Kiba was currently walking through the streets of Kuoh followed by Mordred and Dantès. It was night and most people were home at this time so it was relatively empty. The trio were wandering aimlessly trying to find a clue about the Fallens' whereabouts. They were having no luck and Kiba was beginning to get increasingly upset. I know I shouldn't expect anything this soon but knowing those swords are so close just makes me more determined to get rid of them! No, I need to cool my head. If I get all worked up I'm going to make a mistake. Kiba thought. He turned to his two partners. "So, you're Mordred, the son of King Arthur?"

"Yeah. What about it? You got a problem?" responded Mordred.

Kiba made a slightly disgruntled face at that response. "Nothing, I just never expected King Arthur's son to be a gir-"

Kiba didn't get to finish his sentence because he was met with a sword to his neck. He froze in place as Mordred glared at him. "What about me being a girl? HUH?!" said Mordred angrily.

"I wasn't implying anything by it. I was just surprised, that's all," he said, trying to calm down the situation.

Dantès stepped in. "Mordred, now is not the time for this. We have a mission and if you harm him both Master and your father will not be pleased with you," he said.

Mordred clicked her tongue and the sword disappeared. Kiba breathed a sigh of relief. I guess talking to her is out of the question. He thought. He looked to Dantès and decided to try his luck with him. "Hey, I can understand why Issei-kun wanted Mordred to join me, but why did he pick you as well?

"It's most likely because I am no stranger to revenge," said the Count with an evil smile.

"How so? I am vaguely familiar with the title The Count of Montè Cristo but I don't know the story."

"Well, to make a long story short, I was framed for a crime I didn't commit and sent to an island prison said to be inescapable. I escaped, and not only that, I tracked down all those involved in framing me and brought them to justice in one form or fashion," he said wickedly.

Kiba began to understand Issei's choices now. These weren't just strong people but people who have a reason to help him in one form or fashion. As he was thinking that he felt killing intent directed at him and he instinctively jumped back. The other two also noticed it and moved out of the way as well. In the next moment a sword was embedded in the ground where Kiba was standing. "Awwwwww. I almost had you. Oh well, things will be more fun this way! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!" said Freed with mad glee.

Kiba summoned a sword as did Mordred while Dantès readied himself. "Freed!" Kiba hissed.

"Long time no see devil boy! You out here with some new friends? Do they know that only bad things happen to those who associate with shitty devils?"

"We can take care of ourselves. You should be worrying about yourself. Do you really think you can take all three of us?" Mordred shot back.

"Ho, you're a confident one. You don't have a bad figure either. I know! I'll kill you and rape your corpse! That sounds like fun! Hahahahahahahahahahaha!" said Freed.

As Freed laughed maniacally Mordred had her expression hidden. The Count was gonna check on her but a second before he could say anything she was suddenly gone. Freed stopped laughing and immediately dodged right as a sword was embedded into the ground where he once stood, similar to how he did a moment ago. Freed still had on a shit eating grin but his eyes showed he was now analyzing Mordred seriously. Mordred turned to Freed, rage painted all over her face. "You think I'm weak cause I'm a girl, punk! I'll shove this sword so far up your ass it'll be coming out your mouth!" she yelled.

"Now that's an idea! I'll have to remember that one for my next victim. So I see you're into foreplay as well as swordplay," Freed said while kackling.

Mordred's face twisted in disgust as did Kiba's, but they put that aside and began to fight with Freed. The Count just stood by and watched, ready to assist when necessary. Kiba and Mordred were clashing swords with Freed for some time until Mordred managed to cut into Freed. Or so she thought but once the sword made contact Freed faded away. "What the hell?!" said Mordred frustrated.

Kiba was looking around frantically trying to find Freed when suddenly his instincts told him to duck. He did so and narrowly avoided being decapitated. "Tch! Seems your senses are sharper than I thought. Not that it matters," said Freed provokingly.

