Chapter 30: The Star

Chapter 30: The Star

Basically, this is the beginning of the climax of this illiteration of Excalibur of the Moonlit Schoolyard. Enjoy!

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

Throes of rage resounded in the charred battlefield.

The third round barely began, and already Malkuth held the advantage with his absurd berserker fighting style.

He was carrying the holy-demon samurai construct with him when he tackled Yuuto, swinging the metal body by the leg as Yuuto ducked below Muramasa's construct.

"Move, master!" Muramasa shouted.

But as he looked up, the construct smashed him into the ground.

Malkuth swung his makeshift weapon around, swiping at Griselda that nearly plunged Excalibur into the angel.

"YOU WILL ALL FACE JUDGEMENT!" Malkuth roared as he tore the demon samurai in half and threw the lower half to the ground while holding the hand of the upper half, tearing the odachi from the grip as Malkuth charged at Griselda with his stolen weapon.

Flaring up what little power she had left, Griselda's Fused Excalibur glowed, Excalibur Rapidly and Excalibur Destruction active as she and Malkuth moved.

To Xenovia, they vanished like phantoms, blurs of their afterimages standing their spots for a brief second.

The air rang with clashing steel, Xenovia counted three rapid strikes in the span of a second before Malkuth and Griselda reappeared, the latter grimacing as she jumped back with a hand on her shoulder gash, blood freshly dripping from her wound and trickling down Malkuth's stolen odachi.

"Muramasa! Cancel your odachi!" Yuuto shouted.

[I can't!]

Muramasa denied.

[I tried! He is blocking my connection! He has forced ownership onto my summon's weapon!]

Malkuth sneered as he rampaged towards Griselda, his warcry leaving his throat as he continued slamming the odachi onto Griselda's Excalibur. The air continued to ring with violent resonance upon each clash, the sound piercing to the ears, and Griselda forced back step by step from the numbing pain of Malkuth's ferocious strikes, the gleaming longsword cutting away at Griselda's chance to retreat and odds of victory.

"Sister Griselda!" Xenovia shouted out in panic and worry as she saw her guardian being gradually overwhelmed by the enraged angel.

Blood spilled from the cursed wound Muramasa left on his chest, yet the angel was undeterred by the pain, fueled by malicious anger and bloodlust.

Then, Xenovia's face hardened with resolve as she made her choice. Placing her hand before her chest in prayer, she extended her other hand to the side.

"Pray for us, o' St. Peter, St. Basil, St. Denis, and Mother Mary"

Xenovia closed her eyes in concentration as she chanted the words of power. Then, several glowing sigils appeared on Xenovia's extended hand, before they slowly floated away, revealing a sword-hilt with golden lining.

Her eyes then opened, her body unleashed her latent holy power, as she yanked the sword out for the world to see.

"...In the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit - I release thee from thine sheath! Durandal!"

With that final line, Xenovia was holding a beautiful, azure broadsword with a golden edge. The sword has a semicircular guard on the left side of the handle that extends to the bottom just above the pommel, with a small extension on the right side of the handle. Standing from the tip of the blade, the holy sword is slightly taller than Xenovia, surpassing the latter's height by just a few centimeters.

Back to the battle - Griselda grimaced at the angel's savage assault.

She thought she could stand against him with the holy weapon, but Malkuth proved otherwise despite the cursed wound carved into his chest. His strikes were fast, unrelenting, no recourse in his might and no opening to exploit in his primal rhythm. The wound on her shoulder ached, blood spilling every time they clashed. She barely managed to parry a vorpal swipe for her head as Malkuth then brought the blade down with a guillotine blow.

Griselda's legs nearly gave in as she fell to her knee, her arms shaking and her bones crying from the vibrations running through her skeleton alone.

With a thunderous fracture, the ground beneath their feet shattered and collapsed under the force, spreading out for meters.

Griselda could not muster the strength to defend herself against the next guillotine strike as Malkuth raised his sword high with intent to separate her in two.

"Malkuth!"

A new voice entered the battlefield, drawing Malkuth's attention as he turned to his left and brought down his guillotine blade onto the approaching newcomer.

Xenovia managed to predict his strike from her experience, the falling odachi sliding against the holy steel of durandal until it fell beside the wielder as Xenovia grinded Durandal towards Malkuth's heart.

Yet Malkuth blocked her sword with his forearm, the Peerless Sword grinding against his defensive aura and vambrace.

"How many times must I endure interference before I finish God's work!?" Malkuth roared at Xenovia as he glanced at Durandal. "And from the successor of the Peerless Sword, no less!"

In return, Xenovia bellowed as she used her remaining reserve in an explosive burst of power, which launched the angel away. The said angel bounced on the forgiving ground several times before he stopped himself mid-air; he breathed out harshly as his free hand clutched the throbbing cursed wound on his chest, having received the brunt of Xenovia's burst of power in zero range.

"Damn you...!" Blackened blood spurted out of his wound, staining his hand.

Xenovia panted as she stood straight, returning Malkuth's eyes of hate with a challenging glare.

Before the battle continued, the sound of the earth rumbling caught their attention.

The combatants turned to the source, seeing roots rupturing out of the earth, each picking up one of the injured devils and transporting them in a peculiar fashion, passing them along to another freshly emerged root from the ground away from the battle.

On the edge of the battlefield, Kuroka was weaving her hands around - her expression was deep in concentration as she used her Sage Arts to transport the injured to safety.

