Authors Notes = A/N
"Normal Speech."
'Thoughts."
"Foreign Language."
Sacred Gears/Weapon spirits speech.]
'Sacred Gear/ Weapon spirits thoughts."
A/N: And here's chapter 5 yaaaay!
This is the first NEW chapter; I say again, this is BRAND NEW CONTENT. So for all you old faithful's from my original uploading and you new-comers, I present to you the glorious first instalment of my life as MetalGearMantis...my first real chapter under this account. So please do enjoy this!
Okay, A/N done!
LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!
(P.S: Happy Easter Folks! Sorry I didn't upload but you DID fail to meet the reviews target...but then again I didn't expect too many, so it doesn't matter. Especially seeing as I was going to release this today anyways :p)
Disclaimer: I would like to clearly state that I do not own (and more than likely never will) Highschool DxD or any other series mentioned in this story. The rights to said series belongs to their rightful owners. I merely own the intellectual property rights of my OC, Thierry Blanc. I do not, nor ever intend to, profit from the writing of this Fanfiction, and I am merely writing it for non-profit entertainment purposes only.
(Last time in: The Jackal Of the Grigori)
Taking a small sip of his drink, Thierry waited for the comforting burning-feeling to fade away before he spoke up.
"Drinks and merriment aside Azazel, what the heck are you doing here?" He asked casually, earning a smile from the Viceroy.
"Well~ seeing as you spent ten days with the Gremory peerage, I figured that you'd appreciate the chance to watch your hard work pay off." With that, the television screen flickered on, showing three people: two men and a woman, who were apparently talking about the upcoming rating match. He wasn't really paying attention to what they were saying in any detail, but the general consensus was that Riser Phenex was going to easily win.
"Huh, those devils sure are in for a rude awakening." Thierry commented as he took another sip of his drink, earning a small laugh from the Viceroy of the Grigori.
"I do hope so Thierry, what with the three million euros you charged for this."
"THREE MILLION EURO'S?" Raynare screeched, causing Thierry to wince and glare at her (an act which made the buxom young girl blush madly in embarrassment).
"How the hell do you know about that?" He asked calmly. Azazel's response was to simply grin like a mad-man before downing what was left of his Whiskey.
"You seem to forget who I am."
"What, an old pervert?"
"Fun-Nazi!"
"Gigolo!"
"Dumbass!"
"Crow-winged bastard!"
"Virgin!"
"Oh really original you…."
"Gentlemen!" Raynare cut in before the two could really get into it again, causing the two of them to shift their attention to the buxom young Fallen Angel.
"What?"
Pointing towards the T.V, Raynare let out a sigh before speaking.
"The match is starting."
….
…..
…..
….
"Oh."
(Chapter Four: A Rating Game for the ages.)
(With Thierry, Raynare and Azazel)
"Gremory had better have taken my lessons to heart. I didn't spend most of my nights working on a plan for her just so she could ignore it and try to come up with something on the fly. I'll go to her engagement party and kick her arse from here to Lilith if she does." Thierry growled out in his native French as he downed the final remnants of his drink as the three of them sat there, watching as the Gremory peerage appeared inside of an exact replica of their club-room at school. Naturally, Raynare was surprised by his words, but Azazel wasn't, which was characterised quite neatly by his boisterous laughter.
"Ma~ you're being mean Thierry-kun."
"How so?"
"You're assuming that Rias-san is just going to reject your advice out of hand. That's being judgemental, which isn't very nice you big meanie!" Azazel said in a child-like voice, earning a deadpan look from Raynare and an impassive mask form Thierry as he re-filled his glass.
"She's a devil."
"And that's racist!"
"I don't care; it's true." Thierry shot back casually, earning a small shake of the head from Azazel and a slightly shocked look from Raynare as she heard his racial slur. With a small sigh and a quick shake of the head to clear his thoughts, Thierry brought his glass to his lips and took a deep gulp of his drink before focusing his attention back onto the Gremory Peerage as Rias sat them down to begin the discussion in regards to their strategy.
'Let's see if she fucks up my plan.'
(Pocket Dimension copy of Kuoh Academy)
Akeno smiled ever so slightly as Rias calmly sipped at the cup of tea in-front of her. Ten days ago, her best friend would have been a blithering mess, incapable of keeping even a calm front, let alone be capable talking. But now, instead of that, her friend was calm, cool and collected; she had the look of someone who Akeno would honestly follow into the fires of combat and back.
She looked ready.
Most importantly though, she genuinely looked like she could win the match now. And it was all thanks to a certain French ex-patriot back home; and it looked like she owed him a rather large thank-you when her and her group got back…after they had won the match, of course.
Akeno watched with a calm and peaceful smile as Rias stood up and moved to lean on the front of her desk. Calmly folding her arms under her bust, Rias took a small calming breath before she finally decided to break the suffocating silence that had permeated through the room for the past five or so minutes.
"Okay, I'm not going to lie. Even with the ten days training we've been subjected to under Dusitoir-san, our chances for victory are only at a fifty-fifty realistically…but that's only if we don't follow his advice." Rias began her speech calmly, as if she had given such important speeches a thousand times in her life. Slowly, she forced herself off of the desk and waved her right hand, bringing up a fairly large magical-map of Kuoh academy, rendered in 3D and based in a rather fitting red colour scheme.
"Our first order of business is to take out Riser's pawns and knights. Our peerage is fast and hard-hitting, so we need to eliminate the only pieces that can use promotion or that are naturally fast in order to keep the advantage.
As such, the first phase of the match is all going to be hit and run or guerrilla tactics; Kiba, I need you to hold position here, just on the clearing to the forest that will lead to our territory. Riser will bring a scouting party around here and thus we need to take them out, so use the forest to your advantage, however you see fit. Personally, me and Pierr suggest luring them in and then using any clearings to take them down." Yumi Kiba nodded seriously, her face set in a stony mask of determination as her King fed her orders. Akeno watched on as Rias slowly began to pace around the map, pointing to the school gym with one of her well-manicured nails.
"Ise-kun, Koneko-chan, I need you two to set an ambush in the school gym. There are plenty of heavy items that you can use for fall traps or other gear that could take out the pawns. If there's a Knight or Rook present then you'll need to get involved and take them out the old-fashioned way; just make sure that you make it out alive and in one piece.