Kiba glared at Freed while Mordred began to complain. "How the hell did you disappear like that?!"

Freed gave off a confident sneer. "It's thanks to this baby. This is Excalibur Nightmare, one of the fragments that has power over illusions. With this puppy you won't even know if you're fighting the real me or not," he said teasingly.

Kiba's glare hardened while Mordred looked more serious. So that's one of the fragments that father wants me to get. It doesn't even look like Excalibur. To think father's blade has fallen so much, it boils my blood just thinking about it! Mordred thought to herself. "Your parlor tricks will only get you so far trash! I will crush your face and take that blade!" yelled Mordred.

"Try me girly," provoked Freed. Mordred rushed at Freed with Kiba close behind and the three continued to trade strikes. Freed tried to use a variety of tricks to keep them off balance but they were either quick enough to dodge or Mordred just used force to blow everything away at once. At one point Freed used illusions to surround the two and rushed them from all sides when they were all taken out from an attack from above. The pair looked up to see the Count floating above with dark energy emanating from his hands. "Tch! How annoying. And here I thought you were just gonna wait patiently for me to kill you!" Freed said, appearing out of seemingly nowhere.

"Enough tricks! It's time to end this!" yelled Kiba. The two swords-people rushed Freed but he disappeared like mist. The two looked around trying to find him but couldn't.

Suddenly they heard a voice in the distance. "Sorry kiddos, but my fun is done for the night. But don't worry, I will find you next time and we'll play some more. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Freed's voice echoed around them.

"Don't think you can escape!" yelled Mordred and she ran off in the direction of the voice, followed by Kiba and the Count.

It was the day after the meeting with the church agents and Issei was currently walking through town with Mash. After talking to Kiba, Issei went back to Rias and explained what he did and how he was going to help Kiba to move on. She was initially hesitant about it but after some talking was convinced that it was the best course of action for him. Now Issei was working on the next part of his plan which he hadn't told Rias about. He didn't want her to worry so he was going to talk to the church duo privately about solving this issue and Kiba's circumstances. Mash decided to come along too and the pair ended up skipping school to find the girls. The two were walking through town trying to find them when Issei addressed something that was bothering him for a while. "Koneko-chan, why are you following us?"

Yes, Koneko had been walking behind them since the pair ditched school and had been quietly following them without saying anything. She wasn't even being sneaky about it or anything; she was just following them. "You two went to go find the church agents so that you could help Yuuto-senpai, right?" The pair were a bit surprised she figured that out on her own. "I want to help too. I don't want Yuuto-senpai to disappear," she said in a sad tone.

Issei and Mash looked at each other then back to Koneko. Issei gave a small smile and patted her head. "Don't worry. I'm doing all this to make sure nothing happens to him. He is our comrade after all," said Issei reassuringly. Koneko's face loosened a bit as he pet her and she had to stop herself from showing it to him. After a bit Issei stopped and addressed another tag along. "And what about you twigs? Why are you following us?"

There was rustling in the bushes nearby and Saji popped out, annoyed that he was found out. "How did you know?"

"It wasn't hard. I'm used to being watched," Issei said nonchalantly.

"That's kinda sad Hyoudou," commented Saji. He brushed himself off then continued. "I saw you leave school grounds and decided to follow you."

"What for?"

"To find out what you're up to and then report you to Sona-kaichou for ditching school," he said smugly.

Saji had a victorious look on his face as if he finally got the better of him but Issei decided to rain on his parade. "One problem with your plan. Following me means that you also ditched school. Which means that exposing us exposes yourself as well."

With those words, Saji made a face of realization as if splashed with cold water. He began to sweat and turned around to head back to school. "Ah, right. Well then, I'll just pretend I didn't see you and head back before I get in trouble."

As he made to leave his collar was grabbed by Issei. He tried to struggle free to no avail. "Oh no you don't. Even if you say you won't squeal I can't take that chance. I don't want to worry Rias and I want this problem solved as smoothly as possible. So you're coming with," said Issei as he handed him over to Koneko.

