She had done it again. She kept running away from her security detail and by extension him. As a young boy without any experience in romance or girls whatsoever, he did the only thing a boy his age would do. Follow her. And it took a while to track her. He didn't know how it was possible to avoid two people trained by Akane but somehow, she did it.
She was sitting on the railing of the balcony, overlooking the horizon of Budapest skyline. Her silvery-blonde hair fluttered gently in the weak breeze. She looked over her shoulder and smiled. "I thought I got away this time."
"I'd be pretty bad at my job if I couldn't find you," Shin said, trying to sound as suave as he possibly could. The tips he got from his father on how to woo women was a holy grail.
The girl giggled at his attempt before swinging her legs over the railing and hopping back onto the balcony.
"I like to come up to high places. It makes me feel better," she said.
"You're not afraid of heights, Tala?" Shin asked.
"No. It… lets me see everything," Tala replied. Her warm golden eyes gazed out over the people walking. "They're so small when you see them from up here. Like ants you know."
Shin looked over the edge to see people going about their daily lives. "Why are you out here by yourself? You never told me or Mio why you're traveling to all these countries."
Tala's eyes lit up and her lips curved into a smug smile. "As if you'd understand. I'm really mature for my age," Tala said, running her hair back. "A baby like you can't understand my adult mind."
"Adult mind? We're like 13 years old," Shin said.
"Hmph, still! I'm very mature. I have a super adult mind!" Tala said, placing her hands on her hips. "Besides, Grandpa… is too old to be traveling all the time so I have to go for him. You see everyone out there, Shin?"
"Yeah?"
Tala traced her finger along the balcony railing. "Grandpa says that people out there are all living their lives. He told me that there are good people out there. That good will always win out in people. But I don't believe that. I try to for his sake but I really don't. People are flawed. People aren't perfect. People fight all the time and do lots of bad things and it makes me wonder if doing anything to make the world a better place is even worth it because in the end…"
She sighed and looked over to him. "People being people will just end up ruining it. Every good thing we've ever had that was made for the benefit of others were ruined by people. Because they want money… or just because they wanted to feel something, whatever it is, there's really no point in trying to make the world a better place."
Shin closed his eyes, trying to understand her words. "Mmmm. I don't get it."
"See! I didn't expect you to!" Tala grinned. "How's that? Did I sound smart?"
"Yeah, I still don't get it. But if you think that, why are you doing all this weird charity stuff?" Shin asked.
Tala looked taken aback by his question. For once, she struggled to come up with an answer. "Because…," she finally said. "Someone has to… even if it doesn't matter."
Shin tried to wrap his mind around her answer. After a few seconds, he dropped it. His immature mind could barely comprehend what she said earlier so trying to figure out the meaning behind her answer was a struggle. "Hey, Tala, I—"
"So this is where the two lovebirds were."
Tala and Shin jumped. The two whirled around to see a girl with dark violet hair standing behind them with her arms crossed. Her black coat and red hakama skirt fluttered in the breeze. She brushed her bangs aside and smiled.
"M-Mio! Jeez! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Shin said, trying to calm his heart rate.
"Pfft, ahahaha! Your faces are so red!" Mio cackled.
"S-Shut up!"
Mio stuck her tongue out and jumped back as Shin swung his arm to punch her. All the while, Tala, having calmed herself, watched the scene with a small smile on her face.
After chasing her around, Shin finally caught up to her and tackled her onto the balcony, pinning her down. "I'll show you— eh?"
Shin's eyes widened in surprise when he saw blood pooling on the floor. His hands were stained with the crimson essence as his brain raced to catch up with what he was seeing. He looked down at Mio, who lay in his arms. There was a gaping hole in her torso. He could see into her as well as through her. Torn organs and visceral tissue hung loosely like wet meat as if shredded by some immense concussive force.
"M- Mio…?" Shin said.
"S-Shin… why…?" she rasped.
"Huh?"
"Why didn't… you…come back…?"
"N-No! Mio, that's not—"
"We were… partners. You're my Blade Twin," Mio rasped.
