The chime of the main bell at the center of Pentagram City was, simply put, the prelude to the yearly apocalypse in Hell.

Dubbed the Yearly Extermination by most, seconds after the bell had sounded, the sky that sat above Hell would quite literally tear open and allow hundreds upon hundreds of 'angels' to enter into Lucifer's domain to fulfill their duties. What were their duties, you may ask? Well, that in itself was simple.

The indiscriminate culling of any and all demons that they laid eyes on.

The overpopulation of Hell was, in short, a problem that no one knew how to fix, not ethically, anyways, and after some consideration, the angels of Heaven broker a deal with Lucifer. Each year, on the 31st of December, specially trained Angels, dubbed the Exterminators, would be sent down to cull the masses in Hell. The ruler of Hell was not exactly thrilled about the whole ordeal, though he accepted nonetheless, having also acknowledged the overpopulation issue his realm was facing as he agreed to their terms.

That was over a few centuries ago… and even now, the agreement still held strong, as evident by how Lucifer did nothing to stop the angels from descending from the heavens and spearing the closest demon they could find. Few demons were spared from the wrath of heaven, and even Overlords were unable to effectively combat them without sustaining serious injuries, for a single Exterminator was just as strong as ten high ranking Hellborn demons, and though an Overlord could deal with one rather easily, to deal with an entire horde all at once was beyond their abilities.

Rather predictably, the lower ranking demons, namely Sinners or the more common Hellborn demons, didn't fare any better, as a single swing from an Exterminator's weapon quite literally spelled death for them, and as such, the more logical thing to do during a Yearly Extermination was to just lay low and hope to survive it, and if you were outside when the bell at Pentagram City chimed… the common notion was for you to just accept your fate.

However, that notion didn't seem to apply to a trio of Sinners who sat within the confines of a bar that went by Klub Kaiju, as, upon hearing the chime of the bell, the three of them didn't do much more than look up from what they were currently doing before they quickly dismissed it.

"So… it's starting."

Nodding a little in response to Akihiro's comment, Shino quickly finished wiping clean the last shot glass in Klub Kaiju before he placed it under the counter he was standing behind. With that done, he reached for his hips and pulled the holstered Assault Knives that were attached to them off and examined them one last time for any possible defects, only to nod in approval when he saw that there were none.

"Yeah…" muttered Shino as he glanced over at Akihiro, who simply huffed as he cracked his mechanical knuckles. Metal scraped against metal as he did so, and as he cracked them a second time, he preemptively activated the knuckle guard on his Full City fist in preparation for a possible throw down. Sure, the Exterminators would probably disregard Klub Kaiju and move on to attack random demons in the area, though that was unlikely, and if a fight were to break out here against those damned angels, Akihiro wished to be prepared. "Hey, sorry for asking you guys to come and help me with this. I appreciated the extra muscle."

"Ah," came Shino's response, prompting him to glance off to the side and spot Mikazuki sitting not too far from him, on the other side of the bar counter. The Barbatos pilot didn't seem to be concerned in the slightest as he sharpened the golden claws of his Lupus Rex hand against a random rock that he found some time ago, and by the time he had sharpened the last finger on his hand, Augus crushed the rock in his Barbatos Form 1 hand before allowing what remained of it to sift through his fingers. Shino noticeably flinched at that, though he recovered quickly from it before cracking his neck.

"Still, I'm pretty surprised that you agreed to this, Mika," admitted Shino with a minor chuckle as he made one last check on his Assault Rifles to make sure that they were fully loaded. As he did so, Mika simply raised a brow and glanced over at Norba, who raised his hand defensively. "Hey, not calling you a coward or anything, but you've got connections, right? Barbatos, the Radio Demon… Hell, even Luci-fucking-fer knows you. Surely they offered you some sorta protection… right?"

"Barbatos has other servants he has to deal with. Not like he'd remember me anyways," replied Mika, not exactly lying as, in the past few months, the Goetial Duke has more or less forgotten about Augus' existence. Mika didn't really mind as it gave him more time to himself, though it did mean that he had to deal with Alastor more often… "Alastor offered but Husk said that it'd be better if I didn't take his offer. Something about tentacles and violation," that was enough to make both Shino and Akihiro shudder, "And Lucifer has better things to do than look after a random Sinner."

"Eh fair point. Guess I'd better give you proper compensation for all this," muttered Shino, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he spoke. Akihiro chuckled a bit at this, to which Norba raised a brow. "Hey, what's so funny, Aki?"

"The thought of you not being able to keep the place up is amusing to me, that's all," replied Akihiro with a mild shrug, prompting Shino to redden with insult as he waved his Shiden fist at Atland.

"Look, Otachi told me to keep an eye on the bar during the Extermination! She'd fire me if I rejected, and that's the good option!" defended Shino as he crossed his arms with insult. "You two just volunteered to help me and I'm compensating you for this!"

"Is it really that bad, to be fired?" muttered Mika, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he pondered on if it was better to be fired or to continue working under Otachi based on what he knew about that demon. Mika's response was an incredulous gaze from Shino, who leaned towards him and spoke in a dire tone.

"Mika… they say that those that she fires end up dead! Eaten! MUTILATED!" proclaimed Shino, waving his arms around intensely as Augus leaned back to avoid being slapped in the face. Akihiro appeared bemused by all of Shino's claims, though he didn't voice anything out as he listened to his fellow Tekkadan pilot ramble on. "I DON'T WANNA BE MUTILATED!"

