Sam stepped out of the church, heading toward Rias and her group. Asia stood with them, fingers knotted tight. Tiche was nowhere in sight, likely still in hiding, watching the Fallen from the shadows.
Sam's voice carried out flat, a trace of weariness in it. "A deal was made."
Rias's eyes sharpened. "With who? And in what world did you think a deal was a good idea?"
Sam glanced at her, then spoke. "You know them. Yuma, Aoi, Minami. That's them. Or at least, that's the version we knew. The real them are Fallen Angels—the same Fallen that tried to kill me a few weeks back."
Akeno stepped forward, concern edging her tone. "With those Fallen… really?"
Sam nodded once. "I've seen them these last few weeks. The fact that they even proposed a deal is already a step in the right direction."
Koneko's stare was flat. "You're too forgiving, Sam."
Sam looked back at her, steady. "Maybe I am. But during these last few weeks, they've changed—or at least, I felt they have. This is step one in the right direction. If they fail, they fail. If they don't, they don't. Doesn't mean I can't give them the choice."
Asia lowered her eyes, lips moving in a small prayer. To her, Sam's willingness to forgive even past aggressors proved he was truly sent by God. He was her hero.
Rias crossed her arms, gaze narrowing. "They were on our list for suspicious behavior. But nothing ever outright damning."
Sam gave a short shrug. "Still felt off to me. They hovered around me more than any normal student would."
Akeno smirked. "You do know you attract most of the girls at school, right?"
Sam blinked, tilting his head. "…Do I? Now that you say it, maybe it wasn't that weird. Still felt weird, though."
Kiba cut in, voice tight with impatience. "So we get Freed without a fight?"
Sam shook his head. "Not exactly. The deal is me against the three of them. One fight, contained. No chaos, no complications. If it goes bad, I end it with the lightning power-up."
Rias frowned, connecting the dots. "So that's why you're confident."
"Yeah. But it's not a fight to the death—at least, not unless they lied. Freed's ours either way. The only question is whether they get to stay, or if I walk away owing them."
Akeno's smile thinned. "Favors?"
Sam gave a half-shrug. "If I lose, I owe each of them a favor. But not open-ended—I can refuse if they cross a line. That was part of the terms."
Koneko's voice stayed flat. "Would've been easier with just a fight."
Sam shook his head. "Easier, maybe. Messier for sure. This way, nobody else pays for it."
Asia's voice was soft. "I'm glad you're using words instead of your fists, Sam."
Sam tilted his head her way, his voice gentler. "I'm using words and fists, Asia. Different kind of language. But thanks."
The sound of the church doors broke the moment.
Freed stumbled out, his arms bound tight by glowing light restraints. The maniac grin on his face hadn't dimmed. He threw his head back and laughed.
"I can't believe it! My allies betrayed me! Handed me over… for the man who reeks of devil and angel both!"
Sam tilted his head, flat expression betraying nothing. He didn't rise to Freed's bait.
Behind him, Kiba tensed, shoulders rigid, eyes locked on the exorcist.
Freed's grin widened when he noticed. He leaned forward in his chains, voice cutting. "Oh, look who it is. The church's little toy… still pretending you're a knight."
Kiba's jaw clenched tight. Rage simmered just under the surface.
Freed barked another laugh. "You'll always be just—"
The crack of impact cut him off. Raynare's hand whipped across his face, silencing him with a brutal backhand. Blood beaded at the corner of his mouth, but the grin stayed plastered there.
"This isn't about you," Raynare snapped, stepping forward and brushing past him. Her eyes locked on Sam.
She smiled, sly, dripping innuendo. "Well, we have Freed here. Are you ready to show us what you're made of, Sam?"
Sam rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms, calm, deliberate. He dropped into his Muay Thai stance. "Yeah. I'm ready."
The ORC began to step back, tension sharp in the air.
Tiche materialized out of nowhere beside Freed, dagger pressing at his throat as she grabbed hold of him. "Don't worry. I have him. Dont worry, Sam."
The Fallen Angels startled, eyes wide. One muttered under her breath, "The assassin girl… that's where you were hiding."
Sam stayed where he was, steady in his stance. Raynare smirked back at him, Kalawarner sharp and composed, Mittelt fidgeting but unwilling to look away.
The stage was set.
The air went still.
Sam stood his ground, the Fallen across from him, wings tucked tight. Neither side moved at first.