"You… left us to her…"
"NO! That's not what I—"
"Shin! HELP!"
Shin's head snapped up and his heart almost stopped beating in his chest. His breath hitched when he saw Yaldabaoth standing before a cowering Tala. The girl had a cut on her shoulder and her clothes were dirty as she backpedaled into a piece of rubble. "N-No, Shin, please help me!"
"TALA!" Shin set Mio down and got up to sprint when he felt himself being held back. He looked down and saw Mio grabbing his arm, preventing him from going forward. Several more arms sprung up from the ground, all latching onto him.
"She died because of you. We died because of you…"
"No! NO! I didn't… I tried to save you!" Shin shook his head as the hands began to crawl across his skin. Their grimy, bloody fingers seemingly caressed every inch of his flesh as they made their way to hold his head in place. His eyes were forced open to watch as Yaldabaoth's scarlet blade rose into the air.
"No! STOP!"
"And now…" Shin caught a glimpse of Mio's face out of the corner of his eye.
Her face looked hideous, degraded by years of decay. Her remaining eyeball hung loosely from her eye socket. Her skin started to peel off, revealing greenish yellow, rotting muscle tissue. Maggots wriggled in and out of various orifices on her skin. Her tongue slithered across his eyeball and he could smell the foul stench of rot.
"You'll fail her as well."
She snapped Shin's head forward.
"Shin-chan?"
His heart sank into his stomach when he saw Ichika nailed to a wall. Clear, transparent crystals were driven through her wrists and legs. She struggled to break free. Her eyes were wide with terror as she saw Yaldabaoth approach.
"Ichika! NO! DON'T TOUCH HER!"
"SHIN! HELP! HELP ME!" Ichika cried as Yaldabaoth drew closer.
"You'll fail her just like you failed all of us, Shin…"
The voices of Mio and Tala crept into his brain, invading it like a parasite. The hands tightened, all gripping at him. Some crawled under his clothing, roaming his body as they worked to tear into his flesh to root him down. Mio's decaying face had a twisted mockery of a smile as she continued to whisper his name.
"Shin…"
"Shin!"
Shin gasped as he woke up in a cold sweat. He shot up in bed, ignoring the phantom pain that shot through his chest and ribs. The room around him spun from the suddenness of his awakening. The sheer jerking motion of him sitting up so fast sent blood rushing to his brain all at once. When the spinning stopped and the dizziness faded, Shin found himself sitting in the Exorcist Headquarters' medical bay.
The sterile white walls and fluorescent bright lights threatened to blind him as he slowly adjusted to the light. The smell of antiseptic and antibiotics flooded his nostrils, immediately sending waves of nausea through him. The other beds around him were mostly empty, save for a few exorcists that had returned from missions.
"Shin! Shin, are you okay?"
He slowly turned his head, still panting.
Irina sat on a chair next to his bed with a worried look on her face. She was still dressed in the disguise she wore to the ball. She reached forward and placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "Shin, you okay?"
"I… What…? Where… When did we…?" he asked, still a bit disoriented.
"You're awake. Thank god."
Shin turned to see Sophia walking into the room with Asia behind her. The blonde nun immediately bounded over to his side and began to heal him. The soft green glow of Twilight Healing calmed his nerves somewhat.
"Sophia…? And Asia? What—?"
"You took a real nasty hit back there. It was touch and go for a moment. We almost lost you," Sophia said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Irina tried to heal you with Miracles but we all know how that went."
Irina looked away, gripping the fabric of her disguise tightly. "I… was in a panic, okay? I forgot about that."
"Luckily, we didn't need 10 liters of Phenex Tears this time. Asia was here so we got you all patched up," Sophia said.
"What happened back there?" Shin asked. He blinked when he saw Irina offering him a towel. He gratefully accepted and wiped some of the sweat from his brow.
"Well, the mission was going well. Father Marco ran into an alley after you and Ichika talked to him. And then, you two ran into that masked devil," Sophia said, giving him a brief summary.
"I see… And Father Marco. Did we manage to get him?" Shin asked. His memories of the incident were still blurry.
