453Disclaimer: I own neither Fate/Stay Night nor High School DxD
The situation was tense.
Shirou was torn between the desire to see to Irina and the need to be cautious about the powerful Fallen hovering above them.
Tall, pale, with long black hair and five pairs of wings…
He didn't need to hear any introduction.
Azazel had already told him about this person.
Kokabiel.
"D-declaration of… war?!" Rias exclaimed, clearly confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Simple. I will await you at your precious academy, and there you will do battle till your death. If you don't come… Well, then I would have to come to you… And I don't need to tell you what kind of consequences might arise." The Fallen Angel declared with a smirk.
The two Kings and their Queens were audibly distressed, while Issei seemed enflamed by this declaration.
"What kind of shit is that?!" The Red Dragon Emperor shouted.
"I see the information on you were correct, Red Dragon Emperor." Kokabiel responded with a small chuckle.
"Huh?!" Issei's only reaction was an aggravated and confused sound.
The Fallen Angel chuckled more. "Well then. I hope to see you all soon. That does include you as well, Mittelt, Shirou Emiya." With those parting words, Kokabiel flew off in the direction of Kuoh Academy with frightening speed.
Barely waiting long enough to be certain they weren't in danger Shirou ran over to Irina.
She was still breathing, but she'd been badly injured.
"We need to see over her wounds… Mittelt!" He said, then turned towards Mittelt with a command.
While she did jump a little bit in surprise, she was quick to move, rushing over and examining the exorcist.
"How does it look?" Shirou asked.
"I can keep her from dying… but she'll be out for a couple of days even then… If we had Twilight Healing here…" Mittelt replied.
The Magus sent a look towards Rias, who shook herself out of her stupor, although she had an extremely distressed expression. "Asia should still be at the clubhouse…"
"Right by where Kokabiel is waiting…" Shirou noted.
No wonder Rias was looking like that…
"We need to go there!" Issei exclaimed. "She could be in danger!"
Was he serious?
While Shirou did agree, that was reckless…
Memories of watching the battle between Gilgamesh and Berserker came to his mind.
Hmm… He wasn't one to talk, was he? Rin had needed to restrain him just to keep him from charging in and getting killed by Gilgamesh…
Did the boy have that strong a desire to protect his friends, or was he just that oblivious?
…
Leaving Issei to his King, Shirou turned towards Sona. "Can you call for help?"
Sona shook her head. "As one might expect, our enemy made sure we can't contact anyone. And even if we could call anyone, they probably won't be able to get here in time."
"He probably won't wait that long, and who knows how long we can stall him…"
Actually, Shirou expected that Azazel might send someone relatively soon, but… That would probably also take quite some time, assuming Azazel's attempts to send someone didn't get hindered…
How long could Shirou expect to stall an opponent like that?
"I'll just have to try." He muttered.
Sona's eyes widened.
Rias also turned towards him with surprise on her face.
And Mittelt… was looking at him with another complicated expression.
"Excuse me what?" The bespectacled Pure-Blood said.
"I'll go and stall for as long as possible. I'm also worried about Kiba and Xenovia."
"Are-? You're not going alone!" Issei exclaimed and rushed over.
"I suppose we do have to just try." Rias added and followed.
Akeno said nothing but followed her King with a tiny smile, while Koneko followed with a blank expression.
Sona sighed. "I'll see if I can gather my Peerage and set up a barrier to prevent ordinary people from noticing… I might have been invited, but someone needs to do that."
"I can help with that, while still keeping an eye on this exorcist." Mittelt interjected.
"I suppose I would prefer to have you in sight… And with your help I might be able to get by without calling the rest of my Peerage… Is that alright with you, Emiya-san?" The Sitri Heiress responded while contemplating.
"That's fine. I'd prefer to be the only person getting in harm's way… But I've learned to respect when others are determined to fight as well." Shirou responded, feeling a bit melancholic at the memories called up with his last comment.
"That's an interesting statement to make." Sona replied with an undecipherable expression.
"We should get going. There's no telling how long he's willing to wait." Shirou glanced at Sona, but didn't respond to her comment.
Without waiting to confirm the others would follow he set off in a run, using Reinforcement to reach inhuman speeds.
