"Exactly, my little swordswoman," Valper said. "What you received was the crystallized essence of that Factor, extracted from countless donors. Just like this one."
Valper reached into his pocket and pulled out a small glowing orb. It shone with a brilliant light, and a holy aura seemed to pour from it.
"With this, my research made a dramatic leap forward," he continued. "And yet those fools in the Church branded me a heretic and cast me out. To make it even more laughable, they seized my research materials and continued using them for themselves."
His expression twisted with bitterness. "That bastard Archangel Michael. He condemns me as a heretic, then turns around and makes use of my research anyway?"
"You killed all of us just to extract that Holy Sword Factor?" Kiba growled, his voice full of killing intent.
"Exactly," Valper replied without the slightest shame. "This orb is one of the originals from back then. I had four in total, but I gave three of them to Freed. This one is the last."
"Hya-ha-ha!" Freed laughed loudly. "I was the only one who could handle it! All the others dropped dead because they weren't compatible! Heh, that makes me pretty special, doesn't it?"
That meant the other people involved in stealing the Excaliburs were probably already dead.
"…Valper Galilei," Kiba said, his hands trembling. A powerful demonic aura was pouring from his body. "How many lives has your selfish research destroyed?"
Valper gave a small hum, as if the question barely mattered to him.
"If it means that much to you, then I can give this crystallized Factor to you," he said casually. "My research has already advanced far enough for me to mass-produce as much of it as I want later."
His smile twisted with fanatic pride.
"But first things first. I'll help Kokabiel destroy this town. After that, I'll gather every Holy Sword from every corner of the world and mass-produce Holy Sword wielders. Then, with the combined Excalibur in hand, I'll wage war against Michael and the Vatican itself. I'll show those blind fools—the angels and their worshippers who condemned the fruits of my research—just how wrong they were."
As if he had completely lost interest in the Factor, Valper casually tossed it away. The small crystal bounced across the ground before rolling to a stop at Kiba's feet.
Kiba bent down in silence and picked it up. He held it gently, almost lovingly, as if he were holding something precious.
"…Everyone…"
Tears ran down his cheeks. His face was filled with grief, but beneath it was a rage that refused to die.
Then it happened. The crystal suddenly began to give off a faint light, and in the next moment, it was abruptly absorbed into his body. Kiba dropped to one knee and started sweating heavily.
"Ha-ha-ha! Now he'll die just like the rest of them… But why was it absorbed like that all of a sudden? Well, whatever. It doesn't matter."
Freed did not wait for Kiba to recover. He dashed forward at once, and Mary moved to meet him, matching his speed. Excalibur Destruction appeared in her left hand, and it clashed against Freed's fused Excalibur.
CLING! CLANG! CHING!
She switched the sword between her hands, using Excalibur with her dominant hand while relying on Excalibur Rapidly to keep up with its speed.
Freed was much weaker now, and it showed. Mary was pushing him back without much trouble. That was only natural. He had a hole through each arm, yet he still kept fighting like a complete war maniac.
Kiba was still on the ground, while Kokabiel watched with clear interest, waiting to see what would happen next.
A sword of demonic power took shape before Kiba. Its base was undeniably demonic and born from malice, yet it was covered in holy light. Black steel and pale radiance coexisted along the same blade, creating something unnatural.
Sacred Gears did not evolve from emotion alone. Emotion was only the trigger. The real catalyst was transformation in the vessel itself. When a person's thoughts, resolve, and desires changed so violently that even the world around them was forced to acknowledge it, that change reached the Sacred Gear as well. And when the Gear responded to that level of awakening, the result was Balance Breaker.
Everyone watched in disbelief at the phenomenon unfolding right in front of them.
"A—a Holy Demonic Sword…? Impossible…" Valper Galilei's face tightened in shock. "Two complete opposites should not be able to merge into a stable existence…"
Then his eyes widened even more.
"…I see. I understand now. If the balance between light and darkness has been thrown into disorder… then that would explain it. The Demon Kings, and even God Himself—"
WHOOOSH! THUMP!
Before he could finish his sentence, Kiba had suddenly appeared beside Valper Galilei. He had moved so fast that the man never had the chance to react.
In the next instant, Valper's head rolled off his shoulders.
Kiba shifted his gaze toward Freed.
Mary dashed at him. Just as he was about to block her attack, she suddenly threw Excalibur Destruction at him. Freed knocked it aside and was about to counterattack when he noticed she had left one side open.
Then a long crimson blade formed in her hand. At the same time, Freed's mind went blank for a moment. That single opening was all Mary needed. She drove the blade through his throat, killing him instantly.
And just like that the stray Exorcist, Freed Sellzen was put down like the dog he is.
"BWAHAHAHA! Excalibur Ruler too?" Kokabiel laughed, clearly entertained. "So you really do have Excalibur Genesis, little swordswoman."
