The alley reverberated with the sounds of the onrushing cultists; four men dressed in red hooded robes and brandishing knives rushed down Ritsuko who stood with her sword still out to her side, the last remaining drops of a cultist's blood fell from the blade. With movement, even Ritsuko herself though she was incapable of, she swiftly struck down the first cultist before running though the second. The third quickly summoned a small group of skeletal pikemen, forcing Ritsuko to back off as they had the reach advantage.

The fourth cultist began summoning up his energy for a much larger minion as Ritsuko drew her hand crossbow and shattered the skull of one of the pikemen. The others rushed her down, forcing her to drop the weapon and roll away from the pikes. Taking a curved route, she managed to get closer and took out two more before finally decapitating the summoner. The fourth cultist finished just as the remaining skeletons fell apart due to the lack of a controller.

A column of energy rose between Ritsuko and the last cultist, the later using the distraction to wisely flee from combat. Seeing a shape within Ritsuko immediately side flipped as a massive blade came down on her position like a huge sawblade, still spinning and sending sparks into the air from where the blade dug into the asphalt and stone of the road. A chain connected to it pulled taunt and it quickly retracted back into the energy column.

Ritsuko ducked as the blade was launched at her again, this time in a wide sweep. With the energy from the summoning finally dissipating, Ritusko got a better look at the massive shape of the Disc Armor the cultist managed to summon; a massive suit of armor nearly three meters tall, stylized with the teeth of a saw blade across the helm, shoulders, forearms, and shins, and cloth touchs under the shoulders and the at the loin. Ari the Fairy-like Innocent Devil kept her distance from the monster as Ritsuko decided how best to deal with this. Barely managing to dodge another attack, this one sent straight at her, Ritsuko figured now would be a good time to run. The summoner was nowhere to be seen, and if they got far enough from the summoning site, the monster would simply return from whence it came.

But she couldn't turn her back on the monster. It stomped forward ready to unleash another attack when it was struck by a spear in the shoulder causing it to stagger. Ritsuko looked behind her and sighed partially in relief and partially in acceptance.

"What took you so long?!" Ritsuko called out.

"I had my own issues to deal with," Shinji replied. His dark trencher flowed out as he walked confidently forward. The image of Flying Armor floating closely behind him, its massive swords floating on either side of the form.

The monster threw its disc again, but this time a blade from Flying Armor blocked the attack easily and Shinji continued to step forward. Suddenly the monster pulled the disc back and let it whip past. With a flick, the blade suddenly arched from behind it, over its head, and was coming down on Shinji's position like a guillotine.

Shinji simply dismissed Flying Armor and teleported in a column of light and images of bats as the blade slammed down on his position and stuck into the ground. The Disc Armor tried to pull the blade back out but was suddenly run through with the massive blade of a Sword Armor from behind, ending the creature's existence. Ritsuko saw that instead of summoning Sword Armor itself, Shinji only called the weapon and used it himself, and the blade didn't reduce in size for his use either, looking almost comically oversized. She watched as Disc Armor fell apart and an orb of red energy seemed to fly out from the body. Shinji, without even flinching, allowed the orb to be absorbed into his body. A moment later, he opened his eyes and launched a disc on a chain from his own hand, seeming to emerge out of nowhere, which struck out and returned with the flick of his wrist.

"I never get tired of seeing your soul stealing ability in action," Ritsuko noted with a hit of jealousy in her voice.

"Nevermind that," Shinji dismissed. "How did you know I was coming after you?"

"You're not the only one that can sense things now," Ritsuko noted. "My powers have grown since our last meeting."

"I see," Shinji noted. "Do you have what you need now?" Ritsuko nodded. "Good. Because I need your help…"

III: Angel of the Forge

It's been five days since the battle with the Flame Demon, and Ritsuko was now reunited with Shinji. Though she had a few cuts and bruises, her full Ænima Spheres and bag of Reagent pouches attested to her recent victory. The pair were still in the alley system deep in Nagano, Ritsuko now leaning against a wall as Ari finished healing her, and Shinji having finished his say.

