Asia froze mid-prayer, completely blindsided by what suddenly appeared before her.
Magic circles flared to life around her feet—several of them—followed by the silhouettes of women materializing out of the light.
Women dressed… well, in outfits Izumi would definitely describe as immoral to the point of being illegal.In fact, in his heart, he was already mentally reporting them to the "Public Morals Committee."
…Not that he averted his eyes, of course.They were hot. Really hot.
All of them had jet-black wings unfurled from their backs—crow-like, sinister, unmistakable.
No matter how many times Izumi saw Fallen Angels, he always thought the same thing:Why do their wings look EXACTLY like oversized crow wings? Who designed this species?
Among the group, he immediately recognized one of them—Raynare (Reinare).
The woman who conned Hyoudou Issei and stabbed him so casually.The one Izumi had deliberately let escape last time… who was now, thankfully, still useful.
Raynare stepped up, seized Asia by the wrist, and sneered.
"Finally. You made us wait long enough."
Asia 's face paled, panic surging as she struggled in Raynare's grip.
"Y-You're Fallen Angels?! Why are you breaking into the church?!"
But for someone with Asia's pitiful physical strength, struggling was pointless.Even though she possessed a Sacred Gear, her body was barely stronger than a normal girl's.She'd never trained, never learned magic, never mastered combat.Her use of her Sacred Gear was pure instinct.
So Raynare grabbing her was basically like holding a baby chick—Asia was helpless prey.
High up on the tree branch beside the church, Kato Megumi frowned and whispered:
"Izumi-kun… aren't you going to step in?"
Izumi shrugged leisurely.
"Don't you think it's more like a protagonist's entrance if I wait for the perfect moment?"
Megumi stared at him in disbelief.
Is he seriously joking at a time like this?! What if something goes wrong?!
But before she could complain further, Raynare began dragging Asia toward a door leading to the underground chamber—ignoring Asia 's desperate cries.
Izumi exhaled.
Looks like the time had come.
There was no way he would allow Asia to go through the same cruel fate she suffered in the "original timeline"—stripped, tied to a cross, and having her Sacred Gear ripped out.
Not happening.Not on his watch.
Asia was someone he had already decided to protect.There was no way he'd let anyone lay a hand on her.
Izumi glanced at Megumi and whispered:
"Megumi-chan, can you stop hugging me so tightly? It feels great, but… I can't move my arms."
Megumi froze.Then she very slowly looked down at how tightly she was clinging to him.
Her face exploded into crimson.
She immediately released him—and almost fell straight off the tree.
If Izumi hadn't grabbed her wrists in time, she would've crashed to the ground like a pancaked NPC.
After pulling her back up and making sure she was steady, Izumi finally turned serious.
A black longbow materialized in his hand.As he pulled back the bowstring, a blade-shaped projectile—an elegant longsword of pure condensed magic—formed on it.
Megumi exhaled a long sigh beside him.
(Why does he insist on using swords and spears as his arrows…? It's so pointless… He just wants to look cool, doesn't he?)
Yes.Yes he did.
With Megumi suppressing both of their presences, his magic wouldn't leak.The Fallen Angels below had no idea their executioner was perched right above them.
Izumi drew, aimed at the back of one Fallen Angel—
And released.
FWIP.
The window shattered.A fraction of a second later—
THUD.
A Fallen Angel was pinned to the wall, impaled through the chest by the magic longsword.
The others whipped around.
Raynare's expression twisted."Who's there?!"
She followed the trajectory—just in time to see more blades whistling toward them.
SWISH! SWISH!
SHLUCK! SHLUCK!
"Gyaah!!"
One fallen angel.Two.Three.
One weapon after another pierced them cleanly as they screamed.
The survivors panicked and attempted to escape.Raynare instantly abandoned Asia, darting for cover.
But Izumi only smirked from the tree branch.
Without special abilities like Clairvoyance, merging with the "Infinite Martial Arts" still made him a master archer in every sense.
He leaned toward Megumi and whispered:
"Well then, I'll leave Asia to you, my little Assassin."
Then he kicked off the branch and launched himself toward the shattered church window.
Megumi stared blankly.
(You want me to rescue her—but you didn't even put me on the ground first, you idiot!)
She took one more look down at the dangerous drop.Sighed.Gathered what little magic she had into her legs—
Then leaped.
While falling, she still held down her skirt with both hands.Just in case Izumi was looking.
Landing sent tingles of pain up her legs, but she endured it.If not for her tiny bit of magic, she probably would've broken something.
No time to complain.She suppressed her presence completely and slipped toward the side entrance, using the stealth techniques she'd learned at school.
Honestly, she could've walked straight in and no one would notice.All the Fallen Angels were laser-focused on Izumi now.
Raynare saw Izumi burst into the chapel, and her face contorted with fury.
Asia stared at him with wide, astonished eyes—
"Izumi-kun… came to save me…?"
Izumi didn't waste breath.
Twin blades—Gan Jiang and Mo Ye—materialized in his hands.
Life or death?Didn't matter.Villains died from monologues.
So Izumi chose the simplest route:
Cut them all down first.Ask questions later.