Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi
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-Occult Research Club-
Hmmm. So how did things turn out like this?
I was expecting to wake up this morning and find Rias and Akeno by my side, sleeping naked like usual, trying to get a rise out of me. In more ways than one. The former was a bit too clingy after my so-called 'near death experience' with the Exorcists, though it was nice seeing Rias acting so motherly over my non-existence injuries. Griselda and the two tagalongs just came over to talk and nothing else.
Now, I knew the day would become a headache for me with the other two Exorcists coming to Kuoh Academy for a visit.
I still needed to talk to Sona about how things were going with Serafall. Had the latter decided to spare my life after realising that the chess game was only played out of boredom and to help Sona relax—not a marriage proposal. I liked Sona, not in a romantic way, but rather as a friend who I could easily get along with and learn new things. Aside from her devil nature, Sona acted the most normal out of every devil and even most people I knew about. Tsubaki was slightly beneath her. And Asia followed right after them, despite her naivety.
'Seriously, why does every person in my life have a few screwloose? Or are we, in fact, the odd ones in this world?'
…That would honestly explain so much.
Anyways, what I wasn't ready for nor expected on my part was having punched Xenovia right through the window. Her body shattered the glass into countless shards as she fell downwards from the second floor of the building.
Was I worried about her?
A bit, yes.
But I couldn't let it stop me now.
The person known as Hikigaya Hachiman wasn't a violent person. Whether it be in this life or my last one, cowardly would be the closest type of person I would have associated myself with, along with distrustful, cynical, and lacking any manly pride. Hating violence and hurting others for no reason, even those who insulted me.
Nevertheless, I had a limit—everyone did.
And I reached my limit not by becoming angered over someone insulting or belittling me. But rather, someone threatening to kill and take away an innocent soul who had nothing to do with the fate that befell her. Not just her. If anyone had said the same thing to anyone else in this room to whom I grew close for years, then I would have punched them to the moon nonetheless.
Was I getting a bit too violent?
Yes, this world kept changing me as time went on. The Sacred Gear's powers, before Vritra had awoken from his sleep, had done something to my mind. Here, strength carried more power and weight than words, unfortunately. If I couldn't adapt and go along with its rules, then I would have been long gone.
"Xenovia!"
"Hachiman!?" Kiba shouted in shock.
What a mess…
Not that I couldn't understand his current emotions. He was supposed to be the one who everyone kept an eye on, not me. He was the one who held the biggest amount of hate against the Church in the first place, not me. Not even Rias or Akeno expected to see a fight break out in the room with me being the one to throw the first punch.
Crash!
The glass panes shattered when they finally hit the ground. I used every ounce of my strength without Vritra's aid to channel the anger I felt at that moment and landed it straight on Xenovia's face.
It almost felt like time had slowed down. I saw every detail clearly, from her widening and her hands reaching out for the Excalibur.
I punched her so hard that even her cloak came loose and revealed to everyone what basically looked like a black leotard designed to be body armour while giving her ease of movement. But I thought that was the only reason for its design. One could see the curves of her body—especially with her chest and lower part. There was even a window showing off her lower back.
I guess even the Church had some closet perverts.
Surprise, surprise.
"Ouf!"
Her body thumped against the ground, driving the air out of her lungs. Eyes bulging, giving me the impression that even if that suit was some kind of armor, it didn't help her from going through an immense amount of pain from that fall. Though fortunately, she didn't appear too hurt, nor was she bleeding. The skimpy latex outfit was more durable than I expected, instead of just making them into eye candies.
"How dare you!" shouted Irina, outraged that I attacked her partner.
She quickly unwrapped her katana-shaped Excalibur and rushed at me, with the intent on striking me down. I didn't budge from my spot, knowing that I had people near me to watch my back at all times.
And I was proven right.
Clash!
Unfortunately for her, her strike was intercepted by a large black blade. Stopping Irina in her tracks, she recoiled backward and looked up to see a smirking Kiba, who looked ready for a fight.
"I got your back, Hachiman." he said, having a giant smile on his face.
"Thanks, though I feel you're quite pleased with my actions."
I basically handed him a fight against an Excalibur user without having to force his way to it or provoke any one of them. In his defence, the Knight could just admit to having done it in self-defence and brought out his blades to protect his ally—me.
"What is the meaning of this!? Do you understand that your action is no different than declaring war against the Church!?" Xenovia shouted as she brought up Excalibur Destruction after recovering from my hits.
I rolled my eyes and extended my hands forward with two fingers up. "Two—no, three things."
