CoG: Advent of the Shadow Monarch

by NorthSouthGorem

Reincarnated partial Self-Insert. Read at your own risk. Yatogami Roy thought he was just an average boy, hazy memories of a past life aside. However, when the world of the supernatural opens up to him, who the hell would say no? Especially not when his power lets him call upon the fiendish legions of his imagination. Solo Leveling Inspiration.

6. Chapter 6

AN: Well, it's about time I got back to this. Got a little sidetracked starting my Boku no Hero reaction fic over on AO3. If you're in the market for that, it's called Songs Across Time and Space.

UO: *Powerwolf and Sabaton intensifies*

"Speech"
Text
Thoughts
Other Thoughts
Beast/Monster/Super Mode
Spell/Technique

Chapter 6: Assault

"...You what?!"

As expected, Rias was more than a little upset to learn that Roy had had an encounter during his walk the previous day. Only the fact that he had come back unharmed kept her from freaking out outright, but it was a near thing.

"You met with…you talked with a Fallen Angel?! Why?!" she demanded frantically, "Why would you keep that a secret? Why would you just talk to her after what they tried to do to you?"

Roy hunched his shoulders, weathering her onslaught of near-accusatory questions. Seeing his friend upset like this…he didn't like it. He liked being on the receiving end of it even less. "Does it matter why?" he asked tightly.

"Yes, because she should have killed you!"

"I fail to see what that has to do with my reasons for confronting her."

The redhead rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "You could have run away! You could have attacked her when her guard was down! You could've done literally anything apart from sitting down and having a heart to heart!"

He refused to look at her. "...It didn't feel right. I couldn't."

"That…you- GAH! Okay, so why did you feel the need to take pity on her?"

"...Have you killed before?" asked Roy. He'd asked the same of his sister the night before.

Rias blinked. "Well…yeah. Sometimes Stray Devils escape into the area, and Sona-chan's or my Peerage have to go put them down. Their power mutates them into monstrosities, and nine times out of ten, they develop a taste for human flesh. I've executed a few."

"Monsters, huh." Roy lifted his gaze to look his friend in the eye. "What about killing a person? Could you look at a human who's down on their luck, depressed because life is pressing in on them from all sides, and kill them like you would a Stray Devil or whatever?"

"I…if they were a proven threat to me, my Peerage or…my friends, then yes, I would," she admitted, nodding firmly.

"Mm. Well…I couldn't," he said shortly, threading his fingers together and squeezing tightly until his knuckles turned white. "I dunno if that makes me weak or whatever, but I just saw a girl who was miserable, and I couldn't stand the thought of ordering my Shadows to run her through. Talking to her didn't help. If she were some kinda monster like those Stray Exorcists, or that bastard Freed, then maybe I could have. But now…"

Mussing up her hair, Rias gave a groan. "Roy-kun…please don't tell me you're thinking of calling off the fight!"

"No, I'm not," Roy assured her, making her sigh in relief, "However, I had to tell you the truth, that I might want to let them live when we defeat them. Last night, I created a monster that might let me subdue them without killing."

She raised her eyebrows. "You did? How?"

Shrugging, he told her.

"That's…that sounds a little scary, actually. If its powers work like you say, then you might really be able to pull it off," she said tentatively.

"Nn," he uttered quietly, "I hope it does. If it doesn't, then…"

"I can take care of that part, if it comes to it," the Devil assured him gently.

"Mm…do you think I'm weak, for being like this?"

Rias bit her lip, clearly mulling over what words to use. "I think that you're soft," she admitted carefully, "But maybe not weak. If you came up with another way to end this, without completely discarding the possibility of killing…I don't know. But, I don't want you to get yourself killed because you wanted to give your enemy mercy that they don't deserve."

"Mercy isn't about whether it's deserved," he replied stonily, making her flinch, "It's either given, or it isn't." Then, speaking more softly, he continued, "And if you don't want me to die, then help me when I need it."

She nodded. "Yeah…of course."

Finally, Roy relaxed. "Thanks, Rias." He took a deep breath and shook his head to clear away his gloomy mood. "So, another few days, you reckon?"

"I think so. Issei should have acclimated to his strength by this point, which will make him more durable against the likes of the Stray Exorcists, not to mention he'll have his Sacred Gear." She trailed off, brow furrowing.

"What's up?"

"Nothing…" At Roy's raised eyebrow, Rias sighed and elaborated. "A common Sacred Gear like Twice Critical shouldn't have cost two Rooks."

He blinked. "Well, I cost more than that, apparently."

She shook her head. "That's kind of my point. You possess one of the most powerful Sacred Gears in existence. If Ise-kun had a more regular one, then at most he would have cost three or four Pawns, like Yumi-chan did."

Roy filed away that little tidbit for later, sticking to the current line of speculation. "But in this case, he needed a little less than you would have needed for me. Could it be a rarer Sacred Gear that happens to share similarities with Twice Critical?" he asked, rubbing his chin.

Rias opened her mouth, her face twisting into an expression of reluctant agreement. "I mean…there is one Sacred Gear that fits that criteria," she admitted slowly.

"But?"

"But it's one of the other Longinus."

"...Aha. I see your point," he admitted, "Pretty unlikely that there would be two out of thirteen one-of-a-kind Sacred Gears in the same place."

She nodded.

"Although, I dunno about you Devils, but we humans have a saying about having the Devil's Luck…" Roy continued, smirking at the Devil girl.

"I'm familiar with it," deadpanned Rias, "And it's true that my ancestor was known as a Devil who could find countless valuable treasures…but, it just feels so unlikely!"

Roy rolled his eyes. "Do I need to bring out the Sherlock Holmes quote?"

"Alright, I get it already!" she groaned.

He chuckled. "Anyway, I should probably try and figure out what to make today."

"Maybe something that won't give me gray hair at 18," Rias mumbled.

"I've already got numbers, skilled combatants, sensors, mages, a tank, and a dragon," he mused, ignoring his friend's sass, "I've got plenty of bases covered at this point, though I'll have to duplicate a bunch of them…"

"All of that wouldn't mean much if you get hurt anyway," she pointed out, "You're still just an ordinary human."

Roy gave a grunt of acknowledgement. "Too bad I can't just create something that would strengthen me instead." He trailed off, eyes going distant for a moment, before his head snapped up. "...Or can I?"

"Eh?"

"There's any number of ways for a 'creature' to buff another one. Hell, I could even make a mage that can buff me, but…hm…" He pulled out his daily Medal, rubbing its blank face with a thumb. "Yeah…yeah, I think I'm getting something." Then he frowned. "Ah. The Aspect I wanna use for this is best when paired with another one."

Rias blinked as his mental train of thought rapidly pulled away from hers. "Your power uses those Medals to give your creatures a keyword that they revolve around, right? But you only get one a day, so how would you make something with more than one?"

In answer, Roy held up his hand, and with a bit of concentration, a Black Medal materialized between his fingers. "This'll lemme do it, though it'll come with an annoying downside. I can control what it is, so it's not completely debilitating, and I'd get a more powerful, specialized creature out of the deal."

"Heeh…" murmured his friend. He flicked the Medal at her, and she caught it, turning it over in her hands. "So the more powerful the monster, the more flaws you have to give it?"

He shrugged. "For now. But it's the best I can do, so let's get down to it." Taking the Black Medal back, he rubbed it against the regular silver Medal for a moment, enjoying the sound that the two made. Then he crushed them in his fist, channeling the mental image for his next Shadow into them.

He grinned, even as the darkness swirled around him. "This is gonna be fun."

Despite her worries, the redheaded Devil couldn't help but smile at her friend's excitement.

"So, what was that about Kiba-san having a Sacred Gear?"

"Eh? Oh, well, it's called Sword Birth…"

ASM

Raynare wandered the halls of the church, her mind a fog from the close encounter from the previous day. Over and over, her brain kept circling back around to the young man that she'd met. Yatogami Roy, the wielder of Annihilation Maker and thus one of the biggest threats to the Grigori out there. Sure, he might just as easily have turned against any of the other factions, but she couldn't afford such wishful thinking. She was only too aware that her terrible, terrible fuckups were the reason they were in this mess. That awareness gnawed at her gut every waking hour, and filled her dreams with dreadful, murky visions of being buried under shadowy monstrosities.

Attempting to run from them in those dreams did not grant her any peace, as that only led to a mound of corpses with their wings ripped out.

She was glad that despite being run down and abandoned, the Stray Exorcists had managed to get the plumbing working. The cold sweat that she woke up in every morning made her feel hopelessly grimy, and while a shower never seemed to keep it at bay for long, it kept the pressure from overwhelming her.

Unfortunately, ceding command to Dohnaseek had not alleviated her nerves that much. While he had not chosen to punish her for her mistakes, she could tell that he wouldn't care if something happened to her. She could feel his contempt raking across her whenever they interacted, always tinged with the unpleasantness that almost inevitably followed, because Freed was almost always there to mock her afterwards.

There was a fight brewing, she could tell. Over the past few days, Dohnaseek had sent for reinforcements and more powerful weapons, gearing up for when the Devils inevitably came to storm their 'stronghold.'

