Preview 40 Bonds Beyond Humanity

Hey guys, chapter Sunday or Monday depending on how things go. As before it is in its last stages of editing and this time I give you 1/3 of it.

Now excuse me but I am going to bed early, this week was a killer.

Fate/Bonds Beyond Humanity

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40- The King’s Sword: Fool’s Errand

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“Do you understand the rules, lady Gremory?” Asked Kokabiel with more respect than his smile indicated. He sounded cordial, even gentle in his demeanor and didn't look misplaced with his angelic face despite the smile he was wearing.

Because there was a malice behind that smile that made every devil and even the goddess present feel like he was playing with them. It was something easily believable as they knew his power, even as Kokabiel was holding it back for the time being.

By the earnest look he was offering her, Rias knew he was really waiting for an answer. “Let me see if I got this right… You are saying that we can’t leave this area-”

"Uhum.”

“-we can’t communicate with the outside world-”

“That is right.”

“-and any attempt of escaping or trying to do such will result in our immediate termination, ergo death.” Kokabiel was nodding along Rias’ words all the way. “Did I get everything right?”

“On your first go.” The Cadre sounded festive.

But Rias was done. “And you are not going to fight back or anything? Just defend yourself?”

“That is the gist of it, yes.” The fallen angel replied and a moment of silence fell in the area.

“Yeah, no, I am not buying it.” Rias turned to look at Sona just enough to keep the fallen angel in her field of vision. “Is he telling the truth?”

“So far he hasn’t really fought back if that is what you are wondering. That is why everyone here is still alive.” All of Sona’s peerage was hurt in some shape or form but it was undeniable they all were still breathing. Rias understood the words clearly; with Kokabiel power either that was a feat or the man wasn’t lying. “He also counterattacked and threw his energy around when we tried to get to Valper Galilei but even then it was mostly ‘love taps’.”

By the sarcasm in Sona’s voice her impression of ‘love taps’ were clearly still extremely painful. “Sorry but I have to hold back a lot to not break anything important. You know how these things are.”

“No, they don’t.” Medusa replied to Kokabiel with a stoic look. “None of them is powerful enough to decimate a country if they get into a bad mood.”

“True, true.” Kokabiel admitted. “By the way, what is your name again?.”

Hesitating for a millisecond before answering, Medusa tried to offer a bargain. “Are you going to let us go if I tell you my name?”

“No.”

“Then I prefer to not tell you.” Considering Athena and the Greek Pantheon, the less people knew the better.

Kokabiel just gave her a look of disappointment and a shrug. “Suit yourself.”

Ignoring the interaction entirely, and trying to distract Kokabiel’s attention from Medusa, Rias dropped all the subtlety. “What exactly is your plan?”

“Excuse me?” The fallen angel was surprised by the question.

“You really can’t expect him to answer that question.” Sona asked honestly but the redhead shrugs.

“Worth the try.” The Gremory King replied before focusing back on Kokabiel.

The Cadre took a second to study Rias before smiling. “Would you believe me if I said that I just want the sword of an old friend back?” Both pureblood devils look at each other before giving the fallen angel a skeptical look. “I am not lying. I legitimately want it reforged.”

“For what?” Sona asked with as much confidence as she could muster. “If it was just a matter of fixing the sword you didn’t need to come to Japan to do it.”

“To be fair, Valper is not welcome in most of Europe… or Africa for that matter.” The old man was chuckling at his lord’s comment.

“And you chose to bring it to the only city that has two heiresses of the 72 Pillars? Are you trying to start a war?” Rias feared asking that but she had little choice. It was the most logical conclusion.

“Maybe.” Kokabiel's reply made some devils shiver. “Or maybe I just want the sword back. It's not like I can even use it.” He then gestured to Sona’s peerage gently. “I am not even trying to kill you.”

Rias rubbed her chin in thought, seeing his point. “So you are going to just wait for the sword and leave?”

The fallen angel raised his right hand and placed the left above his heart. “I promised to let the Holder do whatever they want with it. Scout 's honor, can’t break it.”

“I would feel better about that if the Holder you have wasn’t someone like the Mad Exorcist.” Rias added with a glare that only had the fallen angel smiling.

Sona could see the gears turning on her friend’s head. “See why we were trying to take out Valper? It is our best course of action.” She glared at the fallen angel with hatred. “Which we failed miserably. He is just too strong.”

But now the battlefield had changed and Sona felt a little more confident; with Rias and Akeno supporting her then they may have enough firepower to take the Archbishop down. Rias couldn’t disagree with her in that belief or her friend's actions, trying to defeat Kokabiel seemed impossible and stopping his plans by killing Valper was the best choice.

Except that there was another. “So you aren’t going to attack us unless we get too close to Valper, is that right?”

“Correct again, lady Gremory.”

Rias nodded at Kokabiel’s response before turning to Akeno. “Start using EM. Let’s heal everyone before doing anything else.”

“Right away, Buchou.” Akeno summoned the scalpel and began to use it on her fellow Queen without ceremony.

“Oh~ What is that?” Kokabiel watched Akeno curiously as she began to heal Tsubaki. “Really, what is that? I swear that I can almost feel some Holy Energy from it and yet… it's wrong.”

“Something that my magician came up with to heal people.” Rias told him proudly.