"I can't believe I have two cults on my ass now," Ritsuko lamented. "What the hell did I do to piss off the Order of Infernus?"

"It may have something to do with the Flame Demon," Shinji noted, getting Ari's attention. "They might have had a specific plan for it. The last time I faced them, Hikari and I learned they were trying to create the Challis of Aguni, and use it to burn down cities, starting with Tokyo-3. The cult is dedicated to trying to bring about societal collapse on a global scale."

Ritsuko made a sound at that. "It seems they're succeeding," she noted, "even without the artifact."

"Yeah, the cults are always ahead of us, mostly because we're far outnumbered, and even my resources are not infinite. They have been planning this for at least a thousand years."

"So," Ritsuko began, pushing off of the wall as Ari finished healing her. "I'm going to guess this is the part where you recruit me directly."

"What you do is dangerous, but ultimately necessary if we're going to win this war," Shinji agreed. "You're already making enemies of multiple cults, and we need your help." He sighed. "I need your help."

"OK," Ritsuko replied immediately.

"No pushback at all, huh?"

"You made your case," Ritsuko noted. "There is safety in numbers, and now I won't have to do my supply runs alone. From my perspective, that's a win-win senario." Ritsuko's left arm started beeping at a high pitch causing her to pull sleave up, revealing a bracer computer. "Damn it!" she exclaimed. "It's a Pattern Blue!"

"Not again…"

Tokyo-4, the last of the Tokyo expansions was now in a panic as air raid sirens sounded all over the city. Arrowhead shaped chunks of gleaming silvery metal were falling from the sky. One slamming into the ground near a group of bystanders who hadn't managed to get underground in time. They watched as the metal slid opened and the entire machine reconfigured into a shape that appeared like a robotic angel with a pair of energy-based swords. Before they could run, the machine unleashed a cross slash with its weapons, killing them all instantly.

More machines, all angelic but with different configurations and weapons were forming from the falling metal arrowheads and attacking anything that moved that wasn't an angel-bot in the middle of the city, a massive impact sent rubble flying hundreds of meters in all directions. As the smoke cleared, a massive pair of cybernetic angel wings unfurled and the three-meter form of the tech-angel became visible. Most of the armor was silver with its colorations and adornments in red and gold.

"Tremble, mortals!" the angel yelled. "For Hir'el, Angel of the Forge is upon you now! I will cleanse this world with fire and iron."

The massive Angel summoned forth a huge two-handed hammer as it's weapon and continued to direct the assault of his army of machines.

"We must find the appointed place and begin construction on the fortress. Azrael is growing impatient."

"So, I take it you tracked me by scent?" Ritsuko asked. The pair were now in an SUV heading for Tokyo-4 which wasn't far from Nagano. Shinji was driving this time, an oddity to Ritsuko who knew he usually had one of his girls do the driving for him.

"No," Shinji replied. "Now that you have so heavily invested yourself in the Forge and have been gaining dark power of your own, I was able to home in on that energy. The fact that you were able to sense me confirms this."

Ritsuko chuckled. Prompting Shinji to look at her quizzically.

"Perhaps, it's simpler than even that," she mused. "Perhaps you're just becoming a 'chick magnet'."

Shinji chuckled. "You may be even more right than you realize."

"I remember when you first showed up at NERV… a slight boy with almost no spine, thrust into a war with beings beyond your comprehension… look at you now."

Shinji said nothing, but he remembered those times all too well.

"You have a Harem, power beyond the wildest adolescent power fantasies, houses, cars…"

"And I'd trade it all to be normal again," Shinji deadpanned. "I never wanted any of this."

