XIII
Incursion

Kouji gritted his teeth as the sound of arrows clanking against Giselle's barriers filled the entire room. NingNing ran to the door to reinforce it with her Scripture, as well as every possible entrance to the loft. Winter didn't leave Kouji and Karina's side, readying herself to defend against whatever attack the Church might have up their sleeve.

"Why…" Kouji looked to see Giselle single handedly holding back the aerial ranged attacks. "Why now?"

"That doesn't matter right now," said Karina. "They picked the most opportune time. Lord Azazel and Lord Shemhazai are gone, Lady Leviathan just left…we're completely on our own."

"Let me up," said Kouji.

"Kouji…it's too dangerous to-"

"Karina I can help!" cried Kouji. "You guys can't see where the arrows are coming from, I could see it before it broke the window…please, let me help."

Against her better judgement, Kouji knew that she knew he was right. What she had said…how this place heavily guarded, it was 100% true, however they had been watching him for awhile. They were waiting for the right opportunity. If Azazel really was headed to some big conference with the faction leaders, what better time to manuever a strike force then when everyone least expects it. In terms of strategic warfare, it's exactly what he would have done. Whoever was orchestrating this attack knew what they were doing, they're smart.

Karina released Kouji from his protective hold as he stood up. His eyes shifted as all of the incoming arrows slowed to a near stand-still. Kouji had to use his head here. He had to be smart about his next move. There were facets of war that he wasn't entirely used to yet, but basic strategy was one thing he was exceptional at. Of all the things he was confident in…strategy was his bread and butter.

He could see them. The arrows were being shot from far away…judging from the angle and the trajectory of the shot, assuming these weren't some magic laced arrows…they were being shot from outside the city. Somewhere…

"The mountains," Kouji cancelled the crimson world. "The arrows are being shot from the mountains. I couldn't see it clearly enough, too far away. But it looks like some kind of shrine."

"These aren't your typical arrows either," Giselle gritted her teeth as she held back more and more arrows. "Rina, these arrows are from the Epirus Bow. They're really dead set on bring Kouji in."

"What the hell is an Epirus Bow?" asked Kouji.

"A Divine Weapon," said Karina. "It shoots arrows constructed from the user's magic, they're completely unaffected by the laws of physics so they continue in the flight of the shot until they hit their target. There's only one person in the entire Church who has the skills to use that thing…this isn't good. They're out for blood."

"Karina!" cried a male voice from front door. "Karina! Guys! Is everything alright?"

"That voice…" said NingNing.

"Amaros!" said Karina. "Let him in NingNing!"

Bursting through the door, a hulking man charged his way in dressed in battle gear. Kouji was taken aback. This was his first time meeting someone from this world who wasn't an attractive young woman or a seductive man. He was fearsome, carrying a battle-axe on his back. His black hair was cut short and his violet eyes pierced through to see Giselle's barriers.

"What the hell is happening?" asked Amaros. "Are we under attack?"

"We are," said Karina. "Lord Azazel's gone, and so is Lord Shemhazai. Lock the building down and order everyone on stand-by. The Church is here for Kouji."

"Damn," said Amaros. "They picked a hell of a time to attack…but this is bold, even for them."

"They're desperate," said NingNing. "That's not good for us. Who knows what they're capable of if they're desperate enough."

"Attacking a building full of Fallen Angels?" asked Winter. "That not desperate enough for you?"

"Can it, Winter," Karina was in full leader mode this time. It was his first seeing her this serious. "Giselle, how long can you keep the barrier up?"

"As long as we need, but that's not the problem," said Giselle.

"This is a distraction," said Kouji. "Yeah, it's the same thing I would do. Blind your enemy with a ranged assault to panic them while the ground force mobilizes to surround the building."

"How do you know warfare strategy?" asked Winter.

This is exactly what they want…for Karina to order the building on lockdown. If it were Kouji, the arrows would be a distraction. This building…

"Oh no," said Kouji. "We have to get out of the building…like right now."

"What?" asked Karina.

"Karina, what's this kid-"

It was too late. The entire building shook as they were ambushed. It was as if an earthquake had hit Seoul, the biggest earthquake in recorded history. If it weren't for the fact that the building was heavily guarded and reinforced with magic, it would have collapsed.

