The Great Sage Equal to Heaven

by FireMonkeyDragon

After the events of Ragnarok. Jin Mori was too weak to continue, but a last-minute save from old friends allowed him to travel to a parallel world to recover. A world with Devils, Dragons, Gods, and...is that...himself?

5. Chapter 5 - Onslaught

Chapter 5 - Onslaught

(WARNING: This Chapter Exceeds 15,000 Words)

( Play Fly to High - Younha )

---

"Where...am I?"

Dark Gray Clouds.

That was the first thing Mori saw when he opened his eyes. He felt the cool and gentle touch of the blades of lush, green grass, brushing along his face from the wind. By slightly tilting his head from one side to the other, Mori noticed that he was lying down and sprawled out in a star shape. At the same time, his ears picked up the howling of the intense, high-altitude, gusts of wind. Mori took in a deep breath and sat up, but there was something about the air he just tasted that seemed...familiar, he just couldn't put his finger on it.

Without wasting another minute, Mori pushed himself off the ground and started walking forward, to see if the grassland led anywhere. The grass rustled around him as he hiked up a small hill, and when he reached the top, he saw nothing but the vast plane of violent dark water. Lightning weaved through the black clouds above as the boom of thunder followed closely, and in the distance, waterspouts traveled in random directions.

Mori jumped back as a gigantic wave crashed against the walls of the cliff he stood upon. Deciding that it was safer on dryer land, the azure-haired boy turned to walk back to where he came from. As he headed back, he looked around at the environment, there was nothing but grassy valleys and hills that stretched towards the cliff's edge. From this, he deduced that he was on some kind of island, its size, however, was something he hadn't figure out yet. But he presumed that it would be larger than average.

After walking for what felt like nearly an hour, Mori came into contact with his next obstacle. Towering above him was a steep, grassy, plateau. It looked to be a natural wall that was barricading something within because when the boy looked around to see how far it went, there wasn't an end in sight.

"Aah, great," he groaned, a part of him wanted to turn back, but there was a small spark within him that flickered to life, telling him to climb.

He complied with the latter and attempted to scale the wall by using the grass to pull himself up. Mori didn't even make it halfway before slipping and landing back down with a clear *THUD*. The wall was much more slippery than he had expected, however, Mori's eyes gleamed with a sudden wave of determination as the boy tried over and over again.

Finally, after over thirty attempts, Mori heaved himself up and over the edge. He released a relieved sigh as he dusted off his hands and clothes, but when he looked up, he was hit by the gravity of intimidation.

In front of him, was a dark, imposing, lush jungle. Its trees varied in size, some were normal while others grew high into the sky and a selected few even surpassed the height of humanity's tallest skyscrapers. However, that wasn't the part that sent weird tingles down Mori's spine. It was the titan-sized natural formations in the distance behind, the foreboding sight caused the blue-haired teen to gulp. Mountains that touched the atmosphere, stood tall and imposing in the distance. Thick fog seeped through the jungle, filling in every space available while also cloaking the top halves of the mountain range.

Mori clenched his fists nervously but didn't hesitate to take the needed step forward and he started to warily walk towards the edge of the boundless forest. Just like the air here, there was something oddly familiar about this place. Too familiar for him to ignore it.

He stopped in his tracks as he neared the border, it was a distinctive line running across the island, as the grassland was a brighter green than the darker shades of the jungle. The wind suddenly picked up behind him and caused the plants and trees around him to rustle a natural melody. Taking in a deep breath, he sharpened his gaze with confidence and proceeded to enter the depths of the intricate labyrinth of trees.

As he carefully trekked through the thick undergrowth pushing vines and low-hanging branches out of the way, while wary of any hidden roots he could trip over or any deadly plants possibly camouflaged. Mori hadn't even walked for more than a full ten steps, but when he looked back, the forest had already blocked out most of the light from his entryway. He also couldn't help but notice that the wood on some of the trees scattered around, looked as if they were carved from stone. From high above, he could hear the rapid tapping of raindrops upon the sturdy, and intertwined canopy.

It had only been several minutes since he had entered the shadowy jungle, but Mori couldn't help but admit that he was already lost. From within, every direction looked the same, it was like a giant maze of mirrors where every step was both very familiar, but vastly different. It was impossible to map out his surroundings and leave markers to find his way around, as the moment he took two steps and looked back, everything would change. It felt as if the jungle was sentient, and was playing around with Mori. But seeing that it was his own decision to journey into the forest, he decided to push away as many negative thoughts as possible and continue going forward.

As the temperature dropped, Mori rubbed his hands together to keep them warm and exhaling air onto them every couple of seconds. Suddenly, from his right, something moved in the leaves above. The azure-haired boy's head immediately snapped in its direction as he was more jumpy than usual, due to his current situation.

…

Then, silence. Mori's narrowed dark eyes slowly glazed over his surroundings. Nothing.

…

The trees rustled again. Like before, his head whipped towards where he thought it could be coming from. But once again, it went silent very quickly. Mori sipped in some air and held his breath.

…

Suddenly, whatever was in the canopy, picked up its pace, darting through the trees, and down towards the teen. Mori quickly put his guard up and defended his face, as the mystery assailant burst through the foliage.

…

"Scree~,"

…

Mori peaked through his forearms and loosened his guard when he saw his "attacker".

"Eee,"

Perched on a low-hanging branch in front of him, was a little monkey, around a few months old, with ash-brown fur, a long tail, and vibrant pink skin. It curiously tilted his head towards the azure-haired boy, and Mori mimicked the primate's gesture. When the monkey tilted his head the other way, Mori followed. Then it looked off into another direction while scratching its neck as its tail swung around energetically.

Mori happily chuckled, "Y'know, you nearly scared me to death,"

He tried reaching forward to pet the monkey but missed when the mammal wrapped his tail around the branch and flipped upside-down. It flashed its sharp white teeth as it laughed at Mori's failed attempt. An annoyed, but playful expression appeared on the teen's face as he readied himself to pet it again.

"I'll get you this time,"

"Ee Ee,"

Mori tried swiping, but the monkey backflipped.

Mori lunged, but the monkey swung around the branch.

Mori tried to bear hug it, but the monkey simply leaped out of the way, bounced off his messy blue hair, and landed back onto the branch.

And so, for the next fifteen minutes, Mori did nothing but trying to pet the monkey, but to no avail. It was agile, which wasn't surprising but it seemed to be taunting the blue-haired boy half the time, which miffed Mori to no end. The monkey's fur looked soft and silky, and a weird desire to touch it sparked inside of him.

With a gravity-defying leap, the monkey soared straight into the canopy above. Mori's mouth parted slightly from the sight of such a small creature practically flying up higher than half a skyscraper. A second later, the primate came plummeting back down, doing acrobatic flips and turns as it descended. It expertly landed back onto the branch and Mori saw that it had something big, round, and reddish-pink in its small hands. A peach, about the size of a grapefruit, acted as a wall between the two. Unconsciously, Mori's eyes sparkled, and started to drool. The monkey noticed, and its gaze traveled from the peach to Mori, then back to the peach, and up towards Mori.

The monkey bit into the peach without a second thought and Mori's face dropped as the crunching of the fruit's crisp skin reached his ears. The monkey gave Mori the closest thing to a smug look a primate's face would allow, as he slowly chewed on the flesh. The boy sputtered out nonsense as the largest peach he had ever seen was slowly being devoured in front of him.

"Hey! Gimme some!" Something inside him flipped as he now desperately tried to snatch the peach away from the monkey.

The small mammal bounced onto another branch and Mori followed on foot. This pattern repeated for a while before the primate broke out into branch swinging at full speed. Causing Mori to chase after it as fast as he could, the peach was half-eaten, however, a peach is still a peach, and he wanted the other half.

While in pursuit, the monkey would occasionally look back at Mori, and seemed to be waiting for him to catch up. It was as if it wanted the azure-haired boy to follow him, but couldn't think of another method to do so aside from this.

The chase continued for a longer time than Mori had originally expected. His feet were beginning to tire slightly as he had to avoid countless obstacles every two seconds during the pursuit.

The azure-haired boy dashed through the undergrowth while glimpsing up into the trees to keep an eye on the monkey and the peach he was after. The monkey then abruptly came to a stop, Mori heavily placed his front foot down and came to a screeching halt, kicking up dirt and dead leaves in the process. Using its long flexible tail to wrap around a high branch, the monkey swung powerfully and launched itself into the distance. Mori gave an annoyed exhale and continued to follow the airborne primate.

A giant shrub stood in his path, Mori brought up both hands over his head and dove into it. His body crashed through the plant wall and rolled across the bumpy ground on the other side. He picked himself up and dusted off his clothes, his eyes scanned the new environment he found himself in. He was standing on a field of smooth pebbles that varied in colors and sizes. A large rushing river divided the area into two sides, and on the opposing bank, Mori could see that the jungle continued.

Then he felt something pulling his pants. Mori looked down and saw the young monkey he was chasing, sadly, the peach had disappeared.

'Aah Aah Ee," it chirped as it continued to tug on the azure-haired boy's pants.

"What is it?"

The monkey released his grip and bounced a circle around Mori before going in to tug his pants again. Then it released his pants again, but this time it started to gallop upstream for a few meters before turning back and hooting towards the boy, as it energetically sprung on the spot.

"You want me to follow you?" Mori asked.

"Aah!"

"Fine...but you owe me a peach,"

The monkey ignored him and kept galloping away with Mori beside him.

