A Good Scientist

by Tacuun

Issei Hyoudou was a scientist, a rather bored one if he was honest. Then his 'girlfriend' tries to kill him, sprouting black wings in the process, showing him that maybe the world wasn't so boring after all. The only problem now? Getting Yuuma back to his basement before the drugs wear off...

18. Chapter 18

Rias looked at herself in the mirror.

A bright white dress, beautiful and extravagant. Her crimson hair was done up into an exquisite bun, and her face was pale with just a hint of blush on her cheeks. All in all, she looked like the average happy bride on their wedding day.

Except for her green eyes. They were the only part of her she allowed to tell the full story, the exhaustion and despair she felt. Looking away from those sad eyes, Rias instead focused on what she saw behind her in the mirror.

Akeno was currently standing beside the snack counter provided to her dressing room, devouring shrimp in a decidedly unladylike manner and moaning in delight at the taste.

Opposite her, leaning against the wall, was her knight, Kiba. The blond had his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. He was clearly taking this almost as bad as she was, no doubt beating himself up for not being able to save the day.

And then there was Koneko. Sat on the only couch in the room, the small nekoshou had her hands in her lap and was staring at them dully. Listlessly.

The Gremory heiress wanted to say she was like that for similar reasons to Kiba. That she was berating herself for being unable to beat Riser. But it wasn't that. Rias didn't know how she knew, but the redhead had a feeling that Hyoudou was a big part of why Koneko was so despondent.

For the life of her Rias couldn't understand it. the way those two seemed almost… friendly, lately. She'd stayed out of it only because there had been so much going on, but if Hyoudou managed to pull through for her today, she and Koneko would have a long talk.

Then her thoughts drifted back to her impending marriage, and Rias sighed morosely.

"Now, don't be so upset, Buchou," Akeno said before plopping another shrimp in her mouth. Swallowing, the black haired girl licked her lips and sent Rias a thin-lipped smile. "Hyoudou-kun seemed serious this time. I'm sure he has a plan."

Rias frowned at the faith her Queen seemed to place in the scientist, but any retort she may have had was cut off by Kiba.

"Just like he had a plan last time. He's just playing us for money so he can get another house, probably." Kiba grimly stated from between gritted teeth.

"Yes, and remember what happened when Buchou broke a door in that house? Imagine what Riser will get."

Kiba grimaced at the thought while Rias blinked at the revelation. It was true that he held his house— or his 'workshop' at least— in very high regard. That he had nearly killed them all due to a busted door of all things said as much.

"And that's not even mentioning his arm." Akeno finished with a small frown. Then she shrugged and grabbed another shrimp off of the snack table.

Rias, however, was still stuck on what she had said. It was true— if her hypothesis about Issei being attacked by Riser was true, he had just as much reason to hate him as she herself did.

She shivered at the thought of her and Issei both feeling the same, but inwardly was grateful for it. Trusting the scientist to help someone of his own accord was near impossible. Trusting him to seek his own revenge? Much more likely.

"Ojou-Sama."

Rias jumped slightly at the new voice, but relaxed upon seeing Grayfia enter through the door via her mirror. The maid-like queen stopped in the center of the room and bowed slightly.

"It is time."

Worry swelled up in her chest. Her heart started beating faster, and dread filled her stomach. Sending one last sweeping glance to her peerage, Rias let out a long sigh.

She turned to face the white haired maid with a stoic expression that easily matched the maid. "Let's go."

Dress sweeping out under her, the crimson haired ruin princess descended the stairs and followed Grayfia outside.

It was a long walk through the mansion.

During that time Rias got to see what would become her new home in case Issei failed. Rich red and gold tapestry along an off white marble decor. Tasteful oak tables and stationary suits of armor, hearkening back to a truly medieval time. It was a beautiful home, one that matched the Gremory estate in elegance if not in size.

Rias hated it.

To her it would only be a gilded cage. Something pretty to live in while her freedom was lost. An effigy to everything she would never have.

"Ojou-Sama," Grayfia's quiet, stern voice cut through her thoughts. Rias looked to the faux-maid to find her glancing back at the redhead with an assuring gaze. "An arranged marriage is not an awful thing. Love can grow within any relationship."

Rias held in a scoff. Maybe it worked out for Grayfia and her brother, but her and Riser?

Then the maid's eyes narrowed and chilled. "And if that isn't the case, anything could happen. Perhaps the wedding will be interrupted."

Rias blinked, then refocused on the woman before her.

Grayfia Lucifuge.

Her brother's queen. She'd been just as cold and stand-offish as ever, but Rias knew what her presence really meant. It was an offer— a sign from her brother that she could always go to him. The only reason Grayfia seemed so intent on having her married was to keep up appearances.

The Maou's couldn't show favoritism, after all.

That was what she was offering now. To have her brother use his power as a Maou to call off the wedding. It had likely been their backup plan from the start. Knowing that, knowing that what lay between her and her freedom was merely accepting his help—

Rias shook her head. "If the wedding's interrupted, it won't be by someone you know."

Grayfia stared at her for a moment, then continued onward as if their conversation had never happened. The Gremory Heiress did as well, though she was conflicted inwardly.

It would be so easy. Just… rely on her brother and everything would be fine. That was how it had always been, and probably how it would continue on throughout her life. He may have been a siscon, but he was high functioning to say the least.

But she couldn't do that. Even if the idea that the Maous were completely impartial was a slim facade, it was a facade that had to be maintained for order to rule in the underworld. For their leaders to openly play favorites…

It'd be a return to the old ways. It'd be exactly what the current ruling factions had fought against in the form of the old Maou faction.

And… Rias was sick of relying on her brother. Sick of being coddled as the 'Gremory Princess'. She wanted to do this on her own, without outside interference.

Stumbling slightly, the redhead had to admit that relying on Hyoudou didn't really count as 'doing it on her own'. Still— she was the one who'd maneuvered him into owing her. It counted.

Barely.

Soon enough they reached a large, crimson stained door that reached ceiling height. Beside it stood a familiar figure with slicked back red hair and matching trimmed beard.

Her father.

The older man stepped forward, tight smile on his face. "Honey, it's… good to see you."

Rias nodded stiffly. She made sure to keep her face neutral.

"Likewise, Father."

The man flinched at her cold tone, but nodded understandingly.

"I… suppose I deserve that." The crimson haired man relented before shooting his daughter a sorrowful gaze. "But at the time it was necessary. I know that doesn't make this any better for you, but know that I didn't do something like this lightly."

Rias's cold facade cracked slightly, shame showing through.

It was true— her father hadn't arranged a marriage purely for some ideal like blood purity or anything like that. At the time there had been fears that the Phenex family, well known for their hard line stance on blood purity, would join with the old Maou faction.

This would have been a severe loss all on it's own, but it would be the people that followed after them that would be the real loss.

So the Gremory patriarch, as the father of one of the new Maous', decided to link the Phenex and the Gremory families together as a show of good faith. With their families inexorably joined their loyalty would be set in stone.

Rias understood all that. Understood that her father had made the best decision in a bad situation.

She just didn't like it.

But her father didn't deserve her ire for it.

"… Sorry, daddy." Rias whispered, looking down at the floor. "It's just— it's hard."

Thick, familiar arms wrapped around her in a warm embrace, a beard tickling her forehead. "I know. And I am so sorry you have to go through this."

Choking back a sob, the redhead pressed against her father, burying her head in his chest. She didn't cry— not because she didn't want to, but because she couldn't. It would show on her face when she walked down the aisle, and she wasn't going to give Riser the satisfaction of knowing she'd broken down.

Not now, not ever.

After a few moments, Rias was the one to break the embrace. Smiling sadly at her father, she gestured to the door.

"I guess we should get going."

Her father's green eyes glinted with unshed tears as he nodded slowly. "… Yes. We should."

He proffered his arm, which she took and the two slowly pushed through the massive doors.

The first thing she saw was the crowd. Hundreds of tables lined with dozens of devils each, split right down the middle by a long aisle. the room itself was shaped like a stadium, with the tables being set in tiers that rose higher and higher the farther away from the middle aisle the room got.

She didn't have to see a guest list to know that almost everyone important in the underworld was present. It was a marriage between two of the great pillars— that alone would have been enough of a draw. Add in Riser's fame in the rating games and her family's added status of having brought up one of the four Maou's, it was safe to say that the only devils willing to miss out on this wedding were those with no interest in worldly affairs.

In that instant, Rias hated them all. Even now they were chatting amiably, eating the prepared food, laughing— they were treating the worst day of her life like a party.

And half a football field away, looking at her with a smug smile she could see even from this distance, was the one she hated the most.

Riser Phenex.

Dressed in a charcoal black tuxedo and matching black bow, Rias had to begrudgingly admit he could have been handsome, if not for the insufferable look on his face.

It was only at her fathers nudging that she remembered to move. At a slow pace, she began to walk forward, head held up straight with stoic expression even while her hands tightened their death grip on her father's arm. As she did so, she couldn't help but glance around the room.

This was the time to strike. To make a move. If Hyoudou was going to do anything, now would be it.

And… nothing. Ever so slowly the distance between Riser and her decreased, the room dropping silent as she neared him. But no scientist, swooping in to save the day.

Her grip tightened even more as she mentally berated herself. How could she have expected him to save her? Kiba had been right. He had just used her to resupply himself, then abandoned her to the altar.

Gritting her teeth, the Gremory heiress promised to make him pay. To let her brother know exactly what the human had tried to do.

At about the halfway point, her anger fizzled out, replaced with exhaustion. She had done everything she could, made as many deals as possible, all for naught. It made her want to lay down and sleep— like it would all go away when she woke up.

She bit back a yawn even as her eyes admired how soft the red carpet beneath them looked. A perfect bed for her.

