(...Continuing)
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In his vision, dark white auras appeared against a black background. The thing was, it wasn't just four of them—there were over thirty from what he could count. And he also noticed a few auras right above the others, making him understand that there was a lower floor in the church.
Besides that, he noticed there was no barrier—the place was completely unprotected, and that was obviously suspicious.
His gaze then focused on the one aura that was entirely pure white on the lower floor, surrounded by the darker ones and where the strongest of them was. That white aura was clearly Asia.
"What do you see?" Rias approached him, stopping by his side.
"More than thirty people, no barrier or any kind of impediment to our entrance. There's a lower floor where Raynare and the other fallen angels are, along with Asia." Micael replied as his eyes returned to normal.
His eyes remained fixed on the church as he continued. "This is clearly a trap, but there's nothing we can do since we're the attackers—we have to go in either way. Got any ideas?" His gaze shifted to her.
Rias stared at the building in silence for a moment before replying. "There's not much we can do. We're the invaders and they're the defenders—the advantage is theirs. A stealth attack is impractical. A distraction is impractical. Anything we try will put Asia's life at risk. All that's left is a direct assault."
She crossed her arms as she looked at him. "Or maybe you have some ability that could help us save Asia without putting her in danger?"
"I do, but the backlash is too high, which would make me just dead weight afterward." He thought about leaving a Hiraishin mark where he stood and then using Kamui to teleport to Asia's side and return using the mark he left behind.
But ignoring the recoil—which would be too much for his eyes—it was a risky plan. Those four were around Asia. The one with the strongest aura could react before he even fully teleported.
And even if he managed it and succeeded, there would be the pursuit afterward. He highly doubted they'd be able to escape before being caught.
And there was still an unknown factor in play—a barrier similar to the one that trapped them could appear again, leaving them stuck inside alone.
That might also be the reason they seemed so carefree about not putting up any protection—because a barrier like that was already ready and just waiting to be activated.
"I see. In that case, all that's left is to attack directly."
Micael exchanged a look with Rias, his expression silently asking if she was going in despite the risk—something she answered with a simple smile. She wouldn't let him take that risk alone.
Micael nodded in acceptance, but not before speaking. "Send a signal to Grayfia with your magic. Tell her that if you don't send another signal in five minutes, she's to come here. Tell her to teleport my family to the Underworld."
Rias understood what he wanted to do, and even though it could cause trouble for her, she didn't object. "Got it."
Micael then activated aura vision one last time, but ended up seeing something that alarmed him—Asia's aura was flickering erratically and also slowly weakening.
"Shit." He immediately understood what that meant.
"What is it?" Rias noticed his alarm.
"Asia is dying. Let's go." He immediately leapt, his feet quickly stepping into the air as he propelled himself toward the door without ceremony.
The others followed quickly—there was no time to plan, not even a simple approach. All of that would be useless if Asia died.
Thud!
His foot knocked down the double doors, tearing them off the hinges, the pieces scattering around as he entered. Micael was met with the sight of over thirty men wearing white overcoats and hoods over their heads—all of them excommunicated exorcists.
"Well~ well~ If it isn't the star of the show~ Though you're a little late, your little nun friend won't last much longer." Emerging from the crowd, Freed walked forward with open arms and that signature maniacal smile on his face. He stopped just a few meters away from him.
Micael kept his eyes on Freed, but instead of replying to him, he spoke to Rias. "Rias, can you handle things downstairs?"
"Yes, don't worry. Akeno and Kiba, you're with me. Issei and Koneko, help Micael." Rias stepped forward, stopping beside him.
"Tsk tsk, rude as always, huh? No problem, this time I'll make sure to teach you some manners." Freed said as his hand reached into his coat, pulling the hilt of a light sword that materialized in his grasp.
"I'll clear a path for you." Micael said to Rias as he stepped forward, his body blurring with the Cockroach Technique as he attacked Freed.
"Ahahaha!" But Freed just laughed as he easily blocked the attack. "Surprise, surprise!" He countered, kicking quickly—something Micael didn't see as he was hit in the chest and thrown back.
Micael's body flew through the air for a moment before he quickly grounded his feet, sliding to a stop near the others.
Feeling a dull pain in his chest, he calmly looked at Freed, his eyes now with the Emperor Eye and his back with the Demon Back. That short exchange made it clear—something was definitely off.
"Like my surprise~? Turns out something real weird happened these past few days and let's just say I picked up a few new tricks~." Freed said while casually waving the arm that had previously been severed.
Micael still said nothing. His eyes then turned blue as he activated aura vision again, scanning the surroundings and noting that no barrier had been raised, as well as the exact positions of the other four.
He returned his eyes to Freed while regaining the Emperor Eye. With no barrier in place, it was clear they didn't plan to set one up—somehow they had gotten stronger and were relying on that to beat them without needing a trap.