Saji struggled more but once Koneko had her hands on him there was no escape. Being a rook has its perks after all. "No! I don't want to be wrapped up in whatever scheme you're scheming!"

"Well you should have thought of that before you followed us," said Issei uncaringly and the group began to walk with Koneko dragging Saji along.

After a bit of searching the group finally found the church duo, but when they found them they all had strained expressions at what they were seeing. "Please give blessings to these lost lambs!" "Please give charity to us on behalf of the father in heaven!"

They were begging on the streets. People continued to walk by them or gave them odd looks. They really are playing this by ear. You'd think the church would provide them with some kind of allowance for a mission, or maybe a place to stay, or something. Issei thought to himself. Before he could talk to them he listened to their conversation.

"Uhg! No one is donating to us. This is what happens when you go to places that don't share in our beliefs," complained Xenovia.

"Well we don't have any money to buy food so this is what we have to do," said Irina.

"We wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't bought that obviously fake painting!"

"It's not fake! The guy who sold it to me told me it was a painting of a Saint! See?! It looks exactly like them!"

"Oh really? Then tell me which Saint it is!"

Irina took a moment to look over the painting closely. "... It looks like… Saint Peter?"

"Why are you speaking like it's a question?! I thought you knew what you were buying!"

The two continued to go back and forth about how they got into this situation while Issei, Mash, Koneko, and Saji were all staring at them with strained expressions. After letting them argue a bit more, Issei went up to them and asked them if they wanted to eat lunch, which they agreed to. They went to a nearby restaurant and Issei told them to order whatever they wanted. The two ordered a ton of food and ate like they never had a meal in their life before. Issei was looking at them slightly concerned. Is my wallet gonna be ok? Thanks to Chaldea I got a large payment for my work saving humanity, i.e. hush money, but if I have to keep splurging like this all of that is gonna go away quick. He thought to himself. Koneko offered to help pay for the food which Issei was grateful for. Once the two had had their fill they started to talk.

"Thank you for the food. It's been a while since I got to eat my fill," said Xenovia satisfied.

"Sorry we ate so much, but we appreciate it Issei-kun," said Irina cheerfully.

Issei just gave them a small smile. "It's no problem, but are you two really gonna be ok? If you're having this much trouble with food I don't see how you're gonna be able to handle the Fallen."

Irina gave an embarrassed look while Xenovia gave an annoyed one. "Well if Irina hadn't spent our money on a fake painting we-"

Issei put his hand up to stop her. "You don't have to say anything. We heard the whole argument when you were having it on the street." The pair made an embarrassed expression from their previous display. "Anyways, we were looking for you because I wanna make a deal with you."

The two looked at Issei with interest as he explained his terms. He told them that in exchange for his help they would allow him to destroy the Excaliburs. Not only that but any info about Issei's Servants is to be kept strictly between them. The less people know the better, even though some info has already gotten out. After that was said the pair looked down in thought. Xenovia was the first to speak. "That's fine," she said nonchalantly.

Issei was surprised at how fast and carefreely they agreed to it. "A-are you sure? You were so against it before. Will it go over well with your superiors?"

"It'll be fine. Now that I've had time to think I realize I was being stubborn. I will follow Saint Martha's advice and adapt with the situation. On the topic of whether the church will agree, they suggested that as a last resort anyways so if it comes to pass they don't really have any room to complain." said Xenovia.

"Considering the situation as it is, it seems like that will be our best bet anyways," chimed Irina.

Issei looked at the two girls for a bit then sighed as if he gave up. "Well I guess that works then. Before we do anything I need to make a call so that our last member of the group can be here for the plan." He pulled out his phone and called Kiba. After 30 minutes he showed up along with Mordred and The Count.

After everything was explained to them Kiba spoke his piece. "It's slightly grading to be given permission to destroy the Holy Swords but as long as I can I guess I can't be too picky."