One we've taken out the pawns and knights, Riser's queen is our next target. Myself and Akeno will deal with her, whilst the three of you get stitched-up by Asia back here in the club-room. After that, I'll send you three back out to take on whatever's left of Riser's peerage before we all re-group and then take on that Fried-chicken bastard and put him down for good." Rias finished by manipulating the map's imagery to show their motely group surrounding Riser and kicking him whilst Asia tried to persuade them away from the wholly necessary (in Akeno's eyes) violence, earning a small chuckle from everyone (bar Asia). Turning her head to Akeno, Rias nodded her head slightly, prompting the buxom young woman to pull the box that was currently on her lap into her hands before standing up and opening the box.
Within were six plain black, extremely expensive looking mortal-world combat radios. The reason that Pierr had given them these odd pieces of mortal technology had actually been rather ingenious; their enemies wouldn't be able to intercept the messages. Normally, Devils or other supernatural beings would use magic to communicate with one-another on both a real battlefield and in a rating-game. However, said magical communications could be tapped into via the use of the correct spells, and thus any orders given over a magical 'frequency' would be useless, as there would be no way of verifying whether or not they had been compromised.
Mortal radio frequencies were different though; they couldn't be intercepted via magical means. It was kind of a 'water and oil' situation. The two different types of communications were so vastly opposite that there was currently not a single spell that allowed a member of the supernatural to listen into radio-chatter. In order to do so, one would have to do it in exactly the same manner as a mortal would.
And given that their opponent would be on the look-out for magical lines of communications, and have absolutely no-way of intercepting non-magical communications; these mortal pieces of technology were perfect for their plans.
"These radios will help us keep in-touch with one-another. Dusitoir-san was kind enough to donate them to us so that Riser won't be able to tap into our communications, so we will be able to talk freely over the line. However, that doesn't mean that you can just talk and talk; keep the chatter to a minimum and only use it to share battle-critical information." Rias instructed her peerage sternly, earning serious nods from everyone present as they quickly began to fit themselves into the headsets. It took several moments (and a bit of elbow grease with Asia), but eventually each of them was kitted out and ready for battle.
Rias smiled ever so slightly before she offered her peerage the final words that Akeno knew that Thierry had drilled into them over the past ten days.
"Remember everyone: No Prisoners, no mercy. Press every advantage you get and abuse every chance you're given. This is not a game anymore; this is a battlefield and Riser is the enemy you need to kill. So let's do this, okay?" Her words were absolutely ice-cold, causing Akeno's eyes to widen ever-so-slightly. She had never heard her friend speak with such ruthlessness; it was as if someone completely different now stood before her.
The young Hijemia's shock only lasted for several more moments before she remember something rather important.
Ten days ago, Rias Gremory was a young devil heiress looking for a way out of a bleak and almost hopeless situation; a fact that infuriated and shattered her at the same time.
Ten days ago, Rias Gremory had never been to a battlefield, let alone partaken in a rating game; and that thought terrified the so-called 'Crimson-haired Ruin Princess'.
Ten days ago, Rias Gremory hadn't actually been a student of Pierr Dusitoir.
Now though, ten days later?
Now, Rias Gremory looked like a hardened devil general of the Great War leading her troops into battle again.
Now, Rias Gremory looked as if she had fought on a thousand battlefields and won victory from the very jaws of defeat itself with reckless and almost suicidal decisions.
Rias Gremory, heiress to one of the most powerful and influential families in the Underworld, the 'Crimson-haired Ruin Princess' and the younger sister of the current devil King Lucifer looked like she was about to lead her men to victory once again….she looked like this whole battle was merely to entertain the masses back home.
She looked like a warrior ready to deal with her routine business.
And Akeno couldn't help but feel inspired by her King's shift in demeanour, which is why she guided the rest of the peerage to the front of the old-school building with one thought filling her mind.
'Maybe we can actually do this.'
(Undisclosed location, Underworld.)
Grayfia Lucifuge couldn't help but let her lips quirk ever so slightly into a frown as she watched her sister-in-laws peerage begin moving into position for the first stage of a certain Frenchman's plan. Grayfia had never before contacted a human to help her deal with a family issue, The 'Silver Haired Queen of Annihilation' often preferring to use members of the Gremory family or those they worked with to help sort out any problems that she could not directly get involved with. However, she decided to break that rule for her sister-in-law when she contacted and purchased the services of one Pierr Dusitoir.
Her initial testing of the boys powers had revealed just how strong he was. The aura she had sent at him had been by no means weak, and yet he was able to quickly throw it off like nothing. And if that wasn't impressive enough, the fact that he had the ability to expertly manipulate both fire and lightning at the same time proved that he was truly a prodigy of a magician; after all, most magicians only ever focus on one major elemental branch of magic, and those that do end up controlling more than one tend to be at least one hundred years or more in age. So for Pierr to be able to control two elements indicated he was truly a gifted young man.
However, Grayfia couldn't help but feel alarm-bells ringing when she first made contact with the boy. The way he spotted her and easily manipulated his movements to always ensure that she was not only within eyesight, but that she was also always easy for him to hit with magic, whilst she would be hard-pressed to hit him at such a distance with any quick spells. Normal people were not capable of doing that kind of thing; that took training in espionage and counter-surveillance that had taken Grayfia years working on during the Civil War. For him to be so well versed in such techniques, the boy had to have been trained from a very young age…
And that was a worrying thought.
So, after her initial meeting, the 'Ultimate Queen' had a background check run on the young man…..and what she found was shocking. Not because it put her sister-in-law or her peerage at risk, but because it sent every single one of her motherly instincts into over-drive.
Pierr Dusitoir may have been French by name, but he was most certainly not French by birth. In fact, the young man in question was only registered as a 'French National' for about four years. Prior to that, Pierr Dusitoir had grown up in arguably the most horrific country of the late nineties and early to mid two-thousands.
Zencasia.
Zencasia was a moderately sized country in the middle of Africa that was ruled by a tyrannical government, headed up by a ruthless warlord who had forced out the previous democratic government via a military coup. Said warlord had ruled with an iron fist for years, and was left un-checked because the rest of the world was simply too pre-occupied with protecting their oil supplies in the middle-east. However, by the late nineties, a resistance movement called the 'National Zencasian Liberation Front' or NZLF for short, sprang into life and began a brutal civil war that would tear the country to pieces.
Murder, rape and genocide was the order of the day as the Zencasian 'government' did everything and anything in order to keep control…..
And that included the use of Child soldiers.