A sense of déjà vu enveloped her. Something about this was familiar. She had felt this way before— she just couldn't remember when.

Then her father slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor, dead asleep. She stood there for a moment, staring at her snoring father in a daze.

She remembered.

And soon after she collapsed as well, falling into a deep sleep.

XXX

Plopping another shrimp in his mouth, Issei nodded as he surveyed the results of his plan. Everyone at his table had easily fallen unconscious, some having fell onto the floor as a result.

The same was true of the nearby tables, and even the far ones. Down in the aisle, he could see that both Rias and Riser had gone to sleep as well.

It seemed everyone with the sole exception of himself had entered the world of dreams. All according to plan. Who knew a concoction he'd made overnight nearly a month ago would prove so useful? Just slip it into the food and vent system, and voila! Defenseless devils.

Swallowing the last of his shrimp, Issei stood from his seat and straightened his loose fitting tuxedo, his hands jittery and twitching thanks to the uppers running through his body keeping him awake.

Good ones, this time, not ones he'd half-assed with a chemistry set. Gremory money was real, it seemed.

He didn't know how Mittelt had got her hands on a suit so quick, but he was thankful for it, even if she had still been sullen and quiet the whole morning. Apparently overlooking how people dressed at a wedding wouldn't have ended well for his plan.

But the hard part was over now. All he had left to do was collect the targets.

Slipping around the multitude of bodies, Issei made his way to the stairs and started walking down. As he did, he kept an eye out for a particularly styled mane of blonde hair. He didn't find what he was looking for— annoying, but nothing that couldn't be resolved. She had probably just fallen underneath a table.

She was his real target, but he figured he could at least take out Riser for Rias first. He didn't really care about upholding his end of the bargain, but it was true that the idea of Riser doing anything at all to Koneko filled Issei with with murderous intent.

Might as well put it to good use.

As he neared the aisle itself, a tune forced itself from his lips. Humming the final fantasy victory theme, Issei stepped down onto the aisle and kept walking toward the center raised altar.

He stopped once he neared Rias. Running his eyes over her, the scientist had to concede that she was quite beautiful. He hadn't noticed it before, having been far too focused on her intrusion into his home or the fact that she had the ability to kill him at any time.

Without all that, with her completely defenseless, he finally saw what everyone else had always been talking about. Pale white skin, flawless red hair, a body wars could and had been fought over— along with her normally caring personality, she was the complete package.

But mainly, she was completely defenseless. Open to attack.

Issei tilted his head at her, biting his cheek in thought. He could kill her right now. It would be supremely easy. Of course, there was no real reason to do so— but there wasn't a reason not to, either.

Besides, if he was going to die today, he might as well indulge himself a bit, right?

Raising his arm and pointing at her— entirely for dramatics— Issei paused as a certain white haired cat girl came to mind. Holding his chin with his other hand, the scientist frowned.

Then he sighed and lowered his left hand, a tiny spark running across it.

Damn, he really was running out of control. There hadn't even been time to think it over before he'd been set on doing something so casually evil. All it would accomplish was hurting Koneko.

What a waste.

With one last wistful glance at the defenseless form of Rias, Issei set off once more, turning his attention to the first of his targets.

When the gas had finally affected Riser, the man had been standing at the top of stairs leading up to the altar. From how far away the teen had been, he had been unable to see the Phenex's expression, but everything about the way he stood had screamed smugly victorious.

As it was, the man had slid to about halfway down said stairs and was laying on his back with his mouth wide open.

Issei bitterly noted the man still looked smug, even in his induced sleep.

It was a problem that was easily solved.

With a thought, the repaired fins that had been hiding in the rafters of the huge amphitheater zoomed down and came to rest behind his back, hovering like wings. There were only six of them— the seventh had been cannibalized for parts to fix the other six.

A step down from the blond man, Issei paused.

Did he really want to kill him? Yes. Of course he did— wanting to kill someone was the scientist's default state, and that question had been incredibly stupid.

The real question he should be asking himself was whether or not he should kill Riser. And not because killing one of the heirs to a clan as important the Phenex might end up killing him— he'd be dead long before they ever knew he existed.

It was because if he did this, there'd be no going back. His control was slipping as it was— with such worthy specimens as the Phenex siblings under his watch…

It was the equivalent to putting an open bottle of whiskey in front of a recovering alcoholic. No matter how much rationalizing it took, the whiskey was going to be drunk. There was no changing that.

The question was whether or not he wanted to take the plunge. If he wanted to, he could back out. Spend the rest of his time with Asia and Mittelt, enjoy what was left of his life.

But that would mean leaving Dohnaseek unavenged. It was highly illogical for him to care about that— stupid, even— but care he did. And even if he didn't, the chances of him snapping and hurting Asia and Mittelt were high, to say the least.

Issei was at a crossroads. Did he continue, setting him on the path to a quick death, or did he simply leave and live happily despite the risk?

A sudden whoosh of flame answered that for him.

He didn't need to think to get out of the way— not when his fins automatically clamped around him like vices and promptly dragged him out of the line of fire. Bracing himself, Issei's knees nonetheless felt the strain as he landed on the hard marble with a grunt. Spinning around, the scientist faced his attacker.

And froze.

"Stay away from my brother!" A golden haired Ravel Phenex shouted, another large ball of flame in front of her extended palm. With no further warning the ball shot forward, too fast for a normal human to dodge.

But Issei had no intention of dodging.

As one, his fins gathered in front of him and pressed together, forming a shield which the fireball crashed harmlessly against.

"I was wondering where you got off to." The off-white plates split apart, leaving Issei to stride through the smoke that had gathered where they had once stood, his brown eyes firmly on the devil before him. His mouth twitched into a smile. "I'd have hated for you to miss the wedding— it's not exactly easy to get into the underworld for me, you know?"

Ravel grit her teeth and readied another fireball. "How about I help you with that?"

The ball of flame quickly grew to the beach ball size that she had thrown at him before— and kept going. Slowly the fire grew until it nearly eclipsed the small girl from sight. Once it stropped growing Issei prepped his fins to move him out of the way, the fireball being too large to successfully block like before.

But instead of attacking, the Phenex spoke.

"How are you alive? I killed you." The blonde heiress spoke, only her blue eyed glare visible from behind her fireball. "And your arm..."

Issei tilted his head questioningly. She was talking to him? That didn't make sense. She certainly hadn't tried to talk to him on that night. She'd been all business, a professional through and through.

But now she wanted to talk? Fine. He could play ball.

"What, this thing?" Issei lifted his left arm and stared at his palm. Clenching his fist, a spark of blue electricity ran down his forearm. The scientist shrugged. "Honesty, I should probably thank you for the whole 'cutting my arm off' thing. Been itching to get into cybernetics for a long time."

That his 'cybernetics' were entirely composed of salvage from Anubis and was vastly inferior to just about anything he'd ever made… well, she didn't need to know that. She also didn't need to know about the little surprise it had inside it.

"You didn't answer my question!" Ravel shouted, her glare strong and entirely focused on the scientist. "How are you still alive right now?!"

Then it happened. For a fraction of a second, too fast for any human without his modifications to process, Ravels gaze shifted.

To somewhere behind him.

Without any further warning Issei activated Accel Mode. Time slowed to crawl and everything went silent.

Diving into his implant much like how he'd hacked the hospital system, Issei had tilted his fins slightly so that one faced behind him. The movement was quick even in accelerated view of time, as was the shutter on the internal camera he'd never bothered using before in his fins.

Via his mental link, he saw what his fin now saw.

Riser Phenex, awake and with a furious snarl on his face— and at least three car sized fireballs hovering behind him, with a fourth building up.

The scientist cursed. Of course it had been a distraction— Ravel deciding to talk just didn't make sense! He should have trusted his gut. Her initial attack hadn't even been that— it was meant to wake her older, stronger brother.

So much planning and preparation only for it all to all apart due to his own arrogance— again. All thanks to some clever blonde bitch.

He wasn't ready to die just yet.

Biting back his self loathing, Issei calmed himself. It was fine. The trap had been discovered before it had sprung. He could now prepare accordingly.

And so he did. Mentally splitting his fins into two groups of three, Issei laid out his battle plan. Once all his instructions were given, there was little else to do but release Accel Mode.

Time returned to normal with a sudden flurry of movement. His fins immediately followed his orders, both of them expanding widely on either side of the scientist before rushing to match the fireballs headed in his direction

He didn't bother trying to physically block this time around. The first two times had only been done because he had the use of all six of his fins. With two opponents, one of which had multiple projectiles, using his fins as shields would be more than useless.

But his fins had more than one way to stop an attack.

As they expanded so much so that they were completely clear of the fireballs headed his way.

Then they all flashed red.

In an instant a crimson barrier sprang into existence between his fins, one for Ravel and one for Riser.

Issei couldn't help the smirk that came to his face at that moment. It hadn't been easy, getting that particular feature to work again— he'd only ever meant the version on his fins to be a prototype before the final product. Thankfully with some funding from Rias and a few quick calls to his contacts, he'd been able to get 'Phoenix Down' in working order.

The barrier caught both Phenex's fireballs at the same time— and kept going, carrying the flames like sand in strainer.

The two Phenex's had wildly different reactions to his barrier. Ravel's eyes widened, and she wasted no time in diving to the side.

Riser merely sneered and held out his arms in challenge. "You think my own flames will hurt me?!"

His cry was challenged by a wave of fire washing over him. True enough, the blaze merely licked at him harmlessly, seeming to cradle him comfortingly. He was a Phenex, a devil of fire, capable of creating the hottest flames on earth at their most powerful.

The crimson force field behind those flames, however, slammed into him like a speeding truck.

