The church waited like a corpse at a funeral, cold, still, and wrong in ways that had nothing to do with broken windows or overgrown weeds.
Moonlight painted everything in shades of gray and black. The stained glass windows were dark holes where saints used to stand. The bell tower leaned at an angle that made my architect brain scream. And somewhere inside, a teenage girl with healing powers was chained to an altar, waiting to be gutted like a fish.
"Four guards on the perimeter," Kiba whispered. "Two at the main entrance, one on the bell tower, one patrolling the north side. All fallen angels, power levels in the low twenties."
"Two lieutenants inside," Koneko added, her golden eyes reflecting moonlight. "Power levels thirty-five and thirty-eight. Dohnaseek and Mihae."
Dohnaseek. Raynare's second-in-command. The one who'd be standing between me and Asia Argento, the nun with the Sacred Gear that could heal anything.
"And Raynare?" Rias asked.
"Not visible," Kiba said. "But her energy signature is somewhere deep inside."
Of course she was. Because this night wasn't going to be complicated enough.
[LOCATION: ABANDONED CHURCH]
[STATUS: CONSECRATED GROUND (DEGRADED)]
[WARNING: DEVIL PHYSIOLOGY EXPERIENCING DISCOMFORT]
[ENEMY COUNT: 6 DETECTED]
The system wasn't exaggerating. Every instinct I had screamed at me to run. Consecrated ground and devils didn't mix, even when the consecration was decades old and rotting. It felt like standing too close to a bonfire, not quite burning, but my skin knew it could.
"Remember the plan," Rias said. Her crimson hair seemed to drink the moonlight rather than reflect it. "Akeno and I hit the front entrance. Hard. We make them think we're the entire attack. Kiba, Koneko, you flank from the sides. Eliminate the perimeter guards quietly."
She turned to me. "Ryder, you have the most important job."
"Sneak inside, find the girl, get her out before anyone notices," I recited. "Five minutes of Stealth Mode. After that, I'm visible and probably dead."
"After that, we bring the building down around you," Rias corrected. Her smile was sharp enough to cut. "So don't be late."
Akeno placed a hand on my shoulder. "Ufufu, try not to die. I'd miss having someone new to electrocute during training."
"Your concern is touching."
Koneko just stared at me. "...don't be slow."
"I'll do my best to meet your high expectations."
Kiba gave me a nod, professional, calm, the kind of confidence that came from doing this a dozen times before. "We'll keep them busy. You focus on extraction."
I looked at each of them. These people had saved my life. Trained me. Made me part of something. And now I was going to walk into a building full of enemies who wanted to dissect me for my powers while standing on ground that made my devil nature recoil.
This is fine. Totally fine. Completely normal Tuesday.
[STEALTH MODE: ACTIVATING]
[DURATION: 5:00]
[VISUAL/AUDITORY MASKING: ACTIVE]
The world shimmered. I looked down at my hands, still there, but light bent around them like heat haze over summer asphalt. I could see the grass through my palms, distorted and translucent.
Weird as hell. But I'll take it.
"Good luck," Rias whispered.
Then she and Akeno were moving, and the air around them crackled with gathering power. Crimson and violet energy building like a storm about to break.
I ran.
The church perimeter was a minefield of holy symbols and patrol routes. I slipped past the first guard by pressing myself against the bell tower's base, so close I could feel the rough stone through my borrowed uniform. He looked right through me, his eyes tracking movement that wasn't there.
Don't think about how you're bending light with your mind. Don't think about how impossible this is. Just move.
The second guard walked lazy circles around the north side. I timed his pattern. Twelve seconds per rotation, three-second gap when he turned the corner. I counted down and sprinted across open ground.
My boots made no sound. Stealth Mode muffled everything. I was a hole in the world that eyes couldn't quite focus on.
The side entrance was locked. I pressed my palm against old wood, pushed demonic energy into the mechanism, and felt it click open.
[STEALTH MODE: 4:30 REMAINING]
Inside was worse.
The consecration wasn't just old, it was angry. The air tasted like ozone and decades of prayers, and every breath sent phantom pains through my chest. My regeneration kicked into overdrive just keeping me functional.
Four and a half minutes. Find Asia. Get out. Simple.
The interior was a maze of collapsed pews and broken statuary. I moved like water, flowing around obstacles, staying low. My eyes adjusted fast, devil perk number thirty-seven, and I could see the faint glow of fallen angel energy ahead.
Two lieutenants. Dohnaseek and Mihae. Power levels 35 and 38.
