Slash!
The severed Cerberus head crashed into the rubble, bursting apart in a violent spray of blood that splattered across the shattered playground.
Xenovia landed amidst the rubble with her usual calm confidence, treating the battlefield as though it were little more than another training exercise. Behind her, Irina moved effortlessly, landing a single precise strike, slicing the hound's second neck cleanly from its shoulders before crashing into the broken stone below.
Thud!
The hound collapsed into the rubble with a heavy crash, its huge body twitching uselessly as dust rolled around it. At this point, it looked less like a terrifying demonic monster and more like a very angry corpse, with the central head still trying to bite anything that came close.
Fwooosh!
In the next moment, a flash of silver burst from the edge of the battlefield as Kiba slipped through the creature's blind spot and swept his sword across its final neck in one fluid motion, the blade biting cleanly through flesh and bone before the severed head spun away in a spray of blood and crashed to a stop at Koneko's feet.
The sight of Xenovia and Irina made Issei blink. He had been so focused on Kokabiel that he'd completely missed their arrival. The pair stood amidst the rubble as though cutting down a giant demonic watchdog was just another item on their daily schedule. Knowing Xenovia, it probably was.
"Eh? Xenovia? Irina?!" Issei's eyes widened "What are you two doing here?"
Xenovia casually shook the blood from her blade and turned toward Issei, with her expression as unimpressed as ever.
"Did you forget what we came here for? Kokabiel still possesses the stolen Excaliburs"
Irina seemed blissfully detached from the discussion, her attention consumed entirely by the katana she held in both hands. She gazed at the blade, studying every inch of its surface with the enthusiasm of someone who had just received the world's greatest gift.
The excitement radiating from her was almost infectious, transforming the battlefield's grim atmosphere into something strangely light one.
"Xenovia, look at this!" Irina practically bounced on her heels as she held the katana up between them, her eyes shining with excitement.
"It's amazing! It doesn't even have holy power, but it cuts almost as well as my Excalibur Mimic!" A bright laugh escaped her as she gave the blade another enthusiastic swing, the steel whistling cleanly through the air "Seriously, I barely moved my wrist and that giant dog just came apart! Did you see it? One second it was growling, and the next—" She sliced the air again for emphasis "Gone!"
Xenovia pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes for a moment, resisting the urge to sigh. Irina had been obsessing over that katana ever since Motohama had handed it to her an hour ago, and the excitement showed no signs of fading.
If anything, it seemed to be getting worse.
Her fellow exorcist had spent the last hour admiring the blade, while behaving as though she'd been reunited with a long-lost friend rather than given a suspiciously cursed weapon.
Xenovia's eyes swept across the ruined academy grounds, searching the rubble and drifting smoke for any sign of their targets.
"Where is Valper Galilei?" she asked "And the swordsman accompanying him?"
The devils exchanged uncertain looks before Issei shrugged and stepped over the dissolving remains of the Cerberus. Between Kokabiel's arrival, the destruction tearing through the academy, and the battle raging across the campus, nobody had been paying much attention to where they were.
"How should I know? We were kind of occupied with the giant three-headed—" Issei cut himself off as something caught his attention overhead "When did he get here?!" he yelled, pointing toward the dark sky above the ruined academy.
Kokabiel hovered above the burning courtyard with his black wings spread behind him and a sword of light resting in his hand. His bored gaze drifted across the battlefield as though the destruction below had suddenly lost its interest.
"Since when could Motohama fly?" Issei asked nervously, unable to keep the disbelief out of his voice. The figure suspended opposite Kokabiel was unmistakable, but not the immense violet wings burning behind him. The holy aura radiating from those flames washed over the area and left the Devil occupants noticeably uncomfortable.
While everyone else watched the standoff unfolding in the sky, Xenovia's eyes settled on the boy, seemingly far more interested in him than in the Fallen Angel Cadre facing him.
The sword in Motohama's hand radiated a holy presence so intense that Xenovia found herself staring despite the battle raging around her.
It was simply holy power in its purest form, and that fact alone made the sight profoundly unsettling.
A loud growl rolled across the courtyard, snapping her attention back to the battlefield. Xenovia shifted Durandal onto her shoulder just as another Cerberus lumbered out from the remains of the gymnasium.
"Come, Irina. The situation overhead does not concern us at the moment" Xenovia said, tearing her attention away from the sky and settling it firmly on the distant roar that echoed across the academy grounds.
She immediately headed toward the sound, leaving Irina to follow close behind as they moved to intercept the newest threat.
Forcing his attention away from the departing exorcists, Issei turned toward the opposite side of the battlefield. Across the ruined track field, Rias and Akeno weaved through the air around a massive winged monster, the creature's heavily muscled arms lashing out again and again as it tried to swat them from the sky.
Clenching the Boosted Gear into a fist, Issei broke into a sprint across the scorched field. Koneko followed close behind without a word, matching his pace as though she'd already decided where he was going before he had.
