With the arrival of Artoria, her counterparts, and her knights, the battle now seemed to tip in Issei's and the ORC's favor. Kokabiel had an incredulous look on his face from the knight's announcement. As everyone was getting their bearing from the new situation one person approached Artoria. "Father! I have obtained the Excalibur fragments just as you requested," said Mordred. In her arms were the pieces of the destroyed Fused Excalibur. She apparently gathered them while everyone was busy talking.
Artoria looked over the pieces in Mordred's possession and nodded in confirmation. "Good work Mordred. It seems you accomplished your task without issue," said Artoria. She looked over her shoulder to one of her knights. "Bedivere, take the fragments." Her knight nodded and walked up to Mordred who handed them over.
As that exchange happened Kokabiel refocused on the situation at hand. "Don't think a handful of people will be enough to even the odds! Me and my forces will crush you underfoot!" he yelled.
Artoria refocused on Kokabiel. "If you are so sure then come face us. As a knight, and as king, I will accept your challenge."
Issei took this moment to jump in. "No Artoria. I want you all along with the others to deal with Kokabiel's forces."
Artoria looked to her Master. "And what about you?"
Issei showed a smirk as his Boosted Gear appeared. [Welsh Dragon! Balance Breaker!] Flames erupted around him and quickly disappeared to reveal Issei in his armor. He gestured to Dantés to come closer and a light of a summoning appeared behind him. From the light stood a tall figure in orangish red armor that resembled the color of flames. He wore a helmet that had fire coming out the top of it. But the most distinguishing thing about him was the giant metal wheel with spikes along the outside that he was holding behind him. The two men stood behind their Master imposingly as Issei spoke. "We'll deal with Kokabiel," he said confidently.
Kokabiel looked insulted that Issei thought he could stand up to him, even with help. The others looked to Issei nervously, concerned he might be getting in over his head. "Master, are you sure that's wise?" asked Mash concerned.
Issei looked to her direction and nodded. "Just leave it to us and focus on clearing out the fodder." With that he turned back to Kokabiel. "Let's go!" he ordered and went to face Kokabiel.
"Yeah!" replied Issei's new Servant and jumped in after him followed by Dantés.
Kokabiel readied a light spear and charged in. "You think you can defeat me brat?! I'll show you just how inferior you are!" With that their clash began.
While that battle took place the others turned their attention to Kokabiels forces who began to move as well. Artoria raised her sword and readied herself for battle. "Eliminate the enemy, my knights! Don't let a single one get away!" she ordered.
"""""Yes, my king!""""" responded the knights and they propelled themselves into battle. The other Artorias and Arthur charged in as well. Artoria and Salter approached the others along with Merlin who looked like he tagged along just for kicks.
"Is everyone ok?" asked Artoria.
"Yes, thank you, your Majesty," said Rias, slightly stiff.
Artoria shook her head. "You don't need to refer to me that way. My kingdom is long gone. I am simply a knight in service to her Master now. You can treat me as you always have before," she said with a kind smile. The group nodded in gratitude towards her. She turned to look at Kiba who held his new sword in his hand. "So knight, have you found what you have been searching for?"
Kiba wasn't expecting Artoria to call him out, but he took a moment to think over her question. "I, don't know. I accomplished what I've been trying to do for years and now I feel, directionless," he said.
Salter looked at Kiba seriously. "Directionless? What are you talking about? Have you not been serving Rias Gremory this whole time? Or was she just a means to an end?" she asked sternly.
Kiba was shaken by her words but realized what she actually meant. He did have a purpose, as Issei and others have been trying to say this entire time. There are people waiting for him, people relying on him, people who trust him. He can't betray that trust, especially after he has been acting so recklessly as of late. He turned to Rias and bowed. "Rias-buchou, I apologize for my actions these past few weeks. I promise again to faithfully serve you till the end," he said, resolved.
Rias had a happy expression, glad her knight has returned to his usual self. "It's good to have you back Yuuto-kun. Now, let's finish this so we can help Issei!"
Everyone nodded in agreement with Artoria and Salter showing a small smile at the knight's resolve. As everyone prepared to fight Merlin spoke up. "In that case, I will stay here and watch over the others. Have fun all of you," he said in a carefree tone. Artoria and Salter looked exasperated at his attitude but ignored it and continued on.
