The Balance Breaker. It was the peak of a Sacred Gear's evolution and Sophia had never thought Ichika would achieve it outside of training with her older sister. Yet, as she stared into Ichika's armored back, she knew that this was it. This was the turning point in the fight.
Ichika stood silently like an armored sentinel. She didn't twitch nor react to Freed's curious stares as he brandished the Fused Excalibur like a child. The Holy Sword's unparalleled divinity seeped into the air, causing the skin of the Devils present to feel a persistent tingle like pins and needles.
"Interesting. So this is the Balance Breaker of the Red Dragon Emperor. To think that I could witness so many things today. This is truly divine providence. The end product of Project Daybreak," Valper said as his gaze flicked to Sophia, "The rebirth of Excalibur and… the power of the Red Dragon Emperor."
"Ohoho? This is the Balance Breaker of the Red Dragon Emperor? You sure this is it, Boss? I imagined something like a big ass lizard or, you know, an actual fucking dragon," Freed said, looking disinterested in Ichika's new form.
Kokabiel narrowed his eyes as he felt the conflicting energies swirling within Ichika in a state of perfect harmony. Impossible. Demonic and Holy Power should not exist together in such a harmonized state. How did she achieve such a state…?
"Freed. Don't play with your food. This one. She's becoming a loose end I'd rather not have to put effort into cleaning up. Kill her."
Sophia's eyes widened upon hearing Kokabiel's command. She tightened her grip around the Burial Blade as she prepared to rush in to aid Ichika but Freed moved faster than she did.
With a look of frenzied glee on his face, Freed disappeared in a burst of extreme speed. He reappeared around Ichika, trying to disorient her with his high-speed maneuvers.
Ichika remained still, staring straight ahead. Her silver eyes glowed beneath her visor and then, as Freed vanished, Ichika moved, narrowly avoiding Freed's strike.
Excalibur arced over her head, narrowly scraping against her helm.
"W-What? She dodged it— GAHK!" Freed gasped as he felt something hard strike his torso. Ichika's fist buried itself deep in his solar plexus, knocking the air from his lungs forcefully. In a split second, Freed flew backward like a bullet, hurtling past Valper and crashing violently into the Academy's wall.
Ichika returned to her initial state. She stared in the direction she had brutally launched Freed.
"W-What the fuck was that?" Freed sat up in a ruined classroom. Blood trickled down his forehead as he used Excalibur to prop himself up. "One punch. She managed to do this much damage with one punch…?"
Freed's eyes hardened. That one punch was just a greeting. He felt her holding back with that hit and it still did an insane amount of damage to him. Her Balance Breaker was a complete different level from other Sacred Gear wielders. His mind raced to formulate his next set of moves. He needed to overwhelm her.
A grin split his lips open. "Okay then. Make this fun for me, Dragon Bitch."
Ichika took a step forward, causing Freed to go immediately on guard. She walked slowly toward him, purposefully making each stride wider than the last until she broke into a sprint toward Freed.
"Running straight at your foe! It looks like you didn't learn shit," Freed cackled as he ran toward her. He vanished from her line of sight and reappeared at her left. He threw himself at her with an insane bout of laughter.
Freed spun and swung the Excalibur, causing it to arc across the air in a deadly crescent.
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost]
Ichika spun on her heel and thrust her palm toward it at blinding speeds.
A shockwave split the air open in a crack as Ichika deflected the Excalibur's strike.
"W-What? She deflected Excalibur even when it had Destruction as part of it!" Freed said in shock. He clenched his jaw and rushed back in, delivering a flurry of strikes.
Ichika's eyes keenly watched his movement. Her hands moved deftly, parrying and deflecting his strikes with the palms of her hands.
Freed could only watch in growing shock and frustration as Ichika's hands met his slashes with even power. "Damn it! Damn you! Destroy her hands you stupid Holy Sword!" Freed snarled as he channeled the abilities of Excalibur Destruction through the Fused Excalibur.
However, an instantaneous but brief spark of blue crackled around the handle, causing his grip to falter. "What the fu—"
He never finished his words as Ichika's palm made contact with his sternum.
"GUH!" Freed felt something crack before he was thrown into the air. He landed and crumpled on the ground like a sack of potatoes. "W-What the fuck…?" His breathing came in short, labored gasps as the pain in his chest intensified with each inhale.