A few seconds into his charge, Issei came to an abrupt stop and glanced back, only to find the blonde knight stood frozen in place with his gaze locked in the sky above the battlefield.
"Oi, Kiba!" Issei waved his gauntleted arm "Whatever you're looking at can wait! President and Akeno-san need help right now!"
The knight blinked and visibly snapped back to reality, his attention tearing away from whatever had held it. After a quick nod, he immediately broke into a run and raced after the others.
'That much holy power... Even the Excalibur fragments I had encountered hadn't felt quite like that'
His grip tightened around his sword. No matter how hard he tried to focus on the battle ahead, his thoughts kept returning to the blade in Motohama's hand.
'What kind of holy sword was that?'
. . .
Rias quickly widened the distance between herself and the monster, her gaze fixed on the giant as she searched for an opening. Akeno descended from the air and steadied herself, her breathing uneven after the prolonged exchange.
Roooaaaarrrr!
The creature's roar shook the battlefield before it surged forward, determined to crush them through sheer force.
Akeno raised both arms despite the fatigue weighing on her body, as lightning exploded from the storm clouds overhead and struck the giant square in the chest, enveloping its massive frame in a storm of crackling electricity.
The flash was bright enough to force several people to shield their eyes, and when the thunder finally rolled away, hope briefly stirred across the battlefield.
The hope lasted all of three seconds as the smoke began to clear, the giant stepped out of the lingering haze with the same steady pace as before. Its scales gleamed beneath the fading sparks of electricity, completely untouched by the attack, and the sight alone was enough to make several hearts sink.
Graahhhhh!
Desperate to create even a few seconds of breathing room for her exhausted Queen, Rias hurled another sphere of Destruction at the advancing giant. The creature's response was immediate as it's massive sword rose in a sharp motion before carving upward through the air, releasing a compressed wave of light that raced toward the attack.
The luminous slash crashed headlong into Rias's attack, and the opposing forces immediately detonated in a brilliant flash.
Booooooooom!
The resulting blast flattened the last standing fences and sent debris skittering across the school grounds before fading away, with both attacks disappearing with it.
Akeno landed beside Rias, her breathing uneven as she reassessed the situation. Unfortunately, every assessment led back to the same conclusion: she had spent most of her power accomplishing absolutely nothing.
"Rias, this isn't good" Akeno said as she turned toward her "Our attacks aren't doing any meaningful damage to it..."
For a moment, Rias could do nothing but think. Every option she considered seemed inadequate against a monster like this. Then she spotted several silhouettes emerging from the smoke-choked battlefield. Her expression brightened instantly as she recognized her pawn leading the charge.
"Akeno, withdraw for now. Once Issei arrives, we can use his—" Rias's voice cut off abruptly as a flash of movement exploded through the smoke and stole the battlefield's attention.
Fwoooosh!
The monster's advance ended abruptly when a kick buried itself in its face with overwhelming force. The giant folded around the impact and shot backward, tearing through the battlefield and leaving a massive scar in the ground before crashing into the rubble.
Rias and Akeno stared at the newcomer in awe, floating where the creature was only moments before.
Kalawarner hovered above the battlefield with her black wings spread wide behind her, the pressure rolling from her body far exceeding anything Rias remembered from a Fallen Angel of her rank. She didn't even glanced toward the stunned devils below.
Her attention remained fixed on the crater where the giant struggled to rise. Calmly, she raised a hand and pointed toward the monster with the casual authority of someone issuing a punishment rather than a challenge.
"Asia, now!" Kalawarner snapped, pointing directly at the recovering giant as her command rolled across the ruins.
The blonde nun stepped out from cover and faced the monster directly. Despite the enormous creature clawing its way out of the crater, Asia held her ground and extended both hands toward it.
Two brilliant green magic circles unfolded in front of Asia, flooding the battlefield with emerald light. Chains erupted from their centers and shot forward like striking serpents, crossing the distance in an instant before wrapping themselves around the giant's arms and legs. The restraints tightened immediately, locking the monster in place and halting its struggle.
The moment the glowing chains touched the monster's flesh, steam and smoke burst from the contact points. A harsh hiss rolled across the battlefield as the enchanted bindings burned into its corrupted hide, searing blackened grooves through scales that had shrugged off far stronger attacks earlier.
Graaahhhhhh!
The massive monster's struggles grew increasingly desperate as the glowing chains continued burning into its flesh. High above, Kalawarner slowly raised her hands and the atmosphere immediately shifted. Violet magic circles unfolded around her one after another.
Dozens of luminous spears formed around Kalawarner and continued multiplying until they filled the sky behind her. The gathering arsenal distorted the atmosphere with waves of visible pressure, a blatant display of power that should have been impossible for a Fallen Angel of her former level.
Kalawarner swept her arm forward, and the entire formation launched at once.
Boooooooom! Boooooooom! Boooooooom!
The battlefield vanished beneath a storm of violet explosions. Spear after spear slammed into the restrained giant, tearing chunks from its body and drowning its screams beneath the relentless bombardment.
