Chapter 25: The Governor's Arrival
"Is this really a good idea?" Asia couldn't help but ask, standing alongside Takauji, Sona, and a floating, imprisoned Freed at the front entrance of Kuoh's abandoned church.
"It'll be fine, they're nothing more than a rag-tag group of scoundrels. Hardly anything worth fussing over," Sona shrugged. There wasn't any reason for her to be nervous, seeing as she had effortlessly dismantled the Fallen Angels some time ago.
Truthfully, fighting Freed was probably a bigger challenge than taking on all four of them at once, and considering the Stray Exorcist's current state, that wasn't really saying much.
'How convenient.'
Takauji couldn't help but smile to himself.
He had planned to create an entirely original technique to approach the church without Sona's knowledge, but that opportunity presented itself to him on a silver platter.
Of course, he was still determined to create his Yin Release barrier, even if it didn't serve any immediate use—it was highly probable that he'd need it in the future.
That and the added knowledge he'd amass from successfully creating an original technique were far too valuable to pass up.
He'd already sacrificed much of his mental stamina, so there was no reason not to go all the way—sunk-cost fallacy and everything.
"What are you doing?" Sona asked in confusion, observing him as he started moulding Chakra in front of the church's exterior for some reason.
"I'm setting up a barrier in case some unwanted company decides to make their presence known while we're in there."
He used Shadow Step to quickly reach all four corners of the structure, perform the necessary hand-seals, and set up the Hensou Formation.
He was well aware that it wasn't a compelling formation. Still, if someone were to try to invade or destroy it, they'd be able to gather information through field-testing how the barrier actually operated when in use.
And that information would contribute to the development of his Yin Release technique.
"Have you already learned a Chakra Formation?" Sona asked with evident surprise. Even if it was a rudimentary one, his learning pace never ceased to amaze her.
This fact only increased her interest in whatever project Takauji was working on. She had never seen him truly struggle, so clearly, it had to be something rather challenging.
"Let's get this over with quickly," he stretched his neck from side to side, his physical strength now more than sufficient to easily open the church's door. "The sooner I can get back to work, the better."
Sona confidently followed him inside, while Asia remained behind Sona's back in apprehension. The run-down sight of the church caused her gut to stir a little, and there wasn't a single piece of holy decor to be seen.
"Is this place really a church?" The former Holy Maiden couldn't help but ask.
"It used to be," Takauji confirmed while examining the building's interior. "But after the priest in charge disappeared, they never bothered to reinstate a new one."
He shrugged, spreading his arms out and gesturing to the shoddy state of the place. "So this is all that remains now, a decommissioned shell of its former self."
He continued to stroll through the church's halls, stopping once he reached the end, where he was faced with little more than a shattered portrait and an altar.
'So that's where you're all hiding.'
A faint, chilling smirk crawled up his face as he looked down, his Ki Sense picking up on the presence of four familiar individuals lurking beneath them.
"Please, keep us waiting for as long as you like," Sona said with both a knowing and irritated expression, having already detected their presence before they even stepped foot into the church.
'So needlessly bossy.'
He rolled his eyes before kicking the altar, pushing it aside to reveal a spiraling staircase that descended into the church's basement level.
Swoosh!
The second the lower area was revealed, a small, sharp object came hurling towards him, aimed directly at his face.
'It seems we made a little bit too much noise up here, oh well, they're not strong enough to properly capitalize on a minuscule head-start.'
He frowned, his mood turning sour as he caught a dagger in his hands, immediately responding by throwing it back in the direction from which it came.
"GAH!"
And judging from the pained yell he had just heard, his accuracy had been on point.
Takauji took a few steps downward, looking at a figure wearing a purple-hooded robe who was lying on his back, with the dagger he had just thrown embedded into his neck.
"So Fallen Angels aren't the only ones dwelling here." From what the Magician could tell, the soon-to-be-dead individual was a human.
"It's probably just another Stray Exorcist, I can sense quite a few of them gathered around here," Sona spoke coldly, observing the figure's bleeding state with pure indifference.
"I doubt any of them will be as strong as our prisoner over here, so try to deal with them quickly. I don't intend on staying here for long." Sona noticed Asia's clear discomfort, but chose not to comment on it.
Without seeing the true nature of the people she had been dealing with, the Nun wouldn't have understood the importance of assessing the people you choose to align yourself with.
"You want me to do all of the work for you?" Takauji asked with a raised brow, crouching down and pulling the dagger out of the Stray Exorcist's neck, causing him to bleed out even faster.
"It'll be good training for you, unless you think it's too much to handle? If that's the case, then I suppose I wouldn't mind lending a helping hand." She grinned, knowing exactly how he'd respond to such a provocation.
'Insufferable woman!'
"As if," he clicked his tongue, continuing to lead the way forward.
"Uhm… Do the two of you normally do this sort of stuff?" Asia couldn't help but wonder.
"You mean killing people?" Sona spoke bluntly, knowing precisely what the Nun was referring to.