It was then that he realized that the further they went upstream, the more beautiful and nostalgic the surroundings got. Under the blanket of stars, which reflected in the crystal water, the lush leaves of the stone-bark trees gently fluttered in the wind. Flowerless bushes lined up across the forest border, while fruitless trees hung above them, every leaf seemed to shine under the starlight.

Now that he was closer, the mountains that he saw from afar, were less intimidating, and when he narrowed his eyes, he could even see greenery growing on some of the edges.

When the dark clouds above parted, it revealed the largest mountain in the vicinity. In the center of the mountain range, towering above everything else, was a large rock formation that resembled a titanic volcano that had five pillars supporting it in a star formation. But its most notable feature was the humongous roaring waterfall that crashed down into the vast river below.

The sight of it caused a short sharp pain in his head. Mori hissed in pain as he used a hand to soothingly pat the area of discomfort. The pain left as quickly as it came, and Mori kept following the monkey.

"Is that where we're going?" he asked.

"Uurrah," the monkey simply replied without looking back.

"...Right,"

However, his suspicions were soon proven correct. They soon arrived at the base of the waterfall mountain. The feeling of familiarity in Mori's spine spiked up to a high level. It was as if even with his lost memories, his mind was screaming to him, "We know this place!"

Mesmerized by the waterfall, Mori slowly stepped towards the water unconsciously and only the screech of a young primate broke him from his trance.

The monkey was perched on top of what looked to be a natural rock bridge, only more than half of it had crumbled and sunken into the river. The monkey bounced on the spot several times and Mori got the message. The blue-haired teen climbed up the rock bridge and stood next to the monkey, staring into the waterfall.

"Hey, what is this place?" he asked without taking his eyes off the waterfall.

"AH!" was the only reply he received.

He looked down to see the monkey also staring at the water curtain. It turned its head to look up at Mori and pointed at the waterfall.

"Ooh,"

"What?"

"Hoh!" it repeated.

"I don't understand," Mori crouched down beside the small animal.

The monkey pointed at Mori, then directed its small finger to its chest, and then back to the waterfall. "Haahm,"

"Ham? Do you eat meat?"

"..Hoh...Hoh...Humm," The monkey trotted to the edge of the rock bridge and stood up on its hind legs. With a straight posture, the monkey swayed slightly backward and looked back at Mori once more. Its crystal-teal eyes piercing directly into Mori's black orbs.

Then it whipped its head back to the direction of the roaring torrent and took in a deep breath.

"HOOOME!" it yelled, as its voice deepened by a couple of octaves.

Mori flinched from the sudden outburst and pressed his palms to his ears.

The monkey cried out again, "Home!"

"T-This, is your home?" Mori asked as his ringing eardrums slowly recovered.

"Home," the monkey echoed once again before walking to the azure-haired boy's side, "Home,"

"You took me to see your home? Is that it?"

This time the young primate didn't give him an answer. It simply walked past Mori.

Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw the small primate shoot forward and perform a mighty leap towards the giant, roaring, downward torrent. As it soared forward, time slowed around them. In midair, the young monkey turned back to look at Mori one last time, and a smirk formed on its face while it mouthed the word "Home" before it spun around to face the waterfall.

"No! DON'T!" Mori cried out as he stretched out an arm in vain to save the primate from potentially killing itself.

Time returned to normal speeds, and the young monkey swiftly disappeared into the raging white water.

Without thinking, Mori rushed forward and jumped off the rock bridge. His only thought was on saving the small mammal, but as he neared the water curtain, he saw his reflection staring back at him. However, that wasn't the only thing that locked eyes with him, as within his reflection, the same young monkey seemed to be gazing at him from the other side of the waterfall. Only its eyes were no longer the vivid teal from before, instead...they were the color, of flames.

*SPLASH*

---

Mori's eyes shot open and he abruptly sat up. Looking around, he realized he was still in his room and that he was still wearing his clothes from the night before.

He let out a sigh of relief, "Haaah~, It was all a dream,"

After cracking his stiff morning joints, as he had remained in the same position for hours on end, Mori headed towards the kitchen.

His dream had ignited a sudden craving for peaches and he scoured the fridge to find some. If he couldn't eat it in the dream, at least he could eat it in real life. Not that he could remember much of it now anyway, all he could recall was that him chasing a talking monkey throughout a forest, and nothing else. Mori shrugged it off as just another weird dream as a result of watching too many documentaries, and that memories of it will most likely randomly pop into his head while in the middle of a serious math exam.

"Dang it, I'm all out," he grumbled as he closed the fridge. He drew his phone from his pocket and checked the time.

[10:30]

"I overslept that much? Well, at least the shops are open," Mori slid the device back into his pocket and walked over to the door to slip on his shoes. Before opening the door, he looked back at his rather basic apartment and contemplated if he should take a shower first.

"Nah~, I'll be quick, and do it when I get back," he nodded to himself before exiting the building, "Gotta get there fast, peach season is almost over,"

---

"HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!?" Mori cried as he walked down the street, turning the heads of other pedestrians in the vicinity.

"HOW ARE PEACHES SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE?! IT'S NOT FAIR! IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!"

The citizens of Kuoh tried their best to avert their eyes from the boy, who was currently rolling around on the ground and comically flailing his limbs while yelling out his annoyance.

"Mori?" a familiar voice called from beside him, "What are you doing?"

The azure-haired teen froze in place, his limbs stiff in random angles, and he pivoted his neck around to see who had said his name. Standing behind him was Issei with his unmistakeable brown hair and two back-tufts, his hairstyle had always strangely reminded Mori of fish-shaped snacks. Still in his weird position on the ground, Mori's eyes scanned over his friend, and noticed that for some reason he was wearing the school uniform on a Saturday. Not that he would judge him for it of course, much anyway.

"Hi Issei," he replied as he looked down at his current...predicament, "...I'm...stretching,"

"Stretching?" Issei echoed with a raised eyebrow, "In the middle of a sidewalk? Just in front of a cafe?"

Mori glanced around at his surroundings, then stared into Issei's brown eyes and responded in an earnest tone, "...Yes."

"How much banana milk did you drink today?"

"Hey! Don't blame the bananas, or the milk," Mori turned his head and sharpened his gaze onto nothing in particular, "It's the peaches' fault this time,"

"...Okaaay," Issei cleared his throat and shuffled around the azure-haired boy. Mori's unpredictable spikes of weirdness were something he hadn't fully grown used to just yet, "I'm just headed towards the children's park to do some exercises, wanna come?"

Immediately, Mori leaped onto his feet, and seemed to completely disregard the little scene he had caused of ever happening, "Yeah, okay let's go,"

The two friends made their way over to the desired destination while chatting about the usual things between them, martial arts movies, and video games. The sun was right above them in the cloudless blue sky, as its midday rays shone down, heating the world below, and causing most civilians to squint their eyes due to the light reflecting off nearly everything.

When they arrived at the children's park, Issei headed straight for the monkey bars and started doing pullups, he only got to two before falling onto his bottom. Mori snickered from the side with a jokingly smug expression on his face.

"Can't even do three, Issei?" he laughed.

"Shut up," Issei groaned from his seated position while rubbing his glutes, "You try it then, mister no-longer-needs-to-come-to-gym-class,"

"If I do more than ten then you gotta buy me some snacks I want," said Mori.

"Done,"

The brown-haired teen immediately regretted his choice of words when Mori, playfully smirking, stepped up, and suddenly fired off his pullups, one repetition per second. Issei clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes as his blue-haired friend hit fifteen repetitions.

"Why am I not surprised?" he mumbled while getting up onto his feet.

"Surprised about what?" Mori asked as he abruptly popped right in front of Issei's face upside-down, nearly giving him a heart attack. Issei looked up to see that Mori was now hanging from the monkey bars, holding on with only his legs.

"...Nothing,"

Mori stared at Issei's forehead for a couple of seconds before replying, "Ok then,"

Issei gave a dismissive grunt and went back trying in vain to manage his pullups, his new devil strength seemed to have failed him. At least Mori happily cheered him on from his hanging position, Issei wouldn't admit it but it did help, slightly.

"Y'know, you can always do pushups, situps and drink plenty of juice if this is too hard," Mori told him.

"N-No," Issei flexed his biceps as he brought himself up halfway on his fifth rep, "I need...to get...stronger...I can't...stay like this,"

"You're really motivated today, Hmmm," Mori hummed as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Is it because you watched a new anime last night? Was it the new fighting one released not too long ago? The Deity of University or something? I heard it's adapted from a popular webtoon, but the pacing is kinda off since they tried to fit over 100 chapters into 13 episodes,"

Issei, who hung from the bar with his shoes barely scraping the safety sand underneath, replied, "I still need to watch it, apparently the main character is inspired by Son Goku, I don't blame 'em though, Goku is the best,"

"No no no no no," Mori, who was still upside-down waved his finger with vigor while shaking his head, "The main character is based on The Monkey King himself, and in the webtoon, he has abilities like cloning himself a million times…even saying it is so cool, now I kinda want to clone myself,"

"Mori, if you cloned yourself that many times, the entire world's banana milk and peaches would go extinct in less than a day," Issei said.

"Wait your right, if my hypothetical clones do that, then they'll be less for me," said Mori, his expression suddenly shifting into a serious one.

*GRAAAAW*

"Ugghh, the thought of peaches and milk has made me hungry," Issei sighed as he dropped down from the bar.