As the others joined the knights in battle it took very little time to eliminate their forces, despite having many Fallen Angels to fight. Issei's Servants made short work of them. So much so that it looked like a joke that the ORC was ever concerned about Kokabiel's forces in the first place. It really drove home the point that Issei's forces, and by extension Chaldea's forces, were nothing to scoff at. As they were finished cleaning up the last of the enemy the ORC prepared to help Issei but they noticed that none of the Servants were moving in and instead were watching the battle. "Aren't you all going to help Issei? I mean, I know Issei's strong but that is a General and one of the original founders of the Grigori. He isn't like the others we just fought," asked Rias concerned.
Salter, without looking at her, answered. "If Master asks, then we will jump in. But by the looks of things he already has it covered."
The others turned their attention to the battle and focused on what was happening. When they looked closely, they saw that Issei looked fine and his Servants didn't even look scratched. On the other hand Kokabiel had various cuts, bruises, and burns on his body. He also looked supremely pissed. He manifested several light spears and launched them at the group but they were shot down by Dantés' dark magic. Annoyed, Kokabiel created another in his hand and charged forward. Issei created his usual red spear and charged in to meet him. He also summoned some swords to launch at Kokabiel which he had to deflect. As he was busy defending himself, Issei got in close and tried to stab him but Kokabiel managed to block it leading to a spear struggle. "This! This is impossible! There is no way a human brat like you could match me, Sekiryuutei or not! How?!" howled Kokabiel.
"The how doesn't matter. This is reality. You let your pride and battle-lust blind you and as a result, you picked a fight with someone you shouldn't have," said Issei smugly. "I hope you enjoy the fact that you will never get the chance to fight Sirzechs and Micheal again because you were too stupid to beat a "lowly human"." he mocked.
Kokabiel was sent over the edge with those words as he pushed off Issei and power erupted from his form. "DON'T YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON ME YOU FILTHY BRAT! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL HERE AND NOW!" Kokabiel raised his hands above him and gathered power there, creating a light spear that continued to grow in size as he fed it more power.
The others who were watching were beginning to get nervous while the Servants continued to watch on calmly. Issei turned to the Servant that he summoned. "This is all you Aśvatthāman," he said.
"Alright! You got it Masta!" yelled Aśvatthāman excitedly. He and Issei swapped places and he stood ready for the incoming attack.
Kokabiel finally finished changing up his giant light spear and launched it at Issei and his group. "Now disappear from my sight, trash!" yelled Kokabiel.
The spear came hurtling towards them at great speed. Issei and Dantés stood back confidently, showing no signs of moving while Aśvatthāman just spread his arms out as if to block the spear from passing him. The ORC were about to yell out for them to move but the spear collided with Aśvatthāman before their words came out. There was a bright flash followed by an explosion as everyone had to cover themselves from the shockwave. Once things calmed down they looked to where Issei and the other two were, trying to find him in the smoke. Kokabiel began laughing. "An easy victory! This is what you get for looking down on me!"
Kokabiel was sure of his victory, but that notion was shattered once the smoke cleared. Still floating there were Issei, Dantés, and Aśvatthāman. Issei and Dantés looked untouched from that attack, while Aśvatthāman looked only a little beat up, although you wouldn't be able to tell since he stood tall as if nothing had happened. Both Kokabiel and the ORC were shocked that someone other than the most powerful supernatural beings they knew of could even survive that attack, let alone act like nothing happened. "Oi? Is that all you got after all that boasting? I felt a stronger kick from my lunch than from your attack just now," said Aśvatthāman mockingly.
Kokabiel couldn't respond as he was too shocked at the series of events unfolding in front of him. He soon got a wake up call as Aśvatthāman quickly closed the distance and swung his giant Chakram down on him, sending him hurtling towards the ground. When he crashed he created a crater in the ground. After a few moments passed Kokabiel managed to pick himself off the ground and began to weakly rant to himself. "T-this is impossible. I can't die like this. I have to prove that the Fallen are better than the Devils and Angels. I can't die to some lowly human and his slaves."
