3rd Person POV
The silence in the room was terrifying.
It was the kind of silence that could drive someone mad if they remained in it for too long.
The scent of blood filled the air.
Raynare stood motionless, the Holy Spear still in her hand. Blood dripped from its tip, leaving stains on the floor that led toward the lifeless body lying several feet away.
Kazuki Sakuragi was dead.
His body lay motionless beside Asia's.
Blood stained Raynare's face, but her eyes remained hidden beneath the shadow of her hair.
She let out a heavy sigh before slowly raising her head and looking at Kazuki's lifeless body.
"What are you, Kazuki Sakuragi?"
There was genuine confusion in her voice.
"The extraction should have worked."
The Holy Spear in her hand began to disintegrate, its form breaking apart into particles of light.
"Yet no Sacred Gear appeared from you."
Raynare stared at Kazuki.
"I could feel something supernatural within you. I know I wasn't mistaken."
She slowly walked toward one of the fallen pillars and sat down, resting her elbow against her knee before clutching her forehead.
"Then how?" She closed her eyes, trying to reconstruct everything that had happened. "Was the extraction supposed to fail?"
Raynare immediately shook her head.
"That's impossible."
She opened her eyes again.
"Kalawarner successfully extracted Sacred Gears from Issei Hyoudou and Asia Argento. The requirements were fulfilled. The extraction formation worked exactly as it should have."
Her gaze slowly returned to Kazuki's lifeless body.
"Then why...?"
Before she could think any further, the door slammed open.
Kalawarner rushed into the room.
"Did you—Holy Father!" She almost jumped at the sight of the blood on the floor. "What happened here?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" She tilted her head. "There's literally blood on your Holy Spear. How could you not know?"
"I don't know how this happened."
Kalawarner ignored the answer and looked toward Raynare's hand, where a faint green light emanated from it.
Asia's Sacred Gear.
But there was no second Sacred Gear.
Nothing had appeared from Kazuki.
"It failed?"
"I don't think so."
Raynare's voice was firm.
"I followed your instructions. It shouldn't have failed, but there is no Sacred Gear."
"I see..."
Kalawarner lowered her gaze for a moment before shrugging.
"Then the conclusion is simple."
"What conclusion?"
"If there is no Sacred Gear..." She paused. "...then maybe he didn't have one to begin with."
"Kalawarner..." Raynare's voice became cold. "Do not underestimate me. Are you saying I was wrong this entire time?"
"No, I didn't say that." She shook her head. "I do feel something supernatural within him too. I'm just saying that maybe it isn't tied to a Sacred Gear."
"Then what?!"
"I don't know." She simply shrugged. "But you've already taken care of him, haven't you?"
Kalawarner gestured toward the corpse.
"So whatever was inside him doesn't matter anymore."
Raynare's shoulders loosened as the tension left her body. Her breathing gradually returned to normal before she let out a heavy sigh.
"You're right..." she said, looking at Kalawarner. "Sorry I shouted."
Kalawarner simply offered her a small smile.
"No problem, Ray. But we have a problem."
"What?"
"I forgot to tell you that Gremory is getting closer. Mittelt and Dohnaseek are keeping their eyes on them, waiting for orders."
"Kalla..."
"I'm sorry!"
Kalawarner partially covered her head.
"Don't cut my meals, please!"
Raynare simply pinched the bridge of her nose and began thinking about how to overcome this problem.
Then she realized something was missing.
Something important.
"Where's Freed?"
Kalawarner immediately began whistling while looking to the side, sweating heavily.
Raynare narrowed her eyes.
She already had a pretty good idea of what that insane stray exorcist was probably doing right now.
"He's gone, isn't he?"
Kalawarner nervously nodded her head.
"He said..." she began. "He'd rather eat pig shit than work together with us to fight the Gremory."
Raynare's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
"He likes to hunt them alone, I guess." Kalawarner paused. "And then he abandoned his position while waving his hands and saying, 'Ciao!'"
"That damn human..." Raynare's eyes closed, and her lips twitched. "I swear, I'll shave his head clean, crucify him, and put the cross in the middle of town while he's naked."
"Also, don't cut my meals... please."
Raynare simply sighed.
Twilight Healing was already in her possession, but she had yet to become its owner.
With Asia dead, the Sacred Gear would eventually leave its current state and reincarnate into another person.
Raynare wasn't going to waste time.
The transfer needed to happen now.
"Kalla..." Raynare started. "When will the Gremory arrive here?"
"Maybe..." Kalawarner thought for a moment. "Ten minutes."
"That's enough time for the transfer ritual."
She nodded her head.
"You, Mittelt, and Dohnaseek will confront the Gremory directly."
"But we're outnumbered..."
"I know."
She looked at her.
"That's why your objective is to buy time. Use the terrain and the forest around us to your advantage."
"That's something we could do..."
"Separate the leader from the group first." She began explaining the plan. "Tell Mittelt to use her speed for that. Tell her to attack the Crimson-Haired one she found."
"I see... I see..."
"Tell Dohnaseek to use wide-range Holy attacks. Holy energy is effective against Devils, and it will prevent the group from coordinating with each other. After that..."
"After that?"
"Hold them in place with your abilities."
"Interesting..."
"You get it?"
"I don't..."
Raynare raised her hand, forming it into a fist as if she wanted to punch the woman in front of her.
"I'm joking, Ray! I'm joking..."
"I know..." Raynare smiled a little. A genuine one. "But you're literally joking with corpses around us. I question your kind of taste."
"Eh? Why would we need to bother with human corpses around us?"
Kalawarner's eyes sharpened.
"We literally killed all of Asia's pursuers before. The ones who wanted to kill her." She crossed her arms. "I hate those fanatical bastards. They tried to hinder our Sacred Gear gathering just because they thought Asia was a heretic and wanted to kill her because of that."
"You kind of have a point."
Raynare's eyes sharpened.
"Anyway, your objective is to hold them, not to win. If you think it's getting too difficult, retreat separately. I'll also retreat after the transfer ritual is done."
"Where do we regroup?"
"Grigori..."
Raynare said clearly.
"There's only one place where the Gremory won't be able to follow us."