One-Punch DxD: NEO

Chapter 29: Clash and Pursuit

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"Akdivurhksjdhd?!"

An unceremonious cry followed by an unceremonious landing of a boy tumbling across the floor filled the sterile rectangular room, white tiles in all corners, light coming from the walls to illuminate the two figures.

"In all honesty, for being the Red Dragon Emperor, I expected more of a challenge since you're his progeny."

Kokabiel commented while Issei pushed himself up from his goofy posture, which was his head bent under between his legs, and pouted at the smirking Fallen.

"Don't call me that. That's Ddraig's title. It feels weird having something shoved into my hands."

Kokabiel cocked a brow.

"Oh?" His attention was piqued.

[As a matter of fact, the title Red Dragon Emperor belonged to my very first host, then the name has stuck ever since.]

"Still, it doesn't click. Besides, isn't there someone way bigger and redder than you out there? Why isn't he the 'emperor' or something?"

Ddraig remained silent.

"Now that you think about it, that is true, since I am certain that there is a segment mentioning you wanting to defeat the two strongest, and one of them is bigger and redder than you. Maybe you're more of a prince in this case." Kokabiel gave his thoughts with a condescending smirk.

[Don't get infected with the kid's penchant for downsizing me. I am still a Heavenly - Class Dragon.]

"And you're stuck being some kid's toy. How does that make you feel?"

[That was the fault of your skirt-chasing leader and the other two leaders! It was never my choice, alright!?]

"Still, a great example of a legend falling from grace. Be sure not to follow the toy's example." Kokabiel simply waved Ddraig's retort off and spoke to Issei.

"Okay."

[Don't play along so easily!]

Ddraig shouted with indignity.

"Back to the subject of my curiosity, you're the first I've heard that rejected the title. I am curious. Why do you not want it? Do you find the prospect of prestige and fame droll like your father does?"

Issei remained silent for a moment.

"It doesn't feel like it's mine, you know? I mean, it feels off. I want a title that belongs to me naturally it feels more like they're calling me another guy's name. I don't want to be stuck with some random lizard's sidekick."

"Ah..." Kokabiel nodded with understanding.

[Why do you always keep treating me like some third rate mook? I am an ancient legendary dragon! You should be honored to be in my presence!]

"Was." Issei impishly corrected. "You're now my roommate and Rover's chew toy."

[Oh, fu-.]

"Ah, ah, ah! No curse words. Or mom will let Rover chew on you for a day."

Ddraig grumbled in the gauntlet, muttering to himself in words that did not sound like Japanese. Issei perked his head upon remembering the time.

"Oh, right, speaking of Rover, Can we take a break for today?" Issei asked. "It is lunchtime, and I have to feed Rover. Azazel doesn't want him to raid the kitchen again."

"Ah, right. That thing" Kokabiel instantly relented upon hearing about the thing. "I still cannot believe that your father took that abomination of a hellhound As a pet." Kokabiel still was not sure what that thing was.

That thing was more suited to guard the gates of Tartarus than being a kid's pet.

"Thanks! Same time tomorrow?" Issei smiled.

"Hmmm. You still need to work on your rhythm. From what I've seen, you still don't have that foundation yet. There is still much for you to improve." Kokabiel replied with a small smile as he helped Issei return to his feet.

"Okay!"

"You still haven't set your foundation, boy!"

In the skies above the town buildings, lines upon lines of light gleamed like the brush of an artist drawing a canvas when seen from below.

For Issei, Kokabiel was peeling his armor like the shell of a hard-boiled egg, shedding strips upon strips protection despite him boosting himself during combat.

"Shut up!"

[Boost!]

Issei responded to Kokabiel's fencer-style swordplay with rapid boxing jabs, moving in to close the distance, but Kokabiel dashed back with a laughing smile, one arm behind his back as he riposted, stabbing his through Issei's gauntlet at the second jab.

What was insulting was that Kokabiel was aiming to peel his armor off. He did not even scratch Issei's skin as Kokabiel flicked his arm, breaking off another chunk of Issei's Scale Mail.

"Since when do you like to show off?! I thought you're the serious no-nonsense type!" Issei shouted as he repaired the peeled armor, the red metal covering all of Issei's skin in a red glow.

"Ahahahaha! I am merely 'stretching my wings' as the saying goes! It is no different than the taste of freedom for a prisoner!"

Kokabiel responded with a series of thrusts, then literally carved through his armor again like he was drawing on it while Issei was blocking. Issei did not have time to react as he flew back and looked down, seeing a Japanese kanji on his chest meaning 'bald'.

"Oh, now that's just mean."

[Ahahahahahaha!]

Ddraig laughed at Issei's humiliation.

"Whose side are you on?!" Issei shouted at his glowing jewel where Ddraig's laugh came from.

"Ahahahaha! Despite everything, we still have time for one final lesson, boy." Kokabiel laughed as he conjured another sword of light, entering a different sword stance.

Issei squinted as he repaired the damage on his scale mail.

Feet apart, arms spread, one sword aimed at him while the other aimed aside in a perpendicular angle

"Is that dual-wielding?" Issei asked.

"No. It is a complete interpretation of my new form. I did not dilly-dally after every loss I suffered against your father, boy."

Issei could see that. There was a flow that Issei could not fight against, a tempo that worked with synchrony in every step that Issei could not achieve yet.

Issei entered his usual fighting stance.

"Your form is broken like a mismatched puzzle. I am sure that one is derived from a video game character, or a combination of two."

It was mainly Ryu and Asura from Capcom franchise.

"...Maybe."

Maybe Issei should use the Limb-breaking series from the guy called Fuhrer Ugly to surprise him.

"I am disappointed in you. All these years, and you still let yourself be bound by insecurities."

At Kokabiel's words, Issei frowned, "...What are you even talking about now?"

Kokabiel sighed, "You should know... No, is it because you're trying to make it work? You are not your father, boy. You are tearing yourself apart to emulate things that interest you."

"What makes me so different from you? It's something everyone does all the time." Issei argued with a scowl, fingers clenching to fists.

"Oh, a few things. However, since you have Saitama's dense skull, I shall take my time cracking the stubborn shell."

Blinding stars of light shone around Kokabiel, orbiting around his form. Issei quirked a brow, seeing that they were not the usual light spears.

"Okay I have a bad feeling about this."

His feeling was correct.

A zip of light suddenly flew past his cheek, a flashing glimpse faster than he could react. It grazed his skin, the metal of the helmet very hot to the touch, then something exploded behind him.

Issei stole a brief glance behind, seeing a very melted hole in the car and wall of the building behind the car.

"I am known as the Star of God. Is it not right for me to live up to the name for once?" Kokabiel smirked.

Issei began to hear the voice of people panicking about the damage that Kokabiel just caused.

"H-Hey, hey, now..." Issei looked back, seeing people clamoring at the sight of the destruction, panic starting to infect the streets as they took notice of him and Kokabiel.

"I once heard tales of monsters leaving towns to ruin in your father's realm. I wonder, should I recreate the untold destruction that not even the strongest man could prevent?"

"Don't you dare...!" Issei glared from behind his faceplate.

In return, Kokabiel's smirk widened as he conjured even more shimmering star-like glimmers behind his wings.

"...Fuck!"

"FUUUCK!"

BOOM!

Saji could not help but curse up a storm as he just barely leapt away from Malkuth's barrage of exploding spears. It was thanks to his past training with Rover that he got a knack in dodging aerial attacks, but it did not make things any more easier, considering what was at stake.

"You Devils are the blight of existence! The Lord should've purged you all before you came to be!" Malkuth shouted with abject spite as more holy spears of light rained down on all of the Devils and two humans present.

The Devils were still recovering from the effects of the holy field, lethargy still present in their muscles. They were still running around, trying their best to defend against Malkuth's barrage while Tsubasa was busy carrying Tsubaki to safety since Griselda had cut off both her hands.

Amidst the explosions of holy energy, Xenovia hid behind the chapel with Griselda, gritting her teeth at the sight.

"Sister! How long do you need to recover?"

The aforementioned sister took several deep breaths, clenching-and-unclenching her hands for a few times, and kept herself steady on her feet.

"I'm afraid I'm going to need some more time." Griselda replied as she took more deep breaths to get her system back to work.

Xenovia only nodded in understanding before returning to observe the current situation outside.

"The others won't last much longer at this rate."

It grew more dire when one of Sona's pawns was pierced through the leg.

"No!"

The pawn shrieked as her leg flew off, spinning in the air with blood flicking all over before it fell into one of the cracked chasms formed by Issei's demonstration of might.

