The Time of Isolation Hath Come

XIX

Impossible.

There was simply no way this could be.

Yet his eyes did not deceive him, no matter how much he wished they would do so.

"How…?"

He croaked out the words, staring up at them with mouth agape.

There was a slow turn about them, their head shifted left and right as they gazed down upon the entirety of the gathered. Michael could not even find himself caring for the battle which took place right behind him. For he knew deep down that the person before him, the one who had arrived, was far more dangerous than the mages combined.

Yet how were they here?

Maalik had been sealed away in the deepest parts of Heavens prison.

A realm devoid of the grace of light, where not even Father's love had touched.

He could never have escaped under his own power-

"Your shock is worn naked."

The voice cut as cold as iron, Maalik remained where he floated, the burning wings crackled and twitched.

"Yet it is nothing compared to my own. That you, eldest child of Father, would debase yourself and sully the name of Heaven in such a sordid way. Shame. Shame upon you and upon the masses who willingly follow your treachery."

Michael clenched his jaw, tensing himself and narrowing his eyes.

A terrible thought surfaced in his mind, if Maalik alone had escaped then it would be possible to return him. Yet what he spoke of implied that he knew what he was coming to see. That he, in his prison, was made aware of what transpired. It was a terrible thought and made all the grimmer when he considered something terrible.

Michael swallowed down his nerves and faced Maalik with a rapidly schooled face.

"...Did you free them?"

"I freed all of them."

Madness.

Michael struggled to maintain his composure at the news, yet he felt his body go numb at the revelation, more so when he realised that Maalik was here alone. His eyes darted away briefly and to the skies, beholding nothing more than mages and his own allied forces. But that would not stay for long.

"Are you so concerned for your fellow brothers?"

Maalik asked with a tilt of the head, but Michael heard the edge in his words, the rising emotion.

He faced the masked face once more and took in a breath before he answered.

"I am concerned for those I would call my allies. For those who reside in this city who have done no wrong to earn the devastation that would be unleashed upon them if…if you plan to do what I believe you have done."

There was silence.

Maalik slowly raised his right hand and held it outwards, his darkened gauntlet curled into a claw and he dragged it down, leaving behind carved lines of fire in the very air where he moved. Shredding through reality as if it were but a curtain. He opened a tear as tall as he was before thrusting his hand within, never once pulling his eyes away from Michael himself.

And through that, he felt a deep sense of foreboding.

"Raphael has a message for you on my behalf."

Michael blinked, but had little time to ask.

Maalik's arm blurred as he wrenched something from the slash and flung it down, barely catching the shape of dirtied gold before it struck the ice in front of him with a crash of mist.

The cloud was banished with but a thought and no more than a flex of his power, but it was what lay behind which left him numb and cold. He stared at the shape with rapidly widening eyes. His chest ached and felt hollow all at once. His lips parted and his arms hung without strength as he found himself looking down at the unmistakable shape before him.

Armour of gold which once shone like the stars was left dulled and mangled.

Wings of pristine white were replaced with charred husks.

He dared not even risk looking to the helmet with half of its faceplace shorn from the front, but he could not help it. For he had to know with certainty even if there was a chance - a slim hope - that this was not what he thought it was. A desperate prayer within his very being as he stepped forwards and crouched down, his hands reached out and took hold of the shoulders, pulling up the body and resting it upon his upright knee and pulling the visor around to stare at the face that was visible.

A flurry of movement at his left, he did not need to look to know that Azazel had stopped himself from advancing to join him. Instead he kept his distance and it was something that he was grateful for. As he knew not what he would have done if the Grigori had tried to offer him any consoling words.

Michael trembled.

It could scarcely be called a face.

The vulgarity of it all.

His little brother.

"...He was your brother…"

The words left him as naught but a whisper, but it was all he could think to say.

"He was our brother…"

He spoke louder this time, his jaw clenched shut and trembled with the weight he was pressing upon it. Resting a hand behind the helmet and releasing a breath that was shuddering. For only a brief moment did he part his teeth and he heard them clatter in that same moment, a struggle to contain his emotions.

Either to scream or to cry, he could not decide.

They were all buried down.

A sharp intake and he turned his gaze to the sky and met the mask once more.

"...Why?"

There was not even a second before an answer.

"Because he was too loyal to you and not enough to the Heavenly Father."

Michael could not find himself able to respond, thus he stared in shocked silence at the words.

"Tragic as it was. I pity Raphael for the love he showed you, and I curse you all the more. For he was nothing more than a victim of his belief that you would have stayed true to the oaths you upheld for so very long…Perhaps if he had been wise enough to see you for what you were, he would live."

"Wise enough…?" Michael whispered the words, slowly laying Raphael down to the ground and standing once more.

"Wise enough." He spoke the words louder, devoid of feeling. They were but hollow excuses.

Raphael was dead.

His brother for so long was dead.

"Is that your justification for slaying our brother? That he lacked wisdom? That he was so short sighted? Was that truly all it took for you to decide that those centuries - those millenniums - of our bond could be sliced away? For him to meet your flames…he lacked what you call wisdom?"

"Would you hear it, then?"

Maalik inclined his head at a short angle.

"Would you be so willing to accept that you, Michael, have become the very evil that was once expelled from Heaven so long ago? Because I shall tell you if you would but ask. I will tell you why Raphael had to die and why you must do so as well."

Michael was torn.

Hearing out Maalik or slaying him on the spot.

Both seemed as appealing as one another, and yet…

"Tell me then." Michael asked, slowly, he pushed himself into the air and rose until he was level with the Zabaniya. The white mask had followed his rise without showing an ounce of concern, the arms had vanished back under the ragged cloak of shadow and remained where they were.

But he was under no illusions.

"Michael." Maalik began, his voice cold. "Look at yourself. Look at what you are doing."

