Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1.

AN: I present the Excalibur Arc!

Two figures in cloaks traveled down a road devoid of life. Hoods concealed their forms and appearances from sight. It was possible to tell they were women only with careful analysis. They were not dressed in cloaks of darkness like one would expect a pair traveling at such a dark hour would conceal themselves in. They were dressed in unsullied cloaks of pure white, gold clasps keeping them closed at their throats. Nothing could be seen within the hoods either wore. It was almost as if they were phantoms, silent disciples for the mission of a higher power. The power both exuded without even trying, without bothering to hide it, proved it was one of wrath, of retribution for a slight. The power that filled the streets as they walked promised a wrath unique to the divine would soon be upon the one unlucky enough to earn such ire.

"So this is your homeland, Irina?" A hooded head looked on either side of the street. Night had fallen, no one traveled at such an unreasonable hour in a neighborhood such as the one they resided in and all was silent. Nothing stirred nearby. "It is…lacking."

"Don't say things like that Xenovia!" The second figure, Irina, spoke with barely contained excitement. "You haven't even met my friend yet! God protected him when he was younger! He survived by God's grace."

"You talk about him too much." The first figure that had spoken, Xenovia, spoke a fact. "How are you sure he even lives where you last remember?"

"I had the church check up on him while I was training with them! My father talked them into doing it." Irina spoke the fact with too much cheer. "They made sure his family never left Kuoh."

"Interesting." Xenovia rose a hand up to her chin. "I never expected the church to help you to indulge in your act of sin."

"Sin?" Irina seemed absolutely horrified at even speaking the monosyllable, terrified of what her companion meant. "What are you talking about Xenovia?"

"You lust after him, correct?" Xenovia spoke the question as if it was a fact instead. "The church has provided you his location and we are headed to his house as we speak now. You clearly can no longer control yourself and must be intending to lay with him to satiate your sinful urges."

Her companion was literally shaking in horror at the thought. Xenovia easily ignored her growing horrorfied expression with every word she spoke.

"You even shake in anticipation towards the act now." Xenovia shook her head, pitying the girl in front of her, of her fall to temptation. "You are despicable Irina but I cannot stop you. You can only pray for forgiveness from God for what you will do to the boy when you take his innocence from him. I hope you're at least gentle with him when you do it."

She didn't seem to notice the statue like state of her mortified companion. She continued onward as if the conversation wasn't slowly traumatizing the girl with her.

"The boy is here correct?" She reached the door to a house. "I will head inside and tell him to ready his body and soul for your arrival."

"Xenovia!" Her companion raced forward, snapped out of her frozen state at last. "Don't! Everything you just said is...is...Just don't do it!"

"I shall." She climbed the steps to the door.

The events of the next eight minutes involved the following: Screaming from Irina, shouts from Xenovia for "Irina's boyfriend to drop his pants and ready himself!" upon opening the door, Issei Hyoudou being dragged out of bed and downstairs by a girl with blue hair, King's Dragon ripping the cloaks his two strange attackers wore when it tried to grab them, a blue haired girl attempting to pin him down on the floor, a blonde haired girl screaming as she tried to get her off, and his still mostly asleep mind was doing its best to understand why the blue haired girl had been trying to take off his pants sincs this mess started. He wasn't awake enough to think about how disturbingly close she got to outright tearing them off.

'What is happening with my life?' Issei laid on the floor without bothering to get up. King's Dragon stood above him, neither of the two girls approaching him with the Stand present. He looked up at the ceiling, looking for some type of answer from the heavens. 'What?'

He obviously didn't get one.

"Um…Issei?" The blonde cautiously approached. King's Dragon's armored head shifted to her and she stilled. The Stand vanished when Issei willed it to do so as he rose back to his feet.

"How do you know my name?" Issei stepped past the two girls in his house, heading towards the kitchen instead. He could be a decent host to the two at least while he got his answers. His parents had somehow slept through all he shouting and screaming. They were heavy sleepers he was almost certain could sleep through the end of the world if it happened if the two were asleep.

Or they would actually get up and stop it so they could get back to 'sleep' if it was one of those nights.

'I don't need that mental image.' Issei wished King's Dragon could modify his memories. The Stand probably could, memories in theory could be said to be stored in the mind and brought to the conscious mind by electrical impulses King's Dragon could end. 'Trying to do it may fry my brain through…' Issei looked to King's Dragon, where it hung invisible at his back. 'Should I risk it?'

"Issei, you don't recognize me?" The blonde haired girl had followed him into the kitchen, found the teapot and handed it to him. He had gone to get the tea first and didn't let his curiosity show.

"I would recognize a beautiful girl like you." Issei turned his focus on making the tea, missing the blush that turned the blonde's face scarlet. She didn't know what to say it seemed and could only stand there, her blush spreading.

"Go for his pants now Irina." Xenovia made her presence known behind the girl, pushing her forward and into Issei. King's Dragon burst to life but the Stand did nothing for Issei. It simply caught the teapot now filled with boiling hot water. Issei regretted using King's Dragon's powers to heat the water.

Irina landed on top of him, King's Dragon set the burning hot teapot on the counter, and Xenovia tried to pull off his pants. Again.

"Wait!" Issei immediately tried to move back, grabbed hold of his waistband with one hand, tried to draw his legs in at but Irina was laying on top of them after the blue haired girl pushed her into him. He looked to King's Dragon but he wasn't in danger. The Stand wasn't going to do anything just like it did nothing when he had fallen into Rias and Akeno's trap.

He swore he saw the Stand give him a thumb up before it vanished from sight.

"Xenovia!" Irina scrambled off of him, grabbed the blue haired girl before her hands could reach his belt and he would have to fight a fresh battle against her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I am aiding my sister of the Church to sate her sinful urges of the flesh." Her deadpan made Issei sigh as the girl's blush somehow actually began to glow.

It was almost impressive.

"You don't have to strip me." Issei set up with Irina gone. He rose back to his feet and looked at the blonde haired girl. "Your name's Irina?" He couldn't keep the small smile off his face at the memories the name brought back for him. It was of a time where he didn't know pain, a time where he had a friend, and a time where he still had some innocence. "I had a friend named Irina years ago…he was my best friend."

