[Yuuto's POV]
The clearing behind the Occult Research Club building was bathed in the amber glow of late afternoon, the sun hanging low and on the horizon like an overripe peach ready to burst.
Cicadas droned their endless summer song from the nearby trees, their rhythmic chirping the only sound breaking the suffocating silence that had settled over our little gathering.
I stood at one end of the clearing, LostVayne resting in my hand—the blade no longer than my forearm, deceptively simple in its elegant design.
On the other side, Xenovia had stripped down to her battle attire—a form-fitting black bodysuit that screamed 'Church militant' louder than any cross ever could. Excalibur Destruction sat naked in her grip, the massive blade free of its bandages now, radiating that distinct hum of holy energy that made the air shimmer around it like heat waves off asphalt. The damn thing was nearly as tall as she was, yet she held it like it weighed nothing.
Irina stood beside her, wringing her hands together like a nervous mother watching her child about to do something monumentally stupid. Which, to be fair, wasn't far from the truth.
Behind me, Rias stood with her arms crossed, flanked by Akeno, Koneko, and Asia. I could feel Rias's concerned gaze boring into the back of my head like a laser pointer.
"Yuuto," Rias called out, her voice carrying that particular tone that meant she was about to lecture me. "Why exactly did you challenge her to a spar?"
I glanced over my shoulder, letting a mocking smile play at my lips. "What's wrong, Buchou? Don't trust that I can beat her?" I pressed a hand to my chest in mock hurt. "I'm wounded. Truly."
My gaze drifted back to Xenovia, who was now stretching her shoulders, rolling the massive blade in lazy circles like it was a bamboo practice sword. The sunset painted her silhouette in crimson and gold, making her look almost heroic.
Wait until this hero turns into a tragic one.
Rias sighed—the long-suffering kind that parents make when their teenager does something predictably stupid. "Just... don't go overboard."
"Sure, Buchou" I raised my free hand in a lazy salute.
I called out across the clearing, my voice cutting through the cicada song. "Ready when you are, Church girl!"
Xenovia stopped her warm-up stretches, planting Excalibur Destruction point-first into the earth with a meaty THUNK that sent vibrations through the ground. She gripped the hilt with both hands, golden eyes locked onto me with the kind of focus a hawk gives a field mouse.
"Ready," she said simply.
I walked forward until we stood about ten meters apart. Close enough to see the determination burning in her eyes. Far enough that we wouldn't accidentally skewer each other before the match even started.
Probably.
Rias stepped forward, positioning herself between us but off to the side. She looked at each of us in turn, her expression serious. "Listen carefully. This is a friendly spar. No killing blows. Am I clear?"
I nodded.
"Understood," Xenovia replied.
Rias nodded, though she still looked like she'd rather be anywhere else. She raised her hand. "Begin!"
She vanished in a blur of crimson magic, teleporting back to the sidelines.
For a heartbeat, neither of us moved. The world seemed to hold its breath—even the cicadas had gone quiet, as if they too wanted to see how this would play out.
Then Xenovia moved.
WHOOSH!
The sound of displaced air cracked like a whip as she launched herself forward, Excalibur Destruction already mid-swing. The blade came down in a vertical slash that promised to split me from crown to crotch, the holy energy coating it.
Should I just end this with a single strike?
The thought flickered through my mind even as my body was already moving. I sidestepped, the blade missing me by inches—close enough that I felt the wind of its passage ruffle my hair. LostVayne came up in a defensive guard more out of habit than necessity.
BOOM!
Excalibur Destruction hit the earth where I'd been standing a microsecond ago. The impact was apocalyptic—dirt and grass exploded outward in a cone of debris, and a crater the size of a hot tub simply appeared in the ground, cracks spider-webbing out from the epicenter like frozen lightning.
Holy shit. That would've turned me into chunky salsa.
I landed a few meters back, reassessing. Xenovia stood in the center of her newly created crater, pulling Excalibur free from the earth with zero effort. Dirt cascaded off the blade like water.