"I know what I am doing and I know what you want." Michael narrowed his eyes. "The same as you wanted all those centuries ago. Ruination and death. A crusade which would have wiped out Heaven from the face of the world, brought fire and ash to the lands we were supposed to steward and leave our legacy as one of genocide and slaughter. All in the name of revenge-"

"The Heavenly Father died." Maalik replied just as swiftly. "He was slain at the very summit of Heaven itself. Our purpose…it perished with him. That is the inescapable truth. We were always to be his messengers or his soldiers. Never were we to take upon ourselves the mantle of his existence. Never. That is the line of thinking which sent the Morning Star from our gates. Do you deny this?"

Michael did not deny it.

He had cast out Lucifer himself.

"They are similar in concept alone. What of the souls who already perished? What of those who still held faith with us? Would you have us cast them aside? More weight was upon us than the mere purpose inscribed within us. A greater responsibility-"

"Look. Michael."

Maalik turned his head down and Michael followed it, the line of sight leading him to the Devils. Young and old, all of whom were watching with rapt attention and no small amount of nervousness. He could not blame them, some were thankfully ignorant, but he could see the Satans.

They were prepared to strike at a moments notice.

That they stayed their hand as long as they had done so was a courtesy to him on their part.

"You break bread with the scions of the Heavenly Fathers killers. You allow them to pursue their desires with nary a word of argument against and now seek to use their methods to replace the ranks of Heaven with your own chosen…as if you could earn the right to decide which soul could be elevated into our brotherhood."

Michael turned his eyes slowly.

"Is this how you feel of Metatron?"

The pressure between them rose, even if Maalik gave no physical indication of anger.

"Do not compare what you have done with the wisdom of the Heavenly Father. It was a choice he made sparsely and never again. That is it. They are Devils. They do not change, we waged a war against them for their twisted nature and their evil against humanity and now you decide you might allow it but only because it serves a purpose for you?"

"You are the one who now twists words, Maalik." He interrupted with a hardened voice. "Those who were true to that nature are banished in all but name. Even now, the Devils fight against the sort. Katarea who claims the name of Leviathan is nearing being purged as we speak."

"Infighting between vermin? That is your proof?"

Words coated in disdain and disgust, nothing more despite the even tone they held.

"They have been doing that since Lucifer first created that wretched race…do you not see? They are his children. Their grandsire was a menace upon the world…but as you are cut from the same poisoned cloth, it is little surprise you might make an exception to him."

Michael took a steadying breath.

His head tilted.

"Did you come solely to throw insults at me? Is that what this is? A petty vendetta because I would not sanction a mindless-"

"Mindless?"

Emotion entered Maalik's voice for the first time.

Indignation.

"You are truly so cavalier about vengeance against those who slew the Heavenly Father? Did you care for him so little?"

Michael glared. "Do not dare imply such a thing-"

"What other conclusion is there to make!?"

It was a roar, one that had him straighten on pure instinct, as though Maalik would lash out with his bellowing cry, indeed there was great heat that rolled off his body, the air warped and distorted with each word that passed from his mask. A crackle in the winds and the fanning of embers, but there was nothing else. His arm whipped out from under his robe and pointed straight down.

"He is dead and you skulk into his seat, claim dominion over Heaven and now invite back those who were banished for standing against his will? Or is that not the wretch Azazel that I can see below me? Or Penemue the harlot?"

Michael opened his mouth to respond, then he stopped and closed it once more.

Drawing his lips thin.

"...Further words will not sway you to my side."

His jaw clenched and he felt the cold resolution grasp him, his eyes turned downwards to the place where Raphael lay.

"Even if they could. I would no longer pursue that line of thought. Not now. This is not an action that can be forgiven, Maalik. This much I can swear with honesty. If you believe none of my words, then believe in that alone."

Strength which went untested for aeons rose once more.

His wings burned with power and his eyes glowed.

If nothing else.

This was something he believed completely and utterly within.

"I shall see this answered for, Maalik. Justice will be meted out on this day."

Maalik showed not an ounce of concern as Michael unveiled more and more of his strength, it had been such a long time since he had done so, but it was as though he had never stopped. But all too soon he felt the weakness intimately, taking on the throne had taken much of his strength to do so and he had not rested once.

He knew it would be obvious.

But he could hope that even in his diminished state, he was still the stronger of the two.

"Yes."

Maalik answered with a tone of hardened steel, the burning wings shot backwards and thrust into space itself. Spearing through the air and looping around the holes they carved.

"It shall."

Reality was torn asunder, with a shattering of glass it spilled out with a void.

Michael glimpsed the shapes behind Maalik for one horrible moment and he felt whatever resolve he had crumbled only slightly as the shapes pushed through the void and into the world. The trio of figures floated strong and oppressive, their eyes burned with righteous fury and all of it lay solely upon him.

Muscular forms of white scale with golden horns and brilliant sapphire eyes.

The Daemon at the forefront he knew instantly.

"Metus."

As well as the pair who flanked him.

"Reatus. Alhuzn."

Metus sent him a piercing glare.

"Doth thy body strain so greatly under the weight of treachery, O' Second Morrow?"

Michael clenched his jaw and moved to act-

Pain struck him in the chest, a shocked gasp burst from his lips as he found himself accelerating away at speeds which left the academy as nothing more than a distant speck. It was but a moment before his wings spread wide and he caught himself, flashing out his hands and bringing the spear of light to bear in his grasp.

Fire spilled forth from the clash, a shudder travelled up his arms and through his shoulders.

Maalik loomed before him with burning sword held aloft, with no further words he pushed once more, the sword exploded with power and Michael found himself once more catapulted. The attacks came again, catching himself and swinging out, meeting the blow head on this time and grimacing to himself as they clashed.

Another break, he charged and swung down.

A thunderclap and shockwave spilled from their meeting.

