"Boost!"

As the last call echoed around the underground chamber, Ryuko slowly stood up. The stone beneath her feet cracked and crumbled from the pressure as the pews nearest her crumbled to splinters, and then dust...save the one Asia lay upon, which seemed sheathed in golden light. One of the exorcists charged her...only to dissolve with a scream of agony as he got too close, his essence sucked into her bit by bit like he'd stepped into the gravity well of a black hole. Seeing this, Ira grabbed Yuuto and Koneko and moved as far back from Ryuko as possible while still being able to see her. Uzu and Nonon quickly followed suit.

Raynare stepped back from Ryuko in shock, and her eyes drifted to the Sacred Gear. "Th...that's just a Twice Critical!" she declared in disbelief. "Even with how strong you normally are, it shouldn't boost you this much! And you were weakened-"

Ryuko's right hand shot up in front of her face, fingers spread as her eyes glowed red between them, her mouth pulled back in a sneer revealing razor sharp teeth. "Explosion!" The bracer erupted out, spreading crimson metal to form a clawed gauntlet across her entire hand and halfway to her elbow. Her power erupted.

As Rias and Akeno arrived through the portal, Akeno glanced up at the church. "Well, Ryuko's friends certainly know how to make an entrance," she commented in amusement as she looked from the powdered entrance to the collapsed floor. "I wonder what Satsuki meant about damage control-"

"Explosion!"

Power flexed, the world flinched back, and the entire church exploded upward into a swirling vortex, its size only limited by the base still being underground. Stone, wood, glass, and light swirled around, trapped by the maelstrom and unable to escape, echoing with the screams of those claimed by the winds.

"...that," Rias managed to get out, her eyes wide.

"...should we call your Onii-sama?" Akeno asked nervously.

"...no, call Mako-san," Rias corrected. "She'll have better luck here."

Akeno raised an eyebrow. "Better than one of the four Satans?" she asked in surprise.

Rias pointed to where the Destruction Energy lashed through the vortex. "Yes."

Above the destroyed church and to one side of the all-consuming vortex, a Fallen Angel moved back, his two wings struggling to catch air. He was clad in a grey trenchcoat and hat, and his eyes were wide beneath the brim.

His name was Dohnaseek, and on this day he would prove that he was the smartest of the Fallen Angels who had allied themselves to Raynare's cause...by running to Azazel and reporting everything that had happened in the hope he'd be merciful. Even Mu would be better than facing that monstrosity below.

Raynare staggered back as she struggled to hold herself against the vortex. Twilight Healing glowed brightly on her hands, straining their power just to hold her in one piece. "This...this isn't possible!" she cried out...though she barely heard as even her words were claimed by the storm of power that had erupted from Ryuko. "You can't-"

Ryuko suddenly spun around and slashed at the air behind her with the clawed gauntlet. The air tore open, and a torrent of icy water erupted, blasting over Raynare and everything within the storm. She felt her hands and wrists rapidly go numb as the water blocked all sight and nearly drowned her, only a brief flash of light within the darkness. Then the water was sucked into the vortex...

And Ryuko stood before her holding two weapons the likes of which Raynare had never seen. They were bright crimson, glowed with an inner light and the infusion of Ryuko's own power...and looked like two halves of a giant pair of novelty scissors, but razor sharp.

Raynare staggered back, lifting her wands to ward herself...only to see that her hands were no longer there. "W...wha...?"

Ryuko grinned as her jaw worked. She then spat out the two rings that were Twilight Healing - along with Raynare's shredded gloves - which were caught by her waving hair before being deposited on Asia's fingers once more.

"What...are you?" Raynare screamed as she staggered back.

Ryuko lifted the blades and crossed them before her, the tips pointing up and outward to form a twisted upside down cross. The gauntlet blazed with light...and within the maelstrom of power, Raynare saw the image of a crimson dragon.

Her eyes widened as fear and despair filled her. "No...Seki...ryutei..."

With a bestial roar, Ryuko lunged forward and struck with the blades. Raynare screamed as her essence was torn apart, her body dissolving in absolute agony...

...cut short by the sound of closing jaws. "Claim!" Ddraig's voice echoed over the suddenly silent gathering as the storm subsided.

Koneko stared around in shock. The place was completely unrecognizable. Aside from a few scraps of cloth from the Exorcist's robes, there was no sign a conflict had ever taken place here...and aside from the pew Asia lay upon, no sign of what sort of structure had been here. She started to take a step forward.

Ira held her back. "It's not over yet," he said firmly, watching Ryuko.

Ryuko turned and walked calmly up to Asia.

You can't do anything at this point, Ddraig told her sadly. She's beyond your power to pull back.

Ryuko refused to accept that. Kneeling beside Asia, she placed her hands on hers, and focused. Her power gathered.

It's not going to work, Ddraig pointed out. It would take a god to keep death from taking her now- He flinched back as he felt the resolve. No, Ryuko! You can't handle that much power-

His words were cut off as the primal cry echoed from deep inside Ryuko, a cry so draconic in nature that it overrode Ddraig's own mind and caused his instincts to control him, and they became of one mind that they would not let another take what was-

MINE!

"BOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOST-BOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOST-BOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOST-"

The whole world shook as power the likes of which hadn't been felt since the God Wars when God, the Satans, Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels had fought for the fate of humanity, since the days before Great Red had flown into the Abyss. Ryuko's body vibrated as cracks appeared along the surface of her skin, fighting just to contain the power as the gauntlet on her arm twisted and warped. She wouldn't last long like this, a few moments at most. But for those few moments, she had power that eclipsed gods.

...and she knew just how to use it.

The guantlet suddenly expanded on her arm further, the twisting and shrieking of the metal echoed by the sound of her flesh being torn as it dug into her body to - for some reason - drink her blood. Ddraig's voice screamed in pain as it declared, "Transfer!" as a second green gem appeared on the gauntlet.

Ryuko's soul, and all the power she'd brought at her command, dove through Twilight Healing in pursuit of Asia's soul.

Ryuko found herself flying through darkness, the only sign of light Asia's soul in the distance. "ASIA!" she screamed out as she rocketed towards the light, enough power behind her to shatter stars in her wake. As she approached, she saw a figure standing beside Asia, cloaked in black. She drew back her fist, ready to deliver a punch that could rock a galaxy.

The figure turned and raised a hand. A single bony figure stopped her blow.