The very thought made Grayfia want to scream in outrage and annihilate the entire country for what they did to hundreds, if not thousands of children. As a mother, she could imagine the pain that so many women felt as their children were taken away from them, most only four or five, to be raised as soldiers for the government. Millicas was her pride and joy, the one thing in the world she loved more than the rest of her family and her own life; and she couldn't imagine what she would do without him if he was taken from her. She had broken down crying for the first time in years as she read about the atrocities that were committed by men and children alike, and her husband had fared little better when she told him why she was crying.
Being tortured and torturing others.
Being executed and performing executions.
Beatings.
Death-matches for the older soldiers entertainment
Being forced to swim through mud, blood, guts and excrement.
Fighting on the front-lines.
Children leading other children into battle.
The mere thought that someone like Pierr Dusitoir had grown up in that kind of environment wrenched Grayfia's heart more than she thought possible. She couldn't actually understand how he managed to stay so…..
Normal.
She knew the effects of war first hand, and she couldn't believe how well adjusted Pierr was, considering the amount of violence, death and the horrific things he had probably seen and possibly even been forced to do over the course of his short life.
She had no-idea how he managed to get to France, but as far as she was concerned, Grayfia Lucifuge considered the person who saved Pierr to be an absolute saint. They had saved a good person from an early grave or from being damaged too greatly, and that alone warranted her respect. She didn't know the exact specifics for Pierr's life, but she could imagine what it may have been like…
And she wouldn't wish a fate like that upon even her greatest and most hated enemies during the Devil Civil war.
Shaking her head lightly, Grayfia shook her head lightly to dispel the dark thoughts from her head just as someone in the room spoke up.
"That was one hell of a speech that Rias just gave, wasn't it?" A red-haired man commented cheerfully to the other people in the room. He looked like a very rugged male version of Rias at thirty-five, with a strong build (currently hidden by a plain white suit and black shoes) and a handsome face that was currently sporting a full goatee.
"Indeed, Joseph. Your daughter seems to have undergone quite the change in the past ten days." Another, deep and slightly accented voice replied to the now Identified Lord Gremory. The owner of said voice also appeared to be a man in his mid-thirties, but instead of aqua-green eyes and red-hair, this man had bright blond hair and cool-blue eyes, whilst his slightly more lithe frame was clad in a dark-red, pin-striped suit and black shoes.
"Damn right, my little Ria-tan is looking ready for this battle now!" The third presences in the room commented jovially, earning a slight twitch of the eyebrow from Grayfia. The owner of said voice was a young looking man who seemed to be a beard-less and less weathered version of the Joseph. He was currently clad in a rather exuberant uniform; heavy gold and silver shoulder-guards and chest-plate, whilst a regal Imperial purple cloak flowed from his shoulders. Cuffing the young man on the back of the head, Grayfia sent the young man a pointed glare that earned a sheepish chuckle from him and a chuckle from everyone in the room.
"Sirzech-samma, please behave properly. You are a Satan, not a child." She told him sternly, earning a rather disturbing pout from the young man who eventually cowered under his wife's glare.
This ladies and gentlemen, was Sirzech Lucifer: The current Lucifer of the Satan's, one of the two Super-Devils in existence, a total Sis-con…..
And a man who was utterly whipped by his wife.
"Yes Grayfia-chan." He muttered, earning a stiff nod from Grayfia and more chuckles from those present. Eventually though, the focus shifted from Sirzech as the current Lord Gremory's wife spoke up.
"To be honest, I am surprised that Grayfia actually managed to persuade Rias into accepting someone training her and her peerage. When she first told us that, I didn't believe her, but seeing the way that Rias and her peerage are now acting; and the amount of money that she had to move to secure this man's services, I have to say she must've pulled off a small miracle." Venelana Gremory commented lightly. The current Lady Gremory looked like a brown haired and eyed and slightly shorter version of her daughter, and was currently wearing a rather formal dress, as was her blond haired and blue eyed Phenex Counterpart, Layla.
"It was easier than you would think, Gremory-San. Rias was far more accepting of help when it was from someone close to her own age." Grayfia supplied causally, earning a nod from most people in the room and a slight wince from her husband; he was the only one that she had told of the potential past for Pierr, the topic of their new discussion.
"Indeed, if your reports are fully accurate, then this Pierr Dusitoir could be a very valuable ally in the coming days." Joseph commented, obviously already dreaming of the destruction such a young man could wreck on their foes. However, before the current Lord Gremory could say anything, the final presence in the room spoke up.
"Don't get any ideas, Jo-kun. Pierr-kun's my little So-Tan's target and I can't possibly let you upset my precious little sister." The voice was distinctly younger than the others in the room, but it did sound slightly put-on. The owner of said voice appeared to be no older than fourteen or fifteen and was a very gorgeous girl with deep violet eyes and black hair that was currently pulled into twin-tails, and her voluptuous (yet short) frame was currently clad in a pink 'Magical girl' outfit and was sat cross-legged on a table.
This was none other than Serafall Leviathan, one of the four great Satan's and the second of the two recorded 'Super Devils'. Joseph chuckled slightly at the girls words as he scratched the back of his head lightly.
"Ahahah I wasn't going to recruit him for my peerage; merely offer him status as my contract magician. The boy is apparently already worthy of being called S-class, and you can hardly blame me for wanting such a powerful young man on side." He commented lightly, earning a slight glare from the current Leviathan.
"But seeing as Sona found him first, she obviously takes priority." Joseph finished with a small, nervous, chuckle, earning a bright smile from Serafall as she turned her attention back to the screen…..and just in time to catch the first significant bit of action.
(With Kiba, Rating Game battlefield, Gremory Group's Eastern Flank, Forests)
'Come on, keep following me. That's it you clueless mugs, keep following yours truly!' Yumi thought to herself gleefully as she lead the first of Riser's Knights and accompanying thee pawns on a wild goose-chase through the forest on the Gremory group's Eastern Flank.
It hadn't taken Yumi too long to find who she was looking for; given the amount of noise that they had been making as they casually strolled towards her master's territory. Normally that would have caused the gorgeous girl's temper to flare and lead to her lashing out; but after ten days of being taught by Pierr Dusitoir, she had learned that no matter the situation and no matter how angry you got, there was always a way you should channel your feelings.
And that was into efficiency.
If you were angry in fight, you let the anger fuel your blows but not guide them.
If you were relaxed and controlled, you let that feeling show and irritate you opponent.
