Fallen Angel And Little Devil

A pale gray trench coat over a white dress shirt. Black pants, shoes, and a pair of gloves to match. His dark blue eyes were barely visible beneath the brim of his gray fedora.

While he seemed like a normal pessimistic middle-aged man in appearance, there was one detail about the "man" that made Mamoru think of him as anything other than normal.

And that was the fact that from his back protruded two jet-black feathery wings. He hovered in the air without them ever having to flap a single time.

"Oi oi oi, what's this, little Stray Devil boy? How unfortunate, but then again this is because you didn't stop when I told you to. Ahhh, and here I thought I could walk out of this situation with a clear conscience. Looks like I'm going to have to kill another innocent human, and it's all your fault."

Despite the middle-aged man's seemingly remorseful words, his tone was nothing short of amused. At least if his pessimistic smirk was anything to go by. His eyes creased in sadistic glee.

"But don't worry, little human. I don't have anything personal against you, unlike this filthy Devil. So I'll make sure you at least pass away without feeling too much pain."

As soon as he uttered those words, a blue spear composed of light suddenly materialized from his right palm.

Mamoru stared at the spear of light in the man's hand, searching through his database for any relevant information. Unfortunately, he found nothing of the sort.

As far as he was concerned when he meant defeating threats before they harm his creator he meant simple thugs or kidnappers that skulked around at night.

And now all of a sudden he was face to face with something that didn't classify itself as human. At least going by the perpetrator's own words.

The way a light-like spear materialized in the man's hand was strange enough, but it was his words that really caught his attention.

'Stray Devil… kill another innocent human… filthy Devil.'

If anything two points were made clear:

1. The boy to his right was not human as well.

2. The man in front of them is a killer, and he openly admitted to killing innocent people as well.

It didn't take long for Mamoru to put all the pieces together, if the boy next to him was a Devil and the man in front of them had black feathery wings, then the only assumption to make based on the latter's hatred towards the former would be that the man was some variant of an Angel.

To be precise, he was most likely a Fallen Angel, at least going by the coloration of his wings.

Upon his "birth" Mamoru had knowledge of the basic events of Earth, along with things like the development of mankind from the stone age to now, he was also presented with the aspect of religion.

But in this modern age where it has neither been scientifically proven whether the mythological beings of legend were real or not, he was presented with two in front of him.

At least if they were real, Mamoru couldn't imagine his creator would neglect to imbue him with the knowledge of it.

He would do his own research later, but for now… there was one more thing he couldn't let slip by. And it was once again those words of the Fallen Angel:

"Looks like I'm going to have to kill another innocent human"

This guy was a killer, a killer who killed innocents and showed no remorse for it. In this town where his creator lived, such a being's existence was unpermitted.

Essentially, this man was a threat to Mamoru's creator.

"Is this… joy?" For the first time in his life (the past 2 weeks) he's finally encountered a situation in which he could fulfill his duty.

If the man in front of him was left to his own devices, his creator might be his next victim. With the resolve to prevent such a scenario from occurring, Mamoru held both his hands in front of him tighter in preparation to catch whatever was thrown at him.

If the enemy happened to overpower him, then he had the resolve to throw the Devil beside him forward for a chance to protect his creator another day.

"T-That spear!"

The alleged Devil in question trembled with fear in his eyes, his face devoid of color as he pointed toward the spear of light the man held in his right hand.

But before another word could be said by him, the man with the spear threw his manufactured weapon of light.

*ZING*

The Spear of Light soared across the park leaving behind a streak of white. Its target is Mamoru Shinonome himself.

The spear didn't even make a sound as it flew, its intent blatantly clear.

But then something happened that shocked both Issei and the unnamed Fallen Angel.

"...."

"H-He caught it… Even though he doesn't have an ounce of holy or demonic energy inside him… Even though he's just a regular human! Even if light-based weapons were made to target Devils, the sheer heat should have burned a hole through that human!"

Mamoru certainly felt the heat, but to his metal prosthesis, it was about the equivalent of handling a hot tray with an oven mitt.

"...."

Mamoru clenched the two hands that caught the spear, intending to fully understand how the attack worked. But instead, the spear simply dissolved after a few seconds into small particles of light, before once again dissolving into nothingness.

Though Mamoru couldn't understand some principles behind the weapon, he did gain some insight regarding its lethality.

First of all, the man himself said it especially dealt lethal damage to Devils. Mamoru could at least infer that Devils were weak to light.

Secondly, because it was made of light the spear itself was hot, so hot it'll melt straight through a normal human without any resistance.

His eyes glowed for a few seconds as he recorded the former presentation for future reference.

The Fallen Angel was still in shock, and the Devil boy was as well. So without saying a word, Mamoru charged forward with both his palms outward, if another spear was going to come then he'd just grab it again.

*WHOOSH*

And as he expected another spear came flying at him, though he simply caught it mid-air and spun it to collide with another incoming spear.