"Alright…" muttered Mika, feeling rather uneased at their close proximity as he shoved Norba away from him, clearly not buying his claim though still willing to go along with it as Shino shuddered. Once Norba was standing at a respectable distance away from Augus, the pilot frowned a little and stood up from the chair he was sitting on. "How many angels do you think we'll have to deal with?"

"I'm hoping for none, but considering our luck, we'll be lucky to get through the next hour without being attacked," grumbled Akihiro as he picked up his Halberd and rested its pommel against the ground. As he spoke, Shino was quick to lean towards him and slap the back of his head with his Shiden arm, prompting him to jerk his head down a little before he turned to glare at Norba.

"Don't jinx it, Aki!" chastised Shino, ignoring the glare Akihiro was sending his way as he spoke. "I know facing Otachi is a terrifying thought, but facing a group of Exterminators is somehow worse!"

"Exterminators are just enemies, aren't they?" piped up Mika as he eyed Shino with a raised brow, with his voice being enough to make both Norba and Atland turn towards him with bewildered expressions. Vice versa, however, Mika offered no emotion as he continued. "If they try to kill us, we'll kill them, just like with anyone else who stood in our way."

"I appreciate the optimism, but don't you think you're being too confident, Mika?" pointed out Shino, and even Akihiro agreed with him on this one, prompting Augus to scoff.

"It's not optimism, it's just me telling you how it is," corrected Mika as his grip on his Mace tightened. "If they come for us, we'll kill them, it's as simple as that."

"And what if we can't kill em?" asked Akihiro, crossing his arms as he spoke.

"Then we'll make killing us hard for them."

And if they were honest, that answer was enough to make Akihiro and Shino laugh a little as they processed what they just heard. Yep… Mika hasn't changed one bit.

Seconds later, however, mere moments after their laughter died down, a minor explosion could be heard outside of Klub Kaiju, prompting the three pilots to turn towards the door with raised brows in the process. What followed were several screams from outside the bar, and seconds later, the sound of blades ripping through flesh could be heard under all the screaming.

To a lesser person, or demon in this case, these sounds would have been rather unnerving. For the Tekkadan trio, however, it wasn't much more than an early warning for the three of them as they kept themselves on guard. Admittedly, Shino did flinch when he saw a severed hand slap against the glass window of Klub Kaiju, something that caused his fellow pilots to look at him in amusement.

"W-What?" muttered Shino, with his face reddening with insult as Akihiro allowed himself to chuckle briefly, though before either one of the pilots could even say anything else, the double doors that led into Klub Kaiju were quite literally blown off their hinges with a powerful blast of angelic energy, sending the two doors soaring towards the Tekkadan pilots.

Before they could hit them, however, Mika sprung forward and swatted the doors out of the air. As the doors slammed into the ground, the three pilots turned their attention towards where the doors used to be, only to see that it was clouded by a rather thick layer of smoke… smoke that was rather quickly dispelled when a harpoon-like weapon was hurled through it.

The harpoon-like weapon was flung straight towards Mikazuki, and by the time he had noticed it, the pilot didn't have time to get out of the way. Thankfully for him, however, Akihiro was able to react fast enough, as he leapt in front of his fellow pilot and used his Variable Scissor Shield to deflect the inbound projectile. The harpoon bounced off the thick chassis of the shield before it dropped to the ground with a lifeless clang, though seconds after it did so, the weapon disappeared in a flash of light.

"Tsk, angels…?" muttered Akihiro as he lowered his shield, only to grimace deeply when he saw that his assumption was, unfortunately, on point. The smoke that once clouded the doors to Klub Kaiju had dissipated by now, allowing the three pilots to see the group of five Exterminators that were standing before them with full clarity.

And if they were fully honest, they felt no real fear towards these damn things. Just… irritation at having to face them.

Sure, their massive, goat-like horns and comically large angel wings were rather impressive, and their LCD masks, which acted as their only means of showing emotions via pixelated faces of sorts, were rather unnerving, though in truth, they weren't any worse than any of the things the three had faced when they were still alive.

Even so…

"Be careful, you guys…" advised Shino from behind the counter as he lowered himself into a defensive stance, with the main cannon of Gundam Flauros flipping up and over his shoulder as he spoke. Likewise, his Assault Rifle swung up and under his arm, ready to be used, as he remained on edge, with him being the most nervous of the three as he readied himself for the inevitable fight. "If we're killed by these things, we're done for. No resurrection through any means…"

"Ah. So let's not die, then," quipt Akihiro, the sarcasm incredibly apparent in his voice as he grabbed onto his Halberd tightly in his Full City hand while his Shield remained firmly latched onto his Rebake arm. Mika replied to that statement with a grunt before he assumed a defensive stance… or he tried to at least. He never was one to go on the defensive very often, now that he thought about it…

And then… nothing happened.


The Exterminators were silent, with the five of them present simply standing before the Sinners in complete silence as they observed them intently. Against a regular demon, these angels would have simply charged forward and taken advantage of their superior numbers, though with these three… something was rather off.

An Exterminator's LCD mask, while used mainly to intimidate the demons they preyed upon, also served another, less important function, and that was to detect the demonic energy around a target. This function was typically not used, as the demons that would be struck down were typically nothing more than low ranking Sinners or the lowest caste of Hellborn devils, such as imps.

However… these three in particular seemed… different, in that, despite being Sinners… the demonic energy that surrounded them was surprisingly strong. At the very least, the weakest of the three, that guy with the cannon over his shoulder, was perhaps on par with a mid ranked Hellborn devil, and the guy with the Halberd could perhaps be compared to a Goetial Demon in regards to his demonic aura.

