The battle wasn't over.
The floor of the ruined chapel lay shattered beneath me, its stone scorched by heat, energy, and sheer force. The air shimmered with tension, thick with static. Every breath tasted like smoke and blood.
Asia lay behind me, barely conscious, protected by a barrier of energy the Boosted Gear had erected on its own—instinct, or perhaps will. Each heartbeat echoed through my arms, where Ddraig's ancient might and the Twice Critical's mutated essence pulsed like living embers.
But Raynare refused to fall.
She emerged from the settling dust like a wraith—wings outstretched, hair wild, skin torn and smoldering from my last assault. Yet she smiled. Not in arrogance, but in pure, unfiltered delight.
"How fascinating you've become, Hyoudou Issei," she rasped, blood covering her left eye. "I never thought you'd even scratch me… and yet here you are. Taking it all so seriously… you almost look like a warrior."
Without hesitation, she soared skyward, hurling spears of blackened energy that twisted and writhed like serpents. I raised both arms—left ignited with the pulsing crimson of the Boosted Gear, right alight with chaotic mana and stolen light from the warped Twice Critical.
I blocked her first strike, spun, and fired a bolt from my right arm.
Raynare weaved through the blast, conjuring a spear of darkness in her hand and launching it with a snarl. I barely dodged—its edge grazed my ribs, carving a line of pain across my side.
Blood. Again.
"You're bleeding again! Pathetic. All this… for a worthless nun?"
I didn't answer. There was no room left for words.
Only war.
I lunged, wings unfurling in a savage burst. The Boosted Gear responded in kind—its claws extending, shaped by Ddraig's hatred. I twisted midair and collided with Raynare in full flight.
The shockwave made the broken church quake once more.
We spiraled through the air like erratic meteors, each impact heavier than the last. She howled and struck, and I answered with a barrage of mana-light rounds from the Twice Critical. One caught her in the gut—she screamed.
Still she flew.
We weren't just fighting. We were destroying each other.
And I… I still wasn't sure I could win.
But I wouldn't stop.
My body screamed in protest. Muscles burned. My breath came in ragged gasps. Every movement felt like knives dragging across bone.
But I couldn't fall. Not now.
Not while Asia still fought to remain conscious.
She raised her head, trembling, and looked at me—those eyes burning with defiant hope even as her body trembled.
"Issei…" she whispered. "Don't… don't think about me. Just… win. Please."
Her voice, fragile and firm all at once, struck me deeper than any wound.
I knew that every clash with Raynare, every shockwave, every stray shot—could kill her. But she still believed in me.
"Asia," I rasped, struggling to hold back the storm in my chest, "I won't let anything happen to you. I swear… I won't let this end badly for you."
She shook her head weakly, her lips twitching into a trembling smile.
"You're my hope, Issei… You have to be strong. Don't stop for me… I believe in you."
Her faith ignited something in me that pain couldn't reach.
The Boosted Gear roared anew, its crimson core blazing with fire I hadn't summoned. The Twice Critical answered, resonating with a flicker of shared power—two arms, two forces, one purpose.
Raynare watched with cruel fascination. Her smile twisted.
She wasn't beaten. Not yet.
Her body shook with some dark transformation. From her upper back, another pair of wings burst forth—smaller, but more ominous. Her wounds began to close, healed by the twisted power of Twilight Healing. A dense fog enveloped her, tainted with holy energy.
Her eyes burned blood-red. Her grin widened.
"Did you really think you'd stop me so easily?" she growled, voice layered with something inhuman. "This is only the beginning. You have no idea what's coming."
Then, her body began to shift. She was growing stronger, more unstable—feeding off the battle, warping her essence into something… monstrous.
And I felt fear.
But then… I heard a voice.
Not hers. Not mine.
Something older. Something... familiar.
|• Don't give up now.•|
It was him. The real Issei. The soul that had watched through my eyes all this time.
His voice was a heartbeat—syncing with mine.
My eyes closed.
When they opened again, my left arm—the home of the Boosted Gear—blazed with radiant fury. In my right, the Twice Critical pulsed violently, its power stirred by our shared will.
Two souls, for a fleeting moment, in harmony.
My failing body surged with energy.
The air snapped around me.
"You talk too much," I muttered, voice like a low growl. "And you're going to die for it."
