Chapter 70: Scary woman

Beta read by Shigiya.

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-???-

Everything felt surreal to Kiba, his eyes widened while gazing at the appearance of people he considered as enemies to his comrades now protecting Hachiman from the attack.

"Riser?" Rias said, equally speechless at seeing her former fiancee protecting her boyfriend. 

Despite his change, she still hated that man for his past actions. Not to mention, a pure Fallen she thought dead also came to the battle with 6 wings!?

"Just what is going on here…" Nemain muttered, flying back while observing the new arrivals. "The Scion of the Phenex family, your appearance here is not that surprising. But the Fallen girl, Raynare if I recall correctly, weren't you supposed to be dead?" 

The goddess frowned, she focused on the people in front of her before recalling something. "Wait, I understand, it was that vile witch who kept you alive, she kept you away from death's door. How sweet of her, too bad it was wasted on someone like you." She spoke calmly, bringing the holy sword up.

Raynare fumed at her remarks while Riser just continued to smile arrogantly, even going so far as to elegantly bow to his enemy.

"The Goddess who personifies the frenzied havoc of war, I have heard of you from my brother during these recent years. Your encounter with my rival is well known by my family, yet I find it quite difficult to believe someone of your stature to use such dirty tactics in a fight."

"It is her nature," Vritra spoke, gaining their attention once again. "This is not the real Nemain, she is but an avatar sent by her true body. While Kokabiel managed to hide from the rest of the world, she cannot do so with her power and domain being a giant beacon to everyone else. Do not fear her, for you can take her current self on in a battle and win."

"Tch!"

The goddess frowned at the dismissal in his tone. It was clear that she wasn't being looked at as a threat. 

Meanwhile, Raynare just glared at Kokabiel, her gaze burning with hatred at the man.

"You sent me to my death, didn't you? You lied to me that Azazel would love me if I got myself a Sacred Gear! But none of that happened! He sold my soul to this bastard and all of this is because of you!" 

"Humph," he snorted, finally recovering enough to compose himself. "Do not talk with such a tone just because you got a little more wings, girl. Your own idiocy and devotion is to blame, as I never told you to kill the Red Dragon Emperor. You let your hatred for humanity guide your actions and as for the Twilight Healing… you were bound to die anyways." He said with a smirk, relishing in the shock and rage in her eyes.

"What!?"

"Sacred Gears are the creation Yahweh. Made for the sole purpose to serve humanity. They were never intended to be attached to a full-blooded Fallen or any species that weren't at least part human. You are a true fallen, not a single part of you was human, to begin with. The process of binding Twilight Healing would have succeeded at first, but the system would recognise your nature and would have been seen as a bug and would fix the error — killing you in the process. That is why that invention was deemed a failure, not only because it caused the death of the original wielder, but also of the new host in case they weren't human."

Betrayal flashed in Raynare's eyes, she already knew the answer, but hearing the truth from some that was there when they were created just made it hurt more. All hopes to get on Azazel's good side were crushed, all because of him!

"Do you think it is wise to forget my presence?" 

"—!"

Her senses cried out to her to move, and six wings flapped in the air, pushing her backward. Far away enough to dodge a large pillar of white light striking her previous position. 

'I guess even as a copy, a Goddess is still a Goddess…' 

Raynare threw her spears at Nemain, the Celtic goddess waving her hand to create a shadow wall that took the brunt of the attack. Though cracks appeared on the surface before breaking apart. 

Clang!

Excalibur waved around to cut a few swords thrown at her by Kiba, the Devil coming at her with his wings extended. 

"Hmph, if you want to make things personal, then fine. Let me see how much power you have left after all that. Show me what the Knight of Lucifer's sister is capable of." She said as she glared at all three people in front of her.

The Goddess raised her arms, a ball of mana forming between her palms. A blinding flash of light burst forth, covering everything within a radius of two meters. A massive shockwave of energy spread over the area, sending Raynare tumbling and crashing through the trees.  

Riser tanked the attack, the shockwave destroyed both his legs and half of his face. He retaliated by countering with his pillar of flames once again, distracting Nemain long enough for Kiba to get close to her and attempt to slash her throat.