"Giselle, back!" cried Kouji. "Put up a barrier around us! As strong as you can!"

Thankfully, Giselle didn't question him. The five of them huddled together as Giselle put up her barrier. Amaros, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. A magic circle opened up underneath him as the Fallen Angel immediately dropped, collapsing down as if instantaneous death had overwhelmed him.

"What is happening?" asked Winter.

"Think about it," said Kouji. "The distraction with the arrows to get us panicked an alarmed. It was all to do exactly what Karina was about to do…trap every Fallen Angel in the building. All of their enemies, in one place…what do you think they're going to do?"

"A single strike?" asked Karina.

"Do they even have enough firepower to blow up the building?" asked Giselle.

"They don't have to blow it up…they shouldn't," said Kouji. "Best way to avoid unnecessary casualties is to just put everyone to sleep. They're doing what you guys did back in London. Put everyone to sleep to get to their real target…"

"Dammit…" Karina balled her fists. "How could I have been so stupid?"

"Not the time," said Kouji. "For now…we've gotta get out of this building alive. If I can get out, they won't view this building as a threat. They won't kill any Fallen Angels, they won't want to start a war with Azazel."

"That might be easier said than done…" said Winter.

"We can't just teleport out?" asked Kouji.

"A bounded field…" said Giselle. "That was what that rumbling was. We can't get out through magic means…only physically."

"So…navigate through a hotel building that's riddled with exorcists who want me dead," said Kouji.

"No, not just exorcists," said Karina. "The Epirus Bow belongs to one of the highest ranked exorcists in the Church, one of the Paladin's personal guard unit. If he's here…it means she's here too."

"T-The Paladin? What the hell is that?" asked Kouji.

"The strongest exorcist in the Church," said NingNing with a maniacal smile. "Oh I'm getting excited…haven't seen her since-"

"NingNing, control yourself," said Karina. "The Paladin and her personal kill squad are who's hunting you Kouji, this won't be so easy."

"Well we have to try," said Kouji. "I think we can release the barrier now…We have to go down on foot."

Karina led NingNing forward to open the front door, looking down the hallway before signalling it was safe. Winter and Giselle stayed with Kouji as Karina and NingNing went a few steps ahead to scout out their path.

After three floors down the stairs and being careful to be quiet, Karina signaled them to stop. Standing by the elevator were a group of 10, maybe 15 exorcists. They all wore the same white cloak that he remembered seeing Irina and Xenovia in back in London.

"Report."

There was a leader among them. A man in his twenties with short white hair and a lazy, almost disinterested look in his eyes.

"Lady Amelia is combing through the first ten floors but they haven't found anything sir," said one of the exorcists. "Sir Galahad is combing through floors 10 through 30 but so far nothing. Sir Alistair is on stand by outside in case they do get out."

"Then we sweep through till the roof," said the leader. "Let's make this quick, I don't like being a building with Fallen Angels, asleep or not."

"Sir!" the exorcists scattered in formation.

"This…is not good," said Giselle. "They're got the entire building on lockdown. They're going to find us."

"No…maybe not," said Kouji. "I have an idea…but it's kind of stupid and dangerous."

"Well we're fresh out of options," said Winter. "Stupid and dangerous it is. What do you have in mind?"

"Serpent Phantasm," said Kouji. "I can get us through, hopefully undetected…but I need to maintain eye contact with any exorcist who comes our way."

"Well now's your chance," Karina forced them to duck behind as a platoon of low level exorcists came their way.

"Take them out," said Kouji. "Leave me one. I need to know their formations or plans."

The girls went to action. NingNing jumped in and knocked one out with a chop to the back of his neck while Karina strangled another to sleep. Winter took a more direct approach and choked one with her hand before slamming him into the ground while Giselle took a more peaceful option, putting another to sleep.

Kouji grabbed one of the exorcists and activated Purgatorial Phantasm. He had learned that the eyes could do more than just put people in a trance. Once their minds were broken, it could be read as easily as a book if it's not guarded.

"I was right," his eyes returned to normal. "Shooter in the mountains keeping an eye on the building. Three lead exorcists leading the ground force hunt while another has the building surrounded. There's over 200 exorcists here…"

"Good," said NingNing. "If she's here too…this should be fun."

Kouji leaned over to Winter. "Is she suddenly bloodthirsty or am I imagining things?"

