Chapter 310: Holy Sword Durandal
However, compared to these matters, Xenovia and Irina Shido seemed more preoccupied with something else.
Especially Irina Shido, who appeared utterly dispirited the entire time.
Haruto quietly inquired through the soul network and received a reply from Rias saying it wasn't a major issue and they would discuss it together later. He then took two coats from his personal space.
"These are for you. No need to return them."
The two Holy Sword Wielder beauties looked down. During the battle, they hadn't paid attention, but now that they thought about it carefully, returning all the way like this would indeed be quite embarrassing.
Irina Shido weakly nodded, her long chestnut twin-tails seeming devoid of their usual vitality.
In contrast, Xenovia, with her blue short hair and a streak of green dye at her forehead, had recovered somewhat and proactively said, "Thank you."
After watching Xenovia and Irina Shido leave, Haruto and his group teleported back to the large ocean-side house.
Women's curiosity tends to be stronger than men's. Before satisfying their curiosity, Haruto had to briefly explain the combat form and the matter regarding Kokabiel.
"Haruto, you've grown up so fast." Rias instinctively reached out to pat Haruto's head but then noticed that Haruto had already surpassed her in height.
When they first met, Haruto had been quite a bit shorter than her.
But considering Haruto's rapid growth in strength, this physical change didn't seem particularly significant.
Besides, teenage boys typically develop quickly during puberty—perhaps Haruto had just been a year or two late in his growth spurt.
After marveling at how Haruto had become capable of killing Satan-Class strong beings, it was finally Kiba Yuuki's turn to explain.
As for Kokabiel's death, no one present seemed particularly concerned.
Not to mention whether the Fallen Angels would dare to cause trouble, even if they did, the two overprotective Lords of Hell would handle it.
The changes that had occurred with Kiba Yuuki were actually quite simple—in summary, her emotional knots had been untied, she had experienced a sudden enlightenment in her thinking, and her power had greatly advanced.
When Haruto chased after Kokabiel, the two three-headed hellhounds and the mad priest, with Valper's support from the side, quickly defeated Kiba Yuuto and the other two.
But by then, Rias and the others had already arrived, leaving them no opportunity to finish them off.
While Rias and the others were rescuing Kiba Yuuto's group, Valper fused the stolen Mimicry Holy Sword and Sword of Destruction with the three Holy Swords brought by the mad priest.
Valper had never given up his research on Holy Swords—he wanted to reforge the Sword of Kings.
The subsequent development didn't differ much from the original timeline. Valper had long prepared the land exchange ritual.
At the cost of destroying Kuoh Town, the five Holy Swords successfully fused. Though not comparable to the complete Sword of Kings, its power was still formidable.
Naturally, Rias and the others wouldn't stand by and watch Kuoh Town be destroyed. To prevent this, they needed to disrupt the land exchange ritual.
To destroy the land exchange ritual, they had to destroy the fused Holy Sword.
Kiba Yuuto had originally wanted to destroy the Holy Swords anyway, so this suited her perfectly.
Thus, battle erupted immediately. The power of the five fused Holy Swords was indeed formidable, but it still couldn't compare to the average SS-level members of the Mystical Research Club.
When the SSS-level Rias and Akeno joined the fight, the opponents stood no chance.
No matter how powerful a weapon is, its effectiveness depends on the wielder. The mad priest and Valper clearly couldn't fully unleash its potential.
The main issue was the Holy Sword's incredible durability. Even when Rias and Akeno combined their techniques - destructive demonic power intertwined with lightning, creating an attack comparable to Satan-Class - they still couldn't destroy the Holy Sword.
Seeing this, the half-dead Valper laughed triumphantly and began rambling, especially after learning Kiba Yuuto's identity, repeatedly recounting past events.
He even took out the Holy Sword factor crystal to provoke Kiba Yuuto.
Indeed provoked, Kiba Yuuto saw the lingering souls of her companions within the Holy Sword factor crystal. After a tearful conversation filled with friendship between their souls, she made peace with herself.