-Break—
The Devils and Mittelt were somewhat surprised by Shirou's sudden dash, but wasted little time in flying after him.
Now, Mittelt wasn't overly thrilled about carrying an Exorcist, especially one that was still in the graces of the Church, but she had been asked to care for her, and that was what she would do.
Despite Shirou's immense pace, they all arrived at the gates of Kuoh Academy at the same time.
As they arrived, Asia Argento came running, clearly unsettled, no, terrified, but unharmed…
Mittelt didn't pay much attention to the conversation, so she wasn't certain about how exactly it came to be that the girl was safe and with them at the moment.
But she did pick up that it seemed Kokabiel had let her go.
A confusing action, but it was quite clear Kokabiel was playing a game. His goal was easy enough to guess if you were in any way familiar with him.
Restarting the Great War…
Amusingly enough, the Nun turned Devil didn't realise Mittelt's presence at first, even despite looking straight at the Fallen as she received the wounded exorcist.
It was first after she was done healing and the girl stirred that Asia looked back up again at the person standing there that it seemed to click.
What sounded like words of thanks or some such screeched to a halt as the former Saint stared at Mittelt.
"You're-…!?" Asia exclaimed, words failing to come out.
Now, while that look on the girl's face was quite amusing, Mittelt would have preferred not to have an encounter as awkward as this one, thank you very much.
"Hello Argento. I'm sure you didn't want to see my face ever again, and I'm sorry you had to." Mittelt was genuinely remorseful.
Not for Asia, of course. Her remorse came from the fact she simply didn't want to have this encounter.
"Ah… N-no… I…" Asia stammered.
Poor girl. Was she trying to be nice and therefore denying her own feelings, or was she honestly just that nice that she didn't hold a grudge…?
You could never quite tell…
Well, the former has a tendency of snapping eventually. You can tell then.
A hand was laid upon the former Nun's shoulder.
The owner, Hyoudou Issei, stood there with a surprisingly gentle smile.
It seems the action reassured Asia.
Ah… That's right. She did become fond of the boy, didn't she?
"I don't mind seeing your face… Mittelt. I was just so surprised…" Asia said with an embarrassed expression.
Mittelt looked away.
"Mittelt, we're going to start preparing to set up the barrier." Sona interjected.
"Got it."
"Asia, we're going to need your support." Rias said.
They split up into two groups.
One group went forth to fight Kokabiel, and the other stayed behind to cover it all up.
Mittelt was quite disgruntled as she watched Shirou leave.
She could only hope he came back alive…
-Break—
"Hey, Kokabiel!"
A voice rang out from behind where Kokabiel had seated himself to watch the coming events.
With such a casual and disrespectful address, one might be forgiven for thinking it was that insufferable Freed, but no.
It was an entirely different beast.
In every sense of the word.
He didn't deign to look at the person as he responded. "What are you doing here?"
"Me? There's just someone I want to fight, is all."
"Oho? And who would that be?" Despite maintaining a casual tone, Kokabiel tensed slightly.
This person was known for picking fights all over the place.
Kokabiel had no doubt that person might be here to fight him.
"Emiya Shirou."
The Fallen grinned, that was perfectly fine. "In that case, be my guest."
-Break—
The air was tense as they ventured into the Kuoh Academy courtyard.
A stray thought that this was the first time he saw Rias' Peerage in battle mode did cross Shirou's mind, but it didn't gain any hold.
He was busy observing.
Seated on a throne on top of the main building was Kokabiel.
Down on the grounds, a group of three-headed hounds, as well as…
Freed, standing before who Shirou assumed to be Valper, who was in the midst of something.
A ritual of some kind?
"Wait up!" Kiba's voice suddenly rang out behind them.
Turning around they saw Kiba and Xenovia approach, slightly wounded, but nothing like what had happened to Irina.
"Yuuto! What happened?" Rias exclaimed.
"We… got delayed…" Her Knight replied ashamedly.
"How?" Koneko queried.
"Trickery and illusions…" Kiba responded.
"Something attacked… Took out Irina and stole Destruction…" Xenovia added, equally ashamed. "I think it was a Fallen…"
"I see… Asia." The King said.
Asia immediately moved to heal the two.
Kiba's expression didn't change much, but Xenovia certainly seemed irked.
