Chapter Summaries

Ren considered what form his Sacred Gear might take in Balance Breaker after Lavinia explained that a wielder’s will could influence it. After dinner, Akeno Himejima visited Ren to apologize and report that her familiar had found signs of a battle on the outskirts.

• Lavinia praised Ren’s Sacred Gear control, warmed Asia and Kuroka, and explained that a Sacred Gear’s Balance Breaker could reflect its wielder’s will.
• Raynare, Kalawarner, and Mittelt returned with groceries, and Asia joined them in preparing dinner.
• Ren pondered what he wanted his Balance Breaker to become while Lavinia and Kuroka slept beside him.
• The group ate dinner, and Kuroka returned to the sofa in cat form.
• Akeno Himejima visited Ren with tea, apologized for her earlier rudeness, and said her familiar had found traces of a battle on the outskirts.

Ren accepted Akeno Himejima’s request to help stop Rias’s arranged marriage to Riser and proposed defeating him in a Rating Game by training Rias’s peerage. Akeno said the group had trained against stray devils, but their progress had been slow, leaving Ren to challenge her account of their effort.

• Akeno Himejima told Ren that Rias was engaged to Riser and faced pressure from the Underworld’s leaders to marry him.
• Ren received a quest to prevent the Gremory and Phenex marriage alliance, then suggested killing Riser, but Akeno rejected that plan because it would endanger Rias.
• Ren proposed that Rias challenge Riser in a Rating Game and accused her peerage of never seriously training to win.
• Akeno Himejima said Rias had taken the group to fight stray devils and that they had improved slowly, though she doubted they could overcome Riser’s larger peerage.

Ren challenged Akeno Himejima to accept her Fallen Angel heritage and use its power to protect Rias, prompting her to reconsider her refusal. Later, he traveled to the Heavenly Realm at Griselda’s summons and reunited with Irina Shidou and Xenovia.

• Ren criticized Akeno Himejima and the others for relying on limited training, then asked why she refused to use her Fallen Angel bloodline to help Rias.
• Akeno Himejima left after realizing Ren’s words had forced her to question whether she was truly doing enough for Rias.
• Ren told Kuroka that Koneko might have to accompany Rias if she married, and Kuroka became upset before the others calmed her down.
• Ren received a message from Griselda and teleported to her office in the First Heaven of the Heavenly Realm.
• Ren arrived to find Griselda with Xenovia and Irina Shidou, who greeted him as they reunited.

Ren accepted Griselda’s mission to recover three stolen Holy Swords and investigate the culprit, while Xenovia and Irina Shidou began their own search. Griselda also asked Ren to deliver a letter to Asia, and Ren returned to Kuoh Town intending to skip the investigation because he already knew where the clues would lead.

• Griselda told Ren, Xenovia, and Irina Shidou that three Holy Swords had been stolen and suspected Grigori was behind the thefts.
• Xenovia and Irina Shidou argued over which Church might have a traitor, but Griselda ordered them to focus on finding the swords.
• Ren accepted the mission for a reward of one million dollars per recovered sword, and Griselda transferred him a three-hundred-thousand-dollar deposit.
• Xenovia and Irina Shidou left to collect Church funds and begin investigating, while Griselda asked Ren how Asia was doing and gave him a letter to deliver to her.
• Ren teleported back to Kuoh Town and decided not to investigate the thefts from the beginning because he expected the trail to lead there.

Asia received a letter and photographs from people she had helped, easing her doubts about being forgotten after leaving the Church. Akeno Himejima and Koneko decided to use their powers to support Rias, while Ren continued training toward his Balance Breaker.

• Ren gave Asia a letter from her former acquaintances, and she cried with joy as she read their thanks and saw their photographs.
• Lavinia reassured Asia that her friends had not forgotten her, and Asia prayed with renewed faith.
• Ren and Lavinia trained outside Kuoh Town for over two hours, improving Ren's control of the Cross of the Purple Flame Sacrificial Lord.
• Ren returned home carrying a sleeping Lavinia and found Akeno Himejima and Koneko visiting him.
• Akeno Himejima said she would use her inherited power to help Rias, and Koneko pledged to use her strength to protect her master.