Each and every emotion or feeling had its do's and don'ts, and Kiba had been forced to learn them very quickly. After all, she liked the way her perfectly formed ass was, and she didn't want it damaged by getting kicked around too much by her crazily strong teacher, so she had adapted quickly and learnt how to use such emotions. She was by no means brilliant in the art, and certainly no-where near Thierry's level. But she was far more skilled than any other member of her master's peerage, and as such she knew she had to use this ability as efficiently as possible.
Casting a glance over her shoulder, Yumi caught sight of one of Riser's knights, Siris if she remembered correctly, hot on her heels. There was some ten to fifteen meters between them, and in order for the first stage of Kiba's plan to work, she needed to keep that distance as it was. So, pumping a little extra demonic energy into her legs, Yumi managed to easily keep her foe at a good distance until she finally passed her marker.
Said marker was a snapped branch on a tree that she had just been forced to side-step; it marked the point at which Yumi needed to send out a small pulse of demonic energy so that the first part of her ambush would work. Letting said pulse go, Yumi let a small grin cross her face that was eerily similar to her French teacher….just as the pulse reached the runes.
BOOM!
{Riser Phenex's Knight has retired.}
'Yes!'
Yumi couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape her lips as she turned around and caught sight of the Knight turning into blue magical particles as she was pulled from the battlefield. Turning on her heels, Yumi immediately turned back around and sped back to where she had come from, intent on setting the second part of her plan into action.
Side-stepping, ducking and jumping through the forest with her luscious blond hair trailing behind her as she raced to enact the second part of her plan. Using her sacred-gear, Sword Birth, to summon an standard issue European broad-sword to her waiting grasps. Turning the speed up, the buxom young woman went flying through the forest as little more than a blur. She truly loved it when she travelled at full speed, it allowed her the opportunity to feel free and natural. Almost as much as fighting with a sword.
Eventually, after several moments of high-speed travel, Yumi came to a halt at the edge of a clearing, where the verdant green leaves of the underbrush offered her ample camouflage from the three pawns of Riser that were currently huddled in the centre of the clearing. The three of them looked genuinely shocked and confused as to what had just happened. One of them made to talk to the other two, leaving not a single set of eyes facing Yumi at all. Said buxom blond frowned slightly as the words of Pierr came back to her as she eyed up a path of attack; initially she had been shocked and horrified by her mentors words. However, as the ten days dragged on and as she continued to learn real battlefield craft, Dusitoir's words actually began to carry some weight with the young girl.
"If your enemy has their back turned on you Miss Kiba, they are still your enemy, and therefore they are still fair-game."
If you had asked her to attack her foe from behind just twelve or eleven days ago, Yumi Kiba would have stead-fastly refused and called you a dishonourable wretch…..
Now she would do it, even if it was with hesitation.
Taking a calming breath, Yumi quickly treble-checked her line of attack before darting from the tree-line like a viper striking after its prey. She was an indecipherable blur as she literally flew across the gap between her and her foes in a matter of seconds. The moment she was within distance, she raised her blade and unleashed a side-ways slice with a speed that only few could ever hope to follow and fewer could achieve.
The girl who stood next to her first victim let out a horrified shriek as her allies head fell from her shoulders and the crimson liquid of life splattered her face red whilst spinal fluids matted her hair to her head and her allies' dismembered body dissolved into blue magical particles. Kiba turned on her heels and darted towards the blood-spattered woman. However, it appeared that she did have something about her as she spun around and brought her bo-staff to bear.
Scoffing lightly, Kiba used all of the strength in her right arm to bring her blade down in an absolutely vicious arc that shattered the bo-staff wielded by Riser's pawn, and embedding it in the ground. Realising her mistake, Yumi immediantly activated her sacred gear and summoned another basic sword to her left hand, this time a Roman Glaudius. Snapping her arm forwards, Yumi's second victim let out a pain-filled choke as twenty inches of cold Roman-style steel found itself imbedded up to the hilt in the young girls chest.
Taking a moment, Kiba watched with absolute disinterest as her opponent slowly fell backwards, blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth like a river, before her body too disappeared into little more than the hauntingly beautiful blue magic particles that signified the Rating Game's safety measures had been kicked in so that said person did not actually die. Kiba didn't know the exact magic behind it all, but what she did know was that it stopped anyone from being mortally wounded, and that was all that mattered to Kiba.
Shaking her head lightly, Kiba turned her attention to the last member of the scouting party, who stood there absolutely frozen to the spot. Allowing a predatory smirk to grace her features, Kina decided to put Pierr's psychological attacks to work as she casually pulled her main broad-sword out of the dirt and strut towards her petrified opponent, whilst casually noting the voice of Sona Sitri making another announcement.
{Riser Phenex's three Pawns and one Rook have retired.}
Yumi felt her heart soar with joy as she heard that announcement. It meant that Koneko and Issei had managed to take out their targets, and if the rather large explosions were anything to go by, it sounded like Akeno was getting started with phase three of their plan. Everything was actually going their way, Pierr's brutal plan was actually working. Ten days ago they would have been annihilated within minutes, and now they were actually well on the path to winning this fight.….and as such, the gorgeous blond girl could only mutter one thing as she finished closing the distance between her and her opponent.
"I may have to kiss Pierr when I get back if we win."
(Kuoh Academy Sports Hall, three minutes prior to Sona's announcement )
Issei and Koneko watched as the four members of Riser's peerage that Pierr had anticipated would come marched in with cocky smirks plastered onto their faces. The group consisted of three pawns and a rook; one of the pawns being the Chinese, bo-staff wielding bitch that kicked Issei's perverted ass ten days ago, whilst the other two were the crazy-looking cat-twins. Issei's thoughts were about to stray into typical perverted territory.
Were being the operative word.
"Ouch! Koneko." Issei hissed at the loli-sized girl cuffed him around the back of the head. Said girl merely sent him her usual cold and impassive look before replying in her traditional monotone.
"No perverted thoughts ero-senpai ("Oi!"), need to focus." She replied quietly from her position atop a steel-support frame, with a vaulting-box that was currently stuffed full of as many heavy objects as they could scavenge, resting in her hands above her head. Issei shot her a dirty look before turning his attention to the bundle of javelins resting in his hand. Koneko had used some basic magic to reinforce them so that they would be able to harm Riser's peerage, and then used more magic to tie them all together with a spell that would eventually break in order to create a mini cluster-bomb; crude and brutal it may have looked, but if Pierr Dusitoir was to be believed then it was most certainly efficient in its job.
