Without further delay, onwards with the chapter!!
Just a heads up before you start reading this chapter people. This chapter contains a bit of violence and bad language. I would advise reader discretion for those who are easily offended! Please and thank you!
Abandoned Mine
"Let's teach these Devil scums what happens when they take a fight against their superiors" the leader of the pride boasted aloud before lunging at an incredible speed toward Devils.
"Kiba, take the leader. We will handle the rest" Rias commanded her knight, who burst forward with incredible speed. However, even before he could reach the leader, he was intercepted by one of the other black Lions.
"You are fighting me, boy," the black lion said sinisterly before taking a swipe at him, which Kiba was barely able to dodge.
"Everyone, whatever happens, don't let him grab you. These guys are masters of Ki and they will turn your Ki flow inside out if you let grab you even for a second" Marid advised the group before lunging at the leader.
"Ara Ara we cant have such delinquent cats in our city now can we" Akeno said, letting her sadistic side come out in whole nature. She used a magic circle to change into her battle attire; a prestigious red and white Miko outfit. Soon electricity started to flow around her body, indicating she was ready to fight and inflict some damage on her opponent.
"Zoonum take the Devil boy, I will take on the girls" the leader of the black lion commanded his associate to fight Marid. The gleam in his eyes and licking of his lips told everyone what he wanted to do to the female Devils.
"You cocky little shit" Marid grunted as he blocked a strike from the last remaining black lion.
"Oh you are strong. Most people would have died after taking that strike. I had augmented that strike with Ki and Senjutsu" the lion named Zoonum looked at Marid impressed somewhat.
"Well I am not like your other opponents now am I lion" Marid replied seriously before dodging a wild swipe from his opponent. The swipe gave Marid enough time to knee Zoonum in his stomach before sending Zoonum into a wall with a wave of his ice magic.
The strike allowed him time to not only form strategy but also look around the battlefield. Kiba was struggling against his opponent due to the immense difference in strength. Rias and Akeno were bombarding the group's leader with their own elemental magic. Not that it affected the course of battle since the bombardment just managed to slow down the leader by the smallest of margins.
'Looks like these things are resistant to elemental magic. We have to use magic more potent than that' Marid thought seriously before blocking another strike from his now infuriated opponent.
"You will pay for that one Devil" Zoonum screamed at Marid in rage.
"Oh and what will you do about it then huh?" Marid replied mockingly as he connected a punch which sent the lion staggering back.
"THIS!!" Zoonum shouted before transforming. He grew a few inches, putting the lion at a height of six and a half feet. With his height, his teeth grew to the point they showed the impressive canines. Along with this, his ears popped out as his mane grew as well.
'So the Kuroshishi have two forms' Marid observed as he felt his opponent's Ki and magical output increase.
"This is where you will meet your end" Zoonum said as his eyes gained a crazy look. After looking closely Marid could have sworn, he saw black slits among those blood red eyes.
'Rias I hope you trained your peerage for battles like this because things are about to get ugly' Marid thought grimly as he covered his hands and legs with solid ice before reengaging with his opponent.
While Marid was somewhat able to handle himself with his opponent, the others weren't faring as well as they had hoped.
"So you specialized with running away huh?" the black lion who was fighting Kiba was still in this base form taunted the Devil knight.
"You may be stronger than me but there is no way I am going to lose here…. Swordbirth" Kiba shouted as many demonic swords erupted from the ground with the intention to pierce the lion's hide. Seeing the demonic swords heading towards him, the lion scuffed before jumping out of the way, "I am one of the proud members of Lord Zill's pride. You are seriously underestimating me if you think such weak swords will be able to beat someone like me" the lion scuffed angrily.
"Or perhaps you are the one underestimating me" the calm voice of the Devil knight caught the lion off guard since he had no idea Kiba would be able to cover the distance between that quickly.
"Uggh" the lion grunted after receiving a slash on his back. Thankfully his hide had avoided most of the damage, which is why the lion was still standing. He wouldn't have been that lucky if he had been part of any other species.
"I will rip your skin apart Devil" the lion shouted angrily before beginning his own transformation. The crazed look in his told Kiba that the time of holding back might be over. Even the smallest mistake from here onwards could produce results.
Kiba couldn't believe the results of the transformation, the oppressing Ki, black slits to his blood red eyes and the imposing six and half foot figure shook the Devil knight to his very core.
