DxD - The Last Amagiri

by HolyKnightX

Kensei Amagiri, the surviving heir to the Amagiri Clan, after losing his mother now lives on an island, where he fights for survival with his new friends. Left for dead by the Old Devils and Taro, is found by two legends who'll assist him in taking his fate back into his own hands.

34. The Confrontation II

Welcome to the next chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, but before starting the story. Let's answer some reviews:

Altair95: Thanks. It was a shame that Kunou and Iris couldn't sage Claire from Hilda, but it was because of their efforts that it made it easier to find her. Yes, it was an intentional method of getting Claire off her game by breaking her heart with the news. Well, Kensei did admit that if it was a straightforward fight it might've ended with him losing, but he did manage to get a win.

Rider126: Yes, that is the mindset of those too caught in the past, of course, some deserve it to be exorcised, but there are other half-breeds and other supernatural beings who did nothing wrong.

Cristian Njoroge: I'm happy to hear that you liked the chapter.

---

The Confrontation II

"…hah."

Claire breathed out as she continued looking into the sky overhead as the clouds seemed to be moving at a near steady pace. She didn't know the current time, but it looked as if the sun was starting to set, causing the skies to reveal a varied number of beautiful colors that gave off a picturesque sight.

"…if it wasn't for what was happening and the pain that was traveling through me, then this might've made a very beautiful day," Claire sighed almost defeated as her mind finally started registering the pain that originates from the wounds inflicted on her by a demonic blast and Zekram. "…hey, Radueriel."

[…yes?]

Claire could hear the sadness behind his voice about the incident.

Both of them could hear several devils starting to arrive near her location as Claire couldn't seem to find strength in herself to move or evade. She didn't appear to care at all about the people and instead was more focused on a single question that came to her mind.

"Do you think that God would hate me for being born?"

[….]

Radueriel didn't appear to give her a single response at the moment, but Claire continued with her thought as if it might've been the last time talking to him.

"I know from talking to Nii-san, learning about and even meeting some gods that their true intentions can differ a lot from the beliefs of those who follow them. Nii-san once told me that Amaterasu-sama was a very benevolent woman who never deterred people from living and experiencing new things. But, the Five Principal Clans can be almost the opposite in that regard," Claire said as she sighed unable to move. "Tou-san never talked about it at all around me since I might have gotten headaches from him talking about the bible. But, I used to think all about how God and the Maou would react to me. Born from a high-class devil woman and an exorcist man, while possessed by an angel. My existence almost appears to be a joke."

[All the four original Maou were individuals who could be considered true devils, their desires benefited no one in the slightest other than fulfilling their ambitions. In an attempt to dominate the world, which resulted in losing almost half the 72 Pillars and their territories.] Radueriel started as he continued. [It might sound biased if it comes from me, but God simply desired peace at the same a war was inevitable since the Maou couldn't let go of their desire for world domination. At the same time, I don't think that he'd hate you. If you look around there are sacred gears able to create demon swords and those able to heal all beings including devils.]

"…is that so?"

[Claire, you aren't thinking of giving up are you? If so, you shouldn't….]

"Whoever said anything about giving up," Claire asked laughing weakly. "I wanted to talk about anything to get my mind off things. I don't think that I have the strength to move much and the pain from the last attack is just a little bit much for me. If I remain laying down here, then it'll feel as if my mind is thinking about things that I don't want to think about. Because, you know, deep down, I knew that there were all gone."

Radueriel could hear and feel the pain in Claire's voice as she admitted that to him, both ignoring the people who were approaching him. All of them were preparing to finish the job that Zekram started by eliminating her defense using his Power of Destruction.

[…yes, although, I ensure that I don't pry into things that you don't want me to and allow you some privacy. But, I could feel that deep inside of your consciousness.]

"I know that all of them would have done whatever it took to find me. So, since leaving Hagun Island, I waited for a long time for them to find me. But, the longer that I wanted, the more I realized that there was a chance that all of them were gone. After I met…I thought that I met Eva-obachan, those feelings washed away and I thought I'd be able to reunite with them all," Claire said as she started biting her bottom lip in an attempt to keep herself from crying, but the tears were already streaming from the corners of her eyes. "I was given that hope, and that lifted me higher than I thought possible. But, now that it's gone, I feel as if I'm lower than I was before."

Radueriel knew that Claire was the kind of person who'd rather remain strong and mature in front of people in an attempt to become someone who could walk beside Kensei and Alice. At this moment, she was nothing, but a girl who lost her family and was almost completely broken down.

"Be grateful that Zekram-sama went through the trouble to eliminate you."

"There's no room in this world for an Impure Blood with the powers of an angel."

"This is the end for you!"

A group of six devils gathered all around Claire was demonic power gathered in their hands to release it all on her. It was the kind of attack that she wouldn't be able to survive without putting all her efforts into defending against the attack. However, in her current mental state, that was something that she couldn't do. But, Claire didn't look worried at all since there was the one person in her life who she depended on in her second life.

All their attacks seemed to be released in slow motion, but before long, all of them were sliced apart in a matter of seconds and vanished. Soon enough, a single figure appeared before Claire, but their backs were turned to all the devils standing behind them. It was Kensei who stabbed Excalibur Rapidly in the ground as he placed a hand on Claire's head and the wounded area.

"…."

Not a single word left his mouth as he realized the wound on her abdomen was large, but it wasn't anything that was light-threatening. Without paying any mind to the devils or exorcists behind them, he began controlling her ki to heal her wounds and even used his own to the speed of the process. Kensei knew that he would need more time to fully heal it, but there wouldn't be enough time in this situation.

"Ah, I see," Zekram recognized who Kensei was since the information was included about Claire's location. "So, I believe you could be Kensei Amagiri. This might be a late and rude introduction, but I am…."

"Shut up and wait."

"Excuse me?"

Zekram stopped almost as if he misheard Kensei who didn't appear to pay him any mind.

Then witnessed Kensei standing up to his feet, then turned around toward them, his body wrapped in a blue aura and eyes shined the same color. From Kensei was nothing but pure killing intent and hostility that could be felt by almost all the people there.

"I said," Kensei raised his finger and pointed it directly at Zekram with nothing less than serious eyes filled with a great deal of anger. "Shut up, and wait."

"You lowly human!"

"Don't think that some low-level being can talk to…."

Kensei glared at all six devils who moved in to kill Claire, then made a second attempt to attack her and himself at that moment. But, in a matter of seconds, he vanished from their sight again without making a single sound, and before lone their bodies were slashed in several places using Excalibur Rapidly. A famous sword wrapped up in its aura and the Church's ultimate weapon, their wounds smoked and their existence was extinguished.

"…!"

Having witnessed six of their own erased without a single thought, all the devils started leaking out intense killing intent. All the exorcists standing on the sidelines realized that it was Excalibur Rapidly and Nightmare sheathed at his side. A hostile aura leaked from their bodies after realizing that something must've happened to their well-respected teacher who previously had those swords.

But, neither they got the chance to ask as Kensei returned to gently pick Claire up from off the ground inside his arms. Then again used Shinsoku and Rapidly to vanish at tremendous speed without making a single sound as it took the devils and exorcists longer to react to that.

---

Kensei went to the forest further from where the devils and exorcists gathered, then gently laid Claire against one of the trees. He placed down Excalibur Rapidly, then started checking up on her condition, but he didn't even get a single reaction or response from her.

"Claire?"

"…."

Despite calling out her name, Claire didn't react to him at all.

"She's in shock."

Kensei surmised after sensing that her ki was in an erratic state due to all that happened to her in a short period, which didn't let her recover emotionally. He gritted his teeth after realizing that the chest area of her shirt was in full view due to whatever attack she suffered, in addition to her bra. Without hesitating, Kensei took off the jacket he was wearing and placed it around her.

[You're right.] Kensei heard Radueriel speaking to him as he started gently brushing his finger against her cheek.[She was speaking moments ago, but she's not reacting to anything that I'm saying to her at all. It was all far too much for her to handle at the same time.]

"Don't worry, Claire. I'll be right back."

Kensei after kissing her forehead stood up to his feet and turned his attention toward the battle that he left simply moments ago. He reached inside his pockets, then pulled out four talismans before spreading his spiritual energy in them, causing the spells engraved on them to shine a bright light.

[Kensei, I know I have no right to say this and it might be biased coming from me, but…it's about those exorcists. I know that you'll never forgive them for attempting to kill Claire. But, some of them experienced the loss of their family members or someone important to them. And are brought up believing that all devils are evil existence, which needs to be purged. But….]

"I'm not planning on killing the exorcists since I'm not sure whether or not these were the ones involved in killing her parents. I know from personal experience just how it feels to lose someone important because of the actions of devils. But, I'm not childish enough to blame all devils for what a small group of them did years ago," he replied in a serious tone before looking forward. "But, that doesn't mean they're going to get away scot-free after all this, I already promised that I'd show them what it means to cross me. And one more thing, Radueriel-san?"

[Huh?]

"You're an important part of Claire's life too ever since you started teaching her about her sacred gear after I had vanished from Hagun Island. So, that makes you involved in this too."

Those were the last words that Kensei said before vanishing again, proceeding toward the battlefield. Radueriel took those words from him to heart and continued his hardest to console the disheartened young girl.

---

"I didn't think that brat would be capable of escaping from the man known as a titan," Hilda cockily spoke out loud enough for the exorcists to hear her, causing them to feel some hostility toward them. "I guess that humans are still humans no matter the situation."

"You detestable devil woman!"

"Cristaldi-sensei isn't a weak warrior. Some trick must've been done to him!"

"He's slain several hundred devils such as yourself in the past!"

Zekram stood in the same position as before thinking about the next course of action that he should take. It was a simple plan to have Claire lured outside of Kibou Town using Hilda who transformed herself into Evangeline. In his head, it wouldn't cause tension between the Shinto Gods as Claire wasn't part of their faction in the first place and wasn't killed on their land.

"That one, Kensei Amagiri is an important part of the Shinto Faction, so if we fought against him, then it wouldn't go well with the Chief-God. I'll need to figure out how to deal with this situation before…."

"Hah, as it stands even low-class devils or low births stand at a higher league than humans who live a measly thirty to fifty years at best. So, that's why…."

Hilda was stopped as Kensei appeared in front of her without the slightest hint of his presence being known until he was right in front of her. Due to her experiences in the Rating Games, she was starting to move into a defensive position and focused on the Rook trait of her Queen piece. But, there was something that even the great defense of the Rook could defend against. A blue aura covered Kensei's hand as he backhanded Hilda across the face, which sent her a great distance crashing through a tree.

"That hit was for Claire, Kunou, and Iris," Kensei said without caring as Hilda fell unconscious to the ground since that strike was infused with senjutsu. As a result of the fast strike, there was a large red welt that started forming on her cheek. "Now, I onto the head asshole."

Kensei spoke out loud turning around to face Zekram who had several guards moving around him to protect him due to the holy sword. He didn't pay either of them any mind as his attention was directed toward the one person responsible for Claire's current condition.

"I see that you didn't hesitate to even strike a woman."

"My mother said I should treat everyone, an opponent or enemy as an equal whether they're a man or woman," a high amount of hostility could be heard in his tone alone. "And at the moment, all I see here are enemies."

"I am…."

"Zekram Bael, the First Head of the Bael Clan. My dad has close ties with the current Maou and he informed me all about the different clans in the Underworld including you," Kensei interrupted him leaving Zekram stupefied as those words left his mouth as Kensei started running a finger across Rapidly. "But, allow me to share some very important information before we get started."

