Chapter 1

"Mom," Saito whispered hoarsely.

In front of him, a mirror-like gate hovered an inch above the stone floor. It was circular and it shined along its edges with a bright white light. Displayed on its glassy surface, showing him a scene from across worlds, was his mother. She was preparing a meal in the kitchen like he had seen her do hundreds, thousands of times before. But she was different now. Her normally neat and tidy appearance was disheveled and careless, almost even messy. Her actions were mechanical, automatic, as she simply worked with a blank, expressionless gaze. It was as if she was a robot merely carrying out its function soullessly. Her features were much wearier as well. She looked completely exhausted, both physically and mentally.

Saito choked as tears began falling freely from his eyes. Of course his mother would look so tired and sad. Her only son had been gone from Earth, from his family, for an entire year without a single trace of his whereabouts. She must have missed him so much that it wore away at her very soul. His father, too. Saito had little doubt that they must have spent every day searching for him the best they could, but to no avail. After all, no matter where they searched, it was impossible for them to find him.

He was in another world. He was in Halkeginia, summoned by Louise Valliere to be her familiar – to become the Gandalfr. And there was nothing his parents could have done to reach across that unfathomable distance.

Memories flooded Saito. The simple memories of eating his mother's delicious food every day. The memories of being punished for breaking the neighbor's window by mistake. The memories of being praised when he brought back a test he did well on at school. All of the memories returned to Saito like a tidal wave, overwhelming him with feelings.

And Saito remembered that he missed them. He missed them so much it physically hurt.

"Gandalfr," Pope Vittorio said from nearby, his wand raised to maintain the gate with his spell. "Please hurry and make your decision. I cannot keep the World Door open for much longer."

Decision? Saito thought vaguely. Yes, he needed to make a decision right now: either stay in Halkeginia or return home to his family.

It was not a hard choice to make.

"Mom," Saito repeated in a quiet, tearful voice. He took a step forward closer to the gate, his hand reached out towards the image of his mother. "Mom. Mom!"

Saito cried joyfully as he stepped forward slowly. Finally. Finally, he could return home. This was what he had been waiting for ever since he arrived in this strange and foreign world. This... Finally, this.

He could finally return home.

When Saito's fingers were mere inches away from the gate, Derflinger shouted out in alarm from Saito's back, where it was strapped in its sheath. "Partner! Dodge!"

Saito's eyes widened as he instinctively obeyed Derflinger's warning and twisted away to the side. But he was not quick enough. There was a loud bang as pain blossomed in Saito's shoulder.

"Agh!" Saito cried out as he clutched his shoulder, a bleeding hole now in it, and turned around to face his attacker.

Through the haze of pain, Saito saw that Julio had his gun aimed at Saito from a few feet away. It was only thanks to Derflinger's warning that Saito was able to avoid being instantly killed by a shot to the head. And it was then that Saito realized it: neither Julio nor Pope Vittorio had ever intended to allow him to return home, not while he was alive at least.

Pure, raw fury and murderous rage welled up from within Saito. These two were trying to deny him the one thing he wanted for their own selfish reasons. Whatever those reasons were, Saito did not care. He had done more than enough for Halkeginia, and he wanted to go home. He wanted to see his family again. If he needed to kill Julio in order to do so, then that was simply too bad.

"You bastards!" Saito snarled as he reached for Derflinger's handle.

But before he could even touch the sentient sword, Julio shot twice more. This time, Saito felt hot lead pierce his chest, and he coughed up blood as he struggled to remain standing.

"Sorry, brother," Julio said with a smile. "No, I suppose you're not my brother, after all? Sorry, Saito. We need a Gandalfr, but not one who abandons his duty. Be at peace, though. You can at least die in your homeworld."

"JULIO!" Saito roared, fueled by the last of his strength and pure, unadulterated anger. Saito gripped Derflinger and unsheathed the sword, preparing to rush forward and cut down the murderous son-of-a-bitch.

Julio shot his gun again, and the bullet hit Saito squarely in his chest. Already unsteady on his feet, Saito stumbled backwards towards the World Door and fell. As he tumbled through the gate, his vision going black, the last thing Saito saw was the unapologetic shrug of the Windalfr.

-Scene Break-

Raynare couldn't help but tilt her head as she tried to figure out what it was that she was looking at.

At the end of an empty alleyway, a shining mirror was floating in midair. Curious, Raynare approached it in order to better study it. It was clearly magic. That much was obvious just from looking at the thing. Yet, its feel and substance was unlike that of any type of magic that Raynare knew of. Indeed, it was a magic that Raynare had never seen before.

Very, very strange, Raynare thought as she studied the thing more carefully.

It appeared to be somewhat similar to that of teleportation circles, in effect if not in methodology. Raynare frowned for a moment. If that was the case, then to where was this gate connected to? More importantly, why? Who was trying to come through it?

As Raynare pondered this strange portal, it flashed with a blinding light, causing her to squint and bring up an arm in order to shield her eyes. The light faded a moment after, and the gate disappeared along with it. In its place was a young Japanese boy who was lying on the ground on his back, breathing weakly, his consciousness already gone.

He was dying, Raynare realized. Ostensibly from the numerous bullet wounds that riddled his body. Even now, blood was soaking through his blue jacket, zipped all the way up to cover his neck, dyeing the entire front of his torso a crimson red. In one hand, he was clutching a long sword – single-edged and slightly curved in a style reminiscent to that of a Japanese katana, though its edge was a little straighter and its blade a bit larger than a true katana. Strangely, there were runes imprinted on the back of his left hand, and they were glowing brightly, though they were slowly beginning to dim with every passing second as his own lifeblood ebbed away.

Raynare appraised the boy carefully. Normally, she would have simply ignored the boy, or at most given him a quick death. But given the strange circumstances through which the boy had appeared, Raynare found herself filled with curiosity.

He was a mere human, but there was nothing mere about the way he had arrived. What was that magic? Who was this boy? From where did he come from? Raynare frowned as she considered these unanswered questions.

Well, Raynare thought, rubbing her chin as she finally came to a decision. I suppose there's no harm in at least seeing if he is of any use.

Raynare went over to the boy's side and carefully picked him up in her arms. She wrapped her jet black wings around both of them. Space distorted. A moment later, they vanished.

-Scene Break-

When Saito awoke, it was to a warm sensation covering his body. Slowly, he blinked his eyes open and looked around.

He was lying down on an old bed in a room dimly lit by a single oil lamp. Derflinger, still resting inside its sheath, was leaning against the bedpost. Sitting on a wooden chair at his bedside was a young girl, blonde and cute, who was holding her hands over his body and with her eyes closed. From her hands, an emerald colored light, the source of the warmth on his body, was shining brightly. Like a fluid, the light cascaded down to his body and infused themselves into his flesh and wounds. To Saito's surprise, the numerous bullet wounds on his body were slowly closing and disappearing without a trace, and with each passing second, Saito could feel his body recovering in strength.

Healing magic? Saito wondered. He closed his eyes again and tried to sort out what was going on.

The last thing he remembered was being betrayed and shot by Julio before falling through the World Door nearly dead.

Julio, Saito thought angrily as he continued to be healed. That villainous piece of shit.

He had been wrong about Julio. He had thought that, despite being an arrogant and all around unlikeable guy, Julio had not been a truly bad person at heart. He had underestimated the other familiar's fanaticism, it seemed. In retrospect, it was a foolish underestimation. He had known that Julio's and the Pope's ultimate goal was to retake the Holy Lands from the elves, and that they would allow nothing to stand in their way. He had also known that for that to happen, they would need all four Void mages, as well as all four of the Void familiars.

He had been blind, Saito realized bitterly. When faced with the scene of his mother, of his homeland, he had been so overwhelmed with emotions that he had failed to remember one critical truth: the familiar's runes only disappeared on death. And since Romalia needed a Gandalfr for their upcoming crusade, the only possible course of action for them would be to kill him if he tried to return to Earth so that they could summon a new Gandalfr.

But what happened after that? Saito thought. He had definitely fallen into the World Door, so he should be back on Earth. However, the girl who was healing him right now was clearly doing so through the use of magic, and magic did not exist on Earth. So was he still in Halkeginia?

Saito frowned. This girl was not using a wand or a staff in order to use her magic, which was necessary in order to do so, at least for Halkeginians. Elves, Saito remembered, could use magic without such mediums. But Saito could see that this girl was a human because of her ears. So how, then, was she using magic?

Saito groaned internally as he tried to make sense of what was going on.

Taking a deep breath, Saito started over: He definitely remembered falling through the World Door before passing out. Ordinarily that would mean that he was back on Earth. However, the fact that this girl was using magic, even if it was not one that he recognized, meant that it was impossible that he was in his homeworld. Then, the World Door must have failed, or Vittorio must have sent him elsewhere. Either way, he was not on Earth.

Turning his head towards the girl, Saito said in a soft voice, as if unsure whether or not he should be interrupting the girl while she healed him, "Excuse me. Can I ask you something?"

When the blonde girl didn't answer, Saito sighed and looked back up to the ceiling.

"Asia is too busy concentrating on healing you to answer your questions, but I'll answer them if you answer mine as well."

Saito turned his head to the source of the noise. Leaning casually and hitherto unnoticed against the furthest wall was a woman. She approached, and when Saito looked at her, he instantly blushed. With her long black hair, slender, supple figure, and gorgeous face, she was an incredible beauty, that much was absolutely certain. However, it was because of her choice of clothes that Saito's eyes remained transfixed on her. The woman was dressed in such a provocative manner that Saito found himself unsure of where to rest his eyes.

She was dressed in an outfit that looked more like an extremely bare lingerie, one that made even the seductive nightclothes of Kirche von Zerbst look modest, even prudish. The black cloth were used in extremely narrow strips and only barely covered her most critical areas – i.e. her nipples and genitalia – as well as a few additional straps of cloth necessary to keep those cloth in place. On her long, lithe legs were high-heeled black leather boots that reached up to her mid-thighs. On her slender arms were a pair of black leather gloves that reached up to her mid-biceps. Finishing off her ensemble was a pair of armor-like epaulettes, the right one being slightly larger than the left and adorned with three steel spikes.

"Okay," Saito agreed readily. "First of all, who are you?"

"My name is Raynare," the woman answered. "And you?"

"I'm Hiraga Saito," Saito replied. "Where am I?" Saito paused for a moment, before adding, "Er, I mean that on a country level, by the way."

Raynare arched an eyebrow at the strange question, but answered nonetheless. "You are in Japan."

At that, Saito frowned deeply and with consternation. He was back on Earth? But this person was using magic, which was nonexistent, a myth, on Earth. Wait, Saito thought, then did that mean that magic really existed in his world? Impossible.

"Um... Raynare-sama," the blonde girl suddenly said as the green light faded from her hands and she turned to look at the black-haired woman. "I have completed healing him."

"Good work, Asia," Raynare said. "You may leave."

"Yes, Raynare-sama," Asia said. She glanced at Saito and gave a quick nod in greeting before excusing herself and leaving the room.

Once the blonde girl was gone, Saito sat up as Raynare sat down on the now vacated chair. She crossed her legs in a single flowing and graceful gesture. Saito couldn't help but stare as she did so.

"You look as though you don't believe me," Raynare commented, causing Saito to look back up at Raynare's face. The amused smile on her lips and the direct stare of her violet-colored eyes told Saito that, yes, she knew exactly what he had been staring at. "That, and you look as though you're distracted by something else."

"Er, sorry," Saito blushed a bright red guiltily. "It's just... that thing that other girl, Asia, did... That was magic, wasn't it? But magic doesn't exist on Earth."

"Mmm... Well, to put it bluntly, you're wrong on two counts," Raynare said, causing Saito's eyebrows to lift up. "What Asia did was not magic, per se. However, magic does exist."

"But magic is just a myth," Saito protested. He paused, feeling extremely strange for being the one to say that magic didn't exist when he himself knew more than others that yes it did.

Raynare's smile spread a little further. "Nearly all myths are true, even if most humans don't believe in them anymore."

As if to demonstrate, feathered wings as black as night suddenly unfurled from Raynare's back, startling Saito and causing him to flinch.

"What are you?" Saito blurted out as soon as he recovered from the shock.

"I," Raynare said, "am an angel."

Saito blinked. "Wait, so things like gods and monsters and stuff really exist, then?"

"Of course," Raynare said easily.

Slowly, Saito looked down as he brought one hand up to his temple and rubbed it. He sighed tiredly. "You know, this isn't the weirdest thing that's happened to me, so I can accept that." Saito looked back up at Raynare and at her jet-black wings. "But I thought angels were supposed to have pure white wings."

Raynare shrugged as she retracted the wings back into her body. "Not all myths are completely accurate. There are angels with black wings. It's nothing, though. It's merely like the difference in skin color in humans; a superficial difference."

Saito frowned. "I see." Saito took a quick glance at Raynare's body. "And, uh, do all angels dress like you, too?"

Raynare rolled her eyes. "What, did you think that all angels wear the same pure white robes or togas?"

"Well... Kinda. Yeah, actually."

"Hmph. Humans and their stereotypes," Raynare said, though she sounded amused. "No, Saito. Not all angels wear robes and togas. In the first place, it's only because humans ate the forbidden fruit that they have such a strange sense of shame over their own selves. I, as well as many of my brothers and sisters, on the other hand, have never once been ashamed of our bodies."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed," Raynare said. "Now, my turn to ask a question. When I found you, you were nearly dead. I know from your wounds that you were shot. However, what I'm curious about is the fact that you were deposited into an alleyway by some strange portal, the likes of which I have never before seen. What was it? And what happened to you on the other side of that portal? Where are you from?"

Saito grimaced at the question. His memories of Halkeginia were not things he was fond of. True, there had been good times, and he had friends there, but even so, Saito could not bring himself to like what he had gone through in that other world.

It had been harsh and dehumanizing. Without his consent, he had been forced into a less-than-human position, a familiar, by a girl who had done things to him that would be considered torture anywhere else. Worse still, because of his runes, he had been compelled into accepting such cruel treatment with barely a single rebellion. He had been whipped, fitted with collars that would electrocute him on command, forced to behave as a dog at times and barred from using human language, and much, much more. It was only because he was not considered a person but rather a mere familiar that Louise had been allowed to do such things. Indeed, it was because he was her familiar that she had felt it was her right to do such things. And it was because of those runes that Saito hadn't, no, couldn't hate her for it. Quite the opposite: those runes had made him fall in love with her.

Thus, when the runes' effects on his minds had finally been erased by Tiffania, he had been furious. How could he not be? To be forced to fall in love with his kidnapper and tormentor like some sort of sick, mystical Stockholm Syndrome at the cost of further being forced to forget all of his desire to return home, to his family, to where he truly belonged, was cruel and evil beyond measure. It was only thanks to the fact that Louise had managed to mellow greatly during their time together and that she had been the one to arrange Tiffania to wipe out the runes' compulsions that Saito did not completely hate the short, pink-haired girl. However, they could no longer be called anything as remotely close as friends. Not after what she had done. Not after what he had been forced to go through. After all of that, Saito could no longer trust her.

Although, Saito thought, it was highly probable that even that lack of hatred was due to some vestigial remnants of the familiar's runes' compulsory effects that had managed to remain even after Tiffania's mind wipe spell.

Furthermore, in his time in Halkeginia, he had been used and manipulated so much that Saito felt as though in the eyes of most Halkeginians, he was merely an extremely useful tool. Vittorio and Julio were the most flagrant offenders, but even someone as kind and gentle as Princess Henrietta was guilty of doing so.

Saito did not hate Henrietta. He did not even dislike her. However, it was an undeniable truth that she had used both him and Louise for herself and her country. Saito did not blame her for this. Henrietta was first and foremost the ruler of Tristain, and her obligation was to her country. To use whatever she could to benefit her country was a matter of course.

