had hit before looking up to see a web of Destruction strands racing towards him.
Quickly crossing his arms in front of him, Grendel's grin widened as he was assaulted by tiny hints of pain with each strand's impact, looking down to see them all whipping him relentlessly before he understood as he saw the one strand hidden amongst them all that was aiming for the gaps between his scales.
'Not bad, girlie, but not enough.' He thought as he looked at Rias in between the gap in his arms to see her breathing heavily while continuing to fuel her spell, knowing that such precise control of one strand while exerting this much demonic energy would be painful & tiring for one not used to it.
Waiting until he saw her start to stagger, Grendel was a blur as he rushed towards her, Rias gritting her teeth as she tried to attack with even more strands only to curse as she felt her demonic power wane.
In mere moments, she sighed as a pitch-black dragon loomed over her, watching as his fist slowly drew closer to her body.
'Hah, I guess this is it. Hey, at least I can say that I managed to injure hi-!' Before she could finish her thought, her eyes widened as a golden cross appeared in between her & the fist and took the blow with ease, her eyes widening with a blissful sigh as she felt her fatigue & pain fading away.
"Apologies for letting you face him, Heiress Gremory, but I have finally finished my enchantment." Christ spoke with a smile as he placed a hand on Rias' shoulder and she frowned as she saw her Destruction energy now having a gold sheen running along its sides.
Giving Christ a confused smirk, the man simply chuckled as he raised a hand before dismissing his cross, Grendel's grin growing as his fist was stopped with ease before his eyes widened as a painful shockwave sent him skidding backwards.
Digging his feet into the dirt to stop himself, Grendel had a slight frown on his face as he looked at his hand before his eyes widened at the sight of several bloody cuts that littered the back of his hand.
"Dragon Slayer magic." Grendel spoke with an excited grin as he looked at Christ, who simply smirked while creating a sword of light in his right hand.
"It took me a while to find the enchantment with how jumbled Heaven's Library is, but now that we have it, your defenses are not so powerful." Rias frowned at that as she raised a hand before sending out a bullet of demonic energy, watching as Grendel smacked it away before smirking as she saw the slight cut left from her attack.
"Now then, shall we, heiress Gremory?" Christ asked as he readied himself, to which Rias simply smirked as numerous Gremory crest appeared behind her.
"We shall, indeed." With a single thought, Grendel was a blur racing across the ground as Rias unleashed a storm of Destruction bullets, waving her hands like a conductor as the bullets curved & spun through the air in hopes of piercing the dragon's scales.
However, that was not his only problem as Christ ran through the rain of demonic energy, Grendel quickly flipping through the air & over Christ's slash just as Rias smirked & flicked a finger down.
The Destruction bullets all froze in place just as Grendel flew into a few of them, his excitement rising as he felt the painful impacts from them before cackling with glee as Christ lunged forward & carved a chunk out of his abdomen.
"Hahahaha! Ahahahahaha! Yes! More! More! Give me MORE!" Grendel roared as he lunged towards Christ, who frowned as he ducked & moved around the dragon's strikes while cutting away at him piece by piece.
Yet, even as chunks of his body continued to fall to the ground, Grendel looked as happy as can be as he continued to attack before blinking as Christ disappeared & reappeared behind him, blood pouring from the hole left in his throat as Christ stabbed him through the neck from behind.
Leaping away as Grendel reached behind his head, Christ quickly vanished & reappeared next to Rias as Grendel spun around to face him, the ecstatic smile on his face quickly replaced by shock as Rias' hands were overflowing with demonic energy.
"Raaaaahhhhh!" With a battle cry, Rias finally let the energy go and watched as thousands upon thousands of miniature strands shot out of her palms & raced towards Grendel, who raised his arms to try & defend only to fail as they all pierced right through him.
Waving her hands around, Rias' strands curved around & pierced him again, Christ watching in amazement as Grendel was soon covered in thousands of numerous holes from all sides.
"Hah…hah…hahaha…haha..." Yet, with blood pouring from the holes in his body, Grendel looked happier than a child in a sweets store as he fell forward, Christ not surprised to see the dragon trying to drag himself forward with his chin.
"Hah, Outrage. I guess you got so excited you thought to activate it, but excitement does not mean anger. Now, then. Be free & rest in pea-!"As Christ went to unleash a blast of holy energy, his eyes widened as he quickly reached out to the tired Rias & teleported them away as Grendel's eyes was consumed by a scarlet glow.
A roar of unholy origin escaped the dragon's lips as he stood up, Christ watching in horror as the beast's injuries were swiftly healed up before a silver crest appeared below the beast & whisked him away.
'W-What…what was that?' The leader of Heaven was both shocked & horrified as he had never seen that happen to a dragon, watching the space where Grendel previously stood before looking at Rias.
Not surprised to see her out cold, he sighed as he dismissed his light sword & lifted her into a bridal carry, unfurling his wings before flying over to where he had last felt Vasco & Sona's energies fighting against 'Masaomi'
"So, you think you can kill your student, sensei?" Masaomi asked as he slowly swung the holy katana in his grasp, smirking as Vasco glared at him while his Durandal II overflowed with holy energy.
"Do not dare say those words with his mouth, vile fiend."
"Oh? Then, why don't you come and make m-!" Masaomi couldn't even finish his sentence as he leapt away, watching as Vasco slammed his blade down where he previously stood.
