One-Punch DxD: NEO

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.

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!"

Malkuth's cries of agony resounded again. But his voice ceased once Muramasa plunged through his chest, piercing his heart.

Malkuth silently stared at the blade protruding from his chest. Time seemed to stand still as the sound of his heartbeat grew audible, beating in his ears in a fading, dying rhythm.

He reached out to grab the sword. His attempt to push it back out was weak, pitiful. Yuuto couldn't even feel any resistance as he pushed the blade in deeper, right until the hilt touched the armor, blood spilling out of the fallen angel as his remaining arm dropped limp while a pool of blood started to form around his feet.

"...Well done" Malkuth fell on his knees with a heavy thud from the weight of his armor. Blood spilled from his lips, even more spilled when Yuuto yanked Muramasa from his back, crimson life trickling down in cascades of rivulets.

Malkuth wanted to say something, but he kept choking on his own blood. Yuuto spat out the dagger he held to make himself invisible as he stood above the kneeling angel.

"...I hope that you will find peace in the afterlife. If there's even one for angels." Yuuto spoke with a soft tone. "Any last words?"

"...You are no different" Malkuth looked back, the light of his eyes fading, the absence of life taking hold in the form of cold. "...We both sold our souls to the devil called vengeance"

Malkuth coughed more blood as Yuuto raised his blade, his hands tightening around the pommel.

"...I understand." Yuuto knew what Malkuth was saying. Malkuth was what Yuuto would become if he let his hatred consume him Yuuto closed his eyes for a moment, opening them again before his blade sliced through Malkuth's neck, executing him.

"But I will be fine, because I have my friends with me." Yuuto spoke as he watched what remained of Malkuth, his head rolling in the pool of his angel blood as the rest of his body hung its bleeding neck. It was almost as if Malkuth was prostrating before the heavens with the last ounce of energy he had left before he departed for Hades.

A few seconds later, Yuuto fell to his knees, panting for breath; as Xenovia and Griselda also dropped to the ground, sighing with palpable relief, tensions bled away by catharsis.

"How are you faring, Mr. Kiba?" Griselda asked, as Xenovia came over to tend to her.

"I I will manage after a minute or two." Yuuto replied as he glanced at the katana that was still in his grasp.

They had won they had defeated the angel that could've killed everyone present. There was a feeling of elation and pride swelling in his heart, a sense of true accomplishment past all the sorrow and misery.

[It's not over yet, master. He's coming!]

However, Muramasa was still alert, breaking Yuuto from his reprieve.

Before Yuuto could have asked, something suddenly dropped to the field behind Yuuto, crashing through the ground and several trees.

All three Knights quickly returned to their feet to inspect the crash site. When the dust cleared, everyone's eyes widened in alarm at the sight of Issei laying on his back - his Scale Mail had been shattered and battered, exposing some scathing injuries.

"Ise!"

Yuuto cried out in alarm as ran towards the defeated Red Dragon Emperor, while Griselda and Xenovia turned when Kokabiel descended from the sky. The Star of God's appearance was slightly dirtier than the last time they saw him, but otherwise unharmed.

"...So, you have bested Malkuth." Kokabiel's gaze landed on the headless and de-winged corpse of the seraph. "I suppose a congratulation is in order." Kokabiel remarked as his eyes lazily traveled to Yuuto and the others.

Yuuto grit his teeth as he prepared for battle, Xenovia and Griselda following suit as they glared up at the mastermind.

However, the tension was broken by the sound of hacking and coughing coming from the Red Dragon.

"...You asshole" Issei grunted as he shifted in the dirt crater he formed.

"Issei!" Yuuto shouted.

"I'm doing fine still didn't believe we didn't stock up on healing potions. Ahhh, could go for an instant first aid kit or Phoenix Tear." Issei pressed his thumb against the left side of his nose and snorted, blowing out the blood out of the other hole.

It was a shame since there weren't many effective medications, not many that were even as half as effective as Phoenix Tears. That and Issei never bothered Azazel for healing items for some reason long before this debacle, something he should fix once this was all over.

