A/N: Here comes the 8th chapter of New Path. Hope you all enjoy.

HeavensDownfall: It will be an interesting meeting that is for sure. Already got an idea of how that will go down.

Gorgeous Knight: I'm sticking with Asuna. I already have an idea of introducing the girl into the story so I'll just keep with her.

Gold Testament: I know. This Issei, however, won't be a bitch like in cannon. He won't take any guff from his harem. I hate it how the male characters let the girls boss them around and not stand up for themselves. So he'll tell Rias off if/when the time comes.

Guest1: You have no idea.

Guest2: I don't want to spoil the surprise. She might or might not. Only I know.

Mike Kromer: It's going to be an interesting meeting indeed. And don't worry on Kuroka, she has a scene in the coming chapters.

TheLaughingStalk Lenny-Kun: That is true. I updated the peerage list on my home page.

TheAnimeLover97: You got that right. He lost his innocence though, as said in the last chapter.

RonnieK23: No. Esdeath is not the type of woman to screw around after finding someone that she gave herself to.

NinjaFang1331: It will be a meeting he wouldn't have expected, that is for sure.

Elveril: I thought that would be cool to show Vali team side of the story. I will do that every so often.

Veda: I had a feeling in my gut some of the chapters were not all they could be. And I know nothing new might happen, so that is why I'm doing these new arches in-between, just to get deeper into Issei's newer side and adventures. It sucks that you don't have an account, so I can ask what you would suggest would be added to help it out. I'm always willing to listen to others opinions to help my story be better.

Sorry if I have some spelling errors. Didn't fully beta this chapter.

Chapter 8

I own nothing.

The two opponents standing in the field continued to stare one another down. Hiei now focused harder on the boy seeing as he had a sudden power boost and sharpened teeth and nails. 'This might be more interesting than I initially thought.' He mused to himself, still confident he could beat the boy.

Issei had the same confidence in himself. 'I'll use the gear later, guys. I want to get a feel for the guy first.' He informed his tenants.

Ddraig let out an impressed noise. [Well thought. You have been keeping the lessons from Tannin to heart.] The dragon remembered the fellow dragon teaching the brunette how to get a feel for his opponent before going all out. "Sounds good to me." Nero agreed.

"Let's go." With that said, Issei surrounded himself in the familiar crimson light, signifying he was using his dragon powers. Hiei crouched down, his legs ready to move. The two launched themselves at the other and met in the middle. Red coated energy fist clashed against strong steel in sparks of flames.

Hiei broke the stalemate by twisting his sword to the side. Getting under his fist, he went for a jab from the butt of his sword. Issei felt the wind knocked out of him, but caught himself and gave the teen an overhand right hook. Blood spilled from his lips at the powerful punch. "Not done yet." Issei followed up with a side-way kick to the sternum. The power behind the kick sent Hiei skidding along the ground.

Using the dust as cover, Issei charged, not wanting to let the pressure up. Appearing in front of him, he launched another straight. Hiei, getting his wits back, blocked the punch with the side of his sword. The teen then countered with a solid knee strike to the chest. A quick jab followed by an equally fast spin kick sent Issei tumbling along the ground for a few feet.

Crouching on his hands, the dragon user looked up to see Hiei coming down with an ax kick. Not wanting his skull caved in, he rolled to the left, effectively dodging the crater creating kick. Spinning on his hands, he lashed out with a double kick. Again, Hiei used his superior speed to flip himself over the kick and swing his sword.

'Shit!' Issei thought to himself before increasing the aura around him. The swordsman didn't expect the aura around his opponent to solidify and create a shield of sorts. "Fire Dragon Emperors Iron Fist!" A flame coated fist slammed itself into his left cheek.

"Cough!" He went spiraling a little with blood spilling from his lips. Shaking it off, he landed softly on the ground. Looking to his opponent, Issei was surprised to see the teen's face not scorched. When he usually punched someone with his fire, he burned them. But, with Hiei, he only seemed to give him a little bruise.

"What the hell?" He muttered to himself. Seeing his confused gaze, Hiei decided to taunt him a little more. "Surprised I'm not being burned alive?" He asked rhetorically. "Well, when you also control fire, you build up a tolerance for it." The smaller teen smirked.

Issei clicked his teeth in annoyance at that. 'Damn! Can't us my fire magic if he can shrug it off.' "That just means I can kick your ass up close!" With the shout, Issei and Hiei went at it again. Surrounding himself in his dragon aura, Issei was able to hold off and block some of the fire demons' swipes and give a couple of punches right back. Even when he got hit, Hiei used his smaller size and superior speed to get in more attacks that were meant to slow Issei down over the fight. While his punches did hurt like hell, he had felt worse.

Kicking it up a notch, after blocking the other's leg with their own, their speed increased greatly. All over the field small shockwaves roared and rustled through the air and grass. They reappeared at random intervals, sometimes in the air and the ground. Issei landed a powerful punch to Hiei's stomach, but he was instantly greeted to a strong left hook.