“Rias, you shouldn’t tell him things like that.” Sona spoke with clenched teeth but the redhead just whispered back.

“For some reason he is keeping us here but not killing us but that is for now.” Rias spoke softly to make sure that Kokabiel couldn’t hear while he mused.

“I know that but you shouldn’t be giving him any information.”

After a small nod, Rias added “Yes but if he breaks his own rules, there is nothing stopping us from making a run for it.”

“Except he will destroy the city.” The reminder hangs over both their heads.

But Rias thought of something else. “He may do it anyway. This can be just a ruse.” She noticed how Sona became pensive at her new point. “For now we play his game carefully.” The Sitri Heiress nodded back in agreement.

“So a magician figured out a way to solve the devils’ healing problem.” Kokabiel ruminated for a while as he watched Akeno move from Tsubaki to Momo and Tsubasa. “Are you planning to have everyone ready before making your attack?”

“Isn't that logical?” Much like her friend, Rias was trying to project as much confidence as she could. Unlike Sona, however, she had more hope that they could get out of this mess. ‘All we need is time, either for one of the others to get the swords and ruin his plans or someone else shows up after noticing something is wrong.’

She knew at least the name of one person in Fuyuki who could match Kokabiel and if she found the opportunity she would call her and deal with the consequences later.

But for the sake of everyone’s survival she had to play by the Cadre’s rules and stall. “Since you are being so kind to give us time to prepare I don’t see why not.”

“A sensible thing to do, don’t you agree, Valper?” The old man couldn’t reply to his lord’s question. “Sorry, it seems that your time is running out as he is concentrating on a crucial step in the formation of the magic circle.” Taunting the devils was still fun even if the heiresses rarely reacted. “But I must ask; can that Mystic Code restore mana as well? Because if not, healing some of lady Sitri’s group may be a mistake.”

It took second for Rias to understand what he was implying but Sona already was aware of that. “He is right, Rias. Most of us used too much energy trying to get past him before.”

The blue haired Rook heard her King’s words and began to try to get up even if Akeno hadn’t finished healing her. “I’m alright, Kaichou! Let me-”

“Stay down.” Akeno gave Yura a smile that had the Rook flinching. “Or I can’t finish healing you and then you are out. There are plenty of broken bones that need repairing, after all.”

“She is right, Tsubasa-chan.” Momo tried to calm her friend but she wasn’t doing that good herself, covered in sweat and pale.

She wasn’t the only one as Rias could see that Sona herself was trembling a little. “Can you still fight?” The black haired devil didn’t reply immediately and that was telling for Rias.

“I can.” Tsubaki stepped up to join the Kings, her leg healed and looking better than her King. “So is Tomoe.”

The Knight gave them a thumbs up but she had another problem. “I just, kinda… lost my sword.” And it was that there was little left of her katana besides a handle and part of the blade. “But I can still fight.”

“If you can’t attack then you can’t actually fight, Tomoe.” The other Bishop, Reya, chimed in, trying to get to her feet but failing until one of the two Pawns present, Nimura, put an arm around her neck. “Thanks, Ruruku-chan.”

“It’s fine.” Clearly it wasn’t fine as both girls were bruised but the Pawn looked worse with some blood dripping from her forehead. She was dragging her friend closer to Akeno and the Queen quickly moved from Tsubasa to help. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” The ravenhead quickly began to work on the Pawn as the Bishop sat down to recover from her exhaustion. “You all are lucky these are just small wounds.”

“More like that bastard was going easy on us while kicking our asses.” Tsubasa got up and began to stretch her body, her body fully healed and not having even one bruise. “Damn, I wish we had Emiya in our group.”

“Sorry but Buchou saw him first.” Akeno commented with a giggle.

“Aren’t you forgetting that I am here, Daughter of Baraqiel?” The mood was brought down by Kokabiel who had folded his arms while watching Akeno work. She glared at him with hatred but the fallen angel only found it cute. “And you should be paying more attention to your own mana reserves at this point or else you won’t have enough to even make an attempt.”

Irritated by the familiarity in Kokabiel’s tone and how he kept saying that name, Akeno stopped working to heal the others as her mana turned into eletricity around her. “I can assure you that I have enough.”

The tall man threw his head back in a laugh. “Such a murderous intent, nothing like you mother.” That made Akeno pause, which Kokabiel noticed. “Oh~ looks like you just don’t like me talking about your father. Is this because of something that Baraqiel did? Maybe because he is absent?”

Fury began to return to the Queen’s expression but before she could act Rias blocked her way. “Calm down, Akeno. You can’t let your emotions run out of control right now.”

“She is right. Trust me, against an opponent like that you don’t want to make a single mistake.” Sona doubted that Akeno could even be able to scratch the Cadre by herself and attacking too early would be a waste of resources. She took a step towards the Queen who was calming down. “Give me EM. I will finish healing my team.”

Rias was quick to protest. “Sona, that would be a terrible idea. We need your strength to have a chance of winning.”

At such a fervent declaration from Rias, Sona bit her lip and held back the sneer that almost escaped. She didn’t want her friend to see how bad she looked, pride demanding that she help her fellow noble in the fight, whatever it took. Her rational mind told her that she shouldn’t listen to her pride but her emotions screamed much louder.

All in her peerage could see how exhausted their leader looked but also the fire of her determination, the drive to keep fighting. “Kaichou doesn’t want to show how tired she really is.”

