15)Voice of the Almighty: Ch.15

“You two doing okay?” Issei asked as he sat in the cafeteria, sighing as Freed and Siegfried didn't answer while poking at their plates of pasta.

“Come on~ You two have to feel something, right?” Nero asked and Siegfried just continued to say nothing as Freed pushed his plate away.

“Let me be pissed off in peace, okay?”

“Nope, we need to cheer you up, right Nero?”

“That's right!” Now, come on! Dad always said that beating each other up is good!” Nero exclaimed with glee as he stood up, Freed just rolling his eyes even as he followed the excited blonde out while Siegfried frowned slightly as he stared at a smirking Issei.

“I'm guessing you wanna stay?”

“…Yes.”

“Hey, he talks!” Issei cheered before snickering as Siegfried gave him a deadpan stare.

“Leave the stupid cheering for others.”

“You're really that mad that Xenovia got to won and not you?” Issei asked with a raised eyebrow and Siegfried snorted as he sat up and crossed his arms.

“No, I'm more upset at the fact that I couldn't even hold Durandal for a second before it burned me.”

“Well, the blade is supposed to be sentient, right? Maybe it decided you weren't worthy.” Siegfried just looked at Issei with a slight frown before shaking his head.

“It's not that either. Do you remember how I said I'm like…a descendant of Sigurd?”

“Yeah, considering Freed doesn't shut up about it.” Issei spoke with a nod and Siegfried smiled amusedly as he nodded.

“I know. Well, the thing about Sigurd and those of his blood…is that we do not have any affinity for Holy Swords whatsoever. Unfortunately, we have a calling for the more…demonic blades.”

“…Ooh~ So the holy blades are rejecting you because your blood itself is demonic? Wait, didn't Sigurd have a few demonic blades?” Issei asked before being surprised as Siegfried nodded.

“He did, indeed. Balmung, Dainsleif, Nothung, Tyrfing and the most powerful Demonic Blade in history, the Demon Emperor's Sword Gram.”

“Then why don't you just use one of them or all of them? Since you can use demonic blades, you could hunt down Fallen Angels or rogue exorcists that use Holy Artifacts with them.” Issei said and Siegfried simply crossed his arms with a frown.

“I have thought of that, but I first wanted to see if it would not be possible for me to maybe even use one holy sword. I guess that was a far-fetched dream.” Siegfried muttered and Issei smiled as he reached over before patting his new friend's shoulder.

“If it helps, you could look on the bright side. You're now the top sword guy in our year.”

“That…is true. Perhaps I should look on the good side.”

“Yeah, and I'm now dominating in three of them. See? We're equal.” Siegfried just looked at the happy grin on Issei's face before shaking his head as the brown-haired boy broke out into laughter.

“Lord, give me strength.”

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“Now, as you all may have noticed, Xenovia has left our group to continue her special training under Lord Strada to learn how to use Durandal in battle.” Touji spoke with a stoic look as he stood in front of the kids, taking particularly glances at the three who had lost the opportunity that she won.

“Siegfried, Freed, Jeanne. Are there perhaps any feelings you're pushing down?”

“You don't have to worry, Mr. Shidou. Irina, Mirana and my sister helped me through it.” Jeanne spoke with a happy smile and Touji nodded before turning to the two boys.

“Nero let me beat him up to get rid of most of it/ Issei helped talk it over with me.” Freed and Siegfried answered respectively and Touji just blinked before looking towards the other two boys who smiled proudly.

“Well…I am very proud of you all for being there for your friends and you three for showing levels of maturity beyond your age. Now, while Xenovia getting the chance to use Durandal was not part of what we had planned for your year, I have spoke to the other teachers and we have decided that we can't let you all fall behind your former classmate.”

“Uh…what does that mean, Mr. Touji?” Issei asked before his eyes widened as Touji grinned and answered.

“What that means is that you kids have a few minutes to get ready. We're heading over to St. Peter's Basilica to test you all out.”

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“Why are we heading all the way back here to get tested, Mr. Touji?” Issei asked as he along with the rest of his class followed Touji up the stairs, who glanced and nodded at the other hidden exorcists in the crowd before answering Issei's question.

“Well, Issei, you all remember how I measured your Holy Affinity, yes?”

“By letting us pour our energy into the light swords and the brighter one's sword is, the more potent our Holy Affinity is, right?” Irina answered before she huffed as everyone gave her surprised looks.

“What? I do read, you know?”

“…Irina speaks the truth, surprisingly. Yes, that is how we measured your Holy Affinity. Now, we need to determine which weapon would fit you the best after your graduation. That is why we have decided that determining so early would be for the best.”