"Ray-chaaan~" A familiar voice called out, before Mittelt swooped down out of nowhere to latch onto her shoulders, making her stumble. Sometimes, Raynare had to wonder if the younger Fallen had any real awareness of what was going on. She was no child, after all, even by Angel standards. "Jeez, you're so jumpy, lately!" laughed the ringleted blonde, "Those devils really got you spooked, huh?"

"It's not them I'm worried about," she replied dully, "It's that man…the human they'll no doubt bring with them."

Mittelt frowned. "The Annihilation Maker guy? Nn…yeah, I guess it might suck if he shows up."

Raynare let out a groan at how strong of an understatement that was. "Both times our forces have encountered him, we took heavy losses, and the more time goes by, the more he might start figuring out his powers."

"We skewered his cool ninja things the first time," pointed out the girl still hanging off her back, "And we can fly!"

A sigh alerted her to Kalawarner's presence. The taller, more voluptuous woman was leaning on a doorway, adjusting and straightening her clothes. "Keep in mind that those Devils will probably be able to fly as well. I dunno how effective Dohnaseek thinks we'll be in fighting them, but given that we kidnapped and tried to kill two people on their territory, they're probably gonna be out for blood."

"Eehh…" uttered Mittelt absently, not noticing how Raynare grew pale and drawn, "You think so? How many are there again?"

"More than the four of us," replied Kalawarner, grimacing, "And considering that Annihilator-kun was able to bowl over our Exorcists like an orgy of virgins at a whorehouse, I wouldn't really count on them as a reliable force."

Raynare sputtered. "D-Does everything have to come back to sex with you?!" she asked, reddening, "Didn't you just already…y-y'know…?"

The taller woman shrugged. "You got the point, didn't you? And of course I did; it helps relieve stress."

Mittelt nodded. "Yeah, Ray-chan, c'mon. The selection around here's not much to look at, but they'd do if you're desperate."

"I don't think any of them would be all that fun for a virgin," opined Kalawarner, "They might have rejected their vows, but they don't know the first thing about fucking."

"K-Kala!" protested Raynare.

"Eh? Eh?! Ray-chan's a virgin?!" asked the blonde, shocked.

She yelped and flailed her arms, dumping the more petite girl on the floor with an 'oof.' "Idiot! Don't go shouting it out like that!"

"Ahh, sorry, sorry…pfft, two-hundred-year-old-virgin."

Her face reddened further. "Mittelt…!"

"So it wasn't Lust that made you Fall, like me," commented the older woman, "You've always been pretty quiet about what your Sin was."

She froze, forgetting about her embarrassment.

"You! What did you hear just now?!"

"Nothing, sir! I would never eavesdrop!"

"As if we could trust your word…no matter what, that secret must not get out!"

"Eh? N-No, wait, p-please, what are you doing? Where are we going…?"

Both of the other Fallen Angels' teasing joviality fled at the sight of Raynare's expression. Kalawarn cleared her throat, snapping her out of her flashback. "W-Well, I guess it doesn't matter. It's not like no Fallen Angel ever regretted getting thrown out."

"I don't!"

"...Weren't you born Fallen, Mitt?"

"Sure was!"

Now thoroughly rattled, Raynare beat her wings, draping them around her bare arms to try and warm up. "K…Kala," she said shakily.

"Yeah?"

"Is there…any way to avoid fighting?" asked Raynare tentatively. I've survived this long. If I can just stay alive, then…!

Kalawarner gave a shrug, jostling her breasts under her casually-unbuttoned coat. "Well, we could always surrender. I hear that Miss Gremory Heiress is one of those softy Devils."

"Hmm…I guess we haven't really done that much yet," pondered Mittelt, "Maybe if we ask nicely, they might spare us, then?"

Raynare groaned. As if Devils would be nice enough to accept a surrender…

"...Okay, it sounds stupid when you say it like that, but fuck it, maybe if all three of us try to surrender, Dohnaseek won't have much of a leg to stand on," admitted the oldest Fallen of the trio.

"Hey! I'm still okay with fighting!" the frill-wearing girl protested, pouting and crossing her arms.

"I…I think I'll try it," said Raynare, crossing her arms and ducking her head.

Kalawarner nodded. "Yeah, honestly, this whole thing has been such a shitshow, I'd rather not lose my head over it."

Mittelt sighed. "Ugh…fine. I guess if you wanna, then I guess I can avoid throwing hands for now."

"...Please tell me you're not picking up modern human slang again."

"What? It sounds so funny!"

"You are an 80 year old child."

"Okay, boomer."

While the oldest woman sighed and admitted that she'd walked into that one, Raynare allowed herself to relax a little bit, her heart-rate finally slowing down a little. Okay…there might be a way through this after all…

"Just keep on keeping on, and you'll make it out the other side."

A light dusting of pink colored her cheeks as she remembered Roy's words.

Hidden in the shadows of a nearby doorway, Freed Sellzen's lip curled in disdain.

ASM

The next few days passed in practically a blur. Roy continued to create Shadows and spar with the Devils. As he shook the rust off of his old Bajiquan training, he felt as if the movements of his monsters were also improving. As he summoned and dismissed his shadows, his inner energy depleting to repair the damage inflicted by his sparring partners, he found that he needed to think about calling them less and less. It was almost like moving a limb. However, he still had difficulty summoning his trump card; the monster he'd created to nonlethally deal with the Fallen Angels. If he couldn't use it, then he would have a very difficult time convincing Rias to spare them.

Just after classes that day, she had taken him aside. "I sent a message to the Grigori, the group that represents the Fallen Angels. I wanted to make sure whether the actions they took against you and Ise-kun were condoned by the Grigori's leadership."

Roy nodded; this made sense. "So? What'd they say?" The idea that someone higher up might have ordered his death for one reason or another filled him with indignant rage.

She sighed. "Well, they said that while they did send a few Fallen to set up shop in this area, they didn't order them to kill Sacred Gear wielders."

He frowned. "Do you think they're telling the truth?" he asked.

"They might as well be," she replied, shrugging helplessly, "Whether they did or not, the fact that they've officially said that they didn't means that they're pretty much okay with whatever we decide to do with them."

"Mm. So they're disavowed, in other words," murmured Roy.

Rias grimaced. "We'll try and do it your way. But, if that group decides to fight…"

He nodded, even as his heart felt heavy. "Yeah. If it comes down to them or you, I won't blame you for killing them. What will happen if we're able to take them alive?"

She shrugged again. "I'll send them back to the Grigori. Doing that instead of just executing them in our territory would be more…respectful, I suppose?"

"...Whatever you think would be best," he sighed, "I've got no clue about all this political stuff."

"Yeah…I'll probably ask Sona about it."

"Shitori- er, Sitri? Oh yeah, she's a Devil too…is she gonna be coming with us?"

The redhead wrinkled her nose. "No. I don't want to sound too overconfident, but we should be enough to handle this, especially with you giving us a numbers advantage. Besides which, she's busy enough being Student Council President…" Then she hung her head. "I just know that she'll chastise me after all this, though…"

Roy snorted. "There's always that one friend, isn't there?"

"Yeah…sometimes it feels like I have two of them!"

He raised his eyebrows. "Yeah? Who's the other one?"

Rias only gave him a scathing look, only for him to smirk back at her, making her giggle.

"So…tonight?" Roy asked, his amusement abating quickly

Rias looked out the window to see the setting sun. "Yes. If we don't move now, they might make their own move first, whatever that might be."

He made a noise of agreement.

Just then, there came a rapping on the clubroom door, drawing their attention. "Who is it?" asked Rias, brow furrowing; neither Akeno nor the other members of her Peerage would bother with knocking.

"It's Chiaki," answered Roy's sister, sliding the door open and stepping in.

Roy nodded, glad to see her. "Yo, Nee-san. You got everything you need?"

The tall, dark-haired girl hefted a bag slung over her shoulder. "Just about, I think. This isn't exactly shrine business, so I figured that I wouldn't have to wear the usual outfit."

Her brother snorted, remembering the revealing number she'd worn when she rescued him, making her blush.

"Wait, you're not actually coming with us are you?" Rias asked, "It's bad enough that Roy insisted on going, but you're also a human, and don't have a Sacred Gear!"

Chiaki narrowed her eyes at the redhead. "I've got plenty of experience fighting, girl. Besides, most of the assholes holed up in that church are humans too."

"Debatable," muttered Roy, remembering Freed. "But yeah, if you're coming along and think you can help, then I won't say no. In fact, here." He held out a hand and concentrated, expending some Darkness to create a duplicate of one of his new Templates. With a swirling of shadows, a set of folded clothes appeared in his hand, which he offered to Chiaki. "These should provide more protection than just your clothes."

Chiaki took them, appraising them in surprise. "You can make non-living things too?" she asked.

"I wouldn't call them non-living. It's just that 'monsters' don't have to take the form of living things," was his cryptic reply.

"Hm…I guess I wouldn't turn down a present from my little bro, but I hope you're wearing one of these things as well, then." Even as she spoke, she took the bundle from him.

