(...Continuing)
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Upon arriving, his gaze immediately focused on his family, seeing that they were intact.
"Micael!" Mari exclaimed as she ran quickly to him and hugged him.
The girl's arms squeezed him tightly as she pressed her face against his chest. Micael hugged her back, his hands rubbing her back in a comforting way.
He then shifted his gaze to Miyako and Francisco. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, we're fine," Miyako replied as she approached, still looking a bit pale.
"What happened to you?" Beside her, Francisco held her close with the pistol he carried tucked into the waistband of his pants.
"Nothing major, I just pushed the limits of my power, I'll be fine soon." Micael replied, ignoring the dried drops of blood around his eyes or the veins he could feel pulsing there, as well as his shirt, which was torn and singed in some places.
Seeing Miyako's state, Micael looked to the side where the remains of the bodies were scattered—it was a truly disturbing sight.
Shifting focus back to Mari in his arms, he patted her back. "And you, are you okay?"
Mari lifted her face, revealing that she still seemed a little shaken by the scene she had witnessed, but she still managed to frown in anger. "A disturbed lunatic and a bunch of people with black wings took Asia away."
Micael nodded slightly. "I already know. My clone sends me its memories when it disperses, and those people were a stray exorcist and fallen angels, the same ones I saved her from."
"That's what I figured." Mari grimaced. "What do they want with her?"
"It's her Sacred Gear. Something I didn't explain to you is how rare it is." As he was about to continue, he noticed Rias and the others quickly approaching in the sky above.
They landed as they neared, retracting their wings.
"What happened? Are you alright?" Rias asked as she walked up, looking at Miyako and Francisco.
"We're fine, don't worry." Miyako smiled with her reply while Francisco beside her gave a simple nod.
"Good, I'm glad to hear that." Rias smiled back, her gaze then shifting to Mari, who was still hugging Micael. "And you?"
"I'm fine." Mari didn't care about her gaze and continued hugging Micael.
"That's good." Rias smiled at her just the same.
Mari blinked, not expecting that from Rias, then after a moment, she pulled away from Micael.
Although she definitely needed a hug for comfort, she had already calmed down and was just taking advantage of the situation. But with Rias treating her so kindly, she lost the urge to continue—it wasn't the best time for that anyway.
Rias's smile subtly widened upon seeing that. She had naturally figured out what Mari was doing the moment she laid eyes on her. She had decided to ignore it given the situation, but she appreciated that the girl became aware and backed off.
Rias then stepped closer to Micael, touching his arm. "And you?"
"I'm fine. I left like that because I didn't want to waste another second." Micael replied, looking her in the eyes, his hand holding and squeezing hers.
"I understand." Rias smiled, squeezing his hand too.
They looked at each other for a moment before Micael released her hand and crossed his arms, his gaze returning to the mangled bodies in the distance. "And to answer your question, it was Freed and Raynare."
Rias followed his gaze, mimicking his gesture as she also crossed her arms, her hands on her elbows. "I see... it's a shame those people got caught up in this."
The others followed their gazes, with Akeno, Kiba, Issei, and even Koneko frowning. Kiba in particular stared more intensely at the sight, while Issei clenched his fists, looking irritated.
And amidst the heavy silence that settled as everyone looked at the bodies, a distant ambulance siren echoed.
Overlapping that sound came Grayfia's calm voice. "I'll take care of this." She then summoned her wings and flew toward the noise.
She stopped just above where the bodies were, waving her hand as she froze everything and dissolved it into crystalline dust. She also rebuilt the destroyed houses, making that part of the street look like it had never been attacked, before continuing toward the siren.
The rancid smell of blood vanished along with the bodies, making that macabre image and grim atmosphere disappear—though the weight of it all still lingered.
Feeling the air far more breathable now, Micael turned his gaze back to his parents, continuing what he was about to say earlier. "As I was saying, the reason they want Asia is her Sacred Gear. What she has is a rare type of healing, and that's extremely valuable."
"You can heal too, right?" Mari asked him.
Micael nodded. "I can, but besides us here, the only people who know about it are Grayfia, Rias's brother, and the cultists who attacked me. In Asia's case, I think her Sacred Gear might be somewhat unique—maybe if the user is strong enough, it can regenerate lost limbs or something like that, which is probably why they want her so badly."
Micael had no idea why Raynare wanted Twilight Healing so badly. His best guess was that its Balance Breaker could regenerate lost limbs or maybe even bring someone back to life.
At that moment, Grayfia returned. "The situation with the human authorities has been resolved."
Micael then turned to her. "By the way, Grayfia, can I ask you to fix the damage I caused when I rushed here?"
Grayfia gave a slight bow. "Don't worry, that's already being taken care of."
"Thank you very much." Micael nodded in appreciation.
She returned the gesture with a silent nod.
"What did you do?" Mari asked, curious.
"On my way here, I didn't hold back much and ended up destroying some cars and windows of a few houses, and I hurt some people too." Micael then looked at Miyako. "It wasn't anything serious, no need to worry."
