Mercy
Irina and Issei both walk into the woods nearby the abandoned church where Xenovia was headed when she and Irina split up this morning. With Issei's shoulder still in pain, he isn't going to be much help. But with his new power, he could do something and Irina may need help since the fallen angels are probably boosting their defenses.
Surely enough, as soon as they get closer a bunch of guys wearing priest outfits with hats and black masks appears and they all have holy swords with them, just basic swords of light that aren't anything compared to Irina's Excalibur Mimic that she wields. She asks Issei to sit back while she takes them alone. Issei feels bad about not being able to help, but Irina is more than capable of taking these guys herself.
She attacks swiftly, dodges easily, and maneuvers so perfectly that each of these guys look like children picking up swords for the first time with how much she overpowers them. Issei just cheers for her with his good arm.
While Irina finishes the last one with a quick slash, she notices something unsettling. She sees that behind Issei, another enemy is sneaking behind him with a sword in hand. She tries running towards him to stop it.
Issei turns and sees the priest behind him and hears him shout "DIE!" while he is swinging his blade at Issei. Irina panics because she isn't close enough to stop it, but then a slicing sound is heard and the priest begins falling over while he lets out a dying breath. Behind him, Xenovia stands holding a basic holy sword that she took from an enemy. She has a cold look in her eyes as she watches the priest die on the ground.
Issei and Irina take a moment of silence because that was a close call and Xenovia's appearance couldn't be more welcomed at the moment since she saved Issei's life. The three regroup for a moment with Irina and Issei being relieved that Xenovia is okay, but she does have a cut on her arm.
Concerned about her situation, Irina asks Xenovia While checking to see if Xenovia has any wounds on her body. "Those fallen angels didn't do anything too harmful, I hope."
Xenovia slings her sword over her shoulder and replies coldly "No, I retreated when I saw their numbers. I figured it'd be better if we both went after them." While it seems a bit disheartening that she isn't including Issei into their numbers, he does understand he isn't much help with his shoulder in its bad condition.
Issei stands up straight and tries to ignore the pain in his shoulder to help these two see their mission completed. He smiles and assures them "Hey, I don't know entirely what's up with this whole thing, but I'll stick it out to the end." His enthusiasm inspires Irina a little but Xenovia seems uninterested and more concerned about her mission. She leads them, but beneath her fierce exterior, she is having thoughts about the inevitable slaughter.
Abandoned Church
In an underground area, a teenage girl with blonde hair is strapped to a cross wearing nothing but a white nightgown and has clear fear in her eyes as one of the last fallen angels stands before her, Dohnaseek, and he is beginning to worry about the plans. He thinks to himself "Raynare and Mittelt were both defeated by that motley crew, Kalawarner may yet fail, and I don't have a lot of time left. I'm not trusting that unstable priest either…I have no choice." He looks at Asia and looks uneasy as he plans to do something.
Now to the entrance, the three bust through the doors of the abandoned church and immediately see someone standing across the room, and Irina recognizes him.
She steps forward and declares "We should have figured you'd ally yourself with fallen angels. You traitor!" Irina has a clear disdain for this man and Issei doesn't recognize him at all until Irina reminds Issei that this man, Freed Sellzen, is the reason she and Xenovia are here in the first place.
Freed simply smiles and replies "What's so traitorous about following the words of the almighty angels? An angel is an angel last I checked…which, OH MY. Does make you a traitor? Since you slew a divine and holy angel?"
Irina ignores his words because all she has to do is look at Issei and it reminds her that she made the right choice. Irina raises her sword and Xenovia does the same thing. Issei, however, feels that something is off. He looks at Xenovia and sees that her sword seems to be aimed away from Freed rather than towards him. He also notices a change that catches his eyes.
He's about to say something when he hears a voice saying "Good instincts, young man." From nowhere and Irina didn't seem to hear the voice. Then, another sound is heard, faintly, and Issei sees shadows moving around the room. But before he can do anything else, the loud sound of screaming is heard through the church.
Irina hears it too and her face moves back and forth while Xenovia's eyes go towards a specific direction Issei looks where she's looking and there's a green light coming from a hidden doorway in this building.