He snorted. "Of course I am. I've been wearing it since I first made it; it can disguise itself as pretty much any outfit I like."

Chiaki looked at the garb speculatively. "Alright, if you insist. You got anywhere I could change?"

Roy only snapped his fingers, causing the bundle to burst into a cloud of shadowy strands, making her yelp in shock, before it snapped shut around her, swiftly shifting into a black suit. "There you go."

"Gah! Warn me if you're gonna do something like that, ass!" she snapped, shaking out her arms, "If you could just have it wrap around me, why'd you hand it over to me in the first place?!"

He shrugged, and refused to elaborate, even as she fumed for a moment. Rias deadpanned, remembering a similar confrontation when her friend had given her a similar outfit-creature.

Once Chiaki finished steaming, cheeks puffed out cutely, she took a moment to examine her suit, which was definitely more tailored for her body type, fitting her curves snugly. It was a dark three piece suit, with a white undershirt, dark blue shirt and matching khakis. She looked like she was ready to transport someone from the airport. "Huh. I was expecting something a bit more…ecchi from you, lil' bro," she commented, "Not gonna lie, this is pretty comfy."

"Oh yes, give the scumbags in the church ideas while they're trying to kill you," deadpanned Roy sourly, "That's a no for me. Also, Hyoudou is coming with us and I want him to focus on the mission, not you."

The older girl winced; she remembered the boy that her brother had befriended back in middle school. Issei's obvious crush on her was evident the moment he saw her curvaceously blessed figure, not to mention her mother. Fortunately, Roy had quickly disabused him of the notion of acting on said attraction.

"E-Eh?! Chiaki-neesan is here too?!" Speaking of the literal Devil, Issei had finally arrived, having showered from a bit of last-minute training, Koneko and Yumi following close behind. Akeno had come in behind them, dressed in a shrine maiden's outfit- a far more modest one than Chiaki's warrior 'uniform.'

Chiaki sighed. "Ah…hello, Ise-kun," she greeted him tiredly.

"Ara, what a surprise!" Akeno greeted her cordially, "It's nice to see you, Yatogami-san!"

"Y-yeah…"

"You two know each other?" Roy asked.

"Akeno frequents the shrine," Rias murmured to him, to which he nodded in understanding.

Yumi stepped forward. "Shall we set out, Buchou?" she asked. Issei gulped, but the blonde girl gave him a reassuring, supportive smile.

Rias turned to look at her friend. "Well? Are you ready?" she asked, clearly hoping that he might say no and opt to stay behind.

"Of course not," he replied heavily, "But let's get going."

ASM

The walk to the old church was uneventful, the streets growing increasingly empty of people as they drew further and further towards the outskirts of the town, beyond which lay the abandoned holy ground.

Roy called on his summons, hiding them in his shadow to send them surging forward at a moment's notice, while his Sensory Birds wheeled about in the sky, keeping a lookout for him.

Issei cracked his knuckles nervously, only to stop when Koneko shook her head at him.

Understanding his nerves, Roy patted him on the shoulder, but couldn't think of anything to say.

As they approached, it grew eerily quiet in the way associated with the evening and night; like the slightest noise would ring out especially loudly.

And then, all too soon, they came upon the old building, worn down and seemingly abandoned, both by God and any living inhabitants.

Roy worked his jaw and rolled his shoulders, psyching himself up. With a gesture, three figures formed from behind the trees. They were shaped almost like chess pieces, tall and covered in a metallic shell, lacking any limbs, with a dome on top that was carved to resemble a glowing brain.

"Creepy," commented Koneko blandly.

"Be ready to mobilize everyone," Roy told his monsters, though he really didn't need to say anything out loud, "Any who tries to kill my friends, kill them. Anyone I end up fighting, I'll deal with."

The Think Tanks responded with beeps and chirps that sounded like their pitch had been turned way down. Inside his shadow, his monsters began to stir, as the towers offloaded some of his more subconscious thought patterns, allowing them to relay any orders he might have for the rest of his 'army' at a faster rate, allowing him to focus on other details.

"Are we ready?" Rias asked him.

"Just missing something, we need something to kick ass to."

"Ahh…I guess some music would fit this nicely," she agreed thoughtfully. "What do you have in mind?"

Roy rubbed the back of his head. "I've been focusing so much on preparing for the important stuff that I didn't think to make a music monster."

Rias sighed. "Oh well…"

"Could you two be serious, please?" deadpanned Chiaki, rubbing at a paper talisman that she'd pulled from her pocket.

Roy rolled his eyes. "Right. Fine. Let's get this over with." He snapped his fingers, and a pair of Sumo Khan reared up and hit the double doors with a powerful shoulder check, smashing them open.

As they shoved the doors aside, we filed into the church, to find that the entire main chamber was lined with dozens of exorcists, all wielding lightsabers and what appeared to be guns. At the forefront stood Freed, who grinned delightedly at the sight of them. "Well, look who it is! I guess you're not a spineless little weasel after all, buddy-boy!" he laughed.

Roy shrugged languidly, even as his eyes swept across the room, taking in the expressions on the assembled fighters. They all looked to be fixing Rias and the other Devils with looks of absolute hatred. At the back of the room, he could see those four Fallen Angels; one male, three females, the former standing at the front in a long, dark trench coat with his arms crossed. More importantly, however, was one of the girls, who flinched and looked away the moment he caught her eye. Sure enough, it was Amano Yuuma. "Yeah, well, we heard this place just held the best Sunday masses and decided to show up bright and early," Roy answered dryly.

"...Dude, it's Friday night," Issei mumbled behind him.

"Bright n' early, I said." he reaffirmed.

The male Fallen Angel unfurled his wings and lifted off the ground, drifting towards their group. His weathered, middle-aged face twisted in distaste as he gazed at the redheaded girl. "You're not welcome here, Devil brat," he told her.

She arched an eyebrow at him and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Oh? Given that this entire town is my territory, I would think that I have every right to kick out anyone who tries to kill the humans living here."

Yuuma flinched, which Roy noticed. He also took note of how the other two women gave her concerned looks, and tagged them mentally as 'Possibly Spare.'

"Hmph. When the humans decide that they have the power to stand on our level, well, it's our job to show them their place," scoffed the man unapologetically, "You Devils have no room to talk, sweet-talking them over to your side and stocking up heavy hitters for when the War starts back up."

Rias stiffened, her face twisting in affront. "For when it…? As if I'd bring people into my family for such a selfish reason!"

"Family? Please, like Devils could have something like that!" laughed Freed derisively, and Roy could feel Rias's composure starting to slip.

I guess her bonds with the others are a real sticking point, he thought, raising his voice. "You don't strike me as the kinda guy who would know family if it punched him in the dick, Sellzen."

Freed only laughed harder. "Ahaa~ You got me there!"

Chiaki glowered at the white-haired young man, recognizing his name as the one who had apparently tried to dismember her little brother. The talisman in her hand began to glow, the hilt of a katana sliding out into her other hand.

Knowing that this was basically a foregone conclusion but wanting to give it the old college try, Roy stepped forward. "Alright, enough dick-waving and posturing. Give yourselves up, and we won't just steamroll you like the last few times we met!"

Immediately Freed whipped out his lightsaber and ignited it. "Yeah? Still haven't beat me, bitch! Wanna see how round three turns out?!"

Chiaki stepped forward, drawing a katana from her paper tag in a flare of blue. "You'll have to go through me first, you rotten piece of shit!"

"Hey, uh…"

Everyone turned to look at the tallest female Fallen Angel. "I'd actually like to sit this one out!" She called out.

Roy blinked. Wait…is she actually giving up? Of all the outcomes that he'd thought of for this encounter, this one had been the least likely in his imagination.

"Eh…?" uttered Rias, looking just as bewildered.

"Kalawarner…!" snarled the male Fallen, "Why am I not surprised that you're taking the coward's way out?"

She rolled her eyes, while the shortest girl stifled a giggle. "I'd rather be a coward than dead, Donny. There's no way we're winning this with all these Exorcist chumps."

"We have the numbers!"

Both Kalawarner and Roy scoffed. "We have bodies, Don. Excluding whatever freak of nature Freed is, I'm saying we're not coming out on top from this."

The man glowered at her in disdain, which she returned in full. In fact, most of the exorcists that had turned to gawp at her in astonishment were likewise looking rather peeved at her (accurate) estimation of their survivability. Just as Koneko was wishing that she'd brought popcorn, he suddenly smirked. "As if I would rely solely on human numbers." He snapped his fingers and the Gremory group found themselves looking up as ten more spears of light suddenly lit up the rafters.

"Ah. He called for backup," deadpanned Rias, "Well, the Grigori's going to have a lot of explaining to do once we're done."

"O-Oi! Where the hell were you hiding all these guys?!" asked the shortest girl in surprise, "There's no way this dinky lil' church could hold all of them!"

Of course, no one answered her, but both her companions flinched in surprise. The new arrivals glared down at everyone, clearly not interested in flying away without a fight.

"I believe this solves the issue of us lacking numbers," Dohnaseek commented, smirking.

