(...Continuing)
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In a tense exchange of glances, Micael staring neutrally at the smiling Freed, accompanied by the expressionless Koneko and the nervous Issei, with the sounds of battles in the sky around them, Micael finally broke the silence.
"Issei, go downstairs and bring Asia, Koneko, help Akeno." Turning his gaze away from Freed, Micael shifted his eyes to where Rias and the blue-haired woman were fighting.
"Oh~? Don't tell me you're going to—"
Interrupting Freed, several stone pillars rose from the ground, piercing through him and dispersing his illusory form.
Though, he did not leave without letting out his last laugh. "Hahaha~."
"Go." Drawing the attention of the two who were staring where Freed had been, Micael quickly leaped high, with Issei running downstairs at full speed and Koneko summoning her wings to fly toward Akeno.
Kicking the air, Micael moved rapidly, arriving behind the blue-haired woman.
But she reacted to his approach instantly.
"Know your place, human!" In the middle of her clash with Rias, she turned swiftly, swinging the spear of light at a speed he could barely follow.
Thud! Creck!
With the spear striking his ribs, Micael was sent crashing back to the ground with force.
Thum! Crack!
Landing on his feet, the ground sank under him with a loud crash. Micael raised his head, seeing her already returning to attack Rias.
Lowering his head, he frowned slightly at the purple bruise quickly spreading across his reddened skin.
'A simple attack already broke my ribs...' His gaze then returned to them in the air. 'She's far too strong, probably anything I try will be useless, I can only serve as a distraction.' But contrary to what his thoughts might indicate, Micael had already bent his legs, preparing to jump again.
"No need to help me, Micael."
But stopping him, Rias spoke at that moment.
"I can handle this alone, you don't need to get involved." She said, looking at him with a slight smile while dodging an attack.
"Hmph." In front of her, the blue-haired woman scoffed coldly with a mocking smile.
Micael kept his eyes on the two. Just because she asked didn't mean he would do nothing, but he would have to use something powerful if he wanted to be of any use.
Just as he was about to deactivate the Sharingan, the Demon Back and the Removal to unleash a stronger attack, he heard Asia's voice.
"M-Micael."
Looking in the direction, he saw Issei supporting a weakened Asia as the two approached him.
As they came closer, he saw she looked pale, as if she had lost a lot of blood, but aside from that she didn't seem different from before, still wearing the same clothes.
She stepped away from Issei, approaching him and stopping, her expression a mix of pain and sadness. "I'm sorry, I..." She struggled to speak, her trembling eyes meeting only his before shifting down to the ground.
Micael simply looked at her in silence. Seeing her distressed state, he raised his hand, placing it on her head and giving a gentle pat. "It's okay."
With the comforting touch on her head, Asia completely broke down, tears pouring from her eyes as she cried. "Those people, it's... because of me, it's—" She grabbed his hand, clutching it tightly against her.
Micael shifted his gaze toward Rias, his hand lightly stroking Asia's head as he spoke to her. "Don't blame yourself for this. The only way they could lure you was by using your kindness. If you want to blame someone, blame them for their cruelty and cold blood."
Asia said nothing, she just continued crying silently.
Standing nearby, Issei scratched the back of his neck, not knowing what to do. All he knew was that seeing that innocent girl crying like that didn't sit well with him at all.
With the sounds of the conflicts in the sky spreading through the church, Micael turned his gaze back to Asia. He exhaled faintly through his nose at her condition.
He didn't have much skill when it came to comforting someone—not to mention this wasn't the right place or time for it—so he decided to do what he thought was best.
His hand on her head shifted to her arm as he pulled her against him, pressing her head to his chest while his hand held her nape. "Listen, if you feel guilty about what happened, then make up for it by getting stronger so this never happens again. And I'm sure that if they knew you, they wouldn't blame you for what happened. Instead, they would wish for you to be happy without carrying that guilt."