Stumbling back, both panted for a few seconds. Issei's coat had been, again, ripped off. He had a few scratches along his body, his cheek having a few cuts, his blood reaching his lips. His black shirt had many cuts in them, but was still intact.

Hiei had lost his cloak, showing that he didn't keep anything under all that black. Blood dripped from his lips, and he had a few bruises along his body. Along his chest was five claw marks when Issei had used his sharpened claws, bringing a stinging sensation that annoyed him.

Staring at each other, Issei couldn't help but let out a smirk. "I have to admit…you're not bad. This is a good fight." He said.

Hiei wouldn't admit it, but he enjoyed the fight as well. He hasn't had a good challenge in a real fight for a good while. The only one who could somewhat push him, was Saeko. He was slightly ashamed to admit it, but he didn't stand a chance against Kage. The man was more experienced than him so he demanded the man train him. Shaking his head, he focused back on the brunette. "I can see the Gremory has trained you well." Issei raised an eyebrow when Hiei suddenly brought his right hand up to his headband. "You should fell honored. I have not shown this to anyone in a while." Ripping the cloth off, he showed the dragon user something he has never seen.

"A third eye!" Indeed, atop his head, resting in the middle of his forehead, was a third eye with a purple iris that radiated power. Hiei smirked at the teen. "Meet the Jagan Eye." Focusing the eye on Issei, he suddenly felt a pull going through his body. "And feel it's power!" Suddenly, the confused teen was sent flying into a tree.

His crashed head-first into the tree. The wood scraping his skin, as blood spilled from his head when he crashed into the ground. "What the hell?" Issei groggily asked.

[Telekinesis.] Ddraig informed. [A rather dangerous ability in the right hands.] "I think you should bust out the gear now, Kid. He seems serious." Nero informed the slowly standing teen.

With shaky legs, he firmly planted himself on the ground. "I'll give you this," Hiei's voice appeared from above. Looking up, he saw the youth looking down at him with bored eyes. "You're able to take punishment." His Jagan Eye glowed again. 'Shit!' Issei could only curse as he was sent flying through the air once more. Suddenly stopping in the middle of the air, he looked down to see Hiei aiming his hand at him.

"Let's see if you're fire proof, shall we?!" Out of his hand, blue fire roared at the mid-air Issei. Looking at the flame with wide eyes, he could feel the power behind it. Charging up his aura, he let out a roar when the flame was getting closer. The roar and flames clashed in a slight struggle before both attacks were cancelled out.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Hiei waved his arm down, and Issei's body followed the gesture. 'Damn it! Move body! MOVE!' Issei roared in his head. As he was about to crash into the ground, he broke free of the mental hold.

Hiei reeled back a little. 'How?!' He thought in shock. Issei had turned his body before he hit the ground in a large thud. The impact caused a medium sized crater to form underneath. Falling to his knee, the brunette panted at the hard landing. His legs were burning, yelling at him to stop. Ignoring them, he stood tall, gazing at the still shocked Hiei. "Get ready Hiei! The real battle begins now!" Thrusting his arm out, his arm was surrounded in the familiar emerald green light. "Boosted Gear!" The crimson gauntlet of the Red Dragon Emperor equipped itself to his arm.

The appearance of the gauntlet shocked his further. He had known of the boosted gear, as it was almost impossible to not hear of the powerful weapon that could kill a God. So, seeing his opponent wielding the weapon was a real shock. It was also said that the current user was a pervert, but this one didn't seem like that at all. "Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!" The sudden five bellow of the command alerted Hiei to the charged up Issei with his fist barreling down on him.

Quickly throwing up his sword, he braced himself for the incoming strike. "Gua!" Hiei grunted when the power behind the fist made the earth beneath them crack under the immense pressure. 'Damn it! That dragon is giving him more strength!' He thought to himself, seeing the crimson aura clearer now to know that Ddraig had been supplying it to him.

Arms now shaking under the pressure, Hiei couldn't keep it up much longer. Trying to parry it, he swung his sword to the side, like before, but the result was different. Expecting this, Issei transferred the power to his right fist and nailed him with the boosted powered fist.

Eyes widened in pain with its shock coursing through his face as the fist lodged itself deep into the cheek. His body was soon lifted up by the fist before being launched to the left, kicking up dust and plant-life as he tumbled over and under his body. Throwing his sword arm out, he slowed to a crawl before landing on his feet.

"Dragon Fist!" Hiei looked up in time to see Issei's fist rearing at him once more. The aura covered fist showed an image of Ddraig's head roaring at him. A little wide eyes, knowing he'd receive some serious damage if that connected, his Jagan Eye shine to life.

Issei clicked his teeth in annoyance when he felt the eye psychic power influence his attack. The punch veered to the right, just missing Hiei. Taking the arm still lodged into the dirt as an advantage, Hiei kicked his feet out, slamming them into his opponents' chest. Following up, he lashed out with a horizontal swing, his sword coated with thin amounts of flame, and left a burning cut on the teen's chest.

