CH 31: BLOOD (1)
For Raynare, the current opportunity was a vital chance that she refused to let go of.
The boy in front of her was without a doubt the culprit they were frantically searching for from the previous day.
Not only did he kill Freed, but he also kidnapped that naive Asia from under their nose. The nun was very important in her plan of obtaining a sacred gear—specifically hers.
At first, she had been extremely worried since they thought that someone powerful—at least similar to an ultimate-class—had interfered with their portal back then. But later, after a thorough investigation, they learned that the failure of the portal was due to a malfunction of the runes on their side.
That would mean that the boy here was nothing more than a normal exorcist, maybe a little on the powerful side but nothing much. Moreover, the hateful youth was an illegal exorcist to boot, since she could see him casually discussing with two devils.
The presence of those two devils was one of the reasons, and a primary one, why she wanted to wait for him to walk out before getting rid of him.
Raynare did not recognize the identities of the two devils, but from the energy they emanated, she could deduce that they weren’t powerful enough to make them hinder their attack plan.
"Raynare, shouldn't we put more preparation into this operation?"
Mittelt proposed worriedly to their team leader. She felt that the whole situation was pretty dangerous and that they were involved in something that was way above their level.
Ideally, they should report everything to Azazel and let him deal with Kokabiel while they fled far away to avoid the repercussions.
Hearing her suggestion, Raynare scoffed with a venomous glare directed straight towards Mittelt.
"Do you really think that noble Fallen angels like us should fear inconsequential mortals?"
Mittelt opened her mouth many times, trying to remind her that they couldn't underestimate mortals since some of them were already super strong—much stronger than what they could ever hope to be. For instance, mortals like Vasco Strada could crush them easily with just a wave of their hands. It wasn’t unlike squashing pesky mosquitoes.
At the same time, she understood that comparing the young boy in front of him to one of the strongest humans was a bit exaggerated but still, she couldn't help but feel that the situation was going in a very dangerous direction—her instincts were buzzing alarm bells in her mind.
In the end, she decided to simply shut up and run at the slightest hint of danger. She would come clean to Azazel and hope that he wouldn't give her a punishment too cruel to bear.
Raynare sneered derisively at how frightened her teammate was. She could also see that she wasn't the only one as the other two seemed to also be quite reticent about the whole matter.
How could they not understand that this was their golden chance to rise high in the hierarchy?
'Once this operation ends, I will cut them off.'
Clearly, those three weren't made out of the same shell as her. Only daring and ambitious individuals were worthy enough to follow her.
"Anyway, since you are so scared, Mittelt and Kalawarner, go get Asia back. We already have her coordinates."
Kalawarner shrugged and followed Mittelt without speaking as the two spread massive lacquer wings out and flew away.
Meanwhile, Dohnaseek took off his hat and prepared for the fight that was to come.
'I hope this young man won't disappoint me.'
———
In the restaurant, the discussion between the three continued.
Of course, the mood maker was Maria. But Basara and Mio still managed to lower the air of awkwardness between them throughout the course of their chat.
"By the way, I heard from Koneko-chan that you are going to fight Rias-sama and her peerage soon?"
Mio flinched visibly at the unexpected words coming from Maria’s mouth. It wasn't a piece of information she was aware of.
"I am surprised you heard about this so soon since it was just discussed yesterday."
"Hehe. Don't underestimate how weak Koneko-chan is when food is offered on the table. I made her spill up everything that happened in a jiffy."
Basara leaked a small laugh at Maria’s complacent words. He had noted previously that Koneko had quite the big appetite. It was always a wonder to see such a petite girl eat such a large amount of food without any form of trouble and still have room for more.
Still, even as he was discussing with them he had picked out on the aura of the intruders.
'…. I guess they managed to find me.'
He could feel some presences peeping at him with quite the killing intent.
'But looks like I don't have to worry much.'
Clearly, the ones tailing him were amateurs. There was no way such people could be a danger to him.
'I guess I better end this discussion before they become impatient and attack haphazardly.'
The supernatural world had a rule to not let the surface world know of their existence.