"Issei." Irina moved surprisingly fast. She threw her arms around him. "I can't believe you remember me!"

"Rememb-IRINA!" Issei actually threw his arms around her. His mind was in the present and the past. He remembered the arms around him no matter how much they had changed, he remembered the soft laughter of childhood, the innocent fun that filled his days, and the boy, no the girl, he had spent so much of such a fleeting time with. "It's you."

"I came back Issei." Irina tightened her hold on him. He tightened his hold on her. He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face, the smile at the memories that he thought would be buried forever. "I came back just like I said I would. I always keep my promises."

"Irina." He could only repeat the name, let the smile stay on his face.

He wanted this moment to last forever. She wanted this moment to never end. They were both fine just being able to hold their dear friend again, have the chance to know the past both had treasured didn't have to bring the despair of knowing those times were gone forever with it. They could make new memories, make the present and the future just as great as the past. They didn't need to think back on those times with near despair anymore. They had each other again.

"…Will there still be tea?" The blue haired girl, Xenovia, ruined the moment between friends.

"King's Dragon."

The girl drew a blade from seemingly nowhere to stop the teapot thrown at her. She caught sight of Issei's glare and found a reason to exit the kitchen a moment later.

"So, what are you and the other girl doing here?" Order had been restored roughly twenty minutes later. All three sat together, a cup of tea in each of their hands, and Issei asked the question that had been burning at the forefront of his mind since seeing the two. Well, since he had been dragged downstairs and had nearly been stripped.

"We are here on orders from Heaven itself." Irina smiled, pride filling her voice as she spoke of her mission. "We're to recover holy relics stolen from churches around the world and return them to the protection of the Vatican."

"Really?" Issei set his cup down and looked at the two girls. He felt power from them, a great power coming from both, and couldn't help but smile. "That sounds like something to be happy about, better than having to deal with Devils like I've been forced to for the past month."

"What?" Irina was suddenly at his side, looking him over with worry. Xenovia caught her falling cup before it could strike the ground and most assuredly shatter. "Devils are after you now?"

"Devils are at my school and keep trying to get me to help them." Issei set his cup down. He sighed. "I fought for one in a Rating Game because King's Dragon punched her brother's wife in the face after she showed up to stop me from having sex with her and another Devil."

"…" The blonde could only blink.

"King's Dragon?" When Irina had nothing to say, Xenovia spoke a question on her mind. She looked to where King's Dragon had last appeared, in the kitchen when it had thrown the teapot at her for interrupting the long awaited reunion of the two old friends, before turning her eyes back towards Issei. "What precisely is this ability you have?"

"Issei has a gift from God Xenovia." Irina answered for him, throwing her arms around him and pulling him into her chest. He was fine with it, the memories she brought back let him be completely fine with it. "He was hurt a long time ago but God helped him get better and gave him power to keep himself safe, a miracle because I prayed so much for him."

"God helped you?" Xenovia was used to Irina saying such things and looked to the boy that had been the focus of such a tale many times for confirmation. "Does Irina speak the truth?"

"God?" Issei shifted, Irina moved with him. The two were side by side now on the couch. "God is rather strange now that I think about it." He looked to the ceiling, looked past it and to the heavens. "God let a little boy get shot with an Arrow, let an old man die in front of that little boy, and let him take on pain he never should have." Issei wasn't looking for an answer as he stared past everything. He was looking into the past, searching his memory. "But God gave me the power to stop it from happening again I guess, God gave me the chance to see the face of the bastard who shot me, and God is going to give me the chance to use this power to kill him." Issei turned his eyes, eyes devoid of anything, to Xenovia. "If you consider that God's help, than he helped me."

"…You are strange." Xenovia spoke no more. She rose from her seat. "We should leave Irina."

"I'll feel bad if I just kicked you two out so late at night. You can stay here tonight if you want." Issei wasn't going to be rising from his seat anytime soon. He wanted to be close to Irina still. Irina wanted to be close to him. Both were fine simply sitting where they were and catching up. "I'll explain it all to my parents in the morning."

"You're the best Issei." Irina wrapped her arms around him and Issei let himself be pulled in. "You're just like I remember."

'No I'm not.' Issei didn't let his smile fall. 'I can try to be but you deserve better now Irina.'

Morning came rather quickly. King's Dragon had been sent off to grab a spare blanket and Issei discovered Irina was a cuddler. He didn't really have a choice but to remain on the couch when he had discovered such a fact last night and King's Dragon had covered both in the blanket. Issei swore the Stand was laughing at him before it vanished from sight. Xenovia had simply laid herself out on the couch across from him and used her cloak as an impromptu blanket. King's Dragon had gotten a blanket for her as well before it had vanished.

'How am I going to explain this to Mom and Dad?' Issei would have brought a hand up to his chin but both were currently occupied, one arm wrapped around Irina and the other holding Irina's hand between the two. He was fine with this. 'With the supernatural stuff happening they may not care as long as they're not Devils and they both at least know Irina.' Issei cast his eyes towards Xenovia. She was almost eerily still in her sleep. 'Xenovia won't be problematic hopefully.' His face turned slightly red. 'Hopefully I don't have to buy a better belt at the end of all this.'

"Issei?" The high schooler turned and caught sight of the blonde nun. He did his best to smile at her despite the situation she found him in.

"Ah Asia, how did you sleep last night?" He wasn't getting an answer from the girl who instead focused on the girl at his side and then the girl across from him on the couch. "Asia?" He didn't like the look that crossed her eyes even if it was just for a moment. She turned back to him and smiled.

"Let me help you." Star Twilight came to life and the maiden's hands shined, were consumed by light that somehow wasn't blinding. It was gentle beyond anything else. The teen felt as if he was wrapped in warmth like no other. Before Issei knew it, he was free of Irina's hold and Asia had taken hold of his hand to lead him upstairs. "You need to get ready for school Issei."

"I do." Issei let her take him away. "Have my parents talked to you about school yet?"

"I'm still learning the language from your mother." Asia's face flushed red. "I'm trying but…I still only hardly know the basics."

"You're learning Asia." They reached the top of the stairs and Issei stopped, laying a hand on Asia's shoulder. "That's all that matters right now. We'll take this one step at a time, got it?"