As he was saying that Issei landed in front of him. He grabbed Kokabiel by his clavicle by burying his clawed gauntlet into his chest and lifted him with one arm. "You Fallen sure do like to think highly of yourselves. In all honesty, it's kinda satisfying to prove you wrong. But regardless, you don't get to decide the results of the battle. The strong will triumph, and the weak perish. That is the rule of nature." Issei turned around and held Kokabiel between himself and Aśvatthāman, who was some distance away. Just like earlier with Mash, Aśvatthāman was building up power to use his Noble Phantasm.
"My vows taken as a soldier are long gone, and I have fallen to corruption!" said Aśvatthāman. As he chanted he placed the giant Chakram he had been swinging around in battle in front of him and, as if to respond to his will, began to spin in place and be set ablaze.
Kokabiel saw this and weakly looked back to Issei. "Do you plan to hold me in place? You will get killed in the attack too!" he said, giving a look as if he was staring at a fool.
Under his helmet Issei gave a smile. "Yes I do. But unlike you I won't die. Rather, I plan to meet my Servant's attack head on as well!" Issei said something incredibly reckless that even had the ORC and some of his Servants questioning his sanity. After saying that, Issei took a stance and planted his feet. Then with his free hand started boosting his energy. Along with that he created runes that surrounded his gauntlet and when they merged his own fist was set ablaze.
Aśvatthāman saw his Master's actions and laughed loudly. "Hahahaha! Making such a hot headed claim! You truly are my Masta! Alright! I will see if your will is strong enough to withstand this!" he said and continued his chant. "Yet I still rage against this corruption, and I will continue in my fury! Now piss off!" With that yell he kicked his Chakram and it came hurtling towards the pair. The girls of the ORC covered their eyes not wanting to look. When the Chakram hit it pushed back Issei significantly but he held his ground. Kokabiel on the other hand was in immense pain as the spinning, burning Chakram ripped the wings from his back and seared his flesh. The heat was getting a bit intense for Issei as well but the attack was about to end as Aśvatthāman had jumped up and was now descending to deliver the final blow. "Sudarshana Chakra Yamarāja!" he yelled and punched through his Chakram and through Kokabiel's back. At the same time Issei punched through Kokabiel's chest and the two fists collided in the middle. When the attacks collided an explosion happened, once again creating a shockwave that everyone had to cover themselves from.
Once the dust began to settle the ORC and Servants saw Issei, with his armor cracked and looking like it was barely holding itself together, holding a burnt corpse with a hole in the middle of what was once Kokabiel, and Aśvatthāman, looking no worse for wear. Issei dropped the husk and looked to his Servant. "I know you went easy, but that still hurt like hell!" he complained.
Aśvatthāman just laughed it off. "Sorry sorry. I couldn't help myself once you came up with that plan and said those things to him, I just got too excited! You really are my Masta!" he said, clearly pleased.
Everyone gave them exasperated looks, with Rias and Mash looking incredibly upset at his recklessness. But before anyone could take a breather the top of the barrier that had been damaged broke and the barrier disappeared. From the broken point floated a white armored form with blue crystal wings. Everyone went on guard as it descended a short distance away from Issei. The being looked around the battlefield as if looking for something when his eyes landed on Issei. "Where is Kokabiel?" asked the figure.
Issei just pointed to the charred husk on the ground. "That's what's left of him anyways," said Issei cautiously.
Although his expression couldn't be seen, everyone could tell he felt some kind of surprise from hearing that. "I was ordered by Azazel to bring him back to the Grigori to be punished, but it seems like I was too late," said the armored man.
Issei felt great discomfort being near this man, as ever since he got here his instincts have been telling him that this guy was dangerous. As if to answer his thoughts someone spoke. [Are you ignoring me, White One?] asked Ddraig.
[Red One. So you have been alive all this time.] responded another deep voice that was different from the man who previously spoke. [It seems that you have found a powerful host. But if he struggled to fight Kokabiel, then he won't stand a chance against my host.]
[Don't worry. He will be more than a match for him, but it's unfortunate timing right now, considering…] said Ddraig.
[Don't worry about it. These things happen from time to time. We are destined to face each other one day.] said the other dragon.
The armored man walked up to Issei causing him to take a defensive stance. Not only that but Mash had gone to his side ready to defend him. The man paid them no mind and picked up Kokabiel's body. He then turned and saw Freed's body on the ground and went to grab that too. "I should at least come back with their bodies to report what happened," said the man to no one in particular.
[Goodbye Ddraig.]
[Yeah, later Albion.]
