The Lone Vigilante Issei – High School DxD
Hey everyone, it's me Hide Shinyama.
Sorry, for taking me four weeks to do this chapter, but I have been going on tours in my free time. I wanted to see Ireland and it would be a shame if I missed out on it. But now, I am back on track for the latest chapter.
On the last chapter, our heroes have questioned a student named Ryuga Nabiki about the stray devils going around killing people. Thanks to him, they ultimately managed to find a trail leading them to Johoku Chuo Park on the edge of Nerima.
Issei, Matsuda, Motohama and Ddraig find the leader, Kanto, attack a woman. However, he anticipated their arrival and had his subordinates separate Issei and Matsuda from Motohama, leaving Kanto alone with Motohama.
What will happen to Motohama? What about Issei and Matsuda? Will all of them survive this ambush?
Find out in…
Chapter 27 – The Trio vs Stray Devils
17th September, Monday, 6:00 pm – Johoku Chuo Park, Nerima
The leader of the stray devil wolves, Kanto, rushes for the kill. Motohama tried to move – dodge or run – but stood there petrified. The wolf pounced on him, causing Motohama to land on his back with a thud.
"Urgh!" Motohama grunted.
The landing knocked the breath out of him. He could feel the blunt pain in his back from the landing as well. Yet, all these were the least of the concerns because of the stray devil on top of him, looking at poor Motohama with a menacing look.
"Now, DIE!" Kanto roared, as he tried to bite Motohama's head off.
But Motohama reacted faster. He moved his hands in front of his face and splattered the glue cube in front of Kanto's face.
[PLOP!] "GRAAAAAHHH!"
The wolf stray devil roared because of the newly stuck black goo nearly smothering his face. Kanto stumbled off Motohama in a bid to get rid of it, while Motohama scrambled to his feet and hightailed out of here.
'Run… run… I've got to get out of here… I don't stand a chance against a stray devil like that on my own…' Motohama thought, running in any directions through the park, just so long he could get away from the stray devil leader as far as possible.
'I hope the others are OK…' Motohama hoped.
It was then that he saw something in the sky and focused. That was… Issei!
17th September, Monday, 6:01 pm – about 50 meters above Johoku Chuo Park, Nerima
"Hehehehe… I will have fun eating you… Sacred Gear user!" Ako said, while licking her lips, just waiting to sink her fangs into Issei.
Issei gritted his teeth. He tried to shake her off and make her let go off him. The problem was that Ako's grip on him was too strong. Thus Issei tried boosting again.
[Boost!]
Issei's power doubled, while he wrestled. This caused Ako's flying to become erratic, which Ako did not like.
"You puny human… STOP STRUGGLING!" she shouted and charged something in her hands.
Issei saw this and widened his eyes, before feeling electricity raging through his body.
"AAAARRRGHHH!" Issei cried out in pain, while struggling some more. He tried his best, but could not break free.
"AHAHAHAHA! YOU WILL BE GRILLED MEAT!" Ako laughed with a sadistic grin on her face, thinking only of eating him.
[Partner, hold on! You can't go dying here!] Ddraig implored his host.
"I'm… trying…" Issei managed to say under severe pain. "I'm can't use Dragon shot, but I can't do it if I can't aim…" he said, his arm flailing around in the air.
It seemed hopeless. Issei could not do anything and was pretty helpless in the air. Was this the end?
Ddraig wracked his head up to find a solution. Had he been at his original strength, he could just eliminate this stray devil with one breath of fire. But Issei was not yet ready to learn it, so something else had to be done.
Only what could help?
Within a split-second Ddraig had an idea.
[Partner, use that!] Ddraig urged Issei.
"Use what?" Issei replied, confused and in pain, almost about to lose consciousness from the pain.
Ddraig told him and Issei mentally agreed. He went straight to work. His life depended on it.
With the last of his strength, Issei gripped both of Ako's arms that were still gripping his shirt and then stopped moving. Noticing this, Ako stopped her electric current.
"HAHAHAHA… Was that all? Can you still hear me? Or are you perhaps dead? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAH!" she laughed triumphantly, convinced that her victim was dead.