They were already far from their clash when the roar of their blows met their ears and once more. Michael found himself climbing higher and higher to the air. Glancing down as Maalik pursued him without fail. A narrowing of the eyes as he caught himself still and threw his arms wide.

The sky burned with golden light, the clouds above his head were ripped asunder as hundreds of spears pierced through the veil and descended.

Maalik met the barrage in silence, moving as a comet of flames.

Dropping his arms down to his side, Michael watched with a clenched jaw, the spears shattering over the outer layer of flames. In the very centre he could see the shadow of Maalik and the mask of bone glaring up at him in defiance. Pushing through his onslaught even as several of the spears caught him and rolled over his armour.

He twisted his hand about, holding it with palm outstretched.

A crack of light and he unleashed his might in the form of a spearing beam, it burned with brightness that would have eclipsed the sun.

Maalik turned, he watched the burning trail twist through the air and dodge, accelerating away.

The light twisted and gave chase, Michael inclined his head and watched with narrowed eyes, gesturing with his hand at every little turn and weaving that Maalik attempted. He would not so easily let the chase end and give Maalik the chance to catch him once more. He felt his lips start to part, his teeth unveiled in their clenched form.

His hand clenched, then flexed open.

The beam shattered into a dozen smaller trails, each one darting around at sharp angles.

Fires burst and swung down, meeting the blow with a haze of flames.

The veil was shattered even as the ripples of explosions flooded across the wall and the shadow rocketed towards him. Michael brought his hand to bear and drew forth another spear of light to his grasp, this time he met the blow with greater strength. Bracing himself against it and holding firm.

A collision that lasted less than a breath.

Michael clenched his teeth and pushed back against the flames, unveiling his own aura to match that of Maalik's.

Another thunderclap, his arms were thrown wide from the shock of the next blow.

Michael fell back through the air.

He did not see the kick until it landed, it was no more than a mere blur in the corner of his eye, but he felt the pain against his temples and found himself moving.

Distantly, there was yet another thunderclap.

His ears flooded with sounds, dozens of different ones he could make no sense of, his body came to a halt on something which crumpled under him. A sharp groan spilled from him as he twisted and pulled upright.

Michael stopped as the scenery became all too familiar with him, it began as he beheld the ruins of the truck which had cushioned his fall. Or so he assumed it was a truck. Nothing remained of it save for mangled metal and a crater wider and deeper than he would have been.

Quickly he shot up and looked down.

There was a red smear leaking out from between the metal.

Shouts and gasps rang loud behind him, he turned about just as swiftly.

He stared wide eyed at the street he had landed in.

And to the hundred humans who stared back at him.

Then he felt his skin prickle, his eyes turned to the sky as the comet appeared once more, burning across the horizon before swiftly turning and accelerating right towards him.

Michael felt himself run cold.

"Maalik! Wait-! Not here!"

If there was some hope that Maalik would have heeded his words, that he would have turned at the last moment and saved the innocents.

It was a hope that went without reward.

The comet slammed into him with an explosion of fire, a torrent of heat spread outwards and even through the pain as he had not even thought to shield himself, Michael could only watch as he was thrown to the sky once more - smashing through the glass of a building and reducing it to liquid - at the raging inferno where he had once been.

Breaths caught in his throat.

All those human faces jumped to the forefront of his mind.

Then pain lanced through the back of his head, an impact launched him forwards once more. He threw up his arms this time and spread his wings wide, slowing himself as passed through the glass and through what was doubtless an office cubicle. Something wet splattered over him as he slowed to a halt and he jumped back to the air, floating up and pausing as he stared down at his robes, once pristine white.

Now drenched in scarlet.

His eyes jumped at the horrified scream.

A woman with brunette hair slammed her hands over her mouth and fell backwards, through the gaps of her fingers he could hear her utterly terror filled shriek as she looked at him as though he was a monster.

Michael opened his mouth and choked on his words.

Another prickle.

He turned and raised his hands, forming a spear on mere instinct.

Maalik met him with sword.

And it was only when the world turned from sparking office to clear landscape that he realised what happened.

He had not moved.

But he saw the ruins of the building falling down around them, reduced to mere dust with their collision.

Maalik remained utterly stone faced and pushed, Michael gave little resistance as he was thrown to the air.

The blood on his face still felt warm.

Briefly he saw a fist.

His head snapped and he twisted with the punch, Maalik rose above him and slammed a palm into his face.

Then he felt them accelerate, fires burned at his skin and he moved on instinct.

A fraction of a second too late.

The world was reduced to a haze of fire and chaos, he briefly caught the glimpse in which people moved past them as if nothing was wrong.

He saw as they looked utterly without care.

And then Maaliks flames bathed them without discrimination.

He did not even realise they were in a building until he heard the crackle around them, the shattering of concrete and the splintering of glass. They met earth with a rumble like that of an earthquake. He gasped as he slammed hard into the ground, another blow landed on his cheek and forced him further against the ground. The hand locked around his throat for but an instant and then he was moving once more.

Maalik vanished from sight, all he saw was the road signs and the cars.

He felt the cars reduced to scrap as he struck one after another, unable to stop his momentum until it was much too late.

Wings spread wide and his hand thrust down, each finger carved a trench through asphalt.

He heard it all.

The screams, the cackle of fire.

The falling of buildings.

And the desperate pleas.

He dared to look up.

Fire.

Fire wherever he looked.

His eyes were drawn to movement, but not that of a person.

No, he watched as a tower fell down on its axis, the building shuddered and groaned before it gave way with a metallic snap which he could feel in his very body. There was barely an instant where none of it seemed quite real, then it started to fall down.

A blur struck it from below and the building hovered.

The upper half of the office block remained while the lower broke away, vanishing in a rising cloud of dust.

Michael stared as Maalik held the structure aloft.

Then Maalik drew his arms back and launched the building towards him.

He shot from the ground with hands outstretched.

