So before anyone asks, yes, I ran out of ideas for a new chapter title.
*Disclaimer: I own nothing, all credits go to Ichiei Ishibumi*
Chapter 7: Surpass Your Fears! Perse and Shinji's Final Showdown! (Part 2)
Silence.
Just plain silence is all that remains in the ORC room after Shinji Kouki stormed out of it without a care for any threats sent to him.
As all the members were still standing looking at the door and then to each other not knowing what to do, they were waiting for an order from their King to know what they will do now.
*THUMP*
*CRASH*
Of course said order never came. The only response the leader of the group made was to hit the desk in front of her hard enough with her right fist for the tea cup resting on top to spill its content on some papers before falling down to the floor and ultimately break.
No one dared to look at Rias as she lowered her face and started to rub her eyes with her left hand while breathing hard, her right one trembling trying to refrain itself from destroying the entire building.
Without a doubt, Rias Gremory was angry to the point of considering killing someone.
'Who…who does he think he is to disobey me like this!?' The red haired devil was cursing the audacity of his new peerage member to downright forget he is supposed to listen to her.
Not only he didn't care about being considered a stray devil from now on, he called himself her 'puppet', refused to listen to her and what she had to say before insulting her, her position and the devil society as a whole; said place where she comes from.
'If I was another devil, believe me Shinji, you'd be dead by now.' Rias was still resting her head with her left hand trying to recompose herself. Breathing hard while cursing at the raven haired teen.
There is one thing the Gremory clan is known for in the underworld and that is their affection for their servants. They never discriminate anyone below them and they treat them as their equal. The love they have for them is one of the reasons Rias tried to persuade Shinji to calm down and listen to her before jumping to conclusions.
She knows more than one clan or family that would force him to shut up and follow orders or kill him because of disobeying his superiors.
'This was not supposed to go like this.' Rias thought while calming down. Her initial plan was completely different.
After Sona briefed her of everything that happened yesterday both of them came up with a plan. While it was true the stray proved to be too much for both and the Maous ordered them to step down they had another idea.
Having pinpointed the exact location of Perse's hideout, they would both go on a 'unofficial' rescue mission against the greek monster. Saving the white haired girl before killing the stray in the most gruesome way possible because of laying a hand on one of their peerage members.
In contrast to what they needed to do before that was the easiest part of it all.
The hard part was telling Shinji that his friend was captured and there was a possibility that she was dead.
Talking with Akeno and asking Momo some questions about him she learned that Shinji was, all in all, a hot headed guy that wouldn't hesitate to jump the gun for one of his friends.
She could respect that, after all she herself went to great extents for her entire peerage members and all the traumas that each of them suffered. Having someone else dependable and wanting to help everyone he could without second thoughts was something she was looking for.
But that was also a double edged sword, now more than ever.
She was trying to find the right words to try and explain everything in a way to soften the harsh news and give her idea of a rescue mission. For the most part it was working since he was nervous but was still listening. She wasn't expecting Koneko to deliver the worst part so bluntly just like that.
The entire plan went downhill from there, as expected Shinji demanded answers while she was trying to defuse an already volatile situation trying to damage control everything in a way to calm him down.
Of course that didn't work and in a heated exchange of words her peerage decided it was enough, stepping up and stopping the raven haired boy from reaching the girl.
"I'll save my friend with or without you and deal with that later." As soon as she heard that line Rias knew there was no turning back. He was already gone and wouldn't change his mind no matter how much she pleaded with him.
'From all the different ways this could've turned out, this is the worst one by far.' The Gremory girl thought as she opened her eyes and looked at her peerage, each of them with a worried expression waiting for Rias to decide what to do next.
And the worst of it all, she couldn't actually blame him for acting the way he did. Rias knew that if she was in his shoes, she would've done the same.
"Buchou..." Koneko was the first one to break the tense silence as she looked at her King, her sad eyes showing the guilt she was feeling as if it was her fault.
"What's done is done, Koneko-chan. Don't worry about it." Rias offered a kind smile to her rook trying to calm her down. It helped a little as the petite girl nodded and sat down on the couch, still feeling guilty about everything.
"What do we do now?" Kiba asked the question everyone was thinking about. The red haired girl just sighed as she started to think of the next step of this plan.
"For now, I'll just talk to Sona. Tell her that the idea was shot down by Shinji and he stormed out of the school dead set on finding Hanakai-san." Rias explained as she started to use magic to clean the tea stains out of the papers on her desk. "There's a slim chance he'll find Perse on his own and, knowing him, he'll just jump at her."
"Do you want us to follow him?" Akeno asked as she grabbed a broom to clean the broken tea cup on the floor.
