At the church, Issei, Kiba, and Koneko hid behind a row of trees near the back entrance. From the outside, everything appeared normal, but the three of them knew better than to let their guard down.
Issei peeked toward the building before turning to Kiba.
"So, how do we get into the church without being noticed?" he asked in a low voice.
Before Kiba could answer, Koneko stepped forward and looked toward the door."They've probably already realized we're here," she said calmly.
"Really?" Issei muttered, looking a little nervous.
Kiba narrowed his eyes slightly as he observed the church."I have a feeling there might be a lot of priests inside," he guessed.
"If they're preparing some kind of ritual, they wouldn't leave the place undefended." Issei swallowed quietly.
'Looks like this isn't going to be easy, even with Kiba and Koneko-chan around,' he thought.
For a brief moment, another thought crossed his mind. 'If only Fushi-san were here-' Issei immediately slapped both sides of his head. 'No! What am I thinking? This isn't his problem.'
Kiba's expression turned serious as he looked toward the entrance. "Let's go."
The three of them moved out from behind the trees and approached the church. Koneko reached the large wooden doors first and kicked them open.
Bang!
The doors swung inward, and the group entered the church. Rows of benches lined the room, and the dim light from the candles created long shadows across the floor. For a few moments, only silence filled the church.
Then footsteps echoed through the hall. A man walked forward casually while holding a light sword in one hand and a gun in the other.
"Hey, hey, hey, looks like you filthy devils arrived just in time for the ritual," Freed said with a grin.
"Where's Asia?!" Issei shouted immediately.
Freed laughed. "That dirty nun is in the basement beneath this altar. Of course, that's assuming you can get past me first." The three devils prepared themselves.
Without saying a word, Koneko grabbed one of the nearby benches and hurled it toward Freed.
With a single slash the bench split cleanly in half. "You're going to have to do better than that, you little runt," Freed mocked.
Koneko's expression did not change, but she immediately picked up another bench and threw it. Then another. And another.
Freed continued dodging and cutting them apart while moving around the church.
Kiba took advantage of the opening and rushed forward, creating a sword in his hand.
Clang!
His blade collided with Freed's light sword.
The two exchanged strikes rapidly, moving across the church with impressive speed. Sparks flew each time their weapons clashed.
Freed clicked his tongue. "Quite persistent, you insolent fool."
At that moment, Issei activated his Sacred Gear. "Boost!" Power flowed through his body. Then he shouted, "Promotion!" His body gained the strength of a rook, and he charged forward.
Freed had only enough time to turn his head before a his landed on his face.
BAM!
Issei's punch connected directly. Freed was sent flying across the church and crashed into the altar.
Fragments of stone scattered across the floor. Freed quickly got back to his feet and glared at the three of them.
Before he could move again, another bench came flying toward him. Seeing that he was outmatched, Freed stepped back.
"I'm not getting myself killed by the likes of you filthy devils!" Just as he was about to retreat.
Crash!
Through roof of the church a figure dropped from above, landing heavily near the center of the church. Several broken benches were crushed beneath the impact, and a powerful shockwave spread through the room, causing everyone's hair and clothes to flutter. (Image)
Freed froze. Issei, Kiba, and Koneko stared toward the cloud of dust.
As it slowly cleared, a familiar figure came into view. Koneko's nose twitched slightly she already knew who it was.
Issei stared blankly for a moment before mumbling, "Fushi-san?....."
'Looks like I'm not late,' Meguna remarked inwardly.
The moment the dust settled completely, the group noticed the change in his appearance. Dark markings had spread across his face and body once again, while an extra pair of eyes had opened beneath his normal ones.
He stood there with both hands resting casually in his pockets, his expression calm as though he had merely arrived for a casual visit.
A heavy, oppressive aura quietly spread from him, filling the church. Freed's confident grin disappeared.
His body stiffened instinctively as cold sweat formed on his forehead. Every instinct he possessed screamed at him to run, yet his legs refused to move.
Meguna slowly began walking toward him. Each step echoed softly across the church floor.
'What's going on? Why's Fushi-san here?' was the thought running through everyone's mind. Even Issei, who had wished Meguna would show up earlier, hadn't expected him to arrive like this.
