Chapter 10

The dojo is abuzz with the sound of clashing steel.

"Claws-Purifying Wind!"

"Rising Scorching Sun!"

Two voices, both my own, call out from my sides.

Four vertical slashes come down from above, and a single roaring slash from beneath, both at the same time.

I plant my feet.

Raging Sun.

And counter with two raging slashes to both of my sides, angled slightly up for one, and down for the other.

My sword strikes true and both clone's forms are stilled, their bodies thrown away by the force of my swings with loud grunts.

They land amongst the others, numbering four in total clones that I'm fighting at once.

Each with their own headband denoting an elemental breathing style they're using exclusively for this match.

See, I realized something.

"Thunderclap and Flash."

Fake Rainbow.

My afterimages head comes clean off with a crackle of thunder left in its wake.

"Drop Ripple Thrust!"

I parry and redirect a thrust aimed straight for my neck to the side, but before I can cleave the clone's neck in twine—

"Blazing Universe!"

I'm forced to block a falling overhead strike that rumbles the dojo upon my blocking it.

I grit my teeth and breathe as my Flame clone smirks at me.

"Rice Spirit."

"Clean Storm Wind Tree!"

Several slashes from the speed and agility based styles race towards my body from either side.

Burning Bones, Summer Sun by itself won't be enough to deflect all these attacks.

By itself.

My body tenses, and I move.

Burning Bones, Summer Sun—

A singular fluid circular slash turns into multiple in an instant, spiraling out all around me, stopping and blowing away several slashes and all four clones at once.

Undulating Heat.

A combination of the aforementioned original Hinokami Kagura form and Flame Breathing Blooming Flame Undulation.

Sucks I had to go with a Flame Breathing form like that, Wind and Thunder are much better suited for that type of defense, but it's part of the rules of the training.

See, when I try to combine forms like that, I'm explicitly not allowed to use the forms of the style I'm being attacked by to force variance and such.

Where was I? Right.

Hinokami Kagura, or Sun Breathing, is the ultimate breathing technique due to the sheer versatility it possesses.

This training I'm doing right now is meant to forcibly draw out that potential, by combining the techniques and strengths of the other forms and pushing it to its limits.

Much like how Tanjiro did it, where he combined Thunderclap and Flash with Dance, or that one time he combined Water Breathing and Kagura Breathing.

I'm going to do that but go further. I want to eventually combine all the strengths of all the forms into my dance, and pull them out whenever I need.

Sucks I've only managed to fully recreate Flame, Wind, Water, and Thunder in about a month and a half or so?

I can't remake Stone, Love, or Serpent, don't possess the weapon for those, Moon requires powers and I'm specifically focusing on swordsmanship right now.

Besides, if my methods pan out, I'll have several new forms to rival Moon's number anyway.

Though when I'm done, the Thirteenth Form won't be the thirteenth form then, will it? Hnngh. Gonna need a name for that, then.

Mist and Flower are next on my list to recreate, and I'm honestly pretty excited about Flower due to it possessing a form that isn't a sword strike, but a body enhancer that targets the eyes.

As my clones begin to stand up, I hold up my hand, causing them all to freeze.

"Alright, that's enough." I call out, sheathing my sword to my back.

They all look at me, then at each other, then promptly fall back down, sprawled out and groaning.

"Fuck you boss!" Wind barks out.

"I think! You should!" Flame heaves, "Commit die!"

Thunder is snoring. Fakely. But still trying at least.

Water holds his chest, taking long deep breaths, "Really, guys, just calm down…It'll be fine as long you breathe righ—"

"Fuck you bitch, you didn't do shit the whole night!" Wind snarls at Water, who looks exaggerated back at him.

I grimace as Water tries to get up and headbutt Wind, only to be stopped by Flame, who…tries to pin and hold down Wind so they can both headbutt him.

Hmm. You know. When I originally envisioned this training, I thought getting into the mindset and personality of those who used the styles would be a good idea.

I take it back. It was and still is a great idea!

"Alright, alright everyone!" I call out, prompting them to look toward me, "I'm going to release the Jutsu now, get ready!"

"Hai Hai, Sun!" they all call back. Besides Thunder, who gives a thumbs up. And Wind, who scowls at me.

Heh. Love this training.

I slam my hands together, and we all vanish in a cloud of smoke.

~ A New Sun ~

Several hours of muscle memory from several different perspectives slam into my body all at once.

"Hmmmghhh!" I groan, and nearly fall back, off the roof of my house!