Turning his attention back to the group on the floor below him, Issei tightened his grip on the bundle as the group passed the edge of the basket-ball shooting area and towards the half-way mark, which was the point at which Issei and Koneko would begin their attack. Realising he had a few moments, Issei allowed his mind to wonder a little to the past ten days. Ten days ago, even if he had boosted to his limit, he would have had a bit of a tough time just keeping the javelin-bundle at shoulder-level, let alone throwing the damn thing. However, Issei could now afford to merely boost the once, and the damned things were barely noticeable, so he didn't doubt his ability to throw the things.
Yet despite all of this, all of the help that he had given them Occult Research Club, despite giving Issei the power to protect his precious master, he couldn't help but feel that Pierr Dusitoir was hiding something from them all. The way he talked about war, killing and these brutal tactics held some seriously bad connotations in Issei's mind; it meant that Pierr had been in some pretty nasty situations if he needed to learn all of this… but for now, it wasn't putting the ORC in any sort of danger, so Issei was willing to let the young French ex-patriot keep his secrets.
After all, everyone was entitled to them.
Hey, he may have been a perverted, good-for-nothing, but even Issei Hyodo had enough decency in him to respect another person's privacy…..
As long as said privacy did not involve preventing him seeing a naked girls tits….their sweet naked Oppai…..
Shaking his head slightly when he saw Konkeo narrow her eyes at him, Issei re-focused his gaze on the group bellow just as they crossed Koneko and Issei's established marker. Taking aim at the group's leader, the Chinese girl, Issei took several seconds to steady his aim before letting a small smirk cross his lips.
"Take this you fucking washboard!"
Letting his voice rise several octaves, Issei let the spears loose just as the young girl heard his battle-cry. Luckily, the weapon was already travelling far too quickly for the girl to even properly see, let alone dodge….and even more importantly, the weapon did not leave Issei's hands for no reason. After the first few moments of flight, the magical bindings holding the javelins together dispersed and the bundle dispersed into a hail of death that the Chinese-looking pawn didn't have a single hope in hell of dodging.
Within moments, her and the first of the cat-like twins were turned into devil pin-cushions as the javelins struck home. The other two watched in absolute horror as blood flew from their now defeated peerage members. The rook went to react, but she soon found herself absolutely crushed underneath several tones of gym equipment which then promptly exploded, courtesy of several runes that Koneko had placed there.
The second pawn, Li if Issei recalled correctly, had already turned tail and begun fleeing. She was about half-way across the basketball court before Issei grabbed a hold of a left-over javelin; taking a deep breath, the young pervert took aim before hurling it with the strength one would expect of the Red-Dragon-Emperor. Li was almost to the door that the scouting party had come in through, but before she could, her entire form was sent spiralling to the floor as the re-enforced piece of gym equipment ripped through her chest-cavity like wet tissue paper.
"HAHA!" Issei allowed himself a small fist-pump at the success of his throw, whilst Koneko let a tiny smile grace her features as the final member of the scouting party retired from the game.
{Riser Phenex's three Pawns and one Rook have retired.}
Turning to Koneko, Issei made a gesture with his head, and the duo dropped from the rafters before sprinting out of the back exit of the Sports Hall, just in time to see Akeno fly overhead with her bat-like wings at full stretch, whilst Rias herself broke off from her friend and went to set up the next stage of their ambush….all whilst pressing the transmit button on his headset.
"Prez, it's Issei. Sports-hall is clear, take out the Fried Chicken's queen when ready."
(Undisclosed Location, Underworld)
"By the Mao, are you sure that you got a magician to train Rias, Grayfia?" Joseph Gremory asked quietly as he watched his daughter's peerage absolutely annihilate half of Riser's peerage in one fell swoop. The methods they were using were extremely crude and almost never used on a battlefield, given the tendency Devils' had to simply turn Rating Games into power-slog fests; and as such, such 'underhanded' tactics would be absolutely scorned by most High-class devils.
However, for men like Joseph Gremory, such tactics were the marks of a real soldier.
Too many Devils were caught up in the human concept of 'honour' and 'chivalry', completely unaware of the fact that such things simply did not exist on a battlefield. On a battlefield, a true soldier would do anything and everything to win; from using the corpses of their friends as shields to beating their enemies to death with a rock. The majority of younger Devils were too infatuated with being grand and 'royal', and not efficient. And as much as he hated to admit it, his own daughter Rias was very much a part of that category.
Lack of ambition aside, Rias was too intent on protecting the Gremory name and her own personal honour than she was anything else. She didn't understand what it meant to actually fight an enemy, to command troops on a real battlefield. She treated her peerage too much like family and not at all like warriors and soldiers.
In part, Joseph had a hand in this. He, along with Sirzech, had pampered to her and encouraged a lot of the behaviour that was, (whilst not nasty), damaging. And as such, he had fully expected his daughter to merely march onto the battlefield with her honour-driven peerage and try to take Riser on face-to-face, her opening speech aside. He knew that such a plan would require a completely different mind-set to the one she had, and as such, Joseph had felt kind of bad for the young man who had put so much time into his daughter. After all, it was more than likely his effort was now going to be wasted.
But now he wasn't so sure.
Whoever this Pierr Dusitoir was, he wasn't just an extremely powerful and talented young magician. He was someone who had seen the fires of war and the hell of battle or was at least taught by someone who had seen it. His instructions and obvious training bore all the hallmarks of someone who was either ex-military or who had grown up in an extremely militaristic environment. In ten days he had turned his daughters peerage around; from a group of powerful no-hopers to an efficient fighting force that had a very real chance of beating Riser Phenex.
That wasn't something a magician could do.
That was something only a soldier could do.
And he was curious as to how the hell Grayfia managed to find him on such short notice.
Said woman stood there, her usual stoic face maintaining its composure as she easily replied to the current Lord Gremory.
"Yes, his control over lightening and fire is terrifying for one so young, as is his power. Why do you ask, Gremory-Samma?" She replied in her usual ice-cold, velvety monotone. Joseph turned to face the woman, putting the beat-down that his daughter and her queen were putting of Riser's queen out of his mind. The rest of the room quickly tore their gaze away from the match and watched as the current head of the Gremory family met Grayfia's gaze before continuing.
"Because I'm pretty sure you got a soldier to train them."
'There.' Joseph thought to himself as Grayfia's eyes widened almost imperceptibly, drawing a small smirk from the man and confused looks from everyone bar Sirzech who also had a tiny look of shock gracing his handsome features. However, it was a testament to her emotional control that the 'Silver-haired Queen of Annihilation' did not let anything else slip, and she quickly re-established her neutral mask as she shook her head in the negative, but the look in her eyes clearly communicated what she really wanted to say.