Raynare moved to strike.
I raised my arms—
[Welsh Dragon Boosted Gear! TRIGGER!]
[DRAGONOID BEAM CANNON!!]
The Twice Critical shattered, reforming into a single-barrel cannon shotgun fused to my hand, lines of light threading down my arm like veins.
I was exhausted. Beyond that—I was broken.
My body barely functioned. Only adrenaline kept me standing. My reserves were full, but my cores were empty. I couldn't cast anything fancy. Couldn't think.
Just raw power.
Raynare knew it too.
She came again, faster than before—palm crackling with sacred light, aiming straight for my face.
I blocked with the Boosted Gear. Just barely.
The force sent me skidding, carving a trench through the ground.
I raised my right arm and pulled the trigger.
A comet-like blast exploded toward her. It struck, tearing her upward through the ceiling.
I didn't stop.
I leapt after her, burning magic into my legs.
[BOOST!]
I fired again and again as I ascended. Each shot lit the night. Each one shoved her further back.
Then—she vanished.
An illusion.
"Tch—"
I twisted just in time. The real Raynare lunged from behind, spear-hand aimed at my spine.
No time to think. Only move.
I spun midair and fired point-blank.
The explosion flung us both apart.
I crashed into the stone below. Something cracked. Ribs, maybe.
Raynare hit the ground, one wing torn, blood leaking from her mouth.
"This—can't—be happening!" she screamed, maddened, her eyes wide with fury.
She spread her wings—and the sky changed.
For a moment, my organs failed.
Holy energy.
Her domain.
She was reshaping the battlefield. Her death wish.
"This is my world now, demon," she hissed. "You'll die here… with me."
Blood poured from her eyes, ears, and nose.
She was dying. Her power was consuming her. Twilight Healing couldn't keep up.
I smiled, despite the pain.
The Boosted Gear redirected all its power to my vital systems. Ddraig's energy battled the holy poison inside me—and won.
I stood.
"You won't live to see tomorrow," I growled.
My hand rested on the Boosted Gear.
I prayed.
And Ddraig answered.
[Give it your all, partner. One more. Just one.]
[BOOST!]
The final charge.
One last heartbeat.
The glove blazed like a star. Energy surged from my heart, through my left arm, into the right.
I fired.
The blast shattered Raynare's domain and struck her dead center.
She screamed.
And still… she didn't fall.
Neither did I.
We staggered toward each other, bleeding, limping, falling apart.
"Enough!" she shrieked, diving forward in a final scream of rage and desperation.
I met her head-on.
Fists. Claws. No technique.
Just will.
I gripped the Twice Critical's cannon like a hammer and smashed her skull. She conjured a lance of light and stabbed—
—I shot, destroying her hand.
I punched.
She hit back. My vision blurred.
A knee to my chin.
I answered with a backhanded blow from the cannon's grip.
---
We broke apart.
Her knuckles—shattered.
Mine—gone.
Both weapons—ruined.
I was barely standing.
Raynare was healing… slowly. Twilight Healing working overtime.
But before she could rise—
—I summoned what little I had left.
A spark.
A sphere of pure energy.
"This is for Asia," I said, blood dripping from my mouth.
I fired.
Raynare tried to stop it—but failed.
It struck her chest.
And the darkness unraveled.
She screamed and dropped—unconscious, broken, but alive.
I collapsed to my knees. Blood streamed from my mouth, my eyes.
Still, I crawled toward her. Pressed my hand to her chest—and tore the Twilight Healing from her body.
Then, I grabbed the Twice Critical's core… and fed it into her.
Dragon energy devoured her corpse.
I exhaled.
Asia looked at me. Smiling. Crying.
I tried to run to her.
My legs failed.
I fell.
Still, I dragged myself forward.
I couldn't let her die.
I reached out. Our hands touched.
The rings slipped onto her fingers and vanished.
Her Sacred Gear returned.
I lay on the floor, staring at the broken ceiling.
"Asia… the redhead… tell her… be her bishop…"
I murmured.
She held me, tears falling as a soft emerald light glowed from her hand.
Twilight Healing.
She was healing me.
She shouldn't…
I tried to tell her to stop—
But everything went black.
I won.
Barely.
By nothing.
But I won.