Malkuth sneered as a heroic cry shouted for his attention.

"You son of a bitch!" Saji yelled, enraged as he spread his Devil Wings, taking flight towards the spiteful angel with his fist clenched with righteous anger.

"Absorption Line!" Saji then activated his Sacred Gear and shot a line towards Malkuth's head.

However, the angel easily caught the line, which ended up wrapping around his clenched hand.

"Don't touch me, heretic!" Malkuth taunted before he tugged, "Get over here!"

"Oh, shi-!" Saji could not even finish as he was suddenly yanked towards him like a slingshot.

Saji had never been punched by anyone other than Black or Issei until now. Black's fist in his amalgam giant form was brutal, Issei's was overwhelming, knocking him out in a single blow every time.

It was the first time he was struck with the intent to kill, even more so when the fist was infused with holy energy. It felt like his brain was boiled on contact with the fist, his face branded by the hottest iron while being steam-broiled with his head as the bowl in the hot oven.

"Saji!' Tsubaki could only shout from her hiding spot - unable to do much when her both hands were down.

Saji immediately flew, crashing next to Xenovia and Griselda, his face boiled red from contact as Saji coughed blood along with six of his teeth.

Her voice had apparently garnered Malkuth's attention as well, as he conjured a large spear of light and launched it at her.

However, in the face of impending doom, Tsubaki smirked - she might had become useless in a melee, but she had yet to have run out of tricks.

"Mirror Alice!"

A large full-body mirror suddenly appeared in front of Tsubaki, facing directly at the incoming projectile. As soon as Malkuth's spear made contact with the mirror's surface, the spear seemingly 'pooled' in the mirror before it suddenly flew back towards Malkuth with twice the speed.

Mirror of Recollection

The angel widened his eyes as he jerked his body aside to avoid being impaled by his own weapon. Unfortunately, he also miscalculated the power from his reflected attack, as the spear of light managed to blow a few wings on his left side away, forcing him to descend to the ground below.

"Witch!" Malkuth hissed at the handless girl before he threw another barrage of light spears during his descent. Tsubaki paled when she saw that he was aiming for her wings and legs, a few more towards the other Devils.

At the same time, several jet-black swords were suddenly thrown to the air, meeting the spears directly.

"Holy Eraser!"

Then, the barrage of spears of light was suddenly sucked into each sword, like a blackhole.

Malkuth's wide eyes turned towards Yuuto who was looking much worse to wear.

"The cast-off filth.." Malkuth growled at the sight of the interloper.

Yuuto smirked wryly with his mouth still holding Muramasa by her hilt. The legendary demon sword merely oozes out its sinister aura in response.

"...Hm?" Malkuth's streak of ire dimmed as he inspected Yuuto more closely.

The others turned to Yuuto, seeing something off about him. Yuuto was more hunched forward than usual, leaning more on his left leg than the right. Something about his left arm seemed shorter.

"...It appears you've crawled yourself back into shape." Malkuth remarked.

"Kiba?" Tsubaki could not help but feel worried at the Knight.

"Haha funny story." Yuuto replied as he allowed the sword to fall off his lips, which immediately transformed into her human form to help him steady himself.

oXo

Yuuto growled and took a few deep breaths in order to help him weather the sheer pain across his limbs.

Muramasa was looking down at his battered form.

"I must admit, it is my first time seeing a human being this mangled." Muramasa commented on how all four of Yuuto's limbs were mangled in painful directions, bone jutting out of the skin and all.

"W-Would you help me get up?" Yuuto asked with a pained voice.

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"I don't believe you can even stand."

Yuuto groaned as his mind furiously thought of a solution. When his mind raced to Sword Birth, he sighed as he prayed to whatever Gods out there that would grant him the miracle needed to overcome this.

"Muramasa" Yuuto hissed as he internally tugged at the depths of his internal soul. From the ground, a sword slowly emerged, this one with the pommel of a medical red cross on it.

"...I am going to regret asking you this, but I need you to stab me with this sword." Yuuto requested with a face brimming with lament.

There was visible confusion on Muramasa's features.

"I beg your pardon?"

"...This is a healing sword."

Muramasa stared at the sword.

"...a Healing Sword?" She could not imagine a sword that actually heals.

"I know how it sounds."

"Do I have to stab you to make it work, or is there some magic I should know?"

"...Yes."

Muramasa regarded her master with an appraising look, before she smirked, her hand pulling the sword out of the dirt.

"...I have not been known to be gentle, are you aware of that?"

In return, Yuuto only returned her smirk in kind.

But his smirk disappeared when she stabbed the one place between his legs.

Or to be precise, the ground that was only half-centimetre away from that place.

Yuuto stared at the sword literally placed between his legs, before he regarded Muramasa with a flat look.

The manifested demon sword merely chuckled in amusement before she raised the blade again and ran it through Yuuto's gut.

"ACK, GUH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGH!"

"Where is the healing in this?" Muramasa mused as she stabbed Yuuto in the leg.

"I-uuughhhh-don't know!?" Yuuto groaned in half screams. "It's my first time-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Yuuto cried out when Muramasa stabbed near his liver.

Muramasa wanted to comment on the shortsightedness as she fancied the comedy of how her current master's bones would magically mend themselves alongside the wounds she inflicted.

She was also starting to enjoy the sounds of his physical suffering, her lips curling into a sadistic smile.

To her surprise, she heard the cracking sound of bone from Yuuto, causing her to turn her eyes towards his arms and legs.

"Oh, now it works." Muramasa smiled as she twisted the blade, wrenching another pained cry as she spectated the limbs slowly bending back to proper angles, though judging by the sound of the bones snapping into the place, Yuuto must be suffering in agony.

"Did you add an anesthetic effect to this sword?" Muramasa asked.

"N-NOooo!"

"Oh, wonderful."

She smirked as she poured twice the mental effort into his recovery and listened to the melody of her master's vocal agony and cracking limbs. There were some dislocated parts that were forced to shatter in order to straighten themselves before being mended.

"A-AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Ufufufu, stay strong now, little master."

Muramasa giggled as she had an expectant look in her eyes.

"It would be a waste if you die now."

oXo

"And that is how I managed to put myself together"

His tale garnered various expressions from both friend and foe.

"...Wow. That is pretty hardcore." Tsubasa asked, whistling at Yuuto's daring balls.

"...Didn't know you were into that kinda thing." One of Sona's bishops commented.

"...How was it?" Koneko asked with morbid curiosity.

"...Excruciating." Yuuto's voice was still rather hoarse from the constant screaming, "But as long as I can still fight and hold my swords, I won't complain."

"I prefer you to turn into soil, instead." Malkuth swung down a light sword, firing an approaching wave of holy light at the Knight.

In return, Yuuto simply used his good hand to grab Muramasa and defended as best as he could against the burning wave.

Once the attack ended, Yuuto released a deep exhale as he checked on his sword.

"How are you holding up, Muramasa?"

[Master, if this is about what I did to you earlier, I would like to remind you that it was you who ordered me to stab you with that defective sword.]

Muramasa's voice sounded strained from the brunt of Malkuth's attack.

"Interesting. But I've no patience for cockroaches! Be purified in holy fire!" Malkuth took flight once more, glowering at the devils below as he raised both of his arms to the sky.

The devils watched with caution, then their caution evolved to dread when they saw a sphere of orange fire growing above Malkuth's head.

"Oh, shit! He knows the spirit bomb!" Tsubasa shouted as the sphere was growing much much larger. "...And it's a big one!"

The devils started running the moment they saw the size of Malkuth's holy fire ball of holy death, larger than the Big Apple in New York.

"PERISH!"

Malkuth threw the ball of raw holy power down.

If there was a word to describe the aftermath, it was like watching a mini nuke in action for the first time. Many of them attempted to defend themselves the best they could, the spellcasters erecting magical barriers while the others raised their arms to block it, others hiding behind those with the magic barriers.

Yuuto, however, was alone. He barely erected a wall of anti-fire swords at ground zero.

All they saw was a blinding light overwhelming most of them, followed by a searing pain of holy fire stripping them of their skin, the feeling like the birth child of the worst acid and flame burns they have felt in their entire lives.

"Ahhhhhh!"

The blast launched Yuuto in an arc, bouncing across the pavement like a rag doll again, only this time he was like a stone skipping across the pond of dirt.

Once he finished bouncing, tumbling until he faced the sky, Yuuto regressed into a worse condition than when Griselda kicked him.

