The Lone Vigilante Issei – High School DxD

Hey everyone, it's me Hide Shinyama.

I delayed on releasing the next chapter again. I apologize once again. I ended up being busier than usual in the past few days and failed to release it on time.

I also added a lot more than I expected, too.

But anyway, on to the chapter.

In the last chapter, Issei and Sanma have been fighting through the hotel, facing all sorts of dangers.

To make matters worse, their old enemies – the Fallen Angels – make a reappearance, confronting them in the most inconvenient moments.

Will they be able to defeat them and save the hostages?

Find out in…

Chapter 39 – Hotel Crisis – Two Clashes

3rd of October, Saturday, 8:37 pm – in the Trio's apartment

"Things just keep getting worse…" Matsuda said grimly, as he looked at the laptop computer.

"No kidding. And it's worse than anything the media would report about," Motohama agreed, while sitting next to him on the sofa.

Currently, the two of Issei's friends were looking at a live news feed, checking for any developments. Not only did they watch the news feed, but also at live footage coming from the Chopping Board Type 2. With it, they were monitoring every development, whether it be outside the hotel or inside it. Even though, they were supporting Issei (and Sanma, too) from behind the scenes, they felt left out, considering that they were sitting at home, doing nothing otherwise.

Nobody felt that way more than Motohama. At least, Matsuda's Chopping Board Type 2 was of help. But what of Motohama's gloves? Or even his seax? What good were they?

If only he could get in there and actually use them…

Suddenly, they heard a knock on the door.

"Could you get that?" Matsuda asked Motohama.

Motohama nodded and opened the door. It was Shinyama Hide and came striding in.

"Boys, good to see you. Have you seen the news at the hotel?" Hide asked rather abruptly.

"Yeah, sure we have," Matsuda answered from the sofa. "Heck, we're trying our best to support Issei and Sanma with the Chopping Board Type 2."

"Yeah, but things just keep getting worse. As if having trigger-happy terrorists wasn't bad enough, now we have… yellow slimy shapeshifting thingies that can eat people…" Motohama told Shinyama.

"Wait, wait! Did you say they can shapeshift and devour humans?" Shinyama interrupted.

Motohama raised an eyebrow at that. "Yeah, they do, at least according to Issei. Why do you ask?" Motohama asked confused.

Shinyama didn't say anything. He pinched his forehead while being deep in thought.

"Umm… is everything okay?" Matsuda asked in concern.

Shinyama didn't reply for a while. He just stood there, rubbing his forehead until he stopped and looked at the two boys with serious eyes.

"Boys? Get Phoebe here," Shinyama simply said.

""HAAH!?"" Matsuda and Motohama voiced in surprise.

"You heard me. Get her here. Now," Shinyama repeated.

"But… but we can't!" Matsuda argued. "Phoebe is monitoring the situation and we can't…"

"Then call her back anyway! The situation right now is dangerous, not only for those inside the hotel, but possibly even for the entire world!" Shinyama announced dramatically.

Matsuda and Motohama looked at Shinyama confused, but also with unease. Shinyama, noticed this and repeated himself a third time.

"What are you staring at? Do it now!" Shinyama demanded once again.

"Okay, okay…" Matsuda said, as he got out his remote control and contacted his faithful helicopter A. I.

"Phoebe, get back here immediately," Matsuda ordered her.

{Yes, captain. Returning back to base} Phoebe's monotone voice said.

As Matsuda looked at the mini chopper's camera view turn away from the hotel and move closer towards the direction of their apartment, Motohama couldn't help but question Shinyama's wisdom.

"Why did you tell Phoebe come back here?" Motohama asked of Shinyama.

Shinyama turned to Motohama and put his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Listen. I've got a mission for you. And only you can do it…"

"A mission? What kind of mission?" Motohama asked surprised. Matsuda, turned to face the two of them. He, too, wanted to know.

"Not yet. We're not complete. We're still missing out on one person," Shinyama told him.

"What? Who?" Matsuda asked this time.

And then, to Matsuda's and Motohama's surprise, somebody came into the room…


3rd of October, Saturday, 8:41 pm – 11th floor, Hotel Entertainment

Issei looked at his opponents. Five Fallen Angels all out to kill him. He was cornered, too. Just behind him the cold wind was hitting the back of his neck. This was completely bad. Fallen Angel's… out of all times, why did they have to attack him now? Heck, why were they even here in the first place? Were they collaborating with the terrorists? Probably…

But Issei didn't have time to ponder more, for the Fallen Angels were making their move.

"Now die!" one of the Fallen Angels summoned a lightning spell and used it against Issei.

Issei jumped and rolled out of the way. The bolt barely missed. Issei tumbled towards the tied manager with a roll and landed on his feet. Issei had no time to rest for the next attack came about. The leading Fallen Angel in the trench coat attacked Issei with a light spear.

Issei caught it with his left hand, protected by the Boosted Gear and used his right hand for support. With the trench coat Fallen Angel trying to stab Issei and Issei trying to keep the light spear away from himself, the two of them were at a stalemate.

[Boost!] Issei tried to boost his physical strength and push the Fallen Angel back, but the Fallen Angel was surprisingly strong. He used even more strength to push the spear closer to Issei's face.

The Fallen Angel smirked, while Issei clenched his teeth in discomfort.

[Boost!] Issei's strength doubled again. This time it did something. The Fallen Angel gritted his teeth, as the light spear was being pushed away from Issei's face.

Issei was feeling a bit cocky at that moment. But the chuckle of his opponent dampened any optimism.

"Not bad, kid…" he said, as one of the other Fallen Angels lunged at Issei from behind with his spear.

Issei noticed this thanks to a mirror hanging on the other side of the room. He let go off the light spear with his right hand (which didn't have the Boosted Gear on it) and caught the other spear. The touch of the spear wasn't painful, but it was a pain for him to endure the strain it put on him, as now Issei was pressed on both sides by Fallen Angel's – with one hand each. And Issei had to say, they weren't weak. If something needed to be said, had Issei never trained himself or achieve his current abilities, he would have died within the first second.

Speaking of getting killed, the spears were getting closer to his face!

[Boost!] Issei charged himself but keeping both his opponents at bay with one arm each was a difficult feat.

"Let's see how many spears you can catch!" shouted one of the Fallen Angel's, as he and another Fallen Angel attacked from above with their light spears.

"Not good…" Issei mumbled as he tried to think of a way to dodge the assault.

He realized that the only way to do so was to dodge. Only the problem was that he was pinned between two Fallen Angel's…

Issei barely dodged the attack by a few centimeters as he moved his head back. The two spears that were in Issei's hands whizzed past his face harmlessly, as he fell backwards. In doing so, Issei narrowly avoided the two light spears that drove into the floor near his legs.

Just before any of the Fallen Angels could make the next move, Issei held up the Boosted Gear.

[Boost!]

The Fallen Angels could feel Issei's power rising within him. They could tell, something wasn't right…

"TAKE… THIS!" Issei yelled out and shot at his assailants.