"Shin-chan, Father Marco is dead," Irina replied. She ran a hand through her hair. "He… didn't make it. The wounds. The knives hit him in places that were all lethal. He's not coming back from that, even with Twilight Healing."
"You got lucky." Sophia shoved an apple slice into his mouth.
Shin blinked as he began to slowly chew on the slice.
"You lost a lot of blood but you got lucky. If Asia hadn't gotten there in time, the Vatican would have been wiped off the face of the Earth," she said.
Shin's eyes widened for a few seconds before his gaze fell to his blanket. "Fuck… he was our only lead, right?"
"Unfortunately. Now Valper's going to be more careful with his moles," Sophia said. She pulled out a chair and sat down. Sophia pulled a small knife from the sheath on her hip and began peeling another apple that was lying on Shin's bedside table. "Luckily for you, we might not need to hunt down more moles."
"What…?" Shin looked at her oddly.
"I recorded everything through your mics."
"Oh. That's what you mean. Thanks for that," Shin said.
"We can start looking around in Father Marco's office after you get back on your feet. By the way, what was the last thing he said…? You know before that masked woman turned him into a human pincushion?" Sophia asked.
"He said something about… Project Daybreak?" Shin said.
Sophia's hand froze. The knife she held was still pressed against the apple skin. Her grip around the handle tightened considerably.
"Sophia?" Irina said, noticing how Sophia had suddenly gone quiet.
Shin's eyes drifted down to the knife in her hand. She was cutting deep into the apple. "Sophia, are you okay?"
"Huh…?" Sophia blinked and noticed the blade of her knife was almost completely through the apple. "Yeah, I'm fine. So… Project Daybreak?"
"Yeah. That's the last thing he said. He was also talking on the phone to someone. They're not working alone. I think he said something about a trade? I don't know. My memory's kind of foggy there."
Sophia placed the apple and knife down. "Whatever it is, we need to stop it. It's bad enough if Valper gets all the Excalibur Fragments. This… Project Daybreak thing, we can't let it fall into whoever he's giving it to."
Shin nodded. He wanted to say something but kept it to himself. Whatever was bugging her, he would find out on his own time. After all, Shin was never one to pry. His older sister and… his master had drilled it into him that privacy was something people who worked across interpantheon lines loved.
Shin leaned back against the headboard and sighed. "By the way, where's Ichika? I haven't seen her since I woke up."
"Ichi? Ichi's out there. She… She's not in a good place right now," Irina said.
"I mean, can you blame her? If you saw someone really close to you getting turned into a porcupine, will you really be okay after that?" Sophia said. "But still, aren't you glad we have Asia? If we didn't have Twilight Healing, you'd be dead by now."
Shin said nothing as he gripped his sheets tightly.
"She's probably in the training area, taking her frustrations out on a dummy," Sophia said.
"I'll go find her after this," Shin said.
The four fell into silence for a moment. Shin's body was still tense. The memories of the encounter were coming back to him in fragments but he remembered one thing clearly. His jaw tightened as his hands balled into fists, gripping the blankets tightly.
That sword. It can't be…
THUD!
"Sophia, it's not working! The Miracle's not healing him!"
Ichika sat there, motionless as she stared at Sophia and Irina, who were working frantically to keep Shin alive. Her arms and dress were all stained with Shin's blood. She felt it. Every warm drop of blood that flowed from his wounds as she tried to wake him. Her throat had been raw from screaming hysterically.
Irina whispered multiple prayers and verses, as symbols surrounded her arms and hands. All of it sank into Shin's body but none of it seemed to take effect.
"Of course, it's not going to work! Shin's body rejects Angelic and Demonic Power. Shit! Of all the times… Xenovia, get Asia over here now!
THWACK!
"Damn it! Huh…? Irina! Move, he's not breathing!"
Her heart stopped when she heard those words come out of Sophia's mouth. She gingerly reached forward, as if touching Shin's hand would somehow bring him back from the bring. Instead, she got no response. Just a hand that was starting to become clammy.
"No… please… not you too…" she begged.
CRAACK!
Her hazel eyes turned silver.