"Everyone else is in dire straits, and they probably need the ones Koneko has more." Yuuto smiled bitterly at him.

"Damn... Alright, back to the meat grinder I go." Issei grunted as he rose to his feet, taking deep heavy, refined breaths.

He never completely mastered the Awakening Breath technique, but it should help dull the pain.

"And as for you, little boy, How long will it take for you to learn your lesson?" Kokabiel turned to Issei.

"Feh, I'll keep standing no matter what you throw at me." Issei rolled his neck and shoulders, feeling the bones snapping back into place.

"No, how long are you going to keep holding yourself back?"

Issei dour face turned stoic.

"You know what I'm talking about. Poor son of Saitama. Are you that afraid of your own power?"

Issei's brows creased at Kokabiel, his mind filled with the images of what had transpired on the aforementioned day.

Fire - lots of fire. The taste of fresh blood within the red.

"You know goddamn well what happened that day..." Issei retorted with a glare.

"And yet, you prefer to let your friends experience death for your selfishness." Kokabiel returned.

Issei paused in silence, before his lips twitched - how ironic, he actually had a similar talk with Akeno and Koneko the other day.

"...Alright, you got me there. But still"

"The only reason why you're in that state is because you're inconsistent with your control. You have absolutely no faith, no trust in your own power. You are not Saitama, boy! Not only that, the power that led to that tragedy wasn't yours! That is the folly of relying on powers not your own! You failed to master the power that rests in your left arm because of that day!"

[Partner]

Ignoring Ddraig's concerned tone, Issei gritted his teeth in agitation and dashed at Kokabiel, "SHUT UP!"

However, Issei saw a shining glimmer before it exploded in his face, blasting him back into the crater.

"Issei!" Yuuto could not see what happened. All he saw was a flash and then Issei exploded, smoking in the dirt.

Issei spat more blood, his body burned, his armor was damaged even further.

"Shouting out of self-denial is your response? I expected better from you. How long are you going to act like a spoiled brat? I want to see the boy wanting to turn into a man, not the scared little boy hiding behind his father!" Kokabiel mocked him from the sky.

Issei grit his teeth as he closed his eyes, verbally thrashed into silence.

He might have had a similar problem like Koneko and Akeno; hell, he knew that he was acting like a hypocrite at this moment. Still, that day how could he let go of that day after what happened to him and his mother?

There was only pain.

His father stood over him, his eyes no longer the comical emotionless gaze that he was used to seeing. It was the kind of serious eyes that usually formed whenever things were dire that required his utmost attention, mostly outside of combat.

There was only fire and rubble Issei could not remember the details. But there was one sight that burned into his memory that day.

He saw his mother. His teeth were inside his mother's shoulder, threatening to tear out a chunk of her meat.

He could still remember the taste of her blood in his mouth What was worse was how she smiled at him despite the pain.

How could one not be paralyzed with confusion, guilt, and terror when one realized what they did in pursuit of power and glory?

He was arrogant and reckless. It was something that he did not want to suffer again.

It was nothing like Koneko's trauma or Akeno's tragedy. They did not have any direct hand in the harming of their loved ones; the tragedy came to him, that was what Issei used to help them cope, comparing his pain to theirs.

How could their suffering compare to the pain of nearly committing matricide by one's own hand?

It sounded arrogant now that he thought about it a form of self-conceit that could only be described as disgusting and deplorable.

He thought he could live with it on his own terms but now he had to come to terms that his friends were paying the price due to his 'compromise'.

The said friend was lying on the ground not far behind his mother - battered and covered in blood.

When his terrified eyes shifted to his mother, Issei took a few steps back, fearing what he had done.

He looked at his blood-soaked hands and then at his father.

The silence was deafening - no, it was soul-crushing. He wanted to hear something, anything that would help him deny the scenario that played out in his head.

Hell, he begged Ddraig to speak out, anyone to say something.