"Ah!" Roaring out in pain, Issei acted out, letting his instincts take over, and land a right knee to the smaller teen's torso. Coughing up a bit, the two stood full height before moving at incredible speeds once more. More cuts and bruises appeared on each other's bodies whenever they came into contact. Weaving around Issei's overhead ax kick, Hiei lashed out with his own aura, black, coating his leg. "Demon Snap!" With quick and precise accuracy, Hiei's kick planted itself right into Issei's chest. Blood spilled from his mouth as the pain erupting from the hit was too much to try and push out of his mind.

Hiei was about to end him with a knife strike, but Issei was able to move himself to the side, dodging the attack that would have pierced his chest. Grabbing the arm, he pivoted his feet to the side and launched him away. The moment he let go, Issei got down on a knee, his breath heavy from the pain he was feeling. "Seems the demon boy broke a few of your ribs. A slight annoyance but you can still keep it going." Nero informed his student, seeing the little break in the battle.

Bringing himself up, the teen twisted his body, copying the stance he saw from an anime. "Nerd." Nero commented, laughing a little when he saw Issei's eyebrow twitch. 'Shut up! I know what I'm doing!' He shouted back with a small blush on his cheeks. Hard emerald eyes locked onto Hiei now holding his katana in front of his body at an angle.

Pushing off with the back foot, Issei rushed with a cocked left fist. Hiei easily saw it coming and leaned to the side slightly before sending a swipe to his nose. Following Hiei's move, the brunette thrusted his head back. Going with the flow of the backwards motion, he brought his right foot to the smaller ten's ribs.

The black haired teen blocked the coming strike with his forearm. Thrusting his arm out, Hiei pushed the teen's leg away before spinning around and using the momentum to send a powerful slash at Issei. Thinking quickly, the teen brought up his armored arm and blocked the strike. Issei didn't expect the power from the swing so he was sent flipping through the air before landing in a skid.

Not a second later, Issei blocked the incoming fist from his opponent. Giving it right back, Hiei moved his head slightly, only getting grazed, then thrusted his face closer with his third eye opening wider. 'Shit!' The brunette could only think when he felt the mental force push him back.

[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!] The gauntlet bellowed. Filled with power, Issei regained control over his body and once his feet hit the ground he rushed Hiei once more. When he was close enough, Hiei did a side slash which Issei anticipated as he hopped over it. Spinning a little, he thrusted his gauntlet out with Ascalon came shooting out of the fist. Thinking quickly, not wanting to get his head chopped off, Hiei raised his scabbard, blocking the sword. Ascalon skidded across the sheath before he pushed himself away.

Skidding to a stop, Issei pumped power to his feet and rocketed himself at the teen once more. Seeing the incoming dragon user, Hiei blocked the incoming sword slash with his own. Sparks flew as the steel grinded against one another in a clash of strength. Wanting to break the struggle, Issei went in for a side kick to the ribs, but Hiei leaned his body back, breaking the clash and dodging the kick.

Now that Issei had his back to him, following his kicks motion, Hiei lashed out with a quick forward kick to his back. Unable to possibly block the move, Issei grunted when he felt his back get the brunt of it.

Thrusting his hand into the dirt, he skidded to a halt and stood, holding his back with his right hand. 'Damn! That's smarts!' Issei groaned inwardly. He would have thought more on it if he didn't sense the power coming from Hiei. Eyes widened when he saw the incoming black energy slash. Bringing his arms in a cross-block, Issei's left arm took the most of the attack, not harming his unprotected arm.

Uncrossing his arms, he immediately turned to the side, feeling Hiei coming at him, and punched him square in the jaw. Blood spilled but Hiei grinded his teeth before catching himself and punched the brunet back. Head shooting to the side, Issei then bent forward when a fist embedded itself in his gut. Saliva with a little blood came out of his open mouth. Next thing he knew was a knee to the face combined with a black fire coated fist hit his face.

Taking a few steps back, shaking his head, Issei glared at Hiei. "Ha! Seems you can't take all kind of fire, can you?" Hiei mocked, noting that Issei had taken some damage when he used his black flames.

Gritting his teeth, Issei asked, 'Ddraig, Nero-senpai; what the hell was that flame? How can that hurt me?' The teen was confused at this since dragon slayers don't really get harmed with their element so he didn't know why he was harmed by the strange black flames.

[Never thought I would see that magic again. Especially wielded by a demon.] Ddraig commented with a little shock in his voice. 'What are you talking about?' He asked.

[The black flames he's using is a lost art, like dragon-slayer, that is powerful enough to harm a God. It's a dangerous magic that is like a counter to dragon-slayers. This one is even more powerful because of this. And before you ask, even I don't know who would have taught the boy.] He explained to the teen. Issei widened his eyes in shock to this.

'T-Then how can I beat a guy like that?' He asked the two, looking for any advice to possibly counter such an ability. Nero spoke up. "Just use your regular dragon powers like you have so far. That seems to do damage to the demon." He reminded the boy.

'Oh yeah. Heheh.' Issei chuckled sheepishly in his head. While Issei was talking to his tenants, Hiei was taking this small break to think.