"Enough of this!" Seeing this, Malkuth rose higher into the skies, raising his free hand above his head.

Xenovia and Griselda expressed horror when they saw Malkuth using the same move that nearly killed everyone, the giant sphere of fire expanding above his head.

However, behind Malkuth, the air shimmered and distorted in a flicker, the distortion drawing his blade at Malkuth's unprotected back.

Sensing killing intent, Malkuth swiftly turned around and raised his stolen weapon, but it was too late as Muramasa already sliced through his back as he twisted his body.

Hearing Malkuth's shriek, Yuuto undid his invisibility, revealing his form in the sky with devil wings unfurled as he watched Malkuth descend back to the land in agony.

On his other hand was a peculiar weapon, inferior compared to Excalibur Transparency, but enough to surprise Malkuth.

It was more like a dagger than a sword, a holy demon blade shaped like a kukri.

Between his teeth was a kerambit, designed to hide Yuuto from Malkuth's presence detection.

[You missed his vitals.]

Yuuto spat the dagger out his mouth.

"Tsk. Still, at least our preparations worked."

Yuuto originally intended to cut through from his back to his lungs. Still, he managed to stop the angel from nuking the battlefield again along with clipping another one of his wings in the process, forcing the rage-induced angel to descend with disgrace, blood leaving another blackened wound as unimaginable pain attacked his back.

Yuuto quickly landed beside Griselda and Xenovia.

"What's your condition?" Yuuto did not have time for pleasantries.

Malkuth's screams were shaking the air in the distance.

"I can- nnngh... Still fight." Griselda slowly rose from her kneeling position. "Although Malkuth's current state worries me. Never have I heard a soldier of heaven burning with this much anger without consequence."

Yuuto agreed.

It was as blatant as an open book, the way Malkuth's behavior and fighting style transitioned from a master swordsman to a berserker. It was no longer like he was fighting an angel of heaven, and more like a brutish savage.

"Wait, something's happening to Malkuth!" Xenovia alerted them.

The three gave the wounded angel in the distance their full attention.

Thrashing on the ground with violent spasms and vengeful throes, Malkuth clutched his head with sudden newfound agony.

"NO! NO NO NO NO NO! NOOOO!"

It was a different kind of reaction than Yuuto expected. However, what stunned the three was that, from the blackened lacerations across his front and back, a black corruption started to spread from his veins, spreading out like a sickness.

There was a ringing sound Yuuto could not describe, like the sound of the hardest glass cracking and a vibration of the highest pitch, something higher than that of two swords clashing.

It was the sound of Malkuth's angelic halo cracking without warning.

And his wings they were starting to blacken, turning into a sickly color, like that of tar.

It was the first time for them, even Griselda, to witness the advent of an angel's fall from grace, albeit it was an exceptionally unique one as the process they were seeing completely differed from the textbook scenario.

"Is he?" Xenovia trailed off.

"He's falling." Griselda concluded.

Yuuto, on the other hand, simply watched with puzzlement. He knew about the phenomenon where an angel committed a sin and turned into a fallen one. However, there was one question: why only now, considering what the angel had done before?

As far as the Knight was concerned, Malkuth had been committing several acts of treason against Heaven; joining forces with a fallen angel cadre, assisting a rogue priest in illegal and unethical human experiments, as well as thievery; yet for some reason, Malkuth did not fall. Until now.

[...Fascinating.]

Yuuto blinked at the voice in his head, "Muramasa?"

[I sensed that I cut something else than flesh and sinew but I wasn't sure until now. If my conjecture is accurate I believe we have severed the angel from his spell that kept him in the light.]

Somehow, Yuuto could tell that the living cursed sword was smiling proudly as she spoke.

Yuuto's conversation with Muramasa was cut short when the voice of Malkuth's agony subsided. When he returned his sight to the battlefield, Malkuth's wings had completely lost their light, replaced by a set of wings in a dull black colour.

Malkuth released a long rasp, a drawn out sound, dried from the countless times he screamed in rage.

"How? How is this possible?!" Malkuth's voice was strained, but they could hear the lucidity this time.

"What did you do to yourself, Malkuth? What demon did you sell your soul to to keep your station?" Griselda asked.

Malkuth glanced back at his wings, staring at the mark of the fallen.

"Demons" Malkuth's gaze softened with rumination. "I remember a time when things were simpler when Demons still roamed the earth."

Yuuto, Xenovia and Griselda remained steadfast against the new fallen.

"But alas, I have no luxury to relay blame to dark forces when the darkness lies in me. If there is a devil like in the human bible, then I will say it is in all of us, waiting to answer our call."

"Enough." Yuuto interrupted. "What is the spell Muramasa severed from you?"

If there was a spell that could prevent Angels from descending, there was no telling how many angels could sin under the mandate of the lord.

"So that's how I lost my wings and you think I'm obligated to confess?" Malkuth squinted at Yuuto.

"If you wish for the slightest forgiveness from the Heavenly Father, you will confess with the Lord as our witness." Xenovia retorted back.

"...Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Malkuth laughed.

It wasn't out of mirth, it was riddled with mocking derision.

"Y-You want to use a corpse as your witness?! Ahahahaha! If only you knew the truth of it all!"

However, Xenovia's ear caught the particular words that slipped out of Malkuth's lips.

"...What?"