Kiba pushed Irina away from the building. The brunette joined Xenovia's side as both prepared themselves for a fight. Kiba followed suit as he landed on the ground, calling out other swords around him with [Sword Birth].
"Firstly, you are not representing the Church. Griselda is. Your faction has flaws, but they aren't brain-dead fools who would give any one of you prideful children the authority and power to use their name to conduct a political discussion of this importance so easily. My best guess is that Griselda gave you this assignment as a test, one which you failed the moment you dared bring that poor excuse of a holy sword anywhere near Asia and ask her to die."
I jumped down as well, calling out some of Vritra's power. [Absorption Line], [Delete Field], and most importantly—Gae Bolga.
The spear appeared in my right hand with a small red flash of light for everyone to see and marvel.
"That spear…"
Both Irina and Xenovia watched in a daze as they felt the bloodlust and power coming off the spear like a red tsunami. I poured a large amount of my ever-expanding mana reserve inside it, not bothering to hold back right now.
My hands tingled as I felt a sharp needle-like sensation stabbing my palm. The spear did not acknowledge me as its new wielder. But unlike before, the sensation was less painful, and it didn't reject me as strongly as before. As Scáthach said before, the weapon possessed a form of sentience, and it would continue to reject me as I was not chosen by it, just like a holy sword rejected those not compatible with it.
That is why feeling the pain being lesser than before and the weapon itself cooperating to some level felt weird.
What changed?
Did it share my anger and want to battle against holy sword users? With an aura opposing the ones coming off of the Excaliburs, maybe. Though my guts felt otherwise, I was missing something here.
No matter, as long as Gae Bolga was usable, I didn't care what its deal was right now.
I had two Exorcists to put in their place.
"Secondly, you boasted about how your swords can hold up and possibly slay dragons. Well, I certainly am holding a dragon inside me, and it ain't even the strongest of his kind. I don't know how strong I am compared to a Cadre like Kokabiel, but if you can't even beat me… then you'll truly are nothing more than suicidal tools in my eyes."
I twirled the spear, just like Scáthach and Sétante liked to do before combat as a way of intimidation or just to look cool. Something I probably picked up from them.
"And lastly, Asia and I aren't Devils, so we do not belong to their factions or any faction for that matter. I am my own boss, and Asia is under my wings. What your little speech did there was not declare war on the Devils, but against me!"
A red dome formed around the field where we stood. Akeno set up a field for our fight to stay hidden from any passerby's gaze.
"Then let's start."
[Delete Field!]
I wasted no time in deploying my own field and momentarily weakened the two Exorcists to the point of them nearly falling to their knees.
"What is this!?" Irina exclaimed in confusion, trying to fight back against the oppressing pressure of what felt like a mountain suddenly falling on her shoulders and suppressing her strength.
"My first Sacred Gear."
Not giving Xenovia any time to recover, I jumped forward with my spear rushing straight for her ribs. I wasn't trying to kill her, she hit a nerve threatening Asia, but that did not deserve a death sentence, especially when Gae Bolga delivered a painful end. Though it seemed that I underestimated her tenacity and recovery speed.
Clang!
The shaft of my spear impacted the side of her sword, and sparks flew everywhere as she pushed herself backward and created a small gap between us.
I landed on the ground, and took on a fighting stance with the spear.
"Show me what an Exorcist like yourself is truly capable of. Try to subdue me, and if you manage to do so, I'll acknowledge your strength and will personally make sure that neither the Fallen and Devils interfere in your mission. And if I win, then you better get on your knees and apologise to Asia and my friends."
My offer sounded quite fair to me. Though I was forcibly speaking in Rias' place without her permission, it was a necessary move to get Xenovia interested.
"..."
{Break}
While Xenovia was thinking about my offer, Kiba's battle against Irina was getting intense.
Holy energy was far worse to Kiba than to a 'regular' human like me. As if someone took the world's most deadly poison and toxin and combined them into a single concoction before amplifying them a hundred times against devils. There were records on how a single cut from such weapons managed to burn a devil to ashes and a high-rank one nonetheless. Kiba could die from just a scratch if he wasn't careful, though seeing his rather defensive moves and constant attempts to keep Irina at a distance, I realised that Kiba didn't let his anger take control of him.
"Wow, you're quite the capable Knight. As expected from Lucifer's sister!"
Even in the midst of battle, Irina complimented Kiba's swordsmanship as she just couldn't break his defence no matter how fast she fought. If Xenovia could be described as a powerful fighter, then Irina fell into the speed category. Focusing more on precision and speed above all else.
"Don't know about Xenovia, but I'm willing to keep this matter under the Church's radar. We were kinda in the wrong here," she said with an awkward smile.
