The Lone Vigilante Issei – High School DxD
Hey everyone, it's me Hide Shinyama.
Nearly seven weeks since the last release. That was really not what I was expecting…
I apologize, I wanted to release this chapter last week or the week before, but I just keep getting sudden paper assignments or more homework. At least, I have this chapter out.
In the last chapter, Rias and her peerage have declared that they had come for Matsuda and Motohama. What will happen to them?
Find out in…
Chapter 58 – Shinyama Steps in the Fray
14th of November, Saturday, 8:22 am – In front of the Tengu residence
"Let me guess, you want to know where he is, right?" Matsuda guessed, as he glared at Rias in a tense standoff between himself and her and her peerage.
Matsuda was not alone. The Tengu family of Soun, Kasumi, Hibiki, Nakane watched Rias warily and wordlessly. They could tell at first glance that the Devil peerage before them was not easy to deal with. It was just like with their standoff against the Fallen Angels, except that these creatures wanted to talk rather than fight. Seeing that the Devils were here for Matsuda and Motohama, they decided to keep quiet and watch the situation play out.
Ryuga and Sanma, the two guests of the Tengus, were also getting ready to fight. On the outside, it looked like they were standing still. But inwardly, they were readying their muscles to make the first move if a fight broke out.
Shinyama stayed far back and watched the situation unfold calmly from the threshold of the house.
"That's right," Rias nodded. "So, can you tell me where he is?"
"We won't let you get to him!" Motohama said defiantly, as he summoned his glue gloves.
"Besides, he is not here," Matsuda answered, as he summoned the Chopping Board Type 2 in miniature form. "He got hit by some magic a few hours ago and now we don't know where he is."
"Is that so?" Rias simply said amused and looked at Akeno.
"It's true, Rias. Issei Hyoudou is not here. I cannot sense his energy," the busty Yamato Nadeshiko replied.
"I see… well that is a shame…" Rias shook her head. "Well, no matter... at least there's the two of you here."
"What do you mean?" Motohama narrowed his eyes upon hearing her statement.
"Simple, we also came here for you two," Rias answered Motohama's question.
"Us!? What do you mean you want something us!?" Matsuda voiced in shock, pointing with his finger at himself.
"Yes, that's right," Rias answered calmly with a smirk, not the least bit worried about the group of people before her. "Unfortunately, since we now know that Issei Hyoudou is not here and has been taken away by some sort of magic… we have to settle for you two…"
"What do you want us?" Matsuda repeated his question.
"It's easy," Rias replied. "I want you to tell me about here you got your gifts from."
"Our gifts?" Motohama frowned at that in confusion, not sure what she was speaking of.
"By gifts, I mean your gloves…" Rias said and pointed at Motohama's glue gloves. "…And that black helicopter of yours."
Rias then pointed her finger at Matsuda.
"Why the sudden interest in those?" Motohama asked Rias warily.
"Because of curiosity," Rias said, as she brushed her hair to the side, as it partially blocked her view because of the gently blowing wind. "I have seen your gifts. I can tell for certain that they are not Sacred Gears. None of you have any magical abilities or special physical traits whatsoever, so those are out of the question, too. This leaves only the option of them being gifts of some kind."
"And? So what? Why does our stuff make you so curious?" Motohama wanted to know.
"At first, I thought they were some magical items crafted by somebody of one of the supernatural factions. But then, I realized that these gifts of yours were… far too different. And I also know that as ordinary human beings you could not have had these gifts before. That leads me to one conclusion… Somebody else has been making and giving you these things. Now, you're going to tell me who has been giving you these gifts…" Rias demanded, as she took a step towards them with a devious smirk.
"Or else…?" Matsuda asked nervously.
"Or else, I'll take you two with us and make you answer our questions… by force, if necessary," Rias said, as she looked at them like a hungry tiger.
14th of November, Saturday, 8:15 am – About seven minutes earlier in the Occult Research Club, Kuoh Academy, Kuoh
"Rias, you fool…" Sona said to herself, as she shook her head in disappointment.
Sona knew that as soon as she took her eyes of Rias that she would something stupid.
Luckily, she had Tsubaki, her queen, observe Rias tell her peerage to go to where Matsuda and Motohama were at. Tsubaki, in turn, told Sona and was about to head there with Tsubaki and some other members of her peerage when suddenly a teleportation circle appeared on the floor.
Sona and Tsubaki turned their attention to the teleportation circle to see who it was. To their surprise, it was Sairaorg Bael, Rias' cousin.
"Sairaorg Bael, I was not expecting you here," Sona remarked a bit surprised at seeing the strong young Devil here.
"Well, and I was not really expecting to see you here first, Sona," Sairaorg replied and looked around the room. "Do you know where Rias is? I came to visit her. Is she around?"
"No, she is not. In fact, I am trying to find her before she gets herself into trouble," Sona answered.
"What? What kind of trouble?" Sairaorg asked of Sona in shock.
