In the food court...
The male magician makes an unusual move as he takes off his robe and drops his staff, apparently putting on a martial arts pose.
"If you are that concern about the people here, that is fine with me. Now that you are here, there is no reason to involve them anymore."
Issei becomes very surprised at the magician's sudden pose. "Are you actually going to fight me bare-handed?"
"Of course. Do you want to risk destroying this mall or have a proper one-on-one fight?"
The other magicians were surprised at their comrade's suggestion and started complaining.
"Are you serious? We defeat him if we all fight!"
"That's right! You don't have to risk injuries fighting the Sekiryuutei, especially since he is covered in the armor of a Heavenly Dragon!"
"This is my fight! The rest of you already have opponents to fight."
"ISE!" Rias called Issei as she, Akeno, and Sylphi arrived.
"Stay back! It appears that he intends to fight me one-on-one. Take care of the other magicians!"
"Hai!" Sylphi yelled as she prepares for battle.
"Now with the others taken care of shall we begin?" The lone magician asked.
"Of course!"
Once both sides are ready, Issei charges at the magician at full speed, ramming the magician through one of the food vendors until they reach the kitchen. Issei pins the magician down and attempts to strike his head with his right fist, but the magician countered with a monkey flip.
"Not bad. You sure used quite a bit of strength when you charged at me, although you let your guard down when you charged at me."
"I did not come here to take listens from an enemy!"
Issei charges at the magician again, this time to properly land a punch. The magician, however, ducked and punched straight at Issei's neck.
"Gah!" Issei yelled in pain while grabbing his throat.
The magician took advantage of this and gave him a roundhouse kick, knocking Issei down and proceeds to taunt him.
"Is that all you got or should I provoke you by destroying the mall so you fight better?"
Issei gets up and tries to land another punch, but was easily avoided. He was then kneed with such force on the abdomen that his armor started to break.
"Since you have that armor, it wouldn't be fair for me to fight without some kind of enhancement so I hardened my body to match that armor of yours."
The magician then elbowed Issei on the back of the head, knocking him down a second time.
"Are you sure you were the one whom Grendel fought equally with? I just don't see it with your lack of skill."
Hearing this causes Issei to become more furious and proceeds to charge again at his opponent at full speed.
"Again? You sure haven't learn your lesson, haven't you?"
The magician proceeds to do another kick, but to his surprise, Issei stops suddenly and grabbed his foot before it can strike.
"What the!?"
"Who said I don't learn from my mistakes?"
Issei tosses the magician to the counter of the food vendor and punches him on the abdomen, sending him through one of the tables. As the latter tries to get up, Issei tackles him through the fence before he can recover, sending both of them down to the 1st floor.
As Issei gets up, he taunts the magician. "How is that?"
"I am going to get you for this!" The furious magician then charges at Issei as he prepares to defend himself.
On the other hand, Rias, Sylphi, and Akeno are currently holding back the other magicians, but have much difficulty turning the tide of the battle.
"Haha! Is that all you've got? I expected more from someone from the Gremory Clan." One of the female magicians taunt Rias.
Rias unleashes another suppressed form of the Power of Destruction towards the magician, but her attack was easily avoided and only caused another part of the store to be destroyed.
"I see. So you are purposely holding back so you don't put others in danger. Too bad we don't hold such morals like all of you."
"Tsk!"
The magician then casts an attack spell aiming for Rias, launching a huge fireball, only for Rias to easily block it with her defense spell.
"You don't appear to be that strong yourself."
"My my, it looks like I will have to increase my power with this next attack."
"Huh?" Rias becomes startled.
The magician then casts another attack spell, this time in the form of blue energy and launches it towards Rias. Despite the strength of her magic shield, it was unable to hold the attack and knocked Rias back.
"Ah!" Rias fell hard on the ground.
"I expected a better fight from you. Mena, Kai, let's finish these amateurs off. We don't want to keep Master Lucifuge waiting."
"Kyah!" Mena was knocked to a wall.
"GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kai is shocked by Akeno's Holy Lightning, rendering him unconscious.
"Ara ara. It seems that I can hold back less compared to Buchou." Akeno makes a sadistic smile, frustrating Rias' opponent.
"How annoying." The magician then cast the same spell, knocking Akeno back.
"Time to make sure the two of you don't get back up again."
Before the magician can do anything, Sylphi, who is already transformed, was able to distract her opponent fast enough and launches a huge tornado towards her, knocking her hard through another food vendor.
"Don't think we are weak just because we are holding back."
"Nana!" Kai, who appears to have recovered, yelled in distress.
Nana emerges with only her robe slightly torn.
Akeno becomes surprised over Kai's sudden recovery.
"Buchou, these magicians are apparently enhanced with magic."
"I can see that."
All of the magicians knocked down by the girls are able to get up on their feet with ease, although their bodies show that they have taken some damage.
"Not bad. Let me show you mine." Kai launches a lightning attack towards Akeno, knocking her down yet again.
"Akeno!" Rias tries to reach for her friend, but was knocked back by Nana.
"You shouldn't take your eyes off of your opponent, Princess."
"Like I would like to be called that from the likes of you." Rias then launches another attack using the Power of Destruction, but was easily avoided again.
On the first floor...
Issei is currently fighting in a clothing store, but none of his attacks were able to strike his opponent at this point.
"Let's see how you like a knee to the face." The magician knees Issei to the face this time, cracking even more of his armor.
"Gah!"
"Or a punch to the gut."
"Gaha!" Issei soon started coughing blood.
[Partner, his body is definitely enhanced by magic! He specializes in close quarter fighting, giving him the advantage using his enhanced strength and durability! You have to use magic in order to turn the tide!]
Ddraig advises Issei.
"No! If I do that, then the whole shop will come down! There may be people still trapped here!"
"Still up for more? Then let me deliver it!" The magician charges towards Issei.
"Not good. Can't take much more of this. There has got to be something."
Issei desperately looks around the store to find a counter attack.
"There!" Issei grabs a jacket and puts it in front of his opponent, causing him to punch the clothing instead, giving Issei enough time to dodge.
"What the?"
The magician then turns around and saw Issei's fist heading towards his face. Issei's strike connects, sending the magician from one shop to another across.
"Gah!" This time it was the magician who spills blood.
Before he can recover, Issei charges at him and delivers another blow; this time to his gut. Realizing that the magician cannot act fast enough, Issei continues to strike his body without stopping. With each blow, the magician continues to spew more blood from his mouth.
"You are not the only one trained in close quarter fighting!"
"YOU!" Out of anger, the magician holds up his hand and unleashes a blast of energy pushing Issei back.
"What the? I thought you were going to fight me without using magic!" Issei complained.
"Since when does so-called terrorists ever keep their word? You must be dumb if you expected that."
The magician then summons his staff right back to his hand. "I am very well aware that destroying this mall is not what you want. Too bad for you, because that is exactly what I am doing."
The magician raises his staff and begins chanting a spell.
"Can't use any of my attacks without causing tremendous damage. Need to find another way."
[It seems as though you have forgotten about me Ise.]
Aždaja's voice was heard, startling Issei.
"Aždaja?"
[Correct. Use my abilities to stop him without putting anyone in harm's way. There are some you used during your battle with Crom Cruach and training.]
"Yeah, you are right! Ddraig, transfer a little power through Aždaja's armor!"
[Understood!]
Issei's armor transforms from red to black with the exception of his left hand as the Boosted Gear begins transferring power.
[Boost!]
Issei then begins shooting blue fire bullets towards the magician, forcing him to cancel the spell to defend himself. Issei takes advantage of this distraction and takes out his tail sword to break his magic circle, although his strike was avoided.
"It looks like I am going to have to do things a little differently."