As for the short one with the large mace, though… the demonic aura that surrounded him was strong enough to make the apparent leader of the five Exterminators grimace behind its mask before it rather abruptly raised his harpoon-like weapon up and pointed it towards the short guy.

"Him."

Raising their brows when they heard the Exterminator speak, the Tekkadan pilots found themselves surprised at its voice. Sounding neither male nor female, the voice lacked any real emotion, making it sound very machine-like… so much so that it could make Mika sound emotive.

Despite that, their shock at its voice was quickly overshadowed by their surprise at the fact that the apparent leader of these Exterminators was now pointing its spear towards Mikazuki in particular.

"Kill him."

'Oh, so that's why-' thought Mika rather nonchalantly, only to have his thoughts cut off when he fully processed what the Exterminator just said, though by then, the pilot could only widen his eyes as the angel lunged at him at full speed before slamming its shoulder straight into Mikazuki's body, sending the two of them soaring backwards.

Shino and Akihiro both gasped as Mika and the Exterminator crashed straight through the wall behind the counter and crashed into the storage room of Klub Kaiju, though before they could even move to help him, the two of them instinctively raised their weapons up to defend against a pair of Exterminators that were sent to deal with them.

"Mika!" was all Shino could choke out before he had to leap backwards to avoid being impaled through the neck by an Exterminator's harpoon. Instead of stabbing him through his neck, the harpoon imbedded itself into the wall behind the bar counter, shattering a handful of glass cups that were displayed there in the process, and though it would have contributed a fair amount to Otachi's anger towards Shino after all this was said and done, the pilot couldn't exactly worry about that now as he ducked under a swing from the Exterminator as it freed its harpoon from the wall and swung it at him. "Whoa!"

As Shino dodged several more swings from the Exterminator he was dealing with, Akihiro turned towards the hole that the Mika was tackled through and began sprinting towards. He could help Shino after he made sure that Augus was alright, he reasoned, though before he could get too close to it, Atland's instincts flared up, prompting him to turn to the side just in time to release his Variable Scissor Shield and raise his Halberd up with both hands to block a downwards swing from another Exterminator's harpoon.

This Exterminator in particular seemed a little different from the others. Whilst the others were mostly lanky creatures with thin, lightweight harpoon spears, this one was noticeably bulkier and taller than its fellow angels, and its LCD mask displayed a wide grin alongside a single, normal left eye while its right eye was crossed out. Its harpoon spear was noticeably longer than the ones used by the other angels, and its hooked end was enlarged as well, giving it the appearance of a Halberd, not too dissimilar from the one Akihiro was currently using.

"Tch, I don't have time for this!" growled Akihiro, only to widen his eyes when he saw that the remaining two Exterminators had flown through the hole Mika was tackled through. The Gusion pilot grimaced when he realized that these Exterminators seemed keen on taking down Mika, much more so than either himself or Shino, though that begged the question of… why?

That question could remain unsolved for now, Akihiro reckoned, as he forcefully jerked his Halberd upwards, in turn breaking the clash he was stuck in, and forced the Exterminator back. As it stumbled backwards, Akihiro picked his Shield back up from the ground, holstered it on the back of his waist, and charged towards the angel.

"Out of my way!"


Meanwhile

Mika took a second to recover from that tackle, with him groaning a little as he used the Ultra Large Mace to help him stand back up.

Getting tackled through a wall wasn't exactly too much of a rarity, especially in Mika's line of work down here, though he's never been tackled through one with such force in the past, and that left him a little disoriented as he stood himself up. Despite this, however, the pilot felt his ears perk up a little, prompting him to turn on his heel just in time to see the Exterminator that had tackled him leap into the air and jerk it's harpoon towards him.

Though his vision was still a tiny bit disorientated, the pilot had just enough sense to raise his Barbatos Form 1 arm up to deflect the harpoon jab. The curved edge of the harpoon scraped against the gauntlet of Mika's arm, giving it a massive gash on its side, though it didn't injure Mikazuki directly as the pilot grimaced and released the handle on his Ultra Large Mace and swung the claws of his Lupus Rex hand towards the angel.

The Exterminator reacted fast enough to leap backwards to avoid being slashed by the golden claws of Mika's arm, though by the time it had landed and as soon as it turned its attention back towards Mikazuki, the Exterminator widened its eyes behind its mask when it saw the young Sinner lunge at it, with the tip of his Ultra Large Mace coming straight towards the angel all the while.

In a panic, the Exterminator dropped its harpoon, which disappeared in a small flash of light, and caught onto Mikazuki's Mace before it could impale it. And, in spite of its spindly appearance, the angel was able to stop the weapon before it could stab into it, though the force of the attack did send the Exterminator back a little as its heels dug into the concrete beneath it.

"Tsk!" groaned Mika, taken aback by the unexpected strength that was shown by this angel as it gripped onto the sides of his Ultra Large Mace, not budging all the while. To counteract this, Mika activated the pile bunker at the center of the weapon, intent on impaling the Exterminator on it. However, the Exterminator seemed to notice the pile bunker at the center of the mace shuddering a little as it prepared to launch itself out, as it quickly threw the end of the Ultra Large Mace it was holding onto off to the side.

Right as it did so, the mace's pile bunker burst forward, though instead of impaling the Exterminator, the pile bunker slammed straight into the ground, catching Mika off guard for a brief moment, though his surprise was quickly replace with irritation as the Exterminator lunged forward and punched him straight in the face, causing him to stagger backwards and release his grip on the mace in the process. Meanwhile, the angel rematerialised its harpoon spear back in its hand and swung it towards Augus, and to its credit, it was able to strike Mika in the cheek with the hookless edge of the weapon, giving him a rather large cut on his cheek in the process, though before it could attempt another strike, Mikazuki reached into his Tekkadan jacket with his Form 1 arm and pulled out his pistol.

