Shin sat in the middle of the clearing. He had Clarent gripped tightly in one hand. Both of his eyes were closed. Prior to leaving, his sister had left him some exercises they had been working on but he had never opened them. While Shin chased after his older sister's tail like a lost puppy, he never had any other reason to open the other exercises his Onee had left him.

"You're going to tire yourself out at this rate."

"Shut it, Vivi. I need to focus because Issei and Asia could attack me at-"

Shin moved his head out of the way, dodging a sneak attack from Issei.

"Onigari-Ryuu: Setsudan," Shin muttered. He rose to his feet quickly, swinging the sword. He missed on purpose, slicing the tree behind Issei to shreds.

"Holy shit!" Issei jumped back.

[Boost]

Asia's on my left…

"Onigari-Ryuu:...!"

"Onigari-Ryuu:...!"

"Gotamashiki!"

Asia created a sword made of pure light and slashed Shin five times. Shin parried her blows with the same skill, canceling it out. A gust of wind created by the blows washed over Issei.

"Tch! Come on! Attack me with everything you two have!" Shin said. One of Failnacht's pistols formed in his right hand.

"If you say so," Issei said, grinning. He jumped into the air and fired a massive blast of red energy at Shin.

Asia nodded and pulled out a talisman. "Onigari-Ryuu: Rekku Madan! Come forth at once!" she fired a hail of blue projectiles at Shin.

Vivi sat in midair, watching the fight. This spar would enhance Shin's reaction time but his true goal was far more impossible and dangerous than creating objects out of thin air faster. Shin was trying to learn her version of the Onigari-Ryuu. An explosion and a scream of pain caught her attention.

Shin had crashed into a tree and slid down. His arms had burns running up the forearm all the way to the elbow. Thankfully, his hands hadn't been blown off in the explosion. A last-minute Perfect Cube had saved his life.

"Damn it!" Shin said, wincing in pain.

"Shin-san, I told you to be more careful," Asia said, healing his hands.

"Shin, you won't learn this that fast. It's only been a day since you began even trying to remember your sister's movements when training," Vivi said, hovering above them. "I get that our goal is to destroy Excalibur and that Kokabiel is in this town but be realistic here. You're not going to get the basics down within a day or two."

"Basics?" Issei asked, standing next to the two.

"Our family-style, the Onigari-Ryuu, has a variant specifically made by my sister. You know the stories I've told you right? About how much of a monster my sister is?" Shin asked, flexing his fingers. Asia had finished healing them.

"Er… yes. But dude, every other word that comes out of your mouth is 'Onee is the strongest there is! Even Gods bow before Onee! If Onee were here, she'd slice Japan, Korea, and the rest of Mainland Asia in half in one swing! Hell, Onee could even cut the Moon in half if she tried!'" Issei said, doing his best Shin imitation.

"Man, don't even joke about that. She can if she wanted to," Shin said, puffing his cheeks in embarrassment. His eyes dulled to a day in their childhood.

"ONEE! Wait! You'll get hurt!"

"Don't worry, Shin-chan. Trust in your Onee.

"Musou-no-Onigari-Ryuu: Shin'en Kogeki."

"Shin!"

Shin looked up and saw Issei waving his hand in front of his face. "Dude, you zoned out. Are you alright?"

"Huh, yeah. I'm fine. I just remembered something from the past," Shin said, getting up.

"I don't get why we have to wait. We can do this perfectly fine by ourselves," Xenovia said, glaring at Shin.

"I did not understand a lick of what you just said," Shin said, leaning in his chair.

"She asked why you're keeping us here," Irina translated.

"My house, my rules. Besides, you're the one who told Issei to meet here. We could've done this at the pub you know instead of my house of all places," he replied.

"You, me, and Issei all live literally in the same row," Irina said, deadpanning at Shin.

"Well, it might take a while. Issei's probably enjoying that new Euphoria game Akeno got him for his birthday along with that VR headset Riser bought," Sophia said, leaning on her arm. "You should seriously consider learning Italian, Shin."

"Nah, I'm fine. It's not like I have to go to Italy or something one day," he shrugged.

"Come on. My last name is Italian. We might have to go to Italy because I'll drag you there just to see the coliseum," Sophia said, leaning towards him.

"I'll learn Italian when you learn how to cook," Shin said, giving her a challenging grin.