Ichika gazed at Freed for a few seconds before she disappeared in a burst of speed.
Freed's eyes widened and he got to his feet, readying Excalibur for an impending strike. Ichika circled around him, her body flickering on the border of invisibility as she moved at high speeds that even Rias and Sophia had trouble tracking.
"I-Is that really Ichi?" Rias asked as she watched her rush in to deliver a powerful strike at Freed.
Sophia stared grimly at the sight, watching as Freed struggled to keep Ichika's relentless strikes at bay. Wind whipped around them, kicking up dust and dirt as the force of Ichika's strikes reverberated through the entire academy. "Yes. She's unlocked the Dragon Emperor's Scale Mail. It's hard to believe but… to think that a simple Balance Breaker can give her so much power in such a short period of time."
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]
Ichika's speed increased as she began blitzing Freed. Her hands moved with such perfect motion and speed that they seemingly vanished from her body.
Freed received the brunt of it as a multitude of strikes, numbering in the dozens struck each part of his body.
"You fucking bitch!" Freed swung Excalibur, transforming it into a segmented razor-sharp whip.
Ichika flipped back and moved her hands in a circular motion. Blocks of holy power materialized around her as her arms moved in a clockwise direction. The blocks swirled, forming a holy vortex that cocooned her from the attacks.
"On top of that, [Boosted Gear's] Balance Breaker appears to have removed the 10-second time limit between her Boosts, allowing her to increase her power constantly," Sophia said. "It keeps adding and stockpiling her power. At this point, she'll have surpassed both of us in sheer raw power."
"C-Can Ichika win?" Asia asked as she clasped her hands together in prayer for her friend.
Sophia's lips thinned into a line. "At this point, it's only a question of if Freed can survive her endless onslaught of attacks," she said as she watched Ichika dispel her Holy Blocks. The armored girl vanished from their sight and a shockwave ruptured the ground, splitting open the Earth and tearing apart the school grounds as Freed was launched into the air.
Rias raised her hand and created a crimson magical barrier around them. "It's almost a shame that the Evil Pieces didn't turn her. If I had someone like that in my peerage, I can only imagine how far we would go…"
"I can't just stand here and do nothing," Xenovia said as she stepped forward.
However, Sophia raised her hand. "And do what? If we go out there and help her, then Ichika will just get distracted."
Xenovia opened her mouth to protest but couldn't find the right words to argue back. She, instead, clenched her fists tightly and focused her gaze on the fight.
Next to her, Yuuto watched with bated breath as Ichika stood off against the man who wielded the blade that ruined his life and the lives of everyone he had ever cared about.
Freed twisted his body in midair just in time to see a flash of red fill his vision. He was thrown across the sky and volleyed like a ball as Ichika's speed continued to blitz him with powerful attacks.
He grunted as he took blow after blow before he tightened his grip on the Fused Excalibur and let loose a flood of divine energy from the blade.
Ichika raised her arms, creating a swirl of holy blocks around her.
Freed landed on the ground, stumbling a bit as he fell forward on one knee. He panted. Each breath was met with a sharp stabbing pain in his chest. His free hand slowly came up to his chest. He winced as his finger made contact with his chest. It was tender. Freed's jaw tightened as he caught sight of the red armored figure standing in a swirl of holy energy blocks.
"Hah…," Freed scoffed. "Look at you standing there like you're worth shit. You think just because you got a few hits on me that it means anything? You can't do shit to me, dragon bitch!"
His grip around Excalibur tightened until his fingernails strained against the fabric of his gloves. The legendary Holy Sword's blade became wreathed in blue flames. Freed narrowed his eyes as he gazed at Ichika carefully. In one motion, he darted forward, vanishing from spot to spot in an attempt to disorient her once more.
However, Ichika's calm gaze tracked him with each movement. She widened her stance slightly before thrusting her palm forward and releasing a powerful blast of air.
Freed's eyes widened as he barely dodged the concussive blast of air. However, the gust caused by the blast knocked him off his feet and caused him to tumble to the ground.
"Bitch!" Freed snarled as he shifted to his feet and sprinted toward her. He swung the Excalibur with tremendous force, blue flames wreathing the blade as it arced toward her.
Ichika directed her palms as she caught the blade's trajectory and directed it upward. The blade flew upward, releasing a plume of blue energy into the sky, straining against the barrier set up by Sona. The galactic backdrop of the barrier cracked as the flames slammed against it.
