Chapter 18: Coming Together

"Good morning Miss Fallen Angels!" I greeted the fallen angels who just woke up with cheer in my voice as they all looked up from where their limbs were buried. I woke them up by blasting them with freezing cold mist, as soon they regained their bearing Raynare started struggling.

"You! How dare you! Do you not kno- Gyaaaaah!!!!" *Bzzzzzzt!*

I put a stop to her struggling with a controlled shock until she stopped being able to resist under the scared gazes of Kalawarner and Mittelt(Donald was still knocked out or dead). I walked up closer to her and knelt down, grabbing a fistful of her and pulling her up to meet my eyes.

"I suggest you stop your rabid yapping you little bitch. Because if you keep struggling like some dog, I will just treat you like one. You will speak when spoken to alright?" Raynare trembled a bit, averting her gaze from mine before...

*Ptui!* "I am a noble fallen angel, you think you would scare me like that!?"

She spat on my face.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

"Alright." I released her fistful of hair and stood up.

*Stomp!* *Crack!*

I reinforced my leg and stomped her head into the ground, cracking the concrete. Twisting my leg to dig far face more into the dirt.

"Want to run that by me again?" I lifted my foot to give her some air. 

 Raynare lifted her head with blood dripping down her face just to see a large mana arrow spinning violently inches away from her making her shriek. Beyond the mana arrow, she could ice-cold eyes peering into her soul.

"You seem to be under the impression that I may be afraid to kill you. That is not the case, you being alive is simply a convenience. And if that convenience turns out to be an inconvenience instead..."

"Hyaaah!!!" *BOOOOM!!!*

The mana arrow was released, missing her face by a hair, gouging the ground next to her head instead. 

"Do you understand?" *Nod!* *Nod!* 

Now afraid for her life Raynare nodded, not daring to speak as she trembled.

"Good girl, seems like you can learn after all. Now what about you two? Will be obedient or will I have to perform another demonstration for the class?" I tilted my head, prompting them to quickly shake their heads, I am so proud, they learn so fast.

✧—•✦•—✧—•✦•—✧—•✦•—✧

After I was done yanking the information out of the fallen angels I learned some important. 

Firstly, it was apparently Azazel was the one who sent the 4 stooges to my doorstep and told them to take care of any sacred gear users they find. Which I was rather surprised by, I did not really get the "Kill all sacred gear users" vibe from Azazel especially since he had a team of them.

Secondly, they had 25 excommunicated priests including Freed waiting for them in the basement of the old church which I also learned the location of from them. They were apparently waiting for them in the basement.

By the time I was done siphoning all of the relevant information from their mouth, I felt 4 presences enter the barrier these crows had erected since I was constantly using sense mana ever since I encountered them.

Turning my head I saw the Gremory peerage with Rias in the lead come here, and upon seeing me standing on top of Raynare, bloodied up with 4 fallen angels of varying levels of health they wore shocked faces.

While I on the other hand only felt mild distaste.

'You will have our protection.' -My ass.

While I was thankful they couldn't interfere that did not mean my disappointment was any less. But I guess a situation like this could be benefited from too.

"Takumi-ku-"

"Wow, how fashionably late. What, was the giant barrier hard to notice?" I gave her a hard, disappointed stare sarcasm dripping from my voice like venom.

"Sorry, it took us a bit to notice the barrier and mobilize. Are you hurt? And what are fallen angels doing here?" Rias winced and asked. As if the holes with blood on my uniform screamed I am fine.

"Why yes I was, thanks for noticing. Allow me to introduce you, these three bastards are the Fallen Angels that were sent to kill me on the orders of Azazel for some reason. So I had to fight for my life a bit. So much for your protection." I intentionally muttered the last words quietly enough to make it seem like I didn't want them to hear but loud enough for them to hear as Rias flinched.

I admit, while I don't enjoy purposefully hurting them like this it was true that she was the one who messed up here and I had a goal. Guilt is a very strong motivator. 

"Wait, Takumi-kun, you managed to take down these fallen angels all on your own?" Akeno said in surprise as I made a 'Yeah, duh' gesture. 

"Well, I don't see anyone else here do I? On a serious note, yeah, I did." Hearing my words Akeno nodded, giving me a concerned expression before looking at the fallen angels on the ground with barely disguised spite. Right, daddy issues.

Staying silent for a few more seconds Rias turned to the fallen as a red-black aura started enveloping her making her look like a true demon. I felt a shiver go down my spine at the sheer amount of mana she had and the sheer danger she emanated from that power of destruction.

"Regardless, you four. You invaded my territory and tried to kill my friend. I hope you are prepared for the consequence of this." She said as she raised her hand, gathering power of destruction on it, preparing to blast them to kingdom come before I raised my hand which made her stop.

"Maybe not do that? There is a reason why I didn't kill them myself you know? Let's not escalate a scuffle to a major political incident by executing the fallen here. Why not hand them over to Sona's sister? Isn't she the Satan of foreign affairs?" The logic in my words made Rias blush in embarrassment as de-powered herself.