"Give them back!" His voice echoed through the battlefield, the sound of his sword clashing against hers.

Nemain was still too focused on Riser to notice Kiba moving. As he closed the distance, he swung his blade down towards her neck, which blocked the strike with her own sword.

"Do not think of yourself as stronger than me, Devil. I am a living testament to the power of a True God!" Nemain shouted, swinging Excalibur in a sweep. The dense holy energy made his heart skip a beat as it passed so close to his body. A single cut could render him scarred, crippled , or even dead.

Bang!

More light spears were blocked by the goddess, she moved around faster than any of them expected. Deflecting anything they threw at her and retaliating with an even stronger attack. More stray energy bolts were shot from her hands toward Riser. 

"Gah!" 

Instead of destroying his body, they expanded upon contact, crushing the Phenex under the ground. She then set her eyes on Raynare, closing the distance between them, tilting her head at the last second from another volley of spear throws before grabbing her opponent's head and sending her shooting straight through the Academy with a toss.

"I am a goddess who participated in many wars throughout human history. Even before the biblical factions' Great War, I fought both spirits and gods. For even if this is just an avatar, underestimating me will only lead to your defeat."

Kiba shook off his pain and flew up to face her.

Seeing the enraged Knight come at her with another sword, the goddess sighed. She stared at the orb, her power analyzing every aspect of it and uncovering the process of its creation.

"This is honestly quite pitiful." 

With another wave of her hand, dozens of smaller portals opened around him. With skeleton hands coming out of them and grabbing onto the man's limbs — making it impossible for him to move. No matter how much strength he tried to call forth, he couldn't escape her control.

"This is what you want?" 

She showed him the crystal sphere, putting it close to his face as he could faintly hear the familiar call of his long-lost family. Seeing his teary eyes, Nemain smirked.

"Family, a concept that humans, gods, and every supernatural being in this world holds quite close to their heart. You draw strength from revenge, rage that burns brightly within you, and now the desire to get them back." She let his fingers touch the sphere. "Do you hear their call? The voices coming from the trapped souls inside. Your heart must feel the love they have for you, they know that you're here and wish nothing more to reunite as well."

Tears fell off his face, anger breaking down to despair and sorrow. He was so close yet so far, all he wanted was to hold them one last time. To hear them say his name, to hear their laughter, and listen to the lullaby they sang to him when he was scared as a child.

"Please… I beg you, please… give me my family back…" 

Nemain brought the crystal back.

"You used to draw your strength from the fire that burned inside of you. To be truthful, I never fought a user of Sword Birth once in my life, maybe one of my sisters did, who knows." She clenched it. "Sacred Gears draw strength from the every emotion of their users, but I am not seeing that with you. Why? Has the fire turned into embers after you found out about this? Just how weak is your conviction?"

Kiba's eyes remained glued to the object in her hand.

"I am not prideful, I seek weakness in my enemies, the smallest advantage, and use them unscrupulously to get an edge. But this… having a weakling like you dare to come at me for battle, to have an ant think it can defeat a mountain with such pathetic determination… how humiliating. You aren't even showing the killing intent from before, all because of this. I shouldn't have killed Valper, maybe his existence would have made you stronger, growing more powerful as we fought. That is why I wonder what will happen if I become the source of your anger…"

Crack!

Kiba's breath hitched, eyes widening as she began applying more force — slowly breaking the orb.

"No, please… stop this! I give up! DON'T DO THIS!" 

"You heinous goddess!" Riser returned, rushing towards the goddess to stop whatever she was doing. Raynare returned from the rubbles and was racing towards Nemain as well.

Both did not understand what was happening, they couldn't let her continue.

But unfortunately, they were too slow.

The orb shattered.

And with that, the floating souls trapped inside it, all flew inside the goddess as she absorbed them right before Kiba's eyes. The tiny lights vanishing into the infinite darkness of the goddess' power, devouring them completely.

Something inside him broke, and everything around him turned dark.

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Everything was dark, he couldn't see anything.

He felt cold, and alone and couldn't muster any strength to march forward.

He failed again.

No matter how hard he trained…

No matter what new sword he invented to counter his enemies…

He always ended up defeated in the end.