Still, he could not simply accept it. While that wasn't necessarily wrong for Henrietta to use Louise since she was a Tristanian, Saito was a foreigner. He had no real reason to be a part of Tristain's problems outside of how it affected him personally. Yet, despite that, and thanks in large part due to the runes forcing him to abide by Louise's will, he had been pulled into Henrietta's plots and maneuverings, and had ended up dying in a war, alone and against an army, because of it. Then, even though she was clearly being manipulated by Vittorio, Henrietta had attempted to bring Saito into another war. This time against the elves – a people with whom he had no real qualms with, aside from Bidashal who had allied with that insane King Joseph and had attempted to block Saito and his comrades from rescuing one of their friends. Worse still, what they, the Romalians, wanted to start was a crusade; a war of ideology. An ideology that Saito did not believe in.

Even now, the arguments they had attempted to use to convince Saito to join their cause made him laugh. The thought that the elves would willingly give up their homes without receiving anything in return purely because the humans possessed the power of the Void mages was stupid to a point that went beyond naive – it had been insane. And the argument that the humans were constantly warring with each other in Halkeginia was because they did not have control of the Holy Lands was stupid. Earth's history disproved that argument over and over and over again.

After all, humans fight because it is in human nature to do so.

When people with different values and beliefs meet, it was natural for conflict to arise from that friction. True, having a common enemy and goal would unify the people for a time, but what about after? This was something that Saito was not able to make Vittorio and Henrietta understand, no matter how hard he tried. If they somehow did manage to capture the Holy Lands, then conflict would eventually arise once more. It would merely be old reasons in a new setting. But they were so certain, so absolutely positive that getting to the Holy Land would be the end-all solution, that they would not even consider the validity of Saito's arguments.

In light of all that, Vittorio and Julio's betrayal at the eleventh hour almost seemed an appropriate last memory of Halkeginia – a land of war, lies, and manipulation.

"Saito?" Raynare said when he had been silent for a little too long. "Is something wrong?"

Saito glanced up at Raynare.

He did not want to share the story of his past year with Raynare. He did not want to share it with anyone. There were simply too many bitter memories attached to it that made even recalling it painful. However, this person – this angel – had saved his life. For that, he owed her a great deal. Though he did not wish to, the least he could do was answer her questions, even if he kept it as an abridged version.

Saito sighed before resigning himself to explaining. "The portal you saw was the World Door, and it connected this world to Halkeginia. It was the gate to another world."

-Scene Break-

Flabbergasted.

That was the only word Raynare could come up with that could come even close to describing how she felt after listening to Saito's story. She had been prepared to be told about something along the lines of some hidden and ancient type of magic that she had never heard about, but this... Assuming that everything Saito had told her was true, then this was far beyond incredible. This was groundbreaking!

Here before her was a boy who had been taken to another world, and then come back from it.

It had long been suspected amongst the intellectuals of the various religious and mythological factions that there existed other worlds – or rather, other dimensions – in the far corners of the Dimensional Gap, in places where no one in this dimension was capable of reaching. But the reason why it was impossible to traverse into other dimensions was not solely because of some unique trait of the Gap. Rather, it was because it was occupied and guarded by the strongest being in existence: Great Red.

However, what Saito was telling her was that there existed magic on the other side, in that world of Halkeginia, that was able to bridge that unfathomably large distance between the two worlds at will. Not only that, but there had also been humans and human weapons that had also been transported to that other world, and have been doing so for a long time, at least by human standards.

How was this possible? Did this "Void magic" somehow allow a connection that could pass unnoticed by Great Red? Or did it use some means besides that of the Dimensional Gap to make the connection? A method to completely bypass the Dimensional Gap? Was that even possible? Most importantly, could that connection be somehow reverse-engineered in order to open it from this side? Even though Raynare was not a scientist by any stretch of the word, she could not help but ask such questions.

Raynare viciously repressed a gleeful smile that threatened to spread over her lips.

This was it. This was how Hiraga Saito could be useful to her. She would present him as a gift and experiment subject to Lord Azazel, who would no doubt be pleased with such a present. After all, Azazel was one of the preeminent scientists amongst all the different factions in the world. Even if his chosen field of study was that of the Sacred Gears, it was impossible that he would not be highly interested in Saito and his connection to the other world. Especially when he had a proof of the other world's magic imprinted on his left hand: the runes of what Saito called the "Gandalfr." Somehow, defying all common sense, those runes gave Saito the ability to use any and all weapons, even ones he had never seen before. Azazel would no doubt be very eager to dissect how the runes granted such an ability, which sounded almost like a Sacred Gear from another world.

Yes, Raynare thought, once she had taken Asia's Twilight Healing for herself and presented Lord Azazel with Hiraga Saito, her own status would no doubt be highly elevated in Lord Azazel's eyes. Just thinking about being able to make Lord Azazel so happy with her was enough to nearly throw Raynare into a giggling fit, and it took her nearly a minute to sufficiently calm herself down.

"I'm at a loss for words," Raynare finally said in a slow, deliberate manner. "All I can say is that that is an amazing story."

"I guess so," Saito agreed with a careless shrug.

"So then, what will you do from hereon?" Raynare asked casually.

"I'm going to go home and let my family know I'm all right," Saito said promptly. "I'm sure they've been worried sick about me."

Raynare pursed her lips and frowned ever so slightly.

Saito going home? That was something Raynare could not allow, mostly for the sake of convenience. If he did go home and let others close to him know that he was back, then there would be that much more work involved in having to go around and erasing their memories once she handed Saito over to Lord Azazel.

"That... is not the best of ideas," Raynare said with a false hesitancy.

Saito cocked his head and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You see, this entire city is under the control of the devils," Raynare explained. "As such, there is very little that goes on in this city, their territory, that they are not aware of. By now, they must have already learned that you were rescued by me. In other words, you are, in their eyes, now a part of the faction of angels. If you go to your family while under their scrutiny, there is no doubt that they will target your family and use them against you. They could be kidnapped, tortured, and horribly murdered just because of their close relations to you."

Saito visibly tensed and his expression turned cold and hard. "Is that so?" he said in a chillingly calm voice. "Then, what am I supposed to do? Go out and kill every devil I can find?"

Raynare shook her head, inwardly pleased that Saito bought the lies so easily. "That would take far too long and would eventually garner far too much attention. No, there is a better way."

"And what's that?" Saito asked.

"A ritual that I and my comrades have been preparing," Raynare said. "It should be ready by tomorrow night. When it is complete, it will give us the ability to destroy the devil's hold on this city in one fell swoop."

"Really?" Saito said, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "If that's the case, then I can go home after that's done, right?"

"Yes," Raynare nodded. "Until then, for your safety as well as your family's, I ask that you stay here under my supervision."

Saito nodded. "All right. I can do that."

Raynare smiled. "I know that this must be hard on you, Saito," Raynare said genially, "and I'm sorry I have to ask you to be patient a little longer."

"It's okay," Saito said. "I've waited an entire year to return home. Another day or two is no big deal."

"That is an excellent attitude to have. Thank you for your understanding," Raynare said sweetly as she stood up to leave. "Please don't worry too much, Saito. After tomorrow, you can go to the place where you belong."

-Scene Break-

It was later in the night that Saito found himself unable to fall asleep. Instead, he simply rolled about restlessly in his bed. There was too many things to think about for him to even consider sleeping, such as the fact that gods and angels and devils exist on Earth, and that he would be able to see his family in just a few days. The excitement from that latter fact made him feel almost giddy.

Just as well. He did not really like sleeping overmuch these days.

"Hey, Derf," Saito said.

"What is it, Partner?" the sentient sword's metallic voice called back, yawning sleepily as it did so.

Saito did not even bother asking if the sword, sentient or not, truly needed to sleep or if it just pretended to. Saito had long since gotten used to Derflinger's little peculiarities and had come not to question them.

"The Pope and Julio tried to kill me because I was about to return to Earth, and if I did, they would not be able to get another Gandalfr, right?"

"Pretty much," Derflinger replied, the quillon moving as though it was its mouth. "The power of the Gandalfr is almost as vital to them as the Void is."

Saito grinned wolfishly. "Then, the fact that I'm here on Earth and still alive means that they'll be unable to summon another Gandalfr until the day I die."

"That's true too," Derflinger agreed slowly. "What's the point you're trying to make, though?"

"Nothing. It's just that I'm glad that their plans have gone awry," Saito said vindictively. "I almost wish that I could see the look on their faces when they find out that they can't summon another Gandalfr. Take that Julio and Vittorio, you assholes."

Derflinger snorted, which ended up coming out as a harsh, grating sound. "Whatever makes you happy, Partner."

"Still," Saito pursed his lips. "I wonder if Louise and the others are doing all right?"

"Wait, what?" Derflinger said in a surprised tone. "Wasn't that big boobed elf girl's spell supposed to have stopped the runes from making you love that little brat?"

Saito shook his head. "It did. I don't love Louise anymore, and the runes have no control over my mind, as far as I can tell anyway. But you know, I guess if I had to choose between whether I hate her or not, I would choose the latter. So I am a little concerned."

"Is that so?" Derflinger said. "You know, if I were you, I don't think I would be able to even stand being around that little girl. I mean, that she did brainwash you."

"True," Saito conceded, and here his voice turned dark and bitter. "And that's something that I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive, even if she did not do it intentionally."

"So why bother worrying about her?" Derflinger asked curiously.

"Because it's not just about her," Saito answered. "Disregarding Louise, I am also worried about Tiffania, Siesta, Tabitha, Kirche, Mister Colbert, and a lot of other people. Even Guiche, for that matter."

"I see," Derflinger mused. "Well, to answer your question, then, all I can say is that I don't know. Myoznitnirn is a very dangerous person to face."

Saito grimaced and nodded in agreement. "That's for sure. But since Louise and Vittorio are both Void mages, they should have the advantage, right? They even have another Void familiar with them."

Derflinger grunted. "Maybe, maybe not. I don't remember what the fourth familiar is, so this might not be true, but the Myoznitnirn is the strongest familiar."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Derflinger confirmed. "Look, to the tell you the truth, Partner, as the Gandalfr, you're a lot stronger and faster than ordinary humans, but that doesn't change the fact that all you can do is fight like a much better non-magical human. As for the Windalfr, all he can do is control some animals. So unless he manages to find and control an army of elder dragons, which are nearly extinct, he's not much use in a fight. But the Myoznitnirn? The ability to use any and all magical items is huge. There are tons of magical items in Halkeginia that can do really scary stuff. Depending on the tools they use, a Myoznitnirn could face off against an army like the one you fought in Albion by him or herself and still win. Easily. Hell, a Myoznitnirn could probably topple an entire country alone. That's why the Myoznitnirn is ordinarily the strongest."

"Ordinarily?" Saito said, locking onto that key word.

"Partner," Derflinger said seriously. "I'm not gonna lie: after seeing some of the weapons that come from your world, it's more than enough to make me feel pretty damn inadequate. It's like you guys specifically designed and improved your weapons in order to fight against real monsters."

"Well, in a way, you're not wrong," Saito said with an amused smile.

"With your world's weapons," Derflinger continued, "the Gandalfr is probably the only one that can beat the Myoznitnirn. But without you to use those weapons on their behalf, that girl and the others are definitely in for a lot of trouble."

"That's... bad," Saito frowned.

"Still," Derflinger said nonchalantly. "The problems of Halkeginia is for the Halkeginians to deal with. It's not exactly something that you, an Earthling, needs to worry about anymore, especially since it was Halkeginians that tried to kill you and tossed you out of that world. You've done enough. I'm sure that they'll find a way to pull through without you."

"I guess so," Saito agreed halfheartedly. He sighed. "Well, good night, Derf."

"Night, Partner."

Saito closed his eyes and let out a deep breath as he tried to drift off into slumber. However, just then there was a series of loud banging on his door, causing Saito's eyes to snap back open.

"Bah. Another interruption," Derflinger groused. "Why can't you guys just let a sword sleep?"

Saito sighed and stood up, walking over to the still banging door and opened it. Standing there was a man Saito did not recognize. He had silver-grey hair and a wide grin that practically screamed "crazy." Behind him was the same blonde girl that had healed Saito. Asia, if he recalled correctly.

"Who are you?" Saito asked the silver-haired man.

"Yo, newbie!" the man said with a strange cheeriness. "You can call me Freed-senpai!"

"Uh... Right," Saito said. "So, Freed-san, what is it that you needed?"

"You're coming with me and Asia-chan for an exorcism!" Freed declared. "Here, take these." He quickly thrust a gun and what looked like a bladeless sword hilt into Saito's chest, and he reacted instinctively by bringing his hands up to accept the items.

"Wait, what are these?" Saito asked. "And what are you talking about, going on an exorcism?"

"Oh, right. You're a newbie, so you don't know, huh?" Freed frowned, slapping his forehead with his palm. Then he bared his teeth in a too-wide smile. "That's okay! I'll teach you everything as your senior! Okay, see this?" Freed plucked the sword hilt from Saito's hands. "Look! This is super duper cool!"

With a faint "voosh" sound, a blade of light suddenly extended from the hilt, causing Saito's brows to shoot up.

"You ever seen Star Wars? Well, this here is a lightsaber!" Freed exclaimed happily. "Well, not really. Actually, it's just a holy sword. But it's like a lightsaber and that's all that matters. It even has the sound effects! And this here" - Freed took the gun he had given Saito - "shoots bullets of light. Pewpew!"

Aiming at the far wall, Freed pulled the trigger. Unlike normal firearms, there was no noise or recoil. Instead, Saito was only barely able to notice the light that was fired from the end of the barrel before it made a bullet-sized hole in the wall an instant later.

"That's pretty cool, actually," Saito said, unable to keep himself from being impressed.

"Isn't it?" Freed said excitedly. The blade of light retracted back into its hilt and disappeared. Freed then handed the sword hilt and gun back to Saito. "Here, now it's your turn to try. I'll teach you how! Huh? Hey, why's your hand all glowing like that?"

Saito considered the gun and holy sword in his hands. As the Gandalfr's runes shined, he could feel an understanding of exactly how to use these weapons in his mind. The gun was nothing special in its usage – it was exactly like normal guns in almost everything except for its ammunition. The sword was little trickier, but still fairly straightforward.

By simply ordering the sword to extend with his willpower, the holy sword responded obediently. A blade of light extended from the sword hilt, causing Saito to smile satisfactorily as he took a few quick practice swings to the side with it. It was a strange blade, that much was certain. Because its blade was formed of solid light, the sword was nearly weightless. In fact, it almost felt too light. Saito had come to prefer the heft of a solid sword in his hands, as it felt more natural and right. When it was this weightless, Saito almost could not even be certain if he was still holding the sword unless he was looking at it.

"Ooo. You're pretty good at this, aintcha?" Freed said, letting out a low impressed whistle. "Never seen a guy who was able to use one of these swords on his first try, without any instruction to boot."

"I have a knack for this sort of thing," Saito simply said as he retracted the blade of light.

"Huh," Freed grunted. "So, why's your hand going all Mr. Shiney?"

"Mr. Shiney?" Saito arched his eyebrow. He sighed and shook his head. "No. Never mind. And it's nothing. It just likes to do that."

This time it was Freed's turn to arch an eyebrow. "I've never heard of hands that like to glow." He shrugged. "Meh. Whatever. Let's go, go, go!"

-Scene Break-

The night air was fairly chilly, despite being spring, and Saito couldn't help but shiver slightly as he drew the long coat he had borrowed from Freed closer around him. Truth be told, he wasn't quite certain why he was here. Though he had tried to explain to Freed that he didn't really want to go do an exorcism, the priest had been very insistent. In the end, Saito had been dragged along. Thus, the three of them, Saito, Freed, and Asia, were now walking around in the dead of night when no one would be out for any proper reasons.

"So anyways, how are we supposed to track down the devils in the first place?" Saito asked as he shifted Derflinger on his back into a more comfortable position.