Griselda did not leave him with cauterized skin that was smoking from the chemical reaction of Devil flesh and holy fire.

[Master!]

Muramasa shouted as Yuuto wheezed.

His face was heavily burned, scarred by holy fire.

"I how do I look?" Yuuto wheezed. Yuuto had never felt this much pain in his life. Not even Black's torment could compare maybe if Black's fists were infused with holy power.

Either way, now Yuuto knew what it was like for a Devil to face off against an angel.

[You look half like one of my previous wielders when he emerged from a house fire.]

"Oh" Yuuto wondered what his face was like. If any of the boys in school were to look at him like this, they might leap for joy for his facial marring.

"Nnngh...!" Yuuto grunted as he tried to pick himself up. It was hard since his condition was that even the lick of the passive air was like acid to his burned skin, his nerves exposed raw to the abuse of the elements.

[You must not push yourself. If you use that defective sword again, you might enter a worse state, possibly permanent disfigurement.]

"I still have to tr-!" Yuuto cut himself off when he saw someone he never expected to see at this distance from the batter.

The corrupt archbishop - Valper Galilei was dragging himself on his feet as he profusely kept himself from bleeding to death, by clutching the hole on his gut with his both hands. Judging from the wrapping around his torso, it appeared he managed to perform first-aid on himself before escaping in the midst of chaos.

The archbishop looked back.

They made eye contact.

For the second time in his life, Yuuto saw red no, the intensity this time dwarfed when he first heard about the holy swords.

The memory of his torture in the Holy Sword Project surged, the inhuman atrocities, rage clouded his eyes as he drew Muramasa. All thoughts about the battle, of Malkuth and the others - they were gone, all replaced by the sight of Valper.

He might have been badly injured, but he was still faster and stronger than the old bastard.

When Yuuto immediately pushed himself to his feet with the katana like a revived spirit of vengeance, the said old bastard yelped in fright and tripped on his own feet in an attempt to flee. He fell to the ground on his rear while watching fearfully at the sight of a devil knight approaching him.

"Valper!" Yuuto had never roared with so much anger in his life, hobbling over to Valper using Muramasa as his cane.

He fell on his stomach, but scurried back up, half crawling and half running like a wild animal on three legs.

"W-w-w-wait! Please wait a moment!" Valper fumbling, waving his one hand in front while his other hand fishing through his pockets. "L-l-look, you will gain absolutely nothing if you kill me, but I can give you something if you spare me!"

Valper's words did not faze the berserker consumed with rage. Raising his sword, Yuuto limped forward as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Yuuto threw Muramasa at Valper, the demon sword of carnage spinning towards the fat man's life.

"Eeek!" However, from Valper's other hand emerging from his pocket, a flash of light blinked into existence just when Yuuto's sword almost made contact with his other other hand.

Yuuto snarled at the sudden brightness, driven by rage to blink it off with one hand forward blocking the light. However, Yuuto tripped and fell, spraining his ankle as his chin hit the dirt.

When the blinding light faded, Yuuto forcefully looked up, but his rage stunted when the object of his vengeance was gone, yet again, slipped out of his fingers' reach.

However, on the spot where Valper previously was, a gem laid on the grass and dirt beside the demon sword sticking into the soil.

"No!" Yuuto shouted, stumbling to his feet as he limped towards Muramasa, but he fell again after a few steps, landing chin first, his face now beside the crystal.

His savage breaths labored with increasing frustrations, chest expanding and retracting with each heavy breath as he frantically scoured his surroundings for any sign of him. Yet no matter where, left, right, behind, there was no slightest trace of Valper as far as his eyes could see.

"No! No no no no no! No!"

Yuuto pounded his fist to the ground in frustration, having failed to avenge his dead comrades.

"No! No no no no"

The knight kept hammering both fists into the ground as tears flowed without relenting. The corruption infecting his sclera receded, revealing the boy behind the knight still traumatized by the events of the past, now haunted by failure to avenge his friends.

So engrossed in his sorrow, he did not notice Muramasa already standing before him in human form. She looked down at him with a face of sympathy.

But as the cursed sword, all the negative emotions feeding him from her link served to invigorate her like an ecstatic drug. If she was enjoying Yuuto's suffering, she did not show it. She had already mastered the art of wearing masks long before Yuuto was born.

Isaiah.

However, within the mire of suffering, a warm hand reached out.

Never before had Muramasa seen a miracle in person.

Holding onto Yuuto's frame from behind was the spectral form of a child, a face she recognized from Yuuto's memories, past images coupled with throes of wrathful vengeance that snuck in with the negative emotions she fed.

His tears stopped flowing as more and more joined in, children garbed in pure white clothing holding onto Yuuto, gentle warmth replacing Yuuto's rage like caressing rain washing away his sorrow.

It was a scene straight from the fairytales, a play the souls of those long gone embracing the tormented warrior to comfort him, the past reaching out.

Yuuto saw them, the smiling faces of those long gone he broke into tears as if a dam just broke down, all of his emotions laid bare for the first time in his most vulnerable just for this moment.

Muramasa could feel the emotions. There was something wet trickling down her cheek.

Muramasa reached out and touched it. She looked at her hand.

"Am I. Crying?" Muramasa questioned herself as she traced the tear to her eye. The emotion the love, the longing, the forgiveness her other eye soon followed as her tears joined Yuuto to the soil.

Never in her life as a cursed sword did she feel anything like this, even from his past owners. No, never were such emotions piercing her, such warmth and acceptance

It was beautiful.

She did not notice that the gem beside her feet was dissipating, flowing into her. Her face was starting to reflect that of Yuuto's as new emotions flooded in. She could feel the wishes of those Yuuto lost surging within her.

Please Look after him for us.

"Everyone"

Yuuto then watched the souls of his past friends smiling at him. One by one they slowly turned into small starlike lights flowing around the living cursed sword.

Then Yuuto and Muramasa's eyes met - the latter was glowing, or to be precise, her body was slowly enveloped in white light, which slowly engulfed Yuuto as well.

Soon, the two found themselves floating inside a white void - enveloped in power unlike they had ever experienced before.

Yuuto was stupefied at the fact that he, a devil, did not disintegrate when basked in Holy power.

"It seems you have the blessing of encountering miracles." Muramasa said as she raised up her hands. Small white lights gently fell from the sky like snow, touching her, embracing her.

Yuuto blinked and saw the living sword reaching out towards him.

With her hands cupping Yuuto's face, Muramasa's lips stretched into a loving smile, as tears were still flowing from her eyes.

"...Will you still trust me?" Muramasa asked.

The Knight and his sword maintained their eye-contact for a few more moments, until Yuuto nodded resolutely without a word.

Muramasa's smile widened, her face radiant, as she closed the distance between her face and Yuuto's - the Knight was a tad too late to ponder her intentions as his eyes widened.

The scene was an absolute nightmare.

Most of Sona's peerage were down, burned, scarred, disfigured, in pain and close to death. The land was half-glassed by holy fire, mottles of crystal mixing with the charred earth. The ground was even somewhat baptized as those lying on the ground were suffering a lesser version of the holy field Valper used against them.

Malkuth clutched the throat of the nephilim, his iron grip tightening every second while Koneko struggled to break Akeno free from Malkuth's fingers, yet none of her attacks affected the angel.

Akeno herself was gasping and hacking for breath, her hands fruitlessly trying to claw at Malkuth's own while her vision got darker by seconds.

He merely let her attack him to display how helpless they are before him.

"You will serve as a message to the Grigori, Child of Barakiel." Malkuth growled.

"No!" Koneko shouted - she had wrapped her arms around Malkuth's neck in a chokehold by that point, trying to suffocate or break his own neck, yet he did not budge, only served to burn her skin on contact with his holy armor.

With a crunch, Malkuth snapped Akeno's neck. It was a cold, cracking sound, like someone's world just shattered when the life of one was snuffed.

Koneko froze, replaced by a sudden stillness of horror and shock as Akeno's arms dangled lifelessly, her expression blank at death's door.

Malkuth threw her body away as if he just touched garbage.

The world seemed to slow to a sluggish crawl in Koneko's eyes, every unsightly ragdoll movement of Akeno's body scorched in her retinas.

Something snapped within the young Nekoshou, as her pupils glowed in ominous red and turned into slits before she roared.

"Hm?!" Sensing murderous intent, Malkuth flared his holy aura and burned Koneko as her entire body smoked.

Despite whatever she attempted to do, she was still a devil inferior against Malkuth's level, her skin burned away from her bones, joining the growing pile of bodies.