Roy rolled his eyes, but squared his shoulders, psyching himself up.

"Ah…and before we forget about that little matter of cowardice in front of the enemy…"

Everyone else seemed to freeze in place as a spear of light appeared in Dohnaseek's hand, which he then hurled…

Directly into Kalawarner's gut. She doubled over, gasping in shock and staring down at the spear that pierced her stomach, falling to her knees. "D…Dohnaseek…you…!" She coughed up a bit of blood.

Raynare's eyes bulged as she stared at her friend, collapsing onto the floor. Dimly, she heard Mittelt scream out Kalawarner's name, and would have done the same, but a weak croak wheezed from her throat. "W-Why…?" she whispered, too quietly to be heard. We were going to get out of this alive! So why…?

"Raynare!" Dohnaseek's barking voice made her flinch out of her dazed state and look up at him. He pointed another spear at her, sneering disdainfully. "You can join her and bleed out like a coward, or join me! Your choice!"

She trembled, the world growing dark. In the end, is this the only choice I'm given? Is this what it means to be a 'proper' Fallen Angel?

"Leave us be, girl. We couldn't serve, and this was our punishment."

"My wings! Where are my wings?!"

"Ah, were you abandoned? Come with me. The name's Kalawarner. It's unfortunate, but you'll have to rough it a little from now on."

"I sentence you to wander the realms of Humanity, and to never again fly alongside your untainted brethren!"

A red spear shimmered into her hands, and she gripped it tightly, tears welling in her eyes as she leveled a desperate stare at Roy. Forgive me…Forgive me…!

Roy breathed a sigh of regret, even as he caught her eye, before his clothes turned black and surged up around him.

Forgive me. Please, forgive me…

"CHARGE!" roared Dohnaseek, and the Exorcists surged forward, igniting their swords of light and firing their guns, while Roy and the Devils became obscured in shadows as their armors

Whatever you were punishing me for, please forgive me before I have to do something even worse, Lord!

"Damn it, I thought we could convince those girls at least!" Roy grumbled, even as he dashed forward, wisps of shadow clearing away to reveal an overcoat made of a silvery material, plus a pair of dark pants and black, calf-length boots. A zipped up collar and similarly silver stetson hid his face, and as the Exorcists shot at him, the bullets of light struck the fabric, only to ping off of it with a ripple, the material briefly transforming into metallic scales.

As the armor solidified, the rest of the Peerage likewise donned their own set of silvery coats, save for Chiaki, whose suit remained as it was.

Issei flinched as the light bullets bounced off his clothes, but when he remained unharmed, and saw Koneko and Yumi both dashing forward to meet the exorcists head on, he smacked himself on the cheeks. "N-Nothing for iiiiiit!" he yelled, raising his fists and wading into the melee, "C'mon, you bastards! Today's a good day to fight! ORAAAAAAAAH!"

Well said, thought Roy. He swept out a hand, glaring at the oncoming forces, who all seemed single-mindedly determined to kill him and his friends. The Fallen Angels swooped down from the rafters and began hurling spears down at them, bouncing off his coat. If you're gonna come at me with the intent to kill, then… "Arise," he intoned imperiously.

The shadows around him boiled, and Knights surged out of the ground, meeting the Exorcists' weapons with their own with a clashing of light and dark. Swords and axes cleaved through flesh, maces and warhammers crunched through bones, and both fire and ice wreaked havoc on the frail humans. Mages rose up around the sides of the chamber, and began firing off bolts of every kind of element into the fray, causing even more chaos.

Rias and Akeno took to the air, their spindly wings contrasting with the feathers of the Fallen but lifting them just as easily. While the cadre outnumbered them, the two Devils seemed able to keep them at bay; the dark-haired girl blasted out lightning bolts that branched, forked and arced across the ceiling before crashing into the fallen, searing the night-darkened church with light and crackling thunder. "Ufufu…you thought that you would be a match for us, just because you brought a few of these little chicks as backup? How cute~"

Meanwhile, Rias had been firing off her signature bolts of red light into the flock, and while they were able to deflect them with their hard-light spears, two of them were surprised when those bolts abruptly snapped through the shafts and blasted gaping holes through their bodies. Rias dismissed them as they fell, and forced the rest to scatter with a spray of destructive bullets. "I'll show you what it means to disregard a Devil's territory!"

"Like a Devil brat could ever stand up to the might of the Grigori!" barked a male Fallen, right before a bolt of lightning struck him, dropping him from the sky, just as a crescent wave of Destruction sliced through his flesh like cheese.

Meanwhile, Yumi zipped through the exorcists, a sword in each hand, swinging and whirling so fast that she was a blur. As a Knight, of course, she was so fast that she barely even needed the armored coat that Roy had lent her. The blades that she'd summoned with her power sucked up all the Holy Light around her, rendering the fighters around her helpless as she cut them down mercilessly. Her normal easygoing smile was completely absent as she butchered those who used God as an excuse to kill anything they didn't like in turn.

"I can do this…I can do this…ACK!" Issei flinched and ducked away from a swing from a lightsaber. "Sh-shit! I can't get close!" he yelped, raising his arms to block, "All that training, and I have no idea what to do against weapons!"

"Senpai. Duck." A hand touched the small of his back, and a strange pulse passed through his coat into his body.

"Eh?" Without thinking, the boy knelt down, and something large WHOOSHED over his head, smashing into the charging exorcists and sending them flying with a scream. "Eh? Eh?"

Koneko stood over him, hefting an entire church pew. "Hn. Heavy. Get up already."

"A-Ah…" Quickly, he scrambled to his feet. "Holy shit, you used 'em like baseballs!" It's like an anime where the smallest girl is the strongest!

"You thought something rude just now," she deadpanned at him, making him cringe, "Anyway, Senpai's clothes can block those weapons easy. If you're scared of getting in close, then take this weapon too." The white-haired girl handed him the church pews, and without even thinking, he took it.

"Ack, heavy! Or, rather…it's light?"

She rolled her eyes. "Idiot. You're Buchou's Rook now. You're BOTH of her Rooks. Start swinging, pervert."

"What are you standing around for, Devil scum?!" roared an Exorcist, leaping towards him with a downwards swing of his Light sword.

"SHADDUP!" Issei yelled back, swinging the bench with both arms and smashing the exorcist into the floor, leaving him a pulpy mess. "I'm having a conversation with the shortstack mascot of my school!" Then his eyes widened as he realized what he'd just done. "Ah…!"

Koneko side-eyed him and gave a sigh. "...Think about it later, Senpai. They won't feel bad at all if they kill you." Then she picked up another pew, and hurled it through the air lengthwise. "Yeet."

"Is this really the time to be funny?!"

As Roy stood back and watched his Shadows, he stiffened as Freed suddenly dashed out of the crowd, beelining straight for him with a mad gleam in his eye. "That whole numbers advantage will go right out the window if I can take you out!" he crowed, going for a wide swing.

However, just as quickly, Chiaki darted in and parried the blow with her katana, skillfully diverting the Light sword with her steel and going for a swing of her own, which Freed backstepped to avoid. "You'll have to go through me before you lay a finger on my brother!" she growled. While her 'armor' had not changed like Roy's, she had applied a series of paper talismans to her upper arms and thighs, and they shimmered with accumulated power.

"Works for me!" agreed the white-haired young man, leering at the curvy woman, "Though I think I'd like to get in you in the process~"

Chiaki set her jaw, blue eyes narrowing behind her glasses. "Sorry, psychopathic manchildren aren't my type."

"Oho?" he asked, smirking as he twirled his lightsaber casually, "And what exactly is your type, eh? Could it be that brother of yours?" He gasped dramatically. "Could this be the legendary Brocon?!"

Her eye twitched, and she held up her blade, hands tightening on the hilt as if imagining throttling him.

Rolling his eyes at the raunchy attempt to throw his sister off-guard, Roy threw out a hand, and a large ball of blackness erupted from his palm, blasting towards Freed. Unfortunately, it moved far too slowly, and the man was able to easily dodge it, letting it sail harmlessly past his head and over the crowd. However, his failed attack allowed Raynare to finally move. Flapping her wings powerfully, she charged at him from the air, slamming full-tilt into him. Her spear of Light rammed into his shoulder, but failed to penetrate the silvery coat, though she barely seemed to notice and was undeterred. The momentum behind her body-slam was such that it lifted him up off the ground, through the hall, and smashed through one of the stained glass windows.

"ROY!" Chiaki cried out, only to hastily deflect a stab from Freed.

"Hey, you started this dance! At least gimme the time I paid for~" cackled the madman.

The woman gritted her teeth, but in her peripheral vision, she could tell that her little brother's summoned warriors remained unaffected. As long as he wasn't in any danger, they would most likely continue fighting as normal.