"Don't worry about that," Freed said nonchalantly. "That's why we work for that sexy bitch, after all."

Saito frowned. "Sexy bitch?"

"That angel in the slutty outfit," Freed clarified.

"... You mean Raynare?" Saito said flatly.

"Yeah, her," Freed said, snapping his fingers as if only just recalling her name. "Goddamn, I'd love to really fuck her brains out. You know what I mean, newbie?"

Saito's forehead furrowed as he frowned more deeply. "Uh, is that really a proper way to talk about an angel?"

"Proper?" Freed cackled. "Newbie, get the stick out of your ass. Have you seen the way she dresses? She is just asking for it."

Saito exchanged glances with Asia, who was frowning and looked as disturbed by Freed as he was.

"Uh... Right." Saito decided to change topics. "So does Raynare tell us where to find the devils, then?"

"Yeah," Freed said, suddenly looking bored. Perhaps he found the more serious topic too dull, Saito wondered. "We're gonna go over to a home where devils have been known to show up."

"Where is it?" Saito asked.

"Here, there, wherever," Freed blathered. "Don't worry about it, newbie. Just follow me."

Saito scratched the back of his head, but nodded with a defeated sigh as Freed led them seemingly in circles, all the while humming a song.

As they walked, Saito took a quick glance at Asia, who also looked as though she did not want to be here, but had been dragged out by Freed anyway.

"By the way," Saito said quietly to Asia, who looked up at him and blinked. "I haven't introduced myself. My name is Hiraga Saito. Please just call me Saito."

"Ah, my name is Asia Argento," Asia said, curtseying politely. "You can call me Asia, though."

"Then, Asia-san," Saito said. "I never got a chance to thank you for healing me. You have my gratitude for that. I owe you and Raynare my life. If there's ever anything I can do for you, anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Oh, it was no problem," Asia said with a smile so pure and innocent that Saito felt his heart melt just by looking at its radiance. "You don't owe me anything. I'm just glad I was able to help."

"You're very kind," Saito said honestly.

Asia blushed at the sudden compliment. "Um... Thank you. By the way, Saito-san, why were you so injured?"

Saito felt his jaw twitch slightly at the question as it inadvertently called up his memories of Halkeginia.

"I was betrayed," Saito said, and it took his utmost effort to keep himself from spitting out the words. "Betrayed, shot and left for dead."

Noticing the anger on Saito's face, Asia quickly apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

Saito took a deep breath in order to calm himself down. "No. It's fine. It's not your fault." Saito sighed. "Anyway, what was that thing you used to heal me? When I asked Raynare, she said it wasn't magic, but it sure looked like magic to me."

"Oh that? That was my Sacred Gear, Twilight Healing," Asia said.

Saito frowned at the unfamiliar term. "Sacred Gear?"

"They're gifts from God that are bestowed upon certain individuals from birth and grant them some sort of power," Asia explained. "I was given the power to heal any injury without a trace, no matter how grievous it is."

"Really?" Saito's brows went up. "That's amazing! You're pretty lucky to be given such an incredible power, then."

Asia smiled bitterly, and Saito instantly knew he had stepped on some kind of emotional landmine. "Yes... Lucky..."

This time it was Saito's turn to apologize. "My bad," Saito said quickly. "I'm sorry."

Asia shook her head. "No need to apologize."

"Oi, you two lovebirds," Freed called back to them from several feet in front of them. "We're here."

Saito blinked as he looked towards the house that Freed had stopped in front of. Then he frowned when he realized he recognized it.

"Freed-san," Saito said. "Haven't we passed by this house like four times now?"

"Did we?" Freed cocked his head. "Well, if you say we did, then we must have."

Saito sighed exasperatedly and rubbed his temple. He could feel the onset of a headache just from having to put up with this man.

"Whatever," Freed shrugged. "Asia-chan. Why don't you take the newbie to the backyard and start putting up a barrier, yeah? I'll go investigate inside."

"Yes, Father Freed," Asia said politely.

After handing out the orders, Freed casually walked up to the house's door and kicked it with such force that it was flung wide open on its hinges. Saito opened his eyes wide at such a loud entry. If there really were devils inside, wouldn't it be better to be more surreptitious about it?

Saito shrugged and followed Asia to the backyard. Either Freed was simply confident enough in his skills to believe that he did not need to rely on stealth, or he was crazy enough to think the same. In either case, Saito decided to just leave this to the priest that Saito was beginning to think was not entirely well in the head.

In the backyard, Saito leaned against a tree as Asia began setting up a barrier. It was quite an interesting sight to behold, truth be told, and Saito watched with fascination as the very air around the house and its grounds began distorting, the space swirling about like something fluid. Judging from the beads of sweat that had formed and begun to trickle down Asia's face, Saito could tell that this was not a simple feat to accomplish.

However, after about ten minutes, Saito found himself becoming bored as the novelty of the spatial distortion wore off. He yawned as he slid down against the tree trunk and sat on the grass. In the stillness of the night, only the sounds of a few crickets could be heard. Saito couldn't help but wonder why Freed had bothered to bring him here if all he was going to do was make him sit around doing nothing.

Then Saito remembered his suspicions on Freed's grasp on sanity and realized that it was entirely possible that Freed had no actual purpose for bringing him along.

Saito let out a breath and pushed himself back up onto his feet. If there was nothing for him to do, he thought, he may as well go back to the church and get some sleep. It was late, and he was tired. Even if he did not like sleeping, he still needed it.

However, just as he was about to leave, Saito heard a sudden pained scream from inside the house. It did not belong to Freed, that much Saito was certain. The devil, then?

The scream served as a wake-up call for Asia who had been in a deep meditative state as she maintained the barrier. Her eyes snapped wide open in shock and she inhaled sharply.

"Ise-san?" Asia whispered with dread. "Impossible!"

With that, Asia sprinted towards the house's front door. Saito gripped Derflinger's handle with one hand as he followed after her. In an instant, Saito felt as though his body had become lighter and stronger, more agile and responsive. More, every one of his senses had been sharpened to the utmost degree, such that he could detect even the slightest motion, the faintest smell, or the quietest of sounds.

It was thanks to that he was able to smell something very familiar to him from within the house, even before he entered the building proper.

Blood. A lot of it.

When Saito and Asia barged into the home, he nearly threw up at the scene before him.

There, crucified against a wall, was what appeared to be a horrifically mutilated corpse of a man. His body had not been cut open so much as it had been butchered apart. The internal organs, blood, and waste products had been spilled onto the floor – the source of the rank smell in the air. Resting idly on the puddle of crimson liquid were two white marbles, which Saito realized moments later were actually eyeballs that had been plucked straight out of the corpse's head. Not only that, portions of the corpse's body was cut off and scattered throughout the room, such as an ear, a few fingers, a foot, the tongue, and the nose.

Saito forced the bile that had begun crawling up his throat back down again.

Freed had done this? In the span of only ten minutes and in near total silence?

He had been right, Saito thought. Freed was insane.

Worse still, the corpse on the wall was not going to be his only victim.

"Ise-san!" Asia shrieked as she witnessed Freed, his arms and clothes soaked in blood, standing over a boy lying on the floor and gasping in pain. On each of his thighs was a bloody hole that bore straight through the limb and out the other side. They were most probably caused by the light-shooting gun that Freed was holding in his hand and aiming at the boy.

"A... Asia?" the boy muttered weakly.

Cold fury seized Saito.

This man, no, this monster had just tortured and murdered one man. Now, right before Saito's eyes, he was about to do it again. Worse still, this was someone Asia knew and obviously cared for. As such, there was absolutely no way he was going to let this pass.

Silently, Saito charged forward, moving like a blur as he unsheathed Derflinger and swung down on Freed's arms. The insane priest noticed the attack just in time to be able to avoid the attack, though he was forced to jump backwards in order to do so.

"Oi, oi," Freed said, his tone clearly annoyed, even upset, at Saito's intrusion. "The fuck are you doing, newbie?"

"Shut up," Saito said icily. "That is my line: What the hell is all of this?" Saito made a sweeping gesture with one hand at the macabre scene around them. "Why did you murder that person, and why are you trying to kill another?"

Freed cocked his head. "Person...?" His face suddenly lit up brightly and he brought a fist down on an open palm. "Oh! I get it! Now I get why you're so upset!" Freed laughed. "You got it all wrong, newbie. See, that guy on the wall was someone who summoned and contracted devils, you know. And that trash lying on the floor behind you? He's a devil."

"W-Wait. Father Freed," Asia said weakly from near the doorway where she was trying desperately to keep herself stable and on her feet, leaning piteously against a wall in order to do so. The scene was no doubt far too much for the kindhearted girl, and her face looked more than a little green around the edges. "Are you saying that Ise-san is a d-devil?"

"Of course!" Freed declared cheerfully. "What, do you know this devil? Wow, what a surprise! Are you in love with him? Is this a forbidden love between a devil and a sister? Really? Truly? Seriously? Hahaha! Oh, oh this is great! Sorry, Asia-chan, but I'm going to kill this guy and chop him up into itty bitty pieces. Cause he's a devil, you know? That means that he's our enemy because we are e-x-o-r-c-i-s-t-s."

Saito frowned as he quickly looked over Ise. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not detect any difference between this boy, who Freed claimed was a devil, and that of a regular human.

"Ise-san," Asia said. "Is that true? Are you really a devil?"

"... I'm sorry, Asia," Ise said. "I never meant to trick you."

"Hahaha!" Freed laughed. "See? See? He's a devil! Now, if you'll excuse me, newbie, I'm gonna finish him off properly."

Saito bit his lip and hesitated. This boy was a devil? One of the evil and vicious hellspawns Raynare had warned him about? Truly? But no matter how hard Saito tried, he could only see Ise as a victim and Freed as the true devil.

During Saito's moment of hesitation, Freed walked past Saito in a brisk manner and pointed his gun at Ise. But before he could pull the trigger, Asia suddenly ran and threw herself in the way.

"Please wait, Father Freed!" Asia said. "Please don't kill Ise-san!"

Freed frowned. "Asia-chan, haven't you been listening? He's a devil. A devil! We gotta kill him because all devils are, like, evil, you know? He's our enemy."

"Ise-san is different!" Asia protested. "Even if he is a devil, he's still a good person. Please forgive him and let him go."

"Asia-chan," Freed sighed. "Are you stupid or something?"

Asia's face was set in a resolute expression. "Please, Father Freed. Let's stop here. What you did tonight is wrong. Just because someone has been entranced by a devil doesn't mean it's right to kill them. And even amongst devils, I'm sure that there are good people. Ise-san is proof of that. Let's stop here before you sin any further."

"Shut the fuck up, you fucking bitch," Freed said before violently kicking her across the head, knocking her to the side, unconscious. Saito's eyes narrowed as he looked at the bruise that was left where Freed had kicked Asia.

"Freed, you bastard!" the devil boy shouted furiously. "How dare you do that to Asia-chan!"

"Hahaha! So it is a illicit love affair!" Freed exclaimed, his previous cheeriness returning. "Fantastic! Too bad, though, cause now you're gonna die, now. Don't worry, though. I'll take good care of Asia-chan. Bye bye, you shitty devil."

A sudden horizontal sword slash aimed precisely for Freed's neck forced the priest to bend almost completely backwards, drawing his upper body nearly parallel to the ground, in order to avoid the blade in time. Following the motion, he did a backflip and ended up a safe distance away from Saito, whose face was set in a cold and murderous fury.

"Okay, now I'm seriously getting really angry with all these interruptions," Freed said testily. "What's your problem now, newbie?"

"My problem?" Saito said. He pointed the tip of Derflinger at the insane priest. "My problem is that you just hit Asia. Your problem is that now I'm going to beat the shit out of you for it."

"Is that so?" Freed laughed maniacally, baring his teeth in an insane grin that spread ear to ear. "You know, if you try to fight me, I'm gonna kill you. I'm, like, super strong, you know? You sure you want to fight me, newbie-chan?"

In response, Saito silently brought Derflinger up in front of him into a combat stance, gripping its handle with both hands. Freed cackled wordlessly as he pulled out a holy sword with one hand, the blade of light extending as he did so, while keeping his gun in the other. For a moment, the two stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move and thereby create an opening, when a bright red light suddenly flashed behind Saito.

In an instant, Saito strafed to the side, positioning himself in the room such that he was able to keep an eye on Freed and the crimson circle composed of strange runes and symbols that had formed on the floor behind Ise. From that magic circle, there was a flash of light as a person suddenly appeared on top of it. He was fairly tall and good looking, though somewhat lean. In his hand he was wielding a sword. There were two more flashes of light, signaling the entry of a short girl with pure white hair and a taller girl with long black hair tied up into a ponytail that reached down to her legs. Saito immediately understood then that the circle was actually a gate, one similar to the World Door or the familiar's summoning portal.

Saito felt himself tense as he watched the newcomers from the corner of his eye, but kept his body facing Freed with sword and stance ready only to strike him down.

"Oh my," the black-haired girl said, her eyes crinkled into narrow slits as she smiled dangerously. "What's this? Two exorcists fighting each other?"

"Y-you guys," Ise groaned from the floor. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious, Hyoudou-kun? We're here to rescue you." He glanced at Ise's wounds and grimaced. "But it looks like we were a little too late."

"Ha..." Ise chuckled weakly. "Better late than never, you damn handsome."

The blond boy flashed a grin before turning to glare at Freed and Saito. "So these guys are the ones who did this to you?"

"Oi, oi," Freed said with some annoyance. "Don't go trying to credit my work to someone else, you shitty devil."

The blond boy looked at Freed distastefully. "So it was just you?" He glanced back at the corpse pinned on the wall. "You're a monster."

"Me? A monster? Ha!" Freed guffawed. "Coming from a devil, that's rich!"

"Even devils have rules," the blond boy said in a low tone. "We would never do what you have done."

"Hahaha! You devils have rules?" Freed laughed loudly, letting it ring throughout the house. He looked at Saito. "Newbie-chan, you're gonna have to hold on for just a little bit, okay?" he said in a sickeningly sweet tone. "We can fight to the death after I kill these shitty devils."

Saito said nothing as he narrowed his eyes to glare at Freed and maintained a firm grip on Derflinger, though he did relax his stance and slowly lowered the sentient blade to his side.

Freed grinned wolfishly as he turned to face the devils fully. "Now, come on! Let's try to kill each other!"

"You're crazy," the blond boy stated with disgust.

"I know! It's wonderful, too!" Freed declared excitedly. Suddenly, he frowned sadly. "Ah, but where's your killing intent? A fight's no fun if one side isn't trying to kill, you know."

"Is that so? Then disappear."

Saito turned to look towards the owner of the new voice: a beautiful redheaded woman with a look of burning hatred on her face. From her outstretched hand, a sphere of black and blood-red energy shot forth towards Freed. It was roughly the size of a large melon, and it flew like a bullet in both speed and suddenness. For an ordinary human, it would have been near impossible to dodge it, especially given their relatively close proximity. However, Freed simply cackled and sidestepped the attack with almost casual ease.

"Ha! That's it! That's it!" Freed cried out joyfully while wiggling his body sensually. "This killing intent is perfect! You're gonna make me fall in love with you if you keep this up!"

"Tsk. I missed," the redhead said as she made a disgusted expression. "Kiba. Recover Ise. He takes priority. We're leaving."

"Yes, Buchou," the blond boy, Kiba said, as he picked up the fallen boy.

"Hey! Wait just a second!" Freed said, outraged. "You guys can't just leave! We have to fight!"

Instead of responding, the devils all ignored the crazy priest as they gathered on top of the magic circle. With an angry snarl, Freed launched himself forward, sword brandished and gun aimed at the group.

It was then that Saito seized his chance. Taking advantage of the opening Freed had unknowingly presented to Saito, the Gandalfr shot forward like an arrow. Placing all the force of the momentum of that charge behind Derflinger, Saito thrust the sword straight for Freed's flank with unerring aim.