'What is this species?!?' Kiba thought a little scared. It was his first time coming across a species that could manipulate the Ki in such a way. The dark Ki he could feel coming off his opponent along with the murderous intent, Kiba couldn't help but be rooted in his place in pure terror.
"Ready for round 2 Devil? Cause I know I am" the lion asked with a sadistic gleam in his eyes before lunging at his shocked opponent.
Elsewhere
"Akeno keep up the pressure, we have to find the weak spot, others are being pushed back" Rias said seriously.
She quickly looked over the battlefield, Kiba was being pushed into a corner as he wasn't able to compete with the strength of the now transformed Lion. Surprisingly, Marid was able to fight his opponent on equal footing in close quarters, even landing some heavy strikes at the Lion.
'What is this mess. We were expecting a stray Devil here, not some rebel Lion youkai. Either this is an extremely unfortunate event or someone was trying to have us murdered. Thankfully Marid is here otherwise we would have been overrun by now' Rias thought furiously while volleying magical volleys at the supposed leader of the group.
"Is this it? You won't even hurt my students with this pitiful magic let alone me. I will make you three a deal, surrender to me and I wont kill those two" the leader now known Zill motioned towards the Marid and Kiba.
"I will kill you for threatening my nephew and peerage members" Rias replied angrily before this time volleying her power of destruction at Zill. Shocked by the sudden change in element of the magical blast from the Devil in front of him, Zill wasn't able to move out of the way in time and hence caught the full blunt of the magical attack.
When the attack landed on Zill, it caused a big enough explosion to grab the everyones attention. Unfortunately for Rias, just as the attack had landed on the supposed leader of the rebel group, she sensed a rise in magical aura, a heavily tainted and evil aura to be sure. Rias and Akeno couldn't help but feel a cold shiver going down their spines.
Within the next few seconds, out came Zill who had somehow transformed himself in the midst of the attack. While his transformed body minimized a lot of the damage, it wasn't completely able to hide the burnt marks and the broken claws as a result of the attack.
'After taking an attack from my power of destruction he is only missing a few broken nails and burnt marks' Rias thought indecorously.
"Ufff that hurt I will give you that. You know what that means, I will have to make you pay! Your screams of despairs will reach all the way to the underworld" Zill screamed in outrage as lunged towards the female Devils.
"Buchou watch out?!?" Akeno screamed as she got in front of Rias and hastily conjured a protective barrier. Much to their horror, Zill easily broke the barrier before punching Akeno across the face causing her to crash into a nearby wall, out for the count.
"She isn't going to wake up from that one anytime soon" Zill replied sadistically as he glanced at Akeno's unconscious female form.
"You bastard what did you do to Akeno?" Rias shouted angrily before launching a barrage of Power of destruction blast towards Zill. Zill caught her outburst and was ready to dodge and evade her power of destruction blast now knowing her attacks could harm even his magic resistant hide.
"Oh I did nothing much, I just reversed her Ki flow for the time being. All it did was made her lose her consciousness. After all I can't let anything happen to her now can I" Zill answered back with noticeable huskiness.
"I won't let anything you do anything to her or anyone from my peerage" Rias said angrily, increasing her magical output by a significant degree causing Zill to put in more efforts in dodging her balls of power of destruction.
"You are mistaken if you think you can beat me. Your destructive magical attacks may be powerful but can do nothing when they can't hit me. You two boys are being taken care of. It is only a matter of time before either Zoonum and Obuni kill your boys or you run out of energy" Zill smirked while calmly evading magical blast thrown at him.
'As much as I hate to admit it, he is right, if either Kiba or Marid fall here, we would be over run' Rias thought seriously. Now furiously thinking of ways to turn the tides of the battle. In her thinking she forgot about the fact she still had her precious rook who still hadn't taken the field.
"Ugghh" a powerful punch connected on the back of Zills head sending him into the path of one of Rias blast.
"Koneko are you good?" Rias asked her rook worriedly.
"Yes Buchou, sorry it took me this long to help you. I will do my best from here onwards in the battle" Koneko replied shakily to Rias. Her tone was enough to tell Rias she was still affected by the dark Ki released by Zill and the members of his group but was doing her best to move past her fears.