"I don't know about the other guy over there. But I don't mind declaring this as a sparring opportunity. I formally request a duel with Knight Kiba Yuuto from the Gremory house. Do you accept?"
"I accept, and as your senpai, I don't mind testing out your abilities, especially the sword's… Let's see if a failure like me can surpass a successful attempt."
That got her confused.
"Eh, senpai? Failure?"
No answer was given as in that moment, countless numbers of demonic swords appeared around her. Blocking off any escape route for Irina, though, that didn't make her panic like Kiba thought it would, much to his chagrin.
"Excalibur Mimic! Form whip!"
The next second, as the swords were heading her way, the sword in her hand transformed into a long and silver-looking metallic whip that the exorcist used to deflect every single sword around her. Even her stance changed. Using a nimbler approach, she masterfully wielded the newly changed 'sword' as if dancing.
"Are you laughing?"
Kiba's facade broke for a second as he let a laugh escape his mouth.
"Yeah. The thing I wanted to defeat and destroy appeared right in front of me. You could say that I'm quite happy about this unexpected development. Travelling the world for years and coming back empty-handed every time, only to have you people just present yourselves in Kuoh. I just wished Hachiman's dragon luck on attracting trouble would have worked sooner when we travelled together."
Oi, did this guy want to nearly die thrice like me?
Irina looked down at the scattered swords she had deflected from before. Ranging from regular ones to some even giving off demonic energy.
"Sword Birth, huh. The holders are able to create any demonic sword they can imagine in their head. It's unique among the demonic sword-related Sacred Gears. I heard that there was a 'subject' that avoided being disposed of by the 'Holy-sword Project'... Was that you?"
Kiba's smile became brittle, proceeding to take a deep breath before exhaling. His sharp gaze returned to the whip-like sword Irina held.
"Unfortunately, yes."
The look on her face changed to that of pity and sadness. The infamous case was known worldwide to anyone officially associated with the Church. No matter how the latter tried to hide the project, pieces of information and reports leaked through the upper management's control which led most of the people to find out about this now open secret. A past mistake many wished to rectify, and some even wanted to forget.
"I… I can't say anything other than sorry. Such a project cost the lives of many innocent children, yet what resulted from this helped many people. It saved countless lives, of which we are forever grateful to those who lost their lives from it."
She genuinely seemed depressed, though I could see how Kiba didn't take her words very well.
"Is that what it is to you people? The idea of killing a few to save hundreds?"
Even from his voice, anyone could hear how he was fighting to keep his anger in check.
"To you people, we were nothing but lab rats. Children which you killed, and you console yourself with a quick prayer over the slightest traces of guilt. You will find an excuse for the death of my family to be validated, won't you!?"
"N-No! I d-didn't mean it like that!" Irina shouted, wanting to clarify her words. "You must realise that it's thanks to this project that we managed to increase the chances of Excalibur swords to receive a proper wielder and increase the number of people who can fight against the force of evil! We can spread the Lord's work to those who need it and make them see the light. Those who got chosen turned to become the representative of God, and we are doing our best to deliver justice to people like Valper who have wronged you!"
By using the same research, he left for them? Yeah, I could see the irony there and how this really wasn't a good thing to tell Kiba. Pairing someone drunk in their beliefs to such an extent and always finding ways to justify their faction's misdeeds with a former survivor was a terrible match-up to begin with.
"And here you are threatening Devils and my friends! Burn! And freeze! 'Flare Brand' and 'Freeze Mist'!"
One of the demonic swords created a whirl of flames while the other one made cold air and silver frost.
Crack!
Yet as soon as they appeared, both swords got cut into half by the superior weapon—Excalibur Mimic. Even though the weapon itself was a failed copy, it still carried traces of the original King Arthur's sword, and that alone was enough to surpass Kiba's blades.
"No matter, I'll just keep creating more swords till yours eventually breaks. Even if it takes thousands of swords to reach that end!"
Another clash ensued between the two.
The Knight of Gremory reverting to his cool temperament as anything else would lead him to a quick loss.
Kiba fought more swiftly and used his devil piece's abilities to their limit. Yet still remaining cautious of Irina's sword's ever-changing form and style of battle. It reverted back to a katana which she was forced to use defensively, getting slightly overwhelmed by Kiba's onslaught. He went on a slashing rampage toward the chestnut-haired girl. The holy sword and demonic sword created more sparks as they made contact with each other.
Meanwhile, Xenovia managed to recover from my attacks and got back into a fighting stance.
"Sacred Gears like [Sword Rebirth] and [Delete Field]. And also the [Twilight Healing] that Asia Argento has. All of them are Sacred Gears that are said to be heresy to us. Maybe it was natural for you to work with the Devils."
