I looked at the three options in front of me, feeling a bit conflicted.
Raynare and Yuuma Amano couldn't be seen as two different people, even though they were almost complete opposites in personality.
Telling Yuuma the truth meant revealing to Fallen Angel Raynare that I knew about the supernatural world and, more importantly, that I had enough power to take down a stray devil on my own.
How would she react if she found out like this, all of a sudden? Would it mean the end of our encounters?
Raynare was directly linked to the Fallen Angels and also to Kokabiel — and, more indirectly, to the Khaos Brigade. If I told her the truth, would that bring all these dangers crashing down on me?
Well, it was a possibility. However, it was also hard to predict.
From what I had noticed, I was at least a few weeks ahead of the original events at the beginning of the anime. That is, the timeline where Raynare kills Issei, only for him to be saved by Rias Gremory.
It was best to avoid all of this before the first event so that the worst would not happen later on: the liberation of Trihexa.
Issei wasn't literally connected to the act of freeing the monster of the end of the world, but his rapid gain in power was probably what made Rivezim Livan Lucifer use his own soul as a final source of energy to break the last seals of Trihexa. By doing so, he avoided seeking alternative means — such as the Fruit of Life.
Would telling Raynare the truth here and now help me avoid all of this...?
I wasn't sure. She was still too much of an unknown factor, and I needed to decide quickly.
"... Something happened, didn't it?" She asked because of my delay, leaning forward with a finger on her chin and her eyes wide open.
I took a deep breath. "Actually, yes. Something did happen."
"What was it? Don't tell me some bully picked on you, and that's why you have that tear in your jacket." She pointed to the tear on my left arm. The wound created by the stray devil's scratch had already been quickly healed by my divine regeneration, but this leather jacket wasn't made with ether threads.
"Do you mind if we talk about it while we take a walk?" I asked.
She shook her head and followed me out of the bookstore.
I led her to the edge of the same pier we had walked on earlier. The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks brought a soothing sense of calm.
I stopped near the pier wall and looked out at the horizon, where the starry sky met the dark sea.
Yuuma stopped beside me and leaned on the wall as I did.
"So? Are you going to tell me what's going on, or are you just going to keep me in suspense?" she asked in a lighthearted tone.
"When I went out to get coffee, I was attacked by a stray devil. I figured something like that might happen after I saw him inside that bookstore, but he was much more direct than I imagined. He must have been hungry or desperate, because he didn't even notice I was accompanied by a Fallen Angel."
[Ding! The Master has chosen option 3! Reward: 30 fusion points]
Yuuma blinked a few times, surprised. For a brief moment, her expression became unreadable, as if she were processing what she had heard. Then she laughed — a forced laugh.
"A stray devil? Wow, I didn't know you liked that kind of thing, like... dark fantasy? I never imagined you were the Otaku type."
I just kept staring at the horizon with a serious expression. Her expression began to change gradually as she realized I wasn't going along with her joke. The weight of my seriousness silenced her attempts to play along and continue the charade.
At that moment, I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye and said,
"Why are you pretending you don't know what a stray devil is? I know you're a Fallen Angel."
My tone was calm, but my words hit her like a storm. I saw her freeze for a moment, then lower her head and a shadow darken her face.
Then, with a quick movement, she jumped back, landing a few meters away from where she had been standing. Her fierce gaze showed that the mask of "Yuuma Amano" had completely fallen away. A spear of light formed in her right hand.
"Who are you?" Raynare asked in a cold tone. "An exorcist from the Church?"
I raised both hands, as if surrendering — though I remained ready to defend myself at any moment.
"Calm down. I'm not from the Church. I have no intention of stopping you either. I just want to talk."
She laughed, a bitter laugh. "Talk? And why should I believe you?"
I smiled slightly. "If I wanted to harm you, I would have struck when your guard was down."
"My guard down? I never let my guard down," she said in a serious tone.
"That's not true. You could have been playing the role of Yuuma Amano during our encounters, but I noticed moments when you acted more like her than your true self."
"We've only met for two days! A human, or whatever you are, could never make me relax in such a short time!" she retorted with disdain, gripping the handle of her light spear. "But that doesn't matter. If you don't want to fight, fine. You'll still have to defeat me if you want me to listen to any more of your nonsense or I'll kill you."
There was no time to philosophize or attempt to win her trust with words. Raynare was unpredictable, and I saw no problem finishing her off right there and absorbing her corpse with Stygian Flame. But then...
[Ding! The system proposes the mission "Battle against Raynare!"]
1 - Defeat Raynare and make her an ally. (Reward: 1 Fusion Point)
2 - Lose to her on purpose. (Reward: 5 Fusion Points)
3 - Kill Raynare. (Reward: 40 Fusion Points)
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