The dummy exploded into splinters. That was the 10th dummy she had destroyed. Ichika panted as she lowered her fist. Sweat dripped down her face, onto the floor. Her knuckles were bloodied and torn from hours of striking hard wood and steel. She bit her lip. Tears streamed down her face, intermixing with her sweat.
"Damn it! Damn it!" Ichika cursed as she fell to her knees and began punching the ground. She slammed her fist weakly against the ground as her body began to shake from the sobs that threatened to overtake her.
"I… I'm so useless," Ichika whispered.
She slammed her fist into the ground one last time. The small pebbles on the gravel shredded through her exposed tissue. Blood spilled from Ichika's split knuckles and stained the gravel red. The sight of Shin riddled with knives was still fresh in her mind. The sight of red on her hands from Shin's blood never left, even after she washed her hands. Her best friend was fighting for his life in the medical ward and she couldn't do anything about it.
"I figured I'd find you here."
Ichika's head snapped up as she turned around. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Bea leaning against the entrance with her arms crossed. Sophia's older sister stared at her with a nigh-emotionless gaze. Her cool red eyes would have sent shivers down her spine on any other occasion. This was not that.
"What do you want? Have you come to gloat?" Ichika wiped her tears. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying.
If Beatrix seemed offended by her statement, she didn't show it on her face. The older woman simply pushed off the doorway and walked toward her. "No. Sophia told me to come look for you."
"Figures. I never took you for the warm and fuzzy type," Ichika grumbled as she got up off the ground. She dusted the gravel off her legs and skirt.
"I heard Shin got injured in this mission," Bea said. She looked Ichika up and down. The girl had really beat herself up over this.
"..."
Ichika said nothing as she walked over to another dummy and propped it up.
CRRUUUNCH!
Ichika's palm made contact with the dummy's reinforced steel head. The training dummy wobbled. She felt pain coursing through her hands. She didn't care. Next time she wasn't going to be just a moving target for the enemy. Next time, she wouldn't have to watch Shin get hurt.
I'll be the one to—
Ichika's fist made contact with the dummy's head, causing the reinforced steel to visibly cave in from the force of her punch.
Blood continued to drip down her knuckles onto the ground. The skin had been worn down and raw from the repeated abuse.
"Is this your plan?" Bea asked as she watched Ichika continue to hammer the dummy with blows. Each one echoed and groaned against the force of Ichika's frustrations and anger.
CRACK!
"To hit a dummy over and over again?" Bea pressed.
THUNK!
"Do you think punching something is going to fix your situation? It won't take back the fact that Shin got hurt."
The sound of metal shattering reverberated through the training area. Ichika panted as her fist punched through the metal head and out the other side. She clenched her jaw and pulled her fist back.
"What the hell am I supposed to do!? I… I couldn't do anything! Shin… Shin had to take that blow for me because I couldn't keep up!" Ichika stomped over to Bea and grabbed her by the collar of her vestments.
The older girl said nothing as Ichika screamed in her face.
"You don't know how it feels! To be so helpless while the person you care most about in the world is dying in front of you!" Ichika beat her fists against Bea's chest.
Bea stood there and took her hits, each blow growing weaker as Ichika's sobs began to grow louder.
"I… I couldn't do anything!" Ichika cried as she punched Bea's chest weakly.
Bea said nothing as Ichika fell to her knees, gripping the fabric of her pants. She stood there awkwardly as the room fell into a tense silence. Neither of them said a word for a long time. The only thing that could be heard were Ichika's incomprehensible attempts at apologizing and her quiet cries. To who, Bea couldn't tell. Was it to Shin or to herself?
"You were right…," Ichika finally said. Her tone was quiet.
"About what?" Bea asked, looking down at her.
"I wasn't ready… I was in over my head," she said.
Ichika's grip around Bea's pants tightened. "I was just target practice for that masked woman. I couldn't do anything while Shin fought to defend both of us!"
Bea continued to remain silent.
"Isn't this what you wanted to hear from me!? That you were right! I'm weak! I almost got my best friend killed! This is what you wanted to hear right!?" Ichika screamed. She was on the verge of having a full blown psychotic break.