ASM

Roy grunted as the deceptively lightweight girl tackled him into the air and out the window. Bracing his feet between them, he kicked off of her, landing heavily, but quickly rolling back onto his feet. With reflexes that surprised even him, he swatted aside the blazing spear that was hurled at him, the impact creating a shower of sparks from his metallic sleeve. "Alright, look. I know that we've had our differences, but I don't want things to go down like this anymore than you-"

However, the girl took only a moment to recover before hurling herself at him again with another spear, screaming out a desperate warcry. Her brutal stab, which should have pierced his stomach, simply bounced off his jacket, completely ineffectual, but she barely seemed to notice, twirling her spear and bringing it around for blow after brutal blow. It was all too easy, from this distance, to see the look of blind, stark terror in her eyes.

He could end this so easily, in any number of ways. However, after seeing the way that her own leader had so callously threatened her life, he could understand her desperation and fear. Seeing her friend cut down in front of her…he knew all too well the overwhelming emotions that could sweep aside all rationality in such a scenario.

Knowing all that, could he really cut her down with just as little mercy?

Fuck no.

Never.

He jerked his head to the side, grimacing as he felt heat from the spear as it stabbed past his face, just slipping between the space between his high collar and hat. I just need an opportunity to pull that out. If I can subdue her, then…

Just as he squared his shoulders and began reaching into his pocket, yet another Fallen Angel suddenly swooped in out of nowhere and double-kicked him in the side, bowling him over. It was "Ray-chan!" She cried out as she flew to her friend's side, touching down, "Don't worry, I've got your back!"

"M-Mittelt…" murmured Raynare, a bit of the franticness clearing from her eyes, "They…Dohnaseek, he…!"

"I know!" Millett told her. "But if we don't do something, then he'll just do the same to us!"

Roy groaned. "Look, c'mon already-!"

Unfortunately, neither woman listened to him and took off again, their black wings helping them blend into the night air as they swished through the air, strafing around him. It was easy enough to swat the thrown spears out of the air, but their bright glowing agitated his eyes, preventing them from growing used to the dark and getting a lock on them. He stumbled again as one of them suddenly switched course and slammed into him from behind (Mittelt, judging by her size).

He stood his ground, doing his best to dodge and even strike back; while neither of them could actually hurt him with their spears, his Silver Skin was proving to be less ideal for turning aside blunt hits. While he had no doubt that it would negate anything that hit TOO hard, these clumsy shoulder-charges and headbutts were just weak enough to annoy him and not bounce off. He was quickly growing sore, his body throbbing more than it would normally thanks to the Flaw that he'd built into the 'creature.'

Alright, enough of this, he thought irritably, discreetly summoning two birds in the branches of the trees. They turned to watch the fight, and through their eyes, he was able to easily pick up on their movements. Narrowing his own eyes, he reached into his pocket, and braced himself, waiting.

When Raynare charged in for another lunge, he struck. He pivoted, planting his feet as he twisted to avoid the spear, and the woman let out a winded yelp of surprise as he rammed his shoulder into her chest, the impact hardening his Silver Skin and turning the already heavy attack into a hammer's blow. "Tetsuzanko!" he grunted, even as he knocked the angel away, sending her rolling along the ground.

"Ray-chan!" But even as Mittelt swooped down behind him, he spun, knocking her spear-holding arm up and away, and buried his elbow in her chest. She crumpled instantly, wheezing and pale.

Drawing himself up, Roy then dashed towards Raynare in a burst of motion, stuffing a hand into his pocket. She had quickly scrambled to her feet, already flapping her wings to take off and forming another Light spear…

But then he drew a piece of paper from his pocket with a rustling, and thrust it in her face with a, "Hah!"

She blinked, confusion breaking through the haze of wild desperation, and despite herself, focused on the piece of paper that he was now brandishing at her.

It was a crudely drawn picture of what looked like two stick figures (one with long black scribbles for hair) sitting on a long stripe of brown, both holding an unidentifiable object in their laps.

As she stared at it, completely befuddled, her spear suddenly fell from her limp fingers and she landed on the ground, falling to her knees with a thump. "Ungh! W-What…?" she asked, trying to stand up. However, her legs refused to respond. "What is this…?!"

"Phew…took me a little bit, but I finally got you to stop," sighed Roy.

"I'll save you, Ray-chan!"

However, without even looking, he swung the drawing around behind him, drawing Mittelt's eyes to it as well.

"Pfft, that looks like a kid drew i- ACK!"

The lolita-wearing blonde dropped like a rock, faceplanting into the ground with a grunt.

Before Raynare's disbelieving eyes, her comrade's body began to split open along random seams, her dress and skin peeling apart in layers. "Oh…oh god…!" she whimpered, looking down at her hands. Sure enough, her arms and chest were likewise beginning to open up, although curiously, she felt no pain, just a sense of deep discomfort. More importantly, she could see that the layers peeling open were in fact sheets of paper, covered in text.

"Heaven's Door," announced Roy, causing a tiny, green and white man in a little suit and wire-frame top hat to appear over his shoulder, "Its activation requirements were a bit of a pain to get around, but it's not bad for stopping someone non lethally." Seeing the horrified look on her face, he shrugged. "Hey, would you rather I beat you up more, or get you to expose every detail of your life?"

"Both of those sound pretty horrible!" she protested weakly, trying to form another spear. However, her hands couldn't even form a fist, and she squealed in shock as her face began to open up as well.

Roy deadpanned at her under his coat. "Well, you tried to kill me, so you can be thankful that I'm letting you off with this much." He knelt down and peered at the writing on her chest. "Alright, let's see here…Raynare. Well, I did assume that Amano Yuuma was a false name, so that's not a shock."

Raynare flinched. "Y-You knew?"

"Sure I did. I noticed what you were when you were in that alleyway," he replied easily, and he snorted when a fresh bit of writing scrawled itself under her collarbone.

No way! If he knew, then why…?

A page turned under her left breast, showing a photograph of a bowl of ice cream.

He sighed. "Because I'm soft, I suppose. I couldn't do anything when I saw your sorry state in that alleyway." Then he peered at her face, clearly reading something else. "Huh. You're older than I thought. You supernatural folks really do have crazy longevity."

She blushed, although her cheeks were currently curled up. "S-Stop. That's enough!"

"First thing's first…I need to see what kind of person you really are, Yuuma-chan." He began leaving through her pages, making her squirm and protest. "It's not like I'm expecting you to be a saint or anything. Fallen Angels don't Fall for no reason, do they?"

"H-Hey!" protested Mittelt, weakly crawling towards them, "Quit bullying Ray-chan! She doesn't like talking about her Fall!"

"Well I don't like being hounded and killed for no reason," drawled Roy, not looking up, "Let's just see what deed got you in trouble with the big guy."

Raynere struggled, whining as Roy gently, but firmly pulled apart layer after layer of her life. However, the deeper he looked, the more he started to regret it. Underneath the newspaper-like text that described the details of her life, there lay countless pictures, faded to monochrome, of mounds of bodies.

Scattered among them, he noticed scrawled, messy thoughts, as if written in a pen pressed down so hard that the ink practically bled through to every page underneath.

I don't want to die!

Please forgive me.

His skin crawled, but he went deeper, the pages growing yellowed and faded, until he found one, still fresh and white, written in neat handwriting that belied its contents.

Angel Raynarel was a Courier in the outer Spheres of Heaven. The War had quieted down by the time she was born, but nonetheless she was kept busy, ferrying messages all over the outer two Spheres to any higher-up Angels that might need them.

It was a menial space in the hierarchy, but she was happy to be there. After all, Angels lived to serve the Almighty in whatever ways they were created for. Doing the bidding of those above her was all she aspired to.

One day, when she was a century old, she was asked to deliver a missive to one of the Thrones, a higher-ranked Angel than she'd ever had to serve before. She was so delighted to be able to serve one of the chariots of God!

What did I do…? was scrawled off to the side in tiny letters.

She did all the paperwork properly. She contacted everyone she was supposed to. She flew through the proper entrances.

When she arrived, she couldn't find the Throne, so she searched for him.

I knew I should have waited…

Eventually, she followed him to a closed room, where he was speaking with several other Angels. Of course, when she waited for him to finish, he became angry at her.

I didn't hear anything! I didn't lie!

The group grabbed her, and dragged her to a cold, dark room.

I didn't like that place. Too cold. God's love was not there. It scared me.

They kept talking about a secret that must not spread among Heaven.

No, I didn't hear it! I didn't hear anything!

They ignored her cries as they dragged her towards a large hole in the ground, bordered with dirty gold. They threw her in, and her wings refused to lift her.

She burned.

She burned.

She burned.

Without understanding why, she Fell.

When she awoke, it was to find herself in the middle of nowhere on the Mortal Realm. Her body was heavy, and she could barely remember how to stand.

When she saw her wings, her heart broke; her pure, fluffy white plumage, proof of God's love for her, had been scorched pitch black.

Wailing with grief and pleading for forgiveness from the deaf heavens, she scrubbed at the soot-stained feathers until both her hands and wings were raw and bloody, but never again did the white show through.

Roy stared at the Fallen Angel's written past for a good, long moment, before slowly, gently, letting the pages above them cover it back up.

All Fallen Angels revel in Sin, wearing their reason for Falling like a badge of honor. Why did I Fall? Please, Lord, I still don't understand after all this time!