"Hold on… if Destruction got stolen, how are you going to fight?" Issei suddenly asked Xenovia.
The Exorcist hesitated, then sighed deeply.
Offering up a chant Shirou couldn't quite understand, reality tore open, and out slid a chained sword.
Even as the chains unravelled, Shirou saw the blade's name.
Durandal.
Are you serious?
If she had that all along, why bring a shard of Excalibur?
"That's-!" Rias exclaimed.
"Durandal. My Holy Sword. Unlike Excalibur Destruction that was bestowed me for this mission, Durandal chose me long ago." Xenovia declared, just a hint of pride in her voice.
She wasn't lying.
Shirou could practically feel the bond between Xenovia and that blade.
"Ah, there we go. I feel a bit unhappy some decided to wait outside, but I suppose they considered that job important enough." Kokabiel remarked, his voice booming across the courtyard.
The group that had come to fight all turned their gazes towards him.
…
Were they… surprised?
Had they not noticed him yet?
"You! What are you thinking?! If-" Rias started.
"I'll restart the Great War." Kokabiel cut her off, and you could practically hear the smirk.
"Are you insane?!" Rias responded after a sharp gasp.
"You wouldn't be the first to call me that. But that doesn't matter." Kokabiel seemed to flare up a bit, but then calmed down. "That reminds, I haven't actually introduced myself, have I? What a blunder… I am Kokabiel, of the Grigori."
Rias seemed to be taken aback, paling a little.
It made sense.
Kokabiel wasn't exactly some small time no name, but actually somewhat notable. If he hadn't been, he'd been dealt with long ago.
"What did you do with the Excaliburs?!" Xenovia suddenly shouted. "What are you planning?!"
"Hmm? I planned to have the Gremory and Sitri heirs die by them in order to inflame tensions between the Devils and Heaven. But… for now I've given them to Valper, to see if he can pull off his little project." Kokabiel replied.
Their gazes bounced down to Valper.
"Oh, I won't fail. I'll show you, I'll show them all; I'll recombine the shards!" Valper exclaimed in response.
Recombine?
Now that Shirou paid attention, he could kind of tell…
Was it… working?
On the one hand, Shirou was actually slightly impressed.
On the other…
Well…
A piece was missing.
So no matter what, the result will never be truly complete…
"Yeah, that's nice and all, but it doesn't really concern me all that much, so I'll just leave you all to that." A new voice suddenly interjected, casual, but hiding irritation, no, anger?
A figure emerged from behind Kokabiel and without a care dropped down to the courtyard below.
The only person that wasn't surprised at this was Kokabiel and Valper, and the latter was only because he was too caught up in his work.
What?
Who… is that?
A human appearance, for all that was worth.
Kind of short…
Dressed in a quite revealing outfit, extremely short shorts, a really small white top, and a long-sleeved crimson jacket open in the front.
They had messy blonde hair tied into a short ponytail, and eyes a familiar shade of green…
The person's facial structure was also kind of familiar…
That… can't be.
She resembles…
No.
With a casual manner completely unbefitting of the atmosphere, the newcomer threw out a greeting and started walking towards the group.
"Who… are you?" Rias queried in confusion.
"No one in particular, Little Gremory. Just a Knight passing by." The 'Knight' responded with an easy smile before turning a predatory gaze towards Shirou. "Hey, EMIYA. I challenge you." She declared, drawing the sword she was carrying and pointing it towards him.
An ordinary blade, apart from enchantments made by… so many different people, with the express purpose of reinforcing its durability…
"What?" Was all Shirou could muster towards the strangely formal and extremely sudden challenge.
"You heard me. Don't make me repeat myself." The 'Knight' said.
The others were already backing away from the two of them.
"Very well." It wasn't his first choice, but if he could reduce the number of enemies…
The twin blades appeared in Shirou's hands as he took a wary stance.
"That's the spirit! Let us have an honourable battle!" His opponent exclaimed and charged.
He was slightly caught off guard by the sudden burst of speed. From what he could tell, she was Human…
But…!
Her first blow sent him reeling!
He couldn't just block these…!
A flurry of wild attacks came at him, with speed and power that would fit right in amongst Servants.
Her fighting style could be said to be unbefitting of one who would call herself a Knight, but at the same time, who was Shirou to judge that!