"No, at least not us. Knowing Nii-sama he'll order both you and me to stay put and check on us if we move." The Gremory devil sighed as she thought that part. Ah yes, her ever loving brother wouldn't let her go and face such a scary monster after all.
"It'll be both Kiba and Koneko to wait where she is at and see if Shinji goes in." She said as she looked at both mentioned devils. "Originally you were supposed to go with Sona's peerage while I waited with her, Akeno and Tsubaki. Once you made contact with Perse the four of us would teleport there and end it."
Even if her brother wouldn't let her face Perse, if the stray decided to attack one of her peerage members she would face her and report it as an act of defense. Not breaking the order of going out and search for her.
Ah yes, nothing more natural than a devil bending rules to their favor. They said that both Kings and Queens were to stay put and refrain from attacking the Greek monster in a way to let them know that, without them, the rest of both peerages wouldn't face a chance against her so it was suicide for the rest to go.
What they forgot to add was that they couldn't act if one of their peerage members 'accidentally' bumped into her.
This plan was thrown out the window with Shinji walking out of the club just like that, so now she has to improvise.
"I'll send you the location, wait there and if anything happens contact me. We'll be there to end it." Rias ultimately decided the course of action.
""Okay, Buchou."" Both teenagers responded.
As both Koneko and Kiba left the room, Akeno waited a couple of seconds just to make sure they were alone to speak. "You think we'll find her alive?"
Rias sighed as she sat down on her chair. "We'll just have to wait for a miracle and hope for the best case scenario where we save her and prevent Shinji-kun from killing himself again."
As the raven haired girl finished cleaning up, she looked up to her friend. "About Shinji-kun being a stray now, will you really go through with it?"
Rias snorted at her question as she looked at her. "Please Akeno, I can't just turn my back on someone just trying to protect his friend. No, that was a last ditch attempt to see if he would stop to listen to what I had to say, obviously it didn't work."
"Ara Ara, is that our lovely Buchou having a soft spot for our Shinji?~" Trying to lighten up the mood, Akeno decides to tease her King.
Rias just looked at her with a deadpan stare. "No. If anything I'll make sure he thinks twice and fix his idiotic way of acting."
Getting a reaction out of the girl was enough for Akeno to giggle in response. "Well at least we can't say it's boring to have him around. Who knows, maybe he'll make this club more fun with his stunts."
'I'd rather have my tea time peacefully than a loose cannon here.' Thinking about how hectic the club can be with Shinji is enough to make Rias sigh. "For now we can just hope that everything ends up well."
"Shit!"
*CRASH*
"Come here, you pest!"
*SLAM*
'Well this is not what I had in mind.' Cursed a teen jumping just in time to evade a piece of debris thrown at him.
After showing that he was still in the fight against the stray in the way of delivering a flying kick to Perse's face, Shinji Kouki started to realize that his plan may not be his smartest.
Recovering from his sudden appearance, Perse screamed to the world that she would kill the black haired teen no matter what. This accompanied by her jumping head on to end his life ended up with both of them breaking through a wall and getting them to another part of the factory away from the other devils.
"It's a good thing I have my devil reflexes helping me jump away from her or I'd be dead by now." The teen commented as he stopped to catch his breath. Glancing around to check the new place both of them were now he noticed it was another big place with several heavy duty machines laying around.
"What were they making here anyway? This place is gigantic." Shinji thought out loud as he noticed what looked like an office just at the back right on top. 'That must've been where they used to check everyone down here.'
His thoughts got interrupted as a scream resonated within the entire factory, said scream came from his current company.
"You worm!" Shouted Perse as she glared once again at the boy. "You dare touch me with your pathetic human hands!? I'll make sure there's not a single hair once I'm done with you!"
'Great, she's pissed.' Shinji thought as he checked the hole where they both came from. 'I hope Kiba is smart enough to not follow me and stay with Toujou-san, I need to buy more time for both of them to escape.'
His new plan was simple, knowing well by now not even the blonde Knight and the white haired Rook were strong enough to defeat Perse he ditched his attempt to save Momo for now. Hoping they could run away from here and ask Rias for help to finish the stray.
Obviously that plan was easier said than done, God knows how many times he was in the brink of death evading her attack at the last minute.
So he decided to do what he does the best, anger the other person way more so she doesn't turn around and attack the Gremory peerage duo.
"Heh." Shinji chuckled as he regained his fighting stance. "That wasn't a hand that touched you freak, that was my foot. And while we're at it try to get a surgeon or something for that nose, that is disgusting."
If Perse wasn't mad enough by now, after Shinji's joke she sure was. Launching herself with her tail she only had one thought running through her head, killing the boy.
Jumping quick enough to barely dodge her attack, Shinji rolled a couple of times after failing to land as elegantly as he wanted to.