Until I understand…or until He forgives me…I don't want to die!

The boy sat back, his heart heavy. "Fuck…" he mumbled. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind; killing this woman would give him regrets for the rest of his life. Finally, he got to his feet. "Here's the deal. I'm not going to kill you, and when we send you back, I won't let you die."

Raynare's eyes widened. "...What?"

"Eh? Say what-now?" asked Mittelt, lifting her head confusedly.

Roy squared his shoulders, before looking down at both of them. "This is how it's gonna be. If you promise to stop fighting and come quietly, I will undo my power and let you live. If you want to keep fighting, then I'll have to get more…invasive." He pulled out a pen, letting their eyes hold on it. "All I have to do is write on you: 'Cannot harm Yatogami Roy or anyone he cares about.' You will become physically incapable of attacking me or my friends."

Raynare gulped and looked at Mittelt, who was looking just as confused as she was at the moment. Then, the younger woman sighed, putting her head down. "Aw, fuck it. If it's between you and that prick that killed Kala-chan, I'd rather surrender."

He let out a sigh of relief, and began to dismiss Heaven's Door, when suddenly his picture was torn from his hands by a glowing shaft. Letting out a curse, he grabbed both girls and leapt out of the way, pumping his legs and soaring far higher than he should be able to. An instant later, a quartet of glowing spears stabbed down into the ground where the two Fallen had lain just moments before.

Landing heavily, Roy dumped the two of them on the ground with an 'Oof.'

"...Oi. What do you think you're doing?" he asked, his quiet voice filled with incredulity and growing anger.

Another pair of Fallen had exited the church, and were hovering above them. "Taking care of the trash," the first one, a taller, lankier fellow, twirling an abnormally long and thin spear.

"But it looks like we'll have to do this the hard way first," sneered a second, shorter angel, grinning in a way that revealed a mouth full of shark-like teeth.

Raynare began to tremble, even as the pages of her body fused back together and strength returned to her body. Terror sapped it away again just as quickly.

"You fucking traitors!" yelled Mittelt, "Why the fuck do you even care whether we fight or not?! Huh?! Are you that fucking desperate to get the War started back up?! First Kala-chan, now this!"

The lanky Fallen scoffed. "The War will go on, and we Fallen will emerge victorious! No one who would stray from that belief can call themselves a Fallen Angel and live to tell about it!"

The blonde let out a noise of incredulity and disgust. "What kinda zealotry bullshit is that?"

"Victory…" muttered Raynare listlessly, her hands balling into fists as she raised her head and glared tearfully up at them. "Victory, war, fighting, is that all that being a Fallen Angel is about?! How dare you kill Kalawarner for such a petty reason!"

The squat Fallen constructed a spear with especially cruel barbs all along half of its length and hefted it. "Those are the only qualities that are worth anything to Kokabiel-sama! Now die, coward!" He hurled the weapon towards the black-haired girl with startling speed, sending it whistling through the air.

It struck home solidly…only to shatter against Roy's chest, brooking no response from him. He glared at the two Fallen, his blue eyes practically glowing from under his armor's stetson. "Unfortunately for your 'Kokabiel-sama,'" he began, voice low and thick with anger, "I've already decided that these 'cowards' will live." A wispy aura of black tendrils began to rise off of him as he took up a stance. "Are you gonna try and argue, you bastards?"

The two laughed. "What can you do, Human?"

"Your summons aren't here to save you!"

But then, Roy stomped the ground hard enough to crack it and shot out of the trees towards the two, before leaping straight up into the air, seizing the thinner man by the shoulders, and SLAMMING his head into his face, shattering his nose and making him fall from the air with a scream of agony.

"Don't need 'em," he replied dismissively, the black aura around him blazing and billowing, "Beast Technique: Mantle of Mastery!"

The thinner man screamed, writhing on the ground in shock and pain from his broken nose as the human he'd mocked stood over him. His partner, seeing how quickly he'd been taken down, quickly abandoned any attempt at condescension and began hurling thick, barbed spears down at him, flying higher to avoid another grab.

However, Roy only smacked the weapons out of the air with swift, sharp strikes, one by one, deflecting them decisively into the dirt. "It's pretty cool, you know," he commented, watching the man above him. "This power of mine…it's easy to see why it's considered so dangerous. When you get down to it, what qualifies as a 'monster' is totally fluid." He glanced at the black wisps curling off his hand. "Even an intangible ghost could be considered one, don't you think?"

"GYAAAAAAAAH! DIE, YOU CRAZY MONSTER!" Howled the man, before blasting an even larger spear from his sharp-toothed mouth at Roy.

"You see? Subjective," he continued, tilting his body to the side and catching the spear. The aura oozing from his body guided his movements, lending him speed and precision of a master as he began twirling the glowing shaft, sparks flying from his armored gloves. "And I'd say that your mouth is way more monstrous than mine." So saying, he cocked back his arm and hurled the spear right back at him.

The Fallen Angel's shout of rage and fear cut off with a wet choke as his own weapon punched clear through his body and out the other side, the weight and momentum of the spear throwing him back as he dropped from the sky.

Roy watched him fall from the sky and land with a sickening squelch, and a tremor ran through his body. …Ah. I finally killed someone.

It was inevitable. And I've killed already.

I've had my Shadows kill. This was with my own hands.

They would've killed the other two.

Maybe that'll make me feel better tomorrow…but right now, it sucks.

The survivor stared at him and began to scramble to his feet. "Y-You, just you wait!" he yelled out, slightly nasal through his broken nose. "I'll be back with more, and you three are dead! YOU HEAR ME!?"

Roy heard him, but did not dignify him with a response as he let his aura dissipate. Having it active would only drain his Darkness. He merely snapped his fingers instead.

*SH-SH-SH-SHINK!*

Before the Fallen could react, several shadowy blades sliced cleanly through him, and he collapsed into a heap of bloody pieces. Behind him, five Samurai Khan sank back into the shadows.

"Ha…Hahahaha!" Mittelt gave a tired laugh, leaning against Raynare. "Oh, jeez, we never stood a chance, did we?"

Her friend shook her head silently, watching the young man.

"Oi, pint-size. What's your name?" he asked them suddenly.

Mittelt bristled. "Who're you calling pint-sized?! I'm Mittelt!"

He grunted in acknowledgement, before turning and heading back towards the church. "Don't go too far. Things should be wrapping up soon."

Raynare watched him leave, her eyes beginning to water. Am I really…going to make it out of this? She felt a bit of heat in her face from having her deepest, darkest secrets seen so easily, but with the way that human had fought to protect her…she couldn't be TOO mad.

ASM

She came to consciousness slowly, feeling cold and sore, apart from the stabbing pain in her abdomen.

D-Damn…still not dead, I guess, thought Kalawarner, laboriously dragging her eyes open, If I were in just a little less pain I could show that bastard Dohnaseek how this feels…

However, her thoughts trailed off as her eyes found their focus and she saw what was before her.

A pitch black, smoky jellyfish floated lazily in the air above her, reaching down with wiry tendrils to lightly touch the gaping stab wound in her belly. Where it touched her flesh, however, the tentacles glowed at the tips with a bright, green light. In fact, as her mental faculties returned to her, she realized that the sickening pain from the injury was abating with each passing moment. Huh? Wait, this thing…it's gotta be one of those human's summons. And it's healing me. What the hell…?

Kalawarner stirred, feeling the strength coming back into her limbs, and began to sit up. I don't really get it, but if I'm being saved, then that's fine by me! Ah…Ray-chan's probably losing her mind because of me. Silly girl…you're not an Angel anymore, you can't go losing your head over an old woman like me.

As she slowly came too, she looked around to see what she had basically predicted would happen. The Exorcists were strewn in a bloody heap all over the church floor, hacked, slashed and crushed by the combined efforts of Kiba, Koneko, and Issei, not to mention the dozens of shadowy, icy and fiery Knights. The latter in particular had proved to be the Holy 'soldiers'' undoing, continuously regenerating any wound inflicted on them or turning aside all attacks with black iron shields. The remaining Exorcists could possibly be lauded for standing and fighting to the last, but it was clear that they were outgunned and outmatched, not to mention totally outnumbered at this point.

High above the melee were the Devil Princess and her subordinate, darting back and forth through the air and slinging around magic. At first glance, it looked like they were struggling against the Fallen that Dohannsek had summoned, barely dodging the barrage of spears streaking down from every direction. However, even after ten minutes had gone by, neither girl had picked up so much as a scratch. Any spear that came close to finding its mark would be knocked off course by a bolt of lightning or shattered by a red bullet.

"I'm almost beginning to feel bad for you crows~" giggled Akeno, "So many of you, and you can't even take down two little Devils!"

"You haven't even managed to touch us yet either!" a female Fallen snapped back, hurling another spear at the dark-haired Yamato Nadeshiko, which was of course dodged.

Rias only rolled her eyes, conjuring a thin sheet of Destructive force with a wave of a hand, which devoured a spear without so much as a ripple. "I hope Roy won't be too long in his decision here. The last part of that contract is proving kinda annoying."

