Issei, who had taken advantage of the situation with Sona to skip class, suddenly stopped when an extremely delicious smell reached his nostrils.
"What is this strange smell?" Issei sniffed the air and almost drooled. "It's strangely delicious."
—Kid, that's the smell of blood.— Vlad spoke inside Issei's mind, making his eyes widen. —A lot of blood.—
'Shit!' Issei shouted internally in panic and immediately started running toward the scent.
When he reached the place where the smell was strongest, he found someone he never expected.
"Asia?" Issei asked in disbelief.
"Issei-san, what are you doing here?" Asia asked in that innocent voice of hers, looking at him curiously. "Father Sellzen said not to let anyone enter."
"I smelled something," Issei muttered, and his eyes widened. "Asia, come over here right now."
"Well, well, look what we have here. A bat." A young white-haired man laughed madly. "Asia, help me kill the bat."
"Father Sellzen, this is Issei, my friend." Asia pointed at Issei with an innocent smile.
"He is not your friend. He is a creature of darkness." The priest pointed at Issei with a cruel grin. "Let's kill him."
The priest pulled out a sheathed sword and pointed it at Issei.
"I'll take this opportunity to test Excalibur on you!" Sellzen shouted insanely.
'He said Excalibur. Should I be worried?' Issei thought.
—What the hell do you mean Excalibur? That thing is nothing but a second-rate holy sword.— Satanta scoffed inside Issei's head. —I've seen the real one, and I guarantee this thing doesn't even come close.—
(Partner, in the hands of someone a little stronger, that sword would be a problem. But not for you. Try fighting without Gae Bolg.)
—But be careful.— Vlad warned.
"Excalibur? Is this how you do things? You put the name of a legendary sword on a piece of scrap metal?" Issei laughed while holding his stomach. "Is this what they call chuuni these days?"
"Shut up! I'll show you the power of Excalibur" Sellzen growled angrily and turned into a blur as he rushed toward Issei.
"Fast…" Issei said as he took a step to the side and dodged the attack. Then he twisted his body and kicked Sellzen in the ribs, sending him flying into a concrete beam and making him cough up blood. "But not that fast."
Issei smiled and rushed forward, appearing right in front of Sellzen and throwing a punch at his face.
Sellzen turned his head and barely dodged at the last second.
However, the debris from the broken concrete flew into his face, making him curse as he tried to clean his eyes.
"Shit! Asia, heal me!" he shouted while glaring at her with hatred. "Hurry up, you bitch!"
Asia started mumbling in panic, not knowing what to do.
"Didn't your mother teach you not to mistreat women?"
Sellzen heard Issei's voice right next to his ear.
"Get away from me!"
Sellzen swung his sword in panic and cut only air.
Then he saw Issei leaning against the same beam he had smashed him into earlier.
"How strong are you?!" Sellzen shouted, pointing at Issei. "Why the hell is there someone this strong in this city?!"
'Hey, oversized lizard… how strong am I when I'm using everything at my disposal?' Issei thought.
(Oversized lizard my ass, brat… Without Gae Bolg, you're in the middle of High-Class.) Ddraig replied thoughtfully. (With Gae Bolg, you're at the beginning of Ultimate-Class.)
'Nice,' Issei thought. 'That means I'm—'
(-weak as hell.-)
The three voices in his head answered at the same time.
'You guys are cruel.'
"Maybe I'm not strong. Maybe you're just weak," Issei mocked as he dodged another one of Sellzen's attacks.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Sellzen went mad, wildly swinging his sword around.
Issei took advantage of the opening and hit him even harder.
The priest flew away once more and this time fell completely defeated.
Issei approached Sellzen's unconscious body and picked up the sword.
The blade suddenly shone in his hand.
'What the hell is this?' Issei thought.
—The sword is reacting to you, brat. It's only natural considering you possess divinity and a legendary weapon.— Satanta explained.
'But you said this isn't Excalibur.'
—And it isn't. However, it's still a sword with divine attributes.—
(Partner, just get rid of that sword. With your luck, it'll only bring trouble to you.) Ddraig warned.
"I'm going to—"
Kill.
Suddenly, Issei's head flew to the ground.
His body collapsed.
Dead.
He gasped.
Breathing became impossible.
All he could see was his own body lying on the ground.
(Partner, wake up!)
Ddraig's scream snapped him back to reality.
"AAAAAHHHH!" Issei gasped and grabbed his neck. "What the hell?!"
Then the ground seemed to crack.
The air itself shattered.
A background of pure darkness appeared.
From it emerged a short, pale blonde woman wearing a black dress and possessing cold blue eyes.
She looked at Issei coldly.
Then at the sword in his hands.
"..."
She didn't say a word.
But Issei immediately looked at the sword and understood.
Behind the blonde woman, a man appeared.
White hair.
Dark skin.
Silver eyes.
A red combat uniform.
He looked at Issei with cold indifference and opened his mouth.
"A Dead Apostle… no, this one seems to possess divinity." The man spoke calmly. "Could he be a descendant of the Moon?"
"..."
The woman merely looked at the sword again.
"Hand over the sword, Apostle," the man said. "And we'll grant you a quick death."
"There's no chance I can survive? Like, I hand over the sword and run away to the mountains?" Issei joked nervously. "I don't like dying."
"No."
The man answered with complete indifference.
'What are my chances of surviving this?' Issei thought as he prepared himself to fight.
—It was nice knowing you.— Satanta said sadly.
—Indeed. Despite being a pervert, you were a good student.— Vlad said.
(You had so much talent. What a shame your life ended so soon, Partner.) Ddraig cried as if he were attending a funeral.
'Damn it, you're supposed to encourage me!' Issei shouted mentally in panic.
"..."
The blonde woman looked at Asia.
Issei understood immediately.
"No! Not her!" Issei shouted and ran to Asia's side. "She has nothing to do with this! Leave her out of it!"
"Issei-san…" Asia called out, completely confused.
"Impossible. She is a witness. She must die as well."
The man attacked.