However, whether it was due to the subtle sound of rustling cloth as Saito moved or because the widening and staring of the devils' eyes in surprise at the sudden ambush had served as a mirror, Freed was able to notice the attack and barely stopped his charge and twisted his body out of the way, though he did not manage to escape cleanly. Across his body, just below his chest, his clothes had a long cut running along its width. The scarlet line underneath was slowly beginning to soak his clothes with blood. Before the priest could recover his balance, Saito launched a crude kick – though powerful and fast thanks to Saito's Gandalfr activated state – into Freed's stomach, causing him to fly backwards and crash into the wall.

"You're helping us?" the redhead said, a note of surprise in her voice.

Saito did not turn away from Freed as he answered. "No. I just have a score to settle with Freed."

"Is that so?" she mused. "Well. Good luck, then."

"Hey! Don't leave, you shitty devils!" Freed wheezed as he struggled to his feet.

Unconcerned with his demands, however, there was a flash of light from behind Saito as the devils left in the same manner as they had come.

"Aw, dammit," Freed spat once the devils were gone. "Now look what you did, newbie. Because of you, they got away."

"Too bad," Saito said dismissively. "You have a bigger problem to deal with than a bunch of devils: me."

"Tsk." Freed sighed. "You know, newbie, I really, really, really, really, really hate it when people get in my WAY!"

That was the only warning Saito got before Freed lunged for Saito. Keeping his body low to the ground, Freed made a horizontal swipe at Saito's knees with his holy sword. Jumping up high, Saito avoided the attack, but was then faced with Freed aiming his gun at him from below. Saito twisted in midair just as Freed squeezed the trigger, narrowly avoiding the laser-like bullet of light.

In the same motion, Saito smashed Derflinger downward, but the sentient steel met only the carpeted flooring of the house, leaving a deep gash in its wake. Having quickly rolled backwards, Freed regained his balance in a crouching position and fired more light bullets at Saito from a distance of roughly nine feet away.

Saito nearly snorted. With the Gandalfr's speed, such a distance was nothing.

As Freed fired his gun, Saito did not wait to dodge until after the bullets of light had been fired. Instead, he watched the direction in which Freed kept his gun aimed at, then moved out of the line of fire the instant before Freed squeezed the trigger, dodging the bullets before they were even left the gun barrel.

For a normal human, such a feat was almost impossible. Life was not like movies or comic books. There were simply too many factors involved and not enough time to act upon them to make dodging bullets a feat that could be realistically replicated, not when they were aimed at you. To do so, one needed to determine the line of fire of the gun, react to the subtle changes of the gunman's aim, and then be able to move fast enough to get out of the way. All of which needed to be done in an instant.

Compounding the infeasibility of the feat was the simple fact that a trained gunman could adjust his aim and squeeze the trigger more quickly than most humans could even begin to move, or even think. In the end, it was simply a matter of physics. The body possessed a large mass, and thus it required more energy and force and, most importantly, time in order to make it accelerate. The finger was far lighter and could begin its motion much more quickly – and the distance it needed to move to fire a gun was very, very small, the bullet very, very fast.

But Saito was not a normal human. He was the Gandalfr. With his heightened senses, he was able to instantly detect Freed's line of fire and sense the subtlest of changes. With his increased physical abilities, he was able to react and move quickly enough in order to stay one step ahead of Freed's trigger finger.

As such, none of Freed's shots found their target, Saito dancing and weaving in between the flurry of bullets.

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" Freed shouted in disbelief as Saito easily dodged his attacks, though it was with a wild, feral grin on his face. "Ha! You're amazing, newbie-chan!"

Saito did not reciprocate such feelings. Instead, he stuck his hand into the pocket of the long coat Freed had loaned him and pulled out his own exorcist's gun – also loaned to him by Freed. Even as he dodged, Saito took aim, then fired a single shot.

The bullet of light streaked through the air, and then hit Freed on his wrist, just below the base of his palm. The sudden pain caused the crazy priest to cry out in pain as he unconsciously dropped his gun. With the barrage of light now gone, Saito charged forward, eliminating the distance between them in two swift strides.

"Hahaha!" Freed laughed madly, sounding for all the world as if he was a child having fun at an amusement park.

Saito swung Derflinger at Freed's head, using the back of the sword so as to simply knock Freed unconscious rather than decapitate him. In order to avoid the strike, Freed simply fell straight onto his back. Once Derflinger sliced through the air harmlessly over Freed, the crazy priest brought his knees over his chest and then used his body like a spring to kick up and outwards, using the momentum to land back on his feet.

The instant he had done so, Freed made a quick but deadly swipe for Saito's neck with his holy sword. Saito easily ducked the slash, but the movement had cost Saito the time necessary for Freed to gain the reprieve necessary to regain his balance – it was the reason why he made such a warding attack in the first place.

Aiming low, Saito fired his gun for Freed's thigh, not even bothering to look properly at where he aimed. Though Freed's own senses were not on the Gandalfr's level, he was still exceptional in that regard, and was able to quickly react and move his leg back to avoid the immobilizing shot.

But in that slight opening, when Freed was forced to commit his body to the action of dodging, Saito struck. Derflinger flashed through the air like a steel viper, once more aimed for Freed's head.

With widened eyes, Freed quickly brought his holy sword up in order to block the attack, but Derflinger shined brightly as it easily cut through and greedily devoured the blade of light into nothingness. The blunt back of the blade struck Freed like a club, and he dropped almost immediately. Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, he laid sprawled on the floor.

Chest heaving slightly from the strain of the fight, Saito took a moment to calm his breathing as he wiped the bit of blood that was on Derflinger's blade on a nearby couch before sheathing it.

"Ow, ow, ow," Freed groaned, causing Saito to stop and turn around to face the crazy priest. "What the hell was that? That wasn't fair!"

Saito couldn't help but gawk at Freed. He had been sure that he had hit the crazy priest with enough force to knock him out cold. But it seemed that he either hadn't or Freed was simply far more durable than he appeared.

Just as well, Saito thought. So cruelly attacking one of his life's saviors was not a crime he could forgive with just one good hit.

As Saito prepared to draw Derflinger once more, a rift suddenly opened in the space above them. It started out as a thin line, only barely noticeable to the naked eye, before it suddenly opened up like a gaping maw, leaving a violet-colored hole floating in the air. From that hole, two feet covered in black high-heeled leather boots appeared. That was then quickly followed by long, lithe legs, a supple, sensual body, black feathered wings, and a head with silky black hair.

It was Raynare.

And she looked furious.

"What," she hissed, her face twisted in rage, "is the meaning of this?"

"I-" Saito began.

"Not you," she snapped, cutting him off almost immediately. "Freed, you idiot! Did I not explicitly inform you that Asia and Saito are to remain at the church? I distinctly remember telling you on no less than three different accounts that they are to remain safe and hidden inside the church. What in the world are you doing bringing the two of them out!?"

"Aw, I just wanted to take the newbies out for a little fun," Freed said sheepishly, looking for all the world like a child who had been caught doing something naughty by his mother.

"You and I are going to be having words later," Raynare said as she glared at Freed. "We're leaving. All of you."

Landing gracefully on the ground, Raynare went over to the still-unconscious Asia and picked her up in her arms. She beckoned for both Saito and Freed to come to her, and once they did, there was a distortion of space as the four disappeared from the home of the unfortunate victim who remained crucified beyond recognition to the wall.

-Scene Break-

Saito sat stone-faced and cross-armed on a chair, a wooden desk before him, in a room that was more spacious than most of the other private rooms he had come across in the large church they were in. Like every other part of the church, however, this room was only dimly lit by oil lamps and candles. After waiting for a few minutes, the door opened softly and Raynare entered the room.

"Sorry for the wait, Saito," Raynare said, smiling, as she took a seat opposite of Saito across the desk. "What did you need?"

"I just want to know," Saito said a little more coldly than he had intended, a tone which was not lost on Raynare and caused her to frown ever so slightly. "Why is Freed here?"

Raynare stared at Saito, and then sighed exasperatedly as she leaned her forehead against her fingers. "What did he do this time?"

"This time?" Saito visibly tensed at those words, clenching his teeth as a vein bulged on his forehead. "He hit Asia and he brutally murdered another person, leaving their corpse on the wall as an unrecognizable mess. And you mean that this isn't his first time doing things like that?"

"It's the first time he's hit Asia," Raynare said. "The latter? Yes. This is not his first time."

"Then why is he still here!?" Saito exploded, rocketing up to his feet and slamming his hands down on Raynare's desk. The angel arched an eyebrow and looked at Saito with a cool expression. Slowly, Saito closed his eyes. Taking deep, steadying breaths, Saito very deliberately relaxed his body and sat back down. "Sorry," he finally said. "I just don't understand why you are allowing such a madman to stick around here. He's a murderer. He's dangerous. To be honest, I'm not sure if I can bring myself to stick around with him here."

Raynare carefully studied Saito for a long minute, staring penetratingly into his eyes with her own violet ones. Saito stared back unwaveringly, feeling for some odd reason that if he looked away first, he would be the one to lose.

"I suppose it would be best if I tell you a bit about Freed," Raynare finally said as she broke the deadlock. "It is as you say: Freed is a danger to all those around him."

"Then why?"

"Let me tell you a little about him for starters," Raynare said patiently. "You see, even amongst all the exorcists in the world, Freed is well known for being amongst the more skilled ones, but he is even more famous for being the exorcist that hates devils the most. He despises them, and has gotten into trouble more than once when he became too... overzealous in dealing with them. It's understandable, though, given his circumstances. When he was but a child, his family was murdered by a rogue devil in the most horrific of ways. It was only by chance and fortune that Freed managed to survive long enough for a group of exorcists to arrive and dispatch that devil. But ever since then, Freed has never been entirely well in mind and soul. It is his strength as an exorcist, but his weakness as a human being."

Saito frowned at the story. "I can understand that awful things happened to him," he said. "But then, wouldn't it be best to keep him away from others so that he doesn't hurt them?"

"Unfortunately," Raynare said, "the devils don't give us that luxury. They are more numerous than the number of skilled exorcists and angels that are available, combined. We cannot afford to be choosey of which exorcist we employ, especially when the exorcist in question is one as skilled as Freed."

"Even if it costs the lives of other humans?"

"That is why I keep him here, under my command," Raynare said, a flash of annoyance crossing her face. "By keeping him close by, I can at the very least limit the damage he causes." She glared at Saito. "Or do you think letting the devils run amok is the better alternative?"

"I think that accepting evil in order to fight evil is no method at all," Saito retorted.

"And while that is a fine ideal," Raynare said testily, "it is unfortunately not one we have the luxury of being able to uphold. Look around, Saito. Did you know that this church used to be not just another church, but one of the foremost headquarters for Christians in all of Japan?"

Saito shook his head. "No."

"In fact," Raynare continued, looking increasingly agitated as she spoke, "this entire city used to be under their protection. But the devils came here and destroyed them, desecrated this church, and then claimed this city as their own. They fester here like an unholy plague, one that must be eradicated. It is as you say: Employing Freed is not something entirely righteous. But do you know what the "righteous" way of fighting back would entail? We would need large amounts of reinforcements from both human exorcists and other angels to combat the already numerous amounts of devils that have taken root in this city. But in doing so, we would provoke a great response from the devils who would send their own reinforcements. The end result would be a war that would inflict great harm not just to the combatants, but also to the innocent bystanders as collateral damage. Is that what you want, Saito?"

"... No," Saito admitted reluctantly. "It's not."

Raynare narrowed her eyes for a moment as she peered at Saito carefully. "As for what Freed did tonight, I've already made sure to have him punished. However, in regards to that man he killed? Though he did so unnecessarily brutally, Freed was not unjustified in killing him."

"Not unjustified?" Saito repeated incredulously. "He murdered another human being!"

"A human being that has repeatedly summoned and contracted devils," Raynare countered. "And in doing so, empowered those unholy demons."

Saito shook his head again. "I can't accept that. I understand that sometimes having to kill is necessary, and even morally justifiable. But that? What Freed did? No. That was not right. Sure, that man, whoever he was, did something wrong in making a deal with a devil, but it's not like he was hurting anyone. Maybe we could have convinced him to stop and brought him back to the proper path."

"That is wrong," Raynare said flatly. "Once a human has made even a single deal with the devil, their soul is forever tainted by darkness and belongs eternally to the devils. And certainly, that man may or may not have harmed another person directly, but in empowering the devils through their contracts, he harms others indirectly. That, no matter what you might think, is just as bad as being directly responsible for the crime."

Saito bit his lips as he considered Raynare's words, before nodding once, curtly. "I understand."

Raynare smiled at that. "Thank you, Saito."

"I'll going to go to bed now," Saito said as he stood up to leave. "Sorry for taking up your time."

"It was no trouble," Raynare said. "Oh, and before you leave, I thought you should know that the ritual will commence tomorrow night."

"Really?" Saito said. "That means that I...?"

"Yes," Raynare smiled. "After it's done, you'll be free to go. In the mean time, I was hoping to ask of you for a favor."

"Sure," Saito said eagerly. "What is it?"

"The time from now until tomorrow night is the most critical," Raynare explained. "I would like you to help guard us while we finish the final preparations. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course," Saito said. "I'll do whatever I can to help."

"Good," Raynare said with a wide smile. "Thank you. And good night."

-Scene Break-

Saito screamed as the whip hissed through the air and snapped against his bare back, making a harsh cracking sound as it did so. Pain coursed through him like fire as the tool tore open his skin and drew blood.

"Louise! Stop!" Saito begged, tears of pain running down his cheeks. "Please, stop!"

"No!" the short, pink-haired mage said, a look of raw anger on her face. "Now stay still and I'll let you go with just another fifty lashes!"

With the ease and swiftness of long practice, and strength born of anger, Louise brought the whip down on Saito's back once more with all the swiftness of a viper striking out and sinking its fangs into its prey. Saito screamed in pain once more and collapsed onto all fours, trembling, as a fresh wound ripped open on his back, his warm blood dripping down his skin and onto the floor.

"What are you doing this for?" Saito demanded. "Tell me what I did wrong!"

"Silence, dog!" Louise shouted. "You do not question your master! Neither do you associate with her enemies! Especially one that belongs to the Zerbst family!"

Saito couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was that what this was all about? Because he had been seen by Louise talking to Kirche? THAT was why he had to go through this pain and was forced to wear this stupid set of dog ears and collar?

Are you fucking kidding me? Saito thought incredulously and with deep anger.

With strength born of rage, Saito stood back to his feet, even as the whip continued to crack through the air and bite at him. With a wordless shout, Saito lunged for Louise, his hand reaching out to grab hers, and used his superior weight and strength to forcibly stop her zealous whipping.

"Release me, dog!" Louise ordered. "Just for this, your punishment has gone up to eighty lashes!"

"I don't think so," Saito snarled. "Listen here, just because I happened to be summoned by you as your familiar doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want with me!"

Louise narrowed her eyes at Saito. Then, with her free hand, she snapped her fingers.

Blinding, electrifying pain from the collar coursed through Saito with such intensity that he was unable to even scream, unable to even think about screaming. His vision went white, his hair stood on end, as he dropped to the floor and convulsed horribly in blinding pain as the electricity paralyzed all control of his body, preventing him from even breathing.

For what felt like hours or days this went on, until finally another snap of Louise's fingers caused the electricity to stop flowing from the collar, leaving Saito to only gasp for breath, still twitching uncontrollably in pain. Thin, faint wisps of smoke trailed up from around his neck, where the worst of the electricity from the collar burned the surface of his skin.

A small foot suddenly slammed down on Saito's head, and he grunted involuntarily at the sudden impact.