"Is that a challenge, Shi-chan?" Sophia's smile grew wider. She knew a few tricks and a few people that could help her undermine this bet.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Shin asked.

"Are you sure you two aren't dating? First, it's Akeno, now it's Sophia? Are you sure you're not trying to build a harem too, Shin-chan?" Irina asked.

"W-Wha…?"

The two flew apart faster than two magnets with the same ends pointed at each other. Their faces had slight blushes dusting their cheeks. Shin's was even worse. Adding Akeno into the situation had brought up some odd feelings. It felt worse since Irina was the one teasing him.

"I- I…! Mom w-wou- Runy-nee and Rizevim.. Ahhh!" Sophia hid her face behind her wings.

Xenovia, who didn't understand a lick of what was being said, merely used the context clues she had before her. "Irina, are Japanese usually this shifty when it comes to dating?" she asked.

"Eh? No, everyone's like that you dingus. See, this is why you'll be forever single, Xenovia. A virgin for the rest of your life. A super virgin," Irina answered.

"So?"

"So-... errr… huh." Xenovia's ignorance of social norms was something she had forgotten. Being raised in an abbey all her life made her a tad bit oblivious as to how normal people lived.

Shin's ears perked at the sound of a door knocking. "I'll get it."

A few moments later, Issei and Asia walked into the room, followed by Shin and Koneko.

"Eh? Rias-san's Rook?" Irina raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we're just as confused as you are," Shin said.

"Here to keep this idiot out of trouble. Also, Yuuto is missing… again," Koneko said, walking over to a chair and sitting.

Issei and Asia sat next to her. Asia, whose seat was directly across from Xenovia, tried to avoid her prying gaze. Her green eyes looked at everything inside the house except for Xenovia's piercing hazel eyes. Irina pinched her friend's side, causing her to yelp and glare at her.

"Come on. Be nice," Irina admonished.

"Anyway, I sent Ran to scope out the entire town for anything suspicious. She hasn't found anything yet… yet," Shin said, taking a seat at the head of the table.

"Irina, remind me again. Why are we consorting with demons?" Xenovia asked.

"Well, Xenovia. Despite all the crap I said back at Rias's office, I have no plans of dying… anytime soon! Especially since I have someone I want to come back to! I figured that if our goal is just to steal the Excaliburs back, we could use some help," Irina said.

"By help, you mean hindrances? That Red Dragon can't even stand up to me and I'm not even using our last resort," Xenovia replied.

"Hey! I wasn't ready yet! You wanna go for round 2, bitch! These hands are rated E for everyone!" Issei said, raging comically in his chair.

"Calm down," Shin said.

"So, how about it? You, me, and Shin for old time's sake? Pull the biggest heist in our town?" Irina asked.

"No," Shin said.

"N- No!?" Irina slammed her hands on the table. Flames erupted from her body and the temperature rose dramatically in the room.

Shin's eyes glowed and he stood up, staring her down. A blue aura surrounded his body and began to clash with Irina's orange-sun-like aura. The two stared at each other for what seemed to be forever before Irina backed down and sighed. "What the hell do you mean by no?" Irina ground out. Flames flickered at the tips of her hair every so often.

"I meant that we won't be stealing them back," Shin said.

"What?"

"We're going to blow it up," Issei answered.

"Blow them… you want to destroy the Excaliburs?" Irina asked.

"What? What did they say?" Xenovia asked.

"The Excaliburs. They're asking for permission to destroy it."

"Sure."

"What the hell!? You too!" Irina yelled in exasperation. "The whole reason I asked for Issei and Shin's help was because I thought we were going to steal it back!"

"Irina, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one between the two of us. Look, those two are right… assuming that's what that… tall one over there said. But to be honest, I've been thinking about it since we got here. Our opponent is Kokabiel himself. There's a high chance that our Excaliburs are going to get stolen after we fall in combat. This isn't a matter of if, it's a matter of when. Even if I use my last resort and you resort to using that, I doubt we could do any real damage to him so we might as well break them. It's like you said… I don't want to die," Xenovia said.

Irina stared at her for a few seconds before sighing. "You doofus, when did you become so smart?"

"I've always been smart, dumbass. It's just destroying the Fragments has a higher chance of succeeding than stealing them," Xenovia said.

"So… I didn't understand a lick of that. Are we cool?" Shin asked.