Then she absorbed this Holy Sword factor crystal that contained her companions' lives.
Valper wasn't Michael - he couldn't guarantee extracting factors without casualties.
Without Michael's protection, even absorbing Holy Sword factors was life-threatening. The mad priest was the only survivor among the many Holy Sword factor fusion subjects under Valper.
Even though he survived, his mind became unstable.
With her inner conflict resolved, Kiba Yuuto gained better control over the energy within her body.
Combining these two factors, she smoothly broke through her bottleneck, reaching S-class. Not only did she restore her female form, but she also awakened her Sacred Gear's Balance Breaker, named the Holy Demon Sword.
The fusion of holy and demonic powers shocked Valper. After the initial panic, his researcher's mind began working.
He deduced the truth that the gods were gone too - only with the deaths of all four Satans and the gods, with the beings maintaining the balance between holy and demonic gone, could something as unscientific as the Holy Demon Sword appear.
Amid mad laughter, Valper revealed this information to everyone present.
Rias and the others showed little reaction, having been shocked enough during the Three Factions Summit.
But the student council girls who hadn't attended the summit were startled. Just as most church members didn't know about God's death, many devils actually weren't aware that all four Satans had died.
(Note: This is clearly a plot hole in the original work. It was stated early on that the four Satans were gone, which was why successors like Sirzechs appeared as Satans. But later in this storyline, Rias and others supposedly didn't know about the four Satans' deaths.)
However, the two Holy Sword Wielder beauties had the hardest time accepting this truth. As believers of God, learning that God was dead dealt them a severe mental blow.
They initially refused to believe it, even with Kiba Yuuki's Holy Demon Sword right before their eyes.
But when Rias freely shared the information Michael had revealed during the Three Factions Summit, they could no longer deceive themselves.
This was why Haruto saw them looking dazed.
Xenovia's mind was relatively firm and mature. Though she believed in God, she wasn't an absolute fanatic.
After the shock, she pulled herself together and summoned another Holy Sword as renowned as the Sword of Kings—the legendary Durandal, famed for its ability to cut through anything in the world.
Valper, who had initially believed his plan would succeed even if he died, finally panicked.
He exclaimed that it was impossible, questioning how anyone could wield the Holy Sword Durandal.
Then, the short-haired, coldly elegant beauty and Holy Sword Wielder declared with an imposing aura, "I'm different from others. I am a natural Holy Sword Wielder—a perfect Holy Sword Wielder."
"However, even I cannot fully master this tyrant, so I usually keep it sealed."
Valper's research aimed to create perfect Holy Sword Wielders, a rare type that hadn't appeared for many years.
He never expected that, years after his failed experiments and during his comeback, a pure, natural-born Holy Sword Wielder would appear before him—and with the intent to ruin his plans.
What followed was inevitable: the pseudo-Sword of Kings, formed from five fragments, shattered into pieces beneath Durandal and was completely destroyed.
The crisis in Kuoh Town was resolved, and the mad priest along with Valper were purified.
It was Kiba Yuuki who carried out the deed herself.
Not even their corpses remained; they dissolved into elemental particles scattering through the air.
In the grand Western-style mansion.
At some point, only Haruto and Kiba Yuuki, who had been explaining things, remained. As the buxom, platinum-haired beauty finished her last sentence, the two sat closely together.
Haruto felt a bit awkward under Kiba Yuuki's flushed face and her persistent snuggling.
But gazing at her adorable, fair complexion and feeling the softness of her alluring body, he quickly adjusted his mindset.
Especially when Kiba Yuuki's gentle, seductive voice whispered in his ear, he completely shifted from passive to active.
After the intense battle, some relaxing entertainment was just what they needed.
And Kiba Yuuki had been waiting for this day for a long time. Since reverting to her female form, the fire within her could no longer be suppressed.
Her glistening indigo eyes blended desire and affection into an indescribable allure.
Rias and the other girls had noticed this and, having little interest in rehashing the battle, tacitly left them alone.