'He's more powerful than I initially thought. He has some experience in battle and can take a good amount of punishment. The Gremory really has trained him well.' He, begrudgingly, complemented Issei.

After the two were done with their thoughts, they dashed each other and clashed with a flurry of fists and blades. Whenever either fists or swords connected, shockwaves rippled through the sky. Sending a few more punches that they blocked with their own along with sword swings that were parried. Hiei soon kneed Issei in the jaw, only to catch air as the taller teen leaned his body back. Jumping up a little, Hiei send a roundhouse kick to his left temple. Dropping to the floor, dodging the kick, he twisted around and lashed out with a back-kick that Hiei blocked with the shaft of his blade. The force sent Hiei to the sky. Springing himself up, Issei followed quickly with a flurry of high-speed punches that caught Hiei in the gut. Grunting with each powerful punch, little bits of blood came out. [Boost! Boost! Boost!] Using the three power-ups, Issei charged his dragon power into the cocked back hand before hitting him square in the gut.

A large glob of blood spilled from his blood when his back crashed into the ground, creating a crater in his wake. Groggily opening his eye, he saw Issei coming at him with a double stop. Coating his arms in black flames, he sent out a wave of flame with a shout of "Flame God's Bellow!" Out of his mouth came a torrent of powerful black flames.

Knowing the danger of those flames, Issei used and after-image to escape and reappear on the ground a few meters from the crater. Soon after he landed, Hiei got up, shaking a little, before standing with steady legs.

[Ascalon!] Out of the gauntlet the European sword landed in his hands. Steadying the blade at the demon, he got ready for another bout. Like a silent signal going off between the two, Issei and Hiei clashed in the air. Swords clashed against sword in a wild manner, sparks flying with each and every collision. Punches were blocked with the shaft of their blades and kicks were blocked with kicks that was a blur to any normal human.

Swords clashed once more before they bounced off one another. Landing on the ground, they charged once more, leaving dust trails in their wake. Sending a thrust at Hiei, he swerved his head to the side, getting a small cut on his cheek, before raising his sword for a side slash. Issei bent back letting the sword slash the flesh of his nose. Going back in, Issei clashed with his sword raging in dragon aura and Hiei's blade surrounded in his black flames.

"Dragon Slash!" "Flame God's Raging Slash!" Flames of black and bursts of crimson danced around the two's swords as they clashed and exploded against one another. The two soon sent kicks that clashed at the forelegs before pushing off and stopping a few feet from each other.

"Fuck!" Issei cursed. "How can those flames be so hot?!" He asked, feeling his skin a little burned at the blazing temperature of those flames.

"These are the flames of a God." His hand roared alive with black flames. "While it is not strong enough to kill a God, yet, it can still do much more damage than regular fire." Asserting his point, he shot his hand to the side. The black flames shot out and incinerated a few giant rocks that littered the ground because of the battle.

'Holy Shit!' Issei yelled in his head. 'My flames can't even do that yet!' Issei was a little more worried about continuing. Nero, sensing his uneasiness, spoke. "Calm down Kid. While the demon has greater fire power than you, you are stronger in hand-to-hand combat." He reminded the teen. After watching the fight for a while, Nero and Ddraig noticed that Hiei relied more on his swordsmanship than his fists. That does not mean he isn't strong hand-to-hand fighter, he just preferred sword battle.

Their talk was interrupted by the dashing Hiei coming in for multiple high-speed thrusts to the face. Issei nimbly dodged up, down, and around all the strikes before jumping to the side when he went for a heel drop. Hiei then sent his right hand at Issei, shooting out a torrent of black flames to burn him to a crisp. Jumping over it, Issei gritted his teeth to see Hiei anticipating it and was already on him. Coating his chest in red aura, he was able to block the incoming blade that would have left a nasty gash on his chest. Switching Ascalon to his right hand, Issei then retaliated with a boosted punch to the face he had been storing up. Getting nailed in the face, ignoring the pain and blood that kept coming out, Hiei flipped himself off the dirt with one hand before coating his blade in the familiar black fire. "Fire God's Wave!" Roaring the attack name, Hiei sent out a strong wave of fire from his vertical slash.

Not disturbed at all, he destroyed it with a strong slash in the middle, the flames burning both sides of the earth next to him, and jumped with his one leg, effectively dodging the incoming black energy covered fist. Coming back down, Issei lashed out with a spinning back-kick, only to be blocked with Hiei's bandaged arm. Pushing it off his appendage, he sent a powerful demon coated knife strike which was parried by the shaft of Ascalon. The power behind it made the two skid across the ground while glaring at each other.

Grunting in exertion, Issei managed to thrust the arm up and away before going for a front kick that nailed Hiei in the chest. Hiei could feel two of his ribs crack from the force. Sliding to a stop, he dropped to a knee once more while holding himself up with his sword, an action Issei followed. Staring at one another, they could see the sweat, mixed with their own blood, dripping down their heads and staining the now uprooted grass in red.

