Chapter 82- And The Lightning Strikes

Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.

-And The Lightning Strikes

[Stray Exorcists]

The mission was supposed to be easy, from what they had been told.

Attack the house of the mundane relative of a magician that had pissed off their superiors. Whoever had made an enemy of the Fallen Angels they served would pay and that was that. Sure, they were told the house was supposed to be warded, but this wouldn't be the first nor the last secured location they'd attack, they knew.

All wards and defenses had their weaknesses and this one's had been fairly easy to find. They didn't even have to look very hard… or at all. There was literally nothing stopping them from walking in. All their experts could pick up on were detection spells and a few more things but there was no barrier whatsoever.

As they moved in on the house though, that's when they realized that there might be more to it all than just that. After all, when a few of their people moved inside the wards and the first Fallen Angel floated forward, a spell activated. The most their experts could tell about it was that it was a teleportation spell, but nobody had appeared or disappeared.

The uncertainty stopped them for a moment. Was it something with a hidden purpose, a trap of some kind? Was it a false trigger, meant to confuse them or frighten them? Was it something else?

"Keep moving," one of the Fallen Angels commanded and the Stray Exorcists moved. Some of them fueled by twisted devotion to creatures that were more dark than holy at that point, some others out of fear and a few, out of a completely different motivation than the one they'd followed before in their lives. "It was nothing," the corrupted thing told them and the exorcists trusted it, for what else could they do?

What did they amount to, in the end, compared to a being that had been created by God? Even if its grace was lost and its light was dimmed, it still stood far and above the rest of them, pitiful mortals. It was how the world worked and they'd always known. Humans were just that, ants in a world of giants. Plenty in numbers but almost always lacking in strength to actually do much.

Unfortunately for them, it didn't take long for the Fallen Angel to be proven wrong, or a liar.

Everyone felt it, even those that didn't know all that much about magic. The magicians, the warriors, the healers, the assassins and from what they could see, the Fallen too… Every single one of them sensed the shift in their surroundings as magic all but solidified.

Suddenly, they knew there was no way out except through the wards. Wards that wouldn't go down easily and without a price. Furthermore, they felt their own energies start leaving them, seeping through and out of their bodies to join the barriers that now contained them. One magician, not waiting for orders, threw a tentative bolt of energy towards the outside and the attack fizzled into nothing, barely even managing to hit the wall that were the wards.

"What is this?" another Fallen asked, her eyes scanning her surroundings, curious but not concerned. "The magician thought his little tricks would be enough, did he?" she asked, a smirk on her face even as her people, her soldiers, were weakened by the second. "Let's get this over with, show him what a mistake he's made."

"Make way," a third Fallen ordered, raising a hand towards the house that was their target. A fireball flew immediately afterwards, blowing up the front door with no problem. That was far as they got before something else happened.

"Teleport! At the back!" one of the magicians called out. Before anyone could react to that announcement, a number of things happened. The first of which was, confusing many of them, the song of a bird reaching their ears. It was immediately joined by a roar, however, and the cackle of electricity.

Many exorcists fell immediately after turning around, some not even managing that much. Their very energies, the magic in their bodies and the life in their veins, freezing, shivering and sizzling inside them. Many of them never even got to take a look at anything but a pair of eyes, eyes that paralyzed their souls.

One of the exorcists that reacted the fastest managed to shoot an icicle towards the new arrivals. It got nowhere, however, being stopped before it hit anything by a web of white threads before the projectile swung back towards their group. Many of those that would have tried to follow that magician's example were met with either blobs of purple liquid that burned their skin and poisoned their blood…

… or with daggers that flew straight and true, embedding themselves in their bodies.

It took less than a second after the new arrivals for the exorcist group to turn into a chaotic mess. Of all things, they'd never expected a group of monsters to rush at them like spawns breaking out of hell. From expecting a few wards and a magician, the exorcists were met with creatures the likes of which they'd be sent in groups against to deal with one by one, nevermind all at the same time.

