They all saw the pillar of light from the hole left by the intruder. Even if the sight of it was unbelievable, the sheer joy that filled them led none to mistake its true nature.

It was a true heavenly apparition. And it disgusted them so.

"Careful, Raynare. No need to start spitting out hymns now."

"I'm not, shut up," she spat at her fellow angel. The other Fallen were already muttering amongst themselves. "Start the extraction without delay," she continued, pointing to the cowering human. "The stench of devils approach. We do not want them stealing the Sacred Gear."

"Why are you all so worried?" asked the exorcist, the other human in their company. "So it's a pillar of light. Big deal. I can make a pillar of sex right here if anyone asks. Wouldja like one, Raynare? Care to whisper sweet hosannas to it?"

"Be silent, human. There are things your pathetic brain was not meant to know." Her thoughts would not linger on the light. It was time to prepare for battle.

()()()

Creak. Step. Crash.

"Oof."

Creak. Step. Crash.

"Feel like I stepped in a time machine. Are we sure it's not fifteen years ago?"

Creak. Step. Crash.

"It is proving... difficult."

Issei's pitiful attempts at walking were each punctuated by a slip and a fall. Sometimes Issei would wobble on one leg, having made the first step, only to have the second step be the downfall.

"Maybe it's the wings. The wings are throwing you off."

"I like the wings."

"Yeah, but maybe not rely on them, y'know, for now. Don't think of them as part of you for a while. Like, 'I got wings, so what, they're just for display'. Just forget them, because you got legs now. You prefer to walk on legs, even with the wings."

"Like ostriches."

"Or a cosplaying human."

Issei decided to follow the dragon's lead. He took one breath, took a step, then ended up rocketing forward to bulldoze a vending machine.

Water, soda and tea soaked the Scale Mail.

"That was good. But when I said forget, I really meant forget."

"Accursed human legs. This is why birds should have been the dominant species."

"Or dragons."

()()()

"Lie down there."

All her life she did as she was told.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

She accepted gladly. She was the Holy Maiden, miracle made flesh. The Blessed One.

She believed that she was loved. Appreciated, at least. Many were the smiles sent her way. "Thank you, Maiden." "May ye be requitted, Maiden." "A thousand blessings."

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

And even when she fell, when she made her first mistake, her resolve remained unchanged. Her faith, unbroken.

Even if the smiles turned to frowns. The love, warped to disdain.

And fear.

Get thee behind me, Satan.

She did not weep, when the condemned her. She did not protest, when they exiled her. She did not refuse, when they asked the ultimate sacrifice of her.

She will be Forever Faithful.

And even if, for a brief moment, she achieved some peace—

The average angel's supposed to be pure white.

-she would not hesitate to give her life.

"Good girl," the angel said with a smile. Asia's place was among these Fallen ones. Black-winged angels, outcast from the light of Heaven.

She does not deserve the pure light of angels like Hyoudou Issei.

So it's alright. She doesn't need to worry about it anymore.

Take this cup from me—

-the angel's hand plunges in, taking what was never hers to begin with—

()()()

"Good, good, very good."

Issei's armored form strutted and marched on steady legs. Walking, like flying, became second nature quite easily.

"It is all very simple. What humans learn as children, I can learn in but a few minutes," he declared.

"I'm glad your results jived with your confidence." After a jogging start, the angel took off into the air, going supersonic in three seconds. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Off to downtown. There should be some humans there. I need to speak with some," said Issei.

"Whoa whoa whoa! You can't just go where the humans can see you! You're wearing the Scale Mail!"

"Angelic."

"Yeah, you're flying too! The humans'll just run. They'll think you're an invader from outer space!"

The angel decelerated in less than a second, and slammed down into an empty alley in Downtown. "I know what I'm doing, dragon. Humans cannot see something that is too fast for their eyes. Why do you think ninjas are so powerful?"

"The wha—?"

He emerged onto the alley, head swiveling left and right. Flashes of light began to appear around him, though Issei ignored that. People screamed; he ignored that too.