What did she expect? He was merely a human. What could a human possibly do to a devil like her – even with a Sacred Gear? Whatever the case, she needed to land so that she could…
"Huh?" Ako voiced upon observing Issei a second time.
What she noticed was that even though Issei was not moving, he was still breathing. And not only that, but it felt like his grip on her arms remained strong.
In other words, he was still alive.
Ako growled. She was about to restart her electric current again, but then it felt like the boy's left hand had gotten cold.
She thought that he was dead now, but his strong grip remained and what's more, his hand with the Sacred Gear had not only gotten cold…
…it had gotten icy cold…
…and it felt like it was spreading from her right arm towards the rest of her body…
"AAAAAARRRRGGHHHHH!" the female stray devil screamed in excruciating pain.
The reason? Her arm was frozen over by ice, which was spreading through her entire body, courtesy of Issei's Boosted Gear.
Ako tried to move, struggle, use her magic to escape the ice.
But it was no use.
Within a few seconds, her leathery bat-wings were also affected, their movements stiffening and that meant…
"AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! NOOOOOOOOO!" Ako screamed, as her erratic flying turned into a freefall.
By then, Issei had let go off the stray devil and was falling into the tree down below.
"Oof! Ah! Urgh!" Issei grunted with every branch, hitting him on his fall downwards, breaking them in the process, before finally landing inelegantly on the grassy ground.
"Owwwww…" Issei groaned, as he lay there on his side.
[Partner, are you all right?] Ddraig asked Issei.
"Cough… cough… I feel like I inhaled in too much smoke and my back hurts like crazy… but I'll live…" Issei responded wryly, as he sat up after a few seconds. "But if it hadn't been for your idea to use the ice orb's power in the Boosted Gear, I don't think l would be alive."
[You should always be resourceful in a fight. That is what a warrior does] Ddraig said sagely.
Suddenly, they heard a thud not too far from them. It was the frozen Ako, lying just beneath a tree not too far away. It seemed she had also had the same kind of tumble Issei had.
And she did not seem to move either, except for her chest expanding and contracting (in other words, she was still breathing).
But Issei didn't care much about her, but rather his two buddies who were still in danger.
Without a word, he uses his watch to summon his special glasses and looks around for heat signatures of Matsuda and Motohama.
Just then, he heard the sound of a helicopter up above.
To Issei's surprise, it was not just any helicopter.
It was the Chopping Board Type 2 descending slowly to the ground – and Matsuda was hanging on from the landing skids!
What on earth happened up there?
Just about a minute or two earlier…
Similar to Issei, Matsuda had been suddenly seized and carried off into the air by one of the stray devils in an ambush. In his case, it was Kao, who was also gripping him from behind with her claw-like hands.
Matsuda gritted his teeth. Her grip on his stomach was painful.
Very painful.
He could only dread what would come his way…
His attacker, Kao, is gloating and looking at her prey with condescension.
"Ever since I and my comrades have left our mistress, I have managed to kill and devour 19 humans. And you… will be my twentieth…" she spoke in his ear, while licking her lips hungrily.
Matsuda clenched his teeth in fear and anger. Fear because of high above the ground he was and the prospect of being eaten alive. Anger because of what she just revealed to him.
She has killed this many already!? And for what? For sport? All the while looking at humans as nothing but insects!?
Well, screw them! He was going to show them! He already had contingency measures ready and it was going to arrive right about… now!
"What the…?" Something caught Kao's attention so that she halted in mid-air. She looked behind her and saw the Chopping Board Type 2 approaching her at top speed.
She instinctively readied a magical shot, ready to destroy the hostile object.
But contrary to her expectations, it swerved to the side and passed by her.
"What…?" Kao voiced out confused until she felt herself yanked by a sudden force.
It was then that she saw the reason why that was. Matsuda had grabbed a hold on one of the helicopter's landing skids with one hand, while holding a controller with the other.
"Whew… good that the upgraded version of this controller had an emergency summoning button…" Matsuda voiced in relief and put the controller in his pocket.
It turned out that he had, unbeknownst to the surprised Kao, summoned the controller and called the Chopping Board Type 2.
But Kao wasn't out of the fight yet. She yanked and tried to pull or tear Matsuda from the Chopping Board Type 2 with all her strength. This caused the Chopping Board Type 2 to suddenly be halted in mid-air and Matsuda feel even more pain from the pull.