Each impact shook the battlefield and blasted fresh clouds of rock and ash into the air. The crater vanished beneath a storm of overlapping explosions as Kalawarner continued feeding more spears into the bombardment without the slightest hint of restraint.
By the time the barrage ended, the monster's screams had long since fallen silent. When the dust cleared, the creature was gone. In its place sat a scorched crater whose molten depths still shimmered with heat.
When the dust settled, the battlefield offered a simple conclusion: the monster no longer existed. The crater was there. The destruction was there.
But, the target itself had apparently been turned into just a short memory.
Rias's peerage stared into the pit in complete silence while Kalawarner dramatically wiped nonexistent sweat from her forehead and allowed herself a smug smile.
The Fallen Angel flashed Asia a triumphant thumbs-up. Asia responded with a bright smile and an enthusiastic thumbs-up of her own, looking entirely too pleased with herself. A moment later, Kalawarner turned toward Rias's peerage and gave them the same cheerful gesture, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she'd just demonstrated enough firepower to flatten a small neighborhood.
Nobody wanted to be the first person to refuse the thumbs-up, so everyone eventually followed Issei's lead. The result was a collection of nervous smiles directed at the woman who had just introduced a giant monster to the concept of complete nonexistence.
'Just what sort of training does Motohama put his team through? Rias wondered as she stared at the smoking crater, then at the duo 'Because nobody should be smiling after doing something like that.
Forcing her mind away from the increasingly disturbing subject of Motohama's training methods, Rias refocused on the battlefield overhead where the real fight was still waiting to unfold.
. . .
'This can't be possible....'
Although Kokabiel had witnessed battlefields far more devastating than the one below, he still found himself staring at the crater for several moments longer than necessary because the destruction itself wasn't what interested him.
His eyes settled on Kalawarner with a rare flicker of confusion, since nothing about the power she had just displayed matched the Fallen Angel he remembered.
The sight below irritated Kokabiel more than he cared to admit.
'That woman was barely worth remembering the last time I saw her, and now she's casually erasing them?' His crimson eyes narrowed at her presence 'More importantly, what is with that ridiculous amount of mana?'
Every instinct he possessed told him that something was fundamentally wrong with the scene below. Slowly, his gaze returned to the young man hovering across from him.
"I wasn't aware that thing meant so much to you," Motohama said "Had I known, I would have offered my condolences before it got vaporized"
Kokabiel's smile widened as he pushed aside the brief uncertainty gnawing at the back of his mind. The destruction of his pets was unfortunate, but hardly worth dwelling on. Wars were built on losses, and he had witnessed greater disasters than this long before Motohama's ancestors had been born.
Rolling his shoulders, he allowed his aura to spread across the battlefield and looked at the young man with a look of open amusement.
"I'm merely waiting for the rest of your little reinforcements to join us," Kokabiel said with a broad grin as he spread his arms wide "Go on. Call them up here. The sooner everyone gathers, the sooner the real fun can begin!"
Motohama remained silent as he brought the holy sword up before him. The gesture was simple, almost casual, yet the challenge behind it could not have been clearer.
The challenge of facing him by himself earned little more than a scoff from Kokabiel.
Extending his free hand, he forged a massive spear from pure light and immediately began compressing impossible amounts of magic into its core, once again.
The weapon brightened with every passing moment until the sky itself seemed to bend around it, while the pressure radiating from its unstable frame washed across the battlefield in oppressive waves.
Aiming the spear directly at Motohama, Kokabiel's grin widened in anticipation.
"Arrogant ones are always-"
Slash!
Before a single muscle in his arm could obey the command to throw, the limb simply ceased belonging to him. It broke away from his shoulder and spun into open air, carrying both the fading spear and a trail of blood with it.
Kokabiel's eyes dropped to the blood pouring from his shoulder, and for the first time that night, his smile vanished completely. Shock settled across his face as he struggled to process what had just happened.
By the time his instincts had registered danger, his arm had already been spinning toward the ground. His head snapped up a moment later as he searched frantically for Motohama, trying to follow the movements of the teenager who had crossed the distance and crippled him before he could react.
Motohama hovered behind him, casually flicking the blood from his holy blade. When he turned, the violet glow burning in his eyes seemed almost unnatural. The usual grin was gone, replaced by a cold, detached stare that made him look less like a teenager and more like an executioner.
"I told you already"
Motohama's eyes glowed in purple as he pointed his sword at the warmonger Cadre.
"I'll be the one killing you"
Kokabiel pressed a hand against his severed shoulder while a feeling he hadn't experienced in centuries slowly crept into his thoughts.
Doubt.
He had faced beings far older and more powerful than any human should have been, yet the pressure radiating from the swordsman before him made his instincts alarm him with threat, he hadn't felt in centuries.
Across the ruined battlefield below, every attention shifted toward the confrontation overhead as nobody wanted to miss what came next.
. . .
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