The truth was, if Raynare hadn't gone and skewered the protagonist right afterward, High School DxD might've ended in the first episode, if not for the timely appearance of the true female lead, Rias Gremory.
"How cocky. You're just a lowly exorcist from the Church, the audacity to stand before me, a noble Fallen Angel?"
Raynare's tone was mature and seductive, but the disdain she held for humans was unmistakable.
"A noble Fallen Angel? Weren't you three getting bullied every day back in Grigori?"
Rod gave her a baffled look.
If he didn't know the plot, he might've been fooled.
Raynare, Mittelt, Kalawarna, plus the now-deceased Dohnaseek, were basically the kind of characters in Western teen dramas who get shoved into lockers by the football team.
When they found out about Asia's Sacred Gear, they made a reckless play to change their fates and snuck into Kuoh Town.
"No way, how do you know about that?!"
Mittelt blurted out before she could stop herself and quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.
Kalawarna's usually icy expression also cracked a little.
If Raynare hadn't promised them glory, and an end to the mockery, they would never have taken the risk of stepping into a high-ranking devil's territory.
Raynare's face twitched.
She didn't recognize this guy. He didn't have a trace of Fallen Angel energy on him. How the hell did he know about their humiliations in Grigori?
Did Dohnaseek spill the beans before dying?
Useless trash!
"I don't know where you got this ridiculous intel, but don't think you'll just walk away now. Mittelt, Kalawarna, attack!"
Light gathered in Raynare's hands, forming a spear bathed in holy radiance. She hurled it toward Rod without hesitation.
As a Fallen Angel, Raynare's physical prowess was nothing to scoff at, and the density of her light energy could easily be used to power light swords or spears for exorcists.
But after seeing what Rod did to Dohnaseek, she knew he wasn't someone to take lightly, so she launched her attack mid-sentence, banking on catching him off-guard.
"Right! Let's strike toge-"
Mittelt began gathering light energy as well, but before her light spear could fully form, a sudden gust of wind hit her face.
The next second, she saw him.
That man was already standing before Raynare, a gleaming silver holy sword pressed to her porcelain neck.
It was so close that it drew a fine red line across her skin.
A bead of blood trickled down the blade and dripped to the floor, raising a faint cloud of dust.
Raynare froze. Her brain simply couldn't process what had just happened.
In less than a blink, the battlefield had flipped.
Where the hell was the light spear she just launched?
That thing should've been enough to kill a low-tier devil in a flash!
"I'll give you one more chance to rephrase everything," Rod said with a smile.
"Your lives are still yours, for now."
"Guh..."
Mittelt glanced at her half-formed light spear, then back at the scene in front of her. Without hesitation, she jammed the spear into the ground and,
Plop
She dropped to her knees.
She turned her head, dumbfounded.
Kalawarna, the perpetually cold and aloof Kalawarna, was already kneeling without saying a word.
What the hell, girl?!
You kneeled just like that?
Not even a heads-up first?
Seeing her comrade go down without a fight, Mittelt gulped and quickly followed suit.
Just as Rod had said: their lives were still their own.
And honestly? She was only here because Raynare needed backup. There hadn't even been a promise of actual payment. Why risk dying for a favor?
"I surrender! Please don't kill me!"
Mittelt threw her hands up high, wearing the most pitiful expression she could muster.
"This wasn't my idea! I was just helping Raynare! She promised me a reward, i haven't seen a single coin yet!"
"Same here."
Kalawarna's voice was still cold, but if you looked closely, her eyes were shimmering.
She was on the verge of tears.
"You traitors!"
Raynare exploded, seeing both of them immediately throw her under the bus.
But the moment she twitched, the holy blade pressed harder against her neck. Pain bloomed from the contact, and she froze.
"And you?"
Rod's gaze shifted to her.
The air turned still.
Raynare stared him down with a cold, defiant glare. She was clearly weighing her options. But just as Rod's patience wore thin ,
Her icy expression shattered.
Her lips curled into a sweet, flattering smile.
"I'm sorry! I was wrong! Please, have mercy!"
"Oh? Weren't you just talking about being a noble Fallen Angel?"
Rod raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry, that was just for dramatic effect. It sounded cool, so I went with it."
[Mission: Asia Argento : Completed]
[Calculating rewards...]
[Reward: Skill: Invulnerable (negate any single attack), cooldown: 60 minutes]
Now that's a good one.
A full immunity shield, albeit with a 60-minute cooldown. If it didn't have that limitation, Rod could've gone full boss-mode and steamrolled this world.
Just keep Invulnerable on cooldown rotation and laugh as nothing could touch him.
"Umm... you'll let me go, right?"
Mittelt looked up with a hopeful, almost obsequious expression.
Rod grinned suddenly, and it made her flinch.
Sure, he looked kinda good... but he was giving serious psycho vibes.
The Church looked noble on the surface, but many of its exorcists were straight-up lunatics behind closed doors. That's why there were so many rogue exorcists.
"Hehe... nope."
Rod dropped the smile.
These three Fallen Angels were just minor characters in the original story, but he wasn't about to let them walk away.
"You'll be staying here for now. But hey, if you wanna try escaping... go ahead."
With that, Rod turned and left the church.
This abandoned cathedral sat on a hill just outside Kuoh Town.
When he'd spotted the red blips clustered around it on his map, he'd told Lavinia and Asia to stay back.
But now, with three Fallen Angels in tow, he needed Lavinia's help.
"Is it done?"
Lavinia asked, sniffing the faint scent of blood on him.
"I need a favor," Rod said. "Do you know any spells that can restrain someone, like, if they try to betray me or run they just drop dead on the spot?"
"No!"
Lavinia shook her head furiously. "I'm not some evil sorceress! Why would I know stuff like that?!"
"But..." she added after a pause, "I do know some magic that suppresses people's powers."
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