"W-What the hell!? How did you—!?" Freed roared as he swung the blade back down onto her head.
However, as if it had a mind of its own, Excalibur's handle crackled with blue energy. The energy coursed up Freed's hand, shocking him with a thousand volts. He cried out in pain, causing him to lose focus for a split moment.
But that moment was all Ichika needed.
Ichika's palm flew upward like a bullet and struck Freed underneath his chin. His jaw snapped shut, causing his skull to vibrate from both the force of Ichika's blow and his own mouth.
He stumbled backward until he fell on his back unceremoniously.
"I can't just stand here!" Yuuto finally said as he watched the battle unfold. His heart was pounding inside his chest, threatening to break his rib cage. He took a step forward toward the edge of the barrier until Rias's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"And what will you do?" Rias asked.
"Something. Anything! I can't let her do this by herself! I can't let her die to that fucking sword just because we're all too scared to jump in and fight!" Yuuto said.
"We'll just get in her way—"
"I don't care! I watched too many of my friends die! I won't let her die too!" Yuuto clenched his fists as he stared ahead.
He saw Valper observing them with a smile on his face. The portly man let out a laugh. "This is simply a test run. Just a test run. Ahh, this is the end product of the Holy Sword Project I performed. It's such a shame that Lady Uriel smote the entire facility before we could finish."
"You… You monster! Do you not realize what you've done? What you were doing? Don't you care about all the children you killed? The lives you ended prematurely!" Yuuto yelled. "My friends. We were all innocent! We were just doing what we were told! We were told that it was right! That this project would help us reach God!"
Valper smiled as he gazed at Yuuto for a few seconds. His eyes twinkled with some manner of recognition. "Ah, now I remember who you are. You're I-61:1. To think that I'd reunite with an escaped subject. This day has truly been one gift of providence after another.
"But Freed is just the beginning. What we've achieved. What we've learned. All the secrets I managed to glean! This is the truth of what we've been seeking. What I, Maria, and all the others have been seeking since the beginning. An army to help us into a new era. The only way we can survive is to evolve and what better way to evolve than to cast aside the trifles of sentiment and move forward."
Sophia narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw. "You're sick! You think you can just use others for your own personal amusement! For your so-called progress!"
Valper let out a laugh from his belly. "Ahahaha! You're one to talk, dear child. After all, you're a mere product of bloodshed. The path forward is paved in the blood of the sacrifices of others. How many people did your mother sacrifice to produce Miracle Children? How many mothers did she manipulate and give false hope of motherhood to for her own research?"
Sophia narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. "Mama loved us. She loved all of us!"
"Ah yes, love. I guess even in the end, someone as brilliant as Maria can fall prey to such human weaknesses. To think someone like her could ever succumb to such a thing. It was a shame really. She made a lot of breakthroughs that not even Ajuka Beelzebub couldn't even pull off. Purifying a Fallen Angel back into a Pure Angel… and even stealing the power of a God." His eyes gleamed.
Sophia's grip around the Burial Blade tightened until blood trickled down from her palms.
He pulled a small white crystal from his pocket and tossed it toward them. "Maria paved the way for all of us. Unfortunately, I do not have her abilities nor her brilliance but even with a fraction of her knowledge, I managed to make something!
"This is the product of grafting. I realized that all humans… even those with no compatibility with a Holy Sword held a certain amount of Holy Element inside of them. This could be extracted… at the expense of the person. But their sacrifice will always be remembered," Valper said.
"You're sick!" Sophia spat.
Asia put her mouth to her hand as she felt bile rising up her throat.
"None of you will understand. None of you will understand the brilliance required to stand at the forefront of advancement," Valper said as he watched Freed continue to fight against Ichika. "Freed may not overcome this but he is just the beginning. Soon, we will have an army of Holy Sword wielders that will lead this world into a new age. Not even they can stop us!"
Valper's eyes widened as the blade of Sophia's scythe came arcing toward his face. He smirked as he snapped his fingers and a swirl of blocks made of Holy Power surrounded him. The scythe's blade bounced off uselessly. "Did you think I wouldn't come with insurance? I may not be a genius like your mother but… I still dabbled in Miracles."
"You bastard. You think I'd let someone as worthless as you live after what you did!?" Sophia hissed as she jumped back.
