The basement chamber of the old church was a ruin. Stone debris littered the floor, torches lay extinguished, casting the scene in a chaotic interplay of deep shadow and the flickering, unnatural light of clashing supernatural energies. Asia Argento was out, spirited away by Koneko Toujou, but the battle was far from over. Raynare, the Fallen Angel leader, her beautiful face contorted in a mask of incandescent rage, faced Rias Gremory.
"You will pay for this, Gremory!" Raynare shrieked, her voice echoing with power. A spear of pure, dark light, crackling with malevolent energy, materialized in her hand. Her black wings beat the air, stirring up dust and a palpable aura of menace. "The Twilight Healing was to be my triumph! My ascension! You've ruined everything!"
Rias stood her ground, her crimson aura blazing, her expression a mixture of regal disdain and grim determination. "Your ambitions were built on the suffering of an innocent, Fallen One. Such triumphs are always fleeting." She raised her hand, and a concentrated sphere of her Power of Destruction, darker and more potent than any Ren had seen her wield before, began to coalesce. "Prepare to face the judgment of the House of Gremory."
While the two leaders squared off, Ren Takakura was still locked in a desperate, undignified struggle with Freed Sellzen. Ren had managed to tackle the Stray Exorcist, his weak but still burning Dying Will Flames causing Freed to yelp and curse as they made contact with his skin. They rolled across the dusty floor, a tangle of limbs and furious energy. Freed, despite his earlier bravado, was clearly not used to opponents who could ignore the holy aspect of his light-based weaponry and simply burn him.
"Get off me, you flaming freak!" Freed snarled, trying to bring his light-sword around to bear in the close quarters.
Ren, fueled by adrenaline and a desperate desire to keep Freed from rejoining the main fight, clung on like a limpet, his Flames flaring erratically. He wasn't winning, not really. He was just… enduring, a human fire blanket trying to smother a particularly vicious firecracker. He could feel his energy waning fast.
Kiba Yuuto, having dispatched Dohnaseek, moved with blurring speed to assist Akeno Himejima, who was still contending with the surprisingly resilient Kalawarner. Though injured, Kalawarner fought with a desperate ferocity, her dark light spears lashing out. Kiba's arrival, however, tipped the scales. His demonic sword, a whirlwind of silver, parried Kalawarner's attacks, creating an opening for Akeno to unleash a devastating barrage of holy lightning. Kalawarner screamed as the golden bolts struck her, her form flickering before she collapsed, unconscious.
"One less to worry about," Akeno purred, her smile returning, though it was edged with a dangerous satisfaction. She and Kiba then turned their attention to the central confrontation.
The battle between Rias and Raynare was a terrifying spectacle of raw power. Dark light clashed with crimson destruction, each impact sending shockwaves through the chamber, causing the very foundations of the old church to groan in protest. Raynare was fast, agile, her attacks vicious and precise. But Rias, drawing upon the ancient power of her demonic lineage, met her blow for blow, her destructive energy capable of negating Raynare's attacks and forcing the Fallen Angel onto the defensive.
"You think this is power, little Devil?" Raynare snarled, dodging a particularly potent blast that vaporized a section of the stone wall behind her. "This is nothing! I have seen true power! I have stood in the presence of beings who could unmake you with a thought!" Her eyes burned with a fanatical light, a desperation that hinted at a deeper fear, a deeper ambition. She was fighting not just for a stolen Sacred Gear, but for her very standing, her very survival, in a hierarchy that was clearly as brutal and unforgiving as her own methods.
"Your ambition has blinded you to the true nature of power, Fallen One," Rias countered, her voice ringing with conviction. "It is not merely about destruction, but about what you choose to protect, what you strive to build!" Another sphere of crimson energy launched from her hand, larger this time, more focused.
Raynare met it with a desperate shriek, her dark light spear flaring to an almost unbearable intensity. The two energies collided in the center of the chamber with a deafening explosion that threw Ren and Freed apart, sending dust and debris raining down from the crumbling ceiling.
When the light cleared, Rias stood panting, her crimson aura still burning fiercely. Raynare was on one knee, her black wings tattered, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Her spear of dark light had shattered, and a nasty burn marred her beautiful face. She looked up at Rias, her eyes filled with a mixture of hatred, disbelief, and a dawning, terrible fear.
"This… this isn't over, Gremory…" Raynare choked out, her voice hoarse. "You haven't won… I will… I will return…"
With a final, defiant glare, she gathered the last of her strength. Her form flickered, and then, with a sound like tearing fabric, she vanished in a swirl of black feathers and dissipating dark energy, a desperate, last-ditch teleportation. She had escaped, but she was grievously wounded, her plans in ruins.
At the same moment, Ren, dazed from the explosion, felt Freed Sellzen go limp beneath him. The Stray Exorcist had finally succumbed to his injuries and the repeated, if clumsy, applications of Ren's Flames. He was unconscious, his maniacal grin replaced by a slack-jawed stupor.
Silence, heavy and profound, descended upon the ruined basement chamber, broken only by the ragged breathing of the victors. The immediate battle was over. They had won. But the echoes of Raynare's fury, her parting threat, lingered in the air like a poisonous miasma.