Aiming quickly, Mika fired off a single bullet before his arm which hit the angel square in the forehead, cracking its LCD mask all the while, though it didn't do much more than that before the Exterminator shot its arm forwards and forced Mika's pistol wielding arm up into the air, where he fired off two shots that hit the ceiling before stopping. Taking advantage of his current position, the Exterminator attempted to jab at the young Sinner with its harpoon, though before it could impale Augus on its weapon, the pilot grabbed onto the weapon with a vice-like grip, stopping it dead in its tracks.

For a brief moment, both Mikazuki and the Exterminator were stuck in a clash, with both of them attempting to overpower the other to no avail. After some time, however, the Exterminator headbutted Mika, with its LCD mask slamming straight into his forehead and causing the pilot to stagger back a little, and taking advantage of his disorientation, the Exterminator quickly stepped towards him with its spear poised and ready to strike.

Before it could connect with Mika's neck, however, the pilot, rather abruptly, jerked his arm upwards and used the gauntlet on his Barbatos Form 1 arm to redirect the strike from the Exterminator's harpoon. For the briefest of moments, the pixelated LCD display on the angel's mask showed an expression of shock, though that 'expression' was quick to disappear when it saw the pilot grab onto its outstretched arm with his gauntleted hand and yank on it, in turn forcing the Exterminator towards him, and once it was close enough, Mikazuki headbutted the angel.

Seconds after its mask made contact with Augus' head, the Exterminator felt itself fly backwards before it dropped onto the ground in a roll. Slowly but surely, the angel got itself back up to its feet, with it noticing how its LCD mask was now cracked in several places, impairing its vision rather severely in the process. Even so, it didn't back down as it turned back up to see Mika glaring at it with murderous intent, causing its LCD mask to display a flickering frown expression as the angel held its harpoon tightly.

His forehead was bleeding something fierce, though despite that, the guy didn't seem to notice it, either that or he didn't care about his injury as he simply flexed the golden claws of his Lupus Rex arm, readying himself for whatever the Exterminator would do. He was eyeing his Ultra Large Mace all the while, with him looking for an opening to retrieve it, though at the moment, if he attempted to do so, he'd be leaving himself open to an attack from this angel in front of him.

Just as Mika was about to make a move, however, the pilot stopped himself as two more Exterminators flew in through the hole that the first tackled him through. As they landed, the flickering frown on the first Exterminator's mask quickly turned into a smile, and likewise, the two newly arrived angels also had smiles displayed on their masks, and at that, Mika felt his irritation grow within him as he leaned down a little and assumed an offensive stance.

"Tch… you're wasting my time…"

And at that, the three Exterminators lunged forward.


"Whoa!"

As that yelp left Shino's mouth, the Ryusei Go pilot leaned back to avoid being struck by the harpoon of the Exterminator he was facing. As it recovered from swinging its weapon, Norba attempted to strike it in the head with one of his Assault Knives, though when the hit connected, the knife was deflected by the Exterminator's horns, which were too thick to be severed with the pilot's blade.

"Tsk!" groaned Shino as he shifted his body a little to avoid being impaled by the Exterminator's harpoon, though in the process the angel's weapon stabbed itself straight into the bar counter, and though subtle, Norba could hear the sound of shattering glass within it, prompting him to grimace. "You lil' shit! That's gonna go on my tab!"

The Exterminator appeared visibly surprised by what Shino had just said, having not expected him to be complaining about the angel destorying some hidden tableware, of all things, in the middle of a battle. However, its brief bout of shock proved to be rather fatal, as before it could recover from it, the Exterminator felt Shino grab the back of its head before he slammed it face first into the countertop, cracking it in the process, before forcing it back up and punching it square in the face with enough force to crack its LCD mask.

Staggering back a little, the Exterminator shook its head a little as it recovered, just in time to widen its eyes behind its mask when it saw Shino launching another punch towards it with his Flauros arm. In response, it raised its arm up to defend against the strike, with the sound of metal impacting its arm being heard all the while, and likewise, when Shino swung his other arm, which was holding onto his Assault Knife, towards the angel, it dropped its harpoon and seized his wrist tightly.

Squeezing on Shino's wrist, the Exterminator applied enough pressure to cause some sparks to be emitted from the limb, and though it was mechanical in nature, Norba still felt himself wincing at the damage his Shiden arm had sustained, though before he could try and free himself, he felt his Flauros arm being shoved to the side, and less than a second later, the Exterminator punched him square in the cheek, causing him to stagger back against the countertop in the process.

Before he could recover, however, the Exterminator materialised its harpoon into its hand and lunged at Norba, fully intent on impaling him through the chest with its weapon. Thankfully enough for Shino, he was able to regain his marbles just in time to see it leap at him, though he didn't have time to move out of the way, forcing him to raise his arms up to defend against the attack. Using his Flauros arm, the pilot attempted to use the shovel shield on its side to perhaps defend against the attack, though he didn't expect the Exterminator's harpoon to stab straight through his entire forearm!

'Shit!' thought Shino as the sharp end of the harpoon came mere inches away from stabbing his eye out, and at that, the LCD mask of the Exterminator atop him displayed a wide grin as it began to force its Harpoon down onto Shino, forcing him to use his damaged Shiden hand to stop it from doing so, though due to its damaged wrist joint, his other hand was unable to do much more than slow it down by a little.