Sona explained what Rias had been up to recently, which made Sairaorg really worried about her cousin.
14th of November, Saturday, 8:22 am – Back to the Present In front of the Tengu residence
Matsuda and Motohama took a step back, as Rias and her peerage moved towards them with the intent of taking them away. They looked at each other's faces and without a word made it clear to each other that it was time to fight.
Soun, seeing that the time for talk was over, guided his three daughters into the house in a hurry. None of them said a word for they knew this was not a fight they could get involved in.
Sanma cursed, while Ryuga gnashed his teeth.
"Get ready!" Sanma said to Ryuga.
"You don't need to tell me that!" Ryuga barked back.
They took a stance and were ready to dash towards those Devils to make the first strike…
…until something unexpected happened.
"Stand down, you four!" Shinyama ordered all four boys, making them look back at Shinyama in surprise.
Shinyama walked forward, as he fearlessly headed to meet the Devils. Rias, Akeno, Yuuto and Koneko were equally surprised at the man standing in the background coming towards them in bold steps.
"Sensei, what are you doing?" Sanma asked Shinyama in surprise.
"The four of you will stand back. I will deal with Rias and her peerage myself," Shinyama told them.
"Y-you will fight them on your own!?" Ryuga voiced in surprise.
"But why!?" Matsuda asked equally in shock.
"Yeah, why!?" Motohama asked as well.
"You four need to save your strength to fight against the Amazons later. You cannot afford to waste your energy on them. Leave them to me," Shinyama explained.
"My, my…" Rias remarked humorously. "You sure seem like a bold one. But I advise you to step aside. After all, do you really want to get hurt?"
"You wanted to know who it was that supplied Matsuda and Motohama with their toys, right?" Shinyama addressed Rias on a particular topic.
Rias and her peerage widened their eyes and relaxed their fighting stances.
"You know? Who is it?" Rias demanded, as curiosity sparkled in her eyes.
"Don't bother finding her. The person you're looking for is no longer in this world. No one can reach her anymore," Shinyama answered Rias.
Rias clicked her tongue. "Do you expect me to believe that somebody like that could die so easily?" she asked Shinyama annoyed.
"I did not say she is dead," Shinyama corrected her. "I meant to say that she traveled out of this world."
Rias was confused by his statement until realization lit in her eyes. "You mean she is from another world? What world is that? How did she get here? Tell me!" Rias demanded more, her eyes showing a burning passion to know more.
"You do not need to know more about that. All you need to know is that I will not let you touch Matsuda and Motohama. If you want them or more answers from me, you will have to beat me," Shinyama declared to Rias.
"Oh… How bold of you," Rias said as she licked her lips.
"Sensei…" Sanma said to Shinyama.
"Get back all of you. And Sanma, I want you to watch me. You will get another live demonstration of Hokuto Shinken. Burn what you see into your minds. You're going to need this," Shinyama told Sanma.
The four boys complied and stepped a good distance back.
"Amusing… Let's take that man down first!" Rias ordered her peerage.
With that said, Rias and her peerage got ready to attack. Rias readied her Power of Destruction orbs in her hands, Koneko took a fighting stance, Yuuto summoned out a sword and Akeno made a sadistic face, as she readied her lightning magic.
Shinyama remained calm and took a fighting stance.
The Yuuto and Koneko moved forward and dashed straight towards Shinyama, while Akeno and Rias were about to shoot their Demonic Energy at Shinyama.
This did not intimidate Shinyama in the slightest. Shinyama breathed in and then he moved so quickly that the others could not see him…
"AGH!" "UGH!"
Shinyama quickly punched Yuuto in the face and elbowed Koneko in the stomach.
Rias and Akeno were stunned by the suddenness of Shinyama's attack that they hesitated – giving Shinyama more than enough time to attack them.
"GAH!" "OOF!"
He kicked Akeno in the chest and karate-chopped Rias in the back of her neck.
All these moves knocked them out. The four Devils fell unconscious on the ground.
All this took place within two seconds.
Shinyama, after finishing his attack, landed on his feet with a certain stance before saying the name of his move.
"Hokuto Hyappo Zan! (北斗百方斬 – North Star Hundred Direction Slash!)" Shinyama called out.
Everybody was astounded at Shinyama's execution of martial arts – especially Soun Tengu, Sanma and Ryuga.
"My word, he defeated those four like they were nothing!" Soun declared with fascination. "I am afraid even in my prime that I could never be as good as this…"
"Wow, I had a hard time keeping up with them. But this guy did it so easily…" Ryuga said with astonishment.
"Is this… a Hokuto Shinken move?" Sanma said while trembling.
"Yes," Shinyama replied. "This is just one out of the many moves you will learn as you undergo training."
Shinyama was about to check up on the four Devils to see if they were fine when suddenly a teleportation portal came, revealing more Devils.
This took all those assembled aback, as they were not expecting so many guests aside from the Amazons.