"I…I just want to go to school with you Issei." Asia looked away from Issei, her face still red. "I don't want you to be alone with those devils."

"Don't worry about me so much Asia." Issei dropped down to her height, didn't let his smile fall in the slightest. He gently turned her head to face him again with his free hand. "I have King's Dragon to keep me safe and the deal with the Fallen Angels."

"But what if they still try to hurt you?"

"Then I'll destroy them. I won't let anyone hurt mom, dad, you, even the guys who hang out with me. No one is going to get to any of you without having to go through me and King's Dragon."

'And I'll let King's Dragon level the whole city if I have to.' He let that silent vow bind him, ruins would be the future if he had to do it to keep everyone safe. No one would hurt Asia again, no one would ever make his parents go through what the Devils made them again, and he wouldn't even let those two perverts get hurt.

If he had to, he would fight God himself to keep them all safe. He was the Red Dragon Emperor and had a Stand as powerful as Kong's Dragon. It was a great loaded deck to have in any fight. If anyone could possibly kill a god, kill even God himself, it was him.

And he wouldn't regret it.

"Kiba." Before classes started for the day, Rias called over the sole Knight of her Peerage with as gentle a tone as she could. She needed to address what had happened last night. She knew what he was sensing, knew what it was doing to him. She had hoped it would be over with by the morning, find a way to control himself, but it was for naught. It had only gotten so much worse. She had been a fool to let it fester an entire night. It may not be possible to held him anymore with so much time to let his mind remind him of what such power had done, of what such power had cost him and so many others. The oath he had taken because of such power. "We need to talk."

"Rias...I can feel THEM." Hatred. Pure and simple hatred took hold of her knight. Kiba Yuuto could hardly keep himself from shaking in rage. "I can feel those...those things."

"The church sent them here Kiba. We can't attack them. It could start another Great War." She needed to talk some sense into him. Keep him from doing something he would regret later, something they all would regret later.

She didn't even know if it was even possible to succeed. She could feel how hatred had consumed him, engulfed him in a raging torrent that she wasn't sure there was even any escape from. It had become everything to him until he had nothing but it left. It was almost as if it had consumed his very soul.

"I can't just let them go..." He grit his teeth, his hands curled into fists, and his body trembled as he did his best to keep himself together. He wasn't winning. He was failing. "After what I lost...after what they did...those THINGS are the reason I lost everyone!"

He was fighting, and losing, the war raging within himself. Rias already knew what he would do. It was painfully obvious now that there was no hope in hell that he would remain where he was. He couldn't. He had to go. He had to go out and destroy, go out and kill.

If he didn't, his hatred would tear him apart.

"I've already contacted my father. He'll have someone to take you to the Underworld if you can't control yourself." Her father had been swift in aiding his daughter. It was likely in an attempt to leave the territory of her ire but it was nearly hopeless. She wouldn't forget the loveless life he had nearly locked her into.

He would be lucky if she could even tolerate him again within the next decade.

"You're asking me to forget about THAT Rias. I-I can't do that." It was as if each word was truly a struggle. He seemed more like a mad beast driven into a frenzy than a Devil at the moment and he knew it. He had clenched his fists so hard that blood stained the carpet but neither paid such a thing any mind.

His hate was consuming him. His hate was going to take him away from her and she realized, to her horror, that there was nothing she could do to stop it.

When the tears began to fall from her eyes, when she realized her own helplessness, her Servant could no longer linger.

He was gone from her sight in a flash of red.

"Kiba..." She didn't scream his name, plead to whatever would listen to bring him back to her. It was hopeless. She crumbled to her knees and sobbed, failed to stifle her cries, and hated her own powerlessness.

There was no Issei to solve her problems any longer. There was no Sirzech to help her, to train her to become strong enough.

She was too weak to do anything in the end. She was too weak to do anything but sob at her powerlessness. What was a King that couldn't help even a single member of her Peerage? What was a King that let every problem fester and grow until it couldn't be stopped? What was a King that had to rely on a human to win all her battles for her? What was a King that had to seduce a human to fight for her? What was a King that had to rely on anyone but herself and those who swore their lives to her to fight her battles? What was a King that couldn't fight to keep her Peerage whole?

She was pathetic.

She was pathetic because she could only sob and couldn't answer any such questions.

She was no King.

Issei sat across from the two girls that had shown up at his house last night, Asia at his side. The nun had decided the best way to learn the language she had grasped the basics of was to head out with him today. He planned to head out (he was not even going to pretend to even consider going to Kuoh Academy today) and, once he was done with Asia, speak with Dohnaseek at the church. He needed to know if the Fallen could actually protect his parents from any other tricks by the Devils. It would also help to get an outside opinion on Azazel. He definitely trusted the rather honest and open Fallen Angel more than the Devils but it wasn't by much. One compared to zero was a lot after all.

The man had still decided to try and attack him all to see what King's Dragon could do. He was too driven by his research to Issei. He was dangerous with that kind of drive.

"So what exactly got stolen?" He opened up the conversation with a rather simple question.

"We are not allowed to speak on that to those outside of the church." Xenovia physically stopped Irina from answering by laying her hand over the blonde's mouth. Her eyes were focused on Asia instead of Issei as she spoke.

Issei stopped himself from doing anything extreme when he noticed. King's Dragon didn't appear at all.

His fingers tensed but that was all.

"I guess you two will be fine out there by yourselves then?" He yawned after he finished speaking. "I was planning to do a bunch of stuff today and want to know if I should be worried about you getting in a big fight." His eyes were sealed away from the outside world. He couldn't stop the hate that shined in them so he hid them away for now. "Like with the Devils."

He leaned his head back, let a deep exhale take away some of the pure hatred he felt merely remembering the fact that Devils were always so close to his family, his friends, and to Asia.

The nun laid her hand on his.

"You don't need to be angry Issei. I know you'll never let them hurt me or anyone." Asia could read him like an open book despite the time he had spent away. It almost seemed like he could hold no secret from her.

"I wish I could. Then I wouldn't have to strike a deal with any of those things. I could have a nice peaceful, boring life with all of you." Issei let another deep exhale take away his hate. He focused on Asia's soothing presence and let his eyes open once more. Having his head back on the couch was surprisingly comfortable. It was definitely comfortable enough for the brown haired teen not to bother with a thing like moving at all.