The tallest point atop my house, mind!

Not like the fall would do any damage, but it would still be annoying.

As for why I'm up here in the first place? Well.

I groggily opened my eyes to find Kuroka cross-legged right in front of me, one eye open and eyeing me knowingly, her form perfectly positioned in front of the early morning sun.

"Your clones just got done in the dojo, nya~?" she asks, with which I simply nod back, "Alright, but remember we're not done yet! Try not to lose focus again, nya~!" Kuroka swishes her three tails at me as she says so.

I respond to her attempt at being the paragon of focus by reaching out and scratching her cat ears.

"Nyyaaannn~!?" she squeals, nearly falling off herself until she grabs and clings onto me, "Nori-kun~!" she looks up at me, and whines.

With a chuckle, I pat the most definitely afraid of falling cat on the back.

While my clones practiced the sword, I and Kuroka practiced ki and, get this, chakra control.

She managed to reach her third tail after around a month or so of dedicated meditation, purely focused on taking in the non-malicious ki of nature.

And, honestly? No jokes, I'm hella proud of her.

After all, I made sure to assist her in her training by giving her ample bust a massage the whole time, just as she gave my back a massage.

You know. Paying it forward and all.

But she did it! I knew she had the potential! She had to have, what with her younger sister hitting her third tail within a few months after neglecting Senjutsu for so long.

Turns out, Kuroka just needed a proper kick in the tail for her to get going, and seeing Shirone as she is now was enough of a kick.

Also, the prospect of learning shiny new techniques might have helped, the little goblin.

I awoke her chakra that night, by having copious amounts of reward sex.

I didn't need to do it that way, turns out, but I wanted to because why not?

Besides, the actual method - touching her, injecting her with Holy Spirit Power, and simply willing the power to awaken within her - was much more boring.

As for what giving Kuroka chakra did? Well…

She told me about the network that sprang up inside her body, she also told me that molding chakra feels like the perfect blend between spiritual and bodily and that it seems to be some sort of in-between for her Youki and normal ki.

Oh. Also, she's progressing fast.

Like. Faster than I am. Way faster than I am.

It's got to be a Nekoshou thing, there's no way it isn't! I'm not kidding when I say the damn cats already trying the shadow clone technique!

It's been a week! A week! She can walk on water already, memorized all the hand seals I showed her, and is already well on her way to trying to create jutsu.

I call haxs. Can I get a race change in my non-existent store yet?

Although I will say, I'm fairly curious as to what her chakra affinity is gonna be, and what kind of techniques she'll come up with.

I'm betting Yin Affinity, makes too much sense for the damn cat.

With a sigh, my thoughts shift to something tangentially related, and I stand up, holding and bringing Kuroka up with me.

"Actually kitty? I think we're done for now," I speak solemnly, "I've got something to do that requires my attention."

Kuroka tilts her head, "Your Magical Girl Club, nya~?"

I snorted and sputtered out a chuckle, "No, that's actually doing really good."

Seriously, I managed to get normal members for the club. Damn things grew beyond just a Sona troll club.

I'm so proud of myself!

Now it's a legitimate club that Sona can't shut down now that she's Student Council President.

Little shit tried to tell my clones we didn't count as enough members to hold it.

So I might have Genjutsu tricked a teacher into signing off on it.

Just a simple illusion to make two of the three names look different, no biggie. With one tomoe, that's about all I can do anyway, and on a non-supernatural being no less.

Wait a minute, where was I?

Fuck, Kuroka damn it! Stop derailing my thoughts!

"No, you see," I start, "there's a group of Fallen in Kuoh, and I think it's about time I throw them out."

Kuroka blinks at that, "Really, nya~!? Fallen…" she thinks for a moment, "they haven't done anything yet?"

"No," I answer, succinctly, "not yet."

And that's the problem. They haven't done anything yet.

It's been a month and a week. The first month of school is where events like Asia showing up and Issei being murdered should have happened.

But they haven't. Asia never showed, Issei hasn't been shivved yet and he and his friends continue glaring hatefully at my clones when they walk by.

The only reason I haven't headed down to the Church and murked them yet is that I want to draw out Diodora the Explorer and murk him and the Fallen at the same time.

But as time goes on, and Asia doesn't appear to be showing, I doubt that chance will come.

This means there's no point in keeping the birds nest around any longer.

I shrug, "Still, I don't want to keep them around any longer." With a small hop, I jump off the roof and land on the ground below deftly, giving Kuroka a small smile.