Or so Malkuth thought.

The slender arms that could not even press the muscles on his neck suddenly began to squeeze, cutting off his airways as Malkuth had to raise one of his hands to prevent Koneko from choking his life out.

Koneko then hissed viciously, as the Touki that leaked out of her frame became more ominous in nature; the sight of dying Akeno had caused her to feed on the malice on nature energy in a fit of rage.

"Have you gained strength from your anger, kitten?!" Malkuth snarled as his grip started crushing Koneko's lithe forearm, her skin smoking from the chemical reaction. "It won't be enough!"

Malkuth pulled Koneko's arm away from his throat and broke it in his grip, snapping it like a twig as he threw Koneko off him.

However, as if the Nekoshou did not feel her broken arm, she simply manoeuvred herself to land on her feet, bent her knees upon landing, before she immediately shot up from the ground back towards Malkuth.

"What-!" The said angel did not expect the explosive burst of power as Koneko used her good arm to dig her fist into Malkuth's gut.

The attack did not stop there - while Malkuth managed to lessen the impact via reflexive flight, the angel suddenly sensed something foreign coursing through his body.

"Hngh!?" Malkuth grunted as he quickly flared his own aura to purge the foreign Ki that Koneko had injected from her earlier strike.

"So this is the infamous Senjutsu..." Malkuth remarked as he watched Koneko who had landed back to the ground, snarling at him while crouching on her fours like a feral animal.

"But your eastern arts aren't enough!"

Koneko growled as she jumped at Malkuth, pouncing him like a cougar. However, Malkuth summoned a spear of light and rammed it into her stomach, raising her up high like a flag.

Despite the blood that leaked out from her stomach, and the spear of light jutting out from her back, Koneko did not relent as she kept gnashing and swinging her claws towards Malkuth, her eyes never lost their rage.

"Look at you. Reduced to an animal that knows nothing but savagery." Malkuth commented after staring at Koneko for a few seconds before suddenly blasted a burst of holy energy through her through the spear.

With one last mouthful cough of blood, the light finally vanished from Koneko's eyes as her body went limp.

At the same time, the spear of light that was holding Koneko suddenly burst into sparks of light, startling Malkuth, who was about to discard the Rook's body to the ground.

"What...?" Something canceled his spear as Koneko's body fell to the dirt.

An unholy presence surged behind.

Malkuth raised his hand, erecting a pillar of holy fire as he stole a glance, seeing nothing but black smoke.

"Show yourself!" Malkuth shouted as he looked back in front.

He narrowed his eyes at another, one like the senjutsu girl, only taller and colored in black, cradling the smaller one in her arms.

"I see... Siblings." Malkuth already understood from her fiery yellow gaze. "You will join her soon enough."

Malkuth raised a hand, firing a flamethrower of holy fire at the black cat yokai.

Kuroka narrowed her eyes as multitude of roots suddenly sprout from the ground around her, merging and amalgamating into a giant wall that defended her from the brunt of Malkuth's attack.

While she avoided a direct hit, Kuroka still grimaced as the radiation of the holy energy seeped through the roots and touched her. She herself was not in her peak condition either - the wounds that she received from her failed infiltration to rescue Griselda - thanks to Kokabiel.

Though it was more like she went through hell trying to escape the Devil's Noose they triggered, a trap popular by exorcists to esnare devils in a holy barrier designed to resist all forms of Devil powers, magic included.

On that note, the rest of her temporary team - Catherine, Amanda, Mary - the girls from Issei's 'peerage' who volunteered, were still resting from their injuries in the St. Adonai catacombs. Kuroka alone could only do so much to keep them away from death's door.

The roots were barely holding on, so Kuroka had to summon more from the earth to block the overwhelming fire.

"You can't shield yourself forever, heretic!" Malkuth shouted at them as the stream of fire suddenly doubled in intensity, cascading across the roots as the heat was starting to boil her skin with acid pain.

Then suddenly the fires stopped.

The pain stopped, the flow of heat ceased. Kuroka was confused as she looked, her ears twitching.

"But since you're only wasting my time, I will burn everyone else! May Hades judge their souls in Tartarus!"

Kuroka did not expect the pure angel to have the ruthless cunning of a demon. She could not do anything against him without jeopardizing Koneko, and he was too strong for her to handle alone.

"No!" Kuroka shouted as she sensed Malkuth's aura flaring again.

Malkuth aimed his palm at the rest of Sona's peerage, ready to burn their existence into forgotten memory.

Before he could have launched his attack, however, a white light suddenly burst out, towering to the heavens.

"Hm?!" Malkuth looked away. The light it was holy in nature.

"A Sacred Gear.? No, there's something else." Malkuth muttered, unsure from where the source was.

Once the light touched the sky, a large dome of iridescent white enveloped the battlefield, and those who were conscious were regaled with an unbelievable sight.

"No it couldn't be." Malkuth grit his teeth. It was impossible, not even the Son of the Strongest Man could Malkuth's fury continued rising with his frustration as his fingers clenched, digging deeper into his palm and drawing blood. "Not even he can achieve a second Balance Breaker!"

Malkuth broke his attention off the heretics and focused on the Son of the Strongest man. There was no other possibility than him, forcing Malkuth to summon his swords of light at the ready.

However

He found that the Son of The Strongest was nowhere near his location. In fact, he just spotted several explosions in the sky - no doubt they were Kokabiel's work, along with a red streak of light.

Then what was the source?

Malkuth looked back at the source's direction to see a familiar face.

"The knight...?" Malkuth quirked a brow.

Something about him looked different. His wardrobe was different, more eastern, Japanese, traditional.

The shape of the outer clothing resembled Japanese Yukata with white colour, but it had lines and trimmings of golden and silver colour which were similar to the clerical garments that Malkuth used to see in the Vatican and several other Churches across the world.

"Your change in fashion is peculiar, but dismissable. Begone." Malkuth dismissed him and aimed his palm at Yuuto and deployed a fireball.

Normally, this would be enough to eradicate this lesser heretic. This one was nothing more than a bug. However, on the contrary, the fireball split in twain, the devil unharmed and with a blade shining in his grip.

"Hm?!" Malkuth wanted to analyze the weapon, but the wielder closed in like an arrow.

"Malkuth!"

In the air, the angel met Yuuto's weapon with his light sword, alien steel grinding sparks against holy light. Malkuth quickly glanced at the weapon.

It was an eastern, single-edged sword, not dissimilar to the cursed sword before. However, inscriptions were etched on the surface of the demonic steel, glowing in ethereal white.

"How in the nine hells?!" Malkuth couldn't believe it. Malkuth swore he sensed holy and cursed power fused in that one blade.

His devil wings spread, Yuuto engaged Malkuth, swinging his sword clashing against Malkuth's light blade with wide, swift swings.

"YOU!" Malkuth seethed as sheer bewilderment and rage mixed in his tone at Yuuto's overwhelming him.

His burst of speed and strength from his Balance Breaker exceeded his expectations, but the Devil was still inferior.

However, Malkuth did not see the second blade Yuuto pulled from his back. Malkuth raised his sword reflexively, but the second sword erased his light sword on contact, albeit it shattered like glass when it did, as the primary blade reverse slashed from his hip to his shoulder.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The pain was more than what his wound should allow. Worse, the effects of the cursed power was affecting him, forcing sweat and labored breaths as his wound blackened from the infection.

The Knight continued swinging his blade as Malkuth summoned another sword of light, blocking the heretical katana as he retreated with one hand holding his infected wound. He could not purge the cursed power from his wound.

It wasn't even receding, no, it was even more resistant against holy energy than those before.

"What heresy have you pulled on me?!" Malkuth asked out of frustration.

"Something I should've done a long time ago!" Yuuto shouted as he continued hammering into Malkuth's sword of light, forcing him down with each downward strike as Malkuth grimaced, the stress forcing more blood to spill from his wound.

"Enough!" Malkuth shouted as threw a stream of holy fire at Yuuto with his other hand.

Yuuto blocked the incoming blaze that came from proximity with a summoned Flame Eraser, though the blade shattered immediately upon canceling Malkuth's fire. However, Yuuto didn't expect Malkuth's fist smashing into his face when it did, infused with holy energy.

A loud crack, Yuuto flew, spinning like a drill spearing into the fractured earth.

Malkuth seethed as he landed atop of Yuuto, his eyes wild with anger and hate as ripped Yuuto from the dirt and started hammering him back into the soil, hooks upon hooks of violence smashing Yuuto's face, continuing to beat on his form as blood spilled and his eyes blackened, his skin smoking from the chemical reaction as his blood stained his borrowed cleric robes.

