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….
"I'm ok... I just..." Asia's voice trembled, her hands gripping the front of my jacket like a lifeline. "I don't know what to believe anymore. My entire life, I had this ability to heal people. I thought I was doing God's work. But after I healed a Devil back home in Italy, the Church cast me out. And tonight..."
She trailed off, burying her face into my chest as a fresh wave of tears broke through. "I don't want to hurt anyone, Shiro. All I ever wanted to do was help people."
"It's not your fault, Asia," I said softly, wrapping my arms around her. I gently rubbed her back, trying to ease the violent shaking of her shoulders. "You did the exact right thing. You tried to protect Isa when she was being tortured, and you healed her even after you found out she was a Devil. That just proves how pure your heart actually is."
She looked up at me, her green eyes glassy and red.
"What happened to you back in Italy wasn't your fault, and what happened here tonight wasn't your fault either," I continued, keeping my voice steady and reassuring. "My only regret is that I didn't arrive five minutes sooner. But you're safe now. You're with people who actually care about you. There's no need to cry anymore."
Footsteps approached from behind. Isa wrapped her arms around Asia's waist, hugging the blonde nun warmly from the back. Asia leaned into the embrace, the two girls comforting each other after the absolute nightmare they had just survived.
Seeing that they were okay, I quietly stepped away and walked over to Rias.
"So," Rias said, her arms crossed as she watched the girls. "This nun. What exactly is her story?"
I opened my mouth to explain, but a sudden, urgent chime rang in my head. A translucent blue screen abruptly materialized right in front of my face.
[Secret Quest Triggered: House Cleaning]
Description:Take out the remaining Fallen Angels at the abandoned church. Ensure Asia Argento's absolute safety.
Time Limit:4 Hours.
Success:Grow closer to Rias Gremory and her Peerage. Unknown EXP. 1x Local Spell Book. 1x Unknown Item.
Failure:Death.
I stared at the floating text, my eyes narrowing. Unknown EXP and an Unknown Item? The system usually quantified everything. For it to deliberately hide the rewards meant whatever was waiting for me at that church was a massive deviation from the normal grind. And the failure condition wasn't just a loss of reputation, it was death. Raynare wasn't going to pull her punches.
The red timer at the bottom of the screen began to tick down.
"Well," I muttered, dismissing the screen. "I guess I'm going to be busy for the rest of the night."
I looked back at Isa and Asia. Isa was wiping the tears from Asia's cheeks, giving her a reassuring smile. That solves one problem, I thought. Now for the other.
I turned to Rias, who was still waiting for an explanation. "Rias. Can I ask you for a favor?"
She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, but gave a short nod.
I leaned in and whispered quickly into her ear. Rias's eyes widened slightly at my request, but her expression quickly smoothed into one of absolute, serious understanding. She nodded again, turning to her peerage.
"Everyone, gather round," Rias ordered. She quickly explained that she would be taking Asia back to her own territory to look after her, while I dealt with some "personal business."
Within a minute, the crimson teleportation circle flared to life, and the Devils, along with a very confused but relieved Asia, vanished into the night.
With them gone, the street was entirely dead. I recalled my spectral wolf, feeling the familiar magical tether dissolve back into my soul.
I brought up my stats one last time.
HP: 300 / 450
Mana: 150 / 400
"Okay. I'm running low, but I've got enough magic to finish this," I whispered to myself.
I opened my inventory, pulling out three minor magicka potions and securing them to my belt for quick access. Then, I drew the heavy Dwarven Sword, the golden metal gleaming under the streetlights. "I'm as prepared for this fight as I'm ever going to be."
I channeled my remaining magicka into my free left hand. The violent, crackling blue electricity of the [Sparks] spell danced across my knuckles. I didn't fire it. I just let it hum, enjoying the raw, adrenaline-fueled sensation of the power vibrating through my veins.
I pulled my hood over my head and started walking toward the edge of town.
...
1 Hour Later; Midnight; Raynare's POV:
Raynare paced furiously in front of the ruined altar of the abandoned church.
It had been over an hour. Mittelt and Kalawarner were supposed to have returned with the blonde nun long ago. Raynare needed Asia's Sacred Gear, Twilight Healing, to enact her grand plan, but the silence from her subordinates was starting to grate on her nerves.
She had stationed her brainwashed human priests and fanatical followers outside the church perimeter to act as a tripwire in case any stray Devils tried to interfere. But so far, the night had been completely quiet.
"Where are those useless idiots?" Raynare hissed, her violet eyes flashing with irritation. She was just about to summon her wings and go look for them herself when the heavy wooden doors of the church violently burst open.
A human priest stumbled inside. He was drenched in a cold sweat, his eyes wide with absolute terror, screaming hysterically.
