"Then I'll just..."
Issei turned his head. He had tears flowing his face. His eyes were glowing a faint green.
"Destroy the supernatural world."
Raynare's foot collided with Issei's face, sending him flying across the church, barreling through several pews.
"Wow, you're even more delusional than I thought you were." She insulted Issei. "Destroy the supernatural world? Do you have any idea as to what the hell you're saying right now?"
Issei started to get up, and Raynare flung her spear at him, causing an explosion as it hit the ground nearby. Issei managed to jump away from the center, but he was still caught in the explosion.
He had his arms crossed to block it, and they were slightly singed. He cringed.
"It seems you need a reminder on just where you stand in this world." He heard Raynare's voice come from above him. Issei looked up, just to be met with a fist to the face.
Raynare grabbed onto Issei by the collar, and spun him around wildly before throwing him all the way to the other side of the church.
"Destroy the supernatural world?" She couldn't help but repeat again. "You? The scumbag pervert who practically creamed his pants at the idea of a date with a girl?" She closed in on him. "The guy who needs his friends to save him constantly?"
She scowled as Issei got up and rushed at her. She dodged out of the way of his punch, and knocked him into the ground. "You didn't even have the damn balls to come here on your own!"
"This world is much wider than you could possibly fathom. What do you think you could possibly do?" Raynare sneered, looking down at him. "Weak, arrogant men like you are the kind I despise the most."
[Boost!]
Issei grabbed onto Raynare's arm from the ground, surprising the fallen angel with his sudden increase in strength.
"I'm weak." Issei agreed, as he pulled himself up from the ground. "But if the world is such a cruel place that people like Asia can only be taken advantage of and killed, then I'll do whatever it takes."
"You'll die before you get the chance." Raynare lifted her foot and kicked him in the chin, causing him to lose his grip on her. "Face it, you're completely hopeless."
With another kick, Issei was knocked away again. He managed to raise his arms in time to block, and stayed on his feet. But he could still feel the pain.
"That's the boosted gear, isn't it?" Raynare asked him, referring to his gauntlet. "One of the greatest sacred gears out there. You know, if anyone were to destroy the supernatural world, it would be a red dragon emperor." She admitted. "But you? That thing is worthless in your hands. Your best contribution to the world would be to die and have someone else be born with that power."
[Boost!]
Raynare tried to kick him again, but Issei caught her foot with his hand.
"Sorry, but the one born with this power was me." He said, before grabbing onto Raynare's leg with his other hand and lifting the fallen angel into air. He turned around, and swung her above his head. "So anyone who has a problem with it they can kiss my ass!"
Issei slammed Raynare into the ground, kicking up some dust as the fallen crashed against the floor.
Raynare hacked, stunned by the impact. As she recovered, she realized Issei was winding up another punch.
How the hell did he-
Raynare flapped her wings and separated herself from Issei.
She felt something warm drip down her face. Touching her forehead, she was furious to see blood. "You..."
Summoning forth twilight healing, she healed the wound and glared at Issei. "Damn brat!" She snarled.
[Boost!]
This time, Issei charged at Raynare. She summoned a spear, but Issei reached her before she could throw it. He punched her in the face, sending her reeling. She tried to recover, but Issei followed up a punch to her stomach, before she was flung away by a third and final punch.
Raynare dropped the spear, and Issei attacked her again. She tried to kick him, but he smacked her leg away, causing her to slip. Issei grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into the floor.
Lifting her arms, Raynare grabbed onto Issei's shirt. "Don't you..."
Her hands flashed brightly. "Get cocky with me you fucking loser!" Issei was blasted back by a wave of light. Raynare flew a few feet into the air.
"I've just about had enough of your shit, boy!"
I need to get rid of him quickly! The damned boosted gear is dangerous, even on a pathetic wretch like him!
Raynare summoned a light spear. "So what if you have the boosted gear? Human or devil, you're just a loser virgin!" She flung the spear at Issei, who was still dazed by the previous light attack.
He was unable to properly react, and the spear pierced his left leg.
Issei let out a cry of pain. Upon hearing it, Raynare smiled. "Hehe..." She started cackling madly. "See! That's exactly what I meant!"
She pushed the spear deeper. Issei grimaced in pain. Blood leaked out of his leg. Raynare summoned another spear. "It hurts, right? It's nothing like before. Being pierced with this much light must be the most agonizing experience for a devil like you."
"This... this is nothing..." Issei grit his teeth. "Oh?" Raynare smiled coyly. "Is that right?" She summoned another spear and jabbed it in his other leg. "How about now?"
Issei cried again, hunching over at the pain.
"I'm surprised you can even stand at all." The fallen commented, hovering over him. "Even more than that, you managed to push me, even if it was only a little. For a bottom class devil like you to have made it this far, I guess the boosted gear's reputation is deserved."