A pillar of Holy energy consumed the space around Vasco, but Masaomi was not fazed as he raised his katana above his head before swinging it down, Vasco leaning out of the way as his pillar of energy was cleaved in half with ease.
"Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi…I see that Qlippoth does not know how to keep their hands to themselves, do they?" Vasco spoke with a frown as he walked towards Masaomi, who simply chuckled as he swung his katana.
"It's the Kusanagi blade and I would not know. This was simply given as a gift for me to kill you with."
"Then, come at me. Dragon or not, you are still but a mere boy in my eyes." Vasco spoke with a chuckle, smirking as he saw the slight flash of anger in 'Masaomi's' before readying himself as the exorcist raced forward.
However, they were both surprised as the ground under them was covered by a sheet of ice, Masaomi stumbling just enough for Sona to smirk as she created a bubble of water around him before flinging the dragon into a building.
"Lord Christ asked me to support you and that is what I will do." Sona spoke with a smirk and Vasco smirked as water shot out from the sewers & the fire hydrants around them.
"Very well. I shall leave my back in your care." Vasco spoke before vanishing, Sona frowning as she was only able to see the man appearing right above the building Masaomi was thrown in with Durandal held high.
The dust surrounding the building quickly vanished as the rogue exorcist shot out & clashed with his former teacher, the ground trembling as a devastating shockwave nearly sent Sona flying away.
However, the heiress simply gritted her teeth while a dark blue glow covered her body, water from the nearest hydrant racing towards her before compacting behind her back as four tendrils shot out & anchored her to the ground.
Now secured, Sona grunted as she pushed her hands towards where Vasco & Masaomi were locked in a deadly dance, both fighters catching a glance of the water bubbling before all hell broke loose as dozens of tendrils shot out of the water & towards their target.
Masaomi on the other hand frowned as he quickly leapt away from Vasco while rapidly slashing around him, cutting away at the tendrils that tried to catch him before cursing as Vasco was already behind him with Durandal II held in a tight grip.
With a roar, Vasco swung his blade in a wide arc and watched as a stream of holy energy cleaved through the space where Masaomi previously stood, the exorcist in question on the floor & grunting as he unleashed a flurry of slashes around him that cut away the water tendrils.
'I suppose I needed to take this more seriously.' Masaomi thought with a frown as he sheathed the Kusanagi blade, waiting as both Sona's tendrils & Vasco neared him before unsheathing his blade with one rapid movement while creating a series of barriers around his two foes.
Both Vasco & Sona were surprised as dome-shaped, multi-layered barriers surrounded them just as Masaomi unsheathed his blade, both letting out gasps as cuts littered their bodies while Masaomi himself was surprised as he was sure that he used enough force to cut Sona in pieces.
"Damn, you're better than I thought, little devil." The man muttered with a smirk as he saw the miniature Sitri crests around Sona's body that shattered as she fell to a knee, looking over to Vasco & not surprised to see the man still standing despite the bleeding cuts all over his body.
However, he was surprised when the man was coated in a pure white aura, watching as the Cardinal forced his wounds shut by flexing his body to its limits.
"Did you believe that to be enough to kill me, dragon?" Vasco asked as the aura around him increased intensely and Masaomi frowned as wood-like scales began to grow around his body.
The next moment, he blinked as he found himself staring at the scarlet sky, his body feeling weightless before his eyes widened as he rolled over to see his body falling to the ground.
"Damnit. A clone." Sona cursed as she dismissed the water chains she had subtly placed on Masaomi while Vasco frowned as he saw the decapitated wooden doll falling to the floor.
Looking to the side, he was not surprised to see Masaomi walking towards him, though he was a bit surprised as he saw that the wood scales had now grown to cover his enemy's arms & legs.
However, as he was about to speak, Masaomi was surprised as a silver crest appeared below him, sighing as he found being whisked away while Vasco frowned as he slowly lowered Durandal II.
"So, the same happened to you as well?" He blinked as he heard Christ's voice, looking to see his leader still looking fresh despite the tears in his clothing.
However, the same could not be said for Rias as she was out cold, Sona looking concerned before letting out a relieved sigh as Christ smiled & shook his head.
"Do not be nervous, heiress Sitri. She merely overexerted herself trying to fight against Grendel."
"The Crime Force Dragon?" Sona asked in surprise, Vasco humming as Christ sighed & nodded.
"Yes, though he disappeared in a silver magic crest just like Masaomi did just now."
"I see. It appears that they were merely a distraction, but for what? Perhaps an attack somewhere else?" Vasco proposed and Christ frowned as he was in thought.
"Where, though? The only other place would be Kyoto, but that would be suicide with Yasaka, Isaiah and Serafall there. Wait, where is your Queen, heiress Sitri? I do not sense her nor Akeno." Christ spoke and Sona frowned as she reached out to Tsubaki's Queen piece before her eyes widened as she couldn't feel Tsubaki anywhere near them.
"…We were not the targets."
A/N: And the plot thickens!
Where are Tsubaki & Akeno? What happened to them? Also, is Isaiah dead?
Who knows? Let's find out next week.
Also, sorry for the late upload. Was a bit conflicted & stumped on how to end this one on a cliffhanger.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Enjoy the cliffhanger & Ba-Bye~!