Both could tear me apart without breaking a sweat.
So don't let them see you.
I found a vantage point behind a toppled pillar. The main chapel had been cleared, pews shoved aside to make room for a ritual circle carved into stone. Symbols I didn't recognize glowed sickly yellow. And at the center, chained to a stone altar...
Asia Argento.
She looked small. Younger than fifteen, blonde hair disheveled, nun's habit torn. Her wrists were raw where the manacles cut into skin. But she was breathing. That was enough.
Dohnaseek stood at the altar's foot, black wings folded, a spear of light held loose in one hand. Mihae circled the perimeter, eyes constantly scanning. Both looked bored.
Stay bored. Please stay bored.
[STEALTH MODE: 3:45 REMAINING]
I needed to get closer. The ritual circle was thirty feet across, Asia at dead center. The chains binding her were covered in runes, enchanted, probably unbreakable without the right key or enough force to shatter stone.
Three minutes forty-five seconds isn't enough time for this.
It had to be. There was no backup plan.
I moved.
Invisible didn't mean intangible. I still had to navigate physical space, still had to avoid making noise. Every step was a calculation. Every breath held until my lungs screamed.
I reached the ritual circle's edge. The symbols made my skin crawl, not decorative, functional. Each one a piece of a larger spell designed to rip the Twilight Healing from Asia's body and leave her corpse behind.
Dohnaseek shifted. I froze mid-step, not breathing. His eyes swept over my exact position.
For one terrible heartbeat, I thought he saw me.
But his gaze moved on, tracking Mihae's patrol.
[STEALTH MODE: 2:15 REMAINING]
Two minutes. Move faster.
I abandoned caution for speed. Ten feet to the altar. Five. I could see Asia's face clearly now. Tear tracks on her cheeks, the way she trembled with each breath.
She looked up. Right at me.
Her eyes widened. Her mouth opened.
I shook my head frantically, pressing a finger to my lips. Don't. Please don't scream.
She didn't. But her eyes stayed locked on my position. She could see me.
Holy ground. The consecration interferes with devil magic.
"What is it, girl?" Dohnaseek asked.
Asia's gaze flickered between us. "N-nothing. I thought... I thought I saw something."
Mihae laughed, sharp and cruel. "Ghosts in a church. How fitting."
Dohnaseek didn't laugh. His eyes narrowed, scanning with renewed focus. "Raynare arrives in ten minutes. The ritual begins immediately after. If you're trying to delay us..."
"I'm not," Asia whispered. "Please. I'm not."
[STEALTH MODE: 1:30 REMAINING]
Ninety seconds.
I crept around the altar, using the stone base for cover. The chains binding Asia were thick iron inscribed with binding runes, connecting manacles on her wrists and ankles to a collar around her neck.
No keyhole. The runes ARE the lock.
I reached out carefully, letting my fingers brush the nearest chain.
The runes flared. Pain shot up my arm like touching a live wire, holy magic recognizing devil nature and trying to burn.
Worth it. I could see the pattern now. The way the runes connected, the weak points in the binding spell.
But breaking them would take time. Time I didn't have.
[STEALTH MODE: 0:45 REMAINING]
Forty-five seconds before I'm visible. Forty-five seconds before I'm fighting two lieutenants and however many guards come running.
I looked at Asia. She was watching me, green eyes wide with hope and terror.
I mouthed: I'll get you out.
She nodded, barely.
Dohnaseek's head snapped up. "Something's wrong."
Mihae stopped patrolling. "What?"
"The energy. There's a devil here. Close."
Shit.
[STEALTH MODE: 0:15 REMAINING]
Fifteen seconds. I could run. Get out, regroup, try again later.
But there was no later. The ritual started in ten minutes, and Asia would die screaming.
Greater payment yields greater results.
The Fragment's voice was calm. Almost amused.
You want to save her? Then pay for it.
I didn't have time to negotiate. Didn't have time for anything.
What do you need?
A memory of victory. Of winning when you should have lost. Give me that, and I'll give you time.
My mind flashed back. Not to this world, to the old one. Championship game, senior year. Down 2-0 at halftime. Everyone had written us off. But we came back. I scored the winning goal in the last minute. My teammates lifting me up, the crowd screaming my name.
Small. Trivial. But mine.
Take it.
[NEGOTIATION INITIATED]
[DESIRED ABILITY: TIME EXTENSION]
[PAYMENT OFFERED: MEMORY (VICTORY)]
[FRAGMENT ASSESSMENT: ACCEPTABLE]
[STEALTH MODE: EXTENDED TO 3:00]
The field stabilized. The countdown reset.