Without thinking, the guise is broken when "Xenovia" utters "That damn idiot started without me." And Issei hears her and is ready to tell Irina that something is wrong with her but when his vision goes back to the two, Xenovia already is in mid-swing with her sword aimed at Irina's neck.
Issei, acting swiftly, jumps in and tackles "Xenovia" before her sword can connect, but Issei hits with his bad arm causing his wound to bleed more and his bandage to turn red but he impacts her with enough force to push her into a bench.
Irina turns to see Issei knocking down her friend and asks in shock "Issei, what have done?" but her shock is replaced with more worry at seeing Issei's wound. Her back is turned and Freed wastes no time making his move and charges at Irina with his sword ready. He has a gun, but it looks like he wants to enjoy killing Irina.
Issei sees him coming at her, but his shoulder makes it impossible for him to help her in time. Irina can't see him with her head turned towards Issei.
But, another miracle occurs when the real Xenovia appears from nowhere and swings her massive sword and her powerful strike cuts Freed's chest and propels him through multiple benches and through a wall.
Xenovia sighs with relief and says "I cut that one close, but it looks like I made it." Irina and Issei are both excited to see her and are a little surprised to see her clothes are changed as she now wears what appears to be nun attire with brown boots. Her first response, however, is to scold Irina right as they make eye contact "You know better than to get distracted like that, Irina. You would have been killed if I hadn't moved in."
Issei is relieved, but Irina is absolutely confused right now "Xenovia? Didn't Issei tackle you just moments ago?" she asks dumbfounded until she looks and sees that Kalawarner's disguise is falling apart as the exorcist armor rips away and her true appearance comes out.
She stands up, annoyed, and wipes away some blood from her mouth. Her anger is very apparent when she says "I've had enough of you, stupid virgin kid." And she summons a yellow spear in her hand while Xenovia and Irina ready themselves.
Irina automatically understands the base of the situation but wonders about the screaming. They all wonder about that, but Kalawarner, the woman in front of them, is a more pressing concern at the moment. Kalawarner lets out her wings and takes flight but Irina leaps into the air before the fallen angel gets too high and turns her sword into a ribbon and uses it like a lasso to grab Kalawarner around the leg and then slams her into the ground.
"Using Xenovia's appearance to kill us…I won't go easy on you for tricking us like that." Irina states to the grounded fallen angel. She turns her weapon back into a sword and it's clear that this fallen angel has little chance of doing any more harm by herself and Freed isn't anywhere to be seen. Xenovia joins Irina as they look down on their foe and Issei turns around to where the glow came from as Kalawarner screams and a flurry of feathers fly by him.
Irina and Xenovia join him but Irina has to ask her friend "Where were you, Xenovia? If that fallen angel was pretending to be you, then they must have done something to you. They didn't hurt you did they?" her voice has concern in it.
But Xenovia explains "Actually, they paralyzed me, but then I woke up, I was wearing these clothes, my sword in front of me, and my wounds were completely healed."
Irina's eyes glow "Then you must have been saved by God's blessing." Then picks up her rosary and kisses it "Amen!" she says with a star in her eyes.
Xenovia prays as well because she also believes it, but Issei, not so much. They approach the doorway but then it flies open and a bunch of rogue priests comes through it with weapons ready and the two girls fend them off. Issei manages to slip by the fighting because Irina and Xenovia are doing a good job fighting off these grunts. Issei finds himself in some kind of ritual chamber complete with a stairwell to an altar. He looks up and sees the male fallen angel from before and behind him is the blonde girl, someone who Issei hasn't met and she isn't moving. Issei looks in horror at this.
Dohnaseek looks at Issei with slight irritation and states "You know if you had been a good boy and died when our boss struck you, then you'd have saved yourself a lot of hardship."
Issei has his hand on his shoulder indicating his worsening condition to Dohnaseek. Issei just looks at the girl and wonders what happened here. Dohnaseek simply summons a blue spear and walks down the steps towards Issei but he then notices a green orb in the fallen angel's free hand.
"I've got what she wanted in my hand, but I don't even know what to do with it. I could just leave with it and give to my superiors as an apology or just use it myself." Dohnaseek monologues while Issei backs away from him.