The Phenex heir was sent flying away, flat against the now sparking barrier. Adjusting the trajectory slightly, Issei sent Riser straight into the ground, his fins latching onto the ground and holding him there like a net. The Phenex struggled against his confines, flames shooting out from him in geysers, to no avail. The crimson barrier didn't even shudder under the heat he was putting out.

With Riser well taken care of, Issei turned his attention back to Ravel. The girl was hovering in midair, her small wings poking out from behind her back as she watched her brother get taken down with gritted teeth and fear in her eyes.

Issei smiled slightly at the blonde devil. "Good job. Really makes getting taken out by you not so bad when you show off how smart you are."

His fins detached from their formation, and slowly started to circle around the hovering girl. Her blue eyes watched them warily before shifting to him.

"You don't want to do this— we're the heirs of the Phenex clan. You kill us and the entire underworld will come down on you!"

Issei looked at her incredulously. Was she seriously trying to bargain with him?

That incredulity was rapidly replaced with fury.

"What, that's it?" The boy spat, brown eyes glaring into her blue. "You burn my house down, cut my arm off, kill Dohnaseek, and your only response is that I shouldn't hit back? You think this is grade school shit?"

Gritting his teeth, the human raised his prosthetic arm and pointed it at the girl. The air seemed to tense in anticipation. At the same time one of his fins that had quietly crept behind the Phenex split open into a long, black bar that seemed to buzz quietly.

"Fuck you."

Blinding white light flashed into existence, arcing from his palm to the extended fin behind her. Electricity crackled loudly, completely muting Ravels screams as tears ran down her face.

After a few seconds Issei tore his hand away from the girl and the fin shrank back down, ending the electrification. Ravel seemed to hang in the air for a moment, her mouth open in a silent scream. Then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell like a marionette whose strings had been cut. She landed on the marble tiled floor with a soft thump. The only sign that she was still alive was the uneven rise and fall of her chest.

Issei stared at her crumpled form for a moment. Then he turned his attention to his left hand, noting that his palm had been charred black. With a grunt and an exert of will, the skin slowly shifted back to normal in front of his eyes. The human nodded, then started walking over to Ravel's still body.

Working something as useful as his 'zap glove' into his new prosthetic had been simple. Finding a way to make it long range, not so much. Thankfully he had his fins to help with that.

In a way he'd simply copied how lightning struck. By having his fins act as a negatively charged source of electricity and his prosthetic as a positive, the two naturally tried to connect, which caused a lightning strike. Bad news for anything caught in between them.

Of course it wasn't that simple, but it worked. The only problem afterwards had been the fear that said prosthetic might get damaged by such intense electricity, or have it's wiring shorted out.

Of course, his 'insulation' fixed that problem quite handily.

In no time at all he was standing over the small blonde girl. The one that had taken everything from him— his workshop, his arm, and his friend.

He wanted nothing more than to take her and be done with everything else. To find some secret place where he could take her apart as much as he wanted. Killing her would be too fast— it could wait until after he got what he wanted, surely.

Issei shook his head. That was his warped instincts talking, the instinct Ddraig had given him, which had then been even further warped even further by his illogical need to take everything apart.

No. He wasn't doing this to fulfill that deep, aching need. Not anymore. This was for Dohnaseek.

This bitch was going to die. Now.

Calling his fins over, he had them start to charge up. Their beams probably weren't capable of killing her permanently— not at first. So he'd just keep forcing her to revive until she just wasn't capable of it anymore.

Until she was dead.

"You know, I should probably thank you." Issei started unbidden. He hadn't meant to say that. But still, the words fell out of his mouth without control. "For awhile there… I thought I could be… more. More than some psycho. That I could be human."

The fins started to gleam crimson, heat waves distorting their appearance.

Issei let out a self-deprecating chuckle. "Guess I should've known better."

The fins fired. Red light lanced down, goring three holes in her chest, each the size of his fist.

As he hypothesized, she merely burst into flame instead of dying, reforming into a completely untouched state.

But she hadn't moved, and the beams were still boring into her. Again and again she was killed and revived, for a solid minute. With each death the Ravel's face became paler, her skin tighter. She somehow looked frailer.

Finally his fins stopped, ice cold CO2 steaming out of several vents in their sides as they overheated. Beneath them Ravel stirred slightly, but remained unconscious, unable to move.

Issei frowned at the sight. It seemed she was tougher than she looked. No matter. With a swipe of his hand, the fins started to charge once more.

Then a noise from behind him caught his attention. Glancing over, Issei was surprised to see Riser pushing against the barrier with one arm. Where he touched it the barrier shone even brighter, and the scientist could smell the way it charred his hand even from where he stood.

"DON'T."

The hand started to turn black. flames licked at it, but Riser didn't reform it for some reason.

"TOUCH."

Fingers started to burn away, crumble. But Riser kept pushing at the barrier even as his fingers slowly disintegrated.

"MY SISTER!"

With one final roar, the Phenex managed to shove his entire hand into the barrier, destroying the limb completely. The blond man panted in pain, his eyes shut with the effort.

Issei merely raised an eyebrow. "… Was that supposed to do something?"

Riser's eyes shot open. The blue orbs, so similar to his sisters', glared intensely at him. With gritted teeth the devil managed to respond.

"Fuck you."

And then, like he had witnessed before, the Phenex began to revive himself. Fire covered his form, shrouding everything from sight. Soon enough he was just a rough silhouette of flame that covered him entirely.

It even went past the barrier where his hand would have been.

Issei's mind raced as he watched the small spurt of flame grow and take a familiar shape as the silhouette inside the force field simply disappeared. When the fire went away, revealing a completely unharmed Riser standing outside his barrier, there was only one word that came to mind.

"Shit."

Apparently Riser could reconstruct his body wherever he wanted as long as at least part of him was there. That was not good.

Riser wasted no time in acting. Sweeping his arms out, he sent a two thick lances of flame out. Each tore through one of his fins like they were made of paper. The third and final fin that had been holding him down was quick to follow.

Then the blond devil turned to face Issei, a snarl on his lips and a glint in his eye that promised pain.

The scientist pursed his lips and nodded. "Right, then. Plan B."

His remaining three fins, which had been stationary over Ravel, fully charged, redirected themselves so that they faced Riser and fired.

Their crimson beams tore through him as easily as they had his sister, forcing the Phenex to revive in a large explosion of flame that forced the scientist to look away due to its brightness.

In that moment, Riser struck.

Out of the corner of his eye, Issei saw a blur of movement coming straight at him. He instinctively raised his left hand to block it. An instant later he was sent flying off into the sleeping audience by a tremendous force.

XXX

"Take that you fucking mongrel!" Riser growled, fist clenched as he glared at the humans rapidly shrinking form. His attention was quickly taken up by a pained cough from his left.

Quickly kneeling down beside his sister, he lifted her head slightly. Her eyes opened slightly. "Onii-S-Sama?"

The older brother gritted his teeth at how weak she sounded. Still, he managed to suppress the anger in him as he reassured her.

"It's me— don't worry, I'll keep you safe."

"S-sorry…" Ravel trailed off, closing her eyes once more.

Riser stared at the girl's sleeping form, his hands tightening around her shoulders. Slowly he set her back down and stood. Sending a glare in the direction Issei had been sent flying, the Phenex was surprised to see the human walking calmly toward him.

The coal black suit jacket had been removed, leaving only the white dress shirt underneath and a deep red tie. The human was currently rolling up the sleeve of his left arm.

"Touching." The brown haired teen commented blandly, his gaze fixed on the bare skin of his arm before him. There was a huge dent in his arm, as if it was made of clay and merely needed to be reshaped. After a second, the arm swelled out to it's normal shape, causing the scientist to smile at it. "There we go."

Riser looked at the arm intently. He wasn't sure what the hell that was, but it wasn't human.

Noticing his focus, the human frowned at him and held his arm up in front of him so that his palm faced inward.

"It's pretty clear that using my fins alone isn't going to cut it." The human stated plainly before smirking slightly. "So I guess that means I'll have to go all out."

Ridiculous. That was Riser's first thought. A human, a creature so far below a devil— yet there was such confidence about him. Like everything, all Riser's resistance, was just a bit of fun for him.

The thought was yet another source of fuel for the raging pyre that was his fury. Riser made to step forward, to end the human's pathetic existence once and for all— but stopped upon seeing the human's arm turn pitch black.

And then it started to melt.

What was once a solid arm simply melted like candle wax, the black substance slowly crawling down his arm. In it's place was a dark skeletal hand.

"You know…" The human started nonchalantly as the black substance continued to creep up his shoulder, forming a sleek black carapace. "I couldn't have pulled this off without Dohnaseek— though I suppose Namur is the real star here."

Riser ignored the human's rambling, his mouth agape as his foe was completely engulfed in the dark carapace from head to toe. The end result was a figure reminiscent to a knight fully clad in plate, only more modern and with no obvious weak point.

"What the—"

The black armor blurred out of sight. The next instant a fist was buried in his stomach.

He couldn't breathe. He wanted to, but all the Phenex could manage was a raspy gasp as he doubled over, his gaze landing on the dark gauntlet buried in his sternum. Slowly his eyes rose, until he was staring into his own shocked eyes via the mirror-like helm of the human.

Said helm tilted slightly to the side. "Huh. I feel… pretty good, actually. I wonder if that's cause of Ddraig?"

The voice had an echo to it, but it was the same as before. Just the sound of it made his blood boil. In response to his returning anger, fire began to waft off of him like smoke trails.

"Y-You Ba-Bastard…!" Riser bit out as flames started to circle him like tornado—

His anger was interrupted by a quick, almost casual backhand that sent him flying into the low wall that separated the aisle from the spectators.