"Why you?!?" Zill looked around angrily to find who had hit at the back of his head. "You will pay for this little girl" He screamed in outrage before rushing towards Koneko with such speed that she lost him from her sight.
To her horror, when he appeared next he was five feet behind her ready to decapacitate her with his claws. Due to how close Koneko and Zill were, Rias couldn't support her rook with a ball of destruction since that would cause Koneko permanent if not outright kill her. Rias hastily tried to create a teleportation for Koneko but she was too slow. By the time the teleportation would actually work, it would only be teleporting Koneko's headless corpse.
"Koneko-chan?!?" Kiba screamed as he used his opponent, now identified as Obuni, as a springboard before rushing towards Koneko at full speed. In his moment of desperation, Kiba surpassed his own speed limit for a brief second which was enough for him to cover the distance.
"AHHHHHH" Kiba screamed in pure agony as he took the strike meant for Koneko. A large, deep, ugly wound on his chest which took away a chunk of his own shoulder away.
"Kiba-kun" "KIBAA" Rias and Koneko screamed in horror at the sight of the downed knight.
"Nimble bastard I will give him that. If the strike had connected with cat girl, it would killed her on the spot" Zill said chillingly as if killing someone was the most calmest thing in the world. He then proceeded to savagely lick the downed knight's blood of his hands.
"Kiba-senpai please wake up" Koneko screamed in horror, tears running down her face after looking at her senpai who took a strike that was meant for her.
"Don't look at him like that girly. He wont wake up anytime soon. With all the blood loss he should be dead in ten minutes max" Zill said calmly while licking the blood of his hands.
"SO he has ten minutes to live that's good to know. More than enough time for us to get him some help" Zill heard a chilling voice from behind him. When he turned around all he saw was metal carts around him being deformed before been turned into sharp metal bullets.
While Zill was focused at what was happening around him, Rias was able to complete her magic circle and teleport all of her servants from harm's way.
"You like savagery right lets see how you like this" Marid asked in a dark tone before throwing the transfigured metal cones towards pride leader at break neck speed. Zill had enough time to move out of the way of the first wave of bullets, the rest impaling him all across his body, some going through his shoulder, others going through his thighs.
"Ughh" Zill screamed in pain as he split out blood from all the damage, he was accumulating. Despite being caught off guard by impressive spell work from Marid, he somehow still managed to protect all of his vital organs.
Marid didn't let Zill breath as he punched Zill in the chest sending him across the room only to land wall in the far end of the room, giving others precious time to breath and take in the situation.
"Kiba" Rias screamed in horror as she saw the amount of blood her knight had lost and was losing.
"Rias!!" Marid screamed at Rias to stop her from going into hysterics. "We need to get them to a proper facility to get treated"
Luckily for them a blue magic circle appeared on the ground beside him and out came Sona and her queen Tsubaki Shinra.
"Whats going on here?" Sona said in horror as she saw the scene in front of her.
"Kiba-kun" Tsubaki said in horror as she bent down to administer what healing spells she knew.
"Perfect timing Sona have your queen transport Kiba, Akeno and Koneko to a healing facility. They need to be treated quickly" Marid said seriously while keeping a close eye on the re grouping pride in front of them.
"I can still fight" Koneko weakly said. After sensing the dark Ki from the black Lions and Kiba's injury, she was truly shaken to her core.
"You are in no condition to continue to fight now kid. Go back and recover. I will keep your King safe" Marid replied seriously, leaving no room for arguments.
"Tsubaki take them to my house, I have healing machine over there. That would atleast stabilize Kiba for the time being" Sona who agreed with Marid assessment, ordered her queen who could only nod before teleporting away in a teleportation circle.
"You got me good, I will give you that I will kill you here and now" Zill screamed in outrage. Beside him were his two underlings.
"Not if I am here to anything about that?" a deep voice came from the side of the room, taking everyone's attention off the imminent battle for the time being. Turns out the voice belonged to the black lion who was jumped by Zills pride.
"What are you going to do? You can barely stand as is" Zill scoffed after taking in the fellow lion's appearance. Marid and the other Devils had to agree, the other Lion was breathing heavily while holding onto his arm which looked to be useless. This is not even conmsidering the deep gashes and claw marks he had all across his body. The Devils had to agree, the jumped Lion was in no condition to go out and fight against these monsters.
"I have enough to deal with the likes of you little shit. I don't know what your deal is Devils, but Zill is mine" the Lion warned the Devils.