She really doesn't know how to keep her foot out of her mouth…
"Heresy? Strange thing to say after your faction made Asia the Holy Maiden in the past—despite knowing the truth of her Sacred Gear. So should I consider your superiors to be so corrupt, and they would work with Sacred Gears when it suited them and use God's will as an excuse when things don't go their way? Pathetic really, I bet the biblical God is ashamed of you all, just like I am."
That seemed to trigger Xenovia deeply.
"Ha!"
She rushed in with Excalibur Destruction towards me. Slow. Too damn slow. She just couldn't compensate for her lacking speed while wielding such a ridiculously big sword.
Clang!
Once again, I used Gae Bolga to block her attack, feeling some pressure on my joints as she now fought seriously against me.
"By the way, I'm curious. What does Griselda want with Asia?"
I decided to start a small conversation while we fought, my anger simmering down to the point of me being able to temporarily ignore her past words and ask questions in a separately related manner.
Making her think that she was a threat to me.
Which she wasn't, if I were to be honest.
It also helped me front falling tok deep in the fight and accidentally cutting her with the spear.
"I do not know! Mother Griselda's matters are not things Irina nor I are permitted to ask."
I blocked more of her attacks and began to retaliate by sending a rune attack against her. My fingers drew a single pattern in the air, [ᛋ].
"Sowilo."
A miniature fireball formed from my hands and immediately launched itself at Xenovia, who didn't hesitate to use her blade and cut the fireball in two. The two pieces flew off behind her and destroyed a few trees.
"Magic Arrows."
Small constructs of arrows, the size of my hand formed the air and launched towards Xenovia, the latter showing an inhuman amount of strength as she slashed her swords so fast that it nearly became a blur to my eyes for a second.
Slash!
Slash!
Slash!
In an instant, she destroyed everything and tried to come after my head with the flat side of her blade. Even with that precaution on her side, if that thing hit my head than I would enter a coma.
A blue film coated my entire arm, I then strongly planted my foot the ground, bracing myself for the impact.
"Hurgh!" It hit me with force of a bomb!
I grunted in pain as I felt my entire body shake from the impact! Like if I had tiny ants crawling all over my body and bones, my feet digging further in the ground.
Yet, I managed to keep my hand uninjured, but the Vajra spell had cracks in it.
"Ha!" While she was recovering from the attack, I swiped Gae Bolga in a large arc and pushed her away from me.
Getting some breathing room, I whistled in amazement.
Though I didn't like Xenovia at all with her attitude, I couldn't help but acknowledge her skill as a competent fighter. She could definitely handle a few high-ranked devils or stray on her own with no problem. Of course, she still wasn't anywhere near the power level of a Cadre.
"Impressive swordsmanship, whoever taught you must be proud."
After learning the basics of Kendo, thanks to Murayama and Katase rigorous lessons, along with Scáthach's hellish training with spearmanship—I could tell that she was a natural with the sword.
She begrudgingly smiled at my compliment.
"Thank you, but I don't think I'm still up to her standards, unfortunately. Mother Griselda still thinks I could do better."
Oh, I should have figured that she was her trainer as well.
"Everyone can improve with continuous training. Even the masters always have something new to learn. You can never truly become perfect at something, those who reach this state merely lie to themselves as they can't see past their limit. For a teacher to appreciate their student's progress is a very important detail."
"Are you… complimenting me?" she asked, confused about my change in behaviour. Just a few moments ago, I looked ready to break her bones, yet now I just gazed at her with a bored expression.
"I am," I admitted, dodging another of her strikes, "trying to ease the tension and not accidentally kill you with my spear. Though don't mistake my words for forgiveness, you're still going to pay!"
"Oh…" she frowned. "Then let's get serious. My sword is a mass of destruction, and there's nothing it can't destroy!"
Xenovia swirled around her sword in her hand like a hand-held saw blade. She then pointed it upwards then thrust it into the ground.
"Interesting…"
Suddenly the place where I was standing shook, and the ground began to rumble and crack! I quickly used my Levitation spell to float away just in time to see the ground beneath me crumble with clouds of dust in the surroundings.
"So the sword can cause the ground to explode? Huh? Neat."
Yeah, nearly all of her faction's enemies were with freaking wings who can fly. Good luck on catching one of them on the ground. I landed near the crater, inspecting the damage, and once again, I wasn't that impressed by the results.
Maybe the past me, from a few months ago or before the Sétante incident, would have found her to be a somewhat difficult opponent, but now? I could take her on without even activating my Sacred Gear.