"Is that how you thank someone who helps you out? I guess I shouldn't have expected manners from a devil," said Xenovia, annoyed.

"Don't try and be sanctimonious with me! If it wasn't for the church my comrades would be alive right now!" Kiba was practically yelling at the exorcists.

"Hey, keep your voice down! You're gonna attract atten-" Irina warned but then noticed that nobody was looking their way. Actually, it was like people didn't realize there was anyone there to begin with, which confused her.

"You don't have to worry about noise, I put a barrier around us so that people can't eavesdrop on our conversation from the beginning. I kinda expected things to get heated so I did it when you were scarfing down food," said Issei.

As they were having their conversation on the side Xenovia and Kiba continued with their argument. "We're exorcists. What were you expecting when we fight with devils?!"

"I'm not talking about devils!" Kiba took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm a test subject of the Holy Sword Project," he almost growled.

The pair of exorcists were surprised by this, not expecting a survivor. Xenovia narrowed her eyes while Irina seemed slightly confused. "I don't understand. The project was a success and is the reason why people like me and Xenovia can wield our swords."

Kiba slammed his fist on the table. "And that is supposed to justify killing off the test subjects once they no longer had any need of them?!"

Irina sunk in her chair from slight shame remembering that part. Xenovia stepped in. "What happened with the project was a tragedy and condemned by the church. Once what happened came to light the project was shut down and the people running it brought in to face judgment as heretics. The only person who escaped was the project leader."

Kiba became alert at this news. "Who was it?" he asked in a low tone.

"His name is Valper Galilei and it seems that once he escaped he joined up with the Fallen Angels. The church has had a good suspicion that he is responsible for this incident since Freed was able to use a Holy Sword," said Xenovia.

"Valper Galilei… That's good to know. Well, since you gave me some good information I will share some with you. We encountered Freed last night."

The exorcists as well as the others were surprised to hear this. Issei turned to Mordred and The Count and they both nodded their heads. Apparently Freed attacked them with one of the Excalibur fragments and gave them the runaround. He eventually had to escape and Kiba and the others gave chase but to no avail. Issei folded his arms and furrowed his brow. "This is not good. If they have figured out how to access Excalibur's power, then, incomplete or not, it can prove fatally dangerous to us."

"There's nothin' to worry about Master. While the sword had strange powers I've never seen father use, it's power was relatively weak by comparison. I could've smashed it with Clarent if I was fighting seriously," said Mordred carefreely.

"You're sure of this?" Issei probed.

"C'mon Master, do you doubt me?"

"Just being sure."

The group was watching their interaction and the exorcists were curious who this new servant was. "Issei-kun, who is this?" asked Irina.

"This is Mordred, King Arthur's child," introduced Issei.

"Yo," greeted Mordred with a wave.

The two showed surprised expressions at this and now seemed nervous. "Wait! Mordred as in the knight who rebelled against King Arthur?!" exclaimed Xenovia.

"What? You got a problem?" said Mordred intimidatingly.

"There's no need to worry. Mordred had a talk with me and Arthur and the king has entrusted her with this task, so you don't have to worry about her using it for other means. After all, we are trying to destroy it."

The two looked unsure but consented to Issei's explanation. After that the group came up with a plan on how to find Freed and the Fallen. "Alright, since we have a plan we should get started. Here is our number so you can call us if you find information or their location," said Xenovia.

Issei nodded. "Ok, let me give you mine as well."

"No need Issei-kun. Your mother gave us your number when we visited," said Irina cheerfully.

Issei slightly rolled his eyes at his mother's meddling but put that aside. "Alright, then we'll split up for now and try and find them. We'll keep in touch." Issei and Koneko left the money for the bill and left the pair. After they got outside Kiba went with Mordred and The Count again. Issei, Mash, Koneko, and Saji made their way back to school.

