"Oh ho~! Wait a second, do you two know each other!? Is this one of those forbidden romances between a devil and a nun!? Ugh, gross! Don't say stuff that gives me goosebumps! I was told by the fallen angel lady not to hurt you, but you're really making me wanna kill you right now!"
"A devil...? You mean Mr. Issei?"
"Yes! YES! Oh wow, you really didn't notice? Bingo! That guy over there is a piece of crap lower than crap! A genuine devil, folks!"
Laughing as if he were truly enjoying himself, Freed continued.
"Sadly, we humans and devils just don't mix~☆ And unlike us, he's one of those pathetic weaklings who need the protection of fallen angels to survive~"
Freed being crazy is one thing, but Akeno too...?
"Well then~☆ Shall we get back to dissecting this little devil boy, hmm?"
Freed once again raised his light sword toward us. I had amplified my power a few times during that last exchange, so the light's damage is barely anything now. My leg's still shaky from being shot, but as long as I don't take another hit to a vital spot, I should be okay.
I was just about to raise my fists to counter him when,
Akeno stepped in front of me, spreading her arms wide to shield me.
"…Are you serious right now? Akeno-chan, do you even understand what you're doing?"
"Please stop, Father Freed! There are good devils too! Killing someone just because they're a devil is wrong!"
"HUH?! Are you stupid!? There's no such thing as a good devil! They're nothing but maggots that keep crawling out of the dirt no matter how many you kill! Now get the hell out of the way!!"
"I will not move! I'll say it as many times as it takes, there are good devils!"
The moment Akeno said that firmly, all emotion vanished from Freed's face.
"…Tch. I was told not to hurt you, but screw it, I can't take this anymore. As long as you don't die, it's fine, right?"
With that, Freed swung his light sword toward Akeno,
CLANG!
"You bastard... what the hell do you think you're doing?"
I stepped in from behind Akeno, pulling her close with my right arm while blocking Freed's attack with the gauntlet on my left hand.
I'd gathered enough power to react in time, thank you, Ddraig.
I wanted nothing more than to smash this bastard's face in, but Akeno's safety came first.
I pulled her back and shielded her with my body. Just as we locked eyes again with Freed, a magic circle activated in the corner of the room, and Kiba appeared, sword in hand.
"Issei, I came to help!"
"Kiba!"
"Oh my, this looks quite serious."
"An Exorcist…"
Akeno and Koneko appeared one after another, and finally, Rias teleported in as well.
"Sorry we're late, Issei. We didn't expect a stray Exorcist to be at the client's location… So? Is that girl the one named Asia?"
"Yes… This is Asia."
As I answered, Freed butted into the conversation with a gleeful tone.
"Oooh! A whole group of devils, huh? What's this? Are you trying to seduce my little Asia-chan? Nope! No way I'm letting that happen, not on my watch~☆"
He moved to a spot where he could see all of us and kept talking.
He might act like a clown, but this guy clearly has plenty of combat experience.
"Come on, Asia-chan, ditch that bug and come back to my side~☆ You were exiled from the Church, and now you're betraying the fallen angels too, joining up with devils? I had no idea you were such a loose girl, what a shocker!"
Even surrounded like this, he kept his mocking tone, but…
"Exiled from the Church…?"
The words slipped from my mouth.
This girl, someone this kind, was exiled?
I couldn't believe Asia would ever do something wrong. Freed seemed to pick up on my confusion and twisted his grin even wider.
"Oho! Wanna hear the story? Sure, sure, I'll tell ya~ I couldn't stop laughing the first time I heard it myself!"
And so Freed began his tale.
How a girl awakened healing powers at a young age, healed countless people, and was revered as a saint.
How one day she healed a wounded devil, an enemy, and for that, she was branded a heretic and cast out of the Church.
"Kukukuku! Don't you think God's kind of irresponsible? He says, 'Love thy enemy,' and then turns a blind eye when the Church exiles someone for doing just that. Hilarious, right?"
He laughed again.
What the hell…? How could they do that to someone like her?
I turned toward Asia and saw her hanging her head. The others all looked visibly furious too.