"Watch out, sensei! There's more of 'em!" Sanma warned Shinyama.
Shinyama turned to see who the Devils were and saw…
"Sona Sitri, Tsubaki Shinra and Sairaorg Bael… I never thought I would meet you three here…" Shinyama said to the two Devils.
This caught the three of them by surprise, as they obviously did not expect anyone to recognize them on first sight, let alone a human. But what shocked them more was the sight of Rias' peerage lying unconscious on the ground before them.
"Rias! What did you do to them!?" Sona demanded of Shinyama.
"Do not worry," Shinyama said as he placatingly raised his hands. "They are only unconscious. And you may take them back, too. I will not hinder you from doing so. However, do it quickly. We have more important issues to deal with."
That a human like Shinyama would say something so casual to Devils like them was… quite surprising to say the least… but…
"How do you know our names? We've never met, so how did you know?" Sona demanded of Shinyama as she and her two companions readied themselves to fight.
"You don't need to know that. All I can say is that I am not your enemy and am willing to let you take those four," Shinyama gestured at Rias and her peerage. "Do me a favor though and tell them not to come back and bother Issei or anyone related to him, okay?"
Sona was about to say something, but then bit down what she was going to say and deactivated her magic powers. Tsubaki and Sairaorg looked at Sona confused, but Sona gestured them to be at ease.
"Very well. I shall do so. We will take them and go," Sona told Shinyama.
"I'm glad we came to an agreement," Shinyama answered with a nod and went back towards the house.
Tsubaki and Sona went to pick up Rias and her peerage. Sairaorg was about to do the same when his gaze just so happened to move towards the people at the Tengu residence. He froze upon seeing Ryuga.
"Wait a minute…" Sairaorg stopped what he was doing and stared at Ryuga. "I know that face…"
Everybody looked at Sairaorg in surprise, while Ryuga glared back at Sairaorg for the way he was being looked at.
"What are you staring at?" Ryuga demanded from Sairaorg as he stepped forward.
After a few seconds of looking, Sairaorg narrowed his eyes and his face showed hostility towards Ryuga.
"Now, I recognize you. You're one of the humans who broke into the Familiar Forest, hurt all the Familiar beasts there and kidnapped the Familiar Master Zatouji!" Sairaorg declared in public.
Sona and Tsubaki were shocked at that statement.
"Are you sure? How can you tell it's him?" Sona wanted to know.
"Because of a certain drawing that Tiamat made when describing one of the intruders. And this guy fits the bill. He wears a red bandana around his forehead, is a teenage human being and is a martial artist. And I can tell just by looking at him that he is a fighter," Sairaorg explained in detail, as he strode past Sona and Tsubaki and towards Ryuga.
Sona could not help but stare at Ryuga, who defiantly walked towards Sairaorg. Certainly, it looked like him, the boy in the trio of suspects involved in the devastation of the Familiar Forest and Zatouji's kidnapping. Come to think of it, the other two suspects were Matsuda and Motohama, both of whom she spotted among those assembled here. The world truly is a small place, considering she just wanted to find Rias and her peerage.
Ryuga and Sairaorg were standing just five meters away from each other. It was a standoff between the two of them.
"So, you know, huh?" Ryuga said defiantly.
"You've got a lot of nerve doing what you did to the Familiars and Zatouji," Sairaorg said angrily. "Tell me why you attack the Familiars and Zatouji?"
"Why should I tell you?" Ryuga questioned Sairaorg defiantly.
This pushed Sairaorg to the brink and made him throw a punch.
Ryuga, being a martial artist, threw a punch of his own and…
[BOOM!]
"GAAH!" "KYAAA!" "WHOA!"
All those assembled either yelled or covered their faces or did both considering the wind pressure given off by the two fighters' fists meeting each other.
As everybody opened their eyes again, they saw a shocking sight.
Ryuga had been blown back a good distance and was on his knees. He tried to get on his feet and barely managed to do so. But his right arm was swollen from the impact of the punch.
"Damn it, this guy is no joke…ah!" Ryuga remarked and he hissed in pain and clutched his injured arm.
Sairaorg, though still standing, had noticeably been pushed back himself, as evidenced by the skid-marks on the ground. Other than that, he was completely fine.
"Oh my!" Kasumi voiced in shock and covered her mouth with her hands.
"Nabiki-san!" Nakane cried out in horror.
"This does not look good…" Hibiki said neutrally, though she was concerned as well.
"Surrender," Sairaorg declared to Ryuga, approaching him with heavy steps. "It's clear you cannot beat me and I'm not getting started yet. If you do, you will not go to trial with more injuries than you already have."
"Damn it… This is not good…" Ruyga cursed.
With a broken arm, there was no way Ryuga could fight. If he could, it would be a losing one, that was for sure. But doing nothing was not an option. He had to do something.
Just when Ryuga was about to make his next move…
"Step back, Ryuga," Shinyama said to him.
