However, the ones Zeroy had encountered before were just scattered, isolated stray exorcists.
After all, once they left the Church and continued to abuse the Church's powers outside, the Church would obviously not let such things slide, and had been constantly hunting them down and purging them.
Their situation had always been miserable.
And this time, it was Zeroy's first time seeing so many stray priests gathered together.
Noticing this, a smile appeared on Zeroy's face.
"You all being gathered together really saves me a lot of trouble."
Without a doubt, the smile on the girl's face carried genuine gratitude.
"As thanks, I'd like to invite you all to my wonderful little hell as guests. Who's in favor? Who's against?"
After a brief silence, one stray exorcist suddenly shouted: "...Kill her!"
They couldn't make sense of who this woman was, why she was here, or how strong she was.
Regardless, none of that mattered—just kill her.
The exorcists launched their attack.
"So eager to die? Fine, I'll oblige you."
A few minutes later, the ground was littered with dismembered corpses.
"Uuuh..."
Seeing the scene, Aisia let out a frightened whimper.
She had followed voluntarily. After learning of Zeroy's painstaking intentions and how she had no choice, Aisia had expressed her desire to help.
She couldn't fight, yet she wanted to use her Longinus to assist Zeroy, and she hoped to share in the burden and pain Zeroy carried—the burden of having to cruelly kill and dismember the pests.
"Humans?"
At that moment, a disdainful voice rang out above the church.
It was a scantily clad Fallen Angel, sitting casually on the rooftop of the church, looking down at the situation below with condescension in both expression and tone.
Several other Fallen Angels surrounded her, making it seem like a real entourage.
"Hand over that girl to me. I can forgive your insolence, and it's not impossible that I might even let you join us."
She didn't care in the slightest that all her lackeys had been slaughtered—and moreover—
She had absolutely no idea what she was facing.
"?"
Zeroy tilted her head.
"How many lives do you think you have to dare speak to me like that while carrying the stench of a pest?"
That's right, these Fallen Angels before her were pests too. The moment they appeared, Zeroy saw the black mist clinging to them.
"Die!"
The battle that took place in the abandoned church didn't make much noise. After all, it was a one-sided slaughter, not a clash of mana.
At most, before Zeroy finished slowly cutting them down, these pests would struggle a little.
In any case, after all, this was still the territory managed by Rias.
They had, of course, sensed those fleeting waves of power.
And when they arrived, what they saw was a field of mangled limbs, with several Fallen Angels' heads stuck into the ground.
"..."
Rias lowered her head, clenching her fists so tightly that her hands and shoulders trembled.
"If you've got guts, don't run! Bastard!"
Did this guy think they were janitors, cleaning up after her?
Couldn't she take away the trash she made herself? What the hell did it mean, leaving them a mess to deal with every single time??
Although the other party had indeed helped her by eliminating stray devils, Fallen Angels, and stray exorcists—and for that, she was truly grateful.
After all, while these weren't enemies too difficult for her to handle, if they had hidden away, they would have been a real headache.
Fallen Angels, stray devils, a mysterious outside force, and a mysterious blonde killer—what made her feel overwhelmed was precisely because of all these factors together.
Now, after this uproar, only the mysterious outside force remained, along with the blonde killer who had conveniently disposed of the other two.
That was a lot less to worry about.
That said, couldn't this person at least stop leaving piles of trash behind for them to clean up?
And couldn't she at least make it clear whether she was friend or foe? If she was an ally, couldn't she come out and meet them, talk things through?
The constant anxiety was getting to be too much.
This person... she was definitely some uncouth, muscle-bound, incomprehensible brute who obsessed over bizarre rituals and had no sense of courtesy at all!
...
Zeroy, however, had no intention of avoiding Rias.
She simply wasn't in a hurry to meet her.
Dealing with stray devils and stray priests was what she had done on her first night in Kuoh Town.
After bringing Aisia back and caring for her until morning, she went out to deal with the Fallen Angels.
Cleansing along the way, finishing off the Fallen Angels, and by the time she returned, it was already noon.
Zeroy thought about it and figured that Rias and the others should be at school right now, so going to meet them wouldn't be very appropriate.
As for Rias and the others frequently rushing over to clean up the messes left behind from pest purges—
That was never Zeroy's intention.
She believed her movements weren't loud enough to be noticed by Rias and the others.
Normally, that would indeed have been the case. It was only because of the recent surge in trouble and the influx of too many outsiders into Kuoh Town that Rias and the others had increased surveillance of their territory.
So while Zeroy's movements were subtle, the pests' struggles had still released some traces of power.
If Zeroy had really wanted to make noise to attract Rias's attention, she would have gone straight for Azazel.
After all, the Governor of the Fallen Angels was currently in hiding right there in Kuoh Town.
Whether or not he was a pest, fighting him would at least let her see if she could complete [Defeat powerful foes].
Since she thought Rias and the others were in class and it wasn't the right time to disturb them, Zeroy went off again to purge pests.
The pests in Kuoh Town had already been cleaned up along with the stray devils and Fallen Angels, so there weren't many left.
But that was fine—she could just go elsewhere to purge them, treating it as a chance to gather Longinuss along the way.
After school—
Rias and the others gathered in the Occult Research Club's activity room.
They were discussing tonight's actions, the various recent incidents, and the intel they had gathered.
At that moment, an enormous wave of magic suddenly radiated from the park outside the school.
It wasn't violent, nor did it come with any loud noise. It was simply the release of magical power, and judging by the feel, it was clearly an invitation, meant to draw attention.
The instant she sensed it, Rias recognized it.
That was the barbarian's magical power! The same magic that lingered on the corpses of the stray devil and the Fallen Angels!
"Quick! Akeno! Let's go!"
Rias nearly abandoned her noble elegance. She practically leapt up from the sofa, seized Akeno Himejima by the arm, and rushed into the magic circle.
The others were left staring, dumbfounded.
Nevertheless, Rias gave them no time to react.
She only knew one thing—she absolutely had to catch that barbarian and vent her frustration properly—yes, starting with mocking that woman's appearance, which had to be her weak point!
Because, in terms of strength, Rias was pretty sure she couldn't win.
...
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