"You. You don't seem to understand your place," Louise said imperiously. "You are my familiar. That means I am your master. You belong to me. And as your master, I have every right to discipline you as I see fit. Now stand up. For daring to touch me, you get one hundred lashes."

Saito didn't move. He laid there on the floor, still twitching occasionally, and simply breathed. Louise's brows twitched with annoyance. She snapped her fingers once again.

Once more, pain struck Saito like a lightning bolt. Horrible electrifying pain streaked through his body, so powerful that he could do nothing but spasm and suffer. Again, it felt like hours before Louise finally snapped her fingers and the electricity mercifully stopped.

"Now. Stand up," Louise ordered tersely as Saito tearfully struggled to breathe. "Or would you rather go through that again?"

Saito couldn't think. It hurt too much. Instead, he slowly rolled over onto his stomach and put his trembling arms beneath him, struggling back to his feet. Legs still wobbly, Saito nearly lost his balance and fell again, but caught himself by stumbling over to the wall and leaning wearily against it, gasping for breath.

"Good," Louise said as she brought the whip once more to bear. "Now, stay still and we'll be done after one hundred and fifty lashes."

The whip cracked, and Saito screamed.

-Scene Break-

Saito eyes snapped open and he breathed heavily, his chest heaving up and down, as the warm light of the morning sun gently shone down on his face and body through the single window in the room. Cold sweat beaded his brow and dampened his shirt. Very deliberately, Saito brought one trembling arm up to his forehead and wiped it of sweat. Then, for several long minutes, he laid there, unmoving, slowly calming his breathing while basking in the sunlight, letting his sweat dry.

That dream again, Saito thought almost clinically.

With tired limbs that made Saito feel several decades older than he truly was, Saito swung his legs over the edge of the bed sluggishly, and then stopped. For another few minutes, Saito stayed in that position, his legs bent and feet firmly planted on the floor, while his upper body remained lying on the bed. Then, with a sigh, Saito finished the motion and stood up reluctantly.

Saito walked over to a full-length mirror in the room and pulled down the collar of his shirt with a finger and looked at his reflection.

There, circumventing his neck, was an ugly ring of darkened flesh, marred and formed of a thin band of fibrous scar tissue.

Saito grimaced as he released the collar, letting it snap back up to partially cover his neck.

"Another nightmare, Partner?"

"How did you know?" Saito asked Derflinger without so much as sparing him a glance as he began getting dressed for the day.

"Same as usual," Derflinger said in his characteristic metallic voice. "Cold sweat, tossing and rolling, and you had a pained look on your face."

"Hngh," Saito grunted as he pulled himself into a pair of jeans.

"What was it about this time?" Derflinger asked casually.

"One of the usual," Saito answered tersely.

"Hm... Well, that doesn't tell me much," Derflinger commented. "You have a lot of 'usuals.'"

"Just drop it, Derf," Saito said, clenching his teeth as he replaced his sweat-soaked shirt with another one.

"Sure. Sorry, Partner," Derflinger said. To its credit, the sword did sound genuinely apologetic.

"It's fine," Saito said. He frowned as he looked at himself in the reflection. The shirt he was wearing was a plain white t-shirt, so its neckline was a little too low for Saito's tastes – it left the scar around his neck completely visible for all to see.

Saito tsked as he grabbed his long coat and slipped into it. While it was bearable at night, when the ambient temperature was much lower, the coat was uncomfortably warm in the morning, and Saito expected it would only get worse come afternoon. Still, Saito thought as he buttoned up the coat and popped the collar up, effectively hiding his neck. At least this way no one could see. He would just have to put up with it.

Suddenly, a furious scream resounded throughout the halls. Saito's head snapped towards the door.

"What was that?" Saito said even as he went over to Derflinger and grabbed the sentient sword.

"Dunno," Derflinger answered.

Saito quickly left his room, shutting the door behind him with a careless slam, and followed the direction from which the scream had come from. The owner of the voice had sounded like Raynare, so Saito quickly ran over to her office.

"What do you mean she's gone!?" Raynare demanded with such vitriol that Saito instinctively stopped just outside of her door. It was opened by a crack, and Saito carefully peered inside. Besides Raynare, there were three other people there. Like her, however, they all possessed the same jet-black wings as she did.

"Just that," a tall middle-aged man said. He had short black hair and dark eyes, and was wearing a trench coat and a fedora. Saito did not recognize this man, nor the other two with him. "The Sacred Gear girl is gone."

"Fuck!" Raynare cursed furiously, slamming a fist down on her desk, leaving a noticeable indentation on its wooden surface. "This is that goddamn Freed's fault. I told him that Asia was not supposed to leave the church. I fucking told him! Now she's run away because of him, that little bitch!"

"Calm down, Raynare," a tall female, taller than Raynare by a fair amount, and with a larger bosom as well, said in a soothing tenor voice. "We still have until tonight to find our little runaway and drag her back."

"Yeah, Raynare," a third voice said in a high-pitched tone. This one belonged to a short blonde girl, her hair tied up into twin pigtails, and was dressed in a gothic lolita outfit. "We still have time. It'll be all right."

"It's not that we have until tonight. We have only until tonight!" Raynare snapped, slashing her hand angrily across the air. "Go. Split up and find her. Dohnaseek, you search the northern sector of the city; Kalawarner, the west; Mittelt, the east. I'll search the south. Bring her back however you must. Just make sure she doesn't die. We can't have her dying, yet. Not until tonight, at least."

"Understood," the three responded in chorus, before they each disappeared with a slight distortion of space.

Once Raynare was alone in the room, she took several deep breaths, seemingly as if to calm herself down, before she suddenly screamed furiously and whirled around towards the opposing wall. In an instant, a spear of light had formed in her hand and then blurred through the air before plunging straight into the wall. The solid concrete wall stood no chance – it crumbled away completely in an explosion of dust and stone, connecting Raynare's room to its neighbor as one.

"That fucking bitch," Raynare snarled as she kicked aside a chair that had fallen over from her tantrum against the wall. "How dare she run away? When I find you, Asia, I am going to make you suffer for this before I finally kill you."

And then she too was gone, vanishing right before Saito's eyes as she teleported away.

Who was that? Saito thought as he cautiously leaned against the wall, feeling its cool sensation against his back.

That voice. That form. It sounded like Raynare. It looked like Raynare. But the words that came out of that person's mouth were most certainly not like Raynare. The Raynare Saito knew was kinder, even if she was forced to employ a monster like Freed out of simple pragmatism. The Raynare he knew would not have said the words that had been said. The Raynare he knew would not have sworn to torture and murder an innocent girl, his lifesaver. Yet, he had definitely not misheard, and he had definitely seen clearly. That voice was indeed Raynare's. Those words had truly come from her lips.

That meant only one thing.

He had been lied to.

Raynare was no angel. She was... something else. Something cold. Ruthless. Evil.

Manipulative.

Saito felt burning hot rage swell up from within him.

So. Even on Earth he was not free from the manipulations of others. Despite his rage, Saito couldn't help but chuckle. It was almost laughable how he had been disposed of as the result of the plots of one manipulative bastard only to be picked up by another almost immediately after returning to his homeworld. Saito did not know what Raynare wanted from him. He did not care. What he knew was that Raynare had deceived him about her true character, and had done so with the express intent of bending him to her will without Saito ever realizing it.

Saito hated that. He really, really hated that.

He hated being lied to. He hated being used. And above all, he hated being manipulated.

No more, Saito thought. He knew the truth now. He knew who his enemy was. And now it was time for her plots and manipulations to end.

As if sensing his thoughts, Derflinger asked, "So, Partner. What's the plan?"

"We find Asia first, if we can," Saito said as he quickly began walking back to his room. "Then we help her escape to somewhere safe."

"Somewhere safe being...?"

Saito paused for a moment, contemplating the question, before resuming his pace. "She seemed to be friendly with that devil guy from before. Ise, I think his name was? Maybe he has comrades that could help keep Asia safe."

"And if that doesn't work?" Derflinger said. "Or what if they find her first?"

"Then we'll have to fight, won't we?" Saito remarked wryly.

"Do you think we can?" Derflinger asked. Though the sword could not frown on account of being a sword, his tone made it clear he felt apprehensive of such a plan of action. Saito knew why. The almost casual demonstration of power from Raynare was honestly rather frightening. Such power and speed placed it at least on par with an attack from the average square class mage in Halkeginia. And if the other three were comparable to her, then even he would be in trouble in a straight up fight.

But what other choice did he have? If it came down to it, if Asia was captured by them, then Saito had no choice but to fight. No. That wasn't quite right. He had choices. For example, he could run away instead.

It wasn't that Saito had no other choice, but that he refused to consider his other options.

There was absolutely no way that he would abandon his lifesaver to death. The debt he owed to her was too great. He would fight, and he would succeed in saving her, no matter the cost – even if that cost was his life. Such a price was cheap to Saito. After all, he was already supposed to have died at that time in the alleyway, a result of Vittorio and Julio's betrayal. If, then, he could use this life that had been saved to save his lifesaver, then that was something he was obligated to do.

Saito opened the door to his room and strode in, dropping Derflinger on the bed as he gathered up his blanket.

"Hey, Partner," Derflinger said. "Shouldn't you be out looking for that priest girl? What are we doing back here? And... why are you wrapping me in your blanket?"

"This is Japan, not Halkeginia," Saito explained. "We have laws here that specifically disallow people from carrying swords and other weapons in full view in public. I can't afford to have you taken away from me while we're out there."

"What kind of stupid law is that?" Derflinger said, outraged. "This is oppression! Tyranny! Injustice! I will not be silenced!"

"Yeah, yeah," Saito rolled his eyes as he swathed the blanket around the sentient sword. "Make sure to keep it down while we're outside."

"Freedom!" was the last thing Derflinger managed to cry out before his voice was muffled by the cloth.

-Scene Break-

The sun beat down on Saito uncomfortably as he scoured the city, his sweat soaking into his shirt and coat as he ran. Still, he did not stop. He could not afford to stop.

Saito needed to find Asia, but the odds were stacked against him. Not only did he need to find Asia before one of the four others that were searching for her, he, unlike them, could only search by foot. Raynare and her comrades could both fly and teleport – a significant advantage when trying to locate a missing person. Fortunately, they did not know where Asia had disappeared to. Unfortunately, Saito was the same.

Without even a clue of where Asia might have gone, there was only one option for Saito to take, and the mediocrity of such a plan frustrated Saito: to run as fast as he could throughout every part of the city and hope he got lucky.

With Derflinger wrapped in a blanket and strapped on his back, Saito could not rely on the sentient blade to activate his Gandalfr's powers. That would be too obvious and could draw in the wrong kind of attention from the police. Instead, Saito held onto the hilt of a holy sword with his left hand, and hid it and his hand inside his voluminous sleeves. This had the bonus effect of hiding the shine from his runes. Saito resolved to get a glove to cover it instead sometime in the near future.

Over the course of three hours, Saito continued searching nonstop, and his Gandalfr's runes felt unusually warm against his skin from the constant use. He passed through the shopping district, seven different neighborhoods, five city squares, two parks, and even a few families' gardens. It was all to no avail, however, for Saito caught not even a trace of Asia.

Finally, Saito stopped, dropping the holy sword's hilt into his coat's pocket. Even though the abilities of the Gandalfr granted him greatly increased stamina, Saito was tired, mostly due to the heat. Any more than this, and Saito feared he might suffer from a heatstroke.

Thus, despite not wanting to, Saito forced himself to sit down under the shade of a tree in another, empty park he found himself in, setting the blanket-covered Derflinger down on the ground beside him and fanning himself with his hand as he leaned against the tree. Saito picked at his shirt, completely soaked with sweat, and considered taking it off to help alleviate the heat more quickly before ultimately rejecting the idea. The rough bark of the tree felt scratchy on his back through the wet cloth of his shirt, and Saito began to close his eyes in order to rest for a little while.

That was when Saito heard it. It was faint, but he could hear voices. Very familiar voices.

Ise. Raynare. Asia.

Saito immediately bolted to his feet, grabbing the coat and Derflinger as he did so. Following the source of the sounds, Saito found Raynare hovering mere centimeters over the water of the fountain that lay in the center of the park. She was looking down on Ise, who was glaring back at the black-winged, black-haired, black-hearted woman. Asia hid timidly behind Ise's back.

Damn, Saito thought. I'm too late.

Seeing as how none of them had noticed Saito yet, he quickly and silently hid behind a tree and watched as the scene unfolded.

"I can't believe you actually survived," Raynare said, amused. "And as a devil, too. That's hilarious!"

Saito saw Asia's lips move, but she spoke too quietly for him to hear.

"So what if I did? What does a fallen angel like you want with Asia, anyway, Yu-... No, Raynare?" Ise demanded.

Fallen angel. So that was what Raynare was.

"Don't say my name, you damn low-class devil," Raynare spat, as if the words were something filthy. "You'll just dirty it. And as for what I want, it's that girl. She's my personal belonging. Return her to me. Come, Asia. Let's go back now."

"N-No," Asia stuttered, though she spoke with firm intent. "I don't want to go back there. You guys... You guys killed other people. And you did awful things to me as well."

"Don't say that, Asia," Raynare said sweetly, though to Saito it only sounded like the words of a snake, the poison that dripped from its fangs. "Your Sacred Gear is essential for our plan, you know."

"She already said that she doesn't want to go with you, Raynare!" Ise said angrily.

Raynare quietly regarded Ise for a moment. Then, in a harsh voice, she said, "I thought I told you not to say my name, you damn low-class devil."

In her hand, a spear of light began to form, and Saito tensed as he recalled the power and speed that the magical construct possessed. Quickly, he began unwrapping Derflinger, even as Ise, who seemed to recognize the danger he was in, shouted, "Sacred Gear!"

There was a flash of light, and then a red gauntlet formed of some strange metallic material formed around Ise's left hand. For a moment, Saito could see a stunned expression cross Raynare's face. She hadn't been expecting this, Saito realized. Good. The distance between him and Raynare was all flat and open land. Any movement he made to try and close the gap would be noticed almost immediately, no matter how fast or how sneaky. But if Ise could fight Raynare even for just a few seconds, keeping her preoccupied, Saito could charge at full speed and take down Raynare before she even knew what had hit her.

What Saito didn't expect was when Raynare began laughing loudly, mockingly.

"Twice Critical?" Raynare chuckled. "That's your Sacred Gear? It's fitting, I suppose, that a low-class devil like you should possess a low-class Sacred Gear. All it does is just double its wielder's power temporarily."

"Sacred Gear, activate!" Ise cried out, a hint of desperation in his voice. "If you can really double my power, then do it! Activate!"

"Boost!" the gauntlet suddenly announced.

With the gauntlet's announcement, Ise's face became more confident, and he faced Raynare with determination. It seemed that Ise was one whose thoughts were easily readable from his facial expressions, Saito thought, because it was clear what he was thinking: "With this, I can fight!"

Such a hope was cruelly dashed by Raynare. Her spear of light streaked through the air so fast that Saito was unable to see it. One moment, it had been in her hand. The next, it was impaled through Ise's guts, piercing straight through his body. The spear faded, and then blood spurted out freely in the now open hole.

"Gah!" Ise cried out in pain as he collapsed to his hands and knees.

"Ise-san!" Asia immediately dropped down beside Ise and put her hands over his wounds. A green light shone from her hands, and Saito could see the young devil's wounds quickly close in real time. In a matter of seconds, the wound was completely gone, the only trace that it having ever existed being the two bloody holes in his shirt on opposite sides.

Saito bit his lips. There went his plan. As it stood, Raynare was too powerful for Ise to face as an opponent. Forget preoccupying Raynare for a few seconds, Saito wasn't even sure if Ise could hold her attention for one.

"You see?" Raynare said mockingly. "Even if you double a useless "one," it only becomes a worthless "two." You aren't strong enough to even come close to beating me. You can't even lay a scratch on me. Do you understand now, you worthless low-class devil?"

