Hello, Vinzelles here. Welcome back to A Path To Freedom.
This chapter came in a bit late, I know. The thing is, I turned 21 the other day! So I was busy all day with my family, and didn't feel like updating this story until this morning. (It's morning here, American folks. About 9 hours of time difference!)
As far as writing goes, I'm about halfway through Arc 2! It will end up a bit longer than this one, I think, since there's a bit of set-up (and by a bit, I mean 5 chapters of stuff happening within the same day, and that's before Riser shows up).
I can tell you it will be another 6 chapters after this one before Orochi's ability is finally revealed, but today you'll be able to see a glimpse of it. I don't think anyone can guess what it is yet, but feel free to try as you review!
Not much else to say. Today, as I mentioned in the last outro, old stuff breaks.
I'll see you at the bottom. Enjoy.
Chapter 3 - The Raid
8 p.m.. Orochi was approaching the abandoned church where the meeting was set, when he saw a familiar winged figure.
"Welcome, Kamakura Orochi... Glad you could make it..." he heard her say as he was still a few meters away.
As he closed in he noticed that Raynare looked slightly different: she now wore very frilly clothes, a snow white blouse with a black-green skirt and tight boots. A necklace was adorning her figure, and the ends of her hair had been dyed green. Only half a meter was separating them as they stared each other down, Raynare with her arms crossed under her breasts and Orochi with his hands in his pockets.
"...I see you've remembered my name. I'm honored."
"And I see that your smart-ass responses are the same as last time."
A heavy aura of hostility was surrounding them, heavy enough that the nocturnal birds laying on the roof of the building felt the instinctive impulse to flee from the place.
Orochi had to admit that Raynare looked a lot more intimidating than a few days back. No fear and no hesitation were evident on her face now. He didn't think he would see such a face from someone that was defeated by him a few days back. Could it be that she had managed to develop a strategy against him?
"So, we meet again." Orochi started. "You told me to 'expect a fight'. Are you gonna try your luck against me once more?"
"Not today. I'll cut to the chase since the two of us don't have much time."
"...?" Orochi did not expect that answer.
"Do you remember what I told you? About the people I came in this city with, and what was my initial goal?"
"I do. What about it?"
Raynare's smirk widened. "I've dissociated myself from those guys. I've decided to settle down in this city, so be ready to hear from me again in the future because I'm not done with you."
Her smirk suddenly vanished. "But that's not why I called you here. Tonight, you are here because I want to issue a challenge."
The boy's eyes lit up with interest. 'I knew it, you can't resist...' thought the Fallen.
"The purpose of this challenge is for you to demonstrate to me how much is your so-called 'strength' worth. I'll tell you what I want you to do in this building, and if you manage to do it satisfying all the conditions, I will accept your definition of strength as valid, and shall follow that path myself."
"Interesting. I assume that I'll have to take care of the people inside, with some handicap of sorts that I'll have to bear, yes?"
She nodded. "You seem to have gotten the right idea. The owner of the magical artifact is also in there, alongside my former companions and a rogue exorcist we had hired as a guard."
"You want me to stop that ritual thing you mentioned?"
"...I was supposed to carry it out, but now that I pulled myself off of the playing field they might do their thing at their own pace. For all I know, they might have already conducted it and instead of a girl to save you'll find a corpse to bury. So no, I won't pretend that much from you."
Raynare lifted a closed hand and put out her thumb.
"First rule: don't kill anyone. After fighting you and thinking hard about our battle I realized how much you've held yourself back, and I feel it's safe to say that you're perfectly capable of killing your opponents if you wanted to."
She then lifted her index finger
"Second rule: don't hold back. As long as you don't kill them you can go wild, and I want to observe you at work for a while before I have to leave."
"You have to leave? Why?"
"I'm getting to it, don't interrupt me!" Raynare scowled.
She raised her middle finger.
"Third and final rule: you're on a very unclear time-limit. The Devils overseeing this town will be here tonight at some point to intervene against the rogue Fallens that have infiltrated the city without permission, me included. They won't hesitate to kill me, if I stay here, so once I detect their presence I'm going to be leaving. I will be back once I've settled this mess I'm in with the Governor." She seemed slightly distressed as she spoke. "When they arrive and they realize someone has solved the problem before them, you'll definitely get into trouble if they find out you did it, so I suggest you do the same once you're done."
Raynare took a deep breath. "That is all. Any questions?"
"Just one request." Orochi declared. "Once you manage to come back to the city, tell me what you know about these Devils. If you promise me that, I'll take this challenge."
"...Very well, I promise. Deal?" "Deal." They shook hands.
"Then get going." said Raynare. "I shall observe your fights in a cloaking spell I prepared for a little while. It only works on humans and Fallens' senses, hence the reason why I need to bolt when the Devils arrive on the scene."
Orochi felt his excitement rise as he cracked his knuckles. "Alright, this should be a decent workout session!" he shouted as he charged towards the church's door.
"...Let's see what you're truly capable of." muttered Raynare as her form vanished, a magic circle under her feet.