"Arrggh!" he cried out in pain.
Matsuda could feel Kao's claws dig in deeper into his stomach, drawing blood through his clothes. Yet, the worst part was yet to come.
"You bloody machine…" Kao growled in anger. She readied her to shoot the miniature chopper once again. "I'll make you pay for that…" she spat out.
Matsuda became panicked. This was not a good situation. It seemed like he could not get out of this alive… until he saw Motohama's seax (short sword) sticking out the side of the helicopter door. It was a smaller than before because it had shrunk alongside the Chopping Board Type 2, but if he was correct…
"Guess again!" Matsuda shouted and reached up with all his energy and grabbed the hilt. He swung it. It grew in his hand and…
[Stab!] "Agh!"
…stabbed Kao deep into her shoulder. She let go off Matsuda as he withdrew his blade and hung for dear life on the miniature chopper.
"Phoebe! Get us down to the ground!" Matsuda called out to Phoebe.
{Understood, Captain. Lowering altitude} Phoebe replied and the chopper descended down slowly, leaving Kao to writhe behind in pain.
"Now… off to find the others… quick!" Matsuda looked down on the park grounds below, urgent to find his friends. That was the moment Issei discovered Matsuda from below.
17th September, Monday, 6:03 pm – with Motohama, Johoku Chuo Park, Nerima
Meanwhile, Motohama was keeping himself near the ground, scurrying as fast as he could along bushes, trees and other objects to hide from his pursuer.
After choosing a tree to hide behind, he made sure his breath stayed as quiet as possible. No need for that monster to find out his position.
It was then that Motohama heard heavy footsteps. He immediately hid himself behind his tree and hoped Kanto did not find him. Kanto was pacing slowly in his beast form and sniffing the ground. Upon hearing Kanto's sniffing sounds, Motohama could not help but worry.
'Wait. Is he trying to sniff me out with his nose? Oh dear, I just hope he doesn't find me… Wait a minute, he's a wolf! Ohhh… I'm doomed…' Motohama thought in despair.
He had to get ready to attack. He silently formed the next glue cubes with his black gloves, ready to throw them right in Kanto's face.
Kanto, on the other hand, was seething but also grinning with a sense of triumph.
'Does that fool think he can hide himself from me? I can sniff him out wherever he is hiding within one mile. It's even easier when he is hiding in a more natural environment like this one,' Kanto thought with glee.
Motohama heard the footsteps coming closer and nervously counted down the seconds when he should attack and run for it. That is, until the sound of the footsteps stopped, which surprised Motohama.
Motohama wondered why the male stray devil had stopped. Did he perhaps not sense him? Did he come near his position just by chance?
All his speculations were interrupted by a completely different sound. A sound of… a magical attack being charged!?
Indeed. Kanto was building up a magical charge of some kind in his jaws and was ready to wipe Motohama out with it.
'Do you think I'll let you do the same trick twice? I can hear your petty glue bomb attack and am quite familiar with it. This time, I'll keep my distance and obliterate you like this!' Kanto thought, as if responding to Motohama. 'You will be mine!'
Before Motohama could think of his next action or Kanto fire his shot, both of them heard an unusual noise coming from somewhere above.
Both of them looked and behold, it was Matsuda descending from the sky with his mini-helicopter and hanging by its landing skids.
Kanto growled upon seeing Matsuda. He was also angered at the sight of an injured Kao flying around pathetically in the air.
"That fool… How on earth can she let a mere human get away…?" he said and dispelled his charge of deadly energy.
Instead, he spread his wings and took flight, thinking: 'I think I need to do this myself. These Sacred Gear users are a lot more trouble than I thought.'
Motohama was relieved that he wasn't going to be killed right away. But that relief was short-lived because of Matsuda's predicament. Matsuda was in a disadvantageous position, while the male stray devil wolf could fly and shoot him with ease.
"Dang it! Matsuda!" Motohama cried out. He wanted to do something, except that Motohama couldn't throw his glue cubes at Kanto, now that latter was in the sky.
To make matters, Motohama saw the other stray devil going on the offense and close the distance from behind Matsuda.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! DIIIIIEEEEEE!" Kao screamed in utter fury, just wanting to kill Matsuda here and now.