Issei eventually released a sigh.

"...I want you to call me if you run in to any kind of trouble." He didn't look away from the ceiling he was staring at. "I'll be with Asia for most of the day but I'll be on the lookout for the call. Don't get hurt if you can help it. I just got to see you again Irina, I don't want to say goodbye for a while if I can help it."

"You don't have to worry about us Issei." Irina stood up from her seat, moved over to stand in front of Issei. "God is going to protect us because of our righteous mission. He will watch over us and make sure I can see you again."

She reached out, laid a hand on the arm she knew was scarred by the past.

"He was with you that day. He'll be with us both from now on. He'll bless us both with the strength we need. Trust me." Irina could see how deeply worried he was for her. Knew how much he had missed her when they had been forced to part ways because she missed him just the same. He was her drive to get so much stronger than she ever thought she could be, to embrace the strength given to her by the church's training, the strength given to her by God to wield such incredible power as the Holy Swords stored by the church.

Issei Hyoudou and her faith kept her going in her darkest moments.

"...You haven't changed as much like I thought you would Irina." Issei smiled as his head dropped forward. He moved to his feet and pulled the Exorcist close with one arm. The other, the one scarred by the Arrow years ago, hung at his side. "I'm glad."

She took hold of his arm free, didn't let him pull it out of her grip. She tightened her own hold on him, didn't let him try to draw away.

"God gave you this power Issei. He gave us both power to keep our friends and our families safe. Don't be so embarrassed about it." Her words were only for him, whispered into his ear so softly he could make a good case and say he hadn't heard them.

They were perfectly clear.

He didn't know if he should ever tell her he heard them. If he could ever accept what the Arrow had done to him. Accept everything the Arrow had so easily taken from him.

His body tensed, every muscle screamed at him with the lingering agony of the past. He felt the Arrow rise from his flesh, feel the edge warmed by his blood, dusted in shards of bone, draped in ripped flesh slowly press against his neck. He felt it rise, force the skin to sink, slow itself as it relished his pain, his screams. He wanted to scream, wanted to tear it away, but his body was no longer his own, no longer anything. Where the Arrow touched burned like nothing else but everywhere else was chilled, numb to life.

Irina's warmth was there just when he thought he had lost himself. He felt it spread. He felt the Arrow wither, felt it hide away.

He didn't raise his arm to wrap around her but he didn't draw it away.

He was fine with this.

He was fine.

The four had set out from his home together. They were hardly a few blocks from his house when an unwelcome guest to them all appeared.

A blonde Devil Issei wished he had never met.

The moment he swung his sword towards Irina he wished he had killed him.

King's Dragon intercepted the blow with one armored hand, catching the flaming blade by the tip and shattering it. It threw Kiba away with a burst of emerald power.

Kiba's mouth moved but Issei heard nothing. He heard nothing but his own heartbeats, heard the blood filling his ears. The Devil spoke but Issei heard nothing at all.

He only saw the fangs. He only saw the fresh steel that took hold of his hands. He only saw the blood that could have been spilled.

King's Dragon attacked.

The Devil never stood a chance. It was over in hardly a minute. He had beaten him for over a month when he worked with a group of Devils that tried to beat him. He held back then. He held back now. He didn't maim, didn't incinerate, didn't annihilate the creature that had dared to attack Irina, that dared to threaten Asia.

He didn't kill the creature in front of him. He showed mercy when he beat it into the ground instead of into a grave.

He was conscious. His hate kept him from succumbing to his body's desire to dip into the darkness that swarmed from his injuries. He ignored it with his hate. His hate even powered him to speak a single word, ask too many questions to count.

"Why?" He had to ask. He had to know.

Why couldn't he beat him?

Why couldn't he fulfill his oath?

Why was he so weak?

Why couldn't he kill the Holy Sword wielders?

Why couldn't he die?

Why could he never close the gap?

Why could he beat him so easily?

Why didn't another live in his place?

Why did he have to be left alone?

Why did he have to bear the burden of his hatred?

Why did he have no one?

Why did he have such power?

Why couldn't he have that power?

Why couldn't Rias understand why he needed to do this?

Why did fate steer him down this path?

Why was he cursed with Light when anything else would have spared him such misery?

Why couldn't he die before she arrived?

Why did she pick a boy as unworthy, as weak, as useles as him for a servant?

Why was he even alive?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why?

"Hmm?" Issei turned to face him, the brown haired teen's disinterested stare enraging him in ways nearly nothing else ever could. He wanted to strike out at him, to make him look at him another way, but he knew it was worthless in the end.

King's Dragon wouldn't allow such a thing. He wouldn't get a chance to take a single step towards him. He would be lucky to even get away with a twitch.

He couldn't hurt Issei Hyoudou.

"Don't play dumb with me Hyoudou!" Kiba's fist slammed into the ground, his voice a roar as he bared his teeth, closer to fangs than anything else in that moment. "You know what I want to know so answer me!"

"I don't." Issei stepped forward, away from the two Exorcists he had been traveling with for not even an hour. "You haven't really explained anything to me, just screamed at those two over there about swords and stuff." His hands didn't leave his pockets as he yawned, his eyes settling on Kiba but hardly focusing on the Devil. "I don't really know why you even attacked them in the first place."

An armored hand took hold of the front of his shirt and forcibly lifted him into the air. King's Dragon emerald lenses reflected his own hate filled eyes back at him. They burned with utter hatred, were consumed by nothing but his fury at the two, at his weakness, at Issei's power.

"I don't even know why you have that look like you want to kill me on your face." Issei's brown eyes, even if it was ever so slightly, hardened. It spoke volumes, far more than King's Dragon fist as it was drawn back.

Issei shrugged his shoulders.

"It doesn't matter in the end. I hope you don't plan on doing anything else today." Issei turned away without another word, walked over to the two Exorcists with him. "I'll tell Gremory to come pick you up before anything strange happens to you."

His piece said, King's Dragon slammed Kiba's head into the ground. The Knight was completely unconscious from an impact that would lay out most Rooks.

"ECHI!" The fist was thrown forward and was stopped a hair's breadth from Kiba's unconscious body. In the blink of an eye, a dome rippled out from it. It became a sphere as it dug into the ground.