"You're fast," she admitted, her voice carrying across the clearing. A small smile played at her lips—the kind a predator makes when it realizes its prey might actually be fun to chase. "But speed alone won't be enough to defeat me."
Oh, you have no idea.
She burst forward again, and this time there was no hesitation. Xenovia came at me like a freight train with a holy sword, each strike flowing into the next with practiced precision. Overhead slash, horizontal cut, diagonal sweep—a relentless barrage that forced me to actually pay attention.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
LostVayne met each blow, the sound of steel on steel ringing out like bells in a cathedral. Sparks flew where our blades met, tiny fireflies of light that died as quickly as they were born. The force behind each of Xenovia's strikes was impressive—I could feel the impact reverberating up my arms, testing the strength of my demonic enhancement.
From the sidelines, I heard Irina's shocked voice cut through the clash of metal. "What kind of sword is that?! It's taking hits from Excalibur like it's a regular sword, not a holy blade!"
That's because LostVayne is special blade, afterall. Perks of having a system that pulls weapons from fictional universes.
I barely suppressed a grin as I parried another overhead strike, redirecting it past my shoulder. Xenovia's form was good—excellent, even. She had clearly trained for years, every movement efficient and purposeful. No wasted motion. No openings.
But.
She's too predictable.
I didn't even need to tap into Kojiro's technique—that supernatural ability to read an opponent's moves before they made them. Xenovia fought like she'd been trained by a manual, each strike following the logical next step in a predetermined sequence. Overhead to horizontal. Horizontal to diagonal. Diagonal back to overhead.
This is why Kiba lost to her in canon, I mused, ducking under a horizontal slash that would've taken my head off. His swords couldn't match the holy blade, and he was too consumed by his hatred to think straight. But me?
I had neither problem.
CLANG!
Another strike, this one aimed at my midsection. I caught it on LostVayne's edge, the impact sending a shower of sparks cascading down like a miniature fireworks display. For a moment, we were locked blade-to-blade, close enough that I could see the frustrated confusion blooming in Xenovia's golden eyes.
She couldn't understand why her holy blade wasn't cutting through my demonic weapon like butter.
Allow me to make this even more confusing for you.
"Stop dodging!" Xenovia snarled, breaking the lock and jumping back. Sweat beaded on her forehead now, her breathing slightly elevated.
I simply smiled and flicked my wrist, twirling LostVayne in a lazy circle.
Then I let the darkness out.
Black energy—thick and viscous as oil—began seeping from my body, coiling around my limbs like living shadows. It flowed down my arm and onto LostVayne's blade, coating the steel in an obsidian sheen that seemed to drink the evening light rather than reflect it. The temperature around me dropped several degrees, my breath misting in the suddenly cold air.
The clearing went dead silent. Even the cicadas had shut up.
I could feel their stares—Rias's concern, Akeno's fascination, Asia's worry, Koneko's approval. And most importantly, Xenovia and Irina's shock.
Showtime.
I moved.
Not ran. Not dashed. Moved.
My body dissolved into a trail of black smoke, the darkness carrying me forward faster than the eye could track. The world blurred into streaks of color and light as I closed the distance between us in a heartbeat. Xenovia's eyes widened—the first real emotion beyond confidence I'd seen from her—but her body was already reacting, bringing Excalibur Destruction up in a desperate guard.
Too slow.
I was already past her.
SHING!
The sound of my blade cutting through the air was almost musical—a high, clear note that rang out across the clearing like a tuning fork. LostVayne, coated in that corrosive darkness, sliced through the space where we'd just been.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Xenovia stood frozen, Excalibur Destruction still raised in guard. I stood behind her, LostVayne extended in the follow-through of my strike, black energy still smoking off the blade like dry ice.
Then—
CRACK!
The sound was like a gunshot, sharp and final.
A spiderweb of fractures appeared along Excalibur Destruction's length, spreading from a single point near the middle of the blade. The holy light that had been suffusing the weapon flickered once. Twice.