Slash! Cut!

Kensei swung Excalibur Rapidly at such speed that the devils guarding Zekram couldn't react to it as a deep cut was formed on the elder devil's cheek, causing it to smoke. Reacting to the burning sensation of the holy sword, Zekram placed his hand on his cheek as blood started leaking from it. Kensei didn't hold back on the holy wave released at the same time as the sword was swung.

"Zekram-sama!"

"You damn human brat!"

"Quickly the Phoenix Tear!"

All the devils started moving to tend to Zekram's wounded cheek, then retrieved something from inside another space, which seemed like a vial filled with liquid. As it was being sprinkled on the wound, Zekram gritted his teeth from the pain and noticed Kensei staring down at him.

"When I was ten, I sliced up several old devils. And just a couple of days ago, I threatened an evil god and I also helped kill an evil dragon," Kensei said resting Excalibur Rapidly on his shoulder before raising his free hand, then gave Zekram the middle finger angering all the devils around him due to the blatant disrespect. "So, here is exactly what I think about your status and position."

"D-Do you think that the devils here are going to let you off after that? All of them are skilled soldiers working for the Great King Faction. And the woman you just slapped is the Queen of a Top-Ranked Rating Game Player and an Ultimate-Class Devil. Do you think you'll get off with all this?"

"I'll worry about that when it happens," Kensei said as his eyes flared a bright blue before glaring towards Zekram who was being helped to his feet after being affected by the holy aura a bit. "But, let me answer your question with a question. Do you think I'm going to let you off after entering my town and hurting the girl I love?"

"Hey, you!"

Kensei noticed one of the exorcists, a man who looked older than himself and was pointing at Rapidly.

"How did you get those swords?!"

"I took all three from the blowhard named Cristaldi. He's still over there if you want to see for yourself."

Kensei replied without caring about the hostility being sent in his direction as it appeared as if the exorcists would also be getting involved in the battle too. He could sense that there were far more devils than exorcists due to their numbers measured to at least fifty exorcists. And there were almost sixty devils (well minus the six he killed after arriving there).

"You needed this many exorcists and devils just to kill one girl?"

"After the previous incident, we wanted to ensure that all the loose ends were tied," Zekram said as he started to stand up himself without assistance as the wound was already healed. "Do you believe that you can handle all of them alone and protect that girl?"

"Well, fighting against about one-hundred and ten people would be difficult even for me, but…."

On cue, around Kensei, several large magic circles started appearing around him causing Zekram to stare on with wondering and turn into a stunning expression. Appearing from them were several people who lived inside of Kibou Town, the survivors of Hagun Island. Although, it wasn't all of them since some were much still too young to enter a serious battlefield. All their numbers measured to be sixty, but all of them stood prepared for the battle against the exorcists and devils.

Among their group, there was Alice, Zane, Maria, Hisui, Layla, Rui, Kunou, and Iris. It seemed as if Lena was left out of the battle since she was still aligned with the Norse World, so it wouldn't be right to involve her.

"There must've been some weird thought in your heads that no one would attempt to rescue a half-breed. But, all of us have been through hell and back together for several years. So, we all built a bond from fighting for each other and surviving together," Kensei said before looking forward toward the larger group. "So picking a fight with one of us means picking a fight with all of us! Right, everyone!"

[Right!]

Everyone from Kensei's side all declared that out loud as their joined powerful voices nearly surprised the enemy group who still couldn't believe what was happening. Despite it not going in the direction that they wanted it to, the devil and exorcist troops didn't want to turn back from this battle for different reasons. One, the important figures from both sides were injured. Two, there was something their group wanted to succeed. And three, their pride did not allow them to escape after coming this far.

"Please handle the situation as you see fit and ensure that the mission is accomplished. It took too much effort in gathering our forces to leave things as is," Zekram whispered to the person he designated as the acting leader. "I will be taking my leave as Sirzechs may becoming suspicious by my long absence. Due to all the responsibilities as a Maou, he likely won't notice the troops here, but resolve this as fast as possible."

"Yes, Zekram-sama."

The newly appointed leader replied.

Zekram without turning to face the group again began walking off as he activated a magic circle meant to teleport himself back to the Underworld. Kensei signaled for Zane, who nodded his head in agreement, before discreetly pointing his finger at him and causing a magic circle to appear on him before vanishing. Seconds later, the cause of the entire incident vanished, but that didn't deter the exorcists' and devils' fighting spirits.

"Kensei, where's Claire?"

Alice walked beside him, then asked that question after pulling at his sleeve.

"She's in the direction behind us. But, don't worry, I placed a strong barrier around her," Kensei explained, while continuing to look forward before shouting. "Everyone watch out for anyone attempting to break off from their group in an attempt to kill Claire under all the commotion."

[Right!]

"And Maria, here," Kensei tossed both Excalibur Rapidly and Nightmare toward Maria who caught both of them in her hand staring at the two swords with great interest recognizing them. He was well aware that aside from her sacred gear, Maria was also a natural-born holy sword wielder. "It might be bad for us to keep them, but it might give a little bit of insight into how to use your sacred gear more in the future."

"Ah, Rapidly and Nightmare," Maria said as she sheathed both swords beside her before looking around all their enemies before them. "Where's that woman who injured Iris?"

Iris' ears perked up after hearing that, but there was something else that she wanted to do instead of going after that woman. Kensei pointed in the direction where she was sent toward without hesitating.

"She's there, but she should be waking up in a minute or two," Kensei replied as Maria and Layla seemed to be prepared for a fight. "But, as much as it pains me to say, don't kill her. Her King appears to be an Ultimate-Class Devil and an important person in the Underworld. So, killing her might stir up some more trouble in the future."

"I'll keep that in mind. But, I don't plan on letting her off easy either. Let's go, Layla!"

"Right!"

Both Maria and Layla started heading off in the direction of Hilda after receiving the go-ahead that she'd be up in a couple of moments. Kunou and Iris walked beside him too, but Kensei already knew what they wanted to do with neither needing to say anything.

"Alright, the two of you can head off to Claire."

"Thanks, Ken-nii!"

"Thank you, Kensei!"

Kunou and Iris replied before heading off in the direction that Claire was currently resting before either the devils or exorcists could reach her.

After all, that business was done, both sides started glaring at one another, different auras started to radiate from a lot of them. Kensei stared forward noticing that all the opponents before them all were at least the same level of High-Class Devils. But, a lot of the teens besides them were experienced due to the battles during the Gehenna Tournament and became stronger than before.

He found himself locking eyes with the acting devil commander who stared back at him with the same expression on his face. There was also the person who was leading all the exorcists besides them. It wasn't long before a single command left all three of their mouths.

"""Charge!"""

All three leaders shouted out loud as the people from all sides let their fighting spirits roar out before charging at one another. A thunderous shout left the mouths of the people involved in the battle as they prepared themselves for the large battle.

---

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, that son of a bitch slapped me!"

Hilda shouted as she helped herself back to her feet after removing herself from the tree she was sent flying into, then winced after touching her reddened cheek. She started clenching her hand tightly on the tree, resulting in all her fingers being dug into the bark. A greenish demonic aura started radiating from her entire body as it looked as if the tree's middle section was blown apart causing the wood to splinter everywhere.

"I'm going back to kill that little bastard, then I'm going to murder that little bitch too!"

Hilda started stomping off in the direction where Kensei currently was but stopped after noticing the presence of two different people appearing before her. She looked forward to seeing Maria standing at a distance from her with serious eyes directed at her was and followed by Layla.

"If memories serve, then you're Maria Lancelot, and Layla Caldwell," Hilda said after searching through all of the memories of her avatar. "Well, I'm not in the mood to deal with another set of bitches."

Hilda waved them off, then started heading off in the direction where Kensei and the others were stationed, but in a single movement, Maria appeared before her. She was almost surprised about that speed, causing Hilda to move backward using her enhanced speed.

"Tsk, are you mad that I took some half-breed girl and she may or may not have heard some unfortunate news of her parent's death," Hilda said waving her hand, hearing that caused Maria and Layla to glare at her much more harshly than before. "Come on, I don't see the reason for getting all bent out of shape, there are several things in the world that you should be more focused on instead of one girl's situation."

"That is a big part of it, but there's one more part that you forgot to mention," Maria said as the aura covering her started becoming more apparent. "You forgot about the silver-haired girl that you attacked to the point of making her fall unconscious. My little sister."

"Argh, you're one of those people who adopt those who were already long abandoned, right," Hilda looked to be getting more and more irritated as she talked to Maria before pointing at Layla who stood beside her. "I guess the same can be said about the one standing beside you, right? Come on, no good's going to come from gathering failures who weren't loved at…."

Slash!

Maria slashed Rapidly at a speed that Hilda almost couldn't follow using her eyes alone, causing a small wound to open on her cheek. A light smoke seeped from the wound as her expression started tightening as a vein seem to appear on her forward.

"I don't care if the entire world rejects them, I'll protect my sisters to my last breath."

Maria's serious eyes caused Hilda to become irritated.

"Hah, those eyes remind me of that bitch that I've hated for a long time. Someone who'd rather die than betray their long-dead King and endured almost nine years' worth of torture to save that pathetic half-breed."

"Is that so? Then, that means that person was better than you, right?"

Maria taunted causing the vein on Hilda's forehead to become more apparent as she formed two demonic bullets in her hands, their power was great and compressed.

"I'm better than her! I killed her! I'm the last one standing!"

Hilda released her two demonic bullets at Maria and Layla, with both avoiding them at a hairsbreadth as the latter summoned her sacred gear. The Glacier Trident, an ice-blue aura was released from the trident in her hands as the light blue energy blades gave off a frigid presence. She was the first person to move as she noticed that both the demonic blasts released by her started chasing after her and Maria.

Through their trained speed and flexibility, the two of them were able to avoid the demonic blasts without either of them coming close to hitting them. Hilda skillfully manipulates both blasts without showing the slightest movement of her arms or position. But, Maria and Layla were already aware of how to handle the attacks chasing after them as they accurately read their timing.

""…now!""

Taking one final step, both Maria and Layla stopped feet from the demonic blasts being aimed at them, but it was close enough to where Hilda wouldn't be able to alter their path. Maria tightly held Rapidly in her hands gathering its holy aura, then split the demonic blast in half. Layla spun her trident around in her hands before thrusting it at the demonic blast, piercing through and freezing it.

"Tch."

Hilda fired off another demonic blast that blasted apart the frozen demonic blast causing various fragments to be sprayed everywhere. Taking this chance, Layla propelled herself forward making several quick thrusts at Hilda, who managed to avoid it using the Knight trait. She could feel the chilling air from the tips of the three blades on her trident as it seemed even freeze the strands of her hair.

Layla continued with the assault as she moved around the trident in several intricate ways in her hands, then switched from one hand to another. After making one final spin in her hands, she slashed it horizontally releasing an ice wave from the blades.

"Ugh, this is so irritating fighting just another brat!"

Hilda used demonic power to create flames in her hands, before releasing it as a large fireball right in front of her. Layla could see that the flames were meant to counter her ice, but she already had an idea in mind to use this to her advantage. Instead of avoiding it, Layla gathered Glacier Trident's icy aura, then started spinning it around in her hands at high speed. After the flame and ice came into contact with one another, it generated a wide cloud of steam that spread outwards.

"Clever girl, but this is simple enough to get through!"

