Sona Sitri, having met up with the newly arrived Rias Gremory, was working together to fend off what felt like a never-ending assault.
Surrounded in the middle were the two Church warriors. They were severely injured, had collapsed to the ground, and even had their Holy Swords taken from them. Right now, all they could do was stare up at Kokabiel in the sky with rage and despair on their faces.
"Heh heh heh. Just as I expected—you've all gathered together."
His low, oppressive voice made everyone's hearts skip a beat. A Cadre-level fallen angel, simply by speaking, could exert tremendous pressure. Compared to the devils, ordinary humans were already being forced to their knees by that terrifying aura, their bodies and souls trembling ceaselessly.
At Kokabiel's words, the ghouls and stray priests paused their onslaught. Standing in front, Rias glared upward, her brows furrowed.
"Kokabiel, you've trespassed on devil territory—what are you trying to do? The fallen angel leadership has no reason to attack us out of the blue. Aren't you afraid of starting a war?"
"Heh heh heh, the next head of the Gremory family truly is clever. How did you know that causing a war is precisely what I'm after?"
Kokabiel laughed, eyes brimming with mischief.
"If I toy with Leviathan's sister and Lucifer's sister a bit before killing them, maybe the two Maou will hate me enough to spark an even fiercer conflict, don't you think?"
At those words, Rias and Sona glared back at him, but their hearts sank.
No matter how confident and proud they were, no amount of honor or courage could bridge the gap in power. This was not some hot-blooded manga—this was reality. The gulf between high-class devils and a fallen angel Cadre was enormous. On top of that, neither Rias nor Sona were the strongest among high-class devils. Even if they added up all their servants together, they couldn't possibly defeat Kokabiel. That was the harsh truth.
"Damn warmonger," Rias muttered angrily, but her reaction only delighted Kokabiel further.
"That's right, I'm a warmonger! Ever since the three-way war ended, life's been so boring. Azazel and the others waste their days fiddling with Sacred Gears that are neither interesting nor particularly useful. Since they won't make a move, I decided I'd make one myself!
"Ah, how wonderful war is! We were so close in the old days—we almost ruled the entire Biblical faction!
"Seize them! I'll wait until Lucifer and Leviathan arrive, and then kill their sisters right in front of them."
Having received their orders, the stray priests and ghouls began attacking again. Among them was a particularly crazed, white-haired priest.
"Hahaha! I'm a priest! A young priest! I'll kill devils and criminals alike… chop off your heads… that's how I put food on the table!
"My boss is amazing, right? He's so insanely awesome I can't help but follow him! Plus, he gave me this awesome thing!"
He held the stolen Holy Sword in his hand. Thanks to the Holy Sword's power, he had gone from a mere priest to having strength on par with a high-class devil. His addition to the fight intensified the pressure on Rias and Sona, pushing their defensive line to the brink of collapse.
Rias clenched her fists. Were they really about to be finished off here?
With no options left, she suddenly heard a sound slice through the air from afar.
Sensing something, the white-haired priest Freed ceased his attack on Rias and raised the Holy Sword to block.
Clang—!
A crisp metallic impact echoed. Sparks flew off the blade, yet there was no visible projectile; only droplets of water fell onto the ground.
The other attackers, though, didn't have the Holy Sword's protection. Water-formed arrows, augmented by magic, turned them into pincushions. In the blink of an eye, more than half lay dead.
The precarious defensive line became secure in an instant, prompting everyone to look around at this new development.
"What the hell just happened?" Freed growled, halting in frustration.
"Could that be… Hikaru?" Sona murmured. She recognized that water magic—it belonged to the Sitri family. At the same time, she realized in astonishment that the crushing aura Kokabiel radiated had faded. Was it because Hikaru had appeared? But how? Their foe was a fallen angel Cadre, in a whole different league than Riser or Kishimojin…
"So it was you who ambushed me, you little punk? Tch, I'm gonna cut you into pieces!" Freed spat on the ground, then took hold of two Holy Swords and dashed toward Hikaru, moving at near-blur speed. The swords greatly boosted his physical abilities—along with his arrogance. Freed believed he could easily hack down every devil here.
Facing the attack, Hikaru's expression remained unchanged. With a slight tilt of his body, he evaded Freed's slashing blow. Freed tried a series of follow-up strikes, but Hikaru stood in place, feet rooted firmly, making every attack miss as though it were swinging at thin air.
"?!"
Freed's eyes widened, his face flushing with anger. Yet Hikaru gave him no chance to continue. Moving like a phantom, Hikaru appeared at Freed's side, snapped his wrist, and before he could scream, seized the dropped Holy Sword midair, flipped the blade, and drove it straight into the priest's heart.
There were no wasted movements, no hesitation; he took down a Holy-Sword-strengthened priest just like that. Such a weak foe wasn't even worthy of facing Hikaru's Longinus Balance Breaker.
"Oh?"
Seeing Hikaru so easily dispatch his subordinate, Kokabiel looked genuinely surprised.
~~~
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