Three more minutes. Enough time to work.
[STEALTH MODE: 0:00]
[FIELD COLLAPSED]
What?
I became visible. A devil standing in a church full of fallen angels, my hands still on Asia's chains.
Dohnaseek's eyes locked onto me. "You."
"Uh. Hi?"
He raised his spear. Mihae summoned hers. Two lieutenants, power levels 35 and 38, versus me at power level 24.
I made a terrible mistake.
"How did you get past the guards?" Dohnaseek demanded.
"Cleverness and good looks?"
His spear erupted with light. "Kill him."
They attacked.
I dove behind the altar as twin spears of light carved through the space where my head had been. Stone exploded. Debris rained down.
Okay. Okay. Think. They're faster, stronger, more experienced. I have...
What did I have? Basic flight. Regeneration that wouldn't help if they took my head off. Light Manipulation that would burn me from the inside if I tried using it.
I have nothing.
Mihae came over the altar, wings spread, spear aimed at my chest. I rolled left. The spear punched through stone like paper.
Dohnaseek attacked from the right. I threw myself backward, barely avoiding disembowelment.
"You're the one who killed our scouts," Dohnaseek said. His voice was cold, clinical. "Power level twenty-four. Pathetic. Did you really think you could face us?"
No. But I didn't have a choice.
I scrambled to my feet. My back hit the ritual circle's edge. The runes flared, and pain lanced through my spine.
Trapped. I'm trapped between the ritual circle and two enemies who outclass me.
Mihae thrust. I dodged right. Dohnaseek was already there, spear coming in low.
It caught me in the ribs.
Pain exploded. I felt something crack, felt the light magic burning devil flesh. I hit the ground hard, rolling, coming up gasping.
[WARNING: SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE DETECTED]
[REGENERATION: ACTIVE]
[ESTIMATED RECOVERY: 45 SECONDS]
Forty-five seconds I didn't have.
Dohnaseek walked toward me, spear dragging sparks across stone. "You stole our technique. Impressive. But technique without power is just knowledge. And knowledge doesn't save you when you're dying."
He raised the spear.
This is it. This is how I die. Thirty seconds into my grand rescue attempt.
"You're dying. This is suboptimal."
The Fragment's voice cut through the pain.
"His technique. Light Lance. Enough to pierce him."
I can't use Light Manipulation. It'll burn me from the inside out.
"Not if I stabilize it."
Images flooded my mind. Dohnaseek's Light Lance, refined and perfected over decades. The Fragment could copy it, filter it, make it safe enough for a devil to use.
Safe-ish.
What's the price?
The Fragment paused. When it spoke again, its voice was gentle. Almost sad.
"Your mother's voice."
The world stopped.
"The sound of her words. The tone of her love. The way she said your name when you were hurt. The way she said your name when she was proud."
No.
"You'll remember her face. Her words. Her actions. Everything she did, everything she taught you. But the voice itself, the sound of it, will be silence. Forever."
Dohnaseek's spear descended.
"Five seconds."
There has to be another way...
"Four."
Please...
"Three."
I need her voice. It's all I have left of her.
"Two."
Asia was screaming. Dohnaseek was smiling. The spear was three feet from my chest.
"One."
I accept.
[THE FRAGMENT RESPONDS]
[ACQUISITION PRICE: PAID]
[ABILITY ACQUIRED: LIGHT LANCE]
[EFFICIENCY: 45%]
[NOTE: FRAGMENT-STABILIZED TO PREVENT DEVIL SELF-DAMAGE]
[NOTE: MINOR PAIN ON USE, NOT DEBILITATING]
[FRAGMENT NOTE: "SOME PRICES CAN BE REPAID. AT GREAT COST. NOT YET."]
Knowledge flooded in. Not just how to form the lance, but how to use it. Dohnaseek's combat instincts, his decades of experience, filtered through the Fragment and burned into my nervous system.
I rolled. Dohnaseek's spear hit stone.
I came up with a Light Lance in my right hand. Pure concentrated light, stable and deadly. It burned. God, it burned. Wrong in every way for a devil to hold.
But it didn't cripple.
Dohnaseek's eyes widened. "That's... how did you..."
I thrust.
He barely parried. The impact sent shockwaves through the chapel. What remained of the stained glass shattered.