"So what do you want to do about it?"
Ichika's head snapped up and she met Bea's cold red eyes.
"Are you just going to sit here and scream? Throw a tantrum on the training dummies? Or are you going to get up and do something about it?" Bea asked.
"W- What are you—?"
"Get up."
"What?"
"I said get up."
The firmness in Bea's voice left no room for argument. Ichika shakily got to her feet, eyeing the woman in front of her carefully.
"You have no right to break down like this. Not when your partner is in there in the ward recovering. You owe it to him to get better. You are the one person he's supposed to rely on in the heat of battle," Bea said, walking past her toward the destroyed dummy.
"Did… you make me stand just to tell me that—"
"Dummies don't make for good practice. They're only good for practicing form and solidifying movement. You want combat experience? Find a live opponent to measure your growth against," Bea said.
"W-What? What are you…?" Ichika trailed off when Bea summoned a sheathed white blade to her hand.
"Summon your Sacred Gear," Bea said.
"Huh! I—"
Bea didn't give her a chance. A flash of blue light ripped through the air, missing Ichika by an inch. Next to her, a molten fissure was carved across the arena. "Activate it."
Ichika balled her hands into fists before nodding. A flash of red light formed around her arms and lower legs as Boosted Gear's armored gauntlets and greaves formed around them.
"The [Boosted Gear]. Do you know what it is?" Bea asked as she walked around Ichika.
"I- It's a Sacred Gear," she said. "I know about it because President and Shin told me. I… I heard a God call it a Longinus…"
Bea said nothing to that.
(A God told her? How interesting.)
Bea didn't respond to the voice either.
"You… don't know what a Longinus is, do you?" Bea said, seeing the look of confusion on Ichika's face.
"I-I know a little bit. Shin and Prez told me a bit about them. They're super powerful weapons, right? I read in a book in Prez's room that I can kill a God. It's kind of hard to believe."
She cursed her luck. This girl was thrown into a world so utterly alien to her own without a lick of knowledge. Shin might have taught her the basics to survive but never informed her the true nature of the weapon she held. He must have assumed she would've figured it out eventually but that was a fatal line of thinking. In an ideal world, Ichika would have naturally grown to meet Ddraig and learn the true circumstances of the weapon she had. But this was not an ideal world.
"You're right in that sense but surface level knowledge won't help you get far. Oh, correct your stance," Bea swatted her leg with the sword.
Ichika winced as she corrected the placement of her feet.
"The [Boosted Gear] is an asset that will help you greatly in battle. The Dragon that resides within it is famous for having the power that surpasses Maou and Gods," Bea said as she stood in front of her. "Your ability lets you double your power every 10 seconds. I'm sure you've figured it out by now."
Ichika nodded slowly.
"But you cannot go anywhere if you keep your weapon at this level. Like you, your Sacred Gear will grow alongside you. Limit it and you will die… or worse, get someone you love killed," she said.
Ichika nodded stiffly. "So… what do I do…?"
"That is for you to find out," Bea said as she let out a sigh.
"W-Wait! You're leaving me here to figure this out!?" Ichika called out.
"Yes. You have Shin. He can help you figure the rest out," she replied.
"Wait! Please! I… I…," Ichika struggled to find the words to say to her.
"Hmm?" Bea raised an eyebrow. "What is it? Spit it out."
Ichika lowered her arm. "Teach me."
"Teach you?" Bea asked. "You already have Shin. Why are you asking me to teach you?"
"You're the only other person right now who's willing to help me right now! You know what I have, more than Shin does I think! That's why you're here, right? I… I don't want to bother Shin. I don't want to be a bigger burden than I already am! He's helped me so much already and… I can't even stand by his side without being deadweight. Please… I'll do anything!" Ichika begged.
Bea fell silent. She just stared at Ichika with a slightly surprised look on her face.
(You… cannot seriously be considering her request.) the voice within her sword said to her telepathically.
I might.
(She is destined to kill us one day!)
Then if she is, she might as well give me a good fight. Besides… she's not my rival. Akane is.