The magician creates a magic circle below his feet and out of the circle comes a huge stream of fire taking the form of a dragon. The dragon then charges at Issei. In response, the tail sword transforms into a shield, holding the attack back until the magician's magic can no longer support it.
"This is very interesting. It looks like I am going to have to take back my doubts I had of you earlier. I see now why Grendel likes to fight you."
[Be careful Ise, because you transformed in your normal Balance Breaker instead of True-Queen, this armor is only as strong as the form you transformed from.]
Aždaja warned.
"It's all right. I don't think I will need that much power to defeat him."
[Very well. As I said before, make sure to keep the level of your techniques moderate. Don't waste your stamina in this battle like with Crom Cruach.]
"Like I will make that mistake again."
Issei and the magician continue their fight on the first floor.
The three girls fighting in the food court are not faring as well as Rias is the only one left standing while breathing heavily.
"Not bad, but I guess being in Qlippoth would make anyone's job a lot easier thanks to the magic given to us."
As Nana prepares to kill them, an energy attack was launched towards her, shifting her focus away from them. Nana turns her head to see Murayama and more members of the Occult Research Club members behind her.
"I figured how dangerous you stray magicians could be so I called for some help."
Rias smiled proudly at Murayama. "Help couldn't have come in a better time. Good job Murayama."
Rias then turns towards Nana, Kai, Mena, and a couple other magicians behind them.
"Everyone, those stray magicians are covered with magic to enhance their abilities. I am going to have to use this technique so hold them off. Asia, heal Akeno and Sylphi." Rias summons a magic circle below her feet and begins channeling magic.
"Hai Buchou!" Asia then heads towards her injured comrades and begins using Twilight Healing.
"Murayama, Katase, stay back and let us handle this." The Kendo girls obey as Xenovia then summons Ex-Durandal.
"Let's see how well the rest of you fare against us." Nana becomes eager to fight them.
"Here I go." Koneko emerges from the ceiling and scatters the magicians by punching the ground with immense strength.
Kiba and Xenovia took advantage of this and aim for the two magicians behind Nana. Kai attempts to fight Koneko, but was blocked by Rossweisse and Gasper. Irina and Koneko decide to fight Nana, but with great difficulty.
"Since we are fighting in a department store, we have to be careful in case there are people still in here." Rossweisse said as she tries to bombard Kai with explosive magic, but all were easily blocked by his defense spells.
Gasper activates Forbidden Balor View to freeze Kai, giving Rossweisse another chance to strike him with explosive based magic yet again. The attack hits, but when the smoke clears, Kai emerges with only minor wounds on his body.
"That attack would have killed me if it wasn't for my body being covered by magic. This is going to be interesting." Kai then launches an attack spell of his own, but both Rossweisse and Gasper avoided it.
Kiba summons Gram and, along with Xenovia, starts the fight off equally against the two magicians they are facing. Neither side, however, have the advantage over the other.
"How very persistant." Nana manages to block Koneko's punch, but distracts her long enough to allow Irina to summon her light bow and launches a light spear towards her, causing Nana to move back.
In response to Nana's superior magic, Koneko goes into nekomata mode, growing a pair of white cat ears and a tail to match her opponent's abilities.
"We can't let any of them get near Buchou."
"Right."
Koneko then uses Senjutsu in the form of an energy ball and launches it towards Nana, but was blocked. Irina then summons her Holy Demonic Sword, but her strike was blocked as well with Nana's staff.
"Apparently, you are all lacking compared to our first opponents." Nana easily pushes them off.
"This is getting boring. Allow me to create some fun in this fight."
Nana summons a large magic circle below her feet. What is coming out of it isn't a spell, but a large creature with two heads emerge from it. One head is that of a lion while the other is that of a goat. It's tail is a snake head. The creature is about 3 times the height of Rias and lets out a loud roar once the summoning its complete.
"It can't be." Kiba becomes astonished upon sight.
"I heard that the group has faced one of those transformed from the one known as Freed. With this one, you have every reason to fear. This Chimera is at least four times as strong and he will be the one to kill you all." Nana makes a sadistic smile and orders the Chimera to attack.