Issei didn't spare the Devil another glance as he bid farewell to Irina and Xenovia. He carried on with his day with Asia as if it hadn't been interrupted in the slightest.

In a way it wasn't.

How could a fly bother him when he could so easily swat it away?

"Is Dohnaseek in?" The Exorcist in front of him was literally shaking. Issei's bored eyes hardly swept over him as the causally dressed teen waited outside the doors of the church. King's Dragon wasn't in sight but anyone with a sense for the supernatural knew it was always watching, always waiting, and always ready.

"Y-Yes." The Exorcist stepped away, threw open the doors as swiftly as possible. Issei ignored the fear induced trembling from the man and walked inside.

Asia followed after him.

"You don't have to be here you know?" Issei walked into the sanctuary of the faithful with a yawn and his hands in his pockets. "I can handle this."

"I know..." Star Twilight didn't have as visible a presence as King's Dragon. Maybe it's own powerful aura was washed out by King's Dragon's overwhelming one. Perhaps it was just another example of the difference in power between a Longinus and normal Sacred Gear. "I just don't want you to be alone here."

"Thank you." The rest of their walk was in silence.

Issei stepped into a room with four Fallen Angels and a dozen or so Exorcists within. Asia waited outside the room at his urging.

"I've been meaning to speak with you for a while Dohnaseek. Devils kept getting in my way." Issei yawned as he came to a stop in the center of the room, as King's Dragon appeared behind him. All but one of the Exorcist took a step back. "That Azazel guy came by my house a while ago. He said you guys will be keeping my family safe from the Devils, is he right?"

"No Fallen Angel would disobey an order from a being as powerful as Azazel-sama. Your family will be protected by the Fallen as long as you hold to your side of whatever deal you struck." The Fallen wasn't attempting to deceive him. He was too honest and too open.

He also knew better.

King's Dragon was a creature no one wanted to anger even before knowing the boy who controlled it possessed the Boosted Gear. It swiftly became the equivalent to suicide once such a thing was well known. His battle against the two Phenex siblings during the Ratings Game he took part in only added incentive.

Dohnaseek figured no one would willingly make a boy like Issei their enemy. It would be the epitome of foolishness.

"Hello Asia-chan." Outside the room, Asia silently stared at the Fallen Angel that had brought her to the city to, as she now knew, steal her Sacred Gear from her as a step in a plan that probably only made sense to her. "I'm glad to see you."

The dark haired Fallen was all smiles as she stepped closer to the nun, stepped well within her comfort zone. One black gloved hand reached out, brushed away a stray strand of her blonde hair. She stepped closer and the nun didn't step away.

Star Twilight wouldn't appear unless she willed the Stand to. The attack would take the Fallen completely by surprise.

"Are you glad to see me too Asia-chan?" Raynare leaned forward, her smile far too wide. She grabbed hold of the strand of hair she had pushed away. She didn't pull on it but escape was limited as she began to twirl it around her fingers. "Well, are you?"

She pulled. It was light but it wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling for Asia. She didn't cry out. Her eyes didn't leave Raynare.

She looked at her with pity. She pitied the Fallen that was so desperate for power that she would go to nearly any length. She pitied how far she had let herself fall since her wings had turned as dark as night.

"Raynare-chan, can I tell you something?" Asia looked up at the much taller Fallen Angel, green eyes not moving away from violet spheres of madness.

"You can tell me anything Asia-chan." Raynare's smiled was slowly exposing the madness that it had already poorly concealed.

Light sparked in the palm of her free hand, her fingers curled before splaying out. She was losing the struggle to restrain herself.

"Before you found me, I prayed to God everyday for someone to save me. I prayed and I prayed for God to help me but everywhere I went, I only found people who wanted to hurt me, to use the gift my Lord gave me. I went from city to city, church to church, searching for somewhere where I could worship my Lord away from all those people but I never found it. But I still prayed. I prayed because I knew God had a plan for me, I knew God did not abandon me. And he didn't. He lead me to you, let me come to Kuoh, and let me meet a boy like Issei. All my trials, all the obstacles the Lord placed before me, it was to make sure I could come to this place, meet Issei, and be away from people like that. People like you Raynare."

Asia smiled as Raynare's face twisted. She pulled harshly on the hair she held and Asia saw red light spark into a thin spear.

Star Twilight took shape next to her, her cloak gone and the dark expanse filled with stars took hold of her wings, let the gluttonous void open its toothless maw and sate its greed. Light was consumed by the wings, crimson dust spiraling into the endless nothingness that created them in the blink of an eye. Light took hold in the fair maiden's hands, burned with a power like nothing else.

"Goodbye Raynare." Asia didn't look at the Fallen Angel as she spoke. She didn't need to. She drew away from the wall just as Issei opened the door.

The sight of the brown haired boy was enough to make the Fallen Angel pale. She had been defeated effortlessly twice by the boy, had seen what he had done so easily to someone as powerful as Riser Phenex, and knew her chances against something as powerful as a Longinus type Sacred Gear.

She was prideful, arrogant, and sadistic to an extent that made her run headfirst into situations with half thought out plans but she wasn't in any way suicidal. She wouldn't challenge someone already on their way to mastering a power like the Boosted Gear. She wasn't that stupid.

"Hey Asia." Issei completely ignored her. His eyes were only for the blonde haired and green eyed nun with him. "I'm done here."

Star Twilight had vanished from the sight of all but the nun the second the door had opened. She offered a beautiful smile to the brown haired teen and saw his eyes light up. She wrapped one of her arms around his, one hand in his pocket keeping it at his side, and began to walk with him.

Neither spared Raynare a further glance.

"Then we can go back home?" Asia received a nod and a small smile from the teen resolute to ditch the entire day of classes at Kuoh.

"Yeah. We can just head back and relax for the rest of the day. Tomorrow I'm going to go see that Azazel guy in his fancy lab and show him what King's Dragon can do for a couple hours. I'll be back before lunch." Issei raises his free hand to cover his eyes and sighed. "I'm probably going to get in trouble for missing school today so I better not show up for the rest of the week. It's only a few days anyway."

"Can you take me to that arcade you were telling me about a while ago then? We can spend all day at home tomorrow when you get back." Asia smiled at him and the teen immediately conceded without question.