"Yes," Xenovia replied in Japanese.

"Good thing we're stuck together," Sophia said, walking down the street.

"Yeah, Issei and Irina should handle everything on their side including Kiba," Shin said.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to send Vivi with them?" she asked.

"Yeah, Vivi has some unfinished business with Excalibur. Our job is to keep the others from entering," Shin said.

Sophia pursed her lips and sighed. "The moment we clean out the filth, we're heading over there. They can't take on Kokabiel by themselves," she said, flicking her hair.

He nodded.

The two stopped and waited for a few seconds. The sound of scampering came from the alleyway next to them. Ran popped out, trotting towards Shin nonchalantly. Her body glowed and she transformed into her human form. She dusted some dirt off her uniform and sighed. "Kokabiel isn't here alone. That Exorcist we encountered in the Church that worked for Raynare is here too. The scent is too recognizable. In addition, Kokabiel's not working alone. There's someone else here with him. He looks like a Bishop."

"A bishop?" Shin asked.

"He looked pudgy and wore glasses. But yes, he is working with Kokabiel. They have two Excaliburs with them and they are on that priest," Ran reported.

"What about back-up? Does Kokabiel have troops on the ground?" Sophia asked.

"That's the weird thing. He does but they're not exorcists of any kind," Ran said.

"Not Exorcists? Then Fallen Angels?" Shin raised an eyebrow. If not Exorcists, then what could those troops possibly be?

"Humans."

"Humans?"

"Come and see. They have two hideouts. One is located in the woods on the western side of Kuoh near the school. It's just past the Industrial Park. They're occupying an abandoned generator grid," Ran said, walking back into the alley.

"Wait! Ran, humans? Are you sure?" Shin asked, walking after her.

"I've never doubted my senses for they have never led me astray. The smell was that of a human. Human children and they reeked of holy power. Holy power that never belonged to them." Ran's tone sent shivers down their spines.

"Take us there," Shin said.

Kuoh's Industrial Park was perhaps the least savory part of town. It wasn't that crime was rampant here. The area was just overall unfavored by the larger community. However, they tolerated its existence due to the necessary services it provided for the rest of the town. This place was Kuoh's beating heart… literally. All power, gas, and the purification of water for consumption were done here. It was the heart, liver, and kidney of Kuoh all at once.

Shin looked up, eyeing the smoke towers of the powerplants that produced power. The town's power grid was here but something was very wrong. The workers paid them no mind, each doing their own thing within their own buildings. Denizens of the town passing through here was just an ordinary occurrence yet it was this normality that made the hairs on Shin's arms stand on end.

"It's too normal here. I thought I'd feel holy power or some trace of it at least," Shin said.

"You haven't been on any missions, haven't you? Us Contractors supposedly live the Mercenary life but people like you exist," Sophia said, eyeing her surroundings.

"Am I that obvious?" Shin asked.

"Pfft, and to think the Vermillion Star is your older sister," she laughed. "No, but seriously, when supernatural criminals want to keep a low profile, magic is the last thing they use. Magic, even cloaking magic, leaves a trace for no magic is perfect. Everything has a flaw or weakness. Cloaking Magic may cover physical and magical activity in an area but it leaves a visible distortion or static to those trying to view an area.

"When laying low, supernatural beings resort to the human methods. Only the stupid ones would lay claim superiority to humans. If there is one thing humans are good at, it's their ingenuity. That's why Contractors themselves are considered to be valuable to those still aware of their existence. A God's champion or a Loci's representative are widely sought after assassins and mercenaries in this world," Sophia explained.

"They're using the power grid."

"Correct. The sheer amount of power needed to sustain whatever operation they're performing can only be performed by connecting to the town's power grid. It is… a virtually limitless source of power for them to use. Far more reliable due to its inability to leave a supernatural paper trail," Sophia said.

"Then we just have to get to that abandoned generator. If it's connected to the town, all I have to do is get in and shut the breaker off," Shin said.

"Oh right… you're an engineering major," she said.

"Comes in handy right? I've been looking at a few blueprints for the past two days so I added a few weapons to my arsenal. If we run into anything we can't handle, I'll be able to handle it," Shin said.

"What about Secace?" Sophia asked.

"Err… not yet. I'm still working on that," he replied, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Master. Sophia-sama, over here."