[Dragon Shot!]

The five Fallen Angel's widened their eyes upon seeing the immense power the attack had in store.

The ones that attacked Issei with their spears from both sides dodged it, but the other two whose spears had pierced the floor couldn't dodge in time. They raised their magic shields as the Dragon Shot hit them full force.

[KABOOM!]

The two Fallen Angels screamed as they were caught by the Dragon Shot and blasted away. The other Fallen Angels took defensive positions as they guarded themselves from the impact of the blast. The tied-up manager could only cry in fright as the chair he was on was sent flying to the sides.

Issei, on the other hand, was pushed back by the recoil of the Dragon Shot. Because he shot at an angle pointing upwards, the shot forced Issei backwards and downwards through the floor.


3rd of October, Saturday, 8:42 pm – just outside the complex of Hotel Entertainment

Looking from below, the police and all the onlookers saw a terrifying sight. A red beam tore through the skyline with a loud roar and blinding brightness. Everybody took cover in whatever way they could even as the beam blasted above them, ascending upwards.

After a second or two, the beam vanished as if it was never there to begin with.

"What the heck was that!? Tell me you caught that Yamada?" a journalist shouted, as she tried to get her ringing ears to calm down.

"Luckily, I did! If we hadn't interviewed Officer Kogoro here, we would have never caught it!" said the camera man named Yamada.

"I'm sorry, but duty calls," police inspector Kogoro said, as he hurried to his men.

"No problem! Get rolling, Yamada. We've got the scoop of the decade!" the journalist told her colleague excitedly.

Other journalists at the scene were doing the same or calling their employers about what had happened.

Inspector Kogoro, on the other hand, was questioning his men about it, but they were just as clueless as everyone else.

"What do we do now, sir?" a policeman asked.

"Send the helicopters in! We're going to take a closer look. But do not shoot unless you're attacked first!" Inspector Kogoro ordered.

The policeman nodded and went to relay the message to his colleagues.

Inspector Kogoro remained standing. Looking all the way up to the window with narrowed eyes, he tried to figure out what caused it. But one thing was for sure. It was something out of the ordinary… again.


3rd of October, Saturday, 8:43 pm – fashion hall, ground floor, Hotel Entertainment

Even as the blast roared through the sky, Sanma barely noticed it. His ears may have picked off the distinct sound of a roar, but Sanma ignored that. Right now, he was too focused on his foe before him, the Fallen Angel known as Zaavan, who was flying around the room with his wings.

The many hostages that were tied up all over the place were on his mind, too. Sanma felt an immense pressure on his body and soul, but he stayed calm by remembering the positives of the situation.

If his previous encounter with a Fallen Angel was anything to go by, they were scarily strong. Sanma remembered the injuries that were inflicted on him by Yuda. What's worse was the fact that they could fly. Hitting them and punching them was nearly impossible once they took flight – and Zaavan was doing just that.

Despite knowing this, Sanma felt that this time was going to be different. Sanma had an advantage compared to last time. The last time, he was unaware of even the existence of Fallen Angels, not to mention their battle tactics. But this time, he knew how they fought, he knew how they moved and thus he knew he had a chance of winning.

Sanma was in a battle stance as Zaavan and gestured him to come with his outstretched hand.


3rd of October, Saturday, 8:43 pm, 9th floor, Hotel Entertainment

Issei felt quite sore, as he lay there slumped inside a bathtub with rubble and dust all around him. He opened his eyes and wondered where he was.

[Partner, it seems like the Dragon Shot pushed you down two floors into one of the bathrooms] Ddraig answered.

"What?" Issei asked and looked above him.

Indeed, judging by the holes that were made in the ceiling above him and in the floor above him, it seemed to be the truth. Thankfully, nobody was showering in here or it would have been really awkward…

Issei got out of the tub and on his feet. This was no time to rest, the Fallen Angels might be here anytime and he needed to get away. He stumbled out of the bathroom and into a living-room of a suite. Although his mind told him to move, his body told him to rest. Seeing a nearby sofa, he fell on it and took in the soft fabric of the leather sofa.

Issei didn't realize how exhausted he was being on his guard, fighting and running all night. Hence, resting like this… felt so good…

[Partner, snap out of it! This is no time to rest. The Fallen Angels could be here any minute!] Ddraig urged him.

"Just… a minute… I just wanna slee-" Issei wanted to say just before drifting to sleep. But the sound of the door being kicked open, brought Issei's mind back into the waking world.

"You! Don't move!" one of the terrorists barked, as he and about ten men came in and swarmed the room. Some of them had hand guns and others machine guns, all pointed at Issei.

[I warned you, Partner] Ddraig said to Issei.

Issei said nothing and gritted his teeth. He was trapped.


3rd of October, Saturday, 8:43 pm – fashion hall, ground floor, Hotel Entertainment

Meanwhile, Zaavan opened his hand and charged a light orb with it, then looked at Sanma with glee.

Sanma backed away and was ready to dodge until he remembered.

'If I dodge, the hostages will be killed!' Sanma realized and looked at the poor hostages behind him with a nervous sweat.

If that was the case, then he either had to dodge and let the attack detonate the explosives on the hostages or take the hit for them. Either way, it wouldn't end well for Sanma.

"Hehehe… I see you've realized your dilemma," Zaavan laughed at Sanma's misfortune. "But it's too late…" he said before throwing the orb at Sanma.

It was then that Sanma had only a split second too decide whether to dodge or to take the hit. Now, most people would dodge such an attack being either too afraid to take the hit or doing so out of pure instinct. Those who were brave or have resigned to their fate would have taken the light orb attack and die in a noble act of self-sacrifice.

Sanma, however, was taught to think outside the box to get out of problems. And think outside the box he did.

'Given his personality, this might work…' Sanma thought to himself, as he leaned backwards letting the orb zoom right over him. Just when it was above him, missing by a few inches…

[Moko Takabisha!]

…Sanma fired a chi-based blast at the light orb from below, sending Zaavan's attack through the ceiling.

[KABOOM!]

The ceiling broke with a loud noise, revealing Sanma's massive attack power as the blast made holes through the floors all the way into the night sky.

"Huh?" Zaavan froze in the air confused at what had happened with his eyes staring into the night sky.

At the next second, he sensed something and dodged. He felt a razor-sharp sensation along his left cheek, leaving a cut just below his ear, followed by the sound of something metallic cutting a piece of chain along the walls. Zaavan whirled around and saw the offending object in question – a coin that now lay harmlessly on the ground. He quickly turned his attention back to Sanma, while nursing his wound. He saw that Sanma had taken out a wallet and was flicking a second coin with his fingers.

"Hey, ya like games don't ya? Why don't we play this game?" Sanma challenged the Fallen Angel.


3rd of October, Saturday, 8:44 pm – in the canteen, ground floor, Hotel Entertainment

[KABOOM!]