"Fallen aren't exactly known to be the most trustworthy…besides…" my grin turns hungry. "I have yet to fight a Fallen Angel."

Strays are boring now. I've culled the population of them in this part of Japan by now, no way I haven't yet.

Kuroka, playfully, smacks my chest and rolls her eyes, "Somehow, I'm not even surprised, nya!" she huffs, "Try and be quick about it, at least? I have another…meeting…to go to soon," she sighs, "and I don't know how long it'll be. Rather you be there to see me off, nya~!"

"Ah, it has been a while since your last, hasn't it?" I muse, "Was wondering when you'd have to leave again," I pulled her right up to my face, and kissed her tenderly, feeling her mewl and purr into my mouth as she kissed back.

After a short moment of that, I pull back slightly to say softly, "I'll be there, then. Shouldn't take too long."

…I just tempted Murphy, didn't I?

Fuck.

"Jeez…" she reaches up and slowly caresses my face, "you've been getting increasingly more and more affectionate you know~? You gonna miss me that bad, nya~?"

"Yup." I confirm easily with a smile.

Kuroka's eyes widen as her face flushes at my easy response.

She tries to avert my gaze, but I take the side of her face into the palm of my hand and caress it, forcing her to stay looking at me.

"I'm not sure if you've taken the hints, kitty, but I can be both incredibly petty and lustful, but also compassionate and loving," I give her a wink, and kiss her nose, "and In my book, a man knows when to be and can be both." I state with a bright smile.

And with that, I pat her on the head, "See ya when I get back, kitty!" and head off with a nonchalant wave, leaving my catgirl confusedly staring off at my back.

I smirk and chuckle when I hear something like a loud panicked drawn-out meow.

Think I might have just broken her there.

Whoops?

~ A New Sun ~

The flight to the Church was uneventful, and judging by the fact that it's bright and early out, I'm not exactly surprised at the lack of guards and such at the front door.

I could also just chalk it up to general incompetence, that's a staple of Ray Ray and her group after all.

No, what's making me frown right now isn't all that, but instead, the positively zero life force signals I'm reading inside the Church.

I get it, my Senjutsu is only a month into being trained, and my range is kind of trash, but I should be able to pick up something from out here!

Hmm. Well! There's only one way to check for sure, isn't there?

I grab the hilt of my sword that's strapped to my back, take a few easy steps forward, and promptly kick the doors off the hinges.

The cracked and shattered masses of wood slide forward into…

An absolute shit fest.

Several times worse than what I recall the state of the Church being under the Fallen in canon.

Religious iconography hasn't been just smashed, but actively defaced, twisted, and ground up.

The walls are lined with a chaotic series of weird symbols and letters I don't recognize.

Hell, not even the seating remained unscathed, all torn up and thrown amongst the building.

"What the fuck…" I mutter to the very fucked up, but also rather empty Church.

This…doesn't make any sense.

I saw them, the Fallen, in town. I caught the only guy in the cell wandering around looking for strays.

All this damage to the Church is intentional and fits with the Fallens modus operandi, if a bit extreme I'll admit.

They had to have been here, then.

But then why…?

I walk into the Church, still feeling nothing within my sensing range as I head down the aisle to the big hole in the ground where an altar is supposed to be.

Within that hole? A big staircase leading down straight where the Fallen performed that ritual to extract Asia's Sacred Gear.

Well. Couldn't hurt to check at this point, no?

Hand never leaving my hilt, I do just that.

And am struck by the most putrid fucking smell ever about halfway down.

Against the very ardent protests of my nostrils, I quicken my pace, practically flying down the stairs.

…only to nearly run into a massive pile of bodies, waiting for me right next to the entrance to the large underground ritual room.

I take just a few seconds.

Just a few.

To look at what I'm seeing right now.

A haphazardly made pile of corpses, each with their face contorted and twisted in agony.

The light in their eyes? Long gone. And judging by the state some of these people are in? They've been dead for weeks. Already decaying away.

I see people from all walks of life, young and old, all classes.

But I only recognize one body amongst the multitude.

One Genshirou Saji. Corpse just as cold as the rest. Former holder of the Absorption Line Sacred Gear.

Former, because it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what his corpse lying in a room where the ritual to extract Sacred Gears is means.

My hands cycle through hand seals on instinct, and the next thing I know, a wheel of fire erupts out from behind me.

In the next moment, the corpse pile in front of me ignites into a massive bonfire as the wheel crashes into it.

I clap my hands together, wishing the deceased a safe trip into their afterlife.