"I got no problem as long you give him a good pounding. We will take on his two underlings" Marid nodded as the round two of the skirmish looked inevitable.
"You think you can take me?" Zill screamed in pure rage, letting the beast within him slowly take over.
"Why cant I? You are just as injured as I am. And this time it will be 1v1 fight rather than you three jumping on a single Lion" the lone lion mocked before forcing his shoulder into its socket.
"Before we begin, I would like to know the name of the Lion fighting alongside us" Marid looked towards the only unnamed black Lion in the mine.
"My name is Kenta…. Kenta Maki" the lion now identified as Kenta Maki slowly introduced himself. Not wholly trusting the Devils.
"Despite the circumstance it is nice to meet you Kenta-san. My name is Marid Gremory and beside me is Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri they ar" Marid didn't get the chance to complete their introduction as he was rudely interrupted by Zill.
"It is honestly nauseating a Devil being so formal. Obuni! Zoonum! Kill the Devil boy and defeat the others" Zill commanded his lackey before getting into his battle stance.
"Sona these Lions have magical resistant hides so you wont be about be able to damage them with regular elemental attacks. We all have to work together win safety against these beast" Marid quietly informed Sona and Rias off the plan to which they both agreed.
"Let it all out boys" Zill shouted before rushing towards the lone lion while the others lunged at the Devils.
"I will take on Obuni" Marid said seriously before rushing at speed he hadn't showcased earlier in the battle.
"What the" Obuni shocked at how quickly Marid moved, almost losing Marid from his sight.
"Behind you" Marid kneed Obuni in his back before throwing a kick on the side of his head sending him on the otherside of the mine, away from the others.
"You should focus up otherwise this battle will end quickly" Marid mocked his opponent before following him with haste.
"Hey, you are my opponent" Zoonum shouted. Just as he was about to follow Marid, he was hit by waves water and destructive magic causing him receive some harsh burns.
"Your opponent is us" Rias said in angrily. With her knight and Queen severely injured and her rook was almost getting killed. Right now, Rias Gremory was beyond pissed and in the first time in years was ready to use her full magical arsenal.
"You think you can take me on" Zoonum asked mockingly.
"She is not alone" Sona stood beside her childhood friend before unleashing waves spears made out of water.
"You aim is truly terrible not one of those pitiful managed to hit me" Zoonum mocked Sonas effort.
"Who said those spears were meant to hit?" Sona replied coldly. At that Zoonum looked around and found that he was surrounded by water spears and animals and all of his evading exits were blocked.
"That's what you get to threaten my peerage" Rias shouted as she threw the biggest ball of destruction, she ever created on the beast in front of him. Ball made out of the infamous power of destruction, and fueled with pure rage, was seven foot in diameter and held all the magical power she had. She truly emptied her magical tank in that attack. All the frustration, anger, fear, and sadness from the events of the night combined into the massive ball of destruction that headed towards the lion.
"As if that attack could ever damage me" Zoonum mocked in pure arrogance, not understanding the sheer power that attack held.
"Idiot" Sona muttered as she repurposed her attack to create chain made out of her own magic, holding the lion down.
"GO TO HELL" Rias screamed as the massive attack connected with Lion. His shouting of outrage was soon overcome by the screams of pure agony and then fear. Within the next few seconds the lion was utterly obliterated from existence along with the land the Lion was standing on prior to being killed.
"You put everything in that attack, didn't you?" Sona asked her childhood friend who was huffing and puffing.
"Yea, they deserve to die, after what they did to my Kiba" Rias said angrily as she struggled to control her breathing.
"That is one down two to go. Do you think Marid and the other Lion can win their fights" Sona asked as she surveyed the two battles still going on.
"Marid should be fine, he had things well in hand, I don't know about the Lion. The Leader of the pride, Zill is his name. He is very strong…. There is something about him that makes him different from the other lions. I cant put my finger on it but he seems more dangerous, feral and wild" Rias replied as she too surveyed the ongoing battles.
"How did these Lions manage to get into our territory without us not noticing" Sona said aloud in frustration. It was fortunate Rias and Marid came across these Lions when they did. Had these Lions attacked them or their peerage on their own, they could have died. She was pretty sure that her, Marid and Rias could hold their own against these Lions in a one on one fight, but a 1v3 fight could have produced fatal results for them.