Yuuto himself also thought he was hearing things, as he stared in befuddlement. Griselda on the other hand, looked pensive for some reason.

"What did you say just now?" Xenovia pressed on as she took a step forward.

"Oh, there is nothing holding me back from the truth. But in fact, this might help me lighten the burden in my chest. Prepare your ears, naive girl." Malkuth took a deep breath, as if he experienced catharsis for the first time. "The Lord is dead - He fell in The Great War."

The words 'God' and 'dead' failed to register in Yuuto and Xenovia. The first was stunned while the other was struggling with the shock of the combination of words.

"That's!" Xenovia widened her eyes - impossible - however, her logical side knew that Malkuth had no reason to utter such an outlandish lie. She turned to her mentor, asked for anything that could counter Malkuth's story.

"...He speaks the truth" Grsielda closed her eyes in admittance.

Yuuto and Xenovia could not believe the words, or the idea that the Almighty God was gone - cast off from the world by the hands of the lesser evils.

"Why do you think I have so much rage against the Devils? It is the reason why I suffered the traitor Angels' unsanctioned spell to tether my ties with heavens no matter what I do." Malkuth calmly answered. "The method is secret. But I will tell you this. It warps the mind to fool the Lord's precautions against his children. It's effects are unsafe during heightened states of emotions and twists perceptions of truth as a consequence."

"But" Xenovia trembled. Her eyes were trying to maintain focus on Malkuth through her struggle. "If The Lord is dead, then how are our prayers, our grace still being answered? What of His miracles?!" Xenovia pressed on, still unwilling to believe what she had heard.

"Simple - Michael." Malkuth answered. "He takes on the responsibilities of the Lord. It is not a task that only the Lord can do. We are His children, we inherit some of the Lord's light, but Michael is more capable of answering the wishes of the mortals than us... Although his power is nowhere nearly as omnipotent as that of our Father's. For example, he cannot fix and restore the currently flawed Sacred Gear system, otherwise, let alone that abominable sword that samurai now wields - Balance Breakers would not exist in the first place."

Xenovia fell onto her knees, her Durandal was impaled into the ground next to her. Her mind was in shambles, her purpose in life shattered like fragile glass.

If Malkuth was telling the truth, what had she been fighting for? What had she been believed in? What has been the meaning of her life so far?

"Xenovia Quarta. Do not falter and stand your ground."

Xenovia blinked and looked up, her eyes meeting the orbs of her mentor.

"...The Lord may be gone." Griselda sternly met her gaze. "But His teachings and legacy are still here. We must carry on what He left to honor His deeds and benevolence. We must keep the teachings of the Lord alive to keep the wolves away from His flock, to protect the souls from evil that feeds on the innocent."

Xenovia looked down onto her hands - the same hands that had gone through harsh training and battles. Taking her mentor's words into heart, Xenovia closed her eyes one more time before she stood up and grabbed Durandal's hilt.

Malkuth then watched the three swordsmen glaring at him with a new resolve.

"Even after facing the new reality, you still refuse to surrender?" Malkuth questioned.

"Nay." Yuuto replied, "In my darkest time, I silently spitted on God for abandoning me and my friends back in that damned facility of the Holy Sword Project At least, I can take some comfort that He had never abandoned us At least not willingly." He finished with a bitter smile.

"Admirable. I will not belittle you three anymore. The spell is gone and my wings marked with shame, but I will not fall here until I finish God's work. The Devils and the rest of Fallen Angels must answer for their crimes against Heaven, and I will not rest until I laid the path for that to happen."

Knowing that this would be their final clash, the three warriors then gradually moved forward, away from each other, intending to encircle Malkuth - a recently fallen angel against the Fused Excalibur, Peerless Sword, and the irregular Holy-Demonic Sword.

"Even if I fall here" Malkuth spat at the scorched, fractured, half-glassed earth. It was not his spit, but his infected angel blood. "There will be others. We respect God's efforts to isolate the impure among his children, but exceptions must be made. My life might perish, but my rage will live on in others."

"We shall see about that." Griselda merely replied as she prepared her stance.

"...Then this will be my final act as God's avenger. Carve my form into your memory as I burn with brilliance!" Malkuth acknowledged his position as the one at the verge of defeat.

During the conversation, Yuuto had silently conjured more daggers and quietly handed them to Xenovia and Griselda. When Yuuto placed one between his teeth, Xenovia understood as she followed his action, Griselda following their lead without question as they felt the sudden boost in strength for the former and speed in the latter.

The three warriors then charged from three separate angles, all intended to surround Malkuth from his blind spots.

Xenovia was the first to close in as she swung her Durandal at the fallen.

But her sword was rebuffed by the stolen odachi, the longsword grazing her arm and drew blood as her bones rattled.

"You won't succeed!" Malkuth blocked Griselda's Excalibur and kicked her in the abdomen while blocking Yuuto's Muramasa from his left.

Bearing through the pain, Xenovia charged again, but unlike earlier, she made sure that Malkuth was too preoccupied with Yuuto.

Yuuto continued fighting Malkuth with a dual sword style, holding Holy Eraser in his other hand to force Malkuth to rely on the stolen odachi to block .

When Xenovia saw an opening, she did not waste time to charge and swung her Durandal. There was an opportunity, Malkuth on the defensive. Griselda joined Xenovia as she swung her excalibur, the blade charged with destructive energy.