The many hostages felt the boom that shook the building. Some among them were panicking. Others were screaming or hugging each other tightly. And a smaller number of them had lost their nerves and were making a run for it. They headed out the back door of the kitchen in full sprint.

"Hey, is this the signal?" asked one of the braver hostages, a man with a full beard, who did his best to stay calm.

"Signal?" asked another hostage.

"Yeah, that kid said that they would create an explosion to distract the terrorists. Could this be it?" the bearded man asked.

There was simultaneous chatter and confusion at first. And then, they decided to head to the door in a great throng. There were so many that the hostages were pressing against each other as they tried to exit through the kitchen.

Watching it all from the back were Nakane and Cat Fu. Ever since they discovered Sanma's two-timing, they couldn't help but stay away from each other. They already were bitter rivals for Sanma's heart, so how could they even bear each other's presence.

With the explosion, they both came to the conclusion that now was the time to leave. Cat Fu already knew about the plan from the beginning, having discussed it with both Issei and Sanma. Like the other hostages, she also assumed that this was Issei's doing. She wasn't sure how he managed to cause an explosion, but if that was his plan… she teared up whenever she thought of Sanma. She was still angry at his betrayal, but still longed for him in her heart. She hoped she could find him among the hostages, especially the group of hostages that arrived from the concert hall. But apparently, he had left to save some more people in the building.

'Airen…' Cat Fu thought sadly.

Sanma always liked to play the hero. But why couldn't he be the ideal husband?

Cat Fu shook her head. It wasn't the time to be thinking of these things. For now, she needed to survive. And to do that, she needed to leave this hotel.

Nakane, on the other hand, was more angry than sad. Every time Sanma would give her a reason to fall in love with him, he would always ruin it with his bad behavior. It didn't matter whether it was criticizing her cooking or calling her an "uncute tomboy", putting his foot in his mouth or even two-timing with other girls… it all caused her to get angry, wallop him and then the cycle would repeat. But the thing was that this was normal for the two of them. This time, however, their argument felt particularly bad. It felt as if things were never going to be same from now on, like their relationship had reached a particular point where it might go downhill.

Nakane looked toward the door to the hallway.

"Sanma…" she mumbled with worry.

But just like Cat Fu, she shook her head and focused on getting out of here.

"I hope you suffer jerk!" Nakane cursed Sanma, as she joined the throng of people trying to flee.


3rd of October, Saturday, 8:44 pm, 9th floor, Hotel Entertainment

[KABOOM!]

All of a sudden, the hotel shook with such intensity that all the terrorists – who were standing – were knocked over violently. Some of them suffered concussions from the fall of were injured by falling debris. Issei – who was lying on the sofa – was lucky. He was not thrown to the ground and not much debris fell on him either.

After the shaking stopped, Issei saw the terrorists lying there confused and hurt.

"What on earth…?" Issei wondered as to what that quake was.

[Partner! Now is your chance! Move!] Ddraig urged his host.

Issei, being reminded of the situation he was in, complied and hasted out of the room and into the hallway.

The terrorists who remained conscious from the quake did their best to get up. They even pulled out their walkie-talkies and called their other comrades in other places.

"Intruder in 9th floor, requesting back-up. Now!" one of them demanded.


3rd of October, Saturday, 8:44 pm – fashion hall, ground floor, Hotel Entertainment

Sanma flipped a coin and caught it with a swipe of his hand.

"I have ten coins in total. As ya just saw, I can flick 'em so hard, they can cut ya. If ya can kill me or if I run out of coins, then I lose and am as good as dead. Heck, if I accidentally hit any of the hostages and cause a detonation, then I lose, too. I've just used up one, so that means I still got nine shots left," Sanma explained his so-called game. "So whaddya say? Ya up for it?"

Sanma sent Zaavan a smirk. Zaavan widened his eyes for a moment, before chuckling.

"I see… you already thought this far… interesting…" Zaavan said with a smirk of his own. "…this shall be fun… But aren't you afraid of losing? I mean no matter how you see it, even with those coins you're still at a disadvantage…"

Sanma flicked his coin again and caught it one more. "It's because I'm at a disadvantage that I'm pressured to fight harder and have a higher chance of winning," Sanma explained. "So, don't ya worry about me. Worry about yourself."

With that, without any words, the game began. Both opponents stared each other down in silence, each about four meters away from each other.

Zaavan had taken on an evil grin. He figured that he was going to win. Granted, this was a game on Sanma's terms, but the fact that Sanma had placed such a disadvantageous situation for himself meant that victory was in the bag – and that it could be done in a fun way, too.

In contrast, Sanma looked at Zaavan from the stage with a more neutral look this time.

It was as Zaavan said. Sanma was obviously at a disadvantage. The Fallen Angel had an enormous arsenal in weaponry, fighting and magical skills and natural abilities. And if all the coins were used up, then it was game over for both Sanma and all the hostages.

He could not fail or else they were dead.

With those thoughts in mind, Sanma readied his fingers and shot his coin. The coin shot at Zaavan with lightning speed, but Zaavan quickly dodged to the left, letting the coin zoom past him and into the gap between two hostages. The coin lodges itself into the wall.

"Hehe… try again…" Zaavan challenged Sanma.

Sanma readied another coin and fired. It also was flung at an extremely high speed. But even that was swiftly avoided by the tilt of Zaavan's head.

But Sanma never expected to hit the Fallen Angel in the first place with that coin. He immediately flicked another coin with his other hand, which Zaavan avoided with an elegant dash through the air.

"Is that all? Try again!" Zaavan said with excitement, fling about so as to make the game a bit harder. Sanma could tell by his attitude that this guy really liked games.

"Take this!" Sanma flicked two coins at an interval of a second.

However, even that was swiftly dodged by Zaavan, as he leaned back and did an aerial somersault.

"My turn to attack!" Zaavan hollered and threw sent a barrage of Fallen Angel feathers at Sanma.

"Tch!" Sanma clicked his tongue and jumped back and maneuvered his body, even as the feathers landed all over the stage.

Unfortunately, he was grazed by a few at his torso, face and arms, leading to bleeding cuts.

Zaavan grinned. "Cut for cut, though I may have given you too many of those. Ahahahaha!"

"Dang it!" Sanma cursed.

He was injured all ready, while none of his attacks seem to be hitting him – and he only had five left! He may have avoided hitting any detonators, but that wasn't enough to win this life-and-death match.

"Five more coins left. What are you going to do?" Zaavan said mockingly.

"All-coin toss!" Sanma yelled and threw a barrage of coins. Unlike the ones from before, these coins were thrown by hand, not flicked. These flew at a slower speed towards Zaavan, but were harder to dodge because of how wide a range the attack had.

"Getting desperate, are we?" Zaavan laughed and raised a barrier, stopping the coins in their tracks.

Upon impact, the coins dropped to the ground harmlessly. However, Zaavan noticed something at that moment.

'Hmmm… those coins… there were four of them,' he thought to himself. 'Counting the other coins from before, that should be nine… and that means…'

At the corner of his eye, Zaavan saw Sanma move his arm and throw some at high speed like a Frisbee

"Ultimate Coin Throw!" Sanma cried, as the coin flew not only with high speed, but also with high power.