The two looked up and saw Ran waiting for them at the end of the street. Or rather, it was the road that was leaving Kuoh proper. Beyond this road was nothing but a forest, farmland, and miles of road until the next town.

Sophia's eyes glowed violet.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Dozens of life signatures all located a few hundred feet down the road inside a structure-looking thing," Sophia said, turning her soul sight off. "But…"

"But?"

"It's like what Ran said. There's something severely off about them. There's a foreign energy… two actually. But it's too far for me to make out where on the body it's located. However, I can tell you one thing. The signatures are intermingling with the souls of the bodies."

Shin nodded.

"Come on. Let's not keep Ran waiting," Sophia said. Light flickered in the palm of her polearm.

Shin tightened his jaw. Whatever they were going in for, it was most likely going to be hectic.

"Before we get there, I need to tell you two that there is a particularly higher level Fallen Angel there," Ran said, standing at the "Now leaving Kuoh" sign.

"Higher-level?" Shin asked.

"They smell familiar but I can't quite place my finger on it. Just be careful," Ran said, walking ahead.

The three walked for quite a bit. It took them half an hour to get to the abandoned generator. However, that half an hour was filled with anxiety and trepidation. Shin and Sophia were constantly on high alert while Ran seemed to nonchalantly breeze through the woods. Every sound they heard triggered their defense mechanisms.

"Here." Ran held her hand up, causing everyone to stop. She lowered herself and hid behind some shrubbery. Sophia and Shin sat next to her, scoping the situation.

"Sophia, what do you see?" he asked.

Sophia's eyes glowed. "What… the fuck?"

"What is it?"

"Their souls are bound. These people have long been dead. Their souls are being kept here by some force," she said, gritting her teeth.

"How many?"

"Approximately 20. There's one on the first floor. A female. Her soul is muddy and is being bound by… wait… I see it."

"See what?"

She closed her eyes and pulled some eyedrops from her pocket. "Remember that…" she opened her eye and squeezed a drop onto it. "Red energy signature I told you about. I saw the holy signature. It's not melding properly to the soul but it's there. The soul is slowly absorbing it, kinda like a transplanted organ. But…"

"But?" Shin asked.

"There's a second signature located at the forehead. It's sending small stringy limbs to latch onto the soul mass inside the body." She blinked her eyes a few times before putting her eyedrops away.

"Necromancy?" Shin asked. "Evil Piece?"

"No, it's not Necromancy because they have souls and Evil Pieces have a distinct signature. They're kinda like pacemakers that slowly lose their purpose as the body acclimates to its new physiology," she explained. "But this isn't one. It's releasing some sort of fibrous tissue that's forcibly keeping the soul in the body and I can tell these souls are supposed to be dead because they're blue. Living souls are more of a bluish color with slight variations and different colorings depending on race."

"So… we have a dozen zombie things down there and one Fallen Angel Zombie on the first floor. Great…" Shin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It could be worse. Since there's only one, we can move in to take it out right? And then take the ones out downstairs," Sophia said.

"Ran, are they still here?" Shin asked.

"No. The Priest and the Bishop have begun moving into Kuoh Proper."

"Let's hope they can take care of things on Issei's end," Shin said.

Bzzt

"Huh? A text?"

He pulled out his phone and unlocked it.

Akeno

[Where r u? We need 2 talk. Yuuto is gone. Issei is gone. Rias is pulling her hair out.]

"Who is it?"

"Akeno."

He texted her.

I'm taking care of something outside of town. Issei is with Irina and I don't know where Yuuto is. Dw, I'll be back in a few hours. Just look out on your end. Ran told me that Freed is in town.

[Freed? Dat priest?]

Yeah.

He hit send.

[will do but only bc its u. ;)]

Shin smiled and pocketed his phone.

"Come on. Let's move in." Shin reconstructed Failnaught. He closed his eyes and focused on the barrel of the pistols. The pistols glowed and changed shape. A silencer appeared at the end of both barrels.

"Silencers?"

"What? We might need them," Shin said.

"No, no. I'm just a bit surprised is all. You watch too many assassin movies," Sophia giggled.

"Ran. Get ready," Shin said.

Ran nodded.

Without another word, the three burst from the bushes and silently made their way over to the generator. The three stopped outside of the chainlink fence. Sophia's wings popped out of her back.

"Wait."

"Huh?"

"What if they see you?"