But no one did. It was as dire as he pictured.

In return, his mother only smiled lovingly, as if he had done nothing wrong. She looked like she wanted to say something, but the bleeding on her shoulder had sapped her strength, causing her to collapse to the ground.

"...Yeah" Issei grimaced as he stood back to his feet again. The pain he felt through his body paled in comparison to the old wound in his heart.

[Partner?]

"It's time to move on."

Issei looked back up at Kokabiel. The defiance was still radiating in his eyes, but there was also a hint of acceptance, while his Scale Mail slowly regenerated and recovered his body.

"Oh?" Kokabiel quirked a brow.

He swore he saw something glimmering behind that gaze.

"Are you finally done playing the spoiled brat?"

Issei ignored the verbal jab as he entered his stance.

It was one of the twelve arts that the guy he met at the river those years ago tried to teach him and the one that worked with him the best, the other one being a second.

He slid one foot back, his body turned diagonally sideways with his right arm raised back in a predatory angle, his knees bent low, his eyes glaring up at Kokabiel while the scale mail slowly covered his face.

It was sudden, uncharacteristic even but he was not stupid. Issei watched a lot of anime to know where this was going and it did not help that it hurt even worse than he imagined when he forced himself to let go, no, to perform the act of letting go without prior preparation.

Even so, he was not one to betray his own advice and become a hypocrite, nor the one to let himself suffer a greater wound than the one of the past. If he continued on as he did, he would be forever plagued with guilt and self-hatred that would haunt him for the rest of his days.

For that, he must move forward.

Because he was Issei Hyoudou, the Son of the Strongest Man, the Red Dragon Emperor.

And the one that would one day give the catharsis his father seeks.

And with that, his heart pulsed at a volume he could hear reverberating through his body, something that happened in an instant, fast, terse, and beneath his notice.

Kokabiel was right on one thing Issei should not completely rely on the powers of another being. His only mistake at that time was him wanting to take the easy way out to one-up Vali.

Yeah, that was how he should have pictured it. He definitely should not think of it as something that came solely from his own power.

"...I forgive you."

His three words softly reached Kokabiel's ears.

"...Excuse me?" Kokabiel asked demandingly.

"All the shit you've pulled, all the painScarring Irina and endangering my friends I forgive you."

Kokabiel narrowed his crimson eyes into slits.

"You? Forgive me? My actions are anything but forgivable. What are you planning? Why are you trying to play the saint, Issei?"

There was a hint of incredulity in the Fallen's tone when he asked those questions.

"No. I am tired of being stuck in the past. I forgive you... because I want to move forward. Like you said before, there's no God up there to forgive us for us. So we have to take the mantle to forgive ourselves."

His words stunned everyone that was watching. Xenovia, Griselda, and Yuuto were astounded, Kokabiel was paralyzed, his face unable to express the indescribable emotion swirling underneath.

Meanwhile, Issei had a quick talk with the Welsh Dragon within him.

Ddraig. You think we can do it?

[Your plan sounds perilous with risk of failure. But the element of surprise is a guarantee.]

He's no tank. Still should've told me about it earlier before Kokabiel was kicking my ass.

[Kek... Alright, good luck.]

Issei had a plan. He would even pray to Binbougami if he managed to pull it off.

Kokabiel landed before Issei, his eyes no longer having the playfulness before.

"...You have Saitama's verbal penchant for breaking expectations. I can see it in your eyes, but did you actually break free from your chains?"

[Boost!]

Issei did not answer with words. He shot forth, steps forward, two cracking epicenters spreading.

Kokabiel raised his light swords, crossing them for impact, but something was wrong. Weapons of energy immediately dissolved and went into Issei's approaching left fist.

He could not utter a word as Issei's fist exploded through his chest with so much force, it uprooted through the earth behind Kokabiel, the scar of the half-glassed landscape almost shaped like a tear instead of a ragged cone.

[Boost!]