"And here they are, already snapping pictures."

With the Scale Mail on, the Issei body was now the average height of a professional basketball player and was just as intimidating. He towered over the rush hour people, who now edged around him out of wonder or fear.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, angel. What are you trying to do?"

Issei sighed. "Very well. Perhaps it would be better if I started." He went to the nearest person (who'd been shoved to the front by mob mentality and now cowered before the approaching titan) and said to her, "Good evening. I'm looking for someone who needs loving."

()()()

"My oh my, such hatred, devil-san. In fact, if I didn't know better, you're really gunning for me, ain't ya?" The exorcist twirled his saber and made a mock salute.

Kiba Yuuto didn't grace him with a response. He went right back on the offensive, assaulting the enemy with a cold, determined fury.

Their blades locked together. "Always a pity that kids like you get caught in partisan politics. You would have been a great fighting partner. Well, more punching bag and water boy, but you get my drift." The exorcist snickered and turned his blade, snapping Yuuto's into pieces. Before he could take advantage, the boy had somersaulted sideways, and in his hand was yet another blade.

Two blades, the exorcist found. "Dual wielding now? You need two to prove you can't handle one? Worthless!"

"Yuuto, look out!"

Rias' attack smashed into the ground where they had been. They both leaped away, but not before being hit by the debris. The exorcist licked the blood from his cheek where it had been cut.

When the smoke cleared, Yuuto still stood at the other end, just as bloody, just as enraged.

The exorcist giggled. "It will be just... exquisite chopping you to bits, devil."

Yuuto raised his swords, crouching into position. "Is your mouth all you're good for? Have at you, worm."

()()()

"This love thing is difficult."

"You're going at it the wrong way, angel."

Issei had no choice but to fly when plenty of officers had come running. He now floated among the clouds, bits of frost sticking to his armor.

"You can't just go in half-cocked. Love is a complicated ritual that cannot be hastened. It needs to be eased into, like sinking into a hot bath, else your ass gets burned very muchly."

"I see... I think."

"You just leave it to me, angel. I did promise you I'd get you the Sex."

"Have you loved before, dragon?"

There was a short silence before he answered. "A few times, yes."

"The sex?"

"It's different for dragons, but yes. And twice wearing a human body. So I am a bit experienced on that part. You gotta understand, angel, it is entirely possible to experience the Sex without love. The latter's just a nice little sweetener in the exchange. You get me?"

"Very well, I shall trust you, for now."

"Now, first off, you need the proper target. You can't just choose a random person on the street."

"Alright."

"You need to pick someone. Anyone that interests you. Now, my personal favorite criteria are people who're at least big-breasted, in addition to—" Ddraig sighed. "Well, let's not go into fetish territory yet."

"What's a fetish?"

"It's something you need to figure out by yourself," the dragon said hastily. "Going back to the criteria, is there someone here who interests you?"

Issei frowned. "If I am basing it on my standards, then no humans interest me. They are small and petty."

"... Okay. We can work on that. Hmmm... Well, let's just move on. In a battle for love, it helps to be adequately prepared. You need proper wargear."

"Like, for going into battle?"

"Love is its own battle, so is the sex."

Issei crossed his arms. "I do not feel myself adequately armed," he said. As if granted some divine inspiration, he snapped his fingers.

"That's still alright. I'm just saying—"

"Thank you for reminding me, dragon. I had been so focused on the sex as a human that I completely forgot to ask you to remove the restrictions on my wings. With these, I can finally punish any human who deserve it."

"Punish?"

Issei descended a few hundred feet. His wings were spread wide: a vast, golden-hued array of feathers and divine matter. By the light of the quarter moon his wings began to glow brighter, like the sun.

"What are you doing?"

"I sometimes forget. I go in 'half-cocked', as you said. I took my leave of the Lord without taking all my gear with me. It happened before, and it made my Task harder. Now that I have these wings, I can get it back." Issei began to hum. He was an angel whose task was not in the singing. But almost nothing got done in Heaven without a little song or two. Musicians would have fit right in there.

