Sudden Ending

One week later.

Nothing changed during those seven days, Mamoru roamed around at night for a couple of those days but never ran into the supernatural beings ever again.

In fact, as before he never ran into any crime at all. The town of Kuoh had been devoid of any criminals as it always had been since his awakening.

An occasional glance at the newspapers would showcase crimes from other towns and all but nothing involving Kuoh. In a way, for normal human beings, Kuoh was as peaceful as a town could get.

But for anyone who knew the truth, the little town was practically the grounds for a three-way war.

One such war that was about to take place would be the battle between Devils and Fallen Angels. A war Mamoru had thought multiple times of getting involved in as this town was the home of his little creator.

He already knew the Fallen Angels were up to no good, as the middle-aged Fallen Angel he had nearly killed brought up something about plans.

"Perhaps I should visit Kuoh Academy…"

If anything Mamoru thought that the Devil lady he had a chat with that night probably had some info regarding the Fallen Angels' plans, considering she might have been able to extract something with some minor "persuasion."

'Mm… she seems like too much of a schemer…'

So he chose a different target, the Devil boy he saved that night. The boy didn't seem particularly deceitful, in fact, every emotion was as plain as day on his face. Even in the dark of night.

His fear, his confusion, his lust, his awe.

Mamoru reckoned as the Devil lady's servant he might know a thing or two about the situation.

'His uniform… So either way, I suppose I must head to that school…'

The best scenario would be to find the boy alone, if he were with the Devil lady or any of her subordinates they might order him to retain secrecy, even in the face of his savior.

Mamoru didn't know the dynamic of their relationship, at least the boy seemed to hold some feelings for the crimson-haired lady. But she called him his servant, in what sense was that word used?

Absolute obedience? The role of a subordinate? Or was he just cannon fodder he happened to save? Perhaps Devils had a sort of relationship where they each saw each other as valuable despite barely knowing each other.

In any case, there was so much Mamoru needed to know, the problem was he couldn't just go up and ask for a short summary of everything regarding the supernatural.

'Kuoh Academy is in this direction…' Before setting out he once again made the excuse that he was going shopping. Though this time he warned his creator that he might run into a hurdle that may interfere with his return.

She surprisingly accepted the suspicious statement, though on the condition that she tell him via phone booth should he be delayed.

Mamoru made strides down the town streets, passing the shopping center-like middle of the town before reaching more of a residential area. Each street from there on seemed like more of a copy and paste from his portion of town.

Traditional Japanese houses, modern houses, and some houses that even seemed like high-echelon members of society lived there. Mamoru practically saw it all.

Though it was the last variety of houses that primarily caught his attention.

"This is…"

It wasn't until he made it into a park-like area that he saw the target of his mission. The boy whom he had previously saved. Though there was something quite odd about his situation.

In this unnaturally large park for a residential area was a single perfectly circular lake, surrounded by another circle of smooth stone pathing for people to walk around.

On that, very same pathing was the boy, but behind him was a girl of seemingly foreign descent.

She had long blonde hair and light green eyes. That very same hair happened to reach all the way down to her back, a rather large cowlick sticking out of the top. As for her attire, what she was wearing could loosely be described as the attire of a nun with a dark teal color as the base. On her head was a white veil with blue accents.

She stared nervously in front of her, to be specific she stared nervously toward the boy who had stood in front of her to protect her from the thing floating above the lake.

The "thing" Mamoru was able to identify immediately due to one obvious trait.

"Fallen Angel wings…"

In the center of a lake stood a rather attractive young lady with violet eyes and a slender body. Her raven black hair blended perfectly with her jet-black feathery wings. She seemed to be wearing something akin to a black bikini that showed off every inch of her body. Her legs and arms on the other hand were covered in tight leather.

Mamoru's first instinct was to shoot at her from afar while she had her back turned, the problem with that though was—

"There are too many people…"

One thing Mamoru hadn't accounted for was the fact that supernatural beings would enact their plans in broad daylight. He had assumed by how well hidden the secret was that there was some under-the-table agreement that every faction would at the very least hide their acts from the human world.

And yet here was a Fallen Angel, her wings out proudly, walking on the surface of a lake for tens of people to see in a crowded park in the middle of the day.

Each and every one of them, at least the younger folk who had decided to ditch school that day, took out their flip phones and started unabashedly taking pictures. Whether it was because she seemed inhuman or how skimpy her outfit was didn't matter to Mamoru.

As a matter of the fact was that getting involved would only jeopardize his identity.

He silently walked through the crowd ignoring their murmurs, taking a desolate alley as cover; he climbed a fire escape of a nearby bakery before holding out his left arm.

*clank*

His hand transformed into the familiar barrel of a gun, but it didn't stop there.

*clang*

Another few seconds went by before a totally new weapon appeared in its place. This time his whole arm was transformed instead of the hand.

Using his other hand as the support he laid down on the bakery's ceiling and lined up his vision with the scope of the rifle. Along the body of the weapon blue circuit-like lights lit up starting from the sight to the barrel.

Silently, he aimed toward the Fallen Angel's head.

"...."

And watched the scene unfold before him.

"Hm… so she can cast two spears of light at the same time… I wonder if that means she's on a different level than that old man…"

Mamoru lamented the fact that unlike supernatural beings he was unable to read holy or demonic energy in a being, as such an ability would likely be useful in gauging an opponent's strength.

His left eye gleamed red as he stared through the scope of the rifle.

Things didn't seem to be going well for the boy as even with the addition of an odd gauntlet he summoned from thin air he was not any closer to defeating the Fallen Angel than he was before.

But then Mamoru saw something that made his eyes slightly widen.

"Instantaneous healing…" The blonde-haired girl ran to the boy's sight with tears in her eyes. She knelt on the ground before rubbing a spot where the boy had been impaled by a spear. And with the naked eye, it was clear that the wound vanished in a matter of seconds.

What Mamoru noted, in particular, was the glowing of her hands, and then the rings on her middle fingers that he was sure weren't there before.

"Summoning a gauntlet from thin air… and summoning rings from thin air…"

It would seem there was another thing for him to research.

The fight came to its climax the moment the boy became impaled again. The Fallen Angel girl opened her mouth and said something, all before the blonde-haired girl went to her side reluctantly.

If Mamoru had to guess it was a trade in exchange for sparing the boy.

"So she's their goal… instantaneous healing is something they can't pass up either I suppose…"

Mamoru aimed the scope of his rifle at the Fallen Angel's head again. This time his finger went on and off the trigger as he mulled over some things in his head. He finally smirked, resting his finger on the trigger with certainty.

And then— he fired.

*splat*

The Fallen Angel's head exploded like a watermelon, her flesh and blood lathering the blonde girl who had gotten in her wings thinking she was about to be held captive again.

"Y-Yuuma-chan…"

The Devil boy, Issei, muttered aloud incredulously. He didn't even register the screams of terror or cries from the surrounding civilians as he watched her body slowly fall over.

*thud*

It wasn't until it hit the ground that he realized what he had just seen wasn't just a part of his imagination.

"O-Oi, Yuuma… You gotta be joking right…?"

He wasn't expecting it at all, one moment he was resisting her with all his strength, and the next she died so suddenly without even knowing why.

Even if she betrayed him, even if she toyed with his feelings, even if she hurt his newfound friend, such an end was too cruel for the girl he saw as his ex-girlfriend. The girl who he had a great time with on his first date. A girl who, back then, he truly loved.

At the very least he wanted to confront her with his strength. He wanted to ask her if the time they spent together was really just her playing around with him.

So with rage in his heart, he turned to where he heard the shot come from.

Alas by the time he looked, the culprit was already long gone.