Sophia sighed and retracted them. She held her finger up, creating a small light blade around her pointer. She began tracing a line on the fence, cutting a hole.

"Let's go," she said.

"To the wall."

The three slid and propped their backs against the wall.

"This is a little bit too easy," Shin whispered.

"Or, whoever's guarding this place is strong enough to warrant not having a full detail."

"The person guarding this place has a considerable amount of power. I advise we be careful, Master," Ran added.

"Let's see who it is." Shin peeked his head over the ledge and stared into the window. The natural light of the setting sun drifted into the dusty old room. Old technology that was surprisingly operational. This place was functional. Someone had fixed it up. His eyes drifted to a hooded figure sitting in front of four monitor screen.

"See anything?" Sophia hissed.

"What do you think I'm doing? Someone's inside. They're watching some sort of monitor. There's four of them. I can't make out what's on the screens," Shin said.

"So, how do we go about doing this?" Sophia asked.

Shin slid back down and laid his head against the wall.

"Bust down the door? There's really no way to get in there without-" Shin's eyes widened when he saw Ran pick up a rock. She cocked her arm back and threw it at one of the transformers. In the midst of the serenity of the woods, the sound might as well have been a bomb going off. Shin's ears picked up the sound of shuffling coming from inside the station.

"Ran!" he hissed.

"What? She came out right?" she asked.

Shin grimaced and peeked around the corner. The woman was wearing a white cloak, not unlike that of Xenovia and Irina. Was she an exorcist, he wondered.

The woman turned around, giving Shin an eyeful of the lower half of her face. She had ashen hair with bangs that reached down to her mid chest. The woman sighed and took a walk towards the transformer.

"Now!" he whispered. The three slinked around the corner and walked into the station.

"What the hell is this?" Sophia asked, staring at the monitors.

"I… I have no clue. I thought they'd be keeping track of Kuoh of all places but…" Shin trailed off.

The monitors didn't lead to any place he expected. The monitors showed what appeared to be some sort of underground laboratory. There were vats with human adolescents floating inside. They had respirator masks hooked to their faces. Wires and catheters were hooked onto their naked forms, sustaining them with the needed electrolytes and nutrients to survive.

"Sophia, use your soul sight on the floor," Shin said.

She nodded. "They're the same as the woman that just left."

"You think they moved the Holy Sword Project here?" Shin asked.

"No clue but…" Sophia knelt on the tile floor and taped the tiles. After a few taps, she heard a hollow sound coming from one of them. She created a small dagger made of light and pried the door open. "There's a ladder here. Come on." Sophia hopped down the hole.

"Ran, you go next. I'll keep an eye out to see if she comes back," he urged.

Ran nodded and descended into the darkness. After making sure that the woman wasn't coming back, Shin made to descend down the hole when he noticed something off.

"A picture?" he saw a photo frame standing on the dashboard of the control panel. He walked over and picked it up. "Issei? Why the hell is there a picture of Issei here?"

Shin pocketed the picture frame and descended down into the hole, closing the hatch above him as he did. As soon as he did, all the light in the cellar vanished, plunging the room into pitch black. He reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out.

"There." He said, turning the flashlight on.

Sophia held her hand out and created a ball of light. "Up there. There's a door."

The three walked across the hard metal floor, looking around. This was the underground portion of the generator where the engineers must have kept their things, judging from the rusting tools and lockers that lined the walls. Shin felt something hit his foot and looked down. There was a hard hat rolling around on the floor. He shined his light on the nametag written across the front.

Amawaka Haruto

"Looks like someone forgot their stuff," Shin said, picking up the hard hat.

"I found a door," Sophia called out.

"Let's see what's in… it's locked," Shin said, tugging on the handle.

"Come on dumbass. Just kick it down," Sophia said.

"Gee, why didn't I think of that? Bitch," Shin said.

"Jerk," Sophia bit back.

Shin took a step back and kicked the door. The moment his foot made contact, the kinetic energy in his kick rebounded and launched him into the wall.

"Shin!" Sophia ran over to the downed boy and knelt next to him.

"I'm fine," he said, getting up. "Welp, it's magic locked. Any ideas?"

"I can use my Tranquility to kill the magic. You know like I did with the Priests?" Sophia said.

"Alright but if your magic rebounds," Shin held his hand up and a violet cube manifested above it, "I have Perfect Cube ready to block it."