"Angels!" someone cried out and there was no doubt as to what that Stray Exorcist wanted, as the pain in his voice was evident and so was his desperation. A plea for help, that's what the call was. One that was met with expressions of disdain from their four leaders, one of which even rolled her eyes.

"Incompetent and useless, they are mere monsters and you are running around like headless chickens," the winged woman that led even those of her own species disparaged. "Well, they do say that if you want a job done right-"

"You gotta do it yourself," the male angel of their group finished, grinning widely as a spear of light appeared in his hand. Some exorcists would have been relieved by that sight, but those were few and far between. Most of them were, after all, too preoccupied trying to stay alive.

[}-o-{]

[Joshua Davis]

'Jeanne's probably gonna be annoyed with me,' he thought idly as he raised a hand to put a shield spell between Morag and a… bolt of some kind. A second later, his hand snapped forward, flinging a dagger at one of the exorcists. 'Not my fault that she's nowhere near a teleportation circle,' he added then, blocking a sword that came his way and then stabbing the wielder with Carnwennan.

That line of thought might have seemed a bit random for others, but Joshua was doing his best to keep a semblance of control over his mind. Between Khaos Brigade interrupting what had promised to be a pretty good day with Kunou and them attacking his family… Well, Joshua was a little short on patience.

Which wasn't helped at all by Setan Kober, who was more than happy to urge him to unleash his unholy fury on the absolute bastards that had dared to-

'Focus, Joshua,' he thought to himself, drawing on Carnwennan's dutiful feeling to keep his mind grounded. Granted, he wasn't doing as good a job as he could probably be doing, but then again… Joshua was angry, incredibly so.

How dare they?!

Slipping, he let his weapons guide him, barely directing their intentions and blades towards the mass of Stray Exorcists. Joshua liked to think that he was a calm, collected dude. Someone that could easily be reasoned with and with who it was easy to be at peace with. However, Khaos Brigade seemed intent on drawing the worst in him out and…

'Oh, fuck them,' Joshua thought, a grin spreading over his face as another exorcist died by his daggers. His familiar bonds and Carnwennan would both do to keep him from going too far. Setan Kober's savage, brutal ways were what he wanted at that moment, however. These people had earned every single cut, every single death.

They deserved it.

Joshua felt the dagger cackle alongside him as he jumped and deprived a magician of her head. Carnwennan disapproved, of course, but not nearly as much as Joshua thought it would. Apparently, the holy dagger only protested the bloodthirsty approach and not the killing and punishment.

Interesting that.

'Oh, not so fast,' Joshua thought, jumping up and kicking a stray exorcist in the face to get further up. He raised another of his Neutral Shield's spells, this time to cover Nagini. He was pretty sure the snake could, at the very least, tank anything the exorcists sent her way. As far as his bonds had whispered, his familiars were fine, even if he still tried to cover them from time to time.

However, a Fallen Angel's light spear might be a little much for them.

"What?" the confused man said as his attack was stopped. Joshua didn't give him much time to comprehend what was going on though. Unfortunately, the Fallen was fast enough to recover in time and block Carnwennan with his light spear. "You pitiful thing. You don't know who you are attacking."

"An absolute idiot that thought attacking my uncle was a good idea," Joshua replied, sending another slash with Setan Kober this time. The Fallen cackled, like he'd told a particularly good joke or something. Which was fair, Joshua guessed he wasn't that much in the face of such a being.

Normally, at least.

And by normally, Joshua meant away from his wards. As it was, he was draining the energy of everyone in the area around Philip's house, exorcists and angels both. The latters didn't seem overly concerned about it, even though he was sure that they could feel the effects, but that worked well for him.

The Landlock Ward would keep them inside for as long as it took Joshua to take them out, one way or another. The Draining Wards would feed the spells as much as they needed to and allow Joshua to draw on their power if he needed it. The Weakening and Weighting Wards would continue to bring them lower and lower on the power scale.