"I know," Ritsuko replied. "Maybe that's the primary reason why only you should have it." Shinji made a noise, but Ritusko ignored it and continued. "A person who wants this kind of power, has their own ideas on how to use it. Their girls would likely not be treated well. Another man with that power wouldn't be using their resources in a desperate attempt to keep this world from tearing apart at the seams, and they certainly wouldn't stick their neck out for humanity and fight the horrors coming from beyond our world. They would be following their own agenda, securing their own place in history. Only you, who have been connected to humanity, suffered for them, and sacrificed so much, have the right to that power... because only you will use it for the right reasons. Only you would take care of these girls, all of whom, I might add, have some serious psychological and emotional issues."

"Including you?" Shinji asked causing Ritsuko to stop talking. "Drawn to power, but always betrayed by it."

"Even me," she agreed immediately, surprising Shinji. "And I know that you would never betray me," Ritsuko finished with a whisper. "You're not your father."

Shinji looked over at Ritsuko, seeing the almost longing look on her face, and realized it was happening once again. He didn't care if it was the prophecy fulfilling itself, or just the circumstances of being The Dark Lord and just being a 'chick magnet' as Ritsuko accused him of. None of that mattered. But this moment told him everything he needed to know… that the Doctor turned Devil Forgemaster would soon be one of his girls as well.

He reached out and touched the side of her face. Her eyes fluttered closed and a hand covered his. Soon, he realized, this would create problems between him and Maya. She already saw him as a monster of sorts; this he knew despite the way she acted around him. But if he and Ritsuko did in fact take their relationship to the next level and he made her part of the Harem, then Maya would feel cast out. He only hoped that whatever happened then wouldn't ruin the relationship Ritsuko shared with her. The young tech suffered enough.

An explosion ahead of them cause Ritsuko to snap out of her trance. Shinji slammed on the breaks bringing the SUV to a screeching halt. Floating out of the wreckage was an automaton of some kind that was vaguely shaped like an angel, a glowing blade in each of its hands. It rushed forwards causing both occupants of the SUV to flee from the vehicle as it was suddenly struck. Both rolled away as the vehicle exploded into a fireball.

The angel changed directions after the explosion flying through the smoke towards Shinji's position, but as it cleared the smoke it flew straight into a massive spinning sawblade. Both halves of the Angelbot flew past Shinji, exploding behind him as he recalled the blade back again.

"I get the feeling I'm going to like this new soul," he stated. Then he sighed. "And there went another perfectly good ride."

"It could see me just fine," Ritsuko noted, dusting herself off as Ari appeared near her. "It really wanted you."

"Of course, it did," Shinji noted almost sardonically. "I'm Vlad Dracul after all." Both watched as more Angelic Automotons approached from all sides. Some had no legs but instead had two sets of wings, visible clockwork gears and a huge bow. These flew near the tops of buildings and between other structures whist other closed in at a lower level. Bestial machines with an angelic slant but clawed hands landed on the streets on both sides of the pair.

"We're surrounded," Ritsuko noted darkly.

"This is going to get tedious," Shinji noted, surprising Ritsuko with the casualness of his words.

With a flourish he threw his hands out, eyes glowing red. "Open Hell's gates!" he yelled. "Come forth, my servants!" Columns of energy arose around him causing a werewolf, a minotaur, Slogra, and Gaibon to appear around him with their weapons and claws at the ready.

"Four summons at once?!" Ritsuko noted in obvious surprise.

"I've been practicing," Shinji explained.

"Well well, look who decided to join the gathering," the angel's voice came. Shinji watched as the massive form of Hir'el landed within six meters. His hammer dropped just in front of him, held by the shaft, with the top of the head hitting the ground hard. Shinji felt the ground shake on impact and decided he definitely had no intention of being hit with that thing.

"And you are?" Shinji asked, sounding almost bored.

"Hir'el, Angel of the Forge. And you are the man-child known as Shinji Ikari."

"You actually do know my name," Shinji noted, no longer sounding bored.

