Chapter 4

Here we go! The epic clash of the White Dragon and the Red Dragon IS Users.

Their first battle begins now!

Issei and Valerie clashed as the two were fighting without their IS units for the first half. Valerie was smiling as she clashed with Issei's swords.

"Not bad. You are using speed to try and get ahead of me. That is a smart tactic, but not good enough." Valerie said as she pushed back and began to attack him, which worried Issei since he had watched her battles in the Mondo Grosso, but fighting her for real was totally different from what he'd seen since the force behind her strikes made Issei worry for his life.

But strangely, I was also excited at the same time.

Issei has clashed before with an IS unit, but it was a different feeling in the battle with Valerie. Something in his soul screamed and told him to fight back against Valerie despite the pressure and the high chance she'd destroy him in action.

Valerie, on the other hand, was amused by Issei's resolve and reaction to clash with her, considering that she was holding back more of her strength to gauge his skills with the sword.

'He's not as strong or skilled as I am when it comes to swordplay, but when it comes to his reaction time, he's able to keep up with me, so that's a start.' Valerie said as she clashed with Issei and saw that he was keeping up with her in terms of speed.

Valerie continued clashing with Issei and saw that his reaction time was awe-inspiring since Issei was able to block Valerie's strikes and was able to get in her guard a few times and try to strike her body. However, Valerie was able to stop it with an armored hand, thanks to her IS.

"I see, so that's how you are keeping up," Valerie said with a calm tone as she pushed Issei away and was amused by his reaction before speaking to him. "Your reaction time is much better than mine, as well as your speed. I can tell you did a lot of training despite it only being a week. Tell me, does Charles give you some special reward when you do well?"

Issei blushed as he could tell what Valerie was doing, and it worked as he coughed into his fist and replied.

"W-Well, he makes a nice body pillow."

"Oh really? Is he hot?"

"I know what you are doing, so quit it already!" Issei yelled as Valerie laughed at Issei's tomato-red face as he switched from his dual blades to his guns, which made Valerie stop laughing as she started running to dodge the barrage of bullets. At the same time, Issei kept his focus on her and tried to keep her away since he knew that if Valerie got too close, he'd be done for.

'I can't keep up with her in my skills with a sword due to her strength and experience. Speed and reaction time is one thing, but soon Valerie will find a way to make it pass to take me down, so I got to wear her out by keeping my distance.' Issei said as Valerie was pondering something along the lines Issei was thinking.

'Issei is trying to keep his distance to wear me out. He knows I can easily destroy him in close combat, so I have to try and close the gap.' Valerie calculated in her mind as she spoke to her partner.

'Albion. I have my IS shield on standby. If I can make it past his barrage, then I should be able to get close enough to take him down.' Valerie said as Albion nodded.

[Of course, but be careful. Issei could still equip his IS and go all out. I'll have the IS ready as well, should that happen.] Albion said as he began doing his orders while Valerie thanked him.

'Aw, thanks, dad.'

[S-Shut up. It's only to make sure you don't go too overboard or get too cocky.] Albion said with a stutter as Valerie giggled and used her sword to deflect the bullets when they got too close for comfort.

Issei stopped as he let his guns cool down from the shooting before he readied his IS armored arms. He saw Valerie charge in and clash with Issei as he focused on defense while Valerie went on the offense. The two never showed an ounce of mercy for either side to give in as they continued clashing while Chifuyu could tell that the match would be ending soon since she could tell that Issei was getting tired from trying to keep up with Valerie.

'He's using his IS armor to give him a better chance to stand up to Valerie and last for so long until Valerie gets in close. Not a bad strategy since during the training, Issei does seem to have more skills in the IS rather than skills in combat training.' Chifuyu said as she looked at the time and saw that only two minutes had passed, and Issei's shield was at eighty percent while Valerie's was at a mere ninety percent.

Issei stayed on the defense until he saw an opening before grabbing Valerie by her shoulder and trying to slam her into the ground, which would have worked if Valerie hadn't used her IS wings and boosters to give her the chance to break free.

"Nice try. Now, let's see how good you are in the air." Valerie said as she donned the rest of her IS armor before Issei smiled at the challenge and equipped his armor.

[Be careful, Issei. Remember that you have seventy-five percent power while Valerie still has eighty-five percent power. I suggest trying to keep her on her toes with your sword skills to keep her from trying to get you down.] Ddraig proposed as Issei agreed and summoned his swords before using his boosters to give him a speed boost as Valerie clashed with Issei, surprised to see that she was on the defense now while Issei kept trying to attack her.