"Sure. It's not like I'm going to pay for any of the games anyway." He hardly held back a yawn as he spoke.

One of King's Dragon more plentiful uses over the years was its use as a money saver. Electricity could easily be manipulated by the Stand, make a game his to do with as he pleased. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had paid to play a game in the arcade. It was second nature for King's Dragon to hijack the game for however long he wanted to play. It was usually for a few hours.

"Issei, how can you be so okay with doing something like that?" Asia reprimanded him for such ways with a frown on her face. "Don't you know how important it is to obey rules."

"There's no rule that says I can't use King's Dragon. Besides, the guy in charge is probably okay with it. Anytime I set a high score, he's got people flocking in to break it. His place only gets bigger the more high scores I set. I'm pretty sure he's given me an unofficial sponsorship with all the little 'gifts' he gives me." A small smile took hold of Issei's face as he spoke of his time in the arcade.

He may not pay to play the games but he definitely had an impressive level of skill when it came to them. There was not a single game in the building's rather vast and always growing selection that he hadn't beaten and set a high score for at least once. He had been working on beating out his previous high scores on some of his favorite games when he had been dragged on the date that started the disaster his life had morphed into when devils got involved. His skills may have gotten a little bit rusty but his reflexes had definitely gotten sharper over the last month and change he had been away from Kuoh.

He was definitely ready to have another go at breaking at least one of his high scores.

"I still think you should pay for them." Asia was pouting at him. Issei wouldn't admit he was suddenly embarrass of his habits but by how red his face was, how he pointedly looked towards the sky instead of Asia, it was clear the nun had gotten to him.

"A-Alrght. I've got some extra pocket change anyway so I guess I can pay just this once." He conceded to the girl on his arm, felt like the world brightened up a little when he caught a glimpse of her smile. "Just don't expect me to make a habit of it okay? I'm not made of money after all."

"Will you at least pay for the game when you're with me?" He didn't speak but nodded to her suggestion. He was pretty sure the sun was darker than Asia's happy expression.

There was no way the sun could compare to the light shining from the girl now.

'I'm still not paying for vending machines.' It wa simple retribution there. Too many had taken his money and hoarded it with nothing in exchange. It was only fighting a mighty enemy in an everlasting battle when it came to those machines of evil.

And snacks.

The snacks were definitely not evil. There was no way they could be. But could they be converted to evil was the true question? Issei realized he had no choice but to truly ponder this. Was the supernatural world evil enough to corrupt the delicious snacks of Kuoh? Would they fall to such lows if given no other option? Would they Devils attempt to control the town with magically drugs disguised as candy, as soda? Would the Fallen and the mad scientist that seemed to lead them resort to creating dangerous experiments and hiding them away in the same? Experiments that would transform anyone unfortunate enough to partake in it into a monster?

Issei was so deep in such deliberations that he didn't notice the two had reached their destination until he was through the dark double doors and inside the building.

"Issei!" A familiar voice shouted his name and a grin spread across his face. "I haven't seen you in so long I thought you were dead!"

"You're too morbid Mario! I would definitely haunt this place if I kicked the bucket this young!" Issei approached the large Italian man behind the counter with a grin.

He was the owner of Zeppeli's Game Temple, the, in Issei's opinion, greatest arcade in the entirety of the known world. He and his family, a wife and enough kids Issei was sure the man and his wife never bothered with birth control, had come to Kuoh shortly before Issei had been born. His parents had hit it off with the new foreigners and had brought Issei to the family friend a few weeks after he had gotten out of the hospital. They had hoped he would make friends with the children his age during what had become a weekly game night. He played the games with them and walked away from the night with a smile.

He had only made rivals when he had demolished several high scores. Rivals that were still rivals with him today.

"As long as you keep making everyone want to break your high scores I'm fine with that!" The man didn't just accept a handshake from the boy he had known for so long. He pulled him into a one armed embrace. "It's good to see you again after so long. Your parents were worried about you wherever you went off to."

"Yeah. I couldn't write much where I was." Issei pulled back first. His smile was still there but it was a bit strained. "I want to make up for lost time and so everybody I'm still the champ of this place."

"Don't let me hold you or your girlfriend up then Champ." Mario gave him a solid pat on the back and Issei's eyes widened.

"I can't believe I completely forgot to introduce you two." He saw Asia was already heading into the arcade when he turned to find her gone from his side.

"I already met her Issei." Mario laughed as he went back to his place behind the counter. "Your parents brought her over when they were showing her the sights of the town. Your folks made sure the last stop was here. Saving the best for last and all."

"R-Really?" Issei was already heading in after the blonde nun and saw her waiting at one of the games with a smile on her face.

"Let's play this game Issei!" The way she was smiling, the way she beamed at him, Issei was fine paying for the game.

It was a classic for Mario's place, a classic for arcades everywhere in Road Brawler but Zeppeli would settle for nothing but the ultimate edition for his Game Temple. The largest playable roster yet, the return of favorites across multiple games, a massive roster of guest characters, and a host of unlockables ranging from costumes to entirely new characters and stages. Issei had beaten the numerous tournaments in the fighting game a few times, finished the arcade mode with every character at least once, unlocked the most secret characters out of everyone who played it, unlocked the secret levels, and had beaten all challengers to his crown as champion. The controls were simple, a joystick to move and four buttons to attack and combo with. The cabinet was wide enough for four players to fight in a battle royale but for now it would only be two.

"Alright." Issei gave up the necessary funds for both to play and took hold of the very familiar controls. "I don't know if you've e-"

Asia had already selected her fighter and eagerly awaited for him to do the same. Issei rose an eyebrow in curiosity before he shrugged and selected one of the better fighters.

The two intros played and Issei settled in for going easy on Asia. It would be u-

ULTRA COMBO!

She demolished more than half his health in the opening attack.

Issei readied himself to defend his title instead. A glance to the nun showed she was smiling and laser focused on the game in front of her. He wouldn't expect a nun to play so brutally at a fighting game but Asia was full of surprises it seemed.

The first game, with a tried and true sudden cancel of a move that left him rather open to attack into a punishing combo, ended in his favor. Both had been reduced to a silver of health.