And with that, I turn on my heels and quickly leave the now empty ritual room behind.

Canon? What's that? That doesn't exist here anymore.

The idea that the Fallen here were for anyone else besides Issei isn't canon, the only reason they were was because Azazel is a fucking wizard, and figured out Issei had the Boosted Gear.

So what the fuck did I just walk into down there!?

Sacred Gear gathering. Collecting. The purpose of this cell has changed, if not by Azazel's order, then by Ray Ray herself.

For some reason, despite me having done nothing to influence the canon, shit flew off the rails anyway.

If I had known, I'd have killed everyone here a month ago and burned this place to the ground.

But now they're gone, and I don't know where.

As I step back into the Church proper, I promptly still.

Around a dozen or so life forces enter my range, all at around the same time.

They're all weak. Pathetically so. Sans one, but not by much more.

Stray Exorcists, perhaps? Here to clean up their mess downstairs?

You know. I was about to make a joke about how it's so like Ray Ray's group to leave such evidence in a squeaky clean room…

But thinking about it, she more than likely saw such a thing as beneath her to do or some stupid shit, so sent some grunts after the fact to clean it up.

As much as I want to kill them all the moment they step foot in the Church proper, I need more information right now.

So, instead, I jump up high, touching my hand to the ceiling and sticking myself there with a bit of chakra.

And now I wait.

Thankfully, it didn't take long.

"Ayo! Did these shitty old doors finally decide to give up or what!?" a shrill, preachy boyish voice screams out from just outside, "Any one of you baby fuckers do it!? Eh? Was it you? Or you?"

I hear mutterings of denial from several people and, "No, Father Freed…"

"Well fuck! I wanted to do it!" he eventually whines out.

Ugghh…just my luck, huh?

Several stray exorcists file in shortly after, with a pouting Freed close behind them.

"Alright, alright, let's get this shit over with," Freed mumbles out, "you lot go down and clean up the mess downstairs! While I…" he slowly looks around the Church, "eh. I don't know. Maybe touch grass or something!"

All the exorcists glare at him.

"Eh?" he raises an eyebrow, "Sorry, I don't recall stuttering, get a move on little timmys! Or else I might need a training dummy or several when we get home, eh? Eh!?" they all quickly start shuffling downstairs, he throws his arms up, "Oh come on, no takers!? Maaann…you're all such pussies!" he pauses briefly, then chuckles maniacally, "What about you, spiderman on the ceiling?"

Ho? Don't tell me. The one guy to look up at the ceiling is Freed of all people.

I stop sticking to the ceiling, falling easily back to the floor some distance away from a maniacally grinning Freed, who eyes me without a care in the world.

"Now, who might you be, little peter? Hmm? You know it's rude to listen in on other people's conversations, or attempt to hide incriminating evidence!" he whips out his oversized gun and light sword, "So, for that, ima have to punish you like all good priests of the Vatican punish naughty little boys! With a good old spanking! Heeheehe—"

"You like to talk a lot, huh." I interrupt to state.

"Eh?" Freed tilts his head, "Well fuck you too weeaboo!"

I'm sorry. What.

"Weeaboo!?"

"Yeah!" he smirks, "After all, what else could the overcompensating sword strapped to your back mean!?"

"That I can very easily cut you down even shorter than you already are?" I fire back.

"Agh!?" he grasps his chest tightly as if wounded, "Hey! It's not my fault my momma was a test tube! We can't all get big, thick test tubes to grow in, alright!?"

I snort, "Joy. I got the runt of the litter then, huh?"

"Tch! You!" he points his gun at me and narrows his eyes, "What the hell even are you, eh? You're not a dirty Devil, but you sure as shit ain't human either!" his eyes wander to my sword, "Hmm…could you be…a Pagan?"

"Close enough," I hum, "but, considering what you are, you really shouldn't try talking shit."

"Oho?" a grin splits across his face, "So the majesty of the great, Devil slaying, pagan fucking, rogue Exorcist Freed Sellzen has reached the ears of you people here in this backwater country, eh? Tell me, Pagan, why should I give a fuck what you say when I'm about to chop you up into itty bits and eat ya!?"

"Damn, you do talk too much." I sigh, then start walking toward him.

My eyes shift, gaining a second swirling pupil.

"Oi! The fuck you think…you're…you're…huh..?" he slowly trails off, dazed, his eyes flickering and dulling with a second pupil much like myself.

With a few more steps, I'm right in front of him, my hand on his forehead.

He drops his weapons to the ground with a dull thud as he stares off into nothing.