If it wasn't for the protection of the Sacred Gear, Yuuto's skull would've popped from the first hard hit.

However, when Malkuth pulled his fist back after punching for the nth time, he suddenly found that his forearm had been replaced with a bloody stump.

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

The assailant was surprised that Malkuth immediately turned around and punched her away with his only intact arm, blasting a pulse of holy power that knocked her back.

"Yoooouuuu!" Malkuth roared at Griselda with feral fury as he caught his falling arm.

Griselda didn't even have the time to respond as she watched Malkuth attach his arm back. She was surprised that he stuck it back on, the cells and bones reattached, fingers flexing and clenching into a fist.

"Has your rage consumed you that much?" Griselda accused as she brandished her weapon forward, the near-complete Excalibur at the berserk angel - whose sheer rage alone was enough to fuel his magical power to the point of healing himself.

Malkuth didn't listen as he pointed his hand back at the brutalized Yuuto.

"Die!" He summoned a powerful sphere of flame at the swordsman.

As the sphere of energy was closing the distance, the sword in Yuuto's grip suddenly flashed.

The sphere of fire dissipated, no, split in twain.

Between them stood something neither Malkuth or Griselda saw.

It bore the shape of an ancient samurai.

Twin dots of pure black gazed at Malkuth beneath the kabuto, the helmet, the faceplate bearing the semblance of a vicious oni's staring back at Malkuth, a horn of black curving up from the forehead. The rectangular shoulder guards shone with holy steel, the metal plates bearing a lustrous sheen no different than that of Issei's dragon armor, albeit more in the japanese fashion.

The size of the demon samurai was imposing, slightly taller than Malkuth. In its hand was a large odachi, the blade emanating the same ominous energy as the cursed sword itself.

"What is this?" Malkuth demanded as he eyed the interloper.

"I hope you don't mind me." The demon samurai spoke with an immaculate feminine voice in contrast to its fearsome masculine visage. "I am new in the realm of Sacred Gears. So consider this me pitching into my wielder's fight."

Yuuto groaned in great pain, coughing blood and a couple of teeth.

"Oh, owww." It was almost as bad as Black beating him black and blue every time.

Yuuto slowly picked himself up. Still wobbly from the holy beatdown, he noticed the demonic samurai.

"...Muramasa?" Yuuto guessed.

"I apologize for not saving your handsome face sooner, but it took me a while to figure this out. I am very excited." Muramasa spoke through the construct as the demon samurai held its odachi to the side, the blade perpendicular to the earth and the tip staring at the sky.

"But how?"

"It is a construct made from the metal of holy-demonic blades, but we're too engaged in battle for the details. Can you still fight?" Muramasa asked.

"I think so- Agh..!" Yuuto held his face as fresh blood trickled down his lips. His face was swollen and bloody, his left eye blue and nearly closed. "...But I don't think I can survive another beating."

"Then we shall make this count."

The spare safe house was just another district away.

The two shuffled through the passing civilians meandering through everyday life.

They paused when they saw a sudden flash of light appear in the sky, followed with small echoes of a booming roar.

Out of nowhere, a skyscraper next to them suddenly evaporated, no, the top half of it was missing while the lower was melting white hot.

"Whoa, did you see that?!"

"What the hell?!"

"A terrorist attack?!"

Rias and Sona shared a wary glance - the battle had escalated the collateral damage to the point of involving the townsfolk. Several more skyscrapers instantly lost their upper half without warning before a red streak flew across the sky, followed by more explosions catching up to him.

Rias and Sona shuddered, the sheer radiation of the Fallen alone was enough to enervate them, the feeling of their bones softening creeping into their marrow.

The civilians were starting to clamor, screams of panic replacing the monotonous din of everyday life.

The two immediately walked away, needing to escape the war zone or else they would be too weak to walk, let alone fight.

"Where should we go?" Rias asked.

The crowd was starting to turn into a fleeing stampede as cries filled the air.

"We should head for the subway." Sona suggested. "I don't believe the people will consider it as an escape route. And we have night vision."

The exorcists were mostly human, so they do not think that they could track them beneath.

"Did you memorize the routes?" Sona asked.

"Yes, we should leave in three stops, assuming the trains will still run."

The two nodded in agreement.

The crowd started to break away into a running mob, people tightly packed together clamoring to run away from the chaos.

The two waded their way against the tide, throwing occasional glances at the sky. They saw an unfamiliar red-armored man but from the feel of his energy, they had an idea of the person behind the armor.

However, he was on the losing side.

The fallen angel with ten wings danced around the red dragon knight, spiraling around him with superior aerial movement like a twister, carving and peeling more of his armor off. They saw half of Issei's face through the broken section of his visor, his mien filled with desperation as the fallen laughed before he kicked Issei away, the latter crashing through the melted stump of a skyscraper.

"Ise" Rias uttered as Sona pulled her away.

"Our safety is a priority." Sona reminded as she pulled Rias with her.

"Sona-!" Rias was about to argue - when her beloved Issei was risking his life out there, but Sona cut her off with a stern glare.

"Don't forget our critical objective." Sona rebuked, before she sighed as her expression softened, "...Rias, I sympathize with your feelings. However, remember if something were to happen to any of us, I doubt even Issei can stop what follows. Our survival is the lynchpin to the peace between the three factions. You know what our siblings would do if one of us perishes."

She quelled any possible retort from the crimson devil.

There was no fallacy in her logic, forcing Rias to bite her lower lip with frustration.

"...Alright wait."

There was the sense that someone was watching them, followed by the presence of holy objects. Many of them. They've been subjected to holy power so much they were practically sensitive to it at this point.

"We have to go!"

Several gunshots sprang within the crowd, the glasses of a nearby building shattering followed.

The civilians screamed in response, scattering at the sound of terrorism enough to form a visible line of sight between the 'terrorists' and the two on the main road. The two girls saw the Stray Exorcists, the leader at the vanguard holding a pistol aimed at the sky, the smoke still rising from the barrel.

The two already started running, resuming the chase.

"This way!" Sona pulled Rias into an intersection, running with the scattering mob.

A car nearly struck them, the vehicle skidded to an abrupt stop, but the two did not pay it or the angry shouting driver attention.

Unfortunately, the crowd choked two of the paths at the intersection while the third was a barricade of cars crashed into each other, some of them smoking with the danger of exploding at any moment.

Out of options, they decided to run inside the building next to them, leaving their fate to the Gods of Fortune, if any of them looking at them at this moment.

It was a small shopping mall.

The panic had yet to infect those inside. Staff and customers alike were still at the stage of confusion behind the walls, unaware of the mayhem and chaos in the streets. Rias and Sona did not waste any time as they made their way through the crowded hall.

"If we make it to the emergency exit behind this building, we will arrive at the subway station that can give us access underground." Sona explained briefly, earning a nod from Rias.

When they walked to the inner part of the mall, Rias and Sona silently cursed the Gods of Fortune when a couple of stray exorcists casually walked in front of the emergency exit door, seamlessly walking out of the confused crowd as they stood guard.

They were looking at their direction as they casually leaned against the wall, flashing cocky smirks at them.

"Going somewhere?" One of them called out.

"Shit!" Even Sona could not help but swear against the odds, boxed in from front and back.

"This way."

This time, Rias tugged Sona towards a direction - a hardware shop.

"There should be a staff-only entrance that we can use." The redhead explained briefly as she and Sona made their way inside the store.

The problem was, neither Rias or Sona knew the door's location. The two ended up hiding behind one of the shelves as they scanned for the exit route.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are, little girls~"

A group of stray exorcists entered the store as well, five with light pistols, light swords, and silver daggers. Scanning the interior around, the acting-leader somatically gestured to the left and right. The other four split up and entered the isles, ignoring the concerned looks from the few in the shop, from customer to cashier.

Rias and Sona crouched out of sight, watching their pursuers' movements through the gaps of the shelves. Along the way, Sona then grabbed a can of spray-paint from a shelf above her head.

There were tools here, from the saw to the sledgehammer. Rias already understood Sona's intent as she reached for said sledgehammer on the display wall. The hardware felt oddly heavy in her hands.

"Walking in their shoes, I can't believe that humans have to live with such" Rias muttered at her debuffed state.

"Now's not the time to be condescending." Sona politely reminded as she shook the spray paint as she took a lighter from the third shelf from the bottom, smirking to herself.

"But still, this thing is heavy. How could humans live with such weak muscles?"