Issei's jacket had been lost a long time ago, his black long-sleeved shirt was now a short-sleeved shirt and pants had many holes and cuts littered around with blood coming from said holes.

Hiei's bare chest had many bruises on it along with several small cuts that were healed but still stained his skin with blood. His shoes were gone, he could feel the cool and hard dirt under the soles of his feet, and blood poured from his ripped pants.

"I…I got to admit!" Issei called out with haggard breaths. "Y-You really are something else! I hadn't had this kind of battle in a little while!" Issei said with a small grin.

Hiei stayed silent, silent as he could while panting for breaths, before allowing a small smirk to grace his lips. "Indeed. I have not felt such a rush in a while as well. You are strong, servant of Gremory!" He complemented. While he didn't usually give them out, he had to give credit where credit was due.

A frown appeared on Issei's face when Hiei said servant. He knew that was what a peerage was to most high-class devils and it pissed him off something fierce. Sure, Sirzechs and Rias treated their peerages like family, but the majority of the devil society treated them like dirt and tools that could be thrown away when they outlived their usefulness. Perfect example was Riser. And deep down…he thought that would happen to him with Rias and the others if he ever became a hindrance.

The two occupants in his head heard and felt his worry and could find sense in them. They had seen devils do the exact thing Issei was worried about. Both hated devils, seeing them as selfish and arrogant creatures that surpassed any others species. Ddraig didn't like them because they interrupted his and Albion's battle just because they interrupted their stupid war. Nero because a lot of devils tried to forcibly make him their servant, all being killed by him of course.

Shaking his head, getting rid of those thoughts, Issei gazed back at Hiei. "Does this mean we're done?" Issei asked, wondering if they could stop this seeing as Hiei wanted to test him or something like that.

Hiei looked at him for a moment before standing straight. Issei tensed a little, thinking he was about to continue but relaxed when Hiei just turned his head to the side and spat out a small amount of blood. "Yes. I'm satisfied." Turning to his right, he grabbed the black cloak and head wrapping that, remarkably, didn't get shredded from the intense fight.

"Tell me. Was the reason you decided to fight me just because you wanted to test yourself against a Gremory devil?" Issei questioned, remembering what he had said before the battle began.

"Maybe." Hiei replied vaguely after throwing his cloak over his small body and covering his third eye. "It's like I said before, a servant under the Gremory are said to be compassionate fools…and it seems that is correct. I'm actually surprised that the Sekiryuutei is a servant to a devil, though." Hiei stated, looking back at Issei with a bored stare. "Aren't dragons naturally free creatures? If so, why did you let yourself get tied down to devils of all creatures?" The teen didn't know why he asked, he told himself it was on a whim though.

Issei stayed silent for a moment and thought on that. It was like Hiei said, he really did want to be free from the peerage but, like he thought before, he couldn't because of the people he loved. "It's…complicated." Issei answered vaguely. The brunette didn't really want to get into how his ex-girlfriend had killed him and his master, Rias, resurrected him after he died. Remembering it now, thinking about it with a clearer mind, he couldn't help but feel a bit weird about how he was resurrected by that means. He also remembered how his story seemed familiar with Kiba's. 'Hm…I think I'll talk to Rias when I get back.' Issei thought to himself, a little suspicious now.

Hiei continued to stare at him for a moment before letting out a scoff. "Very well." Turning on his heel, he began to walk away. Issei watched the smaller teen walk away before disappearing in an afterimage of speed.

"That guy…" Issei muttered. "Was strange." He finished. "Eh. Don't worry about it kid. Now that, that is taken care of, let's get back to searching for the sword." Nero steered the teen back to the reason why he was in the city in the first place.

"Right." Getting his head back, Issei focused his senses on the area around him. He spread his entire hearing and smell out, trying to find any suggestion of where something was amiss. After ten minutes of searching, his eyes snapped open and looked to the right. "Over there!" He exclaimed. "But…how?" He wondered, remembering that the temple was inside the city. "How could it have gotten so far out of the city when it can't move on its own?" He asked the two in his head.

"Hell…even I don't know Kid. That's one of the reasons I suggested Rebellion. The sword is creepy like that. You don't know what it's going to do." Nero said with a shrug of his shoulders.

[It truly is strange how a sword like that could be out here, but let's not worry on that for now. Go and retrieve the sword before those two from before come searching for it.] Ddraig instructed. "Right!" With a strong nod, Issei ran off to the right, hoping to get Rebellion before Shunske and Siegfried did.

In the city, two familiar figures were making their way through the city at a slow pace. "Siegfried. Tell me why we are not moving faster to get to that stupid sword you want?" The gruff voice of Shunske asked his companion who was strolling down the road at a sedate walk.

"Again, Shunske, it's because the Sekiryuutei will no doubt be looking for it by now. Why waist out energy searching for it when you can smell him out, after fighting him, and grab it from him when he's tired." He explained.