"You worm! You dare mock me!?" Before he could react Perse grabbed his leg and threw him to the other side, crashing a pillar and leaving a small crack on the floor.
"Shit…" Shinji complained as he slowly got himself into a kneeling position, coughing blood in the process.
Dizzy
His head was once again a mess as he touched his forehead and felt blood pouring down from it. 'If I wasn't a devil, I would surely be dead by now because of how many times she slammed me against something.'
"You pest! Come out and face me!" Perse was growing impatient, long gone was her initial plan to kill one of the daughters of the Maous. Now she just wanted to see the boy that's been making a fool out of her death.
"Ah, crap. Alright, let's try this again." Tired, Shinji started to stand up again, his body complaining again and wanting him to just stay still for a while. Of course he couldn't do that considering the situation he was in.
"I ain't done yet." The teenage boy said out loud after walking out of the small crater he made because of Perse. As the stray devil looked at him she started to laugh. "You weakling, look at you covered in your own blood. Why don't you just give yourself a favor and die already."
After hearing the monster mock him, Shinji cleared the blood running down his forehead. "I'll die once I rescue my friend from you, you damn freak. Now where is she!?"
Considering she entertained herself enough with her pray, Perse stopped laughing at the boy. "Why don't you stick around and find out, Hero."
Escape.
Kiba hated that word.
Escaping was already a sour topic for him to think about, now he's forced to do it again.
"Damn Shinji, don't die on me yet." Dragging himself to an already unconscious Koneko, Kiba started to check her pulse and breathing. "It doesn't look lethal, for now at least." He sighed in relief.
If that poison was strong enough to knock out Koneko of all people so easily, he doesn't want to know what is capable against someone like him who doesn't have that much of a resistance to that kind of stuff.
A sharp pain ran through his back once again as Kiba tried to stand up, already giving up he decided to just sit and wait a bit more for his body to gather strength again.
"We were so close." Kiba thought out loud. "If we had Akeno or Rias with us to deal the finishing blow we could have won."
Ultimately he decided to sigh. "No use in thinking about that now." Looking around Kiba started to see every detail of the factory they were in; walls painted with graffiti, the floor sporting years of wear down showing cracks and rust stains.
The one he noticed the most was the smell of death and blood. 'Those are new.' The blonde Knight thought.
As the boy calmed down he started to smell more clearly the blood around them, it was making him nauseous after a while. "Just what kind of atrocities did that monster do here?" Kiba commented feeling empathy for those that died here because of Perse.
A loud crash interrupted his thoughts as he turned to the place it came from, far away where Shinji decided to take Perse. "C'mon Rias, we need you here." Kiba cursed as he felt useless being unable to help.
As another crash was heard, a wall collapsed because of the amount of damage it took, making debris and dust fly everywhere.
Kiba covered his face to protect himself from anything trying to hit him, coughing because of the dust he rubbed his eyes to adjust to his new surroundings.
"This entire place is gonna come down on us any minute." He commented as he checked Koneko was alright. 'Still unconscious, but at least she didn't get hit by anything.'
The blonde Knight decided to rest for a minute to try and gather more strength, checking Koneko every now and then to see if she's still okay. "This stray is no joke." He thought out loud.
Kiba knew some details about Perse from what Rias told both him and Koneko. Champion from multiple rating games without being disqualified even once, a ruthless monster that didn't hesitate to tear her opposition down using her greek powers combined with her newly attained demonic ones.
The plan was first to just entertain her and wait for his king to arrive and end her but both him and Koneko thought they could beat her, that in the end she wasn't as strong as they were told and decided to finish her.
'She was playing with us.' Kiba ultimately thought. 'She acted like she was weak just to give us a false hope.'
They fell right on her game, Kiba hated to admit it.
Another crash shook the place he was in, this time a pillar next to him collapsed and cleared a pile of debris that was next to it. The blonde boy got in front of the unconscious girl and protected his face.
Coughing again, he cursed his current situation and how powerless he felt. 'Dammit, I hate this.'
As he adjusted yet again his sight to his new surroundings he could see a head popping out of the debris. 'What's that?'
"Hey! Can you hear me? Are you alright?" The young devil tried to get a response from the body in front of him. Because of the lack of response he cursed and decided to check it out.
Putting all his strength to it, Kiba tried to stand up, cursing as his back was hurting and ultimately failing in the process. He decided to just drag himself a little to the place since at least it was close.
'Ah, goodness. How is Shinji still standing after getting thrown around like a rag doll?' Kiba kept cursing his way to the body as he felt his entire body wanting to just lay there.
Sure they all knew by now how reckless and hot headed their new peerage member can be, but after what they are going through right now Kiba can certainly say one thing.
Shinji Kouki can surely take a beating and walk out of it.