"That's not—"
"It can't be helped, the Fallen Angels decided to break the ceasefire agreement by using a Stray Exorcist to kill a civilian in a Devil-ruled town. There are consequences for such actions, and if we don't enforce them, those consequences won't be taken seriously."
"Consequences…" Asia muttered under her breath, watching as Takauji seamlessly dealt with the horde of Stray Exorcists coming his way.
It was a grotesque sight for her to witness, the Magician constantly projecting a wide array of different weapons so he could test them out and against his opponents.
Did he know how to use most of them? Absolutely not. He had only been trained in the staff, after all.
But the overwhelming difference in brute strength and the sheer quantity of spells he could rely on just in case anything went awry allowed him to experiment as freely as he wished.
…
After about ten minutes of constant fighting, the Stray Exorcists finally seemed to have run out of manpower.
'She really just stood there and watched me do everything, don't blame me when you find your shoes imbued with Grease Magic!'
He shook the blood off his hands, glaring at Sona while she pretended not to notice his disgruntlement.
When they reached the final section of the underground area, they saw a rather odd structure.
A large cross stood in the distance, its exterior wrapped in ominous, tightly bound silver chains.
But before they paid the cross any attention, they had more pressing business to attend to.
"There's no use in hiding, I know where each and every one of you is." Takauji raised his voice, watching as four silhouettes slowly revealed themselves from the dark crevices of the room.
They were none other than Raynare, Kalawarna, Dohnaseek, and Mittelt.
All of whom were cowering in fear, particularly because of the trauma they had received at Sona's hands.
"Hey… Ashikaga-san…" Raynare nervously called out to him. "We can talk this out—"
"I thought I clarified that you wouldn't speak without my permission." A torrent of water shot out of Sona's hands, grabbing Raynare by the waist and dragging her towards her until she was at Sona's feet. "Especially to my Contracted Magician."
'...That rule still applies?'
Raynare didn't dare voice her question, knowing it'd probably just result in her having her head pummeled into the ground.
"Now then, how do you plan on explaining why I found this little vermin trying to kill a civilian in my town?" Sona brought Freed's prison closer to her, causing Raynare's eyes to widen in panic upon seeing his figure.
His job was supposed to be just bringing Asia back to the church!
But given the current situation, he had apparently taken the liberty of doing something beyond what Raynare had ordered.
Even so, that didn't alleviate her of any responsibility, especially not in Sona's eyes, who happened to be in control of whether Raynare lived to see tomorrow or not.
"I didn't order him to do anything like that! I swear!" In truth, all she could realistically do in this situation was plead for her life.
Even if her higher-ups appeared by some mystical stroke of luck, there was no way they'd take her side; her orders were to merely observe and stay on the lookout for Sacred Gears possessors.
Obviously, she had done a lot more than just sit and watch.
The Fallen Angel population might be lacking, but giving up a group of low-ranking Fallen Angels to maintain peace with the Underworld was a decision any Cadre would be more than willing to make.
"Sure, sure." Sona chuckled menacingly, naturally not being inclined to believe a single word that came out of Raynare's mouth.
She crouched down, leveling herself with Raynare and staring her down with an almost pitying expression.
"Honestly speaking, I don't actually care whether you're fully responsible for this or not. Your existence here has been a bother to me for quite some time, and I'm just glad that I finally have an excuse to kill you."
"Hehe," Sona raised her head, noticing that her Contracted Magician was laughing to himself.
"Is something funny?"
He raised his hands. "No, not at all. Please, continue."
'I'm not sure why, but you're pretty attra— No. Amusing. You're pretty amusing right now.'
He clasped his hands behind his back, part of him wishing he was able to project popcorn.
'Wait a minute…'
But moments later, his bemused attitude ended, and a disturbing realization hit him like a lightning bolt.
"Not good!" He yelled out, looking up at the ceiling with a somewhat fearful expression.
Someone had broken his formation!
Not only that, but they had done it in such a precise manner that there was a delay between the time it was broken and the time it took Takauji to actually realize what had happened.
"What's wrong?"
"Someone's coming!"
Tap, Tap, Tap.
Everyone in the room, including the Fallen Angels, turned to face the hallway leading into the spacious room containing the strange cross structure.
'They're fast!'
An unmistakable sound had made itself known.
The sound of footsteps, slowly approaching them in a calm, composed, rhythmic manner.
"I gave the four of you the simplest task imaginable," an aged voice, presumably belonging to a middle-aged man, spoke. "Sit still, and observe. That was all I asked you to do, wasn't it?"
The footsteps got closer and closer, and with it, a pressure that not a single person in the room could muster up the strength to endure.
"Yet, you still managed to screw up such an unbelievably easy job. I'm normally the merciful type, but you brought everything that's happening, and everything that's going to happen to you now, onto yourselves."
And as shocked as Takauji, Asia, and Sona were, none of them could compare to the level of surprise Raynare and her subordinates were experiencing.
"Lord Azazel!"
━━━━
Obligatory aura farm.
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