“Issei…” Sona whispered the name of her other Pawn who first sat down on a knee before slowly standing up. “I thought you were unconscious.”

Before the black haired Pawn replied he tried to take a single step towards his allies, almost falling down before recovering. “I am afraid that… I am not much better than you, Kaichou.” He moved to fix his glasses but it looked ridiculous with them crooked and one of the lenses missing. “But you shouldn’t force yourself anymore.”

Looking between her fellow King and the Pawn, Rias realized how exhausted Sona really was; both were even more pale than the white haired Bishop and she had to move to help the Pawn which shared her Pawn’s name after watching him tremble and fall, Sona right behind.

Issei turned to the redhead noble. “Kaichou has been fighting against Kokabiel for much longer than all of us.” Rias turned to Sona and she nodded, logic triumphing over pride.

“If we compared our condition with you, it would take all of us to just gather enough mana to even compete. At this point all our wizard types are too exhausted.” Sona admitted coldly, the last of her pride tried to protest but logic stomped it off. “Let me take care of my peerage while you focus on fighting. None of us will recover enough to make a difference in time so fight for us too.”

Rias paused for a moment and just looked at Sona with some melancholy. ‘That is the first time she entrusted something to me so openly.’ It lasted a moment before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘Remember Shiro’s lessons- No, the Magus Killer’s lessons. Emotion has no place on the battlefield.’

It was hard for her to separate herself from the situation but with the shadow of someone like Kokabiel loming close Rias eventually succeeded. Then it took another moment for her to think on the most optimal route that would guarantee, if not victory, then the lives of everybody present. She saw some even if few.

And hated the fact that most of them depended on their enemy mercy, at least unless she could catch him off guard. “Akeno, give EM to Sona.”

“Are you sure, Buchou? They still need mana to use it.” The Queen's reminder only unnerved Rias a little but she refused to change her decision.

“She has enough and her peerage won’t let her use too much.” The redhead gave her friend a glare that had Sona sighing.

“They won’t.” Tsubaki was the one who spoke and Sona turned her own glare at her. “Sorry Kaichou but you need to rest too.”

“EM is easy to use.” Akeno didn’t give it to Sona but to Momo who she judged had the most mana of all the Sitri Peerage. “Just focus on it little by little until you can find how much mana you need to apply to activate it.”

“Yes. Thank you, Akeno-san.” The Bishop offered a small bow as the Queen moved closer to her King.

Kokabiel watched all the preparation without a rush and a smile. ‘Good, they aren’t giving up. This can still be fun.’ He could already tell that Sona had more determination than the devils guarding her and wondered if Rias was the same. ‘Show me what you got, Sister of Lucifer and Daughter of Baraqiel.’

Meanwhile Kokabiel patiently waited for them, the devils traded strategies and Rias felt that the situation was worse than she thought as the Queen of Sitri told her how Kokabiel dominated the battlefield with little effort.

‘It doesn’t help that I don’t know everything that they could do.’ Rias thought while Tsubaki kept talking about their strengths and weaknesses while mentioning how Kokabiel only used brute force to keep them at bay. ‘Suddenly that idea of ‘joint training’ doesn’t sound that bad.’

If the lack of knowledge already didn’t make things hard enough there was also the fact that she wasn’t used to fighting with Sona’s team or that their skills didn’t match exactly with her own.

Tomoe for instance was lacking a sword, something practically unthinkable for her as Kiba always could just make another one. Tsubaki for her part was also missing her weapon of choice and the Queen herself admitted that her skill with magic was subpar, making her more or less a faster Rook. The last member of Sona’s team who could still fight was Tsubasa and she was much like Koneko was before Yoruichi’s training, which wasn’t bad for a Rook with high defense.

Except that their opponent was Kokabiel, one of the strongest fallen angels and even if he didn’t have Holy Energy anymore because of his Fall he still had Light. Add to the fact that even with her whole team Sona failed to reach Valper and only Rias and Akeno were capable of magic and the Gremory King’s mind was painting a grim picture for them all.

Akeno was quick to offer a possible solution. “I am going to use the Departure of Lightning.”

“No.” Rias’ swift denial surprised Akeno and confused the rest but the Queen didn’t miss a beat to try and protest.

“Rias, we both know that I have the most fire power of all of us.” The ‘including you’ was left unsaid and the King couldn’t really disagree. “If anyone here has a chance to take him down, it is me.”

Once again Rias didn’t disagree with her Queen, however Akeno’s strongest attack came with a huge price. “You only get one shot, one. And we don’t know if it is really going to be enough. Look at them.” She pointed to the Sitri Peerage, even those still standing, to make sure Akeno was paying attention. “They threw everything they had at Kokabiel and it wasn’t enough. Even if you were in top condition against them all you wouldn’t win, Akeno, but that fallen angel still did.”

It was Akeno’s turn to not find flaw in the argument as she could see Rias’ point; Departure of Lightning was a one time thing and it may not be enough.

“Besides,” Rias fixed her hair while glaring at Kokabiel, “even if your attack is the strongest, doesn’t mean it is the strongest type of attack.”

Tsubasa, who was raring to go, couldn't wait much longer. “What is the plan, Buchou?” She and all from Sona’s peerage received orders to listen to the redhead’s devils order like they were from their own King.