Sairaorg halted upon seeing Shinyama approach the "ring".
"You go back. You need to save your strength for later. I'll deal with him," Shinyama told Ryuga.
"No! This is a duel between me and him!" Ryuga told Shinyama firmly.
"Ryuga, if this was any ordinary situation, I would be fine with letting you handle it. But not this time. You have a fight with masses of Amazons tomorrow. This is a matter of survival for you and everyone around you. You need to pick and choose your battles wisely," Shinyama lectured Ryuga, which the latter could not help but bristle at that.
"I said stay out! This is… OW!" Ryuga yelled in pain, as Shinyama touched his swollen arm lightly.
"Do you really think you can fight with that kind of injury?" Shinyama asked of Ryuga. "This battle is not for you to fight. Besides, I am to blame for everything that has happened. So, leave this to me."
Seeing that Shinyama brooked no argument and was strong enough to fight four Devils, Ryuga decided to retreat.
"You better not die on me… or us for that matter!" Ryuga said to Shinyama, as he walked back to the Tengu residence.
Shinyama could see that Kasumi was checking Ryuga's arm out, so there was no need to worry about him.
"Don't worry about me," Shinyama answered, as he walked up to Sairaorg.
"Do not interfere," Sairaorg warned Shinyama with a glare on his face. "This does not concern you."
"Oh, but it does," Shinyama replied, as he folded his arms before him. "Especially, considering that your real beef is not with him, but with me."
Sairaorg looked at Shinyama with confusion, but then realized something.
"You… Were you the one who told them to kidnap Zatouji?" Sairaorg asked Shinyama.
"Correct, it was me," Shinyama affirmed Sairaorg's suspicions.
"Why?" Sairaorg asked Shinyama again with narrowed eyes.
"I needed him for something," Shinyama answered. "And I returned him back in good shape, did I not?"
"So, it was you," Sona spoke from the sidelines. "Who are you? How do you know so much about us? And what did you want with Zatouji?"
"I'm afraid I cannot answer you on these issues," Shinyama answered.
"Then we have to make you answer us," Sairaorg said, as he walked forward and seized Shinyama by the shoulder.
At that moment… Shinyama suddenly moved his hand and used a spear-hand strike against Sairoarg's wrist.
Sairaorg instinctively removed his hand and stepped back, as though his senses were screaming at him that Shinyama was dangerous.
True enough, his instincts after so many life-and-death fights were right.
"Look, his wrist!" Matsuda pointed out.
"Ugh…" Sairaorg groaned and held his wrist, which was swelling up for some reason and then…
"What's going on?" Motohama wondered.
[BOOM!] "AUGH!"
Sairaorg screamed from the pain for the swelling wrist created into a bloody explosion.
"It exploded!?" Sanma voiced in shock.
"You really are one of the most promising Young Devils," Shinyama complimented Sairaorg. "You backed away from my attack known as the Goshi Retsu Dan (五指烈弾 – Five Finger Violent Bullets). Very clever. Had you not done so, the damage would have been far worse."
Sairaorg did his best to numb the pain with his will to endure pain. The bleeding and pain subsided somewhat after a few seconds.
"I underestimated you," Sairaorg stated and took a stance. "This time I will fight you for real."
With that said, Sairaorg rushed at Shinyama. Sairaorg attacked with a punch towards Shinyama's face. Shinyama dodged by jumping backwards, but Sairaorg was not done yet. Sairaorg threw a barrage of swift punches at Shinyama, which he dodged at first.
But then Shinyama caught one of Sairaorg's punches with his arms and was about to crush Sairaorg's fist. Sairaorg quickly reacted by lashing out with a kick at Shinyama.
Shinyama blocked with his own kick and then suddenly let go off Sairaorg's arm to throw a punch at Sairaorg's stomach. But Sairaorg reacted quickly and blocked Shinyama's punch, then tried to deck Shinyama with a quick straight forward jab to the face. Shinyama dodged it by a hair's breadth by moving sideways.
But that was Sairaorg's trap!
The forward jab was a front for the real attack, namely a powerful sideways punch that was supposed to catch Shinyama by surprise. But when the punch was supposed to hit Shinyama in the face, Shinyama miraculously moved out of Sairaorg's range leaving an afterimage behind.
"What the…?" Sairaorg was surprised to see Shinyama move out of his arm's reach.
He was even more shocked when Shinyama made some movements with his hands, making the shape of something.
"Hokuto Shinken Ougi: Shichi Sei Tenshin! (北斗神拳奥:義七星点心 – Fist of the North Star Secret Technique: Seven Star Point Spirit!)" Shinyama called out as he made many clone illusions of himself and then moved sideways.
"He can clone himself!?" Ryuga gaped in shock.
"My goodness, even the master cannot make that many clones," Soun remarked, as he stroked his mustache.
Sairaorg stood still where he was. He looked around nervously for he could not read Shinyama's movements, as Shinyama's clones surrounded him and continuously moved around him.
"What is this illusion ability? I can't tell which one is real!" Sairorg said, she tried to figure out which Shinyama was real.
Before he could do anything else, Shinyama's multiple clones suddenly moved forward, each using a claw-hand strike at Sairaorg!
[BAM!] [BAM!] [BAM!] [BAM!] [BAM!] [BAM!] [BAM!]
A total of seven strikes hit Sairaorg at different parts of his body, each hurting Sairaorg pretty badly.
"AGH! ARGH!" Sairaorg screamed in pain.
The attacks made the young Devil fly backwards with significant bloody wounds. He landed on the ground with his back first.
"Sairaorg Bael-sama!" Tsubaki cried out.
"This does not look good…" Sona said, as she nibbled her thumb worried. "Get ready to step in and help, Tsubaki."
"Yes, Sona," Tsubaki responded.
Sairaorg struggled to stand up and was trying his best to endure the pain. But he was losing too much blood.
"Not yet… I am not finished yet…" Sairaorg said with gritted teeth, as he stood up shakily. "I must take him down… and avenge Zatouji… and the poor Familiars who are suffering because of him…"
Ryuga could not help but feel amazed and guilty. He was amazed because of the immense willpower Sairaorg had to continue fighting on, despite the injuries he had. He felt guilty when he realized that he was the one who hurt those Familiars back then. Did they really suffer because of him?
"…I will take you down… Even if that is the last thing that I will do…" Sairaorg declared and focused.
He took some deep breaths, and then a glowing aura surrounded him.
[RUMBLE!]
It grew larger and then started to shake the earth around the neighborhood.
"What is this power!?" Tsubaki asked Sona in shock.
"Touki…" Sona said solemnly, as she felt Sairaorg's speed, defense and strength rise. "Sairaorg has long been unable to use the magic from his family. Thus, he trained his physical body very hard and gained the ability to create an aura…"
"What is that!?" Matsuda pointed at Sairaorg in horror.
"He's buildin' some sort of ki around his body!" Sanma answered, as he was also enraptured by the whole scene before him.
"Oh my!" Kasumi cried out, as she and the rest of her family tried to keep their balance because of the shaking earth.
"He was right. He was not even getting started with me…" Ryuga remarked, as he shuddered at the strength the young Devil displayed before them all.
Although, he and Sanma could also manifest an aura around them, it could not even be compared to Sairaorg's.
"Take… THIS!" Sairaorg shouted and made one final rush towards Shinyama, hoping to pummel the latter into submission with a flurry of punches.
"Such willpower… It's admirable, knowing who you are and the life you have lived…" Shinyama said partly to himself, as he smiled sadly. "But it's time to finish this."
Shinyama took in a deep breath.
An aura formed around Shinyama as well.
Then, he cupped his hands together and pushed them forward with his body.
"Hokuto Gosho Ha! (北斗剛掌波 – Iron Palm Wave)" Shinyama yelled out his final attack.
The result was a huge white blinding beam that blasted straight towards Sairaorg and enveloped him.
"What the… What is this!? AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Sairaorg screamed, as he was caught in the attack.
The blast was so huge, it enveloped Sairaorg completely.
"KYAH!" "GYAAAAH!"
Tsubaki and Sona, although they were not in the beam's path, were caught up in the blast wave and sent flying.
"THE FRIGG!" "THE CRUD!" "SWEET MOLY!" "DAMN!" "OH MY!" "IYAAAH!" "WAAAH!" "MY BABIES!"
The voices of Matsuda, Motohama, Sanma, Ryuga, Kasumi, Nakane, Hibiki and Soun were heard wailing, cursing and expressing shock of various kinds. They, too, had ended up being knocked over by the blast.
After ten seconds, the blast had subsided.
Ryuga was the first to stir up and see the results.
"He… He won…" Ryuga announced in surprise.
Indeed.
The winner was Shinyama.
On the other hand, Sairaorg had been knocked out by the Gosho Ha and was lying on the ground a good distance away from where he had previously stood. He was wounded and dirty.
Tsubaki and Sona were also unconscious, lying somewhere further afield.
Rias and her peerage had been thrown far out as well.
"Oh, my…" Kasumi repeated her favorite words of surprise.
"Damn, he's strong… He may give every martial artist in the world a run for his money," Hibiki remarked humorously.
"I just can't believe it…" Soun whispered in awe. "…He is so strong…"
"So, these are… Hokuto Shinken Techniques…" Sanma mumbled to himself.
If he could learn those, he could actually defeat the Amazons.
No, scratch that! Even fighting the whole world might be a possibility for him!
And he was going to learn all that and much more… The thought of that made Sanma feel giddy with excitement.
Shinyama then turned to face all of them.
"If any of you could help me pick them up, I would really appreciate it," Shinyama said to them.
At first, they stood in silence. And then Sanma was the first to move, running towards Shinyama to help him.
The others followed and took the Devils one by one. They carried them into the house.