Looking both in front of him and behind him, Matsuda could see he was caught between both sides and that they were closing on him fast – with magical attacks ready to obliterate him!
"NO! HELP! PHOEBE!" Matsuda yelled trying to escape the deadly situation he was in. But it was too late to dodge. And swinging Motohama'a sword wasn't going to do him much good. Was this the end?
[Dragon Shot!]
A red beam shot out of nowhere caught everyone's attention. It was heading towards them!
Kanto and and Kao instantly stopped their attacks and evaded.
Matsuda, in his shock, let go off the helicopter and fell into the tree down below.
"Oof! Ah! Ugh!" Matsuda groaned and grunted with every second, as the twigs and branches scratched and buffeted his body during the fall, before finally landing on the grassy park floor with a thud. He lay there groaning and clutching himself in pain.
Motohama saw all that had happened and hurried to meet his friend.
"Dude! Are you OK? Anything broken?" Motohama asked in worry.
Matsuda slowly got to his feet. "Nope… ugh… no problem here… it's not the first time I fell from this great a height… at least nobody is gonna land on me like the last time…" Matsuda jested.
Motohama let Matsuda rise to his feet and dust off the grass and leaves from his clothes.
"I swear. I just keep falling from trees for some reason. I need to learn some techniques to reduce damage from the fall…" Matsuda added, now finished with his tidying.
While Matsuda and Motohama were conversing, the same was happening with Kanto and Kao overhead.
"What was that!?" Kao said terrified.
"I'm not sure. But whatever it is, it came from one of the Sacred Gear users…" Kanto growled. He looked around to see where that beam came from. But he could not find the shooter.
"Where is Ako? Shouldn't she be finishing off that one human!?" Kao asked frustrated.
"She should be… but I fear the worst… If that beam came from that human…" Kanto said ominously.
Kao did not like where this was going. What should have been an easy hunting sport has now become a match to the death. Not what they wanted… This was serious…
"What do we do now?" Kao asked.
"I cannot seem to find Ako's prey, but I say that we leave him for now…" Kanto replied, as he glared at the boys down below. "For now, we target them. The two of them are dangerous in their own way. If they managed to injure you and humiliate me individually, we should get rid of them both. Follow my lead…"
"Yes…" Kao nodded and charged a magical attack in her hands, just as Kanto did the same with his jaws (he was still in his best form).
Meanwhile, just underneath the tree, Matsuda heard a ring coming from his wristwatch. He took the call.
What gives, Phoebe?" Matsuda responded. But then the unexpected happened.
{WARNING! HIGH CONCENTRATION OF ENERGY JUST DETECTED ABOVE YOUR POSITION! PLEASE EVACUATE YOUR POSITION IMMEDIATELY!} Phoebe's voice blared out urgently, making Matsuda and Motohama flinch back.
They wondered what she meant by that. So, they looked above and saw two bright glows partially obscured by the trees, but still visible, nonetheless.
"Matsuda?" Motohama asked, not moving his gaze at the attack being prepared above them.
"Yeah, Motohama?" Matsuda asked back. Even though, he was asking, he was pretty sure that Motohama had the same thought he had.
"LET'S HIGH-TAIL OUT OF HERE!" "I'M ON IT!" both boys cried out, while giving it their all to get away from the point of the blasts' impact.
(((BOOM!)))
"YAAAAAH!" "WAAAH!" Both of them screamed, as the blast blew them away. They tumbled a good distance further until they came to a stop.
"Ugh…" "Uga…" Matsuda and Motohama groaned in pain.
Kanto and Kao looked from above and growled angrily. Their blast left a huge crater where the tree stood just now, but their actual targets were still alive.
"We missed…" Kao stated with a frown.
"Then let's shoot some more. Destroy the whole park if necessary," Kanto stated coldly.
Kao held her hand out, aimed and shot another blast at the prone boys. They would have been killed, had Motohama not reacted quickly.
"Matsuda! Incoming!" he shouted to Matsuda, while jumping out of the blast's path.
Matsuda reacted and despite the pain from the tumble, managed to jump out of the way, too.
(Boom!)