"All Angels know the identity of the one who murdered most of The Divine Messengers," Hir'el explained. "We've all been waiting to get a shot at you. Unfortunately, my work is far more important than your demise. I will construct upon this chosen land a mighty fortress so that our leader can command this world from a position of prominence and power."

"A fortress," Shinji echoed. "Not very Adam-like."

"Adam? No. Given time he will return, but your kind will be long since gone by then. Instead, this fortress is for the angel of Vengeance… Azrael."

"I should have guessed he'd take up the reins of power over you angels. It explains why you all have taken humanoid forms this time."

"That… and let's be fair to you humans; weaker than us you may be, but it would seem that Lilith has managed to find a perfect physical form. I might even go so far as to say it is a work of art. It is a form that has served you well, and so as the survivors of the last War on Earth, we have adopted your forms, reduced our size, and have gained even greater power as a result."

Shinji weighed his words and found he was correct. These new angels were nothing like the old, which were defeated with giant robots and pure physical violence. Though such violence has been of some help against the angels again, he realized that it has taken far more esoteric means to fight them on equal footing, and had they not had the supernatural powers they had now, it was likely none of them would have stood a chance against them.

"You're welcome… I guess," Shinji replied with subtle sarcasm in his tone. "Since your primary mission doesn't directly involve me, I don't suppose we could just, leave quietly."

"Oh, I'm afraid not. You see, my mission may not be to directly confront you, no hunter would ignore prey when it offers itself so freely."

"What makes you think you can win? I've already been involved in the death of two of your more recent brothers, not to mention most of The Messengers."

"Because despite all that, you've never had a very good track record when it comes to first attacks," Hir'el pointed out, "And I have you surrounded."

"Be that as it may, I am becoming stronger all the time. Today my luck could change."

"As your luck usually involves you escaping somehow… I certainly hope it changes. Destroy him!"

Ritusko watched as Shinji suddenly summoned a pair of pikes from his skeletal horde souls, quickly throwing one into a nearby angel as it moved to attack him, then moved faster than Ritsuko had ever seen him move, leaving afterimages behind as he went, leaping a moment later and impaled another angel. His minions breaking off in four directions to try to hold off the horde of machines ready to bring death at a moment's notice. Pulling her own sword, she dodged an angel trying to attack her as Ari's warning rang in her head. With her only Innocent Devil a non-combatant, the extended awareness offered by a second set of eyes would have to suffice instead.

Shinji backflipped, then sideflipped, avoiding a series of arrows fired upon him from the legless archers, throwing more spears in their direction. These Angelic Archers however were much faster than any of their other robotic kin and were able to dodge the projectiles with seeming ease. Shinji ran towards one of the larger, animalistic looking angels, summoned forth Flying Armor, and cross-slashed with the massive blades, cutting the automaton in four before it could react. As its body started to slide apart, Shinji jumped onto it and leapt towards one of the archers, managing to cut it out of the air with an upward swipe from Flying Armor's massive blades.

Ritsuko was somehow able to keep pace with the angelic robots, using Mourneblade to slice them apart with rapid strikes she herself didn't realize she was capable of. With a quick motion she pulled a flask from her coat and chucked it at Hir'el who wasn't paying attention to her. The flask exploded into a cloud of rust colored gas. The leading angel quickly slid backwards, dragging the cloud with him as the liquid on his body hadn't yet fully evaporated. While it did little more than sting a little to him, he noted his creations around him were suddenly falling apart, rusting away in seconds.

"A woman of science I see," he noted as the cloud finally dissipated. "I certainly hope you didn't expect that to actually hurt me."

"Hurt? No." Before he could contemplate her meaning, she rushed at him dodging under his attempt to swipe her with a swing of his hammer. Before he could recover, Ritsuko jumped up, slashing though the armor between his wing and shoulder on his now exposed back. A chunk of his weakened armor was slashed free, sending a shard into the air. Ari managed to grab it out of the air as Ritsuko turned in midair drawing her hand-crossbow and firing a shot directly into newly created hole in the armor. She was awarded with a spray of blue blood, but if Hir'el even felt it, he made no indication.

