Chapter 27.
"Sorry, we're late." A gentle voice resounded.
Hair as red as the color of blood, eyes as green as emeralds.
Magical aura that seemed to be hungry for destruction.
Rias Gremory had finally arrived to the scene, and standing next to her were Asia Argento, and Akeno Himejima.
Kokabiel turned his head towards them.
"There you are, Rias Gremory," Kokabiel spoke, "Well then, where's Sirzechs? Is he coming?" He questioned.
Rias turned towards the fallen angel, "No, he's not," Rias said, "We are enough for one crow."
Laughter erupted from Kokabiel, he was clearly amused, hearing such a joke.
Rias's eyes narrowed, "Did I say something funny?" Rias asked.
"Oh dear... that was a good one," Kokabiel said regaining his composure, "Not even my son could beat me, so what makes you think that you can?"
Their eyes widened, "So... you must be Kokabiel then," Rias deduced, "...Aren't you the father of the year?"
"I know right?" Kokabiel answered, Rias's attempt at provocation was unsuccessful.
"Well... enough joking around," Kokabiel said, and raised his arm, conjuring a magic circle on the ground.
Flames erupted from the ground, and a roar came from within.
As the flames dispersed, a beast appeared.
Gigantic, black fur, three heads and red eyes.
A Cerberus, guardian of the underworld.
"A Cerberus?!" Rias spoke.
With that said, Kokabiel dashed towards him, he grabbed Issei and took him to a different place, away from the eyes.
"ISSEI!" Asia's shout came.
Rias and the others gritted their teeth, they had to quickly finish their fight so they could help.
They could only hope... that Issei would be able to hold out until help arrived.
Kokabiel threw Issei to the ground, "Now that we're alone, let's play."
Kokabiel landed on the ground, a couple meters away from him.
Sweat trickled down Issei's forehead, because just now... he was unable to fight back.
He was outclassed, and he knew.
His friends couldn't help either, they were preoccupied.
So... he was alone.
Compared to Freed, this guy's speed and danger level was on a different level.
But... he had no choice, he had to fight.
Kokabiel grabbed a stone from the ground, and threw it in the air.
And the moment it landed, he dashed towards Issei.
His speed was slower than last time.
Issei tracked his movements and got into a fighting stance.
Kokabiel threw a hook, Issei blocked and countered with a livershot, Kokabiel took the strike and grabbed onto Issei's hand, then he used his right leg to sweep Issei's legs, throwing him onto his back.
Kokabiel raised the right leg high into the sky and drove it down towards Issei's skull, performing a very smooth transition into an axe kick.
Issei raised his remaining arm and blocked the kick, his bones groaning from the pressure.
He grabbed onto Kokabiel's leg and chomped on his calf.
Kokabiel groaned, released his hold and kicked him away.
"Biting? What're you? A child?" Kokabiel questioned, looking down at his leg.
"Hey, if it works, it works," Issei answered, spitting on the ground.
Kokabiel shrugged, "Can't argue with that."
The two charged at each other once more, Issei was the one who went on the offensive this time.
He closed the distance between the two, engaging Kokabiel in close combat.
He utilized his elbows, and began attacking, the techniques utilized by Issei were familiar to Kokabiel.
He parried Issei's attacks and kneed him in the stomach. Issei's eyes widened from the impact, saliva escaped from his mouth.
"Ryu's fighting technique?" Kokabiel commented, "So he was the one who taught you..."
Issei didn't get up, instead he attack Kokabiel's legs, trying to disturb his footing. Of course, it didn't work Kokabiel simply jumped back.
Issei expected that, so he charged towards him again.
Issei threw a punch, with his entire weight loaded behind the attack.
Kokabiel raised his arm to block it, but midway Issei's fist quickly opened up.
He grabbed onto Kokabiel's arm, and interlocked his fingers with Kokabiel's.
"Gotcha," Issei said with a smirk, and punched Kokabiel right in the face.
Kokabiel was amused, genuinely amused by all this.
He punched Issei's face with even more force.
"Indeed... this manner of fighting is Ryu's, abandoning all defense and dragging your opponent into a dogfight," Kokabiel smiled, even though punches were landing on his face he continued to speak while also landing his own strikes.
"If your opponent far outclasses you, then this is definitely one of the viable options to winning," he continued to say, "Although... I'm a bad matchup," Kokabiel spoke.
Kokabiel stopped playing around, for the first time against Issei, he put all his strength into one single attack.
Kokabiel smashed his fist directly in Issei's stomach.
*BOOM*
Blood flew like a fountain from Issei's mouth, he immediately lost consciousness and slumped, Kokabiel caught him in his arms.