However, Malkuth raised his arm, blocking their blades with the light of his light sword and the metal of his forearm. Xenovia grit her teeth, feeling the resistance of magic shrouding Malkuth's vambrace as the four entered a deadlock, sparks flying from steel against steel and steel against magic for a few moments before Malkuth twisted his body, his black-dyed wings knocking all three back away with more force than they appeared to possess.

As the three warriors struggled to return onto their feet, Malkuth gave a quick look at the arm he used to defend against Xenovia and Griselda's ambush. The vambrace's surface had been dented and chipped away - he made a correct decision to use his wings to blow them away, otherwise - if he were a couple of seconds late, he would have lost an arm.

Breaking his attention off his condition, Malkuth engaged the Devil. Out of all of those present, the Devil's sword posed the most problems.

Griselda was the strongest combatant, but the Devil's powers were the most lethal and unpredictable. He did not give Yuuto a single quarter as he unleashed a flurry of unrelenting strikes in his flight knocking his katana out of his hands just in them for him to bring down both of his blades, yet the Devil summoned two more swords and blocked his twin guillotine strike.

"Your heresy won't stop me from sending you to Hades!" Malkuth raised his arms and slammed down on Yuuto again, forcing him to his knees. Malkuth twisted his body in full revolution as he reverse-slashed horizontally, aiming to cut off his hands with the weapon he stole. The devil barely guarded in time as the longsword grinded sparks, the upper half of the blade sinking into his skin, chemically burning the devil blood, before the impact launched him, tumbling away.

Malkuth decided to end it by throwing his signature sphere of flame, this time at absolute full power at Yuuto. Griselda stepped between them, Excalibur transformed into a pavisse of holy white, a paladin's shield covering her whole body with the holy cross emblazoned in the center.

The impact exploded. It was like when he threw his holy flame from above and crippled their forces, but smaller. Malkuth did not wait for the fire to disperse as he turned around and scissored both his blades at Xenovia, both lightsword and holy demon odachi threatening to cut Durandal between them and the neck of the gritting Xenovia as they locked eyes from angel to human.

Malkuth soon forced Xenovia on her knees as his superior strength swiftly brought his swords closer and closer to her neck, pushing back Durandal and Xenovia into bending her back as Malkuth watched Durandal scream under his might.

Malkuth pushed through, and Xenovia gritted her teeth as she watched the peerless blade that was blocking the two blades from decapitating her, had ended up closing to her own face. She shifted her hold - one hand remained on the handle while her other forearm supported Durandal by the blade for a better leverage.

It did not help that Durandal was double edged as the blade bit into her palm, touching the bone of her hand.

Malkuth undid his sword of light as he grabbed Xenovia's sword arm to her shock as he lifted her one-handedly.

"You are too early for this sword." Malkuth raised his odachi, ready to execute the paralyzed Xenovia.

A sharp whistle zipped behind his sight. Malkuth widened his eyes as he swung all the wings on his left side to deflect it. However, whatever it was, it exploded on impact.

"AAAGGGHHHHHHHHHH!?" It was his first time tasting the bite of the holy and cursed affinities conflagorating half of his wings, forcing him to drop Xenovia as he flailed in agony trying to extinguish the holy demon fire.

"Nice shot." Yuuto complimented Griselda. The woman was holding a holy bow, Excalibur reformed.

What Griselda shot was a very long spear-like sword shrouded by Excalibur Transparency, and the invisible holy-demonic arrow-spear worked.

"I am surprised that you came up with this idea" Griselda complimented as Yuuto handed another one.

"Black had me watch a lot of anime." Yuuto chuckled through the dagger in his mouth.

"I see. Xenovia!" Griselda did not bother to understand what Yuuto meant, so she shouted at her protege.

Xenovia quickly moved away from Malkuth at her behest before Griselda let loose another invisible anti-seraph arrow.The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

Malkuth, in his pain-fueled rage, deflected it with his odachi, albeit it exploded like before, making Malkuth stumble back from the force.

He glared at Griselda with more fury than he ever had in his long life. Still, as the three warriors regrouped, Malkuth realized that, despite his superior strength, he was the one who had been driven to the corner.

He had lost a good chunk of his wings; not to mention, the pain from the 'fall' that he had gone through had placed a tremendous strain on his mind and body.

He did not need dialogue to know that his time was drawing near.

Victory would rest on how he ended their life in the final bout.

They circled around him like vultures around an animal at its dying gasp.

"So this is it" Malkuth heaved heavy breaths. His fingers clenched on his stolen weapon as he glared at the three.

"Aaaaahhhhhhhh!" Malkuth roared a warcry as charged towards Griselda.

Seeing the angel was going after her mentor, Xenovia quickly charged as well, intending to catch Malkuth from a different direction.

Griselda easily met Malkuth's strike with her Excalibur, parrying his sword until it struck the ground instead. Soon, Malkuth had also intercepted Xenovia who had come too close for comfort, resulting in two on one.

"Don't let up, Xenovia! He's at his limit!" Griselda ordered.

"Yeah!" Xenovia replied through the dagger between her teeth as she and Griselda kept pressuring Malkuth.

Malkuth spat as he had to deal with a pair of powerful holy swords. Soon, however, he had also made a grievous error - using the power of Excalibur Nightmare, Griselda had created a clone of herself, who immediately joined the battle.