"A-ah, right. Akeno, can you contact Sona for me?" Rias addressed Akeno who nodded and got to work while I sighed, drawing Rias' attention to me as I started walking away.

"W-wait, where are you going Takumi-kun?"

"I have some personal business to deal with, I hope you can deal with sending them to Sona unlike the fallen in the first place. See you later." Saying that I left while the words were stuck in her throat only getting a muted ''I got it.".

Guilt is a very useful thing, because people like Rias are people who are really keen on paying others back and have a large sense of responsibility, especially toward people who they are affiliated with. This guilt was a seed I could sow later.

Of course, the moment I was out of sight I started sprinting since I did not want to break the mood. Where was I sprinting to? My house of course. Once I was there I gathered the rest of my supplies before heading to the abandoned church as fast as I could.

✧—•✦•—✧—•✦•—✧—•✦•—✧

Alright, poison gas? Check. Catalysts? Check. Recklessness? Check.

Yep, I would say I am just about ready to start murder on a mass scale. Or do only a few dozen qualify for mass? Or since they are at a church does it still qualify as a mass? Well, murder is murder, no need for a fancy label.

I approached the church slowly making sure to make as little noise as possible, mana sense would not help me much since none of these fellows were magicians as far as I know. 

I have to be especially wary about Freed, while he may be weaker than the fallen he is way more experienced in killing people and likes to monologue AFTER he has dismembered you and not before.

Basically, the chances of him being my undoing were higher than a fallen angel. The good thing is he shouldn't be too much stronger than me nor should he have the annoying durability the fallen angels had.

Fallen may not be vulnerable to electricity but let me tell you humans sure are.

Quietly, I opened the door to the church to be met face to face with Freed... pissing on a church pew?

You know what? He is Freed, I am not surprised.

"Huh!? Who the fuck are you!? What the fuck are you-"

Well, this just makes my job easier. I raised my hand toward him. 

"Unlimited Powerrrrrr!!!!!" *Bzzzzzzt!* An arch of lightning flew from my hands and shocked Freed who was trying to pull his pants up, after sufficient shock I stopped shocking him just before he died, causing his unconscious body to slump down and his face to land on the piss-soaked pew and ground.

Taking his non-responsive body I tied it up outside with some rocks transmuted into cuffs around him. I left him alive to minimize variables for the future. Whether this works or not I don't care much, it's not like not killing him will hurt me too much. 

After I was sure he was secured I made my way back to the church before moving the wooden cabinet away to reveal the entrance to the basement. Good. 

I retreived the ampule from my bag before chucking it as hard as I could down the stairs.

*Crash!* "What happened!?" 

Hearing the exclamation of surprise from the people inside I knew my job was done as I used my catalyst to seal up the entrance by fusing the ground together.

A minute later I heard people banging on the now completely sealed-off solid entrance with all their might, even if they managed to crack it I just repaired it and after a few minutes of the struggle slowing down all noise died down in the basement.

And, as confirmation.

____________________________

You have completed the Emergency Mission: Fallen Fight

You have completed the bonus objective

Rewards:

[Trait: Enhanced Vessel]

[Enhanced Vessel]

Your body is far more adaptable and tolerant towards foreign factors.

[Seal: Preservation]

When this seal is put on an item the rate at which it decays is slowed down drastically.

[Homunculous Creation Blueprint] 

[Sacred Gear Extraction Knowledge]

____________________________

"Hahahhahahhahahaha!!!"

My sacred gear was really throwing me a bone here. All of the things here were geared toward alchemy and my immediate goals, hell the middle two were outright telling me what to do here. And it already uploaded the relevant information I was rewarded with into my brain, the knowledge itself was quite extensive, enough to write a whole book and more in fact.

But I couldn't help but smile in anticipation, my efforts were rewarded plenty.

I wore a gas mask(that I bought while shopping for ingredients and enhanced with alchemy) and moved to the basement, looking in glee at the mass of corpses scattered around.

Someone else would have seen corpses. 

All I saw were ethically unquestionable research subjects and alchemy materials.

I started gathering the corpses in one corner and once I was done doing so I put the new seal I acquired and put it on each body by drawing with my mana as if it was a pen on the corpses then activating the seal.

Then I looked at the giant elaborately engraved cross in the middle of the room. 

The sacred gear extraction machine.

Putting a hand on the smooth surface I cackled almost like a hyena but I couldn't contain my excitement.

This thing would be the thing that would turn me from an Alchemist to be beckoned to a force to be reckoned(with).

Oh yeah, it's all coming together.

A/N: The fallen fiasco is finally dealt with, and Takumi continues to stack the pieces in his favour. From Rias' perspective, he is her magician who got attacked right under her nose while he was under her protection, making her feel responsible and guilty. I wonder how these feelings will play out and if they will backfire on Takumi in any way. I truly wonder.

Also, some of you may have noticed that the things the Sacred Gear is giving MC are a bit too specific and convenient. And no, that is not purely because of plot armour, it is intentional.

Anyways. What did you think about this chapter? I would love to hear about it. Especially on how Takumi handled this.