Shunske scoffed at the man. "And that worked so perfectly before." He grumbled. The silver haired swordsman heard him. "And that is why I have something prepared to counter the dragon." He explained. Glancing at the male beside him, Shunske looked at him for a moment before staring straight.

"Whatever. As long as I get a good battle I don't care." Shunske said, now crossing his arms. Siegfried chuckled lightly. "Don't worry. You will." Continuing their walk to Issei, someone walked out of the ally way just before them.

Hiei had moved all over the city until he found a little ally to stop in. Landing silently, he stood straight. 'Might as well get back.' He thought to himself as he moved out of the shadows. When coming out of the ally, he saw two people from his peripheral that made his muscles tense, not that anyone could see due to his cloak. The silver haired one had the stink of Holy powers. 'Exorcist.' Hiei hissed out in his head. His companion caught his attention because of the power he had around him. 'Hm. Interesting how this one had the same, yet different, energy feel as Hyoudou.' Hiei thought to himself.

Playing it off as he didn't see them, Hiei and the two passed each other without even looking back. When he was a few feet away, Hiei had to jump up onto one of the roofs close. Looking down he saw a crack in the spot where he just stood. Narrowing his eyes, he saw that the slightly taller one was in the middle, his hand buried deep within the concrete, showing his strength.

Ignoring the humans screams of shock, Hiei had to bring out his sword and blocked the incoming attack from the silver haired swordsman that was coming for his head. Sparks flew off the steel before Hiei dropped to his knees, throwing his opponent off balance, before doing a quick and powerful jab that sent him skidding across the roof. Ear twitching, he flipped himself over the incoming iron battering ram that would have broken his back.

Landing on top of it, he sprinted back to the user. Getting close to Shunske, he went in for a quick knee strike he didn't see coming. Seeing him disoriented, Hiei flipped himself over his head. Coating his leg in demon power, Hiei lashed out with a roar of "Demon Snap!" with Shunske getting hurled back into Siegfried.

Hitting the rooftop silently, Hiei watched the two get back up with his bored gaze still in place. "And who the hell are you two and why are you attacking me?" The teen asked, his bored gaze still in place.

Siegfried was the first to speak. "Even though I have left the church, I find fun it killing demons, such as yourself. And, by that hair style and eyes, you would be the Hiei or, Jaganshi Hiei, to be more precise." Siegfried said. "You've got a large bounty on your head, and I have always wanted to defeat such a powerful demon." Pulling out one of his swords, he glanced over at Shuncke who had his arms crossed. "Don't interfere." He spoke seriously.

The iron dragon slayer just scoffed. "Wasn't planning on it."

With a nod to himself, he rushed at the standing Hiei. The crimson eyed demon could feel the demonic power radiating off the sword. 'A demonic sword.' He mused to himself as he watched the exorcist get closer. When he was close enough, Hiei jumped over the horizontal swing, and was quick to bring up his left arm to block the coming high kick.

Throwing himself off the arm, he summersaulted over his head, and rounded on him with his sword in hand. He wasn't really surprised when Siegfried maneuvered his sword behind his back, blocking the thrust to his back.

What he didn't expect, was the second sword in his other hand coming straight at his head. Ducking down, letting the sword swish over his head, he flipped backwards. After flipping hand over hand for a few feet, he stopped with his sword ready. 'Another one.' He thought to himself, sensing the sword's energy.

"I see you have noticed my blades." Siegfried announced, bringing his swords up in a two-handed stance. "The left is Balmung. The second is known as Nothung." He gestured to each sword. After introducing his sword, he thrusted Balmung out. Hiei's eyes widened slightly when a drill-shaped demonic aura came roaring at him. The force behind it left a whirlwind in its wake, destroying the stone of the building.

Clicking his teeth, he braced himself for the incoming storm. Holding his sword in front of him, he held his ground as the aura came crashing into the steel. Grunting in pain, feeling the strain it was causing his arms, he managed to push the aura up and into the sky. When he parried it, Hiei instantly brought his fist down and punched away the incoming slash from Nothung.

Narrowing his eyes, he sent out a harsh snap kick to the man's abdomen. But, like before, Siegfried blocked the kick with his own foot. Taking advantage of him only having one leg to stand on, Hiei brought his sword arm down upon the male's leg.

The ex-exorcist, not wanting to be an amputee, kicked his leg of the ground, dodging the slash. Going with the motion, Hiei planted his left hand on the ground before redirecting the kick at the air-born opponent. As his foot was about to fit flesh, his instincts were yelling at him to stop. Doing so, he leaned the kick to the side, only grazing his cheek.

Looking closer, he was glade he redirected his kick. In front of the man's body was a tiny hole that tore through space. 'That could have been a pain.' The demon teen thought to himself after getting up from his leaning posture.

A third arm suddenly ripped its way out of the back of Siegfried's shirt. The new arm directed a third sword at the three eyed demon. "What the hell is that?" Hiei couldn't help but question, one of his eyebrows raised in interest. Hiei could sense the draconic power emitting itself from the appendage.