Both Kiba and Mary charged at the fused Excalibur and struck it at the same time, Kiba with his Holy Demonic Sword and Mary with Excalibur Destruction. Kokabiel watched with amusement as cracks slowly spread across the blade until it finally shattered completely.
Only then did Kokabiel let go of Rias. He slammed her into the ground and turned his attention back to them.
Rage filled Kiba, and he shot toward Kokabiel, bringing his new sword down in a vertical slash. Mary moved in from the opposite side, flanking Kokabiel with Excalibur Rapidly in one hand and Excalibur Destruction in the other.
Countless demonic swords burst from the ground and shot toward Kokabiel, but he casually deflected them with his hands and wings. Kiba leaped into the air and came down with a powerful downward slash, but the leader of the Fallen Angels simply caught the blade with one hand again. Whether it was his demonic swords or his new Balance Breaker, Kiba still could not deal any real damage to Kokabiel.
Mary went for his legs, but a magic-circle barrier formed in front of her strike and blocked it. In the same instant, Kokabiel swung one of his wings and struck her with overwhelming force. She was flung violently away, rolled across the ground, and only managed to steady herself by driving her sword into the earth.
"You really think you can beat me with that new toy?" Kokabiel said as he looked straight into Kiba's eyes. A dark smile slowly spread across his face. "Learn your place, fool."
Suddenly a Holy Sword shot out of Kokabiel's feet and pierced Kiba's stomach and came out of his back, blood poured out of his mouth as he fell on his knees and his face hit the ground.
"YUUUUTOOO!" Rias screamed. Her face was bloodied and she had a few broken bones, but she still forced herself to crawl toward her knight, leaving a trail of blood behind her as she dragged herself across the ruined ground.
When she finally reached him, she dropped beside him and immediately began using healing magic. Even as a High-Class Devil, Rias's healing magic was nowhere near Asia's Twilight Healing. But right now, she had no other choice.
"What a foolish little girl. Did you really think taking me on was a good idea? Your precious little servants died because of you. You are a failure of a master."
He stood over both of them, a longsword made of holy power forming in his hand.
Suddenly, a pink field spread from behind the new school building and surrounded the entire campus. Kokabiel immediately felt his power weaken slightly. Everyone turned toward the school entrance.
A tall girl leaped over the security gate and landed in the schoolyard. She had long purple hair and a katana in her hand. Without wasting a second, she rushed forward at high speed and hurled the katana straight at Kokabiel.
"Who is it now?" Kokabiel said.
The katana spun through the air and flew straight toward his throat. Kokabiel caught it by the blade as if it were nothing.
Then, all of a sudden, Adrien appeared upside down above him. He grabbed the katana's hilt and poured a huge amount of demonic power into it. With one powerful swing, he slashed through Kokabiel's hand and cut it in half at the knuckle.
Kokabiel's eyes widened in disbelief. Holy energy gathered in his other hand and formed into a blade. He thrust it toward Adrien just as Adrien was trying to land, but a moment before it could pierce the back of his neck, Adrien vanished again.
Kokabiel looked around, searching for the one who had attacked him, only to realize that everyone had disappeared from the school courtyard.
'How is he so fast? Is that really his speed? No, that's impossible. Not even Satans or Archangels can move that fast. And why can't I sense him?'
Kokabiel glanced at his hand, it was cut in half and a pool of blood was dripping from it. In all his years of fighting, this was the first time he could not explain what had just happened to him. He had only felt the faintest trace of energy before the attacker appeared. After that, everything happened so quickly that even he could not understand it.
Kokabiel spread out his senses and quickly found everyone at the old school building behind the main campus. His wings extended from his back and he flew there at high speed.
--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>--<>
Rias' peerage, Sona, and the exorcists suddenly found themselves standing in front of the old school building. They all looked at the man standing before them. Beside him were three girls, moving quickly to the injured, each carrying flasks of Phenex Tears.
"Adrien..." Mary stared at the blonde boy in front of her. It had been three years since she had last seen him. Mary was the third exorcist—representative of the orthodox church—sent with Xenovia and Irina to exorcise the devil that had appeared in Germany. She had heard from her friends that Adrien was in town, but she had not gone to look for him.
"Yo, Mary, you good?" Adrien said with a smile, giving her a side glance. "I'd love to catch up, but I've got to deal with that dude first."
Everyone fell silent. It was Rias who spoke first.
"You're going to fight him on your own...?"
"You can't! Even with all of us, we couldn't injure him!" Sona said. Xenovia and Mary both nodded.
BOOOOOM!
Kokabiel landed about thirty meters away from them with immense force, cracks spreading across the ground.
Adrien shot the group a side glance, then smirked and pointed his thumb at himself.
"Y'all did good. I got it from here."
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Characters that appeared this chapter:
Adrien Agares
Saeko Busujima
Mary Leroy
Xenovia Quarta
Rias Gremory
Yuuto Kiba
Valper Galilei
Freed Sellzen
Kokabiel