Freed managed to force himself to move. He slowly turned his head toward Meguna, panic written plainly across his face. "W-Wait-"
The words never left his mouth. Before he could finish speaking, his mouth suddenly stopped. Then, the upper half of his jaw began sliding downward.
"What the-" issei's voice escaped almost instinctively. None of them had seen Meguna swing his arm or even raised a finger.
Before the separated piece could even hit the floor, Freed's entire body suddenly burst apart into a fine crimson mist. Blood scattered through the air for only a brief instant before falling silently onto the broken floor. (Image)
Meguna simply walked through the fading mist as though nothing had happened.
Kiba and Koneko, despite remaining outwardly composed, couldn't hide the brief look in their eyes. 'He attacked... without moving a muscle,' Kiba thought quietly. 'No sword, no projectile nor a visible spell. What exactly did he do?'
Koneko remained silent, her gaze fixed on Meguna's back as she calmly observed him.
Meguna eventually stopped and glanced over his shoulder. Seeing the three of them still standing there in silence, he let out a quiet sigh. "Are you three just going to stand there like rocks?" His voice snapped them out of their thoughts.
Issei blinked several times before awkwardly scratching the back of his head."...Right."
Without another word, the three of them nodded and followed Meguna as he calmly made his way toward the staircase leading to the basement.
----
As they made their way down to the basement, the atmosphere immediately changed.
.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they found a group of church followers gathered in front of the altar. Standing above them, at the top of another staircase leading to the large cross, was Raynare.
Asia was tied to the cross behind her. Her head hung low, and her hands were bound tightly. Although she appeared exhausted, she was still conscious.
Raynare slowly turned around, a confident smile spreading across her face. "Come on in, devils," she said leisurely. "You're too late."
The moment Issei saw Asia, his eyes widened. "Asia!" He rushed forward but before he could take more than a few steps, Kiba grabbed his shoulder. "Wait-"
A spear of light was shot toward them.
Boom!
The spear exploded the instant it struck the ground. The blast sent both Issei and Kiba crashing backward into the wall.
"Cough...!"
Pieces of broken stone scattered across the floor as smoke briefly filled the area.
Raynare let out an amused laugh. "My, my... how pathetic." She looked down at Issei with obvious mockery.
However, the smile on her face slowly faded. A cold chill suddenly ran through her body. The oppressive aura filling the room had become even heavier. It felt as though the air itself had grown difficult to breathe.
Cold sweat rolled down her forehead. The priests standing nearby weren't any better. Their bodies had stiffened, and several of them were trembling without realizing it.
Meguna observed their reactions. The corners of his lips slowly curled upward into a wicked grin. (Image)
Koneko noticed the expression on his face and instinctively took a small step backward.
In the next instant meguna disappeared. To everyone watching, it looked as though he had simply vanished.
By the time anyone managed to react, he was already standing in front of the group of priests. None of them had seen him move. The priest directly before him suddenly froze.
Then his body diced into dozens of tiny cubes. The pieces remained suspended in the air for the briefest moment before collapsing onto the floor with wet splashes
The surrounding priests instinctively opened their mouths to scream. Meguna simply raised his right hand. With only his index and middle fingers extended, he made a small swiping motion through the air.
A slash swept across the left side of the room. The heads of every priest standing in its path slid cleanly from their shoulders. Behind them, a deep scar stretched across the stone wall, leaving the mark of the slash.
The bodies on left collapsed one after another. Blood quickly spread across the floor.
Meguna calmly lowered his hand. "I forbid anyone from moving," he said, his voice carrying effortlessly through the chamber. "If even one of you makes a sound... or so much as twitches..." His grin widened slightly. "I'll kill you."
The room became completely still. Not a single person dared to breathe loudly. Even Raynare found herself frozen in place, unable to take her eyes off him.
Meguna then started laughing.The sound echoed throughout the underground chamber before gradually fading away. The smile on his face never wavering.
Issei, Kiba, and Koneko could only watch in stunned silence. None of them knew what to say anymore.
Meguna's gaze casually shifted toward one corner of the room."...Oh?" His smile widened just a little more. "Looks like we have our first elimination."
The priest standing behind one of the others was suddenly decapitated vertically.
----
[A/N: Since I'm not able to use gifs I'll use images. Do give you thoughts]