As they were doing so, Sanma could not help but ask.
"What are we gonna with 'em?" Sanma asked Shinyama.
"Send them back home by taxi," Shinyama replied, as he stretched his muscles. "I'll pay for the ride and have them dumped of Kuoh Academy."
"What if they come back?" Sanma wondered.
"They won't," Shinyama answered. "I'll make sure they won't."
"How?" Matsuda asked this time, as he walked up to them.
"I have my ways," Shinyama answered cryptically. "But enough about that. Now, that that is out of the way, we must not waste time anymore."
"Not waste time for what?" Matsuda wondered.
"For training," Shinyama replied. "Get ready. I'll head back in to get something to drink first. Then I'll have everyone know about what is going to happen next. After that, Sanma and I will go somewhere to train."
"I can't wait!" Sanma said, never having felt so excited to learn something new.
"Good," Shinyama stated with a smile. "But let me warn you. This training session will be difficult. So, be ready."
14th of November, Saturday, 8:35 am (Japan Time) – With Issei in the Underworld
Issei had been getting closer to the rising pillar of smoke, passing through grassy fields and bushes to get to his destination.
"Please, let there be people there… Please, let there be people there…" Issei hoped, running all the while.
But as it turned out, Ddraig was right – to Issei's horror.
"What the…!?" Issei skidded to a halt as he arrived at his destination.
He saw that there was indeed a settlement. However, the scenery of the place looked horrible.
All the houses were destroyed and burned. There lay a great number of dead Devils, mutilated, burned and mangled. What shocked Issei even more were that there were women and children among them who had been violated and stripped naked, before being killed.
[I feared the worst...] Ddraig sighed.
"Who… who would do such a thing…?" Issei whispered broken.
And from the corner of an eye, Issei found the answer to that question.
"NOOO! AAAHHHHH!" A female Devil screamed, as she tried to run away.
"Shut up, you b****! You scream to much!" a huge burly Devil wearing armor and weaponry yelled, as he punched her in the face.
The poor female Devil fell down with her neck twisted at an unnatural angle. She did not move again.
"Now, look what you did!?" another male Devil said, as he came forth. He, too, was equipped with armor and weapons like the other one.
And with the second Devil came some more Devils after him.
"Yeah, that's the third chick you killed already! If you can't keep them alive before any of us can enjoy them, you might as well leave it to us," said a third one.
"I can't help it! They just don't wanna play!" the first one defended himself.
"Haa… whatever…" said the second Devil with a sigh and then he noticed Issei standing in the distance. "Hey, look! There's somebody over there!"
"We must have missed him. Let's get him!" said the third Devil and rushed towards Issei.
"Why…? Why? Why, why, why, why, why, why…?" Issei muttered in shock to himself, not caring about the Devils heading towards him.
[Partner, snap out of it! Those thugs are coming at you!] Ddraig warned Issei.
But Issei stood perfectly still for his mind flashed back to those dark memories.
The memories of when his parents were murdered, and he was left all by himself.
Back when he first awakened Ddraig.
And then how he took action to kill his parents' murderer.
"YAHOOO! HE'S MY FIFTEENTH KILL!" the first Devil thug whooped, as he was about to smash Issei with his axe.
It was then that Issei started to act.
"RRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Issei roared in utter rage, as he glowed in red and…
…enveloped himself in a flash of green. Or rather the green was so bright, it became white.
"AGH!" "MY EYES!" "IT BURNS!" "NOW I CAN'T ENJOY LOOKING AT GIRLS ANYMORE!"
The four Devils screamed in pain, as they were blinded by the burning light. But the worst was yet to come.
Issei was now equipped in his Crimson Scale Mail and made his first move.
"RRRRRAAAAAHHHHH!" Issei continued to roar, as he slashed all of those thugs to death.
"GAH!" "KEUK!" "OGH!" "URK!"
The noise attracted attention from the other bandits, who were in other houses of the village.
"What is that!?" cried one of them.
"I dunno. But it's killed our buddies," said another one with gritted teeth.
"Let's kill this son of a b****!" said a third one and raised his sword.
With a loud yell, they rushed at Issei. Others fired arrows and magic at Issei, hoping to draw the first blood.
But Issei was utterly livid.
"YOU WILL DIE! ALL OF YOU WILL DIE!" Issei screamed in a murderous rage, as his eyes lit with fury.
[Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!]
[Dragon Shot!]
Stretching his arm out, he fired a Dragon Shot straight into the first enemies.
14th of November, Saturday, 9:13 am – with the Chinese Amazon Army
The Chinese Amazon Army continued undaunted. They were just on the outskirts Kyoto when a column of Japanese riot police intercepted them with guns and shields ready. On top of that, there were armored vehicles on the road in front of them and helicopters flying above.
"This is the police! You are trespassing on Japanese soil with illegal arms and equipment. Surrender now, or we will have to use force!" the commander of the detachment warned the Amazons.