Issei did not stop when Kokabiel coughed blood and continued striking him with explosive, fusillading fury of an enraged dragon, the emerald eyes of his visor glowing green as he continued striking blow after blow, a rough, feral combination of Water Stream and Explosion Release fist as he unleashed devastating blow by blow, pushing Kokabiel back at his full, unrelenting power and focus.

[Boost! Boost! Boost!]

He will not let up. He will not give Kokabiel recourse. One mistake and the Fallen will crush him completely and utterly without mercy.

Xenovia, Yuuto, and Griselda could only watch with stunned disbelief as Issei continued pushing Kokabiel back, fist after fist connecting mercilessly. The way he threw his fists was a chaotic storm of curved and straight trajectories striking the fallen with unpredictable rhythm.

All they could hear was them carving a trench through the earth mixing with the words of Boosted Gear augmenting Issei after each strike.

Issei was not sure how long he could boost himself without faltering but he refused to stop.

However, at the nth strike, Kokabiel's face bloody and bruised, unleashed a warcry of defiance as his holy aura flared, a light sword formed in his right hand as it flickered towards Issei's neck at blinding speed.

[Explosion!]

However, as if anticipating this, Issei parried and veered Kokabiel's counter, his left redirecting his blade over just in time to slice through the metal of his helmet and visor.

Kokabiel could see only the left side of Issei's face gazing at him as Issei spiraled his hands together until they were closely parallel with each other and the flat earth right before Kokabiel's chest.

Kokabiel widened as the very air started warping, color distorted as an near invisible force converged into Issei's left hand, into his Boosted Gear, while his right hand started crackling with a different energy.

Kokabiel realized that one held magic condensed to the extreme. The other hand was Issei's Ki.

Then, combined with a stomp of his leg, Issei thrusted both his hands towards Kokabiel's chest.

When Issei's palms made contact, Kokabiel's body immediately shook uncontrollably, like a landscape going through earthquakes, as a powerful shockwave traversed from Issei's blow throughout Kokabiel's body until the surrounding ground, forming a large crack resembling ripples on the earth.

Then, a second later, an explosion occurred from within the micro-space between Issei's palms and Kokabiel's chest; the sheer force of the explosion launched the Fallen all the way crashing into St. Adonai's walls. Simultaneously, the occurring explosion also launched Issei away in the opposite direction - his body crashed into the trees behind, splinters and shrapnel of his Scale Mail scattering.

The three immediately rushed to Issei the moment they saw him fly.

Within the debris of broken trees, Issei groaned on his back.

Most of his Scale Mail was blasted off him. All the armor around his arms from shoulder to fingers were gone, while his blood dripped from his knuckles.

"Well, that needs some work." Issei wheezed in pain. The recoil was greater than he estimated. His veins and arteries nearly ruptured from the knockback alone, which was something he might need to work on.

Xenovia and Griselda ran towards him, each taking one of his arms and helped pull him up over their shoulders.

"Issei... what was that?" Yuuto asked as he looked over at the other boy.

"Something I was working on. I blasted through his core with the first attack. The explosion was a side effect." Issei coughed, blood leaving his lips. "This time I didn't hold back he should feel that more than I did. Let's just hope he doesn't have a full recovery miracle drug like Malkuth's by the way, what happened to him?"

"We managed to defeat him and end his life. We feared for the worst when we saw your state." Griselda smiled as Issei steadied himself.

"Yeah, not gonna lie, he's still a pain in the ass to deal with. Other than that, you can stop holding me up. I can walk."

Griselda and Xenovia glanced at each other as they let Issei stand on his own.

"How did you manage to do that?" Xenovia asked with whispered awe.

"Some guy I met who knows more than twelve different martial arts taught me this trick though he left before he completed my training. Been trying to replicate this move for a while now, though I had to get creative to surprise Kokabiel"

The three shifted their gaze to Kokabiel's direction, seeing the fallen stumble through the broken hole of St Adonai.

The aura of invincibility that Kokabiel projected from their first encounter was no longer there.