Hilda used demonic power to produce a strong gust that spread outwards, which blew away all the stream made by their fire and ice colliding. However, the moment that she did, Maria appeared in front of her, pointing Rapidly at her face. Hilda avoided the thrusting motion, then smirked sadistically as she pointed her hand right in front of Maria's face and released a close-range demonic blast.

"I didn't think that it'd be this…huh?"

Hilda looked forward surprised as she noticed that 'Maria' vanished like a mirage causing her to become shocked and look around searching for her. All around her were different avatars of Maria produced using Nightmare and it left her looking around wondering which one was real.

"Tsk, do you think that this childish move is going to defeat me?!"

Hilda started releasing smaller demonic bullets from all ranges that each came in contact with the avatars, which were produced using Nightmare. All of the avatars vanished one after another without much resistance as their forms lacked a physical presence. After that, Maria appeared in front of her, but she couldn't see Layla anywhere around the location.

"So, what did she turn tail and run?! I guess that one of your little sisters isn't that courageous."

"Neither of you all who needed an entire army just to kill one girl."

Maria countered as she prepared Rapidly and Nightmare in her hands as Hilda seemed to start laughing out loud in response to those words.

"Do you think that you can afford to make an enemy of the Great King Faction? It's one of the greatest factions in the Underworld with almost more political influence than the current Maou Faction. And one of the people who're on their side, my King is an Ultimate-Class Devil and one of the top-ranked Rating Game players."

"Do you think that you can afford to make an enemy out of us? I mean, we're starting to gain support from even a famous Chief-God and their faction."

Maria countered fearlessly without revealing anything else.

"Do you think that I'd buy that?! Who would ever side with a bunch of brats?!"

Hilda replied as she summoned several circular blades before sending them all that Maria from all possible sides, but she didn't appear phased at all. Instead, she prepared Rapidly and Nightmare in her hands as the blades had started being flung in her direction.

"Hah!"

Maria let out a shout as she started fighting using a two-sword style, which was strengthened due to Excalibur Rapidly's abilities. Because of this, she was able to handle all the circular blades being sent in her direction using both swords. Similar to before, Hilda would alter the circular blades' course resulting in Maria being slashed at a non-fatal spot on her body, but blood still leaked from the wounds. But, due to increasing the holy aura inside the swords, Maria was capable of cutting through a number of the circular blades.

"What the hell is wrong with these people? Why are they fighting for some bratty half-breed?!"

Hilda gritted her teeth unable to understand the reason that Maria would continue fighting despite all the wounds suffered from the circular blades. Despite all that, Maria continued looking forward at Hilda with the same look of determination as before as the blades continued coming for her.

---

Meanwhile, on the battlefield where the Kibou Group was fighting against the unit composed of the exorcists and devils. Their group spread outwards as various attacks were launched at one another causing explosions, which broke parts of the ground. For those who fought using weapons, they fought against all the exorcists who wielded exorcist equipment using light. Both their weapons whether close or long-ranged clashed against each other with almost the same amount of skill between one.

Those who used long-ranged powers from the Kibou Group released their attacks at the devils who did the same thing, while both sides attempted to defend themselves using barriers. If there was any kind of advantages that their group had over the devils and exorcists, then it would be their teamwork. Since the devils and exorcists are will enemies despite having a common goal, neither side was able to work together as a unit.

In another part of the battlefield, Rui was fighting against several exorcists using hand-to-hand combat, which was picked up from lessons. Her attacks weren't normal as she was able to infuse touki into her fists allowing her attacks to hit them much harder than before. She already knew that it would be bad to take attacks from all their light weapons since the light was a weakness of all youkai.

"Fuu, this is a little difficult for me…," Rui said as she knocked a larger exorcist backward using a punch. "I might have learned hand-to-hand, but fighting like this isn't a strong point of mine. And without learning senjutsu from Hisui, then fighting against these guys who're more experienced than I would've been troublesome. But, that doesn't mean that I'm going to end up running away from this."

Despite finding fighting on the front lines like this difficult for someone like her, Rui continued fighting against the opponents before her or a friend. Just as she was preparing for another attack, behind her, a well-built exorcist held a battle-ax whose blades were made from light held it upwards.

"Raaah, die monster!"

"Now, that's no way to treat a lady! Keibu!"

"Gah!"

A figure propelled off themselves off the exorcist's head in front of Rui, then formed a hard kick aimed directly at the well-built exorcist's neck causing an immediate reaction from him. His eyes went white as he fell unconscious as a result of being struck in that vital spot causing him to land on the ground. The figure was discovered to be Hisui who landed on the ground beside Rui winking toward her best friend.

"Heya, Rui. Need a little bit of help?"

"I mean yes, but I'll need to get used to situations like this since we're going to be in more difficult fights possibly in the future. You know, I was surprised that you created a martial art based on kicking."

"I just thought that a kick-based marital art matches me the most, y'know, possibly because my legs are one of my best qualities. And besides, I think that fighting using my legs and kicks is more elegant than using fists."

Hisui explained as she spun around to kick another exorcist in the neck causing them to fall back toward the ground unconscious before going on to kick another one in the stomach. She continued going forward like a cat pouncing around on the battlefield as she used various kicks and sweeping kicks to knock her opponents off their balance before landing on them.

Rui could see that Hisui was focusing touki more on her legs causing a greater impact on the humans and devils she was fighting against. After seeming to almost land on the ground, she did a handstand before continuing to do several spinning kicks at whoever became her opponent.

"Hah, it almost motivates me a little bit more seeing someone as nonchalant as Hisui working hard like this," Rui let a laugh escape from her mouth as she started focusing far more on gathering a whitish blue aura around both her fists. Before rushing forward at the exorcists in front of her path. "It might not be my style, but let's see how much damage that I can cause."

She continued fighting off the exorcists as much as possible without being struck by the light weapons wielded by them. Rui seemed to have been taking this entire battle as seriously as possible. Hisui, on the other hand, charged into the situation having the most fun possible fighting against exorcists and devils. Before one of the devils could fire off a demonic blast at her, Hisui pounced forward kicking him in the face using both legs and causing him to land backward on the ground.

"Nyahahaha! This will show you for messing with our darling little girl before her birthday!"

Hisui laughed and mocked as she jumped from off the devil causing him to grunt from the pain of having his face stomped on. He stood up from the ground irritated after being treated in such an uncivil manner by someone he viewed as a being lower than himself.

"Damn nekomata, you're species truly is a pain like that other one!"

"Oh, what other nekomata would that be?"

Hisui didn't get a single response from the devil as he seemed to gather demonic power in his hands and fire off a shockwave from his hands. Anticipating this attack, she avoided it by a hairsbreadth, but it helped that she could sense the range of the shockwaves. The devil continued firing off shockwaves at Hisui who avoided each of them using her cat-like reflexes as she seemed to be having fun doing it and laughing at the devil's attempt.

"I can tell that all these devils are at least experienced in real combat. But, I heard that no devil believes in training themselves and instead learns from experience and talent. It's surprising knowing that these soldiers can fight like that and maintain trust. But, there's one problem with going against us…."

Hisui thought as she started gathering ki and youki around in a single spot after landing on the ground against. It soon took shape as a compressed jade-colored sphere that the devil couldn't help noticing. He started to release another shockwave at Hisui but noticed she launched the sphere in the air and spun herself around before firing it off toward the devil after kicking it.

Before the devil could release his shockwave, the energy sphere smashed against the devil's chest sending him a great distance before landing on the ground.

"To devils, we might be young, but you're dealing with a group of kids handpicked due to their talent and powers," Hisui said as if lecturing him before wagging her fingers. "We've already experienced life-and-death battles from a young age and still train ourselves. So, at least when it comes to the devils, I believe we have the advantage in fighting some of them."

Hisui didn't a single response from the devil as he was groaning from being hit with that last attack aimed directly at his abdomen. Seeing that he wasn't going to answer, Hisui simply went back to fighting against the devils and exorcists who gathered around them.

---

Standing at another section of the battlefield, Zane was holding Nacht and Licht in his hand firing off its bullets at whatever target caught his attention. At the same time, he surveyed the entire battlefield as the battles raged on from both sides. He could see those from Kibou's side were doing well fighting against their enemies where they were devils or exorcists. But, the devils and exorcists showed signs of also holding their own against their group in some situations.

"If I had to guess I'd say that both sides are pretty even in terms of experience, so from that standpoint things can go either…oh," after noticing that an exorcist who was pointing a light gun at the blindside of those on their side, he pointed Natch at the gun. He fired off a bullet that was infused with some magic power and managed to break the light gun. "That was a close one, now where was I…?"

Zane wondered out loud as the loud noises and battle were interfering with his thought process somewhat before an exorcist appeared behind him. He was wielding a kind of bo staff that was made of light from the base, which he was spinning around in his hand. Knowing that he wasn't the best at close-range combat, so he started doing his best to avoid getting into a confrontation.

"Of course, I'd end up fighting into close-quarters in the middle of this battlefield."

Zane somewhat complained, but he continued to avoid various precise strikes from the staff-wielding exorcist, even strengthening his physical abilities using magic. He began blocking a number of the strikes that he could by using either of his pistols. Zane pointed Nacht at the exorcist after blocking the initial strike using Licht, but he'd manage to avoid the bullet by moving his head to the side.

Each time, he fired off a bullet enhancing from his magic power, the staff-wielding exorcist managed to avoid the bullets or deflected them using his staff. Zane found it impossible to get in a single attack on the exorcist as his skills made it impossible for him. His skills in wielding a staff and being able to block or deflect bullets like this made him either an expert or master martial artist.

"It appears that despite using guns, you're not all that used to close-quarters combat," the staff-wielder said as he started spinning around the light staff in his hands. "You should be aware for fighters like magicians more so one who uses long-ranged weapons. You fighting on the front lines like this is hazardous!"

The staff-wielder propelled himself forward at Zane using a speed that even he could barely react to using magic, and he started to create a magic circle to act as a barrier. Before he could even make a move, the staff-wielding exorcist was blasted away by magic, but he managed to regain his magic.

"Uh, wha…?"

"Why're you standing around like a worthless magician and human being?"

Zane was stomped as he heard that familiar voice, that harsh comment, which could severely wound the souls of anyone who heard it. He turned around to find Lena dressed for combat standing at a distance from him wearing her usual impassive expression.

"Lena?! I thought that we said that you didn't have to get involved in this battle."

Zane said after finding Lena on the battlefield pointing her finger at the exorcist who had regained his footing and balance after being blasted like that.

"If I didn't then you would've likely been attacked by that useless clergy wielding that tasteless staff."

Even the exorcist who didn't know Lena started feeling his confidence starting to plummet after hearing her harsh tone and comment, which were strictly aimed at him.

"I had him."

"I don't believe you."

Lena countered Zane as she glanced over toward the staff-wielding exorcist who started charging forward toward his opponent. She turned her attention at him and held out her hand, a darkish magic power covered her hand as the exorcist was suddenly propelled into the air, breaking his balance. After seeing that chance, Zane pointed his white and black pistols at the airborne exorcist. He fired off a blast that didn't do severe harm to the exorcist, but it did send him backward until he landed hard on the ground unconscious.

"See you needed help defeating that one person."

"Did you come here just because you were worried about me?"

In response to Zane's question, Lena stared back at him wearing her usual impassive look, but her eyes, on the other hand, were nothing like that. It showed the kind of dark sensation that almost caused him to feel nothing far lower than usual. But, it ceased as she started moving to assist him in fighting against the exorcists and devils who all started to gather.

"Just don't get yourself killed. I was assigned to be an assistant and overseer for you, so it'll ruin my reputation if you died here. Due to the stunt, all of you pulled in the Norse World, some of the important people including Odin-sama have high expectations for your group."

"I can understand that reasoning. But, I sometimes can never understand you at all. And I believe, I have enough common sense to realize that it isn't just a woman thing," Zane replied preparing Natch and Licht inside his hands before he and Lena went back-to-back against their opponents. "Well, I could use some help."

"That's why I'm here. So, get your act together, Dark Mage King."

"Ugh, I those names," Zane groaned recalling all the chuunibyou-esque names Maria, Alice, and Claire gave him before smiling. "Ah, right, now I remember. Despite the devils and exorcists being relatively equal to us, we're all able to work well together…so that gives us the advantage."

After uttering those words he and Lena started fighting against the opponents who gathered around them using their magic attacks. Although the two of them didn't get along well in the eyes of others, there were moments like this where the two of them can work well together.

---

"Argh!"

"Dammit!"

"This human is troublesome!"

Several devils and exorcists were downed as Kensei held two swords in his hands; in his left was Kurogane, and in his right was Mimic, which was transformed into a traditional katana. All those devils around him suffered from smoking wounds caused by both swords. All the exorcists found their light weapons unable to match either of the swords in his hands, but neither of them ceased since one of them belonged to their beloved teacher.

"Unhand that sword, only those from God's side can wield them!"

"Right?!"

"Raaah!"

From around him, several exorcists started to charge at him with their light weapons already prepared inside of their hands. Kensei stood in a prepared stance as the exorcists started charging him all at once using their light swords. In response to this, he started handling all the slashes from them using Kurogane and Mimic being able to react to even assaults aimed at his blindspot.

"Argh, he's been well-trained!"

"I can see how he was able to fight against Teacher Ewald!"

"But, he must've used some trick against him!"

Kensei could see that the exorcists charging at him had a lot of respect for Ewald, but that didn't make him regret fighting against him and them. He also recalled Radueriel's words about the situations that these exorcists might have gone through due to beings such as devils. However—

"I have my reasons for fighting. So, I won't hold back even if they've gone through something terrible due to devils and monsters," Kensei thought as he cut through the light swords of the two exorcists who charged at him. "Since Claire has gone through something worse because of some people from the Church and Underworld."

Even when fighting against the exorcists, he also kept focusing on the devils who didn't seem to have been as involved in the battle despite outnumbering him. It didn't have him any kind of comfort since he knew that all the devils here weren't driven by the 'justice' and 'purity' that the exorcists had believed in. Instead, it was due to their selfish desires and pride about allowing the daughter of a devil and exorcist to live.

"What're they…?"

Kensei looked around noticing that as the exorcists were trying to get Excalibur Mimic from him, the devils who'd been fighting against him surrounded them. After blocking another light sword using Kurogane, Kensei turned on his heel and delivered a heel kick to one of the exorcist's chin. It was enough to knock him to the ground and also disorient him due to being struck hard in that spot.

"Wait…."

Kensei soon started noticing that five devils gathered around him and the three exorcists were fighting each other. All of them amassed demonic power in their hands as he could feel the presence around all four of them, which caused him to realize their intentions.

"Tch, they plan on taking out me along with the exorcists. Of course, since these people still do hate each other even though they agree to this entire battle."

Kensei realized that he could avoid the attack, but the exorcists who are still too preoccupied fighting against him to focus on the attack that's going to be released on all of them.

"Hah, I'm too nice," Kensei thought of something that could help in this situation, but it wouldn't be something that might assist him in the end. He positioned the two swords in his hand as the wind started gathering around Kurogane and Mimic as he prepared to twist his body around. "Amagiri-ryuu: Tatsumaki!"

"""Uaaaaah!"""

Kensei released a miniature tornado around himself, which knocked all three exorcists in the air unable to regain their balance, while airborne. At the same time, all those devils who gathered their demonic powers unleashed a massive attack that contained different elements. All of them converged around Kensei who looks to have taken a direct hit from all the elemental blasts converged around him.

"Hahaha, take that, you pathetic human!"

"If you're still alive, that'll remain you not to interfere with things higher than you!"

"This is what happens when you mess with…."

Before the third devil could finish speaking, a sword came from the smoke and pierced through his heart, causing blood to escape from his mouth as he died. It was revealed to be Mimic which caused his entire existence to be erased, but it continued floating in the air as a blue aura covered it. It soon retreated into the smoke as the sole figure inside the smoke blow it away using a single slash.

"I'm not holding back against the devils here."

Kensei walked outside the smoke wrapped in a strong touki, which protected him from the elemental attacks fired at him from all sides. But, there was some damage done to his clothing and skin as he walked forward toward his current targets as the exorcists landed on the ground unconscious.

"Amagiri-ryuu…."

"Damn human!"

"Don't think that you can…."

"Gah!"

Before either of them could react, Kensei rushed toward them all slashing both Kurogane and Mimic, which had a white aura wrapped around them. In almost a single moment, he slashes all five of them using both swords in his hands causing wounds that spread across their bodies.

"Zanmasen!"

Due to the technique and swords, their existence was erased seconds later without leaving anything remaining at all. After that, he glanced to the side after seeing an explosion of flames from the right, then witnessed as Alice's monster, Ignis starter releasing flames at its opponents. Several devils made attempts at striking her own but were stopped due to the knight-like monsters she created.

"Wow, Alice is more motivated than I've ever seen before."

Kensei noted as he stared at Alice who stood on the battlefield instead of being left on the supportive side.

Unlike most of the time, Alice looked more motivated in this battle and more than when she would warn everyone not to disturb her when working. Of course, the reason was obvious enough since someone she treated like her younger sister was heart to the point of falling into shock. She remained standing in the same spot as her knights defended her from behind assaulted, but among them, Ignis was the strongest monster in her arsenal.

"I don't want to interrupt Kensei and Hisui to recover my stamina at the moment, so I might need to rely on Ignis and my cavalry for the time being."

Alice surmised some of the cavalries stood in front of her to endure the demonic or light blasts being fired off in her general direction. But, the monsters were able to recover themselves from the minor damage caused to them, which wouldn't take more stamina from Alice.

---

But, all of the devils and the leader watching as those from their side and the exorcists were almost being pushed back by their enemies. The devil leader allowed a clicking sound to escape from his mouth after witnessing it all occur right in front of his eyes.

"For us to be pushed back by children, humans, half-breeds, and other supernatural creatures."

The devil leader spat out irritated.

"What do we do now, sir?"

One of his subordinates asked worried about failing this.

"Zekram-sama expects us all to fulfill our duties, which is why that I went some soldiers over to deal with the half-breed so that we can leave. It doesn't matter to us if the exorcists end up being blamed for this incident or killed in continuing to fight against these fools."

The devil leader coldly stated before noticing that a large number of their troops were being taken out by an assortment of light or purifying-based powers. A sigh escaped from his mouth as he started moving his left hand, causing a cracking sound to come from his knuckles being cracked.

"It appears as if we'll need to start taking these children a little more serious."

Placing his hand on the ground, the devil leader activated a magic circle that gave off an ominous presence after being established. Three massive obscured figures came from the magic circle letting out a presence that caught the attention of almost all the people fighting. The thing that came out from the magic circle were three enormous three-headed black dogs with red eyes that seemed to shine. Due to the descending sun, the figure of all three of these hounds looked more ominous.

"Hahahaha, for these people who dare rebel against the Great King Faction, here are three trained Cerberus. All three of these hounds can even give high-class devils trouble!"

The devil leader's voice seemed to echo across the battlefield, in addition to the three Cerberus' howl, which had seemed to shake the air. Kensei and Hisui could tell that the devil leader wasn't joking around when he said that as all three Cerberus were giving off a stronger presence compared to the devils that they were fighting thus far. It didn't make things better as one of the Cerberus' three mouths opened as wide as possible before unleashing a massive wave of flames toward the battlefield.

It didn't appear to care whether or not it was their enemies or exorcists, it simply burned everything that was right in front of their eyes.

"How dare those devils to summon Hell's guard dog to the human world!"

"This thing is going to wreak havoc everywhere it goes!"

The exorcists appeared to be annoyed as they worked on creating holy barriers using crosses to defend themselves from the flames. But, it appears to crack their barriers due to the power behind them, as well as due to all three flames combined into a single conflagration.

Others from the Kibou Group created barriers in an attempt to defend themselves from all the flames released across the battlefield. It didn't take long for all the Cerberus to follow their fellow kin's lead as flames were ejected from their mouths, scorching apart the entire field around them.

"Well, this wasn't a part of my estimation."

Zane stated as he and Lena created a barrier to defend themselves and others from the flames that were brought out from the creatures' mouths. From all around them, the devils seemed to have already retreated to a far safer area almost as if this entire thing was planned beforehand or already in place as a backup.

"It appears as if this devil is planning on burning even the exorcists who joined them on this plan too."

"Both sides have been enemies since before either of us were born, the fact that they worked together just to kill Claire who embodies both sides speaks volumes of that. But, speaking from a strategic standpoint, if you wanted to take out a huge chunk of your enemies' fighting potential, then this would be the perfect chance."

Zane surmised since summoning three powerful Cerberus would put their temporary allies in danger too, but he didn't know whether Zekram planned this or if the devil leader was acting in their best interests.

"Well, whatever the reason, we'll need to stop the flames from continuing to spread outwards like this," Zane said as he opened a line of communication with everyone on their side using magic. "Can everyone hear me?"

[Yes!]

Everyone from Kibou replied to Zane as all of them were using their methods in defending themselves, Hisui and Rui stood near one another creating a defensive barrier using youki. Kensei stood in front of Alice holding up talismans in front of him as a barrier was formed around both of them. But, due to the combined flame assault by the three Cerberus, her cavalry was burned away leaving Ignis who was a flame-based monster.

"Look, I'll make this quick. All the people skilled in using water to attack need to release the most powerful move you're able to muster at the same time to extinguish them."

[But, that means they'll need to step outside of the barriers to release an attack that powerful. And these flames being released by nine heads will fry them.]

Hisui spoke to him over the magical communication link, which Zane nodded his head at.

"Yea, I understand that, but that means someone needs to…."

[I got it!]

Kensei could be heard from the other end of the line as he let go of the talisman causing it to float in the air right in front of him. Before anyone could say anything, Kensei leaned to the ground and focused ki at his legs to the limit before jumping up and passing through the barrier. He turned Mimic back into a Japanese beaded bracelet around his wrist and prepared Kurogane.

Inside the air, he looked downwards looking for the first spot to release this next attack against the flames. After finding that spot, Kensei started amassing a greater deal of water around him and Kurogane. He started to move around in the air and rotate the water all around him as he continued falling straight into the flames below him.

"Amagiri-ryuu Hiken: Takitsubo!"

Kensei held Kurogane using both hands and brought down a descending waterfall using a great deal of force, which created a massive wave of water. As soon as it came in contact with the flames that were spread all across the battlefield, it extinguished a lot of flames.

[Now!]

Seeing that the flames were being held back somewhat, Zane gave the signal for all of them to make their move. And so, all those able to use water in some way left their defensive barriers and unleashed the strongest possible attack against the rest of the flames. Due to all the water being released at the same time, some of the people there were drenched in the water. And the aftermath of the flames destroyed most of the grass and plants originally on the battlefield and surrounding area.