Asia returned strong in the second game, a victory in her hands in just two rounds.

"You know what this means, right Asia?" Issei hadn't been this excited at a game with his 'rivals' for years.

"I've been meaning to beat some of your high scores anyway." The nun smiled as she checked her nails for something.

"It is definitely on." Issei dived back into the game. The nun gladly did the same.

Eventually, the two moved from Road Brawler to a more recent Mega Mash Bros before heading back to an older Silver Fist fighter. Then the two started jumping from cabinet to cabinet. A race in the chair setup for Nasty and Nitro. Seeing how well the other could fly and shoot in Space Wolf and then seeing who could get the most points, best time, and more secret bonuses in each of the levels. Next came a home console classic ported to arcades in Chronicle of Ana, both taking on the challenges as the young hero Tie on side by side cabinets. Once that wasn't conclusive to a victor the two moved on again, a survival action horror in Mansion Malice where each took control of a separate character from a special forces team deployed to a mansion turned lab and worked through puzzles while managing scarce resources as they worked to uncover what happened and created a horde of zombies and other monsters. The two had just started on the second half when both felt the sudden massive surge of Holy Power erupt on the other side of Kuoh. Issei could feel three distinct signatures begin to clash. One was horribly twisted and the other two were familiar.

Both had only shown up last night after all.

"Irina..." Issei froze. Asia glanced to him and paused the game for both.

"We can play later Issei." She laid a hand on his arm, saw the worry enter his eyes at the fate of his oldest friend. "We can go now."

"Y-Yeah." Issei's mind was elsewhere as he stepped away. All the fun of the last dozen or so hours was forgotten in favor of Irina.

She was in trouble. He could feel it.

He didn't waste time with walking, not when she was in danger. He grabbed hold of Asia with both arms and the two were suddenly airborne with King's Dragon flying them away. The sheer wind caused by their speed would have normally torn them apart if a emerald capsule didn't surround them from the Stand.

It was barely a streak as it rocketed towards the Holy signatures. Two of them were dimming, flaring, showing how much their owners strained against the titanic corrupted one.

The emerald comet that was King's Dragon slammed into the corrupted one obviously. Asia called Star Twilight to her side, wings of darkness opening up as the maiden grabbed hold of both the nun and the teenager. Light, the weapon used by the corrupted source, was consumed by the darkness that were the maiden's wings. Even the emerald power of King's Dragon was not safe from its gluttony. Issei hardly seemed to notice that power was being drained from his Stand as he saw the two Exorcists hardly standing.

"Issei!" Irina, despite her exhaustion and the many wounds that let her blood stain the ground in a number of puddles, was more worried for him than herself. "You can't be here! It isn't safe for you!"

"Irina..." Dead eyes stared at the state of his childhood friend. The Boosted Gear appeared with a silent fury.

Issei's body began to shake in rage.

His eyes followed the blood that fell from a cut on Irina's forehead, trailed down the side of her face, curved down her chin, and finally fell to the cold ground below her. His eyes took in her numerous wounds, the burns that denoted the harsh light had seared her flesh close in some places. His eyes took in the fact that her once flawless skin was broken and blackened from her battle.

King's Dragon ignited with a blazing emerald aura like it never had before. It's body was consumed from sight, its armored form was rendered nothing but a silhouette of endless darkness before it ROARED.

It was as if a dragon had been unleashed upon the world without warning.

One moment the pale creature with pointed ears and five pairs of wings as dark as night was sneering at them, a hail of spears of twisted holy light coming into being above to tear them all to pieces, and the next King's Dragon was upon it.

"ECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIEHIECHIECHI!" The Stand roared as it unleashed its fury upon the creature before it. It didn't strike a dozen times. It didn't strike a hundred times. It didn't strike a few hundred times.

Thousands. The Stand unleashed blows numbering in the thousands in less time it took Issei to take a single hate filled inhale of air tinged with burning ozone.

"ECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHI!" The creature that had dared to harm Irina was forced higher and higher into the air, the air growing thinner and thinner as the blaze around King's Dragon only grew and grew as it if it was the sun. It grew brighter and brighter, burned and burned, and was hardly a single piece of Issei's wrath.

"FUCKING DIE!" The Boosted Gear was held upwards towards the sky, the emerald orb bathed all in its wrathful light, and snatched all light from the world to replace with his own.

What sparked to life from the orb was not a beam, was not a blast, was nothing so simple as what one would normally call an attack. It was annihilation. It was destruction. It was wrath. It was hate.

It was but a taste of the power required to kill a God.

King's Dragon, the creature, the sky itself was consumed in a massive blast. It was as if hell had opened upon the world, unleashed a emerald light like a trumpet's call to announce its existence to all. Everything became nothing. The power that roared, that screamed, that cried out as it entered the world, became the beginning and the end.

The creature was lucky stone broke under such power. The aim was slightly off, missed by a hair's breadth. It roared past, it roared into the sky above, roared as it ripped free of the sky, burned through space.

It struck an asteroid more comparable to a small planetoid several hundred light years away. It had been on a direct collision course with Earth and was therefore obliterated before it could reach the planet. It would have caused a new extinction, cracked the planet into fragments. It would have done much It it hadn't been obliterated by the released energy.

A creature blackened entirely by burns crashed into the ground. Being such close to such power was still as if one was close to a sun, a sun that burned thousands of times stronger than the one that burned at the core of the solar system.

The spears of light, each as large as buildings, began to fall then. The pitiful creature, still alive through a miracle of the divine, willed them to eradicate whatever monster laid below.

In blackened hands a blade of true magnificence burned with golden light. Blackened hands slowly turned pale once more. A mouth burned shut was renewed and was a gateway for laughter born from true insanity.

The wings of Star Twilight were unfurled, grew to canopies of great size to cover all those below. A gluttonous darkness was not yet satisfied. It became like a black hole for the light that rained down upon them all, turned the rain of twisted light with enough power to level the city several times over into nothing but memories. The light became nothing. The darkness consumed it all, consumed and thirsted for more.

The wings bulged, the endless emptiness that they were began to spread. The maiden that bore the wings closed eyes of darkness, eyes that held endless stars as much as they held endless darkness. The darkness spread still. A cloak enshrouded the fair skin from sight. Stars burned with enough light to blind as the darkness was sealed shut.