"What should we do, Elder Colon?" asked one of the Amazons next to Colon.
"Form a spear formation to their right side. We will break through, no matter what," Colon replied.
"Yes, Elder," the Amazon warrior replied. "Form spear formation!"
As the Amazons were preparing their battle formation, Colon looked past the riot police assembled before her and towards Tokyo.
"Our honor will be fulfilled. None shall hinder us," Colon stated with a firm conviction.
14th of November, Saturday, 9:20 am (Japan Time) – In Hades' Throne Room, Realm of the Dead
[Ugh… What a monster…] Hades groaned, as he lay there in his destroyed throne room.
The fight went on for ten hours.
The two of them fought each other physically, with magic and with more of Hades' subordinates joining the fray.
It did not matter how much power Hades had or how many of his Grim Reapers and beasts he controlled for absolutely nothing could stop the Hulk. The Hulk simply destroyed all and any of the ploys, tricks, minions and beasts, dismantled all and any trap available in the Realm. Worst of all, Hades used all his magical power that he had as one of the top ten most powerful beings in existence and yet he still lost.
That is why he was lying there mangled and many of his bones making up his skeleton body completely shattered. Even his skull suffered fractures.
Normally, he could heal himself quite quickly using his own power or that of his subordinates, except that Hades had completely spent his magical power and his subordinates were completely wrecked and unable to do anything.
Of course, Hades could not die so easily, especially given that the Hulk neither had interest nor the patience to kill Hades after ten hours' worth of fighting. And so, the Hulk opted to leave Hades there and run off somewhere else, presumably to leave the Realm of the Dead.
As for Hades himself, since healing was not an option, he had to just lie there and let natural recovery do its work. As a God this natural phenomenon would certainly happen. The only problem was that he had to wait until he had recovered enough of his strength to get up.
In the meantime, he could not help but feel helpless and livid at the same time.
Who was this Hulk? Where did he come from? Why did he have a grudge against Loki? How did he end up in his realm? And most importantly, how did he have so much power?
Hades realized that he would not get answers just lying like this. He needed to get up and use his intelligence agents to find out.
Forget about destroying the three Biblical Factions. This Hulk was a bigger priority.
This humiliation must be repaid.
And the first thing he would do once he got up was to contact Loki himself to demand an explanation.
14th of November, Saturday, 9:25 am (Japan Time) – Destroyed Village, Underworld
All the hundred thugs that came after Issei were dead. Issei had either blasted into cinders or shredded them like cheddar cheese. Issei himself was covered in blood, though his Crimson Armor camouflaged the blood.
[Reset!]
The Crimson Armor dissolved itself and Issei fell on his knees and gasped for breath. He was exhausted from the fight.
After two minutes, Issei had calmed himself and was reminiscing about what had happened.
Why…? Why did they do this? Why were Devils slaughtering their own kind?
[Because this is the Underworld] Ddraig answered Issei.
"Wh-what…?" Issei voiced in confusion.
[It's a place where killing is normal. When you have wide empty areas with few settlements far from major cities, then it becomes an environment where bandits like these can thrive. As for why bandits do all this… Who knows? It could be greed, survival, fame or even the desire for fun and blood. All these can drive people to do these kind of things] Ddraig answered.
"This…" Issei said, having a difficult time taking it all in.
[Partner, evil things happen for a lot of reasons that we cannot fully understand. That is so even in the human world. The question we should be asking is: What are you going to do about it?] Ddraig asked Issei.
At this, Issei's resolve reawakened.
He did not need to say it.
And so, Issei got up and walked. He went to see around the village to see if there were any survivors there. Issei checked every nook and cranny.
But there were none.
They were all dead.
There were no survivors among the bandits either.
And so, Issei did the one thing any decent human being could do in such a situation.
He looked for a shovel in a nearby barn. He picked it up and grabbed the leftovers of breakfast bread in another house to nourish himself.
Then, he went to work.
14th of November, Saturday, 9:36 am (Japan Time) – somewhere in the Underworld with the Hulk
The Hulk had managed to find his way out of Hades' realm and was looking around for where to go next. Normally, this would be the time for the Hulk to calm down and turn back into Bruce Banner. However, given that the Hulk was far from tired and was far from earth, he knew that he had to find a way out first.
And so, the Hulk bounced away into a random distance.
14th of November, Saturday, 10:54 am (Japan Time) – Destroyed Village, Underworld
Issei had finished burying the last villagers in the mass graves. Each one of them was buried next to each other in a row.
Issei did not know who they were or what they were called or what made them special.
Which is why he had to build a collective grave where everyone was buried together. Issei did make sure he gave them the most dignified burial he could. He finished his burial of the villagers by making a signpost with a hand-carved inscription in Japanese.
It read: "Here lie the people of this village, slaughtered, and murdered by bandits. May their souls rest in peace."
Issei said a final prayer for them all and then turned his attention to the corpses of the bandits.