*SHATTER*

He spotted several flaws with this mystical technique that allowed the user to produce a spear of light, and that was that the user could only produce one at a time.

Because of that the "rate of fire" was simply negligible, if an opponent was able to survive one Spear of Light, then they were going to survive the one that came at them five seconds later.

"Y-You monster! Stay back!"

*CLANG*

The middle-aged Fallen Angel was able to produce another spear just as Mamoru's fist was about to fall on his head.

But instead of the simmering of burning flesh that the Fallen Angel expected to hear, the only noise that erupted was the clanging of metal.

"S-So that's it! Ghahaha! Oh my, and here I thought I encountered an unwanted variable in our plans. Turns out you're just a freak with toy arms!"

The Fallen Angel smiled as if he figured it all out, he then dematerialized his spear before ducking beneath the falling fist. With only a few inches between himself and Mamoru, the Fallen Angel produced another Spear of Light, this time with his palm facing Mamoru's abdomen.

Light blasted from his palm, but the materializing Spear of Light was only able to grow a few inches before Mamoru lifted his left leg and stomped on the length of it, burying it into the ground.

The fist falling from the sky transitioned into an open palm. It tightly grasped the Fallen Angel's head before squashing it into the ground along with the spear.

Sensing a heavy curb stomp to the head, the Fallen Angel flapped his wings for the first time and flew in between Mamoru's legs.

*SLAM*

Mamoru's right leg missed the Fallen Angel's ankle by a mere second, instead, it crashed into the ground before shattering the brick that had been laid out to make a path around the fountain.

"....."

"Hahaha! It doesn't matter what abomination you are! So long as I stay in the sky you can't touch me!"

That was when Mamoru pulled off another stunt that once again stunned the Fallen Angel and the forgotten Devil Boy.

*clank*

Mamoru's left hand, at least where it should have been, transformed into the barrel of a machine gun.

"...."

And then it fired—

*DUDUDUDUDUD!*

Streaks of a different kind soared across the sky. The pungent smell of gunpowder filled the air almost immediately.

*DUDUDUDUDUD!*

But Mamoru didn't care, even as the muzzle flash obscured most of his view the single eye he kept open shone brilliantly.

The gunfire didn't stop until the Fallen Angel's wings were full of holes.

"Haa…Haa…Haa!"

The Fallen Angel laid on his back with his arms and legs sprawled wide, his torn wings seeping blood as they twitched underneath him.

*thud, thud, thud*

The Fallen Angel's fading blue eyes twitched as he heard footsteps emanating from his former opponent's location.

"...."

Mamoru stood over his first opponent ever and aimed his barrel at the Fallen Angel's head, his eyes gleaming red this time as he opened his mouth to utter the words he's been holding.

"Earlier you said 'our plans'... Tell me who you are working with and each of their abilities… Then I may consider leaving you alive…"

'As a tool to learn a Fallen Angel's physiology,' though Mamoru didn't utter that last part aloud.

"I-I am…!"

"That's enough!"

Before the Fallen Angel could seal his own fate, a proud voice emanated across the devoid park.

"...."

Silently, Mamoru aimed the barrel of his machine gun toward the source of the voice, thinking that the Fallen Angel's accomplices had arrived to save him.

But in a single second a presence had arrived right before him.

She was small, very small. Not smaller than his creator but small nonetheless. At the very least Mamoru was confident he was a foot above her in terms of height.

She had fair pale skin and white short hair that reached her shoulders. In her irregularly gold eyes were feline-like pupils. She had black cat-shaped hair clips on both sides of her hair.

As for her attire, she wore a white dress shirt that transitioned from the waist down into a button-down purple corset. Below that was a magenta skirt with white accents.

Mamoru had recognized her clothing from his database.

'The Kuoh Academy girl's uniform…'

But Mamoru had bigger concerns right now than that school located on the other side of town. And that was the girl in front of him who swung her gauntleted fist toward his abdomen.

*clank*

In retaliation, Mamoru's machine gun reverted into a human hand and caught the fist head-on.

"...."

The problem was the girl's fist was heavy enough to make his hand tremble. The girl's eyes mildly widened at that, as she was expecting to send him flying.

"Don't aim that thing at Buchou…" She said apathetically. And yet her eyes gleamed dangerously.

Expressionless met expressionless, for some reason Koneko Toujou felt a sort of kindred with the man in front of her.

*clap-clap!*

Suddenly two claps emanated from the place where the previous speaker stopped the fight. The short girl with white hair slightly nodded before leaping back dozens of meters away easily.

"...."

Mamoru's eyes narrowed slightly, as the three in front of him seemed much more troubling than the guy beneath his boot.

Especially the girl with the crimson hair in the middle.

Her blue eyes shone with overwhelming pride as she gracefully swept back her hip-length hair with a single hand.

