Chapter 15: Power & Prices

Chapter 15:

"___" - Speech

(___) - Thoughts

{___} - Internal Voice(s)

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Cold.

It's so cold! 

What's happening to me? It's like someone's started a winter fallout in my bloodstream. 

My lungs, my skin, my bones. It hurts! It hurts so damn much! 

Did I fail the activation? No, that's clearly not the case. There's armor around my arms, legs, and a good chunk of my torso. 

They're the same color as my gauntlet.

The fact that it's not full-body must be a result of being incomplete. 

"Jin?" Issei, and even no-name, both looked at me with immense worry on their faces. That's no good, I still have a job to do. 

If it's just pain, then I can't let myself falter. 

Endure! 

I clenched my teeth together, to the point where I could feel my molars cracking. 

"I'm fine, get moving." Alongside the blond, I stepped out into the open, causing the sights of every hooded-magician to hone onto us. 

As expected. 

"Fallen Angel, my [Balance Breaker] seems to be better suited to dealing with the ground-units. Can you handle the airborne ones on your own?" 

Would these wings serve any purpose if I couldn't? 

"Of course." I took to the skies as I somehow managed to weave through their projectiles with relative ease. 

That's strange, my body definitely has gotten a little stronger, but not to the point where I should be able to dodge their attacks so effortlessly. 

[Twice Critical] has the power to double all of its wielder's abilities. 

Could it be? That my mental capabilities are being doubled as well?

That would explain it, it's not like I feel especially fast, it's just that their shots feel awfully slow. 

"How disappointing, we were expecting the Governor. And all we got was a baby bird?" Interesting, they actually talk. Here I thought they were all just mindless drones. 

"If I'm a baby bird, what does that make you?" There's too many of them for me to pick them off one by one, in that case, I'll have to take a page out of Kokabiel's book. 

I took a deep breath as I calmly opened my palm towards the sea of cloaked-figures. 

With my power and lack of finesse, I doubt I'll even be able to mimic a fraction of his strength.

But that's fine, just like this pathetic excuse of a [Balance Breaker], as long as it works that's all I need. 

I could feel the frostburn spreading through my body as I channeled my Holy Power. The pain is getting worse, and by no small amount, but I must endure. 

Until the Welsh Dragon rescues that half-vampire, I must remain conscious. 

The taste of metal polluted my tongue as a singular stream of blood leaked out of my mouth, probably a result of my teeth biting down on my lip. 

However, the pain did not come without reward. 

Pride surged through my veins as a light-silver magic circle appeared in front of my hand, my very own magic circle. 

But now isn't the time for admiration. 

The sound of hundreds of high-pitched chirps overcame the atmosphere as thousands of small, bright shards of Holy Power rained down on the hooded-magicians in front of me. 

Or more accurately, the enemy. 

I watched on in a mix of delight, horror, and shock as an attack of my own gunned them down as if they were ants. 

Yet, there's still this feeling. 

Ba-dup! 

What is it? 

Ba-dup! 

It couldn't be— 

Ba-dup! 

Excitement? 

Impossible, I'm only doing this because they attacked first, I refuse to take any pleasure in doing this. That's not the type of [Gold General] I'll allow myself to become. 

That's right, my pursuit is peace, not violence. 

As much as I tried to resist, there was nothing I could do to suppress the adrenaline rushing through my head. 

The corners of my lips stretched towards my ear even though I tried to stop it. But, all my efforts were apparently futile. 

"Wow Ji-tan! That's quite the attack you pulled! It looks like you're blazing hot at the moment! Or Should I say freezing cold? Tehe! ✰" 

This voice? 

The Leviathan? Oh, that's right. She instilled her Demonic Power into me back then, but it looks like I owe her even more. 

Thanks to that ear-grating tone of yours, I've snapped out of my pointless trance. 

I wonder if it was on purpose? Oh well, it doesn't matter either way. 

As expected, the reinforcements had already begun spilling in. I don't know how long Issei needs to disable that Sacred Gear, but just to be safe I should try conserving my Holy Power from now on. 

Just having [Balance Breaker] active is already burning through my stamina like a bonfire, but it's better to waste only one energy reserve instead of two. 

My boxing won't be of much use since I have no ground to use my footwork on, but, there's still one other thing I can do. 

Brawl! 

Using as little Holy Power as possible, I conjured a silver light-spear in my hands whilst my wings perked up. 

"So what if you managed to take a few of us down? You'll run out of gas long before we run out of bodies." 

What's with these people? Would it kill them to fear death a little? Ah, I guess it would.

Like a mad-dog, I rushed at the magicians using the momentum generated by my wings to increase the tearing-capabilities of my spear. 

They seem to be trying to trap me in some sort of formation, a good idea, but do you have the speed to accomplish it? 

My flight patterns became more jagged, unpredictable, and wild as I shredded through their ranks one after the other. However, their numbers continued to replenish themselves just as fast. 

Seriously, just how many of you are there? 

As I continued to pick them off, I got a glimpse of what looked to be a group of them banding together in the distance. 

Hold on, what are they doing? 

"It's too late, just accept your death." My stomach churned as a group of them had formed some sort of combined magic circle, and judging by its size, it's probably not good news for me. 