'There's more to this, but we will talk later.'
Absently noting that Sirzech had sent a similar look to his mother and his fellow Satan, Joseph turned his attention back to the screen at the front of the room just in time to catch the beginning of the end….
And what a finale it was going to be.
(With Rias Gremory, Rating Game battlefield, Outside New-school building.)
"Prez, we've dealt with the last group, heading to you now."
Yumi's sensual voice crackled to life in Rias' ear as she watched the final body of blue magical particles disperse into the sky, earning a small smirk from Rias.
Rias watched with a growing smile as the rest of her peerage ran over to join her, Asia and Akeno just outside the New-school building. They had just finished off the rest of Riser's peerage, with his little sister and Bishop, Ravel, retiring after Yumi had threatened to coat her sword in holy-water and cut her face.
All of them looked a little ragged, with Koneko and Issei looking slightly worse for wear than Kiba. Issei's blazer was gone whilst the bottom half of his right trouser leg was missing, with several cuts on his person bleeding lightly. Koneko fared little better, although fortunately her modesty was still protected by her shirt. Yumi had several slashes in her top that revealed the lacy black bra she was wearing in order to contain her bountiful chest, whilst a single cut on her cheek provided the only source of bleeding on the gorgeous knight.
Motioning to Asia with her head, the young girl immediately raced forwards and healed Kiba's wound with a swift application of Twilight healing, before settling in front of Koneko, causing a faint green aura to envelop the stoic first-year as her wounds and some of her energy was slowly replaced by the ex-nun. Casting her gaze towards the school building, Rias let her sense flow a little just to make sure that Riser hadn't given them the slip and was hiding elsewhere. Luckily, it seemed that the 'Fried-Chicken-bastard' was still as arrogant as ever, and was casually lounging around on the roof-top, awaiting the arrival of her peerage.
'Well that's not happening. If he wants to fight us, he'll do it on our terms.'
She could already imagine the pundits and the commentators having a fit at her peerages display. They had fought the battle with such brutal and simplistic efficiency that the majority of the Devil population was probably calling her a 'cheater', 'dishonourable' or 'cowardly'. Ten days ago, such thoughts would have sent Rias over the edge, but now they served as little more than an annoyance. They still irked her, but ultimately, whenever she found herself questioning her decisions, she always allowed her thoughts to flow back to those spoken by a certain French ex-patriot and a lecherous pawn.
"Don't worry Prez. I'm not fighting for Rias Gremory, heiress to the Gremory family. I'm fighting for Rias Gremory, the girl who gave me back my life and whom I will protect with my life. So don't worry so much, because we're going to win!"
"Gremory. I have a single question for you; do you want to win? If not, ignore what I'm about to say. If you do, then listen well. If you want to win this fight, you need to ignore EVERYTHING you think you know about fighting. Because it will not help you. The only way to beat Riser is to fighter smarter and more effectively, no matter how brutal or simplistic that may be. So if you want your freedom, cast aside your pride and do what you must. For that, in the end, is all that matters."
The second set of words had been spoken by Pierr. There was no tone to them, no emotion or conviction; but they still managed to capture Rias' mind. He had spoken them during her first strategy session when he had initially outlined his plan to her. Naturally, she had been adamant that she would not fight so dishonourably, but after Pierr had finished speaking and she had gone away and thought about them over the course of the following day's training, she'd realised how true they were. Rias wanted to be free…. And as such, she had dug deep and found the resolve to fight like Pierr taught her.
She wanted her freedom, the right to choose who to spend the rest of her life with.
And as such, she drew strength from Issei's words.
Every time she thought about what he had said, Rias couldn't help but let her heart flutter a little bit. Those were the words she had so desperately longer to hear in her life; that someone was fighting for her, and not what she was. It touched her deeply that her cute little servant was willing to fight too hard for her, and now, whenever she looked at Issei, she couldn't help but let her heart race a little…
'Maybe….no. Focus Rias, we haven't won this thing yet. So keep the focus and get on with it.'
Motioning to Akeno, Rias watched as her best-friend and Queen raced to the side of the New-school building and placing her hand on it. After several moments, a series of runes spread across the surface of the building, making it look like some Language scholar had gone crazy and plastered the runes onto the building. Breaking into a sprint, the buxom ravenett reached her master again before allowing a decent sized pulse of demonic energy to escape her body.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
"Oh my!" Akeno stated airily whilst hiding her mouth behind the long sleeve of her shrine-maiden's outfit, causing Rias to laugh before coughing slightly as she inhaled some of the smoke and dust from her Queen's attack. The rest of her peerage has already finished up and was already spreading around the place, readying to enact the final stages of their plan.
Waiting patiently, Rias stood as still as a statue as she waited for Riser to emerge from the smoke, which he eventually did….in his usually over-dramatic style.
With a huge burst of demonic energy that manifested itself in the form of a pillar of flames that reached the sky, Riser stepped forth from his rebirth with little more than his red suit trousers and shoes cladding his body. His normally handsome face was twisted into a rather ugly snarl and his back played host to a pair of fiery wings that made the young man look like his terrifying and powerful name-sake.
"HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME! DO YOU HAVE NO HONOUR?" He roared in absolute outrage, earning a coy smirk from Rias. Traditionally, if the King was the only piece left on one side, it was custom for the opposing force to engage him or her in a territory of their choosing….however, as Riser had clearly failed to notice over the past few hours, Rias Gremory was not playing by tradition.
She was playing to win.
"My, whatever do you mean Riser? What have I done that is so dishonourable?" She replied cheekily, causing the young Phenex's anger to increase ten-fold whilst his power-output continued to climb rapidly.
"You have done nothing but hidden and attacked my servants when they've least expected it! You have ganged up on my Queen and shamelessly and cowardly attacked my other pieces! AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF, YOU REFUSE ME MY RIGHT TO CHOOSE OUR PLACE OF BATTLE!"
Rias cocked her head to the side and recited the words that Pierr had given her in order to kick-start the final stage of the battle.
"But Riser, this is a battlefield. And there are no rules here. So would you just get off your high-horse already and admit defeat before we have to crush you?" Rias replied calmly, causing the young Phenex to twitch ever so slightly due to how much anger was now pent up inside of him…..
And eventually it simply boiled over.