Zaavan widened his eyes. He was completely caught off guard with this attack. He raised his shield up, but the toss was so powerful, the coin exploded on impact.

[KAPING!]

Zaavan was knocked back a bit by the blow, but other than that he remained completely unharmed. With that, Sanma had used all his coins up. In other words, Zaavan just won the game.

"Ehehe… AHAHAHAHAHA!" Zaavan laughed triumphantly.

Sanma gritted his teeth and all the hostages in the room fell into despair. With Sanma losing the match he just created… would this be the end?

Sanma fumbled inside his wallet with the hope of finding more coins, but couldn't.

Zaavan, in contrast, gloated at his defeated opponent.

"Oh, my dear boy… you've lost the bet and now you won't concede? Face it, I've won. As if some human could beat the likes of a Fallen Angel like myself…" Zaavan said mockingly.

Sanma gritted his teeth, but ignored him and continue looking. His back was now defenseless, vulnerable to any attack Zaavan could throw at him.

"It's no use. You said yourself that you only had ten coins and you used all of them. How could there be more? Now…" Zaavan summoned a light spear and dashed towards the distracted and desperate Sanma.

"…YOU CAN GO TO THE AFTERLIFE!" Zaavan yelled with a maniacal face.

Zaavan came descending down from the air towards Sanma with astonishing speed. Sanma would be skewered in a moment. However, Sanma unexpectedly chuckled.

"Afterlife? In yer dreams?" Sanma said quietly.

With one swift move, he turned around, took something out of the wallet within the gap of his fingers and flung it at Zaavan.

"AGGHH! UAAAH!?" Zaavan cried out in pain, as he fell onto the stage with his face first. He slid a significant distance away from Sanma, before coming to a halt.

"Aaahhh… ah! Why…?" the surprisingly defeated Fallen Angel moaned confused. It felt like sharp fragments tore through his body and damaged vital internal organs.

Zaavan tried to stand up. But Sanma wouldn't let him. He forced his foot down hard on Zaavan's back, effectively subduing him. Zaavan could only lie there in pain.

"How…? You said you only had ten coins… so how…?" Zaavan asked in pain. And then realization hit him, causing Zaavan to glare at Sanma, despite the pain. "You… you tricked me didn't you…?"

To Zaavan's surprise, Sanma shook his head.

"I wasn't lying to ya. I really did have ten coins and I just used 'em all up. But my last throw wasn't done with coins. What I threw at ya just now were some sharp screws I picked from the concert hall. Took quite a number of 'em, too. And seein' ya in pain probably means they went in quite deep, too," Sanma explained.

"But… but you said you would admit defeat if you ran out of coins," Zaavan wanted to argue.

Sanma cocked an eyebrow. "Admit defeat? I only said I would be as good as dead if I ran out of coins. I completely forgot about the screws for the moment, so I didn't mention them at the start of our game. I only remembered them after I threw the last coin. Also, I never said I would admit defeat. In fact, admitting defeat does not exist in my dictionary, so I would never say it."

"You tricked me…" Zaavan trembled angrily. "…you cheated…"

Sanma leaned closer to Zaavan's head. "Hey, I told ya, I simply forgot they were there. Good thing I knew to them 'em along. But never mind that. How do I dismantle the explosives?" Sanma demanded.

Zaavan let out a small laugh. "You think I'll tell you? I'll never tell you…" he said defiantly, while coughing out blood.

Sanma looked at the hostages. This guy…

Sanma felt like using violence to beat the answer out of the sadistic Fallen Angel. But then, another question came to mind.

"Tell me this at least. What was that… slimy yellowish thingy?" Sanma asked the Fallen Angel, using the words Issei did to describe the nameless killers going around the hotel.

The Fallen Angel looked at Issei with confusion. "Huh? What do you mean by that?" he asked genuinely ignorance.

"I'm talking about those yellow monsters that look like slimes that go around attacking people and changing their appearances. Those are yer pets, right? What are those things and why did ya bring 'em here? And why did ya keep 'em in the swimming hall?" Sanma demanded of Zaavan.

Zaavan said nothing for a few seconds. He chuckled a bit and then laughed out loud, despite the pain.

"Ahaha… cough… Ahaha…"

"What's so funny?" Sanma asked warily. He didn't like this guy's laughter.

"I see… so that's what this is all about… and the location… how convenient… cough… cough…" Zaavan wheezed.

"What is? What location? What are ya takin' about?" Sanma demanded a bit louder.

"Oh, you'll see soon enough," Zaavan answered cryptically.

Sanma got off of Zaavan and grabbed him by the collar.

"See… what?" Sanma said menacingly, his face being close to Zaavan's.

"I already said too much…" Zaavan answered weakly from the pain. "But at least I can go out… with a bang…"

All of a sudden, Zaavan reached into his pocket.

But Sanma was quicker. Although he had no idea what Zaavan was up to, he knew that "going out with a bang" meant nothing good.

With a swift jab, Sanma pierced Zaavan's throat with his fingers, killing him immediately. His lifeless body dropped to the stage floor, as soon as Sanma let him go.

"What the…?"

"The chains!"

At that very moment, the chains magically disappeared. The hostages were free. They immediately got up and helped the others…

"AAAAAHHHH! UGH!"

"OW! That hurt!"

…or fell down from the walls and ceilings (if they had been tied up there).

Regardless, all of the prisoners were free and were glad to be able to move again.

Some, on the other hand, were not that jubilant. They looked at the explosive devices closest to them, which included Sanma. Fortunately, for whatever reason, they didn't go off, allowing them to sigh in relief.

Sanma wondered why that was. Why didn't the bombs go off? Sanma looked Zaavan's cold dead hand, which was still in his coat pocket. Sanma carefully tugged at Zaavan's arm and found what Zaavan was looking for. It was a device with a button on it.

'That's a detonator!' Sanma thought in surprise. 'Had this gone off…'

He looked around at the joyful hostages who were all helping each other like a community should. Sanma didn't even want to imagine if he had reacted a second too late.

"San-chan!" a girl's voice cried with joy.

Sanma whirled around to see who it was. He saw a girl wearing a short purple yukata, knee-length white socks and purple sneakers. She also had a decent amount of makeup on her face. Despite her appearance, he instantly recognized her.

"U-chan!?" Sanma said with a startled voice, using his nickname for her.

Ukyu embraced him in a tight hug and pressed herself against him.

"San-chan, you did it! I'm so glad you saved us!" Ukyu said, as she put her head on Sanma's shoulders.

"U-chan! What are ya doing here!? And what's with the outfit?" Sanma asked bewildered, as he broke off the hug.

Ukyu smiled. "Oh, that? I'm helping out the organizers with the fashion event. It's quite fun being a model. That and the pay is good – oh! And I get extra credits for this if I take the design profile in the next year. So, tell me. How do I look?" she said, as she twirled around to show off her outfit.

Sanma couldn't help but smile for a moment, but winced and looked away. Something about the romantic atmosphere brought back the unpleasant memories of Akane and Cat Fu earlier today. Noticing this, Ukyu looked at Sanma in concern.

"San-chan? Is something wro-?"

She wasn't able to finish the sentence when the door to the hallway swung open, revealing…

"It's the shooters!" a woman with a pearl necklace cried out and pointed at them in a fright.

Indeed, two men in black suits and sunglasses were there. Strangely enough, they didn't pull out their guns and tell everyone to freeze. Instead, they approached the hostages slowly.

This was enough for panic to break out among the newly freed hostages, fear and terror washing away the relief from earlier.

"Everyone, get back!" Sanma shouted and dashed towards the men.

"Take this! And this!" Sanma did a jump kick with both feet, sending both men flying out into the hallway.

As the men skid to a halt, Sanma was ready to make his next move until he realized something was amiss.

"Are they… out already? No, better question. Why were they…?" Sanma had a lot of questions in his mind about the men's behavior.

It was just too strange…

At that moment, the shape of the men distorted.

"What's happening?" Ukyu asked confused and surprised, pointing at the eerie phenomenon before her eyes.

The other hostages, who were at first relieved at the downing of their captors, also had looks of interest and confusion.

Sanma didn't answer. He watched with morbid fascination as the shape of the men became something more abstract. Becoming something yellow and slimy…

"Wait… that's…" Sanma said with widened eyes.

Ddraig's words immediately came to mind.

[…those lumps of slime were absolutely dangerous, like your mere existence could be destroyed in an instant once they touch you]Ddraig's words echoed in Sanma's memories.

"They're parasitic!" Sanma remembered Issei saying. "They latch themselves on their victims and kill them. After they kill them, and it's just my own guess, they shape shift and become their victims!"

And that triggered something inside Sanma. Just before the men's bodies transformation ended, Issei hastened to slam the doors shut. He grabbed some of the nearby chairs and pushed them against the door.

"San-chan?" Ukyu came forward. Her face told him that she had a lot of questions that needed answering.

"U-chan, is there a back door here somewhere?" Sanma asked Ukyu.

Ukyu pondered how to answer that question, but one of the Ukyu's model colleagues wearing a similar outfit, except with black leggings and brown boots, beat her to it.

"There's a back door behind the stage. Why?" the young woman asked after answering Sanma's question.

Sanma instantly turned to face her. "Listen to me. Ya need to leave through the back door. Get outta here as soon as possible!"

All of the people in the room looked at each other in confusion and then turned to Sanma.

"What do you mean?" asked a man in a business suit and a tie.

"There's no time!" Sanma silenced him. "Ya need to go. Now!"

At once, the hostages began to leave in droves, running as fast as they could with staff leading the way. The only ones left behind were Sanma and Ukyu, the latter who was worried about her crush.

"San-chan?" Ukyu voiced with uncertainty and worry.

"What are you doing!? Go!" Sanma shouted.

"NO!" Ukyu shouted back. "Not until you tell me what's going on!"

"There's no…" Sanma wanted to say but then noticed something.

The slimy creatures seeped into the room through the cracks.

"They're coming! GO!" Sanma urged Ukyu.

"What about you!?" Ukyu asked hysterically.

"I'll be right behind you, now GO! Damn it!" Sanma urged her for the umpteenth time.

Ukyu hesitated for a moment, but then turned heel and ran for the backstage exit.

With Ukyu gone, Sanma could now focus on the yellow slime that had almost slipped through the door. Sanma backed away in the nick of time before those creatures touched him.

Sanma ran towards the end of the hallway towards the backdoor exit. Just before leaving, he snatched the detonator from Zaavan's dead body.

As the slime came to the middle of the room, Sanma got ready to execute his plan.

Truth be told, Sanma cooked up this plan a little while ago, right after discovering the identities of the pseudo-terrorists. For a moment, he was worried about those hostages in the dining hall and leaving them behind, which included Cat Fu and Nakane… But he had no choice. That dangerous slime left him no choice and hesitating right now was dangerous. And because of that…

"Take this, ya piece of muck!" Sanma said and pressed the button.

[BOOM!] [BOOM!]

[KABOOOM!]

Instantly, all the C4-bombs went off, destroying the fashion hall. Everything in the room, as well as the rooms in the floors above them went up in flames.

Sanma and the other people luckily managed to get away from the fiery explosion. They managed to make it outside with no one to hinder them. They may have been traumatized by the whole ordeal, but they more or less fine. Being the last one to come outside, Sanma rested to catch his breath.

"Man, it's nothing like the movies. No way ya can walk away slowly with yer back turned from the explosion. That's impossible…" Sanma remarked in a demeanor that is half serious and half-joking.

Everybody was received by police and taken to safety behind the cordons. Some were given first-aid treatment on the spot. Others had to be taken to the hospital because of their injuries. And those who were completely fine told police what had happened. Sanma had also just gone over to where the police were when…

"San-chan!" Ukyu called out and hugged Sanma. She had been waiting with the other hostages outside, praying for Sanma to be safe.

"Whoa!" Sanma yelped out in surprise.

"Thank goodness, you're okay! I thought I'd lose you," Ukyu said in relief.

"Yeah…" Sanma mumbled half-heartedly. He had a lot on his mind.

Ukyu, being quite receptive of this, couldn't help but frown.

"San-chan? You've been acting down. Is something the matter? Did something happen to you during this ordeal?" Ukyu asked Sanma with a bit of suspicion.

"It's nothing, it's just…" Sanma hesitated to speak.

He really didn't want to talk about his problems with Nakane and Cat Fu.

Suddenly, Ukyu widened her eyes in realization, much to Sanma's surprise.

'Could she have found out?' Sanma asked himself, his face showing drops of nervous sweat.

"You're worried about Issei Hide, aren't you?" Ukyu asked Sanma.

Sanma looked at Ukyu with a surprised look. His nervousness dissipated.

"Issei?" Sanma asked, genuinely surprised.

Ukyu looked back at Sanma with equal surprise at his reaction. Why did he look so surprised?

And then, Sanma whipped his head around. He looked towards the upper floors of the hotel, where sounds of gunshots and explosions could be heard.

"That's right! He's still up there!" Sanma cried out, trying to speak over the sound of the explosions.

Policemen immediately took action to bring everyone to safety.

"Everybody, move away! Step back from the security lines!" they ordered the people.

Sanma, Ukyu and all the other people did the same.

But even while everyone was transfixed by the phenomenon in the upper floors, Ukyu was the only one who seemed to be more focused on Sanma.

'San-chan seemed really confused when Issei was brought up, as if he wasn't thinking about him. And judging by his expression, he seemed to be hiding something,' Ukyu thought as she analyzed his previous behavior. 'Could it be that something else happened while he was there?'