"Like I will let you!" Xenovia beaks away from her opponent to attack the Chimera, but her strike was caught by the snake's head and was tossed hard on to the wall.
"Looks like I will have to slow it down!"
Kiba activates his Sacred Gear, Sword Birth, summoning a huge number of swords below the Chimera's feet. Sword Birth succeeded in slowing the Chimera down, allowing Kiba to outmaneuver the creature using his high speed. Kiba then summons the Sword of Betrayer and attempts to strike the Chimera. Kiba manages to land a hit.
"What!?"
Despite using all of his strength, he was only successful in making a somewhat deep, but nonfatal cut on the neck of the lion's head.
"I forgot to mention that even our spells our enhanced. If you want to chop off his head, you will need to use a lot more magic than that."
"Tsk!" Kiba moved back before the Chimera can swing it's giant paw at him.
"Don't let it get near Buchou!" Akeno, who has already recovered, attempts to slow down the Chimera with her Holy Lightning, but the creature's high durability allows it to keep moving.
[Don't you dare kill my friends!]
Gasper is suddenly surrounded darkness, turning him back into Dark Gasper.
"My my, I guess summoning the Chimera was a smart move after all." Nana only laughs seeing Gasper transformed.
"Like I will let you!" Kai attempts to stop Gasper from transforming completely, but was blocked by Rossweisse.
[It looks like I have a huge mess to clean up.]
"Wait Gasper! Rias-san is still channeling her magic for an ultimate attack! We just need to slow them down!" Sylphi warned Gasper.
[Sounds interesting. Very well, I will abide by your terms to see how you do.]
Dark Gasper surrounds his enemy with darkness.
"Wh-What is this!?" Nana struggles to break free.
[None of you are safe for what is coming!]
"RAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" The Chimera violently struggles against Gasper's restraints.
[This one appears to be a little stronger. When is her attack ready?]
"Now! Everyone move back behind Buchou!" Akeno yelled.
All of them fighting the magicians obeyed, including Dark Gasper. Once everyone is behind Rias, a slow moving giant sphere of destruction was released in front of the Chimera and the stray magicians, confusing the latter.
"Is this really her ultimate spell? It's really slow!" Nana mocked Rias' attack.
"Woah! Nana, I am being sucked in!" Mena shouted as her body is being pulled into the sphere.
Kai and the Chimera are pulled as well while Nana tries to resist.
"This can't be happening! This can't be happening! Master Lucifuge!" Kai screamed out before his body comes in contact with the sphere.
"Tsk! You might have beaten us, but I am glad to die for Qlippoth! This isn't the end!" Those were Nana's last words before her body was enveloped by the sphere with the others.
Once the sphere disappears, the bodies of the magicians and the Chimera are no longer there as well, much to everyone's relief. However, a mysterious cloaked figure emerges from behind one of the broken food vendors and gets a good look at the exhausted team. A woman's voice was heard.
"I've heard from a couple of Magicians I tortured that this is the team that fought Grendel. From the looks of it, all of you appear to be very weak. I am pretty sure this can't be all of you. I will be looking forward for when you are all are gathered. For now, I have a message to deliver to the other fighting." The figure then disappears after giving a warning to the girls.
As Issei and the magician continue fighting, the former currently has the advantage thanks to Aždaja's armor. Using the tail sword, Issei manages to weaken his opponent a great deal, although the latter is still strong enough to hold his own.
"I am getting tired of this. I am going to capture you Sekiryuutei, even if I have to destroy the entire city to do it!"
The magician then raises his staff and a huge fireball comes out of it. "Let's see what a tiny star would do to this store."
"This is bad! I better stop it!"
Issei attempts to attack the magician, but all froze when he realized that his opponent is not even resisting.
"Smart. You know I wouldn't do such a thing if I were you. If something were to interfere with my concentration, I would no longer be able to hold the star and I already told you what might happen if I drop it. Now be a good Sekiryuutei and let me kill you for Master Lucifuge or I will make this star bigger and have you watch the city burn."