He needed only catch it-

Fires met him instead, the wall right before him peeled open as Maalik all but appeared, pushing through the entire width of the building and striking him in a tackle. Michael gasped as the arms looked around him in a crushing embrace, watching as the world turned dark around them, the ground they struck collapsed in an instant, they moved further down and pushed into a tight chasm of sorts. It held an unpleasant smell, but he heard the rumble from above as the dust dropped down on them.

The water churned and rippled from the impact.

Michael scrambled.

Maalik slammed a kick into his side which punted him through the ceiling and into the clouds once again.

It left him with a view which eclipsed whatever pain it would hold.

It had not even been a minute.

And the city was already choking on ash and smoke, he could see gaps of orange through the rising haze.

Instinct drove him to spin around, light formed in his hands and he countered the downwards slash, parrying aside and thrusting his own hand outwards, his palm struck the chest of Maalik, a burst threw them from him. His wings twitched before he gave chase, meeting the flying shadow in a mere breath.

He caught up to them, Maalik brought himself about with burning sword held aloft with both hands.

The exchange was as swift as it was furious, each swing of their blades split the clouds around them. In nothing more than a single second, perhaps a thousand blows were thrown between them but Michael had no way of tracking that. All he registered was the moment in which cloud and soot cleared asunder and left them swinging at one another.

His body flooded with strength, a shout burst from him as he swung down with as much might as he could muster.

Maalik defended - for what else could he do? - and Michael watched the burning sword shatter into mere embers, the angel vanished from his sight and accelerated downwards.

Yet it was a moment later when he felt horror course through him, throwing himself into a descent and moving to catch up.

His hand snagged the cape of Maalik before he made landfall, it was that alone which stopped the angel from striking the city like a meteor. A thought he dreaded to consider, the damage inflicted would have been beyond anything he dared to imagine. And it was that single moment of relief which left him open.

Maalik snapped a gauntlet around his collar and threw himself upwards.

Michael gasped and recoiled as the mask slammed into his forehead and jerked him away, but he was not granted an escape from the impact. The hand around his neck kept him in place as the head smashed into him again and again, each time like a battering ram and each one with the roar of a thunderclap.

His vision blurred, his face burned with pain and he barely recognised the blur in front of him, the shape burst with light and he winced. Moving his hands up to catch and protect himself but far too slow. The bright orange flooded his vision and he felt only pain wash over the front of him, the hold which kept him in place vanished.

Michael fell, blinking rapidly and clearing his vision just enough to see Maalik loom above him.

With wings of fire, Maalik spread them as wide as they might go.

Then they snapped shut and Maalik was in his face, colliding with him and tackling him down. Michael reacted swiftly, throwing his own hands onto the attacker to dislodge them, but the whistle rushing past him had him throw a single glance over his shoulder.

In the split second before impact, his eyes widened and horror gripped him.

Then they met the ground.

Koneko was still alive.

Even with her eyes closed, she could tell that for a fact.

She had felt the heat, felt the force and yet she was still alive and she did not feel as though she was in that much pain.

No, she was still in a great deal of pain, but no more than before, from whatever it was that Lev had done to her.

It was an odd thing to be confused about and grateful that she was, there was something else which tickled her senses. A thrumming in the air, like static electricity, and it took her a moment to make sense of what it was.

The feeling of magic.

Her eyes opened not even a moment and she stared about, the pain in her chest was still pressing, she might have guessed her ribs were all broken but she could still hardly move. Even without whatever pressure had pushed her to the ground alleviated from her, there was a coiling in her muscles that felt like something had clipped them of their strength.

Yet she could move her head and through the darkness that surrounded them, she could make out the dim lighting. Just enough for her to pick out the details of where they were. She squinted and saw what looked like a dome of glass around them, tinted the palest of yellows, if only barely.

And on the other side of the barrier she could see the variety of rubble, from small pebbles to large clumps, all bunched together and doubtless pressing down on the shield. She recalled the explosion and grit her teeth, it was only a second later that she unclenched her jaw and felt herself relax a little.

Rias and the others were with the most powerful people in the three factions.

They would be alright, she didn't have to worry about them.

And Gasper…

Gasper had been with Mrs Archaman and she was a really clever mage, so Gasper would probably be alright-

Archaman.

Romani.

Her breath shuddered as she forced her neck to turn to the last place Romani had been, she felt shame and guilt swell within her. How she had closed her eyes as he lay there dying because she didn't want to look into his face as he passed away. And now she was still alive and he was…

She blinked as she came to a halt.

"Y-you're awake…" It was a whisper as much as it was a breathless gasp, but it did not come from her.

She stared dumbstruck at the pale figure slumped against the wall of the dome, eyes cracked open with just a fraction of green looking towards her. His mouth parted in faint breathing, she barely registered it twitch upwards into a faint smile before it dropped back down and the head leaned back.

Romani closed his mouth and looked like he tried to swallow, only to fail.

"T-that's…" Another whisper, and she wasn't sure if she would have been able to hear him if she was anyone else, such was his weakened voice. "That's…good…"

Her eyes remained fixed on him, wide and unblinking.

How was he…?

He looked to be dead but then…

Her eyes lowered to the faint light glinting through his shirt, through the bloodied patch of red. She squinted at it and saw something glowing just underneath the layer, right on the patch where he had been stabbed.

A shield spell.

That time he was pawing at his chest…was he…setting up a shield to stop the bleeding?

Romani's jerked movement snapped her eyes to him, he twisted only a fraction but his eyes scrunched shut and he hissed out from between clenched teeth. The movement stopped and he drew in a sharp breath. His face relaxed after a moment, but the tautness of his features was not easily lost.

It was clear he was still in pain.

"Didn't think it…would…"

His words trailed away, his head dropped low as the sentence tumbled out.

The relief was painful.

"Glad…it…"

He fell silent.