3rd of October, Saturday, 8:50 pm – hallway, 9th floor, Hotel Entertainment

It was utter pandemonium all over the upper floors of the hotel and Issei was in the thick of it. Ever since he escaped those gunmen from earlier, they have been hot pursuit ever since. Some of them were even sent from the upper floors just to take Issei down. The men from the upper floors had been skeptical of being sent down to deal with one person. After all, how hard could it be to deal with one insignificant…?

"What is this kid!? Is he even human!?"

"We've fired so many of them? How can he still be alive!?"

"I don't know! But he's still injured at least, so… UGH!"

Issei had just punched yet another gunman in the face, while parrying off bullets with his arms and the dragon scales on his body. The gunman went down. Although, bullets didn't severely injure Issei, they still smarted. It felt like being hit by rocks, only smaller. Not enough to kill Issei, but more than enough to make his body feel sore.

The other two gunmen looked at Issei with fright. They hadn't noticed that they had run out of bullets, as they continued to pull the trigger over and over again with no effect.

"ARGH!" one the men lost his nerve and was running away.

"Hey, where are you going you… KEUK!" Issei had just punched the gunman in the stomach, making him fall down.

"Where is he!?"

"Over there!"

More gunmen came running from other hallway, as they fired at Issei with everything they had.

[BANG!] [BANG!] [BANG!]

The bullets ricocheted off Issei's shredded dress shirt, even as he ran towards the terrorists like a charging bull.

"No, NO!" one of the gunmen screamed and was punched into silence by Issei.

Others tried to use physical means to take Issei down. They grabbed Issei and tried to overwhelm him by sheer numbers. But Issei would have none of it.

"Get off me!" Issei roared and threw them one of them off.

"WAIT!"

[WACK!] another one was punched in the face.

"UGH!"

Another one was elbowed in the stomach.

"KEUK!"

The one thrown by Issei was stomped on by Issei.

"GAGH!"

The last one was punched in the throat.

Issei fell upon his knees in exhaustion after defeating his opponents.

He was already pooped from beating who knows how many dozens of terrorists and tanking who knows how many bullets. Issei was bleeding all across his chest and legs with holes all over his clothes.

"When will it… end…?" Issei said with heavy pants.

Just then, he heard more running footsteps. He gritted his teeth and charged.

[Boost!]

"He went this way! Let's…"

Issei jumped into the view of his opponents and aimed at the dozen gunmen.

[Dragon Shot!]

"ARGH!" the terrorists screamed, as they were obliterated by Issei.

Issei fell to the ground with his face first.

He was exhausted and not just physically. His psyche was also badly affected, too. He couldn't rest or sleep, something he needed very badly. Killing people left and right was also putting a huge toll on him.

Issei didn't know how much more he could take.

[Partner, get up! It's not over yet! Those Fallen Angels could be here any minute!] Ddraig urged Issei.

"Please… no more…" Issei begged Ddraig.

[You must or you'll die!] Ddraig pleaded.

"Ddraig… I'm spent…" Issei replied in fatigue. "I've given it my everything…"

[No, Partner, you haven't! You just think you've used everything, but you haven't! I know there is more strength in you than you think!] Ddraig argued.

"What… are you… talking about…?" Issei said, as he started to close his eyes.

[There's a difference between giving it your all and thinking you've done your all. Now get up! Otherwi-]

A sudden sound from the ceiling above interrupted Ddraig.

[CRACK!] The ceiling broke, revealing the female Fallen Angel attacking from above.

"Whoa!" Issei rolled out of the way, dodging the light spear by an inch, as it pierced the floor.

Issei quickly got up.

[See, I told you] Ddraig said to Issei.

But Issei paid Ddraig no heed, as he eyed the Fallen Angel warily.

"You thought you could get away?" she said coldly and thrust her spear at him.

Issei dodged sideways, but the spear cut his side.

"AGH!" Issei cried out, but ignored the pain and grabbed the spear.

"Useless!" she scoffed at Issei.

The Fallen Angel kicked Issei hard and sent him tumbling.

Issei stood up, but the pain at his side made him hunch over.

"Damn!" Issei cursed.

[Boost!] Issei decided to boost his power and have at her again.

As he ran towards her, she simply dodged out of the way of the light spear flying past her head from behind.

"UGH!" Issei grunted, as he was pinned to the wall by his right arm sleeve.

Walking up right next to the female Fallen Angel was one of the other Fallen Angels, who had thrown the light spear.

"Don't hog all the fun for yourself," he said with an evil smirk.

"No worries, he won't die so soon. We'll have our fun with him…" the woman said and licked her lips.

[Boost!]

Issei tore off from his pinned sleeve and decided to run away.

'They're too strong for me to handle them like this…' Issei reasoned, as he made a dash in the other direction. 'I have to separate them and fight them one on one…'

But Issei didn't get far. Instead, he was hit by lightning magic.

"GAAAH!" Issei screamed, as he was almost charred to a crisp.

[Reset!]

The Boosted Gear's power strengthened Issei just enough to survive the attack, but disappeared once he had taken the damage.

He fell down and lay there, as the culprits revealed themselves.

Coming from above, was the leader of the group of Fallen Angels. He put his foot on his defeated opponent and gloated.

"You should have just let us kill you from the beginning. It would have been a lot less painful to kill you then. But now, since you've hurt two of my comrades, you shall suffer slowly," the Fallen Angel promised ominously.

"Don't kill him too quickly. I want a piece of him first!" the male Fallen Angel said to his leader.

"Don't forget me!" the female Fallen Angel added.

"You need not worry. We're in no rush. We'll take our time to show him what happens when you mess with the Grigori…" the leader said as he looked down upon Issei.

'Is this… the end…?' Issei asked himself, as he lay there defeated.

[No, it's not!] Ddraig told him. [Get up!]

'But… I really can't… this time…' Issei responded mentally to Ddraig.

[You really want to give up here? Are you this pathetic? Do you really want to break your promise to your parents? The promise that you would protect those around you? How can you do it, if you're dead?] Ddraig demanded of Issei.

Issei widened his eyes. 'My mom… and Dad…?'

The memories in the alleyway… the memories in the graveyard… the promise to protect Kuoh and all those around him… all of these memories flashed before him.

And that was all it took.

'How could I lose…? How could I say that this is the end…? Especially when I still have that move,' Issei thought.

As if by magic, Issei's eyes shone of determination. One of the Fallen Angels grabbed Issei by his hair and yanked his head up to get a better look at his face.

"It seems he still has some life left in him," the leader of the three said.

"Let's dig one of his eyes out," the female Fallen Angel suggested sadistically.

"Good idea…" the other Fallen Angel said and pulled out a knife from his pockets.

Issei didn't want to use it.

But he had no choice.

It was either do or die.

'Ddraig, let's use that technique,' Issei said to Ddraig in his mind with absolute determination.

He was referring to a technique that both of them had discussed in their training sessions a few days ago. Issei had barely learned to use it that time, but other than that, he was more than capable of doing so.

[It's dangerous for you and you may end up lying unconscious for a few days, but we've got no choice. Remember, you'll only have seven seconds] Ddraig said with equal resolution.

'Good, that's all I need. Do it now…' Issei responded and readied himself.

The other Fallen Angels were just about to ram the knife into Issei's left eye.

"Take in one last look at the world, boy. Once we're done, we'll gouge out the other one, too…" the leader said.

Just after saying that, he heard Issei's lips whisper…

"Overboost…"

At once, Issei's body glowed red and the Boosted Gear shone red as well.

"What is this!?" the female Fallen Angel looked at Issei in surprise.

"I don't know! But whatever it is, it looks like he still has an ace up his sleeve…" the other male Fallen Angel replied.

Their leader gritted his teeth.

"You need to do more than this to intimidate us…" he said with anger and wanted to plunge the knife into Issei's eye.

[Welsh Dragon Overbooster!]

"WHAT!?" the leader cried out, as a red light emitted from the jewel of the Boosted Gear. Issei's prone body shone brighter and then…

[KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!]

…blasted away the Fallen Angels with the force of his power.


3rd of October, Saturday, 8:53 pm – just a minute earlier – in the CEO's office, 15th floor, Hotel Entertainment

The CEO's office was a spacious room with a red carpet leading towards the manager's desk. It also had cupboards filled with books and files along with a fascinating view out the windows. One could practically see all of Tokyo through it.

Unfortunately for the Boss of the terrorists, it was night time, so there wasn't that much to see.

"Hans?" the Boss said to one of his closest associates. He spoke in a noticeably German accent.

"Sir?" Hans replied, waiting on standby right next to his boss.

"Call the others and ask them how the catching of the intruder in the upper floor is going," the Boss ordered.

"Right away, sir," Hans replied and got to work.

The Boss groaned. Everything had been fine until he heard of reports of prisoners escaping in the lower floors. And then, there were rumblings here and there. His Fallen Angel partners had told him that it was a Sacred Gear user that caused the attack. What's worse was that whoever he was, that Sacred Gear user was killing his men all over the building – and freeing even more hostages, too.

Having nothing better to do, the Boss turned to the tall man in the trench coat.

"Are you sure your men can handle this Sacred Gear user?" the Boss asked in a bored manner.

The tall man glared at the Boss. "Are you belittling our capabilities?" he asked with an undertone of hostility.

"Nothing of the sort…" the Boss answered calmly. He didn't seem intimidated in the least bit. "I was just curious. That's all."

The tall man snorted and turned away.

"Rather than questioning our capabilities, you should ask that about your men. I hear they're being defeated by their hostages," the tall man answered and adjusted his fedora.

"I don't expect them to be invincible, but I think they should be more than enough for this job. Besides, once we get what we came for, there won't be any need for them – provided you keep your end of the deal," the Boss answered calmly.

"You don't have to worry. Once we get it, you will definitely get half of it," the tall man assured him.

Despite his promises, the tall man was lying. 'As if I would ever consider sharing those resources with you. Once we get them, we'll get rid of you. All you ever were for us was cannon fodder…' the tall man thought to himself. 'Once we achieve our goals and haul the spoils back to the Grigori, I, Dohnasseek, will receive promotions and fame such as never seen before.'

For indeed, it was Dohnasseek, the local leader of the Fallen Angels in Japan. And it was also Dohnasseek, who planned this terrorist takeover and enlisted the help of this particular criminal boss.

It took a week worth of negotiations and ups and downs, but it was worth it.

The setbacks of the takeover, such as the escaped hostages made no difference. The plan was going as succeeded. The only thing they needed to do was search the building's foundations. It was going to take a lot of digging and demolition, but thanks to the recent discoveries of Zaavan they now had a better clue.

'You managed to use a communication circle to record a conversation with that Sanma brat,' Dohnasseek remembered the conversation that Zaavan had transmitted to him. 'Your contributions shall never be forgotten. So… the swimming hall was it?' he mused.

At that moment, before Dohnasseek could think further, a loud noise was heard from above.

[KABOOOOOM!]

What's more, was the fact that the entire building shook. It shook with such intensity that all those in the room had to brace themselves until the shaking stopped.

"What was that, Torben?" the Boss demanded.

"I don't know… maybe… the police fired their artillery on us?" the Boss' associate named Torben asked.

"No… they wouldn't do such a thing. There are hostages in here, so they wouldn't do this," the Boss shook his head, while looking above him. "It sounded like it came from above…"

Dohnasseek said nothing. Unlike, his German partners, he could actually sense the origin of the blast and the perpetrator doing it.

'This power… what is that? Who could be generating this much power?' Dohnasseek asked himself. He had no idea, but he could tell that this person had the power to kill them all if he wanted to.

Dohnasseek went up to the Boss and said to him, "We need to leave."

"Leave? Why?" the Boss looked at Dohnasseek with squinted eyes.

"There is no time! It's too dangerous! Whoever caused this explosion will definitely come for us!" Dohnasseek warned urgently.

"But the plan…" the Boss wanted to say.

"We can always come back later using teleportation circles. Now, let's go!" Dohnasseek shouted unintentionally.

"All right…" the Boss said begrudgingly.

Dohnasseek contacted the rest of his comrades. "All of you, retreat at once."

And with that, all those present in the room teleported away using magic circles.


3rd of October, Saturday, 8:54 pm – with the police outside the complex of Hotel Entertainment

"HOLY CRAP!"

"WHAT IS THIS!?"

Police and bystanders were standing and pointing in awe, fear and horror at the exceedingly bright light coming from the top floors, if they hadn't been thrown off by the earthquake.

"This night is just getting worse by minute…" Inspector Kogoro remarked, as he got up after falling down on his knees from the quake.

"What the… INSPECTOR! ABOVE! LOOK OUT!"

Inspector Kogoro looked up and saw…

"RUN!"

"THE CHOPPER IS FALLING!"

Inspector Kogoro and those nearby ran as the chopper came crashing down in fiery flames.

They avoided it just in time when it impacted on the ground.

[CRASH!]

Everybody looked in awe at the burning wreckage of the police helicopter. Some policemen went to check the wreckage, but in an instant, it was clear that there were no survivors.

"Worse and worse by the minute…" Inspector Kogoro remarked, as he shook his head at the tragedy.

"LOOK OUT! THERE'S MORE!" somebody cried out.

"Another chopper?" Inspector Kogoro quickly looked up to see if it was coming down his way.

To his surprise, it wasn't a downed police helicopter but a…

[SPLOSH!]

…huge jelly-like substance that landed right in front of the hotel entrance, blocking everything in a huge gluey mass.

"What the…?" a nearby police officer voiced baffled.

"Hey, it came from that chopper!" another police man said, pointing into the night sky.

Inspector Kogoro was speechless. Indeed, there was a chopper. But was it one of theirs? No, something told him, it wasn't. It didn't seem like it came from the news crews either. Could it be from the terrorists?

It seemed like this night was not only getting worse and worse, but more bizarre, too.


