As I hammered in the last bolt and staggered over the rim, it was not at all clear to me who was the conqueror and who was the conquered. To think that our team would finally do the impossible and become the first team of mountaineer's in history to ascend to the summit of the famous Mount Kailash, it was a heady moment.

Mount Kailash also known as Kailasa; is a 6,638 m (21,778 ft) high peak in the Kailash Range (Gangdisê Mountains), which forms part of the Transhimalaya in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

The mountain is located near Lake Manasarovar and Lake Rakshastal, close to the source of some of the longest Asian rivers: the Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, and Karnali also known as Ghaghara (a tributary of the Ganges) in India. Mount Kailash is considered to be sacred abode of Shiva, one of the three supreme deities in Hinduism.

Just then, Thapa, our Nepali guide shouted out in alarm, and we all turned around only to pale as we saw the one thing that is most frightening to all mountaineers.

"AVALANCHE!" the roar went out as all of us scrambled to find cover and secure ourselves. As I scrambled to steady myself, the ledge on which I was standing began to wobble, and in pure terror I began to race ahead and jump on to the neighboring ledge, when with a rumble the ledge broke apart and collapsed and I fell along with it down the cliff-side.

I was so shocked and had no idea what was happening. I remember slipping, then I tumbled for what felt like forever, hitting minor edges on the cliffsides along the way. I felt helpless and out of control, like being in a dream. When would I stop falling? All I remember thinking was that the view from the cliff had felt so pretty a couple of minutes ago; how could it have switched so quickly to this?

Halfway down the cliff, the light went out and all I could see was darkness as I was left falling through the air. Before I knew it, the cliff slope became even steeper and I fell farther. A little later I must have hit a rock and blacked out.

My next memory is lying by the small stream I'd spotted from the top of the cliff as I was falling down and I could hear someone approaching me. I could see a bright glow and make a humanoid shape which seemed to be observing me. I felt being enveloped by that light and could barely make out some words.

"You are not the best that I had hoped for, but you are not the worst either. You will do," and just as I lost consciousness, I thought I saw that person's forehead split in the middle and it appeared as if a beam of light originating from there hit me and I knew no more.

When I came to, I found myself on a soft bed, with a hum of beeping sounds in the background. As I slowly opened my eyes, I found myself in what appeared to be a hospital bed, hooked up to various machines monitoring my health.

"Ah, you are awake!" a voice came to my side, and I turned around and froze as I saw what was in front of me. A tall, blue skinned man in the get up of a doctor with four arms, each holding respectively a clipboard, a stethoscope, an X-ray and the last hand calmly placed inside the pocket of his trousers, smiling as he addressed me.

"Welcome, my friend, I am Dhanvantari, the Hindu god of Medicine and the being who saved your life on orders of my Lord Shiva. We have a lot of things to discuss."

The last thing I remember was shrieking like a little girl who accidentally watched a gruesome scene on a horror movie before sinking into a dead faint.

Ten Years Later

Kuoh town, in central Japan, home to the heirs of the two sisters of the four Satan's, Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri, respectively the siblings of Sirzechs Lucifer and Serafall Leviathan, was currently under siege from the forces of Kokabiel, the rogue fallen angel, who had defected from the faction of the Grigori, the fallen angel sect of heaven.

Issei Hyoudou sat up with a gasp, unsure of what it was that had instinctively woken him up. He tried to close his eyes and remember what happened a moment ago, but he could not recollect. Drawing in a calming breath, he opened his eyes, and looked to the sky and noticed Kokabiel looking at him with disgust.

"Pathetic! To think that the current Red Dragon Emperor is such a wretched weakling! You are a disgrace to the dragon whose sacred gear you wield! To think that the heavenly dragon which ranks among the twenty most powerful beings in the world is now dependent on a weakling like you makes my blood boil!" the fallen angel ranted in frustration, while tears of shame welled up in the young boy's eyes as he lay down on the ground broken.

He had activated his scale mail armor and boosted his strength to the highest extent possible and had charged at Kokabiel, only to be swatted out of the sky like an annoying insect. His armor shattered, his body bleeding, he had crashed down unconscious and only the immediate action of his teammate Asia Argento, wielder of Twilight healing had saved his life.