Sophia nodded and walked towards the door. She pressed her hand against its cool metallic frame. The barrier began to glow and flicker erratically as black lines spread across the magic. The black lines soon twitched and expanded like a parasite draining its host. Eventually, like everything that came into contact with her Contract, the magic "died". "There we go." Sophia canceled her Contract and pulled the door open. "Let's go. Age before beauty."

"Funny. If we're doing it that way, then I'm the beauty and you're the age," Shin teased.

"Shut up," Sophia retorted, ushering him and Ran into the room.

"Woah, creepy," Shin said, walking up to one of the vats. "Let's see… 1 K 3:1-11:43. Weird serial name."

"Yeah, it is. It's a kid too," Sophia said, pressing her hand against the vat.

"Look at this one." Shin read the serial name. "E-1:1."

"Let's find out what this place is. It's giving me the creeps and I live in Hell," Sophia said, walking over to one of the tables. She looked down and saw various empty crystals and several surgical tools. Some of the tools she saw were magical in nature and could only belong to one organization. "Looks like Kokabiel took off with some tools from the Grigori."

"Yeah?" Shin asked, pressing his hand against another vat. His eyes widened and he retracted his hand immediately.

"What's wrong?" Sophia asked, looking over her shoulder.

"These kids have Light Element… or some of them," he replied.

"Light Element? That must be the Holy Power I saw earlier. Ah! Here! I found a notebook! This should tell us what the hell this place is finally," Sophia said, walking over to him.

"January 12th. It is 2022 of the year of our Lord. My experiments have all failed…?" Sophia held the notebook out and continued reading.

"Heaven has found out and they're sending her of all people. The Archangel Uriel. An entity regarded as Heaven's most Fearsome Weapon. I mean, I get it. Lady Gabriel is too airheaded to even be considered a threat. If Uriel swings her Shuhadaku at this place, it would cease to exist but I must have my data and dispose of the subjects before she arrives."

"It's about the Holy Sword Project," Sophia said, rescanning the words.

"Flip to the next page."

"All the kids have been lined up. One of them had gotten wind of what we were going to do and started a fight within the Gas Chamber. One of them, Subject E-7:8, activated a Sacred Gear of all things! A Sacred Gear and caused panic! One of the subjects got away. I think it was I-61:1…

"I-61:1? Isn't that…?" Sophia looked at Shin.

"Yeah, it is. It's Kiba. Can you find out why these things are here?" Shin asked.

Sophia flipped through the notebook and found an entry dated two weeks ago. "This one's dated two weeks ago. It looks like they've been here for a while." She flipped back a few pages. "They've been here since… since before we even met. Before Raynare. Before everything. They've been lying low here!"

"Or…" Shin trailed off and looked towards the door. "Only the subordinate was here or subordinates while their leader continued his facade to gather tools within the Grigori."

"You mean?" she asked.

"Yes. The four Fallen Angels we eliminated that night weren't here because of some coincidence or an attempt to please Azazel… well, I don't know about that last part but the first part is true. Kokabiel must have planted them here to guard whatever it is they're doing regarding the Holy Sword Project," Shin said.

"So when they killed Issei and pissed off Rias… Kokabiel snitched and threw them under the bus," Sophia finished.

"Read the one. The first one about their time here in our town," Shin said.

"Despite the small space, I believe I can make do. I went back to the old institute and found enough material to work with. The fusion of science and magic have allowed the Grigori to keep up with the advancement of Human Technology. Supernatural beings tend to underestimate human ingenuity but Azazel, the one who fed humanity this knowledge, knew the importance of keeping up with new scientific discoveries. Kokabiel managed to steal a few tools we can use to replicate the vessels I used for my old experiments. However, I encountered a problem… cloning them doesn't equate to regenerating their souls.

"But. somehow, I believe we can make it work. Creating a being who can wield any holy sword is paramount for the evolution of our factions in this world against the Devils and against the other Gods." Sophia flipped the page.

"So these are clones but… he said that they have no souls. You said that they do?" Shin asked.

"Usually when things are cloned, they start off in pseudo-wombs and souls naturally enter their bodies due to it essentially replicating fetal growth but the chance is extremely low even with the assistance of magic. There's a branch of the Church that managed to perfect creating homunculi with living souls due to discovering that replicating a uterus was the way to go," Sophia said. "This… this looks way too rushed to be a test-tube baby. Test tube babies with natural souls are grown and cultivated at least until the time frame for most premature birth."