Siegfried laughed a bit. "This dragon arm, is Twice Critical, a very common Sacred Gear, but mine is different. Mine is a subspecies. It grows a dragon like arm from my back." He informed the small statured demon boy.

'Hm…' Hiei thought to himself, eyeing the arm and swords wearily. 'This is proving more and more interesting. Just have to watch out for that new blade though. Who know it's powers.' The teen thought before gathering some of his fire in his left hand. "Try this on for size. Flame God's Roaring Fist!" Punching at the three swords wielder, the black flames came at him with too much force and speed that he could possibly dodge.

Gritting his teeth and digging his feet into the ground, the silver former exorcist blocked the incoming flames with all three swords. While the heat was terrible, he ploughed through it. With some struggle, Siegfried overpowered the attack and repelled it to the side. When it reached a few meters into the sky, the flames vanished, with embers falling to the ground like snowflakes.

Thrusting, Siegfried shouted "Balmung!" The familiar demonic powered whirlwind came rushing at the black haired youth. Vanishing from the spot, idly noting Shunske had jumped away as well, Hiei reappeared on another building.

Following quickly, the swordsman thrusted the third sword into the ground. "Dainsleif!" Huge ice pillars erupted from the ground. A little wide eyes at this new turn of events, Hiei jumped over the ice spike that would have stabbed his ankle. Going to the left, he jumped off the other pillar that blocked his path. Disappearing again, he swiftly moved to another portion of the roof only to be blocked once more. Gritting his teeth, Hiei stored up another first-full of black flames, he jumped above the ice pillars. "Fire God's Roaring Fist!" His flames instantly ate and melted the ice coating the roof.

Watching the fire burn, he let a smirk grace his face, only for it to slip off when the flames were sucked into the tear in space. When all the fire was gone, Hiei landed on the ground and saw that Siegfried looked a little charred, his clothing burnt and hair messy, but overall fine.

Siegfried uncrossed his arms, showing eh had not gotten anything on his face, and looked at Hiei. "You are worth your bounty." The man admitted with a slight huff. "But, I have grown tired of this." Replacing one sword for another, he charged it with a large amount of demonic energy. "Tyring!" When he felt it was enough, the hero descendent thrusted the sword into the ground. Once the steel it the roof, a giant crated formed and sent a powerful shockwave at Hiei.

Not having enough time to block it, along with his footing becoming unbalanced because the building was slowly collapsing, Hiei managed to bring up his sword in time to let the blade take the brunt of it. "Cough!" The force was still great and caused him to spit out saliva mixed with blood.

Despite the immense pain, Hiei managed to flip himself over his hand and land on the soft grass. Skidding a little, he noticed that he was now in the park near the home of the Busujima's. A soft thud on the ground alerted him to dodge the incoming slash. Rolling to his side, he dodged the ice coated swing that froze the grass, before thrusting his sword arm to parry the incoming Balmung before it could launch it's whirlwind drill. Sending out a quick right jab, Hiei managed to make the sword escape his grasp. Letting his sword slide along the shaft, creating sparks, Hiei was finally able to cut him. Gritting his teeth, Siegfried prevented himself from screaming in pain, before lashing out with his third arm.

Vanishing once more, Hiei reappeared in front of his opponent, slightly panting. Feeling something on the side of his head, he glanced to see the familiar crimson running down the side of his head. Clicking his teeth, he brushed the blood away with the back of his arm.

"Urgh…" Regaining his posture, the silver haired male picked up the sword Hiei had launched from his hand. After feeling the swords hilt in hand, Siegfried laughed, confusing Hiei. "Amazing! Truly amazing! I have not felt a rush in battle in a while. You are turning out to be an formidable foe I can let loose on!" Swinging his sword to the side, Hiei's entire body tensed when a large amount of killing intent flooded the park.

Shunske, who was now in the park, looked at the battle with a small smirk. "Huh. Guess he wants to show off." He grinned, fully enjoying the show in front of him. "Balance Breaker!" The iron dragon slayer heard the familiar shout coming from his partners' mouth.

~The Busujima's~

In the hands of a familiar purple haired heiress, was an actual sword instead of a bokken. Right now, she and her father were having a real spar with real swords in hand. Saeko was holding a double-edged nihoto katana with a red handle and gold hilt. The blade was a perfect piece of art that clashed against Kage in a blur of speed he was keeping up with quite easily. In fact, he seemed to be holding back.

The elder Busujima was holding his own personal sword. It was a regular katana with a simple black cloth wrapped all around the grip of the sword. Connecting the hilt and the long sword that had a slight wavy pattern on the edge, was a copper colored handle. On his hip was the wooden sleek sheath for the fine blade. While the sword didn't look like much, the power radiating off it could not go unnoticed by anyone.

"Come now, Saeko-chan." Kage said, after parrying another one of his daughters' swings. "I have yet to put both hands on my sword yet." He teased a little with a small smirk on his face.

Saeko growled a little. Her father was the only person she knew that could make her fluster and angry for a while. Calming herself, she readied her sword once more. As she was about to charge her father for another bout, she suddenly stopped when they both felt a pressure fall on them.