'Impressive.' Valerie said as she observed Issei clashing with her. 'He seems to have had some training in using his IS more than normal weapons. Issei probably has been focusing on his swordsmanship and weapons training during the past week. He seems to have improved. Let's see how much he can take before he starts to run out of power.'

The White Dragon Is that Valerie pilots may not have as much offensive power as the Red Dragon does. Still, what the White Dragon lacked in power, the IS made up for with a powerful defensive wall and the ability to drain energy from other ISs to make its shield stronger.

Issei knows this, which is why he is trying to push Valerie to focus solely on her shield so she wouldn't have time to drain his IS for power. This strategy worked for a good minute until Valerie saw her opening; she struck Issei in the chest and began to absorb some of his power until Issei used his sword to send her back, but Issei could feel the power loss as Ddraig spoke to him.

[Power is now at fifty percent power. I suggest a different plan of attack.]

'I have a plan. Attack!' Issei then roared as he brought out his guns and began to assault Valerie with his rain of bullets. She focused on her shield as she looked at Issei, taking place a reasonable distance away from her as he kept aiming at her arms and legs.

"Not bad. I can tell that Issei has really improved, but I'm afraid it's time to end this farce." Valerie said as she ended her shield; she flew through the sky and placed her left hand out as a giant sphere formed within it.

"Let's see how you handle all of the power I absorbed through my shield," Valerie said as Issei switched to his shield and took it head-on before feeling the power of Valerie's attack blast right through the protection as they shattered to pieces. Issei was sent flying into the ground.

A massive explosion covered the entire ground with smoke as Valerie knew the battle was over while Issei was groaning in pain.

[Issei! Stay down! We only have twenty-six percent power left. I was able to transfer the power to the IS Shield to keep you safe, but to prevent you from taking serious damage, I had to use the extra energy we have, but the shield drained them so quickly.] Ddriag shouted at her partner, hoping to get Issei to call the match before she could see Issei slowly standing up.

"Ddriag. Do we have enough power for the other weapon?" Issei muttered as Ddraig was shocked at the question before replying to him.

[Yes, but why do you-No? There is no way I'm going to let you make such a suicidal move!] Ddraig said as Issei formed the armor into his Knight form before speaking to his partner.

"Ddraig. If I'm going down, then I'll go down knowing I gave it all I had, but if I surrender, then it'll feel like I didn't give it my all. Don't you feel the same way about fighting with all you have?" Issei asked as he knew that he could barely move his arms at this point, but he would much rather pass out from energy exhaustion rather than surrender.

Ddraig was silent for a bit before seeing the smoke begin to lift as she sighed at her partner's stubbornness.

[Fine. But we're having a serious talk about reckless behavior in battle when you are in the hospital bed.]

"Deal," Issei said as he smiled at his partner, feeling the wing boosters begin to ignite. "Now transfer all power to the wing boosters."

Valerie was quiet as she waited for the smoke to clear up until she saw a red blur appear out of the smoke and head towards her, which shocked the girl but made her smile as she was glad this wasn't over.

"That's it, Issei Hyoudou! Could you show me what you made of? Don't hold anything back!" Valerie shouted as Issei sped past her and made his way to the top of the dome around the arena.

"Now transfer all power to the Dragon Buster," Issei said as a massive railgun appeared on his back in place of his shoulder cannons. The railgun began to charge up with all of the power inside of it until Issei aimed it at Valerie, who looked excited as Issei fired it at the Silver Demon.

"Take this, Valerie! LONGINUS SMASHER!" Issei shouted as the railgun fired at the White Dragon Empress

"Albion! Get ready!" Valerie shouted as the IS summoned multiple bits that combined and became a massive dome of sorts as the railgun hit the crown. The bits began to absorb the power from the railgun blast and transferred all power towards Valerie, who was smiling in glee at the extra power.

Valerie then fired all of the power at the top of the dome. The energy blast was a mix of white and red light until the attack ended. Issei was gliding toward the ground very quickly until Valerie caught him and used her IS to catch him and head towards the ground. Issei was passed out and tired from the excessive amount of energy he used in battle. Issei's IS went back to its standby form before Valerie chuckled at him.

"That was so much fun, Issei. Let's fight again when you're a bit stronger." Valerie said as she pecked his forehead and handed him to the IS Hospital staff. They took Issei to rest up while the IS maintenance group took Ddriag to get some much-needed repairs. Valerie sat on the bench to see Chifuyu smirking at her.