"I know that feeling," Mori nodded, "I have it all the time,"

"You're different, I skipped breakfast today, and knowing you, you probably had coco pops with banana milk,"

"As delicious as that sounds, I actually-"

*GRAAAAW*

"-didn't eat in the morning as well," Mori pointed out as he dropped back down onto his feet.

…

…

…

"So," Issei cleared his throat, "Wanna go to the burg-?"

"I'm down, which one?"

"Mori, do you really need to ask?"

"Next to the arcade?" Mori questioned.

"Next to the arcade," Issei confirmed.

With their newly acquired plans set in mind, the two friends headed out of the park. As they stepped out of the borders of the children's park, they both caught a glimpse of gold in front of them. Turning a corner, and currently standing only several feet in front of them, was Asia, who still wore the same clothes from the first time they met.

"Hey isn't that-?" Mori began.

"Asia?" Issei finished in a shocked state.

"Issei-san? Mori-san?" the blonde girl also noticed the duo and brought her hands up to cover her agape mouth.

There was a silence that filled the air around them as the brown-haired teen locked eyes with the innocent girl. Mori leaned forward and looked between the Issei and Asia several times with narrowed eyes.

'I have a weird feeling that this has happened before' he thought.

---

Mori and Issei both had to admit, it was a bit of a strange sight. Their young foreign nun accomplice had been standing in front of the register for nearly five minutes now. They had decided to take her along with them, well, he had no say in it as Issei said something to her that made her nod smile brightly and took her along. But the blue-haired teen didn't mind, she looked like a kind person. Although, during their trek to the business district, where the burger shop and arcade were located, he did wonder why a Caucasian female was named after the continent they were living on.

Currently, Mori was unsure if the blonde was either struggling to decide on which meal to order or struggling to communicate.

'Maybe it's both' Mori sweatdropped.

Even the young female employee on the other side didn't know how to handle this kind of situation.

"H-Have you decided on your order, miss?"

"Haaauu~," was the only reply the employee got. Luckily there was no one in line behind them, otherwise, this could've turned into a scene very quickly.

It's not like the two boys didn't offer their help, they both ordered first to show Asia how it's done. The first time was when Asia hit the two-minute mark of standing in front of the register, Issei went forward and offered his help.

"It's fine, I'll manage somehow," was the response given to Issei, who shrugged and stood beside Mori, observing the blonde girl.

The second time came after three minutes when Mori walked forward and with the best English he could muster up, asked, "Are...you sure...don't need...our help?"

"No no, thank you but I'll be fine," At least that's what Mori thought she said, he still couldn't understand her very well through her thick accent. Mori then returned to his spot beside Issei.

*GRAAAW*

Both teen's stomachs growled simultaneously.

"This can't go on," said Mori.

"Agreed," replied Issei, "Find a table, we'll be there shortly,"

"On it," Mori scanned the interior and spotted a free table by the window, there were condiments spilled on the surface, and after pulling out two tissues, Mori went over to clean and claim the seats.

Meanwhile, Issei walked to Asia's side.

"Sorry, she'll have the same order as mine," he told the employee.

With a relieved expression on her face, the part-timer confirms the order, "Very well,"

"Aauuu, I'm ashamed, I can't even buy a burger by myself," she said as she holds down the veil on her head, trying to hide her face in embarrassment.

"Haha, well you have to get used to the language first," Issei told her as he paid for the trio's meals.

"You see Mori over there?" Issei pointed his thumb towards the azure-haired boy, who was currently diligently rubbing off a stain on the table.

Asia nodded.

"He's a foreigner like you too, but if one had a conversation in Japanese with him, you wouldn't be able to tell that he's from overseas," Issei explained, "If you practice often, you'll be able to reach that level in no time, so don't lose hope, okay?"

"Right," the blonde chirped happily.

After waiting for a couple more minutes, their order arrived and Issei carried it to the table, Asia offered to help but Issei insisted that he would do it. As they approached their seat, they saw Mori, who was growling and still aggressively cleaning that one ketchup stain in the middle of the table. If looks could kill, his glare would've erased the table from existence by now.

Issei sweatdropped, while Asia looked confused...and slightly concerned.

"...Umm...Does your friend do this often?" she asked.

"You get used to it," Issei whispered to her, "Even though I still haven't,"

The brown-haired teen sighed and strolled over to the table, "Mori, you can stop now, before you wipe the paint off the entire thing,"

"Fine," Mori replied, still glaring at the stain in the left corner of the table while scrunching up the tissues and sliding them into his pocket.

"On the plus side, this table is now really shiny," thought Issei while placing down the tray.

Mori then slid into the seat and shuffled over to the window. Issei sat down next to him and Asia was directly opposite to him. Without wasting any more time, the azure-haired teen immediately dug into his meal and devoured over half of it in under two minutes. Issei was also downing his food at a reasonably fast pace, although compared to the boy beside him, it looked like he was eating in a royal manner.

Asia, on the other hand, stared at the burger with curiosity in her eyes. Her emerald gaze flickered back and forth from the two boys, back down to the bread, meat, and lettuce fusion in front of her. Issei was the first, and only one to notice...his blue-haired friend was a bit busy suffering from a brain-freeze he got while inhaling the spider he ordered.

"Does she not know how to eat it?" he wondered as he watched her curious but confused body language closely.

Mori decided not to be a part of the conversation happening beside him and zoned out. He couldn't understand them anyway.

'Since when was Issei's English that good? Did he study? Then why are all his other subjects the same?' he thought while leaning against the glass panel and looking out. The brain-freeze had thankfully subsided, it was cured by taking even larger gulps of his beverage. The logic Mori used was; 'If you can fight fire with fire, you can fight ice with ice."

Not the best method to use, but it worked.

With his chin resting in his hand, Mori gazed out at the many vehicles going by and civilians living their lives. His reflection gazed back at him as the world tuned out around the boy. Then, something caught his eye.

In the middle of his reflection's left golden pupils, a small animal perched itself atop one of the many umbrella tables belonging to the cafe on the other side of the street. And it looked very familiar.

Mori's attention was piqued and he squinted to get a better look. It was the same ashy-brown monkey he saw on the island within his dream last night. The monkey stared back at Mori and cocked its head to the side and scratched its cheek.

"Hey Issei, I'll pay you back when I get the chance," Mori said as he stood up and slid out of the bench, his eyes never leaving the primate, "There's something I gotta check out for a bit,"

The brown-haired teen was in the middle of showing Asia how to use ketchup packets when his friend started to retreat, he paid him no mind and simply replied, "Nah, don't worry, it's on me today, I'll meet you in the arcade in a bit then,"

"'Kay," Mori weaved through the tables towards the door and slipped out the burger restaurant.

He marched across the street towards the monkey, who had already seen the approaching teen and hopped down from the umbrella.

Before Mori could say a word, the monkey turned and trotted away, expecting the azure-haired boy to follow.

As they traveled a fair bit of distance, neither the monkey nor Mori made a sound, and soon the duo found themselves by the fountain of the largest park in Kuoh.

The little primate hopped onto the edge of the fountain and used his hands to scoop up the water to drink. It spat it out immediately and wiped its tongue across its chest fur to rid the metallic taste of the fountain's water, as it was plagued by small coins people threw in for good luck.

After recovering from the traumatizing experience, the monkey perched itself on the fountain's rim, staring directly into Mori's black eyes again.

Mori squatted down to be even with its eye level.

"Who are you?" he asked in a hushed tone.

The monkey averted its gaze and stared up at the sky.

"Why did you lead me here?"

The monkey started licking its armpits.

Mori then noticed that the artificial water curtains the fountain was generating, looked similar to the towering waterfall in his dream.

"Is it because of that?" Mori asked pointing at the fountain.

The monkey started to scratch its crotch.

Mori deadpanned and sighed, "Haah, Right...I'm talking to a monkey, of course this wouldn't go anywhere,"

The azure-haired boy stood back up and spun on his heels, heading back to the rendezvous point he and Issei had agreed on.

As he walked out of the park's front gates, a little boy who was feeding the sparrows near the fountain, tugged on his father's trousers and looked up at him.

"Papa, why was that guy talking to the water?" he asked in a high-pitched voice.

"I don't know son," said the dad while spreading half a handful of sesame seeds on the ground, "Some people like to talk to themselves when they feel unsure of what their heart wants,"

---

"HA! GET DESTROYED!" Mori roared.

"NOOO!" Issei yelled as he slumped onto his knees, "MY HIGH SCORE! YOU BEAT IT SO EASILY!"

The trio of Mori, Issei, and Asia, were now in Kuoh's largest arcade. The azure-haired boy had dominated the Dance Dance Revolution machine for nearly half an hour, surpassing every score in the system and putting his name repeatedly nine times out of ten on the digital scoreboard. He let his friend keep the tenth spot, not out of friendship, but so he could rub how much better he was at the game in his face, and acquire eternal bragging rights of being the forever champion of DDR.

"YOUR LEGS AREN'T NORMAL!" Issei complained, pointing aggressively at the blue-haired teen's lower limbs.

"THEN YOU BETTER BOW DOWN TO MY SUPERNATURAL LEGS!" Mori gloated with a gleam in his eyes and arms crossed over his chest.

Whilst the two boys were bickering, something had caught Asia's attention and she walked over to it. It took a couple of minutes for Mori and Issei to relatively calm down and it was then they realized that they had lost sight of their blonde companion. Thankfully, it didn't take long to find her, she was standing in front of one of the many claw machines lined up against the wall.

