Harbinger of Ruin: Ch.24

Warmth was all I felt when I finally opened my eyes, a soft groan escaping my lips as I blinked a few times and smacked my lips.

'Damn, I've never slept that good,' I thought with a smile as I went to stand up. In doing so, I blinked as something else pushed me back onto the bed, looking down at my chest to see both Rias and Akeno giving me disgruntled glares.

“Right. Sorry~”

“…You're lucky you're cute,” Akeno grumbled as she laid her head back down and I slowly turned to Rias only to smile as she narrowed her eyes at me.

“I did warn you she wasn't going to let it just be the one night.”

“Don't you start. Now, go back to sleep. School was cancelled for today.”

'Right, renovations since the school grounds are in ruins,' I thought with a hum as I laid my head back down, letting Rias do the same while I looked up at the ceiling.

It was not long before my mind drifted to the battles that I fought yesterday and the many things I learned in the aftermath.

First, Kokabiel showed me how foolishly weak and stupid I am to have thought that just using Sword Birth and swordsmanship would be enough to contend with the higher echelon of this world.

Not that there is anything wrong with Sword Birth. It is quite the versatile blade if used correctly, but what use are overpowered blades with hax abilities going to mean when I am overwhelmed with pure power?

Secondly, Sirzechs is a demon and I mean that in the kindest way I can. Kokabiel, the same Cadre that treated us like we were some insignificant insects, was treated the same when he went all out against a casual Sirzechs.

Seeing Kokabiel struggle to land even one blow on the devil while Sirzechs looked like he was more focused on making sure we were okay…that threw my brain for a loop.

It wasn't just power but just one being of an infinitely higher realm toying with another that was vastly inferior to him. It reminded me that I was just a 17 year old teenager swinging out swords in a world where gods, devils, dragons and monsters could erase cities and countries with just a flick of their heads.

'Sword Birth's Balance Breaker is as good as I can make it currently, but if I'm going to survive…if I'm going to get to the point that I can cut through dimensions on my own, I needed power. Pure, raw power.'

“Still thinking about yesterday?”, Rias' murmured words drew me from my thoughts and I looked down to see her slowly running her fingers along my chest.

“Yeah, can't stop thinking about it. Kokabiel, Lord Sirzechs, this whole damn system we're in”

“You're not wrong, but you don't have to think so much on it, you know?”, She spoke as she shifted and I pulled her tighter as she traced her fingers along my jaw.

“You think that you're weak and you would be right in thinking that, but you also have to look at it from a positive angle. You now know where you lie and you know where you need to go. All that's left is to train.”

“Are you…giving me a motivational speech right now?”, I asked, smiling with a soft chuckle as she blushed while Akeno's soft giggles echoed in the room.

“No…Did it work?”

“…Yeah. Yeah, it did. I know I'm not the bravest one out of the group, but I want to get strong. Strong enough that I can protect you all without making you worry about whether or not I'd break myself in the process.”

“…You know you sounded like a Shonen protagonist right there, right?”, Akeno teased and I rolled my eyes as Rias nodded with a teasing smile.

“He did. It was like we just finished off the main villain of one of central arcs and the protagonist decided to have this whole 'I'm going to get strong enough to become President' type of moment.”

“It really did,” I just rolled my eyes at their giggles before turning to the door as it burst open, Raynare walking in with a tired groan as Rias flew to her feet.

'Damn, that's a moon I'd want to kiss,' I thought with a smirk as I stared at the white cheeks in front of my face before I looked to Akeno as she giggled softly.

“Rias, you're gonna want to come down right now!”

“What? What's going on?”, Rias asked even as she got dressed and I sighed while Akeno groaned as we heard the urgency in her voice.

“Xenovia and Irina are fighting.”

“…Well, shit.”

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The tension in the air was almost suffocating when we got to the living hall, Koneko and Asia standing outside the room while Rias, Akeno and I walked in to see the two exorcists glaring at each other.

“Don't intervene yet. You might set them both off and they start swinging their holy swords around,” Nero spoke up before I could and I turned to see him leaning against the wall with an uncharacteristic frown on his face.

Xenovia stood on one side of the room, her fists clenched at her side and her sword leaning against the back of the sofa she was standing behind. Irina stood directly opposite of her, a look of anger and hurt on her face as she glared.

“I'm not leaving the Church. Just because…just because he's gone does not mean that our beliefs and every mission we did was for nothing,” Irina spoke, her voice shaking slightly as Xenovia narrowed her eyes.

“Don't twist my words. I'm not saying that everything was for nothing, but unlike you, I don't have the ability to look to the bright side of everything. If the Lord is gone, then I can't keep fighting for the sake of maintaining an illusion.”

“Now.”

“Irina, Xenovia, you both just need to breathe. We just got finished a fight a few hours ago against a being that nearly killed us had we not made the preparations that we did.”