Mihae attacked from my left. I moved, not with my own skill, but with Dohnaseek's. His instincts guided my body. I sidestepped her thrust, spun, and drove my Light Lance into her wing.
She screamed. The wing dissolved into burning feathers.
Dohnaseek stared at me. At his own technique being used against his partner.
"Little thief," he whispered. "You steal my power and think that makes you my equal?"
I let the Echo bleed through. His arrogance, his contempt, his absolute certainty of superiority coloring my voice:
"No. It makes me better."
He froze. Just for a heartbeat. Shock in his eyes.
That heartbeat was enough.
We clashed in the center of the chapel.
Light against light. Our spears met with impacts that cracked stone and shattered pillars. Each exchange sent pain lancing up my arm. The Light Lance burning, my ribs still broken, my regeneration struggling to keep up.
But Dohnaseek was weakening too. Because I knew exactly how to counter every move he made.
I'd stolen his knowledge. His skill. His muscle memory.
Pathetic, something whispered in my mind. Dies because he was slow.
The thought wasn't mine. It was his. Dohnaseek's contempt for weaker opponents, bleeding through the Fragment into my consciousness.
I should have been horrified.
I used it instead.
He thrust high. I ducked, came up inside his guard, drove my lance toward his chest.
He twisted, barely avoiding it. His counter came fast, aimed at my throat.
I parried. Our weapons locked. We stood face to face, Light Lances crossed between us.
"You don't deserve that power," Dohnaseek snarled.
"Probably not," I agreed. "But I need it more than you do."
I pushed. He pushed back. We were matched. His greater strength against my devil physiology, his experience against his own stolen technique.
Something had to give.
For a moment, just a flash, I saw through different eyes. Felt Raynare's cold satisfaction as she tortured a weaker fallen angel, heard his screams, felt her smile.
No.
I crushed the memory immediately. Shoved it down into whatever dark corner the Echo lived in.
Not his thought. Not his cruelty. Not mine.
But the distraction cost me. Dohnaseek broke the lock, spun, came in from the side.
I barely got my lance up in time. His spear grazed my shoulder, burning. I countered on instinct, catching him across the chest.
He staggered back.
I pressed the advantage. Three strikes, four, driving him toward the ritual circle. He parried desperately, his movements getting sloppy.
He's tired. He's not used to fighting someone who knows his technique as well as he does.
The final exchange was almost anticlimactic.
He overextended on a thrust. The same mistake his scout had made in that alley, the same overconfidence in superior power. I sidestepped, spun, and drove my Light Lance through his chest.
The fallen angel crumpled. His spear dissolved into light, then into nothing. He hit the ground, his remaining wing twitching once, twice.
Then still.
[COMBAT: CONCLUDED]
[ENEMY: DOHNASEEK - DEFEATED]
[EXPERIENCE: +500 XP]
[LEVEL UP! LEVEL 7 → LEVEL 8]
[POWER LEVEL: 24 → 38]
I stood over him, breathing hard, the Light Lance flickering in my hand.
Victory.
I tried to remember what my mother's voice sounded like when she said "I'm proud of you."
Nothing.
Just silence where she used to be.
The cost hit me like a physical blow. I'd known it was coming. Had agreed to it. But knowing and feeling were different things.
I could remember her face. The way her eyes crinkled when she smiled, the gray starting to show in her hair. I could remember her words, the things she'd taught me, the way she'd raised me alone after Dad left.
But her voice, the sound of it, the tone, the warmth, was just gone. Like trying to remember a song I'd never heard. The shape of the memory was there, but the substance had been carved out.
I wanted to scream. Wanted to collapse. Wanted to rage at the Fragment for taking something so precious.
But Asia was still chained to that altar. Still waiting. Still dying.
Mihae was struggling to her feet, one wing gone, murder in her eyes.
And somewhere in this building, Raynare was waiting.
I forced myself forward. One step. Another. The Light Lance flickered out, but I could feel it now, ready to summon again, burned into my soul with a price I'd carry forever.
Some prices can be repaid, the Fragment had said. At great cost. Not yet.
Not yet.
But someday.
I ran toward Asia, toward the chains, toward whatever came next.
Behind me, Dohnaseek's body began to dissolve into light.
[CHAPTER END]
END OF CHAPTER STATS:
[HOST STATUS]
Name: Ryder Cross
Level: 8
Race: Reincarnated Devil (Pawn x1)
STR: 9 | INT: 11 | AGI: 10 | VIT: 9 | SPR: 8
Power Level: 38
Echo Level: 10%