"Do you like things like this?" Asia jumped out of her skin when Issei suddenly asked from behind her.

Mori took a look inside the crane game and saw a good number of Pikachu plushies piled up. Although there as one that was paler and thinner than the others looking suspicious.

'They really put a Mimikyu in there?' Mori chuckled to himself.

"Asia, do you like Pikachu?" Issei asked.

"Eh? N-No, I mean...i-it's…," Asia stuttered as her face turned red, and she eventually gave in, nodding shyly.

"It's okay, I'll catch one for you," Issei smiled as he approached the machine.

Asia was about to speak up again when Mori interrupted her.

"Don't worry...Issei is...claw...winner," the blue-haired teen told her, 'Did I say that right?'

As Issei inserted a coin, Mori slid over to his side and whispered in his ear.

"You better get this in one shot if you wanna impress your foreign girlfriend,"

Issei coughed and whisper-shouted back, "She's not-,"

Mori winked and shot him a subtle thumbs up from his hoodie's pocket, "Don't worry I'm rooting for you,"

Turning back to the crane game, Issei was mumbling something to himself while Mori stepped back towards Asia's side. Truthfully, he only did that to see if he could distract his friend just enough for him to fail multiple times and embarrass himself. The habits of being a trickster from his first life, which he didn't know about, had started to unveil.

To Mori's surprise, his friend foiled his plan and successfully acquired the plushie on the first try. Had his words boosted his performance instead of lowering them? Issei turned around with the Pikachu in one hand and a victory-sign held out in the other.

"Dang it," Mori murmured as he looked off to the side.

"Here you go Asia," said Issei, giving the plushie to the blonde girl.

The now ecstatic Asia held the plushie tightly against her chest and rubbed her cheek against the Pikachu's head, "Thank you very much, Issei-san, I will take very good care of this present you have given me,"

"Hey, hey, if something like this makes you happy, then I'll catch you even more,"

Asia shook her head and looked happily up at the newly revived Pawn, "No, this Pikachu that you gave me represents the wonderful day I met you. Since we've spent this day together, I'll remember it forever and always cherish this plushie,"

Issei's cheeks lit up from hearing her words and he averted his gaze, coughing shyly.

…

…

…

Mori's narrowed eyes moved between the two of them and mentally scratched his cheek.

'What is this atmosphere? And why do I feel like I'm interrupting something?'

---

Later that day, the trio decided to split up. Issei and Asia headed off across the bridge, making small talk along the way. The Pikachu was still clutched to the girl's chest. Mori had decided to have another attempt at his peach hunt, the main reason why he even considered leaving the apartment today. But this time, he ran full speed to each store, ignoring all traffic protocols and nearly crashing into a numerous amount of both living and inanimate things.

Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side today.

"...How is this possible?!" Mori grumbled, kicking a small pebble across the path by the children's park, "There's just no way… Why are they sold out everywhere?"

With an exasperated sigh, the teen flopped down onto a nearby bench and his body slumped forward in defeat, his head being squeezed between his thighs. He let his mind go blank as he stared at the string of ants marching across the pavement, carrying crumbs ten times their body weight, back to their colony.

"Rough day?"

"Mhmm," Mori hummed.

"Mind if I sit here for a bit?"

Mori shook his head, and the brief creak of the wooden bench informed him of his new temporary seated neighbor.

"Peach season has actually been over for a while now, so you won't be seeing them anytime soon, good ones anyway,"

The P-word immediately brought Mori back from his daze. He sat up slightly, with his elbows resting on his knees, and turned his head towards the stranger.

It was a young man that looked to be a little older than him. His platinum-blonde hair with lavender tips on each strand was styled to spike forward. The setting sun only enhanced his vivid golden eyes even more, along with his healthy, glowing pale skin. If it wasn't for the market cashier outfit he was wearing, Mori would've thought that an actor or idol was sitting next to him.

"How'd you know I was looking for peaches?" the azure-haired teen asked.

"I work at the supermarket at the mall, and just so happened to see, and hear you, screaming about it and running around trying to find them," The older male explained with a slightly amused expression on his face, "I'll be lying if I said I didn't find it hilarious, but I did also feel bad for you in a way, so I decided to find you after my shift and apologize on behalf of the mall for the lack of peaches,"

Mori shot up straight and waved his hands in front of him while shaking his head, "No no no no no. It's fine, it's really not a problem so you don't need to apologize, it's just a minor...thing,"

"Let me guess, you had a sudden craving for it today and would stop at nothing to get your hands on one," the older teen smirked when Mori adverted his gaze sheepishly.

"You're not alone I get that too," he said as he pushed himself off the bench and dusted off the back of his pants, "I love to eat eels but they're just so expensive, and it hurts when the craving spike occurs,"

"Would you also run around trying to find some and then feel nothing but despair if you don't?" Mori asked as he brought his feet up to a crossed-leg position.

"Absolutely," the blonde replied as he stretched his arms out in front of him, "Anyways, it's getting late and I need to go. Nice talking to you, see you around,"

"See ya," Mori gave a short wave to his senior, who had his back towards him.

Suddenly, the blonde spun around and stuck out his hand, "I'm Reiz by the way,"

"Dan Mori," the blue-haired teen accepted the handshake with a smile. The senior smiled back and released his hand, before strolling away towards the setting horizon.

A few moments later and Mori was left alone on the bench, taking in the quiet surroundings. He leaned back and stared up at the cloudy orange sky.

"I should go home too," He sighed and was about to get off the bench when something flew by in the corner of his eye, "Hmm? What the-?"

Mori whipped his head in the flying object's direction and his fingers that gripped the edge of the bench, stiffened, unknowingly splintering the wood.

'Black Wings!'

He shot up onto his feet as he watched the fallen angel soar past, in its arms, Mori spotted something golden and teal.

"Is that...Asia?" he gasped and a more horrific thought crossed his mind, "Wait, then where's Issei?"

Memories from that night by the fountain where he saw his friend lying in a pool of blood, with a girl that looked identical to the one that flew by standing over him, came crashing to the front of his mind.

"Could he be-? Wait but wasn't that just a dream?" Mori, with his gritted teeth, clenched his fists and used them to squeeze his head together in frustration.

"AARGH!" he roared towards the sky.

When he calmed down, he stared down at his palms while regaining his breath as every strange event that had happened in the last week, played on loop in his head.

"I need answers," he said after a brief moment of silence and looked into the distance. The fallen angel's silhouette, although the size of a small bug, had yet to disappear, and without a second thought, Mori chased after them.

'I want to know. I have to know. I need to know'

---

Raynare descended through one of the many holes on the roof of the old, worn church, and landed near the cracked-in-half altar. She dropped the young blonde nun on the solid, cold floor, and Asia yelped in pain from the impact. With two snaps of her fingers, several stray exorcists that were resting on a pile of rubble nearby, came over to pick up the girl by the arms and drag her down into the hidden basement.

"Soon," she smiled evilly, "The Twilight Healing will be mine,"

"And the first thing you will do with your new power is to kill the creature that you've left alive," a masculine voice ordered from her side.

Raynare's eyes rolled as she turned to face the fedora-wearing fallen angel, Dohnaseek.

"He can wait," she replied with a miffed tone, "We will take care of the devils in this town first, they are the real annoyance, and then, we can deal with him,"

"It was your fault you didn't confirm the kill," Dohnaseek growled as he stormed forward from leaning on a nearby pillar, "If you weren't in such a rush, we wouldn't be worrying about an unknown and extra variable. Have you ever thought about what would happen if he stumbles upon this place at the wrong time?"

"What harm can that boy possibly do?" Raynare growled back, "If he comes here then all we have to do is lodge a spear through his face and we're done,"

"It isn't that easy, that time you caught him off guard! The creature dodged every single one of my attacks as if it were nothing," Dohnaseek yelled.

"There are records of Humans achieving high enough level of skill to be able to face off against lowly beings of the supernatural," said Raynare, "High chance he's one of them,"

"If he's a human then he would've had an aura. But he had none!"

The female fallen angel grit her teeth in annoyance, "Why don't we talk about this later, and why don't you join Warner and Mittelt at the ambush post,"

Dohnaseek stared down at his companion, finally, he snorted and unfurled his wings, preparing to take off.

"If that creature does indeed arrive. Then don't say I didn't warn you," He said without looking back, before shooting off into the air.

Raynare watched her companion disappear into the dark clouds of the night sky. Then she spun on her heels and went down the long flights of stairs to the hidden basement. There, waves upon waves of stray exorcists under their command loitered around, each of them carried a silver gun that would shoot bullets blessed with holy water, and swords of light. Some of the more heavily built exorcists carried maces with light spikes or blessed silver hammers. All of them wore white cleric robes and cloaks that were damaged from battle. Some of them were even bloodstained.

At the end of the basement was a high stage with a wooden 'X' used by most medieval torturers, resting at the top. Asia, who now was stripped of all clothing, was tied to the torture structure. A stray exorcist with shoulder-length white hair and a maniacal smile on his face, sat at the top of the stairs, spinning his gun around repeatedly.

"Ahh~ The Fallen Angel-sama has finally arrived," he announced with a psychotic expression, "Do ya like what I've done to traitor girl? I made sure she was strapped on nice and tight, and I tore off her clothes myself so you could proceed with the extraction ceremony easier~,"

Raynare leaped onto the top of the stage in a single jump. She then thoroughly inspected the restrained girl.