The blasts impacted and missed their targets, whipping up masses of dirt and grass in the air. Matsuda and Motohama were relieved – but not for long.
"More of those things! Run!" Matsuda shouted and pointed at the succession of blasts coming their way.
(Boom!) (Boom!) (Boom!)
The poor teens were running in a slalom to avoid the hail of bullets raining all around them, shielding their eyes from the dirt flying into their eyes as best as they could. At the same time, they made sure to look behind to keep track at the incoming blasts and their flying pursuers, who were not standing still, but giving chase.
One of the blasts happened to approach with particular speed and was about to hit Matsuda, who realized too late of its approach.
"MATSUDA!" Motohama cried out in horror at what seemed to be his friend's imminent death.
Matsuda saw the orb coming right at him and instinctively brought the seax in front of his body in attempt to block it. He did not know why he did it. He just did.
And what happened next surprised everyone.
The blast impacted on the sword and was deflected! Because of how strong the blast was, he fell on his rear, but was unharmed otherwise.
Motohama and Matsuda were speechless. That sword could do that all this time? If it did, then…
He couldn't finish that thought because of what he saw next.
The blast went right back at the stray devil duo. They widened their eyes in surprise but dodged instantly. The blast passed by them harmlessly.
While the stray devil duo was floating in shock, Motohama could not help but let out whoop of joy.
"Woohooo! Take that, losers! We can deflect anything you throw at us!" Motohama called out to them cockily.
Matsuda, however, glared at his friend.
"Dude! I can't do that! Don't give them any ideas!" Matsuda rebuked his friend.
Just then, another blast whizzed by them, causing the two of them to yelp.
"DIE YOU, MAGGOTY SACRED GEAR USERS!" Kao screamed, as she and Kanto caught up with them and started shooting once more at close range from above.
"Dude start swinging!" Motohama cried out to Matsuda.
"Dude, who do you think I am? A jedi?" Matsuda retorted agitated and panicked, as he did his best to protect himself, swinging the short sword as well as he could.
Deflecting one magical blast was one thing, but all of them? Even Jedis would be hard-pressed to deflect them. And attacking them was out of the question because they were so high up that their attacks cannot reach them. Even if Phoebe came here, she likely would be taken out by both the stray devils before she could be of any help.
Unless something turned this situation around, they were doomed!
Speaking of which, where was Issei?
[Dragon Shot!]
Another red beam came and took the two stray devils by surprise. This one came from the side. Both Kanto and Kao dodged again. This time, however, Kao was not so lucky.
"ARGH!" she screamed in pain for the Dragon Shot had burned through her wings, leaving them partially destroyed. The damage to her wings was so severe that she fell.
Kao fell with a thud to the ground right next to Matsuda, but she did not stay still. She thrashed around because of her burning wings.
"Issei!" Motohama exclaimed jubilantly with raised arms. "Great shot!"
Seeing the chance, Matsuda steeled himself and went for the kill.
"RAAAHHH!" he cried out, as he raised the seax into the air and plunged through Kao's back and into the ground, causing her to stop moving. In other words, she was dead.
"DAMN YOU!" Kanto roared at the sight of another one of his comrades lying dead before him – killed by those he considered beneath the dignity and power of his race.
He shook with such rage that he just wanted to kill Matsuda and Motohama with his bare hands. But something in him told him otherwise. Instead, he turned his attention elsewhere to the origin of the beam.
He growled and trembled upon seeing Issei, who was a good distance away from Kanto on the other side of the open field they were in. He looked dirty and disheveled, but his eyes were full of resolve and the Boosted Gear brimmed with strength.
Issei looked Kanto straight in the eye and said, "You're finished…".
Kanto did not say anything. He simply growled and then shot a barrage of magical blasts at him.
[Partner, look out!] Ddraig calls out. Issei reacted by crossing his arms in front of himself in an x-shape and standing in an immovable position. This is so that Issei could shield himself as much as possible and endure the punishment of the attack.
Now, when doing such a move there is an advantage and two disadvantages.
The advantage is that when it comes to blocking off attacks, it often works. The user does not get hurt at the most vital parts of the upper body. That works even better considering Issei's Boosted Gear and the effects of its multiplied physical strength, which minimizes any harm done upon Issei. Aside from a few scratches and tears in his clothing, the host of the Red Dragon Emperor remained unharmed.
The first disadvantage to that stance is that one shields his eyes with his arms. He can't see the enemy ahead of him and knows nothing about what he plans next. All he knows is that the enemy is attacking him continually with only same old attacks and that no other kind of attack may follow.
That is an assumption that may not always be true.
The second disadvantage is related to the first. It is because of the assumption of a monotonous attack from one direction that the user does not change or move. In other words, the user is not thinking flexibly and will have a hard time adapting himself when the need arrives.
In this case, what were to happen if Kanto had stopped his attacks and decided to circle around Issei and attack him from behind?
"ISSEI! WATCH OUT! HE'S BEHIND YOU!" Motohama screamed.
Issei looked behind him and saw Kanto from behind him and running at him with his jaws wide open.
Issei froze because he was caught completely off guard. He did not know what to do, whether it be ducking, punching or whatever.
Whatever he wanted to do… it was too late!
"PHOEBE! SHOOT THAT STRAY DEVIL!" Matsuda ordered Phoebe.
"Wha-? AAAAHHHH!" Kanto roared in pain, as the Chopping Board Type 2's bullets ripped through his side.
Kanto fell to the ground before him, while Issei jumped back to keep his distance.
"All right!" Matsuda exclaimed jubilantly upon seeing Kanto collapse. "I've taken down! Finish him o-!" Matsuda wanted to finish the sentence, but could not because…
[BOOOOM!]
…a magical blast destroyed the Chopping Board Type 2!
"No! PHOE-" Matsuda cried out, but could not finish his sentence because of Motohama.
"Watch out!" he called out, as he pointed to Matsuda's left.
Matsuda turned and barely raised the seax. He blocked the attack. However, the blast was so strong it knocked him back into a tree.
"Guah!" Matsuda gave out, saliva flying out of his mouth, before falling unconscious.
""MATSUDA!" Issei and Motohama cried out at what happened to their friend.
A snarl from the side stopped them from heading to their friend. They looked in the direction of where the attack came from and saw…
"Ako… Where were you…?" Kanto growled angrily, as he saw his mate and lover, stumble to the scene. She looked like she had seen better days and was bruised, and her body showed signs of frost from Issei's freezing. But most notably, she was royally ticked off at Issei.
"That brat over there froze me with his Sacred Gear. It took me a while to freeze myself. We underestimated these humans…" she glared at Issei.
"Indeed… as much as I hate to admit it… they even killed Kao…" Kanto glanced at Kao's mutilated bleeding body.
"No… NO! I'LL RIP YOU TO SHREDS!" she cried and rushed upon Issei. She transformed into a wolf, pounced on Issei and pinned him down to the ground.
Issei grunted and wrestled with Ako with both of them in a stalemate.
"Issei! This can't be happening!" Motohama said, not believing that their luck has turned against them so quickly.
Motohama tried to help Issei but was pounced on from behind by Kanto.
"Oof!" Motohama grunted at being pounced on once more – maybe for the last time – this time landing on his stomach.
Motohama tried to use his glue gloves, but Kanto stepped on Motohama's hands with his clawed paws.
"YAAAAHHHH! AAAARRRGGHHH!" Motohama screamed in pain. His hands felt like they were being crushed and pierced, despite the protection of his special black gloves.
Kanto lowered his face towards Motohama.
"You piece of filth! Just for what you three have done, I am going to make sure you die slowly and painfully..." Kanto emphasized the last word with a voice of complete hatred.
Motohama was in despair. He could not move, his only weapon on him was currently useless and both Issei and Matsuda were either occupied or unconscious.
He tried to move, struggle… do anything to get out of this situation. But he could not!
Meanwhile, things were not looking good for Issei either.
"Hrrrgh… Arrrrrrgh!" Issei cried out in agony, as Ako, being on top of Issei, electrified him once more.
He tried his best to endure the pain but doing so and focusing on freezing his opponent at the same time was very hard. Pushing his opponent off wasn't possible because the voltage practically made his muscles useless. On top of that, his opponent had now transformed into her wolf-form, making her heavier than before.
In other words, it was a bad situation for Issei.