Not just the wildness of her sword swings, but she also kicked and punched if the opportunity arose.
"What's the matter! This isn't all you've got, right?!" There was an element of expectation in her voice.
Shirou grit his teeth. He couldn't tell what was going on with the others, the opponent before him demanding his full attention.
They'd definitely started fighting, but beyond that…
He let himself get launched by another swing, opening some distance.
"Trace on!"
A series of swords flew towards his opponent, but she just batted one aside and squeezed between the others, dangerously close.
The assault resumed.
There was no space for counterattack.
Despite the wildness, there was also plenty of skill.
Who is she?
Back in his original world he wouldn't have had any doubt this person was a Servant.
But as far as he knew… Servants didn't exist in this world!
No, this isn't the time!
He narrowly avoided another swing.
If he lets himself get distracted for even a second…
How can he defeat her?
Can he defeat her?
The way she presses her attack… no time to charge a Noble Phantasm or use the bow…
Possibilities raced through his mind.
But beyond just winning this fight, he needs to conserve enough strength to be able to fight Kokabiel…!
Any scenario including mutual destruction is precluded, as well as any scenario including taking severe injury in order to win.
Shirou pushed his body even further, trying to reach the ability to maybe win.
For the first time, he has time to attempt a counterattack after a successful deflection!
But his opponent just seems pleased as she batters it aside and punishes him with a vicious kick that threatens to crush his insides.
A sound like screeching metal…
No good.
That's not enough.
Still…
A plan starts to form in his mind.
One most certainly worth trying.
He pressed in, attempting to steal the initiative, but his opponent just keeps dodging or battering his attacks aside, and then threatening to punish him with another savage blow.
He needed an attack that couldn't be deflected or dodged.
Multiple angles of attack.
He needed to win with this, as injuries were starting to pile up.
He threw his swords towards his opponent.
As expected, she easily dodged them…
Next pair!
Another pair was thrown.
Her eyes widened slightly before grinning.
She evaded them as well.
Shirou Traced a third pair and charged.
From the front, Shirou approached.
From behind, a pair closed in.
And from above, another pair!
"Oh?" She noticed them, but it was too-
With a grin, magical energy taking the form of crimson lightning burst from her, knocking aside Shirou as well as the two pairs.
"What…" He stared dumbfounded at his grinning opponent.
That couldn't have been…
"Heh, not a bad little trick. Still… I guess you need more time…" Her grin changed into a displeased frown.
"Who… are you?" Shirou asked.
"I'm not telling. Not yet anyway. You'll find out when you can actually force me to get serious. That said, you really-"
A burst of magical energy distracted the Knight.
This is…
Rias?
Seeing his opponent looking away, he glanced in the direction.
Rias had conjured up a truly enormous ball of her Power of Destruction, while Kokabiel seemed to just be waiting to receive the attack!
With a cry, Rias launched her attack, which should have been beyond her!
And in the aftermath… Kokabiel still stood.
Not unharmed, but hardly out of commission either…
With a sneer, Kokabiel started charging his own attack.
By the looks of things, that had been the last-ditch effort to defeat him, and now he was about to finish them off!
"That's too bad. I guess they really couldn't stand up to him. Victory wasn't on their side."
Huh?
Shirou's eyes darted over to his opponent, who was giving him a pointed look.
'It's up to you.' It seemed to say.
For some reason it seemed like the word 'victory' had strange emphasis on it.
"A shame… they had such promise." She continued.
Why did it seem like there was emphasis on 'promise'?
'Promise'? 'Victory'?
An image came to mind.
Without even thinking any further, he sprinted towards the others.
Turning his back on an enemy like this should be fatal, but he knew she wouldn't attack him…
That their duel had been put on hold for now.
He faintly registered her smile, but paid it no heed.
The image solidified in his mind.
The hammers fired in rapid succession.
Kokabiel's eyes widened as Shirou skidded to a halt before him.
"Oho, will you match yourself against me then, Emiya Shirou?"
"I can't let you restart the Great War!"
This was madness.
Emiya Shirou could not yet handle what he was about to do.
But…!
If he didn't, something far worse might occur!
"My body is made out of swords!"
The image became clear.
A sword started taking shape in his hands.
