章 45: Kokabiel.
Kokabiel and his angels took up their formation. With spears and shield made of light, they stood ready to meet the challenge of the devils in front of them.
Both sides stared the other down.
As Shirou extended his reach to every corner of his reality marble, he couldn't help but admit how far he came since fighting that lich king back on Azeroth. He had pumped demonic energy through his circuits in addition to his prana to actualize his reality marble. The results were staggering, he easily pulled these thousands of angels inside and he wasn't even out of breath. He didn't even have to worry about the amount of upkeep it required to sustain, it was almost negligible.
Ichigo watched both Saber and Shirou square up against the fallen, his instincts were telling him to let the two handle it as it was their battle. He joined Orihime as he prepared himself to protect the other devils present.
Shirou was the first to make a move, he willed a certain holy blade to him. Saber recognized it immediately, she had a deep connection to this blade.
Kokabiel saw the blade and his eyes widened, he could make some conclusions regarding shirou's magic at this point.
"SHIELDS UP" He roared to his angels. They didn't question and immediately deployed the full force of their light-based shields.
Shirou swung the blade out and called it's name thereby activating the effect of this noble phantasm.
"CALIBURN" He called out as the blade swung down, releasing a beam of light similar to Excalibur if only weaker.
Everyone present had their eyes go wide at the name of the blade Shirou just used. The legendary Caliburn. In this world, it wasn't as well known as Excalibur, it was crafted by God himself to be the strongest holy blade but was lost by the king and later was given Excalibur by the world. It was thought to be another fake part of the King Arthur mythos.
Even the battle hardened angels were shaken at its name, they knew the origins of the blade in their world and couldn't help but shudder at the thought of another world's version. But even so, they held their shields as the light approached.
It cleaved through over a hundred Angels before the light dissipated.
The angels did not mourne, the ones in the back refilled the ranks in the front. They knew their duty and they would not falter as their comrades gave their lives for the cause.
Shirou didn't know how to feel after that attack. He expected some sort of hatred to be shown towards his person after he had just killed many of their comrades, but their eyes showed a deadly resolve, and Kokabiel himself…..had a gentle smile on his face.
"That blade…..its stronger than the one father created" Kokabiel stated.
Shirou and Saber knew what he meant, they met the descendant of king Arthur in this world and he was wielding this world's Caliburn.
"I wish he were still alive to see this…." Kokabiel said with a tear running down his face.
Everyone on Ichigo's side were shocked at his revelation, besides the shinigami himself who was told the details by his grandfather.
Kokabiel looked around at their faces, Shirou and Saber had an odd expression on their faces. They weren't devout believers in God…but to hear that he died was a bit…hard to take in.
What really drew Kokabiel's attention was Ichigo's emotionless expression.
"You already knew?" He asked, looking towards the shinigami.
All eyes turned to the orange haired boy. The exorcists were too shocked to speak, they didn't know what to say at this point.
"Gramps told me everything that happened to him" Ichigo said.
His grandfather told him how the God of this world had died in the war the demons…but there was more to it that not even the angels knew. He was weakened due to a certain event that only a very few powerful beings were privy to, his grandfather being one of them.
"You know EVERYTHING about his death?" Kokabiel asked in astonishment. Even Michael didn't know why their father was weakened enough to die in the war.
Ichigo looked at the angel who obviously wanted to know about the details.
Ichigo let out a sigh and explained.
"Gramps told me…..that he was weakened due to sealing a certain creature right before the battle that ended his life" Ichigo said, only vaguely describing the details.
Kokabiel's eyes widened. This answered a lot of questions his fellow angels had in regards to their father's demise. He knew exactly what "creature" Ichigo was talking about. It was one of the hypotheses that the angels had formulated regarding his demise.
The beast of the apocalypse, 666. God had found were the beast resided and took it upon himself to seal it.
Right now, it did not matter to the angel. There was a battle to be fought and it may not even be his problem after the battle is over either way.
He signaled to his angels, they readied their spears and threw. Thousands of light based spears aimed at a single target, Shirou. These were different form before, these were more powerful. They acknowledge their opponent's strength with these spears.
Shirou could feel their strength, he thought about putting up Rho Aias again…..but he decided against it. It would most likely break. The sheer amount of spears added up were at least equal to the power of Gae Bolg.
No, he would meet spears with sword. At his command, the swords rose out of the dirt and met the spears. The vast majority of these weapons were nameless phantasms he copied from Gilgamesh but they could equal the strength of a light spear for the most part.