What was the point? His vengeance, his desire to kill Valper for all these years to avenge his family turned to smoke. He lost them once again, in front of him he saw them die once again because of his weakness. 

Swish!

The surrounding darkness changed, taking the shape of an empty white room with a single light built into the ceiling. Kiba found himself lying down on the floor, looking around with empty eyes. 

That was until he saw a figure sit in front, a being without any defining features. A humanoid-shaped person which he felt was gazing at him consistently for the next few minutes.

"..."

Kiba didn't ask more questions about who this was and its purpose. He felt hollow, tired, and worn.

It wasn't until another hour that he sighed and slowly got up from the ground and faced this being.

"What do you want?" 

It didn't speak but just pointed a finger to his left at a white wall. A passageway formed, and on the side was something that made him jump to his feet in shock.

Familiar faces that he hasn't seen since when he first lost them…

His family.

"Everyone!" He shouted in disbelief, immense joy flooding his body as he was about to run up to them, though as he ran through the door, a voice stopped him.

"...Are we nothing to you?" 

Hachiman?

He whipped his head around, only to find no one but the being who continued to sit on the ground; its posterior hasn't even changed since he moved.

"What are you going to do when confronting Valper?" 

No, this wasn't speaking inside the room. But rather, a memory of the past. A scene played inside, that of two people sitting around a tree inside Kuoh Academy's garden. Away from all the noise, with no one around but them sipping on some apple juice as they ate their lunch.

'This was…' He remembered this moment, a year ago after they returned from another unsuccessful search for Valper.

"I'm going to slice his head right off his body." The younger Kiba from his memory said with vitriol.

"I see… well, that's my fault. Should have expected such an answer from you. I was kinda hoping for you to get an epiphany recently and get infected with the nakama power thing protagonists like you tend to spew about in order to defeat an overwhelming force."

A smile came on the older Kiba as he saw this scene. Hachiman always was specific with his description of such things. Sometimes talking about things that didn't make sense. Using phrases like 'raijuu, go blow yourself' many times before laughing for no reason. Like there was a meaning behind his words only he alone could understand.

"Please do not joke about this, I will go to any length to get that man's head."

"Is that so? Then please aim for my neck when coming for my life. I find the trope of backstabbing the torso so boring and repetitive. Give me something more flashy and unique. Unless you want to make things agonizing for me, then I guess that makes sense. Then again, I did my heart ripped out and that sure was painful."

Young Kiba sharply turned at Hachiman, his face frowning heavily. 

"I would never do something like that!"

"Really, you wouldn't betray us just to further your goals?" 

That seemed to further anger the reincarnated Devil.

"I will never kill my frien—"

"—I'm not just talking about killing, Kiba." Hachiman interrupted as he ate another piece of beef. "Betrayal comes in many forms, some of which you do not recognize until it's too late. There are hundreds of different ways to betray someone without physically hurting them. Breaking everyone's trust is one of them. Throwing away their generosity and love like they don't matter and treating them lesser than dead people. But then again, it usually depends on the person on how they see betrayal, but let's keep it simple." At that point, Hachiman's gaze met his friend's. 

Those small pupils felt like they were staring at both of the Kibas. As if he wasn't just reliving a memory, but was also there physically.

"..."

"You know what I think will happen? With the slightest clue of the location of Valper or Holy Swords, you'll go running around like a bull without hesitating. Leaving Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Gasper, and me as well, behind. Probably end up hurt and dead in the process, that would be the biggest betrayal you would give to Rias and your friends."

"That isn't betraying them! I would happily give my life for you and everyone else!" Kiba shouted, now getting frustrated by Hachiman's words.

"And you're willing to sacrifice your common sense and life for revenge instead. Rias will cry if she were to hear you say such a thing. You are like her brother, same goes for the rest. The last thing we want to see you do is to fall into your past. An act so evil that it surpasses that concept of youth itself." 

Hachiman closed his bento box, going near the boy while placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Kiba, I know you seek justice for what happened to your comrades, your family. Wanting to hunt down the ones responsible behind their deaths. It's normal and I will do my best to help you find him. But please do not forget about Kiba Yuuto, the Yuuto who acts like a freaking normie who gets the attention of all of the girls in the school and acts like the biggest fake prince in existence. Wearing that smile of yours as a mask around the crowd, but actually laughing and smiling when he is around us. We are your friends and your family." 