"Grrr… not this time! I'll try you to death before you freeze me!" Ako said with gritted teeth, as her arm started to freeze once more.
It was a war of attrition in which neither of them had the upper hand. Regardless of who won, any help for Motohama would come too late.
"I'll devour your shoulder first…" Kanto widened his jaws and was ready to bite down on him.
Motohama shut his eyes. Everything went into slow-motion for him.
'So… this is how I… we die… fighting some stray devils when we should be defeating stronger opponents, if what Ddraig said was anything to go by…' Motohama thought sadly. '…We still have so much to live for and here we are at death's door… How could this happen?'
Motohama saw Kant's jaw move closer to his shoulder in slow-motion. He smiled sadly.
'Why did it have to end this way? If only we came better prepared… if only we had another comrade… if only…' Motohama thought, resigning himself to his death… but not in action.
"HELP US!" Motohama cried out.
Kanto flinched back.
Issei and Ako stopped fighting.
But only for a few seconds.
Kanto growled and sunk his claws deep into Motohama's gloves.
"AAAAGHHHH!" Motohama screamed in pain. His hands were going to be torn apart at this rate, though then again… his life was already forfeit.
Issei resumed the fight and punched the distracted Ako in the face. He tried to get away, but Ako was the one on top of him and she did not let him go that easily. Instead, she resumed her attempts to fry Issei.
"YOU FILTHY SACRED GEAR USER! YOU HAVE HINDERED ME FOR THE LAST TIME! DIIIIEEE!" Kanto roared and was about to end Motohama's life here and now, deciding to forgo killing him slowly.
Motohama closed his eyes and braced himself.
This was the end! This was truly the end!
"NOOOO!" Issei cried out, but he was still struggling to stay alive from the high voltage of electricity flowing through him because of Ako.
Even though it hurt horribly and Issei was expecting to die, he pressed on, focusing solely on defeating his opponent here and there – no matter the cost! That was the only way, he could get out of this situation.
Motohama was expecting sharp pain at any moment…
But it miraculously never came.
"MEGATON BOULDER PUNCH!" somebody cried out with a loud voice. Kanto looked in the direction of the voice's source, which was rewarded by a…
[WHAM!] "GAAAH!"
…punch to his face and flew face first into the dirt, leaving a burrow in its wake.
With Kanto off him, Motohama could move again. He got up, tenderly rubbing his injured hands while doing so. It was then that Motohama saw just who it was that had rescued him. It was…
"Ryuga!?" Motohama exclaimed with widened eyes.
Indeed. The rescuer was none other than the bandana-wearing boy himself, still wearing his school uniform just like the trio was. But just what on earth was he doing here?
But Ryuga did not turn to face Motohama. Instead, he had his face set towards Kanto, who was picking himself from the dirt.
"Who… who dares!?" Kanto growled indignantly, trying to ignore the pain from Ryuga's blow.
Ryuga took a fighting stance and started his opponent down, daring the weakened stray devil to make a move.
"Come on, you many mutt! Do it!" Ryuga taunted Kanto.
"YOU FILTHY HUMAN!" Kanto charged a magical attack in his mouth, ready to obliterate Ryuga with it.
"RYUGA! MOVE! THAT ATTACK IS DANGEROUS!" Motohama shouted.
But Ryuga did not move. He remained completely calm, as if the attack proved no threat to him.
Motohama was sweating bullets. Just what was Ryuga doing?
Then he saw Ryuga make his move. He fastened his bandana from his head and threw it at Kanto.
Just when Kanto reared his head back to shoot…
"GUARGH!?" Kanto made a painful gargling sound.
The reason for that was because blood burst out of his throat. Not only that, but his lower body and legs were severed from the upper half of his body. In other words, Kanto was not only cut in half horizontally, but was also as good as dead.
This was confirmed by the gasping and croaking of Kanto's throat, before it stopped completely.
'Impossible… How can mere humans defeat me…?' Kanto thought with incomprehension, shock and terror on his face.
His head sank down tirelessly and blood was pouring incessantly on the park grounds from his mangled corpse.
Motohama had a look of shock and awe on his face.
"What the…? How…?" Motohama asked incoherently, trying his best to form words for a question on what just happened.