Now, he also noticed that Freed's aura was the same as before, even though he'd clearly gotten stronger. That meant either his aura vision wasn't that reliable—or more likely, Freed knew how to control it.
Which also raised another point—they'd found out about his ability. Even though he wasn't exactly hiding it, it hadn't been clear what it did, so they might have deduced his blue eyes had something to do with detection.
Maybe they thought it was related to sensing magical energy or something like that.
Rias beside him furrowed her brow. She raised her hand and launched a wave of dark red destruction energy toward Freed.
But still wearing that malicious smile, he and the nearby exorcists quickly jumped away before the energy wave could hit them.
"Nice try, redhead, but we already know about your clan's tricks." Swinging gently as he hung from the ceiling with his sword, Freed waved mockingly.
Rias narrowed her eyes. A wave-type attack was slow—but that just meant she had to use something faster.
"No, we'll handle them. Go after Asia. They're underground, a few meters ahead—look for an entrance over there." Micael quickly stopped her, reminding her of what was most important as he gestured toward a statue of Jesus Christ. "Koneko, Issei, let's go."
He then lifted his shirt, pulling it off and tossing it to the ground.
"What's this~!? Don't tell me that besides liking filthy bats you also like showing off!?"
Ignoring Freed's comment, Micael immediately activated Removal and Advance along with Demon Back. His brown eye changed to a single magatama Sharingan.
With his skin now a dark reddish tone full of bulging veins, his back forming a face, sclera black and blood-red eyes, Micael took a step forward using the Cockroach Technique again.
Shooo! Thud! Crack!
"Fuck!"
Freed shouted in surprise as he barely blocked Micael's attack, the wall behind him being destroyed as he was thrown out of the church.
Micael didn't stay airborne for more than a second before using a Geppo to push himself back to the ground hard.
Crack!
His feet smashed the floor, spreading cracks and debris along with a gust of wind as the surrounding exorcists backed away from him.
Having failed to crush one exorcist, Micael went on to kick the nearest one in the chest, the man unable to defend himself and being launched in response—already dead.
Meanwhile, the others had already entered the fight too. Koneko threw a bench at them, Kiba slashed one with his sword, Issei punched one with his gauntlet, Akeno electrocuted one, and Rias disintegrated another.
"Let's go." Rias summoned her wings, heading to where the statue was with Akeno and Kiba right behind her.
The nearby exorcists tried to stop them, but the combined efforts of Micael, Koneko, and Issei helped push them back.
Quickly reaching the statue, Rias shoved it, toppling it to reveal a passage downward. The three of them immediately entered, heading toward Asia.
As for Micael, he had just sent another exorcist flying when the sound of a wall breaking came from behind him. Freed had returned and immediately attacked with his sword.
Micael dodged the blade, pushing Freed's arm to the side and following up with a punch—his fist covered in the purple aura of Offensive Shaori.
Thud!
The thunderous blow struck Freed's forearm, pushing him sliding across the floor.
The nearby exorcists took advantage of Micael's diverted attention and attacked—but his eyes quickly shifted side to side as he dodged and blocked their strikes simultaneously.
Doing a backflip to dodge a bullet and kicking an exorcist in the face with a crunch, Micael quickly scanned the area to see how the others were doing before focusing again on Freed, who was circling him with a grin.
He had seen that Koneko was injured—there was a cut on her shoulder exposing the skin under her sleeve. But worse was Issei. He was struggling to keep up, much more battered and already looking close to his limit.
Knowing he couldn't waste more time—and wanting more than anything to rip Freed's head off—Micael changed strategies.
He dropped all defense.
His arms raised as he let the simultaneous attack of three exorcists hit him.
The three swords pierced only a few centimeters before stopping. His raised arms then came down hard in a hammer attack on their heads.
Creak Creak
There was a muffled crunch as their heads sank under his fists coated in purple aura. His foot then quickly moved back, crushing the knee of the exorcist behind him.
He didn't give the man time to scream—as he kept his eyes locked on Freed, his right arm swung back, striking the side of the man's head with another crunch.
He moved forward, letting a punch hit his face—his head jerking, but eyes still fixed on Freed—as he grabbed the exorcist's head with both hands.
He ignored the sword approaching his neck and struck with his elbow into the exorcist's forehead, blood spraying onto his face as the forehead caved in.
Meanwhile, the blade lightly pierced his neck before he quickly tilted his head, his body spinning around the blade as he grabbed the exorcist's arm.
His fist struck hard into the face with another crunch and indentation as the body was thrown.
Micael immediately turned his eyes to Freed, dashing toward him like a blur.
"Scary~." Freed raised his sword to block, seeming unfazed.
But the punch that struck his gut was different—purple aura crackled with yellow sparks.
The wind blasted out violently, scattering nearby bodies and furniture as Freed, coughing up blood, was thrown through a wall, his shattered light sword falling from his hand.
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(Continue...)