The wall shattered like glass. Riser continued on the smooth floor, skidding like a stone across a pond until he finally slid to a stop on his side.

"I could get used to this— it's… nice, being the stronger one. Yes, I like it quite a lot."

Through blurred vision Riser saw a black figure walking slowly toward him. He screamed at his body to get up, to burn, to incinerate everything around him to a crisp. But instead of doing any of that, he simply continued to lay there, watching his demise creep closer and closer.

Riser didn't understand. Why wasn't he moving? The human was getting closer— too close! He needed to move RIGHT NOW!

Nothing. Something cold climbed inside him, his body shaking due to it. It took him a moment to realize what it was.

Fear. He was scared. The human, something so far below him as to be cattle, had him scared for his life.

The anger that followed this realization was all too welcome. The heat of it melted the fear away completely, and the devil started to rise up. First to his knees, then finally to his feet. turning a heavy glare to the armored figure, who had come to a stop at his sudden movement, Riser felt his teeth grind together.

"You think…" He spat out blood— annoying. He'd revive soon enough to get rid of the burning in his lungs. "You think just because you found some fucking loophole that you stand a chance? Against me?"

Riser threw his head back and laughed. The armored figure tilted it's head once more.

After recovering from his bout of laughter, the Phenex heir pierced the blank gaze of the black helm with a withering look. "What a joke. I am Riser Phenex!"

With that proclamation a large corona of fire flared up around the devil, huge wings of flame extending from his back. The heat was so intense that several nearby plates cracked instantly, and the tile beneath him seemed to sear like a grill.

The human tilted his armored head and tensed, filling Riser with a sense of triumph. This was how it was supposed to be! Humans were supposed to grovel at his power, at his sheer might! That was how nature decreed, it was the natural state of things—

"Think fast."

Before he could do anything more than widen his eyes at the blasé command, Riser felt something wrap around his arms. He only had a moment to identify that something as a thin wire before it tightened, forcing his arms against his sides and eliciting a grunt from him.

"What—?!"

A tight tug and he was off, being dragged through the air at high speed. He struggled against his bindings, but whenever he felt close to breaking through them he would be jostled around wildly, ruining any effort made. During one of these, Riser managed to catch sight of exactly what was carrying him off.

A white plate, the same as the ones that had been holding him down earlier.

Riser barely had time to curse to himself as a crimson aura surrounded the plate before it fired ahead of itselt, blowing a hole in the approaching wall. Again and again, wall after wall. During his flight it occurred to Riser that those were his walls that were being destroyed.

Somehow, against all odds, that was the final straw.

His wedding had been ruined, his sister was near death, and some fucking human had the gall to start busting up his mansion, starting with his very expensive, custom made, walls.

Fuck that.

As his rage reached an even higher peak, so far past boiling his mind seemed strangely cold, Riser let it all out in a burst of bright white flame that surrounded him in a sphere. The fire, hotter than any he'd ever produced before, easily melted the wire trapping him along with the white plate.

For a moment the world was all white. Riser could see nothing else other than his very literally blinding expression of rage.

Then, slowly, the world seemed to return— but it was dimmer. The colors seemed muted, bland in comparsion to the purity he had just witnessed. Looking around from his position in the air, his wings having automatically kept him afloat, Riser recognized one of the many hallways he had so lavishly decorated over the past few years in preparation for the wedding. White marble dominated the décor, with a rich red carpet running down the center. Various portraits dotted the walls, all of them remnants of the days ruled by the original Maou's.

And then there was the gaping whole in the wall near the top of the ceiling.

Breathing deeply, the Phenex had to restrain himself from immediately rushing back to vaporize the human. No matter how angry he got, it didn't change the fact that he human was currently dominating. What Riser needed now was focus, and a calm head.

For the first time in his life, he needed take things seriously. Simply blowing past his competition using his natural gifts weren't going to cut it anymore— he needed to truly go all out.

It was time to stop messing around.

When a black form leapt through the hole in the wall and slammed down on the white tiles below, cracking it, Riser didn't waste any time grandstanding or boasting about his power.

Using every ounce of power within him, Riser promptly blew up the hallway in a torrent of white fire.

XXX

Koneko's eyes blinked open in a daze. Before her was a large, round table filled with food, a half eaten plate of shrimp right in front of her.

For a moment all Koneko could do was stare blearily at it. At how the food was expertly placed so that everyone could reach everything, the way Akeno was slumped face down in a bowl of shrimp, the strictly ordered silverware—

Jump starting to full alertness with wide eyes, Koneko quickly hopped up from her seat and leapt to the black haired girl's side. Grabbing her shoulder, the nekoshou shook her rapidly, causing Akeno's head to flop limply around.

In response, Akeno moaned and tried to shake free of Koneko's iron grip. Failing that, the Queen let out a sultry giggle.

"Ara, so forceful…"

On instinct Koneko let go. Freed from the nekoshou's grasp, Akeno's face dropped back into the shrimp.

Koneko frowned. Akeno was alive, at least. Just asleep— and having good dreams if her continued panting into the shrimp dish was any indication. That was… good? Yes. It was. But it didn't answer why she was asleep in the first place. Or why she herself had been asleep.

The white haired girl blinked as a thought struck her. With the panic that had taken control of her the moment she'd seen a seeming dead Akeno leaving her, Koneko looked at her surroundings.

Tables and tables, a seemingly endless amount, all filled with sleeping devils. Even Kiba was no exception, having slid down to the floor and looking more relaxed than she'd ever seen him.

It was immediately clear what was going on. Someone had attacked the wedding. Put everyone to sleep so that they could pull off whatever they wanted.

Koneko's gaze immediately slid to the aisle down below, scanning the red carpet for her King. She let out a small sigh of relief when she caught the crimson haired girl huddled next to her father, unconscious.

So whoever had planned the attack wasn't after Rias. That fact alone was enough to calm Koneko down considerably. Enough so that she finally noticed something off.

She was restless. Her body positively hummed with energy, so much that she felt the urge to run around, jump, rip and tear and—

The white haired girl shook her head, dispelling the dark turn her thoughts had taken. What was that? It was almost like…

Koneko blinked, then twisted so that she was looking down her back. There, at the base of her spine, was two snow white cat tails lazily drifting about.

She was using Senjutsu. She was using Senjutsu and she hadn't even known.

The panic from before came back with a vengeance. Senjutsu was dangerous enough when she was ready to use it—but now it could activate in her sleep? That was bad. Really bad.

She could see it now. One night, when she'd fallen asleep, her mind completely numb to the world— and then natural energy would fill her up. Instincts strengthened and with no reason behind them, she would go on a rampage. First would be Rias— her King was definitely the strongest of their group, and her instincts would see her as the biggest threat. Then Akeno, and then finally Kiba. The Knight wouldn't immediately be killed. While he was no slouch when it came to combat, the sheer power advantage Koneko would have over him would make her want to draw it out, play with him. His death would be long and painful.

And then, when it was all over, Koneko would wake up to see the horror she had wrought.

A shudder ran through her body at the thought. The nekoshou clenched her fists tight and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish the images from her mind— to no avail. The scenario she had thought up was too vivid, too heart-wrenchingly possible to forget.

There was no choice. She would have to leave Rias. Her friends. It was the only way to keep them safe from her.

Another shudder ran through her, and it was all Koneko could do to keep from breaking out into crazed laughter— a strange urge, but given how hopeless the situation was it was probably warranted.

Then another shudder. The urge increased, and she felt a surge of pure joy shoot through her.

The sudden whiplash of contrasting emotions caused forced Koneko to open her eyes, gold irises showing confusion.

The laughter had been a bit weird, but joy? That was wrong.

It was only when she shuddered again and felt the urge to tear something open alongside intense curiosity that Koneko realized what was happening.

She was feeling another persons' emotions.

The thought filled her with incredible relief— she had only entered Senjutsu due to someone nearby providing another source of energy than nature. It was alarming, sure, but nothing that couldn't be patched up by changing her filter around to accommodate. Once that was done there would be no danger to her peerage.

But there was a new problem with her discovery— the fact that someone with such a splintered mind and instinct was close enough for her body to subconsciously absorb their energy. As far as she knew, only Issei had been able to do that.

The thought stopped Koneko's mind in its' tracks. Then she quickly glanced around at all the sleeping devils, and found it disturbingly familiar.

It wouldn't be the first time he'd used sleeping gas to put an entire room asleep.

But she had to be sure. While it could very well be Issei doing his part to break Rias free of her marriage, if it wasn't she needed to know. It could be a terrorist set on bombing the mansion, and in that case she needed to start waking people up.

That in mind, Koneko closed her eyes and focused until everything around her— visually, scent, auditory— faded away. Once finished, the nekoshou found the stream of energy feeding into her and started following it upstream back to it's source.

This, like most things regarding using Senjutsu, hadn't been her idea. It'd been Issei who had theorized she could track people in this method, though he had discarded it as useless when he learned she literally absorbed energy from the the world itself and not specific individuals.

He had then called her a poor man's spirit bomb. That had of course agitated her, but at the time Koneko had been more surprised that Issei was a fan of something as basic as Dragonball. When she brought it up to him, he had merely shrugged his shoulders and shot her with the spray bottle.

Koneko found herself hoping it was Issei, just for the chance to punch him for that cursed 'training tool' of his.

Her time in this spiritually aware state was strange. Every moment lasted hours, but at the same time not even a second. Things were at once too fast and too slow, and never in a predictable pattern.

And that wasn't even getting into the feeling of the energy itself.

Savage curiosity. Those were the only words that fit it. Such a deep, intrinsic need to know something, to discover something, all backed by such animalistic rage and instinct that Koneko was starting to doubt whatever was on the other end was even sentient. The idea that something could be with such powerful urges seemed impossible to the Nekoshou.