He was as vulnerable as any angel, any man, as he stumbled towards them.

After his seventh step, he tripped and fell on his hands and knees, then he started vomiting a concoction of his blood mixed with his puke.

Copious blood continued dripping from his mouth, staining his clothes, bruises mottling his face purple, but despite all that, he flashed a grin that spread from ear to ear as he stood back up, wiping the blood from his mouth.

"Well done..." Kokabiel spoke through the wheezes.

"You broke my ribs and punctured my lungs. My internal organs are in great pain from that final attack of yours. Ack!" Kokabiel coughed, spitting out a large globule of his spit and blood as it splattered the charred, half-glassed earth.

"...But I have one trick up my sleeve. I've been saving this for your guardians, the Satans, and the Archangels. It is right for me to show you, the secret power I have learned, the ability to defy God!"

Issei half-groaned half-wailed.

"Auuuuugh, come oooon~. Don't tell me, you have a final form?" Issei complained as Kokabiel's smirk widened.

"Oh, I prefer to call it 'Ascension!'"

He really did have a final form!

The four were caught off guard when blinding light, one so bright that it rivaled or dwarfed the brightest light of day as they immediately covered their eyes, drowned out all color in the battlefield.

"Ddraig! What the hell am I seeing?! I thought angels don't have second transformations!"

He had learned almost everything there was about Angels under Azazel. He knew for a fact that there was no such thing as a Fallen Angel having second transformations.

[If what I am sensing is correct color me shocked stupid, if I am not wrong, I am sensing something like God's Grace sprouting from Kokabiel.]

The Welsh Dragon's astonished tone did not help in easing Issei's worry whatsoever.

"God's Grace? What do you mean?!" Issei demanded.

[I am more familiar with Angels than you four, but this is too new. I don't know how, but he is recreating God's Grace somehow. Angels are children of God - His creations, but I haven't seen one achieve something like this. It is almost like I am sensing God's Light again for the first time in centuries.]

"God's Light...?" Griselda muttered as her expression contorted in incredulity, "But That sounds like he's returning to the state before he fell in the first place! How is that possible?!"

[How should I know?! I'm no Angel savant! If anything, only The Biblical God should know, but I don't think this is within His intention to have His children pulling something like this!]

The radiant light that blinded the colors of the world seemed to finally recede, dimming enough for them to look at the source, albeit they still had to squint since the light was sharply piercing their retinas.

"Behold."

Kokabiel's voice sounded melodic. There was no roughness, nothing hardened through the horrors of tragedy and war.

"Gaze upon and tremble with awe."

Issei half-covered his eyes to inspect Kokabiel's transformation.

"Holy shit" Issei widened his eyes.

Kokabiel's appearance defied the traditional angel trope to a 'T.'

The fallen's hair was silver and white, but his halo There was a shining core in the center of eight concentric halo rings, like a solar system made of silver light hovering above his head. His eyes looked somewhat serene, yet there were no pupils or sclera. His eyes were too bright for Issei to gaze into for too long.

If Issei had to describe it, it was like two small white suns replaced his eyeballs.

As for his clothes, it was definitely new, a cosmic cloak wearing his form from the neck down like he wore a piece of the night sky, glittering stars unhindered glimmering within the darkness, but this time in the shape of the Angel's clothes to fit his theme.

What really set him apart was his wings. Black feathers replaced by starlight, twelve wings instead of ten, though if issei had to describe it, it was more like a constellation of angel wings, orbs of starlight connected by lines of white light, forming contours that outlined the rough shape of twelve wings.

If Kokabiel's initial arrival was akin to a black star descending, currently it was like watching the real star up close.

"Damn, he looks dope." Issei had to compliment Kokabiel's new form, the aesthetic definitely looked well-done. "Did he look like this before he went full vampire?" Issei asked.

"To answer your question." Kokabiel responded instead. "This is original, my form and mine alone. Father has no taste in originality, so if you want to know how I looked before my descent, use Malkuth as a reference."

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.