"He lasted four minutes and fifty-nine point nine seconds. He almost matched my time when I fought you at my best." Chifuyu said as she timed it on her stopwatch, which made Valerie smile at her before the Silver Demon looked at the sky with a large grin.

"He'll come to match me as he gets stronger. Heck, he might even be able to kick your ass as well, Chifuyu." Valerie said as she drank the offered water bottle while Chifuyu could imagine the Red Dragon defeating her in battle one day.

"I guess we'll have to see. After all, it's only the beginning of the first year." Chifuyu said as she looked at the sky and imagined the possibilities that were to come this year.

Meanwhile, Phantom Task was doing their preparations.

"Impressive. Who would've thought that the rookie would've been able to do so well against Valerie? He's definitely on the Watch List." Nobunaga said as he looked at the footage of the battle before him while smiling at Issei Hyoudou talking to his IS and then readying his final attack.

"Oh! Watching that last stand was like seeing a samurai refusing to give in defeat. It's making me so excited to meet this boy in person. Maybe he'll even fit my list of what I want in my future husband and wife." Nobunaga said as he took out his journal and looked at his list.

Requirements for my husband:

You must be strong in body and spirit.

He must be a strong man who will appreciate me and not just my female body.

He will love my cooking even though I might mess up at times.

And is a fan of the Japanese culture and wants to end the IS.

"Issei Hyoudou is from Japan, so perhaps one of them is filled out, but I must see more of him!" Nobunaga said as he began to find out all he could about Issei Hyoudou and research ways to get Issei to join Phantom Task.

"Issei Hyoudou, I shall test you when I unleash my Juggernaut to test your body and spirit. So prepare yourself!"

Nobunaga shouted as he prepared the Juggernaut to be ready to fight Issei Hyoudou, the Red Dragon Emperor.

Infinite Stratos Hospital Room.

"Ow! That stings, Charles!" Issei shouted as Charles glared at him.

"Well, this is what you get for being so reckless. Now take your shirt off." Charles said as Issei grumbled but did so as Charles blushed seeing Issei's bare back in front of her.

Sure, Charlotte has seen him naked before, but seeing his back, fresh from battle, is making her want to drop the act and bathe him.

Charles then proceeded by placing some of the rubbing alcohol on his back and then the healing cream on his bruises. Issei moaned at the cool touch of the cream, which made Charles smile at the idea as he sat on Issei's rear and began to rub the cream on his bare back and made her way to the front of his chest, making Issei moan some more at Charles soft hands massaging his aching back.

"M-Man Charles. You can really become a masseuse if you want to!~" Issei moaned as his grunts and moans made Charles blush. His cheeks were red as an apple while he continued massaging Issei's sore back until Charles leaned forward and whispered in his ear something that made Issei moan a bit but nodded as he turned over to reveal his chest, which made Charles lick his lips with glee, as he proceeded to massage his chest and stomach while rubbing more cream on him before admiring the firmness of his muscles and his chest, liking their volume, before checking out Issei's abs and loving their form before looking at Issei's pants and blushing at the thought of seeing his secret weapon.

Charles was about to unhook Issei's pants and rub the weapon as well until-

"I think Issei can get that spot on his own," Chifuyu said as Charles froze before turning to see Chifuyu walking towards the disguised Frenchwoman before throwing her outside the room, leaving Charles disappointed she couldn't see its proper form, but the size of his tent made Charles blush at the idea of how large it was.

"Issei Hyoudou. I think your sword is much sharper than mine will ever be." Charles said as Kanzashi was hiding in the hallways and using a fan like her sisters to hide her bloody nose while writing something in a book she was writing in.

"Oh man, this stuff writes itself," Kanzashi said as she blushed as her brain was going into overdrive while writing her fantasy with her, Issei, and the disguised Frenchwoman.

Now that the match was over, the school was excited to watch the game through the camera feed as many of the girls admired Issei being able to clash with Valerie. In contrast, a few of the other IS members, Houki and Cecilia, watched in amazement and excitement as they could tell that Issei was giving it all he had, especially on his final attack, which made the duo proud of being able to last so long against the Silver Demon.

Little did Issei Hyoudou know that his popularity and respect grew, as well as his fan club with him and Charlotte Dunois. And now that the Exhibition match ended, it was time for Issei to take a nap.

Scene!

I hope you like it, and I hope you all don't mind, but I plan for a possible DXD story, so be on the lookout for my profile for another poll.

I hope you all like it, and I hope to see you next time on the next Update Poll.