But then again, that was Issei. Only the ironclad control he had over himself, that cage of steel and ice, stopped him from acting on those urges. Kept him sane.

Which was why the fierce joy of being free that underlined everything she sensed in the energy scared her. Made her wish it was just some random terrorist hoping to kill everyone.

Because if it wasn't, that meant Issei wasn't in control anymore. And Koneko didn't want to think about what that meant.

Finally she reached the source of the energy.

Her first thought was that it was broken. Whereas her own energy was spherical for the most part, with the shape deteriorating into wild spirals at her most emotional, this one was, for lack of a better word, a hurricane. A rush of movement, overpowering emotions and conflicting thoughts, nothing in it made sense. It was chaos.

But that wasn't what made her think it was broken.

Deep inside that raging storm was series of walls and dead ends forged from rough, black steel. In it emotions ran through those walls like a wind tunnel, funneling them, pushing them together so that they shot out with hurricane force winds.

The walls clearly weren't natural. It was like someone had taken a normal, working mind, and cut it apart. Then the pieces had been shaken around and jammed together using staples.

It was horrifying. She wanted to throw up just from the feel of it, not only at the thought that someone like this existed, but that someone else had made them exist in such a way.

And at the very center of it all, behind a steel cage that reeked of ice and something draconic, was a working, sane, mind.

This was Issei Hyoudou.

The realization hit her like a punch to the gut. She couldn't breathe, and all she wanted to do was run away, to stop looking at how deformed his mind was. She was about to do so when she sensed something else. Something underneath the torrent of pain and rage and aching sadness.

Resignation.

All at once Koneko came back to herself with a gasp, her golden eyes wide as she stared into space. Her gaze automatically went in the direction she'd sensed Issei and her mind raced with a sudden, terrible possibility.

She didn't want to accept it— didn't even want to think it. but piece after piece slammed into place, spelling out a single, horrible truth.

Hyoudou Issei had given up on life. On living. He had forsaken the control he'd always maintained, the desire to be something more than a monster, all to let it all out at once. All to for this one moment. To take revenge.

And after that—

"I'll see you later...?"

Issei smiled at her. She felt her breath hitch for some reason, and she fel the urge to cry.

"Later."

Before the white haired girl could think anything else, she was already in the air, black bat wings beating hard as she made her way to the visible hole in near the ceiling of the atrium. All the thoughts in her head vanished, replaced by a burning need to stop Issei.

A few meters away from the hole, so close that she could see the next room— along with another hole in the wall— Koneko slowed to a stop, indecision battling it out on her face.

Stop Issei? Who was she to do that? They weren't… together, or anything. If they were friends, it was only by the barest margins— all of their interactions were either him trying to dissect her or her using him to learn Senjutsu. He wasn't like Kiba, or Akeno. There was no bond.

And stopping him would mean dooming Rias to a life of marriage to a pig like Riser. She'd be directly causing it by stopping Issei.

The right thing to do was to let Issei do as he wanted. To let him run wild. And after he'd gotten his revenge, after Riser was taken care of, he would kill hims—

Gritting her teeth, the nekoshou let out a growl and slammed a fist into the wall next to the hole. The white, reinforced wall pulped into nonexistence, widening the original hole by at least three times.

"Issei…"

The name was a curse on her lips. She hated him. Hated him for lying to her, for just how fucked up his mind was. Hated whoever made it that way. Hated him for coming up with this grand scheme to get revenge and to get rid of himself in one fell swoop in what was likely the first selfless gesture of his life.

More than anything else, she hated what that she was going to let him get away with it.

XXX

A wall of flame descended upon him. Issei kept walking forward, not even flinching as the wave crashed down on him with enough heat and force to char the once white tiles below him, to crack them like clay in an oven. To him it was a warm breeze. Utilizing the fact that the flames hid him from their user's sight, the human leapt forward.

In an instant he has covered the distance between them. Riser's eyes had only a second to widen in shock and fury before Issei's gauntleted back hand— the same one that his sister had taken from the scientist— closed around his face. The armored human lifted the devil up— then slammed his skull into the hard marble floor below.

And then he did it again. And again.

In the midst of all this, Issei had to admit he was having quite a lot of fun. He could feel himself smiling with far too many teeth. It wasn't the kind of smile a sane person made— which made perfect sense considering how he was teetering on the edge even now, the chaos of his mind settling at a dull roar. He couldn't even hear Ddraig anymore, so loud it was.

All he wanted to do was keep slamming the blond devil's face into the floor.

Unfortunately said blond devil had other plans, and promptly exploded.

Again.

Issei was almost bored as a bright white corona of fire blasted him across the hallway. He felt nothing as he careened through a wall and landed roughly on a toilet, the porcelain shattering underneath the weight of his armor.

Besides feeling faintly embarrassed, anyway.

Before he could even make an attempt to rise to his feet, another torrent of flame was headed his way. Issei didn't move, and allowed the attack to engulf the room entirely, transforming it from an idyllic place of rest into a fiery hell.

The scientist idly wondered if that could be considered ironic, since he was already in hell and all. He dismissed the thought after a few seconds of pondering it— such intricacies were best left to lesser beings like fine arts majors to wonder over.

Casually rising to his feet, the heat not even an annoyance to him, Issei found himself bored.

And it was all thanks to his armor. He didn't know how to feel about that— on the one hand it meant he had once again proven his genius for all to see by creating a suit that put him on par with a high class devil. On the other, his suit was kinda made from a former stray devil— with some Light.

It felt like cheating.

He shook his head of the thought. That was a good thing. Really, it was a surprise that things had worked out so well in the first place. It wasn't every day that the dead body of a devil was unaffected by Light— or that Light didn't immediately start eroding whatever it touched.

In the end it was thanks to Namur's Sacred Gear— the key term being 'sacred'. As he had found out from Dohnaseek's near encyclopedia knowledge of them, it's original use had been to turn the user into their 'true self'. And since Namur had been an unrepentant murderer that cared only to consume others, it had turned him into a kind of living flesh blob with only a nervous system to control itself.

A nervous system Issei had well and truly fried during their fight, leaving Namur without any way to control itself and with no mind whatsoever.

Discovering that had been disappointing, to say the least. A shape shifting blob of flesh and no way to utilize it— a poor excuse for a mad scientist he was. Simply implanting another nervous system into it didn't work either, as anything biological it came into contact with was absorbed into it. the whole affair had made him resort to looking into mechanical systems, which wasn't ideal for a number of reasons.

Such as their tendency to utilize electricity, which Namur really didn't like. Stopped any sort of molecular change beyond the surface level, ie the entire reason he was so interested in the flesh blob.

And then Dohnaseek had died, and his Light Core had just sat there, ripe for the taking. Dohnaseek's words about how Sacred Gears were made by God himself whispered in his mind, and a horrible, terrible idea sprang forth.

Standing up in the flames and rolling his shoulders nonchalantly, Issei had to admit it had worked. The Light hadn't degraded the sacred gear, and the sacred gear hadn't tried to devour the light. After the implantation had been completed, using Namur had been as simple as manipulating the Light inside of it instead of trying to directly control the substance.

After all, while Namur certainly didn't react well to electricity, Light definitely did. Using the same electronic wire as his Fins, the scientist was able to puppeteer Namur into doing whatever he wanted, whether that was as simple as covering him in an exosuit or hardening into the hardest carbon imaginable.

All thanks to Dohnaseek.

Glancing around the burning wreckage that had once been a bathroom, Issei spotted a kitchen sink that was relatively untouched. His gaze shifted from that to Riser standing out in the hallway, charging up an extremely large ball of flame.

He nodded to himself.

The next moment, the sink had been easily wrenched from the wall and was sent hurtling through the air toward Riser. The blond devil saw it coming and casually stepped to the side, the car sized ball of fire above him unaffected at all. The man smirked and sent a smug glare to the burning bathroom.

Just in time to see Issei appear a foot in front of him with a fist cocked back.

"Oh, fuck yo—!"

A black gauntleted fist burrowing into his face cut him off with a sharp crack. Issei only barely kept himself from laughing in joy at the feeling.

At least that was still fun.

In front of him, Riser's form dissipated into flames, the fireball above him scattering and disappearing harmlessly as the Phenex Revived.

"Three." Issei counted off dully as the devil's body reformed rapidly. Not wasting any time, the human launched another punch, this time to Riser's stomach. Flesh tore and ripped, and a spout of blood flew out of the devils' mouth as he hunched over the fist impaling him.

They stood there for a moment while Issei raised his other hand and slowly wiped the blood from his visor. He stared at the bloody gauntlet for a moment before shifting his gaze down to Riser, who was still hunched over coughing on his other arm.

"Alright, this is getting kind of boring— could you just die already?" Issei politely asked.

Riser's response was to look up to him, blood running down his chin, and glare at him with gritted teeth. "Fuck. You."

Issei's black armored head nodded understandingly. "I see."

Without further ado the human jerked his arm out of Riser's stomach. He gasped in pain and went to fall on his knees— only to be caught by Issei gripping his head with both hands.

"Seeing how much Ravel could take before she even started to look half-dead, I'll assume you're stronger and can revive many more times than she can." The armored scientist explained clinically. "So really, the best thing to do would be to hold you still while my Fins did the work. More efficient that way."

Issei craned his head down so that Riser was looking straight into the mirrored reflection of his smooth black helmet.

"But I don't really feel like being efficient right now."

Slowly, glacially, the human started to press his hands together. At first Riser only grunted in pain, but soon enough the man was flat out howling as his skull was gradually crushed, small cracking noises filling the otherwise silent air.

Finally the man's head— for lack of a better word— popped. An explosion of pink and red flesh hit Issei dead on. The now headless corpse fell to the ground bonelessly.