Both Kiba stayed quiet before his past self asked one single question.

"What do you want from me?"

"Simple, to move on. Never forget your past, but don't become bound to them. They will haunt you mercilessly until nothing is left of you but a husk filled with nothing but rage. Accept what happened, no matter how morbid it may sound, accept their passing and respect the effort they made to keep you alive. You cannot meet the people from your past… no matter how much you wish for it."

That last part sounded personal, he could see the flash of sadness in Hachiman's eyes. Even now, he could never decipher their true meaning.

"If you had the opportunity to see people you miss, people that no longer live… would you take it?" Kiba asked.

"Probably, I won't say no, I'm human after all. But I sure as hell won't leave you, idiots behind, I'll drag you along if I have to. Every single last one of you may be a pain to deal with, always bringing me nothing but trouble… but you all matter to me. And I'm prepared to move on from my past to keep you all close and I hope for you to do the same as well, Kiba."

With that said, Hachiman continued to walk away. His body was walking right next to older Kiba who watched the entire scene in silence. 

Everything vanished, and he now was once again back in the empty room standing in front of the passageway leading to the souls of his family.

He gazed at them lovingly from where he stood.

"All of you, it's me, Isaiah. I know it's been a few years since you last saw me. I'm still alive, even became a Devil under the house of the Gremory… a knight to be more specific. They aren't scary or evil beings as the church made them out to be. Rias, my King, is the most loving and overprotective King I know of. She took me in as her own and gave me a home. Akeno-san is a bit scary, she is a fallen devil hybrid with a human side as well, so I secretly call her a trinity in secret."

He laughed.

"She is a true sadist, hurting her enemies without mercy and protecting us all like an older sister. She is in many ways like Rias, overprotective and loving. There is also Koneko and Gasper, who both came from tragic backgrounds like everyone in the peerage. Koneko is a Nekoshou who loves sweets and eating, while Gasper is a Dhampir who likes playing games all day."

His gaze went to the mysterious figure sitting in the middle of the room.

"There is also Hachiman, he is not a Devil like the rest, but a human. Well, I think he is human, he is no longer sure about this. He looks intimidating at first with those eyes of his, always speaking rudely or saying something weird every once in a while, and walks around with a hunched back and a dismissal attitude until the girls kick back in shape. Many wouldn't like him initially, I remember having doubts myself when I first met him. But he is probably the most protective out of us all. He acts like he doesn't care but he does, he acts detached but will invade your privacy if you're in trouble. He'll go through any challenges to save his friends… including me."

Kiba took a step back, more tears streaming down his face as gave a final look at the floating souls. No longer hearing their voices but feeling their happiness.

"I want to protect my current family, I don't want them to lose them as well. So that's why I'm turning my back on you. Call me selfish, but this is my choice and I won't go back." 

The souls shined like they agreed with him and gave him a final goodbye.

"This is farewell, I love you and I will always keep you close to my heart, I promise. I won't lose this time… I swear to keep walking forward and never look back." 

With a final deep breath, he turned his back to them and walked back into the middle. 

He glared at the being.

"I don't know who you are or what your purpose is. I've made my choice, I want to continue to protect my friends, and for that, I need to be more powerful. I will accomplish that goal and continue to live even if I have to face a goddess."

The image of Hachiman's progression came to mind, how he grew from a weak boy who could barely use Delete Field to a powerhouse that can fight off a Cadre and was capable of creating space devoid of all matter. Pushing against the odds despite his lack of talent in magic and combat, and a nonexistent desire to become the strongest like most dragon gears users that aim for it. He only wanted a peaceful life devoid of any conflicts and laze around all day reading.

To become the perfect househusband, was his dream.

Kiba wanted to be like him, to live freely without carrying the weight of his past. 

To live the life his family wanted for him in the first place. 

That was the road he was willing to walk on.

The being extended its hand, it's palm up as the phantom image of a violet dragon shaped like a snake wrapped around it. 

With three red eyes looking at Kiba intently.

"I know what I need to do."

