Life 9-4

As a voice Noé didn't recognize carried through the air, Noé froze. Every sense in his body was suddenly screaming, everything in him sent to high alert, that inner voice warning of danger saying one thing as it felt as if the air itself grew heaving. Run, because the thing that arrived can't be beaten.

The feeling came from who descended next. Bearing ten wings that were dark as night, the arrival was a man with silver hair and purple eyes, dressed in attire of dark purples and greys. And his mere presence made Noé shudder from instinctual fear. He himself didn't feel that fear, but instead, it was his instincts as a Devil screaming to turn and run before that man's sights turned to him… yet even then he felt like he was frozen in place as the man looked from the battered Raynare and then to him.

"L-Lord Shemhazai?!" Raynare gasped, the man looking back to her. "W-What… what is…"

"What am I doing here?" asked Shemhazai, "I'm here to take back what you wrongfully took. I have to thank… who was it, ah yes, Dohnaseek. He came back to us saying the mission we had sent you on was compromised, and that you had acted against your given orders, along with stealing a device meant for disposal. Considering who ordered this mission, it's only right for me to clean up after him… again."

"Dohnaseek?! Why that…" As Raynare was about to curse, a curt glare from Shemhazai silenced her. "I… I was only just… if I had that Gear from the girl, I could have…"

"Do I need to remind me what your precise orders were?" Shemhazai said, striding over to the beaten girl, "You were to observe. To analyze the subject and return to us once you had confirmed the information you were provided as substantial. You were not in any way to engage with him, or the Devils who oversaw this region. Much less steal a prototype Sacred Gear Extractor labeled for disposal and try to use it to take the Gear of a Stray Priestess."

"I just… I wanted to…"

"Whatever excuses you have, save it for the court martial waiting for you back at the Grigori," Shemhazai then turned to Noé, the teenager flinching. "Considering that, I may as well tell you why you lost. It was not merely the fact your foe is far stronger and more skilled than you… it is also because the Sacred Gear he has is one of the thirteen Longinus Class. The Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet, Boosted Gear… though clearly in an altered form."

"What?!" Raynare gasped.

"Well, not like information of that level was something you would be told," Shemhazai said, now his full attention being on Noé, "I suppose an apology is in order, Red Dragon Emperor. It seems that because one of our subordinates acted above her place, she's caused you and your fellows some trouble. Considering her actions and behavior, I will not act against you for fighting her, as from what Dohnaseek informed us of, it appears you have merely been acting in self-defense."

"… what was that about observing me?" Noé managed to get the words out, but just barely.

"Ah, yes… well, the leader of our group took an interest in you, to put it frankly," Those words sent a sudden bolt through Noé. What on earth could he have done to somehow gain the interest of the leader of the Fallen Angels? "If you're wondering, it is nothing more than the fact you possess the Boosted Gear. The fact you were half-Devil only added to my boss's intrigue. Our intent was never to, I suppose, remove you from play… though I suppose whatever plan was there has already gone up in smoke."

"… I see."

"Ah, yes, I also need to recover that extractor. I don't care what state it's in, in fact it'd be better if you already wrecked it for us. Unless…" Noé felt that pressure on him increase as Shemhazai strolled towards him. The warnings in his mind only grew louder and louder as that man closed the distance between them. "If you and yours would happen to say, intend to take it for yourselves… then my statement of not retaliating would change very quickly."

"… take it for all I care," Noé said, taking in a deep breath, steeling his gaze as he looked right to Shemhazai. "I only came here tonight to save Asia and beat Raynare. I don't give a damn what your boss's plan was, or even what she was here for. So, take your stupid cross… but… Asia stays with me."

"And why should I let you keep someone with a Sacred Gear?"

"Because if not… you'd be interfering in Gremory clan business," Noé dismissed his right gauntlet and raised the hand, the emblem Rias had marked his hand with glowing into form on his palm. "I'm a protectorate of one of the Goetia clans, and I took Asia into my protection, and thus theirs, after one of yours threatened her life."

"I see… well then, this puts Raynare's actions into an even worse position than they already were," the man turned back to the beaten girl. Shemhazai let out a chuckle, turning back to Noé. "Alright then, the girl can remain with you, in exchange for the return of our stolen device. Consider it a gesture of good will towards the Gremorys, as an apology for one of ours attacking their ward without good reason."

"He's with the Gremory Clan?!" Raynare gasped. Shemhazai sighed as he turned back to.

"The fact you didn't even do the basic research of knowing how oversaw this region says plenty about your level of competence. If I had to guess, you acting so rashly encouraged them to act before we could… that, or something had been arranged long before we ever realized this boy existed," Shemhazai sighed again, turning back to Noé. "Once you and the others with you leave, I will return to reclaim the device. Until I do… I suggest you advise your allies to stay well away from this church."

"Trust me… we don't plan to stay."

"Hm… good. Then I will say, glad to do business with you, Red Dragon Emperor."

With a dusting of feathers through the air as Shemhazai's wings flared, the next Noé saw, the man and Raynare had vanished from his sight. And with them, that pressure atop Noé finally vanished, and he promptly collapsed to the ground, his chest heaving as he stared up at the night sky, feeling like he had just been released from a vice grip on his very heart.

"Holy fuck…" he breathed. "So… that's the kind of power a Cadre class has. If I'd said even one thing out of line… that bastard would've killed me without a second thought."

[You've got a long way to go before we can even think of matching a guy like that,] Ddraig said, Noé nodding. [But… knowing you, this is just gonna be more of a motivator, isn't it?]

"Heh… knowing the kind of gap I need to overcome? Yeah… it's pretty good motivation."