Chapter 10: <Codename> [1]

As Rei finally released his <Angel's> true form, the surrounding terrain had entirely changed.

The ground which is only a few meters around him began to melt or burn turning the pitiful place into a scorched barren land.

Rei, who had first time summoned his <Angel> properly, was still adapting to it for a moment. In short, he was in his most vulnerable state for he had no capabilities of moving his body while still adapting to his <Angel>.

Yet fortunately, none tried to attack him. Well, there are but they became crisp and burning mush when Rei finished summoning his <Angel> and <Astral Dress> as it exuded a heat wave so hot that it could melt or burn metals in seconds.

Sparing a glance at the results of his <Angel>, he then compiled all the necessary information that he knew about his <Angel> based on the records on his past world.

<Raguel> is almost always referred to as the Archangel of Justice, Fairness, and Harmony. He is also often known as the Archangel of Speech.

Besides that, he is also known as the Archangel of Vengeance and Redemption in records.

As far as he remembered, in the Book of Enoch, cap. XXIII, Raguel is one of the seven angels whose role is to 'watch'. 'Watch' he meant was to observe the world. His number is 6, and his function is to take vengeance on the world of the luminaries who have transgressed God's laws.

Although <Raguel> was not mentioned in the canonical writings of the Bible, however in 2 Enoch, which is generally considered non-canonical, the patriarch Enoch was carried as a mortal to and from Heaven by the angels Raguel and Sariel. He is considered the Angel of Justice. His name means "Friend of God".

Also, he was associated with the Attribute of Sacred Fire same as other Angels do who wields that as a means of purging and purifying evil.

How does Rei know this? Well, Rei, or rather Lucifer, in his previous life was a devout believer in God!

Many would be shocked and even find this fact to be unbelievable. Yet, here it is. He mostly studied the topics about angels and demons in the Catholic religion in first place before anime and novels because he found it more interesting and worth of spare time to spend in.

With the atrocities that he did in his life like murder which is the highest, would you think that he is a devout believer in God? Obviously no. Almost anyone would answer that.

Well, his answer would be undoubtedly 'yes', but he himself knows that he is a fucking hypocrite with just that. At least he doesn't deny that he is a hypocrite unlike other bastards right?

Still, he knows that that doesn't justify the sins he committed.

With the memories of his past life began to resurface in his mind, the purple flames around him began to get fiercest and fiercest as it scorched everything that came to its reach.

With that, the battle continued between the Spirit and the AST.

——

[AST PoV]

The combat drones that were controlled by the AST began to take alert as they assessed that these flames sprouting from their target is deemed to be extremely dangerous.

That sent alerts to their controllers who were located several hundred meters from the ground zero. Noticing the threat level of the Spirit they were facing, they then sent the command to their other comrades in the area to fall back and use 'their trial weapon'.

And so, the head officer then gave the command.

"Fall back! To all units, I repeat fall back! Avoid the Spirit's flames! We don't know the limit of how much devastation it can bring but seeing the result it dealt to our units, you all understand right? Especially you, Sergeant Tobiichi Origami, you get it right?" exclaimed the leader of the assigned commander of the AST.

"....." However, Origami stayed silent and didn't respond to her superior's orders.

Knowing what Origami was currently thinking, the commander heaved a sigh and gave his other command especially made for her.

"You won't back down even if I warn you over and over, right? Tsk. Then here's another order, use that trial weapon and try your best to kill that Spirit" The commander, Captain Kusakabe Ryouko said with a tired expression.

"...Roger that" Finally, Origami made her response.

"What am I gonna do with you? If your life is in danger, quickly fall back and don't cause us any problems later on from saving you"

"...got it" Though Origami's tone when she said that was reluctant, deep inside, she was happy and also grateful towards her and her teammates in AST.

"Sigh. Well, team! Take positions and try to stall the Spirit as far as you could!"

Hearing their Captain's order, their sudden retreat was halted as they took individual positions while readying their sniper rifles.

No one complained about the sudden change of orders. This was also natural to them and some even predicted that this kind of situation would happen already.

"Origami, hm?"

"Yes? Permission to fire?"

"...Not yet. Remain on standby. The higher-ups are probably still in discussion...."

"I see"

Not seeming relieved, nor seeming disappointed, Origami nodded.

Right now standing by in a one kilometer perimeter from the target, Ryouko and the other AST members number fifteen total, split up into five pairs which were currently retreating right back towards them.

If you add the Spirit-Combat Drones deployed all over the place which numbered 30 before but only 12 were left only in a matter of seconds when the Spirit deployed his Angel.

Out of the twelve remaining, 7 of them were left in a malfunctioning state which means that only just 5 of the drones were completely unharmed or still in action after the Spirit's onslaught of flames.

While waiting for orders, Ryouko continuously tapped her finger on her side as she made a posture of crossing her arms over one another.

Beep!

"Hm? Origami, orders have been received. You may shoot it as you seem fit"

Equipped with the same wiring suit and thruster units as Ryouko, Origami's right hand held the anti-Spirit rifle that was longer than her height, <CryCryCry EX>. A new type of Anti-Spirit Rifle derived from its previous version, <CryCryCry>.