"Don't you... talk like it's over, you bitch!" Issei snarled, gripping onto the two spears jammed into his legs. "This kind of pain is nothing! It's nothing compared to what Asia went through! I won't give up because of something like this!" He roared, yanking the spears right out of his legs.
Blood flew out everywhere, but Issei remained standing. He glared at Raynare viciously, who didn't seem concerned.
"Oh please, you want to keep fighting like that?" She rolled her eyes. "How unsightly. You had me a little worried before, but you're useless in your current state."
"Shut your damn mouth!" Issei growled as he ran forwards, only for his legs to buckle under his weight and drop him to his knees. "Wait, what?"
Raynare let out another small laugh. "You really don't know anything, do you?" She asked in a condescending tone. "I said it before, but being pierced by light is the most agonizing experience for a lowly devil like you. It is poison for your kind. It might be gone, but it's still sapping your strength."
Issei grit his teeth, and clenched his fists tightly. "It hurts... it fucking hurts..."
Smiling, Raynare summoned one final spear. "Well, I won't lie. My time in this town has been truly terrible. But now, with killing you, I can leave this place and start anew." She said. "Oh, actually, there's one more thing I ought to tell you."
Issei didn't say anything, so Raynare continued. "That friend of yours down there? He let me go on purpose."
His eyes widened. "What?" Issei whispered. Raynare's smile turned evil. "That's right. While it pisses me off, I can't say I'm not thankful. He didn't even bother to try and stop me from coming up here."
Oh, I see...
The green gem on Issei's gauntlet started to glow. "So that's how it is..."
He gave me this fight. I was the one that was supposed to save her, and I failed. So...
The least I could do is avenge her.
Issei started to shakily push himself up. Raynare was taken aback. "Hold on, what the hell are you doing?"
Standing on his own two feet, Issei wobbled a little, but didn't fall over. "How can you have the strength to stand right now?" She demanded. "That light should have devoured any energy you had left! So tell me how you're doing this!"
From Issei's back, a pair of black, leathery wings emerged. "I don't know. It feels like I'll pass out at any second. I don't know how I've made it this far, I don't know how I'm still alive."
Issei let out a roar, and the green gem on his sacred gear unleashed a massive wave of light as a new energy surrounded him.
[Explosion!]
"Wait, that power... even with the boosted gear... that shouldn't be possible... He shouldn't be able to get that much power!"
When Issei took a step forward, Raynare took a step back.
"But I do know this." Issei growled.
"I'm going to kick your ass!"
He lunged at Raynare, who tried to fly away in fear. Issei grabbed ahold of her leg before she could escape. "No! Let go of me you freak!"
"You aren't going anywhere, you bitch!" Issei dragged her down and slammed his fist into her face. Blood splattered out of Raynare's nose as she was slammed into the ground, before bouncing across it as she was flung across the room.
Raynare let out a groan, as she shakily attempted to get up. She clutched her face with her hands. "You..."
She summoned twilight healing once more, her hands glowing a soft green.
Immediately, however, Issei was upon her. His hands clamped onto hers hard.
"Don't you dare use her power for even a second longer." He growled viciously, forcefully prying her hands away from her injured face.
"I'll take it back from you." Issei stated, his eyes shining green. Raynare gasped, writhing in his grip. "N-no, you can't! I-I have the supreme power! I worked for this! It's mine! You can't... can't..."
Raynare trailed off as Issei let go of one of her hands, and raised his gauntlet covered hand into the air.
She started trembling. Wait, what is this... am I... am I... scared? Scared of this boy?
"Issei!"
Momentarily, Issei snapped out of his rage induced state. The voice that called out to him was not the deep, infuriatingly condescending voice that belonged to Raynare.
It was the sickeningly sweet and high-pitched voice belonging to Yuuma.
Raynare's features had softened, returning to the younger and smaller form that she had taken on when going on a date with Issei.
"You wouldn't really do that to me. w-would you?" Raynare asked, a last ditch attempt at saving herself.
"E-even if it was just for a short time, I was still your girlfriend, right?" She said. "So, why don't you put your arm down, and we can talk this out?"
Issei seemed to hesitate, his arm going down slightly.
"Y-yeah, just like that, now-"
"So I'm not too boring for you now?"
Raynare's words got stuck in her throat, and she felt her heart skip a beat. "H-huh?"
Issei clenched his fist harder, and raised it even higher than before.
"If you were going to try this, it should have been before killing Asia."
"iss-" Issei's fist collided with Raynare's face, burying itself deep as the fallen angel's head slammed into the ground below.
The church's floorboards bent and gave way, crumbling underneath the pressure. A small creature was formed around Raynare's head.