“And if Irina, Nero and I had been the only ones facing off against Kokabiel and his associates, we would have been dead. How can I fight for an organization that would willingly throw my life away like I was nothing?”, Xenovia asked and I sighed as Irina frowned.

“You've been taking life-threatening missions since we first became partners all those years ago and you never had a problem back then. What changed?”

“The god I served is dead and the illusion of his protection was fucking shattered, Irina. That's what happened,” Xenovia stunned us all as she cussed with a growl, but it didn't stun us as much as it did Irina as her eyes widened in shock and horror.

“You…you don't mean that, Xenovia. You're just-!”

“I do,” Xenovia interrupted Irina before she could continue and I felt bad for the look of anguish in the brunette's eyes as Xenovia continued.

“I was ready to die for Him. I trained, bled and killed in his Name, Irina. And now? Now I find out I was just a pawn in a broken machine being held together by scraps of Heaven.”

“Lord Michael is doing everything he can. The Seraphim still protect us and our prayers still have power.”

“And that power comes from them, not Him. Face it, Irina. We were working for a broken system that shouldn't have lasted as long as it did,” Xenovia spoke with a sigh and I glanced at Rias and Akeno with an unsure look, both of them looking just as confused on what to do while Nero gave a helpless shrug.

“Then what are you going to do, huh? Throw away everything we fought for? Everything we believed in?…Everything I believed in?”, Irina asked, her voice barely above a whisper as Xenovia looked down with her jaw clenched.

“I don't know, but I'd rather not know what to do than be forced to follow lies and deceits.”

“Then, don't go back. You can stay here,” I blinked at the words that came from my lips and Rias blinked before her eyes widened and she nodded with a smile.

“W-What?”, Irina sounded as surprised as Xenovia looked and I turned to Rias as she walked past me with a smile and a nod.

“Yuuto's right. We've already survived one battlefield together and whether or not the Lord of Heaven is Him or Michael, the world is still turning so why not make the best of it? You can return to the Church, you can stay here or you can travel the world. Today, you now choose what you want to do, who you want to be and what master you wish to serve.”

'Is she trying…?', I trailed off with narrowed eyes as Rias kept speaking, having an inkling of what she was trying to do as Xenovia let out a shaky exhale.

“And what if…what if I can't find my place in the world?”

“Then, there's always a place in my household for you. Not as a devil, just to clarify that. I mean, I wouldn't mind it, but I also want you to now have the freedom you deserve,” Rias spoke with a smile and both Irina and Xenovia looked at the heiress.

Then, the bluenette turned towards the blue blade known as Durandal, the very same blade she once raised in the name of a Lord that was no longer to hear her.

She didn't say anything for a long moment as her fingers slowly urled around the hilt and I smiled as she held the blade before turning to Rias.

“I…I don't know if I can fight for anyone again. Not yet, at least.”

“Then, don't. Take a break. Heal. Be Xenovia the teenage girl for once and not Xenovia the exorcist,” Rias spoke with a soft smile and I chuckled as a wry smile tugged at the corners of Xenovia's mout.

“You make it sound so easy.”

“Oh, it's not, but sometimes, it's okay to not know where you're going. After all, it's not always about the destination but the journey that gets you there,” I chimed in with a grin and she shook her head before I glanced to Irina who frowned at her friend.

“Irina?”, I asked, drawing everyone's attention to her as the brunette simply picked up her blade and turned it back into a scrunchy around her wrist.

“I…I need some time.”

“Take all the time you need,” Rias spoke with a soft smile and Irina didn't say anything as she walked out of the room, Xenovia looking as if she wanted to follow.

However, she stopped herself while putting Durandal back into its pocket dimension, following a relieved Asia and Koneko out of the room.

“Well, that's a powder keg waiting to explode,” Nero spoke up and I palmed my face as he chuckled.

“You really have a way with words, you know?”

“I know. It's a gift.”

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The ticking of a clock echoed in the room as I opened the door, Sirzechs sitting behind the desk with a thoughtful and a cup of hot tea in hand before he smiled when I walked in.

“Yuuto, I was wondering when someone would come see me.”

“Rias hasn't been here?”, I asked as I sat down with a slight bow, chuckling as he grumbled while putting his tea cup down.

“You would think she'd be happy to have her big brother saving her, but no~ She feels I embarrass her too much. Jokes on her because the Parent-Teacher conference is coming up and Father is going to be a bigger embarrassment than I am.”

“Want me to keep her from finding out for a small favour?”, I asked, smirking as the man looked at me with an amused smile before nodding.

“Sure, why not?”

'And just like that, I scored a favour from a Satan. Oh, it is wonderful when one has the right connections.'

“So, what brings you here?”, He asked and I pulled myself from my mental cackling before sighing as I remembered why I am here.