"This is my Excalibur. It can destroy anything that comes in its way. It's not called an 'Excalibur' for nothing."
Destroy anything?
"Let's see if it can destroy a spear carved from the bones of a sea beast."
It was time to end this and make her apologise to Asia.
Power surged throughout my body. I partially opened the floodgates of my mana reservoir and let a huge chunk of it free. The river of magical energy couldn't be contained completely inside my body and began to spill out. A display similar to Sétante, though still not even close to what he could produce. I didn't even want to compare myself to Scáthach, she was like the Sun while I was a mere matchstick.
Both real monsters alright, the lot of them.
Sand and dust picked up in the air from the sudden force.
The intensity of the sheer power already exceeded anything Xenovia expected to face. She brought her sword and used its flat side to protect herself, thinking I was preparing for a final attack.
Good, she gave a suitable target.
Scrreeeeechhh!!!!
A deafening sound came from Gae Bolga as I poured more energy inside it. Its demonic bloodthirsty aura intensified further than before, to the point of even stopping Kiba's fight against Irina.
"Don't kill her!" I heard both Rias and Asia screaming at me, making me waved a bit before steeling myself once again.
I wouldn't.
I raised Gae Bolga and rushed towards her!
The tip of my spear clashed full force against Xenovia's Excalibur. The bluenette nearly lost her grip on the sword as it nearly went flying from her grip. Xenovia gathered her wits together and tightened her hold on it, and started to push back.
A large boom of what sounded like the sound barrier breaking occurred, and to everyone's surprise…
… They all heard a rather loud sound of metal cracking!
"Oh no!" Irina screamed in horror as she watched a tiny crack form on Xenovia's sword, which slowly started to grow the longer the spear continued its onslaught.
"Xenovia, give up!" she pleaded to her friend.
"..."
The latter didn't respond, her eyes focused with determination, but it soon started to waver at her weapons' imminent destruction.
"If you don't give up now, then the sword will break!"
This revelation seemed to break my opponent from her trance and made her realise the disaster she would face if she didn't give up the next second.
Crack!
"I surrender!"
Xenovia screamed, letting the sword fly off her hand and for her to follow it as well. Her body crashed against tree trunks and broke a few of them till one was able to stop her momentum. She slumped downwards to the ground. Injured and beaten.
"..."
She didn't say a word, probably because she must have suffered a concussion as well.
"Are you alright!?" Irina came running to her side. Xenovia couldn't summon enough strength to get up, having to rely on Irina's help to do so.
I wanted to give her my final say in this fight.
"... For all that it's worth, I confess that you are a formidable swordswoman and could have definitely beat up my past self no problem. Unfortunately, you can't beat me, and a Cadre is way out of your league. Can you not see the folly in your mission? I don't know how capable this Griselda is, but she certainly has a lot on her shoulder for this journey as she has to protect you two."
As I walked away, I saw the giant Excalibur sword just laying there on the ground. The crack on the metal was somewhat visible, but couldn't be seen from afar.
'I wonder...'
A crazy idea came up to my mind and I couldn't help but want to test this theory out myself.
I picked up the discarded holy sword, "Ouch!" and instantly lost my grip on it as the weapon rejected me with a painful shock.
"Should have figured…."
It wasn't like I was the main protagonist with some sort of extremely rare hidden affinity with holy energy.
Now then, as I was about to demand the girl uphold the end of our agreement, I noticed a few holes in the red dome put in place by Akeno. Three sets of eyes were peeking at us.
A large blue one and two dark blue ones at a different height each.
We were beings spied on.
"Oh no! I think Dragon-kun spotted us!"
That voice sounded hauntingly familiar… like belonging to someone who nearly froze me to death a few days ago…
"As I would expect from my rival, he even has a keen sense of observation. It seems that I have a lot of catching up to do after seeing this." said a rather deep-sounding male voice.
Eh? Rival? And why did this person sound familiar as well? Even Rias reacted badly to that tone of voice! It reminded me of someone particularly arrogant and cocky, a voice that reminded me of fried chicken, but seemed to be lacking a bit of the aforementioned arrogance and brash self-confidence.
"You can do it, Onii-sama! That no good cheater will rue the day, he dared to use such underhanded tactics during your Rating Game!"
Classic twin-tail ojou-sama attitude right there.
"Do not worry, dear sister! With Leviathan-sama's permission, I will have all the opportunity to surpass the Black Dragon King and truly find my answer on how to live a peaceful life!"
That made no sense whatsoever!
And most importantly…
"Why are you here, Riser!?"
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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 2 Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword having 3 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter.