Chapter 102

"WITH AUTHORITY Ladora drops the FLAMING HAMMER onto the Breast Dragon Emperor!" Engilvice roared, the crowd gasping at the sudden reversal. The Dragon just saved the princess after all.


But...

Rudiger hadn't announced Issei's fall yet.

More fire, more slashing claws, teeth, a heavy lash of his tail. Ladora did all these things to the crater he had just made of Issei. At first it seemed like it might work, the only camera angle able to catch any sign of Issei under the dust and smoke Ladora was making, showing that he was taking every single strike.

He wasn't helpless though.

He was curled up, his back and shoulders hunched, his arms tucked in, his legs crouched under him. He had formed himself into the best ball he could, letting his armour deflect what it could, so he could endure what it couldn't.

Then his gauntlets flashed again.


"OH! LADORA ROARS IN PAIN!"

On the monitor in front of me, I saw Ladora recoil as something bright and sharp went right through his huge dragon paw. Instead of slapping down against Issei hunched shoulders, trying to crack his armour, Issei had summoned the dragon slaying sword Ascalon, and punched the palm of the incoming claw. That wasn't all though. With his other hand and both of his legs, he clung to Ladora's hand, letting the dragon heave him out of the crater and saving him the trouble of getting out of it himself.

"Ladora can't seem to shake him off!" Engilvice continued.


Issei clung for dear life as the angry dragon flailed his wounded hand around. Avoiding his snapping jaws, more flaming breath, and his other claw and even enduring a couple of slams back onto the ground, as he held on. Ladora, his speared hand bleeding badly, the blade of the dragon slaying blade burning his flesh and sawing thought bone, finally wound up, putting all his strength into trying to throw Issei away.

"TRANSFER!" Issei called out just as Ladora got his draconian arm reared back in line with the side of his head.


"Sairaorg Rook has been retired." Rudiger cringed as Issei fell to the ground awkwardly, the back of his left hand retracting about five metres of dragon slaying blade back into his gauntlet. "Eww."

"AND LADORA IS TAKEN OUT!" Engilvice howled, the crowd raving along with him, "It looks like he's taken quite a beating, but you can see his armour repairing itself! Even after all the HURT Ladora put into him! JUST WHAT IT THIS BOY MADE OF?!"

"For all his claims at being terrible with a sword, that was really well done." Azazel said.

"Clever, no doubt." Diehauser nodded, "But skilled?"

"If he missed at that range, I'd feel embarrassed to be his teacher." I said.


Issei shook himself off quickly, and suddenly had to dive back into the crater to avoid a giant icicle as Coriana got over her shock and started throwing magic around again. Without fear of hitting her team mate, she was pulling all the stops. But after about thirty seconds of panicked casting, she slowed, then stopped. All the ice had put a heavy chill fog into the air, and she needed a moment to look for her target. No call had been made of Issei retiring, so she was still on high alert.

Green eyes, glowing crystals, and red armour resolved themselves out of the fog, showing that Issei had taken shelter behind the first giant icicle to avoid the barrage of ice magic.


"She's got a lot of power." I said as the two looked at each other, the stadium leaning forward and waiting for some kind of attack or counter strike, "But Sona is a lot better at it."


While yes, the entire underworld knew Issei as an avid breast enthusiast, who's perversion (while harmless, though embarrassing) was nearly limitless... He surprised the crowd. He didn't ogle Coriana's slowly dampening dress (or the effect the cold was having on her assets), he didn't make lewd comments, he didn't say anything at all.

He simply raised his right hand, braced it with left, and summoned a small black sphere of energy.

It didn't look intimidating from the stands, but to those who were magically inclined, they could tell that the palm sized sphere contained a huge amount of power. They faced each other down for a few seconds.

Both Issei's gauntlets sounded off, BOOST! BOOST! And while the sphere didn't change in size, it started to melt and disperse the cold around him.

"I surrender." Coriana lowered her head and dropped her hands to her sides, vanishing from the field.


"First the Dragon saves the Damsel! Then the Damsel submits to the Dragon! RIAS'S TEAM TAKES BOTH PIECES!"

"From such an obvious position of power, I'm surprised he didn't use any of his usual tactics." Diehauser said, "I wonder what's changed?"

I looked down at the monitor, spotting Issei return to the isolation booth with the rest of his remaining team mates. As soon as the glow of the teleport circle faded, he dispelled his armour and practically fell into the arms of a waiting Rias.

I motioned to the monitor, exaggerating the movement just a little to catch Diehauser's attention so he could watch the two of them hug. This wasn't just a 'I'm proud of you' hug either, but more of a 'I haven't seen you in years' kind of thing, the two of them wrapped up in each other, while the rest of them smiled and Asia healed him. Even the crowd went 'Awww' at the display.

"Question withdrawn." Diehauser said, scratching his chin, "The game must go on however."

"Indeed." Rudiger laughed, pushing a little button next to the one he normally used to broadcast, "Ahem."

Rias and Issei detached from each other, looking a little embarrassed. Rias looked up at the camera monitoring the room, made a one handed prayer, stuck her tongue out at it, then turned towards the door leading to the dice table. Issei turned his attention to Asia, giving the hardworking ex-nun a headpat for her efforts, then giving her a proper hug once the green glow faded from her hands.

"With pieces running out, Sairaorg is down to TWO, himself, and his unknown pawn!" Engilvice said as Rias and Sairaorg walked up to the dice platform.

A 6.

A 2.

A 3.

A 5.

Another 6...

Sairaorg looked down at the blue die in front of him, frustrated. The audience laughed as he messed up his hair with both hands. Then, he looked at Rias, picked up his die and SLAMMED it down on the nice jade box top, the '6' facing upwards. The challenge was clear.

"OH! A breach of the rules! But, if Rias accepts..." The crowd hushed, Sairaorg saying something that only Rias could hear.

With a shrug, Rias picked up her die and flipped it over so that it too had the '6' facing upwards.

"SHE ACCEPTS! The Strongest Youth can FINALLY take the field!" Engilvice cheered along with the roar of the onlookers, "Lets see if she can come up with a team that can put up a proper fight for the undefeated Sairaorg!"

The two of them returned, and I watched on the monitors for the isolation booths. Sairaorg, down to only Regulus and the still blind Liban contented himself to give the orange haired boy a pat on the head, and Liban a comforting pat on the shoulder.

Rias on the other hand, was in a hot debate among her peerage. She had a lot of options with a full twelve points. But, I was pretty sure I knew who she was going to send.

Then something bit one of my tails.

"Oh? You seem to have a message." Azazel chuckled as my poor tail tried once to flick away what ever was holding it, then flop over my shoulder.

"Oh, hey Loaner." I greeted the ever so slightly glowing white with red swirls fox as he hung off my tail, little mouth latched on, "You don't need to bite me to get my attention." My tail wiggled a little to try and shake him off onto the desk. Instead of him letting go, a little slip of paper shook loose from under his rope collar. "Oh... let's see..."

I could tell the three of them were trying REALLY hard not to laugh, or look over my shoulder to read the note, so instead of reading it out loud, I squinted at the buttons under my microphone and pushed the one marked 'internal'.

"Hey Engilvice." Thankfully, it didn't shout it out over the arena, and the blue skinned stopped trying to hype up the crowd suddenly, putting his free hand to his ear and looking into the commentator's booth, "Can you get a camera onto the Royal Booth? Seems we have a special guest who's about to join Lord Sirzechs and Lady Serafall."

He blinked at me in surprise, leaned over the wall of the floating platform he was on at to get a better look at the Royal Booth where yes, Sirzechs and Serafall were sitting (looking amused and thankful they weren't doing paperwork). Engilvice pointed at the booth, nearly falling off the platform in surprise, stood up straight and made frantic motions at the booth for someone, anyone to focus a thrice damned camera at it!

Once done, he recovered his poise and ripped into the microphone again, "It seems we have a VERY special guest tonight!" The holographic field showed an image of the Royal Booth, where a frail yet kind faced woman was sitting down in a freshly brought padded chair. Unlike Sirzechs who was dressed in faintly glowing ornate black armour and long cape, or Serafall in her extra perky business dress, this newcomer was dressed in what looked to be slightly wrinkled normal clothes. A pink sweater and track pants. Next to her standing in the usual 'behind and to the right' position of a maid, was a nurse, complete with cream coloured mini skirt and little square cloth hat. "Misla Bael!"

He then went on, for those who didn't have a clue who she was, a little of why her appearance was so special. I was more focused on the isolation booth. The five minute timer was almost up, but I was sure they'd give Sairaorg a little slack if he missed it by a few seconds.

Because the Stongest Youth was plastered to the window of the isolation booth, trying to get a better look, ANY look at the Royal Booth. Apparently he managed, because he turned to other two in the room and cheered shamelessly. He then looked right at the camera, much like Rias had, and gave it a thumbs up, his face grinning shamelessly.

"You're welcome." I said, "Guess it worked."

The audience, now clued in on what Sairaorg was so excited about, was showering encouragement on him as he stomped his way to the teleport circle, appearing inside the reset barrier space of the arena. While obvious that he was going to fight, Rias's choice got the crowd even more excited.

"Annnnnnd it looks like Lady Rias has made her decision!" Engilvice crowed, "Finally fielding the Lovely Rossweisse, putting the Pretty Boy Kiba back into play, and for all of you who can't decide what side of the pond to swim, her Bishi-Bishop, Gasper!"

"Not a bad lineup here." Azazel commented as the final minute before the bell ticked down.

"The Balor View, a rook who's just as adept with magic as sword play, and the infinite sword maker." Diehauser mused, "Will it be enough though?"

"If it is, then Rias wins here." I said.

And then Rudiger poked the 'big red button' to start the match.


"FINALLY!" Sairaorg roared into the air before pointing across the field at the three approaching figures, "Nothing personal, but I am ALL kinds of fired up right now!"


"Seriously." I poked Loaner, who was still holding my tail, "Look, go get some headpats from Misla. You're hypoallergenic, so you'll be perfect for stress relief." Loaner finally let go of my poor tail, did a happy circle on the desk, then faded into mist.

"Trouble with the help?" Azazel chuckled.

"Looks like Rias's team has settled on a strategy." Diehauser got us back on track with a motion towards the monitors.


As with all his other matches to date, the Strongest Youth put his head down and ran right into the middle. His powerful legs chewing up the ground as he abandoned all grace to propel himself forward. His body was starting to glow too. A kind of wispy white aura that flowed over every part of him.

First in his path was Kiba. Standing ready with a long curved blade, like a katana only three times as wide and twice as long, he looked ready to spring forward as well. Behind him stood Roseweisse, a dozen magic circles forming in the air around her and the ground about her, all in different styles and colours, she held her sword in front of her, flat facing outwards, palm braced on the end of the blade, her eyes a picture of absolute focus. Last, behind even further but a little to the side to get a clear view of the imminent clash, Gasper stood, hands out wide with a half dozen magic circles of his own, most of them in the angular form of 'human' calculation magic.


"It looked like Lady Rias has told them to hold nothing back!" Engilvice said excitedly, "But we've seen the Stongest Youth shrug off magic before! Will this be any different!?"


As Sairaorg got closer, Kiba braced his feet and practically vanished from view. Becoming a solid streak of blurred colour, the massive sword swung around in a perfect arc and came into contact with Sairaorg's forward shin. At super sonic speeds, a strike like this would at the very least slow a person down. But as the blade connected with the simple metal shin guard...

It shattered like cheap glass.

Not even slowing down, hardly even noticing at all, Sairaorg laughed as the blade broke. He made no more than a token attempt to attack back, but Kiba easily blurred sideways, getting out from underfoot before Sairaorg could literally stomp him flat.


"AND HE JUST KEEPS GOING!"

"I'm still getting a handle on doing this myself, but that was an expert application of Touki." I explained, "Even without formal training, Sairaorg is able to make his inner energy into outer armour." I tried not to sound envious, but I was.


Rossweise opened up next, letting loose with dozens of different magic effects. Razor sharp blasts of wind, thin concentrated streams of fire, shards of ice, binding chains, holy energy, it was a massive chaotic array of energy types and effects. But, while the ground was being devastated, either missing as Sairaorg sped up or bouncing off him and his mystic armour, there was another effect in play as well. No actual smoke was being kicked up. Bits of rock and turf spattered everywhere, but the air itself remained clear of dust.


"Never thought I'd see Gasper use a cleaning spell for that." I commented, "Must have been in that book we salvaged..."


Laughing, Sairaorg shrugged it all off, and had his fist reared back, ready to wreck Rossweisse's pretty face.

But then he stopped.

Not just 'stopped as if hesitating' but '100 percent frozen'. His face started to strain, his eyes went wide with something close to anger, his teeth clenched, but he could not finish the motion to punch the Rias Rook.

"NOW!" Kiba, having recovered from his sword shattering and nearly getting stepped on, was streaking back to the fight, a new blade in hand. Heavy, curved and glowing hot white with holy power, he brought it down against Sairaorg's back. Rossweisse, her blade better suited for piercing attacks, spun in place once to gain momentum, then thrust her arm out, one hand on the hilt, the other on the pommel of the blade to put her entire weight behind the strike.

It almost worked.

Kiba's heavy curved blade bit through Sairaorg's aura, through the light shirt on his back, and even into his flesh. Rossweisse, the point of her blade aimed directly for Sairaorg's heart, went through his protective aura, and into his pectoral muscle, the triangle point stopping as it hit bone.

The three of them stood firm, two of them trying to force their blades further, the third simply resisting, his growls of effort intensifying, his white aura getting brighter, the air around them heating up as he simply denied the blades of his two opponents.

Rossweisse started to twist her blade, to try and get it off the rib it was stuck in, and slide it home into his heart, but even with her strength as a Rook, it looked like it was taking everything she had to simply hold steady. Kiba too was simply unable to push his blade further, the curved edge, meant for slashing, simply not working at intended.


"THE BALOR VIEW! Little Gasper traps Sairaorg with his gaze!"

"Even with that, it seems the Strongest Youth has a willpower stronger than any mere blade." Diehauser commented.

"I've seen a lot in my time, but this is pretty incredible." Azazel nodded, "To imagine having willpower that strong."

"I wonder if he gives lessons." I added.


Then, unable to stop himself, the spell keeping the dust down NOT keeping the air from getting dry, or his own body's needs at bay.

Gasper blinked.

All at once, Sairaorg started moving again. With a violent twist, he shrugged Kiba's blade away, clipping the knight with his elbow and sending him stumbling backwards. Rossweisse's sword however, DID slip off the rib the point was buried in, but even as the blade slipped into his body, Sairaorg's sudden motion changed its path, the long sword going straight through a lung instead of his heart, the point emerging just under his shoulder blade.

Rossweisse however was still directly in the path of Sairaorg's fist, and while she managed to get her steel clad arm up in time to block, she was still sent to the arena wall with nothing but a vapour trail to mark her passing.

Then he turned to look at Gasper.


"Uh oh! It looks like their three way attack was beaten by Lord Sairaorg and his ABSOLUTE defence! WAIT! He turns on the Bishi-Bishop but ... What? That was a MASK!?


Knees shaking, body trembling, Gasper pulled off his mask. Eyes a little teary, the whites bloodshot, he took a little bottle out of his pocket, flicked the cap off with his thumb, closed his eyes and downed the contents.

The effect was instant. His little body started to vibrate as little wisps of red energy started to flicker around him. His hair, normally a nice straight blond, started to lift up as if something were slowly reversing the gravity around his head.

Then he opened his eyes.

Iris's red as blood, whites changed to obsidian black, he looked at Sairaorg again.


"What's THIS!?" Engilvice put a finger to his earbud.

"Yes, he brought in an approved vial of dragon's blood." Rudiger said over the internal comm line.

"Young Gasper takes in a mouthful of dragon's blood! The Strongest Youth is FROZEN in place again! Rias's Team has ANOTHER CHANCE!"


Again Sairaorg was locked down. But Despite his injuries, he was once again resisting with everything he had.

Behind him, Kiba was back on his feet, and Rossweisse had pulled herself out of the wall. Her left arm was hanging limp at her side, but she caught a replica of her sword easily enough as Kiba crated one and tossed it her way.

"TOGETHER! AGAIN!" Kiba shouted, waiting for Rosswiesse to catch up to him so the two of them together could run at Sairaorg's exposed back, swords point forward and braced, hoping to pierce through his aura a second time.

And again, it almost worked.

If it wasn't for them needing to brace their blades just to break through his Touki. If it wasn't for Sairaorg being as tall as he was. If it wasn't for him being as insanely tough as he was, the two of them might have been able to aim higher. Both swords went right through his back, crossed inside him, and slid out of his abdomen on either side.

But that was it.

Try as they might, those blades would move no further. No matter how they shook back and forth, wrenched and heaved at the blades, they might as well have been encased and welded into a block of iron.


"THIS IS INCREDIBLE!" Engilvice roared, his eyes bugging out of his head, "So far, no team has been able to leave more than a scuff mark on him! But even with THREE FREAKING SWORDS sticking RIGHT THROUGH HIM, The Strongest Youth JUST WON'T FALL!"

"None of those are fatal strikes." I said, trying to hide my own amazement, "Don't get me wrong, untreated you wouldn't have long to live, but you could for a little while. It would hurt, a lot, but so long as you get to proper care, you'd live."

"Voice of experience?" Rudiger asked, his eyes locked onto the monitor, making sure he was keeping an eye on the rating game system readout so this didn't end up either a fatality, or a wrongful loss on the King's part.

"Yes."

"Uh oh... It looks like he's starting to move again!"


Poor Gasper was trying really hard to keep his eyes on Sairaorg. But the boost from the dragon blood didn't last, and he fell to his knees with a gasp, his eyes watering as he scrubbed his sleeve over his face to maybe get one more try to lock Sairaorg down again.

But those few seconds were all the King needed. The instant the effect slid off him, his two huge hands reached around and clapped over Kiba's and Rossweisse's faces. Without a word, he SLAMMED his arms forward, DRIVING both of them elbow deep into the ground, the landscape shattering like a bullet through glass.

Gasper looked up again, eyes clear, just as both his comrades vanished, and Rudiger's voice called out, "Rias knight and rook have been retired."

Eyes still full of tears, he turned his gaze onto him again. But he couldn't hold the effect up for long. Sairaorg froze for that moment, unfroze in the next moment, and carefully pulled one of the blades out of his gut and took a step forward. Gasper tried again. And again, Sairaorg froze, unfroze, removed the other blade from his gut, and took a step forward. Hardly a pace away from each other now, Gasper tried to freeze him one last time, but it only lasted a second.

Carefully sliding the last blade out of his chest, then taking the bottle of Phoenix tears out of his belt pouch and downing it, Sairaorg stood in front of Gasper, the blood on his clothes the only indication he'd ever been hurt at all. Looking down/up at each other, the Strongest Youth put a hand on Gasper's head and knelt down.

"Hey, you did good." He said.

In response, Gasper punched him in the nose.


The crowd held its collective breath as the tiny bishop put in one last effort to hurt his opponent.


The little fist hardly bent Sairaorg's nose, though, since he'd relaxed his insane Touki, a single drop of blood started to run down his upper lip. "Ouch." He said playfully, "Not bad, but you should keep your eyes open when you punch someone." He tapped his other hand against Gasper's chest, "Next time."

Sniffling, Gasper didn't look down, but said, "I surrender." And vanished.


You couldn't even hear Engilvice screaming into the mic for all the noise the crowd made. I didn't bother pushing my broadcast button, and said, "Eight out of ten for that punch." I nodded.

"Well, at least he was paying attention to your lessons, eh Sensei?" Azazel laughed.

"This leaves both teams with a pawn and king, as well as two weakened pieces." Diehauser said, his 'broadcast' button on.

"If those new potions the Gremory Pharmacy had been approved, Akeno and Asia might be back in the game." Rudiger added, "But the effect is too much like a drug. Suppose I could enact the final showdown." He leaned forward and grabbed his microphone, getting a little dramatic flair into it, "Hey Vice? What do you think? Think the crowd might want that?"

"OH!" Engilvice gasped, "Our Arbiter is asking if you want to see a showdown!" He leaned forward, his hands trying to encourage the crowd to speak up, "I can't hear you! Do we want a FINAL SHOWDOWN!?"

In my opinion, it was a silly question. But, well, I wasn't being paid to rile the crowd. Of course, they went absolutely nuts at the idea.

"Even through the sound proofing. I'm sure you can hear that." Rudiger said, speaking not to the stadium at large, but to the two isolation booths. "With only two on each team ready to fight, do you agree to a final two on two?"

Sairaorg grinned, putting a hand on Regulus's head and ruffling his spiky orange hair. Rias looked to Issei, then asked, "I suppose it's that or rolling until we get another twelve?"

"Basically."

"We can do it President." Issei said.

"I think you're right." She agreed. "I accept."

"I know the answer, but I have to ask. Sairaorg?" Rudiger asked.

"Just give me the five minutes to catch my breath." He laughed, "But of course!"

Rudiger nodded, cut the comm to the two booths and said directly to Engilvice, "It's on, but give them the usual five minutes."

Making a show of it, Engilvice put his finger to his ear, "Uh huh. Yeah... Oh? I'll let them know." He looked around, "Our two teams have had a little talk with our illlllustrious arbiter! And the next match will be the FINAL ROUND! A two on two! The Strongest Youth and his Mystery Pawn, against the Crimson Princess of Destruction and the BREAST DRAGON EMPEROR!"

Sairaorg was taking the entire five minutes, just sitting on the small table in his booth and breathing. Even after getting healed, a deep stab wound still felt a little sore afterwards, so I could relate. Rias and Issei were doing equipment checks, and talking about something. From their expressions, I guessed it was strategy.

Looking down and across the stadium where the Royal Booth was located, I saw Loaner laying belly up on Misla's lap, one of her hands brushing over his chest while her other hand held the little iron token I'd made of her son. She stopped her petting and looked up towards the observer's booth. She might have been smiling, but after a moment she went back to looking into the holographic field as it showed the two teams inside their booths.

"Care to place a bet, Sensei?" Azazel asked.

"No." I shook my head, "I'm honestly not sure how it will go either way."

"You can be so boring sometimes."

"Just so long as you don't give me some kind of super secret lost gambling technique. Translating that last bit of ancient knowledge was a pain."

"It's time." Rudiger said, letting Engilvice get started on his '10 seconds to the buzzer' crowd hype, before pushing the isolation speaker button, "Time to start. Good luck."

Both kings gave the single camera in the room a thumbs up, then went to stand on the teleport circle.


Issei wasted no time at all, summoning his two gauntlets and boosting. This time however, instead of charging, he simply started walking. There was obvious caution on his face, but also determination. Rias stayed behind him, though her two gauntlets started to smoulder with red and black energy as she made ready to use her Power of Destruction.

Oddly, Sairaorg seemed content to let him take his time. Regulus was waiting as well, the playful look on his face gone, replaced by one of cool calculation. A hunting animal waiting for prey.

Exactly ten seconds into the match, Issei boosted again, his body suddenly wrapped in his crimson armour. That seemed to be the signal for the real start of the match, as both Sairaorg and Issei started to charge at each other, while Rias took to the air, both her hands spitting out sphere's of nothingness.

Her aim was good, but the speed of her magic wasn't very fast. It seemed though that her only goal was to keep Regulus away from Issei and Sairaorg as they made to clash in the middle of the field.


"The Strongest Youth King vs the Strongest Youth Pawn!" Engilvice roared as the two basically slammed into each other in the middle of the field. "While you usually have King vs King in a match like this, it seems the Crimson Princess is simply trying to keep little Regulus away!"


Regulus was dodging the orbs of destruction with ease. And while Rias was keeping him away from Issei and Sairaorg, the orange haired kid didn't seem to actually want to get close to them. Beams, jagged bolts, orbs, flamethrower effects, he had no problem staying just one step ahead of what ever Rias was throwing at him.

In the middle of the arena though, the two 'Strongest' of the current generation slammed together with a shock wave that cracked the field. Sairaorg's bare fist slammed into Issei's helmet, while Issei's armoured gauntlet crashed into Sairaorg's gut. They stood there for a moment, before bouncing away from each other's fist, and clashing again. Each attack shredded the air, but neither of them seemed to care. With one wearing Touki, the other magical armour, they seemed to be having no effect on one another.

Issei's gauntlets Boosted again in sequence, and for a moment, it seemed he might be starting to have an effect on Sairaorg's monstrous durability. Issei's next punch took the Strongest Youth King right in the lower ribs, lifting him off his feet and dropping him onto his side. But before Issei could follow up, the pale white aura around Sairaorg got a little brighter, and he sprung back to his feet with a laugh.

"MORE!" He roared, returning the exact same punch to Issei's side, the scale armour cracking. Holding his side, Issei curled up, dropping to one knee. "You can't be done yet!"

Issei's reply came in the form of a jumping uppercut, catching Sairaorg firmly in the chest as he reached down to grab the crouching pawn. Again, Sairaorg was sent down, but again, it seemed like he was more amused than hurt, and he stood up once again, facing off with Issei again.


"They seem to be even!" Engilvice shouted, amazed, "They are trading blows like equals!"

"I know from experience, Issei's armour is pretty tough. Sairaorg is making it look easy to crack though." I said, "But Issei's keeping his cool."

"I'm impressed." Diehauser agreed, "There are very few people who can stand up again after Sairaorg hits them like that, and fewer still who can return the same punishment. But I'm curious how long young Issei can keep it up."

