Life 9-3

"What are you…" Raynare was cut off when Noé suddenly leaped, the Fallen Angel screaming as she was pulled through the very ceiling as Noé blew a hole through it with a blast from his gauntlet, dragging Raynare through the hole and back to the chapel above. With an almost careless toss, Raynare was sent sprawling across the ground, the Fallen Angel rising as she formed two light swords in her hands. "Are you fucking with me?!"

"Short answer? Yeah," Noé nodded, cracking his knuckles through his gauntlets. "No more tricks, no more fucking about… I'm showing you just what kind of fight you picked. You wanna talk big? Back it up."

"Fuck you!"

Raynare shot up, her swords coming down in a wild swing as she snarled at Noé. With a quick motion, Noé knocked the swords aside, following up with a right jab to Raynare's sternum, sending the Fallen Angel flying back as his fist sparked with Darklight. Raynare roared as she charged in again, Noé knocking her wild swings aside as he stepped around her charges, jumping over pews and over Raynare as she continued the series of wild attacks. As Noé was falling from a jump, Raynare threw one of the swords. A sneer turned into a shocked frown as Noé spun in the air and caught the spear, landing as tendrils of Darklight began drawing the light construct in before he smashed it to pieces.

"The fuck… it's not fair… it's not fair!" Raynare screamed, her aura rising as she produced a spear and threw it, Noé catching it and dodging past the follow up charge. Ddraig, remind me how many charges I'm at, thought the half-Devil.

[You're at eight so far. Want to release it?]

Not yet.

"Why the hell is this where I end up?!" Raynare screamed, Noé catching her sword to keep her in place. "All you had to fucking do was die and this would have been easy! That Sacred Gear could have been mine, and then… then I would have shown all of them! Those bastards at Grigori, always mocking and laughing at me for being a scout!"

"… so that's what this is about?" Noé's eyes shaded over, the light sword snapping in his hand before he delivered another fierce punch to Raynare's face, sending the Fallen Angel sprawling. "You seriously think stealing a Sacred Gear is going to somehow make your allies look at you as more than some disposable mook? Stop kidding around…"

"What the fuck do you know?!" Raynare screamed, tossing light spears wildly, Noé batting aside the ones that came close as others left holes in the chapel. "Look at you, strutting around all high and mighty with some Sacred Gear of your own plus the powers of a Devil! You're luckier than anyone else to be born that way! How the hell do you think you could understand anyone else who has to start from the bottom, huh?! You fucking can't!"

"Oh… I know a thing or two about that," Noé rocketed forward, slamming Raynare into the wall with a punch right to her gut. "You think I started with power like this? Don't insult me like that. When I was a kid, I could barely even make a measly fireball without having it blow up in my face, much less actually cast a spell right. And when I first got this Gear, I didn't know a damn thing about what it did or how it worked… but yeah, I'm definitely lucky. Lucky to be born with these powers to refine, and with people around me to help me do that. But at least I've worked to get where I am right now."

"Fuck you!" Raynare raised a hand right to Noé's face, blasting him point blank with pure light from her hand. But Noé didn't so much as budge, barely even a scorch mark on his face as he dragged Raynare across the wall and threw her to the other end of the room. "What do I give a shit about some Devil and how he got strong?! Your entire existence is a fucking paradox, a mistake! And what do you even want huh?! To stay in some backwater town in the middle of nowhere! I want more than this! To aim even higher than I am now, to reach heights your shitheel mind couldn't think of!"

"… then why the hell are you looking for a shortcut?" Noé's words were like a sudden blew as he began to slowly walk forward, another call coming from his Gear. "You want respect? You want power? Then earn it! You think a Sacred Gear is all you need to go up the ladder? It takes more than that and ambition alone! Effort, drive, the desire to improve for its own sake because you know you can keep going! If you want people to respect you, then you have to show them you deserve it, not cheat your way there!"

"Get fucked!" Raynare shot up and charged, forming a massive spear of light between her hands as she charged. Noé merely stopped his stride and fell into his stance, swirls of red and black along his right arm as he pulled it back.

"Now!" he shouted.

[EXPLOSION!]

Noé's aura surged like a flame as his fist flew forward. He blew right past the massive light spear and beyond, the punch colliding with Raynare's body dead on. As he slammed her right into the wall again, the impact crater blew outwards, around it the same sigil as within the Gear's crystal being slammed into the wall. And with another burst of power, Raynare was sent through the crumbling wall, covered in bloody cuts as she went tumbling across the grass. She tried to rise once more, but her body refused to, leaving her on the ground with arms shuddering trying to lift a broken body.

"That's what you can do when you actually try," Noé said, stepping through the rubble as the wall collapsed further. "And the thing is, I'm not close to what I can call a peak. This is just the gap between you and me. One a stolen Sacred Gear wouldn't bridge even if you did get it."

"Fuck… you…"

"Oh, he is certainly correct though, Raynare."