Thousands of spears met thousands of blades. The light that broke apart when a spear was destroyed and the sparks that were emitted when a blade shattered, it covered the sky.
Shirou noticed the angels were focused almost solely on the blades that shot towards them, so he tried to take them by suprise by summoning a very powerful blade from a far corner of his soul.
It turned up on the horizon, it was massive. The angels gaped at the sheer size and power of the blade.
"Ig-Alima" Shirou declared as the mountain felling sword collided with the legion of fallen angels. The collision caused hundreds of deaths, they were not prepared for a blade that was meant to be wielded by a giant.
Shirou didn't give them time to regroup, he summoned forth the blade he "got" from Archer. The strange spiraled blade, he did not need a bow to fire it in his reality marble.
"My core is twisted in madness, Caladbolg" He called out as the sword shot out at a speed that warped space itself.
It pierced through the remnants of the legion and exploded.
As the smoke cleared and the hail of blades ceased, The angel legion was no more...and yet the magus had a bitter taste in his mouth. This did not feel like a victory.
He turned his head to glance at his lover who meet his gaze. He nodded to her and turned back to give her the final battle.
As saber stepped up and squared off agains the only enemy remaining, Kokabiel.
"Are you not saddened at the fall of your soldiers?" Saber asked towards the angel.
"They served their purpose" He answered with a neutral face.
They did serve their purpose, as he served his. He did not look down on them nor did he consider them dispensable. His heart ached at their loss, but he knew….he would be joining them shortly.
"Those who consider their comrades as disposable are the scum of the world" Saber declared at her opponent.
Her words caused him to smile. They were her enemies yet she felt for the fallen angels. This made him happy that the one who wielded Excalibur had such a righteous heart.
His smile only further infuriated the King.
Saber charged at her opponent, her Excalibur met his abomination head on.
His smile grew as he formed a light spear in his left had while the blades were locked and drove it towards her head.
As the spear came towards her, she disappeared in a flash with Soru and appeared behind him. He barely met her blade in time as he spun around. Saber was quick to return the favor by coating her left arm in haki and throwing a punch into his stomach.
Kokabiel was blown several feat back and had a trail of blood flow out the corner of his lips.
"What interesting abilities, I'm assuming they are not from this world…." He said in amusement.
The devils were awed at what they had just seen. A high speed movement technique and a physical enhancement that were way above the normal level they had run into. Many thoughts crossed their minds…..was ichigo's group constantly traveling to other worlds and learning new skills? Is that how he became so strong?
They were pulled back to reality by the aura that Saber started to emit. It was sharp….very sharp. It felt like her sword was locked onto them and there was nothing they could do to prevent it from taking their lives.
"Sword intent" Ichigo said to the dumbstruck devils. They all looked at the orange haired shinigami.
"The user enters a hyper-focused state. They act almost on instinct as they pull from all the training and battles they have been through to move and attack at the most optimal efficiency. It goes beyond the muscle memory you develop from swinging your blade thousands of times. Your mind will pick the most optimal action you can make in a situation, a swing of the blade will be with the least amount of movement, the least about of power necessary and the one that will cause the most damage." Ichigo explained.
They gawked at his explanation. Kiba especially was practically foaming at the mouth for such an ability. He could understand how powerful such a thing was, he would always be at his absolute best when Sword intent was used. He would be able to create the best sword possible at in-human speed for any circumstance.
He stared at the petite king in awe as he tried to understand the strange ability.
Kokabiel who also heard Ichigo had a smile creep up on his face again.
"Was this a human created technique" He asked the blonde.
"Yes" She answered without emotion.
Kokabiel let out a hearty laugh. This was getting better and better for him. Humans were such an amazing species in his eyes. They never stopped growing.
Saber furrowed her brow at his laugh and readied herself for another attack.
As the angel regained his wits, Saber's sword swung down overhead. He quickly brought his blade up to block the attack, and as soon as their blades met, a haki coated foot lodged itself into his chest and caused him to be pushed back a few steps.
He didn't have time to respond as saber cut at the air sending a compressed wind blade towards him. The angel expanded his wings to intercept the air blade, he created a light spear and shot it at her to buy himself a moment to recover.
Saber didn't hesitate at all as the spear made its way towards her head, she barely moved half a step out of the way as she once again used soru to appear by his said with her blade swinging up towards his mid section.
Kokabiel knew he was not on her level in regards to swordsmanship, and in experience he didn't know if he could match her either….his only option was sacrifice.