Then died.
CRASH!
The sword shattered. Not broke. Not cracked. Shattered.
Pieces of holy steel exploded outward in a glittering rain of metal shards, each fragment catching the dying sunlight as they tumbled through the air in slow motion. The sound was almost beautiful—like wind chimes made of crystal all breaking at once.
Xenovia's hands—still gripping what remained of the hilt—trembled. She stared down at them, at the pathetic few inches of blade still attached to the handle, as if she couldn't quite process what she was seeing.
Then her knees buckled.
She collapsed, landing hard on the grass surrounded by the scattered remains of what had been, until thirty seconds ago, one of the legendary fragments of Excalibur. The shards lay around her like the aftermath of a glass sculpture's suicide, each piece reflecting the sunset in mocking prismatic glory.
Silence crashed over the clearing like a tsunami.
Excalibur Destruction—along with Xenovia's pride and confidence—was broken. Shattered. Obliterated.
And lying all over the ground like the world's most expensive confetti.
Ding!
*[Quest Complete: Defeat Xenovia Quarta]*
*[Reward: 1x Character Card]*
*[Reward has been added to inventory]*
The blue notification flickered in the corner of my vision, but I dismissed it with barely a thought. I'd look at that later. Right now, I had a different situation to handle.
I straightened from my strike pose, letting the darkness fade from my body and blade. LostVayne returned to its normal steel-gray sheen, looking completely innocent—as if it hadn't just destroyed one of Christianity's most sacred weapons.
The silence held for another three seconds.
Then—
"NO!!!" Irina's voice cracked across the clearing like thunder. "It's destroyed! The Excalibur is destroyed!"
She ran toward Xenovia, her twin-tails streaming behind her like orange flags. Her face had gone pale, eyes wide with horror as she took in the scattered fragments of holy steel littering the grass.
I shrugged, aiming for nonchalance. "Oops." I examined LostVayne's edge with theatrical care. "Didn't realize holy swords were so fragile. Maybe the Church should invest in better quality control?"
Probably shouldn't poke the bear, but when have I ever made good decisions?
Irina dropped to her knees beside Xenovia, who was still staring blankly at the broken hilt in her hands like it held the secrets of the universe. "Xenovia! Xenovia, are you okay?! Say something!"
No response. Xenovia had gone into full shock-induced catatonia, her brain apparently blue-screening from the impossibility of what had just happened.
I shifted my attention to my own group. Rias was pinching the bridge of her nose, her eyes closed as if praying for patience from whatever deity listened to devil nobility. Her aura flickered crimson around her shoulders—never a good sign.
Akeno, on the other hand, looked absolutely delighted. Her smile was radiant, almost beatific, and there was a particular gleam in her eyes that promised she'd found this entire debacle deeply, personally satisfying. Her hands were clasped in front of her chest like she'd just witnessed something sacred.
Or extremely kinky. With Akeno, it's hard to tell.
Asia looked worried, her green eyes darting between me and the destroyed sword like she couldn't decide which disaster to focus on. Her hands were wringing together in that nervous way she had.
Koneko, bless her, simply flashed me a thumbs up from where she stood next to Rias. Her expression hadn't changed, but that single gesture spoke volumes.
Proud of you, senpai, it said. You wrecked her.
"Xenovia!" Irina's voice had taken on a desperate edge now, shaking her companion's shoulder. "Xenovia, snap out of it!"
Finally—finally—Xenovia blinked. Once. Twice. Her golden eyes focused, though they still held that thousand-yard stare of someone whose worldview had just been violently adjusted.
"I... lost?" The words came out soft, questioning, as if she was testing them to see if they made sense.
She looked down at the broken hilt in her hands. Then at the scattered shards of Excalibur Destruction surrounding her like the world's most depressing jigsaw puzzle.
"What... what was that?" She finally lifted her gaze to me, and there was something raw in her expression now. Confusion. Hurt. The kind of look someone gets when reality stops following the script they'd memorized.