As they were walking Koneko looked to Issei. "Are you sure this will help Yuuto-senpai?"

"As long as we can keep him and the church duo from butting heads this will be the best way to handle it. Just be sure not to tell Rias since I'm doing this to try and lessen her stress," said Issei. He made a slightly uncomfortable face as he looked in Saji's direction. He had been quietly observing the deal the whole time but got especially quiet when he learned about Kiba's past. He was currently crying, trying to be discreet but doing a poor job. "I-is something wrong Saji?"

"I never knew Yuuto went through something so horrible! I don't think I could handle something like that if it happened to me. I feel a mixture of respect and feeling sorry for him," said Saji emotionally. The others gave Saji an awkward look but didn't say anything.

Over the next few weeks the groups have been going out at night trying to bait Freed or someone else of the Fallen to attack them. The groups have been dressing themselves up as priests to try and get Freed to attack them. In the meantime, Issei's Servants have been scouting the areas they aren't covering to try and find clues. After some time the group was starting to get irritated by how little luck they were having. "It's been weeks and we've come up with jack squat," complained Saji.

While the others gave him exasperated looks they internally agreed with him. They had been at it for a while and ended up at the park. It seemed like the Fallen had learned their lesson from the last failure. As the night grew later they were about to head home for the night the group minus Saji suddenly felt killing intent. Saji looked at everyone confused but was suddenly tackled to the ground by Koneko. Due to her actions Saji narrowly avoided losing his head. "Geh! I'm sick of always missing my target these days! These shitty exorcists should have been easy targets!" complained a mad voice.

Freed appeared again and had an annoyed look on his face. The group now having found Freed ditched the disguises and prepared for battle. "Finally. Took you long enough to take the bait Freed," said Issei.

Freed, now seeing who it was seemed to give a confident sneer. "Ahh, if it isn't the shitty brat and his friends. Looks like the shitty devil called for backup after not being able to beat me last time. Don't think having more people will make your chances better," Freed said confidently.

"Don't act cocky freak! You could barely handle three of us and ended up running away. Don't think we'll let you get away this time!" bit back Mordred.

"Hey, I was on the clock so I didn't have all night to play with you. And the same is true this time too, so I'll try to kill you all quickly!" boasted Freed.

"Try it if you can!" yelled Kiba and he charged at Freed with Mordred, Mash, and Koneko behind him. Issei, The Count, and Saji hung back to jump in when the time was right. Despite their greater numbers Freed was keeping up with his attackers which caught Kiba and Mordred by surprise. Issei tried to launch swords from the back and Saji used his Sacred Gear to try and restrain Freed, but they were all batted away by his sword.

"How the hell are you keeping up?! You weren't this fast the last time we fought!" complained Mordred.

Freed gave her a smug grin. "It's thanks to my new sword. This one is Excalibur Rapidly, which increases my speed in both movement and my strikes," bragged Freed. As he spoke his moves were getting faster and the others started going on the defensive. Kiba managed to get into a sword lock with Freed and temporarily stopped his movements. "Oh? You've been looking at my sword with such hatred, shitty devil, and not just this one but my other Excalibur as well! Do you have some kind of grudge against it?!" mocked Freed. Kiba's glare grew fiercer after Freed said that and they broke the sword lock. Mordred decided to abandon defense since her armor was slowing her down and cast off her armor as she charged Freed. Freed seeing what was essentially a suicide attack started laughing maniaclly. "You think a trick like that is gonna work? You'll only end up dead!"

As Freed prepared to strike Mash decided to help. "Obscurant Wall of Chalk!" shouted Mash and Mordred's body glowed yellow from Mash's skill. Freed began to attack with rapid strikes but the sword bounced off Mordred's body as if hitting steel.

"What the hell?!" shouted Freed as Mordred began to swing down Clarent on him. Before the sword hit, Freed used the ability of his Excalibur to move out of the way at the last second. Freed looked annoyed that his strike didn't even scratch Mordred. "What the hell kind of cheating skill is that?!"