"Ara, I think he won't mind if you kill one or two of them!" her friend chuckled, "After all, he did tell his soldiers to kill anyone who attacked us."

However, the redhead only shook her head, face set stubbornly. "No! The contract says that the Fallen Angels' fates are for him to decide, and I'm sticking to my word!"

Dohnaseek heard this and snarled as he realized that the two of them were holding back and toying with his forces. "Enough!" he barked at the Fallen closest to him, "Target the ones on the ground! Let's see them try and dodge us instead."

Four of the remaining eight black-winged fighters peeled off from the group and swooped down towards the rest of the Devils, who by this point had all but finished off the last of the Exorcists.

Issei, who was looking quite nauseated by this point from all the bones he'd broken up until this point, let out a yell of shock and frustration when one of the Fallen swooped down at him, forcing him to put up a hasty block that only saved him because of the armored jacket that Roy had lent him. "I…am sick of fighting for my life!" he complained, punching the Fallen in the gut and making him bend double with a gag, "I'm sick of people wanting me for whatever I was born with! And I'm sick of you bastards thinking I'm an easy target!" As he punched, the glove and sleeve on his left arm abruptly shredded with a flash of red light as the gauntlet of his Sacred Gear formed. "Twice Critical!"

[BOOST!] declared the gauntlet, the green gem on the back flashing as he began to lay into the unfortunate Fallen, his blows falling even heavier than before. WHAM! WHAM! BAM! POW!

Meanwhile, Koneko was facing off against two of the other three, while the third faced Yumi. The two facing the fun-sized cat girl grinned, thinking they'd take an easy win. However, Rias's Bishop didn't so much as flinch at the prospect of fighting two, instead simply cracking her neck. As the first one charged her, she nimbly ducked under his vicious stab and jabbed him in the ribs with a tiny punch before spinning away, sliding right into the guard of the other one. Her tiny fists drummed against his chest, before she abruptly slammed her palm into his gut, knocking him back.

"Is that it?" asked the first one, laughing derisively, "You punch like a kitten!"

"Ugh, speak for yourself," grunted the other, massaging his chest.

Koneko held up her hand, and quickly clenched her fist. "...Burst."

The spots of Ki in the two Fallen's bodies that she'd struck began to roil and twist, boiling out of control and causing their bodies to distort.

"...Huh?" they both uttered confusedly, looking down to see their flesh bubbling and swelling.

The Fallen then exploded, bursting in a shower of gore and blood, shocking everyone.

The catgirl humphed. "You were…already dead."

The fourth Fallen, not realizing that she was now rather outnumbered, divebombed Kiba, brandishing a weapon that looked more like a spiked club. "You think you can take us all on? Light's poison for you devils!" she crowed, grinning savagely "I just need one good swing and you'll be begging for mercy!"

However, as she sped towards the blonde girl and swung viciously at her head, her weapon of Light suddenly wavered and lost cohesion. Before she could react, the club flowed out of her hand and was sucked into Kiba's weapon, a black sword with a gold leaf pommel.

"Good grief, and I've been using this same sword the whole time," sighed Kiba disparagingly, the boyish girl giving the Fallen Angel a look that was somewhere between pity and disdain. "Unfortunately for you, I've long since had a grudge against your kind, so I created Holy Eraser just for idiotic opponents like yourself."

The Fallen woman snarled, forming another weapon, but in a blur of speed, Kiba shot up into the air behind her, and the weapon dissipated as her hand promptly fell off. She let out a choked cry of pain as twin slashes cut across her shoulders.

"Sorry to tell you, but we Devils stopped fearing your Light long ago." So saying, Yumi let out a swift, brutal swing, decapitating her opponent.

While all of this was going down, Freed and Chiaki continued to clash, Chiaki rotating her katana to divert the man's strikes off to the side before swinging at him herself.

"Heh, you're not so bad. This isn't your first time fighting to the death like this, huh?" he commented, grinning.

"I'm good enough to fight you, since you haven't killed me yet!" Chiaki spat back, making him step away with a wide swing. However, she pulled two talismans out of her pocket. "Kiridori!" she called out, causing one to pulse with light, before the paper rippled and burst into shreds, which then grew into cutouts of birds and streaked towards Freed.

Despite his surprise, the Exorcist reacted quickly, brandishing his Light sword to burn away most of the bird-like scraps of paper. Even then, he couldn't quite get all of them, and he winced as they cut across his arms and legs. "Ack, fuck! Those're some nasty papercuts!"

While he was distracted, Chiaki tossed her other talisman in the air and slashed through it. "Tsukeru!" Somehow, the blade cutting through the paper generated sparks, which ignited the steel in an instant. Then she rushed at him with another swing, this time fanning out a blazing plume of fire.

Freed back flipped out of the way, the flames singing his shirt. "Whoa! Talismans, huh? Ah, I see, you must be one of those Shinto heathens from that little mountain shrine, right? Didn't recognize you without that slutty outfit."

She snarled, and slammed her blade against his. "You're just begging to die at this point!"

He grinned, leaning forward across the blade lock. "Not as hard as you'll be begging for my dick after this little spar is over! Maybe if I don't fuck you up too bad, you can introduce me to the rest of your oni-bait friends~"

"You…you…!"

"I mean, c'mon, don't you know how you Miko 'warriors' always end up? My god, what do they feed you cows!? It's like they're raising you to be Taimanin or something!"

Chiaki let out a roar of fury, her blue eyes blazing with rage, and swung wildly, only for Freed to casually knock her overhead chop off-course. "Gotcha~" he said cruelly, and stabbed her abdomen…

Only for the glowing blade to skitter off her suit in a shower of sparks.

"...Eh?" Freed blinked at his sword, confused as to why it would suddenly betray him in mutilating soft meat.

The hilt of Chiaki's katana smacked into his face, breaking his nose and making him recoil. "Idiot. Roy would never forgive me for falling for such cheap taunting," scoffed the young woman, her rage gone as if it had never been, replaced by icy disdain. Then, before the vulgar young man could respond, her blade swept around and sliced clean through his right arm, cutting it off and sending it spinning away.

It took Freed a moment to register the fact that his arm had been cut off, but when he noticed, his howl of agony broke through Issei's haze of desperation and filled him with a sense of catharsis. "YOU COCKSUCKING BITCH!" He roared, his cocky expression vanishing as he clutched at the stump of his arm, "Ahhhhhh…! That was my good arm too! I'll kill you…I'll remember your face, so that I can cut it off myself!"

As he stumbled about, trying to keep his now lopsided balance, movement caught his eye, and he cast his gaze around. His eyes widened as he saw Kalawarner sitting up, as well as the black jellyfish floating over her. What the fuck? Didn't what's-his-face kill that bitch? That's gotta be one of the sneaky bastard's summons, but when did he get it over there?

Then, the man remembered how Roy had somehow fired a ball of shadows at him, and missed. Wait a sec…since when could a guy like him throw around energy blasts like that? Was he actually throwing that thing past me? He let out a groan. "Shit…that motherfucker is just too damn clever…"

However, that was all he could get out before Issei, having finally beaten his Fallen Angel into the ground, reached him. His gauntleted fist smashed Freed across the face so hard that it felt like it would spin right off. He was lifted off his feet, and spun, feeling something in head cracking, before landing in a heap and passing out.

"...Well. Looks like I was right in not worrying too much," commented Roy from the doorway, "Everyone alright?"

Chiaki nodded, relaxing. "Yeah, these guys were no trouble. What happened to the bitch that threw you out the window?"

He shrugged. "Eh, I talked her down. Her name's Raynare; she and her friend Mittelt are alright, we can spare them, not to mention that third one, Kalawarner."

"And the others?" asked Rias.

Roy gave a grunt. "If they've been trying to kill you all this time and don't seem to be under duress, then you can get rid of 'em."

The redhead smiled wryly. "I figured, but didn't want to assume."

Two of the remaining Fallen in the Air sped towards her, spears in hand, only for two rays of crimson light to lance out from her outstretched fingers and pierce straight through them, turning them to ash. Meanwhile, the two that Akeno had been facing suddenly found themselves lit up by blindingly bright bolts of lightning, spasming and screaming as their bodies were flash-fried in an instant.

As Rias tossed down a ball of Destruction to obliterate the Fallen Angel that Issei had beaten senseless, Dohnaseek began to panic. This was not how it was supposed to go. They were supposed to get the gears and get home. Now, he might have to go into hiding, if not run!

These moronic upstarts would be nothing compared to how Kokabiel would react when he found out.

Then Roy's words fully registered with him. "Kalawarner? Are you a half-wit? I already killed that traitor!"

The boy snorted. "Yeah, funny thing about that. Gut wounds hurt like hell, but they can kill slowly enough to apply some first aid."

"What are you-?"

His scornful reply was cut off with a cry of pain when a yellow spear plunged into his back. Kalawarner, feeling healed enough to sit up, had hurled it straight at him. "I lived, bitch!" she snarled, "That's for bullying Ray-chan into fighting, you backstabbing fuck. See how you like it."

