Beyond Critical - Chapter 7.2 (Patreon)

It was only the eruption of a wave of pitch black cursed flame that saved Satanael from being consumed by dragon fire.

That was fine.

It blocked his vision after all.

He was unable to see as Kaito, blurred and moved.

The teenager rounded the fallen angel and shot at him from behind. A kick shot out aimed at the back of one of the fallen angel's knees and made contact.

The fallen stumbled back just in time for Kaito to clasp both gauntlet clad hands together and spike him straight in the back of the skull.

A surprise yell of pain left the once soldier of God's throat as he found himself launched across the room and smashing into and through the concrete wall on the other side of the room, bouncing straight outside in a rain of debris where he fell in a heap.

With how weakened he was, if the Cadre wasn't currently wielding Arondight, his skull would have most likely been crushed.

On seeming instinct alone, the fallen angel, even dazed as he was threw himself to the side as Kaito followed up, his foot crashing down where the ancient mans head was a split moment previously.

His wings whipped out, firing off a barrage or razor sharp feathers towards Kaito's back, only for the teenager to spin and duck beneath, allowing them to pierce into and through a large tree behind him, and then thrust one of his fists out towards the fallen as he came to a stop on his knee.

Satanael's eyes widened as the black gem atop the gauntlet, glowed with bright white light.

He swung Arondight out just as a bolt of light erupted from the gauntlet gem like a bullet and cleaved through it.

"You…!" Satanael snarled, but never got to finish as Kaito followed behind the bolt of light and rushed him.

"You shouldn't have told me I could do that." Kaito bared his teeth and ground his foot into the ground just before he reached his opponent and torqued to the right, twisting directions in a split moment and unleashing all the momentum built up with it in a rapid jab at Satanael's kidney.

A wing blocked the punch just in time and an echoing snap resounded. Satanael snarled and swung Arondight, ebony flames erupting along its surface once more.

Kaito pulled his head back, the flames tickling along his neck but not quite touching, before pushing off and burying his other fist in the once angels stomach.

Satanael's eyes bugged out and spittle flew from his mouth, but before he could even get the chance to recover, Kaito's first fist wound back around and smashed into his cheek hard enough to send the fallen skidding across the ground.

Once again he never got the chance to recover before Kaito was upon him, a thrust kick catching him in the stomach and full on sending him spinning, while the teenager buried a rapid fire set of gauntlet clad jabs into his lower back, before grabbing him by the neck and pulling him back into a rising knee strike that was promptly buried in the base of his spine.

The fallen's eyes rolled up into the back of his head and his limbs went limp. Fingers uncurled from around the hilt of the blade in his hand and it tumbled to the ground with a clatter.

And the fallen followed a moment later as Kaito let go.

"Impossible….impossible…" a choking wheeze left the Cadre's lips as he lay face first in the dirt, his fingers scrabbling in the grass as he tried to feebly reach for Arondight.

A yell of pain erupted from his throat as a foot came down, stomping straight on his spine and pushing him down, "You brought this on yourself, mate." Kaito growled at him, smoke emanating between his lips as he drew on his magic power.

It may have been a better idea to grab the sword right now. But he wasn't sure what would happen if he did. Arondight may have been corrupted, but it was still a Holy Sword at one point, and only natural wielders of them could pick up the blade.

Not only that, it was a demonically corrupted blade now. Who knew if it wouldn't start draining his life force or something?

Though, it may be fine if he were still wearing his gauntlets if he picked it up.

"No, it makes no sense….it may be a pitiful Sacred Gear, but it still takes time to master abilities…how could you use the feature so quickly," Satanael glared up at Kaito from the corner of his eyes where his face was buried in the dirt, "Not only that…how? How did you do it? Twice Critical does not have a dragon instead, they are mere inferior copies of the Boosted Gear crafted from the flesh of the Red Dragon Emperor."

'So I was right, more or less.' Kaito thought, "I've been using Twice Critical for years," he scoffed, "And Sacred Gears respond to desire, it's pretty obvious how."

To be exact.

When he returned from his soul after sacrificing all of his organs to the draconic energy within him and forging them into the organs of a dragon. He could feel…the connection between him and his Twice Critical's grow.

He'd simply willed the light gun and sword inside and willed the gauntlets to draw upon them.

And they did.

It was just the same as how he simply knew upon returning from his soul, that the magic swelling and growing within him, could be ignited within his dragon lungs.

It was incredibly convenient.

Though to be honest, he'd been expecting it to be enough to possibly trigger his Balance Breaker.

Sadly, he apparently didn't have such an easy convenient way of unlocking his, like the stupid pervert.

"…I see…Of course, how obvious…" Satanael mumbled, his eyes closing in apparent defeat as Kaito inhaled deeply.

He only had enough magic power left right now for another breath of dragon fire. The one he'd unleashed not long ago, had drained half of his reserves in an instant.