"Take 100 or so of your fellow exorcists and head upstairs to guard the place while I begin the ceremony," Raynare ordered without looking back at the leading stray exorcist.

"Aww~ But I wanted to watch and then play with her body for a bit once you were done with her," the lead exorcist complained.

"Freed!" Raynare hissed.

The white-haired stray flinched slightly, then playfully bowed before jumping off the stage and gathering a large platoon to watch over the abandoned church.

---

"Is it this way?" Mori poked his head out of the shrubs.

He had followed the flying Raynare to the best of his abilities, but he lost her when she flew over the forest that surrounded Kuoh. Realizing that she most likely would've been going in a linear direction, Mori dove into the forest without a second thought, and after being surrounded by nature, his mind had cleared. It was then he wondered what his plan actually was. Getting answers to the weird things happening around and to him, or going on a rescue mission to save his friend's new friend, Asia. Mori honestly had no idea how he would do any of them.

'Guess I'll just have to improvise'

"Where could they have gone?" he asked himself as he hopped over a protruding tree root. Then a lightbulb appeared over his head. He drew out his phone and opened the [MAPS] app, zooming in and out of his current location with his fingers. On his screen was mostly green, but a block of gray appeared in the corner. Curious, Mori zoomed in to get a good look at what it was.

"Ah-ha! Of course! The Abandoned Church!" Mori yelled in delight.

To him, it was the only place that made sense. When he and Issei first met the blonde girl, she mentioned getting lost on the way to the church that hadn't been active in a decade. The town would've notified its residents if the building was going to go under any restorations or destruction, so Mori had always found it weird that a foreigner suddenly took interest in it, but never dug into it more as it wasn't his business anyway. Coincidentally, it happened to be in the direction where the girl with black wings was flying, with Asia in her arms, and there was nothing but miles of forest between the church and the next town.

After traversing through nature for a few more minutes...and slightly panicking due to his phone dying. Mori saw the tip of the old building's pointed roof. He took a step forward out of the forest, and unfortunately slipped on the dewy grass, causing him to roll down a hill towards the church.

At the base, he smoothly picked himself up and brushed off some dirt and grass clinging onto him. Proceeding as if nothing had happened. He approached the towering, wooden double doors and knocked three times.

It was then, the thought of lacking a plan crept forward. 'Wait...what do I even say? What should I do if they come out?'

…

…

…

"Did I not knock hard enough?" he murmured, putting a finger to his chin, "I should try again,"

He raised his fist and proceeded to tap on the wooden door with a bit more strength behind it this time. He jumped back in surprise when one side of the door swung open when he knocked only once.

'Did I do that?'

Mori shuffled to back to the entrance of the abandoned building and took cover behind the unopened door, while peeking inside, inspecting the ruined interior. If Mori hadn't had known better, he would've thought the place was a very detailed movie set. Seeing that the close was clear, the blue-haired teen strolled into the church while still curiously looking around.

"This place is completely empty," he said, standing by the cracked altar and scratching his head. Then, he impulsively brought his hands to the sides of his mouth and yelled, "ASIAAA~! ARE YOU HERE!? ASIA!?"

His loud voice echoed throughout the broken hall of the abandoned church, seeping through the cracks in the walls and holes in the roof, into the nighttime air. When his echo was nothing but a whisper on the wind, Mori puffed up his cheeks slightly in temporary defeat. Maybe he was wrong about them being in this building, after all, they were flying rather fast. It was a possibility he lost them in the forest, and instead, mistakenly followed an actual crow.

After releasing a heavy sigh, Mori decided that there was nothing of interest here and started walking back towards the door.

"...I don't get it, Asia said she was staying here, but I don't see any sign of anything. And why would anyone want to live here? It's creepy and no one ever comes here anymore," Mori mumbled to himself, "...Is she a hermit? But why would she-"

*BANG!*

A silver bullet flashed by Mori's eyes, embedding itself into one of the pillars on the opposite side of the building. A second later, slow clapping reached Mori's ears.

"Hahaha~, well that's a surprise, you dodged it," Freed walked out from the shadows of the church's corner. His gun was hanging from a finger by the trigger, as he clapped. The usual maniacal grin plastered on his face.

Mori, who was confused at the stray exorcist's words, looked down at himself and found that he indeed did dodge the projectile, as his body was slightly leaning back.

'When did I do that? Did my body move by itself again?'

"The Hat Angel-sama warned us of you," said Freed as he took his time making his way towards Mori. All around them, stray exorcists started to leak into the vicinity from all types of openings and hiding places, "The potentially dangerous blueberry that the Sexy Angel-sama Number One, failed to kill,"

Mori stiffened when he saw that now he was trapped, encircled by a large number of men in white cloaks. The door that was only a few steps away now seemed to be on the distant horizon. He warily raised his hands beside his head.

"Look, I don't want any trouble," he said, still looking around at the ever-expanding crowd of exorcists, "I just want to ask some questions,"

"Is that so~? Hmmm," Freed shrugged and holstered his pistol, then he went over to the nearest bench, which was snapped in half, and dragged it across the floor. The ear-piercing sound it made as its legs rubbed along the ground, causing everyone there to cringe from the noise as they watched.

The white-haired madman successfully dragged the wooden structure in front of Mori and plopped down onto it with his legs crossed.

"Shoot,"

"Oh, um…" Mori shook his head to recover from zoning out, as it was the only way for him to ease the pain his ears had just received. It also caused him to momentarily forget his reasoning for being there. Something in his mind told him that it was best not to ask about the beings with black wings just yet.

"I'm looking for someone," he told them, "I saw her coming this way, so I thought she might've taken shelter here for the night, it is getting a bit late,"

An evil smirk formed on Freed's face, "Really now? And what does this girl look like?"

"Well, she has long golden hair, and she's around this tall," Mori replied, placing his hand out in front at his chin level, "Her name is Asia Argentina...or something,"

"Is that so~?" Freed's smirk grew even wider as he placed his crossed leg, back onto the floor.

"...Yeah," Mori cautiously responded. Something felt off.

"Gyaaa-hahaha hahaha," Freed's psychotic laugh filled the hall, "Don't worry blueberry, I know where she is, she's here in the basement, it's the only place where they have rooms. I'm her good friend,"

Relief made its way onto Mori's face and he relaxed his tense shoulders, "Really? That's great, for a moment there I thought you guys killed her or something, and I would've been in some serious trouble...no offense,"

"No no~ None taken," Freed smiled fakely as he stood up and slowly walked towards the altar.

"If she's safe then I guess I'll get going then," said Mori, "Tell her to come hang out with me and Issei more often, it looked like she had a fun time today,"

With that, Mori turned and walked towards the door. However, the exorcists there had yet to move from their static positions. The two hulk exorcists guarding the double doors glared down at Mori, as the azure-haired boy awkwardly met their eyes and slowly looked back at Freed, who had his back towards him.

"Excuse me, could you please tell them to move aside?" Mori sheepishly scratched his cheek, "I kinda need to get home, I haven't taken a shower in almost 24 hours now,"

"Of course~ Of course~," Freed waved his hand, his back still faced the boy, "But before you go, I need to ask you a question,"

'I guess I have some time' Mori thought for a few seconds then replied, "Okay, shoot,"

*BANG!*

A bullet flew by, barely missing Mori's head by half a millimeter and slicing off two strands of his blue hair.

"Shit, I didn't get a bullseye," Freed, who had turned around in the blink of an eye, was frowning, his silver pistol was drawn and aimed directly at the teen's head.

"...H-Hey...wait, what are you…?" Mori asked, his body shaking slightly.

"GENTLEMEN!" Freed yelled with his arms out apart, a gun in one hand, and a sword in the other. His cloak fluttering from the sudden movement.

"You all heard this little rotten blueberry! He knows that traitor bitch and the shitty devil that she had become acquainted with! Thus, we must perform our duties of justice and annihilate the evil in front of us! Dead human trash will always be better than living human trash that turned to the devils!"

"YYYEEARRRRAAHH!" The roar of approval filled and exploded out of the abandoned church.

Mori's eyes widened as the sight and sound, of weapons being activated and drawn from their holsters, was drilled into his ears. He took two small steps back and instantly felt hot breath blowing onto his nape and cranium, it was coming from the tank exorcist duo behind him. One held a two-handed, mace with light spikes, while the other had a silver maul hammer.

Two simple words were spoken.

"Kill him,"

And the onslaught had begun.

From Mori's left flank, a light sword suddenly appeared as a downwards slash. The nameless exorcist followed up with a couple of thrusts before the one behind leaped into the air, his dual pistols firing off rapid rounds towards the boy.

Once again, just like the incident in the park last night, Mori couldn't explain it but it felt like his body had moved by itself. His body had quickly bent back in different angles to dodge the blade, while he flipped back to avoid the bullets.

He didn't get a second of rest, as three more charged from behind him and barraged him with slashes and stabs from their swords. Mori's body, faster than the eye could blink, tilted, turned, and bent, to dodge every strike. Simultaneously, the three exorcists fired off several bullets at point-blank range, their efforts were wasted due to Mori jumping back and performing rapid twists in midair to avoid the bullets once more.

Freed pounced forward, his sword raised above his head, and the white-haired exorcists came crashing down onto the floor, creating a small crater on impact. With his sword buried into the ground, he started to shoot at Mori as he pulled the blade out with ease. Mori's uncontrollable body, made him drop down onto his back to dodge the silver bullets.