"I'm more curious about little Rias and Regulus there." Azazel said, "It's not like him to just play around with his food like that."

"Ah, so you do know about him." Diehauser chuckled, "You're right though. I wonder what's holding him back."

"Care to fill me in?" I asked.

"And ruin the surprise?" Azazel smirked.


"This can't be all!" Sairaorg growled, the two of them still trading punches, "What's holding you back?"

Issei still didn't reply, his armour cracking further as Sairaorg matched him punch for punch. Sairaorg himself only seemed to be a little scratched up, while Issei's armour seemed to be held together by willpower alone. But, he kept fighting back.

But with a sudden dodge, Issei jumped back, his gauntlets boosting again, his palm filling with black energy, "DRAGON SHOT!"

The space in front of him was filled with a solid wave of devastation, chewing up the ground all the way to the far wall of the arena, but as it cleared, Sairaorg was standing on his own little island of undamaged ground, his pale white aura intact, though his body was smoking in a few places. Issei looked surprised, but held his ground.

"ISSEI!" Rias called out, turning away from Regulus for a moment, firing a pair of crimson/black orbs at Sairaorg, trying to buy a few seconds for him to recover.

"Stay out of this Cousin!" Sairaorg yelled, hopping backwards easily to avoid Rias's magic, "Come on Issei! I know you're stronger than this! What's holding you back?!"


I was curious as well. As Issei's teacher, I couldn't really complain about how he was fighting. I mean, yes he was getting hit too much, but he wasn't talking, he was taking the blows well, and he was aiming at weak points. What WAS holding him back?

"Oh? What... Wait... WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Engilvice's screech brought my attention back to the monitor, "AND RIAS GOES DOWN! The little orange haired kid just... Turned into a FREAKING LION! What even IS THAT?"

My golden tails were just as stunned as I was, "A golden lion? THE fucking golden Lion of Nemea?" I turned to Azazel, who was laughing, "Didn't Heracles slay that thing?" A little belatedly my tails started boffing my head.

"Legends never die." Azazel laughed, "God had a sense of humour you see, and well, that kid is basically a sacred gear with a life of his own."

"But... he's so adorable..." I turned my eyes back to the monitor.


Regulus, now the Nemean Lion, was a huge golden lion. Around four metres tall at the shoulder, with golden fur that glowed with an inner fire, he was an impressive beast. Heavily muscled, with huge teeth and powerful legs, his presence dominated the field.

In front of him was a small crater, and just past that, was Rias. By the blood on his massive paw, Rias looked to have been swatted out of the air, slammed into the ground hard enough to bounce, and rolled to a stop, collapsed in a bleeding heap. However, a close observer would note that the crater was a perfect dome shape, and while yes, Rias was bleeding, it looked to be more from a broken leg, than anything truly dire.

Regulus moved forward a step, the ground trembling with the motion, and made to prod Rias with a paw. But suddenly Rias's prone form sprouted wings, and she flew away from the reaching paw, blasting the Golden Lion right in the face with her power of destruction!

He recoiled in pain, though it looked to have as much effect on him as a hot stove top. Sairaorg, distracted by the show, didn't try to stop Issei as he ran back to meet Rias as she landed on the ground near an upturned hunk of dirt, leaning on hit heavily.

"Rias?!" Issei called out, "Here!" He handed her a small bottle, the team's bottle of Phoenix tears."

"Is he right Issei?" She asked, taking the bottle.

"..."

"This is serious." She said, taking the bottle him, "I trust you. Fight to your fullest for me." She then downed the bottle.

And kissed him.

A really GOOD kiss too. Sairaorg, be it out of respect, or maybe because he just wanted a really good fight, didn't bother to interrupt, while the crowd outside went wild at the very intense display of passion.


"Well, at least he isn't asking to poke her nipples or something silly like that." I sighed.

"Not a bad way to share a potion." Rudiger laughed, "Nothing in the rules about it either."


The two of them glowed faintly, Rias's broken shin snapping back into alignment, though it still looked VERY bruised. Issei seemed to get the greater effect, his ruined armour restoring itself, the crystal nodes on his body glowing brighter, "Trust yourself, as much as we trust you, Issei." Rias said after pushing away from him, "I'll just... stay out of the way."

"You're never in the way, Rias." He said, blushing as red as his armour, though he hid it by summoning his helmet again, and turning to face Sairaorg, "You better stop holding back too!"

