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Scouring the shelves like a maniac, Vin eventually found what he was looking for, a raincoat. It was a little girl's raincoat, sure, but it would work damnit!
Forcing it one to back, ignoring how it strained against his every movement, Vin flipped the pink, bear-eared hood over his head, grabbed the lighter in his pocket, and the hairspray from his holster, and using the magic power of aerosols, set fire to the clothing aisle, right as Howitzer caught up to him.
As soon as the fire began, loud sirens began to blare around the store, as all of the sprinklers doused the two combatants with ice cold water. Vin noticed Howitzer's movement slowing, probably a testament to his reptilian appearance, something Vin hadn't considered, but welcomed with open arms.
When the beast finally rounded on him, Vin didn't hesitate to lift his makeshift flamethrower up to Howitzers face, and open fire.
Instantly, the flames connected, and Howitzer shrieked back, swinging one of his arms widely, as the other rubbed at his face in agony.
Given a chance to move, Vin found the nearby electric outlet, dropped his flamethrower, coated his hands in crystals, and punched them into the wall with a prayer.
Thankfully, it seemed like his crystals weren't going to conduct any electricity anytime soon, so with all of his strength, Vin yanked, the wire's pulled out of the wall.
"Over here, asshole!" Vin yelled, as the blinded Howitzer charged towards him.
As soon as he got close, Vin rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a messy collision, and without hesitation, Vin shoved the sparking cables into Howitzer's soaked body.
In a flash, sparks began to pop dangerously from the wires as the reptile's body convulsed involuntarily, causing him to scream out in agony.
For a moment, Vin questioned if he should do what he planned to do next. His prey was immobilized, prepared for the finishing blow. But could he do that? Could he end a life just like that?
Unfortunately, that moment was all Howitzer needed to fight through, and grab Vin's body in his massive mitt. Holding the boy up to his seething jaws, Howitzer finally spoke up.
"You hesitated. No true warrior knows hesitation, because those who would have already died as a result," Howitzer lifted Vin towards his mouth, "And you will join them…"
Vin knew what he had to do, and closed his eyes. From within the small amount of space in the beast's grip, Vin curled his fingers in a beckoning manner.
The next second, a massive spike bore through Howitzer's unguarded back, and pierced right out the other end. While the beast's eyes were closed, it still looked down at the spike, and gave a breathy chuckle.
"...T...There you go… It took you long enough…" Howitzer as Vin opened his eyes to see the stray… smiling?
It's paw opened, allowing Vin to slip out, a little squeezed, but overall not broken. Vin looked up at the titanic being, who never once fought against it's approaching death, seemingly content as it's muscles slowly went slack.
"...This is… more like it…A death… worthy… of… a warrior like… me."
Howitzer opened his glassy, fogged-over eyes, "Human… Thank… You…"
At long last, the last wisps of life left Howitzer's body, as it slumped over onto the spike; a toothy, prideful, and ever-so-content smile remaining on his lips, even in death.
It was an image that left Vin confused for a while that night: even after Vin found his teammates, who had slain their targets, and found the hostages on the left side of the mall. Even as the church came to collect the memory-wiped humans to return them to their houses, and even as the group returned, and walked through the front doors of the Vatican in the dead of night.
If Vin or any of them had bothered to look up, then they would have noticed the black feathers falling hauntingly from the sky…
Oh shit… Here we go lads… We're nearing the endgame of this arc now; shit's about to get very real in the next chapter. And we're going to see an event that happens offscreen in DxD canon that I don't think has ever been touched on in a fanfiction yet. Those who know what incident kicks off the events of DxD S2/Vol.3, more specifically, what causes Irina and Xenovia to go to Kyoh, then you know what I mean…
In other news, WE'VE SURPASSED 10,000 VIEWS ON THIS STORY! Holy hell, you guys are incredible, and with us inching closer and closer, I don't think it'll take very long before we're celebrating 200 followers either. Thank you all so much for checking this story out each and every time I upload something new; all the positive feedback has been incredible to see. Y'all are fuckin' wonderful!
We have a lot of ground to cover in terms of reviews, so I won't stall, let's get into this!
(P.S Flameclawsxx, check your PM's)
Chapter Notes:
[Kaizer's Entrance:]
Believe it or not, Kaizer's entrance, and appearance/mannerisms in general are supposed to be directly based on the Chozo Soldier bosses from Metroid Dread, and more specifically the cutscene for when Samus first encounters one in the game. The choice to have a polearm for a weapon and not to speak, despite being an 'intelligent' stray is also because of this inspiration.
[Tanking an Attack to Fix Your Shoulder:]
Another thing inspired from properties I love, this time it's from Fullmetal Alchemist, more specifically, when Armstrong performs a very similar maneuver to relocate his own shoulder, just with a chain instead of a bed.
[You Hesitated:]
This will be one of many more times where Vin's resistance to just go for the killing blow when presented to him will result in him eating dirt. He's got to get over it at one point, and I know when and how that'll be, but that's… a ways off.
[The Feathers:]
A little surprise cameo from the star of our next chapter! By the way, we're done with long time skips now; we've caught up. I hope that you all are as excited as I am to see my interpretation of our favorite character…
If there's anything that I hope this story has conveyed to you, it's that the world of DxD is a fucking scary place. And if stray devils are considered overall pretty weak, then how terrifying would a leader class be?
Some food for thought...
REVIEW ROUNDUP!
Dragonsaiyanblue says: (About Ch.8)
"This chapter was neat. It not easy taking a life evening knowing a stray devil can be a former humans who might had a family but taken it away. Vin lucky he has a instructor as Greselda who is a more understanding and normal members. Imagine it was a more cold zealous intrustor. Like you said earlier or all member are insane like freed but thier can be higher ups who have the overzealous mindset of anything that against our belief most be ether destroyed are change. The fight with Xenovia and Vin is interesting. Also for on other notes is Xenovia canon style or is this before canon like is her hair short or does she have long hair. Because I'm my bias I like a long hair Xenovia after seeing an old fanart lol. Also is the training clothes for the female exorcist the leotards from the Excalibur arc or just regular trading cloths because I can see vin mouth dropping and question the church while Vanessa and Irina tease him while Xenovia clueless lol."
Hey, great to see you back man! Let's see what you got here for me today.
Alright, so first: yeah, Vin's really lucky to have Griselda as his mentor, she's scary, but overall, pretty caring for everyone. Ultimately, she wants the best for everyone, and I think part of the reason Vin doesn't resist as much is because he knows for a fact that getting upset at Griselda, Xenovia, or anyone else would both not accomplish anything, and also just be a shitty thing to do. Vin hates his situation, but he doesn't hate the people in it with him, if that makes sense.
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want to read ahead or want to support you can join my patr-eon and u will be able to read ahead by 15 chapters
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