Raynare's smirk cut through the silence. She unfurled her wings with a sharp snap, feathers scattering. Kalawarner and Mittelt followed a heartbeat later, black wings stretching wide as they fanned out.
Only then did the fight begin.
Raynare rose into the air, smirk sharpening as light gathered in her palm. "Let's see how that armor holds up, handsome."
A spear of light snapped down toward Sam.
He braced as it slammed into his exoskeleton. The armor held, but the impact reverberated through his chest hard enough to jolt him. Light spears hit harder than I thought. Dodge first. Don't trade.
Kalawarner and Mittelt moved next, one to each side. Their voices overlapped — one cold, one playful.
"Push him left. Don't give him space."
"I don't have to kill you, Sam… I just have to win."
Two more spears flashed across his path, cutting in from opposite angles. Sam lunged forward, slipping through as they crossed behind him, heat snapping at his back.
Raynare climbed higher, another spear forming. "Don't look away from me. I'll make you scream first."
Sam tilted his head back, calm even as he tracked her rise. Let's see how Icarus' Folly works.
He raised a hand. The sky flared wide with sudden fire, radiant and merciless.
Raynare jerked mid-flight, wings spasming as heat scalded the air around her. She dropped, grimace breaking her smirk.
Sam lowered his hand, voice flat. "You stay down here with me."
Sam flexed his fingers and the claws of lightning snapped out from his gauntlets, crackling to full length. He looked between the three Fallen, steady and unshaken. "Sorry to cut the fun short. I'm not here to lose."
Sam darted forward, lightning running across his claws as he moved.
Kalawarner shifted to intercept, light spear raised across her body. Sam dropped low at the last second, sweeping for her legs. She leapt back to avoid it—
—and Mittelt's spear, already in motion, cut through the air where Sam had been. The angle shifted by Kalawarner's jump, the spear slammed into her shoulder instead.
Kalawarner hissed, wings flaring to steady herself.
Sam twisted up from the ground, a fluid rise. His heel snapped up, catching Kalawarner mid-air. The kick wasn't heavy, but the follow-through spin sent her stumbling across the dirt, wings struggling to keep balance.
Sam's eyes locked on Mittelt. He pivoted toward her, claws sparking.
That was when she froze. Her breath caught, her body locked in place. The prey instinct hit hard as Sam bore down on her, shadow closing the distance.
He struck, the blow crashing against her guard. The impact buckled her stance and drove her back, boots grinding deep lines into the soil.
A pulse flared sharp behind him — Empath spiking hot with killing intent. Sam turned just in time. Raynare's spear sliced past his shoulder. The edge caught his armor, burning a streak into the plate before the energy flickered out.
Sam grimaced.
He backed away a step, rolling his shoulders. Sparks crawled across his chest plate as he inhaled deep, lightning building in his lungs.
Raynare's eyes widened. She snapped her wings closed around her body—too late.
Sam exhaled, and a torrent of lightning roared upward.
The current slammed against her defense, wings taking the brunt. Smoke curled off the feathers as she dropped from the air, landing hard and steadying herself on one knee.
Sam cut the breath short, the ozone taste sharp in his mouth. His voice came low. "Stay down."
Raynare forced herself upright from the Lightning Breath's blast, smoke still curling from her feathers, and with a snarl she thrust another spear down at him.
Sam caught the shaft mid-thrust. The energy seared into his palm, heat biting even through his gauntlet. He shoved the weapon off-line, grimacing as the burn spread before the light blinked out.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kalawarner was forcing herself upright, spear drawn again.
Three-on-one. I need to move, now.
Sam released the fading spear and pivoted toward Mittelt. His kick whipped out—
—but Raynare snapped a wing wide, slamming into his side. The hit knocked him off balance, his strike skimming past her instead of landing clean.
Mittelt snapped out of her freeze fast, panic flaring into desperation. Her spear of light shot low and true, grazing Sam's leg. The burn hissed through his armor, cutting into flesh beneath.
He stumbled, dropped, but his hands caught the ground and pushed him back upright in one smooth spring. Distance opened between them.
Empath spiked — Kalawarner's intent blazing a split-second before she descended. Sam caught the flare and dove aside. Her spear slammed into the ground where he'd been, earth erupting in sparks and smoke.
Sam's chest glowed faint — his breath already charged. He lunged forward, feinted a punch, then drove it into Kalawarner's wing.
She snapped the limb up to shield herself, but his claws flared with lightning. The strike ripped through her defense. Her cry split the air as smoke curled from the shredded feathers.
Sam caught her arm, twisted into a clinch, and pivoted hard. With a shout, he hurled her across the field.
Raynare dodged aside as Kalawarner's hurled body came crashing toward her and Mittelt.
Mittelt wasn't so fast. Kalawarner crashed into her, both staggering as they tangled.
Sam unleashed the Lightning Breath he'd been holding back.
A torrent of blue-white lightning tore across them, engulfing both Fallen mid-collision. Their bodies hit the dirt in a smoking heap, groans faint.
Raynare's snarl ripped across the clearing as she came on again, fury wild in her eyes.
Sam steadied, sliding back into Muay Thai rhythm. His knees, elbows, and shoulders caught her blows, deflecting them in sharp bursts. Sparks flickered across his frame — internal energy from his Muay Thai bleeding into his strikes without him realizing it.
From the sidelines, Koneko narrowed her eyes. She sensed something familiar about Sam's strange new energy, though she said nothing.
His fist slammed into Raynare's abdomen. She folded, gasping.
Sam's knee snapped up into her forehead, cracking her head back and forcing her upright again.
He caught her in a clinch and drove three more strikes in brutal rhythm — a low kick that buckled her leg before she could collapse, a knee crashing into her ribs where his fist had already landed, and an elbow whipping across her temple.
She spun from the blow and hit the ground hard, feathers scattering.
Sam stood over the Fallen, claws dimming but still sparking faintly. His breathing stayed even.
Raynare stirred first. She pushed up onto one elbow, wings twitching.
Sam's gaze fixed on her. "You lost. What was that—five, ten seconds on the ground?"
Raynare only stared back, eyes wide and unreadable.
[System Notice]
Affection Update: Raynare (Yuma Amano)
• Unquantifiable → 38 (Love/Yandere)
Recognition: Character has crossed 30+ Affection threshold.
• Reward: 1x Gold Random Ticket
Bonus Recognition: Conversion of a timeline villain (Minor).
• Reward: 1x Silver Event Ticket[1]
Sam let out a quiet sigh. Why me…
Behind her, Kalawarner and Mittelt groaned as they pulled themselves upright. They stood about fifteen feet away, breath ragged, wings half-folded.
Mittelt's voice cracked as she called out, "How'd you do that? You barely handled Dohnaseek last time—and now you took down three of us?"
Kalawarner steadied herself, her tone controlled but breathless. "Didn't expect that, Sam."
[System Notice]
Attraction Update: Kalawarner (Karuwana Aoi)
• +3 → 24
Attraction Update: Mittelt (Minami Teru)
• +3 → 24
Sam felt their emotions through Empath. Kalawarner's respect tangled with attraction, stirred by the dominance he'd just proven. Mittelt's prey-instinct still rattled, but the fear edged into something sharper.
Raynare's stare cut the hardest—silent, unblinking, obsession bleeding through where hatred had been a week prior.
Sam straightened, letting the claws retract. "I'm stronger now. That's it. The deal stands."
He jerked his chin toward Freed.
Tiche was already behind him, dagger pressed to his throat as she pushed him toward Rias and the others.
Freed laughed, clapping his bound hands together. "Three Fallen dropped without bloodshed! Didn't think I'd see that in my lifetime." His grin twisted. His eyes slid over the ORC.
He fixed first on Asia. "Little lamb, still clinging to the flock? I was the one who called you here. You were supposed to be mine."
Asia flinched, hands gripping her skirt tight.
Freed turned his grin to Kiba. "And you—knight boy. Still haunted by their screams? You'll never wash the Church's brand off you."
Kiba stepped forward without thinking. A demonic sword bloomed into his hand, aura sharp. His stance was taut, ready to cut the exorcist down the moment he slipped free.
Freed's laughter rang wild across the clearing.
Sam felt it all through Empath — Asia's trembling fear, Kiba's seething fury. His jaw tightened.
"He's still talking? Tiche. Drop him."
Tiche didn't hesitate. She shifted her grip on the dagger, driving the pommel hard against Freed's temple.
The exorcist's grin froze on his face as his body went slack. He slumped in her grip, unconscious, restraints still glowing faint around his wrists.
The clearing fell quiet.
[1] I using roll tickets as sam gets them, i rolled a Silver Random Ticket here but got a thing sam would NEVER use. So instead of rerolling im taking the original roll and forcing it a bit with converting it to an "Event" here. You'll see what i technically rolled next chapter.