Seeming confident in ending Shino's life right there and then, the Exterminator found itself ignoring its surroundings for a brief moment as it focused solely on forcing the harpoon down onto Norba, though that proved to be its downfall as the Assault Rifle that was still attached to Shino's Flauros backpack swung upwards rather abruptly, only stopping when it was aimed directly at the Exterminator's stomach.

And, by the time the Exterminator had noticed that the rifle was aimed directly at its stomach, Shino opened fire, pelting it with several demonically charged shots which forced the angel to get the fuck off him. Once it was no longer atop him, Norba used both his legs to kick the Exterminator backwards, causing it to slam its back against the wall behind it, before using his Shiden arm to deliver a powerful haymaker to the angel's cheek. As it staggered a little to the side, Norba grimaced before using his damaged Flauros arm to uppercut it with all his might, and in spite of the damage that was inflicted upon it, Shino's uppercut was still strong enough to not only crack most of the angel's mask, but to also send the Exterminator soaring up into the air.

As the angel flew into the air, Shino grimaced and had his main Flauros cannon swing up and over his shoulder before he quickly took aim at the airborne Exterminator, with the 'Galaxy Cannon Supercharger' Canister, as Shino enjoyed calling it, connecting with the rear of the cannon before it began to overcharge the main Flauros cannon with a massive dose of demonic energy. A full charge came within a handful of milliseconds, and at that, the pilot grinned wildly in spite of his injuries as he held onto the side of his cannon with both his hands.

"EAT THIS! GALAXY CANNON! FIRE!" proclaimed Shino when the Flauros cannon was overcharged, and seconds later, it discharged, sending a powerful electromagnetic, demonically overcharged shell out of the barrel. And, right as the shell was blasted out, Shino felt his entire body be flung in the opposite direction thanks to the recoil from the Galaxy Cannon blast, with his back slamming into the wall behind him all the while, though that was probably a better fate than the Exterminator's.

To say that the Galaxy Cannon shell had killed the Exterminator would be quite the understatement. The overcharged electromagnetic shell had quite literally vaporized the entire left arm and torso of the Exterminator, and even when it had passed through the angel's body, the shell continued travelling, with it blasting a massive hole in the ceiling of Klub Kaiju and soaring off into the sky of Hell before it disappeared in a small spark in the sky, something that surprised even Norba, though his surprise quickly became relief as he chuckled briefly and rubbed on his broken Shiden wrist.

'Well… that worked,' thought Shino as he threw his head back a little before sighing in relief when he realized that his workload was a little less strenuous now… only to widen his eyes rather abruptly before he stood himself up. 'Wait, Mika…!'


The sound of metal striking against metal could be heard as Akihiro and the Exterminator he was facing off against exchanged blows with their respective Halberds, and thus far, their exchange seemed to have no end.

Both Sinner and Exterminator were formidable foes, with their physical strength being second to only a small handful of others, and when pitted against one another, they found themselves unable to overpower the other despite their best efforts, and as the seconds passed, their blows only got more powerful, and as a result, every time their weapons clashed, Klub Kaiju would shake just a little.

This was shown rather well as the Halberds of both Sinner and Exterminator clashed against one another, with the ensuing shockwave being strong enough to shake the foundations of Klub Kaiju rather intensely. Even so, neither combatant seemed to notice or care about the shaking building as they focused on overpowering the other to little success.

This time, however, Akihiro did something rather unexpected, as he, quite forcefully, jerked his Halberd upwards. This act was more than enough to force the Exterminator's own Halberd out of its hands, though Atland had perhaps used a bit too much force when it came to disarming the angel, as he had, unintentionally, thrown his Halberd off to the side as well, leaving him without his main weapon.

Despite being disarmed, the Exterminator still appeared far from done with the fight as it simply fell to an offensive stance. Its LCD mask displayed a rather irritated looking, pixelated face as it glared at Akihiro, though the Sinner offered nothing more than a grimace as he clenched his Full City fist tightly, a clear sign that he wasn't about to just lay down and die just yet.

And within seconds, both angel and devil sprung forward with their fists pulled back, and once they were close enough, they jerked their fists forward, with Akihiro's Full Cty fist slamming into the Exterminator's LCD mask while, vice versa, the angel's fist crashed straight into Atland's cheek. Both of them staggered backwards a little at that, though not even a second later, they recovered and began swinging their fists wildly at each other.

Their fists slammed against each other several times over, with every exchange being strong enough to create a shockwave that sent anything close by flying. Neither showed any sign of weakening as they kept at it, though it was rather obvious that the Exterminator had the advantage in this as it slowly began pushing Akihiro backwards.

The meeting of fists only stopped when Akihiro managed to grab onto both the Exterminator's fists with his hands, though even then, he felt himself being pushed backwards as he attempted to fight back. Glaring up at the angel, Atland saw that its LCD mask was displaying a rather wide grin, a clear sign of its confidence in being able to defeat him, and it was more than enough to make the pilot grimace as the twin sub arm compartments on his back shifted upwards, catching the angel's attention.

"Don't you underestimate me!" roared Akihiro as the twin sub arms burst out of their compartments, with one of them socking the Exterminator straight in the cheek, disorientating it long enough for Atland to uppercut it and force it backwards. Before it could recover, Akihiro lunged forward and punched it square in the stomach with his Full City fist, and right as the punch landed, he fired off the small, unguided missile that was hidden within the gauntlet, which only served to further empower the strike as his punch had quite literally sent the Exterminator soaring backwards into the closest wall.