"Hah, you look at me like I'm a monster but your mother was an even worse monster than I was. After all, she created you. Can you still control your Miracle? Was it not your fault that day? The day Uriel destroyed the facility, Maria could have lived were it not for you."
"Shut up!" Sophia snarled as she raised her scythe into the air. The air began to sizzle as black flames coated the blade before expanding rapidly in size. Purple enochian symbols swirled around her as the blade grew even larger.
"Freed," Valper called out. "Kill the Lucifer clone. The Miracle Amplification. If I can't have it for myself, then I'd rather it be snuffed out than to let that woman have it."
Freed dodged another one of Ichika's attacks. He gripped the handle of the Excalibur tightly. "I won't have you keep rejecting me you shitty Holy Sword!" Freed forced his will into the blade, causing blue lightning to crackle around it. He vanished in a burst of speed and reappeared behind Sophia's unprotected back.
"Kyaahaha! You shouldn't have left that barrier, Angel Bitch!" Freed cackled as he swung the sword.
Just then, Yuuto appeared behind her, blocking the Fused Excalibur. The blade in Yuuto's hand still taking shape as the Holy Element Crystal in his hand began to dissolve into mist, surrounding the Gremory Knight like a warm blanket.
"Yes… as long as people like you live…"
Soft voices began to emanate from the dissolving crystal. "More people like me… like them, they'll continue to suffer like we have."
Sophia turned to see Yuuto holding back the Excalibur. Several misty images of children of varying ages held the sword alongside Yuuto. She clenched her jaw. Another one?
"My master gave me the power of Devils to live a new life but I will never forget the life I lived with them. To my new family and my old one, I'll wield the powers of Light and Darkness like Ichika and protect the family I have now!" Yuuto roared as the sword in his hands took form. A beautifully simplistic blade with a black and white gem in its hilt. The handle was split between white and black. "This is my Balance Breaker, the Sword of the Betrayer!"
"I'll take it," Sophia said as she rushed past Yuuto and swung the Burial Blade at Freed.
Freed stumbled back, avoiding her scythe. He clenched his jaw as he found himself beset on all sides by Ichika, Yuuto, and Sophia.
"Mind if I add to this!" Xenovia said as she came rushing forward. "Saint Peter, Saint Basil, Saint Dennis the Great, and Mother Mary. O' Saints contained within this sword, O' God, O' Angels, grant me the blade to deliver justice upon this sinner! Come forth, Durandal!"
A massive blue and gold greatsword came shooting from a swirl of holy text that spun around Xenovia's hand.
"D-Durandal! Impossible! I haven't even cracked the stage where I can synchronize with Durandal! How has the Church achieved such a thing!?" Valper gasped.
Even Kokabiel looked surprised. His ancient eyebrow arched ever so slightly.
"Unlike Irina and Yuuto, I didn't need an experiment to help me wield Holy Swords," Xenovia said as she slashed Freed with the Holy Sword. "I'm a natural born wielder."
"A-A Natural Born…," Valper said.
Freed clenched his jaw as he parried attacks on all sides before getting slammed with a wave of Holy Power from Ichika. He slid a few feet as he held Excalibur in a white-knuckle grip. "Oi, oi, you're supposed to be the legendary holy sword! How the hell am I getting pushed back by a bunch of nobodies!?"
"If that were the complete Excalibur, I doubt we would've won," Sophia said as she gathered black flames into her hand. "Let's kill him first before we gut Valper."
Yuuto pointed the Sword of the Betrayer at Freed and nodded. "Agreed."
"No, no, no, you shitty Holy Sword! Do something!" Freed raised the sword in the air and for once, as if sensing a threat to its own existence, Excalibur responded. Blue lightning exploded from the blade before several dozen replicas of the Fused Excalibur began tracing itself into the air.
"Ahaha! AHAHAH! I'll take it!" Freed said.
Sophia's eyes widened considerably. "N-No way. That's Shin's Covenant?"
"Hehehe? This is the ability of that idiot I killed? I guess this sword is worth something after all!" Freed cackled as he fired the Excaliburs at them.
The group was forced to split, dodging the rain of Excaliburs that came their way. Sensing an opportunity, Freed rushed toward Ichika.
The armored girl blocked Freed's attack.
"Can you believe it? I not only killed that fucker but gained his powers too! The world really has a funny sense of humor!" Freed said.
Ichika said nothing as she continued blocking and parrying his attacks.