"You finally decided to use it properly now?!" Malkuth grunted with frustration as the illusion and wielder danced around him, both occupying his focus as Xenovia engaged him, forcing Malkuth to fend her off with his light sword.

"You can say I finally got a hold of this sword!" Griselda retorted back.

The three danced as Malkuth looked out for the samurai. Out of all of his foes, his powers were the most dangerous to his kind.

Just when he thought of him, a sword was tossed his way. Knowing better, Malkuth quickly swung his stolen odachi at the weapon, but it exploded on contact - blossoming rime and frost engulfing his arm and half of his body in blessed-cursed ice as Malkuth hissed from the anti-angel cold.

"How many tricks do you have?!" Malkuth shouted as Xenovia jumped at him from behind.

Malkuth quickly swung his light sword overhead to block Durandal.

However, instead of Durandal meeting Malkuth's sword, Xenovia twisted her blade before it clashed and pivoted, swinging in full horizontal revolution until her blade met Malkuth's frozen arm.

The destructive power of Durandal quickly shattered Malkuth's arm into pieces, blood splurting without signs of ending.

Griselda joined in, pincering Malkuth with her illusory clone from front and back. Malkuth had no time to pinpoint which was real so he flapped the other half of his wings to block the one from behind while raising his arm holding the light sword up.

His light sword met with the real Excalibur, the friction and force proof enough. However, he had failed to notice Yuuto coming out of invisibility again from behind as he swung down Muramasa with both hands, cutting off the rest of his wings with a clean swipe.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Then, as soon as Kokabiel had finished his words, Issei's instinct suddenly screamed at him, forcing him to move forward, making sure that the other three were shielded behind him.

"ISSEI!"

The next second, blood gushed forth as if Issei had been struck by some kind of invisible blade carving through the flesh of his torso diagonally.

The Red Dragon Emperor collapsed onto his knees as he coughed out a mouthful of blood.

"Oh? I thought that attack would have cleaved you in half." Kokabiel remarked with an amused tone at the sight of Issei's injury. "Perhaps I am not accustomed to this newfound power yet."

The fallen angel commented as he stared at his hand

Issei couldn't even muster a whisper, only glare. Whatever Kokabiel did, it cut him down and punctured his lungs. He was choking on his own blood, preventing him from attempting any breathing techniques. Right now, he had to focus his ki to stop the internal bleeding or he'll choke to death on his own blood.

"...Then again."

"I never had a chance to practice."

Issei's glare suddenly transitioned to widened eyes of shock. He turned around upon hearing Kokabiel's voice suddenly speak behind him, the pain pushed aside in that brief moment.

There was not a word strong enough to express how dire the situation was once an opponent demonstrated that level of high-speed movement, assuming Kokabiel did not have instant teleportation.

Griselda and Xenovia were paralyzed at Kokabiel's sudden appearance. Yuuto immediately drew Muramasa, but the moment his sword left his sheath, he saw a spray of blood, then a severed hand holding Muramasa landed on Kokabiel's waiting palm.

Yuuto looked at his hand, seeing the stump of his hand and the cauterized cross-section. The pain hit him like a meteor as Yuuto fell to his knees screaming at the top of his lungs.

"And what is this?" Kokabiel mused aloud as he inspected the katana while Griselda and Xenovia moved between him and Yuuto, albeit their legs were trembling.

"Let's see ohhh, this is an excellent cursed sword and it is fused with a Sacred Gear at that? The wonders this world holds without Father's presence to soil it. And is it alive?"

Muramasa suddenly shook, rattling in Kokabiel's hand as it started radiating with energy. But Kokabiel's hand glowed in return, suppressing Muramasa's attempt at transformation.

"And loyal as well. How did you come across this unique weapon?"

Kokabiel's star light eyes lowered to Yuuto's kneeling form. Yuuto only hissed as he looked up, glaring at Kokabiel with defiance.

"Give her back." Yuuto growled.

"Hmmm. Certainly."

Griselda suddenly screamed as she clutched her shoulder, her arm falling to the charred dirt, blood spilling from both sides as she fell on her knee as Muramasa stabbed in the dirt some distance behind Yuuto.

Xenovia could not even shout her concern. She was still trying to process what just happened. All she knew was that Muramasa left his hand and landed behind Griselda and Yuuto then Griselda lost an arm.

Her arms were trembling, Durandal shaking in her hands. Malkuth made her taste the agony of helplessness, the pain of watching her friends and allies suffer while she did nothing to demonstrate his superiority.

Kokabiel?

It was the first time someone made her feel truly small. So small and helpless that it crushed her spirit to even resist.

"Now, what should I do with you four I guess I can take Durandal and Excalibur. After all, I can use them much better than Vasco could. I should resume my objective and trigger the war."

When Xenovia heard what Kokabiel said, she tightened her grip on her holy sword; but who was she kidding, she was the only one still on her feet, and her foe was leagues above her.

"You can hand it over to me, or I can just take it away from you - it matters not which." Kokabiel said as he extended his hand towards Xenovia.

The young exorcist could not bring herself to move. In return, she only closed her eyes in despair, albeit a small part of her prayed, prayed to anything still listening to her prayer for aid.

Kokabiel suddenly stopped in his tracks. Without a word, he jumped back, spreading his twelve starlight as he avoided a sudden lance that landed on his previous spot.