As the angel crashed into the wall, several chunks of the ceiling came loose and dropped onto it, burying it under a few tons of debris as Akihiro sighed in relief. That was one less angel to deal with now… and he still needed to help Mika. and yet… as he turned to retrieve his Halberd, Atland's ears perked up when he heard the pile of debris behind him shift a little, prompting him to groan a little as he shook his head.

'Why does no one know how to stay down…' groaned Akihiro mentally as his Variable Scissor Shield flipped to its side on the back of his waist, with a handle emerging from its bottom, allowing Atland to grab onto it with little issue. As he pulled it off his waist, the pile of debris behind him exploded outwards, with the Exterminator that was once buried beneath it forcing its way out of the rubble as it glared daggers at Akihiro, who still had his back turned towards it.

Taking advantage of this, the Exterminator sprinted towards Akihiro and lunged at him, furious at being humiliated by a Sinner, of all devils. Sure, this Sinner had enough demonic energy within him to rival even a Goetial Demon, but Exterminators were specifically trained to take demons down regardless of their rank, and to be pushed this far by a Sinner? It only served to make its blood boil…

However, amidst the anger of the Exterminator, it failed to notice how Akihiro was holding onto… something… and by the time it saw what he was holding onto, it was already too late, as it had already lunged at Atland by then, and in response to it leaping towards hm, Akihiro turned around and held his Variable Scissor Shield up in the air.

The Variable Scissor Shield was no longer in its shield form, but in its Scissor form, with the outer halves of its shield now folded back and its center split open, very much like a pair of pliers. And rather unfortunately for the Exterminator, he was now inadvertently leaping straight into the jaws of the Scissor shield, and before it could use its wings to hover out of the way, Akihiro grimaced and jerked his Scissor Shield forwards, clamping its jaws tightly around the angel's body before forcing it onto its back.

Stepping on top of the Exterminator, Akihiro grabbed onto both handles of his Variable Scissor Shield and began to apply pressure onto it. The angel, to its credit, put up a strong resistance, though it was all for naught as Akihiro made use of all four of his arms to squeeze the jaws of his Scissor Shield shut, and within seconds, the jaws of his weapon slammed against one another, effectively slicing the Exterminator in two.

And with the angel dealt with, Akihiro simply collapsed his Variable Scissor Shield back into its shield mode before holstering it on the back of his waist. He would have felt some pride at killing an angel, though that could come later.

For now, he needed to make sure that his friends were safe…


Three against one were usually odds that were not rather favourable… and for the most part, it was something that Mika could attest to.

For as good as he was at hitting things with his mace, the pilot found himself unable to keep up with the trained savagery of the Exterminators that he was up against, and though he was able to use his armaments to keep himself from getting impaled, it was rather clear to him that he was fighting a losing battle.

Swatting his recently recovered Ultra Large Mace off to the side, Mika grimaced as the weapon's main body slammed into the harpoon that was thrown towards him by one of the Exterminators. As he did so, the another one of the angels flew towards him from his side, taking advantage of his current predicament as it slammed its shoulder into Augus' chest and tackled him backwards until his back hit the wall closest to him, causing him to wince a little, though he was forced to ignore the pain in his back as he sprung his Form 1 arm up to grab onto the Exterminator's harpoon before it could stab him through the neck.

Immediately after, Mika grimaced and swung his Lupus Rex arm towards the Exterminator that had him pinned down, though his arm was quickly seized by the angel, before his claws could reach it. And, slowly but surely, the Exterminator's harpoon began inching closer and closer towards Mika's neck, coming close enough that Mika could feel its tip piercing the skin on his neck as a small amount of angelic energy began to pour into his system, though before it could go any further, Augus narrowed his eyes as a compartment on the underside of his Lupus Rex arm swung outwards, catching the angel's attention for a brief moment, before the sub arm of his Lupus Rex arm burst forward and wrapped its three pronged claws around its wrist.

The appearance of Mika's sub arm seemed to surprise the Exterminator quite a bit, and when it clamped its claws around its wrist, the sub arm applied enough pressure to force the angel to recoil backwards. It wasn't by much, though it was just enough to allow Mka enough room to kick both his legs up towards the Exterminator's stomach and forcefully kick it away from him with enough force to send it flying backwards.

As the Exterminator was sent flying, the other two angels that were present sprung at Mika with malicious intent, with the one with the cracked mask coming at him first with its harpoon poised and ready to strike at him. Mika responded to that by sidestepping a little and grabbing onto the Exterminator's harpoon with both his hands, and before the angel could retaliate, he forcefully stabbed the weapon into the wall beside him and kicked the Exterminator backwards with enough force to get it to release its weapon, in turn disarming it.

Meanwhile, the other Exterminator leapt over its fellow angel as it was kicked backwards and attempted to swing its harpoon down at Mikazuki, who leapt to the side in order to dodge the strike. And though the weapon itself appeared rather weak, when it slammed into the ground that Mika was once standing on, the weapon managed to shatter the ground and kick up a massive amount of dust in the process. The ensuing shockwave was strong enough to send Mika flying backwards whilst he was still evading the attack, with his back slamming into another wall in the process.

Slowly but surely, the Exterminator dislodged the tip of its harpoon from the ground and turned its attention towards the wall that Mika was thrown against, with its eyes narrowed behind its mask as it saw Augus kneeling down a little through all the dust that was kicked up, prompting it to smirk as it twirled its harpoon in its hands before it slowly began to approach the Sinner. Once it was close enough, the Exterminator raised its harpoon up into the air, and seconds later, it swung it down towards Mikazuki, with its hooked edge being brought down upon the pilot's silhouette with enough force to perhaps cleave him in two…

… though instead of doing just that, the Exterminator's harpoon instead slammed into something rather… odd looking with such force that it created a small shockwave that cleared up the dust that once surrounded Mika, and once the cloud of dust was dispelled, the angel's LCD mask displayed a confused, pixelated face when it saw that its harpoon was blocked by what appeared to be a claw of sorts, one that replaced the gauntlet on Mikazuki's left arm.