As the others prepared to keep fighting an unfamiliar voice interrupted them. "That's enough Freed. I've gathered all the data I need."

Freed turned to the voice and made a small smirk. "Old man Valper. Seems like my time is up. Sorry brats but I can't play with you anymore," teased Freed as he tried to leave.

He was intercepted by Xenovia who appeared from the forest. She swung her sword and clashed with Freed's. "You're not going anywhere!"

Freed gave an interested look. "What's this? An actual exorcist this time? I'm surprised to see you working with devils. And here I thought the church was better than that," he mocked.

"Save your breath, your words don't hold any weight with me!" said Xenovia and she swung her sword with great force pushing Freed back at the group. The others started to move in and the group fought Freed again. Not long after Xenovia arrived Irina did too.

She went up to Issei and patted his shoulder. "Thanks for calling us Issei-kun!" she said energetically. While the others were occupied fighting Freed Issei made a call to the exorcists to let them know they had found Freed, so it was only a matter of time before they arrived. After that exchange Irina joined in the fight.

As the group were starting to gain ground on Freed they were interrupted again. A light spear aimed at the group came flying from above and the group dispersed to dodge it. When everyone looked at the source there were three Fallen above Valper. Freed took this opportunity to regroup with them. "As interesting as this is, we have a schedule to keep so until the next time we meet," said Valper. With that the Fallen group retreated.

"You're not getting away a second time!" yelled Kiba and he chased them followed by Xenovia, Irina, Mordred, and The Count.

Issei and the others were about to follow them when they heard a voice call out to them. "Issei? What is going on here?" asked a surprised Rias. Along with her was Akeno along with Sona and Tsubaki.

Crap! I don't have time for this. Issei thought and snapped his fingers.

"Your orders, Master?" asked Fuma, who appeared from nowhere.

"Go after them and observe from the shadows. Only intervene if someone's life is in danger."

"By your will," accepted Fuma and he was gone in an instant.

After that Issei turned back to the now slightly annoyed Rias. This is gonna be a long night. Issei thought to himself.

Finally done with another chapter. So real talk for a sec, I'm debating on people being able to donate or not for people who want to help a guy out but as of right now I don't really have anything to offer. Since this is my only story currently it would just be out of kindness but at some point I plan on making more stuff that will eventually divide my time. Just for example I have several ideas for things relating to this story and completely new ones. For stuff related to this story my ideas were Side Stories which should be self-explanatory, Singularity Stories which can or cannot be cannon but will put the characters from the story into each Singularity to see how they will affect it (I will label which ones are cannon to the main story), What If Stories where I will change an aspect of my story to have a different result and see how I progress it from there (These won't be full stories on their own but short stories being a few chapters at most), and The Chaldea Chronicles which will tell the story of Issei in Chaldea during the first arc of FGO. As for other crossover ideas I have three that I've thought out. Since Highschool DxD is my favorite anime it's the one I have the most ideas for. The first is Highschool Dxd X Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V which will lean more into the Yu-Gi-Oh aspect but won't ignore the DxD stuff. The second is Highschool Dxd X Dragon Ball Fighterz which will mainly follow DxD but with a character from Fighterz added to the mix, I'll let you guess which one. Finally the third idea is Highschool DxD X Kamen Rider which I have several ideas for which ones to use but the ones I'm most confident in is either Saber or Zi-o. Anyways once I start doing more stories I will put a poll on for donators to vote which one to work on but that's if I even set it up. Keep in mind that I will continue to write whether or not people donate because writing is a passion project to me, but it doesn't hurt to get help from those who are willing to offer it. And for those who want to donate and don't want to use the regular site I'm open to suggestions for other options. But this is just theoretical, I want to hear you guys is opinions on this as well as my story ideas and the current story. Sorry for taking so much of your time and happy Halloween everyone!