Genjutsu entrapment is successful. He's human, and already a tad bit coo-coo for cocoa puffs, so there's no chance in hell he can shake off the Holy Spirit Power I just shoved into his brain.

Although, using the Hypnosis Eye for genuine hypnosis feels weird, not gonna lie.

"Alright," I start, "let's make this quick before your buddies come running back. Where are you and your friends located now?"

"Hmm…warehouse…" he says, dreamily, almost giddy, "big abandoned warehouse."

Well. That's…something.

"Why did you all move?" I ask next.

"Something something…ritual…" he replies.

I blink. He wasn't paying attention completely when they were told why exactly they moved. Of course, he wasn't. This is Freed after all.

With a scowl, I rack my brain for what to ask next, only for the echoing of rapidly approaching footsteps coming from the hole to cut off my train of thought.

Fuck.

"Father Freed, Father Freed!" one of them calls as they rush out into the light, "The bodies, they're—!" he cuts himself off, of course, once he sees me and Freed.

They all stop and just stare at us.

I hum, finally thinking of what to ask Freed next. "Do any of these guys know anything more than you?"

Freed almost barks a laugh, "No…heh…even lower…just mobs."

Nice.

And with that, I grab Freed's head with both hands and snap his neck.

His body falls to the floor with an unceremonious thump, the extras gaping in disbelief all the while.

Yeah, sorry Freed, and just to make doubly sure you don't come back within the next few months, I'm gonna burn your body to ash.

After I take care of the extras.

"Kill him!" one of the exorcists calls, but I'm already moving.

Hinokami Kagura.

As I draw my sword, crimson flames swirl into existence around the blade.

Sun Halo Dragon—

Several bullets whiz past my speeding form, then I am upon them.

Head Dance.

Several heads for several slashes, and in moments, their bodies join their heads on the floor.

Right alongside Freed.

I huff as I sheath my sword, "About what I expected for a bunch of mobs."

With that said, I turn and walk out of the Church.

But not before fire wheeling all the bodies to ash, of course.

I also offer no prayer, at least for Freed, I'm not sure about the rest, but I'm not in a particularly good mood, so off in silence they all go.

As I step back into the morning sunlight, I realize something.

Canon is well and truly fucked. No longer can I operate on the assumption that things will go a certain way.

I can't presume to be able to react anymore, I need to be proactive.

With a clap of my hand, I suddenly release all the shadow clones that I have out and about. I need their information, just to make sure…

My three at school suddenly popped, and although one was in the middle of class, it was fine. Rias is in the same class, she'll mind-wipe everyone there.

No, you know what the real problem is?

Issei didn't show up to school this morning.

Son of a bitch!

~ A New Sun ~

Raynare was on top of the world.

Seriously, everything is going perfectly!

This mission she and her team had been sent on by Lord Azazel? A piece of cake! Hell, she even went far above and beyond the call of duty!

Thinking back on it all, truly, if her Father still cared about her, she might even think it was a blessing from Him!

This simple little check-and-smash mission swung wildly into a collection mission that stands to massively boost the power of the Grigori in Japan by several folds!

And that's even with one of the stronger Grigori cells in Japan getting smitten out of existence all those years ago, massively weakening the Grigori's presence and power in the area!

Seriously, who would've thought a single town held so many Sacred Gear wielders?

Sure, most are 'common' types, but some? Like the last Vritra Gear?

She knows that will make her Lord a very happy camper! After all, he's been trying to find and collect that piece for a while!

And none of that includes what their original mission was for…

Ah. Speaking of!

Raynare turned to the door, sensing the arrival of her subordinates just as they walked in.

The tall buxom blue-haired one, Kalawarna, threw the target of their original mission onto the floor in front of her.

A knocked out cold, brown-haired school boy.

Whose nose was…bleeding profusely, for some reason? Though it didn't look broken?

Raynare raised an eyebrow at her, to which Kalawarna shrugged.

"I led him away from his walk to school with my tits," she huffed annoyed, "pulled him right into my cleavage when we got somewhere private, his nose exploded. Was afraid the kid would bleed out before we got here."

Mittelt, the blonde loli snorted, "Almost wished he did. There's no way in hell someone like him is who we could be looking for."

The only male fallen in the group, Dohnaseek, huffed disappointedly and straightened his fedora, "I concur," he agrees, "the boy possesses no magical potential, is weaker than your average human, doesn't appear to possess any noteworthy talents or skills…" he trailed off.