"You might be able to last but can your friends do the same? The amount of Excaliburs my Excalibur can make. Let's see how much it can make!" Freed said as he used Excalibur's ability once more. A ring of blades surrounded him, each taking the form of a different Excalibur fragment.
"Ichika!" Sophia yelled as she flew toward them.
Xenovia and Yuuto did the same.
However, Freed saw them coming from a mile away. He smirked as he created copies of himself using Nightmare's abilities that rushed at them like a swarm of bees. Several more copies of the Fused Excalibur formed in the air before firing at them.
"Your boyfriend went down like a dog," Freed said as he locked the blade against Ichika's gauntleted arms. "I have to admit, he has skill but in the end, what did that even matter when he couldn't even see through the simplest trap?"
Ichika's eyes glowed as she parried the attack. "You're lying," she said. Her voice became slightly warped as if two people were talking simultaneously.
"Me? Why would I lie about this?" Freed giggled as he swung the sword at her again.
Ichika caught the blade in her hand, holding it back. The ground beneath her cracked as Freed put more strength into pushing the blade into her hand.
"I remember everything about that fight! About how he and that twin-tailed bitch fought me in the railyard. Boy, I gotta tell you he knew how to use a gun but not when it mattered. The dumbass ran after me when I retreated!" Freed said.
Ichika felt her mind slipping as anger slowly began to bubble up from the deepest recesses of her mind. Images she didn't even want to imagine began to play inside her brain.
[Partner, don't listen to him. He's trying to bait you.] Ddraig urged.
"And you know what the best part is? I got to watch it all as he got flattened like a pancake after I caved the entire railway tunnel on top of his head! That twin-tailed bitch must still be digging him out after all this!" Freed said as he jumped back before rushing in and delivering a swarm of slashes at Ichika.
Ichika blocked the strikes as the words replayed inside her head.
"You want more proof! Then here!" Freed kicked her back before throwing a torn katashiro on the ground.
Ichika's eyes widened underneath the helmet. She stood there frozen as she stared at the torn paper-doll. These were the same ones Shin had given her. How did Freed have one?
"I gotta tell you. I saw one of these on the ground before I went to try and cut up Miss Twintails. Can you believe it? It was just lying next to the rubble," Freed said as he walked toward her slowly.
No, no, no…
[Partner. No, Partner! Stay calm! There has to be a rational explanation for this!] Ddraig called out.
"You…," Ichika whispered.
"Hmm? What's that?"
"I'll kill you," Ichika muttered.
Underneath her helm, her hazel eyes bled into an eerie silver. The eyes on her helmet glowed with an intense shade of white. Her ponytail's tips began to turn silver. A haze of anger and rage settled over her mind. Something wrapped itself around her. Its touch was neither warm nor gentle.
Only cold and an overwhelming desire to make this thing pay for what it took from her.
After all, Freed had no right to touch what belonged to her.
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]
Freed's eyes widened as Ichika suddenly appeared in front of him. Black and white aura surged around her, melding together in an impossible display. Everyone could feel it now. The Holy and Demonic Power that emanated from Ichika far surpassed that of the power that came from Yuuto's Balance Breaker.
"Impossible… not just the boy but her too?" Valper said as he observed the fight.
Freed stumbled back before rushing into run her through with the Excalibur. However, the sword, seemingly sensing a danger to its existence, finally rejected Freed completely. A surge of divine aura burst forth from its hilt, a crackle of blue lightning coursing through his arm forcing him to release the blade.
The Excalibur clattered to the ground.
Before Freed could even have a chance to register what just happened, Ichika's palm darted outward, striking Freed in the solar plexus.
The blow stunned him, knocking all the air out of his lungs.
Before he could catch his breath, Ichika struck twice in his chest. The sound of his upper ribs cracking echoed through the field.
Freed coughed, feeling a sharp pain in his chest. It felt like he had been struck with a sledgehammer to the heart. Every breath he took felt like a fresh stab wound.
And Ichika continued her brutal assault.
The next two blows came in quick succession to Freed's sides, breaking his lower ribs. The sound of bone cracking was followed by an agonizing scream from Freed as the fragments of bone impaled his innards. Blood dripped out of Freed's mouth as he struggled to remain standing.
Another blow sent him flying into the air as Ichika struck the underside of his jaw with her palm. His jaw cracked and hung loosely as the force of the blow broke it at an awkward angle.