The difference between the two were the latest version has more destructive prowess and lethality compared to the old one. Also, some adjustments regarding user handling were made so that the user would have more accuracy when hitting the target.

And the new version was not that safe to use due to its trial stages whereas using it puts too much strain to the human body.

Their location was located approximately a kilometer from where the Spirit currently was. And probably, the Spirit won't notice someone this far while trying to busy itself fighting other threats.

"We'll create an opening as a distraction so that you could shoot it. After the first shot, we would retreat immediately. Understood?"

"Yes"

"Good. Now, everyone! Create an opening so that this crazy sergeant of ours could shot a hole out of the Spirit's head! Move out and attack!" Ryouko exclaimed her order at her transmitter letting everyone to know how serious their situation is and the possibility to take down the Spirit.

"Roger that!" Every member nodded and answered in unison.

And so, the curtains to the finale of this fight shall start to unfold.

——

"Is it finished? Well, I didn't expect that fighting them with my full Spirit form with be more harder than using just the partial one. Really, this is quite troubling....."

Rei who thought that the AST were retreating heaved a relieved sigh. At the moment, he could only move his limbs and head but cannot move out from where he was floating at. And this continued right when he summoned his <Angel> up until now.

In other words, his whole body except his limbs were practically immobilized.

This was a very anticlimactic ending than what he would've expected because he wanted to end this battle with a bang! But the current situation of his prevented him from doing so.

That's why seeing the AST began to retreat after him showing off his might and prowess, began to feel relieved yet disappointed too at the same time.

Relieved that he wouldn't be stressed by their attacks once again and disappointed that he couldn't get his desired ending.

But that sense of relief and feeling of disappointment soon vanished as he noticed that the AST were coming back once more and launched barrages of bullets right after him.

"Time to go home.... wait? Huh?"

No one responded to his mutter.

Looking at the incoming projectiles coming right towards him, just as usual, he summoned a [Barrier] to block it all. If he continued this kind of move, the AST would surely exhaust themselves with their equipment, supplies, and fatigue of the body.

The question is, how long would that be?

That was the problem since Rei had a slight problem with his full version of his <Astral Dress>.

As they say, almost everything great often has a price to pay.

Just by summoning his <Astral Dress>, he consumes a lot of reiryoku per second. Reiryoku is the fuel that helps create a Spirit's <Astral Dress> and <Angel>. If any of those two are damaged, Reiryoku can be consumed to restore both to optimal condition. The use of both also releases Reiryoku into the surrounding environment. However, a Spirit's Reiryoku is not inexhaustible. Much like stamina, a Spirit that has used up all her power is liable to collapse from sheer exhaustion.

And Rei knew that he has an immense amount of reiryoku yet even with that immense amount, he believes that maintaining just his <Astral Dress> was consuming an absurdly high amount of it.

But that much was understandable. The power it gave off by just "existing" was already extremely powerful.

By just summoning it, purple flames erupt from thin air whose heat was high enough to melt metals in just a mere seconds. It also strengthens his perception in a range of a hundred meters giving him 360 degree full awareness around him.

It also gave him high defense and more destructive power compared when he was just using his partial <Astral Dress> and <Angel>. Lastly, it also gave him new abilities when in this form.

That's why the reiryoku consumption was so immense. In a battle of attrition added with the number and persistence of the enemy side, he knew that his probability to win was not set in stone.

Now some may ask, can't he just use his [Space Manipulation] to make a [Gate] and warp out from this area?

He could but he 'can't' do that in this situation. Why? Because if he warped and get out of here, every place he would warp at would surely face the devastation caused by his <Astral Dress> and <Angel> making him to be easily tracked by detecting his reiha also known as "Spirit Waves". In short, anywhere he goes would undoubtedly make those Spirit Waves be shown and detected.

Now you may ask why doesn't he use his abilities such as [Spatial Manipulation] to crush his opponents with difficulty, utilizing his [Lances] to pierce through his enemies, and use his [Flames] to scorch enemies from afar? The answer is simple.

It's not that "he doesn't want" to. "He couldn't".

There was a clear differences between these statements but anyone would probably know that already, right?

While in his full form, it was undoubtedly obvious that his abilities and capabilities were strengthened to a higher extent. But the problem is that it became so powerful that he still couldn't control it properly.

Remember, Rei just used his full form only for once, and that "once" was at this very moment. It was understandable that he was using this as an experience in order to adapt to his new profound power. In fact, he didn't even expect that he would be able to use his full spirit form this day.

He already had a premonition that tomorrow, he would have severe body aches and would experience extreme exhaustion. That would undoubtedly...thwart his plans for tomorrow.

And so, he decided that ending this battle would be the best option.

With his limited choices of attacking the enemy, he found this situation quite complicated.

BOOOMM!!

BANG! BANG!

BOOOMM!!

Clouds of explosions, sounds of bullets, and eruptions of flames all over the area.

The scorched barren land. The clear sky earlier was now dyed with the color of smoke and flames. The destruction and devastation all over the place.

This appearance of the battlefield could surely be called a small picture of hell itself.