Soon she found herself disappointed. “For now, all of you stand down. We need to know how much he is willing to hold back before we attack properly.”

“Rias-sama, if I may.” Tsubaki's disagreement was less evident than the other two but she was more polite than Tsubasa and Tomoe would have been. “We already know how strong he is, what else do you need to test?”

Rias replied with a feral grin. “How he will react against the Power of Destruction.” She then began to walk towards her enemy while Akeno smiled and shook her head. “And how much I can push him before you have to intervene.”

“Wait, you are going to fight by yourself?” Tomoe realized with horror which quickly spread to the Queen and Rook from her team.

The Heiress of Gremory wasn’t surprised. “Sona was always one to stay out and observe.” She smiled with more confidence than she really felt. “I was always in favor of a more ‘hands on’ kind of approach.” She then noticed Akeno getting ready to follow her and stopped. “You stay out of this as well, Akeno.”

That got a reaction from the Gremory Queen. “Even with what Tomoe-chan asked, you can't beat him by yourself.”

“I know.” All her focus was on Kokabiel who was still waiting patiently with folded arms. “But you have to save your energy for the Departure of Lightning and only use it either on my signal or when you see his defense slip, not a moment before.”

“If his defenses slip.” Tsubasa didn’t like the plan but she respected that Rias wanted to take a crack at Kokabiel to judge him herself.

Tsubaki for her part was against it. “What should we do if he breaks his own rules?” That was something that even Sona was fearing and as the Queen of Sitri she noticed the concern.

“Then we must give our lives to call my brother or Serafall.” Rias had no intention of dying and that was a last resource since she believed that Kokabiel had some kind of plan in mind. “The fact is that he wants something with Excalibur. If it stays incomplete we have a chance to stop him.”

“Kaichou said the same thing.” Tsubaki confirmed with a nod. “We attack at your signal too, Buchou?”

“Until I say otherwise, forget Valper and focus on Kokabiel.” Rias then fully advanced, which Kokabiel took note of. ‘I need to tread carefully, if I can get him before his plans come to fruition he may decide to go all out either way.’

“So, did you finish planning?” Kokabiel asked with some excitement. “I heard you defeated an older devil with just cunning alone, can’t wait to see it.”

“Hah. If you heard of it, that means we have spies in the Underworld among the nobility.” It was an overly simplification but Kokabiel nodded along, confirming her words. “But I will show you that it takes more than just cunning to win against a Phenex.”

“So you defeated a Phenex, hmm. Interesting.” She had said the name to test how much he knew but by Kokabiel’s reaction it wasn’t much.

‘So just rumors… he may not know about my Stand either, even if he saw it for a second.’ That was great for Rias who felt she had now more cards to play. ‘For now let's check how strong he is.’

A dark aura covered the redhead and Kokabiel didn’t react at its appearance, his smile not changing as she prepared. When Rias was sure that the output of power was good and stable she pointed a finger at the Cadre and made a magic circle that unleashed a huge beam of Destruction in his direction.

To most people that much power would be lethal and they would be stuck between dodging and giving up protecting Valper or taking the hit and being erased because of how strong Rias’ attack was.

None of those options applied to Kokabiel as the beam hit a raised hand and moved no further as the power failed from breaking his natural defenses. There was a struggle from the Power of Destruction but the Cadre’s skin and natural aura was enough to stop it on its tracks.

After a few seconds Rias stopped attacking to look at her opponent, she wasn’t surprised that the limb he had used had no marks. “Please tell me that wasn’t all you had. Things will be boring if that is the case.”

“Don’t worry, this is just a warm up.” Rias wasn’t lying as she hadn’t focused the power much and only threw as much as she could in a single go to test her opponent. ‘His control of mana is excellent and I don’t doubt he faced many Baels in the past. Just throwing the Power of Destruction around means nothing to a man like him.’

Quickly Rias began to run in Kokabiel’s direction, much to his shock who had pegged her as a ranged fighter. Still he just smiled and opened his arms, giving her a free shot if she planned to fight with her hands.

That was never her intention as she just came closer and prepared two more magic circles, one on each hand and threw them to the sides of the fallen angel. Kokabiel watched as they stopped close to his head and chuckled as two strong blasts of Destruction hit his face. Rias was still a few steps away from him but was paying attention as the dark energy disappeared.

Once again Kokabiel was unharmed despite the direct hit. “Well, have you finished testing my defenses?”

“Just about.” Rias admitted as she wasn’t surprised that Kokabiel knew what she was doing.

That made the Cadre chuckle again as he glanced at a glaring Sona. “She had the same idea, you know. Even tried to drown for that matter. Unfortunately no one told her that at a certain level, angels don’t need to breathe.”

‘Knowing Sona she knew but was growing desperate at that point.’ Even Rias knew that as she was taught from little how to deal with the oldest enemies of devils.

Still she wasn’t going to say it, both to save her friend’s pride and to not hint at Kokabiel how desperate the situation was. She just began to gather mana on her hands and make a magic circle taller than her which had Kokabiel frowning.

“This again? You think a bigger attack will make a difference?” Kokabiel had faced thousands of devils during his lifetime and while such a maneuver was par for the course he couldn’t help but be disappointed. “Unlike your brother, you don’t have enough power for the size of your blast to be relevant.”