Asia Argento turned her eyes from the already fading Star Twilight to the two Exorcists that she had avoided as best she could. The rings of Twilight Healing flashed with light as she made use of the Sacred Gear that had once made her so revered. The same blessing had destroyed her life, sent her adrift from a church that no longer desired her, from a congregation that no longer recognized her as anything but a heretic deserving of death.

The blessing she had been given from her Lord was used on those that served his will. She would never refuse to use her gift, refuse to help one who needed it.

Even if one was a Devil.

"I can't believe it." The creature spoke. Where once it had been a blackened soon to be corpse, it became the pale skinned creature of five pairs of dark wings and pointed ears. "You're Azazel's new pet project."

"Asia, take those two and get out of here." Issei didn't turn away from the creature he would be killing as King's Dragon appeared. He didn't hear whatever words it spoke. His voice was without anything that betrayed feeling anything. His eyes were dead, no light shined in them and no darkness swirled in them. There was nothing within them.

Everything that could have once swirled within those brown orbs would only prove to be a distraction to his mission.

They were discarded for now.

"I won't let you fight alone." The nun's eyes were void of life as she stepped forward. She stood at his side. "He's a Fallen Angel, a powerful one, and he has a Holy Sword. Star Twilight can drain it."

Star Twilight returned. King's Dragon shared a glance with the Stand next to it before focusing on the creature before it.

Twin marks burned where they were hidden from sight of others but never from those that bore them.

Both had been victims of the Arrow that burned where it touched. Both had been shot by the Arrow that froze their blood, their bones, their flesh, and their heart.

It pierced her back again. It twisted around her spin, coiled like a snake. Her throat was not her own, a creature took hold that knew only pain, knew only how to scream. It twisted and it burned. It crushed and broke. It burned everywhere it touched, it froze what it never did. Pain became nothing. Pain became everything it finally began to move, it moved up and up and up and up. Dust that was once bone, a shredded layer of what had once been muscle, and a coating of blood concealed it within, let it burn and burn hotter and hotter. It pierced her throat from behind to stop her screams in the end. It tore itself down, it burrowed deeper and deeper. It finally reached what it wanted, reached its prize.

It pierced her heart. Jagged shards of glass replaced her blood the moment it did.

The chill was gone.

The fires of hell burned too cold for the flames that filled her veins.

It became everything.

She had begged the Lord to kill her when the fires burned and burned. When she felt as if all she was and every would be was this endless flame, she begged God to take her away. He had answered her with the mercy of darkness, an endless sea of darkness there was no escape from. She fell so gratefully to the bottom. The darkness crushed her, hid her away from the pain that laid above the all consuming nothingness.

Star Twilight had been what carried her from the blackness on wings of a greater darkness. Star Twilight had found her a path from the darkness the Lord had blessed her with by a pair of eyes that were an endless expanse of light and darkness. Star Twilight had taken her light from her when she no longer wished for it, had guided her from the abyss into light once more.

It had taken her light and never given it back.

Now it stole from the creature. Now it took from it and wouldn't give it back.

The sword died. Holy was light so Star Twilight had taken it all. Star Twilight had taken it all and wanted more.

It was such a greedy Stand.

The light was back, both back from a spark not from the blade but from the creature.

The Stand consumed it again.

King's Dragon moved.

The world turned green.

AN: I conclude the Excalibur Arc!

Actual comment time: That's really it. There's not much else I can address here without just referring to it in another chapter that I want to write more at the moment. I wouldn't expect much in terms of schedule for updates (as always with my stories). I dislike DxD in execution so I'm not motivated to write this with that much care for compliance with canon. One Bizarre Emperor is my attempt to take most of the tropes I've seen used endless times in other DxD stories and ignore them. Super perverted Issei? Gone. Working with Devils? Gone. Overpowered? Kept (What? I said most of the tropes, not all). Harem? Gone. Being a Demi-god/Incarnation/Insert random thing here? Gone. Liking Rias? Gone. Beyond that, not much to a plan. I have a general idea towards the ending/my complete removal of canon plot and substitution of my own in its place but that comes after what I plan to do with the next chapter. Or two.

A quick add on before I end this update: Can anyone guess all the game titles I kind of blatantly uses synonyms in the titles for? Can anyone guess who the arcade's proprietor is? Review/PM the answers. If you can get more than fifty percent right (pretty hard with...7 games? Hold on a second. Road Brawler, Mega Mash Bros, Silver Fist, Nasty and Nitro, Space Wolf, Chronicles of Ana, Mansion Malice. Yeah, it's 7. And can't forget about Mario Zeppeli! So 8 actually), you can win something.

Something can range from answers to the plot, answers on the general future of the story, a new game in the arcade, a shout out in the story, an omake (never really done one before so might as well make it special), whatever makes sense really.

Onward to review replies.

Lazymanjones96: I hope One Bizarre Emperor remains interesting and entertaining for you.

Sasuke75249: Thanks.

beyblademaster3198: Wait? I've got to look at that contract again. If it really is that easy to exploit for them I'll fix it. Also he was kind of in a no win situation there. He can't keep everyone safe so he had to go with minimal damage to them.

Ren: Make an account. Write something better. Probably won't even read this...Oh well.

Guest: Asia? Not likely to bite it with a Stand. Parents? Just refer to what happened with Irina getting scratched up and multiply appropriately.

Bisaster: The perversion has been toned down heavily since the last incident. I think it was with a naked Rias. Free to correct me if I'm wrong.

akeNat001: Thanks and considered it done.

TheLaughingStalkGuy: The only Stand Cry that made any real sense.

Namikaze Uzumaki Potter: I was honestly just writing him ignoring everyone who wanted to get in the way of his nice quiet life. That's pretty much all he wants for the first chapters. It'll probably change to something else later down the line. And updated the story has been.

Asoiaf fanatic: Thanks and your advice has been taken.

Dazzazzle: DxD is basically asking him to be made OP. And at the very least I endeavor to put forth at least decent grammar. I hate catching typos later but they happen regardless.

Kamencolin: I tried to at least make it entertaining.

Anyway, that's all.

PM any questions/comments/whatever you want. Review if you want.

Peace.