Painfully slowly it emerged, and with it, a golden light.
Her sword.
The Golden Sword of Promised Victory completed Tracing.
But just Tracing it wasn't enough.
Even though his body already burned from the strain…
He also needed to activate it!
There was no time to consider the correct output.
There was no need to consider the correct output.
He poured all his magical energy into Excalibur!
It was more a question if he had enough…
"Ex-" He started invoking the name of the Noble Phantasm.
Kokabiel looked shocked, but also grinned ferally, as the golden sword produced a great blade of light.
The Fallen Angel's attack was launched, an attack capable of levelling the entire Academy!
"-calibur!"
The true name invoked, the great blade of light was swung.
Several eyes widened as their owners heard it.
Kokabiel laughed in delight.
A certain Knight smiled wryly at the sight of the sword and the invocation of its name, even as she shook her head at the one using it.
The greatest attacks of Kokabiel the Fallen Angel and Emiya Shirou clashed violently in an explosion of light and magical energy.
Shirou's battered body took it head on, and he was flung away rolling across the ground.
Static filled his brain as his recklessness came crashing down upon him.
The last thing he saw before passing out was Kokabiel falling from the sky…
-Break—
Shirou's eyes slowly creaked open.
Where…?
He didn't recognize the room he awakened to.
What happened?
He felt stiff as he forced himself up.
He'd been treated…
He looked down upon the bandages on his chest.
"So, you're finally awake." Mittelt's voice came from the door.
Her tone was sassy, but he could see the relief on her face.
"What happened after I passed out?" He asked.
"Vali swooped in and took Kokabiel in custody, apparently. Azazel has been doing his best to smooth things over, offering to cover all the damages. He's preparing a new place for you as well it seems." Mittelt responded.
"I see… Wait… A new place?"
"Well, the old one got just a bit wrecked, and he seems to want to set you up with a better place."
"Where are we?" Shirou suddenly felt concerned.
"This? This is the home of Sona Sitri. Do you have any idea how harrowing these last few days have been?"
"What…?"
"I've been staying here, in the home of a Devil, in order to look after you."
Oh. Makes sense. It would be hard for a Fallen Angel to relax in a place like that.
"Thanks." He said with a smile.
She seemed somewhat disconcerted for some reason.
Wait…
She said this was…
"Oh, finally awake I see." Sona's voice cut in from the door.
Lo and behold, into the room stepped Sona Sitri, clad in casual clothes…
Well… as casual as someone like her got.
"Kaichou…"
"We were a little worried when you took so long to recover. I can only assume you were incredibly reckless." Sona remarked.
"I had no other choice." Shirou replied.
That probably wasn't completely true but…
"Well, Kokabiel was stopped and Rias and the others survived thanks to that, so I have to say thanks. Even if the clash of your attacks severely damaged Kuoh Academy."
Shirou chuckled nervously.
"You don't need to worry about that. Kokabiel's attack would have done more damage had it gone through, to say the least." Sona added. "Mittelt has been quite the gracious guest. So, I'll let the transgression where you forgot to talk to me about her slide."
"That's… Thanks." He smiled again.
Sona… what was that expression?
"Don't worry about imposing. Letting you stay here is part of my repayment for saving my friend." The bespectacled girl suddenly said.
Oh right. That slipped his mind.
"We'll probably have to impose just a little longer." Mittelt remarked with a small curtsey.
"No need to tell me that." Sona returned.
From Sona's earlier comment he thought they got along but… Did they?
Shirou let his head fall back down on the soft pillow.
It just struck him. He'd just unleashed Excalibur.
He was amazed he was still alive…
Hang on…
Vali showed up afterwards, didn't he?
Oh no.
Why did he get a feeling Vali had been watching?
That was bound to become a headache later…
And…
Who was that Knight?
Author's notes: This chapter... it was worse to write than expected... First I just couldn't figure out how to do the first part... then I felt like I didn't do nearly enough for the battle... I'm not good at writing long action sequences. I'm just bad at justifying to myself them being longer. Sure, if I throw a bunch of dialogue into it, it can certainly get long but... that's assuming I want dialogue. Oh well. This is what the chapter ended up as, and I don't feel like languishing around here any longer.
I hope you enjoyed, and that you have a nice day.