The Knight Goddess (A Dxd Story)

Chapter 35: A Knightly Deal

"Kiba!"

Erin raced to the Knight. Upon hearing his name, the boy stopped in his tracks.

" Did Buchou send you to get me? Well sorry, Erin-san. But I already made up my mind."

" No she didn't. I followed you on my own accord."

" Why would you follow me? Do you wish to stop me as well?"

" On the contrary, Kiba-san. Would you join me for a little talk?"

The boy eyed the Goddess in skepticism. He then begrudgingly accepted.

" Lead the way, then."

" Thanks." Erin motioned to the twins to follow them.

When they reached a fair distance and secluded area, Erin ordered the twins to be on guard so she and Kiba can have their privacy.

" What do you want to talk about, Erin-san?"

" I wanted to talk about your hate towards the Excalibur. Or rather, your plan to destroy them."

Kiba squinted his eyes at this and averted his gaze.

" I'm sorry, Erin-san. But I can't see how any of this is your business."

" It is. When it is my team mate and co-knight we are talking about."

Kiba lightly scoffed in amusement.

" You sound like Buchou."

" And quite frankly, I understand your reason for wanting to destroy the Excalibur." Kiba looked at the Goddess.

" What do you mean?"

" Rias mentioned your past at some point and hearing that, I can understand why you harbor extreme hatred towards the sword."

" Then why are you stopping me?" Kiba clenched his fists.

" I didn't say that. I am merely saying that I emphatize with how you are feeling."

" How can you claim that you understand how I felt when you have the natural ability to wield any weapons?" Kiba exclaimed in anger. "Heck, I am certain that you can wield an Excalibur so why are you saying all this nonsense and pretend that you know exactly how I felt?"

"You know nothing! You weren't nearly killed! You haven't witnessed your friends dying! And most of all, you have no reason to seek for revenge!" Kiba was in fits of anger and Erin only stared at him, a sullen expression crossing her face.

Noticing this, Kiba calmed down and composed himself.

" I-I'm sorry, Erin-san. My feelings got the best of me. It wasn't my intention to blow up on you. I'm sorry."

" Kiba-san, do you want to hear a story?" Erin replied solemnly. " It is about my past and the reason why I claimed that I can understand how you felt."

" Erin-san's... past?" Kiba's eyes slightly widened.

" You see, the identity you recognize of me is just a portion of who I am. I haven't revealed who I truly am and for that, I apologize."

Kiba nodded and listened.

" I have to do that to protect myself and avoid the same incident. Until we caught the person who is responsible for that incident, I couldn't reveal my true identity to all of you."

Erin took a breath and continued in a much serious tone.

" This life.. can be considered as my 3rd life. I was nearly killed before, when I was saving Asia. But before that, I actually lost my life and I was purposely killed."

Kiba gasped at the revelation

" Masaka.... And your killer.."

" We managed to identify him with the help of the twins. And that person, was none other than the Fallen Angel Kokabiel."

Kiba now understood why Erin emphatized with his feelings. Because just like him, the Goddess was also seeking for revenge against people who mercilessly took lives.

" The moment I learned he was the one responsible for my death, I wanted nothing but to beat him to to ground and make him suffer the same pain." Erin's eyes darkened. " Because of him, we were separated from our family member and I hated him for that."

She placed a hand on Kiba's shoulder.

" That's why, I truly understand how you are feeling, Kiba. I won't blame or shame you for that because just like you, I am seeking for revenge and achieving that purpose with my being."

" Erin-san...."

" However." Erin released her hold and looked up to the sky. " We shouldn't let our feelings blind us from the actual facts and circumstances. We shouldn't let our desire for revenge destroy us and the people who wish to support us."

The two shared a look and Erin smiled.

" No matter what happens, the only people who should be suffering are those who deserved to suffer. We shouldn't let ourselves be dragged by the overwhelming anger."

Kiba nodded at this and smiled genuinely for the first time.

" Thank you, Erin-san."

Erin offered a fist bump to the Knight.

" You shouldn't thank me this early. We still have some Excaliburs and Fallen Angel to destroy, don't we?"

Kiba's eyes brightened at the implication and he returned the gesture.

" Hai. We will."

"And to seal our deal, we should be familiarizing with ourselves better. Call me Erin from now on."

The Knight smiled at this and responded.

" I was planning on doing that, Erin."

- End of Chapter -