As for Mika, he simply frowned deeply as he glared up at the Exterminator with a look of utter irritation, and with a powerful swing of his arm, he forced the angel's harpoon into the air before he stepped forward and swung the newly acquired Wire Claw of his Barbatos arm straight towards its stomach.

"You're getting on my nerves!" growled Mika in an uncharacteristic show of anger as the Wire Claw of his Barbatos arm stabbed straight into the Exterminator's stomach, and in an instant, its LCD mask displayed a horrified expression before Augus had the Wire Claw forcefully open inside it, and once it was fully opened, the Exterminator found itself torn in half at the waist from the inside, with its upper half falling onto the ground seconds later.

As this happened, the other two Exterminators seemed to be taken aback by just how easily one of their own had been taken down by a single Sinner. Even so, they didn't let that deter them as they charged forward, with the one with the cracked mask, having retrieved its harpoon by now, being the first to get close enough to strike at Mika.

What it didn't expect for the pilot to do, however, was for him to leap straight over its head, and time seemed to slow to a crawl as the Exterminator's LCD mask displayed a bewildered expression as Augus' soared straight past its head, with the tip of his ahoge just barely brushing against its horns all the while. Not long after, Mika landed behind the Exterminator, who immediately turned back to strike at him, though before it could even raise its harpoon, it felt something stab into its stomach, and when it looked down, it saw that Mikazuki had stabbed it with his Wire Claw.

Not stopping there, Mika grimaced as he swung his Barbatos arm towards the other Exterminator that was charging towards him with all his might, and through some unspoken miracle, he was strong enough to lift the angel he had in his grasp up into the air, albeit with quite a bit of effort. And, at the last second, Mika flicked his wrist downwards a little, in turn dislodging the Wire Claw from its mount, and sending both the Exterminator that was caught in it and the Claw itself soaring straight towards the other angel that was charging towards him.

The other Exterminator didn't even have time to react as its fellow angel slammed straight into it, and as soon as they smacked into one another, the force was strong enough to dislodge the Wire Claw from the thrown Exterminator's body, thus allowing Mika to retract it back into his arm via a wire before he sprinted towards where the angels landed. As he did so, one of the two Exterminators slowly got back up to their feet, though by the time it had regained its bearings, it was already too late.

With a rather uncharacteristically loud battle cry, Mika shot his Lupus Rex arm forward and punched the Exterminator straight in the stomach with enough force to send it flying backwards, with it landing on its stomach in the process. When it landed, the angel, seemingly following its fight or flight instincts, began to crawl away from Augus, though the pilot, still grimacing deeply, quickly closed the distance between the two of them and slammed his foot down onto its back.

And, without even hesitating, Mika grabbed onto one of the Exterminator's wings and, with all the strength that he could muster, ripped it straight off its back, with a shower of blood coming soon after. The Exterminator cried out in pain as one of its wings were ripped off, though Mika ignored it as he slammed his foot down onto its arm before using it as support to rip off its other wing, which, after some effort, was torn off as well, causing the angel to cry out louder in pain.

With both wings severed, Mika slammed his foot down onto the upper back of the Exterminator before grabbing onto one of its horns with his Lupus Rex hand. All the while, Mika's other arm was raised up a little, and seconds alter, Augus shot it forward, using his Wire Claw to stab straight through the Exterminator's neck from behind, and when the angel stopped struggling, it was a clear indication to the pilot that it was finally dead.

And then… there was one…

One trembling angel that couldn't even get itself to stand upright as it held onto its harpoon with trembling hands. Its LCD mask flickered between several varying expressions as it watched Mika stand and turn away from its fellow angel, with him turning its gaze towards it all the while.

Exterminators were not known to feel terror… though at this one moment, the final Exterminator that stood against Mikazuki felt its entire body freeze up in fear as it watched him step off the angel that he just brutalised and began to approach it. The young Sinner's body was covered in blood, blood that came from both himself and the Exterminators that he had murdered over the course of the past few minutes, though despite all this, the boy's eyes showed no remorse for what he had done.

No, instead, his eyes reflected his drive to bring the Exterminator down. His dilated pupils struck fear into the angel as it took a subconscious step backwards, and though it was unable to notice it at the moment, a good chunk of its body was now shaking in terror as Mikazuki closed the distance between the two of them.

He was indeed a devil… one that would require more than a small handful of Exterminators to bring down.

Even so, the last remaining Exterminator knew that it couldn't back down. It was taught to kill demons, and nothing else, and if it were to die at the hands of one… then so be it.

And with that in mind, the angel charged forward, lunging at Mika once more with its harpoon poised to stab at his head. The pilot didn't react at first, giving the angel some hope at killing him, though it's small bout of hope was quick to fade when Mika, rather abruptly, brought his Lupus Rex arm up to deflect its strike.

The Exterminator's harpoon found itself shoved off to the side by Mika's Lupus Rex arm, and seconds later, it felt his fist slam into its face with enough force to send it flying into the closest wall. On impact, it cracked the concrete rather intensely, and before it recovered, Mikazuki leapt at it and stabbed it in the ribs with his Wire Claw.

