"————!"
Yukino Yukinoshita abruptly stopped her steps, a sudden, inexplicable jolt running through her heart.
It was a spasm from primal human instinct, a latent alert triggered when a creature encountered danger.
"Clop... Clop... Clop..."
As Yukino Yukinoshita felt that inexplicable heart palpitation, the overly deliberate sound of footsteps grew closer, until its owner fully appeared before her.
It was a man dressed quite distinctively.
The man was around thirty years old, wearing very old-fashioned clothing and draped in a black cloak, much like an ancient person who had suddenly arrived in the modern era from the Middle Ages, making him stand out significantly from his surroundings.
His appearance was unremarkable, but his eyes were excessively hostile. The gaze he turned on Yukino Yukinoshita revealed not admiration for a beautiful woman, but a critical, judging look, like one reserved for a tool about to be discarded.
That look was incredibly rude. Under normal circumstances, it would certainly have caused Yukino Yukinoshita to frown and show displeasure.
But under the influence of that strange internal jolt, Yukino Yukinoshita didn't feel displeasure; instead, she felt... fear.
"W-who are you?"
Yukino Yukinoshita unconsciously took a step back, asking the question aloud.
The question sounded forceful and calm, but the anxiety hidden within could not be concealed.
The man was naturally not intimidated. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and sneered.
"Already faintly sensing danger? As expected of one who harbors that detestable thing—even though you look like an ordinary little girl, your essence still possesses something extraordinary."
The man did not sound like he was talking to Yukino Yukinoshita but was speaking more to himself.
His attitude clearly conveyed that he believed Yukino Yukinoshita was unworthy of conversation.
Sensing genuine danger from the man's demeanor, Yukino Yukinoshita subconsciously looked around.
Only then did she realize that there was no one present in the vicinity; it was utterly empty.
Even though this area was near the station and usually had a high flow of people even at night, there wasn't a single soul now. This was undeniably an abnormal situation.
"What? Looking for help?"
This time, the man did speak directly to Yukino Yukinoshita, but his manner clearly showed he was enjoying the girl's fear.
"Give up, no one is coming to save you." The man began to walk toward Yukino Yukinoshita step by step, maliciously grinning as he went. "A barrier to drive people away has been set up around here. Even the Church personnel permanently stationed in this city would need some time to detect the abnormality. There's no need to mention ordinary people; they won't come near at all."
Hearing this, Yukino Yukinoshita retreated involuntarily as the man approached. Enduring her dread, she spoke.
"Who exactly are you? What do you want with me?"
Facing the girl's question, the man only continued to sneer.
"Ignorance is bliss, as they say. Knowing too much will do you no good." The man spoke, as if baring ferocious fangs, "You have no right to question me, mere human, mere lower life form. Just accept your fate, and docilely welcome your judgment; that is enough."
As his voice fell, the scene that appeared before Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes in the next moment completely overturned her lifelong understanding.
"Snap!"
With a sound like clapping, a pair of pitch-black wings materialized behind the man.
They were not bat-like wings, like Leon's, but black, angelic wings, with feathers hanging down in segments.
"Y-you're a Devil...?"
Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes widened, and she spoke that line without thinking.
Who would have thought that this sentence would infuriate the man?
"A Devil? You dare call me that filthy, vile creature?" The man visibly grew furious. "Damn human! I—Vadeen—am a noble Fallen Angel! A dignified race that dares to spit upon and betray even God!"
"You dare call me a Devil? Unforgivable!"
Vadeen stretched out his hand, and a ball of light condensed in his palm.
The light was dim and felt contaminated, but it condensed into a spear of light that Vadeen grasped in his hand.
"Insulting me—that is the first sin."
"Favored by the creation of the God we despise, harboring a dangerous Sacred Gear in your body—that is the second sin."
"For both sins, you must die today."
Yukino Yukinoshita did not hear the end of Vadeen's deep declaration, which sounded as if it came from the depths of hell.
Sensing that deadly danger was about to fall upon her, Yukino Yukinoshita finally thought of escape and turned to run without a word.
However, just as she took two steps, a vibration sounded in the air.
"Pffft!"
A sound, like something being ripped apart, appeared.
Yukino Yukinoshita's steps faltered, and she could no longer move.
Her pupils shook, her face was pale, and she stared blankly down at her abdomen.
There, the spear of light, which Vadeen had held moments ago, had pierced through her flesh and emerged out the other side, causing scorching blood to spray from Yukino Yukinoshita's body.
"Cough...!"
Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't feel the pain, only coughing up a mouthful of blood.
Strength drained from her body.
Her body temperature was rapidly dropping.
Yukino Yukinoshita was lost and confused. By the time she came to her senses, she had already collapsed onto the ground, her face and skin stained red by the slowly expanding pool of blood.
Vadeen, who had appeared behind Yukino Yukinoshita at some point, pulled out the spear of light that had run through her body. He looked down at her from above, haughty and malicious.
"With this, the mission is complete."
"The higher-ups said to investigate first and not act rashly, but... who wants to stay long in this place occupied by the Church?"
"No matter what kind of Sacred Gear is housed in your body, as long as it disappears, everything is fine."
The smile on Vadeen's face was utterly vile.
"I don't have that much time to waste on a despicable human."
Yukino Yukinoshita could no longer hear those words.
Her vision was narrowing, her hearing was fading, her pupils began to dilate, and even her consciousness was on the verge of eternal sinking.
In this moment, only one man's voice remained in her mind.
"Do you believe in the existence of Devils?"
"As long as you haven't seen the truth of this world and still firmly believe in the concepts fostered by the education you've received over these seventeen years, continuing this conversation would be pointless."
"Come back to the topic when you encounter something that can truly shatter everything you've ever believed."
The man's past words transformed into fragments, flashing through her mind.
"So... this is the truth of the world..."
Carrying this regret and unwillingness, the girl slowly closed her eyes.
At this moment, Vadeen had already turned around, flapping his wings to fly up and prepare to leave.
This area was, after all, the Church's territory. For a Fallen Angel who had betrayed God to enter the territory of the Church, which revered God, was like a piece of meat entering a wolf's den. The moment he gave off the slightest scent of meat, he would immediately attract their hunt.
Therefore, he was reluctant to stay here too long, lest he be targeted.
However, Vadeen was destined not to leave today.
Because, at the moment Yukino Yukinoshita closed her eyes, the crimson magic circle on the parchment she still clutched in her hand lit up.
The magic circle flew from the paper and continuously expanded, allowing a figure to emerge from it.
"Boom!"
Vadeen, flying high in the sky, didn't even have time to register what was happening when a magical blast ripped through the air and slammed into him, exploding on his body.
"What?"
Vadeen crashed down in astonishment from mid-air, landing in a pathetic posture on one knee.
He then saw it.
He saw the figure emerging from the slowly fading magic circle.
"I just heard about the existence of you feathered ruffians from Sona at noon, and you're already jumping out by evening? Are you that impatient?"
A low voice sounded, and Leon's figure fully entered Vadeen's vision, twisting his expression.
"A Devil?" Vadeen spoke with both hatred and disgust. "Why would a Devil appear in the Church's territory?"
Although Leon hadn't revealed her wings yet, the magical blast just now and the Devil's aura emanating from her told Vadeen that she was the kind of Devil that Fallen Angels—especially Vadeen—disliked and looked down upon the most.
Devils and Fallen Angels were not only sworn enemies but also rivals vying for territory.
In the Hell that humans called the Underworld, both Devils and Fallen Angels resided there, splitting the Underworld in two, each occupying half, and had been constantly fighting for dominance of the Underworld since ancient times.
It could be said that they mutually despised each other. A portion of the Fallen Angels held Devils in extreme contempt, a quality developed when they were still Angels before their fall.
Angels naturally opposed Devils, believing them to be evil and ugly beings. Most importantly, their very existence represented sin, the transgressors who defied God. Fallen Angels, as former Angels, still viewed Devils as filthy things even after their fall, and coupled with the long-standing strife in the Underworld, this animosity and disgust had become deeply ingrained.
But Leon ignored Vadeen, who was glaring at her with unconcealed hostility, and turned her gaze to Yukino Yukinoshita lying in the pool of blood.
She could feel that Yukino Yukinoshita's aura was extremely weak, capable of dying at any moment.
Leon then turned back to Vadeen, expressionlessly.
"Daring to attack someone I favor, have you thought about how you're going to die?"
Leon's words only provoked Vadeen's anger.
"The one who should die is you! You despicable—"
Vadeen couldn't utter the rest of the sentence.
"Boom!!!"
A mass of magical power, like pitch-black flames, suddenly slammed down, hitting him and completely engulfing him.
"A-A-A-A-Agh...!"
Vadeen's agonizing screams echoed all around, then quickly vanished.
The fiery mass of magical power evaporated him on the spot, leaving not a single bone behind.