However, around the battlefield, there were some exorcists and people from their side who were burned due to all the flames. So their allies removed them from the battlefield and brought them inside the forest since it was the safest place for them at the moment.

"Hahaha! This is the power of the Cerberus kept under the Great King Faction!"

The devil leader declared out loud as the three Cerberus started howling out loud causing most of them to cover their ears due to how loud the conjoined howl was.

"Well, no one likes it when a dog is being disobedient."

Kensei appeared beside one of the Cerberus with his fist balled up tightly into a fist, then a great amount of touki was channeled around his fist. Using what he learned from Chinese Kenpo, he stood in a prepared stance before aiming a strong punch at the side of it.

Growl!

In response to being punched in the side, the Cerberus growled at the impact, which nearly rocked its entire body as it went in to attack him. As one of the heads came in at him, he took Kurogane out and slashed the face of the hound causing a large wound across its face. Another head went in to bite him after seeing him in the air like that and opened its mouth wide to swallow him. Before it could do that, Hisui appeared right above its head with her leg raised as high as possible and touki wrapped around it.

"I'm not letting you eat our Ken Ken! Uchikuda!"

Hisui brought her leg downward on top of the Cerberus' head forcing its mouth closed as it went down a bit, but it was stronger than the exorcists that Hisui took out moments ago. As its third head went in to unleash a fireball at them, Kensei wrapped his arm around Hisui's waist before she could react, then focused ki at the soles of his left foot releasing it so that he could protect themselves back from the attack.

"Thanks, Ken Ken."

"No problem."

Hisui thanked him as he landed on the ground with her, letting her regain her balance.

"Taking on one of them would be easier, but taking one three at the same time might be a little difficult."

Kensei stated as he let a sigh escape from his mouth.

He looked around noticing that some of their people were removed off the battlefield due to suffering some burns from the three Cerberus' combined fire breath. Most of the others were still fighting against the devils who joined the battlefield after noticing the odds were turning in their favor. The exorcists wouldn't likely give them any kind of assistance since most of them were helping their own were also wounded.

"So, that would leave me, Alice, Zane, you, Rui, and Lena to deal with the three Cerberus."

After realizing that Kensei was correct, those people all started gathering around the same spot in front of all their new opponents.

"Well, that evens up things for us. Since there are six of us, two of us will handle one Cerberus…."

"I'll fight against one of them alone."

Kensei and the four others turned around after seeing that Alice was staring forward at one of the Cerberus and it was weirder as she wanted to fight on alone.

"Kensei did you have some kind of weird influence on Alice? Because that sounds like something that you would do instead of her."

Rui asked staring at him as Kensei looked as surprised as her.

"Alice are you serious?"

Kensei didn't go against Alice's wishes, but he wanted to confirm them for himself before agreeing to anything.

"Claire and I have always been protected by you after leaving from Hagun Island. Even if I have a Longinus, I am weaker than both of you, I can't create monsters without feeling exhausted. I don't want it to always be like that, I know that Claire feels the same way about this. I started wanting to train to overcome my lack of stamina and also strengthen this weak body of mine. I'm supposed to be like Claire's older sister, so right here, right now, I want to stand up and fight like one! And this is going to be the first step to that!"

They could hear the determination in Alice's voice and neither of them could go against her wishes if she felt this strong about it. Kensei after staring at the determination that was on the usually impassive girl caused a smile to appear on his face as he placed a hand on her head.

"Alright, the one of the far left is yours to fight."

"You're not going to wish me luck?"

"Nah, if you're that confident, then you don't need it."

Kensei smirked in response to Alice asking him that wearing a smile.

"Hah, I always find it odd how two people can flirt even in a dangerous situation."

Lena pointed out as she glanced in their direction before turning forward as the Cerberus started walking towards them with killing intent leaking from their bodies.

"Well, Alice will handle the one on the far left. Kensei and Hisui will handle the on in the middle. And, I, Lena, and Rui will handle the one on the far right."

"Yea, but first we need to separate them."

Rui pointed out as she noticed that the three three-headed hounds were remaining beside one another without a single one moving from each other.

"Oh, I can handle that one."

Kensei said as he brought out Mimic a second time, then caused it to shapeshift into a katana again. After putting Mimic on top of Kurogane, he caused some of the wafting holy aura to transfer over to the blade. Once that was finished, he stepped forward and released two different forward slashes that traveled towards the Cerberus in the middle creating a wave of holy aura that separated it from the Cerberus standing on the left and right.

All five of them realized Kensei's plan, Cerberus' were still creatures of darkness and hounds, so they're going to follow their instincts above all in avoiding attacks of holy origins. After seeing that they were separated from each other, the five of them propelled forward towards their targets. Alice started walking forward as Ignis went beside its creator as the Cerberus stared at her with cold eyes.

"A hound, huh? So, that means it'll go after the weakest person possible like a predator hunting prey."

Alice said as she glanced over to Ignis after seeing this monster wouldn't do any good against a creature who was of the same element as itself. So, she allowed Ignis to retreat inside of her shadow, then started letting calming breaths escape from her mouth.

"I need to create a stronger monster to fight against this monster, I can't worry about maintaining my stamina at this point," Alice thought to herself as a dark aura started to cover her entire body as her shadow started growing more than before enough to make a large circle around her. "A stronger creature, the strongest creature that I've met thus far to fight against this monster."

Alice concentrated, going through her memories, and found the strongest possible kind of creature that she could think of. And along with her will, it started creeping out from her shadow and started taking that exact shape, with a mouth filled with fangs, thick arms and legs, wings, and a tail that whipped around. The thing that Alice created was a western dragon that stood on its four limbs around the same height as the Cerberus.

"Whoa, she created a dragon."

Kensei said after turning around to see the monster that Alice created.

"Wow!"

Kensei, Hisui, and the others were surprised about the creature that Alice created from her shadow, but it looked to have taken a lot of her.

"Huff huff huff, I thought that this would happen. But, it looks like I pulled it off," Alice breathed as she created the strongest creature she could think of. But, never did so before since she knew creating monsters larger than a human would be too taxing for her. "Now, what kind of name should I give you? Oh, what about Eltanin?"

After naming the dragon she created Eltanin, Alice pointed at the Cerberus in front of her and thus assigned it its first target. So, Eltanin started charging forward at the Cerberus as the three-headed hound did the same thing, which started a battle between monsters.

---

Meanwhile, inside the forest where Kensei had left Claire to rest, Kunou and Iris were facing off against the three devils who broke off from the group to kill her. Kunou was firing off various Kitsunebi at the devils who blocked it using barriers.

Iris rushed at her opponent after turning her hands into claws, aiming at the blindspot of the devils who were focused on defending against Kunou's flames. It worked for one of them who suffered a wound at their legs, but the same one countered using a demonic blast that wouldn't wound him due to the close range.

Iris retreated in the same position as Kunou, which was in front of the still catatonic Claire, who did nothing but stare blankly at the ground.

"Why are all of you going through so much effort to protect one girl?"

"A half-breed that'll never be expected by humans or devils."

"Do all of you believe that it'll end well making an enemy of the Great King Faction?"

All three devils stood in front of the two girls who looked determined to protect Claire from them.

"We made enemies of the Great King Faction," Iris said feeling irritated at their arrogant words. "You people were the ones who made enemies of us when you sent one of your people into our town! We didn't cause any of this, it was all your fault! From taking away Claire's family, stepping into our haven, and kidnapping her! Don't arrogant people like you all have enough common sense to realize that!"

"I am, Kunou, the Kyoto Princess, the daughter of the Queen, Yasaka. I recognized Claire-san as my rival and a close friend of mine," Kunou said as she strengthened the Kitsunebi in her hands. "And Kunou will protect all her friends and people no matter what!"

All three devils glared at the two girls who stood before them irritated as their demonic powers started to gather in their hands.

---

Inside of total darkness, Claire was sitting down hugging onto her legs without making a single move. She was unsure whether or not this was inside of her head or her sacred gear. But, Claire didn't care about anything and didn't want to do anything other than remain in that one spot. There was some time where she heard the worried tone from Radueriel who was attempting to get through to her, but she couldn't respond.

"I didn't change at all from that time on Hagun Island. Even though I promised that I would become stronger than I was then…nothing changed. Even after all that happened on Hagun Island, even after everything that I've seen there, I was still living in a little girl's dream. I was hoping that every single thing would be alright, even though in my heart, I knew what happened."

Claire found herself sinking deeper and deeper into a depression.

"All I can do here is wait until everyone saves me…just like always."

"Well, it wouldn't be your fault, though."

Claire was shocked as she heard a new, but familiar voice from in front of her.

"…wait, isn't that…?"

Claire looked before noticing that a familiar figure appeared right in front of her.

A young girl who looked no older than seven or eight dressed in a pretty dress that looked to have almost tailored for her. Claire recognized this girl, no she was this girl from a long time ago, her hair was even tied in twin-tails as she used to. She wondered whether or not this was simply an illusion that was created by Radueriel, but he's not the kind of person who would create something like this.

"What do you want?"

Claire didn't care and simply asked that question.

"Come on, being rude to yourself is ruder than being rude to someone else."

Claire recalled that she did use to talk in that too girly and adorable tone, but it was the first time that she heard it for herself like this.

"What are you?"

"Well, I know that you know that I'm you from a long time ago," the younger Claire started placing a finger on her lips cutely. "But, I know that you want to know what exactly I am. Well, I would be a mental manifestation of that girl you still are and not were. Even though you want to be treated as mature, I'm the person you are deep down inside of your consciousness."

"Are you here to tell me to keep fighting and change myself?"

"Nope nope, I'm simply here to tell you that it's fine to remain here and wait to be rescued like always."

"…."

Claire didn't give a single response as the girl who appeared like her held out her hand as if she was waiting for a response from her.

"No one will blame you since this is what you're used to even before meeting Onii-chan."

"What do you mean?"

Hearing that from herself caught her attention as her younger self continued.

"We knew that Kaa-san, Tou-san, Eva-obachan, and the others were always protecting us from something. All of them ensured that we knew how to use our powers and how to defend ourselves. But, we never needed to use it all to defend ourselves from others. Each time we went out for dinner or dessert, there was always someone there to protect us. You're not to blame for all that since it became something that you were used to."

The younger Claire leaned in front of her older self and tilted her head to the side as she stared at her.

"But, we lost our original protectors and found ourselves on that scary island where no one was there to protect us like always. We were so scared to make friends and see others since we never did that with other people, but our family. But, then we met someone who lost someone too but was strong. And then he became our second protector…our Onii-chan. Did you ever consider the reason that you continued calling him that even though we wanted him to treat us like a woman in love? Onii-chan became that shield for us to always remain safe. So, we never needed to move beside him and instead remain behind him. All we ever needed to do was remain in place and wait for him to come for us."

Claire continued remaining there as she continued listening to the words of her younger self, which was nothing but the truth. She became so used to others protecting her that she didn't know how to step from behind them. It was even worse since she didn't even realize that until it became second nature to her. But, instead of it being a shield to protect her, it became a chain that bounded her and kept her from moving forward.

"So, all we need to do is wait for Onii-chan and…."

"No."

"Huh?"

The younger girl was surprised as she heard that from her older self who seemed to have gone against that.