"I don't know. According to Marid these Lions are talented users of Senjutsu and Youjutsu users. It could be that they used those skills to hide their presence from us" Rias hypothesized.
"They can use Senjutsu and Youjutsu? I have never seen this species of Lion Youkai. Who are they?" Sona asked shocked.
"I don't know much about them either. Everything I know is what Marid was able to interpret" Rias begin to tell all the discoveries and traits they had uncovered regarding the Kuroshishi lions.
Elsewhere
"Looks like your partner is dead, lion. It is only a matter of time before your leader falls as well. If you surrender, then I will make sure you don't get executed for such crime in our territory" Marid said to Obuni while motioning to where Zoonum had been fighting.
"He was truly a weak fool if he managed to die to those girls. He has no right to be in Lord Zills pride if he couldn't even defeat those two weak Devils" Obuni coldly replied before sending barrage of claw swipes and kicks towards Marid, all of which were either blocked or evaded by Marid.
"You are barely able to hold your own against me. What do you and your master hope to accomplish? Superiority of your race of the others huh?" Marid asked genuinely curious what the lions wanted. He knew the Kuroshishi usually travelled in big prides that were run by a alpha lion. But Zill and his underling weren't trying to setup a pride of their own. Rather they wanted stay as a rebel group, fight other species and show their superiority.
'Something doesn't add up here. These guys want to show their superiority over other races, but why would they attack here of all places. They must have known the Kuoh is under the governance of Devils. Could it be someone had directed them to come here' Marid thought while countering one of Obuni wild strikes.
"Fight me seriously Devil otherwise I will give you fate that would even cause your Satan to cringe in pain" Obuni said frustrated. Even after transforming he wasn't able to catch the Devil in front of him. He just needed one good strike and then he could manipulate his opponent's Ki. From there would be a cake walk.
"You want me to fight seriously? Be careful what you wish for Kuroshishi" Marid narrowed his eyes before jumping back. He then proceeded to cover his body in a black and silver aura.
"What is that aura, I have never felt something like this. What are you?" Obuni asked uneasily. He didn't know what he was feeling, but he did know one thing, whatever he was sensing, it wasn't anything natural.
"Why don't you come and find out" Marid said in an emotionless voice before giving his opponent a 'come on' hand signal.
"Why you?!?" Obuni sped towards his opponent at full speed. His eyes blood red with pure rage as reared a fist back, aiming for the top of Marids head, before striking down right where Marid stood.
The instant Obuni's fist made what look to make contact with its target, a big tremor billowed forth, along the shockwave that could be felt across the mine.
"Good grief you are slow" Marid s mocked from nearby. Obuni, bent over from the punch, craned his head to his left where he heard it from. To his surprise, he spotted Marid crouched on and stuck to the far wall over twenty feet off the ground, rather than below his knuckles as a bloody stain on the floor, "And what was that sluggish punch? Was that really the best you could do?" Marid mocked further.
"Shut your mout-puh" Obuni never got the opportunity to finish his sentence as Marid had suddenly pushed his feet of the wall and rocketed himself forward with astonishing speed. He then clocked the Kuroshishi right in the center of his face, on the bridge of nose with a ferocious haymaker of his own. The impact sending of a huge bang that reverberated throughout the mine, as though it was bullet shot from a shotgun. A sickening crunch followed it, as Obuni nose completely caved into his face. He was then sent hurtling backwards at breakneck speed wall nearby Rias and Sona. The punch almost knocked Obuni out of consciousness.
Sona who was keeping a close eye on Marids fight was suitably impressed.
'Since when did Marid become strong in close combat. One would think he would follow in his parents footsteps in becoming more proficient in magic as both of his parents were wizard type fighters rather than close combat powerhouse' Sona thought impressed and curious to what more Marid was hiding from them.
"Now that's how you throw a punch" Marid said aloud while cracking his knuckles.
"Ughhh…. You will pay for that one" Obuni said groggily.
"I would have loved to continue this spar but I have to tend to my other responsibilities I need to attend to. Not to mention make sure Rias knight still lives, go train my Bishop and to ensure your leader is defeated by the end of the night. Which is why I will make end this quickly. Obuni of the Kuroshishi race, it has been an honor to fight with you" Marid gave his opponent a small bow before rushing in at incredible speed to deliver the final blow.