Asia blinked in surprise at the sudden closeness, but she soon broke down crying even harder at his words.
Micael glanced toward Akeno, Koneko, and Kiba as he continued. "But for now stop crying. This isn't the time or the place for it, the situation isn't over yet." He gave a light pat on her head before lowering his hand, his eyes following the movements in the sky.
His words affected her immediately, her eyes widening as sadness gave way to urgency as she remembered where she was. "S-sorry! I just—!" As she stepped back, trying to apologize, her gaze fell on his chest where she saw the mess of her tears and snot where she had cried.
Her face turned completely red at that. "I-I'm sorry! Let me—! U-uh." The girl quickly brushed her hands over his chest, her blush deepening as she realized he was shirtless.
Completely ignoring the embarrassed girl cleaning his chest, Micael kept his eyes fixed on the sky, switching between the two battles.
Issei's lip trembled at the sight. 'At least she seems to have forgotten her sadness.' He thought, watching Asia, completely red, nervously cleaning Micael. 'Though... wasn't he a bit too harsh? The fight's already over, isn't it?' His gaze drifted upward as well.
"Should we help?" He asked Micael.
"It's no longer necessary." Micael replied while Asia finally stopped wiping his chest, standing silently at his side, fidgeting with her hands.
As if to answer his words, at that moment the little blonde girl screamed furiously.
"Kalawarna! What the hell are you doing!? Kill her already and come help us!" Her state was miserable, her body convulsing slightly with electricity sparking randomly, her skin burned with the smell of scorched flesh exuding.
"Fuck you, Mittelt! You're useless if you can't even deal with these brats!" Kalawarna shouted back, equally furious as she exchanged blows with Rias.
And the situation worsened for them when Koneko finally landed a critical blow on Dohnaseek, her small fist striking him directly on the forehead.
"Argh!" The man exclaimed as the shock rattled his brain, disorienting him for a moment. He recovered the next second, raising his guard.
But he wasn't fast enough when Koneko followed with her other fist, quickly striking his neck.
Creack
A soft crack sounded and the man felt a sharp pain shoot down his spine, his eyes widening as he realized his neck had broken—though not fatally.
But that brief moment of shock was taken advantage of by Akeno, who fired a powerful bolt of lightning that struck him straight in the face.
Thus, the sound of electricity crackling in the air echoed before abruptly stopping. Dohnaseek's strength slowly left him as his body fell to the ground, his face completely charred.
Mittelt could only watch in horror at her companion's simple death, but she didn't have time to look at the corpse for long before a small white-haired figure appeared in front of her.
She reacted quickly, managing to block Koneko's attack, but Koneko wasn't alone.
Mittelt didn't even have time to react when a powerful lightning strike hit her in the back, momentarily paralyzing her. She could only grit her teeth, trying to withstand the shock as Koneko appeared in front of her again.
Without her being able to do anything, Koneko kicked her hard in the face.
Creck
Similar to Dohnaseek, her neck cracked slightly as it broke, but Koneko wasn't finished when she kicked again.
Creck!
With a louder snap, Mittelt's neck bent unnaturally, but still not done, Koneko raised her foot high before bringing it down hard, stomping on her head with her heel.
Thud! Thum!
The little blonde girl in gothic clothes crashed to the ground heavily, making a loud thud and remaining motionless.
"Useless trash!" Kalawarna screamed furiously as she saw how easily Mittelt and Dohnaseek had been killed, but she didn't even have time to focus on their deaths as a lightning bolt quickly shot toward her face.
Swinging her spear to deflect the lightning, Kalawarna turned, blocking a punch from Koneko before sending the girl crashing to the ground with a kick.
"You think you can defeat me!?" She exclaimed angrily and disdainfully at the girls' attacks, her spear spinning rapidly as she blocked a continuous lightning strike from Akeno.
"No, but we think we can distract you~." Akeno replied with a soft smile.
