The abandoned train yard at the edge of Kuoh was silent, save for the whisper of wind brushing through rusted metal and overgrown weeds. Evening shadows stretched between railcars and broken fences, painting long silhouettes across the cracked gravel. Sam Barnes liked this place. It wasn't glamorous, but it was hidden. Remote. The kind of place where no one asked questions if you screamed.
He stood shirtless, sweat clinging to his skin as he breathed heavily from his last sprint. He'd spent the better part of an hour running drills. Dodging through broken cars. Practicing Lightning Claws with carved targets. And thinking.
Still too slow. His strikes lacked fluidity. His feints were readable. Against something like Rias or Sona, he'd be torn apart. Even with Tiche in his corner, he wasn't ready. The Chaos Gacha gave him power, but not understanding. Not instinct.
He paused, crouching behind an overturned freight cart, eyes scanning the sky. Something itched at the edge of his awareness.
Watched.
His heartbeat slowed. Controlled. The System didn't say anything. Not yet.
Then the alert pinged in his vision.
[Emergency Quest Issued!]
Survive or Eliminate Hostile Supernatural Threat(s)!
Opponents Identified: Fallen Angel Operatives
Conditions: Solo Engagement. No External Help Until Completion.
Failure Penalty: Death.
Oh hell.
A flash in the sky.
MOVE.
The spear came down like a lightning bolt. Sam dove sideways, a breath before it tore through the crate he'd been hiding behind, bursting it apart in a spray of splinters and steel.
Air cracked. Another spear. Sam rolled forward, grit digging into his arms, and summoned his Lightning Claws with a mental pull. Blue arcs shimmered around his hands as he landed in a three-point stance.
Wings spread wide above him. A woman descended, black-feathered and furious.
"You reek of holy power," Raynare spat, her lightspear spinning in her hand. "But you're not an exorcist. What are you, freak?"
Sam said nothing. His eyes locked onto her. Muscles tense.
"Silent, huh?" she sneered. "You've drawn attention you shouldn't have. The higher-ups want you erased."
She pulled back her arm—
—and a blur of shadows slammed into her from the side.
Raynare hit the gravel hard, tumbling across the dirt with a shout. The lightspear skittered from her hand.
A new figure landed where she'd stood. Graceful. Lethal. Shadowy veil twisting like smoke.
Tiche.
Raynare's voice rang out in fury and disbelief: "Traitor!"
She leapt to her feet, eyes wide with recognition, then confusion. "Wait… You're not one of us. What are you?"
Tiche didn't answer. She simply drew her blade.
More shadows fell from the sky—Kalawarner and Mittelt. Raynare's reinforcements.
Tiche blurred again, engaging all three Fallen Angels at once. Her twin daggers clashed against their spears in a whirlwind of black and violet. Sparks lit the gloom as battle erupted across the yard.
Sam's System chimed again.
[Directive Updated: Combat Zone Isolated. Primary Threat Assigned.]
Opponent: Dohnaseek – Fallen Angel Combatant
A lone figure hovered above—male, confident—lightspear burning in his grip.
"So this is the little anomaly," Dohnaseek smirked, obsidian feathers trailing behind his coat. "You don't look like much."
MOVE.
Sam vaulted upward, legs igniting with Holy Hero Energy. Pain lanced through muscle, but he smashed into Dohnaseek mid‑air, one Lightning Claw burying into a wing joint. Feathers erupted in a spray of dark down and sulfur. The Fallen shrieked as they tumbled, Sam ripping for tendon.
Dohnaseek twisted, tearing free and slamming an elbow into Sam's jaw. Stars burst behind Sam's eyes. A knee followed—hard into his ribs.
> Warning: Energy critical. Energy Regeneration active.
Sam ignored the red strobe. He plunged a claw into Dohnaseek's bicep, pivoted, and kicked off the angel's chest—trying to drag them ground‑ward.
Dohnaseek recovered first. A brutal wing‑beat reversed their spin, smashing Sam toward the gravel. Rust‑red sky, then—
Impact.
The ground cratered. Air fled Sam's lungs. Something in his shoulder screamed.
Above, Dohnaseek hissed—wing hanging awkward, feathers smoldering. "You'll pay for that, maggot."
Sam rolled to a knee, spat copper, and forced Energy Regeneration harder—trading the last of his stamina for a thin surge of power.
"Still don't look like much?" he rasped, claws flickering.
The Fallen answered with a diving thrust. Sam barely sidestepped; the spear grazed his ribs.
Too fast.
He ducked between cargo containers, leapt a broken stair, launched down with a slash. Sparks flew. Dohnaseek parried, but Sam pressed:
Jab. Feint. Slash.
Holy Hero Energy flared—then sputtered, pool too shallow. He grit his teeth, burning more stamina to refill it. Muscles screamed; lungs tightened.
*Holy hell, that hurts.*
He hooked Dohnaseek's coat, raked a thigh—blood sprayed.
"You're not bad for a filthy mortal," the Fallen snarled.
"You talk too much."
A volley of spears rained. Sam dove behind a railcar, threw a rusted crowbar high—bait. Dohnaseek tracked it. Sam lunged opposite, scoring another gash.
But a driving knee sent Sam skidding; pain flared across shattered ribs.
"You bleed well," Dohnaseek laughed.
"So do you."
Clash—metal against energy. Sam shoulder‑checked, carving a shallow line across the angel's flank. Vision blurred: fumes, pain, exhaustion.
Running on fumes. Think, dammit.
A half‑rusted fuel canister lay ahead. Sam kicked it up, slashed it mid‑air—whoomph—a fireball roared, blinding Dohnaseek.