As his Wire Claw stabbed deep into its stomach, with it stabbing into the wall behind the Exterminator all the while, Mika detached it from its mount and began to pummel the angel with both his hands. Several punches were thrown towards the angel before Mika grabbed onto the Exterminator's horns and forced it to lean downwards, allowing him to knee it in the face with enough force that both of its horns snapped straight off its head, injuring the already dying Exterminator further.

And as a final act of humiliation, Mika grimaced and grunted a little before he used the Exterminator's broken horns to stab it in the chest, with the angel crying out in pain as its own horns sank deep into its chest, something that Mika mostly ignored as he pulled his Lupus Rex arm back before rocketing it forward into the Exterminator's head.

And on impact, the Exterminator's skull promptly exploded into a messy explosion of gore and bone, with the wall that it was once pinned against also exploding outwards as what remained of the angel was sent flying out into the back alleys of Klub Kaiju, lifeless and unmoving.

For a few seconds thereafter, Mika kept his Lupus Rex arm held up in the air, with him breathing heavily all the while as he took a handful of seconds to calm himself down. And once his heartbeat was steady, the pilot shook his head and lowered his arm a little before he retracted his Wire Claw back into its mount on his Barbatos arm and stared at his newly acquired tool with a glimmer in his eye.

'That was… unexpected,' thought Mika as he stared at his Wire Claw, with the claws on the armament opening and closing a little on command. It looked very similar to the Wire Claw that was used by Barbatos' Third Form all those years back, though how he managed to manifest it was beyond his comprehension at the moment…

"Mika!"

The sudden shouts from behind him were enough to snap Mika out of it as he turned his attention back at the hole that he was tackled through in the first place, and at that, he raised his brows when he saw Akihiro and Shino staring in from the hole. At first, their expressions were quite clearly that of worry, though their worry was quick to become utter shock when they saw that Mika was still alive, something that couldn't be said for the three Exterminators.

"Mika… and you're alright… why does that not surprise me anymore," joked Shino in spite of his shock as he stepped into the backroom, surveying the area with interest all the while. He whistled out loud when he saw the corpses of the deceased Exterminators laying on the ground. "Heh, guess they really couldn't stand up against you, now could they?"

"Ah," replied Mika with a nod as he moved to pick up his Ultra Large Mace, and at that, Akihiro raised a brow as he pointed towards Mika's Barbatos arm.

"... how did you get that?" asked Akihiro, gesturing towards his Wire Claw as he spoke, and in response, Augs shrugged.

"I… don't know."

And despite their curiosity, the other two pilots dropped the topic as the three of them collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion.

"You fucking owe us for this, Shino. Big time…" grumbled Akihiro in exhaustion as he sat down, and to that, the pilot in question simply chuckled.

"Yeah… I know that much…"

Chapter has not been edited

Omake!

"Where could they have gone off to…?"

Frowning deeply as he spoke to his subjects, the Archangel of Death casted his gaze down upon several of the Exterminators that were reporting to him to speak of their success in the Yearly Exterminations. Under his gaze, none dared to speak, and despite this, the Archangel of Death couldn't help but feel a little awkward as he shook his head.

"There is no need to be fearful, my subjects. Please, tell me… who has slain your brothers," assured the Archangel as a handful of Exterminators raised their heads up to gaze upon their superior, and though the guy was typically quite a polite fellow… the Archangel of Death still possessed quite a threatening silhouette, what with his brown cloak that obscured his face from view, the six wings, grey coloured wings that sprouted from its back and encased a good portion of his body, and his rather deep voice…

"A-Archangel Azreal…" began one of the Exterminators brave enough to speak up, stepping forward as it spoke. At that, the Archangel of Death, Azreal, turned his hooded head towards his subordinate expectantly, nodding to it to continue, which it did, albeit shakily. "We suspect that the five Exterminators that were marked as missing… have been killed by devils. A… a group of Sinners, to be precise…"

And to that, Azreal appeared taken aback, for he has not remembered an Exterminator dying at the hands of a Sinner, of all devils. Curiously, the Archangel of Death raised a hand up towards the speaking Exterminator, causing it to shudder a little, as he spoke.

"I see. Have we any information on these Sinners?" inquired Azreal, to which the Exterminator nodded awkwardly before a white roll of scrolls materialised in its palm. Rather nervously, the angel passed it over to the Archangel, who gingerly grabbed it from its subordinate. "Thank you. You are all dismissed. Take the rest of the day off, you all deserve it for your hard work."

And in response to his orders, the Exterminators present all stood and offered their superior several warrior salutes before they flew off, leaving the Archangel of Death to unroll the scroll in his hands and read its contents.

At first, Azreal raised his brow in confusion when he saw what was printed on the scroll. It seemed to be an image taken directly from one of the Exterminator's, presumably one of five who were presumed to have been killed by Sinners, that displayed an image of three young men, or young Sinners that bore the appearance of young men, with cybernetic enhancements. They didn't seem too out of place in Hell, if Azreal were honest, though when he took a closer look… he found himself slowly raising his brows in surprise.

That brunette with a lot of pink armour… the scroll labeled him as being on par with a mid ranked Hellborn devil, which was already impressive as Sinners rarely managed to survive for long enough to reach that level. As for the bulky looking guy with coffee coloured armour, however… the scroll pointed out that he was perhaps on per with a Goetial Demon, which was even more unnerving to the Archangel.

And yet… it was the final person that was in the scroll that really piqued the attention of the Archangel.

Said person was short and appeared to be not much of a threat… and yet… his label on the scroll made it very clear to Azreal that he was not to be taken lightly…

'For a Sinner… one that looks as young as him… to be comparable to an Overlord… just who are you, child…?'