Akeno's words sent a chill down her spine, making her quickly search for Rias.
She found the girl with her hands together, raising them slightly above her head.
Meeting her gaze, Rias then slowly separated her hands, revealing a small orb of dark red energy pulsing between her palms. She then lowered her hands, extending them in front of her while opening her palms.
Kalawarna's eyes widened as a shiver ran down her spine, warning bells of death resounding in her mind.
She tried to fly, but her wings only had time to contract when the pulsing orb between Rias's palms exploded into a massive wave of energy. "N—"
Vhoom
Rias's clothes fluttered slightly with the wind produced by the beam of energy leaving her hands, the pillar as wide as a car engulfing Kalawarna completely, piercing the ceiling like a hot knife while a buzzing filled the air.
The dark red energy beam pierced upward into the sky, visible even from several kilometers away, lasting a few seconds before slowly fading away.
"I told you I didn't need help." Rias said with a slight smile as she lowered her hands.
"That... was exactly like a Dragon Ball attack!" Issei on the ground exclaimed, shocked and awestruck at that final strike.
While Asia at his side also seemed impressed, Micael watched in silence. Though he agreed with Issei—that final attack really did look like a Dragon Ball energy blast, even Rias's pose resembled it—he wondered if she had done it on purpose.
"Arrrrrrggghhhh!"
At that moment, a feminine scream, mixing rage and agony, echoed through the church.
Looking toward the scream, Micael and the others saw Raynare clutching her hair with a crazed expression.
"Why!? Why!? Whyyyyy!?"
Nearby, Kiba floated silently with his sword in hand, simply watching calmly.
"I just wanted to help Lord Azazel and Lord Shemhazai! Then why does nothing ever go right for me!?" She pulled at her hair as her teeth clenched, her gaze completely deranged after witnessing the easy deaths of her companions.
"When did it all go wrong!? When—Right! You! It's all your fault!" As she spoke to herself, her gaze fell back on Micael, the memory of how it all started flashing in her mind.
"Micaeeeel!" Her wings trembled as she quickly flew toward him.
But she didn't get far before a voice sounded near her ear.
"Never turn your back on your enemy." Kiba murmured calmly before lowering his sword, piercing her through the back and slamming her straight to the ground.
Thum
The two crashed into the ground not far from Micael with a dull thud.
With the sword pinning her to the ground, Raynare trembled as she raised herself, her furious gaze fixed on Micael.
"You! It's all your fault! Cough!" She spat blood, staining her clenched teeth as her scowl accompanied her murderous glare.
Rias, Akeno, and Koneko silently descended from the air, approaching and standing nearby.
"You saved that pathetic idiot!..." Her gaze shifted to Issei, who frowned, before returning to Micael. "You humiliated me with that dirty strike and now you've ruined my plan! It's all your fault!"
Micael only looked at her calmly, his expression unchanged.
"But you'll pay for this!" With her teeth clenched, she then looked randomly around while shouting. "What are you waiting for!? Show yourself already and help me!"
And that immediately sent a chill down Micael's spine.
His eyes quickly scanned around searching for someone until a sound echoed softly and slowly.
Clap Clap Clap
Accompanied by faint claps came the sound of soft footsteps emerging from a dark corner.
Looking that way, Micael saw the obscured features of a man slowly reveal themselves. He was Asian, his hair slicked back with a goatee and mustache, slim and of medium height, wearing a long white buttoned coat.
"I'm impressed, though I didn't expect you to succeed." The unknown man said, stopping a short distance from them, his deep voice steady as he looked at them stoically.
Micael stared at him in silence, his brow furrowing slightly as another shiver ran down his spine. 'There was no one there before...'
"You don't know me, but I know you, Micael." The man continued, his voice reverberating through the silent church amid the tense atmosphere. "My name is Basara Shinra, pleasure to meet you." His black eyes met Micael's blood-red ones.
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(Continue...)