3rd of October, Saturday, 8:54 pm – on the other side of the complex of Hotel Entertainment

"San-chan? What was that?" Ukyu said with worry.

She was clinging to Sanma for comfort.

Sanma, although he was no fan of intimacy when it came to his many love-interests, didn't refuse her. The ominous sounds coming from above the highest floors of the hotel gripped all his attention.

"Hide No. 3… I hope you can make it…" Sanma said to his friend from below.

It was a wish he made from the bottom of his heart.


3rd of October, Saturday, 8:54 pm – hallway, 9th floor, Hotel Entertainment

The Fallen Angels barely recovered from the blast. It came out of nowhere.

Just before anybody could make sense of it all, they saw a figure in red armor with gauntlets on both arms. His plate-armor with a dragon motif and jewels all over the armor. It had a sharp shape and moreover utilized a rocket booster propulsion on his back.

[Boost!] [Boost!] [Boost!] Multiple boosts within an interval of a second could be heard.

Using the booster, the figure dashed towards the male Fallen Angel (who was not the leader) with lightning speed.

"ACK!" he gagged as the figure grabbed by the throat, forcing the Fallen Angel to crash through all the walls.

"You…" he coughed out and used his light magic to charr the armored figure to a crisp.

But the figure was unaffected. He squeezed his throat even tighter and broke the Fallen Angel's neck.

All this took less than two seconds.

The other two Fallen Angels were in shock. Their comrade had just been killed by this figure in red armor. And the figure turned to look at them. He had his eyes on them next.

"DAMN YOU!" the female Fallen Angel cried out and summoned a light spear.

The figure in red armor, who was a good distance away, closed the distance and was in front of her within a split second.

She rammed the light spear into his chest, but it broke.

Even as she widened her eyes in shock, her face then turned to horror, when Issei released an overly powerful Dragon Shot into her face.

[Dragon Shot!]

She disappeared with a scream, disintegrating into nothingness.

This took just one second.

The remaining Fallen Angel looked at the red armored figure with horror. He couldn't make heads or tails of this, nor could he speak. For the figure before him radiated in power and terror.

'This person… is that the boy? It can't be! How could he be so powerful? I could have sworn that his power had no more than half our power. How could he match even our leaders in terms of power?' the Fallen Angel asked himself.

But he no more time to think for Issei quickly attacked him next.

"No, you won't!" the infuriated Fallen Angel said as he dodged beneath Issei's arm swipe. He thrust his palm forward to strike Issei's chest. A lightning bolt blasted Issei with full power at point blank.

Had he known that this kid was that strong, he would have taken more time to prepare himself.

"I'll just have to improvise…" the Fallen Angel said and teleported himself a good distance away and started firing his diamond-hard feathers at him.

But Issei, moved in a zig-zag and neared him.

"You…" the Fallen Angel grimaced and lashed out with a kick, but Issei hugged him tightly.

"ARGH!" the Fallen Angel screamed, as Issei's sharp body armor pierced and crushed him.

But Issei wasn't done yet. The Booster lit up and shot Issei up with the Fallen Angel in his grip.

[CRASH!] [CRASH!] [CRASH!]

Within a second, Issei was crashing through ceiling after ceiling and then…

[CRASH!]

…through the roof. By then, the Fallen Angel was bleeding from his head. Issei, on the other hand, seemed fine – at least outwardly, since he was covered in armor from head to toe.

"You… let… go… now!" the frustrated Fallen Angel used his lightning magic to fry Issei.

Issei was jolted with the strongest of lightning magic a Fallen Angel could have in store.

Yet, Issei seemed unaffected by the voltage.

"I said… LET GO!" the Fallen Angel shouted with fury, as he increased the voltage, hoping Issei would die or at the very least let go.

But Issei did not. And he seemed unmoved or untouched by the Fallen Angel's efforts.

'This brat is a mere human… How could he be so strong!?' the Fallen Angel thought in disbelief.

They flew up through the sky and reached about a hundred meters into the sky…

"You… what are you planning to do!?" the Fallen Angel demanded. But Issei didn't answer.

It was then that their ascension came to a halt and then… both of them started to plummet down.

Seeing that they were in the sky, the Fallen Angel tried to use his wings, but Issei held onto him with a vice grip. Moreover, he used his booster to descend down to the roof with rapid speed.

He was determined to smash the Fallen Angel to the ground.

"Let GO! LET GO I SAID!" the Fallen Angel said even more desperately, now trying to pry away Issei's could armored arms from him. But even that had no use.

Being crushed physically, weakened by injuries and unable to escape Issei's grip, the Fallen Angel looked down below in terror.

"No… NOOOOO!" the Fallen Angel screamed, as they neared the hotel roof.

[BOOM!]

A huge cloud of dust and concrete was created upon impact, dissipating after a few seconds.

And in the middle of the crater was the Fallen Angel, lying there with fear and terror on his face. His body was completely broken and blood oozed out of his mouth and torso. There was no doubt that he was dead.

Issei, on the other hand, was lying on top of him still in armor, though not for long.

[Reset!]

The red armor that had enveloped Issei had vanished, revealing Issei's injuries. Issei was covered in blood, wounds covering his body. His shirt and pants were barely even there, having been ripped to shreds. But the worst part was that Issei was spasming violently.

"Hrrgh! Graah!" Issei groaned loudly in pain.

Using all that power in his reserve hit Issei with a severe backlash. His muscles were suffering cramps and were swelling badly. They were seen on his arms, legs and torso. It was a horrible sight.

Thus, Issei lay there, twitching and bleeding on the corpse of the Fallen Angel, unable to do anything.

He would have remained there until suddenly, a black helicopter landed on the roof.

Issei saw two people come out and run towards him. He couldn't make out their faces because his eyesight was blurry from the tears and blood.

"Over there!"

"Issei!"

The two people cried out upon seeing him. It was then that Issei recognized who they were by their voices.

"Motohama…? Ryuga…?" Issei whispered, before losing consciousness just before they reached him.


And that was Chapter 39 of The Lone Vigilante Issei.

That took longer than I expected, but the chapter length made it worth it – and the content in it.

Now, about this chapter.

Issei has finally done it. He managed to summon the Balance Breaker [Boosted Gear Scale Mail]

In the original story, Issei was able to use it for ten seconds in his fight against Raiser. Here, it is reduced down to seven since Issei is still weaker than his Devil counterpart. But he's getting stronger.

What's more, just like in the original story, Issei suffers from the backlash of using the Boosted Scale Mail. Issei will definitely improve from there. After all, he has to, since he will be meeting stronger foes.

Speaking of the future of this story…

The next chapter will be an epilogue chapter, dealing with the aftermath of this arc. After that, we'll be dealing with the next arc.

As for the start of the canon timeline, I still cannot say how many arcs it will take. But it will take a few arcs until April in the following year (in this story).

In the meantime, what did you think of this chapter?

Please read and review. I'd like to hear from you.

And as always, I hope to see you next time.

Until then.

Hide Shinyama