(You battle maniac.)
Besides, Albion. I know how she feels. To stand so helplessly as everyone you love dies in front of you. I… don't want her to experience the same pain Sophia and I felt that day, Bea replied.
Albion fell silent at her words. When Bea didn't hear him reply, she assumed that he had given up. She focused on Ichika, who was staring at her expectantly.
"Tomorrow. 5 AM. Don't be late."
Ichika's eyes widened. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in as a wave of relief washed over.
"I-I'll be there!" Ichika bowed deeply before running out of the training arena.
A whistle echoed through the empty facility. The place look like a hurricane had torn through it. The walls were torn open and sparks flew down from open power lines in the ceiling. His shoes clacked on the metal floor as he walked down the ruined hallway. Klein smiled as he took a deep breath, getting a whiff of the air in the facility. The air was heavy with the stench of rusting iron.
"I love the smell of fresh blood in the wee hours of the morning. Really reminds me of the Chicago," Klein commented as his foot hit something soft. He looked down and saw the mangled body of a female exorcist. Her clothes were torn in various places and entire chunks of her flesh had been ripped off as if an animal had gorged itself on her. The look of agony on her face indicated that she was still alive as this happened.
"I guess whoever was here really took there time... being a fucking animal," Klein said as he closed the exorcist's eyes. His eyes turned blue as crosshairs appeared around his irises.
[Appraisal complete]
[Structural integrity. 75%.]
[Objective updated. Generating path]
Klein got up and began following a trail of blue light that only he could see.
The further he got, the more he saw.
Priests, exorcists, researchers.
All of them maimed beyond recognition. It was as if whoever attacked this place took their sweet time torturing everyone they came across. He picked up a strand of white hair from the ground and pocketed it.
"It seems that... whoever did this is still here." His blue eyes gazed at the metal door ahead. It had been torn clean from its hinges.
A shot rang out from the opening.
Klein maintained his stepford smile as the bullet was seemingly sliced in half by an invisible force. A hail of blood-red light bullets shot out from the opening, all dispersing to harmless specks of light.
"Well, well, well, well, you're not from the fucking church, are you?"
Klein raised an eyebrow. He couldn't see them but he could hear them. His smile morphed into a smirk. This was going to be interesting.
Air is rushing toward me. It looks like he's going to attack from...
Klein swiped his hand. His hand cut through the air, slicing through the invisible form and shattered the shroud cloaking his assailant.
"Oho?"
[Appraisal complete]
[Generating Enemy Data]
[Freed Sellzen. Level 50.]
"So. Warning System put you as Level 50," Klein stepped forward. His hands were in his pockets as he looked at Freed casually.
"Level 50? Pfft, hahaha! I'm level 50? Well, shit that's kinda high, right?" Freed said as he stepped forward, twirling the sword in his hand. He had two more swords strapped to his waist. The one in his hand resembled almost a xiphos in appearance with two crossguards on the blade.
"That must be...," Klein began.
[Item appraisal complete]
[Item identified as Excalibur Transparency]
"Oho? An Excalibur Fragment. And... it looks like those other two are also Fragments," Klein pulled a hand out of his pocket. The air began to glimmer with a metallic sheen.
"Aren't you smart? Do you want a fucking prize or something?" Freed asked.
"No. I just want those swords on your hip." Klein closed his fist.
Freed's eyes widened when the metallic glimmer in the air closed in on him. He grabbed one of the swords on his hip and vanished in a burst of speed.
"Now, you're using Rapidly?" Klein said. He waved his hand.
Freed screamed when he felt something slice into his shoulder. He grinned psychotically as he shot toward Klein at blinding speeds. He spun in the air and swung his blade with the intent to kill.
Klein stood there, still calmly smiling as the blade slowly approached. He raised his hand and caught the blade between his fingertips.
Freed's eyes widened when he felt the sword lose all of its power. "W-What the fuck just happened?" Freed tried to pull the sword back but it wouldn't budge.
"I'll be taking this back, thank you very much." Klein drove his fist into Freed's midsection.