Of course, there were always a few criminals who did not respect that rule or used despicable means to maneuver around that rule. There was always a way to bend the law in their favor.
For example, as long as they pulled the entire restaurant into a closed space, it would be possible to kill everyone there and chalk it up to some accident or mysterious paranormal occurrence later.
Basara didn't know how far the ones tailing him were willing to go, but he didn't want to gamble either.
He would never forgive himself if innocent people died because of his carelessness.
“I am sorry to cut our discussion short, but I need to go now.”
Maria choked up at her next words. She had been trying to dig up some information but it seemed that it wouldn’t be possible for now.
“Seriously?”
“Yes, I am sorry.”
Not waiting for them, he paid the bill and walked away.
“See you at school, Maria. See you later too, Mio.”
Watching him leave, Mio’s eyes narrowed into thin slits.
“Suspicious.”
Maria nodded before shaking her head, “Right. However it isn’t our problem, we shouldn't bother ourselves with that.”
Despite her appearance and way of acting, Maria was someone who could draw clear lines on the ground. She may act friendly to everyone but, in reality, only a very few ones could call themselves her friend.
Basara Toujou was many things for her. An interesting man, a prospective companion, a powerful warrior. But, he was in no way a friend nor was he someone she was willing to stick herself in danger for.
“We should–”
“Let’s follow him.”
“--Go home….Mio-sama!?”
Maria grew flustered at the unexpected demand coming from the redhead bombshell. Usually, she was the one doing crazy things and pulling Mio with her. Since when had their role reversed?
Mio on the other hand grinned mischievously—she was curious. She wanted to see what put him in so much hurry.
In the end, Maria released a sigh of defeat as she made a call and activated her localization app.
“Let’s go.”
———
When Basara walked out of the restaurant, he began walking nonchalantly towards a desolate park. Even though that park was quite beautiful, few people went through it since it was quite remote.
This was the ideal place to end the whole situation.
When he finally reached a plaza with a small artificial lake and many trees all around, Basara took a deep breath as he felt his entire body tense in preparation for the eventual fight.
Basara did not like fighting. He liked his small everyday life and would be happy if no one disturbed it. But…
“Kill them before they kill you.”
Muttering one of the mottos his mother always taught him, he prepared himself mentally to end the disturbing farce.
“Oh? What big words.”
From the sky, a haughty voice sounded as a woman with ebony black wings slowly appeared into existence, floating in the air.
Rather than paying attention to her appearance, which was quite subjective as it left very little to the imagination, Basara paid attention to the wings on her back.
“Only one pair of wings? I have to say, I am quite disappointed.”
Raynare grew sullen at the obvious provocation from the filthy human. Angels and Fallen angels were classified or ranked by the number of wings they had. Because of this, determining the power level of an angel or a fallen angel was quite easy.
Someone like her with only one pair of wings was nothing more than a low-rank Fallen Angel. During the great war, people at her level weren’t even worthy of being cannon fodder.
Even so…
“I am more than enough to deal with a lowly human like you.”
Even as she spoke, the sky began to distort and the previously blue sky vanished to be replaced by one with a purple ambiance.
“I isolated the space. No other humans will disturb us.”
Basara threw a look at the suit-wearing man that appeared next to the first fallen. Even though the number of enemies had doubled, Basara showed no change of expression.
The calm look on his youthful face irked Raynare so much that she couldn’t help but mock him.
“You are the one who saved Asia, right? Hahaha! I wonder how you will feel once you know that we sent people to retrieve her.”
She laughed in glee but was once again disappointed to not see horror and fear in his expression. In fact, the look in his eyes irked her even more now.
After all, if before he was simply blankly looking at them, now she could even feel a hint of pity in his gaze. As if he was looking at a complete moron.
“If the ones you sent are at the same level as you, then I guess this will be their last day. Then again it isn’t like your end will be any different either.”
The air around Basara slowly began to change as he released his aura and began to oppress them.
“First of all, I hate the way you two are looking down at me from above. So, get down.”
<<Gravity Magic: Hundred fold increase>>
It was time to end this shit.