Koneko jerked at how oppressive that silence was, combined with how his head hung low and not a movement remained. She strained her hearing as best she could and willed whatever she had into her. A growl rumbled in the back of her throat as she dragged her arms up and pressed her palms flat against the ground and pushed.

It was an effort which had every muscle scream in protest, but the pain was forgotten as soon as it arrived.

Her fingers clenched, dragged forwards and pulled her body along with it until she was right beside the nurse. It was a distance which had been as short as it was long, and a journey which seemed to be an impossible distance for her.

Koneko nearly slumped over the top of him when she at least reached him.

With a final push, she went onto her knees and reached out towards him, pressing her hands against his shoulder and keeping him steady. Her body leaned forwards and she twisted her head, pressing it flat against his chest and closing her eyes, focusing only on whatever she heard.

A dreadful silence.

Then a single weak drumbeat,

It was faint but there, and for her it might as well have been a thunderclap for how she jerked away.

Staring down at him, covered in blood and with skin almost translucent, she stared at the man and then to the yellow shield which protected them from the explosion and from the school falling atop their heads.

"Gah!"

She jolted backwards at the sharp intake, tensing herself and briefly cringing at the pain which shot through her.

Romani's eyes flew open, dancing wildly around with a mixture of confusion and surprise, landing on her with some cloudy haze over them. It was as though he did not truly see her, despite looking clear at her face.

Seconds passed with the stare, then the mist vanished from his eyes and he slumped backwards and gasped once more. The tears streamed out from between clenched eyes, his hand pressed hard over his chest and pushed flat against it, curling slightly but stopping around the barrier against the wound.

"Yo-...you need to…"

She leaned forwards and slowly pushed to her feet, coughing out the lungful of dust which had settled in her throat, it was a mixture of red flakes and soot, an unpleasant mixture which offended her as greatly as it left as it had done so when it remained. Even then, her mouth felt thick with it.

Spitting once more and clumsily rising as best she could, even with her smaller stature, she still had to lean forwards to not slam her head against the top of the dome over them.

She needed to move him.

That was what she needed.

To somehow get him to Asia but…

Another pain lanced through her chest, greater than those before, she dropped down to one knee and coiled her arms against her body, clenching her eyes tight shut.

Before it had been nothing, ignored, but the sensations were returning and they made it like a burning needle shoved through her brain. Her eyes watered and she could feel the warmth already spilling down her cheeks. Her lips parted, pain hissed from between her teeth and she very nearly fell forwards onto her face.

How she remained upright was a mystery to even her.

"Michael…"

The whispered name had her turn upright.

"He's…going…to…" Romani slurred, she cracked her eyes open and stared at the face.

Was he even lucid?

And why was he speaking of-?

"The…shadow…his head is…gone…"

What?

What was he even talking-?

"Ah!"

Light spilled down on them from above, she fell down onto her side at the sudden assault and dragged a hand away from her side and towards her face. Cringing and grimacing all the while, it was a brightness she could not endure much longer, but all too soon, the brightness faded away and she could crack her eyes open, if only a little.

The rubble from above their heads was cleared, she blinked and squinted up.

Above them should have been the meeting of the three factions…so then that meant-?

It was a blur of white that staggered above their heads, her eyes fixed like pinpricks on the hoof-like foot which stamped down on the barrier above them. Unlinking, she followed the length of the foot right past the great leathery wings and past the bulk of muscle and armoured plate.

She could not easily describe the creature that she found herself looking up at.

Her lips parted.

"...Eh?"

What was-?

The head of the monster snapped down and she felt frozen in a moment.

Twin orbs of sapphire blue glowed as though they were stars themselves, but there was no warmth to be found. Only a cold which matched their hue and all too soon, the cold was replaced with a burning heat. A singular glare which felt as though it reached down and locked its grasp around her heart.

She fell back and stared up.

Daring not to so much as move, as if by not moving the monster would turn its gaze from her and all would be well.

The armoured face of gold tilted to one side, the lipless features twisted in disdain and the horned monster pulled back a clawed hand. Her eyes flew from the face and to the fingers, each one like a dagger and curled like scythes, and then it thrust down.

The barrier which had protected them, which shielded them from the explosion.

It did not even last a single second.

Like sugar glass it shattered above their heads and the hand continued onwards, thrusting down.

She did not even see it until it stopped barely a hair's breadth from her own eyes.

Then the monster turned its gaze from her and towards Romani.

The blue orbs narrowed and she was forgotten, the monster turned from her as if she had never caught its eye.

Something she might have been thankful for.

If the focus had not shifted to the nurse, still weakly panting.

Koneko wanted to move, pleased with herself to move, but could not.

She watched in dead silence as the clawed hand affixed itself to the collar of Romani and pulled upwards.

The nurse was lifted as though he weighed nothing, secured in the grasp of the monster as it raised him upright, until it was eye level with him.

He slumped, limbs dangling.

Its head turned down and it reached out with the other hand, dragging a claw right over where the protection for Romani's stab wound was. Tearing the shirt open and revealing the spell, slapped atop a blanket of scarlet on his chest. The monster stared at it for some silent moments, then the creature glanced at the nurse.

"Thy allies were chosen poorly, disciple of the king's legacy."

There was something almost lamenting in the quiet rumble of the words.

But she saw the eyes start to glow.

"N-"

She blinked, or so she assumed.

There was nothing more than a wink as the head of the monster snapped to the side.

Then it vanished, Romani fell down with only a streak of light slamming into the space where the monster had been and carting them both away. Koneko blinked, then found herself moving before she could help it, shooting off the ground with whatever dredge of effort remained in her, she awkwardly slapped into Romani and made an effort to catch him.

But an effort was all it was.

All she was able to do was just strike him in the air and send them both flopping to the ground, ragdolling down the uneven slope they were on. She had not even the strength to move, instead her eyes flashed from light and dark as she twisted from gazing at the sky and the ground.