A silence filled the air as the battle came to an end. The adrenaline that filled Issei's body began to dissipate, as well as all of his power.
Falling back, Issei landed on his ass and started to breath heavily.
"I... did it..."
He felt someone slap him on the back, causing him to lurch over and faceplant. "Ow!"
"You sure did."
Issei looked over to see Suk-chin standing over him.
"Suk-chin, you..."
"To be honest with you, I can't say I believed in you very much."
Issei frowned, but didn't say anything. Suk-chin continued. "But, I knew there was a chance. And would you look at that." He waved over at Raynare's unmoving body, her face partially caved in. "You beat the brakes off of her."
"Yeah but..." Issei looked past him, and over at Asia's body. "We were still too late."
Suk-chin followed his gaze, also staring at the dead girl. "Hm, I wouldn't be too sure."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Issei asked. He was startled when the church doors swung open.
"Issei, do you mind explaining what's going on here?" Issei flinched as he heard Rias' voice. He looked over to her, and sure enough, the redhead was standing right at the entrance, her arms crossed.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh..."
"Well?" She raised an eyebrow, and began to walk towards them. "I believe I told you that you were forbidden from coming here, and yet where do I find you?"
"I can explain!" Issei declared, raising his hands in defense. "I uh- I was... uh..." He completely failed.
Suk-chin put a hand over his mouth, stifling some laughs. "You can be surprisingly mean when you want to."
"H-huh?" Issei looked over at Suk-chin in confusion.
"She's fucking with you."
"What?" He now looked back at Rias. "Now I really don't understand what's happening."
Rias stared at him silently for a moment, before sighing. "I knew from the beginning that there was nothing I could really do to stop you from coming here, short of locking you up." She revealed. "I never really had any intentions of forcing you to stay away."
Issei blinked. "What? Then why did you say all that stuff?"
"Because you needed to understand the potential consequences of your actions." Rias replied. "It was true at that time that I could not help you directly, since causing an incident with fallen angels could easily cause larger conflict, regardless of the fact that they were residing in my territory."
Rias began walking towards them, more specifically Suk-chin. "Thankfully, there was someone available in this town who could help you. Someone who wasn't affiliated with us devils, and thus could act as a free agent."
Issei followed her eyes and also looked at Suk-chin. "Wait, so that's what she spoke to you about? You were always going to help me? Then why'd you beat my ass?"
"Rias called me to ask to help you. I said I would think about it. That was me thinking about it." Suk-chin shrugged. "She also told me she got my number through you, you snake. So that also played a part in it."
Issei cringed. "Sorry about that."
"Regardless, my goal was to make sure you succeeded without making any large moves at first." Rias explained. "You were never in trouble, Issei."
"Oh..."
"Now..." Rias approached Raynare's body. "I wished to have a few words with the filthy crow that harmed my servant..." She put her foot on Raynare's face, kicking her around a little. But the fallen angel didn't move or react at all. "But it seems that won't be happening. You did much more damage to her than I was expecting."
"Hey, if the whole reason you said and did all this stuff is because you couldn't do anything, why are you here now?" Issei asked.
Rias smiled. "Well, while you were busy here, I did some investigating of my own." Her gaze travelled down the fallen angel, and grew cold. "I discovered that this particular group of fallen angels that has been causing trouble in my territory is in fact, a group of strays themselves. Which means that there was never a reason to worry to begin with."
"...Okay?"
Suk-chin leaned down to whisper to Issei. "You didn't understand what she just said, didn't you?"
"Yeah not a clue."
"Figures."
"But none of that really matters anyways." Issei said, suddenly downtrodden. "Asia's still dead."
Rias smiled again. "Maybe not." She said. "But first, there's this trash to take care of." Rias' eyes glowed as they trained on Raynare. She pointed a hand at the fallen, a magic circle appearing.
With a crimson torrent of energy consuming her, Raynare's body was quickly obliterated. And just like that, without being able to put up any fight, the fallen angel was killed in an explosion of black feathers.
All that remained from the blast was a floating pair of glowing rings. Rias gently cradled the rings in her hand. "Here they are." She said, before approaching Asia's body. "Let's return this to where it belongs."
She softly placed the rings against Asia's chest, and they sunk in, disappearing.
"Now, we have a choice." Rias said, looking back over to Issei. She pulled something out, revealing it to the boy. "Issei, do you know what this is?"
Issei scratched his head. "It... just looks like a chess piece?" He replied, before a few gears spun in his head. "Wait, is that a...?"
Rias nodded. "This here is an evil piece. It's what I used to turn you into a devil." She said. "Although, this one is different. As evil pieces are based on chess pieces, you Issei are my pawn. And this piece is the bishop."
