In the thick depths of a dark, dense forest, a boy ran, as if for his life.

He huffed as he suddenly lashed an arm out at a nearby tree and swerved around it. An instant later, something slammed into the tree with enough force to tear a hole right through its bark.

He just growled as he ducked behind one of the many in the forest, catching his breath. He tucked the dark blue overcoat over the suit that he was wearing in, hoping that it wouldn't drape past the side of the tree he was hiding behind. Two, dark blue clawed gauntlets, their long, sharp nails, stained red with blood that he himself hadn't shed, rubbed silently against the tree he was behind.

"Geez, she's definitely a lot more mad than she should be," he quietly hissed. "She should actually be more grateful that I killed her sworn enemy for her."

Then chimed in another voice. Except this one was in his head, unheard to all but him.

Issei, I believe I explained this to you already, she's not acting on any form of human rationality that you would be familiar with. She's the literal manifestation of "vengeance" itself, responding to the manifestation of the Wolf. And now that you've taken away her right to make due on the vengeance that plagues her. Naturally her target will shift to you.

"But still, this is ridiculous."

The boy, Issei Hyoudou, looked up at the sky.

It was tinted a bright, blood red, a far cry from the much more peaceful blue night sky that it once looked like. A response to the Abnormality's wrath.

"It's a pretty good thing that-"

"DON'T THINK YOU CAN RUN FROM ME FOREVER, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

Duck!

He immediately dropped to the ground.

A large red slash suddenly cut right through the tree he was standing behind, shearing away several strands of his hair.

And not just that tree. Every single tree in a large, vector-shaped area was sliced right through, completely exposing him.

It didn't just stop there. Several very quick, just as large slashes were thrown, completely dicing through the trees before they could even fall to the ground.

Tapping into the newly-acquired instincts he had from donning the EGO he had received from the Wolf, he dodged and blocked past them all, managing to avoid the majority of the damage. Blood spurted as a brand new cut was carved into his side, however.

It was far from fatal, but Issei no longer had the safety of cover to hide behind…

"...crap," he said as he turned around, the red moonlight shining intensely onto him and the large, vector-shaped area that had just completely opened up.

…leaving him very much exposed to the very angry Abnormality that had emerged from the trees.

Its frame was very normal, much like just any average person's, being as tall and having the body shape of a normal young adult's. However, that was where the normalities ended.

Iit was dressed completely in tattered, bloodied red mercenary garbs with a large red hood that completely hid its face under its dark shadow. However, revealed under it…was a wide, toothy grin of extremely sharp fangs and a single, viciously glowing golden eye. In one hand, it carried a curved, bloodied steel blade while in the other, a single revolver.

Seemingly completely normal weapons. In fact, they even looked to be in pretty bad condition. Compared to the much more superior weapons that Issei had access to, his available EGO…they normally wouldn't have posed any threat whatsoever.

But these were weapons wielded by an Abnormality. They were far from normal.

The curved blade in one of its hands shimmered as it transformed into an nigh-identical revolver to the one in its other hand. It raised both revolvers, aiming at the boy, before…

Sparks peppered the sky, as if from a flurry of simultaneous gunshots. They were nigh unpredictable, the sparks of gunfire appearing as if out of nowhere, instantly destroying whatever was in their place. Issei, having moved his clawed gauntlets to protect his head and vital organs, managed to get away mostly unscathed, though the edge of a shot did shave off his ear. Steam lifted from where other gunshots, hit him in the hands or arms.

He hissed in pain.

Two more gunshots rang through the air as more sparks peppered the air twice more in quick succession.

A bit of blood spilled from Issei's mouth as a few managed to nail him in the chest. And despite the defensive potential of his suit, it wasn't possible to completely nullify the damage of all the shots.

"It cuts down a large chunk of the damn forest just to try to pick me off with gunfire," Issei said. "Was that large slash earlier just a show-off of power or something? You'd think it would use the sudden lack of cover to try to close the distance."

It's not exactly the most rational thinker. And it's human enough to at least let anger get the better of it.

Issei just tsk'd.

"Well, if it's a gunfight it wants, then it's a gunfight it'll get," he said.

His whole form began to shimmer.

His blue-gray overcoat and suit disappeared in a shower of golden particles. In its place, a sharp, black and white suit appeared over his frame. His clawed gauntlets disappeared, replaced with two, long-barreled pistols, one white and one black in each white-gloved hand. A coffin with a prominent white butterfly on it appeared on his back, weightless as paper despite its apparent size.

Tiny, almost spectral white butterflies began to appear around his pistols as he raised them, pointing them both at the Abnormality in front of him. In turn, the Abnormality raised its own revolvers, aiming them right back.

Simultaneously, dings and the crackling of gunshots rang through the forest.

Issei sighed as the imaginary world around him dissolved away into golden particles, bringing him.

"Geez, I almost died there," he said. "Like, actually almost died this time. Are you absolutely sure you can't heal my wounds when I'm in the middle of a fight with an Abnormality?"

I swear that this hasn't been the first time that you've said that. And again, no, I can't. Only after you come out of an Abnormality's imaginary world. If you do die there, it's over for both you and I.