"Oh ho~? Looks like you don't know how to fight," Freed claimed with a smile, "That's fine too, it's fun to watch the victim run for their life too,"

This time, the two bulked exorcists that were guarding the door dashed forward. First in line was the one with the mace. Mori swiftly used his palm to push himself, rolling to the side to avoid getting his head crushed by the giant spiked-ball on a stick. The tank exorcist spun and brought the weapon over his shoulder for another slam. Luckily, there was a reasonably sized piece of debris next to Mori, and the blue-haired teen grabbed it to use as a shield. The mace came crashing down onto the thick rock over Mori's head and chest. Which caused the boy to cough and grunt in discomfort due to both the impact and the powder that came off the shattered rock.

The large exorcist didn't waste any more time and brought the weapon high above his head. Mori grit his teeth in anticipation and the mace dropped down at a frightening speed.

*BAAAM*

The exorcist raised an eyebrow when he didn't see any bloody remains from his attack. Unluckily for him, but luckily for Mori, the boy had caught the sphere of pain just in time, the closest spike had just pierced through his hoodie, however not deep enough to touch the skin. Annoyed the bulked exorcist suddenly swung his mace back, pulling Mori off the ground and into the air. Mori released his grip on the weapon in midair, which proved to be a painful mistake.

Out of nowhere, the maul exorcist slammed his large weapon directly into Mori's flank. Mori's body bent towards the giant hammer as he coughed in pain. He was sent flying directly into a supporting stone pillar, where he ricocheted off and unfortunately into the hands of the maul exorcist, who had anchored his hammer into the ground.

Mori swore he heard an arrogant baritone laugh when he felt the large hand grip tightly around his foreleg. Without warning, he was suddenly slammed on the ground like a ragdoll with enough force for cracks to form, not once or twice, but repeatedly back and forth, not allowing him a chance to breathe.

Finally, the brute let go, only to hurl Mori high into the air. As he came plummeting down, the mace exorcist cocked his gigantic fist back and waited for the falling boy to be in range before ramming his fist into his torso. The strike caused Mori to shoot back into the air, but not for long as the hammer exorcist jumped up and grabbed him by the head. Using the assistance of his heavy body and gravity, the exorcist slammed Mori headfirst into the ground, kicking up huge waves of dust and causing a large crater to appear in the middle of the abandoned church. The entire building shook from the impact and several of the smaller, skinnier exorcists were trying to regain their balance.

When the dust cleared, Mori lay face down in the center of the crater and had small piles of debris over his lower back, left leg, and both shoulders. Bits of dust were also sprinkled in his hair and his clothes were rather tattered.

Freed and his fellow strays walked over to the edge of the crater and looked into it.

"Whoo~," the white-haired madman whistled, "Justice has been served,"

The lead exorcist spun around and headed towards the altar, "Anyway, I'm going to tell the Angel-sama that they don't need to worry about blueberry anymore, if we're lucky maybe she'll show us her breasts as a reward,"

The reaming horde of white cloaks snickered, laughed, and roared in agreement, as Freed disappeared through the hidden entrance under the broken altar. Amid their celebration, two exorcists slid down the crater and dragged Mori out by his arms, dropping him back onto the ground by the edge, still face down.

The two exorcists left Mori's side and joined their brethren in the vocal celebration.

With all of the strays too focused on their own businesses, none of them noticed the sudden twitch of Mori's right hand, which caused a subtle crack. Then, as if he was possessed, his upper body curled and slowly, but smoothly raised itself off the ground. As he gained some height, his right leg limply stepped out followed by his left. The azure-haired boy now looked like he was in a primal posture with his legs bent, back hunched over, head down, and arms hanging by his side. His knees and spine then straightened just enough for it to look like he was standing upright but keeping the primal ambiance. His dark eyes were shadowed by his bangs.

It was at this time the horde noticed. Soon each of them had their weapons at the ready, but none dared to lead the second round of attacks. Something felt...off. It was eerily quiet and it felt as if all the air around them had been thinned. Like an invisible dome had been summoned around them, and oxygen was being drained out.

However, the mace exorcist got tired of waiting and charged forward like a wild bull. He leaped into the air with his weapon behind him and swung it down, hard. Kicking up another tremor and wave of dust, but as it cleared there was nothing at the impact point.

Mori appeared to the left of the mace exorcist and delivered a nonchalant, but bone-shattering elbow strike into the side of his torso without looking at his target. The mace exorcist went flying back, tumbling across the ground, through a pillar, and into the wall.

The remaining exorcists had only just released what had happened, and their eyes stretched open as a collective gasp of disbelief rippled through the horde. The maul exorcist yelled out in rage at the sight of his fallen brother and charged with his giant hammer in hand. In a fit of rage, he brought the hammer down several times but never hit the mark. Once again, Mori disappeared from his sight, and he suddenly felt a sharp pain through his spine.

The blue-haired teen had used his elbow again to strike the brute's lumbrical spine, splintering the bone inside. The maul exorcist staggered forward but was pulled back by Mori who stomped down behind his knee, bringing the bulk stray into a kneeling position. Without wasting another second, in one quick movement, Mori snapped his neck.

…

…

…

"Re-Revenge!" one stray, who had gathered his composure quicker than the others yelled.

"Kill the demon!" another shouted.

"Kill! Kill! KILL!"

Just like that, the assault began once again.

Mori stood there over the dead body of his recent victim, seemingly not caring about the wave of white cloaks coming his way. When the first exorcists pounced with his sword about to slash down, Mori stepped forward and intercepted his attack, by grabbing onto his face, kicking out his legs, then slamming him headfirst into the ground. The exorcist's cranium burst apart on impact.

Following up, Mori grabbed the freshly dead body and hurled it into his companions, distracting one group of exorcists as he went after another group.

The second charged at Mori, as the azure-haired boy did the same to them. He came to an abrupt stop and stomped his right foot into the ground, splintering the ground beneath the group, knocking them off balance. Mori shot forward and punched the first stray with enough power to rip through his torso, blood and guts spilled across the floor. Then, by pivoting his feet, he threw a spinning back punch that knocked the second stray's Adam's apple to the back of his throat, effectively killing him too.

To deal with the third and fourth exorcist, Mori stunned the third by slapping the side of his head to stun him and gripping onto the back of his head to force it down into his raised knee. The attack instantly caved in the exorcist's skull. For the fourth, Mori simply re-appeared behind him and stabbed the stray through the chest with his arm.

Mori killed the fifth via counterattack. When the exorcist slashed horizontally, Mori ducked and spun, using the momentum to seemingly slice the air and missing the exorcist's neck by half a hair's length. When the exorcist went for a second slash, his neck burst open from the jugular, up to his ear. Crimson blood came spraying out as his body went limp and fell on the ground.

[ WOLGWANG SWORD: SWORDLESS - BARE HAND SLICE ]

The sixth exorcist, in a fit of anger and desperateness, charged forward and swung his sword around wildly. But his efforts were worthless as he quickly laid dead from a well-aimed uppercut to his chin, which severed his windpipe.

When Mori was done with the first group, he once again, simply stood over their bodies like a statue. Two more groups of six rushed forward, all of them duel-wielding gun and blade. Mori's head tilted back akin to a stringless puppet to face them, though his eyes were still shadowed by his hair.

The first four pounced into the air, and the rest started to flank the boy. Mori smoothly weaved through their combined attacks and looked to be gliding to the opposite side. The twelve-man team turned around and fired off a volley of bullets. Like a puppet, Mori loosely brought himself into a stance and cocking his fist back. A second later he threw his punch that hit nothing, instead, it generated a powerful burst of wind that kicked up the debris and sent every bullet flying back towards their owners. The small silver projectiles pierced through the twelve exorcists faster than the original shot, and all twelve, who were filled with holes in various places, simultaneously dropped to the ground.

[ KYOKUSHIN KARATE - FIST OF BLACK TURTLE ]

Soon, the remaining hundred exorcists were in disarray as they tried over and over again to kill the azure-haired unstoppable force. Each time they attacked, they were met with devastating counterattacks, which nine out of ten times resulted in death, that were gruesome half of the time. Many watched their comrades getting slaughtered, before recklessly joining in the fray, believing that this time, it was going to be different.

Mori had every enemy there under his control, if he desired them to be huddled into a circle, he would make it happen, and if he wanted them to spread out like panicked ants, he would make that happen also. As long as they kept attacking him, the opportunity would always be there. Mori's movements were another thing, to his victims, it looked as if he wasn't taking the fight seriously and dropping their numbers down in a relaxed manner. Truthfully, he was moving around as if he was sleepwalking, and any part of his body that wasn't required for a certain action, wouldn't move.

The exorcist's forces and now dropped down to a measly twenty, ten times less than their original two hundred. With a final battle cry, the final twenty charged forward, yelling about being accepted into heaven as heroes as they dashed towards Mori.

However, Mori, who was on the other side of the hall, came face-to-face with them in a lightning-fast step. The exorcist leading the charge felt something burying into his diaphragm. Mori had struck out with a straight-arm, opened-bodied punch. The exorcist's spine split from the impact and when bowling into his companions. His flailing sword accidentally slitting the throats of six of his companions who were in the way of his spinning body.

[ TAICHI QUAN - DRAGON STAFF STRIKE ]

Now, only thirteen remained.

"...D-Damn it," one hissed through his gritted teeth.