Irina helped her to her feet, supporting her weight as Xenovia's legs wobbled like a newborn fawn's. Our group moved forward to join them. The distance between us seemed longer than the few meters it actually was.
Rias opened her mouth, clearly about to launch into damage control. Probably an apology. Maybe an offer of compensation. Definitely a headache's worth of diplomatic maneuvering to prevent this from spiraling into an troublesome incident.
"Everything is fine."
Xenovia's words came first before whatever Rias had been about to say. We all stopped, surprise rippling through the group.
Xenovia straightened, shrugging off Irina's support to stand on her own. Her legs still shook slightly, but her spine was steel. "You don't need to be concerned about this."
Irina was gathering the shards of Excalibur Destruction into Xenovia's cloak, each piece making a soft clink as it joined the others. The sound was almost mournful, like a funeral bell played one note at a time.
Then Xenovia did something that shocked me more than anything else that had happened today.
She turned to Asia.
"I..." She paused, swallowed, then continued. "I apologize for my earlier remarks. They were... uncalled for."
You could have heard a pin drop. Hell, you could have heard a thought drop.
Asia's eyes went wide as dinner plates. Irina actually gasped. Even Koneko's perpetual poker face cracked slightly, one eyebrow rising a millimeter.
Before any of us could respond, Xenovia turned to Irina. "Let's return."
"W-wait, Xenovia—"
"Now, Irina."
There was a finality in those words, a door slamming shut on any further discussion. Xenovia didn't even look back at us as she started walking toward the edge of the clearing, her gait still slightly unsteady but determined.
Irina clutched the cloak full of sword fragments to her chest and gave us an apologetic smile. "Um, farewell everyone! It was... good meeting you all!" She bowed quickly as she didn't dare to meet my gaze and then scurried after Xenovia.
We watched them go, disappearing into the lengthening shadows between the buildings. The silence they left us with unspoken words and uncomfortable implications.
Finally, Rias turned to me. Her crimson hair seemed to glow in the dying light, her blue-green eyes narrowed in that particular way that meant I was about to get lectured.
"Yuuto, Didn't I tell you to hold back?"
I raised my hands in defense, LostVayne having already dissolved back into my wherever it came from "I did hold back! I didn't even use the full power. Just coated my sword and body in it. Come on, Buchou, I was up against a holy sword. Did you really expect me to just fool around?"
It wasn't entirely a lie. I had held back. If I'd wanted to, I could have ended that fight in the first three seconds. Could have tapped into Kojiro's technique and found the perfect opening before Xenovia even realized the match had started. Could have used any number of abilities from my arsenal that would have made the outcome even more embarrassingly one-sided.
All I'd done was use a fraction of my darkness manipulation to coat my weapon and boost my speed and sharpness of my blade.
Rias sighed "This is going to be a problem. If word of this gets back to their superiors..." She trailed off, but the implication was clear.
Diplomatic nightmare. Political fallout. Possibly angry priests showing up with more holy swords looking for payback.
Fun times ahead.
"We'll deal with it if it comes to that," I said, trying for reassuring and probably landing somewhere around 'dismissively confident.' "Besides, she apologized to Asia. That's got to count for something, right?"
Asia stepped forward, her voice soft. "I... I'm just glad no one was hurt."
Physically, I added silently. Xenovia's ego might need intensive care, though.
Akeno moved closer, her smile still in place but her eyes sharp as she studied me "That was quite the technique, Yuuto-kun"
Koneko simply continued her silent approval, though she did nod once—which from her was practically a standing ovation, for my performance.
As the group began to disperse, the sun finally dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of purple and deep blue. Stars began to peek out, one by one, like shy observers finally willing to show themselves now that the drama had concluded.
I lingered for a moment, staring at the spot where Excalibur Destruction's shards had lain. The grass was torn up there, little glittering fragments still catching what remained of the light.
Life never seems to be less exciting.
. . . .
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