The daughter saw her father look to the right with a serious expression. She soon followed his gaze and expression. "Is that who I think it is?" She asked rhetorically.

Kage nodded slowly. "I do believe it is. To think, he would be here." Kage said. Seeing his little girl go out of the room, he sighed. "Guess I can't stop her. Not when Siegfried is here now." The father muttered to himself.

Saeko came out of her room, and into the sparring room, outfitted in a black thin strap dress that hugged her curvaceous figure, the sides cut up to her waist, making it easier to move. With that, she wore black, thigh high stockings knee and shin-guard, and black shoes. Striding past her father, who didn't make a move to stop her, she opened the door before stopping for a second. "Be right back." Rushing out the door, Saeko sprinted her way to the killer intent.

~Park~

"Pant…pant…" Hiei was on one knee, holding himself up with his sword, panting heavily with multiple cuts and bruises along his body. In front of him was the now four armed Siegfried who looked a little better than himself. In each hand, the six armed swordsman had each blade dripping with his own blood. Large craters littered the park along with ice.

'Tsk.' Clicking his tongue silently, he cursed himself a little. 'Damn it! I underestimated him and the damage I took from the last battle.' Hiei thought as he still felt some of the pain caused by his battle with Issei not too long ago.

Panting a little, Siegfried soon regained his breath and slouched over posture. "That was a fine battle indeed." He nodded to himself, as he slowly walked to the kneeling Hiei, taking note of the injured ankle that was bleeding. "But I win." Standing in front of the teen, he watched Hiei look at him defiantly. "I like that. Fighting till the end. Goodbye, Jaganshi Hiei." Brining Tyring down, he looked confused as he saw Hiei smirking.

Eyes widened when he saw the source of his smirk. Right in front of him, just before the sword would have killed him, another sword, a very familiar sword to the silver haired male, blocked his path. Looking to the side, his eyes widened even further when he saw the wielder of said familiar sword.

Saeko Busujima had her arm extended in front of the offending blade that was to decapitated Hiei. Having blocked it, she looked back into the blue eyes of Siegfried with her own electric blue shining with intensity. "Hello…Sieg." Thrusting the sword up, she kicked the surprised Siegfried away.

Kneeling down, she looked at Hiei with a concerned look. "Are you okay, Hiei-kun?" She asked with a soft tone.

Hiei scoffed and looked to the side. "Please. Of course I am. The fool took me by surprise." He didn't want to hurt his pride anymore by saying he was hurting more than he let on after the fight with Issei.

Saeko smiled at the slightly younger teen she had gotten to know for this past year. He was stubborn and slightly cold, but, if you got past that, you would see a kind heart. That was one of the reasons why her father decided to let him stay with them. "Glad to hear it." Nodding, Saeko got back up and looked over her shoulder to the recovering Siegfried. "I'll handle him. We have a score to settle." Hiei could hear the small anger in her voice and it somewhat confused him.

"Hehhahah!" Siegfried began to laugh a little when he stood up. "I never expected to see someone like you in a place like this. How long has it been, Senpai?" The man asked the slightly older woman.

Saeko's blue eyes narrowed. "I believe it had been three years since you left the church. Three years since you abandoned everyone to join people who would use you as a pawn to get their way." The purple haired beauty said, anger and slight disappointment in her voice as she looked at the man.

"Same as always, Senapi." Siegfried shook his head with a small smile. "While this reunion has been nice, I would appreciate it if you would step aside. I have a demon to kill." He slowly walked back to Hiei. Instinctively, he leaned his body to the right, just dodging the incoming wind slash that would have cut him to ribbons.

"You won't be harming him. He is a comrade." Saeko said, sword at the ready.

The former exorsist looked shocked at this. "Huh. I wouldn't have expected you, of all people, to say that. I guess three years has really changed you." Shaking his head, in what Hiei and Saeko assumed disappointment, the man lifted up his six swords in ready. "I'll just have to eliminate you before the demon behind you." Just as he was about to make good on that, Shunske interrupted the swordsmen duel.

"I've let you have your fun." The man grumbled a little. "But, we have to get going. I have picked up the scent of the Sekiryuutei. He is getting further and further away. We need to leave while you can still walk." Shunske said, putting his hand on one of his swords.

While the silver haired man looked displeased, he nodded his head in acceptance. Letting out a sigh, his four extra arms receded back into his body, after sheathing his swords, and stood down. "Very well." Turning back, he glanced over at Saeko and Hiei. "We'll finish this later." The two members of the Hero faction then disappeared in a flash of speed, leaving the human and demon in the destroyed portion of the park.

END

Hope you all enjoyed the eighth chapter and some of the surprises that were included. I decided to give Hiei Fire God Slayer Magic from Fairy Tail because I thought it would go well with the Dragon of the Darkness Flame attack he'll learn in the coming chapters.

Also hope you enjoyed the last portion where Saeko and Siegfried seemed to know one another.

That's all I got to say at the moment and can't wait to see you all in the next update.

Storm Out!