He moved the wings on his left side to intercept the blade. Saber had cut through two of them before her blade had been halted.
Kokabiel didn't miss this opportunity, he swung his knock-off blade down towards the girl who clad her arm in haki to intercept.
He was able to push the blade into her arm and reached the bone before it was stopped. As they reached a stalemate, both had blades lodged into the others body, Kokabiel flung the feathers from his still intact wings at the king.
The feathers were like steel arrows as they pierced towards her body. Unfortunately, she was still not quite skilled enough to coat her entire body in busoshoku haki, so she tried her best to position herself to receive the least amount of damage possible from these 'arrows'. She pushed her Kenbunshoku haki to the highest level she could at the moment, she could barely make out their trajectories as she weaved her body without removing her blade from the fallen angel.
Several feathers pierced into her skin and blood stained her cloths. She did not falter at the pain as she heavily channeled her prana into a blade for a short burst of power. With a shout she cleaved upwords, completely severing all the wings on the left side of his body and pulling herself away from the blade still lodged in her arm.
Kokabiel had coughed up blood after they gained a bit of distance. Wings were not just ornaments, they were a part of his body just like his arms or legs, and several had just been severed.
Saber also was feeling the effects of having been pierced several times and her arm was heavily weakened. But the one thought that permeated her mind…her blade did not glow with the same vigor it usually did against her foes. It almost seemed to dull a bit when she went to attack the angel.
"Why does my blade not wish to harm you?" She asked towards the angel. It was obvious to her at this point that Excalibur did not wish for this battle to happen.
Kokabiel was having trouble speaking, blood was filling his throat. The hits on his stomach had more of an effect than was showing on the outside, one of his lungs had ruptured.
He suddenly fell down to one need as he threw up more blood. He was defeated at this point, he could not mount any kind of viable defense if she wished to reengage.
"You bastard" She cursed. Rarely she cursed, and this was one of the times.
"My blade does not hurt the righteous….." She had come to some conclusions regarding the angel.
Kokabiel let out a few muffled chuckles at her comment. It couldn't be denied that his actions would bring about massive amounts of death on all sides. But Excalibur could sense his resolve…his willingness to sacrifice anything for the humans he loved. Excalibur was the glory of humanity and kokabiel shared its sentiments. The blade did not wish to strike down one who had such feelings in their heart.
Saber being the chosen of the blade had a connection to it. It wasn't sentient like Ichigo's blade but it could transmit its feelings clearly at times.
As Excalibur felt Kokabiel's feelings, so were those feelings transmitted to Saber.
Tears dripped down her cheeks at the revelation.
"Do you cry for me girl?" Kokabiel barely spit out.
"I'm trying to start a war and yet....you shed tears for me…." He had a smile as he said these words.
"You can stop….." Saber quietly said.
"Its too late now…..i made my choices and even my legion had fallen…..it is time for me to join them" He said as his eyes closed.
Saber was somber as she looked at his expression, he was resigned to his fate.
"I….would like to see that light one final time" He said towards the king.
Saber didn't answer. She and Excalibur both knew they would honor his request.
As she held the blade high, the familiar light shined in all directions. It gushed forth to embrace all who saw it. The Crystallization of humanities glory.
As kokabiel supported himself, barely on his knees, a smile never left his face. He recognized this light, this warm light that overshadowed any his brethren or his father could create.
"EX...…"
His eyes closed as a certain memory was brought to the forefront of his mind.
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"What is your name boy?" He asked the child that peered off into the distance.
"My…name is Arthur, Sir" He said hesitantly towards the angel who was hiding his form.
"Why do you not line up to for a chance to pull the sword from the stone?" Kokabiel asked towards the boy curiously.
"I am but a squire….i do not have the qualifications to be a king" He said reluctantly.
"Sometimes… the greatest of humanity comes from the smallest of beginnings." Kokabiel said with a gentle expression.
The child had a smile start to form on his face as he made his way towards the sword.
Kokabiel turned around and walked away as he heard a voice shout in the distance.
"All Hail King Arthur….."
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Tears fell from the Angel's eyes as he let the light embrace him.
"….CALIBUR" She cried out.
The beam of light consuming all in its path.
Kokabiel had finally fallen, with a smile on his face.
クリエイターの想い 
Coraulten
Coraulten Wrapped up kokabiel's arc, should finish this whole dxd arc before the weekend is out and move on to the next world. On a side note, i already have notes on the next story i wanted to write, but thats a long ways away.
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