Until eventually she rolled to a stop, flopping down onto her side.

She did not see where Romani landed, nor would she have been able to hear in the first place if he had landed far from her or away.

All she stared at was straight up.

And the hundreds of golden streaks plummeting through the sky, across the backdrop of darkness.

For a moment she wondered if it was night time, but it was a thought that perished as she followed the trail of midnight to its source.

She could not see Kuoh.

All she saw was fire, a mountain of orange with perhaps some darkened silhouette which might have been a building or two, but such things were quick to vanish from sight. Reduced in mere moments from some unseen force, she heard the thunderclaps seconds after the buildings dropped down out of sight.

She jerked and twisted.

Blinking dust from her eyes as something collided in front of her, grunts and snarls, a struggle within the smoke parted.

Two angels wrestled with one another, one adorned in armour while the other wore nothing but rags and still had chains draped over their body, face covered in soot and dust. The ragged angel had one singular difference.

Two additional wings more than the armoured one.

It was a fight that did not last long, with a bodily slam into the asphalt, the armoured angel wheezed and made to rise. They did not get far before a spear of light plunged down into their helmet and twisted in a singular sharp motion. A wet squelch echoed out and the spear was torn away with a splatter of glowing blood.

Then the dirtied angel snapped a glare her way, eyes narrowed.

The spear reversed in their hand as they approached with rapid steps.

In moments they were upon her-

Darkness splashed against them like water, the angel did not even get the chance to let out a scream, instead there was a widening of the eyes and a flash of genuine shock across their face before the darkness rolled over their upper half and they collapsed down. The shroud of midnight was almost ravenous as it consumed the angel and then peeled away.

Revealing that only the legs and half a torso remained of the body and nothing else.

Koneko recognised the power.

"I knew it!"

And she recognised that voice, a scramble near her head and a fair of feet slid to a halt right beside her. Hands gripped her shoulders a little roughly at first but became softer as she was hoisted up into the arms of someone, her head lolled back and she stared up at the face of Issei as he looked down, some mixture of horror and relief across his features.

His head snapped up.

"Buchou! It was Koneko-chan!"

"Get her over here and-!" There was another rumble, Issei ducked down and shielded her from whatever it was.

The rest of the words were drowned out, but she heard a sound which was almost like a crackle and then the splash of water followed by a louding hissing. Light bled across the gaps of Issei's attempt to shield her but she closed her eyes all the same.

She was just thankful to be near someone else at the moment-

"R-Romani…" She sputtered, her own voice sounded alien to her and weaker all the same.

He had to have heard her, she was right next to him.

His head turned on her with a sharp look in his eyes, despite it all she felt some level of relief in the hope that he had indeed heard her.

Opening his mouth, Issei looked to say something.

But whatever it was soon became drowned out by another sound, greater and inexplicably terrifying for ways she could not describe. The loud neigh of a horse and the sharp thundering gallops.

Issei's head whipped up and to the side.

They were moving all of a sudden and then to a halt, her head lolled to the side and she stared at the sight which struck cold dread in her body for reasons that did not come to her at all.

A steed of pure white fur, clad in a shawl of matt black, rising high on its hind legs as the shadow of the rider loomed over them. It dropped down with a sharp snort and trotted forwards, turning side on and giving her a glimpse of the man, and his deep piercing eyes which switched to her at first and then climbed towards Issei before narrowing in judgement.

He was on guard immediately.

This guy looked and screamed trouble in every way that mattered and there was a pinprick in the back of his mind. A hundred red flags going off at once and his every hair standing on end.

A feeling he had not gotten since Michael unveiled Ascalon to him.

But this…

…This was a hundred times worse.

Eyes of deep hazel levelled an unblinking gaze upon him, squared features from a very handsome face, the guy looked as if he'd been ripped right from some magazine. The likes of which definitely put even Kiba a step below him, already making him not like the guy for other reasons, but it took backstage as he circled them atop his horse.

Seemingly uncaring to the battle around them, the man with long flowing chestnut brown hair kept his silence.

Issei kept his body moving, ensuring that he was always between this guy and Koneko.

Copper coloured armour covered his body, or he assumed as such. A white cloak engulfed his entire left side from the shoulder down, save for the sleeve of sorts where the left arm emerged and very clearly less armoured than its partner, but no less protected.

The right arm was nothing more than a mass slab of metal welded to the forearm, flattened but still engraved with a rather ornate symbol. It became clearer as the man jerked on the reins of his horse and turned it about, moving the other way and forcing Issei to turn once more.

His eyes were drawn to the right shoulder.

The armour was carved like that of a dragon's head, with what seemed to be a large tooth or horn emerging from the throat of the beast.

Stopping, the man took in a sharp breath.

"...You are younger than I thought."

Issei cringed immediately as the man spoke, a sharp ringing went through his ears which was like a noise much too loud, but he was soft spoken. It was a contradiction which had him step backwards to put some distance between them. An action which went not unnoticed as the frown deepened and there was a brief apologetic look on the man, but it swiftly vanished and was replaced with something harder.

"And yet, my purpose here remains unchanged, you who hold Ascalon."

…How the heck did this guy know that?

With nary a sound, the man climbed down from the horse and turned to face him fully, giving the mount a pat on the side of the head before stepping past it.

With a final snort, the horse broke apart.

Issei jerked back as a soft blue light engulfed the animal and it vanished away as though it had never been there.

"If you care for your ally, I would suggest setting her aside for your friends, lest she be caught between us…but it remains your choice. I understand the Devils now have some manner of close bond with those of their individual groups."

He shot a look down at Koneko and stared at her, she was writhing in his arms and trying to cover her ears.

Scowling, Issei brought his head back up and clenched his jaw.