"Why do you know so much about this?" Shin asked.

"My dad is Lucifer. My aunt is the Archangel Uriel and my Uncle is Azazel. This is just stuff I overheard while being around them," she said, flipping the page. "Oh, here we go. Souls.

"Raynare and the others had been disposed of. It was quite sad to see them go. Lord Kokabiel refused to have anyone who didn't circumscribe to our plans. Luckily, Freed managed to make it out. Studying a specimen like him is an amazing opportunity to see if I can accelerate the development of a fetal life force without going through the natural gestation period.

"Luckily, Lord Kokabiel managed to find a benefactor who seemed interested in our work. He didn't reveal himself and merely called himself, The Red King. Kokabiel said that the Red King would help us put souls in our army. Now that I think about it, Kokabiel's become more fervent in his efforts. I've heard him whispering about conflict and how it stimulates evolution. Well, he's not wrong there. Competition has shown to forward the development of many species across the world, humans included." Sophia flipped the page.

"The Red King was now who I expected but let's say I expected someone of a more… supernatural persuasion. Anyway, it was a success! The Red King used some sort of magic and now the blank bodies have souls! Our first experiment was to see if it actually worked. Raynare oh so graciously 'volunteered'. Not that she could refuse. Her corpse was rotting in a church so we used it as a beacon for her soul. He said that he still had some use for her. However, her body was too damaged to be used and beyond my ability to repair so I prepared a blank body for her to…" Sophia dropped the notebook.

"That…"

"Yeah, that Fallen Angel up there is… Raynare!"

"We need to destroy these bodies," Shin said.

"I see a panel up there," Sophia said, placing the notebook down. She walked over to the terminal and stretched her hands. "Luckily, for all his trouble, this guy is still a priest and it looks like he never took any measures to protect his terminal. Well, considering who his allies are, I guess a simple password would do but…" Her eyes twinkled. "I don't know how to hack…"

"Move." Shin walked over. Sophia stepped aside and allowed Shin to take control of the keyboard. "Let's see…" he began typing. "Ctrl + Alt + Delete… wow… let's see what his password is."

"Can you even figure it out from here?" Sophia asked.

"I've never tried doing it from here. The most hacking I've done is data mining updates for games I play and breaking into Issei's Netflix account," Shin said, staring at the screen. "Hmmm…"

"Oh look, he has it here on a sticky note," Sophia said, grabbing a piece of paper from the monitor.

"Okay, let's see… 3xcaliburRul3$?" Shin mouthed out.

Ran's ears perked up. "Master, we need to hurry. Her scent is getting closer."

"Huh? Scent?"

"That Fallen Angel. The one called Raynare. She's about to enter the building," Ran said.

"Right." Shin typed in the password. Almost immediately, a multitude of programs appeared in front of him. "Vital signs. Growth Chart. Flowsheets. Where is it?"

"What are we even looking for?" Sophia asked.

"Every laboratory in the world, fictional or not, that deals with biological specimens has a purge protocol where they burn biohazardous material in order to dispose of it. Why should this site be any-" The hairs on Shin's neck stood on end. "She's here."

The sound of a metal hatch opening could be heard from behind the door.

"I'll go and stand guard. Just finish looking for it!" Sophia said. She walked past him and stood guard in front of the terminal. A scythe made of violet and blacklight manifested in her hand.

Ran stood next to her and placed her hands in her sleeves. Her eyes glowed and several yasaka beads materialized in the air behind her.

"Give me at least a minute! This program is hard to navigate!" Shin said, clicking furiously.

The doorknob turned and the door slowly opened.

Sophia gripped her scythe tightly as an overwhelming amount of Holy Energy surged forth from the door.

W-What!? Raynare was never this powerful! What the hell did they… do to her? That's not…

The figure that stepped through was not wearing a hood. Her ashen hair fell like a silver waterfall down her back. She wore a black uniform that resembled that of a school's. Her emotionless violet eyes gazed upon Sophia and a look of faint recognition appeared briefly in her eyes before fading.

"Ray…nare?" Sophia asked.

The figure tilted her head. "Raynare?" she repeated.

"Got it!"

The figure noticed the screen.

Sophia's instincts screamed at her to move. She appeared in front of Shin at the very last frame of a second and blocked the light spear. She grunted and deflected the spear back at the figure.

