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"Please," she whispered, softer now. "Don't do anything crazy like what you did in the Rating Game."
She leaned in, brushing her lips against my cheek in a fleeting kiss that burned hotter than Kokabiel's lightning.
"No," I said, smiling faintly. The second half I kept locked inside my mind. Because this time, I'm going to do something crazier.
Kokabiel's laughter shattered the moment. His voice echoed like thunder across the ruined field.
"Ha…hahahahaha! Devils and pitiful followers of God, still standing after everything? Truly amusing!"
"…What do you mean?" Rias's voice wavered just enough to draw his attention.
"Fuhaha… I almost forgot. That truth hasn't reached you, has it?" His eyes gleamed with wicked joy. "Then let me be the one to enlighten you. In the war between the Three Factions, not only the Yondai-Maou but even God Himself… died."
The words dropped like stones into still water, the ripples reaching every corner of the battlefield.
Silence. Then disbelief.
"What…?" Asia's voice trembled.
"It's normal you didn't know," Kokabiel sneered. "Who would dare spread such a truth? Humans need their God to cling to, or their hearts collapse into chaos. Even we—fallen and devils alike—kept this secret from our lower ranks. Only those at the top and a chosen few know. Though it seems Balba was sharp enough to uncover it."
"Impossible…" Asia murmured, her hands trembling.
Kokabiel spread his wings wider, his voice rising with mad glee. "After that war, the angels lost their God, the devils their Maou, and even we fell, losing countless of our kind. All factions were left crippled, forced to rely on humans just to survive. Especially the angels—unable to reproduce without their God. Their numbers stagnate while ours grow. Pure angels are relics. Pure devils, rarities. Only the Fallen thrive!"
"Lies… it's a lie…"
Xenovia staggered, her sword nearly slipping from her hand. The firm, unshakable knight now looked like a girl robbed of her very soul.
Her faith—her reason for living—shattered with those words.
Asia, too, froze in despair, her healing light flickering as if her Sacred Gear itself wavered at the revelation. Her eyes filled with tears. Everything she had built her life upon… gone.
"Asia! Pull yourself together!" Koneko's voice snapped, but even she sounded strained, trying to shake the trembling girl.
Kokabiel's grin widened, savoring their despair. "From here on, I will ignite a new war! I will finish what we left undone! I'll take your heads as trophies, and I will show Sirzechs and Michael that the Fallen are the ultimate beings!"
He then turned his eyes toward me. "And yet, you don't look surprised, Red Dragon Emperor. Why?"
I shrugged. "I'm a devil. Why should I care? But…" My voice hardened, sharp as steel. "You made Asia cry. And for that, you'll pay."
I walked forward, my steps echoing across the broken earth.
"You alone can't defeat me," Kokabiel mocked.
"I know." My reply was calm and steady. Almost too steady.
But inside…
Alright. Time to humiliate myself.
—Most of the time, he suppresses his other parts unconsciously, as he didn't need their help, whether it is Issei's self (original) or his previous life. They only come to control if the emotions are extremely favorable to them, so they only come for brief moments. But now he is knowingly releasing his unknown past self—
If I was going to awaken Balance Breaker, I needed an emotion strong enough to split me open. Rage, despair, obsession—something primal. I had to trigger it.
You're weak. Too weak to even take a sword from a corpse.
No reaction.
The reason you died before was because you were a coward. A pathetic excuse of a man. You couldn't save anyone. You couldn't even protect yourself.
The words stung even though they came from me. I stopped in my tracks, my breath heavy.
Still… nothing.
But then, something shifted.
A coldness. A stillness.
The battlefield's air itself seemed to change, like the calm before a storm.
Without realizing it, something inside me had begun to… stir.
No. I don't need help I don't need anyone help even from past. Not from Rias, not from anyone. I'll crush Kokabiel myself. I'll take the Fused Excalibur. Because it belongs to me.
The thought wasn't forced. It wasn't a desperate push for emotion. It was natural. Absolutely.
My face hardened, devoid of hesitation. My eyes grew sharper, colder. Without me noticing.
Rias, standing behind me, felt it instantly. Her heart clenched, sensing something different. This wasn't just confidence—it was something else. Something alien.
Asia whimpered, clutching her chest as if the air had turned hostile.
Even Kokabiel's mocking grin faltered for the briefest second. "…What is this?"
The gem on my gauntlet pulsed violently.
[Boost!]
The roar shook the battlefield.
[Boost!]
Again. My aura flared, blood-red energy pouring from my body, burning against the night.
I didn't shout. I didn't boast. My silence was heavier than words.
Without knowing it, without understanding it, Issei had become another self.
~~~
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