"I don't always want to be someone who's protected by someone else. I don't always want to be someone who has to wait to be saved. And I don't want to always feel this weak! All this time, I thought that I was getting stronger. I thought that I was getting better! But, I've only now realized that I have been taking baby steps this entire time!"

Claire started standing up from the position that she had been in that entire time before she started clenching her fists due to the frustration that she was feeling toward herself.

"If I stopped now, then all the things that I learned from Kaa-san, Tou-san, Eva-obachan, and the others would've been pointless! And I don't want that, I want everyone to know what caused me to become the person that I am at this moment. Because, because," Claire opened her eyes as a light aura started shining from her entire body. "My name is Claire Yaegaki Belial! I'm the daughter of a proud High-Class Devil and a righteous Exorcist!"

From around her, the light spread outwards removing the darkness that had covered the surrounding area, which caused a smile to grace her young self.

"That's something that we wanted to say for a long time."

"Is this inside of White Nemesis?"

"Yea, you fell into such a mental shock that you were blown here. All sacred gears have a place like this, I believe it's supposed to represent the endless potential it can hold based on the wielder. But, here it was covered in such deep darkness that nothing could come from it."

"And you're not some projection created by Radueriel or something from here."

"No, I'm just that part of your mind that manifested from your subconscious desire to keep fighting. I guess that you just needed harsh words and a kick in the butt. Despite being adorable we did develop quite a rude mouth."

"Well, you can blame one person for that."

""Eva-obachan.""

Claire stood there laughing too and with herself as her younger self seemed to have started fading away as if her purpose for being manifested was completed.

"Well, it looks as if it's time for you to wake up. I mean that your friend and loved ones are waiting for you."

"Yea, I'll need to head back since this involves me more than anything."

"And you know what we're going to do next afterward."

The younger Claire stared at her younger self smiling causing the older version to roll her eyes knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"'That' is something that'll need to wait until we settle all of this. It's not that easy to admit something like that, you know?"

"Well, don't take too long. It's been a long time coming, you know?"

Those were the last words from her younger self as her words echoed across this void.

"Yea, I know."

---

Outside Kunou and Iris were still protecting Claire from the three devils, neither of their defenses was broken at all and maintained their momentum. It was then that the three devils started getting irritating from fighting against two girls without seeming to get any leeway.

"Why don't I just blow them away?"

"We can't kill the Kyoto Princess."

"It won't be a blast large enough to kill her. But, it'll be enough to knock her out."

After getting that plan in mind, the three devils agreed that it would be the best option for them to end this battle as soon as possible. So, the devil who suggested the idea started to channel their demonic power into an attack, which would knock out both Kunou and Iris without killing them. Both the girls looked prepared to defend against this attack since it'd mean Claire would be injured from it as well.

So, they prepared themselves to handle the full brunt of the assault by putting their focus on defense, as a large demonic bullet was formed in front of them. As it was fired at them, Kunou and Iris prepared themselves to block it, but the two stopped after seeing a hand extend outward in-between them. Instead of coming in contact with its intended target, the demonic bullet was erased almost as if it wasn't there.

"What?!"

The devil who fired off the demonic bullet was surprised to see that his attack was destroyed, but they all shared the same expression after seeing the person standing there. Standing in-between Kunou and Iris was Claire who was holding out her hand that she used to channel her Worthless into.

"Claire!"

Iris was the first person to call out her name happily after seeing that her friend was alright.

"Claire-san!"

"Geez, Kunou-san, you don't need to yell so loud."

Claire replied as she placed her hand on her ear as if her ears were hurt due to Kunou's voice.

"H-Huh, Kunou wasn't as loud as Iris-san."

Kunou replied as she started waving around her hands almost feeling hurt at Claire's response without noticing that she was laughing without her noticing.

"Hehehe, well, I think that this belongs to you."

Claire said reaching inside her pockets to retrieve the magatama necklace that Kunou placed on her before she was taken from Kibou Town.

"Thank you."

Kunou said as she took the magatama necklace that was in her hands, then placed it back around her neck.

"No, I should be thanking you instead," Claire said smiling genuinely at Kunou before wrapping her arms around her neck, then also pulling Iris into the hug. "You're really good friends, Kunou-san, Iris."

""Claire-san/Claire.""

Both Kunou and Iris said feeling emotions after being hugged by Claire, but the three devils who were standing in front of them didn't share the same feeling.

"Oi, we didn't come here to see three sappy girls have a moment!"

"We're here to kill that half-breed girl?!"

"This is the order we received from Zekram-sama!"

All three devils focused their attention on Claire, Kunou, and Iris. All three girls stopped hugging one another, in response to that and turned to their opponents.

"Well, since both of you won't be focused on defense that means you can give if your all, right?"

Claire asked as she stared toward the devils with a more serious gaze as she created a light gun in her hand, but unlike more, it looked more angelic than before.

"Of course, and with Claire-san things are going to be different."

Kunou pointed out as she summoned Kitsunebi in her hands.

"So, let's show them that us girls aren't to be underestimated."

Iris said as she prepared her claws, which were wrapped in a silver aura.

"Don't think that this will be an easy battle to win!"

"Yea!"

Filled with hostility to match their confidence, the three devils started attacking the three girls who all responded in kind with nothing but confidence.

---

"Roar!"

"Howl!"

On the battlefield, the exorcists who left the battlefield after being almost killed by the three Cerberus were summoned to the battlefield by the devils. There weren't many purposes for them to continue fighting at this point since fighting against the Kibou Group might result in them being attacked by the devils as well. There was also the fact one of their leaders wasn't there to give them proper instruction.

Some of their own were even wounded from either their previous battle with the Kibou fighters or the flames of the three Cerberus.

"To think that things would turn out like this."

One of the exorcists spoke feeling certain emotions in watching the battle proceed in front of their eyes.

"Are those words of surrender from a warrior?"

A sudden voice caught their attention, causing the exorcists to turn around to see their Ewald approaching them in a relatively OK condition.

[Teacher Ewald!]

All the exorcists were able to stand up and kneeled in front of their teacher who was barely able to still move his hand around to wave. He turned to see his warriors or students all wounded and placed on the ground, then he turned to one of the exorcists who were kneeling.

"What happened?"

"Before that, Deacon Ewald are you truly okay."

"Well, due to the technique of the one fighting right now, I couldn't move my arms. I was able to regain feeling in my arms and move them somewhat after moments ago. I'm not childish enough not to say that I lost that match in the end. I might've relied on Excalibur too much, but his swordsmanship is purer than mine even though I have a much greater deal of skill and experience. Japan truly does hold a richer history in grooming swordsmen," Ewald explained without showing discomfort since he was able to see something new after all this time before switching to a more important case. "So, what's the situation."

"Right, it was as you guessed the devils here did decide to attempt to eliminate some of us amid the attack."

"Of course, though whether it would come from the First Bael Head one of the others made me worried to trust a devil's words. It was the reason why this region was chosen since it didn't belong to either side and is considered a neutral territory. My original plan was to disable the one who'd attempt to rescue the girl, then be prepared for a betrayal no matter where it came from," Ewald said before looking forward to the current state of the field. "But, I didn't think that they'd stoop as far as to summon three strong Cerberus to the battlefield. No, even this situation is above our expectations."

Ewald looked at what remained of the battlefield after witnessing the Kibou side were still fighting against devils, but that wasn't what caught their attention. It was the battle between Eltanin, the dragon Alice created, and also Cerberus A as it was wrestled to the ground by the dragon who dug its claws into one of its heads. It then started biting down on its right head causing blood to spill from the ground.

Seeing the impending danger to one of its heads, the one on the far right started moving its head to bite down on the dragon's head. But, it was stopped as the dragon's tail moved in and was slammed on it as hard as possible thus disoriented it.

"Groooooo!"

Cerberus A started howling as Eltanin bit down into it and bug its claws into its body, but the hound continued to fight throughout the entire thing. Alice remained close to Eltanin without showing fear of being assaulted.

"I didn't think that we'd run into someone who wields one of the strongest Longinus, which can disturb the world's balance entirely. There are several other sacred gear users, power users, and other species gathered around to protect the half-breed we wanted to kill."

Ewald recalls when he heard about what happened in Kuoh Town involving Cleria Belial and Masaomi Yaegaki, a talented warrior he met before. He was saddened at the loss of a warrior but personally couldn't condone being in a relationship with one of their long hated enemies. Ewald was more shocked in hearing that the two of them had a daughter who had the powers of an angel. He realized that an existence like hers who had the powers of a devil and an angel while being unaffected by either was too dangerous.

But, at the moment—

"All these people here are fighting to protect what we view as a threat."

Ewald could do nothing but witness several people all originating from different factions and even species facing against the Underworld and Church to protect someone they likely wouldn't have met in normal conditions. It was something that almost stirred up a feeling of admiration inside of him, but his teaching and personal experience were also fighting against that.

"Well, all we can do is witness this spectacle firsthand."

Ewald spoke as he decided to see things through to the end since he couldn't leave without first retrieving all the Excaliburs from the one who stole them.

---

"Amagiri-ryuu: Minamogiri."

Kensei channeled water into Kurogane, causing water to flow around the blade before being compressed around the edge. He brought it downward using a powerful downward swinging causing a large gaping wound directly on the Cerberus' neck and continued getting deeper and deeper. At the same time, Hisui was running in that same direction before jumping upward spinning around before covering her foot in touki.

"Keibu!"

Hisui aimed a kick at the Cerberus' left neck causing such an impact that pushed the right head deeper into that previous attack launched by Kensei. Due to both the techniques used at the same moment, Kensei managed to cut off the Cerberus' right.

"Graaaah!"

A roar escaped from the Cerberus' mouth as it lost one of its heads, which leaked out a great deal of blood from its neck that was missing its head. Not letting this chance go, Kensei maintained the water that covered his blade and started spinning himself around after twisting his body. He started bringing out more water and controlling it as he spun himself around.

"Uzumaki!"

Kensei created a whirlpool of water around him as he spun around causing more damage as the sharp currents of water resulted in a continuous assault on the Cerberus' middle head. Hisui also started launching various kicks at the Cerberus' other remaining head, Kensei even noticed that she seemed to be mixing Kasha into her kicks.

"Hisui can you hold it off for a moment, there's something that I've been meaning to test out?"

"Well, how can I reject a request from Ken Ken."

Hisui immediately agreed to the request as Kensei landed on the ground in front of the Cerberus as Hisui kept on fighting against it.

After landing on the ground in front of it, Kensei held Kurogane forward and started closing his eyes as a calming breath left from his mouth. He focused on sensing the ki around him, but it didn't come from the ki of others, but it instead came from the nature around him.

"Since I started learning senjutsu, I realized that it was a perfect match for the powers that I inherited from the Amagiri Clan through mom," Kensei said as he began gathering the natural ki around him using the lessons that he learned from Sun Wukong. "I learned about the Five Elements when I was a kid and learned how to use all of them afterward. I didn't focus on learning one of them since when the time came I wanted to teach my children how to use them correctly. But, since senjutsu allows me to under nature, I can do something like this."

As Kensei began taking in the natural ki around him, he started prepping for a technique to use against Cerberus B. A mass of lightning had started gathering inside and around Kurogane causing the entire blade, which was the same move that he used on Niðhöggr. But, it seemed to be stronger than before since Kensei started adding in the natural ki that he gathered from the nature around him.

All Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water were all a part of nature, which could be strengthened due to the inheritors of the Five Sacred Beasts who governed those elements. Although he didn't own a beast like that, if Kensei added natural ki onto the technique, then it would prove more effective than normal.