Rias didn’t comment and shot the blast towards Kokabiel and the fallen angel rolled his eyes and raised a hand once again to block it. Then the attack surprised him by breaking apart in five different lasers that bent over his head and sides, completely ignoring their apparent target.

He hadn’t realized that Rias wasn’t using the Power of Destruction but just mana and every single shot was aimed at an unsuspecting Valper.

Reacting as quickly as he could, even unfolding his wings to use more of his power, Kokabiel created a spear of light and used it to intercept the attacks one by one. He landed just behind Valper with the man not realizing the danger he had been in as the fallen had got rid of all the attacks too fast for him to notice.

That was because Kokabiel took only a second to get rid of all Rias’ lazers and land, glaring at the redhead devil who just gave him a cheeky smile. “Sorry. I saw an opening and jumped on it.”

Instead of staying angry, Kokabiel scoffed. “Feh. As expected of a devil-” He didn’t finish his statement and instead took a swing to the side to break another magic circle that was trying to form close to Valper’s position. Rias bit back a flinch as Kokabiel turned to her. “One apparently skilled at creating magic circles quite a few meters from her, despite her young age.”

“I don’t want to hear complaints from a man risking a war for a sword.” Rias' aura moved and she made another magic circle to bombard Kokabiel’s position now that he was closer to the Archbishop but Kokabiel was faster.

With another swing of his spear a shockwave flew in Rias' direction and the redhead barely could react as it hit her. There was nothing that the pureblood devil could do against the Cadre’s power as she felt her magic circle break, her feet leave the ground and the impact shaking her body.

If there was any doubt in her mind about Kokabiel’s power it was erased as Rias found out just how easily her aura failed to protect her and her hands hurt from what was only a wave of wind powered by the fallen angel’s muscles and speed.

“Rias!!” “Rias-sama!”

Before she fell on her back, Rias recovered her balance enough to plant her feet back down to stop herself. The earth still gave way as she was launched several feet away from Kokabiel and closer to her allies before finally stopping.

“Don’t come any closer!” She called out as her eyes fixed back on Kokabiel’s position as the man had already dismissed the spear and moved away from Valper. “I am fine! Don’t worry!”

Akeno didn’t agree as she could see the bruise on Rias’ hand when she had to stop herself. “Rias, let us help.”

“This is just a small wound.” The pureblood replied as she felt some blood on her cheek from a small cut.

Back in his original spot, Kokabiel watched the interaction with amusement. “I will admit that you are bolder than your friend. She didn’t try to trick me like that until more of her peerage was around to work as distractions.”

Cleaning her hands, Rias replied. “What can I say? I saw a chance and tried to take it.” Not that it helped as she still felt the pain of his attack. Moving her hand a bit, she tried to get rid of the stinging sensation she was feeling while trying to think of another strategy. “I don’t like to sit around and wait.”

“Impatient then. Did you really expect that to work?” Kokabiel was legitimately curious to know.

After a shrug, Rias replied. “Didn’t hurt to try.” She said that while blowing into her hand and he just chuckled. “But now I am a little more aware of what you can do.”

Again Rias began to run towards Kokabiel but now he was more attentive to the aura of demonic energy around her. The Cadre expected for her to stop once again closer to the range she was before but found himself reevaluating her once she crossed that mark and kept rushing in his direction.

He didn’t know what she was planning and expected another trick of some kind but was amused when Rias focused a lot of mana on her hand and threw a punch at his face.

Easily, and as gently as he could, Kokabiel grabbed the fist with his hand and held it in place. “You aren’t used to punching people.” He observed curiously. “Your fists are unmarked and, while the form was good, the muscles aren’t used to the motions.” He nodded to her. “All in all, not a bad punch.”

“Thank you lord Kokabiel but you didn’t realize something.” Rias kept her fist pressing firmly against the man’s palm as he didn’t struggle or tried to push her back.

“Huhu, what?”

A smile later the noble shouted “Born To Be WIld!!” A red fist surged from the dark aura and connected to the Cadre’s face, much to his surprise. “It was a feint.” She jumped back as the Stand took her place and began to throw as many punches as it could at Kokabiel. “Muda muda muda muda muda muda!”

“Are we… is that a…” Tsubasa tried to ask but couldn’t finish the line.

“Yes, she is a fan.” Akeno said with a forced smile as she watched the spirit punch Kokabiel constantly.

"Unbelievable. Please tell me that wasn’t how she won her Rating Game." Sona couldn’t help but facepalm at Akeno’s lack of an answer.

“It has more power than you think.” Suddenly the fallen devils of Sitri remembered that Medusa was there and found odd how she was in front of them, eyes focused on the battle. “She must have a plan to use it like that.”

“But it isn’t working.” Tsubaki pointed out as she noticed that Kokabiel hadn’t moved a single step despite Rias’ relentless assault.

Akeno knew that Rias wasn’t going all out yet and was trying to figure out what her King was planning to do. “Get ready.” She warned the members of Sona’s team who could still fight. “Soon Rias is going to need our help.”

“Not yours.” Her fellow Queen meant no offense but she could see her Gremory counterpart close her fist in irritation. “Don’t worry, we won’t let anything happen to her.” Tsubaki's guarantee sounded true despite their opponent and Akeno nodded in acceptance.