Fuck, Saito thought as he frantically tried to figure out what to do. As it stood, Ise could do nothing helpful. But even if Saito went out to fight Raynare right now, he was not confident at all that he could win. With the Gandalfr's speed and reflexes, plus Derflinger's magic absorption ability, Saito knew he could probably avoid the fallen angel's spears of light. For a time, at least. However, this battleground was far too unfavorable to Saito. With the open sky above them, Raynare could simply fly out of Saito's reach and freely rain down her attacks on him, leaving him completely unable to to counterattack. With few places to take cover, Saito would be forced to rely on dodging and blocking Raynare's assault, but eventually such a battle would end with him getting killed. It was inevitable.

Saito wasn't afraid to die for the sake of Asia, his lifesaver, but he had absolutely no intention of dying a useless death. To go out now would mean to die without accomplishing anything. In the end, Raynare would simply kill him and Ise and steal away Asia.

Saito really wished he had a gun, or at least a bow and arrows, right now.

"Now then, Asia," Raynare said, her voice once again dripping with the same poisonous sugar as before. "How about you come back with me? Hmm? Otherwise, I'll just have to kill that devil-kun and then take you by force."

"S-Shut up, you damn fallen angel," Ise grunted. "I'll beat you. I'll definitely beat you!"

"... I understand, Raynare-sama," Asia said.

"Asia!" Ise exclaimed in horror as he whirled around to face the blonde girl.

"Thank you, Ise-san. For everything," Asia said, smiling, a single tear trickling out of her left eye. "I had a lot of fun today."

"Asia! Stop!" Ise cried out as Asia walked very deliberately towards Raynare.

Saito clenched his teeth. It was time to make a decision. Either he could try to stop Raynare now, or he could not. If he fought now, his only opponent would be just a single fallen angel. A single, powerful fallen angel. If he fought later, at the church, then he would be fighting not only that same powerful fallen angel, but also three of her comrades and a legion of exorcists. However, they would also all be inside of a building. It had ceilings. Restraints for his flying foes. More, he could also pilfer some of the exorcism guns and use them against the fallen angels, though Saito was not certain how effective the bullets of light were against them.

What will it be? Saito thought. Now or later?

"Good girl," Raynare said happily as Asia came to her side. "Now then. Let's go back. After tonight's ritual, you'll be freed of all your suffering."

"Asia!" Ise screamed frantically. "Stop! We're friends, aren't we? Don't go with her! I'll beat her, I swear! So don't go! I'll protect you, I promise!"

"Thank you, Ise-san," Asia said quietly, the tears now flowing freely down her face. "I'll never forget you."

The time had come. Saito had to make a decision now. He could either try to stop Raynare now, or he could attempt it later.

The former had a low chance of success. The latter, marginally more so.

However, if Ise's feelings were real, if his promise to protect Asia was real, then if Raynare took Asia away, he would not allow it to end like this. He would go and try to rescue her, whatever the cost. In that regard, he was similar to Saito. And if he brought his allies with him, the chance of success at rescuing Asia became higher, even if it was only slightly so.

Saito took a deep breath as he slowly began wrapping Derflinger in his blanket once more. It was decided. Later. He would wait until tonight for Ise and whatever allies he brought. Then, whether he appeared or not, Saito would rescue Asia, without fail.

Thus, Raynare and Asia vanished, leaving Ise and Saito alone in the park, the former still unaware of the latter's presence. Only the mournful and angry cries of Ise resounded through the morning air.

-Scene Break-

"Hey, hey, newbie," Freed said.

"What?" Saito replied flatly, not even bothering to spare the crazy priest a glance as Saito sat on the steps leading up to the altar, Derflinger sheathed across his back.

"I know that we've had our own little spats, but let's try to put that aside for tonight and get along, okay?" Freed said sweetly. "After all, our real enemies are the devils, right?"

Saito turned his head to glare at Freed. "I hate you, Freed, and we'll never, as you say, 'get along.'" Saito turned back to face the closed doors of the church patiently. "Though you are right in at least one thing: I know who my real enemies are now."

"Hahaha!" Freed laughed merrily. "I like you! You're honest. Tell ya what – after that slutty bitch finishes that ritual thingy of hers, how about we finish our fight to the death, yeah?"

"Perhaps," Saito grunted.

Freed grinned wolfishly at the answer. "Or maybe you want to settle it right now, newbie-chan?"

Saito looked at Freed once more, an eyebrow raised. For a moment, the two simply stared at each other, Freed with a wild, battle-hungry look; Saito with a flat, cold one. Finally, Saito cracked a small smile.

"Not now," Saito said. "Maybe next time."

"Aw..." Freed bemoaned. "But I'm so booored doing nothing. Guard duty sucks."

Saito glanced at one of the windows in the high-ceiling atrium of the church. Through them, Saito was able to see the positioning of the moon in the night sky. Saito frowned. It was getting late. If he waited too much longer than this, he would run out of time. Had he been mistaken about Ise's character after all?

It couldn't be helped, Saito thought as he placed a hand on Derflinger's hilt and drew the blade. With that simple action, the Gandalfr's runes began to shine, and he felt his body become lighter and stronger; his senses sharpened to an animal keenness. And then he heard it: footsteps – three of them – from beyond the church's door.

"Here they come," Saito immediately warned Freed as he stood up, sword raised, and faced the door in a battle ready stance.

"Eh?" Freed glanced once at Saito, and then followed his line of sight towards the church doors. An excited expression lit up on Freed's face and he cackled eagerly. "Finally! It's about time some devils showed up!"

As if on cue, the doors slammed open, and three people strode in. At their head was Ise. Standing beside him on either side was the handsome blond guy and the short white-haired girl. Ise had a wrathful expression on his face, while the blond boy emanated a far more carefully restrained battle spirit. The white-haired girl, however, looked completely and totally emotionless.

"Freed!" Ise started to shout, before noticing Saito standing beside the crazy priest, sword bared and ready. "You. Your from last night."

"And so are you," Saito remarked dryly.

Ise hesitated, anger and confusion mixing in his expression, as if unsure to make an angry demand or a polite request. "Can you get out of our way?" he finally said "You saved me last night. I don't want to fight you."

"Ha!" Freed laughed loudly. "Don't bet on it, shitty devil-kun. Last night newbie here was just confused. But we've come to an understanding, right, newbie?"

"Yeah," Saito said, narrowing his eyes at the group of devils. "Last night I was just mistaken about who I'm supposed to be fighting."

"Shit," Ise spat as a light flashed across his left arm, the red gauntlet from before reappearing then. Beside him, a sword materialized out of thin air in the blond boy's hands, while the white-haired girl took a martial arts stance – her center of gravity slightly lowered, right leg drawn back, knees bent, and arms up and ready with her fists clenched.

"I was hoping you would come here, you know," Freed grinned as he pointed at Ise. "There hasn't ever been a devil to get away from me. You're the first. You're special. So I hope you've become a little stronger than last time. Now then, newbie, let's go!"

"Yeah," Saito said quietly. "Let's go."

Then, in a sudden motion, Saito spun in a complete circle and used the centrifugal force to swing and smash the back of Derflinger's blade across the back of Freed's skull, near its base. There was a sickening crunching sound as steel met bone, and Freed dropped to the floor instantaneously, his consciousness completely gone.

Ise and his two comrades stared at Saito in surprise, and they hesitantly lowered their battle stances, but only slightly.

"I have only one question for you," Saito said, pointing Derflinger at Ise. "Who are you to Asia?"

Ise blinked. "What?"

"You heard me," Saito said flatly. "Who are you to Asia?"

Ise looked at Saito with a perplexed expression for a moment, before a determined look took its place. "I'm her friend. And I'm here to rescue her."

Saito gave Ise a small smile at that. "Good."

Saito walked over to the wooden altar. Steel flashed as Saito made two swift strokes of the blade, causing the altar to crumble into four smaller pieces. Saito kicked these pieces aside, revealing a hidden stairwell beneath.

"This way," Saito said to the devils, beckoning them to follow as he sheathed Derflinger. "Asia is down here."

When the devils didn't budge, Saito frowned at them.

"What?" Saito said. "We don't have time to hang around here."

It was the blond boy who spoke first. "This time and last time – why are you helping us?" he asked suspiciously. "Are you not an exorcist?"

Saito snorted. "No. You are mistaken. I am not an exorcist. And last time, I was just angry at Freed for hitting Asia, my lifesaver. The fact that I helped one of you was just a nice side benefit. This time, it's like I told Freed – I've realized who my true enemy is: Raynare." Saito looked at Ise. "I was there this morning, you know, when you tried to stop Raynare from taking Asia away. You were very brave."

"Wait, you were there?" Ise said in shock. "Why didn't you help me protect her then?" he demanded.

"To be honest, it was because you were too weak to be of any help, even if I did intervene, and the battleground was unfavorable for me," Saito said so bluntly that Ise winced. "I thought, however, or rather, I hoped that your feelings would be true enough that you would come to try to rescue her, and that you would bring allies."

"In other words," the blond boy mused with a smile, "you're using us."

Saito returned with a bitter smile. "If it seems that way, I'm sorry. But that's not my intention. Our goals are already aligned. I am simply trying to improve the chances of Asia being rescued by having us work together, because I will save Asia, no matter what."

Ise snorted. "I don't really care if you're using us or not. We both want the same thing, right?" Saito nodded in affirmative. "Then it's settled! Let's go rescue Asia!"

Saito smiled genuinely. "Yeah. Let's go."

The party of four walked down the spiral stone staircase that led beneath the earth, Saito in the lead, followed by Ise, the blond boy, and then the white-haired girl. It was dark and the air was stale and musty. Without any lights, they group had to move slowly, lest they accidentally trip and break a leg. It would have been beyond stupid, Saito thought, if they had come this far only to lose because they fell on the stairs.

"By the way," Ise said. "What's your name?"

"Hiraga Saito."

"I'm Hyoudou Issei," Ise said.

"I'm Kiba Yuuto," the blond boy said afterward.

"... Toujou Koneko," the white-haired girl spoke up very quietly.

"A pleasure to meet you all," Saito said politely as they reached the end of the staircase, where a door stood in their way. Feeling around, Saito searched for the handle with his hands, relying on his sense of touch. When he found it, he twisted it and opened the door, allowing light to flood back into his eyes, forcing Saito to blink a few times as his eyes rapidly adjusted to the sudden brightness.

The room before Saito was large and cavernous and lit with fluorescent lights, allowing clear and easy vision. It was crowded with around fifty or sixty human exorcists, who were all kneeling before a large sacrificial altar on which a large cross that pulsated with a pale emerald light was standing. Bound to that cross was Asia, who appeared to be unconscious, parts of her clothes ripped away, revealing her fair and naked flesh underneath. Standing beside the cross was Raynare, who looked surprised to see Saito and the others there.

"Asia!" Issei shouted, immediately capturing everyone's attention.

"Saito?" Raynare said. "What are you doing? Why have you brought the devils here? They're going to ruin everything!"

"Shut up," Saito snarled, drawing Derflinger and pointing the tip of the sword at her. "I know who and what you really are, Fallen Angel."

Raynare sneered. "I see. Then I no longer have to put up that ridiculous charade."

"Raynare! Release Asia, now!" Issei demanded hotly.

"I thought I told you not to say my name, you damn devil," Raynare said coldly, narrowing her eyes. "Keep them busy while I finish the ritual, all of you."

With a wordless roar, the exorcists all charged for Saito and the devils, holy swords and guns brandished. The instant they began firing their bullets of light, Saito and the others had begun moving. Dashing forward, Saito used his speed and reflexes to dodge or absorb the bullets of light with Derflinger, before jumping straight into the midst of a crowd of exorcists. Saito spun, and Derflinger flashed through the air, drawing a painting of blood like a brush, the artist, Saito, as it sliced through flesh and bone with untold ease. In an instant, four men around Saito dropped to the floor, either dead or dying.

Taken by surprise by the sheer swiftness with which Saito dispatched some of their comrades, the other exorcists immediately backed away from Saito and took a more cautious stance. Taking advantage of the brief lull in combat, Saito took a quick glance at the others.

To Saito's surprise, Kiba was able to match Saito's Gandalfr induced speed, and he was fighting in a manner similar to that of Saito himself. Using his superior speed, Kiba dodged the bullets of light even as he closed the gap between him and the exorcists. Then, before they could even properly react, Kiba would cut them down before moving on to the next, repeating the scenario all over again. The only difference between Kiba and Saito was that Kiba was using a sword that appeared to be made of solid shadows, though it, like Derflinger, devoured the bullets of light and the blades of the holy swords greedily.

Behind them, Koneko had taken a solid stance, in front of Issei, arms raised in a crossguard like a shield. When the bullets of light hit the diminutive girl, they simply bounced off as if they were pebbles being thrown against a brick wall. When Saito had first seen the little girl, he had assumed she was probably the weakest of the bunch.

What he was witnessing now had proven that he was dead wrong.

If Kiba was like a fast flying jet, then Koneko was like an unstoppable heavy tank. Her speed was only a little superior to that of most girls her size, but she barreled forward with reckless abandon, ignoring the shots fired by the exorcists as if they were not even there. Then, with her full momentum behind her, she rammed her fist straight into the guts of an exorcist, causing him to vomit blood as he rocketed backwards, crashing into his comrades as he did, and land in a pile over a dozen feet away. Without stopping, she grabbed a nearby exorcist by his ankles and then used him like a makeshift club, swinging him around as flesh and bone met flesh and bone in a brutal collision.

Saito winced as he watched the literal human weapon get deformed as his body became further and further broken by such brutal treatment. For a moment, Saito wondered how these two were able to accomplish such feats of speed and strength. Then he remembered: Devils. It wasn't surprising if they had some sort of special ability that put them on a higher level than ordinary humans – a fact that was quickly reinforced by Issei himself.

"Promotion: Queen!"

To Saito's surprise, when Issei moved again, it was with speed that was almost comparable to his own or Kiba's. And when he smashed his gauntlet-covered fist into an exorcist, it was with strength only slightly beneath that of Koneko's.

Despite the urgency of the situation, Saito couldn't help but let out a low whistle of surprise as Issei moved like a juggernaut, shrugging off the the bullets of light almost casually, only bothering to actually block against the holy swords. He lashed out viciously against the exorcists. It was amateurish, the way he fought, and rough, but with Issei's sheer speed and strength, that did not matter as he decked out exorcists left and right.

Jumping back into the fray, Saito lunged forward, moving ever closer to Raynare, who was chanting something quietly under her breath as she faced Asia, away from the fight, causing the cross to pulsate more strongly and more rapidly with every passing second. Saito grimaced as he brought Derflinger up to guard against a downward swing of a holy sword, the blade of light quickly being consumed, before countering with a diagonal cut from the exorcist's shoulder to his opposite hip.

Time was running out. He needed to hurry.

"Asia!" Issei shouted as he charged recklessly towards Raynare, ignoring the exorcists all around him.

"Hyoudou-kun!" Kiba shouted out in warning.

Issei's eyes went wide as he immediately turned to face the exorcist that was making a thrust for Issei's heart with his holy sword. Quickly, Issei brought up his gauntlet-covered arm and used it as a shield to deflect the attack to the side, before punching the exorcist in the nose with his normal right fist. The exorcist reeled back, clutching his nose painfully, before Issei finished him off with another punch to the jaw, shattering the bone to pieces.

Saito growled with frustration as he ducked a horizontal slash, and then propelled himself back up to his feet, using the momentum to drive Derflinger up through the attacker's guts and out of the back, mere inches below the heart. Pulling Derflinger free, Saito continued cutting a swathe through the seemingly unending sea of flesh and light.

"Kyaaah!"

Saito looked towards Asia, whose eyes were snapped open, a bloodcurdling scream of pain coming from her lips. She struggled vainly against the chains that bound her to the cross, jerking and convulsing, with foam dribbling from her lips as a sphere of green glowing light slowly emerged from the center of her chest.

"STOP!" Saito roared as he charged for Raynare. "Out of my way!" he snarled at the exorcists who stood in between him and the fallen angel.

However, the harder Saito fought, the more fanatically the exorcists struck back. Though each one was nowhere close to being able to challenge Saito, they were far more numerous than him and the devils. Though their numbers had been greatly culled, there was still over two dozen of them. Soon they would break through, but Saito knew that "soon" was not good enough.

Suddenly, Asia stopped screaming – an eerie silence – as the green orb of light fully left her body. Her eyes rolled back in her head, her head lolled, her entire body slackened, and Raynare laughed triumphantly.

"I've done it!" she cried out joyfully as she gently took the green orb in her hands. "Twilight Healing is mine!"

Very carefully, Raynare pushed the green orb into her own chest, and it melded into her flesh.

"RAYNARE!" both Saito and Issei roared simultaneously.

Together, the two of them forced their way past through the crowd of exorcists, who quickly parted to allow them unobstructed passage. Saito ran up the altar's steps first, reaching the cross from which Asia remained bound. With three swift strokes, Saito cut apart the chains binding her wrists and ankles, allowing her to drop into Saito's awaiting arms. Quickly, he laid her down on the ground and put two fingers to the side of her neck, where her carotid artery was.

"How is she?" Issei asked urgently from behind Saito. "Is Asia all right?"

Saito paled, and his breathing became shallow and unsteady. He removed his fingers from Asia's neck and put his ear against Asia's bosom.

"Well?" Issei said almost impatiently.

"... She's dead," Saito whispered almost silently.

"What did you say?" Issei said, not having heard Saito.

"Asia... is dead."

Issei paled, and dropped to his knees. "No way... That can't be right..." Slowly, with trembling hands, Issei scooted closer to Asia and felt for her neck. For a few seconds he remained completely still, as if desperately hoping that her pulse would contradict Saito's words. When it didn't, when no pulse could be felt, tears began forming in Issei's eyes. "Asia. Asia. Asia! ASIA!" he wailed as the tears began flowing freely down his face.

Raynare laughed derisively at the sight. "Morons. If a human has their Sacred Gear pulled out of their body, of course they're going to die. It's just as important to them as their heart, you know."

"Hyoudou-san," Saito said quietly. "Please get Asia out of here."

Wordlessly, Issei nodded, and he scooped up Asia in his arms and ran out of the underground room. Raynare watched him go with an amused smile on her lips.

"Well, I guess I can let him have that corpse," Raynare mused. "Maybe he can have a bit of fun with it while it's still warm."

Slowly, Saito rose to his feet, though he kept his gaze down, looking at the place where Asia had been lying.

"I was going to rescue Asia," Saito simply said.

"You failed, then," Raynare remarked.

"She didn't deserve for this to happen to her."

Raynare snorted. "As if a lesser being can complain what I, a superior being, does to them."

"If I hadn't waited, if I had acted sooner, I might have been able to stop this from happening."

"Please," Raynare rolled her eyes. "As if a human like you could do anything to stop me."

"I was going to rescue Asia," Saito repeated, eyes still downcast. "I was going to save her. But I failed. So now... Now the only thing I can do is KILL YOU!"

Saito roared with unrestrained anger as he brought his strength and speed to their utmost limits in order to make a single horizontal slash across Raynare's belly. Whether it was because she was unable to react in time or because she simply chose not to, Raynare did not make a move in order to dodge or defend against the blade. Instead, Saito's sword met the flesh of the fallen angel in a disemboweling attack. Her stomach opened, and Saito could even see Raynare's spine with how deeply he had cut. However, a familiar emerald light glowed from around the open wound, and Saito watched as the wound quickly closed and healed without a trace, as if watching the injury simply rewind.

"Isn't this marvelous?" Raynare said as if she had not even noticed Saito's rage or attack. "Twilight Healing is an exceedingly rare Sacred Gear that allows its wielder to completely heal any injury in a matter of seconds, no matter how severe." She patted her stomach. "Truly wonderful."

"Yeah. It is amazing," Saito agreed. "And it doesn't belong to you!"

Saito slashed wildly all over Raynare's body. Flesh split and flayed as Derflinger sliced through them like so much meat. Her throat opened, her ribs were revealed, her tendons were cut apart. But even as Saito continued to deliver debilitating or even mortal wounds, every one of them healed and vanished faster than he could inflict new ones; faster than Raynare herself could die. Finally, Raynare stopped Saito by grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air, his feet flailing futilely a few inches above the ground.

"I think that's quite enough," Raynare said calmly as Saito choked and struggled to breathe. "Even if I can heal myself, it still hurts, and it's annoying. I'm going to have you sleep quietly now until I can give you to Lord Azazel."

Saito thrust Derflinger towards Raynare, but she caught the blade with her spare hand easily. The edge of the blade bit into her hand deeply, causing blood to trickle down her hand and arm. Saito tried to wrench the sword out of Raynare's grip, but even with the Gandalfr's increased strength, in the position he was in, Saito was only able to rely on his arm strength alone to try to free Derflinger. With his oxygen running low and when against an inhuman being like Raynare, that simply was not enough.

Abandoning his efforts to free Derflinger, Saito snapped his leg up with the last of his strength and kicked Raynare's chin with his heel. Saito felt bone crumble and shift beneath his foot. The shock of the blow was enough to cause the fallen angel to reel back and momentarily slacken her grip on Saito's neck, allowing him to take in a much needed breath, but not enough to force her to release him.

"Why you!" Raynare snarled the moment her broken jaw was healed as she slammed Saito against the concrete wall behind the cross.

Saito felt the stone wall hit him hard – or rather, he himself hit the wall hard – and he began to see bright spots in his vision, made all the more noticeable by the darkening of his vision around the edges. As more and more of his vision began to go dark from the lack of air, Saito saw something red.

"Let go of him!" Issei shouted as his gauntlet-covered fist smashed against the side of Raynare's head.

Saito felt both his neck and his sword be released, and he dropped to the ground on his butt as Issei's attack sent Raynare flying off to the side with a surprised yelp.

"Thanks," Saito managed to grunt as he rubbed his neck and winced.

"No problem," Issei said as he held out his normal hand.

Saito took it and Issei pulled him back up to his feet. Saito took a quick look around the battlefield. Kiba and Koneko were still fighting with the remnants of the remaining exorcists, who seemed to have learned from the deaths of their comrades, in terms of strategy. For Kiba, the exorcists maintained a tight formation in order to prevent the fleet-footed Kiba from picking them off one by one. Making heavy usage of their guns, the exorcists were able to force Kiba to keep his distance. For Koneko, they took an opposite strategy. Instead of a tight formation, they maintained a loose ring around the short girl, making certain that she remained at its center. Whenever she tried to close the gap against one part of the cordon, they would immediately retreat backwards. Like with Kiba, they rained down a constant hail of bullets of light on Koneko, who, unlike Kiba, simply accepted the attacks. Saito knew that the little girl had an unbelievable durability – evidenced by how the light bullets continued to bounce off of her – but it was possible that even she had a limit. Sooner or later, the exorcists would manage to wear her down.

Meanwhile, Raynare, who had crashed into the farthest wall, slowly rose to her feet, a green light emanating from where she had received whatever injuries she had suffered from Issei's attack. Her jet-black wings flapped once, and then she rose up into the air in a motion as fluid and graceful as it was serene. The fallen angel began flying back towards Saito and Issei, though her body did not even move as it did. Instead, it was as if she was standing in midair as the gap between her and them simply shrunk.

"Hyoudou-san," Saito said quietly. "On my signal, go help your friends. We need their help. I'll hold Raynare off."

"Are you sure?" Issei said. "I mean, will you be all right by yourself?"

"Yeah," Saito replied. "I'll be fine. That bitch isn't trying to kill me. She wants me alive, so she's going to be holding back. I can take advantage of that."

"I got it."

Raynare arrived, floating just high enough so that she could very clearly and literally look down on them.

"Well," she said almost teasingly. "I'll give you this much: that wasn't a half bad attack for a low-class devil like you."

Instead of replying to her, Issei bolted towards Kiba and Koneko once Saito suddenly shouted, "Hyoudou! Go!"

At the same time, Saito jumped straight for Raynare, catching her by surprise as Saito managed to stab Derflinger through her stomach, causing the blade to pierce out of her back. Then, while hanging from the sword hilt with both hands, Saito forcibly pulled the sword downward, using his strength plus the natural force of gravity to cause the sword to slowly begin to cut Raynare in twain from the belly down, as if she was being sawed in half.

Raynare screamed with pain, and Saito felt a vicious sense of satisfaction wash over him at that. In response, Raynare formed a spear of light in her hand and raised it in order to stab down on Saito's hands. Saito immediately released Derflinger and dropped four feet to the ground. Taking out an exorcism gun from his pocket, Saito began firing at Raynare. Raynare snarled as she pulled Derflinger free from her body and tossed it aside, simply ignoring the bullets of light as she did so, much like Koneko.

Saito dove off of the altar for Derflinger, and caught it by the hilt as it fell. By rolling on the ground the moment he made contact with it, Saito was able to dissipate most of the kinetic force of the dive harmlessly.

With Derflinger once more in hand, Saito faced Raynare, who now had a very angry look on her face.

"You inferior worm!" Raynare cursed even as the sword wound in her stomach healed. "How dare you hurt me?"

"Shut up!" Saito snapped back. "I am not an inferior being, nor am I a worm. Neither is Asia. We are human beings, and we possess our own will and desires. Just because you are a fallen angel doesn't mean you get to treat our lives like your toys. How dare I hurt you? Don't give me that shit! How dare you rob Asia of her life just so you could steal her Sacred Gear, you thieving, murderous bitch. If you think you can get away with that just because we're human and you're not, then you're fucking delusional. Make no mistake: for murdering Asia, I. Will. Kill. You."

"Oh really?" Raynare narrowed her eyes. "You know, I was just going to knock you unconscious, but now I think I'll have to make you suffer first. I can always just heal you with Twilight Healing afterward, before I hand you over to Lord Azazel."

A spear of light incomparably larger than any of the others Saito had seen Raynare create formed in her hands. It shined brightly, though its brilliance felt sinister to Saito.

"Derf," Saito whispered quietly. "Can you absorb that?"

"I think so," the sword replied.

"I think so isn't good enough," Saito said urgently as Raynare brought an arm into a throwing position, the spear of light floating inches above that arm's hand. "Can you or can't you?"

"I can, I can," Derflinger responded quickly.

"Good," Saito said. "Let's go."

Saito blurred as he bolted to the side, dashing up the stairs of the altar at top speed. His plan was as simple as it was obvious. Like before, Saito planned to jump and stab Raynare. Judging from the smirk on Raynare's face and the way she was already adjusting her aim to launch her spear towards the top of the altar, Saito knew that she knew his plan, too.

What she didn't know about, and what Saito was gambling everything on, was his trusted blade's ability to devour magic. After all, even though he had demonstrated the ability while fighting with the exorcists, Raynare had been too busy focusing on murdering Asia to take notice. At least, Saito hoped that was the case.

Saito reached the top of the sacrificial altar. He stopped, turned, took a running start, and then jumped. Saito fairly flew through the air, Derflinger held at his side as the blade trailed behind him. As if in slow motion, Saito watched as Raynare threw her spear of light, its bright luminescence almost blinding from such a close distance.

Derflinger was raised up in front of Saito, aimed straight for the approaching spear, and then the two met. Saito grinned viciously as Raynare's sneer transformed into a look of shock when her spear of light rapidly unraveled and disappeared, absorbed into the sentient blade.

Saito crashed into Raynare bodily, and the two tumbled in the air. In order to prevent himself from falling, Saito wrapped one arm around Raynare's neck, looking to the outside observer as if they were lovers in sweet embrace. With his other hand, Saito stabbed Derflinger into Raynare, straight into her flank.

Raynare screamed so loudly that Saito wasn't sure if she was simply screaming in pain or trying to use her voice as a sonic weapon in order to rupture his eardrums. She struggled and scratched and pulled and kicked anywhere and everywhere she could reach in order to pry Saito off of her. But Saito was adamant. He kept his head tucked down and buried in the pocket between Raynare's head and shoulder, while keeping his arm tightly wrapped around Raynare, making certain to keep them as close together as possible. With his other hand, Saito repeatedly twisted and pulled and pushed Derflinger inside the Raynare's wound, causing even more intense pain, breaking her concentration whenever she attempted to form one of her spears of light.

Saito grimaced at the wails of suffering that came from Raynare's lips. Right now, what he was doing was no longer an attack – it was torture. This wound alone would not kill Raynare, especially not with her possessing Twilight Healing. It would only cause her intense pain. Lots of it.

It was Raynare's fault, Saito supposed. If she hadn't let slip that despite being able to heal the wounds, she could still feel pain, then Saito would not have had to resort to using pure pain in order to restrain her as he bought time for Issei to help his comrades and reinforce Saito.

From the corner of his eye, Saito saw Raynare form a small, dagger-sized spear of light in order to stab his back. Saito quickly released Derflinger, feeling the power boost of the Gandalfr's runes vanish with it, and immediately jabbed his fingers into Raynare's eyes. She screamed, the spear of light dispersing harmlessly as her concentration was broken by the sudden and fresh pain.

While she remained stunned, Saito quickly pulled Derflinger out of Raynare's body in a torrent of blood. Then, while Raynare focused on healing the damage to her body and eyes, Saito brought the pommel of Derflinger's hilt down on Raynare's face, repeatedly, like a crude club.

"Fall, damn you! Fall!" Saito shouted as he strove to bring Raynare down to the ground.

"ENOUGH!" Raynare shouted, though it sounded more like "enubb" given that Saito had broken her nose, causing it to bleed freely.

Saito felt a hard fist rock against his temple, dazing him, and then a flash of burning pain at his side, which caused him to shout in pain and accidentally drop Derflinger to the ground. The sword landed with a clattering sound of steel against stone.

"Argh!" Saito yelled. Glancing down, Saito saw Raynare's hand holding the handle of a fairly large dagger of light, it's blade buried completely into his guts.

"Inferior worm!" Raynare hissed as she twisted the dagger inside of him, eliciting further shouts of pain from Saito. "How dare you? How dare you!?"

"Shut. Up." Saito growled as he headbutted Raynare's face.

With a snarl, Raynare ripped the dagger from Saito's body roughly. Then, Raynare grabbed Saito by the back of his collar and pried him off of her. Though Saito did his best to maintain his bear hug, without the Gandalfr's runes strengthening him, he was just a normal human, and therefore had no chance of winning in a battle of raw strength against an inhuman being, even against one as delicate looking as Raynare.

Once Raynare had Saito at an arm's-length, she tossed him aside like garbage, and Saito fell freely from the air to the cold, unforgiving stone floor.

However, instead of meeting with the ground, Saito felt himself be caught by two, infinitely more softer than concrete, arms.

"... Toujou-san?" Saito murmured, looking at the expressionless face of the one who had caught him.

"Hiraga-san!" Issei called out urgently as he rushed over to Saito's side. "Are you all right?"

"Boost!" his gauntlet announced.

"Fine, fine," Saito said, shooing Issei away with one hand. "Toujou-san, can you let me go?"

The white-haired girl nodded, and then suddenly dropped Saito. He landed on his butt, causing his wound to flare up in pain.

"Argh!" Saito yelped.

"Koneko-chan! You can't just drop him like that!" Issei admonished.

"... Sorry," she said monotonously.

"Boost!"

"Forget about me," Saito said as he forced himself to his feet. "What about Raynare?"

"Over there," Issei said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

Saito looked to where Issei was pointing and saw that Kiba was fighting with Raynare alone. Or more accurately, he was just dodging while Raynare hurled down spear after spear at him from the air. To Saito's displeasure, it appeared that Raynare was healed completely of all the damage he had managed to inflict upon her.

"Boost!"

"This is tough," Saito said. "Anything we do to her, she just heals it away. All we can do is just make her feel pain. What we need is a really powerful attack – one that can either kill her or knock her unconscious in a single blow, instantly, before she can heal herself." Saito looked at Issei and Koneko. "Either of you got something like that?"

"Boost!"

"And why does your gauntlet keep saying 'boost?'" Saito asked, frowning as he looked at Issei's red gauntlet. "Also, is it just me or did it change a little?"

"It's preparing for that really powerful attack," Issei said, eyes steely with determination. "I think I finally understand what my Sacred Gear does."

"Is that so?" Saito said as he made to go pick up Derflinger. "Then I'll go help distract her while you get ready."

"Boost!"

"No, Hiraga-san," Issei said, putting a hand on Saito's shoulder, stopping him. "You've done enough. You need to lie down and rest. You have a freaking hole in your side. You're gonna die if you keep moving."

Saito glanced down at the still bleeding hole in his body, and he grimaced. It was true. He had already lost a lot of blood, and he was starting to feel lightheaded and faint. Carefully, Saito took off his coat and wrapped it around his abdomen like a makeshift bandage. "You sure you'll be fine without me?" he finally asked.

"Boost!"

Issei nodded and gave a hard, resolute smile. "Positive."

"Explosion!"

"Koneko-chan," Issei said. "Can you throw me at her?" He pointed at Raynare.

Koneko nodded. With a casual ease that looked comical given the sheer size difference between the two, Koneko picked up Issei and held him over her head. "Ei," she uttered in a quiet, cute manner before sending Issei flying, literally.

"Raynaaare!" Issei shouted as he soared through the air. The fallen angel looked up, and her eyes widened with surprise at seeing the boy flying towards her. She quickly recovered from the shock, however, and she hurled a spear of light at him. But instead of skewering him in midair like Raynare expected, Issei simply slapped the spear out of the air with his gauntlet. Before the fallen angel could attack again, Issei was upon her. "Fly away, you shitty angel!"

Issei punched Raynare with his gauntlet-covered arm. It was a simple punch, but it was a punch like that of no other Saito had ever seen before.

When Issei's metallic fist made contact with Raynare, it was as if she had been turned into a human – er, fallen angel – cannonball. Metal met flesh like an explosion, causing the fallen angel to fly so fast into the ground that Saito, in his non-Gandalfr-empowered state, was unable to even catch sight of Raynare, save for a dark blur. She landed in the concrete floor with a thunderous boom, and when the dust settled, Saito could see that Raynare laid in the center of a large crater, her body twisted, broken, and her mind unconscious.

If it had been left at just that, Saito could have said that was one of the coolest things he had ever seen before. But when Issei fell from the air, it was to an awaiting Kiba who tried to catch him like Koneko did to Saito. Whether because he underestimated Issei's weight or because he did not have Koenko's brute strength, or both, they ended up falling into a gangly, awkward sprawl on top of each other.

Saito let out a breath of relief and collapsed to the ground. He felt weak. Cold sweat had begun to form on his brow, as well. His hands trembled, his vision starting to become blurry and unfocused. He had lost too much blood.

"Hiraga-san," Issei said breathlessly as he approached. "We did it. We won."

Saito smiled weakly, but bitterly. "No, Hyoudou-san. We lost."

"What?" Issei cocked his head. "But we beat Raynare!"

"And we allowed Asia to die," Saito reminded him as gently as he could, but with his loss of blood, his mind was feeling foggy, so his words came out more harshly than he had intended.

"Oh yeah," Issei murmured softly. "Yeah... You're right. We did lose."

"Don't be so certain about that."

Everyone looked to the new voice coming from the stairwell.

"Buchou?" Issei said in surprise as the redheaded woman entered the underground room, followed by the black-haired girl, who was carrying Asia in her arms.

"Geez, you guys sure went wild here," the redhead remarked as she looked around at the number of casualties and damage. When she spotted Saito, she blinked in surprise. "Oh my, what are you doing here?" She frowned. "Those are some terrible wounds you have there."

"Hiraga-san helped us," Issei answered quickly. "More importantly, what are you doing here? And what did you mean by that?"

"Ise. Do you know what this is?" the redhead said as she pulled out a...

Is that a chess piece? Saito thought incredulously, completely bewildered.

"That's... a bishop, isn't it?" Ise cocked his head. Then, his eyes widened in understanding. "Buchou! That's a Bishop piece!"

Well, duh, Saito thought. You already said that.

"You understand," the redhead smiled as she carefully spun the crimson chess piece in between her fingers. Saito started to feel that there was something going on that he didn't quite understand. "With this Bishop piece, I can resurrect this girl as one of us."

Saito's eyes widened at the redhead's words. He opened his mouth to try to say something, but found that no words were coming out of his lips.

"Buchou," Issei said in a mesmerized shock. "Are you... Are you serious? You can save Asia?"

"Yes," the redhead answered. "But before that" - she looked towards Raynare - "we need to put Asia's Sacred Gear back inside of her. Akeno. Wake her."

"Yes, Buchou," the black-haired girl said cheerfully. She carefully laid Asia on the ground. Then she walked over to the unconscious fallen angel and dragged her by the arm over to the others, before creating water out of thin air and dumping it on Raynare's face.

Raynare coughed as her eyes snapped open, and she looked around wildly. Even as she did, her stolen Twilight Healing began healing her body of its injuries.

"Greetings, Fallen Angel Raynare," the redhead said with polite decorum. "I am Rias Gremory, heir to House Gremory. How do you do?"

Raynare glared at Rias, but said nothing.

"Well, if you do not wish to speak, then I'll get right to the point," Rias said. "Return Asia Argento's Sacred Gear."

Raynare sneered. "If you think that you can make demands of me, think again. My comrades will be here soon, and then we'll-"

"Fallen Angels Dohnaseek, Kalawarner, and Mittelt are all dead," Rias cut Raynare off coldly.

Raynare's eyes went wide. "You lie!"

Rias smirked as she pulled out three black feathers of slightly different hues. "Recognize these?"

Raynare breathed in sharply. While the devils' attention remained affixed on the fallen angel, Saito slowly stood up and began half-walking, half-stumbling over to where Derflinger lay.

"When I met Fallen Angel Dohnaseek when he attacked Ise," Rias said, "I knew that the fallen angels were planning something in this city. I had thought that it was something that involved all of Grigori, so I had intended to steer clear of this matter. But after I, ah, interviewed those three comrades of yours, they spilled everything about you and your plot. You're acting without Grigori's permission, aren't you, Fallen Angel Raynare?" The final words came out cold and harsh.

Raynare ground her teeth in frustration, but said nothing.

"Now then," Rias said cheerfully. "Why don't you just go ahead and return Twilight Healing to its rightful owner, hm?"

"There's no way I can give it up now!" Raynare snapped. "Not when I've come so far!"

"Really?" Rias said with mock surprise. "I suppose that simplifies things a great deal, then. I'll just kill you and take it back by force."

Raynare's eyes widened as an enormous black sphere formed in Rias's hands, promising only death and absolute destruction to all things unfortunate enough to stand in its way.

Saito stood in its way.

The devils stared at Saito in surprise. Rias blinked as the sphere slowly died down and disappeared. "What are you doing?"

"... I just want to... make sure about something," Saito struggled to speak. His vision felt as though it was swimming, and he felt so lightheaded and dizzy that he felt that taking even another step would cause him to fall and sleep forevermore. But still, Saito forced himself to remain standing and to remain conscious. He spoke again. "You said that if... if Raynare returns the Sacred Gear, then Asia can live again?"

"Yes," Rias said slowly, nodding. "That is indeed what I said."

Saito nodded. He turned to face Raynare and pointed Derflinger at her. "Raynare. I hate you. You killed Asia. I wanted to kill you to avenge her. But now she can come back to life. And you... You saved my life. I don't know why you did, I know it wasn't for anything good, but still... you saved my life. For that, I owe you a debt. Return Asia's Sacred Gear so that she can return to life. If you do, I swear to use my life to protect you as you escape. Even if my body breaks down and my mind gives way, I'll protect you. Don't, and you die."

"Hiraga-san!" Issei cried out. "What are you saying?"

"Exactly what I said," Saito said, doing his best to keep from showing his wobbling legs and trembling arms.

"But she did so many awful things!" Issei protested.

"I know," Saito answered. "But I owe her my life. If it wasn't for her, I would already be dead." Saito stared at Raynare penetratingly – or at least, as penetratingly as he could given that he could no longer even distinguish Raynare's facial features properly. "Now. Make your choice."

"... I understand," Raynare finally said.

Despite his blurry vision, Saito noticed something pale green rise up from Raynare's chest. It floated like a butterfly back towards Asia, hovering gently over her bosom. Carefully, Rias pushed it back into Asia. Then, she took something small and red – the bishop piece, Saito assumed – and laid it on Asia's chest.

"In my name, Rias Gremory, I order you, Asia Argento, to arise. I resurrect you back unto this base earth. You will be reborn as a devil, my servant. You, my Bishop, be delighted with your new life!"

A crimson light flashed from the bishop piece laid on top of Asia, and then it too was absorbed into her body.

"Hyoudou-san," Saito found himself whispering his words. "Is she all right? Is Asia alive?"

Issei knelt down beside Asia for a moment. Then, joyfully, he sobbed, "She's breathing. She's alive, Hiraga-san. Asia is alive. Asia. Asia. Wake up, Asia."

"Leave her be, Ise," Rias said. "She's just come back from the dead. She won't wake up until tomorrow, probably."

"But she'll be okay, right?" Issei said cautiously.

"Of course!" Rias said with a hint of pride. "Don't you worry, Ise. Right now she's just sleeping. When she wakes up, she'll be all right."

Saito slowly turned to look at Raynare, who seemed to be staring at him for some reason, though he was too dizzy, his vision too blurry, to be able to properly ascertain that. "Go. Leave. My debt to you is paid. Never show yourself before me again. If you do, I swear I will kill you."

Raynare said nothing as her black wings wrapped around herself. There was a distortion of space, and then she vanished.

Once she was gone, Saito promptly collapsed to the ground, sword clattering out of his hand, the blood from the hole in his guts oozing through his coat-bandage.

"Hiraga-san!" Saito heard Issei shout.

Slowly, Saito allowed his heavy eyelids to droop shut, allowing the call of a never ending sleep to beckon him into its sweet embrace.

He was tired. So very tired.

He was tired of being lied to. He was tired of being used. And above all, he was tired of being manipulated.

No more. Now he just wanted to sleep and rest.

-Scene Break-

"In the name of the Five Pentagonal Powers, bless this humble being and make him my familiar."

The short, pink-haired girl grabbed Saito's head in between her hands, and despite his protests, she leaned in and kissed him. It was a rough, clumsy kiss, and not at all welcome. True, the girl kissing him was cute, but Saito did not know who this girl was. While there were many guys who would oftentimes fantasize about being so pleasantly assaulted by a cute girl, the truth of the matter was that in reality, being kissed by a total stranger was not something pleasant. Rather, it was a rude and unwanted invasion of privacy. At least, to Saito it was.

"What are you doing?" Saito demanded as he forcibly separated the two of them.

The response was pain. The first pain. It spread like burning hot fire from inside of him, causing Saito to fall to the ground, writhing and screaming. It felt as if his blood was boiling in his veins, his flesh and bone being cooked, and his organs melting from the inside out. Saito cried out as he heard laughter coming from all around him. A high-pitched voice, irate, argued back against them. Desperately, Saito searched for something or someone that could give him relief from the fire within him.

But there was nothing but pain for Saito.

He rolled on the grass clutching at his left hand, where the unbearable heat was at its worst. The heat was such that Saito desperately wondered if cutting off his hand would be preferable to enduring this. Through the haze of fiery pain, Saito saw with horror as there, on the back of his left hand, strange characters began carving themselves into his flesh, and it felt as though it was being done by a searing hot knife.

When it finally, mercifully, stopped, when the pain faded away, Saito lay supine on the cool grass gasping for breath, his sweat pouring down in rivulets.

What the hell was that? Saito wondered. What had the girl done to him? Where was he? Who were they all?

Saito watched tiredly from where he lay as a tall, middle-aged man with a balding head said a few words to the pink-haired girl, then to the rest of the people there – all of them roughly around Saito's age.

To Saito's shock, they began floating up into the air as they flew away.

All of them except for the short, pink-haired girl.

She stomped over to Saito. Saito got back to his feet and faced the girl.

"Who are you?" Saito immediately demanded.

"I am Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere, dog," the pink-haired girl snapped. "And I am your master."

-Scene Break-

Saito awoke with a start, his face slick and wet with a thin sheen of sweat. Slowly, he touched his forehead with one hand and looked at it.

I... I'm alive? Saito wondered as he clenched his hand into a fist for a moment before releasing it.

"Are you all right? You seemed to be having a nightmare."

Saito turned to see Rias Gremory sitting behind a fancy oaken desk as she closed the book she was reading and set it down on the table. Saito looked around the room he was in. The entire room was very dimly lit. Only a single candle set on Rias's desk and the dim moonlight shining in through the windows provided any lighting. Yet, though he should not have been able to, Saito found himself able to see perfectly clearly despite the darkness and poor lighting. He was sitting on a large leather couch. Derflinger lay in his sheathe on the coffee table in front of him. The room itself was richly decorated, with luxurious red carpets, extravagant bookcases filled to its maximum, a few sculptures, and paintings on the wall. Saito was honestly surprised that instead of a chandelier, the room used normal fluorescent lighting, which were turned off.

"Where am I?" Saito asked.

"You're in the Occult Research Club of Kuoh Academy," Rias said. "The others have already gone home for the day."

"The others?"

"You've met them already," Rias said. "Ise, Yuuto, Koneko, Akeno, and Asia."

Oh, yeah... The devils, Saito thought as he recalled the events prior to having fallen unconscious. "How am I still alive?"

"I think you already know the answer to that, don't you?" Rias said with some amusement.

"I..." Saito paused. "You resurrected me, like you did with Asia," Saito declared.

"Indeed," Rias said. "After Raynare fled, you fell unconscious due to severe loss of blood. You were already in very real danger of dying. Since Asia was still in her coma at the time, she was not available to use Twilight Healing on you. So I used my eighth and last Pawn piece to save your life. And now you are a member of my Peerage."

"Your... Peerage?" Saito cocked his head. "What is that supposed to mean."

"First, allow me to explain to you a bit about the past. It will make things much less confusing for you in the long run," Rias said. Saito nodded, prompting Rias to continue. "You see, for a very long time now, the forces of heaven and hell have been warring with each other. It was God and his angels against the fallen angels against the Satans and the devils. A three-way war. It was brutal and caused a tremendous amount of casualties on all sides. It was especially hard on us devils. The loss of life was so great that extinction was a very real possibility. Eventually, the three forces reached a sort of armistice. During this time, in order to preserve our species, a new system based on the human game of chess was formed. It is called the Evil Pieces system. With it, we are able to resurrect other species as devils, thereby helping to repopulate and strengthen our species."

"Sounds pretty convenient," Saito remarked with a thoughtful frown.

"Quite," Rias agreed. "Now, every high-class devil is given a set of Evil Pieces – eight pawns, two knights, two bishops, two rooks, and one queen, just like in regular chess. Those who are resurrected by these Evil Pieces become a member of their Peerage."

"In other words...?" Saito said.

"In other words," Rias said, smiling. "Like in chess, they become subordinate devils to the King."

Saito quietly sucked in a breath and felt his body tense.

"You are my second and last Pawn, Hiraga Saito," Rias said, still smiling, unaware of Saito's physical reaction. "You are my servant, and I am your King. I am your master."

At that moment, Saito had never hated anyone on Earth more fiercely than he did Rias Gremory.