"The honest fuck is this kid?" another snarled.

"Where the'ell is Sellzen?" a third growled, "Did that fucker betray us? Did he know that this would happen?"

Mori shifted his stance to now face the surviving members head-on. The group flinched and stumbled backward. The sight of the teen's brutal onslaught had caused their morale to dwindle into the negatives. One of the exorcists standing at the back suddenly burst through and shot at Mori with dual pistols, only for the boy to seemingly swerve his way across the ground towards the adversary while dodging every shot.

When he got close enough, he delivered a palm strike across the exorcist's face, fracturing his cheekbone. The strike also managed to cause the exorcist to spin rapidly in the air. Mori then did a sharp spin with his leg chambered, and it suddenly shot out, directly hitting the middle of the exorcist's torso, sending him flying across the hall and into the altar. He also managed to knock down another three with this bowling pin method.

Two of the surviving exorcists nodded at each other and flanked Mori at the same time. Their swords almost hit the mark, but at the last second, Mori grabbed the blades and spun once. The sudden jerk of his body made the duo soar speedily forwards, then they were grabbed by the forearms and yanked back towards Mori. The azure-haired teen jumped as he manipulated their bodies to crash into each other, Mori landed on the floor but quickly leaped into the air once again to deliver a jumping split kick.

Seven left.

All seven charged at once, desperately hoping that they could land a single solid hit.

Mori threw a backhand punch as the exorcist first in line closed in, when his fist collided with the stray's chin, a sickening crack was heard as his head twisted around.

The second exorcist appeared next to him and rapidly shot at him at point-blank. Mori instantly closed the gap with a pivoted step to elbow him in the throat.

The third tried to slash open Mori's back as he was busy with his current attack when suddenly his target appeared beside him. It was too fast for him to see, and he couldn't even feel the pain, but the last thing the third exorcist saw, was his headless body crumpling to the floor and Mori with his leg outstretched beside it.

Exorcist four, five, and six rushed him in a triangle formation. As the first two came closer, Mori twirled his body around, placing his leg down while chambering the other, and unleashed a sharp spinning hook kick. Stray number five dropped to the ground with a giant slash running in an upward diagonal direction across his body. Number four didn't have a clean end, however, as his torso was severed in half due to taking the full-force of Mori's foot. Utilizing the momentum of the hook kick Mori dropped to the ground and knocked the sixth onto his back with a sweep, then he ended his life with a second, follow-up sweep. His heel splitting the stray's cranium.

One remained.

In a pitiful attempt, the remaining exorcist stabbed at Mori with his light sword. Mori simply side-stepped, grabbed his sword arm, and struck his elbow with an upward palm strike Effectively snapping his limb in two, he wasn't done there. Mori pulled him closer and punched him once in the chest, then twice, then thrice, all the rapid punches started to become a blur to the average eye, and Mori's chain punches sounded like the pitter-patter of hail on a steel roof. The remaining exorcist fell down dead, his body was still twitching violently from the barrage he just received.

With the final opponent dealt with. Mori stood in the center of the abandoned church, the bloodied, dismembered bodies of his two hundred enemies surrounded him. His blue hair still shadowed his eyes, his tattered clothes were stained with blood, and some of the crimson liquid had flicked onto his cheek.

"Hey, hey~ What's all this ruckus? I leave you guys for only five minutes and-," Freed walked up the stairs from the underground passage, he stopped his sentence midway when he saw the sea of scattered corpses with Mori standing in the middle, seemingly staring off into nothing.

The brief look of surprise was replaced by a sadistic grin, "Oh-ho~ Looks like you got some moves after all blueberry. Well then..." From under his white cloak, he drew the silver pistol from its holster and activated his blade of light, "...Let's dance,"

Freed was much faster than all the other exorcists, he was their leader for a reason. Kicking off from his position, Freed shot at Mori twice and followed up with a vertical slash. Mori swiftly bent his head left to right, avoiding the bullets, then jumped back to dodge the sword. The blade pierced into the ground and Freed used the anchorage to turn and throw his legs out to do a double-kick, which Mori slapped away.

Freed then twisted his body rapidly stuck his sword out, turning him into a deadly human spinning top, when he neared Mori he feinted the slash and fired off several rounds of his pistol from behind his back. The azure-haired boy's hands darted around in front of him, catching half the bullets and deflecting the other half. When the white-haired exorcist ran out of ammo, Mori released his grip, and the crushed silver bullets dropped onto the ground.

Without taking a rest, Freed lunged again with a horizontal slash, then a barrage of stabs, followed by an uppercut slash. As predicted, Mori dodged them all, and in the middle of the uppercut slash, the blue-haired teen stepped forward, grabbing Freed's sword arm with one hand and softly palm-striking his chest with the other.

"Wha-?" Freed raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, he felt a powerful burst of energy from Mori's palm that resulted in the white-haired stray, soaring across the hall. A print of Mori's hand, formed on Freed's chest.

[ SSAMSU TAEKKYEON - BALGYEONG ]

Freed flipped and kicked off the wall, using it as a spring-pad and sped towards Mori like a rocket. He raised his sword arm...but it wasn't there. Instead, blood came gushing out of where his arm once was. He turned his head and his eyes locked onto the missing limb. Mori was holding it by the forearm as the blood dripped onto the ground, forming a small puddle.

"Oh...shit," Freed cursed, bracing himself as Mori chambered his leg.

When Mori's foot smashed into his solar plexus, Freed vomited out the crimson liquid, black dots were invading his vision and he couldn't feel anything from the chest down. Mori's sidekick had once again, sent the stray exorcist flying back towards the wall behind the altar. This time Freed, crashed against the stone wall and dropped onto the ground.

[ RE - GORYEO ]

Mori re-chambered his leg and lowered it back onto the ground. Freed struggled to get up from the pain and injuries he suffered. He held his armless shoulder tightly and used the wall as support to get onto his feet, albeit stumbling a few times before succeeding.

"...Ha...H-Hahaha...Well fuck...I didn't...expect that," Freed giggled through his coughs, "...Well...it's time for me to run...I know...when I'm...going to die...and I...don't wanna,"

As he slowly inched his way towards an open window by the corner, he wondered why he wasn't being stopped and turned his head back towards the teen in curiosity.

Mori just stood there, staring off into nothing again, with his hair shadowing his eyes...and still holding Freed's arm.

"Huh, weird kid,"

With a grunt, the white-haired stray crawled out the window and begun his retreat, his adrenaline rush would end soon, so he had to try to patch his missing limb before the pain started to set in.

It was mostly was quiet. Only the whistle of the wind accompanied the azure-haired teen, as he remained as still as a rock.

…

…

…

"WOAH! What the heck happened here, hold up is that...MORI?!"

Issei, Yuuto, and Koneko entered through the front, now doorless entrance and their jaws parted from the sight of the massacre.

"...D-Did you do all this?" Issei asked in disbelief and fear as he warily approached his friend. Only to be stopped by an outstretched hand from the Swordsman beside him.

"Something's off," he told him, with a serious expression. Koneko nodded in agreement and the air suddenly thinned when Mori turned to face them side-on.

"Hyoudou-kun," said Yuuto, "That's not the Dan Mori you used to know,"

"What? What are you talking about?" Issei retorted, "Look at him, who else has that natural light-blue hair and...wait, why's he holding an arm?"

"Kiba-senpai is right, be careful of anything," Koneko stated while getting her guard up.

*K-K-KRACK*

A giant loose-hanging piece of roof split from the top of the building, it had gotten loose due to the vibrations of the fight that had happened below and now, it came plummeting down towards the azure-haired boy.

"MORI LOOK OUT!" Issei yelled.

Mori didn't budge, not even a slight twitch, and the giant structure came crashed down onto him. A shockwave of dust kicked up from the collision and the three devils shielded their eyes. When the dust cleared, there was a large pile of rubble in the middle of the abandoned church, along with the faint silhouette of Mori sitting in the center, like a dropped plush toy.

"Mori!" Issei was about to dash forward to check on his friend. The Knight stopped him once again.

"Approach slowly," he warned.

"But he's my friend," Issei retorted, only to receive a stern glare from the more experienced devil. Yuuto then nodded to Koneko who nodded back and started cautiously circle towards Mori's face.

"Look around Hyoudou-kun, friend or not, he just slaughtered all these ex-priests like they were made of nothing," Yuuto explained, "It doesn't matter what race or species he really is, these actions alone raise suspicion,"

Issei adverted his gaze and stared at the ground. As much as he would hate to admit it, his pretty boy senior devil had a point. Yuuto saw the troubled expression on his face and flashed him his signature smile.

"It's not like we're going to kill him, we just have to be careful about our next moves," The swordsman looked up and saw Koneko giving a wave as a signal, "You'll learn this through experience, now come one, Koneko-chan has found something,"

The three devils regrouped in front of the slumped over Mori, the gray powder of crushed stone, dusted his hair and clothes. His arms were resting by his side with the palms up, and he had one leg buried under debris while the other was free but had some dust decorating it. Most importantly, the blue-haired teen wasn't moving, once again as still as stone.

"Is...Is he?" Issei began, narrowing his eyes

"Yeah," Yuuto confirmed, "He's-"

'...Zzz'

"-sleeping,"

The trio could see Mori's chest and shoulders gently rising and falling. A small trail of drool was already leaking from the corner of his mouth.

"...Someone's coming," Koneko suddenly reported. Yuuto and Issei instantly took their attention off the sleeping boy and looked in the same direction as the petite Rook.