"G-Guhhhkk…" Freed moaned in pain.
Before he could fall, she flew into the air and delivered a devastating palm drop to the top of his skull. It sounded like a massive egg had been broken as Freed's skull gave way from the force of her blow. Blood leaked out of his nose as he was sent sprawling onto the ground.
However, by some sheer stubbornness or inherent stupidity, Freed managed to slowly get to his feet. His jaw was slack, hanging at an uneven angle as his tongue lolled out. Blood leaked from his open mouth as he gargled an incoherent string of sounds. His ears rang painfully as blood seeped into his brain from the headstrike. His surroundings spun in a dizzying manner and he shambled forward like a zombie.
Ichika stared coldly as she rushed forward.
The finishing blow.
She moved in a straight line at incredibly high speeds that Ichika became a blur to everyone around her.
And then it was over.
There was no speech. No last words from either of them. It was simply over. A loud crunch, followed by a sickening squelch like meat being put through a grinder, was the only swan song Freed received as Ichika's hand burst through his chest and reduced his heart to a ribbon of meat inside his body.
Her hand plunged all the way through, tearing out the other side. Her crimson armor, now an even darker shade of red, was stained in Freed's blood and covered in bits of bone, sinewy muscle, and small tracks of veins and arteries.
Everyone stood frozen, taken aback by such brutality that no one expected from a girl like her.
"I-Ichika?" Sophia said as she stared at the morbid scene before her.
Ichika pulled her hand out, causing Freed to fall to his knees and clutch at his chest. As her senses returned and the fog over her mind began to clear, her ears were met with a single word.
"M-Monster…," Freed managed to say in a gurgling, strangled voice before he fell forward.
Ichika stood frozen as the reality of what she had just done washed over her. She looked down at her hand, still soaked in blood and caked in fragments of Freed's bones and tissue. Her breathing began to rapidly increase as the truth of the situation hit her like a freight train.
[Ichika! Ichika!] Ddraig called out.
D-Ddraig… I… he…
[It's okay. It's okay! You had no choice!] Ddraig said.
"Y-Yeah. Yeah, of course, I…" She felt bile rising up her throat. However, as much as she wanted to throw up, the fact that Kokabiel and Valper were still there brought her back to reality. She turned to see Valper staring in shock while Kokabiel watched in a mix of interest and thinly veiled annoyance.
"I-Impossible! I knew Freed might be defeated by the Red Dragon Empress but… for her to use Holy and Demonic powers simultaneously! Not only her but for I-6:1-1 to do it as well! How!? How could this possibly happen!?" Valper yelled, gripping what little hair he had left as his maddened eyes struggled to comprehend such a sight.
He bit his fingers, gnawing away at his fingernails as the gears inside his brain began to turn. "Ah… so that's why. That's why the Red Dragon Empress and that boy were able to… two opposing elements that should never exist in harmony in any state. If the heads of both elements are gone then… then that means that…"
And then, Valper exploded. A streak of light so blindingly fast that all they saw was a straight line. Valper himself never even registered the attack. He had simply exploded. All that was left of him were his feet and a puddle of blood and meat on the grass. On the ground slightly before his feet was a golden spear made of pure light.
"You underestimate your own intelligence, Valper. That was truly remarkable. To think you would have realized it after seeing this one thing," Kokabiel said as he stood from his throne.
Ichika felt the hairs of her neck stand on end as she eyed the Fallen Angel before her. Something felt very wrong at this moment.
"Holy and Demonic. Two things that originated from the same source but couldn't be more opposite from another. You should have realized by now that Holy and Demonic powers cannot merge. If the one who originated both powers is gone, then many strange things can occur!" Kokabiel laughed as he vanished and appeared on the ground before them.
Sophia's eyes widened as she began to connect the dots. She shook her head. "No, that's not possible! She can't be dead!"
Kokabiel's maddened laughter grew even louder. "Yes, yes! It is true! Without Her, the balance of power within the world has gone to rot."
Asia fell to her knees in despair. "But the Miracles. Our prayers… how can you claim Her love no longer exists if we can still feel it?"
"Oh, you poor deluded lambs. Michael has truly done an amazing job keeping you all in check. But the truth is, the power of Miracles has waned since her death. With only Michael sustaining the Holy System and the Holy Spirit missing, it will only be a matter of time," Kokabiel said as he took a step forward.
Ichika stiffened. His holy aura was immense. So this was the power of an existence recorded in the Bible?