And with that, he shook its hand and the entire room crumbled into pieces. Leaving Kiba floating in a vortex of memories and emotions swirling around him with a single black orb in the middle of his palm.

He clenched his fists and merged with the orb.

Woosh!

And a black shadow spread all around his body.

{Break}

-Hachiman-

It felt like watching a movie, kinda weird considering that was my own body that I was watching from. The fight was pretty intense, like the ones in the anime. Kokabiel was a very formidable opponent, just like I expected. My skills progressed a lot these last few months, I could even call myself a capable fighter. 

But against a being thousands of years old and with far more experience than me? Heck no, I wasn't going all shonen mode and bringing out the power of friendship in the middle of a fight. That wasn't my style, the battle against Sétante was proof enough, and it felt incredibly cringy just thinking about it. So, I let someone else take the wheel, a dragon who was making my body move in ways I wasn't even aware of. Using martial arts like a true master and just decimating every Fallen in front while also crushing Kokabiel.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a one-way massacre but it's pretty close." 

Nemain's appearance did make me panic quite a bit at first, but that fear died when Vritra mentioned her being a simple copy rather than the real deal that we faced in Ireland. And that surprise further increased when he saw Raynare and Riser come to his protection!

"Since when did she get six wings!?" I asked myself, not believing that lazy bitch somehow got herself such a major power boost.

A Cadre and a few thousand Fallen we could handle, but adding a goddess of war was just pushing us to our limit. Neither Vritra nor I could make things easier by just doubling out power like the Boosted Gear or having effects like Divine Dividing.

But what I was most worried about was Kiba, he was desperately trying to get that crystal orb from Nemain.

My heart reached my throat when I saw him get captured. 

"Vritra, I know I shouldn't disturb you during such an important fight, but our friend needs help!" 

The dragon heard my voice and attempted to fly toward the Knight, only to have the ragged Kokabiel block his way.

"Do you think you can ignore me, dragon!?" Kokabiel screamed, not liking how he was forgotten. 

"Rraaaaagh!" 

In his rage, he thrust his light spear at Vritra's head, only to be parried by black fire-coated tendrils. A few more Fallen Angels tried to attack his blind spot, only for their spears to barely chink the armor, they couldn't even cry in pain before their entire bodies got engulfed in a blaze of black fire that burned their very soul.

"You!" 

While all of this was happening, I saw the goddess break the sphere right in front of Kiba's face.

Shit!

"Kiba!" I heard Rias call for him, she frantically tried to reach him, only to get further assaulted by another horde of enemies. "Damn it!!!" 

"Oi, we need to end this fight now!" I urged the dragon, wanting him to use our last resort.

"No," Vritra denied, much to my surprise. "Your friend is fine, he has broken through his limits."

I didn't even have time to ask before a shining light came from Kiba's hands. And even from where I was, I heard two distinct words escape his mouth.

"Balance Breaker!" 

He finally did it.

Faster than Nemain could react, I saw the Knight's hand move in a flash.

Pshrt!

A single blade cut through the goddess's chest. Shocking even Kokabiel as he watched the unbelievable scene up in the sky.

The blade resembled a longsword without any significant guard, almost like a fusion with a gladius. The steel was black with its edge shining a deep blue light. That was a sword that my Chuunibyou self dreamed of having.

Nemain coughed blood, not the least bit fearful from the attack, and she pushed the sword out of her body. And looked at the hole in her chest, the tissue knitted itself back, but it was much slower than she expected.

"What… what is the meaning of this?" 

She tried to slash Kiba across the chest with the Excalibur, only for it to end up blocked by his new sword without any effort. 

"This power…"

The Holy Energy turned dimmer, less vibrant every second as if it was being sucked away bit by bit. Even her body was weakening the closer the blade came, everything around it was getting weaker.

"My Sacred Gear holds the spirit of my desire taken from, my will to challenge all creation, may they be demonic, holy, or even death like you — I will cut you all down if you hurt my friends."

This time, he was the one who pushed the goddess away and began to overpower her. 

"This is my Balance-Breaker, Sword of the Destroyer! You shall receive the power of this sword that has the power to weaken all powers in existence, for it holds no mercy, only created for the sole purpose to protect my friends from the world itself!"