The Fallen caught the spear and twirled it.

"BURN THEM NOW!" Sophia yelled. She dashed towards the Fallen Angel and swung her scythe.

The Fallen Angel lazily blocked her attack. Sophia gritted her teeth and pushed with all her strength. The ground underneath them cracked but the Angel wouldn't budge.

"Ran! Go!"

Ran nodded.

In an instant, the Angel was knocked away from Sophia. The angel crashed through the door and into the wall on the other side.

Shin grinned and clicked a button on screen. Almost immediately, the vats all lit up and the entities inside them awakened to a world of fire. The flammable liquid inside the tubes became an instant inferno, incinerating the beings inside. Agonized screams echoed through the underground facility.

"Cut the power!" Sophia yelled.

"I got it!" Shin clicked through the programs and cut power to the generators.

"We need to go now!" Shin said, helping Sophia up.

"Don't be weird about this okay? Ran, turn into a dog and hop on," Sophia said.

Ran nodded and transformed into her canine form. Sophia picked her up and handed her to Shin.

"Hold her tightly."

"What are you-" Shin let out a surprised gasp when Sophia turned him around and hugged him from behind. "Umm…"

"I said don't be weird about it, idiot!" Sophia said. Her wings burst from her back. She beat her wings, lifting herself and Shin off the ground. She flew through the door and up the ladder. "Shin! Shoot the door!"

"On it!" He materialized Failnaught and fired a shot. The shot ripped the door off its hinges and the three flew through.

"Let's go before that Raynare chick gets out-"

"Behind you!" Shin threw up a Perfect Cube and blocked a light spear. But only barely. The tip of the spear had managed to penetrate the barrier slightly before it was reflected.

"Raynare? Why do you keep calling me that?" the figure said, ascending from the hole in the ground.

2, 4, 6,... 8!? Shin counted.

"Stop screwing around! That's your name isn't it?" Shin asked.

"The others called me that too but that's not my name. My name is the one he called me," she said.

"He…!?" Shin's eyes widened after a few seconds. "Yuuma."

The girl smiled in recognition. Her eyes glinted longingly in the light. The soft smile on her face slowly warped into something else. Obsession. Longing? Love even? Neither Shin nor Sophia could discern the look on her face. This woman. Whoever she was, was no longer the Raynare they knew.

"Yuuma. Yuuma. Yes, that's my name. Yuuma!"

Her power exploded from her body, forcing the three back.

"Well… shit…" Shin said.

[]

Yuuma

A mysterious Fallen Angel who is the spitting image of the Fallen Angel Raynare.

Her existence is a complete mystery. An entity who bears the soul of the Fallen Angel who caused Issei so much grief.

Her allegiances are unknown. Yet she appears to work for Kokabiel after her resurrection at the hands of the Red King.

Despite the mystery surrounding her person, she has one anchor in this world. One person who she remembers in her heart.

The one who gave her her current name.

[]

Shuhadaku

A Divine Weapon wielded by the Abrahamic Pantheon and its Predecessor.

Its name means "Supreme Bright Weapon".

The weapon is said to have been involved in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha, destroying it in a single swing.

Yes, that is Raynare but it's also not Raynare. As for why I resurrected her, well, I've noticed that if Raynare survives, she becomes the MC/Issei's sex slave or something. I decided to take a different route with her, making her a supporting antagonist to the main/overall antagonist of this volume and the following ones. If you haven't noticed, "Raynare"/Yuuma has a slight... obsession with Issei and that she doesn't even remember her past as Raynare. She's also quite stronger than the regular Raynare from what you could see when Shin counted her wings. I... I should stop calling her Raynare. She doesn't even go by that name anymore! So let's call her Yuuma from now on!

Since I'm close to graduating with my ADN, I might miss a few updates so please be patient. I have a few other stories that I need to update. I'm sure you've all seen them. D'Arc is not Evil. Beyond the Gap. On Tainted Wings. This one. I still have to update those but due to lack of time, I've just been focusing on this one. Once I graduate, I think I'll get back to my usual update cycle which is either... 2 stories every week or every other week is that cycle for the story. I still haven't gotten to that point since I have til the end of the year for this so please wish me luck in taking care of other people!

And regarding Kokabiel, we won't see him until the PoV switches to Vivi. So, let's keep going!