"With God and Lucifer gone, we should have continued. But Azazel is a coward. Therefore, I will continue in their stead. Once I finish claiming your heads, I will tie up all loose ends. Those Praetors. I'll go for them next and then I will present your heads to the Maou and to Heaven," Kokabiel said as he ran a hand through his hair.
"War is evolution. Through War, we can live," Kokabiel said. "And through War, I will finally prove the supremacy of Fallen Angels in this world."
"Hmph…," Ichika heard the voice in her head once more.
"The taint of the Second One is on him…"
"And now, we shall begin this war in earnest, starting with your death, Red Dragon Empress!" Kokabiel cackled as he appeared before her in a blur of speed.
However, before the blade could descend upon her, another figure darted in front of her.
Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the familiar black hair, holding a katana and an icy blue blade. He glanced over his shoulder, revealing red and blue eyes and that ever-annoying smirk. And for once, she was more than happy to see it.
"S-Shin-chan! You're here! You're really here!" Ichika said.
"Sorry, I'm late, Ichi," Shin replied. He turned and glared at Kokabiel. With a grunt of effort, he pushed back against the Cadre Fallen Angel.
"Hoh? So you're him. Her Contractor," Kokabiel grinned maliciously. "I'll have fun taking you down boy—!"
Shin's red eye glowed and he vanished, causing Kokabiel to stumble forward slightly toward… Freed's corpse? His eyes widened as he felt Shin reappear next to him, one of his swords vanishing from his hand. His vision was filled with Shin's shoe as Shin kicked him, sending him sliding across the grass.
"You talk too much," Shin said. He readied his swords and several rifles began to trace themselves in the air behind him.
"Hah… interesting. Then, boy, let's have at it! I'll claim your head and everyone else's here!" Kokabiel laughed as he unleashed an immense amount of Holy Energy. The ground shook violently and the barrier above began to crack.
"Shin-chan," Ichika said as she got up and stood next to him.
"Yeah," Shin said.
"Let's go," Ichika said as her silver eyes glowed.
Housekeeping:
RoyalRain20xx: I'm glad you liked it, man! It's always been fun to write the way Shin fights. Between using Guns and Swords, I got a lot of things to work with especially with what he'll reveal in this next chapter and the sword he'll get hehe. But, we won't get to see much of the fight between Dante and Klein vs Praetor 1 and 2 since that will mostly happen off-screen. We'll see the ending portion of it but not the full since I want to focus more on Shin and Ichika. And yes, the ponytail was Igris-inspired. The fact that Ichika herself has a ponytail outside her armor just naturally fit into the design when I was scrounging around the internet trying to find a good Scale Mail look for her.
Alright, sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out. I got sick for over a week and then had 6 days on for work. I am extremely exhausted but my mind was still obsessing over how this chapter should end. So let's get the things that I want to talk about out of the way.
God: As per Azure original, I did make God female in this one. I decided not to do that lore drop Kok did in the OG fanfic where he started going on about Laws and stuff and decided to leave that bit for a slightly later chapter. But yes, the lore about Elohim will be more fleshed out in here. I realized that one of the things I didn't do was mention her enough since even posthumously, she does play a major role in the story and is a driving force for two characters.
Excalibur and Vivian: So you all noticed the way Excalibur reacted when Freed was using it. Yes, keep note of that as it will be very important in the next chapter. Later, after this arc, we will learn more about their relationship which will also set up a later arc. I haven't drafted that arc all the way yet but just know, there will be an arc centering around Vivian.
Ichika's first kill: I know Freed is a piece of shit so why should Ichika feel nauseous and bad about killing him? Well, she was a normal person who never grew up having to kill anything or anyone her entire life. Therefore, there you go. As you may remember from the beginning of this arc, Ichika had a hard time putting down even a Stray Devils so why should she not feel anything when killing even Freed? Anyway, that'll haunt her for a while but she won't mindlessly kill people now that she's tainted her feet in a river of blood.
The main group: As you may have noticed, the main group of this fic consists of Shin, Ichika, Asia, Sophia, and Irina. Just them... for now at least. The next chapter will be their breakout chapter and their first fight together as a team alongside Rias's peerage.
I think that's all I needed to talk about. If there's anything you guys need me to clarify, just ask in reviews! You know how much I love reading those. Until then, I'll see you guys when I see you guys.