Issei once again wiped his helmet clean with a detached air. "Four."

A second later, the flesh started to glow gold and transformed into fire— which, as a nice side effect, cleaned Issei up rather nicely. The flames swirled into a familiar shape a few feet away, finally settling into the seething form of Riser Phenex.

"You won't get away with this!" The devil declared with a growl. His fists clenched at his sides and fire started to rise from his body.

Issei shrugged, drawing a surprised look from Riser. "I suppose not."

One way or another, this was it. There was no going back. He couldn't even hear Ddraig anymore— the dragon's voice had been lost the moment he had given into the joy of being free to do whatever he wanted. The Hyoudou Issei of the past was only hanging on by a thread. All it would take was one more push and he'd be gone forever.

It just proved that he needed to die, rather than run the risk of living another year with Asia and Mittelt.

But that was the future. Right now it was time to finally let loose.

"Whatever happens after this doesn't matter to me— well, except for your sister. I'm gonna make sure she suffers before she dies, now that you stopped me from ending her quickly." Issei explained with a nod of his head. Riser's expression had gone so far past anger that it was strangely blank. Unfeeling. "Really, that's your fault—"

An explosion of golden flame rocked the hallway, the shock wave sending the human flying. He landed with a crunch of tile and skidded a few dozen more feet before coming to a stop. He laid there for a few moments staring at the ceiling with some surprise.

He hadn't noticed they'd been painted before. A real Sistine chapel piece— but instead of angels it was demons, ruling happily over humanity. Interesting, if a bit too blatant for Issei's tastes.

Then again, what did he know? His house had stitches in the walls. Interior decorator he was not. Neither was Mittelt.

Sighing, Issei decided he should probably get up, if only for the fact that he hadn't been hurt at all by Riser's little surprise attack, which would in turn make the man even angrier.

He was beginning to find quite a lot of joy in that.

Raising his torso so that he was seated on the ground, Issei sighed again— louder, so that his opponent could hear. "If your temper tantrum's done, maybe we can…"

Issei blinked at the sight before him. A huge, golden bonfire had sprung up where Riser had once stood. And that was it. there was no Phenex to be seen.

For the first time since the fight had started, panic crept into Issei.

What if he'd gone back to the wedding room? He'd been counting on Riser being too proud to ever get help against a human, but what if he'd been wrong?

The thought filled Issei with dread. Riser, he could handle. No problem. Ravel too. Maybe even a few other Phenex's. But there was at least one Maou in there, and Issei really didn't think his suit was good enough to stand up to a person that could blow up countries.

In no time at all the scientist was back on his feet and running. Every step he made cratered the floor, and his speed had surpassed human limits long ago thanks to his suit— something his body would no doubt pay for if he had any intention of seeing tomorrow.

Before he made it to the nearest wall to run through, a torrent of gold fire shot out like a whip from the golden bonfire. Issei let out a sigh of relief and slid to the stop. He didn't bother trying to dodge the flames— all it would do was pass harmlessly over his armor.

So he was very much surprised when instead of that very logical event happening, the fire wrapped around him like a rope, pinning his arms to his side. Before Issei even had time to strain against his bonds, he was suddenly lifted off his feet and whipped into a nearby wall. He sailed through it like it was made of paper, and landed face first in a dresser.

His mind was jumbled. In shock. Because fire didn't work that way. It didn't do physical constructs— not in reality. Things like a fire whip or a flaming claw attack were limited to games and anime.

Apparently no one gave Riser that memo as once again a strong tug pulled him back out of the room and into the hallway, where he slid across the floor with a scraping noise.

Issei was beginning to get annoyed.

Unfortunately he didn't have time to act on that annoyance, as the fiery rope around him chose that moment to tighten. Issei let out a grunt at the pressure suddenly being exerted on him, but was otherwise unconcerned.

Then he actually began to feel the heat. It was only a slight warmth at first, almost comfortable. Then it started to get increase until he was actually beginning to sweat inside his armor.

Which was wrong. The suit was insulated quite heavily— anything short of enough heat to melt steel should do nothing to it. And the flames holding him? Not that hot. If they were, the floor below them would start melting.

Not that something as simple as physics seemed to concern the flames around him as he started to feel a stinging in his abdomen where the rope was constricting.

He needed to get out of this— now. He tried pulling against his bonds, but couldn't find the leverage to break free. He was well and truly stuck.

Thankfully, his fins weren't.

Launching forth from where they'd been hidden near the ceiling, his last three fins swooped down and circled the line of fire connecting him and the bonfire in the center of the room. With a flash of red, a force field sprang into existence. As he'd expected, the connection was severed completely, the flames around him fading to nothing as he watched the tendril quickly return to their user.

Who, as far as he could tell, was still just a bonfire. Something told him he'd need to be smart about this. To take a step back and plan things out.

Unfortunately said bonfire didn't seem to want to cooperate with that idea. At that moment, two spurts of flame shot out, both of them heading straight for him. Issei clicked his tongue in annoyance before tensing his knees slightly. One brief exertion later he was in the air, leaving the fire to pass harmlessly below him.

Until they suddenly changed directions on a dime so that they were shooting straight up at him.

Oh, come on!

Thinking fast, Issei had his fins zoom between him and the flames. Just as he started falling down to meet the rapidly approaching golden fire, his fins erected another red barrier that the fire collided with. Issei touched down on the red surface with the sound of meat on a skillet, the field of hardened plasma acting like a stove top.

Issei ignored it, his armor more than capable of taking the damage.

More importantly, the teen thought as he shifted his helmet to glare at the golden flame dominating the hallway, a heavy frown behind its expressionless surface. That's not how fire works. It doesn't change direction. Fire follows the path of least resistance, just like everything else in nature. For it to be able to change direction like that…

The only solution he could think of was that Riser had somehow created an invisible barrier that cut off the flames access to the surrounding air, forcing it to follow a specific path. But that didn't explain how the fire had grabbed him. It was almost like he was dealing with something else entirely.

Issei blinked, then had to resist the urge to slap himself.

Of course it's not fire! It never was!

He should have known the moment Ravel threw that fireball at him back at their first meeting. Granted, at the time he'd been too busy being scared of dying, then pondering the mysterious nature of his fractured mind, but still. He was a scientist. An observer of the natural world, an expert in physical and chemical reactions.

The fact that he had even for a second believed that real fire could ever be thrown like a god damn beach ball forced him to reavaluate that statement. He wasn't dealing with fire— he hadn't been the moment he'd entered the supernatural world.

He was dealing with magic.

There was no time to act on this realization, as at that moment the golden bonfire started to shift and fluctuate. Then the flames started to shrink in on themselves.

Or rather, they conformed to a new shape.

Long, golden wings of fire spread out, their tips burning holes into the walls. Claws of fire sunk into the floor and every tile within a dozen feet cracked from the extreme heat— even Issei felt uncomfortably warm inside his Heat resistant armor. A golden crest flare up to the ceiling as the giant bird of prey let out an ear piercing caw.

A Phoenix. A mythological creature, said to live for 500 years before undergoing a process of rebirth. Not something he normally cared about, but only an idiot wouldn't do his research before getting into a fight with a Phenex. According to Dohnaseek, it had been a Phoenix that had granted the Phenex clan their incredible resurrection capabilities in the first place, though he had pointed out that it was nowhere near the level of an actual Phoenix

Looking at the truck sized phoenix for a moment, Issei wondered about that— because the fallen sure as hell hadn't mentioned anything about them literally turning into birds made of fire.

His analysis was cut short as a gust of super heated air washed over him as the fire bird flapped its wings and— impossibly— lifted into the air. The beast let out another window shattering screech and started racing toward him with all destructive force of an incoming semi truck.

It was time for evasive action. But where? Going outside only increased the risk of someone noticing that something was wrong at the Phenex estate, while heading further in risked the rest of the wedding guests getting caught in the crossfire. While he didn't care if there were a few casualties, the big issue was that Riser would wake up someone he'd rather not have to deal with.

So. if he couldn't go left, and he couldn't go right, where else could he go?

Mere moments before the phoenix crashed into him, Issei made his decision. Crouching down on his makeshift platform, he placed both hands on the plasma surface for balance— then jumped.

He shot up as fast as a bullet just as the amalgamation of fire crashed into where he'd been. His fins only just managed to get away in time.

But that wasn't Issei's concern at the moment. No, rather it was the fast approaching ceiling. Making sure his body was as straight as possible, Issei tucked his head in so he didn't break his neck. He hit the ceiling at max speed— and just kept going, tearing through into the second floor.

And then the third.

And the fourth.

Finally he managed to stop himself at the fourth floor. Getting to his feet, the scientist glanced around to find himself in rather lavishly decorated bedroom—a bed the size of his old room by itself, red satin sheets and dark red mood lighting, along with entirely too many throw pillows.

Probably Risers' Queens' room.

Nodding to himself, the scientist ran to the other side of the room, crouched, and plunged his arm through the floor. With some rapid sweeping of his arm, he cleared enough room for him to drop through to the next floor.

That done, instead of dropping down, Issei stood up, ran to the closest door and opened it to reveal a closet. He walked in and closed the door behind him.

He then promptly sat down with his legs crossed and started to think.

Now that he had bought himself some time, Issei focused on finding a solution to his latest Very Big Problem. Namely, how the hell was he supposed to hurt something made of magical fire?

His first thought was water. It was the obvious choice, and would no doubt have some effect at the very least. The problem was getting enough of it to matter— he hadn't exactly brought a few barrels of it to the wedding, though now that he thought about it he really should have. There was always a chance he could somehow find where the running water came from and trick Riser into jumping into it, but Issei doubted that was going to happen. The man was an idiot and prone to anger, but he was also made of fire. Not going near water had probably been pounded into him at a young age by his parents.