He looked up, seeing something thrown into the air. He could not make out the shape, but it almost looked like a javelin before it unfolded like an umbrella. A corona of a bounded field suddenly dispersed, covering the entire battleground in a dome after something landed in front of Xenovia, grabbing the lance before it jumped again, the figure too blurred for Xenovia to distinguish.

A sudden clash, the sound of metal and hard light ringing in the sky.

Kokabiel grit his teeth as he glared into the mechanical eyes of the new arrival.

"You...?!" Kokabiel pushed the other back with a thrust of his palm, firing an invisible force that blasted him back to the ground.

Flashes of shimmering light flew from his wings of starlight, exploding the figure in a faster-than-light barrage of radiant flares, obscuring smoke swallowing him.

Xenovia, Griselda, and Yuuto looked at the blast zone. The events happened too fast for any of them to understand what they were seeing.

However, when the smoke cleared, they saw a new arrival at the scene.

He was relatively unharmed holding up what looked like an unfolded umbrella as if it was his shield, smoke rising from the screen.

The weapon folded again, returning back to its lance form. It looked very advanced, though something about it reminded them of a Sacred Gear, sharing the same aesthetic as Issei's Scale Mail but with a dark grey color with white contours running against the shaft of the lance-umbrella. The spear-tip was crystalline, polished silver with a sharpness that one could feel in their bones from just looking at it.

When they had a clear view of the newcomer - Yuuto, Xenovia and Griselda could only describe his appearance as. Peculiar.

As far as their eyes could see, his body from the neck down was covered in metallic material - nay, it was more like that the metal themselves were his body, almost mechanical.

He almost looked like a cyborg if they wanted a reference, but something about it reminded them of the materials of a sacred gear, like Boosted Gear and Absorption Line.

Not only that, while his body was mostly metal sans the face, there were little to no angular shapes. His body was built as extremely close to the human body as possible, almost no unnecessary machinery covering his body, yet they felt as if his form was hiding more than his appearance hinted.

His head was covered with short, spiky sandy-blonde hair, and his facial features belonged to a man with a permanent scowl settling in.

However, the most eye-catching part was his eyes. Instead of a white sclera with dark pupils, his eyes had black sclera with glowing yellow irises.

While Yuuto, Xenovia and Griselda were trying to make the heads and tails of the newcomer's true nature, Issei was staring with recognition in his eyes.

"Un cle?" Issei managed to gurgle out through the blood in his lungs and throat.

Yuuto, despite the blinding pain of his lost hand, was the one who caught Issei's words as he blinked in surprise - Uncle?

"Genos I thought Baraqiel would be the first to greet me." Kokabiel narrowed his radiant eyes at the stalwart cyborg.

"Then you are mistaken. Cadre of the Grigori, Kokabiel, you are hereby under arrest by order of Azazel. Do not resist or risk extermination."

The Demon Cyborg - Genos stoically warned the ascended Fallen.

"...Haha ahahahahaha! You? Arrest me? Are you so presumptuous to think you can subdue me in this state? The me before might be no match for you, but now I am above you!"

"Analysis, incorrect." Genos merely replied. "Fliers: Activate anti-seraph arcane blasters."

"What?"

A sudden blast impacted his back as if to answer his question, forcing Kokabiel to swallow his voice as he looked behind, seeing ten sleek arrow-shaped drones of gold the size of his forearms, all still charging with magical energy laced with the Cursed Properties not too dissimilar to that of a cursed sword's.

However, he failed to look back at Genos in time as a fist, heavy and metallic, smashed into his stomach, sending him flying into the fliers. It was like landing on a bed of spikes when his back crashed into the arrow-shaped drones, even worse when they blasted Kokabiel back to Genos for the latter to grab his face.

It got worse when Genos launched down and slammed his face into the scarred battlefield. The sight of the land completely fracturing the same manner when Issei destroyed Valper's holy field left them in awe.

But Genos did not stop there.

"Activate Seraph Incinerator Cannon."

Kokabiel could feel the palm burning his face frighteningly fast.

Not even his ungodly speed could stop Genos from unleashing his devastating fire.

The spectators on the sideline were lost of their words at the sight of a massive, fiery blade of cursed flames that engulfed Kokabiel and his immediate area.

Those that didn't know Genos nearly hung their jaws when they saw a large hole melted in the earth, fire of demonic crimson conflagrating the edges and ravenously licking the air, the cyborg levitating over the molten pit as if he was standing on air.

Gazing at his handiwork for a moment, Genos then turned to the others, "Yuuto Kiba, Xenovia and Griselda Quarta."

It took a second for the aforementioned three to recognize the machine-man hybrid was addressing them.

"Evacuate Ise and others away from this area." Genos had learned too many times not to take any chances against a powerful opponent, as he returned to stare at the spot where he supposedly had incinerated Kokabiel, "This fight is not over yet."

The molten pit glowed bright as if on cue. Genos jumped out of the way, standing on air as a giant pillar of silver light erupted from the melted pit like a geyser reaching the heavens.

Emerging from the fiery abyss like a shooting star, like The Morning Star from the fabled Bible, Kokabiel rose with a furious warcry, his ascended form was burning bright with rage.

His face showed signs of injury as if inflicted by a cursed sword, scars of crimson marring his pale complexion. However, despite all that, he didn't get incinerated by the earth-melting flames.

"What did you do to me?" Kokabiel demanded, his face no longer playful as he glared at the cyborg.

