The battle against the beasts was intense, but the peerage handled it better than expected.
Cerberus, the three-headed hound of Hell, was brought down after a hard-fought battle. Issei's boosted punches, Koneko's raw strength, Asia's timely healing, and Akeno's lightning strikes eventually overwhelmed the monster.
The second wave, a pack of lesser hellhounds summoned right after, it was dealt with even more efficiently.
Kiba, in particular, had a breakthrough.
In the heat of battle, something inside him snapped. His hatred for the Holy Swords fueled a powerful awakening. With a roar, he unlocked a new level of his Sword Birth, his blade glowing with unprecedented power.
In a flash of speed and precision, he cut down Valper Galilei, the mad priest who had orchestrated so much suffering. Valper's scream was short-lived as Kiba's blade ended him.
The group then turned their full attention toward Kokabiel.
But the gap was painfully obvious.
Even working together, they could barely scratch the fallen angel leader.
Kokabiel toyed with them, blocking attacks with casual flicks of his hand, laughing as he sent them flying with bursts of dark energy. Rias's Power of Destruction, Akeno's holy lightning, and Issei's boosted punches were all shrugged off like nothing.
Silas watched the entire spectacle from his chair on the roof, arms crossed, a small smile on his face.
'They didn't do so bad,' he thought. 'Xenovia better join them. Maybe even Irina? Who knows.'
For once, he felt a bit of genuine satisfaction. They hadn't just taken a beating, they had actually put up a real fight against one of the most powerful beings in the world.
When the group started to falter, Silas finally stood up.
He stretched his arms overhead, cracking his neck and shoulders casually, then rose into the air. He simply floated upward until he hovered right above the battlefield.
The moment he did, the entire battlefield went dead silent.
Everyone, Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Issei, Asia, Kiba, Sona's peerage, Xenovia, and Irina turned their heads toward him. Even the exhausted fighters paused.
Kokabiel, who had been laughing while effortlessly repelling their attacks, suddenly stopped. His six black wings flared as he turned fully toward Silas. For the first time, his arrogant expression shifted into something more serious… and excited.
"Oh?" Kokabiel said, a wide, bloodthirsty grin spreading across his face. "You dare challenge me? I've never heard of a non-factioner , besides the White Dragon Emperor, who could become this powerful. This will be fun."
He completely turned away from the others, focusing entirely on Silas.
The tension in the air became suffocating. The previous chaos of battle was replaced by an eerie, heavy calm as every eye locked onto the two figures floating in the sky.
Silas hovered there with his hands in his pockets, looking completely relaxed, like he was about to have a casual conversation rather than face one of the strongest fallen angels in existence.
Kokabiel cracked his knuckles, dark energy swirling violently around him.
"Come then, nameless one" he taunted. "Show me what you're capable of."
Silas dropped down from the sky, stopping himself just before his feet touched the ground. He landed lightly, almost gently, like he was trying not to crack the pavement or something.
With a casual snap of his fingers, Rias and the others vanished in a blink, reappearing safely far away on the edge of the school grounds.
Kokabiel watched the move with a wide, interested smirk.
"You are the perfect person," he said, voice booming with excitement. "Join me! Together we can wage war on every faction in this world!"
Silas looked up at him, completely unfazed.
"Nah, man," he replied flatly.
He raised his hand.
BAM!
An invisible force slammed into Kokabiel's chest before the fallen angel could even twitch.
The impact was brutal, like getting hit by a truck made of pure power. Kokabiel's eyes widened in shock as his body shot backward through the air like a cannonball.
He crashed straight through the main school building with a deafening.
BOOOOM!
Smashing through walls and leaving a trail of destruction behind him.
Dust and debris filled the air.
Silas lowered his hand, yawned, and scratched the back of his head.
'Well… what did I expect,' he thought, shaking his head slightly.
The silence that followed was almost eerie.
Then—
"YOU INSOLENT FOOL!!"
Kokabiel's furious roar shattered the quiet as he exploded out of the rubble, debris flying everywhere. His six black wings flared open violently, dark energy crackling around him like black lightning. His face was twisted in pure rage as he shot toward Silas at blinding speed.
But he never made it.
BOOM!
Silas's fist connected with his chest faster than the fallen angel could even perceive. The impact was devastating. Kokabiel's body folded in half as he was hammered straight back into the ground, carving a massive crater into the courtyard. The shockwave rattled windows across the entire school.
Silas leaped away casually, landing sideways on the wall of a nearby building. He started walking up it like it was flat ground, hands in his pockets, completely relaxed.
Kokabiel rose from the crater, coughing up blood, but his wounds were already healing rapidly. Snarling in anger, he created hundreds of glowing light spears in an instant and hurled them toward Silas like a storm of holy death.
The spears screamed through the air, thousands of them in mere seconds.
Silas didn't even turn around.
He kept walking up the wall as the barrage crashed behind him, exploding violently against the building in a chain of blinding flashes and deafening booms. Dust and rubble rained down, but not a single spear touched him.
He stepped off the wall and landed lightly on the ground.
Kokabiel blitzed forward again in a rage, fist cocked back, aiming for Silas's face.
BANG!
His punch stopped dead against an invisible wall inches from Silas's cheek. The force of the blocked strike recoiled violently into Kokabiel's own arm.
"AGHHHH!!" he screamed in pain, staggering back and clutching his wrist.
Before he could recover, Silas casually backhanded him.
CRASH!
Kokabiel flew like a ragdoll, smashing back into the exact same pile of rubble he had burst out of earlier. The entire building groaned from the force.
Everyone watching, stood in stunned silence.
They had just witnessed one of the strongest fallen angels in existence being completely toyed with. Silas wasn't even trying. He looked bored. He yawned again, stretching his arms overhead like he was fighting off sleep.
'I want to sleep now,' he thought tiredly.
Kokabiel crawled out of the rubble once more, breathing heavily. His once-immaculate appearance was ruined, clothes torn, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, and his six black wings slightly disheveled.
The arrogance that had defined him was cracking, replaced by a volatile mix of fury and disbelief as he glared at Silas.
That calm, almost bored expression on Silas's face only pissed him off even more.
Before Kokabiel could launch another attack, a blinding white light suddenly flashed across the entire sky.
BOOOOM!
A figure descended from above like a falling star, slamming into the ground with enough force to shake the entire academy. Cracks spiderwebbed outward from the point of impact as dust and debris exploded upward.
Silas turned his head slightly. He already knew exactly who it was.
The dust slowly settled, revealing the newcomer.
TO BE CONTINUED