He was distracted from his thoughts by a mighty crash from the room he'd just left, followed by a sudden wave of heat washing over him and the faint crackling of burning wood. Then there was angry screech, followed by another crash from the direction where the hole he'd made had been. The floor shook under him, until finally the Phoenix's path of destruction seemed to grow distant.

Issei let out a breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding. It seemed his rather basic trick had worked, for the moment.

But he knew it wouldn't for long. Either Riser would burn the entire mansion down to find him, or he'd wise up and go straight to the wedding hall for reinforcements. The chances of the latter happening weren't exactly high, but it was still a possibility. Time was against him.

It was a good thing he'd found a way around that before all this mess, then.

With a burst of effort— more effort than it had ever taken him before, as he had trouble forcing his instinctive need to keep moving, to strike first, down— Issei activated Accel Mode. It was like suddenly the switch had been placed behind some rubble. It was still there, he just needed to clear it out first.

But it worked. He could tell from the way his heartbeat slowed to a crawl, how everything seemed to muted to his ears—

—You fucking suicidal fool, wasting my gifts, my power!

And the return of his not so happy tag along.

Ddraig kept up his tirade, apparently having not realized that Issei could hear him now. After an impressive amount of cursing and some shockingly detailed psychoanalysis regarding his upbringing, the scientist decided enough was enough.

I can hear you, you know.

Silence blanketed his mind. Then there was deep huff that was more growl than anything else.

Good.

If it was possible in his accelerated mindscape, Issei would have rolled his eyes. Of course he had to get the one dragon with the pettiness of a child. It was probably where he'd gotten it in the first place.

No. That one was all you.

Issei mentally sighed. Is there a reason you're throwing a hissy fit?

A snort echoed from the depths of his mind. Besides my host deciding to for a 'suicide by Phenex'? How about the fact that you haven't even activated me?

Issei grimaced internally. What, and you care if I die? Not too long ago you thought I was too monstrous to talk to.

I've changed my mind since then— you're a monster out of stupidity and stubbornness, not malicious intent.

The scientist was flabbergasted at such a ridiculous assumption. Him, no malicious intent? The same person who had actively drugged and attempted the dissection of an innocent girl?

Please, we both know your 'intent' is just the result of whoever fucked with you all those years ago, Ddraig dismissed his claims with a huff. Issei had no response to that— it was, after all, true.

But not entirely.

Still, what does it matter if it's not my fault? I am this way, like it or not— and your plan of finding a way to 'recreationally' indulge in my instinct won't work if those instincts are telling me to treat people like guinea pigs.

The dragon was silent at that. Issei could feel a sense of resigned agreement coming from his draconic guest, and the boy felt a thrill of cruel satisfaction. He hadn't appreciated having the hopelessness of his situation thrown in his face, after all.

… That aside, it still doesn't answer my last question. Ddraig continued. Why haven't you activated the boosted Gear? It would make you many times faster and stronger.

It was a good point to bring up— late, but still valid. In fact, Issei had considered doing just that.

Then he'd discovered his boosted gear didn't apply to Namur, for whatever reason. Maybe because Namur was a Sacred Gear itself, maybe because he wasn't directly connected to it like he was with his fins and the Light controlling Namur— whatever the reason, the Boosted Gear just didn't affect his armor. And since all his strength and speed came from the armor, that made it kind of worthless in this situation.

He explained as much to Ddraig. He could feel the dragon pondering his words, searching for some sort of loophole.

Issei was welcome to let him try. He could certainly use a loophole right now.

Speaking of which, he still needed a way to beat Riser, and he needed it now. With that in mind, he went over everything at his disposal while Ddraig was quietly thinking.

Namur was currently acting as his armor, and was the only thing that kept his very human insides from boiling just from being near Riser, so the scientist couldn't afford to get very creative with Namur's ability to shape shift. Not to mention doing so meant changing the flesh's material to something besides the very fireproof pure carbon he'd been going for, and without that Namur was actually quite weak to fire. So that was out.

With the armor, Issei was fast and strong, even for a devil, and beat out most rooks in toughness as well. Unfortunately none of that really did anything against something he couldn't touch.

Magic was such bullshit.

I've got to have something that can hurt him…

An image of the fire whip getting cut off by his force field flashed through his mind. The plasma field had been able to affect the magical fire, later on even stopping it like a shield. And if Plasma could do it…

Issei mentally smiled, then slipped out of Accel mode. Sound returned to him in a wave, wanton destruction sounding in the distance.

And with came a dizzying wave of overwhelming impulses, stronger than anything he'd ever felt before. He wanted to kill Riser, to rush up to him and show him how powerful he was, to dominate the devil. The faint connection he'd felt with Ddraig severed once more, the dragon's presence a fuzzy blur at the edge of his mind.

The boy gasped at the sudden rush of unfettered emotions, but managed to resist falling into them like he had before. He needed his mind more than ever before— attacking blindly would only get him killed. Slowly, Issei managed to pull himself out of the chaotic miasma and place a wall between him and it.

It was like trying to dam a tsunami, but it held. For now.

Grimacing at the grim reminder of just how far gone he was, just how close he was to not being able to reign himself in anymore, Issei shook his head. He was running out of time.

Rising to his feet he stepped out of the closet he'd been hiding in.

The room looked quite a bit different than how he'd left it. scorch marks lined the walls and ceiling, the bed was torn apart, and the small hole he'd created to the lower floor was now a gaping chasm.

It was also on fire.

Issei ignored the flames as he walked up to the massive hole in the floor, mentally calling his fins to him as he did so. He stopped at the edge and looked down as he waited for his fins to reach him. Unlike the room he was currently in, where the flames merely waited at the edges and were slowly working their way in, this room was nothing but fire.

He pursed his lips. Normally it wouldn't be an issue, but considering that Riser's golden flames had actually been able to bleed through his insulation, he wasn't so sure. Of course, the flames weren't golden down below. Issei took that to mean they were byproducts of that special magical fire, not inherently magical themselves.

Hopefully that meant he could walk through them.

Sensing his fins finally at his side, Issei spared a glance toward their gleaming white plates and frowned. While they had been heat treated, diving into fire hadn't been part of their initial design specs, and there was only so much Issei could do to allow for it.

Luckily, his talk with Ddraig had reminded him of a few things.

Closing his eyes, Issei, for lack of a better word, felt for his Sacred Gear. It was harder to find than usual in the torrent of emotions swirling outside his makeshift wall, but eventually his probe found it.

[BOOST]

Opening his eyes the scientist was greeted with a crimson fin. He instinctively knew it was far tougher than before, and would only continue to become more advanced if he allowed the boosted gear to continue boosting.

Which he wouldn't. For some reason, boosting something that wasn't technically living could only be done two or three times before the thing started to explode at random. That in mind, Issei waited for it to boost one more time before he mentally capped his sacred gear.

Now that everything was ready, Issei nodded to himself before dropping down into the lower floor.

The flames were, as he expected, non-magical and thus harmless to him. They also made it quite easy to track where Riser had gone, as the devil-turned-giant-flaming-bird wasn't exactly trying to cover his tracks. The only dangers he faced were the rapidly weakening floor— every step he took seemed to cause it to bend and creak ominously. Still, falling wouldn't hurt him, only inconvenience him, so Issei casually followed the trail of burning rooms and torn down walls and ceilings, his fins hovering behind him, until he came to a very familiar hallway.

Upon seeing the hallway where all this had started, Issei paused and looked around suspiciously.

The sound of destruction had long since been silenced, leaving only the eerily crackling of fire on wood. Issei felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise, and suddenly every instinct he had told him to get the fuck out of there.

An explosion ripping through the wall behind him only confirmed it.

Following instincts that certainty didn't belong to a human, Issei leapt straight up. An uncomfortable heat rode down his back, and he looked below him to see a giant golden mass of fire and wings screech to a halt, its claws leaving burning sears into the cracked floor below.

Then it raised its head, opened it's beak wide, and shot forth a tidal wave of flames at him.

His fins reacted almost faster than he did, shoving him sideways while one shot forward to hover harmlessly at the phoenix's opposite side. The flames passed so close he could feel the skin on that side of his body baking, his armor acting as an oven despite all the measures he'd put in.

Is it getting hotter!?

Gritting his teeth at the pain, Issei landed hard a few dozen feet away, his black greaves leaving twin lines as he slid across the floor. He stood up straight and sent a tired glare at the screeching Phoenix, who had also turned to look at him. There was something in it's glowing green eyes that screamed of smugness. It was clear that, if things kept up this way, he would lose.

Darting his eyes to the two fins now spread out in front of him and mentally confirming the thirds position behind Riser, Issei let out an amused chuckle. The fire bird seemed to balk at his laughter, rising up indignantly with it's head reared back just like it had when it had breathed fire at him.

At that moment, a crimson light flashed into existence, a great red barrier of plasma cutting across the floor from his fins and meeting in the center.

Right where the phoenix's torso was.

With an almost anticlimactic hiss, Riser was cut in two.

The lower half immediately started to evaporate into thin air, but the upper half seemed to cry soundlessly, glowing green eyes dimming into lifelessness. Then they gleamed bright red and the sound of glass shattering filled the room.

Wind seemed to swirl around the decapitated head, and the fires that had started to wreak havoc on the mansion were pulled toward it, merging with it. another bright flash of gold blinded Issei temporarily. When his vision returned, the gold phoenix was fully reformed, green eyes glaring at the armored human.

Issei nodded to himself, pleased. With how much fanfare that resurrection had, it must have been significantly harder to revive in that form. It had even needed to gather nearby flames.

Cracking his neck, Issei stepped forward. "Time to finish this."

