The Vanguard I
The dust had yet to settle, Rias' pale expression as she kneeled could only contrast Akeno's the occultist club had been flatlined by a single lighting bolt of a Fallen Angel cadre. Inside it, in the basement had been her 'cutest' servant.
In the mist of the dust cloud she could imagine his expression and despair as tears didn't fail to well in her eyes. Everything eerie until she heard a scared voice and felt someone hugging her tightly.
"Buchou! it was so scary!"
A confused Rias lowered her eyes to see her servant, Casper, hugging her with a line of blood falling from his neck and his ragged clothes filled with dust.
"C-Casper!" Akeno ran and hugged the two of them while Sona and Tsubaki inspected everything with horrid expressions, the wails of despair didn't fail to resonate in the area together with sirens. The sun had already fallen and the moon was beginning to surface... just like the dawn of a new era of night and conflict.
"Did you use your sacred gear, Gasper!?" Rias hugged her servant with everything she got, for a minute she thought she lost him, meanwhile the two individuals high above looked at everything with surprise.
"That boy..."
"Forbidden Balor View... such an eccentric sacred gear, I couldn't even see when he stopped time".
"Time stop?"
"Yes, the eyes of the Past Demon God Balor..."
Ares' eyes focused on Gasper before disregarding him and smirking towards the four ladies whose gazes contained nothing but sheer wrath. Sona's hands were surfacing with magic and aura, but she knew how powerless any form of retaliation would be.
"I'll give you ten minutes... Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri... call both Sirzechs Lucifer and Serafall Leviathan. If you haven't done it in the next ten minutes, I will waste this whole Kuoh Town and kill everyone including you... note that I won't kill you before having my fun with you, redhead~"
!!!
His words were nothing short of perverse, his following act was to remain still and close his eyes as if disregarding the suffering of everyone present, he even seemed confident that he wasn't going to meet any retaliation!
"R-Rias..." Sona said solemnly, out of options but then Rias tried to say something to bring hope to the four of them.
"The Shinto Faction-"
"They won't come to help you, now... tic tac... the clock is ongoing, make your move," Ares said with an amused tone further sinking both heiresses into despair.
"Akeno, Tsubaki... j-just go and help anyone you can, hurry!"
"But Rias-" Both Tsubaki and Akeno were unwilling to just leave their Queens.
"Leave! there is nothing you two can do here! just leave and help those in school... don't bother with disclosing your identities" Sona answered with authority that Rias lacked, the two Queens nodded albeit reluctant and rushed out, thankfully, they weren't stopped by the God of War and the Cadre that viewed them as nothing but smoke.
"Do you not care about Baraqiel's daughter, Satanael?!" Rias tried to play a card she thought she'd never use, but the Cadre's response was utter silence, he merely mocked her initiative.
Rias' hands were shivering, in front of them there is a God of Olympus and a Cadre... they couldn't even begin to understand why a fallen angel leader would be working together with a god of Olympus, against them devils... in broad daylight to the point of killing innocent!
This was nothing short of a declaration of war.
*WHOOOSH!*
A gale of black feathers brushed around them all out of nowhere, it brought initial hope... that was until they saw the silhouette that materialised in this world. The man had twelve fallen angel wings behind him, just like Satanael. Ares too frowned upon checking this individual.
"I expected Grigori to make a move..."
"Satanael..." The newcomer said, ignoring the God of War. His face seemed to have aged countless years, he addressed the cadre directly
"Azazel... it has begun, come to our side".
"You're just fucking everything up... for a nonsensical hatred".
"Cute words for a fallen angel to say~ you must be Azazel, right?" Ares finally intervened in a way in which Azazel could ignore him no more, showing nothing but pure hatred. He took something out of his pocket, a small golden lance.
<Downfall Dragon Spear: Balance Breaker!>
Golden light shone in front of both tyrants as a barrage of black feathers covered Azazel before in front of them he appeared with a golden spear and golden armour.
"You may excuse me... but I don't feel confident talking to the God of War without at least this much~"
"Your reputation precedes you just like your wisdom, Azazel".
"I would have loved to meet you over a few drinks... do you mind explaining what is the meaning of this? appearing out of nowhere in the Shinto territory, blowing up a renowned Devil checkpoint together with a cadre... killing innocents. Is this your war declaration?"
"You jest, fool~ this isn't just my declaration of war... this is an uprising of the whole supernatural world against the devils"
"..." Azazel's eyes twitched beneath the armour, clenching his spear.
"The meaning of this? simple... I will slaughter two satans today and rid the world of their existence~"
"You couldn't defeat Sirzechs Lucifer before, what makes you think-"
Rias, Sona and even Azazel's eyes shivered when they saw Ares take out a weapon with an evil glint... a blue great sword the same size as his body. It emitted a holy aura that threatened their very existence.
"T-There is no way... w-why do you have that?!" Several conjectures flashed in front of Azazel's eyes as he saw that blue sword, but nothing reassuring.
"It is exactly what you're thinking Azazel~" The god swung that blade and it sent a threatening aura that made even Satanael retreat, this weapon... in the hands of a god, was nothing short of devastating.
The Holy Sword belonging to the Legendary Knight Roland... Durandal. Said to be the second strongest sword in existence, after Excalibur; Blessed by the Bible God himself.
"A gift from the heavens for the sake of erasing the devil pest out of this universe. With this I shall bring back the balance that the devils plundered, and all that nonsense~"
Everyone's eyebrows twitched with the delivery of that line, Ares placed the sword on his shoulder, openly mocking the Fallen God Faction. He is not here to destroy the devils, he is here for his own selfish motives and Rias knew very well what they were.
There is someone this God desires to kill.
"Now, you two heiresses... what about moving your sweet asses? I know slaughtering all these humans won't make those two disgusting satans show their faces, but you two?~ I have already placed a barrier... you shouldn't hope to escape today".
The presence of that sword made even Azazel frown as Satanael landed in front of him, he wasn't confident about fleeing this place alive with that sword here.
"You two... call them," Azazel said solemnly, speaking to both Rias and Sona.
"But if we-"
"Do you believe yourself capable of facing a God of Olympus and two Cadres? let alone Satanael is a force to be reckoned with. This isn't a fight we can win; if you wish to live call Serafall Leviathan and Sirzechs Lucifer over right now..."
It has become a matter of survival. Azazel saw both Satanael and Ares and he knew there was no chance of survival if he were to fight them, that said... he also couldn't flee.
The implications of this attack and the absence of the stubborn Shinto God of Storms, Susanoo -who was a battle maniac- portrayed a horrible scenario, one he didn't want to think about, the sheer representation of this individual right in front.
'War'.