A sharp bolt of light from above and then it dropped down onto the man, Issei stepped back in surprise and looked up. Smiling as he did so as he spotted Akeno in the air above them, the circle burning stronger than he had ever seen as she threw down a veritable storm of lighting right onto the head of the man and-

Issei felt his smile drop immediately.

The lightning did not even touch him, it stopped just short.

It violently surged and rolled against about a foot away from the top of his head but did not even so much as scorch a single hair.

The man, in turn, looked utterly unbothered by the attack and slowly turned and looked upwards to where Akeno was attacking him.

That…what?

How was he doing that?

Another flourish of darkness struck the side and-

It splashed over the invisible wall around him and hit the ground, the rubble at their feet was torn apart, consumed and shredded into nothing by the power of destruction.

But the man was untouched.

Only then did he move, but not to any of them.

His hand swung out and soon followed an echoing clang.

Kiba gritted his teeth, the hatchet sword he wielded caught right in the grip of the copper armoured man. It was as if he was a boy striking him with a stick.

With a faint sigh, the man nodded his head.

"Very well then. Measuring the worth of Hyoudou Issei was all I wished, but I will not chastise your loyalty to one another."

His hand flexed and Kiba fell backwards with a look of surprise, shards of the sword dropped to the ground as he crushed the blade.

In the next moment, Kiba was just gone, a raised leg in the spot where he had been standing and a dust cloud amidst a falling mound of rubble and dust.

Issei whipped his eyes to the man once more.

"You may address me as Rider."

He spoke, the hand moved with insulting slowness when compared with the speed he had just demonstrated, moving to his hip and clenching around something unseen. He drew it across his body in the motion of drawing a sword, and he did just that.

From the same blue light the horse had been sent, Issei saw a blade come to his hand.

A blade he recognised.

The slanted head, grey body and bronze spine, the ornate pattern at the hilt and flat pommel.

Ascalon.

The same Ascalon he had in his Boosted Gear.

…What?

"...How?" His words felt like lead in his throat, a clumsy question as the man once more shifted his eyes towards him, then they narrowed and he leaned forwards.

A single step, Issei did not even blink.

The man was just right in front of him, sword raised aloft and rapidly falling down towards him.

[PARTNER!]

He probably would have stood there if Ddraig had not roared into his ears.

His left arm pulled up in front of him, the crimson gauntlet flashed before his eyes and coated the arm. In a single moment, a blade the exact copy of the one poised to cleave his head from his shoulders, burst from the green gem and straight out across his knuckles, Issei was forced to his knees instantly, feeling as though his arm had just been broken.

The weight of the sword pushed down and the man kept his gaze apathetic, still with only one hand being used, he stepped forwards and leaned in. Issei grit his teeth and started to fall backwards further, struggling to keep his hold on Koneko.

Suddenly the weight vanished and the man stepped backwards, a sword passed through the space between them and a blur slid to a halt.

Panting slightly, Issei turned to stare at the shape and blinked twice at the sight.

It was not Irina which had him shocked.

It was the white wings on her back which had him shocked.

But the man just looked…disappointed, staring at Irina with no small amount of pity.

"I feared it not so, but it seems he was quite right."

Irina twisted the sword around in her hands, then levelled it towards Rider.

"As one who would slay my…my friends! And disturb the peace of Lord Michael, I will see you answer for this!"

Another sharp intake, Issei looked off as Xenovia looked down at them all, wide eyed and still above the mountain of rubble.

Eyes fixed solely on Irina.

But Issei shook his head and stood back up, looking around to see if he could try and spot where Asia was.

Yet he told himself that leaving was a terrible idea, seeing how swiftly Kiba had been taken out of play.

"Buchou!" He shouted instead. "Where is Asia?"

"Rassei will lead you!" Rias shouted back. "Take Koneko and return! We'll hold him here-"

Issei looked for the little dragon the moment the words had left her lips, the rest just sort of faded into some muffled dialogue and little else. He held the girl in his arms a bit tighter to his chest and he caught sight of the small blue dot amidst the sea of stone and metal, a spare glance to the man saw he was still where he stood, patiently watching them all.

He hated that.

He hated how confident they just appeared to be.

Surely he was not so weak?

No.

Koneko came first.

He pushed off into a sprint and ran, charging down the dragon.

Concern for an ally.

They were truly nothing like the Devils of old.

But then again, they had all been from something else.

He turned his eyes to the red haired girl, who he assumed was raised after the last of the old era was swept away.

But, tragic as it was, the existence of these evil pieces proved that the Devils had not parted so far from their original purpose. Tempting man to abandon his humanity in pursuit of power with deals which would steal them away from the light of the Lord. Even if he was no longer present, that did nothing to spurn his love.

Tragedy, Georgios thought.

But such was life.

The girl was eyeing him cautiously, perhaps on account of his lack of movement.

"I am content to wait until Hyoudou Issei returns."

Though he was not sure that she would, there was a fire in her eyes. The impatience of youth and the desire for retribution. It was clear in every ounce of her being that she was holding herself back from just blasting him again with her powers, but she held herself back likely out of the knowledge of what transpired mere moments ago.

A slight caution.

Wings sprouted from her back, thin leathery things, and they sent her into the air a moment later.

"No."

She declared, a strength to her words and a dark undertone.

As he suspected.

"I do not know what you want with my Issei. But I shall not let you have him or a single member of my precious peerage. For trying to hurt any of them. I, Rias Gremory, shall inflict punishment upon you."

"As you are entitled to do so." Something he would not deny. He had attacked her subordinates, that she was as incensed as this showed only that she did care for them. "Understand I bare none of you personal ill-will. Yet this is something that simply must happen. Though you will not understand, perhaps you will in time…should you live beyond today."

"I would say those are your words."

A cold warning from above, the dark haired girl who flung the lighting of Angels at him.

"You are not living beyond today."

Impatience of youth.

One of them would make a move.

He knew it.

But which would be the first?

Something that was not long in happening.