"Angel Slayer Armament, Codename: Sephiroth." Genos informed as he raised his arms, letting the crimson lines trace the circuits embedded in them from his shoulders to his fingers. "My cybernetics are imbued with Curse power. The damage you face is no different than facing the blade of a cursed sword."

"...I see. Azazel's invention? Or is it a collaboration?" Kokabiel snarked as he placed a hand on his scarred face. His hand glowed silver and then the crimson scars soon receded, his complexion regaining their healthy color.

"The latter." Genos squinted at Kokabiel. "That incineration should've been enough to destroy any Seraph-class angel."

"Oh, it would've eradicated the old me like nothing I admit." Kokabiel nodded. "However, in this form, I am more than just an angel. Cursed swords do not work against angels that reached the realm of the Heavenly Father. I may not be as powerful as Him, but it is enough to shirk off any cursed powers."

Genos narrowed his eyes at Kokabiel's healed injury, before he prepared his lance, sliding one foot back midair and pulling his weapon in preparation for a thrust.

"I see. Then I will simply obliterate you without mercy."

Kokabiel smirked as two swords of starlight flashed in both hands.

"Come, warrior! Show me your power, o' Hero from Another World!"

The Demon Cyborg and the Ascended Star of God then charged at one another, to decide the fate of the Kuoh Town.

Omake: Halloween Special

"Remind me again, why are we doing this?" Issei asked as he frowned at an old house standing before him.

"It's because we are bored during this summer vacation; and when we're talking about summer, there's a test of courage!" Tsubasa exclaimed as she stood next to the boy.

The two were having their first summer vacation in their middle school together. They somehow managed to finish their homework early, and with nothing else to do.

Then Tsubasa suggested a test of courage and it involved the derelict house in front of them, painted the hands of decay, exuding the same dreadful atmosphere one would see in a horror flick.

It was already dusk as the sun was already almost sinking into the horizon.

She was smiling at him. Issei was frowning.

"That house looks haunted as hell."

There were some strange mist-like wisps floating around the rotting fence the doors were creaking hard. Issei looked up at one of the windows he blinked. He swore he saw a shadow moving behind the glass.

"Duh! It's supposed to be!"

"How can you look at that and still be smiling?" He asked, pointing at the haunted house.

"Because I'm not the one taking the dare!"

Issei groused at her, his frown deepening. He was so glad that Azazel taught him the exorcist rites and how to make holy water beforehand.

"Hello!"

"AH?!" Both Issei and Tsubasa yelped as they turned around, seeing a smiling boy.

"What are you doing here?" The boy asked, still smiling.

The two looked at the boy.

"...Who are you?"

"I should be asking that! You're in my neighborhood!" The boy pointed out.

"Are you now?" Tsubasa regarded the boy - who pouted at them, for a couple of seconds, "Well, I suppose you are. So? We are just checking this place out, what are you doing here?"

"Eavesdropping!" The boy said almost too proudly. "And I want in!"

"...Eh?" The two were dumbfounded.

"You heard me! I want to join whatever you guys are doing!" The boy replied with a somewhat haughty look.

"Uh why? I mean"

"It looks fun! And he is chickening out, so I thought, why not carry him like the crybaby he is?!"

His words were scathing to Issei's ego. For Tsubasa, she broke into a poorly-hidden snicker as she clutched her stomach, breaking down into laughter.

His eyebrows twitching, Issei sent a brief, pouty glare at Tsubasa before he returned to the boy, "...Alright, you are in. But just so you know, having a guide around is common sense, okay? You are definitely not carrying me, we are. Cooperating, yes, we are teaming up. Got it?"

"Whatever floats on your boat. Let's go, chickenhead!" The boy blatantly ignored Issei's rebuttal and grabbed his hand, dragging him past the open fence and towards the haunted house. Issei found that the boy was surprisingly strong for his age as he opened the moldy door to the house, and slammed it shut behind him, leaving Tsubasa alone to snicker.

"Have fun! Let me know what you find there later!" Tsubasa waved at the boys.

oXo

A while later, Issei and the boy had finished exploring the first floor and were traversing through the stairs towards the upper floor

The interior was just as he imagined, dust and spider webs all over the place, in the kitchen, the living room, etc.

The handrails and steps of the stairway were creaking, the boy still smiling despite being in the horrible environment. The smell if Issei encountered a rotting corpse, he believed that the smell would be like this. That and it might also be the stench of evil that haunted this place.

"You know, I gotta say." The boy spoke, "For someone who's a chickenhead, you actually know how to kick butt! Still a chickenhead though."

Issei sighed - true to the boy's words, as soon as Issei entered the first room in the house, the first thing that greeted him was some kind of apparition that looked like a deformed human lunging at him, as if it wanted to eat his face whole.

While Issei had his fair share of battles and terrifying opponents, this was actually his first time fighting ethereal creatures like spirits and such. Not to mention, the jumpscare was what got him the most than the actual attack of the spirits themselves.

When most of your family members could destroy a couple city blocks without much effort - ghosts and evil spirits were no longer the scariest thing in your life; albeit still, the jumpscares, for god's sake.

"Stop calling me chickenhead! And why aren't you scared?!" Issei pouted at the stranger.

"Because I'm not a chickenhead!" The boy smiled, snickering at Issei. "And this is fun!"

The two finally arrived in what appeared to be some kind of small recreational room.