"Rias Gremory! Sona Sitri! Is this the best that you have to offer? Little children playing at leaders and warriors! Pampered brats like you have no right to act as if you are of any significance if this is the kind of strength you can bring to bear! More and more, I stand convinced that my course of action is correct! I will wipe out your indulgent lives here today, and then perhaps Sirzechs and Serafall will actually cast off their self-imposed shackles and unleash their true strength! Yes, I believe I shall do just that," Kokabiel mused, as he looked at the two wounded young women in question, who were on the ground, bleeding from the various wounds inflicted upon them from the blade of the re-forged Excalibur, fused from the five Excalibur shards stolen from the various branches of the Church, and currently being wielded by the rogue exorcist, Freed Sellzen.

"It is time to finish this! Freed, kill them!" Kokabiel ordered the exorcist, who gave a mad chortle and dashed forward towards the two heiresses.

Suddenly, a terrifying presence filled the entire area, forcing even Kokabiel to come down to the ground, while all activity in the area stilled. The two devil peerages and even their two exorcist allies, Xenovia Quarta and Irina Shidou collapsed to the ground, unable to bear the pressure. Of all the beings present, only Kokabiel managed to stay upright, though it was taking him considerable effort. Freed Sellzen had barely managed to stabilize himself by plunging his blade into the ground and was using it liberally as a support.

"WHO IS THERE! IDENTIFY YOURSELF!" Kokabiel roared in anger, as he tried to locate the source of the terrifying pressure, when a voice rang out from the darkness.

"With such feeble strength as yours, you believe yourself to be capable of igniting a war that will consume the world? You aim far above your station, weakling!" the voice rang out loud and clear, as a newcomer slowly walked into the area.

He was a man in his late twenties, lithe of figure, and was dressed in a fashion that none of them recognized. His upper body was covered in intricate armor made of dark colored steel, emblazoned with various sigils in a language that Kokabiel recognized belatedly as Ancient Sanskrit in a corner of his mind, along with two pauldron's and vambraces on both of his forearms; And on his lower body, he wore what was commonly known in India as a Dhoti, a rectangular piece of unstitched cloth, wrapped around his waist and legs in the manner of a pant, and held together with his armor by a dazzling golden belt slung around his waist. His face was sharp, angular and his eyes were grey like the color of clouds. His long hair had been secured in a ponytail, tied with a strip of red cloth. However, there was one thing that everyone noticed, the man's skin was dusky blue in color, which clearly indicated that he was not a human.

"You! Who are you! Why have you interfered here?" Kokabiel grunted in anger, even as he looked at the man's armor with a sense of deep foreboding.

"I am someone sent by the Shinto Pantheon to bring an end to your petty little rabble rousing. Did you really think that the Shinto Pantheon would allow you to run amok in their territory as you pleased?" his words were like a thunderbolt to the ears of everyone present, even though the sister's of the two devil leaders had a sense of indignation creep up their faces at the stranger's words.

"Shinto? Their territory! Bullshit! This territory belongs to the devils! You have no right to be here!" Kokabiel growled, to which the man smirked.

"The devils? You are mistaken, my friend. The devils claim this territory as their own only because the Shinto permit them to do so! The original arrangement stated that devil kind could claim this city as their own, as long as it does not cause a risk to the land of the rising sun. In which case, the agreement would be voided, and this land would cease to be their territory. Your intention of starting the next cosmic war falls under that category which gives them the right to intervene. As of now, the Shinto Pantheon has revoked the authority of the devils over this territory and has taken it back under their control, which means that they are free to act against anyone who is a threat, which includes you!" the man replied causing the devils to gasp in horror, while Kokabiel paled.

With a roar, the fallen angel unfurled all his wings and excluded all his energy in a blazing pillar of light, after which the pressure on the area ceased and everyone could breathe easily.

"Sona," Rias spoke out in a low whisper with urgency in her tones, to which her friend nodded grimly. "Let us observe for now, Rias!"

"Xenovia, what do we do?" Irina asked her friend, who seemed lost and a bit unsteady at the moment.

"FREED! Kill the interloper! Now!" Kokabiel roared, while Freed Sellzen nodded and picked up the Excalibur and raced ahead towards the interloper.

"DIE, ASSHOLE!" the mad exorcist roared, and just as he was nearing the man, the man held forth his left hand, and with a thunderous lightning burst, a magnificent bow emerged in his left hand.