"Remind yourself that there is a human that defeated a High-Class Devil in single combat."

They stopped at the sounds of footsteps approaching. Rias and Sona pressed their backs against the aisle, the two nodding to each other as the redhead took a deep breath and readjusted her grip on her sledgehammer.

She waited, as the sound of footsteps getting closer. Rias raised her hammer over her shoulder, eyes angled down, and when she saw the standard leather pants and shoes of the stray exorcists, Rias rammed the blunt end of the hammer into the crotch.

"Ugh!"

She followed up with a rising swing into his lower jaw, smacking his head up with a loud crack.

There was a heavy thud, though neither of the girls stayed to confirm his state as they quickly moved to the next aisle.

Rias and Sona finally spotted a staff-only door, around 20 meters away from their position. They heard mutterings from their pursuers. They must have found their friend's body.

The mall was not big, thus the only security was the writing 'staff only' on the door's surface, allowing some unruly-enough shoppers to walk through if they wished.

The problem was another pair of stray exorcists milling around their destination. They could hear the sounds of guns priming, the ringing sound of hard silver slicing the air.

"They're here!"

However, Rias and Sona failed to notice that the remaining, other exorcist pair suddenly came up from behind them and found them.

The said exorcist pair then approached the devil pair with a light sword and silver stake.

The two pounced at the slender girl with the black hair and glasses in the schoolgirl uniform. However, the girl turned around, spray paint in hand and lighter in front of the nozzle.

Flame flicked and button pressed, a spray of fire greeted their faces and blinded them instantly as the two screamed, rolling around the floor in agony.

Rias dropped the sledgehammer and grabbed the light-sword that one of them dropped. She turned it on, smiling with relief that the holy light was insulated, and ran towards the pair near the staff-entrance.

"The hell?!"

The first exorcist drew his gun, but he was too late as Rias cut off his hand with the light-sword, eliciting a scream as blood was splattered onto the floor. The second exorcist could only draw his own light-sword before Rias roared and plunged her lightsaber into his chest.

"Ugh the fuck" The second one grunted before his fingers slacked, dropping his light-sword while the other was on his knees screaming. She watched as the light slipped from his eyes, yanking her stolen weapon from his flesh as his body slacked, falling aside with a dull thud.

At this point, other people had definitely caught wind of what was happening, and the mall soon fell into pandemonium, as people ran out from the store where a couple of schoolgirls engaged several men.

"You bitch!" The other one without a hand yelled as he threw a pouch at Rias. Rias swung at it at instinct, only to regret it when it exploded into a puff of silvery white. The powder was burning her skin like acid.

"Ahhgh?!" Rias screamed as she backed away, burn marks coloring her peerless skin, some got into her right eye as well.

"Eat Silver Dust, bitch! It's gonna eat you up to the bone!" The exorcist sneered, only to have Sona torched his face as soon as he turned.

"How about you eat flammable paint?!"

The man screamed as he raised his hands up, forgetting that he was semi-handless as he stumbled back, only to trip and fall on his head.

"Sona!" Rias grunted as she winced in pain.

"We have to wash it off before it gets worse!" Sona yelled as she held Rias.

"But-"

"It's silver, Rias! Don't take the chance when he says that it'll eat you to the bone!" Sona yelled as she dragged Rias to the nearest restroom, slamming through the door as.

Soon, Sona and Rias were standing before the sink, with the former helping the latter wash the Dust off her face with running water.

"Ow!" Rias hissed when she felt the water cascade her skin. Sona could see more burn marks where the water trickles as more smoke steamed, the cool liquid must be carrying the silver across her skin.

"Endure, Rias!"

However, when the two girls were busy, Sona heard someone entering the restroom area, and her eyes widened in alarm when she saw another stray exorcist.

"Found you, harlots." The man flashed a murderous sneer.

This one appeared as the real leader of the group since he was noticeably taller compared to others they had dispatched earlier.

"Sona" Rias was about to hold off washing her wounds when Sona pushed her back.

"Rias, keep going!" Sona shouted.

She raised her improvised flamethrower, but he quickly closed the distance and caught Sona's arms, preventing her from aiming the spray at him.

With ease, he lifted her and swung her body into one of the restroom mirrors, the surface cracked into falling shards sharp as daggers.

"Sona!" Rias shouted in worry, deciding to bear with the lingering silver as she called upon her power. Much to her dismay, however, all that came up on her fingertips were mere sparks of dark energy.

So focused on her devil powers that she did not see the exorcist's fist punching her face, slamming Rias' head into the wall, blood running down her broken nose. Using what she had learned from her past combat training with Issei - holding her bleeding nose with one hand, Rias threw her fist in return, but he softly caught her fist and kneed her deep in the solar plexus, forcing the air out of her as the pain robbed her of her strength.

Unable to react, Rias let the exorcist grab a fistful of her hair, crying out in helpless pain as he dunked her head into the half-full sink of water.

A few days after she found herself being drowned once more in another attempted murder. At least the sink water was better than that of the toilet's.

"Just gulp in the water like a good girl and let daddy snuff you out." The man pressed her head harder into the ceramic, bubbles and drowning gurgles his answer.

"How about you bleed out instead?!"

Sona, armed with a toilet tank-cover, swung the heavy porcelain from behind at his head.

However, the man turned around and caught the blunt weapon as he kneed her in the gut and stomp-kicked her away while Rias slumped to the floor and coughed out the water that entered her system.

The man ripped the heavy porcelain from Sona's hands and smacked her with it, then smashed down on her head as it shattered on impact. Sona was down, her head bleeding as the man kicked her face up, a tooth flying out and hitting the wall.

The man proceeded to, crudely put, 'kick the shit out of Sona.'

It was the first time Sona had ever been beaten in such a crude, low-class fashion. She could not put the pain in words, but she at least learned the capacity of a man's violence as she cried out with each kick.

The man swiftly drew his silver dagger and pivoted a complete turn, trying to stab Rias with a stabbing thrust but Rias blocked it just in time with her pilfered light-sword, baptized metal fighting against holy light.

"You're weak, girl." The man said as he threw a fist into her stomach, punching the air out of her lungs, but Rias grit her teeth and headbutted him right in the nose.

"Agh!" The man stumbled back, his free hand wiping the blood off.

"...Not bad, but." The man dug into his coat and pulled out a pistol. Rias froze in place when he aimed it at her.

"Say goodnight, princess."

Rias panicked. Unfortunately for her, she was not some kind of a Jedi and did not have the Jedi senses. However, she did have the luck of one as Sona rose with a mighty cry and latched onto the man's back, placing a hand on his left ear.

"Good night, princess!" Sona retorted as her hand was glowing - glowing a spark of devil magic that she managed to recover.

The stray exorcist's head jerked, white sparks of magic jumping into his left ear and out of his right.

Rias then watched the stray exorcist convulse as if he was having an epilepsy, blood streamed out from his nose and eyes before his body collapsed to the floor, Sona falling atop of the lobotomized corpse as she panted, rolling off of him as she laid back face-up, staring at the ceiling lights.

Sona's face was bruised. Her right cheek was swelling, blooding trickling down the corner of her lips as she turned her head towards Rias. She flashed a weak smile, showing the missing tooth to her friend unaware.

Rias returned the gesture, before she proceeded to help her friend up, "Come on, let's get out of here."

It took some time for Rias and Sona to make it to the subway station. Even before they left, they had to use what little magic they had recovered to at least mask their injuries, in order to not draw unwanted attention.

"You know" Rias grunted as she caressed her cheek, wincing at the scars the silver dust burned into her skin, hidden under the veil of cheap magic.

"I am starting to get sick of all these people exploiting our our"

"...Don't say allergies. I don't want to live my life knowing that our kind has a universal immunity defect." Sona requested.

On the entire way, they had been carrying each other as they walked through the pain of their injuries which had yet to be treated properly.

"Still, if I have to run into another human using some random tool just to make us suffer, I swear I will call upon my brother to wipe out every trace of God in this world. Why can't they just try something other than douse us in silver, holy light, and whatever?"

Entering the subway station, Rias and Sona bought a one-time standard ticket for normal commuters instead of using their express-pass card. After walking past the gate, instead of following the normal routes that other commuters used, the girls decided to deviate from the crowd and walked through the access that was meant for staff and maintenance.

Entering it was like walking into a tunnel to a hidden world, only without the magic and fantasy.

It was a tight, narrow corridor, unfamiliar, a dark rustic atmosphere with pipes running across the walls.

"I hope you have a plan on how to avoid a running train." Rias asked.