The woman didn't comment on that. Instead, she used the moment to ask what she really wanted to know. "What do you intend to do now?" Her brow furrowed.
"I'm going to save her." Micael had briefly considered letting things go—after all, looking at it purely logically and rationally, the girl wasn't worth much, her healing ability was good but he existed.
But then there was the fact that she had formed a bond with his family—even Mari had gotten a bit attached to her—and he himself saw it as a waste to let such a kind soul die like that.
And there was also the fact that he desired the girl, although that was the least of what motivated him, and as a bonus—the most important one—there was the fact that by rescuing her, he could finally eliminate potential threats to his family.
Getting rid of those two who had survived a confrontation against him, along with everyone involved in this, was more than enough motivation for him to go save her.
Miyako stayed silent for a moment before speaking. "I understand... be careful." She felt a lump in her throat. She wanted to tell her son not to go, that he didn't have to do this, but she wasn't that cruel.
Miyako felt a tightness in her chest—between the worry for Micael risking himself and the concern for Asia and the hope she would be saved, the mix of contradictory emotions almost made her cry.
Francisco, beside her, tightened his arms around her as he sensed her distress. He also hoped his son would save the poor girl despite the risk.
Even though he would rather Micael not take the risk, he would support his decision even if he had said he wouldn't do anything. He wished he could solve the situation himself, but unfortunately, he could only play a supporting role—demonstrating that with a silent nod toward Micael.
"Be careful. One of those fallen angels said they'd be waiting for you—they might have set up a trap."
With Mari looking at him worriedly, Micael answered, reassuring her. "I know, don't worry, I always have a plan B if things go wrong." He smiled slightly at her, also meeting Francisco and Miyako's eyes and giving a small nod.
He then turned to Grayfia, intending to speak, but the woman already knew what he was going to ask.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of your family's protection."
Micael nodded in gratitude to the calm woman.
The reason for this was that if there was someone capable of creating a barrier strong enough to trap Grayfia even for a short minute, that person could definitely break through the protections at his house.
Even if he wanted to bring Grayfia with him to settle everything, he wouldn't risk leaving his family unprotected—so it would be just them going.
"Then we'd better go." Just as Micael was about to leave, he finally realized that his family and Akeno and the others hadn't been introduced, so he got straight to the point.
"By the way, these are Rias's peerage members—Akeno, Koneko, Kiba, and Issei. I'd like to introduce them properly, but now's not the time." He said, pointing to each of them.
"Hello, nice to meet you." Akeno bowed slightly with a smile as she greeted them.
"Hello." Koneko also bowed with her neutral face.
"Nice to meet you." Kiba and Issei greeted them as well, the former smiling warmly as he bowed, and the latter a bit awkwardly.
Miyako, Francisco, and Mari returned the greetings, with Mari turning to Micael afterward. "Seriously, you need to be careful." She looked at him sternly.
"I will."
She then continued as she crossed her arms. "By the way, you better teach that weirdo a good lesson. He said he would've r***d me and my mom as a gift for you."
Micael blinked calmly without changing expression. "...He said that?"
"Yes."
After a short moment of silence, he replied. "I see. Don't worry, that worm is going to learn his place." His words sounded just as calm as usual, but there was something different about them—his unmoving face only made that unfamiliar weight feel heavier.
"Good." Knowing him as she did, Mari knew very well that Micael was absolutely furious, so she smiled in satisfaction, knowing that guy was completely screwed.
Rias and the others noticed it too, with Issei having a slight flashback as a drop of sweat slid down his temple.
"Don't let anger get the better of you, Micael." Miyako said in that moment—she knew him well enough to say it too.
Meeting her stern and worried gaze, he gave just a simple response. "Don't worry." He then turned to Rias. "Let's fly. Can you carry me?"
"Of course." Responding with a smile, Rias walked up to him, but in the middle of it, she exchanged a brief look with Grayfia, her eyes meeting the older woman's calm gaze.
That served as a silent message—on Grayfia's side, it meant she would rush to Rias's side if she sensed any kind of danger to her, since her priority was still protecting Rias.
On Rias's end, it was a warning not to do that, though the redhead was sure she wouldn't be obeyed anyway.
She approached Micael, hugging him from behind. She smiled at that, but he didn't seem to be in the mood, only patting her head lightly without looking in her direction before saying, "Let's go."
Understanding the signal and saying nothing, Rias summoned her wings, taking flight with the others following her.
Miyako, Mari, Francisco, and Grayfia watched from the ground as they quickly vanished into the distance.
They flew for almost a minute before the sight of an old-looking church on the far edge of the city appeared.
They didn't head straight for it. Instead, they stopped on top of a house several meters away.
Taking a few steps to the edge of the roof, with the sky above him turning orange from the sunset behind him, Micael activated his aura vision—the All-Seeing Gods Eye appeared, his eyes glowing bright blue with gears inside.
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(Continue...)