"Truly, I think Lord Azazel may be mistaken with this one." he finishes solemnly.

Raynare looks at the fedora-wearing Fallen with narrow eyes, then back at the boy, with a sigh, she picks him up by the back of his shirt. "You shouldn't doubt Lord Azazel so quickly, Dohnaseek." she retorts, dragging the boy to the center of the massive ritual circle in the center of the warehouse. "Regardless, the ritual continues."

"Of course, Raynare." Dohnaseek tentatively agreed. Likely for the same reason Kalawarna nodded, Raynare thought, and Mittelt groaned.

"Ugghh…" the blonde loli whined, "all that work moving everything over to a bigger space, drawing with chalk for days, and he might not even be the real deal!?" she crossed her arms and pouted, "Lame. Waste of fucking time!"

Raynare grimaced, "Let's just get this over with, hmm? Then we can return home as heroes."

She smiled viciously, "Besides? Worst case scenario? He turns to paste and a blood smear, Sacred Gear or not, our tracks are covered!" and with that lovely image, she dropped the boy into the middle of the circle.

Mittelt perked up, "Speaking of covering our tracks, has Freed and his cleanup crew gotten back yet?" she asked tentatively, "I'd rather not leave that dog off his leash too long, he might expose us to the Devils, or do some other stupid shit!"

Before Kalawarna could respond, Raynare called out, "Who cares about Freed? We'll go pick him up after the ritual! Well?" she barked out, "Take your positions!"

"Ugghh…" Mittelt groaned, but complied regardless, walking to one side of the ritual circle.

Dohnaseek did the same, stoically, while Kalawarna huffed and took her place.

Once each Fallen took a spot in each cardinal direction on the circle, Raynare raised her arms almost reverently and began chanting.

A language by which no human could understand, Enochian, the Language of Angels.

Soon, the ritual circle lit up, and as it did each Fallen mirrored Raynare, the light building and building, collecting around the center where the boy lay still.

The light ballooned around him, forming a small cylinder around him that, once it touched him…

Forced his eyes open wide, and screamed in sheer undiluted liquid agony.

Luckily before he could even think to escape, golden chains came up from the circle shortly after, wrapping him up and pinning him tight to the ground against the circle.

It still didn't stop the screaming, unfortunately.

"AAAGH!" the boy hollered, his mouth and jaw straining to open wide enough to let him scream as loud as possible.

Fortunately, Raynare has gotten used to the noise, what with how many times she's had to do this.

Still, it's shocking he hasn't—

"PLEASE! STOP! IT HUURRTTSS!"

Ah. There's the begging.

Slowly but surely, flickers of green bubbly light begin to evaporate off the boy.

With each bubble, each bib, the giddy-ness in Raynare increases.

The boy hasn't exploded! It's working! He has a Longinus!

She just wishes he would stop screaming like a bitch.

"AGHHH!" somehow, in fact, they get worse, "PLEASE! I DON'T WANNA DIE! NOT LIKE THIS! NOT LIKE THISS! UGHH!"

The green bubbles of power begin coming off him more and more frequently, mixed in with a tinge of red.

So, so close!

"I…FUCK…YOUU…BASSTAARDSSS!" the boy growled and snarled with anguish, "YOU! ALL! I…III….!"

The bubbles condense and explode into a violent red and green aura.

The cylinder of light flickered, as all four Fallen are tossed to the ground, their chanting halting.

Only for a new one to take its place.

"I…who am about to awaken!"

'It started.' 'Looks like it's going to start!'

But not from them. The boy.

"Am the Heavenly Dragon who has stolen the Principles of Domination from God."

'It was always like this, no matter what.' 'That's not right, it was like this every time!'

The chains shatter. The boy floats there, growing, changing, shifting. Red armor with green jewels forming across his body like a second flesh.

Boosted Gear.

"I laugh at the 'infinite', and I fret over the 'dream'."

'The one the World seeks…' 'The one the World rejects…'

"Kill him! NOW!" Raynare calls, voice hoarse with sheer fear. At once, the Fallen all hurriedly and desperately throw light spears at the boy.

"I shall become the Red Dragon of Domination."

'It was always power.' 'It was always love.'

The aura devours the light spears. It grows, devouring the pillar of light, the ritual circle—

"And I shall sink you to the depths of crimson purgatory!"

'You guys choose destruction, no matter how many times!'

"RUN! ITS—"

The Fallen.

And all of Kuoh Town shook, as the jewels upon the armor announced as one.

["JUGGERNAUT DRIVE"]