(...Continuing)
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Crack!
As the sound of the shattered wall reverberated massively through the church, Micael's red eyes turned back toward Issei, veins bulging around his sockets thanks to the recoil from using Shoari with the Ripple.
Issei looked miserable, his clothes slashed in several places with blood dripping freely onto the floor. He wouldn't last much longer—proof of that came when, in the very next moment, an exorcist finally managed to deal him a serious injury.
The light sword pierced his stomach from behind.
"Arrrgh!"
Seeing that Issei was about to potentially die, Micael shot a glance at Freed, catching sight of him collapsed outside on the grassy ground, coughing blood with a hand pressed to his chest, before turning back to Issei—his body blurring in motion.
Reaching him quickly, his fist immediately struck the nearest exorcist's nape, the audible crack signaling the shattering of his skull.
Moving straight to the next, Micael swiftly kicked another, his foot curving over the man's hurried sword block before hitting his neck, producing another crack.
In the midst of his assault, the remaining exorcists shifted their attention to him, leaving Issei—something that worked in his favor.
In another quick exchange of blows, he let himself take a hit before swiftly eliminating all three remaining foes, each strike cloaked in the purple aura of the Shaori.
With the five exorcists' bodies lying limply around him, he approached the kneeling Issei, who was grimacing in pain with a hand pressed to the still-bleeding wound.
Getting closer, Micael could see cuts scattered all over his body, along with some punctures, his clothes soiled with blood, sweat, and dust. "How are you?" he asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Ugh… as good as being stabbed in the stomach can be." Sweat poured down his forehead in excess, yet Issei still managed a sarcastic reply with a half-grimace, half-smile.
'Damn it! Why am I always stabbed in the stomach!?' Issei thought in frustration amidst the full-body pain, exhaling with labored breaths.
"Hm." Micael hummed as he conjured a weakened version of RCT, focusing on healing the wound in his stomach.
As Issei's expression visibly eased with the injury closing, Micael shifted his gaze toward Koneko's fight—just in time to see the girl smash one of the church pews over an exorcist.
The girl then took advantage of the distraction from the wooden splinters, swiftly using the broken, sharpened half of the pew in her hands to stab the exorcist.
The other exorcists seized the chance while she was focused on her target and attacked her, but Koneko simply ignored them as she pierced the man.
She then punched the piece of pew, sending the exorcist flying into the wall—he broke through it to the other side as a jet of blood sprayed from his abdomen.
Quickly grabbing the wrists of the exorcists stabbing her, she flipped in a rapid aerial spin, pulling them and slamming them together before swiftly stomping on their heads, snapping their necks.
Landing gracefully, she stared expressionlessly at all the fallen bodies before turning to where Micael and Issei were, walking toward them with silent steps.
Micael watched calmly while a visibly impressed Issei remained kneeling beside him. "Koneko-san, that was amazing!"
"Mm." The girl simply responded with a nod as she stopped near them.
Micael looked her over, noticing—besides the tear exposing her shoulder—several smaller lacerations across her body revealing pale skin underneath. But he also saw the cuts were much finer and shallower than the ones covering Issei, and she had no deep puncture wounds.
"How are you?" he asked, removing his hand from Issei's shoulder and placing it on hers, having already finished healing Issei's stomach wound.
The girl lifted her head to look at him calmly. "I'm fine. They were like slippery cockroaches. I had to let them hit me so I could take them out in one blow."
Micael nodded, his gaze shifting to the more than ten bodies on the floor, each with different causes of death. He figured she had relied on her high defense as a Rook, which explained why her injuries were shallow.
Issei's lip trembled at her words. He had used Promotion to turn into a Tower to gain more strength and defense, and even with the doubled power from his gauntlet, he'd barely made it out alive. 'I guess that's the difference between a real Rook and a promoted pawn.'
"And you?" Koneko asked Micael, eyeing the bleeding punctures on his body.
"I'm fine." He replied, watching the cuts visibly heal on her skin. Just before finishing healing her, a loud muffled boom echoed through the church.
The three looked toward the entrance to the lower floor, the sound coming from there.
While they had been fighting earlier, they could hear noises from below, indicating the battle down there had already begun.
As they watched, the sounds kept getting louder—muffled crashes, some cracks, and other metallic clangs—until they ended in a massive impact.
Boom!
The floor exploded, debris scattering randomly as dust rose and spread like smoke—until a blurred form suddenly emerged from it.
In the air, that form moved rapidly as if thrown, stopping abruptly.
Rias floated near the ceiling, her wings spread, brow furrowed as she stared into the dust cloud. Another blurred figure shot out of it, going straight for Rias.
Shriiinn…
A sharp sound rang out as a light spear clashed with Rias's arm, which was cloaked in destructive energy. Sparks flew as the destructive energy began to eat away at the spear—but not quickly enough, as the spear regenerated.
On the ground, Micael saw who that blurred figure was—a woman with long blue hair, wearing a tight black secretary outfit, with three pairs of long black wings stretching from her back.
He also noticed Rias bore some injuries—several cuts and bruises, the most notable a gash on her cheek. Other than that, she seemed intact.