"Master." Regulus roared, "Are you sure?"

"Let me have a little more fun!" Sairaorg roared, his Touki flaring brightly as Issei ran towards him, "HIT ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT!"

Again the two of them slammed into each other, Issei seeming to abandon all hesitation and slamming a huge overhand punch right into Sairaorg's face. But he didn't stop there. His left hand came up and drove itself into his ribs, his legs pushing against the ground to add as much power to his strikes as he could. His gauntlets flashed, and he continued his combo, his punches getting shorter while his legs continued to push him into Sairaorg's chest.

Even as Sairaorg tried to dig in and stop getting pushed back, he started to rain blows down on Issei's back. But even as he tried to slow the armour clad boy down, dragon wings sprouted from his back, deflecting much of the power of Sairaorg's retaliation. "This is MORE LIKE IT!" He then seemed to accept he was just going to get pushed back, and raised both his hands over his head, clasping them together to smash them into the middle of Issei's back.

Then Issei started to fly, carrying them both into the air. "If I'm going to fight seriously Sairaorg-san. Then I'm going to use everything I have!" They didn't get very high before Sairaorg brought his hands down against his back, but Issei managed a bit of a mid air twist, the two of them coming apart parallel to the ground instead of Issei getting slammed down into it, "I suggest you do the same! Especially since you just dropped me off in your end zone!"

Sairaorg actually seemed a little hurt now. His shirt was basically a few tattered bits of cloth, and his chest was covered in bruises. He was a little slower to get to his feet this time too.

"Master, please." Regulus said, looking away from Rias for just a moment, ready to pounce her in case she tried to help again, "I am yours, use me!"

Sairaorg looked up at the lion as it got closer, "I'll go first then." He said, "Don't disappoint me ISSEI!"

He put his hand on the only dark spot on the Golden Lion, his big feline nose. With a long low growl, the house sized lion condensed down, his body turning into little golden sparkles. Washing over Sairaorg's body, the already imposing figure of the Strongest Youth, was suddenly covered in a suit of golden armour. Like a cross between full plate and gladiator armour, it left parts of his body exposed, but aside from parts of his legs and upper arms, he was now covered in thick golden plates of metal. Fingers were covered in ridged plates, forearms in sleek steel and the elbow was capped and protected by a close fitting joint. His feet, shins and knees were similarly covered, while his hips were now adorned with a heavy belt and plates of metal at his hips. The chest however, now had the figured of a roaring lion on the front, the detail so fine it looked like the chest plate itself might bite the person who dared to strike it. All of this was topped by a sensible crown of gold steel, protecting his forehead, cheeks and the back of his head, while leaving his ears open.


"I am an armour smith, and I approve of this armour." I commented, not sure if anyone in the crowd would notice with how much noise they were making.

Azazel laughed, while the other two wondered why.


Sairaorg struck a fighting pose, and motioned for Issei to get on with it. But, to anyone who wasn't watching the amazing change the Strongest Youth and his Pawn had undergone, they might have noticed that Issei was already working himself up to what he was about to do.

His armour started to glow red and emit a faint black and red aura, much like Rias's power of destruction. "Breath..." The plates started to thicken, his wings retracting, his arms legs and torso becoming a veritable fortress of red steel, "Balance..." the plates started to round out slightly, still just as thick, but becoming sleek, streamlined. Even his helmet changed, his shoulder plates raising slightly to protect his throat, while the helmet itself became more angular. "Function." His wings had retracted, but growing in there place were a pair of cannons. Looking like organically grown ship cannons, they were both connected to his back by a power cable from his lower back, and with what looked like reformed wing bones, so he could pop them over his shoulder to fire them.

"Promotion, QUEEN!" He said finally, a pair of metallic wings spreading from his back, an almost exact copy of Vali in his Balance Breaker form.

Everyone in the booth was looking at the monitors wide eyed. I didn't know about the others, but it looked like Issei had combined the three forms of his Rook's extra plating, the Knight's mobility modifications, and the Bishop's magic cannon into one form. Add in a really good mimicry of Vali's wings and a little extra height... He'd done it.

But could he use them all at once?


NOTES!

I wanted to finish this match this chapter. But I'm running a bit long, and well, there's lots of story left. x.x

Ko-fi, Daeore, if you want to toss a coin to your writer. Thank you for reading. :)