Akeno Himejima and Koneko asked Ren for help mastering their inherited powers, and he revealed that the black cat Koneko had been petting was her missing sister, Kuroka. After Ren explained why Kuroka had fled, Koneko chose to trust her sister again, and the two reunited.

• Akeno Himejima asked Ren to guide her and Koneko in using their bloodline powers, and Ren suggested that Kuroka could teach Koneko senjutsu.
• Ren revealed that the black cat was Kuroka, and Kuroka transformed and greeted her younger sister, Shirone.
• Koneko rejected Kuroka and said she had felt abandoned, while Kuroka struggled to explain why she had left.
• Ren explained that Kuroka had fled after killing her former master to protect Koneko from inhumane experiments and from becoming a hunted stray devil.
• Koneko agreed to believe Kuroka once, set rules against attacking devils or leaving without permission, and embraced her sister.

Ren agreed to help Akeno Himejima and Koneko develop their bloodline powers, while Kuroka and Raynare began training them outside Kuoh Town. Kuroka activated Koneko’s cat yokai bloodline, leaving her feeling as if something was about to emerge.

• Ren told Akeno Himejima to repeat his criticism of Rias’s training to her, and Akeno agreed to speak with Rias after lunch.
• Ren, Lavinia, Akeno Himejima, Koneko, and the fallen angels shared lunch before returning to the outskirts of Kuoh Town.
• Kuroka warned Koneko about the dangers of senjutsu, then began guiding her cat yokai power and teaching her to sense qi.
• Raynare began instructing Akeno Himejima to draw on her fallen angel bloodline power, while Akeno insisted Baraqiel was not her father.
• Kuroka activated Koneko’s bloodline with senjutsu, and Koneko felt a strange itching spread through her body as Ren watched.

Ren learned to sense and control qi, then spent the following days training with Lavinia and testing her limits. Griselda summoned him to Heaven with urgent news: Kokabiel, a powerful Grigori executive, had masterminded the theft of three Holy Swords.

• Ren used Lavinia's lap as a pillow while his qi cultivation progress filled, and he learned to control qi within an hour.
• Ren learned beginner senjutsu spells from Kuroka and discovered he could use qi to sense distant enemies.
• Ren trained with Lavinia, continued investigating the Holy Sword mission, and noticed Kuroka becoming more affectionate toward him.
• Ren received Griselda's urgent message and traveled to Heaven, where Griselda, Xenovia, and Irina Shidou briefed him.
• Griselda revealed that stray exorcists had stolen three Holy Swords under Kokabiel's direction and explained that Kokabiel was an ancient enemy of God.

Griselda learned that Heaven had denied reinforcements because Kokabiel was trying to provoke a renewed war between the factions, while Ren agreed to pursue the holy swords and Kokabiel. Back in Kuoh Town, Ren waited for the swords to arrive and heard that Rias had reacted badly to Akeno’s carefully softened version of his advice.

• Griselda questioned Gabriel about the lack of support, and Gabriel explained that Kokabiel wanted to draw Heaven and the Underworld into war by using the holy swords and the Demon King's younger sister as leverage.
• Gabriel said Xenovia and Irina Shidou could at least destroy the holy swords, and noted that Ren might find them first.
• Ren returned to Kuoh Town, saw Akeno Himejima and Koneko training, and used the system map to track the approaching holy swords.
• Akeno told Ren she had finally shared his advice with Rias, who had broken down after recognizing the truth in it.

Ren infiltrated the stray exorcists’ abandoned factory and killed nearly all the guards. Valper and Freed Sellzen II remained alive, and Valper questioned whether Ren was a Church-created warrior.

• Ren followed the system mission to an abandoned factory outside Kuoh Town, where more than thirty stray exorcists were gathered.
• Ren killed the guards at the entrance and entered the factory, where he recognized Freed Sellzen II as a clone and discovered that a Holy Sword Factor experiment was underway.
• The stray exorcists surrounded Ren and shouted contradictory orders, but he asked whether they wanted him to move or stay still.
• After the lights went out, Ren used his senses and marked targets to shoot down the stray exorcists, leaving only Valper and Freed standing.
• Valper explained that he had escaped the Church after its cloning and Holy Sword projects were halted, joined the fallen angels, and successfully injected Freed Sellzen II with Holy Sword Factors.