It was awesome actually, that he now had something proper he could use it with.

"See ya, Satanael." Kaito bid the legendary ten winged being goodbye as he prepared to exhale and drown the man in a wave of dragon fire.

"Yes, goodbye boy." Satanael replied.

And his eyes snapped open, silver eyes glowing with bright light. An instant later, a pillar of light erupted from his body and Kaito barely managed to get his gauntlet clad arms up in a cross block before it slammed into him and shot him into the air.

It launched him dozens of feet into the air and sent him flying back where he crashed into and through a tree and then landed on his back a moment later on the ground with a groan.

Giving him a prime view to stare up and watch as Satanael rose up into the air, an aura of purple light surrounding his body.

"To think I've been pushed this far," the Cadre's shook his head as he stared down at Kaito, "Boy, this is the end for you. But, rejoice and take pride in the fact that regardless, you have claimed the life of Satanael, Adversary of God!"

Kaito growled and forced himself to his feet, "So you're full in and using your light and not caring about your injury even if it kills you?!" he shouted, "Forgive me if I don't roll over and die!"

He shouldn't have wasted time talking there! What a rookie mistake and he should have known better. He should have just burnt him with dragon fire when he had him pinned!

"That's fine boy, it's not like I plan on staying dead long," Satanael smirked down at him from above, "Still, I will have your name boy. I will remember you as the one who came the closest to ever killing me and keep you as a reminder as I ascend above all others."

What a fucking blowhard.

But if he wanted to make the exact same mistake Kaito just did, then he was all for it. "It's Kaito, Kaito Evander," he replied, fists clenching as he prepared to move, "And how exactly do you plan to come back from the dead after this?" he asked, fishing for information.

His eyes flicked to the dark coloured blade laying the grass about twenty feet away, before going back to the fallen angel above.

"It's really rather simple," Satanael's smirk widened, "Let me ask, why do you think I came here, to this town specifically?"

"I was told it was so you could use the sisters of the Satan's as shields to stop anyone really powerful from coming after you," Kaito replied, inching ever so slightly a bit over, every little inch would count here, "But I'm guessing that's wrong?"

Well, it was Irina who told him. And she got that information from the church. The church that was notoriously incompetent

"Pfft, as if I would need to use that trash as a shield," Satanael scoffed, "But, I suppose it's not that far off. Tell me, did you know that in the past another devil ruled over this territory?"

"No." Kaito lied bluntly.

But yes he did. This was the territory of Cleria Belial once upon a time before she and her lover from the church were betrayed and put to death.

…Because she'd stumbled upon something she shouldn't have.

"Well they did, who it was, does not matter, they are dead and gone," Satanael continued, "What does matter, is I came upon some information about her and her lover not long ago amongst some top secret messages and learned she had left something here."

"…And that would be?" Kaito pressed lightly, inching just a little more over.

"Why, this of course," Satanael laughed and held his hand up. Light swirled into existence and formed into a simple wooden box that he opened to show off, what looked like a single set of glowing red chess pieces, "Her evil pieces."

"….That's your big plan?" Kaito stopped and gave the fallen angel a deadpan stare, "Reincarnate yourself as a devil, seriously? All that grandstanding…for that?"

Satanael's laugher increased in volume, "Not quite as simple as that boy," he shook his head, "While indeed I plan to use the queen piece to resurrect myself, I'd hardly be able to ascend to the heights I want with such a paltry boost."

He reached into the box with one hand and grasped a single piece, before holding it up.

Kaito stared at it blankly for a moment, before his eyes widened. Because, while he wasn't the biggest chess fan, he well knew the pieces.

…And the piece he held in his hand, was not normal.

'A king piece?!' he gaped. Cleria Belial had a king piece in her possession before she died? ..Why? How…when even!?

"This is a very special evil piece known as a King Piece," Satanael happily explained, "When a devil takes one of these within themselves, it gives them a massive power boost. Up to one hundred times their initial power actually. Can you imagine boy? How powerful I will become with it? How powerful I will become once I fashion Arondight into a new Longinus? I will be unstoppable. Nobody will be able to stop me. Not Michael, not the Satans and definitely not fool Azazel!"

'What the hell is my horrible luck!?' Kaito screamed inwardly.

This was bullshit!

Why the fuck was he getting involved with shit like this, this early?!

No, seriously. It had literally only been a week today since he'd gained the memories of his other self. And since then, he'd fought a toshi, a homicidal priest, the spirit of ancient Chinese Emperor….and now this.

A Cadre with plans to apparently reach if not surpass the level of the Four Satans, all of which that could fight and defeat god while at the same time, makning himself an all new Longinus Sacred Gear.

Issei Hyoudou didn't need to deal with shit like this and that bastard was freely gifted one of the most broken abilities in this entire universe!

Life was seriously, never fair.