"Lady Raynare! Lady Raynare!" he shrieked, tripping over his own robes as he scrambled up the center aisle.
Raynare's face twisted in disgust. "What is it? I told you worms that if anything approached the church, I would handle it!"
The priest collapsed at her feet, bowing frantically and begging for his life. Annoyed, Raynare reached down, grabbing the man tightly by the throat and lifting him off the floor. "Stop your blubbering. What is the problem?!"
The priest couldn't speak. He just weakly raised a trembling finger, pointing toward the open church doors.
Raynare turned her head.
A lone figure stepped through the entryway. He wore a dark, hooded jacket, his face completely obscured by the shadows. In his right hand, resting casually against his shoulder, was a heavy, golden broadsword that pulsed with a faint, static charge.
"You useless man," Raynare sneered.
She tightened her grip. With a sickening crunch, she snapped the priest's neck like a dry twig and carelessly tossed his lifeless body aside. A cruel, arrogant smile spread across her beautiful features. She slowly began walking down the aisle toward the hooded intruder.
"You walk on holy ground, boy," Raynare mocked. With a dramatic flare, she unleashed her massive, pitch-black Fallen Angel wings, expecting the human to cower in fear.
He didn't even flinch. He just kept walking, his boots echoing ominously against the stone floor.
"So, you accept your fate," Raynare laughed, her hand glowing with brilliant yellow energy. "You shall die here tonight!"
She manifested a javelin of pure light and hurled it with blinding speed directly at the intruder's chest.
The hooded boy didn't break his stride. With a casual, almost bored flick of his wrist, he swung the golden sword. The heavy blade collided with the light spear, shattering the holy construct into a shower of harmless sparks.
Raynare's smile faltered. He broke it?
Refusing to be shown up, she immediately summoned a light sword into her own hand, pushed off the ground, and lunged.
She aimed a vicious, horizontal slash directly at his neck, fully intending to decapitate him. But the boy possessed terrifying reflexes. He ducked smoothly underneath the glowing blade, the searing heat missing his hood by a fraction of an inch.
Realizing he was dangerous up close, Raynare instantly took to the sky, using her wings to vault backward into the high, vaulted ceiling of the church. From the air, she rapidly formed another light spear and hurled it down at his heart.
The boy sidestepped, but he didn't just dodge.
As the spear passed him, his free hand snapped out. He actually caught the shaft of the light spear in mid-air.
Raynare gasped, her violet eyes widening in sheer disbelief. No human can touch a light construct bare-handed!
Before she could even summon another weapon, the boy pivoted, using his entire body weight, and violently hurled her own light spear right back at her.
It flew faster than she had thrown it. The spear pierced cleanly through the membrane of her left wing.
Raynare let out an agonizing, ear-piercing scream as the holy light burned her own feathers. Her flight pattern collapsed entirely. Desperate and furious, she tucked her good wing and dive-bombed directly at him, using her falling momentum to tackle him.
She slammed into his chest. The sheer kinetic force of the impact knocked the boy off his feet, sending them both tumbling backward until they crashed violently into the heavy wooden altar at the front of the church. The ancient wood splintered and cracked in two under their weight.
Raynare pinned him to the rubble, breathing heavily. As the dust settled, she noticed the impact had knocked his hood back.
She looked down at his face. He wasn't much older than a high school student, with messy hair and striking eyes that burned with a cold, terrifying focus. He was actually quite handsome.
"Well," Raynare purred, her sadistic smile returning as she straddled his waist. She ran a finger lightly over his collarbone. "I'm starting to think maybe I should have picked you to be my lover instead~"
She raised her hand, forming a short dagger of light, and plunged it downward toward his heart.
But he was faster.
He brought his steel-gauntleted forearm up, deflecting the light dagger harmlessly to the side. Without missing a beat, he grabbed her firmly by the waist, planted his boots against her stomach, and violently threw her over his head.
Raynare shrieked as she was launched through the air. She slammed back-first into a massive stone pillar supporting the church roof, hitting it so hard the ancient stone actually cratered.
She coughed, dropping to her knees as the wind was knocked completely out of her lungs. She looked up at him in pure astonishment.
"What... what kind of human are you?" she gasped.
He didn't answer.
He crossed the distance in a blur. Before she could even raise her hands to defend herself, he drove the heavy golden sword straight through her right shoulder.
The blade bit deep into the stone pillar behind her, completely pinning her to the wall.
Raynare screamed, a horrific, bloody sound. Desperate, she raised her free left hand, her palm glowing brightly as she tried to form a light spear point-blank into his chest.
….
Hey guys if u like the fanfic and want to read ahead by 10+ Chapters or just want to support take a visit on my patreon.
(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
http://patreon.com/Marin_kitawaga