Eventually, all that would combine into Fallen Angels weak enough to be taken down even by the likes of Joshua. Hell, from what he was picking up with his Senses and his wards, it wouldn't even take all that much. 'Either they are just that weak or I'm stronger than I thought I was,' Joshua mused to himself, blocking the light spear that was sent his way with both his daggers.

"Good attempt," he muttered, pushing the Fallen Angel away. 'I need to learn a spell to fly,' he thought to himself as he watched his opponent float in the air in front of him, looking more amused than anything else. It was frustrating, to be so blatantly dismissed, but that was fine. As long as the Fallen Angels dismissed him as a threat, he would have the upper hand.

It was in the event that they took Joshua seriously that he'd be in trouble, because he wasn't so sure he could take all of them at the same time. He didn't know if he would lose, but he didn't want to find out if it was possible to avoid that scenario. However… he wasn't happy with that. Joshua couldn't shake the feeling that what he was doing was wrong…

Setan Kober wanted more. The kris didn't like the fact that he was just stalling, waiting for his prey to bleed out. The weapon wanted to attack, to subdue and to kill its targets, not stand there until his opponent was too weak to fight back appropriately.

Carnwennan, in a strange occurrence, agreed. The dagger didn't like the underhanded method of draining the power off of his enemies. The blade wanted to deliver its just punishment to those fools that dared threaten its wielder, not sit back until the offenders fell.

With a deep breath in, he took a metaphorical hold on his wards and pulled.

The Fallen Angel "stumbled" at the sudden shift, almost getting stabbed by Setan Kober. He was still nevertheless startled by the power behind the kris. So much so that he wasn't prepared for the unexpected arrival of Carnwennan as the dagger embedded itself in the angel's stomach.

Joshua's opponent screamed then, as the holy power of the weapon burned him. The effect was weaker than it would have been against a devil, but it was still there and that was enough for Joshua. Especially because it disturbed the Fallen enough for him to deliver another cut with Setan Kober.

"What-What the hell?" the Fallen breathed out, not understanding. Joshua guessed he hadn't expected to run across both a holy and a demonic weapon. Amusingly, Fallen Angels were weak to both things. They were creatures of the dark, forsaken by the holy energies that had birthed them. And yet, the demonic energies didn't forgive nor forget what they were before. So, they were weak to both sides, even if their attacks were strong against both sides too, the corruption in their weapons hurting holy creatures while the light burning the demonic ones.

"Surprise, fucking idiot," Joshua hissed, pulling back Carnwennan before stabbing once more, this time on the Fallen's heart. "Not bad for a pitiful thing, huh?"

"Dohnaseek, what are you… doing?" another of the Fallen Angels asked and Joshua looked up at her, the short blond one. All three of the female winged beings were there though, watching. He grinned at them, Setan Kober's bloodlust mixing with his own as he pulled away and cut off his opponent's head.

"Sorry, your fellow crow seems to be a bit… dead. Maybe you can talk to him after I'm done with you," Joshua commented, wiping his weapons to the side to shake off some of the blood on them. Around him, the exorcists seemed to be lower and lower in number as his familiars decimated them. Even then, the three looked barely bothered at all and it seemed to be mostly because of Dohnaseek's death.

'To think I'd meet these four here of all places,' Joshua thought, considering his enemies once more. He didn't remember their names very well, but he definitely remembered them regardless. The four Fallen that were supposed to be at Kuoh and be the first antagonist group for the first volume of the series.

And yet there they were, at his uncle's house, attacking it and one of them was dead by his own hand.

"I guess we've seen that none of these are worth anything," Raynare, the only one Joshua actually remembered the name of, said as she looked at the battlefield around Joshua. 'What's she talking about?'

"Even Dohnaseek fell, to a human at that," the blond one said, unimpressed. "He was always more bark than bite."