Sam charged.
One Lightning Claw pierced the Fallen's chest.
Dohnaseek's spear punched into Sam's side. Both screamed.
Sam twisted the claw; electricity arced. Wings convulsed. The spear guttered. Dohnaseek dropped like a marionette with cut strings.
Sam hit a knee, gasping.
I… killed him. Not a beast. A person. Dangerous, yes—still real.
The System chimed.
[Bonus Accomplishment Recognized!]
You have killed a Fallen Angel as a primarily human combatant.
Reward: 1x Gold Trait Ticket.
Sam blinked. Now?
Another ping.
[System Notification: Allies Detected in Nearby Combat. Familiar Tiche engaged.]
The sounds reached him—Tiche battling in the distance, steel and shadow clashing.
Sam, barely upright, whispered, "Maybe this helps."
He activated the ticket.
[Rolling Gold Trait Ticket...]
Result: Uncommon Trait – Enhanced Stamina.
Effect: Improves base stamina and recovery rate. Also affects... other activities.
Sam squinted. "I don't know whether to laugh or cry."
[Synergy Detected: Enhanced Stamina + GymNut.]
Additional Bonus: Accelerated Muscle Recovery.
A breathless laugh escaped him. "This gacha has it out for me."
His legs buckled. Blood soaked his side. Vision doubled.
Figures moved through the smoke. Blurred. Rushing closer.
"Oh," Sam mumbled, collapsing. "I think I'm also losing consciousness..."
The world spun. Darkness closed in.
And then—stillness.
[POV Shift – The Gremory Peerage]
Wings cut through the dusk.
Four streaks descended in sharp formation, wind shrieking behind them as the members of the Gremory peerage arrived above the battered train yard—silent as blades and just as sharp.
Rias Gremory touched down first, heels crunching into gravel. Her crimson eyes swept over the scorched battleground. The scent of burnt ozone, blood, and ash hit her like a wall. Akeno Himejima landed beside her, lightning crackling faintly from her fingertips. Behind them, Yuuto Kiba and Koneko Toujou came in low and fast, their gazes already scanning for threats.
The air pulsed with fading supernatural pressure.
"Residual light energy," Akeno said, brows furrowing. "Holy. Definitely Fallen."
"More than one," Yuuto added. "I count at least four distinct tracks in the ash and magic traces. But only one body."
Akeno exhaled, letting the faint sparks on her fingertips gutter out as she confirmed no other hostiles lingered in the ruined yard.
Koneko crouched beside a smear of scorched gravel. "The other three ran."
"They were driven off," Akeno corrected, voice tinged with curiosity. "This wasn't a panicked retreat. They knew they were outmatched."
Rias said nothing. Her eyes locked on the center of the battlefield, where the shattered remains of a lightspear still smoldered beside a collapsed railcar. A trail of blood led behind it—fresh, and not belonging to any angel.
She followed it slowly.
Behind the rusted shell of an old container lay a body.
Sam Barnes.
He was crumpled on his side, bare-chested, his skin slick with blood and sweat. His breathing was shallow. His Lightning Claws flickered on his hands, guttering like dying embers.
Koneko moved to his side without hesitation, expression unreadable. "He's alive. Barely."
Yuuto drew closer, eyes flicking to the destroyed terrain. "He fought here. Alone."
Akeno stepped into view, folding her arms. "A human shouldn't be able to kill a Fallen Angel. Not unless…"
Rias finished it for her. "Not unless he's something else."
She stood over him, gaze sharp. "This kind of power… this doesn't come from training alone. Someone—something—is helping him."
"He's dangerous," Akeno said. Not a judgment. A fact.
Before Rias could respond, the air behind them shivered.
A ripple of shadow peeled open at the far end of the train yard.
Tiche emerged from the dark, her steps slow and deliberate. She walked across the field of ash and ruin like a phantom—face unreadable, curved blade sheathed at her side. Her aura prickled like a blade's edge, laced with the unnatural stillness of death.
Kiba instinctively stepped forward, hand resting on his sword.
Tiche didn't flinch.
"I don't want a fight," she said calmly. "But I won't let you take him."
Rias narrowed her eyes. "You're not a devil. You feel… familiar, but wrong. Older."
"I'm not one of them," Tiche replied. "I serve him. That's all that matters."
"Sam?" Koneko asked quietly.
Tiche nodded once.
Rias tilted her head, assessing. "We could take him back with us. Heal him. Question him."
"He wouldn't want that," Tiche said, stepping closer. "And you're smart enough to know why. He didn't ask for your war. He didn't ask for any of this."
Yuuto's tone was level. "But he's in it now. He killed a Fallen Angel."
"He survived a murder attempt," Tiche corrected. "And stopped a threat you didn't even see coming. Respect that."
The peerage fell into silence.
Wind blew through the broken yard. Somewhere in the distance, sirens echoed faintly—too late to matter.
Rias studied Tiche for a long moment, then looked back at Sam.
"Fine," she said finally. "He lives. But he's not invisible anymore. Kuoh is under my family's protection. That includes him—whether he wants it or not."
Tiche didn't smile. But she bowed her head slightly. "Understood."
Rias turned, crimson hair sweeping behind her. "Let's go."
One by one, the peerage took to the skies again—four shadows vanishing into the last light of dusk, leaving the battlefield behind.
Tiche waited until they were gone before kneeling beside Sam.
"You owe me for that one," she whispered softly, brushing a bit of blood from his cheek. "But… not bad, little star. Not bad at all."