“So, we're heading back to the Basilica to test out…weapons?” Mirana asked and Touji nodded with a smile right as they ascended up the stairs and through the main door of the cathedral.

Following their teacher, Issei was surprised as the guards pointed them directly down the middle path instead of to the right to the room where they got their rankings.

As the man opened the doorway to the main building, Issei was stunned at the sheer holy energy in the atmosphere when they walked into the centre of the cathedral itself, taking deep breaths while feeling at peace as the holy energy enveloped him from all sides.

Looking at the others, he was not surprised to see everyone else looking just as blissfully happy to be in the cathedral before looking at Mr. Shidou as he spoke up.

“I know the air is nice, but I'm going to need you all to focus.” Issei snickered at the man's amusement as everyone snapped out of their blissful states, the man chuckling before gesturing for them to follow.

“Come on, we just need to go down.”

“Down?” Issei asked as they followed the man to the front, to which Touji nodded before lifting his index and middle fingers of his right hand to the priest standing behind the pulpit

In response, the priest did the same whilst pressing a button on the side of his pulpit, the kids looking surprised as the wooden flooring behind the priest opened up to reveal a stairway down.

“Thank you, brother.”

“You are welcome, brother.” The priest spoke with a smile as Touji and the kids walked down the stairs, Asia and Mirana huddling closer to Jeanne and Irina respectively while the boys looked excitedly at the tunnel around them.

It took another few minutes of walking down the stairs and through a series of hallways before they made their way into an open room, Issei's eyes widening along with everyone else while Touji chuckled as he stood to the side and let them enter.

“Welcome…to the War Room.” Touji spoke while gesturing with a flourish at the vast underground chamber in front of them, the walls lined with the hilts of Light Swords and Light Pistols, crates of ammo lining the floor under the pistols while flashbangs and holy grenades were under the light swords.

However, all of their attention were focused on the wall at the far back, which had three swords of different makes and linings hanging from it.

“As you all can see, we only have three weapons currently here. The weapons, from left to right, are Ascalon the Dragon Slayer, Excalibur Destruction and Excalibur Blessing. The other Excalibur fragments are in two other undisclosed locations and the fourth sword that's supposed to be there…is right here.” Touji spoke with a smile as he pushed his cloak to the side.

Unsheathing a beautiful shimmering sword of burnished steel, a golden hilt and guard at the other end of the sword with a brilliant blue crystal embedded into the side of the hilt itself.

“This is Hauteclere, the counterpart to Durandal. Whereas Durandal is focused on destroying its victims with no remorse, Hauteclere has the ability of purification, healing and repelling all evil from an object.”

“…Cool~ Do you think it would work as good with my Voice?” Issei asked and everyone looked at Touji as the man chuckled and shrugged.

“Who knows? We've never had a half-angel hybrid interact with any of these weapons.”

“Really? But I'm so bad with swords, though.” He muttered and everyone snickered as Touji chuckled before ruffling the boy's hair.

“Don't worry. Even if you're not as good today with a sword, we can still make an adequate swordsman of you in a few years' time. Now then, how we're going to do this is that each of you is going to walk up to a sword and pick it up. If the sword feels that you are a match, you will feel a comforting warmth flash through your body. If it doesn't…well, I would suggest dropping the sword at the first spark of pain.”

“I trust my fists more than any blades so I'm out.” Nero spoke with a shake of his head and Touji chuckled whilst nodding before looking at the rest of the class.

“Does anyone else wish to refrain from testing themselves?”

“Me/ I have other blades that I can use/ Same/ I-I do not wish to be a fighter if I may be honest, sir.” Freed, Siegfried, Jeanne and Asia answered respectively and their teacher nodded before turning to the remaining three who stepped forward.

“Issei, Irina and Mirana, since there's you three and three swords, you all have free pick. See which one works for you and which don't.”

“Who wants to go first?” Issei asked and both he and Mirana looked at Irina as she spoke up.

“Can I…go first?”

“I do not mind.” Mirana answered in response and Irina looked at Issei who simply gestured to the swords with a smile.

The girl giggled as she nodded before walking first towards the swords, Mirana and Issei following after as they watched her looking between all three blades before Irina took a deep breath and grasped the hilt of Destruction.

Immediately after, she hissed and let go whilst waving her hand, Issei frowning slightly as he saw the slight red marks on her hands as well as the hilt of Excalibur Destruction steaming with heat.

“Well, I guess that one really doesn't like you. Why don't you try the others?” Touji spoke up and Irina frowned as she went to touch both Ascalon and Excalibur Blessing only to hiss as she was rejected by both of them one after the other.

“That…was what I expected. Your Light Sword was on the level that was needed to create a Light Sword, but it was not at the level needed to use a powerful Holy Sword. Do not worry, though, as your Holy Affinity does get more stronger with age so you may be able to wield a sword one day.”