With an animalistic roar, Riser summoned forth a gargantuan wave of flames that would easily engulf herself and Akeno ten times over. Watching as the flames raced towards her, Rias waited until the last possible seconds before concentrating her power into a small dome that protected her and Akeno. Despite this, Rias could still feel some of the heat as the flames washed across her shield like the sea's waves over the rocks of a beach. After several more seconds, the temperature dropped back down, and as such Rias dispersed her temporary shield before turning her attention to Riser.
Said son of the Phenex family was currently flying back from a punch from Koneko, which eventually resulted in his impacting with one of the few pieces remaining of the New-school buildings' walls. Crashing through it in a hail of brick dust and mortar, the youngest son of the mighty Phenex household let out another animalistic roar as he jumped back to his feet, with his intentions clearly set on turning Koneko into ash.
However, before he could even summon his powers, Riser found his cheek cracking under a heavy blow from Issei's gauntleted fist, who then broke of into a wild sprint behind some nearby debris. The man went to try and catch Issei, but before he could, he found the tendons on the back of his legs severed as Yumi raced past him; ponytail fluttering in the breeze and a smirk gracing her features.
[BOOST!]
Hearing the cry of the Boosted Gear, Riser snapped his attention back to Issei as flames coated his body and repaired the damage done to him. But again, before he could even contemplate attacking the young man, Riser found himself sandwiched between a wall of the Bael clans power and a veritable battlement of lightning. Using his wings, the youngest son of Alexander and Layla Phenex raced into the air like some sort of fiery bird out of hell (which wasn't actually too far from the truth). However, before he re-aquire his targets, he was greeted once again by a stoic Koneko, who's leg was raised for an axe-kick.
"Down you go…..time to be cooked."
And with that, the loli smashed her foot into the older devil's head, sending him back down to Earth….
And back in-between the attacks of Rias and Akeno.
"OH SHI…."
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
[BOOST!]
Rias watched with a huge amount of satisfaction as Riser was once again forced to expend a rather large portion of his demonic energy in healing his wounds with another gargantuan pillar of fire. Each and every time he did so, he grew closer and closer to becoming weak enough for the Occult Research club to finish the fight with their secret weapon….
But they still had some work to do.
"ENOUGH!"
Shaking her head, Rias was barely able to throw herself out of the way of a rage-fuelled, fiery fist aimed for her head. Riser ground to a stop next to her prone form, but just as he prepared to unleash a destructive bout of pyrotechnic power, Rias unleashed a large, uncontrolled wave of Destruction at her foe, causing his eyes to widen in surprise before the entirety of his upper body was annihilated and rendered into nothingness.
Summoning her wings, Rias just managed to get herself airborne in order to avoid yet another pillar of Phenex fire as Riser emerged yet again, his eyes literally flaming orbs due to his rage.
With a bestial roar, he set off after Rias in another attempt to hit her. But just as he was about to get airborne, Koneko grabbed a hold of his legs and threw him back into the ground. The loli was just about to reposition, but before she could, a wall of white-hot flames raced towards her to quickly for her to dodge.
BOOM!
Rias felt her breath hitch as she waited for Sona to announce the dreadful and damaging news…..but to her eternal surprise, Rias found herself letting out a cheer of joy as Yumi appeared next to Asia with a somewhat roughed up Koneko in her arms.
"Sorry I couldn't get you sooner and stop any damage, but I had to move Issei." The buxom blond stated with an apologetic smile, earning a small nod of acceptance from Koneko as Yumi set the Rook down on her feet.
Satisfied that her peerage was safe, Rias was about to unleash another attack, but before she could, she found herself screaming out in pain as her left abdomen exploded into agony, causing her to lose focus on her wings and crash to the ground.
Looking to her side, Rias let out a moan of agony as she caught sight of the gaping wound in her side that was currently pouring with blood like a faucet.
'Shit, shit, shit! We can't lose it now, not like this! Not when we're so close!' Rias thought to herself through the sea of agony clouding her mind. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, Rias became aware of the green glow that had enveloped her wound, which even now was starting to stitch back together. Catching sight of a fully focused Asia and a livid Yumi, Rias was just able to turn her head in time to watch as Riser was enveloped by another of Akeno's lightning storms.
Said girl was literally bristling with electrical energy, her gorgeous face set in a furious expression and her eyes alive with absolute hatred for Riser as she continued to hammer him with ferocious lightning attacks as he attempted to heal his injuries. Eventually, the 'Priestess of thunder' was forced to stop her light show due to a lack of demonic energy that caused her to collapse.
And despite her perilous position, one could tell that her attacks had not been in vain.
Riser was now breathing heavily as he emerged from his pillar of fire in little more than a pair of boxers. His body was still marred with blood, and if one were to look closely enough, they would see that several of his smaller, superficial wounds, had not closed.
Which meant that he was weakening.
Turning his furious gaze to Akeno's prone form, Riser was about to unleash an attack, but a tag-team by both Yumi and Koneko forced him to abandon his attack in favour of dealing with Rias' two pieces that were currently 'in-play'.
Koneko would either dart in and push Riser away or stop him from unleashing any sort of magical attacks, whilst Yumi would use her ice-sword to prevent any flame-enhanced fists from hitting the two of them and also lash out and damage the prized son of the Phenex household as and when she could.
However, it was clear to Rias that the two of them were on their last legs. The pair of them had been fighting almost non-stop the entire time, and as such they were both virtually running on fumes by this point.
Even Riser was in better shape than the two of them, and as such it came as no surprise to Rias when Koneko was sent flying away with a back-fist and Kiba had her leg broken by a vicious kick to the right thigh, causing the gorgeous blond to collapse at Riser's feet before receiving a kick to the ribs that sent her skidding across the floor. Both Yumi and Koneko were both conscious and theoretically able to continue, but both Rias and Riser knew that it wouldn't matter in the long run…
'Come on Issei, come on…..'
"I'll give you credit Rias, you've pushed me further than any other enemy I have had to face. Despite you dishonourable start, you have finished well enough to warrant me keeping you as my wife. Who knows? Maybe I'll even let you compete if you can produce such performances consistently." Riser stated arrogantly between breaths, his usual cocky smirk back in place as he powered up one final attack; a gargantuan wave of flames that rose behind him like a tsunami of unholy fire…..
"Unfortunately for you though, I still have to discipline you for all of….."
"OI! FRIED CHICKEN!"
Snapping his head around, Rias watched with absolute glee as Issei stood little more than two foot behind Riser. Said devil turned around lazily and glanced at Issei like he wasn't even worth the time or effort.