The woman also had similar wounds, with the most notable on her forearm where the skin was missing, as if eaten away—likely the effect of the Power of Destruction.
"Damned Gremory!" the woman shouted furiously as she struck with her spear.
"Insults won't change your fate." With a faint mocking smile, Rias dodged the attack, her hand moving quickly as she launched a wave of destructive energy.
The Fallen woman merely fired a beam of light energy, hitting the crimson energy and deflecting it aside.
"Tsk." Rias clicked her tongue in irritation—she'd lost count of how many times the woman had blocked her attack.
She couldn't tell if it was because the woman had more light energy or because her destructive power wasn't strong enough—she only knew it was annoying her.
"I already told you this attack of yours is useless, brat. It's only a matter of time before I kill you." The woman spun the spear in her hand, a mocking smile on her face as she looked coldly at Rias.
"You sure talk a lot, don't you, old hag? You've said that before, and so far nothing—try a bit harder, maybe you'll manage it~." Rias replied with a soft smile, her narrowed eyes amused.
The woman narrowed her eyes at Rias intensely before quickly attacking again.
Meanwhile on the ground, the three watched in silence. Koneko remained expressionless while Issei looked surprised—it was his first time seeing Rias fight seriously.
Micael was also a bit surprised, though he didn't show it—it was the first time he'd seen Rias fight, and he hadn't expected her to be like him, mocking the enemy—albeit in a different style.
It was a contrast compared to the girl he interacted with daily.
As they watched, more noises echoed from the lower floor until another explosion shook the place—another part of the floor blasted apart, and another blurred figure was thrown up through the dust cloud.
"Arrrggghh!" Letting out a furious scream, Raynare flew up, nearly hitting the ceiling, her frown aimed toward the dust cloud.
She didn't have to look long before the cloud dispersed—another blurred form appearing right beside her.
"Don't get distracted."
With that calm voice near her ear, she shivered, quickly striking to her side—her light spear clashing with Kiba's sword, sending sparks flying.
The two then engaged in a rapid exchange of blows—Raynare's face twisted in a frown, Kiba's calm and collected.
Meanwhile, more blurred forms were thrown from the lower floor through the dust, this time slamming into the ceiling with force, their bodies twitching as electric sparks crackled around them.
It was Dohnaseek and a small girl in gothic-style clothing.
"Tsk, I didn't expect that brat Gremory's servants to be this strong." Dohnaseek muttered, looking toward the dust cloud as he used his light energy to dispel the electricity on his body.
"We need to think of something, or that girl will kill us." The blonde little girl spoke with a surprisingly mature voice that contradicted her appearance, her tense gaze marked by a bead of sweat trailing down her forehead.
"Araara What's the matter? Don't you want to play with me anymore~?" Slowly emerging from the dust cloud, Akeno spoke with a soft smile, her purple eyes watching them in amusement.
"Tsk, damned crazy girl." The blonde muttered as she summoned a light spear.
Dohnaseek said nothing—he simply summoned his own light spear, preparing to rejoin the fight.
"Fufufu~ In such a hurry to keep playing, aren't you~? Well then, let's have a little more fun." Akeno said as electricity crackled in her hands, her drooped eyes narrowing while she smiled faintly, a nearly imperceptible blush coloring her face.
On the ground, Issei gaped, eyes wide. "I don't know why, but Akeno-san seems scary right now."
"She's letting her weirdness show." Koneko commented, unfazed by Akeno's behavior.
As the three in the air resumed fighting, Micael caught movement in the corner of his eye. Looking that way, he saw the hole through which he had sent Freed flying—and to his surprise, Freed appeared there, leaning against the wall.
Micael wasn't going to waste the opportunity and was about to finish what he'd started, but noticing something was off, he stopped, narrowing his eyes at Freed.
"Cough! cough! Damn! That was one hell of a punch, huh!? To think you had that in you—I'm impressed~." Freed said weakly, leaning against the wall with a hand to his chest, blood dripping from his smiling mouth.
Micael said nothing—he simply watched him for a moment before raising his foot and stomping the floor.
With that stomp, an inclined stone pillar rose from the ground toward Freed—yet instead of hitting him, it passed through him as if he were a mirage.
Freed blinked a few times before straightening up and raising his hands. "Okay, you got me—I'm fake hahaha~"
Micael said nothing, just kept staring at him.
"What? Come on, don't look at me like that~ You gave me the perfect chance to escape by running off to save your filthy devil friend instead of killing me—you can't blame me for that!" He spread his arms, grinning mockingly.
Beside Micael, Issei wore a guilty expression, biting his lip in frustration—knowing that guy had gotten away because of him didn't sit well. "Micael, I—"
"No need to apologize, Issei. What's done is done. As for you—say what you came to say." Micael cut him off before he could finish, his gaze still locked on Freed.
"Tch, no fun~ Anyway, before I say goodbye, I just want to give you a warning." Freed then grinned widely, his eyes curving. "Be ready—you're in for a big surprise~ Hehehe~" He laughed as if he knew a joke no one else did.
Without the slightest change in expression, Micael continued staring at him, his blood-red eyes fixed silently on Freed.
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(Continue...)