Chapter 20: I Really Can’t Tell if You Respect Me or Hate Me…

Night had fallen over Kuoh Town, and a heavy silence lingered in the air.

A young man with short, tousled brownish-yellow hair trembled slightly.

Perhaps sensing something, he suddenly felt uneasy.

As if, from the shadows of the darkened streets, claws might reach out at any moment to tear him apart.

But even if he sensed something… he was still just an ordinary person now, so—

With a sudden gust of wind, he was slammed to the ground and lost consciousness.

Moments later, several fallen angels with black wings descended.

Looking at the unconscious human, the fallen angels began discussing.

"This is the last Sacred Gear user left in this town?"

"So Raynare wasn't lying after all!"

"Didn't expect that Raynare's plan, hidden from the higher-ups, would actually work!"

"If Raynare can become that powerful, then we should be able to as well, right…?"

"Let's argue over who gets the Sacred Gear later. First, take him away before the devils catch on."

Indeed, these fallen angels had been drawn here by Raynare.

Though the upper echelons of devils, fallen angels, and angels had grown weary of war and were considering peace, not everyone in the three factions agreed.

From the original story, Raynare secretly taking Asia's Sacred Gear already showed that such extremists existed—and Ren had merely told her to provoke more of them.

Ren wasn't looking to start a war, but eliminating dangerous radicals like this? No problem.

And as bait? That would be this man, who still hadn't become part of Sona's peerage—Genshirou Saji.

According to Ren's theory, the arrival of Examon had altered the timeline, delaying Saji's transformation into a devil. With chaos coming to Kuoh Town, Rias and the others would need to prepare.

Just as the fallen angels were about to carry Saji off—

A lance of light fell from the sky and pierced Saji's body. He didn't even get the chance to scream before his life ended instantly.

The light spear also showed signs of expanding to strike the other fallen angels, forcing them to retreat.

Seeing this, the fallen angels widened their eyes in fury and disbelief.

And then—Raynare stepped out of the shadows.

"Oh dear… that was close. If I'd accidentally killed all of you too, my hateful master would've scolded me~"

She made a show of patting her chest like it had been a narrow escape—but…

The others could see the ridicule in her smile.

It was obvious: she had done it on purpose!

By the way, that light spear had been conjured by Raynare.

Because fallen angels in this world could still use light-based power, Ren had given Raynare several light-element crystals to test if she could still wield light magic.

Sure enough, she regained the ability to summon light spears. Perfect timing—this let them pin the blame for Saji's death on the other fallen angels.

Although… after eating the light-element crystals, Raynare's expression had shown visible pain, and it seemed to have further twisted her personality.

Still, Ren didn't mind the change. She was on his side—and being cruel to enemies wasn't a bad thing.

"Raynare, what were you doing!?"

"Did you try to attack us too just now!?"

"Are you picking a fight with us!?"

Some hot-headed ones even stepped forward to fight her, but—

The dangerous glint in Raynare's eyes made their bodies freeze. They remembered something terrifying and immediately regretted their words.

Raynare gently stroked her chin with her slender fingers, putting on a queenly pose.

"What? You want to play with me? My hateful master only said to leave you alive… breaking all your limbs should still be within the rules, right?"

"Hateful master!?"

"Raynare, did you betray us?"

"So everything you said before… was a lie!?"

The moment she mentioned "master," the fallen angels realized Raynare had deceived them.

Raynare feigned surprise and covered her mouth theatrically.

"Oh my, did I say too much? Well then…"

Her face instantly changed—those delicate features twisting into something menacing.

"Then I'll just have to make sure none of you can speak again!!"

A wave of terrifying darkness burst from Raynare's body, burning like black fire.

A barrier had already been set up here. That's why Raynare dared to act out like this.

Sona and her perrage wouldn't sense the battle for a while.

And then—piercing screams rang out across the street.

"…Yikes. Did Raynare really go full psycho? Her personality's totally breaking down…"

Ren said this calmly, without a trace of concern.

After all, even if she was becoming unstable, she was his unstable ally. And being merciless to enemies? No complaints there.

Before him, Raynare stood victorious.

One by one, the fallen angels lay on the ground, barely clinging to life.

Clicking his tongue, Ren said nothing. He simply walked forward and took the Sacred Gear from Saji's corpse, then approached Raynare.

The moment she saw Ren, the dangerous glint in her eyes faded.

"My hateful master, these guys can't move anymore and won't resist."

"They wouldn't have resisted even if you hadn't attacked."

"But they were so loud. I figured they'd annoy you. As your pet, I have to be considerate."

Raynare lowered her head respectfully, submissive as ever.

Seeing this, Ren couldn't help but think:

I seriously can't tell if she respects me… or hates me.

Maybe when Lucemon gets back, I should hand Raynare over to her for discipline…