“Muda muda muda MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!!!” Rias stopped and took some deep breaths as Born To Be Wild floated away from the Cadre. “Damn, not even a scratch.”

Indeed it was true, even after a flurry of more than a hundred punches, Kokabiel stood there as if nothing had happened. “Faster than a Rook but slightly weaker.” He complimented while pointing out the flaw. “Still impressive for a spirit you made with your power. Almost like a… no, not quite.” The black haired man examined the Stand with curiosity before rubbing his chin. “I swear that I saw something similar in America once but nothing like this. What is that exactly?”

“My Stand.” Rias replied curtly.

“I have no idea what that means.” And to him that was a pleasant surprise.

The devil just shrugged. “Your loss.” Rias told him sincerely. “Born To Be Wild!”

This time Kokabiel didn’t allow himself to be punched, he blocked the first attack and the next and the one that followed. Rias once again ordered a rain of punches but this time the Cadre moved to block every single one, always observing the spirit’s power and how it moved.

A few seconds passed and the fallen angel noticed that Rias’ energy wasn’t really diminishing, or at least it wasn’t in a rhythm he could detect. That made him even more curious as that gave the impression Rias could keep going forever.

Not that Kokabiel really believed that as he was being extremely delicate with the spirit and made an effort to not destroy it. For the moment he was happy to just observe this spirit, trying to figure out where it came from and how Rias was keeping it going so easily.

Theories ran around his head for a time and Kokabiel couldn’t help but indulge them. He may not be a scientist like some of his siblings but when it came to the means of combat he liked to observe and learn.

From the pureblood devil’s perspective there was no curiosity or doubt, just pure concentration as Rias kept Born To Be Wild going while trying to adjust it slightly in a manner that Kokabiel wouldn’t notice.

She was happy that the Cadre was distracted by the novelty of her Stand but knew it wouldn’t last for long.  She feared that once he understood that her Stand was akin to a magic circle powered by her imagination he would lose interest.

That was not what Rias wanted, she needed him distracted as she worked in her adjustments, a hard task considering she needed to keep her imagination going strong for her rush attack while making the changes in her Stand at the same time.

If Rias wasn’t used to them she would have thought it impossible but the devil had worked transforming parts of her stands from one thing into another in a matter of seconds. She just needed to figure out how to do the same in less than a second without Kokabiel realizing that the change was happening.

Quickly Rias found it impossible as she found it difficult to split her mind into two as she worked into keeping the attack going and preparing her surprise. Lucky for Rias, Kokabiel distracted himself by watching her power as he easily blocked all her attacks.

With the fallen angel amusing himself at her spence, Rias saw her chance to try and keep the rhythm of her punches focused on his chest area but mostly random. As she predicted he kept stopping her easily but now her mind was a little more unburdened by trying to break his guard and she began to work.

While Rias fought her own mental battle, Kokabiel came to a conclusion about her Stand. “So you managed to push your power further with imagination alone?” Took him close to a minute to realize how Rias was using her mana even if she didn’t know all the details. “Tell me, did you find inspiration for this ability from the shamans of North America? Or maybe the sorcerers of Egypt? I can tell that it looks closer to the first than to the later but both methods of magic are far superior to your own.”

“Neither. I read a manga.” Rias replied with a smile that had Kokabiel shocked.

“Aren’t those-” He had no chance to fully ask as the right hand of Born To Be Wild moved from aiming his chest towards his face.

During the space of milliseconds that Kokabiel was asking the question he had already realized the change of target and moved his hand to block the obvious hit. He didn’t see how the hand of the Stand had changed to a gun with six bullets or that it was opening its finger which was now the barrel of the weapon.

He only felt when something hit him on the forehead hard enough to push it back, curiosity giving way to surprise as the Cadre actually felt pain. Kokabiel didn’t understand what happened at the moment or how the sequence of events that transpired led him to break his posture and almost fall back.

And Rias had no intention of giving him time to understand as she fully transformed her Stand’s hands into weapons.

“Born To Be Wild! Destruction Bullets!!!” As fast as she could Rias unleashed every single bullet she had on the Kokabiel, the shots were random but none missed their mark as she hit him with all she had.

Paying a considerable cost of mana, Rias reloaded her Stand and unleashed another barrage. “NOW!!!” She heard Akeno’s shouting but didn’t let it distract her as she unloaded another set of twelve bullets on Kokabiel before reloading once again.

At that point Rias could feel the burden of the mana she had used in her attack by accelerating the creation of bullets as much as she did. In total she had shot Kokabiel thirty and six times in rapid succession, a record for her but the toll on her body indicated that she couldn't repeat the feat anytime soon.

It was also not enough as Kokabiel was still moving and Rias feared that he would be furious about her trick. A part of her actually hoped that the surprise attack would kill him but even the concentration of Power of Destruction wasn’t enough.

Fortunately for her the remaining fighters of Sitri didn’t waste time upon hearing Akeno’s signal, the three of them had charged as fast as they could and were ready to keep the attack going.

Tsubaki got to Kokabiel first and punched him on the gut to send him down as Tomoe followed soon after to stab what was left of her sword in the Cadre’s eye. The man was already aware enough to act and grabbed the Queen’s fist and Knight’s arm with ease, his wings opening again to help him stand up.

“You shouldn’t-” And once again he couldn’t finish what he was saying but this time it was Tsubasa who interrupted him by stomping on his face with both of her feet.

