Disclaimer: I don't own DxD, Against The Gods, Martial God Asura, Martial World, or the story's image. They all belong to their respective owners.

Info:

Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Divine Profound Realm and Saint Profound Realm.

World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.

Fleshly Body ranks - Strength Training Stage, Viscera Training Stage, Muscle Altering Stage, Bone Forging Stage, Pulse Condensation Period, Tempering Marrow, Eight Inner Hidden Gates and Nine Stars of the Dao Palace.

Beta-read by: KryoKon


Chapter 53 - Escape


"Dammit! You bastard!"

Issei roared, but no matter how much he tried, he was unable to stop the Magic Cube from absorbing the Phoenix Blood. Issei could only helplessly watch with his consciousness as the Phoenix Blood was absorbed into the blackish-gray cube.

In the moment that happened, Issei's surroundings disappeared, and before he knew it, he was back in that place he had been in the first time he touched the Magic Cube, where the souls of all the experts it had absorbed resided.

Surrounding Issei were countless small shining dots, some small and some big, thousands in total. They hovered around him, like stars in the deep black sky. It was a sight to behold, and Issei had to admit that it truly painted a picturesque scene.

"..." Issei stared at his surroundings blankly, wondering what had happened, but soon enough, he connected the dots, realizing that because the Magic Cube had absorbed the Phoenix Blood, it had brought him back to this place.

At first, Issei was angered, but the moment he remembered that those countless dots were actually ownerless souls, containing all kinds of knowledge and martial skill, all of his anger faded away, as if carried away by the wind, giving birth to endless excitement.

The last time Issei traveled to that place, he had actually acquired knowledge of Inscription Symbols, along with the cultivation skill called 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians', which helped him progress to his current point. It could be said that his gains had been enormous!

And now, he could once more choose another soul!

Countless thoughts flashed by Issei's mind, anticipation shining within his eyes, already imagining the multitude of martial skill, cultivation methods and formation knowledge he would be able to acquire. There were endless possibilities!

This place… it could only be called as a treasure trove! Issei's own treasure trove!

A treasure trove that only opened when it felt like it, but a treasure trove nonetheless!

With such thoughts in mind, Issei's eyes swept over the vast ocean of souls, looking at each of them carefully, not daring to approach even a single one of them. He clearly remembered that the first time he had chosen a soul, he had faced a terrifying backslash, his soul almost being devoured, and that was considering that it was only the smallest one.

As such, Issei knew that it would be unwise to try to absorb one of the bigger souls. If anything, it could be considered suicidal!

Issei may be normally proud, but he knew his own limits. Since he was sure that he wouldn't be able to handle a bigger one, he set his sight on the smaller ones, but still bigger than the one he had absorbed before. After all, he was much stronger than he had been back then, and he wanted to aim for one bigger than the one he had absorbed before.

Not too big, but not ridiculously small. After weighing his pros and cons, this was the conclusion that he had reached.

After some carefully thinking, and deeply considering, Issei settled for a small soul, but that also seemed to shine brighter than the ones around it. He assumed that it would be better than the rest, and chose it in the end. At the very least, it fitted his requirements; not too big, but not too small.

"Here I go…," murmured Issei, extending his arm forward and grabbing the small shining dot. In the moment he did that, it was absorbed into his skin, and flew into his Sea of Consciousness, where it immediately begun to devour everything around it.

"Grr!" Issei groaned and forced himself to seat down, ignoring the painful streaks of pain that ran through his body, which trembled all over. While gritting his teeth, Issei begun to counter-attack that seemingly vicious strand of soul, which wanted to devour his mind.

Second after second, time went by. Some minutes later, Issei's eyes opened, and realized that he was no longer in that black, void-like area, and was back in his room. His body was drenched in sweat, and his clothes stuck to his body like glue. His overall appearance was one of tiredness, but his eyes shined with glee.

In Issei's mind, information after information appeared. Conversations he never had, experiences he never went through, and techniques he had never heard of suddenly made their way towards his memories, merging with them. This process was slow, and it would take a few more hours until Issei could finally manage to fully integrate these new memories into his own self.

Initially, Issei had planned on finishing assimilating those memories and after looking through them, he would carry on with his process of absorbing the Phoenix Blood, but the future not always went as planned.

Suddenly, Issei's eyes narrowed, sensing with his Spirit Power that there was someone approaching his room. The person's speed was fast, and the aura around it seemed to seep killing intent. Whoever was heading towards his room… definitely didn't bring good intentions with them!

"Enemy attack?" Issei thought grimly, realizing that this was actually the worst situation for someone to do an assassination attempt on him. Without a second to spare, Issei forcefully sealed the newly acquired memories in his Sea of Consciousness, deciding to assimilate them later. At the same time, he produced a pill from his cosmos sack, quickly ingesting.

In less than a second, Issei's fatigue faded away, and his spiritual power recovered to its peak. All of the weariness faded from his features, and it was as if he had been reborn, brimming with vitality.

That pill had been handed to him by Feng Huan, and served to recover his mental powers and recuperate his spiritual power. It was a top-grade medicine, and Issei would have surely taken his time in immersing himself in the blissful feeling it originated, but he didn't have the luxury to do that at that moment.

There was an incoming enemy, and preparations had to be done.