“I guess I just needed to speak to someone that wasn't part of the peerage.”

“Because of how you guys defended the city from two Cadre-class fallen angels?”

“I think you mean how useless we were against him,” I corrected him and rolled my eyes as he nodded in agreement.

“That is true. Is that why you've been pacing outside my office for the past hour until I told you to come in?”

“…Kinda?”, I said/ asked and he chuckled as he picked up his cup once again, taking a sip from the warm tea before looking at me.

“Very well. Let us have this heart to heart. What ails you?”

“Well, fighting Kokabiel was…an unsettling experience to say the least. He was powerful and dangerous and even though we were such a large group, we were barely able to survive once he took us serious. Then, you came and it wasn't just a case of you being stronger. You…were far beyond anything he could do. It was like I was watching a hurricane playing around with a candle.”

“And you have this sense of inferiority now after seeing that?”, He asked and I wasn't surprised when I took a deep breath before nodding.

“I do.”

“…Do you remember the first time you held a sword?” He asked, cutting away to something else and I raised an eyebrow at the sudden question before nodding.

“Yeah, in the forest after that Stray Devil attacked me and Okita saved me. My hands were shaking, both because I didn't train much in swordsmanship at that point and because I still had some trauma from the Project. Okita had to actually come in and help me hold it steady for a few sessions until I was able to do so on my own.”

“And look at how far you've come since them. The boy that struggled to hold a blade just went toe to toe with a Cadre. You may not have won, but you still stood in his way.”

“And yet, it wasn't enough. Sword Birth, my swordsmanship and even my last-minute Balance Breaker…It all felt like bring a knife to a nuclear war.”

“You've come to the realization that you have too much faith in only needing skill to beat power, then?”, He asked and I sighed before nodding.

“Technique is the art of battle. Power is needed for the survival of a war and both have their place in combat, but I don't need skill. What I need is strength, enough not to fight but to protect,” I spoke and he placed his cup down that was still mostly filled with tea before smiling.

“You know, I myself felt the same once at a time. When I was younger and before my days as Lucifer, I had all the power but none of the skill and technique I possess today.

I watched my parents argue and use skills beyond my comprehension to destroy our family's political rivals and make sure they could never rise to the same level of power they had ever again. It was those moments when I learned that being powerful means nothing if you cannot persuade others to see your point of view,” As he spoke, Sirzechs stood up from his seat and walked over to the window behind his desk, my eyes focused on him as he smiled and looked over his shoulder.

“It was also at that moment that I vowed to ensure to learn the skill and technique I needed, not only to help myself become a better devil but also to ensure that I can protect my loved ones to the best of my capabilities.”

“You make it sound easy, but last I heard, I don't think gaining power is as easy as gaining skill,” I said and he chuckled at my answer before shaking his head.

“It is if you know where to look.”

“Is it some kind of secret devil training regime or something?”, I asked and raised an eyebrow as he shook his head.

“Nope, it's perspective. You don't chase power for pride. You don't chase it to prove anyone wrong. You chase it so that your loved ones don't have to live in fear. That is the mindset that will sharpen you in ways alone never could.”

“So, you're saying that once I get the correct mindset, power will come after?”, I asked before shaking my head as he chuckled.

“Oh, not in the slightest. I'm saying that once you gain the correct mindset, you will find yourself no longer trying to chase after my shadow and chasing your own potential.”

“Instead of comparing myself to others, look to the opportunities I have that they don't and then use those opportunities to make myself stronger,” I whispered, grinning as Sirzechs smiled and nodded.

“Precisely. Now, if you still wish to have my help, I might not be able to help, but I do know a certain someone that would be delighted to train you fully now.”

“He's been bothering you with it everyday, hasn't he?”

“Like you wouldn't believe,” Okita spoke with a grin as he appeared from the shadows in the left corner behind my back, making me shake my head as Sirzechs grinned.

“Well, I'll save him from your torturous questions, then. When do we start?”, I asked, raising an eyebrow as the man placed a hand on my shoulder before my eyes widened as Sirzechs waved while Okita took out a sealing tag.

“Right now.”

“Wai-!”, Before I could finish speaking, the tag lit up and the last thing I saw was Sirzechs' laughter before both Okita and I were whisked away.

A/N: And so comes the end to the Kokabiel arc. This chapter was more of a talkative one where Sirzechs helped Kiba open his mind to the world as well as helping Xenovia and Irina think about what they're going to do from now on.

Also, I know I said a certain silver-haired idiot would be introduced this chapter, but I thought to kick off Kiba's training in this chapter, continue the first part of it in the next, introduce Vali and then explain Saji's Balance Breaker because I'm struggling to have a concrete explanation for that one.

Anyway, next chapter: Sparring, Silver-haired imposters and cheating the system.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!