A moment later, a magic circle flickered open in midair.
From it stepped a petite girl dressed in gothic lolita fashion, holding a black parasol—a perfectly legal loli, as if she'd walked straight out of an illustration.
She cast her gaze downward.
The church was engulfed in flames, Fallen Angel residue and explosive magic still lingering in the air.
With a single elegant flick of her parasol, a massive magic circle formed above the burning church.
A tidal surge of water materialized out of thin air and crashed downward, extinguishing the flames in an instant.
The charred scent of roasted… flesh drifted from the ruined building.
She wrinkled her nose.
She really didn't want to go inside.
As she hesitated, another crimson magic circle lit up nearby.
Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima stepped out.
The moment Rias saw the church's wrecked state, she felt a headache coming on.
Who on earth was bold enough to do this?
Was someone trying to slap the Church in the face?
The church in Kuoh Town was supposed to be neutral grounds—yet someone blew it up?
Anyone would suspect devils immediately.
Rias turned toward the gothic lolita girl.
"Instructor Natsuki, what happened here?"
Nangou Natsuki sighed, expression flat.
"How should I know? I just arrived too."
"But… there's Fallen Angel residue inside the church."
This girl was none other than Nangou Natsuki, a teacher at the school next to Izumi's.
She was also an instructor for Kuoh Town's Magical Defense Unit.
Naturally, she was acquainted with the resident devils—and thanks to a contract with the devil clan, she herself was classified as a witch under the devil system.
Rumor said a certain irresponsible Maou once tried to create "magical girls," but the project failed spectacularly and ended up producing witches instead.
Rias closed her eyes, carefully sensing the air.
Indeed—there was a faint scent she knew all too well.
Fallen Angels.
Rias didn't hesitate and stepped into the ruined church.
She wanted to see exactly what had happened.
The sight that greeted her made her turn pale.
Dismembered corpses, burnt to a crisp.
The Fallen Angels were identifiable only by their wings—now charred lumps resembling overcooked chicken wings.
Rias' mind immediately flashed to a certain boy who had refused her the other day… and the fact that Koneko had also been caught in an explosion around that time.
Could this be related to him?
She grimaced. The possibility was annoyingly high.
Natsuki entered the building behind her and frowned at the carnage.
Unlike Rias, she was used to scenes like this. This was small-scale for her.
Glancing at Rias, she said:
"If it involves Fallen Angels, then the Defense Unit won't intervene.""Internal devil affairs are yours to handle."
With that, she teleported away.
Devils had their own rules—if a situation involved the three factions, outsiders were not to interfere.
Rias didn't object.
Once Natsuki left, Akeno approached quietly. Her face also tightened at the gruesome sight.
Rias exhaled, pushing down her discomfort.
"Let's head back, Akeno.""I already have a pretty good idea of what's going on."
Akeno nodded without questioning her.
Rias would explain everything when they returned.
Izumi, meanwhile, had absolutely no idea how many people his little "gesture" had attracted.
He had already taken Megumi and Asia back into town.
They stood in the same park where they'd first met Asia.
Izumi turned to her, noticing her tears had finally stopped.
"Asia, do you have any plans now?"
Asia stared at him with red, swollen eyes.
"I… I don't know…"
Sold out by the Church, she truly had nowhere to go.
She was an orphan raised by the Church; now she'd been abandoned, and thanks to the church being blown up, she had not even a temporary place to stay.
Izumi nodded as if expecting that answer.
Then he made his offer:
"Since you're homeless… why don't you come live at my place?"
"I plan to form my own adventurer party someday. We're still missing a healer."
"Would you like to join?"
Megumi's expression twisted instantly.
At this point she was seriously suspecting that Izumi had planned this entire situation from the start.
Blow up the church → get Asia out → bring her home.
This smelled like a setup!A suspicious one!
Megumi quietly gave Izumi a terrible mental review.
Her staring eyes were full of doubt.
Izumi, of course, noticed her look—but with his face now thick enough to rival a fortress wall, he pretended not to.
His goal was simple: convince Asia.
Sure, it seemed a bit sneaky… but what else could he do? Leave a cute blonde cleric to sleep in a park?
Even he wasn't that heartless.
So Izumi made his invitation openly.
And Asia didn't disappoint.
She already had a favorable impression of him—he had fed her earlier, then saved her life.
Her affection toward him was skyrocketing.
Without him, she couldn't imagine what horrors would've awaited her tonight.
After hesitating briefly, she nodded.
"If… if I wouldn't be a bother…"
Izumi immediately cut her off.
"You won't bother me at all. I live alone—it's totally fine!"
Megumi's alert level spiked.
Living alone? That's exactly what makes it dangerous! Isn't this just a change from tiger's den to wolf's lair—!?
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"…You're not planning to do anything strange to Asia, right?"
"You're acting very suspicious."
Izumi flicked her a sidelong glance.
"If you're worried…"
"…why don't you move in too?"
Two girls at once?Izumi seemed perfectly confident.