Kensei started moving Kurogane as a massive lightning sphere on top of it, which was larger than the one that he used against the Evil Dragon. After noticing that, Hisui moved from the Cerberus after propelling off its head, but not before sending a great deal of ki inside of its head and disoriented it.

"Amagiri-ryuu Ougi – Shin Raimeiken!"

Kensei released the massive lightning sphere towards the Cerberus who seemed frightened by this attack, but it wasn't able to move due to being momentarily stunned. Unable to avoid it, the Cerberus took the attack head-on, resulting in a massive explosion of lightning that covered its entire body. After the entire attack concluded, there was a crater where Cerberus B originally was, causing several people to turn around to see the aftermath.

"A-Are you kidding me, that human killed one of the Cerberus we trained?! And what was that attack, it was the same as a High-Class Devil's attack if not even stronger than one!"

The Devil Leader reacted after seeing that attack wearing a surprised look on his face.

"What should we do now? Both the other two Cerberus are being handled by his comrades."

The Devil Leader was unable to give a proper response as the situation was starting to go downhill since one of their trump cards was losing in this situation. Cerberus A was losing against Eltanin and Cerberus C was being handled by Zane, Lena, and Rui. Zane was firing off several bullets at Cerberus C and Lena was firing off various magic attacks alongside him. Rui was striking Cerberus C using senjutsu, thus lowering its aura and defenses so their attacks could have a greater impact.

"We can't leave her without at least killing that girl. But, we haven't heard anything from the three sent after them, which shouldn't have taken this long."

The Devil Leader still maintained that reasoning about the situation, but was still worried as three of his Cerberus were being handled by a small group. For Cerberus A, Eltanin had pried open the mouth of one of the Cerberus' heads using its hands and released a blast of aura inside of its mouth killing that head. Cerberus A's head turned towards Alice opening up its mouth and tried releasing a fireball at her. However, it was stopped as a light beam pierced through its forehead.

Alice turned around to see that Claire pointed her rifle towards Cerberus A, causing a bright smile to appear right on her face. As Claire was walking in her direction alongside Kunou and Iris, Alice rushed over in her direction as much as possible, then wrapped her arms around her.

"Claire, I'm so glad that you're alright!"

Alice spoke happily as she wrapped her arms tightly around Claire, which Claire smiled and also returned having made her angelic rifle vanish.

"Yea, I'm alright, Alice-nee," Claire replied smiling before turning to see that Eltanin was still fighting Cerberus A, and from the looks of it, it was winning against it. "So, is that a new monster?"

"Yes, I named him Eltanin."

Claire watched as she witnessed Eltanin killing the Cerberus after piercing through its skull using its claws, then shot another blast into its last remaining mouth. However, there was some noticeable damage done on Eltanin, which caused Claire to notice that Alice seemed a little exhausted from creating the dragon.

"I'm so happy to see that our adorable Claire is fine."

Hisui declared as she pounced on Claire after she already finished hugging Alice, then started rubbing her cheek against hers. But, Claire didn't resist the hug as she normally would and instead smiled lightly and hugged Hisui back, causing the nekomata to become somewhat surprised about that act. After seeing that Claire was alright, a smile appeared on Kensei's face as he approached them.

After catching sight of him staring back at her, Claire looked back at him and smiled in a manner that he hadn't seen in a long time. And finally against Cerberus C, Zane, Lena, and Rui managed to kill it, due to its body being pelted by magic and senjutsu-based attacks. Its large body fell to the ground as all of them gathered around one another seeing their battles against the three Cerberus ended there.

"A-Are you fucking kidding me?! How the fuck are we losing against these lower-ranked people!"

The Devil Leader lost his composure as he witnessed three of their trump cards being collectively defeated at the same moment as each other.

---

At around the same moment, there was an eruption of swords and ice that came from outside the same area that Maria and Layla were fighting Hilda. Coming from outside the forested area was Hilda who had one of her arms frozen, but broke free from it using her demonic power.

"Haah, those damn bitches!"

Hilda said as she clenched her fists.

At the same time, Maria came from outside the forest using Rapidly, then propelled herself forward towards Hilda directing its blade at her. Hilda deflected it using a barrier produced using her demonic power, both of them look to have suffered injuries throughout their entire battle. But, she managed to match her speed by using the Knight trait of her Queen Piece. Hilda released a barrage of demonic bullets at Maria, but she avoided all of them using high-speed movement.

"I'm not going to lose against some brat!"

Hilda declared but was stopped as Layla seemed to skate on the ice she created allowing her to move in front of her and creating a wall of ice. After seeing that Hilda moved back towards where the other devils gathered wearing a look of pure contempt on her face.

"I'm going to kill that bitch!"

Hilda roared but stopped as the Devil Leader reached his hand out and stopped her from moving forward.

"We'll focus on killing that half-breed girl. We've wasted enough time fighting against these lower-ranked beings."

Hearing that response from the Devil Leader caused Hilda to somewhat relent seeing that the situation started to progress into the afternoon. All the devils all started gathering together with their attention focused on Claire who seemed to lock eyes with them. Neither of them seemed to mess around this time and weren't making even a single comment about the situation.

"Well, it looks like these people still want to go at it."

Kensei stated as he and the others also gathered together, then was prepared to fight against them as he pulled out Kurogane. But, before he could make a single move, Claire stopped him as she placed a hand in front of him, causing him to glance at her confused.

"I want to get some payback after what these guys did," Claire stated seriously as she glanced toward him with a serious look on her face. "So, can I please finish this one, Nii…no, Kensei."

After hearing that she called him by his name instead of "Nii-san", caused Kensei and the others to stare at her in a similar surprised manner.

"…uh, sure thing."

Claire almost laughed after seeing how surprised that Kensei was about that, but she looked forward and started walking forward in front of the others.

"Isn't this the first time that Claire called you by your name?"

Alice asked also being visibly surprised and almost wondering if she misheard that.

"No, this was the first time that Claire has ever called me by my name."

Kensei still seemed to be unable to get over the fact that Claire addressed him by his real name instead of calling him "Nii-san" like always. But, all of them watched as Claire stood in front of the devils who all looked as if she'd just made it easier for them to kill her.

"Huh, have you decided to surrender and allow us to end your meaningless life?"

The Devil Leader asked as Claire shook her head.

"I wouldn't be able to face anyone I love again if I ended up surrendering from such a group of pathetic people," Claire replied without fear. "I plan on paying back some of you for what happened here today."

"Huh, do you think that you're able to take on all of us?"

"No, but I can at least kill some of you."

Claire replied seriously, causing the devils to all laugh in response to those words after recalling what happened later in the afternoon.

[Claire, I do believe that you won't have an issue if you attempted that now.]

"Yea, no matter how many times I practiced it, I could never pull that off," Claire stated as she started amassing a light in her hands. "Ironically, it was this incident that caused me to realize the reason that I never could do no matter how hard I tried. It was because I was disharmony with myself. But, now…."

At that moment all around Claire, a pure white light started manifesting in the air as it caught the attention of all of the devils who witnessed it occur. Soon enough, the light around her took shape as several white angelic spears, which were all directed at the devils. Before, Claire could do nothing but manifest these angelic weapons one at a time, but due to this incident that changed.

Claire released all the angelic spears toward the devils who seemed surprised about the fact that she was able to create that many. First, the spears pierced one of the devils who were already weakened from the battle causing them to be erased due to their weakened demonic powers being unable to protect them. Despite piercing through their targets, the angelic spears continued changing targets and continued piercing devil after devil, resulting in them being erased too.

"W-What the hell?! Cease this at once, you filthy half…!"

"Shut up."

Claire replied coldly to the Devil Leader as she sliced off his right arm using one of the spears whose course she altered to attack him. After being severed his arm vanished after being sliced off due to the angelic spear coated in the light power. Everyone continued watching as Claire erased several of the weakened devils before deciding to stop, but her attention was soon turned to Hilda who seemed to react to her eyes.

"Y-You wouldn't dare kill me."

Hilda declared as she found herself taking a slight step back. But, stopped after realizing that Claire surrounded her in all the angelic spears that she created. If it was a normal fight then she might be able to overpower Claire, but with these spears and the people not supporting Claire, she wouldn't have a chance.

"I went through a lot because of you. And I lost the family member that I had because of you."

"You know more than the kind of influence that my King has in the Underworld! If I die, he'll come after you all!"

"I know that."

Claire said snapping her fingers, causing the angelic spears to vanish from sight, triggering some relief in Hilda.

"Well, then…huh?"

Hilda stopped as she realized that Claire was in front of her with an angelic armor covering her right fist, then felt a massive impact to her face as she was sent backward to the ground. After seeing that the Devil Leader looked at Claire wearing an irritated expression.

"Now, that business is done. Go to hell."

Claire pointed in the opposite direction causing the Devil Leader to realize that she meant for him and the others to return to the Underworld. He looked around seeing that they lost most, but not all their troops, all the Cerberus were killed, and all the members of the Kibou Group stood behind Claire.

"We're leaving."

Looking as if he had bitten down on a bug, the Devil Leader gave the signal to retreat as he collected Hilda who's unconscious from that last attack. So, all the devils retreated to the Underworld causing a great silence all across the now ruined field.

"Claire are you sure that you were fine leaving her alive like that?"

Kensei asked understanding her reasons but wanted to ensure that she was fine personally as Alice followed as a distance toward Claire. She turned around and started walking toward them before sighing.

"Yea, she might be the most miserable and arrogant person I've met so far who deserves death," Claire stated as she started appearing more tired. "Her King is an Ultimate-Class Devil from a pure-blood family and…."

The second that Claire started falling forward, Kensei used Shinsoku to appear in front of her as she passed out exhausted in all regards.

"If she alright?"

"Yea, she's just exhausted. This has been one of the longest days of our lives so far."

Kensei said as he carried Claire in his arms almost like a princess as she started resting peacefully in his arms.

"Well, then let's go home so…."

Alice was stopped as Kensei turned around to see that the exorcists started from their hiding spot inside the forest, then started marching toward them with Ewald at the head of it. After seeing them, Kensei walked over to hand Claire over to Alice who gladly took her off his hands. From the crowd of those from the Kibou Town, Zane, Maria, and Hisui also started walking out with them toward the exorcists.

All four of them stood beside one another as Ewald stood at a distance from them noticing that the four of them remained serious. A breath escaped from his mouth as he held out his hand after regaining feeling in them after the last couple of minutes.

"I don't plan on continuing this battle. More so, since we need to tend to our wounded," Ewald said before looking at the Excaliburs. "But, I would like it if you returned Excalibur Rapidly, Nightmare, and Mimic."

Hearing that from Ewald, caused Kensei and Maria to remove the items from their person since neither planned to keep them in the first place. After that, Kensei caused all three of them to float out of their hands and over toward Ewald who retrieved them. Having retrieved all three swords, he turned around without saying anything else on the matter but stopped for a moment without turning around.

"I never thought that such a group would gather together like this and fight against us. I doubt that the higher-ups from the Church would make another attempt like this."

Those were the last words that Ewald said to them before someone activated a magic circle that transported all of them to another location.

"He wasn't lying," Hisui said sighing a bit as she was relieved that it was all finally over. "Well, it looks like neither of us has to be worried about the Church anymore."

"Yea, but there's one more thing that we need to take care of before saying that."