Waaaah, such a cool name! 

I had to give the man a thumbs up, my past self would be proud of him.

"Your weapon holds the potential to surpass Caladcholg itself. It certainly far exceeded Excalibur."

Nemain said in a shocked voice.

That powerful? I wasn't expecting such high praise from her, I guess Gae Bolga would have some competition in the future.

And its power was furthermore shown when cracks started appearing all over the Excalibur enforced by the goddess' own power. It no longer shined with any sort of splendor, having turned into a dull husk of a weapon that should have been buried in its legend. Buried and immortalized through its history instead of turning the once-worshiped weapon into a monstrous abomination.

With a single side slash, the Excalibur shattered. Because of the pressure given by the swing of Kiba's Balance Breaker, there was a big gouge in the school field.

"I did it…" I heard Kiba whisper to himself, watching the shards fall to the ground, 

It felt so surreal, almost like a dream.

But he had done it, he finally gained the power he needed.

"Don't you find it familiar?" Vritra spoke. "The power to weaken all powers without exception, I do not know whether to feel honored or offended by this. Given he is an ally, I will go with the former."

"Oh yeah, I wonder how that works. Can Sacred Gears imitate the effects of another gear?" 

"Possibly, they are artifacts fueled by pure emotions, able to change and adapt according to the user's will."

"Then can't you copy Divine Dividing? I certainly want a broken power like that."

"I cannot without a blueprint of Albion's power. Even if we had all of the necessary information, creating such a powerful ability could burn through our limited lifespan or it could just outright overwhelm us."

That wasn't a no, though the chances were low, it wasn't impossible. 

Boom!

"Partner, let me borrow your spells."

"Go for it."

The advantage with Vritra, while we shared the same reserve of Magical Energy, he was far better at using it efficiently. Making each strand worth its use, without losing the least bit of power.

"Magic Arrows Barrage!" 

Hundreds of magic circles appeared behind us, and thousands of violet arrow constructs were fired through the air and killed more Fallens.

As we were distracted, Kokabiel tackled us to the ground, creating a large crater as he started to mercilessly attack with showers of light spears.

"You think this is over!? Just because that Devil half breed achieves a Balance Breaker does not mean you'll win! Do you think having Exorcists fight for a God who no longer lives will make a difference? You're wrong!"  

His comment made nearly everyone in the battle still. Their heads snapped to him, looking in disbelief.

Well shit, this was bound to happen.

Kokabiel smirked as he noticed their reaction and my lack of any.

"Fuhaha, hahahahahahahahahaha! That's right! I had forgotten! The truth wasn't revealed to any not in the upper echelons! Then I will tell you. At the end of the Great War, not only did the original Maous die, so did God!"

Both the Exorcists' and Asia's faces were filled with shock.

"You liar!" Xenovia shouted. "You think these kinds of vile lies will work on us!? The Lord is still alive and is protecting us as we speak!"

"It's normal for you lost little lambs to not know about it. Who can say that God has died? Humans are a pathetic bunch that can't survive without guidance of a high power. Without God, they cannot control their hearts and obey the laws, you know? Even we, the Fallen Angels, and Devils couldn't tell this to those below us. You won't know where the information about God will be leaked from. Even among the three powers, only the people at the top and certain Gods know about it. Though it seems the Black Dragon King over here already knew." He said while looking at me sadistically, pushing me into an awkward atmosphere at the new information.

"Lies...it's a lie…all lies! YOU ARE LYING!"

Slightly further away from me, Xenovia and Irina seemed like they started losing strength. Having a panicked expression that was too unbearable to look at. I could understand their shock, they were near-zealous believers of his existence. They devoted their lives to be God's servants. People who lived by serving God as their mission and reason to exist. If the existence of God was rejected then they would lose the means to live, it would be natural to become like that. 

"The truth is that another big war wouldn't happen unless you do it on purpose. It means that all three sides went through turmoil in the past war. Everyone decided that it was meaningless to continue the war if the start of it all, God and the Maou's, were dead. Even that bastard Azazel declared that "there was no point of continuing" after losing the majority of his men in the war! It's hard to bear! It truly is hard to bear! To lower your blade once you already coated it in blood!? How dare he!. Don't fuck around! If we continued from there, we could have won! Even so, he…! Is there any value in Fallen angels who can only live by inviting humans who possess Sacred Gears into our flock!?"