From the hidden entrance of the altar, the tips of black-feathered wings were visible and Raynare slowly stepped out. The trio immediately slid into their signature fighting stances. Koneko had her fists beside her face, Yuuto had his blade ready in front of him, and Issei tried to mimic Koneko, but his arms were by his chest, too low for a proper defense.

"Yuuma," Issei hissed.

"My my," Raynare slowly clapped while unfurling her wings to make her appear larger than she is, "Looks like I didn't need to waste time searching for you filth after all,"

"WHERE'S ASIA!?" the Pawn yelled.

Raynare grinned evilly and extended both hands out, fully extending her fingers while she slightly waved them. Equipped on both her index fingers, were silver rings that resembled an olive leaf.

"Where do you think?" she replied in a mocking tone.

"...Those are!" Issei gasped.

"Twilight Healing, the useless girl's Sacred Gear," Raynare smirked, "Why someone as pathetic as her was chosen to wield it is beyond me, but at last, it's mine,"

"...Give it back," Issei mumbled, "It doesn't belong to you,"

"What was that? I couldn't hear you, your whimpering like an injured dog," Raynare snarked.

"...I said...GIVE IT BACK!" Issei roared and launched himself at the fallen angel.

In midair, his left hand glowed red, and soon a yellow spiked, crimson gauntlet, with a green jewel in the center, encased his left hand. He cocked his gauntleted fist back and didn't notice the gauntlet's continued evolution. During the short timeframe of his jump, the armor around his fingers had gotten sharper, the gauntlet itself grew to reach his elbow, and more defined golden spikes started to protrude out from the side.

[BOOST]

Due to catching her off guard, Issei's fist collided with Raynare's face. The fallen angel soared back and crashed into the crumbling wall. That single attack left the brown-haired devil huffing, slightly drained. Much to his dismay, Raynare jumped out of the wall and her hands were emitting a soft green glow. The bloodied bruise on her face disappeared within three seconds.

"Damn it," Issei cursed, "I knew that wasn't enough,"

Raynare snickered and formed a pink light spear in her hands, "Nice try, but you won't get your second chance this time," she drew one arm back, prepared to launch, "I would try to console you by saying that when you die, you'll see your little girlfriend again in heaven, but… seeing as your a devil, there's not much of a chance, IS THERE!?"

The two spears were fired off in quick succession, Issei was immobilized and his untrained eyes weren't able to react to the attack. Thankfully, they were both parried to the side by the blonde swordsman. A bench thrown by Koneko, came spinning like a buzzsaw towards the fallen angel, who escaped into the air at the last second.

"Kiba, Koneko-chan," Issei began.

"We'll deal with her, Hyoudou-kun," Yuuto informed him, his metallic blue eyes never wavering off of his target, "You go and get the girl, there's a slim chance that she's still alive,"

Koneko appeared ready at Yuuto's side, ready to support him with more flying benches.

"R-Right," Issei nodded, a new wave of energy surged through him when he heard about his newest friend's possible condition. And without another word, he charged down the hidden entrance. The sounds of the scuffle between his two senior devils and ex-girlfriend rang throughout the church.

Within the dim, torch-lit, inner sanctum, high on the stage, laid Asia's body. As soon as he recognized her golden locks, still slightly glowing from the light of the torches, Issei rushed to her side.

"Asia, Asia!" he cried out desperately, as he held the lifeless girl in his arms, "No...Stay with me, Asia! You're gonna be okay! We'll get you healed up right away so, please... Don't..."

He felt cold droplets splash onto his arm and hand, his tears ran down his cheek as he continued to deny the obvious. Asia was dead.

"...Don't die," he whispered. Holding onto her limp body tightly while gently caressing her cheek as he touched his forehead onto hers.

Issei quietly wept as he held her close and rocked back and forth. He felt her cold body against his skin and rubbed his hand over her arm repeatedly, hoping to bring some warmth back into her.

"You...didn't deserve any of this. We were going to go...to school together. We...were going to hang out more. You were going to make...more friends...even more than me," Issei told her in between sobs.

Unbeknownst to the brown-haired pawn. The fighting upstairs had come to a stop, and the rapid tapping of footsteps, descending the stairs reached Issei's ears. The Pawn braced himself. His body relaxed, and he let out a loud exhale of relief when he saw four familiar faces.

---

"...Uggnh…," the azure-haired boy groaned and crawled out of his stone debris cover, "...What happened?"

While standing up, he stumbled and quickly grabbed onto a chunk of the fallen roof for support as he tried to regain his balance. Mori held his head and slowly blinked open his half-closed eyelids.

He tried to walk forwards but tripped over something and fell forwards. Luckily, he reacted quickly, and he used his fingers to give himself a slight push off the ground so he wouldn't land on his face. Although he did land on one knee.

It was then he felt something soaking through his pants and stuck to his hands. Mori staggered back to his feet and looked down at his knee and palms.

"Blood?" he whispered, "Who's -?"

His dark eyes and golden pupils hovered across the hall. Corpses donning white cloaks, both dismembered and with limbs, were littered all over the hall, including where Mori stood.

At that moment, Mori wanted to be scared. He wanted to know what had caused this massacre, and he wanted to run home and lock the doors. But he was strangely calm, it was like he had seen something like this before and maybe something even worse. Something that was hidden in the deepest abyssal points of his mind where no light ever reached.

"...What the heck?"

Then, a terrifying thought crossed his mind.

'Did I do this?' he wanted to move, but his legs were rooted to the ground. "No, it's not possible,"

"It's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not," he repeated to himself, curling into a ball with his hands over his head. His eyes clenched together and nervous sweat trickled down his nape and temple.

His mind flashbacked to the time he elbowed Keita to the other side of the stage, and when he automatically dodged every blow from the unknown black-winged man.

"It is, it is, it is, it is, it is,"

Mori realized what he was implying.

"No Mori! It's not possible...but it could. But it can't. But it can. But it can't,"

He clutched the sides of his head tightly.

"It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me," he repeated, slowly rocking back and forth, "But what if it was? No! You can't think that!"

The panic-stricken Mori then unconsciously said one line "Remember, I'm not supposed to kill, otherwise I'll get a headache again. What? Why did I just say that?"

"Eeeh Aaah,"

Mori glanced up and saw the ash-brown fur of the familiar monkey for the third time that day,. However this time, it no longer had the crystal-teal eyes from earlier, instead, they were a fiery-red. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

"...You," Mori raised a shaky finger, "You did this...didn't you? You've been following me all day, you must've done this when I was unconscious,"

The monkey did nothing but stare at him with wide eyes.

"Please answer me," Mori begged, "Say something...Answer me!"

A familiar voice shattered his trance.

"Mori?"

The azure-haired boy's head turned towards the altar. From the hidden entrance, six figures appeared. Rias, Akeno, Yuuto, Koneko, his friend Issei, and the newly revived Asia stood by the entrance to the underground room.

"Mori you're okay," Issei happily cheered.

"Huh?" The blue-haired teen blinked, "Issei? Asia? The Occult Research Club? What are you all doing here?"

"We would like to ask you the same thing, Mori-kun," Rias spoke up.

"I was…," Mori looked back in the direction of the monkey, once again, it had disappeared, "...I was looking for Asia, I saw her get taken by a girl with large crow-like wings,"

"That girl with wings is dead now," informed Akeno as lightning danced around her fingers.

It didn't take long for Mori to spot the pile of charred black feathers nearby.

"Then who did all this?" he asked while gesturing at the two hundred dead stray exorcists around them.

Issei raised an eyebrow, "Did you forget?"

"Huh?" Mori furrowed his brows.

"When we got here you were standing in the middle of all of it," explained Issei, confused at how his friend could forget about such a fight, "So we just assumed that-"

"-You did this,"

---

( Play WIN - CIX )

CHAPTER 5 IS DONE!

Some of you probably thought this had been abandoned, but don't worry it's not.

This chapter is an Arc Ender, which will usually be longer than the normal chapters. So it took much longer to write.

And now that we've finished the arc, I might need to clarify something: Even though he transferred universes Mori hasn't been nerfed entirely. His body is the same as the Start of S6 Mori. His memories are sealed mostly for a story reason, so that will be revealed eventually.

Mori's...form(?) in this chapter is based on a mix of an unconscious version of Ultra Instinct and the Hair Clone that fought Taejin. Which is why he was more brutal than usual. I didn't want to write the usual, "crossover amnesia character regains memories and wrecks shit up" cliche, so it took a bit to think of a way for Mori to fight without making him fight...if you know what I mean. Similar to the hair clone, the form only reacts to anything it deems a danger this is why he let Freed go, because the body didn't deem it a threat anymore. Also, the roof collapse wasn't the thing that knocked Mori out, the form just coincidentally deactivated since there wasn't anything threatening the body anymore.

Anyways, no review segment this time. I kinda wanna get the chapter out.

There were also some parts of this chapter that only people who have read The Journey to the West would've understood. That being said...

[ EARLY WARNING: IF YOU DO NOT READ/HAVE NOT READ THE JOURNEY TO THE WEST, FUTURE CHAPTERS COULD GET CONFUSING ]

Anyway! That's all for Chapter 5. Once again hope you enjoyed it, leave a review, and all that good stuff. PM me if you desperately want to know some of my plans for this.

For all those celebrating it, Happy Halloween!

Thank You For Reading, and Goodbye!