Kensei said with Zane already knowing what he was referring to and was already making preparations for that to come about. But, this was one victory for their side that all of them wouldn't mind later celebrating afterward once it was all finished.

---

Inside the Underworld, the location in the Bael territory where Zekram lived there in seclusion, but there were still guards who were stationed around his compound. He was currently sitting at his desk listening to the situation as it played out on a magic circle meant for communication. His finger was tapping against the desk after hearing how the situation was resolved from the Devil Leader.

"I see. Well, the situation didn't end as planned and we ended up losing a good portion of our troops," Zekram at the moment was in a slightly disappointed tone. "It appears as if we underestimated that group and their sympathy for Claire Belial. We'll continue with this discussion at a later date."

Zekram ended the call with the Devil Leader before leaning forward in his chair and linking his hands together. He was unable to think about what he'd be able to do another time. But, the second that he leaned back up inside of an upright position, he felt a sharp edge resting on his shoulder and beside his neck.

"…!"

Zekram was stunned as he stared at the black blade that seemed to mix in with the partial darkness of his office.

"Doesn't feel good to have someone breaking into your home, right?"

Zekram didn't need to turn around since he recognized who that voice belonged to, but he didn't dare turn around since the blade was close to his head and it wouldn't take much to wound him. It became more disheartening as an aura was run through the blade as it touched his skin. But, instead of feeling wounded or harmed, it felt as if he couldn't access his demonic powers.

"How did you enter this place?"

"Before you left, a friend of mine placed a magic circle on you before left. So, it wouldn't be difficult to arrive here without anyone noticing."

"You do realize that entering the Underworld without…."

Cut.

Kensei slightly cut Zekram's neck using Kurogane, causing blood to leak out from the wound that was caused by it. Due to being unable to use his demonic powers, he could feel a slight burning sensation from the blade, which meant that it could be of sacred origins.

"You're pretty cocky and arrogant talking to me about entering places without permission. I mean, considering I'm talking to the one who sent some woman into my territory to kidnap someone I love. Before that, she injured two people from my town, one of them being my fiancée and the Kyoto Princess. So, you can forget any possible link to the Kyoto Queen."

"…."

Zekram didn't know what to say since this was the first time that someone, a human, pointed a sword at him and didn't care about his position.

"Stand up."

Kensei ordered leaving Zekram no option, but to follow his command and stood up from his seat and began to go in the same direction that Kensei ordered him. Both of them now stood face to face with the artificial moon, which beamed through the window being one of the things that illuminated the room. Zekram could see that Kensei was dressed in a black outfit fit for stealth.

"If you have the hope that your guards are going to come to your rescue, then don't. All of them are out cold and likely won't remember how. My friend also ensured that all kinds of security systems you have around this place will be knocked out for as long as we're here."

"What do you want?"

"Right to the chase. I got it, so I'll cut to the chase," Kensei said directing his free hand toward his desk, causing a spatial distortion that dropped several folders and files. "I'm sure that you've heard of Hagun Island being an old devil yourself, but I don't know whether or not you were involved in it. All those are copies of the originals that my friend found in the safe of the person running the entire operation. Each of them has detailed information about all the old devils apart of the Great King Faction. Are you keeping up?"

"…yes."

Zekram replied knowing where he was coming from.

"To ensure that he wouldn't get backstabbed and to trade for more valuable servants with special powers, all the files contains information detailing real illegal business. And not the kind that'll be easy to talk yourself out of. And if want to say that they're all fake, we checked and each of them has the various signature physical and aura on the originals," Kensei explained as Zekram could see that he was being the utmost seriousness. "This also might be what you want to focus on. If anyone from your side attempts anything like what happened today, then we're going to send all that information around the Underworld and all the different factions. Because you see, some children from Hagun Island were from different factions and old devils like you helped Taro round them up."

"You wouldn't do that. If that information came out, then it would put all the innocent people in the Underworld…."

"I didn't give you permission to speak."

Kensei to put more emphasis on his point held Kurogane deeper into his neck without penetrating the skin, but it would take the slightest pressure to do so. Although it hurt his pride being told off by a human whose ancestors were born around the same time as himself, he didn't speak at all.

"I know that people like you put more care into your position, pride, looks, authority, and vision rather than all the lives of the people who'll be ruined in the process. But, if any of this information is leaked out to all the factions, all the authority that you've to build up is going to be as valuable as dirt. And if you want to at least be able to save the Bael Clan, then you're going to be forced into taking full responsibility for it all. So, do I have your word that you will stop trying to mess with all of us and Claire?"

"…yes, I promise."

"I'm going to need a little more effort into that promise."

"I promise on the name of the original Lucifer-sama and the name of the Bael, that I will not approach any of you again. Does that satisfy you?"

"I do. But, there are two more things and I'll leave," Kensei said causing Zekram to wonder what he wanted in addition to his promise. "Did you kill Cleria Belial and Masaomi Yaegaki because the two of them were in a secret relationship with one another?"

"…do you not believe that?"

Zekram was confused as he didn't believe that, but Kensei could tell there was some hesitance.

"I'm just saying that it's not rare for a devil and a human to mingle since there are other half-breeds out there. So, to me at least, it would've been easier for the Church to excommunicate Masaomi-san instead of killing everyone involved. Of course, I wouldn't know what those believers were thinking, but someone like you who would go to such lengths considering Masaomi-san wouldn't live as long as Cleria-san. And there's the fact that all of you from the Great King Faction kept Evangeline-san alive to see what she knew. So, was there anything Cleria-san found about that you people wanted to keep secret?"

"…."

Zekram remained silent, but there was one thing that should remain a kept secret.

"Well, whatever, knowing what it was isn't going to change anything," Kensei said after sheathing Kurogane and causing some relief in Zekram as he started walking backward to teleport from the Underworld. "Oh, right. There was that one more thing."

"What else did you want to…?"

Bang! Crash!

The moment that Zekram looked up toward Kensei, what appeared right in front of his face was his fist was sailing at him with great force and speed. Before long, it smashed against his face with such force that it flung him across the room, causing him to crash against the wall creating a sizable dent. Zekram leaned up as blood dripped from his nose to the ground causing him to cover it using his hand.

"Next time, mind your own damn business."

Kensei left after saying those words and signaling for the others to leave as well.

This left Zekram inside of the room relenting about his loss and wondering just what kind of person he ended up messing with. But, he didn't have any other but to agree to those terms since it would mean that both the Great King Faction and Bael Clan would lose all its standings, as well as follow the other dissolved clans.

---

Meanwhile, inside of the Church, Ewald after detailing all that happened during the incident to all the officials, found himself sitting down outside. It was surprising since the higher-ups did end up not continue to end Claire due to how much the others from Kibou Town fought for her. More so, since it was because Claire was brought out of the territory that it was possible, to begin with.

"Their joined combat potential is insane, there are several talented people in their group, but those four stand out among them," Ewald thought out loud thinking about Kensei, Zane, Maria, and Hisui. "The main reason that we were able to come this far was that those devils brought her out of the territory. Even then, the higher-ups don't want to get into another confrontation since next time might involve their Chief-God. That aside, it'd likely take a group composed of our strongest warriors too. But, there's no way that those people would agree with it, more so Dulio. He'd never kill a child even if it's a devil."

"Oh, Deacon Ewald, I see that your mission lasted much longer than expected."

The person who arrived in front of him could be considered even more of a monster than himself, a man whose actual age didn't match at all with his body and muscles that look like armor. Towering over him was a two-meter tall who would be referred to as the living embodiment of the words muscle and power; his white hair and eyes peered down at him. Ewald almost felt like a child in front of this man and it wasn't just the age difference, but this caused him to stand to his feet in an attempt to alleviate it.

"Good evening Eminence Strada. I didn't think that I would see this night."

Ewald stated.

The man standing before him was Vasco Strada himself, the previous owner of one of the legendary holy swords that were handed off to another wielder. Their 'mission' was explained as being different to others who weren't all involved in it since it might reveal some information to the exorcists-in-training. But, all people like Vasco knew is that several exorcists gathered to fight against a multiple threat that one person alone couldn't handle.

"I just arrived from visiting some of the youngsters from our orphanages. Hohohoho, I didn't think that it'd take me that long, I guess those children were more filled with more energy than this old man."

"Surely, you jest, I believe that at this point, you might outlive your natural life expectancy."

Ewald continued returning the same pleasantries with the man standing over him as he stood in front of him, then realized that the old man was staring at him questioningly.

"Did something happen during that mission? I saw that some of the exorcists suffered from some serious injuries and required treatment from Warrior Diethelm. Some people were talking about even bringing in Sister Asia to assist him, but Warrior Diethelm managed to handle it alone."

"…hah, I can't get anything past you. Well, we managed to handle the situation somehow even near the end. I did end up meeting an interesting lad."

"Oh, and what happened?"

Vasco asked feeling interested in this lad.

"Well, the entire situation can't be described using words alone. But, we had ended up crossing swords with one another in the end. And as surprising as it is, I ended up losing against the lad despite him still being his growth period, a teenager, in fact."

"Oh, that lad does sound interesting to be able to defeat someone of your caliber. And to still be a teenager, did he use some interesting skills?"

"Yea it was the reason that I lost against him. I guess in wielding Excalibur, I almost forgot the feeling of a loss in a natural sword battle. In terms of swordsmanship alone, he'll go to a place that even I can't reach without using Excalibur."

"Does this lad have a name?"

"Kensei Amagiri."

After hearing that name, Vasco could recall that there was someone whose name was similar to that in the past from one of the exorcists. But, there was something about the name that caught his attention.

"Kensei, huh. That's a perfect name for him if he's pursuing swordsmanship."

"Huh."

"If you live as long as I do, then you'll learn a lot about different languages around this world. His name means Sword Saint. It appears as if his parents had high expectations of him when he was born," Vasco said as he began stroking his chin interestingly. "Hmm, I wonder how this lad is going to turn out after maturing a bit if he managed to defeat you."

"I think that we're going to see another monster at some point. But, at this point, I don't particularly know whether or not he'd be of the same caliber as you or at least close enough. No matter, it appears as if he and his friends are going to be well-known around the Three Factions and others."

Ewald said as he continued talking to Vasco about a different subject, but his memories of the true nature of their mission are something that will be engraved on his mind.

---

A/N: And there goes the next chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, well this is the second-longest chapter that I've ever written aside from the Battle against Niðhöggr. Well, Kensei ended up entering the battle as he took a comatose Claire to a safer location. Then it ended up being a battle between the Kibou Group against the devils and exorcists who gathered to kill Claire. All of them ended having their moments in this battle, the main people started to fight against Hilda and the three Cerberus.

At the same time, Claire was fighting against her inner doubt about herself before recovering before rejoining the battlefield. A lot of the people showed something new during this battle which soon ended in the Kibou Group's victory against them. And in the end, Kensei ended up giving Zekram exactly what he deserved for causing all that.

The next chapter, it's going to be the last chapter before proceeding on into the canon timeline.

Translations:

Kensei's techniques

Tatsumaki – Tornado

Zanmasen – Evil-Cutting Flash

Takitsubo – Waterfall Basin

Minamogiri – Water Surface Cutter

Uzumaki – Whirlpool

Hisui's techniques

Keibu – Neck

Uchikuda – Crushing

Kensei's Harem: Alice, Claire, Hisui, Kunou, Yasaka, Lu Lingqi, Sarah, Minako, Koneko, Kuroka, Ravel, Amaterasu, Brynhildr, Rossweisse.