Issei has very little understanding of the situation, but he does understand that this green orb is what's so important and possibly the reason for all this insanity. He tries to come up with a plan but he hears a voice again "Use the power of the Sacred Gear." Issei waits a little longer since the mystery voice is making sense due to what he did back at the school.
He waits a moment and falls down on his butt seemingly out of shock. Dohnaseek raises his spear for an attack but then a loud "BOOST!" echoes and Issei propels himself forward using a newfound strength from his gauntlet and gains running momentum and grabs Dohnaseek's hand and his Gear glows green for a moment.
The voice appears again and shouts "Now, put the Boosted Gear near your wound!" and Issei does so without question and then a light appears from his hand.
Dohnaseek looks incredibly upset by this and shouts "You little punk! I'm done messing around with you!" and he summons his wings and throws the spear at Issei.
But, Issei ducks out of the way in time and he moves behind a nearby pillar "That was a close one, but I dodged it without losing anything, so that's good." He says with relief, but speaking of relief, he notices his shoulder is no longer in pain as much. He looks at his shoulder and his wound is mostly healed, it's just a bad cut now. He looks at his Boosted Gear and notices a silver ring around the middle finger and wonders what it is.
Another spear comes towards Issei but he immediately runs away and puts his hand to his shoulder again and the pain gradually goes away until it completely fades. His arm now feeling better, Issei now feels like he has a chance and another "BOOST!" Echoes and he decides to go on the offensive. He sees that Dohnaseek is in the air and it's making things tough for him and he sees the stairwell to the altar. Issei runs towards the stairs and Dohnaseek throws more spears at him. Issei waits for a moment and dodges another spear. He then waits for the right moment until Dohnaseek throws another spear, and with a great sense of timing, Issei jumps off the stairs, and then he uses Dohnaseek's own spear against him when Issei jumps off of the spear as it shoots at the stairs and uses it as a step that he immediately jumps off of and another "BOOST!" echoes.
Issei shouts "I didn't know her, but this is for that girl up there!" Dohnaseek can't do a thing while Issei punches towards him with a great boost in strength and his fist connects with the fallen angel's face and he is sent crashing into the floor below with such force that it causes the building to shake and a crater to form in the ground.
Issei safely lands on the ground and sees that his opponent isn't moving at all but he may just be stunned. Issei looks back up at the girl and runs up the stairs again, but this time to help her. He runs up to her and then it hits him just how cute she is. Issei blushes a bit and gently taps her face "Hey, it's okay now." He softly tells her. But she doesn't respond and he shakes a bit rougher "Can you hear me!? I said it's okay, that douche is down for the count!" he says more desperately.
Irina and Xenovia enter the room since they've dealt with the grunts upstairs and they see Dohnaseek down in his crater and Issei attempting to help the girl tied to the altar. Xenovia sees her and wonders "Is that her?" Irina wonders as well.
The two join Issei at the altar and ask him what happened. He just replies "I'll tell you when she wakes up. She was probably just like me and those assholes tried to kill her too."
Irina looks at Issei sadly and tells him "Issei, I don't think she's going to wake up."
Issei looks at them and retorts "Don't be crazy. She doesn't have a scratch on her, but I didn't check enough. I can heal her." His voice sounding desperate as he puts his glowing hand on the girl's body but nothing changes.
Xenovia grabs Issei's arm and looks at his hand and states "This proves it…it's the witch." Her voice sounding cold as she does so.
Irina and Issei wonder who she is talking about but then Irina remembers too "Oh, you mean Asia Argento?"
Xenovia nods and explains to Issei "Don't worry about this girl. She was a heretic that got exiled for healing a devil. These fallen angels must have removed her Sacred Gear and she died as a result. But a witch deserves such a fate."
Issei hears Xenovia's hurtful words and walks up to her to grab her by the shirt "You wanna say that again!?" He asks with anger in his tone.
Irina interjects by adding "Issei, put her down. Asia Argento did…."
"Shut up, Irina! Unless you're about to say something nice, shut up!" Issei looks at Irina with anger in his face.
Xenovia gets irritated and pushes Issei back "Why are you quick to defend a heretic that you didn't even know?"