Kokabiel declared his argument strongly. His face was expressing anger and disappointment. The real truth made an impact on them more than I thought. Asia-san covered her mouth with her hands, opened her eyes wide, and her whole body shook. Even if she turned into a devil, her belief didn't disappear.

"God is gone? God…is dead? Then the love we were given by him is…"

Kokabiel answered Asia's doubts with a laugh, harsh and mocking, and even a bit… broken.

"That's right. It's normal that there is no love from God and no divine protection from him. God is gone. Michael is certainly doing well in his new position. He's taking the place of God and has been taking care of the angels and humans. Well, if the "system" used by God is operating, then the prayer to God, the blessing of God, and exorcism would function just like it is supposed to. But if you compare it to the time God was present, the number of believers decreased. The fact that the demonic sword came to become immune to all powers, even holy ones, should have never been possible!"

Alright, enough was enough.

"Oi, Vritra, tag me in."

"Are you sure?" He asked, concerned about how I would handle this situation. "We are running out of power the longer we stay idle."

"Yes, I know. Just prepare that spell for me, I want to do this myself."

He nodded.

Immediately, my body which was submerged in the abyss began to ascend toward the light. The giant dragon's body descended underneath and gave me one last look.

"From here on out, I will start a war! I will take your heads as a gift! Even if it's only me, I will continue from where we left off! I'm going to show Sirzechs and Michael that we—Mpfh!" 

I clamped his mouth shut with my black gauntlet engulfed in black fire. 

Shhh…

His skin burned as he tried to pry my hands off. 

"You talk too much, so shut up already."

"Hhhhmmm!!!" 

His eyes widened as the black fire grew in size and became even denser.

"Absolute Delete Field." 

Woosh!

A black dome extended around his and even reached most of the remaining Fallens in one move. 

Kokabiel was screaming, or at least, his mouth was wide open as he tried to scream in a space where everything was being 'deleted' including sound. Except for me as I stood there calmly, sweating as I held my breath.

Crack!

To my surprise, a small crack appeared in the void with two small hands opening a rift. And a small girl's head peaked through it. Those same empty eyes returned to experience the closest thing she had to home.

Whilst Kokabiel was releasing all of his holy energy to try and survive the constant erasure of his existence, Ophis just enjoyed the quiet space. Floating around calmly, enjoying the sensation of Absolute Delete Field for a second time. 

She looked like a child who got her favorite present for Christmas. At least, that was what I took from her blank expression as she floated around mindlessly. 

I came next to her, hesitating for a bit before gently patting her head. 

She looked at me, knowing what I wanted to say.

"I don't want you to leave." 

The Dragon God spoke, probably being one of the few beings whose voice could exist in this space.

I shook my head, I couldn't sustain this spell for long.

Ophis frowned and looked at Kokabiel whose holy energy was the only source of light visible here, causing her to squint at the bright light. 

"You're too loud." The entity pinched her fingers and crushed the Fallen Angel's body to paste before it turned into nothingness. There wasn't even any resistance or pushback from him, just a single finger pinch from Ophis was enough to erase him completely… complete anahilation. No wonder everyone was so frightened of her and Great Red, and the latter was known as the strongest.

I gulped.

Such a terrifying little girl.

I moved my mouth, making her read my lips.

"Next time, I promise it'll be better." 

That was what I said, she looked at me for a few seconds before nodding and leaving.

I could tell that she wasn't happy about it, but this wasn't the best time to have her here.

And with that, I let the spell disperse.

Woosh!

I was back in the schoolyard.

"Haa… Haa… Haa…" I breathed harshly, taking every scrap of oxygen into my lungs and exhaling it.

"Hahahaha… I'm actually not half dead." A laugh escaped my mouth, every time I battled powerful beings, I would always end up half-dead.

But it didn't happen this time!

Lucky me!

I turned to see Xenovia, Irina, and Asia, all still collapsed on the ground. Tears flowed down their faces as they were still in shock from the news.