"Get what back?"

Issei's tune began to rise, reaching an inhuman pitch. He stretched forth his arm towards the skies above.

Clouds appeared where there hadn't been before. They began to swirl together, forming a tempest that started crackling with silent lightning.

Light then broke through the canopy of clouds, shooting a ray that enveloped Issei. From within the source, something came streaking down like a small shooting star.

"What is that?"

Issei relaxed his body. "My sword." He reached for it, clamping his hand down on the hilt.

But the sword kept going. And Issei went down with it.

"Uh oh."

The sword, crashing into the earth, continued its momentum and began to carve a line through the city. Issei's wings shook, his hand shaking as he attempted to rein in the wayward sword. Explosions and screams trailed in his wake. A building went down; bridges sliced neatly in two.

"Are you okay, angel?"

"It's—all—fine—un—used—to—it—too—strong—"

"Okay then. Just so you know, this wasn't what I meant by 'adequately prepared'-but let's talk later."

The sword, initially travelling at the speed of a jetliner, began to cross the sea of Japan with increasing speed. Massive tidal waves erupted behind the angel. Issei hung onto the hilt like a hapless waterskier caught in the schemes of a crazy pilot.

()()()

At first, it had only been two. Heaven vs. Hell. God and the Loyal, against the Dissenter and his supporters.

Then an irregularity stirred among the angels. Some tired of the war eternal. The scrolls spoke of the Sin; to these scrolls they returned, reminding them that there were pleasures in the World below.

Inevitably they succumbed to its temptations. They discharged themselves from the conflict. A group that forswore both Heaven and Hell for the World. A world they could manipulate and influence. A world they could rule.

They Fell, but not to Hell. They became the Fallen Angels, desiring to shape Creation to their own ends.

In a way, their aims aligned with Hell. But they scorned the folk of the First Fallen, who had girded themselves in obtuse trappings of pomp and ritual. A decadent folk who only used the Creation for their own ends, for the sake of Hell and everlasting victory.

The Devils, in turn, mocked the would-be rebels. Minor angels, lesser in stature, thinking themselves gods and goddesses. In doing so, they were little better than the beings that had sprung up in pantheons across Creation. Self-centered. Misguided.

The War had ended, but the enmity was everlasting.

Infernal flames seared them. The accursed Gremory never let up. One of them stumbled, screaming as his wings melted.

Taking a spear, Raynare flew high and aimed true.

A curtain of hellfire rose up and consumed the spear. When it parted, Rias stood, and chucked a wad of power into the offending angel.

Raynare brought forth a shield, relic of a forgotten age. It shattered under the Gremory's spell. She would not call its loss a waste.

She darted up, looming high above the devil. She beckoned with her fingers. "Forfeit your cause, hellspawn. You and your minions are nothing before me."

Devil wings emerged from behind Rias. "Know your place, wretch. You stand before a Gremory. Burn, if you will not bow."

"Amusing," Raynare said, coldly. "You think throwing around power can win your battles for you? Well, I can do that too." She spread her arms, and green light emanated from the angel, its glow filling the church. After, the downed angel rose, re-engaging the nearest devil.

"Hey, thanks for the assist, Raynare! A little late, but whatever," said the insolent exorcist from below.

"Healing..." said Rias, her eyes quickly taking in the situation. "Hmph. So you did take the Gear."

"It will perform its service better with us than with that human's," Raynare said dismissively. "Does it bother you, devil?"

Rias' gaze narrowed into slits. "But what good will that magic help you if I obliterate you all right now?" She began gathering energy for an attack. Then a shape appeared right in front of her.

"Interesting, devil! Allow me to test your confidence," said the exorcist, his blade swinging with lethal decisiveness.

"Rias-sama!"

AN: Drafted by Shurpuff, proofread and edited by Honore (Merlin)

Long chapter split. Second half to come soon.

Thanks for reading.