Issei grits his teeth when he asks "You mean you can't figure it out? Either of you?" the two girls don't say anything and then Issei explains "That girl…she was the one who saved Xenovia!" Xenovia realizes now that Issei said it and Irina wonders about it until Issei tells them "When Xenovia came back, she said that got attacked and left to die, but she woke up healed, with new clothes, and her sword right in front of her. That "witch" saved you."
Xenovia trembles a little but rebukes "She allied herself with fallen angels and then let herself fall victim to their ritual."
Issei just reiterates "Xenovia, she showed you kindness. More than you deserved, she gave you her clothes, and gave you back your sword."
Xenovia just turns around and grumbles while walking away but does manage to say "I'm going to look for Freed Sellzen. Irina, don't let him do anything foolish." She then proceeds to leave the room with Issei looking angry and Irina looking upset after Issei shouted at her.
Issei then tries to undo the restraints on Asia's body to get her down. Irina approaches him but she then hears him crying a bit. He gets frustrated and punches the ground after failing to undo the restraints. Issei wipes his face with his arm and then says in a calmer tone "Irina, I'm sorry I exploded on you like that without hearing everything. I just…lost it when Xenovia called this girl a witch." He stands back up and adds "Look how scared she was. She was the same age as us, and now…" the thought of a girl's life ending so shortly brings tears to Issei's eyes.
Irina is smitten with Issei's compassion towards someone he didn't know and then she looks at Asia's body and then notices her rosary, much the like the one she(Irina) wears every day. Even though she was exiled, Asia still retained her faith it seems. Feeling guilty for thinking of Asia as a witch, Irina helps Issei undo her bindings and even closes her eyes.
Issei carries Asia's body and says "We should bury her. It's the least we could do for her." And Irina nods while she looks at Issei so lovingly carry Asia's body out of the church. Issei wraps her up with some clean cloth he finds in the church and Irina transforms her weapon into a shovel and she and Issei make a grave for the girl. Irina even finds some flowers for it and Issei makes a wooden marker for it. It takes a little while, but it comes out fine.
They stand before the grave for a moment in silence but in a moment of kindness, Irina sits in front of the grave in a prayer position and wishes for Asia to find peace wherever she has gone. Issei takes Asia's rosary for himself as a memento.
After this little funeral, Irina and Issei are rejoined by Xenovia, who couldn't find Freed Sellzen and thinks he escaped during the fight. Issei still has lingering anger towards her but is grateful to Irina for helping him and saying a prayer for Asia.
Xenovia leaves again and Irina with Issei to protect him. She tells him about the Twilight Healing, or at least what she knows about it and that it's a great blessing for him to have it since he can now heal people. He still wonders about the voice that was helping him during the fight with Dohnaseek and helped him when he was suspecting the fake Xenovia.
But after some more time, after they get back to Issei's home, Irina makes a proposal to Issei. "Issei, I know what I'm about to ask you is a lot, but I think you should come with me and Xenovia…"
Issei is blown back by this "Whoa, I heard you two thinking of the idea, but just out of the blue like this?"
Irina is empathetic towards him but explains "You have two sacred gears, and if you're not careful, you could put your parents in danger if your powers go berserk. But there are people where we're from that can help you control your Sacred Gears. You could use them to serve God and help us. You could do so much good with them."
Issei looks at his Sacred Gears, the Boosted Gear and Twilight Healing. One boosts his strength and the other heals people. He could use these to help others and score some girls but then he looks at Irina's hopeful face and his face turns red. He thinks "Huh, with girls like Rias Gremory, Akeno Himejima, and Koneko at my school…I could use these to impress them..but, I don't want to." He's not interested in any of the girls with bigger breasts to impress, and he's not interest in the ever cute Koneko and he's not even thinking of Yuuto Kiba and the flock of girls which normally makes him jealous. The one girl he's interested in is the one sitting next to him.
He holds Irina's hand with his Boosted Gear hand and doesn't even think further on it "Irina, I'll do it. I'll go with you both back to wherever. I just want to be around you." This causes Irina to blush. Sure, it's sudden, but Issei is confident in his choice and his life is about to make a huge change.