With speed that defied common sense, the stranger held up the bow with his left hand and pulled the bowstring back by his right hand. After a second, a blazing arrow made up purely of flames could be seen forming.

"O Agni! Burn all creation to ashes! Agneyastra!" the man muttered and released the flaming missile, which streaked through the air almost instantaneously leaving a blazing trail behind its wake and impacted with Freed Sellzen, who did not even have the time to scream as he was vaporized almost instantaneously. As far as Excalibur was concerned, it was turned into a puddle of glowing molten slag and fell on the ground with the impact of the flaming weapon.

"HOLY SHIT!" Issei gasped in horror as he jumped back in fear, even as the eyes of everyone who was watching turned wide in shock and terror at this overwhelming display of power.

"He …"

"He really …"

"How …"

"No …," the scream came from one of the exorcists, Xenovia, who was looking at the scene in horror, while tears were streaming from the eyes of her orange haired colleague, Irina. They had just watched one of the holiest relics of their faith being destroyed in front of their eyes.

"How? How is this possible! It is the most powerful holy sword in existence! How can it be destroyed like that?" Xenovia cried out in shock to which the stranger shook his head in pity.

"That thing was no holy sword, girl, and even if it was the original item, it would still have met the same fate! As powerful as Excalibur was originally, it has never really crossed paths with weapons of equal status before and has only faced lesser weapons. Only when a weapon crosses paths with another weapon of equal or superior abilities will its true worth be realized. And frankly speaking, in the list of holy swords comprised of all pantheons, Excalibur barely makes it into the top ten. I would rank it at around ninth if I was being generous. There is no wonder that this fake blade met its end so ignominiously!" the man spoke as if he was giving a lecture in some academy even as he gazed at Kokabiel who was looking, dare they say it, almost frightened.

"YOU! YOU ARE NO SHINTO! WHAT IS YOUR NAME? WHY IS SOMEONE FROM YOUR PANTHEON HERE? THE HI…," that was as far as Kokabiel got, because within that time, the stranger had again drawn up his bow and released another arrow, which looked as if it was made up of solid air.

"Manavastra!" The stranger uttered and released his arrow which flew at impossible speeds and impacted Kokabiel right in the chest interrupting his tirade mid-stream. With a titanic blast of air, the fallen angel was hurled into the sky and was sent spinning away into the distance, until he completely disappeared from view.

"What? Where did he go?" Issei asked in surprise, as everybody looked at the stranger who smirked.

"Looking at the trajectory and the speed, and considering that I used only half of the weapon's power, he should be crash landing somewhere in the middle of the Sahara Desert in a couple of seconds," he shook his head, and let down his hands as the bow vanished in another burst of lightning.

"The Sahara!" Issei swallowed audibly and looked fearfully at the man who had just sent the most powerful enemy he had ever seen, flying across half the world with a single arrow.

"Rias Gremory! Sona Sitri! Know that there will be consequences for failing in your duties as guardians of this town! You and your siblings will be hearing from the Shinto Pantheon soon!" the man spoke out and then vanished in a wisp of smoke.

"Who … was he?" Irina asked timidly, as everyone stood silently, attempting to understand what had just happened.

From a hidden vantage point, Vali Lucifer, the current White Dragon Emperor was also wondering the same thing.

Author's Note:

This was a story idea that I had been thinking of for a very long time. One thing I must stress is that despite being in the first person narrative at times, this is not a SI story, and I find that writing in this first person narrative, helps me write the story far more smoothly.

Secondly, this story will be borrowing heavily from various mythologies, most specifically Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shintoism. As a student of history, this allows me with more source materials to write this story.

Thirdly, the power levels of the characters in this story will not be minimized like the manga, and will hold true to the actual power of the characters and weapons mentioned in the original myths, meaning that almost every single named character will be literally broken when it comes to powers and abilities. You have been warned beforehand. For example, just check the page, 'Hindu Mythological Wars', in Wikipedia and you will get a baseline idea of what kind of abilities and weapons you will be dealing with here in the future.

My eventual hope is to make this story progress along the lines of the excellent story, Son of the Western Sea, written by Mac Ceallach, which I credit as an inspiration for this work. If this work can gain even ten percent of the success that story has, I will feel vindicated in this effort.

Regards,

A.S.