"We probably won't run into any." Sona replied while walking close to the wall, "Considering the panic we saw outside, the town's authorities will begin evacuation and cease all operating trains until things blow over."

The two girls kept walking through the dimly lit tunnel, pushing through the pain and fatigue as hope of reaching the next safe-zone fuelled them. However, they had to stop when they were greeted with a particular sight.

"Hello, my pretties~"

Rias and Sona stared at them.

"And you said you want something different."

Sona pointed out the group of exorcists before them in the tunnel. They were wearing night vision helmets, military grade by the looks of it, western made.

One of them was holding a little girl in a school uniform, a light blade held to her neck.

"Oh, I hate God." Rias muttered under her breath.

"I believe you two are smart enough to understand your situation." the exorcist holding the girl spoke, as he pressed the blade lightly against the girl's neck, eliciting a choked whimper from her. "Give up, no funny business, or else."

Sona and Rias exchanged a brief glance before the latter smirked at the exorcists, "...And I thought you lot couldn't have gone any lower. Holding a hostage now? Seriously?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." The exorcist at the helm of the group shrugged, "We've been ordered to take you in alive, anyway. In fact, if you're to surrender sooner, this little one here wouldn't have to be involved in the first place."

Rias and Sona winced a grimace as they were out of tactics - they were outnumbered and they had yet to regain their full power.

"...You've already put us at a disadvantage here. Why don't you release the girl first, then we can proceed from there?" Sona then spoke.

Much to Sona and Rias' mild surprise, the exorcist merely exchanged looks amongst one another, before the one holding the hostage simply shoved the girl towards them.

"Uhhh"

That was way easier than they expected.

The girl whimpered as she ran towards them, burying her face into Sona's chest.

Hearing sobs and whimpers from the girl in her arms, Sona gave a soft smile as she patted the girl's head, "Shh, it's okay now. You should leave this place - head towards the direction behind us and walk through the first door you encounter and head up to the surface."

The girl gave another whine before she looked up. Sona's eyes then widened when the girl suddenly gave a wide grin - her mouth suddenly split apart, revealing a palate full with sharp fangs, her mouth widening until it was enough to bite her head off.

The entire subway soon drowned in the high pitch scream of the once-cool beauty. It was so high-pitched that the monster girl thing covered her ears, the other exorcists mimicking the same action.

"What the fuck!?"

The exorcists and the creature regained their senses, and they saw Sona had already booked it to the opposite direction while pulling the still-disoriented Rias along.

They stared at the fading figures, completely stupefied by how they managed to get away.

"Alright, Glasses is part-banshee, good to know. Spider girl, sic em! Cut them off for us!" The leader pointed his finger at the two.

The girl-turned-monster grinned.

Her clothes shredded apart, revealing her true monstrous form, her body a mutated abomination of a giant white spider with her head still retaining her hair and human features, mostly human.

She was the size of a car, her thorax curved up, a single horn protruding from her forehead as her large sulfur eyes hungrily zoned in on the two, then she skittered off with her six legs.

"Sir." One of the other exorcists called for orders.

"Unleash the others. They could use the exercise."

"S-Sona, wait! What the hell was that?!" Rias shouted as Sona continued dragging her at speeds she did not know her friend could achieve.

"I do not want to talk about this right now!" Sona shouted as they dashed off into another tunnel with comical vigor, almost leaving dust in their wake, in a manner that made Rias wonder if her injuries still existed.

"I'm pretty sure I want to talk about it!"

"Not now! Our lives are at stake!" Sona glared at Rias behind her.

However, Rias' eyes suddenly noticed something in front of them, "W-wait, Sona, stop! STOP!"

Sona skid to a stop, Rias almost tripping in each step of their deceleration, Rias panting out of breath as they stared at the obstacle in front of them.

It was a boy. A small boy the age of seven Then the boy suddenly displayed the body horror of his transformation as he turned into a giant raptor-like creature with seven eyes and a maw of blade-like fangs, with mantis-like blades for arms.

"Since when do Stray Exorcists have chimeras?!" Rias managed to heave out a retort.

"I don't know but I don't like it!" Sona rasped back as the creature screeched an unholy shrill as it ran towards them.

The girls jumped out of the way when the creature's mantis arms dug into the spot they once stood. Sona and Rias looked back, seeing that the creature's arms were stuck in the floor judging by how it was struggling to yank them out.

Then they saw the same monster girl, only in the form of a giant monster spider girl as she skittered towards them with a drooling, manic smile.

Sona immediately grabbed Rias and ran, the former displaying the speed of an olympic athlete with Rias struggling to keep up.

Rias did not object as she looked back, seeing the creature crawling up the wall and then on the ceiling, running after them upside down, spider legs piercing the industrial concrete as its thorax whipped forward, starting to shoot strings of webs at them.

The two, or rather Sona dragging Rias, comically zig and zagged as the strings splashed around them, Rias nearly tripling every time.

Rias hissed when a drop of web fluid splashed her thigh. It burned like acid, leaving a burn mark on her skin.

"Please tell me there's a plan!" Rias shouted as she looked back, the spider monster was no longer on the ceiling.

"What plan?!" Sona shouted back.

They paled when the inhuman shriek of the raptor-mantis echoed through the dark, lightless corridor.

Rias glanced back to see the raptor thing sprinting towards them at double their speed, closing the distance at a frightening pace.

Rias quickly doubled her efforts in jumpstarting her Devil magic, flicking a spark of Baal magic with each flail of her wrist.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a spark large enough to punch a large hole in something.

The mantis-raptor shrieked as it raised its blade when it entered mauling distance, just when Rias threw a bullet of Baal power, the crimson black energy colliding against the creature's unprotected open-maw.

Blood was splattered to the wall, as the creature that was about to impale the devil heiresses had lost the upper-half of its head. Its body swayed for a couple of seconds before falling to the unforgiving ground.

"Yes!" Rias could not help but feel elated, as her power had returned to nearly her optimal state.

Sona looked back at the corpse.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Sona uncharacteristically praised with abject relief as she finally slowed down her panic-fueled Olympic sprint.

The two then panted as the exhaustion started to catch up in their lungs while the tension deflated from their muscles, Sona nearly dropping to her knees as she placed her hands on her knees breathing heavily while Rias fell on her rear.

"So.Can we talk about that?"

"Pretend it didn't happen." Sona demanded between her breaths.

"Yeah but where's the other thing?"

"...What?"

"You know, the girl spider-" Rias stopped when she turned to Sona.

"Don't you dare mention that thing. I" Sona slowly stopped when she noticed Rias' paralyzed expression.

Sona slowly turned her head around.

A monstrous grin greeted her, one hanging upside down, with yellow eyes of hunger staring so close at Sona they were within kissing distance. Sona could feel her breath brushing against her cheeks.

"Sona, don't move." Rias said as she slowly aimed her palm at the spider girl.

Sona's breaths grew more hyperventilating. She snapped when the monster girl's tongue flicked and licked her cheek.

Then the spider girl grabbed Sona's face and reeled to the ceiling, abducting Sona as Rias fired her Baal bullet, missing her target as the projectile erased the wall in front of her instead.

"RIAAAAAAAAAAAA-MPH!?" Sona's banshee scream was silenced when the spider creature slapped a cloth of web on her mouth, muffling her scream.

"Sona!" Rias shouted as she fired more of her erasing bullets, but the spider monster carried Sona and bounced around the walls, floors, and ceiling, evading and avoiding Rias' aim.

The redhead noticed a growl coming from behind her too late when something pounced at her, taking her down and trapping her frame right on the ground. She then looked up to see a deformed human face panting at her.

She was about to lash her hands out, blasting the creature - an unholy mix between a bear and a man - with her signature demonic power, only for the monster to trap both of her arms against the ground, effectively restraining her. The chimaera heaved a nasty-smelling breath right above her, its saliva also dropped from its maw to the ground around her head - some of them also landed on her face, much to her disgust.

"Down, boy. You'll get to have your meal, soon enough."

Rias turned her head from her position beneath the monster, and saw a group of exorcists that ambushed her and Sona earlier, had finally caught up and arrived on scene with even more monsters behind them - chimaeras that could only be described as freaks of nature. Ironically, her gifted night-vision ended up forcing her to perceive the nightmarish beasts that soon filled the entire room, all growling at them with saliva dripping from their mouths, some with fangs others with mucous gums.

The spider monster girl that captured Sona had landed next to the group with the Sitri heiress in tow - the girl's body had been restrained in some kind of spider-silk substance that bound her arms, legs and covered her lips to gag her muffling voice.