"Noooooo" Obuni raised his guard now in fear of being killed.
Marid sped up at such speed that he disappeared from his eye sight, much to his horror. Moments later Marid reappeared on Obuni's side with the intention of knocking his head clean of his shoulder. The amount of Magical aura Marid was releasing, Marid just might have been able to accomplish this.
In the state of panic, Obuni threw a haymaker to catch Marid while coming in. To his horror, his punch went straight through Marids head.
'He used a visual illusion on the Lion' Sona understood what Marid had done in the moment he disappeared from their sides.
"Goodbye" Marid reappeared behind him and without wasting a single moment he impaled his entire arm through Obuni chest.
"Youuu…. How….." Obuni uttered his last words before collapsing to the ground.
"I am sure you can disintegrating his body from here onwards right Rias" Marid looked towards a shocked Rias and Sona. Both caught in a stupor as to how Marid was able to kill the lion that easily while they had to use their full power to defeat one of them.
"Ladies I know I am sexy as hell, but you both do realize that we are standing in a battlefield" Marid teased his childhood friends after noticing their stupors.
"How did you do that?" Rias asked still in shock.
"Training Rias lots of training" Marid rolled his eyes before taking his place beside his fellow kings. Which was hopefully watching the last fight of the day.
Both Rias and Sona had more questions regarding his battle prowess, not to mention his mysterious black and silver aura, but they thought it to be better if they asked him about all of this when they are not on a battlefield.
"Who do you think is going to win?" Marid asked the two Devil heiress beside him. Since they had been watching the fight for a long time.
"It's tough to say, the lion named Zill has an edge over his opponent in terms of power. But his opponent, Kenta is outclassing him in terms technique. By the looks of it, this battle has turned into a battle of endurance. With both of these Lions heavily damaged, it is safe to say we are reaching the climax of this battle" Sona replied seriously while observing the battle.
"What are we going to do when this battle ends?" Rias asked her fellow Kings curiously. They couldn't just let the lions leave like that, not after they caused so much damage.
"If Zill wins, then I would say we go in there and kill him, but if the Kenta wins…. I would suggest that we nurse him back to full health before asking him what is going on here. Rebels or not, these Lions shouldn't have been this far in your territory without anyone noticing them. It is clear to me something going on here and we aren't aware of it" Marid replied exactly what both Rias and Sona were thinking about. It was clear to all of them that something was going on in the dark, they just didn't know what exactly was going on.
Battlefield
"What are you going to do now Zill? Your team is dead, and the Devils are ready to kill you if you survive me. Things don't look to good for you" the Kenta mocked his attacker.
"Survive me??? Don't make me laugh you little shit! I can beat you and those filthy Devil scum even with these injuries" Zill growled in return before throwing a straight right towards his Kentas chest.
Kenta saw it coming and threw Zill over his shoulder only to have Zill land and come springing back trying to spear Kenta in his chest. Kenta knowing, he couldn't stop the momentum of the attack leapt back to get some space between him and his opponent.
After getting room to breathe, Kenta threw a swift right kick but Zill blocked with a swipe and threw Kenta to the ground. Kenta just managed to catch himself before he made a full impact with the ground. Without missing a beat, Kenta pushed back and threw a missile kick towards his head ,which managed to get through Zills guard.
"Uggh" Zill spit out some blood as he was sent hurtling towards one of the mining carts still left intact.
"Give up while you can Zill, your defeat is imminent" Kenta said while struggling to catch his breath.
"You would have to kill me to defeat me you sorry excuse of a Lion. But you can't kill me can you due to your weakness, due to the constraints of this weak society you put on yourself " Zill mocked his opponent while slowly finding his feet underneath himself.
"Shut up!!" Kenta screamed back.
"Looks like I struck a nerve there. You truly are weakling. Why is it huh, is it because of your naïve grandfather or your coward father" Zill further mocked his rival. Using Kenta's own history against him.
"Shut up!! SHUT THE HELL UP!!! YOU DON'T KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!!" Kenta screamed on top of his lungs with tears in his eyes. He had curled his hands so hard that were bleeding now and his knuckles were ghostly pale.
Elsewhere
"I think we should jump in this" Rias said after watching the whole scene unfolding in front of her.
"I agree" Sona nodded back.
"I wouldn't recommend it ladies" Marid replied while observing the scene in front of him.