"And on top of that, I had to switch through, like, five EGOs, not including the Wolf's. I was on the verge of corroding. Good thing it decided to actually close the gap that one time for whatever reason and go for a knife kill. Gave me enough time to fire off a seventh shot from Magic Bullet. Well, that said...good thing we managed to drag the two of them into the Mercenary's imaginary world just as they began to manifest."

Issei took a look around at the corner of the street he found himself in. It was dark out as it was nighttime, yet it was still extremely easy to see the circumstances of his environment.

Large craters in the street he was standing in the middle of, large slashes that tore through solid asphalt and even right through the thick brick houses, broken lights with some of them having been either sliced or ripped right off their poles…all in the middle of a busy neighborhood.

And from the looks of it, panic had already set in and was, thankfully for him, mostly settled. The space he was in and the damaged area was sealed off with yellow police tape, surrounded by and containing multiple police cars and police officers. Miraculously, he hadn't just magically appeared within anyone's field of view.

"If they were left fighting out in the open like that, they would've easily destroyed this neighborhood at the very least."

Yeah, that would've been way too much of a hassle to deal with. Hopefully nobody takes this scene too seriously. But hey, on the bright side, you've secured two new EGO. Two new Waw EGO on top of that. Your overall power's definitely shot up drastically.

Issei quickly ducked away behind the shadow of a nearby tree to hide himself as he hopped someone's fence and into their backyard.

"That should bring my total count up to…11, I believe," Issei said as he began heading back to his home. He rubbed his hands together. "Hey, do you think another Abnormality will manifest tomorrow night?"

No way. It'll take a while before another one does, especially after a Waw.

"Good, it'd really suck if one did while I was on my first date."

On that, I don't think you've got anything to worry about. But I must again confess, something feels off about that Yuuma girl.

"And again, I think you're just overthinking it. There's absolutely no reason why I shouldn't think she's just a normal schoolgirl. A schoolgirl with a crush on me!"

Aaaand, that's red flag number 1. You're not exactly a Prince Charming who can make girls swoon at a mere first glance. The exact opposite, I'd dare say. Moreover, the two of you knew each other for literally the thirty seconds it took for her to "confess" to you.

"Eh, what's the harm though? It's not like I forced her to do it. Besides, if she tries anything-"

You're not allowed to use EGO against ordinary people!

"Yeah yeah, I got it. Geez, why am I collecting these at the risk of my life if I don't even get to use the cool weapons I earn?"

Hey man, you offered to do it. It comes with the job.

"And I'm starting to regret it."

If it makes you feel any better, you're awfully good at your job. Y'know, there was this woman I used to know really well who-

"Was really good at using EGO, yes. You've told me only…a couple dozen times now?"

And when you finally get your hands on your first Aleph EGO, you probably will become as strong as her. Which is…strange because you don't have any augments and-

"Augments?"

Don't worry about it. Anyways, if you live long enough to come face-to-face with an Aleph and win, you'll become basically unstoppable.

"As cool as that sounds, what's the point if I can't use it? And what then after no more Abnormalities manifest? Do I just sit around for the rest of my life with the EGO?"

Well, it may sound bad to you now, but that's because you're young and naive. Even the He-ranked ones are forces of destruction if used right. And I'd rather they die along with you than for them to fall into the hands of some bloodthirsty psycho. Plus, you're a normal kid. Not like you'll ever get into a situation where you'll need to use them. And trust me kid, you can't top a simple life like that.

"...touching. And I guess you're right."

Even now, after having it for more than 6 months now, Issei still didn't know what that voice in his head was or who it belonged to. He did try multiple times to coerce an answer out of the voice, but the voice expertly circumvented it every time. All Issei knew was that the voice was friendly…and that it was somehow closely related to the Abnormalities that had just suddenly started appearing the day after the mysterious voice appeared.

However, it proved time and time again that it genuinely wished to preserve Issei's life, even if the voice itself would have its life ended along with his if he died, and that worked for him. Plus, it was a pretty friendly voice.

As for the Abnormalities, the voice did explain the concept of their existence, but it was way too complicated for someone as simple-minded as Issei to understand. The most he could get out of it was that they were "human emotions manifested into physical form".

That and the fact that if he didn't manage to pin down the manifestation of one's location quickly enough, the He-ranked ones could probably easily destroy a whole city block and everyone in it. Thankfully, he had a way of dealing with it: by using the voice's help to manifest the Abnormality's imaginative world and drag them into it. That way, a city block doesn't become collateral damage in their fight.

"Well, it'll be more than that now that we're dealing with Waws, huh?"

You bet. I'm sure you'll do just fine though.

The boy just smiled at nothing in particular, arriving in front of his home's front door. He fished his keys out of his pocket, unlocking the door and announcing to his parents that he had finally come back home.

Issei just stared deadpan at the pretty, dark-haired, black-feathered angel that hovered in the sky in front of him. The "normal schoolgirl" who he genuinely thought had a crush on him, Yuuma, just sneered gleefully down at him as she flew.

"So, about what you said yesterday about not ever getting into a situation where I'll need to use EGO..."

Hey, don't give me that! You shoulda listened when I said there was something wrong with a girl that would ever decide to crush on you!

"Not like you anticipated her to be a damn dark angel or whatever either!" Issei exclaimed.

That kicked off an argument.

"Yuuma" just stared down at the seemingly delusional teenage boy who was seemingly shouting at nothing.

The hell's wrong with him?