"Indeed," Raynare agreed with a slight grin before she seemed to come to a decision. "Now, let's end this so we can get away from this place, yes? It seems we'll have to do better recruitment for the next time."

"Whatever you say, Raynare," the blue-haired Fallen agreed with a shrug and a roll of her eyes. "Let me just-Fuck!" she cried out then as a dagger embedded itself on her thigh. She then hissed, pulling out the sizzling knife from her leg before she threw the thing away.

Joshua looked up at them, now with their full attention after throwing one of Jeanne's daggers at them. He'd have liked to throw more but that'd have been pointless. That opening had been used and he'd have to be happy with the result he got. Now, he'd have to deal with three Fallen, but at least he'd wounded one of them.

"Fuck it all, just die!" the woman screamed, raising a hand and summoning a series of light arrows that immediately shot towards Joshua. The human, for his part, brought up his shield spells once more, stopping all the projectiles as the three Fallen rushed towards him.

"How about…" Joshua started, blocking a light spear with each of his daggers before twisting his body away from the third. "-no?" he finished with a grin as he waited for them to come again.

"You are a very annoying pest, I'll give you-" Raynare started before freezing, which made the other two turn towards her. That wasn't the only surprise waiting for them though. A second later, the blue-haired Fallen was hit by a bolt of lightning and the blonde was wrapped in purple threads.

"Bold of you to think I fight alone," Joshua said, pulling back his right hand and storing one of his daggers. From that same spell, he took out another of the many throwing knives that Jeanne had made for him. It didn't even take a second before the blue-haired Fallen had yet another blade embedded in her. This time though, he didn't let up, not on her and not on the others.

He'd have left Raynare alone, but Nagini's hold on her seemed to not be as absolute as it usually was. Instead, he could see the Fallen struggling against it, trembling and twitching. Joshua couldn't have that, no. With that in mind, he rained daggers on the three of them. Each weapon thrown, each second passed, brought him closer to victory. Between wounds, weaknesses and wards the Fallen Angels had less and less chances with every passing moment.

"You are so lucky," Joshua said, walking up to the Fallens, ironically splattered on the ground in a way that almost made him laugh. "So lucky that I need you alive to answer questions."

"As if we would cave before… a… human…" Raynare spat before her face paled. Next to her, the blond fallen whimpered and the blue-haired one wasn't faring much better. He really couldn't blame any of them though…

He felt much the same.

Looking up, he saw big, dark clouds in the sky.

Through her bond, Cheshire screamed at him.

Joshua barely had any time to put up the Shield Ward between his uncle's house and the very sky that seemed to want to murder them all. Thunder bombarded his ears and shook his bones and he felt energy quickly drain from his very body. All but scrambling, he pulled on the wards around him, feeding his spell with their energy.

It wasn't enough, not nearly enough, especially if the onslaught of lightning continued.

"Joshua," he heard Yasaka's voice through the trinket's he'd made himself. "The Church said they are on the way, just-"

"Yasaka," he hissed, feeling the pressure of the attack over him like a mountain on his shoulders. "Help," he all but whispered. Yasaka was the only one he could contact, the only one that could try to speed up the arrival of help.

"Joshua?! Joshua, what's happening?!" the youkai leader called through his artifact.

"Someone else… Too strong…" he muttered, barely able to breath as his shield spell was pushed down. Speaking was hard, with most of his focus being on his magic, the shield and his wards, straining himself to stop the attack.

"Joshua! I'll call for Serafall, she'll-"

"Quick…" She was his only hope.

"Joshua!"

'Please,' Joshua pleaded in his mind as the communication was cut.

Now, he just needed to hold on.

[}-o-{]

[Raynare]

How…?

She couldn't help but wonder. How was it that she'd ended up in the situation she was in? It was supposed to be a pretty standard attack. Sure, some exorcists were expected to die in it, but they were attacking a magician. A human magician, for crying out loud. There was nothing easier than dealing with the little pests. At least when they weren't a hero descendant or something of the sort.