"Kenta might lose himself in his rage, becoming a threat not only to himself but also us" Rias argued back.
"Perhaps, or maybe he will prevail and go past his fears and become a better person" Marid said with a knowing smirk.
"You are willing to risk our lives on a hunch" Rias asked with an indecorous expression.
"Just trust me on this Rias" Marid sighed as he looked towards his two childhood friends.
"Very well, we won't interfere for now" Sona and Rias agreed for the time being.
Battlefield
"Oh, I know enough about you, you little shit" Zill weakly stood up after wiping blood off his face. "Know enough about you to understand why you would rather take a coward's way rather than follow the path of us Lions" At that an evil smirk appeared on Zill's face, "Is it because of your weak mother? Isn't it? She promised you not to kill anyone, not to give in to the beast didn't she?"
Kenta didn't reply. Not because he didn't want… but because he couldn't because he had been shaking in pure rage. Kenta's Ki turned from calm yet strong Ki turned to pure evil, filled with malice, while his aura surrounding him changed from dark blue to a pure black hue. Even though neither one of the Devils could sense it Ki or chi, they defiantly sense immense murderous intent coming of Kenta. The murderous intent was enough to make them all start sweating profusely.
"Marid" Sona called out to Marid, a little shaken.
"There, the bastard has done it!" Marid exclaimed happily, clearly seeing something others didn't.
"What has he done?" Rias asked seriously. To her chagrin, Marid didn't reply to her question. He only smirked and pointed at Kenta.
"Whoa giving into your beast side huh, I mean they do say it is never too late to do the right thing" Zill further mocked Kenta as he sensed his Ki turn evil until it started to return to original state.
"I made a promise to myself Zill. I will never give into the beast again! But that doesn't mean I won't kill you here and NOW!!!!!" Kenta shouted as he powered up to his full power. Bringing all of his remaining magical power to the surface. His Ki lost the evilness it had, but his aura was now different, it was now orange-yellowish. Something only the Devils overlooking the battle noticed.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH" Kenta roared in fury as he rushed towards Zill with all his might, giving this attack his all. Out of nowhere, a spear of pure fire materialized in his right hand.
"I will kill you're here, and now Zill," Kenta screamed as he planned to finish off his opponent with this final strike. In his rage, Kenta didn't notice a pure evil smirk on Zills's face or the materialization of the teleportation circle behind him.
"KENTA DUCK" Marid screamed as he rushed towards the battlefield to protect the black lion.
Unfortunately, Marids warning came in way too late as from the teleportation circle out came a monster; a naked woman in appearance from the top was about the same size as Marids own height!! With the immense torse, she had small pearly white breast and pale nipples with a pale skin-tone. Her hips were wide, and her waist was tiny, with a reasonably attractive face. Unfortunately, that is where the humanoid appearance of the monster ended as the lower half of her body looked to be the same as the body of an eagle with green feathers.
'What in the nine layers of Hell is that shit' Marid thought in disgust as he was rushing towards Kenta.
"ughhh!" Kenta spit out blood as the monstrosity dug her big talons in his back.
"AHhh that's what you get for messing around with me!!" Zill roared in delight believing he had won the battle. "Kampe finish the job" Zill ordered the monster to kill the now defeated lion.
The monster bowed her head towards Zill in apparent submission before going in for the kill.
"Here I thought Lions fight with honor. Maybe they really did oversell a Lions honor or you just the worst kind of scum" a voice grabbed Zills attention away from Kenta who was lying on the ground bleeding heavily. The next thing he noticed was his precious monster got hit with a odd and unnatural ball of darkness causing her to fall to the ground.
"Cahcahhhhhacahhwwww" The monster screamed unintelligibly in pain before stopping her pitiful cries in the next few seconds.
"Kampe!! What have you done to her Devil" Zill glared at Marid who turned out to be the one responsible of the monster's faith.
"I hit the monster with my ball of darkness. The strike has targeted her vital organs. If my estimation is right, that monster of yours will be dead within the next minute or so" Marid casually explained, clearly unaffected by the killing intent directed towards him.
"I will kill you for this" Zill turned to rush Marid only to be met by waves of conjured water animals and power of destruction.
"Ughhh" Some of the attacks hitting Zill, before he could dodge.