Issei had gathered them in a pile and then summoned the Boosted Gear.
"You don't deserve to be remembered," Issei said coldly to the bandits' remains.
[Dragon Shot!]
With one shot, he obliterated the bandits leaving their bodies to burn into ashes.
The job was done.
Now, Issei could move on. But Issei was once again back at square one.
Where should he go to?
At that moment, Issei saw something from the corner of his eye.
Issei widened his eyes.
"Is that…?" Issei voiced out in shock.
[It's him!] Ddraig called out.
Who were they referring to? Why it was the Hulk, of course. The Hulk was jumping in a certain direction in a straight line.
Issei had no idea how the Hulk got here, nor where he was going. However, nothing needed to be said.
Issei knew what he had to do.
Issei started off slow. Then he picked up speed. Then he ran.
Follow the Hulk and the way forward will open.
"Wait for me, Hulk!" Issei called out, as he ran after him.
14th of November, Saturday, 11:02 am (Japan Time) – somewhere in the Grigori
The little white creature was hiding in one of the many rooms in the Grigori. It was motionless and lying against the walls.
Suddenly, footsteps and voices could be heard in the room.
"I could have sworn I saw that creature run in here," a Fallen Angel scientists swore.
"Me, too!" another one replied. "Be on your guard. This thing has killed two of our colleagues."
"How? It's so small and tiny!" the first one said incredulously.
"Exactly! Which is why they let their guards down and got killed! So… be on your guard!" the second Fallen Angel said to his colleague.
"Alright, alright… Sheesh!" The first Fallen Angel grumbled.
It was then that they noticed the little white creature.
"There! It's right there!" the first Fallen Angel pointed at where the white creature was.
"Good! Now remember what I just said," the second Fallen Angel reminded his colleague and summoned a light spear.
The first one did the same, too. And so, they approached it with cautious steps.
But as they got closer, they realized something was wrong.
"Hey, it's not doing anything!" said the first Fallen Angel.
"Be careful, it might be a trick!" warned the second one.
"I know, but I'll do this anyway!" said the first one and threw his spear at the white creature.
[STAB!]
The spear stabbed the white creature cleanly through its body.
"Ha! It's dead!" the first one rejoiced at his achievement.
The second one was more observant about the whole thing and pointed something out.
"Hey, something is wrong. Don't you think it looks kind of… empty?" the second scientist remarked.
"What do you mean?" the first scientist asked.
"It looks like it's just a husk or an empty shell," the second scientist explained.
"What? Are you telling me it can shed off its skin like a lizard?" the first scientist asked.
"Maybe…" the second scientist answered.
Suddenly, they heard something above them.
"Wait… what was that?" the second scientist Fallen Angel asked, as he looked above him.
"What was what? Why are you looking up?" the first one asked.
"I could have sworn something I heard something…" the second Fallen Angel replied.
"Come to think of it, I think I see something…" the first scientist said, as he saw something in the ceiling moving abnormally.
(((RRRROOOOOAAAAARRRR!)))
""GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!""
The Fallen Angel Scientists had no chance for they were promptly stomped on by a huge lizard-like creature with purple skin and white fur. The purple creature killed them quickly by devouring them.
And so, the terror in the Grigori would continue for the time being.
And that was the Chapter 58 of The Lone Vigilante Issei.
I wanted to use this confrontation with the Devils to give Sanma all a little foretaste of what is to come. A sort of lesson in which the master demonstrates, and the student observes and learns.
Also, bringing in Sairaorg to fight Ryuga was something I had built up a while back. I used this brief fight as a demonstration of how strong Sairaorg was compared to human fighters. As a Devil, he is naturally stronger, faster and more resilient.
Of course, nobody and nothing can defeat a practitioner of Hokuto Shinken, the martial art guarding the Lord of Heaven, that final invincible fighting style in which the practitioner grows stronger after each battle… But enough of the praises for now.
Issei coming across the village and the tragedy within served as a sort of stopover to remind Issei about his desire to become a hero and to see the reality of the Underworld with his own eyes. I have to admit it is a bit abrupt throwing that in, but I really wanted to do this.
Also, I had intended to speak to Issei using telepathy after the fight, but then I realized that using the Hulk as a means to get Issei to his next destination made more sense.
Speaking of the Hulk… Yes, he beat Hades. Of course, it would be hard to imagine someone fighting another for ten hours, but… Hades is a God, and the Hulk is the Hulk, so it should be possible for those two. And having Hades mangled like that is kind of funny in my opinion. But don't expect this to be the last we hear from him… or the Hulk for that matter.
Where is the Hulk headed? And where will Issei's pursuit of the Hulk take him? I'll spoil this to you. It's taking them to the Grigori where a certain something is waiting for them.
And what will happen once they meet? You will that out in the next chapter.
In the meantime, what did you think of this chapter?
Did you like it?
Please read and review, I would like to hear from you.
And as always, I hope to see you around next time.
Until then.
Hide Shinyama