Following Tatsuma as he descended from the sky, he and Rias entered the church.
Besides these four Fallen Angels including Raynare, there were also many priests and exorcists in the Church. These people, like Asia in the original story, were all expelled by the church for different reasons and then recruited here by the Fallen Angel side.
"Damn Devils! Go to hell!"
Although they were expelled by the church, these priests and exorcists had not completely abandoned their faith.
Seeing Tatsuma and Rias appear, they, who regarded Devils as mortal enemies, pulled out their weapons without a word.
"Commendable courage."
Tatsuma lifted a sword and casually swung it.
The next moment, a slash emitting a terrifying might burst out.
A crisp tearing sound rang out, and the priests and exorcists standing in the Church were all instantly vaporized.
White trait + 21, Green trait + 5.
Looking at the new traits constantly appearing, Tatsuma was in a great mood.
It was indeed the right decision to give these Fallen Angels some time to recruit subordinates and prepare.
If he had struck early, he would have only gotten four green traits, a greatly reduced harvest.
"Hm? Where is this?"
Just then, Issei, whom Tatsuma was carrying with his other hand, slowly woke up from his slumber.
"You're waking up at just the right time." Tatsuma let go and dropped him to the ground.
"Whoa!"
Issei landed face-first with a scream, instantly snapping out of his post-sleep daze.
He looked around, and his gaze fell on a familiar person nearby.
"Tatsuma? What's going on? Why am I here? And what are those wings of yours?"
"You talk too much nonsense."
Tatsuma glanced at him and asked, "Instead of asking, why don't you try to remember yourself?"
"..."
Issei fell silent.
Memories...
He had gone out this morning, had a date with his girlfriend, and then...
"Yuuma said I had a Sacred Gear on me, and then she inexplicably shot me."
Looking down at his clothes, which had a large hole in the abdomen, Issei suddenly understood.
"Did you save me, Tatsuma?"
"I did."
Tatsuma led the way, heading towards the church's basement. Along the way, he took the opportunity to explain the truth of the world and the matter of the Sacred Gear.
"There's a way to take iy away? That's great!" Issei's eyes lit up.
"Tatsuma, I beg you!"
"Please take away this so-called Longinus, I don't want it anymore."
Unlike in the original story where he was forced to become a devil and his mindset gradually changed, in Issei's current view, the Longinus was a dangerous item. Not only would it make him a target for terrifying Fallen Angels, but he could also lose his life if he wasn't careful.
He was lucky Tatsuma saved him this time, but that might not be the case next time. Rather than keeping it himself, it would be better to let Tatsuma take this dangerous item away.
With this thought, Issei, who still didn't know how dangerous it would be to strip the Longinus, followed Tatsuma to the church basement.
The church basement was very simply furnished. Apart from some illuminating candles, the most conspicuous feature was the magic circle carved into the ground.
Following Tatsuma's instructions, Issei stepped into the magic circle.
"What do I do next?"
"Just stand still."
Tatsuma temporarily removed the Pawn trait.
He had casually used Senjutsu to scan Raynare's memories when he interrogated her earlier.
The principle of the Sacred Gear stripping ritual was not complicated. Simply put, it involved divine personnel performing a ritual to resonate with the heavenly system.
There were two main difficulties with this ritual.
One was that performing the ritual required a certain number of divine personnel to jointly cast divine arts.
The other was that the Sacred Gear holder needed to be incapacitated and not resist.
For the former, Tatsuma could solve it by removing the trait and changing from a devil back to a human.
As for the latter, that was even simpler.
Looking at Issei, who was helping count money despite being sold out, Tatsuma activated the basic divine art he had just learned.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz...
The air trembled slightly, and streaks of white light blades appeared around Issei.
"Hm?"
Rias, who was nearby, suddenly widened her eyes.
Wait, this isn't right.
With her discernment, she could, of course, tell that what Tatsuma was activating at this moment was not magic, but divine art.
But the problem was, how could Tatsuma, a devil, activate divine art?
She admitted that Tatsuma had many secrets.
Boost, Senjutsu, activating potential, and even sword creation similar to Yuuto's.
However, before this, Rias, adhering to the principle of trusting those she employed, had never tried to uncover Tatsuma's secrets. But now, she finally couldn't hold back.
What does it mean for you, a devil, to be able to use divine art? Are you a double agent?
"AHHHHH!"
Just as Rias's thoughts were in a chaotic mess, Issei's scream pulled her back.
In the very center of the magic circle, a cross quietly emerged. The light blades surrounding Issei erupted with dazzling brilliance, falling straight down.
The next second, Issei was nailed to the cross, and a red ball of light flew out from his body.
"Done."
Tatsuma took the red ball of light and merged it into his body.
[Detected external power, convert it into a gold trait?]
Gold trait!
Hearing the prompt in his ear, Tatsuma's eyes lit up, and he decisively pressed confirm.
[Boosted Gear (Gold): A Longinus that seals the soul of the Welsh Dragon, Ddraig, possessing four abilities: Boost, Transfer, Penetration, and Blazing Flames.]
As expected of a Longinus, it didn't disappoint.
One trait with four functions, it could be said to maximize cost-effectiveness.
"Tatsuma, did you deceive me?"
Just then, a weak call sounded from not far away.
Tatsuma snapped back to reality and looked at Issei, who had already fallen from the cross nearby.
He asked, "Deceived you about what?"
Issei said, "So sleepy... I feel like I'm going to die."
"Then your feeling is correct."
Tatsuma explained, "Sacred Gear only transfers when the original host dies or is near death."
"Now that I've used the ritual to strip the Sacred Gear from your body, your life force is almost depleted. At this rate, you'll die within ten seconds at most."
"?!"
Issei's eyes suddenly widened, and an angry expression appeared on his face.
However, just as he was about to say something, the flame of life within him extinguished first.
[Congratulations on successfully killing Issei Hyoudou, obtaining the red trait 'Harem King'!]
Huh?
Hearing the sudden prompt in his ear, Tatsuma showed a look of astonishment.
Counting carefully, it had been a month since he first subdued Issei and obtained the Boost trait.
However, before today, Tatsuma really hadn't expected Issei to drop other traits besides the Boosted Gear.
The drop rate is too high.
***
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