The force of the blow broke several of Freed's ribs and forced him to let go as he flew across the room and crashed into the wall. Klein flipped the blade and caught it. "That's one down. Two more to—" Klein ducked as several knives flew through the air. He turned around to see someone emerging from the shadows.
"You... are the one Akane mentioned. And the one that attacked Shin," Klein said.
The masked woman said nothing.
Klein's eyes glowed. However, nothing came back.
[Error. Target unidentifiable. Level: ERROR! ERROR!]
"An error? That's never happened before," Klein said. "You are—!?"
He ducked as a blade flew over his head. Klein shifted on his heel and jumped back as the Masked Woman continued her relentless assault.
His jaw clenched as he parried one of her strikes. He swiped his hand but hit nothing but thin air. The masked woman's form had faded and soon, Klein felt a sense of emptiness in his hand. He looked up and saw the masked woman holding both Freed and Excalibur Rapidly. However, there was a visible opening in her mask now. It seemed that his attack hadn't completely missed. The masked woman's left eye was exposed. It was completely black with two blue rings serving as her iris.
"Stigmata," Klein said.
"Alisa." The Masked Woman spoke for the first time. "Open a portal. My hands are full."
A blood red rift manifested behind her.
Klein's arm coiled like a spring. He threw it forward, sending a flurry of metal wires at her and Freed.
The Masked Woman's lone eye glowed. She threw Freed into the rift and caught Excalibur Rapidly in her hand. Another wave of strings struck their target, only for said target to shatter like glass. When the ethereal glass shards faded, the woman and the rift had vanished along with Excalibur Rapidly.
Klein lowered his arm and stared at the empty spot where the woman had just stood. "Stigmata and a nullifying demonic power. Bea's not going to like this." Klein sighed as he pressed a finger to his ear.
"Hey, Bea. We have... an emergency."
Beatrix Lucifer
The Third of the Seven Stars bearing the title of "Paladin".
She is calculating and terrifying, possessing an immense lust for combat.
Resolute and unyielding, Beatrix bears the power of the White Dragon. She strides forward against all adversity and cuts it down with no hesitation. Like a White Star in the sky, her appearance heralds death upon those who happen upon her.
Housekeeping
RoyalRain: Well, if you enjoyed that, I hope you're prepared for a bit of more awkward teenage romance between Shin and Ichika. Considering both of them are a bit socially awkward, it's going to take a bit for them. So expect a bit of frustration on both sides. And no, I didn't drop any major hints to their identities. I only named 2 of them in particular in the epilogue of the Redux Arc so don't worry, you're not developing dementia. I'll start dropping hints for one in particular here and there throughout this arc because we'll figure out their identity later. I won't say when but all I will say is that I won't completely drag it out for an entire story.
Also, it wasn't overall emphasized but Vivi's lack of manifestation is connected to Sophia's Light being nullified. Hehehe, so I'll let you toy around with that little tidbit of information.
Dante687: I figured. The sob story was tailor made because that Priest wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. But yeah, it's highly unbelievable. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far though.
You probably didn't expect Bea to be Ichika's teacher considering what she is. I thought it was the peak of irony. But considering how Vali and Issei are friends in canon, this isn't that far off.
Alrighty, housekeeping is over.
Yes.
Before any of you say anything, I realize the irony of Bea teaching Ichika. It's like hiring a clone army that will eventually be used against you in some dubious order installed by a shadowy figure running the government. However! Counterpoint! Who better to teach Ichika than her? She's not going to hold back like Shin. She's going to beat the shit out of Ichika in the name of training.
Enough of me justifying why Beatrix is the best choice for Ichika.
But yes, like I said, this is the beginning of the real Daybreak arc. I rewrote this chapter a lot because I couldn't figure out how to end it. So I more or less settled for this ending. It gives all of you crumbs without revealing too much. I'm sure you've noticed. This arc is very different from the Holy Sword Arc in canon. Excalibur still plays a role BUT there are more things happening in the background that will play BIG roles later on so please keep note of all the scenes I make that aren't involving our beloved duo.
So until then, I'll see you when we raid the office of a priest.