"Not bad, but far from enough," Kokabiel spoke, "You're still far away from the White one, but you've got potential at least." Kokabiel threw Issei to the ground.
Kokabiel glanced towards the others, Rias Gremory, and two others were currently fighting the Cerberus.
"Hmm... those two, not bad at all... that Rias girl," Kokabiel muttered to himself, "She's quite talented, not as talented as her brother... but still, has a lot of potential."
He then glanced towards the other two, "Oh... that's... Baraqiel's daughter, how intriguing, she certainly has talent and has integrated holy power in her lightning... and just look at those beautiful wings of hers... she's really his daughter, I heard she despised her fallen side, I wonder what changed?"
He then glanced at Koneko, "And that little girl... she's powerful, her raw strength and endurance are just a step or two below Ryu's."
"What a wonderful era..." He muttered under his breath, "Young talented people are everywhere."
"The sword users aren't too bad either."
"Kokabiel," A deep voice came from below, Kokabiel looked down.
"Oh? Ddraig? Long time no see," Kokabiel greeted with a smile.
"...What're you planning?" Ddraig cut to the chase immediately.
"Nothing much," Kokabiel answered with a mysterious smile, "I'm betting everything on this new generation."
"...I don't understand you, Kokabiel," Ddraig spoke, "You are fighting, but not with the intent to kill."
"...You caught on, huh?" Kokabiel sighed, "Correct, I don't plan on killing these children, if they do manage to kill me though... that'll be a nice surprise."
"I'm going to die soon Ddraig," Kokabiel admitted, "And I'd rather die my own way."
"..." Ddraig fell silent.
"You've... changed, Kokabiel." Ddraig disappeared with those words.
"I have... haven't I?" Kokabiel asked himself.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, with the others.
.
.
.
.
The situation was looking pretty grim, Irina Shidou's Excalibur was broken in two, she took the backseat.
Xenovia was the only one who could fight, but her Excalibur was also showing signs of cracking.
Freed was of course, acting like his usual insane self.
Kiba however, took the chance to confront Valper, since Xenovia told him to go.
"Valper Galilei," Kiba said, approaching him. "I finally... found you."
Valper raised an eyebrow, "Do tell, from where do we know each other?"
"Holy sword experiment, I'm one of the subjects who escaped," Kiba explained.
"Oh! You're one of them," Valper's eyes widened, "I'd heard that one of you escaped... what a strange twist of fate."
Valper paused, taking a good look at Yuto. "Isaiah, I remember it now, your name."
"Then... you should've figured it out by now," Kiba said, conjuring a sword in his hand, "I'm going to kill you."
Kiba charged, sword raised high up into the air, he was going to finally end the nightmare plaguing him.
He was going to avenge all his friends, and with a single swing of that sword, it would all be over.
"Not so fast, devil scum." Freed's face with his signature maniacal grin appeared in front of Yuto, and blocked his sword.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hold him off." Xenovia appeared next to him, and kicked him away.
Freed managed to break her Excalibur fragment as well.
Given the fact that Freed held the fusion of 3 fragments in his hand, it would be pretty obvious that a single fragment would inevitably break apart.
"You know, I'm really grateful for you and the other test subjects," Valper spoke, "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to complete my research. You guys didn't have enough 'genes', so all I had to do was... take it out, fuse them, and... give it to someone who can handle the gene." Valper rummaged in his coat, and took out a blue stone.
"This is it," Valper looked upon it with pride, "This is the result of my research."
"And Freed here, is the only one who could successfully absorb them," Valper explained, "The others died halfway through, their bodies were lost but I'm pretty sure... these 'genes' that were lost on them, are in the church." Valper spoke, then he looked at Xenovia with a wide smirk.
"Am I correct... Girl?" He questioned, judging from the way he spoke, he probably already knew the answer to that.
Xenovia clenched her teeth, "This..." She begun, her voice shaking with rage.
"Looks like I'm right," Valper said, "Those hypocrites... they expel me from the church, and then use my research." he sighed, rubbing his head.
"Anyways, Isaiah," Valper spoke, "I'll give this to you, consider it... a token of gratitude, or perhaps a repayment? For the lives of your friends you know?"
Valper threw it to Yuto, he caught it, and cradled it in his arms.
Xenovia glanced down at the cross, that hung around her neck. She grabbed a hold of it.
Memories flowed through her mind, of the church, of the lessons.
She believed the church to be just, to be the protectors of mankind from the forces of evil.
But from what she had seen, the devils she branded as evil... didn't seem so bad, compared to humans.
"Disgusting." She said, and with one single motion, she ripped the cross on her neck and crushed it in her fist.