Ren killed Freed II and Valper, then recovered three Holy Swords and brought them to Griselda in Heaven. He left a taunt using Rias Gremory’s name to provoke Kokabiel, who had not yet appeared.

• Ren used his super-accelerated state to kill Freed II, then shot Valper and learned Kokabiel was not with the rogue exorcists.
• Ren wrote a challenge to Kokabiel on the rogue exorcists’ corpses using Rias Gremory’s name.
• Ren inspected the three recovered Holy Swords and discovered he could use Excalibur Transparency, though he could not store the swords in his inventory.
• Ren teleported to Heaven and gave the three Holy Swords to Griselda, who was shocked he had recovered them so quickly.
• Ren told Griselda he had killed the rogue exorcists but had not seen Kokabiel, and said Kokabiel would soon find the traces he left behind.

Ren learned that Kokabiel might retaliate after the holy swords were taken, but he stayed in Kuoh Town and waited for Rias to visit. As the chapter ended, Kuroka sensed a powerful aura and her little sister approaching, along with what seemed to be fallen angels.

• Griselda praised Ren for obtaining the holy swords and warned that Kokabiel could endanger Kuoh Town, but Ren refused to leave and Griselda let Xenovia and Irina Shidou rendezvous with him.
• The next morning, Ren discovered that Lavinia had started her period and arranged for Raynare to make her brown sugar water.
• Kuroka told Ren that Rias planned to visit that night, and Ren postponed his Longinus training while its progress reached eighty-five percent.
• When Rias and her group did not arrive by dinner, Kuroka and Raynare wondered whether they had misunderstood the visit plans.
• Kuroka sensed a powerful aura approaching with her little sister and suspected that fallen angels were coming.

Ren and Lavinia reached Kuoh Town after Kokabiel unleashed Hellhounds, while Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Sona, and their allies fought to protect the city. Kokabiel watched from above, and the defenders feared they could not defeat him.

• Ren spotted Kokabiel’s red system marker moving near Kuoh Town and received a mission to defeat the Fallen Angel executive.
• Ren reassured Raynare, Mittelt, and Kalawarner, told Asia to stay home, and flew with Lavinia toward the fighting.
• Ren saw Hellhounds rampaging downtown and found Kokabiel hovering above the city as Rias and Sona’s group battled the beasts.
• Kokabiel attacked after finding his dead subordinates and Holy Swords, then blamed Rias for the taunting message left on their corpses.
• Akeno Himejima and Koneko helped bring down a Hellhound, and Akeno saved Rias from its fireball before Rias struck it with Power of Destruction.

Rias and Sona led their peerages against Kokabiel but refused to call on their powerful relatives, and his overwhelming attacks shattered their confidence. Ren arrived using Super Acceleration and began attacking Kokabiel, leaving the battle ongoing.

• Rias and Akeno killed one Hellhound with repeated blasts, while Koneko and Kiba Yuuto killed the other together.
• Sona arrived after dealing with the magical beasts, and she and Rias refused to summon their sisters and brother, instead pledging to defend the city with their peerages.
• Kokabiel blasted the plaza with a Spear of Light, then effortlessly dispersed Rias's attack and overwhelmed Sona's group.
• Kokabiel prepared to destroy the city center, but Ren used Clock Up to strike him and send him crashing through walls.
• Ren blocked Kokabiel's Spear of Light with seven layers of shields, then drove him into the ground with a knee strike.

Ren continued to overwhelm Kokabiel, revealing a hidden Longinus power that set the Fallen Angel ablaze. As Kokabiel collapsed under the attack, Rias began to reconsider her assumptions about Ren’s strength.

• Kokabiel recovered from Ren’s initial assault and charged at him with a Sword of Light, forcing Rias and the others to retreat from the battle.
• Kuroka reunited with Koneko, and Rias promised not to report Kuroka while the truth about her case remained unknown.
• Sona Sitri asked Rias about Ren and watched as he outpaced Kokabiel, wounded him, and cut off one of his wings.
• Ren summoned Unfading Lake Light, then used a violet-flame Sacred Gear to burn Kokabiel, who realized Ren had been holding back.
• Rias watched Ren reduce Kokabiel to a helpless state and began considering whether to believe what Akeno Himejima had told her about him.