"It's complicated," said Winter. "NingNing had everything taken away from her by the exorcists…she doesn't exactly like them."

"That's an understatement," said Giselle.

"Stay focused," said Karina. "We need to get out of the building. Now how do we get out without running into an entire army of holy crusaders?"

Kouji smiled. "I've got an idea…"

"Is it stupid and dangerous?" asked Giselle.

"Incredibly," said Kouji. "But it'll be fun."

They didn't like his plan, as expected. However it was a direct approach and with how things are at the moment, a direct approach was better then sitting around and waiting.

"This is insane," said Giselle, looking at the window. "Even for us…this is insane."

"I don't know about Kouji," said Karina.

"I'm all for it," NingNing patted Kouji on his back. "This is the best idea you've ever had Kouji."

"Screw it," Winter took Kouji's hand. "You guys ready?"

"Make sure you guys don't go," said Kouji. "You guys are going to have to trust me to watch your backs…once we're out there, it's up to you guys to make a path."

"Leave that to us," Karina ruffled his hair. "Just watch our backs and we'll get you out of here. I promise."

Kouji took a deep breath before they all charged for the window, jumping through and shattering the glass as they all fell down the hundred foot building, diving to the ground. His eyes shifted as Serpent Phantasm went into full effect. While the girls had their wings to slow their fall, he created a serpent scale under his feet as they landed.

"No survivors," said Karina. "Not this time…Not after everything they've done."

"My pleasure," said NingNing.

The army of exorcists waiting for them were led by one man. He appeared as young as the other one with white hair, however this one had long black hair tied into a thing tail behind his head and golden eyes. He carried a single spear resting on his shoulder and smiled as he saw them.

"You are on hard kid to track down," said the exorcist. "And to think you'd be protected by the Grigori…now that's something I never thought I'd see. What's a bunch of Angels doing protecting a Demon hellspawn?"

"Watch your mouth," said NingNing.

"Well I guess it doesn't matter either way," said the exorcist.

Kouji's eyes didn't deactivate. Still with the enhanced vision of the Mystic Eyes, Kouji blocked another arrow from the shooter with a scale manifesting in front of Karina's face.

"That's not nice," said Kouji. "Aren't you exorcists? How are you gonna shoot someone who's unarmed?"

"I would hardly call you guys unarmed," said the exorcist. "Now, are you going to come with us willingly? Or do we need to take you by force?"

"He's not going anywhere with you," said Karina. "On my honor as an Angel of Gabriel."

The exorcist pointed his spear at them, signaling the charge. Kouji had never witnessed conflict like this before, not ever in his life. He had seen depictions of war and fighting in movies and anime, but never the real thing. He had never seen the girls fight before, truly fight…until now.

NingNing wasn't just some wordsmith who fought using her Sacred Gear, she had insane superior strength. She was swatting away these exorcists like they were made of paper, swiftly disarming them of their weapons killing a lot more.

Winter used her Sacred Gear to full effect. She froze multiple exorcists and shattered the remaining icicles, blocking attacks with her frosted forearm gauntlets and punching others until they were frozen statues. He had never seen Winter use her Sacred Gear before…it fit her name perfectly. With each statue she broke, the particles floated in the air until it began to snow.

Karina…was terrifying. No emotion on her face. No anger, no hatred, no fear…just a relentless slaughtering machine. She was like a ballerina, slicing and dicing her way through the army of exorcists before them. She was extremely skilled with her twin swords. It was terrifying to watch but he imagined it was even more terrifying to witness.

"Your first seeing them like this, huh?" asked Giselle.

"I…I can't tell if this is really them," said Kouji. "It's like I don't even recognize them."

"We're serious about protecting you, Kouji," said Giselle. "We won't let anything happen to you."

"Ali!" cried a voice from up the building. "What the hell are you doing!"

Kouji had been so focused on protecting the girls from their blind spots that he hadn't noticed the exorcists in the hotel had begun to converge behind them.

Ali sighed. "Will you butt out Amelia? I'm doing my job!"

"Fat load of good that's doing!" Amelia, the exorcist in charge of the first 10 floors, teleported over to Ali through a magic circle. She looked to be the youngest of the exorcists, maybe 16 or 17 years old, with long teal colored hair and brown eyes. She carried a rapier on her side, like Jeanne had, with a scowl on her face as she spoke to Ali. "Why aren't those girls dead yet? Lady Karisma is going to be pissed if we don't bring him in."