“You did great.” Issei whispered as he saw Irina looking down at her being unable to use a Holy Sword, to which she gave a shaky smile and nodded at both him and her father.

Mirana was the next to walk forward and as she firmly gripped the hilt of Excalibur Blessing, the girl looked slightly confused for a brief moment before yelping as she quickly pulled her hand back.

Next, she gingerly reached forward at Excalibur Destruction only to quickly pull her hand back as its hilt began to steam once more, everyone watching as she slowly wrapped her hand around the hilt of Ascalon.

However, as the seconds ticked by, their eyes widened as Mirana opened hers with a smile, softly lifting the sword from the hook before looking ecstatic while Issei smiled as he saw the energy of the blade mixing with her own.

“That…is most definitely surprising! Great work, Mirana!” Touji clapped along with the class as Mirana hooked the blade back onto its hook, rushing back with a happy smile as she stopped besides a smiling Issei and Irina.

“Now, Issei. You're up last.” Touji spoke and Issei nodded as he walked over to the swords, his eyes glowing dimly as he saw the potent energies of the swords flowing into the atmosphere.

Reaching forward towards Ascalon, he barely made it within a few centimeters before his eyes widened and he quickly pulled his hands back whilst ducking to the ground, just in time as a stray bolt of holy energy ripped through the air and ruptured the ground behind him.

“Issei! You okay?!” Touji asked as he rushed forward, the class doing the same as Issei coughed whilst nodding as he stood up.

“Y-Yeah, I guess it really doesn't like me, huh?” Issei joked with a shaky smile, to which Touji shook his head before looking at the other blades.

“Try to reach for the other two blades but don't touch them.” Touji said and Issei nodded as he slowly reached forward with both hands, pulling his left hand back as he saw the Excalibur Destruction steaming hotly before resting his right hand around Excalibur Blessing.

“Do you feel anything?” Touji asked and Issei frowned as he slowly picked the blade up, looking a bit confused as he…didn't feel anything?

“N-No, nothing at all. No pain or warmth to be honest.” Issei answered and Touji frowned even as he nodded for the boy to put the sword back down.

“That is quite strange. Usually, the sword would cause even the slightest hint of pain if it doesn't like you.” The man muttered as they stood back, shaking his head before looking at the rest of the class as they looked at them.

“Don't worry, everyone. That just means that Issei and Irina are more compatible with one of the other blades that we have. When we take you all to see them, we shall let you all test out those blades. For now, let us head back home and rest of the day.”

“Yes, sir.”

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“How did the field trip go?” Touji blinked as he sat down in the meeting room, looking at Dulio who had spoken before shaking his head.

“Everyone other than Issei, Irina and Mirana did not want to test out the Holy Swords and only Mirana was able to get to use Ascalon.”

“That blade actually picked someone?” A middle-aged man with greying black hair asked with a raised eyebrow and Touji sighed as he nodded.

“Indeed, your Eminence Cristaldi. It appears that the blade truly has found its wielder.”

“You said that Mirana was the only one who passed, yes? What of the Hyoudou boy?” Griselda asked and they all frowned as Touji shook his head.

“Unfortunately, it appears that his Holy Affinity cannot be matched by any of the swords. However…I wish to add that when Issei tried to reach for Ascalon, it…had an unforeseen reaction.”

“What do you mean by unforeseen?” Dulio asked and Touji frowned before answering.

“Usually, the sword would reject one by burning your hands slightly whenever you try to touch its hilt. However, when Issei got within just a few centimeters of it, the blade shot out a burst of holy energy that would have hit Issei had he not dodged.”

“…It rejected him…before he could touch it?” David wanted to make sure he heard that right, but it appears he did as Touji nodded whilst crossing his arms.

“That's what happens. I would have thought nothing of it…if not for the fact that this has only happened once a few years ago.” He said while looking at the person who had undergone a similar process, Dulio frowning slightly as everyone looked at him.

“So…we're almost certain now, correct?” Ewald asked and they all nodded as Touji hummed in agreement.

“Indeed we are, your Eminence Cristaldi. It appears that Hyoudou Issei…has been blessed by the heavens with a Longinus Sacred Gear.”

“Looks like we'll have to step up his training then.”

A/N: And the reveal~!! Now, what Sacred Gear will he have? Hehe~~

Just kidding, there's only one that would fit…unless you guys wanna switch the two around and give both him and Vali each other's Sacred Gears.

Anyway, yeah, I'm slowly but surely getting my groove back for Voice of the Almighty but it's going to take a while before he can do so.

Also, next chapter, timeskip and first mission~!!

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

Ba-Bye~!!