The man took one last look at Issei before flying off with the bodies. Issei stared at where he last saw the man disappear. So… That is the one whom I'm destined to fight to the death with. Seems like I have a lot more work to do if I'm gonna stand a chance against him, he thought.
As Issei was lost in thought the others had gathered around along with the Student Council who came to see what was happening since there was no longer a barrier to maintain. Rias looked worriedly towards Issei, seeing him lost in thought. The Artorias approached their Master also looking where the White Dragon Emperor disappeared. "So that is Albion in this world. I don't feel any malicious intent like I did when I fought Vortigern, but I still don't trust him," said Artoria. "Master are you sure-"
"No. I'm not sure if I could beat him. Something about him tells me to keep my guard up at all times. I have a lot more training to do before I can face him," said Issei, interrupting her.
"Is it necessary to face him alone, Master? We would all be more than willing to help you fight him," asked Artoria Lily.
Issei lowered his head for a moment before he turned to face them. "No, it's not necessary, but it's something I want to do." The others were slightly stunned by this confession. "In all honesty, I would like to have that guy as an ally. I think being forced to fight someone I don't know for no reason other than because someone said so is stupid. But if it does come down to that I want to be able to prove that I can hold my own." Issei looked up to the sky again. "I think today's battle shows that I'm still not ready to take on big threats on my own, and while I don't mind relying on you guys, I can't let myself get complacent." He returned his sight to the group. "If our life or death battle does happen I want to be able to beat him myself," said Issei as he clenched his fist in front of him.
The Servants nodded with small smiles at their Master's determination while the rest gave him a respectful gaze. "Don't worry Senpai. We will continue to help you get stronger and protect this place together," said Mash resolutely.
Issei nodded and tried to step forward but fell on his ass instead with his armor dissolving. Everyone was worried and immediately scrambled around him to see if he was ok. "Hehe, sorry. Guess that was all the strength I had left in my legs. Honestly, I'm wiped," Issei said casually. The others smiled and Bedivere helped him to his feet.
As that was going on someone approached Artoria. "You are King Arthur?" asked Xenovia.
Artoria turned to the exorcist and met her gaze. "That's right. Is there something you need?"
"I never expected the legendary King Arthur to be a woman."
"There were reasons for that, but that has long since stopped mattering now," said Artoria stoically.
Xenovia looked curious but shook off the feeling and held out her sword while bowing. "This sword belongs to you. Since I heard you asked Mordred to gather the fragments of Excalibur it's only right I give you Excalibur Destruction as well."
The ORC and Student Council were surprised by this action, not expecting Xenovia to hand over one of the church's treasures. Artoria took the blade from Xenovia and began to examine it and swing it around. She had no difficulty holding the blade which made it look like it weighed nothing from an outsider's perspective. After some time she looked closely at the blade once more then to Xenovia. "I thank you for your kindness-" She held out the sword's hilt towards Xenovia which surprised her. "-but I do not need it. I had Mordred gather them as a test to prove her loyalty and intentions. The sword itself doesn't matter to me. As you can see, I still have Excalibur in its complete form to use, so I don't need it or the fragments. Besides, it would be troublesome for you if you returned without them, right?"
Xenovia accepted the sword back but still had a complicated face on. "Things will already be difficult for me, considering I've learned something that I probably shouldn't have."
The others gave a look of understanding since it came as a shock to them as well to learn the truth about God. "I think we all need some time to process what we learned. Even ignoring that, considering we killed a leader of the Grigori I don't think this is over just yet," said Issei tiredly. Everyone was in agreement with him and after giving Xenovia the Excalibur fragments everyone went home for the night.
A few days passed after the incident and Issei was currently walking to the clubroom with Mash and Asia. Sirzechs and his group came to Kuoh only to find that everything had been settled already. Rias gave him a brief explanation of what happened and promised to give a full report after they had rested. After that Sirzechs said he would take care of dealing with the Fallen and that we shouldn't be worried about it. So with that everyone has been spending their time relaxing. On a separate note, although Rias was happy that Kiba was back to normal he was still punished for going rogue by being spanked. What is Rias' fascination with spankings as punishment? Issei thought to himself.