And yet, there she was, on the ground, bleeding and weak.

Raynare hated it more than anything. She'd always hated being weak, and she'd battled with all her being against that. She'd always strived to be more than the sad excuse for an angel she was. She'd dreamed of being better, growing stronger, standing beside the highest figures of her faction, Azazel, Shemhazai and many others…

But there she was, defeated by a mere human.

Why…?

That was, perhaps, a question that disturbed her even more. Why was she in the situation she was in? Why was such an attack being directed at them, at her? The lightning, the thunder, the light, the power. That could only be Kokabiel's doing. However, why would their leader attack them like that?

Had they failed so badly? Maybe they had, but surely they didn't deserve to die because of it… Why then…? Raynare kept repeating that question in her head, over and over again and she couldn't stop doing so. Each and every time, she only found one answer.

"We were betrayed," Kalawarna growled and Raynare could only agree.

"Just like we misinformed the exorcists," Mittelt added bitterly.

"Bait, that's all we were," Kalawarna continued, looking on helplessly as did Mittelt and Raynare herself. For what else could they do? They were too weak to move much, and even if they tried… Further from where they were laid a certain death. The only safe spot was under the ward of the magician they'd come to kill, where they were, together with their still out of reach targets and the man's familiars.

All of them could only sit there, helplessly watching as the man held over them the power of a Cadre. They just watched, as he started sweating, his face pale as he struggled to keep the spell going, persisting against a power that he had no business battling. It made no sense, for a human to be able to stop the attack of someone like their leader, but there he was…

"Girls…" the man growled, falling to his knees. Raynare almost expected his spell to fall apart and them to meet a painful death, but it didn't happen. Despite the human's collapse, the spell held. The three Fallen watched then, as the man's familiars moved closer to him.

"They are giving him energy," Mittelt said, being the one most attuned with energies and sensing them. Raynare saw, at that moment, a thoughtful expression appear on the blonde's face.

"They are not going to hold," Kalawarna muttered, with a weak chuckle as she deflated against the ground, giving up any kind of effort. Raynare understood. What was the point in battling the inevitable? The human's efforts… impressive as they were, as Raynare would grudgingly admit, were for naught. He would run out of power before Kokabiel did, there was no doubt about that.

"Try to kill me with the vermin, will you?" Raynare heard Mittelt growl. Turning towards her fellow Fallen… She couldn't begin to guess what that was about. That is, until she saw that the blonde was staring very intently at the magician, at the human…

And the man that was keeping them all alive with his spell.

Surely not, right? Surely Mittelt hadn't…

Except, why wouldn't she? Their very leader had left them for dead. Worse, he was going to kill them himself, just because they'd failed. Or maybe just because they were there and he wanted the magician gone. They'd just… die, to kill a human.

So what did they even have left to lose anymore? Why wouldn't Mittelt decide to just… help the human? Pride? Kalawarna's chuckle from the side told Raynare that she'd figured things out too.

"Might as well, right?" the blue-haired Fallen muttered.

"Human," Raynare called. The man didn't so much as twitch, but she was sure that he could hear her still. He had to be conscious to still keep the spell up. "You better see us through this. I'm not gonna degrade myself to the point of helping you only for us to die anyway."

He didn't reply, but she didn't care.

With her piece said, Raynare focused on the pull she felt from the man's spells. They'd been draining her energy since they arrived at the place. At first, they were an amusingly sad attempt. Then, they were an annoyance. After that, it was concerning.

Now though, she welcomed the spell, purposely pushing her energy through the link.

They better survive.

Raynare would have her revenge.

[} Chapter End {]

(AN:Please remember that this story is not mine and will never be mine. Make sure to give thanks to the original author on fanfiction.net https://m.fanfiction.net/u/11459794/)