"Since I can't sense the person's aura, then it's most likely above and beyond mine…Not only that, it seems rather similar to Feng Huan's aura, so it most likely is also someone of the Tyrant or even Sovereign Profound Realm...," murmured Issei as he stood up, a complex expression on his face. "Normally, I wouldn't be worried since I'm impervious to fire, but since this person actually dared to attack me even though they most likely knows about me… then he or she must have confidence in taking my life! I can't let my guard down!"

Issei knew that the situation was far from good, and tried to think of everything he could, but no matter how much he thought, he just couldn't imagine himself dealing with someone above the Emperor Profound Realm. The difference in power was something that not even secret attacks and careful planning and strategizing could overcome.

When faced with someone of power higher than the Emperor Profound Realm, the only outcome possible for Issei was…. Death!

"Dammit! Jasmine, wake up!"

In this situation, Issei tried to rely on the scarlet-haired little monster, but no matter how much he called for her, she wouldn't answer. He was alone in this, with no plans or strategies, and the enemy was getting closer by each passing second.

In the blink of an eye, the door to Issei's room opened, and a person whose body was completely covered in black clothes entered the room like a shadow, its slender and tall frame standing in front of the door, directly opposite of Issei.

From the small gaps in the black robes, Issei was able to see two dark-red iris, with a deep-black sclera. The pupils were slitted, and these eyes weren't the eyes of a human… No, they were the eyes of a monster!

"You are coming with me."

A voice came from the mysterious black-robed monster-eyes cultivator. Its voice wasn't loud, but it thundered in Issei's ears, and if his self-control had been slightly worse, he would have fallen to the ground.

"..." Issei stared a the black-clothed figure without a word, his mind racing as he thought of everything he could do. Even though he knew that it was a futile effort, this was the only thing that he could in this situation.

The black-clothed figure, seeing Issei's lack of answer, was about to take a step forward, but just at that time, the window next to Issei opened, and a scarlet-robed flew into the room. The red-robed newcomer was actually Feng Wen, who held onto the two 'Law Breaker' tokens with clenched hands.

Feng Wen's fist was pulled back, and without even looking at his surroundings, he said while glaring at Issei, "I'm sorry, but you must die-"

Suddenly, Feng Wen noticed that aside from Issei, there was another person in the room, stopping his attack mid-way. His head jerked to the side, and disbelief flashed in his face as he looked at the black-clothed figure.

Before Feng Wen could say anything, Issei's eyes shone with hope, and he quickly exclaimed while facing the former, "Brother Lou, I'm so grateful that you have received my voice-transmission talisman! Please, help me! As I said before in the transmission, this man if after me! You must help me out!"

After saying so, under the startled gazes of the two intruders, Issei rushed towards Feng Wen, patted him in the shoulder and jumped out of the window. While he escaped, he exclaimed with hints of joy, "Please, stall him for me! I'll got get you some help! You mustn't let him live!"

"..."

Feng Wen looked blankly at the place Issei had been at, completely dazed. His eyes were unfocused, and he was still trying to understand what had happened.

Brother Lou? Who the hell is Brother Lou?! Brother Lou your sister!

Voice-transmission talisman? What the hell?! When did Feng Wen ever receive such a thing?!

While Feng Wen looked at Issei's retreating figure dazedly, rendered motionless by the events that had just taken place, the black-clothed man broke out from his stupor, exclaiming, "Reinforcements?! Humph, as if someone like you can stop me!"

The black-clothed figure's words made Feng Wen awake from his daze, and after seeing that the black-clothed man seemed to believe Issei's words, he felt the urge to curse.

"Dammit, can't you see that he was faking it?!" thought Feng Wen with rage and helplessness, and quickly said, "This is a misunderstanding, I…-"

"Don't try to cover it, you're wearing the Phoenix Faction robes!" the black clothed figure snarled, and a small dagger appeared on his hands. It was clearly small, and yet the pressure it emanated was boundless and ferocious, completely tyrannical. "Whoever stands in my way shall DIE!"

Before Feng Wen could explain the situation, the black-clothed figure was already pouncing at him, completely on the offensive. Facing this situation, Feng Wen could only curse endlessly inside. With no other option, Feng Wen brought out a sword from his cosmos sack, preparing to take the black-clothed figure's attack head on.

Since the black-clothed figure wasn't going to listen to him, then his only option would be to fight. Feng Wen had confidence on his own strength, and although he couldn't make heads or tails out of the situation, he had decided that after dealing with this black-clothed stranger, he would interrogate him and then head towards Issei, already thinking of how he would beat him to death.

However, the moment they exchanged the first few moves, Feng Wen's confident expression faltered, having realized that this black-clothed figure was actually strong! Much, much stronger than he had been originally expecting!

"Dammit!"

Feng Wen cursed, and while placing the two 'Law Breaker' tokens on his robes, he took out another sword. It was obvious that he couldn't underestimate this black-clothed figure… he would have to go all out if he wished to defeat him!

"If you are unwilling to listen, then die!" Feng Wen roared, and started to unleash flame attack after flame attack towards the black-clothed figure. Before long, Issei's quarters was transformed into ruins, with no ceiling whatsoever, while Feng Wen and the black-clothed figure continued to fiercely clash against each other.

Read and Review~!