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She had suspected at first that she had done some grievous wrong to him when they first met and she had simply not remembered it. But that was not the case, proven by the fact that he would at least acknowledge her presence with a polite nod when a situation arose where he could not excuse himself. It had been immensely frustrating to try and get to the bottom of the reason he treated her so, and were she a normal girl, she would have long given up.
And now he was here, not hiding from her this time, and yet the mystery only grew.
Kiba noticed her questioning look, and his features hardened slightly.
"The Light is strong here. It is everywhere. I can sense it seeping into the very ground. Whoever took down the Fallen was well-versed in the High Arts of the Heavens."
Her gaze flickered towards the boy, who was still facing away from them. The knight saw her eyes glancing at his back, and he shook his head.
"He is covered in the Light. But then so is everything else here."
"So we cannot be certain?"
"No, not unless we choose to force him to reveal himself," the sword-user let a grim smile cross his face, "Though I am not averse to the suggestion."
Rias mulled it over in her head. Direct confrontation was a possibility. She certainly had the numbers, though with angels, one could never be sure what divine weapon they hid until they chose to reveal it themselves. And that was assuming he was one, an angel, and though the area around them was saturated with holy power, the idea that he had been a seraphim all along while managing to hide right under their very noses was a far-fetched one at best.
"No," she retorted, "Issei is injured, and so is the Holy Maiden. We will take them back with us and recover. If matters come to head, I want my peerage to be at full strength."
Yuuto bowed.
"Of course," he did not quite manage to hide the disappointment in his tone.
Rias grimaced. The Church had done heinous things to her knight in their quest to create wielders for the Holy Swords. He had never forgiven them for that, and Rias suspected he never will. Kiba would always carry the grudge, and any mention of the Church and the Heavens they served was sure to set his mood dark.
"See to it that Issei and Asia are safe. I have other things to take care of."
The sword-user nodded and moved to assist Akeno, who was already dragging Issei upright. The boy's head lolled limply to the side, and Rias bit down a surge of anger. She would see to it that the Fallen would be punished for harming a member of her peerage.
A few steps later and she arrived at the source of their problems. The unmoving form of Raynare lay before her, head buried into the ground. Around her cracks appeared in the stone, a spider web of fissures that originated from below the depraved angel's body. Something had smashed into her with enormous force, the impact strong enough to create the abrasions on the floor. And that was not all she had suffered through. Rias noted impassively that the woman's arms were stretched out painfully by her sides. She could see the furrows carved in the ground near the Fallen Angel's hands, marred with streaks of blood where the angel had worn her fingernails down to flesh. It was almost as though she was trying to escape, trying to run from some inevitable fate, and by the looks of it, she had not succeeded. The burnt, smoldering wounds on her shoulders further reinforced that fact.
She did not enjoy pain like some of her kind did. She was not like some of the other devils, who enjoyed watching other beings suffer. Nevertheless, she fervently wished the Fallen lying before her had at least felt some of the pain she had inflicted on Asia and Issei.
She called upon her Power of Destruction, feeling the familiar aura of magic rising from within her. It was a pulsating, living thing, her power, the demonic energies eager to be released. She directed it towards the body of Raynare, fully intent on eradicating the evil woman here and now.
A hand on her arm stopped her, and she turned to see him, of all people, standing at her side, his fingers wrapped around her wrist, preventing her from casting the fatal spell. Her eyebrows rose. Somehow, someway, he had moved past by her peerage undetected, despite the considerable battle awareness of her pieces. It was with interest she noted that he refused to look her in the eye, even though the closeness between them demanded it, if not out of necessity, than out of courtesy. His headphones were settled around his neck now, and Rias wondered idly if her conversation with Yuuto had been heard.
And then to her astonishment, he actually spoke.
"They have been judged already," his voice was soft, gentle, but she could hear the steel sheathed beneath.
His gaze was firmly rooted on Raynare.
"They are my enemies," she managed to hide her surprise, "They have hurt friends of mine," Rias nodded towards the limp form of Issei being supported by Akeno and Kiba, "I won't show them any mercy."
The boy merely shrugged. The grip on her arm, however, tightened.
"It is not for you to decide."
She stared at him. Had he actually implied that an enemy who had wondered into her territory, who sought actively to kill one amongst her peerage, whose fate she now held in her hands, should not be judged for their actions? It was a laughable thought. More so, it was a dangerous thought. Devils who did not protect their territory were weak devils, and soon to be dispossessed devils as stronger ones took their territory. That, and Raynare was a dangerous foe, who would no doubt cause further mayhem if let go. She couldn't risk it. She was about to tell him that in as polite a manner as she could when he suddenly turned, and Rias found herself staring into cold, blue eyes.
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