"Oh?" Valper was surprised by her actions, because she was practically spitting on the church.
The church expelling someone was common, but someone deliberately leaving the church... was unheard of.
So this was quite shocking.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Irina shouted from behind, her eyes widened.
"Irina, my days in the church are over," She spoke, "Because... all of this... everything that he said, it's disgusting."
"Don't be rash!" Irina shouted back, "He's lying! He has to be! When we go back let's ask the higher ups! They'll tell the truth!"
"Open your eyes, Irina," Xenovia spoke, not turning back to look at her, "I won't allow myself to be fooled, you can go back and do as you wish."
"As for you two..." Xenovia said, raising her arm, "The plan of executing you two hasn't changed at all."
A golden circle appeared, and a blue great sword with a golden edge came out from it, covered in chains.
As soon as Xenovia grabbed a hold of it, the chains broke.
"Durandal! A sword said to be on par with the Excalibur!" Valper shouted, "What a pleasant surprise! I don't remember anyone having aptitude for it! Did the church manage to tweak the genes to this extent?"
"No, unlike your creations," Xenovia said holding the sword up in front of her with a single hand, "I'm the real deal."
Yuto held the gene in his arms, hugging it into his chest.
Memories began flowing through his mind.
Those he once called friends, who all died for the ambitions of Valper. All of them butchered without a shred of mercy, all in the name of god.
Yuto stood there, questioning everything he ever knew.
God was real, he knew for a fact. Then... why didn't god intervene? Why didn't he save his friends?
He questioned in his head, he demanded an answer.
The kid who once fiercely believed in god, who turned into a devil wanted an answer.
But he didn't get any.
And then... a true miracle happened.
The gene began merging with him, and... all around him.
Phantoms of his friends, began to appear.
All of them hugging Yuto, whispering words of comfort.
"It's okay, Yuto." One of them said.
Yuto... felt lighter than ever.
The spirits all converged into a single point, and flew into his body.
Yuto opened his eyes, and a smile crawled up his lips.
Valper looked on at the scene, eyes wide open.
"How... beautiful." He commented.
Xenovia looked as well, and smiled.
"That look... suits you more, Yuto." She spoke.
Yuto glanced at her and nodded, then his attention turned back to Valper and Freed, who stood there yawning patiently waiting.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Yuto said and raised his arm.
"This again?" Freed let out a sigh, "How many times do I have to break your sword for you to understand?"
Yuto raised his sword in the air.
A stream of demonic and... holy energy, erupted from it and began covering the sword.
"Foolishness, Isaiah," Valper sighed, "Demonic and holy energy can not coexist."
"Balance Breaker: Sword of the Betrayer." Kiba announced.
The energies settled into the sword, and for the first time ever...
A Holy-Demonic sword was born!
Valper was dumbfounded, something like this... shouldn't have been possible.
"...If the balance is disturbed... then... ah, this is... terrible indeed, God is dead as well huh..." he muttered that last bit to himself.
Xenovia and Yuto charged forward at Freed, Xenovia targeted the sword held in Freed's hands.
And in a single exchange, Durandal tore it apart.
Yuto then delivered the finishing blow, bisecting Freed into two.
"Any last words, Valper?" Yuto questioned, approaching him.
Valper sighed, "No, I don't." he didn't resist, "Oh wait... I do have something to say." Valper spoke.
"Isaiah, you're my greatest creation." Valper said with a smile, "Deny it all you want... but I created you, and I hope it haunts you for the rest of your days."
Yuto smirked, "No, it won't." He swung his sword and Valper's head rolled on the ground.
He then looked back, Xenovia watched him with a smile.
Looking past Xenovia, he saw his friends also managed to defeat the Cerberus.
But then... it struck him.
Where was... Issei?
"What an interesting turn of events." Kokabiel had returned once more, from the air.
"ISSEI!" His friends shouted his name.
Kokabiel had Issei's unconscious form slung over his shoulder, he landed and threw him to Koneko.
"He's alive, don't worry," Kokabiel said with a smile.
"...Just what are you up to... Kokabiel?" Rias questioned, very confused by his actions.
Kokabiel just smiled mysteriously, "Can't tell you that."
"What I can tell you is..." Kokabiel paused, "I love what I see here."
.
.
.
.
Far away from them, in the forest.
A pair of pure black eyes snapped open.
Ryu was awake now, he forced his battered body to get up.
He had a fight to finish.
"Damn old man... I'm not done... just yet."
Author's note: Don't get used to frequent uploads, I'm just really hyped for this arc. I've wanted to write this for a long time, before I even started making this I had the whole Kokabiel fight planned out, and it's turning out better than expected.