DXD: Catalyst of Legends

'He's a magician!' she concluded. 'How did we not notice earlier? Wait, does Sona know? If she does, then… then it would make sense why she would be tight-lipped about it.

She gets a magician who's ahead of the curve, while I get a guaranteed Sacre-'

And that thought brought her back to reality. As much as she wanted to see how this would turn out, Issei was almost out of time.

If she stuck around any longer, she would lose her opportunity to reincarnate the boy. There was too much at stake for her to waste any more time and lose someone that she didn't doubt would help her with her problem.

With one last apologetic glance back at the battle, Rias slipped away and returned to the bloodied teen on the grass, retrieving a small box from her pocket.

"Don't worry, I'll pick you up. From now on, you will live for me."

The battle had raged for five whole minutes, and both combatants were in bad shape.

Every move made by one combatant was perfectly matched by the other for the first two minutes; Connor's unorthodox swordsmanship against Dohnaseek's experience and natural strength. Neither took their eyes off the other, and the weapons in their hands sang into the night sky as they either sliced through the air or collided with the other.

Over time, however, Connor was beginning to show signs of fatigue; his movements were slowing down and he was taking heavier breaths during the brief respites in the duel. He had, however, scored several good cuts on his adversary, despite taking a very distracting gash to his own left arm and a jarring blunt strike to his left cheek.

The two men broke away from a lock, and jumped back to catch their breath.

Dohnaseek inhaled deeply, then straightened his back. "That's it! THAT'S IT! I am through playing by your little game!"

"Playing? You're breathing just as hard as I am," Connor quipped.

"Shut your fucking mouth, human! I will gut you like a fish!" Dohnaseek spat as he poured more light magic into his weapon. This had the effect of broadening the head and sprouting even more cutting edges.

Connor said nothing more, but merely heaved a sigh and broke his ready stance. Standing up straight, he closed his eyes and let his arms relax to his sides.

While initially confused by the change in posture, Dohnaseek was too angry to give it a second thought. If this whelp was giving up, who was he to deny the death he welcomed? He just wanted to be done with this crap!

Connor's eyes snapped open, revealing formerly hazel rings to be a bright green, or so it seemed. If one looked closely enough, they would see tiny waves of white slowly dancing around inside the iris, almost blending the respective bands of light brown and blue on the inside and outside edges.

In an instant of eye contact, he saw Dohnaseek's intention. More specifically, to use a burst of speed to lunge forward on the ground, pierce his abdomen, twist the spear, and violently rip out every possible organ.

With that, he had discerned all of the Fallen's possible trajectories, and chose a proper counter for the most likely one.

True to his intent, Dohnaseek lunged forward and thrust at Connor's stomach, never once looking away from his target. The killing blow wasn't meant to be, however, as Connor suddenly twisted his body to evade and raised his right foot to stomp on the incoming spear, slamming it into the dirt and throwing Dohnaseek off balance.

Taking his chance, Connor reversed his grip on his sword and forced Dohnaseek onto his knees while he swung himself around to stand over the man.

With all the force he could muster, he drove his blade downward and impaled his opponent's torso. Blood splattered both on the ground and on Connor's face with a gruesome spray as the tip of Connor's weapon emerged through Dohnaseek's sternum and stabbed the dirt below them.

The Fallen Angel barely had time to gasp from the pain of a severed spine and trachea before his life ceased.

Slowly, the magus withdrew his sword from his defeated enemy. As the body settled, the sense of impending death in his head finally stopped.

The conditions of Ath nGabla were now met, freeing him from its curse. Wiping his mouth and eyes free of blood, he stood up straight and addressed his audience.

"Next?"

Nobody said anything for several seconds, the female Fallen all seeming to still process what had just happened.

"T-There's no way… How did– !" Raynare's panic was short lived when she noticed the boy's expression and heavy breathing. "Keh, doesn't matter! You're still going to die!"

"No, I think we're done here. "

"Wha-" The sound of steel crashing against skull silenced the brunette Fallen. She crumpled to the ground in a unconscious heap, and standing behind her was Kalawarner, that same look of disdain present on her face and a light spear held like a blunt object in her hands.

"Kala! What the hell ar-"

"Shut up, Mittelt!" Kalawarner roared, then turned back to Connor with an intimidating glare, only somewhat disconcerted by those luminous orbs. "Of all people capable of killing a Fallen Angel with a single blow, I didn't expect it to be a Gear-less human.

" She clicked her tongue as she gestured to Raynare. "You're lucky that this idiot overstepped her bounds, otherwise we would have been within rights to kill you immediately after.

"

"I was defending myself. "

"Regardless if it was self-defense, an accident or aggravated murder, you still killed Dohnaseek. The Grigori takes the deaths of its operatives very seriously.

There will be consequences for this, but not tonight. I have her mess to clean up," she grumbled while picking up the limp body of Raynare none too gently.

She then looked to Mittelt, who hadn't moved from where she stood. "Mittelt, pick up Dohnaseek, we're leaving.

"

"Wha- b-but he's weak, we can-"

"Now!" The roar made Mittelt jump, and she hastily gathered up the male Fallen's corpse before taking flight. Kalawarner turned, giving one last baleful glance towards Connor, then lifted off to follow her companion...