"You will do no such thing lion. It would be in your best interest to surrender" Sona said while floating above the battlefield alongside Rias. Both were ready to unleash more of their magical attacks if necessary.
"I will never surrender to Devil scum like you" Zill spoke angrily.
"Then what would do then? Try and fight your way out of this one too? If so let me assure, we will kill you!" Marid narrowed his eyes at the last enemy standing in front of him.
After that no one said anything, the silence lasted for about ten seconds but for the occupants of the battlefield, it might as well be ten hours.
"I will leave Devil! But remember, we will meet again and when we do next time nothing will save you from me" Zill glared before using the last of his energy to run out of the mine.
"Like hell you would" Rias shouted angrily as she threw volleys of her infamous power of destruction at the lion. Unfortunately, even despite being heavily injured, the lion was nimble enough to dodge all of her blast before running out of the mine.
"Let him leave Rias, as he is right now, he wont be able to do anything against us or others for now" Marid advised Rias as he surveyed the battlefield for any other stragglers before heading towards Kenta.
"We should follow him and try to kill him before he gathers up his strength to fight back against us" Rias said angrily.
"That would be a sound idea if we could sense Ki to locate him. By now Zill must have safety hid his Ki and magical aura from most forms of magical detection. All of this not even considering we have to take care of our injured" Sona thought aloud of the pros and cons of such a hunt at this moment.
"Where did Tsubaki took Kiba?" Rias asked worriedly after remembering the injuries her knight took during the course of the battle.
"Tsubaki took Kiba to my house where I have proper medical equipment to administer proper healing procedure for Kiba. I can take you there right now?" Sona replied to her friend.
"Thank you Sona" Rias replied with a genuine sigh of relief. Her hatred for Zill forgotten for the time being.
"What are you going to do with him?" Sona asked Marid when she saw him inspecting the defeated lion.
"Well, he is still alive. I can take him with me for now and heal him. I got some healing potions in my apartment here in Kuoh. I can bring him to the ORC clubroom sometime tomorrow evening" Marid suggested.
"That sounds like a fine idea. But do be careful, after watching his near berserk moment, he might lash out on you" Sona carefully advised her childhood friend.
"Are you getting worried for me Sona?" Marid asked innocently.
"Lets go Rias" Sona told Rias after creating a magic circle to teleport herself and Rias back to her house.
"See you soon ladies and good luck" Marid waved his friends goodbye before heading towards the fallen lion.
"Come on now big boy, let's get you healed up" Marid said aloud before creating two magic circle, one to transport himself and Kenta to his apartment and the other to summon his bishop to Kuoh, there was a lot of work needed to be done.
Chapter End!!
Well, that is the end of one brutal chapter. Lets have a recap shall we!
So our Devils won against Zill and his pride by the most minuscule of margins. Kiba is extremely hurt but he should recover soon enough. Koneko-chan goes in for a loop, as she faces her greatest fear. How will she recover from such a setback considering her inactions or rather inability overcome her fear caused Kiba to almost get killed. And WHAT IN THE HELL IS MARID'S POWER OF DARKNESS HE SHOWCASED DURING HIS FIGHT WITH OBUNI AND THEN AGAINST KAMPE??!?!? You will find everything out in the next chapter, so stay tuned for that!
Also, I would like to give a huge shout out to physcopath556. He is the author of the legendary story 'Lion of Serafall'. I took huge inspiration from his story when writing about the Kuroshishi and their pride. Please go and show him some love in his other stories. If you write him enough, he just might return to rewrite or to continue with Lion of Serafall. Lol!
Along with this, from the next chapters onwards, the story is going to chill out a little since we will be heading into our first arc. While my story will follow the standard DXD verse timeline, all the events that happen will be a little different, my own twist on DXD verse so to speak!!
Furthermore, I won't turn this fanfic into a Rias and Zeoticus bashing story. Admittedly, they are fun to read and write about, but I have genuine plans for Rias and Zeoticus. But this doesn't mean they won't be getting some dumb dumb scenes from time to time.
Please write reviews and leave constructive criticism in the comments below. I read every single one of those!! Also, please let me know if you want me to keep on writing the word count at the end of each chapter! Most fanfic writers don't do that kind of stuff, so let me know if this is something you guys want me to carry on or not!
I hope all that made sense! Have fun and stay safe people!
Until next time
Dragon God Zalama!!
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