His time runs out!

Just as Issei was about to land the punch, the armor suddenly vanished off of him. "Shit, not now!" he protested as he stumbled forward, and unfortunately, this gave Kokabiel enough of a moment to recover before he reached forward and grabbed Issei by the neck, lifting him up, his face twisted into a snarl.

Issei choked, grabbing Kokabiel's wrist with both hands and kicking ineffectually. "I tire of these games..." Kokabiel growled, tightening his grip around Issei's throat.

"Issei!" Rias shouted as she rushed forward along with Irina, Kiba and Sona, the only ones still standing aside from Raynare and Asia. Unfortunately, they had all been counting on Issei landing that hit to set Kokabiel up for another barrage, so Kokabiel was able to blast all four of them away with a burst of Light before they could intervene.

"Ddraig! What do you need me to trade you this time for another go at Balance Breaker?" Issei practically screamed in his mind as he struggled for air.

"It wouldn't do you any good right now. He would kill you before the trade was complete," Ddraig answered regretfully. "However, when the armor returned to me, I was able to leave behind some power in the gem of the Gauntlet, which you can either use yourself, or transfer. It may be enough to get you out of this, but use it wisely."

Issei's mind raced as he continued to struggle against Kokabiel's grip. Perhaps a Dragon Blast at point blank range? Without Balance Breaker, would that even be enough? He didn't have any better options by the look of it though. "I'll put you down for good!" Kokabiel exclaimed, a mad, satisfied gleam in his remaining eye. He produced a Light Sword in his free hand, and raised it to strike Issei down.

Before Issei could fire off his final **** shot, Raynare, once again, attempted an **** move, flying right at Kokabiel from his new blind spot, his now gouged out right eye. She then threw a Light Javelin, aiming right for Kokabiel's face, intending for the Javelin to fly right over Issei's left shoulder.

Unfortunately, Kokabiel still noticed, not distracted enough by Issei for that to work. So he swung the Light Sword in irritation, intending to deflect it, then finish Issei off before she could try again.

Now, here's the thing about deflecting an accurately thrown projectile. When you move to do so, you expect it to fly in a straight, linear path, maybe with the course altered slightly by gravity or wind interference, but the path is predictable regardless. What Kokabiel didn't expect was for Issei, a fast, **** idea popping into his head at the last moment, to reach up, grab the Javelin, and redirect it downwards, causing Kokabiel's swing to miss the Javelin... And more importantly, aiming it right for his chest.

"Transfer!" Issei choked out as he did this, pushing all the power Ddraig had left from his Balance Breaker, as well as his own Boosts, into the Javelin. Shunk!

Kokabiel's eye widened, and he coughed, blood coming from his mouth, and he slowly looked down... The Javelin, thrown by a four winged Fallen, enhanced by a Pawn Piece promoted to Queen, and then used by Issei, who Boosted it for maximum penetration power, had gone straight through his chest, piercing his heart in the process. His grip on Issei's neck slackened as he staggered back, staring at Issei in disbelief, before falling to his knees. "You... You damn..." he gurgled out, before the life left his eye, and he collapsed fully, a pool of blood forming beneath him.

Issei stared, shocked as the reality of what he had just done hit him like a ton of bricks. He had thought himself mentally prepared to take a life... But now that he had done it, he was in shock at his own actions. He slowly looked at his hand as he raised it. He'd crossed a line that couldn't be uncrossed.

"It had to be done, Partner. Your life, and the lives of those around you were at risk," Ddraig assured him from inside the Gauntlet. "In the heat of battle, you must fight to protect what matters by any means necessary. If you hadn't acted, he would have killed you, then everyone else here."

Issei didn't respond, even as he processed Ddraig's wise words. Even so, even though Kokabiel deserved it... It wasn't easy to deal with the reality of the corpse before him that he had created.

Clap. Clap. Clap. Issei stiffened, and turned towards the source of the sound, right at the hole in the wall Kokabiel's first attack had made.