I watched as the circle's radiance grew more and more intense, they're probably trying to launch some sort of super-attack. But it's not a problem, all I have to do is dodge. 

Huh? 

Out of nowhere, several magicians appeared out of thin air and latched onto my arms and legs. 

Even with my doubled strength, their continued attempts to dog-pile me seemed to be working. 

Don't tell me? 

"There is no greater honor than to die for Katerea-sama. You're coming to hell with us, Fallen Angel." 

A suicide attack!? You've got to be kidding me! 

Panic sunk into my heart as I continued to struggle under their grasp, but just as promised, they continued to throw more and more bodies at me. 

And before I knew it, a massive beam of light was headed my way. 

Fuck, it's over. 

"Mou, Ji-tan. You need to be more aware of your surroundings! ✰" 

A dark-blue barrier appeared in front of me out of thin air, effortlessly blocking the attack as if it were naught more than a gust of wind. 

Haha, how could I forget? We have some of the strongest beings in the world on our side. 

"Thanks, Levi-tan." 

I jammed my spear through the bodies of the magicians trying to bring me down with them and prepared to continue my assault. 

However, as it would appear, my efforts are no longer necessary. 

Just like Sitri-san, all the magicians had been suspended in time. It looks like the Welsh Dragon did more than succeed, not bad, not bad at all. 

I don't know who you are half-vampire, but you're pretty damn impressive, that much is for sure.

Shatter! 

Oh, looks like my time is up. 

My body went limp as the last of my strength left my body, my breaths were quick to grow labored as beads of sweat raced down my skin. 

Damn, my wings don't have much strength left in them, this probably won't be the most comfortable of landings. 

"I'm sorry I'm late, Jin-sama." 

Or not. 

"Yo, was I cool just now or what?" 

"I was frozen, Jin-sama." 

Oh yeah. 

"Just know that I was cool, alright?" 

He sighed as I met him with a toothy grin and a thumbs up. 

"Whatever you say, Jin-sama." 

Atta boy. 

"Now if you don't mind, I'm going to pass out, so try not to drop me alright?" 

"Got it."

------------

"Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels all working together to create a barrier. Looks like I've intruded on quite the momentous occasion?" 

"So, you were the one behind this, Katerea." With a rather unimpressed look on his face, Azazel calmly observed the haughty woman in front of him. 

"Who else would be suited? As a matter of fact I'm thankful the three of you have all gathered here for me, it'll make taking out the old all the more easier." 

Similar to the Governor, Sirzechs found it hard to take the woman in front of him seriously. All he could really sense from her was, arrogance. 

The Satan sighed as he gripped his nose-bridge. 

"Just what are you trying to achieve, Katerea?" In truth, he already knew how things were bound to end up. Finding out her motive was really naught more than a courtesy.

"Me? I simply wish to do what this conference sought not to. With God already gone, all I need to do is get rid of the Satans, and only then will this world be ripe for revolution." 

"Again?" Azazel groaned, chuckling dryly to himself as the word "boredom" was plastered all over his face. 

"Is something funny, Azazel?" She snapped. 

"Katerea, I don't think you understand just how many times I've heard that word. And even more so how many times I've put a stop to those who spoke of it. Actually, a friend of mine tried it only a few days ago." 

"I'll have you know, taking me lightly isn't in your best interests." She aimed her staff towards the Fallen Angel, to which the latter showed little to no reaction. 

"Katerea-chan, I'm only going to say this once, stop." The dark-skinned woman turned her sights towards the twin-tailed Satan standing beside Sirzechs. 

"Tch, so the thief was here as well?" 

"You're still going on about that? It's a wonder you were even made Leviathan in the first place." She looked on in disgust as a woman she had once respected, had fallen lower than the Governor himself. 

"That title always has, and still belongs to me. But, you probably need a little convincing don't you?" Her staff shifted towards the current Leviathan, to which Azazel stepped between the two. 

"Governor?" Serafall looked towards him with a slight tinge of hesitation in her eyes.

"Sorry, but do you mind if I take care of this?" He cracked his neck from side to side as the image of the hooded-magicians trying to take out his [Gold General] replayed through his mind. 

"Hmph, the lot of you are destined to perish here anyways, if you want to volunteer that's fine by me." From his back pocket, he pulled out a lance-like golden dagger with a purple jewel attached to its hilt. 

"The thing is, attempts like these have happened so many times that I don't tend to take them all that personally anymore." Contrary to his calm, laid-back nature, he started to hop from left to right almost like a boxer warming up before a fight. 

"But, after that stunt those pathetic magicians of yours tried to pull—" For the first time, in an awfully long time, Michael expressed surprise. 

A distinctly familiar aura leaked out of Azazel as his pupils grew as dark as his void-like feathers. 

"You've made it personal." 

(Azazel? What happened? Just what could make this aura of yours resurface?) 

His grip on the strange dagger tightened as he positioned it infront of his face vertically, causing the jewel to shine with a violent intensity as a menacing presence leaked from its core.

["𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖 —𝔹𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜!"]

𝔻𝕠𝕨𝕟𝕗𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕟 𝔸𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝔸𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣.