Kiba Yuuto moved like a phantom through the overgrown grounds at the front of the old church. His diversion was brutally effective. Two human cultists, armed with crude pipes and a misplaced sense of bravado, had been the first to fall, disarmed and incapacitated with a speed that left them bewildered before they even registered the threat. Now, he danced around a lumbering, heavily built Fallen Angel whose wings were a dull, leathery black, its face a mask of brutish fury.
"Hold still, little gnat!" the Fallen roared, swinging a massive, crude axe that whistled through the air.
Kiba sidestepped with contemptuous ease, his sword a silver blur. "My apologies," he said, his voice calm despite the chaos, "but I'm rather on a tight schedule." A swift feint, a lightning-fast thrust, and the Fallen Angel let out a gurgling cry, clutching at a deep wound in its side before collapsing. Kiba didn't spare it a second glance, already moving to engage another emerging threat, drawing the attention of the church's outer defenses away from Rias's true objective.
Meanwhile, at the rear of the church, Rias Gremory stood before the crumbling stone wall Koneko had identified. A faint, crimson aura began to gather around her outstretched hand, the Power of Destruction coalescing with a soft, ominous hum. "Stand back," she commanded.
Ren and Koneko retreated a few paces. With a focused grunt, Rias thrust her hand forward. The crimson energy pulsed, and a section of the ancient stone wall simply… disintegrated, crumbling into dust and revealing a dark, narrow opening. It was a testament to her incredible power, wielded with precise, almost surgical control.
"Impressive," Ren couldn't help but murmur.
"No time for admiration, Dame-Ren," Reborn's voice chided in his ear. "Focus. Enemy contact imminent."
Koneko, without a word, slipped through the newly created breach, her small form ideal for navigating the tight space. Rias followed, and Ren, taking a deep breath, plunged after them into the darkness.
They found themselves in a narrow, damp corridor, likely an old service tunnel beneath the church. The air was cold, heavy with the smell of mildew and something else… that same faint, metallic taint of Fallen Angel magic. Koneko, her senses heightened, led the way, her movements silent and sure-footed.
As they rounded a corner, they encountered their first resistance. Two lower-ranking Fallen Angels, their wings a dull grey, stood guard before a heavy wooden door that presumably led further into the basement complex. They yelped in surprise at the sudden appearance of Rias and her companions, their hands immediately going to the crude swords at their belts.
"Intruders! Alert Lady Raynare!" one of them shrieked, but before he could raise a proper alarm, Koneko was upon him.
She moved with a speed and ferocity that belied her small stature. One moment she was there, the next she was a blur, her tiny fist connecting with the Fallen Angel's jaw with a sickening crack. The creature went down without a sound, its eyes rolling back in its head.
The second Fallen Angel, momentarily stunned by the sudden incapacitation of its comrade, raised its sword, but Rias was already moving. A sphere of crimson destructive energy formed in her palm, and with a flick of her wrist, she sent it hurtling towards the creature. The Fallen Angel tried to dodge, but the sphere seemed to track it, impacting its shoulder with a contained but devastating explosion of power. It screamed, its wing singed, and collapsed, writhing in agony.
"Efficient," Rias commented, stepping over the fallen guard. "Koneko, the door."
Koneko nodded and, with a grunt of effort, kicked the heavy wooden door. The ancient wood splintered and groaned, then burst inwards with a crash.
Beyond the door lay a larger chamber, dimly lit by flickering torches that cast dancing, distorted shadows on the stone walls. And in the center of the room, chained to a cold stone altar, was Asia Argento. She was pale, her eyes wide with terror, her simple nun's robes torn and stained. Standing over her, his back to them, was a figure Ren recognized with a surge of cold fury from Koneko's earlier description: Freed Sellzen, the Stray Exorcist. He was brandishing his light-sword, seemingly in the middle of some sadistic taunt.
"Asia!" Ren cried out, his voice raw, before he could stop himself.
Freed Sellzen spun around, his eyes, wild and maniacal, widening in surprise, then crinkling with a gleeful, predatory delight. "Well, well, well! What have we here? More little lambs for the slaughter? And look, it's the pretty red-headed Devil bitch and her little pets! Did you come to join the party? There's plenty of pain to go around!" He cackled, his light-sword flaring brightly.
"Freed Sellzen," Rias said, her voice like ice. "Release the girl. Now."
"Release her?" Freed chortled. "But the fun's just getting started! Lady Raynare wants her Sacred Gear, and I get to have my entertainment first! It's a win-win! For us, anyway." He lunged, not at Rias, but with surprising speed towards Ren, his light-sword aimed at Ren's chest. "You first, new boy! You look like you'll break easy!"
Ren reacted on pure instinct, his Dying Will Flames surging to life, a shield of orange energy flaring around him just as Freed's blade was about to connect. The light-sword met the Flame with a sizzling crackle, the impact sending shudders up Ren's arm, but the shield held.
"Ho? What's this? You got some fancy tricks too, pretty boy?" Freed sneered, his eyes gleaming with renewed, sadistic interest. "This is gonna be even more fun than I thought!"
The battle for Asia Argento had truly begun. They had breached the Fallen Angels' sanctum, but now they faced a gleefully psychotic exorcist, with Raynare and her other guards undoubtedly alerted and on their way. Ren stood his ground, his Flames blazing, the desperate need to protect Asia overriding his fear. The first clash was over, but the true fight was just starting.