The fire bird responded with an ear piercing shriek and, with mighty flap of its wings that threatened to send Issei sliding back, took to the air and dove toward the human.

Issei immediately charged sideways, plowing through the nearby wall with ease. Riser, of course, followed.

And flew straight into the force field that flashed into place just as the phoenix neared the hole.

Issei frowned as the bird thrashed around with a pained shriek. He had meant to cut it's head off. Apparently working out an entirely new way of fighting on the fly threw his timing off.

No matter. Calling his fins back to him, Issei was forced to fall to the ground to avoid a ball of flame the size of his torso from hitting him. It collided with the wall behind him and exploded, the shock waves strong enough to pick the armored human up and send him flying.

Right back into the hole he came from, where green eyes gleamed from a fiery avian face.

Tch, Issei thought with a growl, flipping in midair so that he was right side up with his mechanical fist reared back, blue sparks emanating from it. Give me a minute, asshole!

Just as a golden beak snapped down toward him like a guillotine, the human's arm launched forward into the roof of the fiery mouth. The phoenix let out a sound that was a mix between a squawk and a high pitched squeal as it reared back in pain, stunned as Issei landed in a crouch before him.

And with their Boosted states, that was plenty of time to get his fins in position.

They surrounded Riser's avian form, shone bright red, and then a crimson barrier once again flashed into existence—

Just as the phoenix split into two right before impact. Issei blinked at the sight of the two halves, neither of them fading away as the top half flapped it's wings to stay aloft while the bottom—

Hundreds of white-gold tendrils shot off from the lower half and wrapped around Issei's arms before he had a chance to do much else than gawk. Time seemed to freeze as the scientist looked down at his trapped arms, noted how oddly cold his real one felt, then looked back up to suspiciously smug looking glowing green eyes.

This wasn't going to be fun.

As if to punctuate that thought, the tendrils suddenly started to tug at his arms. Issei had to blink as the coldness in his only flesh arm transformed into searing pain— he held back his screams by biting at his cheek hard enough to draw blood.

Letting Riser see weakness would be a mistake. Whatever arrogance the man had possessed, whatever idiocy, it was all gone while he was in this form. All that was left was a bird of prey, a predator. Showing weakness to him right now would be the same as turning his back on a rabid dog— the outcome was obvious.

Still, he couldn't help the pained grunt that escaped him as he dug his heels into the ground, his feet pushing deep into the marble flooring until he was ankle deep. In response to his resistance, the tugging only grew stronger, strong enough that he could feel his muscles starting to tear in his arms even as the searing pain grew worse in his remaining limb.

It was trying to drag him into the bottom half. The top was currently cut off by his force field, and seemed content with watching him struggle. Otherwise it would have been a simple feat to smash through the wall next to it.

Even as the pain skyrocketed, Issei's mind raced. It was trying to drag him into it— meaning the bottom half couldn't move on it's own.

Did that mean Riser's mind was in those eyes? Everything else about the phoenix seemed malleable, but those eyes never changed except when resurrecting itself. If so, that would be extraordinarily helpful— somewhere to direct his attacks instead of just going for limbs and whatever convenience allowed.

But first, escape.

A mental signal caused his fins to tilt so that the edge of the barrier was facing the tendrils before it lowered. The white gold strands snapped like twine before scissors, and Issei wasted no time leaping backward, his fins following him. Riser screeched and shot three fireballs in rapid succession— each of which were blocked by the crimson force field in front of him as he skidded roughly across the floor, resisting the urge to cradle his no doubt busted arm.

It wasn't like he needed it to work anyway— the armor was what moved him. And even if it hurt like hell, he was going to move.

To prove it, Issei forced himself to roll his right shoulder, rotating his arms as he did so. The pain made him want to scream— and, after reshaping the inside of his helmet so that it was soundproof, he did so freely. As long as it looked good, it didn't matter.

If he weren't in such agonizing pain, Issei would have very much appreciated the annoyed look Riser sent him as the Phenex's two halves rejoined. He would have also been very confused at how easy it was to read a bird's expressions, but couldn't find it in himself to care at the moment.

Just a little further… Issei thought in a daze, the pain threatening to overwhelm him as he lifted his left arm. Just got to aim for the head…

He snapped. His fins started to rotate at high speed in front of him until the force field resembled a buzz saw more than anything else.

Which was good. It had been what he had been aiming for.

Neither one of them moved. The only sounds that filled the air were the whirring of his fins and the crackling of Riser's flames.

Then, on some unseen mark, they were off.

The rest of the battle was a blur to Issei— he blamed the pain screaming at the edge of his consciousness. To him it was simply movement and pain, buzz saw whirring out to strike glancing blows at the phoenix while he managed to dodge most of his opponent's attacks. Little by little, they ground each other down.

It was just that Issei didn't have that much left to grind down.

First it was his left leg, a wayward fire whip he hadn't seen thanks to a combination of the brightness of Riser's fire and his own blurred vision. It was easily torn off him with a quick pass of his fins, but the damage had been done, and black dots started to swim across his vision.

Then it was a fireball that hit him in the back, dead on. Somehow Riser had slipped behind him, sacrificing a wing to his buzz saw. Thankfully it didn't hurt that much— at all, actually. Pretty much everything from the base of his spine to the base of his skull was completely numb. It was only thanks to Namur that he was able to move at all.

He chose to see that as a good thing.

As if agreeing with him, the next hit was a beam of fire that glanced his shoulder didn't hurt at all when it really should have. Small mercies.

That wasn't to say he didn't give as good as he got. Riser was forced to revive three more times thanks to his fins and one particularly accurate bit of lightning to one of the eyes. Each time took longer and longer, and each time the light in those green eyes got dimmer and dimmer.

In the end, it wasn't some grand play that ended the battle. Not some brilliant tactic or overwhelming force. It was just one little movement just as Issei split apart his fins to help him escape a particularly large explosion. Two of them did just that, letting him escape to the roof.

The third was caught between the flaming grip of Riser's talons.

From there the tide changed dramatically, with Riser on the offensive and Issei having no real way to fight back. He tried, of course— the scientist was nothing if not stubborn, and he still had the electricity from his prosthetic.

But it proved useless.

Without a way to block the golden flames, without a way to press the attack, Riser was left uncontested as he tore into Issei. Roaring flames batted him aside, buffeting him like ruthless hurricane force winds. Again and again flames ripped into him, split his armor and seared his flesh.

Issei felt none of it. His body had long since passed the point where it registered pain. The only reason he knew in the first place was due to the readings feeding into his implant keeping him up to date on his status. It was something he idly noted as he took hit after hit.

Finally he found himself kneeling on a flat center of the massive roof. The numbness that had overtaken his body had started to affect his mind, letting apathy set in.

Before him the Phoenix stood triumphantly, burning a bright gold as it charged another blast of flame.

This was it. He was going to die. Which was fine. It'd been the plan in the first place. Granted, Issei had hoped to take out Riser and Ravel before that, but…

It didn't look like that was going happen. And the scientist found himself strangely okay with that. As his end drew nearer he found himself okay with a lot of things. His life, his regrets, his inventions, his raw instinct— they all stopped mattering.

"I… I guess this is okay." Issei said between gasps of air, his dull brown eyes visible behind the cracked visor. In front of him the phoenix's bright green eyes flashed, and the great fire bird let out an ear piercing screech before spewing out a bright white sphere of intense fire.

The ball hurtled through the air, melting a path in the crimson roof just from it's mere proximity as it zoomed toward Issei. The light of it was so bright that Issei had to close his eyes.

In that moment of noise caught the teen's attention. The noise of fabric ripping and glass shattering all together, followed by a blast of heat as something small slammed into him. Issei let out a surprised grunt and opened his eyes on reflex.

The first thing he saw was white. Soft white hair, pressed against the remains of his visor. The scent of sweets entered his nostrils. He tried to lift his arms, to push the thing off of him, only to remember that he had a severe spinal injury. His arms didn't work any more.

So instead he sent a command to his armor. What was left of it shuddered and creaked ominously, but it followed his orders. His arms grabbed the thing that had fallen onto him and he held it at arms length.

Then he felt something inside him snap at the realization of what exactly had slammed into him.

Pure white hair, half open dull golden eyes, and a body that felt just as soft as he'd imagined. Koneko.

But that wasn't all.

Her shirt had been burned away, revealing her naked body to the world. And the massive black burn covering half of her chest.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he put it all together. She had jumped in front of the blast meant for him. The sound he had heard— it was the all too familiar sound of her Senjutsu claws. she'd tried to take out the fireball, to no avail.

And instead of leaving him for dead, Koneko had taken the hit for him.

She gasped weakly, her eyes looking to him, and she did something he'd never seen before.

She smiled at him.

"Sorry..." Koneko breathed out raggedly, the weakness in her voice filling Issei with a fury he couldn't explain.

Her gold eyes closed, and there was something horribly final about it.

The fury inside him grew exponentially, filling his broken body and barely functioning mind with a burning righteousness.

"Ahahaha!" a distorted laughter lifted his gaze from the still nekoshou. Riser in his pheonix form had his avian head thrown back in laughter. Then the devil looked down upon Issei with a sneer on it's beak. "So this was part of Rias's plans. What a sore loser— she just couldn't handle that she had lost, huh?"

Issei didn't hear the rest of his words. The pure, white hot fury pulsing through him seemed to deafen the world around him. All he could hear was the steady beat of his heart—

and the distant chime of church bells.

White noise filled his mind, deafening even his own thoughts, until there was only the heavy thud of his heart and the chiming of heavenly bells.

XXX

Nothing much to add here, this chapter was pretty much one big fight. Next one wraps up the Phenex arc, fucking finally.

Next chapter will be up two weeks from now.