More gears spun around in Issei's mind. "You want to use that on Asia? But, she's already..." Rias smiled. "The evil pieces can be used to resurrected people into devils."
Issei's eyes widened considerably. "You can!?" Rias nodded again. "Of course, our time is limited. If too much time has passed since death, then the soul is too far detached from the body and can no longer return. But, if done in time, the person can be brought back to life as a devil servant."
"So now, I'll leave the choice to you, Issei." Rias said, shocking Issei yet again. "If I use this bishop piece on her, Asia Argento will come back to life. However, she will become a devil in my household."
"You're... leaving this up to me?" Issei gulped. His eyes travelled over to Asia, his heart heavy. The answer should be obvious to him. But...
Before this, Asia was a nun. And if she became a devil, she would be essentially the exact opposite. She would be alive again, but was that really a choice he could make for another person?
Issei thought about it for a long time. He gulped, and nodded.
"Please do it." He said.
Rias smiled, and began to lower the evil piece towards Asia's body.
There was a soft green glow as the bishop piece sunk into her body. And magically, only a few moments later, a miracle occurred.
Asia opened her eyes.
Immediately, Issei ran over to her. "Asia!"
Asia weakly looked over to him upon hearing his voice. "Hm... Issei? What's going on?"
He grabbed onto her hand. "You're okay, Asia. For real this time."
Rias stood over them, crossing her arms. "Since I brought her back on your recommendation, I assume you understand it'll be your responsibility to take care of her?"
"Of course." Issei nodded, still looking at Asia. Rias turned away from them. "Well, I'll let you have your moment." With that, Rias started to make her way to the exit.
Suk-chin stared at her while she left, before eventually following her outside.
...
"Why did you do that?"
Rias was facing away from Suk-chin, her arms still crossed. "Whatever do you mean?" She asked in response to his question.
"Everything, basically. First, why did you really call me?"
Rias smiled sightly. "I explained, in the church, didn't I? I couldn't move rashly at first. It was only recently that I discovered that these fallen angels have no protection. Instead of sending one of my own to help Issei, wasn't someone completely unaffiliated a perfect option?"
"..." When Suk-chin didn't say anything, Rias continued. "And, if I'm being honest. I was curious." She admitted. "I was curious to see what you would do, and how strong you really were." She added. "I was expecting you to agree immediately, but you decided to fight Issei first."
"If Issei had performed poorly enough, would you really have left him to fight alone, and possibly let Asia die as a result?" Rias finally asked.
Suk-chin didn't respond immediately. He looked up at the night sky, thinking deeply about what to say next.
"...There was something that fallen bitch said to Issei before they fought, something I overheard." Suk-chin finally started to respond. "That the weak will always succumb to the whims of the strong."
"It might sound heartless, but I can't find myself disagreeing with that." He admitted. "The belief that might makes right. That the strong survive and the weak die. If something bad happened to you, it's your fault for not being strong enough to stop it." He explained.
"That belief is something that has been deeply ingrained into me." He revealed. "It's not something that I see as particularly good or bad, or even something that I specifically go out of my way to enforce. It simply is." He continued. "If I helped Issei now, and he was incapable of ever saving her on his own, then she would just get killed the next time."
"So, to answer your question... yes, I think I would have."
Rias mulled his words over for a moment. "I see." She said. "To be honest with you, that isn't a belief I agree with at all. And I often find myself resenting those who think that way."
Suk-chin raised his right hand into the air, staring at it somberly.
"I do, too." He said softly.
Eventually, Suk-chin put his hands back in his pockets. "I have another question. Why did you leave that choice just now up to Issei? That's a lot of pressure to put on him."
This time, it was Rias' turn to think deeply about her words before responding.
"I stood to gain a lot from this entire debacle." Rias admitted. "Three sacred gear users with powerful and useful artifacts appear in my territory, even if I still don't know what yours is." She said. "Twilight healing in particular is immensely useful. So perhaps, it was a way for me to ease my own guilt for feeling like I won in the end. While having a user of twilight healing is a large boon, I believe it would've been wrong to forcefully reincarnate her for her power when she's made such a large impact on my pawn."
"So you would have given up the chance to gain a servant with that kind of ability if it was what Issei desired?" Suk-chin asked.
Rias smiled and finally turned around. "It would have been a rough loss, but I don't particularly enjoy trampling over my own servants like that."
"Hm." Suk-chin smiled a little as well. "Maybe you aren't so bad after all, miss devil."
Rias' smile widened further upon hearing that. "That's so nice of you to say! Does that mean you've reconsidered-"
Suk-chin clamped a hand over her mouth, muzzling the girl. "Don't you even start with me, you fucking rat."
...
Wanted to get this out a few days earlier but oh well.