"Don't you think I know that?" asked Ali. "They're not exactly sitting back and accepting their fate."

"Kouji!" cried Karina. "Time for the plan!"

Kouji stepped forward and created a scale on his back. "Hit me with everything Giselle."

"Hope you're ready," She smiled as multiple magic circles formed ontop of one another, focusing a blast of magic directly into his back.

Magic absorbed through the serpent's scales were felt by him, every bit of it. The closest he got to feeling like this was when he sipped coffee for the first time, the rush of adrenaline and caffeine coarsing through his veins from that one sip. Giselle's magic embued him, heightening his senses and overloaded his Serpent Phantasm.

"Now!" cried Kouji.

The girls on the front lines took off into the skies as Kouji created the wall of serpent scales. Each one protruded the contained magic from Giselle, blasting away at the exorcist force before them.

With the distraction created, Giselle grabbed Kouji by his arms and flew him away to join the others.

While they couldn't use magic to escape from the bounded field, they simply flew out of the field and hurried to escape Seoul.

"I can't believe that worked!" cried Kouji with a sheepish smile on his face.

"That was too close for comfort," said Karina. "I can't believe they would really attack us like that."

"We're not out the woods yet!" Winter spun in the air and blocked an incoming arrow with a shield of ice. "They're still firing at us!"

"Where are we supposed to go?" asked Giselle. "What's to stop them from following us?"

"Giselle, drop me," said Kouji. "You need both your hands, I can fly with the scales."

Giselle trusted him enough to let go without question. He was able to create a scale to land on, however catching up with Aespa and their speed was taking up most of his concentration.

"Seriously…" said NingNing. "Where do we go?"

"There's a safehouse outside of Seoul, you guys can go there to recuperate until you come up with a plan."

Kouji turned around to see someone sitting on his scale, eating a bag of potato chips and looking back at the exorcists at the hotel. He looked a little older than Karina was, with shaggy blonde hair and an amused smile. He wore a green fleece jacket with cargo pants, however he gave off the same kind of terrifying aura that Griselda had when she came to visit them.

"D-Dulio?" asked Giselle.

"Yo," the boy said, keeping his eyes on the exorcists. "Not too bad of a job outsmarting them kid. I didn't know Imugi's scales were capable of absorbing magic like that."

"Uh…thanks," said Kouji.

"I thought the Archangels couldn't intervene," said NingNing. "What're you doing here Dulio?"

"Lord Micheal gave me permission," said Dulio. "Don't worry, I'm not here to kill you or anything. Gotta help my sisters out when they need it, right? And you guys could really use some help right about now."

Kouji gave out a sigh of relief. "I guess that's good, the Archangels don't want me dead nearly as much as the Church."

"For now," said Dulio. "Keep heading straight, Griselda's going to signal you." The boy stood up and stretched his arms. "Did you kill any of them?"

"Unfortunately," said Kouji. "I had hoped to make it out without any casualties."

"You're far too hopeful," said Dulio. "You guys go on ahead, I'll meet you there once I'm done."

"Done? Done with what?" asked Karina. "Dulio, why are you helping us?"

"Maybe I feel the same way you do Karina," Dulio smiled. "I can't sit by and watch an innocent kid get killed, can I?"

Kouji watched as Dulio stepped off the scale and flew through the skies, however the sky had begun to darken. It was clear as day seconds ago, but now it looked like there were thunder clouds rolling in to darken the city.

"What…is happening?" asked Kouji. "Can we just leave him like that?"

"Dulio almost never volunteers for anything…" said Giselle. "I'm almost scared to see what he's like when he's motivated."

"Keep going," said Karina. "Dulio's holding them off for us…We can get away."

Kouji was beginning to think that this entire thing was turning out to be a lot more than the Church just wanting him dead. This entire conflict was beginning to attract some rather powerful individuals. Dulio, whatever he was capable of, was somehow rolling in a storm over Seoul. Griselda was Gabriel's literal Queen…who else was going to get pulled into this thing?

He shoved the thought away, focusing himself on keeping up with Aespa as they flew through the city and towards the safehouse that Dulio had mentioned.