"Well then, well then! Issei-kun, right? You had a great look on your face earlier, made me wanna eat three full meals~☆ Now how about you give me the main course, your screams!!"
With an evil, filthy grin, Freed lunged toward me.
Seeing that, hearing his words, and thinking about what Asia had been through… my rage exploded.
"You son of a bitch…!"
"Explosion!!"
With Ddraig's shout, power surged through my entire body.
The unstable force I'd been struggling with suddenly clicked into place, it was stable now. I could do this!
Before Freed could even finish swinging his sword, my fist connected with his face and sent him flying.
He crashed into a pile of furniture in the distance. I could still hear him groaning, so he probably wasn't dead. Felt like he tried to pull back at the last moment.
"Ghh!"
The moment I relaxed after taking Freed down, the pain in my injured leg surged back.
"Issei-san! Your leg, is it hurt!?"
Asia noticed my wound, reached out her hand, and began healing me with a soft, glowing aura. Incredible. The bullet had gone clean through, but she healed it in seconds.
'That level of healing is rare even in the underworld.'
Even Ddraig sounded impressed.
"Thank you, Asia. I'm okay now."
"I'm just glad you're safe, Issei-san."
She smiled at me as she said it… Damn it! Why the hell didn't God protect someone like her!?
As I fumed internally, Koneko suddenly looked up and said, "A fallen angel's presence is approaching."
Reinforcements!?
"We've no choice. Everyone, we're retreating."
Rias activated a magic circle on the floor and gave the order.
"Wait! President! Then let Asia come with us too!"
"I'm sorry, but that's not possible. This magic circle only works for my familiars. Besides, regardless of the circumstances, Asia is still considered part of the fallen angel organization. Given her position, they likely won't treat her too roughly."
"But! That priest, Freed or whatever, tried to kill her!"
As I protested, someone pushed me toward the magic circle from behind. I turned quickly, Asia was looking at me with a forced smile, trying not to make me worry.
"Father Freed said it himself. The fallen angels told him, 'Do not harm her'…"
"I'll be okay," she said, but still!
"ASIAAAAAA!!"
The magic circle flared with light. I tried to run to her, but the teleportation was faster.
The last thing I saw was her tearful smile,
And then we were back in the clubroom.
====================
"Please! Let me go back and rescue Asia!"
I begged Rias as soon as we arrived, but she got angry instead.
"No! I told you before, didn't I? This could easily escalate into a war! Why can't you understand that!?"
I know. I know in my head that she's right, that what I'm saying is selfish and reckless.
I can tell Rias genuinely cares about me… I can't cause her any more trouble.
'Sorry, President.' I apologized silently, then said aloud, "Then remove me from your peerage. I'll go alone if I have to!"
"You…!"
She was about to yell again when suddenly the door to the clubroom opened, and Ikki stepped inside.
Wait, what? Why is he still at school? It's after 8 PM, shouldn't he have gone home?
Rias was just as confused. "Ikki!? Why are you here?"
"I felt Issei's Boosted Gear releasing a rough aura. At first, I was heading to that location, but then I sensed everyone moving here, so I came to find out what happened."
So that's how he knew… Come to think of it, Koneko sensed the fallen angels too, Senjutsu is really something.
As I thought that, Akeno walked in from the back of the room.
"Oh my, everyone. We just confirmed the situation with the fallen angels."
"And?"
"They're guilty. Looks like those fallen angels are acting independently and plotting something behind the scenes."
"I see. That means we don't have to hold back anymore."
"President!"
"Issei, I wasn't exactly calm inside after hearing her story either. Alright, everyone! Let's go! Our destination: the church! We're going to clean up these troublemakers once and for all!!"
"Yes!"
Hang in there, Asia! I'm coming to save you!!
====================
Note: Some of you may have noticed something odd in the last chapter. In this story, Koneko is always in her "two-tailed" form, so the original "Shirone Mode" has been replaced with "Nekomata Mode Level 2" as her evolution technique.
I still plan to include Shirone Mode as a separate reveal later on.