Chapter 30: Aogiri Tree

Hikaru accepted Sona's gift without pretense. He understood her motives—this was a gesture of goodwill in return, and he'd remember it. One day, he would repay the favor.

…

Aogiri Tree Base.

The squad of ghouls they'd sent out had been wiped out, and even the Spears of Light from the Fallen Angels didn't help—this was big news. They couldn't just brush it off after hearing a minimal report. For a while now, they'd been conducting investigations in secret.

To avoid alerting the enemy, some of them disguised themselves as harmless civilians, wandering around the Antique Café where it all happened. Through a combination of threats and bribes, they managed to gather some surveillance footage. The time and location of the incident were quite specific, so it wasn't hard to find a relevant video. Though a bit fuzzy, it at least pointed them in a direction.

Piecing the clues together, Tatara and other senior members of Aogiri Tree placed the blame on "those devils"—or at least someone connected to them. As for an exorcist? A real exorcist wouldn't appear in this city; the stray exorcists around here were in cahoots with them, not enemies.

"Tatara-sama, it must be the devils trying to trace everything back to us."

"Doesn't matter. We're just about to launch that plan, anyway."

Tatara said noncommittally.

At that moment, the secret room's door swung open from the outside. In walked a few girls dressed in Kuoh Academy uniforms, strutting in catwalk fashion. Leading them was a black-haired girl, her hair flowing neatly down her back. To her left and right were two others—one with black twin tails, the other with a side ponytail; the latter looked somewhat more mature. Judging by their positions, the tall girl in the center was clearly in charge.

They entered chatting merrily, unbothered by the roomful of bloodthirsty ghouls.

"Raynare, it's so amusing how you toyed with that guy,"

"Maybe I should do the same?"

"Don't even think about it. We've been lurking here all this time and have found only one Sacred Gear user who hasn't been discovered by those devils yet. Not so easy to find more."

After speaking, Raynare turned to face the ghouls. Even though they were collaborating, she couldn't hide her disdain and loathing for these red-eyed, man-eating monsters. In her eyes, they were little better than beasts. If her Fallen Angel superior hadn't been short on manpower, she wouldn't have bothered recruiting these creatures.

"Raynare-sama,"

the ghouls bowed their heads when she paused.

"I have a task for you. Three nights from now, make yourselves busy. That's all."

She was ready to leave, but Tatara stopped her:

"Raynare-sama, that might lure in the devils."

"That's exactly the point. Your job is to draw the devils' attention."

"But—"

"No buts. Unless you intend to defy us? If you jeopardize the plan, Kokabiel-sama won't forgive you—and you won't even be standing here to argue."

With that, Raynare and the other two Fallen Angels departed.

Even after they left, the ghouls couldn't shake off their fear. Kokabiel was a figure of biblical legend, known to have once battled the greatest God of the Bible in ancient times. How could lesser beings ever hope to oppose someone like that?

Though Tatara felt displeased with Raynare's condescending attitude, they couldn't deny her confidence was infectious. For a powerful Fallen Angel, whoever wiped out their comrades was just another weed to be uprooted. As for stirring up chaos in three nights, the ghouls knew exactly how to do that: go where people gathered at night, kill a few humans, sow panic—a sure way to draw the devils out.

…

Returning home, Hikaru immersed himself in studying the grimoire. After channeling magic into it, demonic text appeared on the pages. Since Sona Sitri had evidently anticipated he might not understand it, every symbol came with handwritten annotations—a clear sign this was Sona's personal copy.

Scanning it from beginning to end, it was just as Sona said: beyond the basic, universal magic—things like telepathy, short-range teleportation, sealing, flight, magic blasts, and magic shields—there were also some water-element spells unique to the Sitri family.

After one pass, he started from the basics. Thanks to his existing foundation and innate talent, his progress soared. In a mere two hours, he'd mastered all the universal spells. He had also quickly reached a comfortable grasp of the water-based magic.

Lifting a hand, Hikaru let invisible magic surge outward, affecting the water in his cup. Under his mental control, it morphed into various animal shapes before finally forming an arrow shape and whistling through the air, piercing a good three meters into the ground.

~~~

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