"I am Rias Gremrory, the Lord of this town. Before you murder the Fallen Angel beneath you, may I ask if you understand the weight of your actions?"

"...." Mamoru stared back at her with a blank expression, it was true he was ignorant of the current power dynamic, but he wasn't going to show that to his potential opposition.

Rias' mouth curved at that, inside her mind the moment he didn't respond to her name was the moment she classified him as someone truly unaware of the supernatural.

"Judging by the fact that I can't sense any Holy or Demonic energy from you, I'm confident in assuming you are a human. Am I correct?"

"....." The best thing to do when someone was probing for information was to remain silent, but there was always the chance that may provoke the opposition.

"Ara~? Buchou, it seems this man is declining a conversation with you. If that's the case would you allow me to make him speak for you?"

Beside the crimson-haired girl was another girl with sleek black hair, the very same hair done into a long ponytail that reached her waist.

Her eyes were closed as she spoke with a smile devoid of any friendliness.

"That's fine, Akeno. In fact, it was rude of me to question the savior of my servant."

She pointed with an unaffected smile toward the dazed Issei.

"S-Servant? Me? I'm Senpai's servant?" Issei spoke dumbfoundedly as he pointed his own thumb to himself.

"So you're in allegiance with these people… Is it safe to assume you are all also devils?"

For the first time since meeting the trio, Mamoru spoke. Though what came out of his mouth was a question instead of an answer.

At that, the girl with white hair slightly frowned.

"Indeed, I am Rias Gremrory. The sister of Sir Lucifer himself. Now that I've introduced myself twice, may I inquire about your name?"

Her expression never shifted, instead she bore the same pride and confidence she had been bearing since the moment she first showed up.

"...." Mamoru contemplated for a few seconds. He could give his name and quite possibly build a positive relationship with these seemingly sane individuals. At the very least they looked like the better option when compared to the Fallen Angels, whom he had already gotten on the bad side of.

Even if he gave his name he wasn't a registered civilian, he was born from a pile of scraps after all. His creator hasn't mentioned anything of the sort about identification either. She just told him his name and that's it.

So rather than risk offending two factions at the same time, Mamoru reasoned it'd be better to give a name the "Lord" couldn't even find no matter how hard she searched.

"Mamoru, just Mamoru. I have no blood relatives…" While not having blood relatives wasn't exactly an excuse to not have a family name, it would at least pressure the girl into not delving any further at the risk of agitating him regarding his circumstances.

"I see… no family name, huh…" In Rias' mind, this was the perfect catch. She and her peerage could become the family of this strong individual ignorant of the world. The fact that he had no affiliations was tempting in itself.

As for the dying Fallen Angel on the floor, he seemed unsavory enough not to be missed. At the very least he was acting alone so the odds he was a member of the Fallen Angel faction were pretty low.

"Below your boot is a Fallen Angel, if killed this could become an incident affecting my town. As such, I'd like you to hand him over for questioning. If he does happen to be a member of the Fallen Angel faction we shall erase his memories and any involvement you had in this incident in exchange. How does that sound?"

Wordlessly, Mamoru kicked over the bleeding Fallen Angel to the girl with white hair.

"I'll be leaving now…" Mamoru wasn't able to keep the body to discover Fallen Angel weaknesses but he had enough data to keep him occupied for at least a day for now.

"Wait!" This time it was Issei who spoke out.

"...." Mamoru glared coldly at the boy as if urging him to speak quickly.

"T-Thank you for saving my life!" With an embarrassed blush, Issei bent over 90° as a symbol of his thankfulness.

"....." Mamoru wordlessly nodded before bolting into the woods without ever looking back.

"There he goes… Are you sure you didn't want to invite him into your peerage, Rias? Even though his disrespectfulness displeased me quite a bit, I'm not so dull as to ignore his strength."

The girl with the long ponytail, Akeno, spoke to the crimson-haired beauty with a solemn expression.

"It's fine~! I'm sure we'll see him again, these Fallen Angel guys are relentless. They'll pull him back into the affairs of the night somehow. He didn't seem like the guy who'd trust someone in their first meeting anyways."

The moment her potential recruit left the field, the arrogant air around Rias disappeared almost immediately. Instead, she spoke with a friendly smile, her face less calculating and more relaxedly confident.

"What about you, Koneko? What do you think of him?" Rias turned to her shortest servant.

"He's strong…" The short girl with white hair said, staring into the woods where the aforementioned male had wandered off.

"Not to mention his body seems full of surprises," Akeno added, remembering the scene of his left hand transforming into a machine gun.

The three pondered for a bit, ignoring the still bleeding Fallen Angel on the ground.

Meanwhile, Issei stared into the woods as well, remembering the strength the man who looked about his age showed.

"Mamoru huh…"

That night, Mamoru didn't return home. Instead, he spent hours racing around the town until he was sure he wasn't being followed by either faction.

The last thing he wanted was to pull his little creator into the dangers of the night.