A thick scent of blood filled the air. When the emergency lights flickered on, only the bishop and Freed, who stood before him, remained.
"Truly astonishing power. Are you also a warrior cultivated by the Church using hero genes?"
Though his subordinates were almost all dead, Valper Galilei showed no fear. He was long accustomed to bloody scenes like this. Rather than fear, he was more curious about the source of Rhode's power.
As one of the researchers for the cultivation project, he knew how difficult the process was and how low the success rate could be. According to the information he received before leaving the Church, clones like Freed had the highest success rate.
However, the cloning project was later halted by the higher-ups due to ethical concerns. This had greatly displeased Valper.
Later, he conducted research on the "Holy Sword Factor," but because the experimental process was too cruel, the Holy Sword Project was also shut down. The participants associated with the Church were arrested and interrogated, but Valper had escaped after receiving an early tip.
He later joined the service of the Fallen Angels. Upon learning that Kokabiel had sent people to steal the Holy Swords, he immediately volunteered his services.
Naturally, he had completed the Holy Sword Factor experiments. In the time before Rhode arrived, Valper had injected the Holy Sword Factors extracted from past test subjects into Freed Sellzen II, and the experiment had been a success.Thus, Freed, who had received the blessing of the Holy Sword's power, had been able to survive Rhode's gun-kata earlier.
As if convinced his guess was correct, a look of pure delight spread across Valper's face.
"Even though those people in the Church labeled me a heretic, they stole all my research data. I heard that two Holy Sword users appeared in the Church later—that just proves someone continued the research I left unfinished!"
"Damn that Michael! He went to such lengths to brand me a sinner, yet he's doing the exact same thing!"
"Though, with that Angel's personality, even if he extracted the Holy Sword Factor from the test subjects, he probably didn't kill them. I suppose he's a bit more 'humane' than me, hahaha!"
"Boss, why waste your breath on this guy?! I want to see how long it takes for the new, super-powerful me to finish off this arrogant prick!"
Freed II drew two Holy Swords, his tongue flickering out to lick the silver-white blade of one as a cruel grin split his face.
"Wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night... you're trying even harder to look cool than I am. My patience has reached its limit! I'm going to cut this guy into a thousand pieces to calm myself down!"
He was just as much of a freak as Freed I.
In the next instant, his entire body became transparent, blending into the surrounding environment.
—The Transparent Holy Sword.
Not only could the blade itself become invisible, but the wielder could also vanish. However, against a truly strong opponent, the ability of the Transparent Holy Sword was actually quite useless. Even if the body became transparent, one's presence and aura still remained.
But if it were paired with Rhode's Presence Concealment, it might have produced an unexpected chemical reaction.
Suddenly, a sharp gust of wind lunged toward Rhode's face.
Freed II attacked from the front, intending to split Rhode's head open. But before the Holy Sword could touch him, Rhode vanished from the spot.
Freed II skidded to a halt, his eyes widening as he scanned the area in shock.
The next second, Freed II felt the world spinning uncontrollably. Before his consciousness faded completely, he saw a headless corpse on the ground, geysering blood.
Who is that?
With that final thought, Freed II died.
The moment the wielder's life force vanished, his body flickered back into view. The three Holy Swords he carried fell to the ground with a crisp metallic clang.
"That's it?"
Rhode, exiting his state of super-acceleration, looked down at Freed II's corpse with disappointment. He had thought that someone carrying the power of three Holy Swords would be strong, but it turned out he was just a hollow shell—fragile enough to break at a touch.
Meanwhile, Valper, who had been fantasizing about the combat prowess his "premium test subject" would display, was left utterly stunned by Freed II's lightning-fast defeat.
His mouth hung open in a perfect 'O' shape, wide enough to swallow a goose egg.
His proud Holy Sword Project hadn't even lasted a single exchange against this man? And what was that in the man's hand? Was that... a Holy Sword too? But he had never seen one like it.
"You... you..."
"I... I..."
Rhode mimicked him mockingly; he was quite skilled at mental warfare. Seeing Valper frozen in fear, Rhode immediately pulled a Desert Eagle from his storage space and pressed the still-hot muzzle against the old man's forehead.
"Wake up. I have questions."
"W-what is it?!"
No ordinary person could remain calm with a gun pressed to their skull. With his greatest trump card killed in an instant, Valper's previous arrogance had vanished.
"Where is Kokabiel?"
Although he had obtained three Holy Swords, the mission wasn't complete. Clearly, these guys weren't the true masterminds.
"You know of Lord Kokabiel's existence?!"
"Wrong answer."
Bang!
Rhode fired, but he didn't aim for the head. He shot Valper in the shin.
A piercing scream erupted from the old man, sounding like a slaughtered pig. But when he saw the muzzle move back to his head, Valper forced himself to stifle his cries, trembling violently.
"L-Lord Kokabiel doesn't act with us! He... He said the protagonist only has value if he appears at the final moment! Other than that, he... he didn't say anything else!"
It was the truth. Valper had only volunteered to join after learning of Kokabiel's plan halfway through. Aside from the initial order to transport the three Holy Swords to Kuoh Town in the island nation, Kokabiel hadn't spoken a single word to them.
The Stray Exorcists were used to this kind of haughty attitude. To a Fallen Angel, humans were just a swarm of weak ants. Who would waste time talking to ants? Forget Kokabiel—even a Fallen Angel like Raynare looked down on speaking with humans.
"Fine then."
Rhode pulled the trigger, sending Valper off to meet his maker.
Once the room was empty, Rhode fell into thought.
What should he do? To complete the mission, he had to make Kokabiel show himself. But if he just walked away now, there was no telling when Kokabiel would appear. Even if he did, he might not know who was responsible.
"Aha!"
Rhode suddenly had a brilliant idea.
He pulled a brush from his storage space, lined up the corpses of the Stray Exorcists, and began writing on their backs.
"Rias Gremory was here. If you're a real one, come cut me!"
With this left behind, Kokabiel certainly wouldn't be in a hurry to go elsewhere to look for the Holy Swords.
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High School DxD : Reincarnated into the Multiverse, but it's High School DxD (154 Chapters – Ongoing)
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