Ritsuko landed, and Hir'el faced her.

"Clever," he complimented. "It seems the members of Dracula's Harem are capable of more than being the whores of Satan."

Ritsuko's eyes narrowed. "First, not in the Harem. Second, you have no idea of what I am capable of."

"I know what you are, Devil Forgemistress. Your skills are unimpressive compared to what I can do… but I know the potential of your profession. So, despite the fact that Dracula is proving better at killing my minions than you… you just became my primary target."

"Come on then," Ritsuko taunted. "I've killed one of your kind with a laptop… Let's see what it takes to kill you." She brought her blade up before her pointing skyward close to her face, then swiped outwards in a flourish before rushing towards him again.

Hir'el brought the hammer down, but Ritsuko stopped short and made a short hop, landing on the hammer head before leaping towards the angel. She was backhanded out of the air as Hir'el was anticipating this. The hit sent her flying, landing hard about seven meters away. She quickly shook off the stun and got up in time to watch as the hammer changed into a massive zweihander. Ritsuko slid back immediately to avoid the next series of slashes as the angel seemed to have become much quicker having shifted from hammer to sword.

Shinji meanwhile was beginning to become overwhelmed. His minions kept most of the army at bay, but had already lost Gaibon to an archer ambush and Minotarus was badly injured. Then he saw that Ritsuko was in over her head with Hir'el and knew it was time to flee. He called for Final Guard blocking all the blades suddenly coming down on his position before launching himself skyward with Flying Armor.

Upon landing he ran towards Ritsuko who was rolling back and forth, trying to avoid the massive sword of Hir'el. Finally slipping himself into the conversation he blocked the downward slash with Final Guard, only to see the shield crack. He grabbed Ritsuko and quickly concentrated on teleporting to a place where he wouldn't initially be seen. Hir'el's blade came down a second time shattering the shield, but his blade hit the ground without passing through anything else other than a beam of moonlight and images of bats.

"Bah!", he yelled, stepping back from the shadow bats. "You've escaped this time, but there is no where you can hide that Azrael won't find you."

Several blocks away in an alley, the beam of moonlight appeared and both Shinji and Ritsuko spilled to the floor.

"That's a record for you," Ritsuko noted. "We're about 12 blocks from where we fought."

"And I took someone else with me," Shinji noted. "That was the first time Final Guard has ever failed me."

Ritsuko looked at Shinji sadly. "You're looking pale," she noted.

"Nevermind that," he immediately dismissed. "We need to get to my forest safehouse."

"Your home?" Ritsuko clarified, earning a nod from Shinji. "So, I finally get to see it."

"I think you'll like it," Shinji noted.

She got up from the ground retrieving her smartphone. "I need to call Maya. She can't stay where she is… not anymore. I assume the invitation is extended to her as well?"

"Last I checked, you're a package deal," Shinji quipped.

Four hours later, smoke rises from the ruins of what was once Tokyo-4. The mechanized angels had already expanded outwards into the suburbs, killing anyone they came into contact with. Many of the angels were now sifting though the rubble for usable materials and were beginning the construction of a fortress that would sever as the future staging ground for the angelic invasion.

"You can't evade me forever, Vlad… you and your little Forgemistress will soon be little more than a memory."

Searching trails to the ghost world

No we are not alone

All these lanterns are projectors of the city lights

They make my shadow dance a waltz with the snowflakes

Or are these portraits of inhuman souls

Zombies ignite my fears

But why for so many years

They've got better things to do than scare me

"Something is very wrong with Shinji… and he won't talk to me. This forest house is in the perfect place to expand my work, but will it be enough to stop Hir'el before he summons another angel?"

Next Chapter: Pity the Innocent Devils