"What do you want, low-class filth? Can't you see I'm busy?" He growled out, but that annoyed look soon became confused as Issei produced a small vial of clear liquid from his left trouser pocket and proceeded to speak.
"Do you know what puts out a fire?"
Uncorking the bottle, Issei placed it in his gauntleted left hand before answering his own question…..
"Water."
[TRANSFER!]
The moment the green-glowing water hit Riser, the youngest son of the Phenex family unleashed a howl of pain that caused even Rias to wince slightly…which occurred even more when she caught sight of his face.
Gone was the smooth aristocratic skin that Rias had come accustomed to loathing, and in its place was the muscle and sinew that allowed the bastard to pull his facial expressions. The muscle was red and raw, with blood seeping from everywhere as he clawed at his skinless face and neck. The wall of fire behind Riser dropped and dispersed as he desperately attempted to initiate a burning (the Phenex name for their regeneration).
However, this time it wasn't working.
Which wasn't all that surprising to Rias.
After all, Holy water damages a Devil at the best at times and restricts their powers; but when it was given and extra boost by Issei's Sacred Gear?
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
It was more like acid that completely nullified the use of any and all demonic powers.
Riser continued to claw at his face even as Issei lined him up for a punch whilst he spoke.
"I may not be the smartest or the strongest member of Bucho's peerage; seeing as I don't have Akeno-san's amazing control over lightning, Yumi-san's skill with a blade, Koneko-chan's strength or Asia-chan's sacred gear.
But I do have one thing that they don't.
An unbeatable cause!
'Cause I fight for my President, Rias Gremory and nobody else. And even if I had to fight God himself to keep her safe….
I'D TEAR APART HEAVEN TO KEEP HER HAPPY YOU FUCKING BASTARDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!" Issei had begun his charge mid-speech, and was within striking distance of Riser just as he finished his speech. The moment after, he unleashed his gaunleted fist into Riser's stomach, causing his entire abdomen to explode into a shower of blood that burst forth from his back.
Ever so slowly, the Phenex began to fall off of Issei's fist, slowly turning into blue magical particles as he went, with his body dispersing completely just before hitting the floor.
An eerie silence settled over the battlefield for what seemed like an eternity, until a slightly shaky and disbelieving voice spoke up over the annoucement system, as if they could also scarcely believe what had just happened in front of their very eyes.
{R ….. Riser Phenex of….of the Noble house of Phenex has been defeated by way of combat and has been deemed unable to continue fighting on medical grounds.
Therefore…
The winner is Rias Gremory!}
A/N:
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd cut!
Okay, with this chapter we have basically finished the Phenex vs Gremory arc of DxD. The next chapter will essentially be tying up the fallout from this chapter; as well as setting up the next stage of the story, which we will talk about a bit more later on in these A/N.
So you've finally gotten not only a nice bit of violence, but also what was not only an original Rating game, but also an entertaining one! I'd like extra-special feed-back for this, as I put a decent bit of thought into this and it took me forever to write, so please leave a review with your thoughts!
Any ways, moving on. You guys finally got to see a little bit of Thierry's past. Obviously nobody knows the truth about it all, except for Thierry and Azazel, but hopefully the information as to his true native country (which I created in order to avoid offending anyone) will whet your appetite for a while. Oh, and before any of you ask 'Why would Thierry let his past be known?'; I refer you to my earlier statement.
It's easier to lie when there's some truth in the lie. And besides, all that Grayfia and Sirzech know is that he grew up in Zencasia, nothing more. After all, we can't have our Heroes' secrets being given away so soon now, can we.
*Calming breath.* Okay, now to have a quick talk about the next major section of the story…
Which will be a dual arc!
Crazy I know, but let me tell you this; my original arc and the Excalibur arc are literally going to blow your mind. Canon is going to be saying bye-bye for a while as we get to see Thierry truly let rip in a race against the clock whilst Issei and the gang fight a losing battle against a mad-man looking to restart the great war!
In fact, there's a sneak-peak of it below (as I am about a chapter and a bit ahead of you guys and further than that in my planning, so that if I'm ill I can at least post something)…so do have a look.
Any ways, enough outta me for now. Just drop me a review to tell me what I did well and what I did not so well, and if you want to keep up to date with 'The Jackal of the Grigori' then drop a fave or a follow (or maybe even both).
But for now,
Keep it real like a Ninja.
Peace,
MetalGearMantis.
(EXCLUSIVE SNEAK-PEEK OF THE 'ACID AIR' AND 'EXCALIBUR' DUAL ARC)
The entire complex surrounding Thierry had turned into a fire-storm. Steel sheets fell from above like gigantic hailstones whilst molten iron and copper dripped from the pipes surrounding 'The Jackal' and his opponent like raindrops. The entire complex was coming down around their heads and yet Thierry could still not get his opponent to yield.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY KUROKA! IF YOU DON'T NOT ONLY ARE WE GOING TO DIE BUT THE WHOLE OF KYOTO WITH US!" He screamed over the roar of the white hot flames that were creeping ever closer to the two combatants, who despite the tremors of explosions still managed to keep their focus fixed on only their enemy. His tone was neither pleading or aggressive, it was as cold as ice itself, logical to the core; it was only said loudly so that his opponent could hear him.
Kuroka's normally playful smile was gone, and in its place an impassive mask that would rival Thierry's own. The 'Black-cat' was set in her standard guard and her amber-yellow eyes fixed solely on him. Her right eye was beaten shut and her body sported a myriad of cuts and bruises, whilst Thierry fared little better. His goggles were smashed and his nose was absolutely shattered underneath his mask, whilst his right arm burned from the deep laceration that he had been forced to cauterise earlier thanks to Lucretzia.
"I DON'T CARE! I HAVE TO DO THIS, TO KEEP ME AND MY LITTLE SHIRONE SAFE!" She responded resolutely, earning a snarl of frustration from Thierry.
"THIS WHOLE PLACE IS COMING DOWN! WE'VE GOT FIVE MINUTES TOPS BEFORE WE'RE TOAST AND 15 UNTIL KYOTO CHOKES UNDER AA-35." He yelled as he brought his left hand to rest on his Katana handle, his mightiest weapon under these circumstances. Kuroka seemed to hesitate for several seconds before her face settled into an uncharacteristic snarl as she setteled into an offensive stance.
"THEN YOU BETTER DANCE QUICKLY JACKAL!"
And with that….
The two began their dance of death anew.