"GRRRRRRR! You coward!" Issei becomes frustrated over the choice he has to make.
"I won't let you ruin my child's fun, Vamon." The magician's name is finally revealed from a woman's voice.
Before both Issei and the magician can figure out who it was, a hand was stabbed right through a magician's stomach.
"Gah!" Vamon screamed in pain and was left dying on the floor.
Before the star can touch the ground, the cloaked figure grabbed it and cancels the spell.
"So Vamon says you are the Sekiryuutei. Well then, it looks like you have more trouble to deal with in the future, unless you can kill me now." The woman taunted Issei.
[Don't get caught up in this Ise. I sense an extraordinary power coming from this woman.]
Aždaja warns Issei against fighting her.
"If you aren't going to fight, let's see if your friends can fare any better."
"Leave them alone!"
Against Aždaja's advice, Issei charges at the woman with his tail sword. Before the sword can connect, however, the woman grabs the weapon between her finger and tosses it away. Before Issei can strike back, the woman takes a deep breath and suddenly releases a huge stream of fire at him.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Issei screams in pain.
Issei falls on his knees, allowing the woman to make one more strike on his abdomen, causing Issei's armor to shatter almost completely.
"How disappointing. I only threaten your friends so I can have a good fight against the one who fought my son to near death, but I can see you are not at your full strength. I will be expecting better once we meet again." The woman disappears, leaving her cloak behind.
With the woman's disappearance, the battle ends.
Outside of the department store...
"We will take care of the people's memories so that they don't remember what happened while the store is getting fixed, but we can't erase the trauma people felt from this experience." Rias told Serafall, who arrived upon request to get a report.
"Understand Rias-chan. I will alert the Underworld authorities." Serafall disappears using a magic circle.
Issei, who is currently being healed by Asia, explains what happened to Murayama and Sona.
"So there is a woman you fought wearing a thick black cloak and you lost easily in the end. This is very troubling."
"Are you sure that this is all the information you can provide us about her?"
"She mentioned that I fought her son to near death, but considering how many strong opponents I have faced, I can't tell who it is."
Before Issei can continue his discussion, Katase suddenly attacked him.
"Gwah!"
"Battle or no battle, I heard that you've had a date with my best friend and knowing you, you've probably violated her! No way I can forgive this!" Katase puts Issei in a submission hold.
"You've got it all wrong Katase-san! I didn't do anything of the sort!" Issei struggles to get Katase to let go.
"Lies! Murayama would never accept a date with you willingly so you must have used dirty tricks to get to her!"
"Katase, as strange as it sounds, Hyoudou did not do anything wrong to me. In fact, he saved my life when those magicians attacked." Murayama urges Katase to calm down.
"Really?" Katase relaxes her grip.
"Yes. To be honest, I think it would have been a lot worse if I had been to the store on my own without him. It's safe to say that Hyoudou never had any ill intentions during our date, at least this time."
"This time? What do you mean? Are you saying that I am actually going to violate you next time we are at a store?"
Murayama ignored Issei's complaint. "Let go of him Katase."
"Fine." Katase reluctantly lets go of Issei.
"Back to the issue, we must find out whose' son Issei defeated to find out who that woman is." Sona gets back on topic.
"That will be no longer necessary." Azazel shows up alongside Marta.
"Sensei? You know who that woman is?" Issei asked
"Yes. That woman is Grendel's mother." Azazel answered, much to the shock of everybody.
Another chapter done, though I am disappointed that it is not as developed as the previous chapter. Nonetheless, I do hope that you readers get the idea presented here. I had writer's block a couple of times when I was writing this, not knowing how I should write down the battle in the store so I know that some of you might find it a bit cheesy. Overall, I had fun though and I am glad to know that many of you would still read this fanfic even if I have one or two bad chapters in it. Battle scene was inspired by the last fight scene in Expendables 2.