"Iron Cloth Cutting technique," Ryuga answered calmly. "I infuse chi into my bandana and then throw it, giving it greater strength and speed than doing the same without chi. It allows me to cut foes and objects, like that monster-wolf thing or…"
(((BOOM! RUSTLE!)))
Suddenly, a tree just behind Kanto fell down with its trunk cleanly cut from below. Its fall caused an enormous bang and rustle to echo through the park.
"…like that tree there…" Ryuga pointed at the fallen tree with his thumb, indicating that he was the one who felled it.
"AAAARGH! KANTO! I'LL KILL YOU! ALL YOU SACRED GEAR USERS CAN DIE!" Ako screamed in uncontrollable rage and fury. She tried to intensify her electrification, but her body was long past its limit.
Ryuga and Motohama looked and saw the end of Issei's fight.
The reason for that was that her body was almost completely covered in ice. Her strength of her electric current had weakened significantly. It was a miracle that she was still alive and kicking.
That was even more true for Issei. His body has almost completely blackened because of the intense voltage. Yet, he still remained conscious and never stopped the attack.
"DAMN YOU… DAMN… you…" Ako's voice grew weaker, as the ice on her body was spreading and growing thicker.
Eventually her voice was heard no more and her body was completely covered in ice (except her head).
Seeing that the fight was over, Issei fell on his back and breathed heavily in exhaustion. His face and arms had turned black considerably because of the electrical shock and Issei himself looked pretty bad.
Motohama and Ryuga ran up to him to make sure he was OK.
"Oh, thank goodness…You're OK…" Motohama sighed in relief upon seeing Issei breathing and conscious.
"Ryuga…? Cough… cough… What….?" Issei wanted to ask Ryuga, but his body hurt, and he felt like had smoked too much.
"I don't know why he is here either. All I know is that at least we are safe, and the stray devils are no more…" Motohama assured Issei.
"That's good…" Issei said tired. He was so tired and injured he just wanted to just rest here and now.
But suddenly, they heard footsteps coming towards them.
"RAAAHHH!" a cry was heard followed by a slashing sound, which was accompanied by Ako's head rolling off her body.
The culprit was none other than Matsuda, who apparently regained consciousness and had lashed out at the frozen Ako by beheading her with the Nordic short sword.
"That was for Phoebe…" Matsuda spat at the frozen and dead Ako.
With that, the stray devil ring had met their untimely end. Their victims were avenged. The citizens of Nerima no longer had to fear being killed by the likes of Ako, Kao, Oka and Kanto ever again.
All thanks to our heroes Issei, Ddraig, Matsuda and Motohama.
"Hold it!"
…and Ryuga Nabiki, of course… sorry…
"Can somebody tell me what's going on!?" Ryuga demanded.
And that concludes the end of Chapter 27 of the Lone Vigilante Issei.
The perverted quartet has reigned victorious against the stray devil ring and killed them off – with Ryuga's help, of course.
But how on earth did Ryuga find out where they were? Find out next time with the epilogue of the Stray Devil Arc.
Now, the reason for me making this arc was because our heroes are not quite ready to take on stronger enemies and still needed to face "weaker" opponents. Also, I wanted to give them time to develop detective skills, something clearly needed to find the stray devils' trail.
Now, I have to admit that Matsuda and Motohama managed to fight the stray devils off quite well. But as the enemies grow stronger, I wonder if they can keep with stronger enemies like Loki…? Issei is one thing, but those two? That is a question for another time.
I should also mention that in the next chapter, not only will I be dealing with the epilogue of this arc but deal with the perverted quartet's first week in school to get an overview of their school life. I will also delve into their interactions with some of the Ranma-like characters that are in Furinkan Vocational School, as well as introduce some of them for the first time.
It will be a fun comical chapter. That much I can tell you. Consider it a break from all the fighting our heroes have to do before resuming their fight against supernatural beings.
One more thing: Thanks for your reviews. They really help me correct whatever mistakes I made. That is especially true to the reviewer who pointed out my mix-up with Ako and Kao in Chapter 24.
So, once again. Thanks. I mean it.
Please read and review. I would like to hear from you.
And I hope to see you next time.
Until then.
Hide Shinyama