"Y…You…!" snarled the male Fallen, trying to stay upright.

But then a dainty hand grasped his chin, forcing him to look back into Rias's blue eyes.

"Even leaving aside killing people in my territory," she told him disdainfully, her hand beginning to glow red. "I despise people who keep their underlings in line with fear. Vanish into the wind."

There was a flash, and Dohnaseek's head was blown into dust, followed swiftly by the rest of his falling body.

And with that, it was done.

Rias sighed. "What a mess." She turned to Roy. "Can you get the other two to come in here? I'll take them home with me, and then send them back to the Grigori tomorrow."

Roy nodded, giving a lackadaisical salute. "Alright. Oh, should I do anything to help clean up all of…this?" he asked, grimacing at the carnage that was strewn around the church.

"No…just give me a bit. Maybe a few people with brooms," she replied, summoning more of her Power of Destruction.

Meanwhile, Chiaki walked over to Kalawarner and helped her up. "You alright?" she asked.

The older woman wobbled, glancing up at the jellyfish still tending to her wounds, floating over her like a balloon on a string. "Oof, I've been better. I think I'm fine with the holes I've got without adding any new ones to my body. By the way, what is this thing?"

"Oh, this is Dr. Jelly. Roy made it because he was getting sick of putting off creating a monster that could do healing."

Kalawarner gave a noise of acknowledgement, giving it an appreciative look. "Well, give him my thanks for saving my life. I'd thank him myself, but fucking with a gut wound sucks, heheh."

Chiaki's eye twitched, already regretting helping out this woman.

"Ah, by the way, you might wanna make sure Freed's dead. That guy's real good at escaping punishment."

"Eh? Oh, that foul-mouthed asswipe," she muttered, glancing around, "Well, Hyoudou-kun knocked him out, so he should be…huh?" While she spotted the severed arm she'd produced, the manchild it'd been attached to was nowhere to be found. "...Uh oh."

ASM

Once Roy returned with Raynare and Mittelt, their first reaction on seeing Kalawarner still alive was to tackle her into an embrace. The two younger angels sobbed in relief as they realized that they had, in fact, survived a complete and total curbstomp.

Once they recovered, Rias explained to them that they would be turned over to the Grigori, and that she would even ask for leniency on their behalf. Despite their surrendering, they still operated in her territory illegally and they nearly killed Roy and Issei, so they would still be published, but their lives weren't in danger. Though the Fallen were understandably worried about their punishment, whatever their Governor General had in mind would be mercy compared to being thrown in the Cocytus.

After explaining this to them, Rias bade everyone good night and dismissed them. Considering what Issei had gone through, Roy and Chiaki escorted him home. The two helped him to at least mentally cope with what just happened, with Roy promising to help at school. After dropping him off, Roy and Chiaki set off for home.

"You kicked Freed's ass, then?" he asked, wondering what to fill the silence with. He had long since dismissed the Armor Shadows that he'd given out, leaving him and Chiaki in their regular clothes.

His sister nodded with a sigh. "Yeah…what an asshole. I can't believe someone like that was ever a real Exorcist. If only I'd just finished him off before I took my eyes off him…"

"Ugh, we'll definitely see him around," agreed Roy gloomily, "I'll probably keep some guards on Mom and Dad; he might be good at getting away, but against my Shadows, he's totally outmatched."

Chiaki laughed and ruffled his hair, much to his annoyance. "Don't get a swelled head. That guy is FAR from the worst thing out there. There're things that could kill me without even noticing."

He hummed. "Well…if I meet one of those things and live to tell the tale, I'll be able to imagine something that could fight it."

"Hah…jeez, I can never tell whether you're brave, or fearless."

"You kidding? I was afraid that their weapons might be able to get through Silver Skin the entire time," Roy answered indignantly.

"See, the way you're able to admit things like that so easily is what makes people feel like you're never serious…" Chiaki pointed out.

He could only shrug.

Eventually, the two of them reached their home. Inside, their mother looked like she was just getting started on cooking dinner. "There you are!" she exclaimed, both relieved and a little cross, "You two should call if you're going to be staying out so late. I was worried that something might have happened."

The two siblings exchanged a look. "Right…yeah, we had something that needed doing," said Roy slowly, "Didn't take too long."

The woman nodded, even as she set slices of beef onto the grill, letting them sizzle. "What kind of thing was it? Oh, you joined a club, right, Roy? Was there some big project?"

He snorted, even as Chiaki squirmed uncomfortably. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. We'll tell you and Dad all about it." A pair of Shadowkhan materialized next to his mother, making her freeze in shock as they began cleaning the dishes. "It might take a little while to explain it all."

ASM

AN: At last, it's done! The big climax of the arc! Finished just in time for my birthday and several games that I've been massively hyped for. I'm gonna be retreating into gaming for a good long while after all this.

Elden Ring HYYYYYYYYYPE! (And Horizon Forbidden West too. And Lost Ark.)

SOL: ELDEN RING?!

UO: Well, there goes the next….Three months.

God willing.

Notes!

1: If anyone's curious, Raynare is 252, Mittelt is 84 and Kalawarner is 417.

2: I cannot emphasize this enough: just because Roy isn't a merciless killing machine who is willing to extend mercy to others does not mean that he is stupid enough to spare someone who tries to kill others with no remorse.

3: You want Roy to make Symbiotes? Fine, here's your damn Symbiotes! (Sorta.)

4: Roy's Think Tanks allow him to coordinate his Shadow forces without having to micromanage them every second, plus it lets him keep their senses in the back of his mind so that he doesn't have to experience them brutally murdering people.

5: Fallen Exorcists? Total fodder. Backup Fallen Angels? …Well, still total chumps, lol.

6: YES! IT IS A JOJO'S REFERENCE!

7: As a drawback to activate Heaven's Door, Roy must show the target a drawing that he made himself, similar to when Rohan was first introduced. The picture he showed was him and 'Yuuma' on the bench eating ice cream.

8: Silver Skin, meanwhile, is a Buso Renkin reference.

9: Dohnaseek used Intimidate! Kalawarner Fainted! Raynare was hit by PTSD!

10: I ended up reading Kenji to learn more about Bajiquan. It's a pretty neat martial art, all things considered.

11: And there we have it: Raynare was forced to Fall for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The secret she nearly overheard, of course, was God's death. Of course, given that she Fell for reasons that don't involve any actual Sin, you wind up with a rather messed up Fallen Angel.

12: The two other Fallen mark the very first people that Roy has consciously killed with his own hands.

13: Rias being a stickler about the contract was a bit unnecessary on her part, as Roy had already said that killing was alright as long as they attacked them and didn't appear to be under duress.

14: A Bishop Koneko who is comfortable using Senjutsu means some very dead Fallen.

15: How do you get medical attention across the battlefield to someone who needs it? Make your Healer a Jellyfish and disguise it as an energy blast!

16: Now Freed is on the shit list of two Yatogami siblings, and probably vice versa.

17: Originally I was gonna have Mittelt be the one to almost be killed, but I decided that since Kalawarner was the one being more directly supportive towards Raynare, this would make sense, especially since she ends up backstabbing Dohnaseek anyway.

18: And now, to tell their parents exactly how much trouble they may or may not be in. :D

New Aspects!

Read: Shadows formed from this Aspect will tend to have abilities related to the acquisition of information in textual form.

Wear: Shadows with this Aspect can transform into ordinary clothing, and when paired with another Aspect, will be able to transform to take on further properties and abilities.

Anima: This Aspect creates Shadows that have no physical form, instead manifesting as a mass of aura. These auras can inhabit the same space as other creatures, boosting their abilities in some way or granting them additional powers. As a drawback, however, Darkness must be spent continually to constantly regenerate them while they are out.

Mind: Shadows created from this Aspect will have abilities related to the mind, and may be able to express intelligence beyond their tier.

Healing: Fairly self explanatory.

New Shadows!

Heaven's Door
Tier-2
Aspects: Read (Flawed: Target must see a drawing created by the summoner)
Abilities: Complete Textual Psychometry, Mind Alteration via Writing

Silver Skin
Tier-2
Aspects: Wear, Resilient (Flawed: Attacks that penetrate the armor will be twice as painful)
Abilities: Clothing Transformation, Supernatural Physical Defense

Think Tank
Tier-1
Aspect: Mind
Abilities: Mental Partitioning, Limited Shadow Command, High Speed Calculation, Enhanced Memory Storage and Retrieval

Dr. Jelly
Tier-1
Aspect: Healing
Abilities: Healing, Stinging, Paralysis, Levitation

Mantle of Mastery
Tier-1
Aspect: Anima
Abilities: Strength Augmentation, Speed Augmentation, Reflex Augmentation, Martial Arts Mastery, Weapon Mastery.

Next up I'll be working on my friend's Kamen Rider crossover series, followed by another chapter of my Boku no Hero reaction fic over on AO3, SATS (Songs Across Time and Space).

However, before all that, Arkasia, the Forbidden West and the Lands Between all await me. See you on the other side.

*Explosion*

UO: SOL DID IT

SOL: It wasn't me.

North South Out.