As the trio reached the clubroom and opened the door they saw something unexpected. Xenovia was sitting across from Rias in a Kuoh Academy girls uniform. Before Issei could ask Xenovia who spotted them spoke. "I accepted Rias' offer to become her knight," she said. The others were once again shocked by this so she elaborated. "After learning of God's death I confronted my superiors about it. It seems they knew about this and since I learned classified information I was branded a heretic and cast out."
This news upset and concerned Issei. "What about Irina? She learned about it too, right?"
"After Irina woke up she seemed to forget about the later part of the battle. When I asked her what she remembered she had a distressed look but seemed unable to recall anything. I'm not sure if she's in denial or if the info was too much for her to bear and her brain is blocking it out on purpose. Needless to say, when she learned that I couldn't return she seemed saddened. I handed over the Excalibur fragments as well as Destruction for her to bring back to the church. I kept Durandal, since the sword only works with me."
Issei was relieved that Irina seemed to be fine but every time he learned information about the church it only worsened his view of them. "I'm sorry you had to go through that," said Issei sincerely.
Xenovia showed a surprised look at Issei not expecting sympathy. "No, it's fine. I should be apologizing to you. You were right with your criticisms of the church since they seemed to be following their own version of the Lord's teachings rather than directly from the Lord himself." She looked over to Asia and bowed to her. "I'm sorry to you too, Asia Argento. If God was dead then he could not have protected you, with his mercy or otherwise. I was wrong to judge you thinking it was the decision of the Lord. Please, strike me as much as you want."
Asia was flustered and began waving her hands frantically. "N-no, you don't have to go that far. I am happy with my life now so I forgive you. And even if there is no Lord I still wish to follow his teachings. We shouldn't give up on the lessons he left behind."
Xenovia showed a surprised expression but smiled. "I thank you for your forgiveness. Now I should go and get myself accustomed to the school. Oh yeah, one more thing. There will be a meeting of the Factions to discuss this recent event and how the groups will act moving forward soon. You should prepare yourselves for that."
Issei had a serious look from that information he just learned. As he was contemplating that Xenovia made to pass them but was stopped by Asia. "Uhm. Me and my friends are going to hang out this weekend. Do you want to join us?"
Xenovia was surprised but showed a grateful smile. "No, not this time. But maybe next time… You can show me around?" she asked shyly. Asia gave a happy nod and with that Xenovia left.
So I was feeling motivated after my last chapter and managed to pump out another chapter as an early Christmas gift to you all. Now to address a few things. I saw a lot of people looking forward to the Knights of the round and what they would do but there were two big problems with this. The first being that the only person they could possibly show a hint of their true strength against was Kokabiel but having all of them fight Kokabiel would be overkill. The second is that the soldiers were far too weak for them. Tristan alone could use his harp bow to decapitate them all at once if he wanted and if any of the Knights attacked too seriously there would be collateral damage to the town. It's the reason why Servant tend to only fight other Servants of really powerful monsters in the Fate series. Nothing else really matches up. Now, in terms of the fight between Issei's team and Kokabiel, despite Issei being more active in battle he spent a year basically being support as a Master, so his fighting style is usually letting his Servants do the work while he supports. He is working to be more active but his habit of leaving it to someone else still comes out when he isn't explicitly trying to fight on his own. And with the finisher with Aśvatthāman I wanted to do something more theatrical. I'm sure there will be plenty of comments about being inconsistent with Issei's power, but I wanted to make it more interesting than Issei got a lucky strike in or one of the Servants one shot him. This is a case of me taking a creative liberty to make it more interesting. Finally, in terms of Irina and her knowledge about God, while I plan on having her follow the same path as originally planned what I am going to do is have her struggle with that new knowledge instead of having her work through it off screen like in the anime and light novels. She is going to be coming to grips with her Lord being dead this entire time and this self-denial is just the first part of it. Now the last little bit of this chapter would normally be its own chapter but it was so short that I decided to just add it on at the end of this one. Now, normally I would move on to the next arc, which is the Factions Conference, but I want my volumes to be consistent in terms of chapters. The last two arcs were both 11 chapters long and when I was writing this volume I realized there wasn't much plot in terms of this arc. So, since this is only chapter 7 of this volume the next 4 chapters is gonna be world building, character development, and progression of the sub-plot that I mentioned in a previous author's note. So unfortunately, you all are gonna be waiting a bit before we get to the meeting of the factions. As always, I look forward to the comments and hope you all enjoy. : )