Unbalanced as he was already, Kokabiel found himself letting the two other girls go and they moved to take advantage of his broken guard.

All that escaped Rias’ attention as she hoped that the three members of the Student Council could hold him back for a few instants. That was all she needed to form another bullet inside Born To Be Wild’s chamber, just one.

This time the target wasn’t the all powerful fallen angel that threatened to kill them all but the old man he was trying to protect. When she claimed that her punch from before was a feint, Rias meant that everything she was doing was a feint to get to Valper.

Rias poured as much mana as she could on her next shot, a Bullet of Destruction that would pierce any protection that Valper Galilei may have in his person. She gathered quickly and took her shot the moment that her target was in her sights.

Unfortunately for her Kokabiel felt the final spike of power, the final push Rias needed to create a Destruction Bullet of that magnitude. Instinctively he knew that there was no way he was the target as there were devils blocking his view from Rias and hers from him.

In an instant his mind came to conclusions he didn't like and the Cadre unleashed a huge torrent of Light from his body that pushed back and burned the devils around him. Rias was the only devil really protected from the sudden explosion thanks to her aura and Born To Be WIld but even then she felt the heat of the golden Light as she fell on the ground, much of her energy spent..

All present were blinded by the Light from the ten winged angel as it burned and pushed back all devils around, even swallowing the bullet of Destruction easily as the man recovered and stood tall as the devils fell around him.

After a few seconds Rias and the other devils in the back recovered enough to look at the Cadre who was now glaring at the redhead devil with some anger. “That… was unexpected. You almost succeeded. Almost.”

His anger felt heavy on Rias’ shoulders but what bothered her the most were the other students of Kouh condition; Tsubaki and Tomoe were the worst of the three with deep burns on their faces and arms while Tsubasa fared the best and was struggling to get up with a arm looking like it had been taken off an inferno.

‘They can’t fight anymore.’ Rias realized with some anger of her own before hitting the ground with her hand in frustration. ‘That was our best chance and I failed. If I was just a little faster.’ Swallowing her fury, she glared back at Kokabiel and noticed the wound in his forehead, some blood covering his face. “I was sure that bullet would have done more damage.”

“Was that your best shot?” The man raised a hand and touched his forehead to then look at his own blood before smiling. “Not a bad one. First true wound that I suffered since I got here. Were I a lesser angel, even just a pair of wings shorter, that may have actually killed me.” Kokabiel fully opened his wings and his power began to cover the whole school. “But I am not! I am the Angel of the Stars and the Fifth Heaven, Kokabiel! While I failed to block your attack, your power wasn’t enough! Pity.” Kokabiel looked around to the defeated devils and then pointed to Akeno. “You, Daughter of Baraqiel,  help your King collect the wounded! I am interested to see what else she has on her sleeve!”

“You are going to let us help them?” Rias couldn’t hold back the surprise and relief.

The fallen angel looked at her before chuckling. “Of course! Now that things are getting more fun, why wouldn't I?” He then glanced at the Student Council members. “Not that I think they will be able to fight anytime soon. You startled me a little and I… let out more power than I intended.” Kokabiel waved in Rias’ direction, his majestic wings growing to their full size. “Congratulations, Rias Gremory! You actually managed to get a veteran from the Great War to drop his guard and wound him! I hope you can keep the entertainment going!”

Rias was about to reply when Akeno showed up at her side with the previous version of EM on hand. “Now you are the one that needs to save energy. I will take care of everything.”

Panic showed up all over Rias’ face as she saw the intent behind her Queen’s eyes. “Akeno, no. Your power isn’t enough to beat him.”

“That is our best chance. Our only chance.” Akeno whispered back in frustration. “You caught him off guard, you shot him multiple times, you can’t hurt him.” Eyes full of anger turn to the fallen angel who just smiled confidently. “I can.”

“Can you?” The devils were shocked when Kokabiel asked as they were trying to not be heard. “Are you going to use your father's Lightning? I admit that Baraqiel was one of the few equals that I always had, even in Heaven.” He sounded excited by the prospect. “The question is if you really can let out enough to actually use it well and not disappoint your old man.”

“I don’t care about his opinion.” Akeno took a step forward, golden mana beginning to cover her as she prepared to fight. “Neither yours.”

“Don’t do it, Akeno. It won’t work.” Rias fully stood up from her position but felt her exhaustion holding her back. “You have to wait until the right time.”

Turning to her King, Akeno was baffled by Rias’ statement. “How long do I have to wait? You forced an opening before and I still held back, hoping that you would win. You didn’t.” She looked back at the Cadre with fury. The usually calm air around the Queen was completely gone. “We will just know if he can take my full power when we try it.”

Kokabiel nodded at every word before declaring “I agree fully, Daughter of Baraqiel.”

“My name is Himejima Akeno and I am NOT that man’s daughter!” Electricity began to run around her fingers and Kokabiel looked a little disappointed.

“Do you think you can hurt me with that weak lightning?” His question wasn’t mocking but honest.

“I will show you-” “Akeno!”

“Can you two stop?” Medusa’s voice snapped both devils back to reality as a small purple snake was glaring at them. The two turned back to look at the goddess as the Sitri group helped their companions which were being transported by dozens of her creations. “This is not an enemy that you can lose your patience with.” The voice was still coming from the snake as Medusa's face remained impassive. “If you don’t want to die you better work together. All our lives are at stake.”