Orochi swung the door open. The church, unused for a long time, already smelled of rotten wood, but he was also barely able to smell iron. There were rumors about murders taking place in this former nest of Christians several months ago, and they seemed to be true if the still present stench of blood was to be believed.
"Helloooooooo, intruder! Welcome to the party!"
A white haired man dressed in a priest garb with a crazed look stepped forward from the shadows of the moonlit interns of the building.
"...Huh? What, it's just a human. You're not the one I'm interested in, shitstain. Get going before I fill you with holes!" The priest threatened.
"A priest... One who is out of his mind, at that." was the voice that came from the 'intruder'. "I think I get why God doesn't want you to represent Him."
"Hah, I don't need any God as long as I get the chance to eliminate sinners! You, too, are a sinner, aren't you? You came in here and tried to provoke me! Your sin is arrogance, and I, Freed Sellzen, will punish you for it!" Freed immediately whipped out a gun and with incredible speed charged towards the human in front of him before pulling the trigger as the muzzle aimed for the forehead.
Orochi was not ready.
*BANG*
"It seems Freed has started to work." pondered Dohnaseek as he made his preparations. The unconscious form of a blond nun was laying on a wooden bench, while a pair of silver rings on her fingers, with shining emerald gems of immense purity, were emitting a faint light.
"Don't worry, little lady, this will be over soon."
No answer came from the girl.
"Oh, someone did come!" said Mittelt excitedly after hearing a bang.
"Hmph, better get ready then, just in case." said Kalawarner, getting up from one of the benches near the altar.
They started hearing strange noises however. No guns being fired after the first shot, no swords clashing. They sounded like strong pounds against the walls.
"...Something's wrong..." Kalawarner whispered. "...I don't sense any Devils yet!"
"Huuuuh? What a pain, it's just a random human that wandered into the building then. Which means that creepy priest will deal with him easily. Which means I got all pumped for nothing!" Mittelt whined loudly.
"Shut that mouth for a moment! Listen..." Kalawarner put a hand on her comrade's mouth. "Do you hear anything from down the hall?"
"...Wo, wuai?" ("No, why?")
The noises had ceased.
"Exactly. Should I believe that someone like Freed would only shoot a single bullet?"
"To be fair, I didn't let him do anything else, so that's probably the reason."
The two Fallen women heard this voice as louder and louder footsteps echoed through the halls, along with a new strange noise. This time it sounded as if something was being dragged along the floor of the church.
"But it's also true that whatever effort he could try to put into killing me would go to waste. His light sword was fundamentally the same as the spears you Fallens use. As for the gun, well... I'm well past the point where a bullet can harm me."
A white haired man emerged from the hallway, but not the one they were semi-familiar with. No priest garb, just simple casual clothes a normal human would wear. The battered body of Freed Sellzen was suddenly thrown in front of them. As they surveyed the damage he took it became evident that several of his bones were broken, especially those in his legs. He was barely breathing.
The one white-haired man that was standing put his hand on one of the wooden benches.
"So..." they heard him speak once more "now that I've taken care of that annoying pest of a priest..."
A pair of red eyes was glaring at them from afar.
"...Who's next?"
They were paralyzed. The thing in front of them had made short work of a fairly strong exorcist and was now going to engage them as well.
"No volunteers? ...Nobody? ...Very well." A sigh. "Guess I'll pick at random."
A moment later, Kalawarner saw one of the wooden benches flying towards her, mere centimeters away from her head before she was able to notice.
That was the last thing Mittelt could see before surrendering to the darkness encircling her, courtesy of an incredibly brutal kick in her temple as she was turning around to look at her partner.
"...Hm, I suppose both at the same time can also work."
As Kalawarner's own senses were waning, she was barely able to discern a humanoid form literally lifting the altar and throwing it to the side, revealing the staircase that led to the catacombs, before passing out from the pain.
Welcome to the bottom.
Alright, new stuff. Raynare's slightly different look is taken from an image I saw online and liked a lot. It was anime-ish, but it was not inspired by anything that already exists, so it's technically original. That's how it works, right? *sweats profusely* Anyway, the new look is meant to throw off potential hunters coming from the Grigori before she can plead for forgiveness to Azazel, and it's also meant to not make her look like a total bimbo like in the LN. That's not the role I want her in, hence the slight change.
The challenge explains itself, really. Raynare wants to see Orochi's full capabilities, so she creates a scenario where he would be forced to stop holding back and actually fight efficiently: powerful enemies, someone to save, a short time-limit. Of course, she's still subconsciously underestimating his strength: surely, a human can't be that powerful, right? That's what she's thinking, as someone who is supposed to be superior to humans no matter what. You'll see her thoughts about what just happened as soon as the next chapter starts.
I will anticipate something about his ability, since I'll be writing about it soon, now that I've finished Chapter 8. In its current form, it's still kinda weak. Currently he's winning fights only thanks to his wit and his experience, and doesn't necessarily have the strength to compete with trained Devils yet. Hell, you can't even call them proper fights. But someone with experience equal or superior to his will prove incredibly difficult to deal with if they have the power to back it up. It will become evident once I reach the first original arc.
Next time, more skullbashing, and the end of the first arc.
I'll see you soon. Ciao!