Ren defeated Kokabiel with a powerful holy-sword attack and received Senzu Beans and a Revival Coin. As Rias and Sona approached him, the White Dragon Emperor Vali descended onto the battlefield.

• Kokabiel threw an enormous spear of light at Ren, but Ren used Super Acceleration to unleash a beam that destroyed Kokabiel and his attack.
• Ren received one hundred Senzu Beans and a Revival Coin from the system, then Lavinia praised him for defeating Kokabiel.
• Rias and Sona Sitri discussed Ren's strength and agreed to approach him, while Rias reconsidered how she should treat him.
• A white meteor descended over the battlefield, stopped in midair, and revealed Vali in pure-white armor with four pairs of wings of light.
• Ren recognized Vali as the White Dragon Emperor, who had come to take Kokabiel back to Grigori.

Vali arrived after Ren had killed Kokabiel, but abandoned his urge to fight when he recognized Lavinia, an old acquaintance who had once cared for him. After Vali abruptly left, Lavinia explained their past to Ren, and Rias and Sona thanked Ren for saving them before Rias remembered why she had wanted to meet him.

• Vali recognized Kokabiel’s severed wings and realized Kokabiel was likely dead, then confronted Ren and admired his strength.
• Vali recognized Lavinia, who remembered him as Little Vali, and recalled how she had cared for him years earlier.
• Vali noticed Lavinia’s closeness with Ren, snorted, and flew away without speaking to her further.
• Lavinia told Ren how she had met and looked after Vali, and regretted that he had left before they could catch up.
• Rias, Sona Sitri, and the others thanked Ren for his help, and Rias recalled that she had originally planned to argue with him.

After Ren and Kuroka left the ruined city center, Rias accepted Sona’s help with the aftermath of Kokabiel’s attack. Vali returned to Azazel and reported that an unknown man had killed Kokabiel, while his own unexplained agitation lingered.

• Rias thanked Ren for helping Koneko and Akeno, and Ren made her thank him again.
• Ren left with Kuroka, who said goodbye to Koneko and invited her to live together.
• Sona offered Rias the Student Council’s resources to handle the devastation, and Rias accepted her help.
• Vali flew back to Azazel after seeing Lavinia and Ren, and Albion warned him to control his emotions.
• Vali told Azazel that Kokabiel was dead and that an unknown man had killed him.
• Azazel questioned Vali about his troubled expression after learning the killer was neither a Seraph nor a Demon King.

After killing Kokabiel, Ren returned to his estate and reassured his companions, while Vali’s reunion with Lavinia was complicated by a mistaken belief that Ren was his romantic rival. That night, Lavinia sought comfort beside Ren and began touching him, unaware that he was already awake.

• Albion and Azazel questioned Vali about Lavinia, and Vali revealed that she could have become his mother.
• Ren returned to the estate with Lavinia and Kuroka, reassured Asia, and told the fallen angels that he had killed Kokabiel.
• Raynare and Mittelt reacted with shock at Kokabiel’s death, and Raynare prepared a meal for Ren and the others.
• Ren reviewed how his actions had changed events, then watched videos of the attack disappear from local social media before falling asleep.
• Lavinia slipped into Ren’s bed, turned off his phone, and began touching him while seeking comfort; Ren had already woken up.

Ren spent the morning with Lavinia and helped Asia arrange to attend school. He then told Lavinia he was nearing Balance Breaker and planned to rest from training, leaving her astonished at his rapid progress.

• Ren noticed that videos of the Kuoh Town explosion had disappeared and that the city center had been restored overnight.
• Ren woke Lavinia, who felt embarrassed about their first night together, and told her she would get used to intimacy with him.
• Asia watched people heading to school, and Ren offered to arrange her enrollment through Rias; Akeno agreed to handle it.
• Ren told Lavinia they could rest from training because he was nearing the Balance Breaker threshold of the Cross of the Purple Flame Sacrificial Lord.
• Lavinia was astonished that Ren had approached Balance Breaker so quickly after obtaining his Longinus.