A/N: Hello everyone! I'm just here to drop and say that I have re-written the prologue of volume 1. Which I think I nailed. It should have fix allot of the issue I had during the 2nd draft(Yes 2nd since the first one is even more trashier than that). Anywas try to check it out and let me know how do you think about it.
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For a moment, the world stopped.
The reforged Excalibur lay scattered, broken into twisted fragments. What once stood as a symbol of ambition and divine strength had been crushed by Hajime's bare hand.
Freed staggered backward, face drained of all arrogance. His lips moved soundlessly, as if trying to deny what his eyes had just seen.
From beyond the collapsed ritual circle, Valper stumbled forward, voice cracking, his voice strained by disbelief and loss.
"No… How…? This shouldn't be possible! It shouldn't end like this! The Excalibur was stronger than ever! It's supposed to be unstoppable!"
Shock rippled across the battlefield like a wave swallowing sound.
"He crushed it..." Koneko murmured, too stunned to breathe.
"Just… with his hand..." Issei's voice cracked.
Kiba tightened his grip on his sword, whispering, "What... is he?"
Irina clutched her holy blade with trembling hands. "Such power...!"
Xenovia expressions tighten, struggling to steady her thoughts. "Even Durandal wouldn't be able to do that."
Griselda let out a dry, incredulous chuckle. "So he really is..."
Asia covered her mouth, voice trembling. "Hajime-san..."
Sagiri's sharp eyes narrowed, a small smile curling on her lips. "So this... is the truth of their power."
Behind them, Alice and Anis stood calm, their expressions a blend of pride and exasperation.
"Honestly! He just went and did it." Alice muttered, brushing back a lock of hair.
Anis sighed and holstered her blades. "That's how our Hajime alright. Doing things look is easy."
Among the enemies, even the stray exorcists and fallen angels recoiled. Fear spread like wildfire.
Freed's steps grew frantic, his manic confidence crumbling. "No way... no way, no way!!"
High above, Kokabiel leaned forward on his throne of light, his usual indifference gone and replaced by an attentive glance, a feeling he hadn't bothered with since the end of the Great War.
"Hah... Now that's unexpected," he murmured, one brow lifting. "So this is the wildcard that joined the board..."
On a distant rooftop, Azazel and Vali observed silently.
"Looks like our mysterious third party is even more dangerous than we expected," Azazel mused, smirking.
"He crushed a powered up Excalibur like glass. No matter the corruption it might have, it shouldn't be that easy." Vali's eyes gleamed. "Now I have to fight him."
The tides had shifted.
And there, at the center of the ruined ground, stood Hajime Nagumo—quiet, steady, and unshaken.
He dusted off his gloved hand, as if brushing away something trivial, then looked up—his golden eyes locking onto Freed, Valper, and Kokabiel.
His voice was quiet, but it rang clear. "Next."
Behind the shattered ritual circle, Valper let out a shaky laugh that quickly dissolved into madness.
"I-impossible... no...!!! This is impossible!" he gasped, stumbling. "The Excalibur has been reforged! empowered by Stellaron! It should have transcended the original! It should be Invincible!"
His words fell into broken mutters. "Breaking it with his hands... a mere mortal...it defies every law... every divine truth I understood..."
Still trembling, he raised his voice again, desperate. "The Excalibur is reborn by my hand! It was supposed to be perfect! A symbol beyond god, angels and devils! I would reshape the world, purge its rot! With me at its center!"
But then he fell still, staring at the broken sword. His voice dropped. "How... could it all be undone by a single human?"
He laughed again, dry and cracked. "Human? right.. right! that's right how could human destroy my masterpiece! That should explain it! He is not a human! Hahahahaha!"
A new voice cut through the quiet, trembling with fury.
"So all of it... all of this... my friends died for this?! For your own selfish desire! for your own ego?!"
Kiba stepped forward, sword trembling at his side.
"You called it destiny! A symbol of rebirth! Then how about us! The children you used! The children you experimented on. Those you tortured over and over again. Those you tossed away when they have no use?!"
His voice hardened. "Is that it?! You stole our futures. You turned us into tools for your obsession!"
"Huh? just what are you....Ah! I see"Valper let out a breathless chuckle, almost mocking. "You are one of them?I can't help it, after all those failures, experiments, lives... all necessary sacrifices. Rebirth is paved with blood. For the good of this world!"
He reached into his robes and hurled a faintly glowing crystal onto the ground.
"At Least they still have some use after they die. Those failures, their very souls, are all necessary components. Materials! For my grand vision."
He spread his arms wide, laughing again. "They were weak. Useless even! But at least their deaths can be used to pave the way to perfection!"
A heavy silence followed. From devils to church trio, from Sitri to Gremory, the outrage was shared. Even sworn enemies found unity in revulsion.
Sagiri stood stiff, her eyes cold. Alice and Anisphia no longer smiled. Hajime's gaze had dimmed to steel.
Kiba stepped forward and picked up the crystal. His fingers curled around it gently.
"Andrew... Thomas... Catherine... Maria... Elias..." he whispered, voice breaking. "We dreamed together... We wanted to live together..."
Tears fell freely. "I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough back then. But I won't let your hopes die again."
The crystal shimmered. Lights rose from it, shades of Kiba's friends appeared like fireflies whispering through the evening dusk.
"It's okay, Isaiah..."
"You kept living..."
"We were happy... knowing you survived..."
"Live... for us."
Kiba smiled through the tears. The light flooded into him, warm, hopeful, real and thankful.
His Sacred Gear pulsed. The Sword Birth cracked—and changed.
Golden sigils spiraled around him. The Light from his friends gathered and fused towards Isaiah-Kiba Yuuto.
He broke his own limits. His grief, his hope have broken the established balance of the world. His very essence breaks the Balance.
In his grasp where once the crystal where the lives of his friends store was replaced by a new blade. Created by the union of the two imposible forces, Holy and Demonic. Thus it formed the Holy Demonic Sword, a blade born from mourning and hope.
Yuuto Kiba stood tall, no longer a boy burdened by his tragic past. In his hands, the blade of his friend's hope and his own, merge together.
Valper stumbled back. "Impossible...! Holy and Demonic?! those powers reject each other... Unless..."
His words halted. Dread dawned in his eyes. "Unless.... the keeper of balance gon-"
A shadow fell.
Kokabiel descended in a blur, appearing behind Valper with cold detachment.
"You've outlived your usefulness."
He snapped his fingers. A sphere of light pierced Valper cleanly.
No screams. No last words.
Valper fell, discarded like his failed experiment, his ambition gone along with him.
The air held still. But the battle wasn't over.
Because now, all eyes turned to Kokabiel, the real storm stands before them.