"We finally meet again, little lady." The stray leader spoke as the spider monster pressed one of its claws against Sona's jugular. "I believe this is your first time experiencing absolute defeat in the game of wits. You high class freaks are all chess players, correct?"

Rias clicked her tongue as she found herself in a check-mate, as their location had been swarmed with chimaeras of various shapes and forms.

"As if this can be compared with Knights and Kings!" Rias shouted back with a defiant tone.

"Like the pets? They are nothing more than animals." The leader walked up to the bear-dog and patted its hide.

"Thus, it gave me an idea. Why not try the monster tamer route? Frankly, they're a bit rowdy so we had to install implants to keep them docile, shocking them with electrolytes mixed with holy water. That and the baptized shock implant in their spines. They soon learn their place, and then enjoy it when we feed them Devils, vampires, and all that stuff. They're very dangerous creatures, you know? Fallen Devils that grow stronger from indulging their gluttonous cannibalism."

"Fallen?" Rias grunted at his choice of words.

"Chimera is a stolen word from the greeks. You devils are just too ashamed to admit that your fallen version degrades you so much compared to those of angels. After all, this is your true form beneath that pretty face. As for why you're still alive, well, I want to savor this moment and ponder what I should do with you. Kokabiel planned to execute you all live, but there is an alternative."

The leader took out something from under his coat.

It was a syringe. Liquid sprayed from the needle, some landing on her. Rias shuddered when it did. It felt wrong, very wrong, how oily and she could not find the right words to describe it.

Then, the exorcist brandished his blade with his other hand, and swung vertically at Sona's front. Both heiresses' eyes widened in shock and horror, fearing the worst. Rias in particular, thought she was losing one of her best friends.

However, instead of drawing blood, the exorcist's slash was only aimed at the uniform covering Sona's torso - tearing her blazer open and cut through the hem of her skirt. As soon as the skirt fell down, snickers, whistles and quiet cat-calls erupted from the other exorcists, who leered at Sona's creamy skin that was only covered in white bras and panties. Sona grunted through her spider-silk gag, her flustered embarrassment was quickly overcome with anger and apprehension, as she proceeded to glare at the exorcist who exposed her.

The exorcist in question stared at Sona's exposed form up and down, as if he was appraising her, before he sighed, "...For a filthy devil, I have to admit that you are attractive in your own right. Shame that such a beauty will be no more... Thanks to this."

Sona and Rias only narrowed their eyes as the exorcist then raised up his hand that was holding the syringe.

"You want to know what this is? This is a special serum, very private made it turns Devils into Chimeras. Not fully tested, but it works on most of the ilk here. Not every bastard here turned by their own volition, you know?"

Rias and Sona stared at the Stray Exorcist. They could not see his face beneath the full-face mask and night goggles, but they knew he was smiling.

"Imagine their faces when they see their beloved siblings turn into freaks of nature on live broadcast. Then picture us sending you two to them just to raise their hopes only to blow you up from the bombs we install in your hearts. Imagine the trauma driving them into pure insanity as they reveal their true nature."

Sona and Rias could not believe the words coming out of his mouth. They were twisted, warped something that would put even the worse of the Devils to shame in terms of cruelty.

They did not even have the right words to retort.

"But since we have time, I can rant a little. I we hate you. All of you. The money is good, the tech even better but I can't stand being in the same realm as you. You don't see anyone coming up with something this fucked up without holding some kind of twisted grudge." The exorcist flicked the needle a little.

"I was once a priest. A good noble one I was stationed with a wonderful saint. Innocent soul that is until some bastard devil came into our lives and got her excommunicated."

Rias and Sona's mind clicked, the image of a certain Astaroth filling their minds.

"Lost my way a little, tried to find her failed. Then lost my way again, until I found out what happened to her. Turned into a Devil then found out what he did to her lost all the will to do anything then the void was replaced by unending rage."

The exorcist kneeled beside Rias, placing the needle in front of her eye so she could look at the weapon that could ruin her life, everyone's lives.

"Now, infinite hate is all that I have. Your kind is a plague to our existence. God he can no longer be relied upon, the angels even worse for abandoning her. So, before I go join the grave soil, I decided to take down every single one of you bastards before I go. Let this be your last memory before everything you know is replaced by hunger for devil flesh as you shed your false skin."

Realizing that the stray exorcist had finished what he had to say, fear filled both Rias and Sona's being, as the redhead began to flare out her demonic power, planning to break free.

"Whoa, I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Rias paused when her eyes saw the other exorcist holding an identical syringe, its needle was an inch away from Sona's temple. The Sitri heiress was eyeing the syringe warily as her head instinctively, futilely leaning away from the needle's end.

"Let's have a small game of choice, shall we?" The exorcist next to Rias said, "You break free, then we'll turn your friend first. Or you can go first and we'll see how long you can maintain your sanity before going after your friend over there; so, which will it be? Either way, even if you got out of this alive, we still win. Even more when it turns out one of you killed the other."

Rias froze before the impossible choice - she might stand an actual chance to survive should she try to punch her way out, but that would mean leaving Sona to fate worse than death. Her teal eyes met Sona's violet orbs, her long-time friend's gaze did not falter as Sona simply nodded her head subtly, before closing her eyes in resignation, silently telling Rias to leave her behind.

The redhead's eyes began to tear up as she bit her lip in desperation.

"Now, here comes the Devil's coin flip the actual Devil unlike you vermin, mind you." The exorcist took out a quarter American made. "Call it. Heads. Or Tails. Don't need to tell you why."

Rias closed her eyes shut, trying to suppress any sign of weakness with her tears but she failed as the tears still flowed.

"...Y'know what, we're running on time here, so I'll call it myself. Heads, you go first." The stray then tossed the coin up.

Rias and Sona's eyes snapped open in panic as they watched the coin flipping around in the air, before descending down towards the exorcist's open palm.

An explosion roared behind the exorcist just when he caught the coin. It was like the sound of a booming engine exploding, roaring echoes bouncing off the walls followed by decimation.

"Oh, come on, what the fuck now?!" The leader shouted as he turned around, his scowl of irritation replaced by abject shock.

Rias could not see from her position, pinned down by a large bear-hound, but Sona could.

If she could describe the sight, it was like a chain of exploding balloons or a blooming field of red blossoming in a gory wave behind the small army of chimeras.

The monsters did not even have the time to scream before they were turned to shreds.

"All units, battle station! Men, form the line! You animals get into position!" The leader shouted, but then something jumped from the sea of exploding gore in a short arc, landing beside Sona.

The exorcist holding the syringe pulled out a pistol, but to his, and Sona's shock, the man's arm immediately fell off his elbow, blood already flowing. The man didn't even scream, only stared at his stump of an arm completely stupefied.

The spider girl immediately dropped Sona, fear exploding from its mien as it jumped to the ceiling then the creature fell back down - into pieces as fine as meaty confetti.

Too bad the blood and gore fell on Sona in the process. The only saving grace was that Sona could not register what just happened even as the blood of the source of her new trauma drenched her crimson.

The rest of the stray exorcists only had a second to register what had happened when the next two exorcists had their heads blown off and launched towards the nearest wall with a hole in his chest respectively.

"F-fire, fire at w-!"

The stray did not manage to finish his sentence as a blow collided with his lower jaw and snapped his neck in the process. The others soon followed as bone-shattering blows took them down in seconds.

The bear-man chimaera released Rias to intercept the intruder out of sheer survival instinct, only for something to fly past its neck, its head tilting off its neck before the rest of it toppled down lifelessly with a heavy thud.

Rias could not utter any comment as things transpired so fast. The next second, the newcomer had landed in front of her protectively, giving her the view of his back that seemed to be. Glowing and humming? As if an engine was attached on his back no, it was more like his back was acting like an engine.

She could not make out the details, but when he extended his arms towards the rest of the monsters, she saw lines of light traveling through what looked like circuit veins from his shoulder to his palm.

Flying contraptions melted into existence were they invisible? They were hovering between Rias. They were very sleek, bladelike, shaped like an arrowhead but with wings and the tipped laced with something crystalline, glowing with power.

Before she could form another thought, the stranger uttered one word:

"Incinerate."

The next thing that registered in Rias and Sona's mind was fire engulfing the entire tunnel, turning the rest of the chimaeras into ashes.

Whoohoo! Goddamn, this chapter was a bitch to write, but in the end, guess who's finally showing up? XD

Let me hear your thoughts in review section! Peace out!