"Ohhhh, spooky~" The boy ran towards one of the drawers and pulled out a drawer. Issei pursed his lips when the boy took out something that looked like a panty.

"...Wanna guess the girl's age?" He asked with a mischievous grin, waving the old dusty cloth around.

Refusing to rise to the boy's bait, Issei gave a flat, disinterested look, but replied calmly anyways, "Meh, probably 10, 12, I don't really care." Ignoring the boy's disappointed look, Issei walked around, taking the sight of the second floor before asking in return, "So? You said that this is your neighbourhood. Anything you can tell me about this spooky-ass place?"

"Feh. You're booooriiiiing when you're not a chickenhead." The boy blew up his hair as he threw the thing away, turning around until his back was facing the older boy. "Well, it is a very spooky story. True story, too. There lives a family here, you know? A mom, dad, and a brother and sister. They were all happy and stuff then the mom found something in the basement. It was a cursed, spooky thing, I heard. Wanna know what it did to mom?"

Issei already knew where it was going.

"It is a cursed dolly they found the mom standing in the corner of the room, muttering to herself while holding it. She was seen holding it all the time for some reason. When the dad tried to take it away, a bit concerned well, the mom shrieked.

"Everyone died. Mom, dad, sister, and boy, everyone! Sliced up! All in pieces! She placed all of the heads on the dinner table before slammed her own head on the table and stabbed herself in the back of the neck. The police were so scared that they pissed themselves silly. Ever since, home grew more haunted day by day mom's spirit still lingers here. And I think she still is"

Issei regarded the boy's story before he blinked at one detail, "...Say, the way you addressed the mother in that story - as if it's your mom, or did I just hear that wrong?"

When Issei asked the question, the boy did not reply as his back remained facing Issei.

"...Kid?" Issei called again, before a bad feeling began to form in his gut. "Now that I think about it, you never told me your name, did ya? What's your name again. And what's the name of the family that died here again?" Issei asked as he took careful steps towards the boy.

The boy slowly pointed at something in front of him.

Issei blinked as he looked ahead.

There was a mirror on the wall, as tall as an adult male.

He saw his and the boy's reflection and something standing by the door.

It was a woman. Hair was covering her face like that one person from the Grudge movies and she was holding a doll. Issei started to hyperventilate as he looked at the entrance.

The woman was not there Issei turned around.

In the mirror, the woman moved closer, holding a wicked looking knife now, a serrated, wavy blade one would see in pagan rituals.

Issei turned around again, and still did not see the woman behind him.

He turned around, seeing the woman raising the dagger.

He repeated the action one more time, and Issei paled at the sight of the face between the hair. She looked more monstrous behind the hair, blackened eyes and teeth like needles protruding out her pale gums.

When Issei turned around again, something had already clutched on his shoulder. What came next was a bone-chilling shriek blasted on his face.

"FUUCK!" Issei quickly broke free from the hand and turned around, punching the ghost woman as if his life depended on it.

The demonic woman's head blew up as soon as Issei's fist connected, and her body vanished like a mist.

"Ohhhh" The boy cringed somewhat at the demonic wail that followed.

There was a tense silence as Issei stared at his most recent kill with suspenseful dread. The doll was still there.

"...Is she dead? Please tell me she's dead." Issei asked, shifting around with frightened breaths.

"Nope. As long as the doll still exists, she won't die."

Issei immediately grabbed the doll on the ground and started ripping it to shreds. The boy watched as Issei quickly ran downstairs. He waited for a while, then Issei ran back in with a cup of water and a box of salt.

The boy watched him sprinkle the water all over the shredded doll. The doll quickly caught on blue fire, an unholy shriek filled the room for a quick second before it faded. Then he watched Issei started chanting some prayers while making cross signs with his fingers before he started dumping the salt all over the blue flame.

It was quite a comedic sight as the boy stifled a snicker with puffed cheeks.

"...That is quite anticlimactic but you're ridiculous." The boy commented.

"Shut it."

"Keh. So what'd you douse the doll with before you salted her?"

"Holy water." Issei simply replied.

"...Holy water?" the boy blinked owlishly. "Like, that holy water?" When Issei nodded, the boy's expression turned incredulous. "How the heck did you get that from?

"I made it, okay! Yes, I know how to make it!"

"Like from what? Did you poop it out of your butthole or something?" The boy replied with a snarky tone.

"Shut it! I don't want to be a horror victim, okay?! Leave me alone!" Issei shouted at him, still staring at the remains of the doll just in case.

He refused to end up in the newspaper as a corpse.

"...Anyways. I have something to show you." The boy suddenly spoke again.

Issei felt a tap on his shoulder.

"What-?!"

The boy's face immediately turned horrific.

Blackened eyes and mouth greeted him. The boy's face was no longer human, warped in all the wrong shapes in a rhythm Issei could only describe as a horrifying hallucination. As Issei stared into the horrifying mien, all thoughts turned still as his fear level reached the limit.

oXo

Outside of the house, Tsubasa was leaning against the house fences, waiting for her friend to return, only to hear a scream coming out from the house.

"What the hell?!" Tsubasa got off the fence to regard the house with a worried look, "...Ise?"

What Issei encountered by the end of the test of courage, was a story for another time.

There you have it, next chapter will be the real climax, and you can find it at you-know-where. ;)

Also, for those who are wondering about the Omake, it's supposed to be a celebratory omake for Halloween when it's first posted at you-know-where site.