I sighed.

"Oi, get up you three, the war is over and we should be celebrating."

Asia looked at me.

"Did he… did he lie? Please tell me that what he said was false…" 

My heart clenched to see her in such a broken state. Both Exorcists wanted to know as well, hoping for me to say that this was nothing but a lie

But I couldn't do that to them, they needed to know.

"It's the truth. Gabriel confirmed it."

Even Rias and the others were taken aback by my answer. They were technically God's enemies, but he still played a major role in their lives. A common enemy they were thought to fear, whose name always hurt them every time it was spoken. To find out such a being died long ago must have shaken their worldview a lot.

"Now that you know God is dead, will you stop helping people? Will you just watch them suffer as they plead for help, thinking that there is no point anymore?" 

"What? Why would you say that!?" Irina shouted, my callous words snapping them out of it.

"Then there you go, does God's death truly change anything for you people? You're making it look like you've risked your lives, and protected the weak and innocent all just to impress God. If he wasn't looking, then why bother acting nice and noble? If all this time what you showed was nothing but a mask to fool a being you considered omniscient, then why bother to keep it on when you can commit all sorts of sins without being judged?" 

"We would never do that!" This time, it was Xenovia who answered, her voice becoming heated.

I nodded.

"Then stop crying and get back up. Remember what I said to you, what's more important is God's teaching rather than his existence. It's what drove you two to go against the Church's orders and work together with us. You are good people, and you don't need the existence of a being to keep helping others. The best way to honor God and continue showing him love despite his passing is by respecting his teachings. Don't tell me your faith is really that superficial and weak, cause that would be really disappointing."

They all looked at each other, pondering my words before wiping their tears, determination ignited in their eyes.

"You're right," Asia stood up, followed by Irina and Xenovia. "We made a vow, and even when he's not here, we'll continue to spread his love to the world like he had wanted!" 

I smiled, feeling proud of her. She blushed when I brought her close for a hug, letting her rest her head on my chest. 

"I'm proud of you. All of you." 

She returned it, pushing her face deeper into my chest while crying, a mix between sadness and happiness.

.

.

.

"How touching."

"—!"

Nemain's sarcastic voice echoed throughout the field.

"Urgh, this hurts." She crawled out of the hole Kiba sent her into. Blood spilled onto the ground from her open wound. "So Kokabiel died… not that surprising and very much disappointing. He was a madman who would risk his life for his ambitions, creatures like that don't live long — nothing like who he once was."

"Your one to talk, miss frenzy havoc of war. Still trying to kill me?" I spoke, feeling too drained to call out my Sacred Gear.

"Stay behind me." Xenovia said as she placed herself in front of me, Durandal drawn and ready for another round.

The goddess laughed.

"Fufufufu, even if I'm in such a state, I can still take all of you out. I could use this opportunity and kill the heiresses before blaming it all on the Fallen. Another biblical war would do the world a great favor, allowing us to take over your territories once you all kill each other off. As for you, think of this as revenge for what you did in the past." She snarled while looking at me.

Just when I was about to retort to the woman, my body froze.

Not out of fear of her, but because someone far scarier was standing right behind her.

"Kill the heiresses? You want… to… kill… my… So-tan?" 

"Eh?" 

Even Nemain didn't realize her presence, she turned just in time to see a sight that would forever haunt our minds for as long as we would live.

A true monster.

Woosh!

The temperature plummeted in an instant, everything around me froze and some of the bodies that were close to her turned to ice before shattering into dust.

A delicate hand touched Nemain's forehead, and a tundra filled my vision.

"Look out!" 

I screamed, trying to shield everyone behind me with a wall of black flames.

Everything turned blue.

Crash!

The barrier around the school broke in an instant, unable to hold the power as the ice spear in town engulfed a third of Kuoh in a landscape of ice.

And Nemain… she turned into a giant ice block before shattering into a bloody mist.

Serafall looked at her remnants with eyes glowing blue and a smile that made my skin crawl.

"If you come anywhere near So-tan and Dragon-kun, I'll erase your country from the map."

Shiver!

I didn't doubt her one bit.

Maous were truly something else.

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

The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 3 other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, ??????, and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post monthly commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.