Georgios leaned back, a fist passed a mere inch from the front of his face and he caught the arm at the elbow. The blue haired girl looked shocked, but it transitioned into pain as he slammed his knee into her gut and folded her over the leg.

He turned and swung upwards, throwing her towards the Devil in the sky right above him, but did not wait to see if they collided.

Instead he sprinted straight towards the angel and closed the distance in two steps.

She raised her sword to meet his own and he fell upon her without restraint.

The girl was skilled for one so young, and there was something that hurt when he found himself once more taking up arms against a fellow believer of the Lord.

Truly, history had a cruel irony.

Four blows later and he knocked the sword from her grasp and slammed the pommel of Ascalon into her temple, her eyes rolled back and she dropped to the ground, he stepped over her and charged upwards.

Darkness swarmed his vision and just as quickly rolled over him.

Rias Gremory was her name, and it was a family name he was well acquainted with.

And indeed.

She was the near spitting image of Runeas with her crimson red hair.

Rias shot into the air, perhaps hoping for some distance.

Georgios kicked off the ground and turned to her, catching her by the ankle and pulling down, sending the both of them to the ground but ensuring she took the brunt of the impact, a wheeze sounded out as he crushed her chest with his armoured shoulder and sent an impact wave rolling from the pair of them.

Soon standing back up and over her.

A sharp boom from his left, he turned and met the attack head on.

The blonde teen that he took first before the conversation looked almost murderous, glaring first to him and then to his sword with some level of personal hatred, but it was quick to vanish and replaced with some righteous fury.

Georgios stepped back and let the teen throw themselves at him.

Making only minor adjustments in his stance as the boy attacked him from every angle, his neck, shoulders, knees and even to his elbows. The blows were as savage as they were well aimed. All to debilitate and weaken him.

Alas, not a single one landed.

An exchange that lasted no more than ten seconds between the two of them.

Stopping his retreat, he blocked the next attack with his vambrace and held it there, stepping forwards and raising his own sword.

The boy pulled forth another blade, this one coated in a thin layer of ice, and swung out.

The ice shattered as he presumed the spell failed to materialise.

Knocking the sword away, he pushed forwards and threw out his own assault, the boy was peddling back now and desperately trying to keep up with his offensive. Gritting his teeth and showing a great amount of worry in his eyes now that the tide had so clearly been turned against him.

Georgios knocked the swords to the side, parrying out the next blow.

He drove his elbow back and into the teens face with a wet crunch.

Loosening his hold, he flipped Ascalon about and caught it by the blade, then lashed about.

The teen was sent spiralling through the air and flat onto his face perhaps ten or so metres from them, slumped against another mound of rubble which soon tumbled down over the body and concealed them.

The air smelt of ozone.

He did not turn to the lighting as it smashed against his magic resistance in a futile effort to harm him.

Instead he turned and caught the punch of the blue haired girl, then enclosed his hand down.

Her hand offered resistance for half a second.

Then it shattered in his palm, perhaps she might have screamed but he yanked her forwards and hammered the pommel of his sword into her gut, she wheezed as the air was driven from her, then flipped over his body and into the ground. He raised his fist up and threw it down.

His punch struck the earth next to her head as a blade caught forearm at the last moment, it did not break his armour, but it did add just a bit of force.

The fellow Christian looked up to him for but a moment.

He sharply rose and drove his knee into her face.

Only then did he turn and shoot forwards, thrown by a single step and slashing out with his sword.

The palm of the girl, dressed in attire that looked almost ritualistic, was opened up by the sword and she screamed out in pain, falling back and clapping her other hand over the wounded one.

Holy light harmed the reincarnated just as much as the originals, it seemed.

"You-!"

Ascalon glowed a brilliant gold as he turned about face and slashed out, the burst of light rendered the darkness surging towards him as nothing more than a memory, cleaving through the veil of destruction and leaving a briefly dumbstruck Gremory staring at him.

In the next moment, his fist caught her cheek and planted her face first into the ground, using the momentum of the punch, he turned and swung his own blade up and parried aside the blonde boy, then drove the pommel of his sword down onto the shoulder, his blow fell like a hammer with much the same result.

A sharp crack like dry wood and the right arm fell limp, the blonde gasped and staggered backwards, immediately dropping his sword and moving to cradle his shattered limb.

Georgios leg shot out and swept out the feet from beneath the teen, toppling him down to the ground and then kicking him in the gut, this time it launched him out of direct sight, over some incline and with only a distant rumble as proof of a landing.

The dark haired devil was still screaming in pain.

He frowned and turned on her, marching as she flashed her hand up and threw all manner of exotic spells his way.

From lighting to fire to ice and even wind.

All rolled off him like rainwater from a leaf.

The last of the barrage failed to achieve much, the moment he saw the next already in the process of being made he raised his right leg and thrust it forwards. His armoured boot slammed into her sternum and earned a gurgle and a wet splat as she emptied her guts to the ground as she fell, lying on her side and heaving for a moment longer.

His leg dropped down and he stepped forwards, the teen turned and pushed herself off the ground with her wounded hand, wincing in pain all the while.

She glared at him as he stood over her, wings flexing and preparing to send her up.

His hand closed to a fist, he pulled back and readied the punch, her eyes danced towards it and he saw it in her eyes.

A fear that was so very human.

But then her eyes moved from his raised arm and to something behind him, yet even without that he could have sensed it coming from miles away. Not simply because of the aura, but because of the righteous anger and fury that was aimed solely for his back.

It had been less time than he thought, but it was time enough.

Fast as lighting, he turned and saw the flash and heard the war cry, the explosion of dust that catapulted his latest attacker towards him with impressive speeds.

Hyoudou Issei struck the flat of his raised sword with the mounted blade and pulled his focus away from the girl, a deep fire alight in the eyes of the young man.

The time had come to measure that fire.