Watching the snake carefully, Kokabiel retracted his wings and kneeled to take a better look at it. “Did you decide to join the fun, little goddess?”

The purple snake turned quickly. “Unfortunately I can not. I lost too much of my power to hold a candle against you. I doubt that I could even contribute much in a fight.”

“But you have been contributing plenty, or don’t you think that I sensed that barrier that you erected to protect the weaklings?” The fallen angel asked with a chuckle that the snake had, and by extension Medusa, silent. “For some reason, when I look at you I feel a considerable degree of danger… why is that?”

“Maybe you feel who I was before.” Medusa offered and the three watching felt that the snake would be shrugging if it could. “Not that it matters. I do not have that form anymore.”

“Interesting.” Kokabiel recognized before throwing a ball of Light that erased the snake’s existence. He looked at Medusa and noticed that she didn’t even react to the blatant aggressivity. “Very interesting.” He looked back at Rias and Akeno, his eyes focusing on the latter. “Are you going to fight now, Daughter of Baraqiel?”

Closing her fist, Akeno was about to attack when Rias’ hand landed on her shoulder. “Please Akeno, don’t do this.”

“You can’t beat him.” Akeno pointed out clearly and once again the fallen angel looked disappointed.

Not that Rias cared. “Neither can you now but wait for a few minutes. I am sure they are already coming back.”

“Who are they?” Kokabiel asked with a smile. “Those hunting the Excaliburs?”

“Yes. Depending on who arrives first then either you will have someone capable of giving Akeno enough power to kill you or someone who can fight against you by herself.” Rias saw no problem admitting as Kokabiel’s intrigue meant less of a chance of the man killing everyone.

Remembering some of the rumors and spy reports, Kokabiel was sure he knew at least one of the people she was waiting for. “Are you talking about the Red Dragon Emperor by any chance?” It irritated Rias how easily the man sounded excited when talking about Ise. “Well, I suppose that if there is someone that can turn things around, it would be him, right?”

The bloodthirst of the man’s smile unnerved both Gremory devils and Akeno couldn’t help but take a step back, her anger forgotten. Rias still replied, if only to buy time. “Right.”

Then the man turned to the side slowly, practically ignoring the two devils and looking at the direction of the entrance of Kuoh. “Isn’t that him?”

‘He can’t possible-’

“Buchou!! Akeno-san!!” Both leaders of the ORC felt a shiver of fear as soon enough Hyoudou Issei showed up in the area with Kiba, Koneko, Asia and Saji. “Whoa! What the heck is happening here?”

They all took a second to look at everyone and noticing how most of the Student Council was wounded, their last Pawn standing quickly reacting and running to them.

“Kaichou! Guys!” Saji runned ahead with Asia right behind, dropping to his knees close to a shocked Sona. “What happened? Who did this to you? Was that guy?”

“Saji!!” Sona didn’t know why she screamed at Saji but she couldn’t help herself at seeing him in far better condition than the rest of them, she just knew that she wanted to take a better look at him.

“Kaichou?” The blond looked at his King in confusion as she held his face tenderly before letting go and looking down.

“I am glad you are safe… but you shouldn’t be here.” She lamented sincerely.

“But why?”

“Because I am here!” Kokabiel shouted to gather everyone’s attention. “Welcome to our little play and the game before the final act! I am sure your Kings will tell you all the rules!” He looked at the devils close to him. “Right, Rias Gremory? Weren’t they some of who you were waiting for? Is one of them capable of facing me?” He looked back at Rias’ team, his smile wide. “You referred to them as ‘her’ but I only see a former nun and a small devil, neither of which has much power.”

Ise noticed Kokabiel’s red eyes on Asia and moved in front of her, making the fallen angel chuckle.

“But you talked about the Red Dragon Emperor who can give power to Baraqiel’s daughter. That I want to see.” He waved them away rudely. “Go on, join with your newly arrived reinforcements and have the Red Dragon start gathering power. See that it will be enough to at least pose a challenge.” Kokabiel’s eyes then landed on Rias again. “And make sure that you rest, I can tell you are tired after our little scuffle.”

The King and Queen of Gremory didn’t comment as they both began to step away from Kokabiel. They were still paranoid enough to not present their backs to him but they didn’t need to bother. He had no intention of cutting his fun short.

“Buchou… What is going on?” Kiba asked slowly as his eyes were in Kokabiel, Holy Eraser already back on his hand. Just by seeing his King’s condition most of them were already on guard. “Who is that?”

“Kokabiel, the Angel of the Stars.” Rias knew that besides Ise and Saji, everyone else would understand the situation by the name alone.

“From the Bible?” Asia was quick to ask both in wonder and fear. “One of the twenty Watched who Fell from Heaven, posted in the Fifth Heaven and the Teacher of Constellations.”

Rias and Sona blinked at some of the information Asia gave as they didn’t know that Kokabiel had been a teacher of any kind. He was always more portrayed as a warrior in the Underworld and his characterization wasn’t challenged by his actions through the day as he legitimately seemed to enjoy fighting.

“That is a title… that I haven’t heard in a long time.” Kokabiel commented with a nostalgic tone and pleased expression. “Hmm… Quite a long time indeed.”