Using a rock lying next to him, Kiba decided to finally try to stand up. He felt how his legs were complaining because of how much abuse they got before but he still made it.
Taking a few seconds to breath, the blonde knight recomposed himself. 'Is this because of that Stray's poison? I shouldn't be this tired or have this much difficulty to just stand up.'
Surely he fought hard and got bested by a better opponent but he at least was taught on how to handle taking damage, this far exceeded everything he faced before.
"This one is surely a problematic monster." Kiba sighed as he thought about the stray.
Thinking he had enough rest, he decided to continue. "Hey? Are you there?" He asked once again to see if he had any response, cursing as he never got one.
Kicking some rocks laying on his way, he moved pieces of debris that were in front of the body. Just as he removed a rock next to the head he heard it cough, some blood leaving their mouth.
Noticing that whoever was there was still alive, the young devil started to clear the debris faster. "Hey! Hey! Stay with me! I'm getting you out of there!"
Just as he moves a piece of machine he could see some parts of the body's hair. 'White…you don't mean..!'
Yes, he could clearly see now a dirty, yet white hair. Also clothes that were familiar to him.
Kuoh Academy's girl uniform, the same uniform Koneko was currently sporting.
Just as he cleared the path, he grabbed the unconscious girl and started to check her pulse and breathing, it was barely audible but it was there. "She's alive!" Kiba screamed.
Said girl had deep cuts and bruises all over her body. Most of her uniform torn or stained with her blood from the amount of abuse she suffered.
As the unconscious girl coughed more blood, he tried to reassure her that she was safe now, she just needed to wait a little more to be treated.
As he could see red light emanating from the floor next to him, he felt a familiar aura coming out of it.
A red familiar crest forming, he knew it was just a matter of time for this to end.
'Argh…dammit!' An already tired boy cursed his current predicament.
"Already standing on your last legs, wimp?" His foe taunted him yet again.
Tired, with more bruises that he wanted to admit and his school uniform already missing it's shirt and leaving his torso exposed to see all the cuts he sported; Shinji Kouki was at his limit.
'I….I can't take that many beatings for much longer…' He cursed as he tried to breathe normally, failing in the process because of how exhausted he was.
In front of him was the stray devil Perse. As their battle continued after he kicked her, he still managed to get more lucky shots on her, that being a kick or punch right to the face or stomach before she responded with her own.
She had bruises, yes, but they were nothing she couldn't handle. The boy on the other hand…
"Oh, don't tell me you're already tired. We were just getting started." Perse mocked him as she touched one of the bruises the boy made. "This is all your strength? You can't even use your demonic powers properly, boy."
'Damn, she's right.' Shinji thought. Having difficulty breathing normally, the young devil knew he was already past his limit; his body also telling him it was enough, that it can't handle any more abuse.
"I'm Momo Hanakai. You can call Hanakai, Momo, whatever pleases you. Just don't bother me for long."
That sudden memory came to him, it was the first thing Momo told Shinji, how she coldly greeted him and told him her name.
The 'Ice Queen' of middle school surely lived up to her name. That was the first time Shinji actually had someone introduce themselves so blunt and coldly.
But there the boy saw someone who would become one of his best friends, he knew that if he kept talking to her she would end up opening herself to him.
He was right in the end, under that cold persona was the warmest girl he had ever met, who was always there whenever he asked her for help or advice.
And now she needed him. Even if she insulted him or treated him harshly the last times they talked, Shinji knew Momo needed him.
'Not yet.' He once again fought against his body's desire to give up. 'Please, just for a little longer. Give me more strength.'
Coughing blood, the black haired teen fought the urge of closing his already tired eyes. "I'm not done yet."
Standing up with his shaky legs, Shinji tried his best to raise his fists. His left eye halfway closed from the abuse the teenager took, his forehead with several blood trails coming down from it, his whole torso exposed and sporting cuts and his arms shaking letting him know having them raised was already the best they could do.
Perse laughed, her laugh echoed throughout the room they were in. "You stand before me again to fight?"
Looking at how much abuse the teenager's body had, the Greek monster readied herself for a last hit. One that will finally kill the boy.
"Now then, Hero. Let's end this once and for all." Launching herself once again, Shinji raised his arms to stop the oncoming attack. Her tail struck hard enough that broke his left arm, making the boy cry out of pain as he collapsed to the left.
Pain.
The pain was unbearable as Shinji looked at his left arm, bent in a way that it shouldn't be possible. 'Shit.' The boy cursed as he resisted the urge to cry in pain.
The laugh of his opponent broke his thoughts, Perse looking down at him was enough to send shivers down his spine. "It's over, boy. I'll make sure you die today." As her claws started to glow green, Shinji was preparing himself for the inevitable.
"Resound! Thunder!"
Before Perse could give the final blow, she was struck with lightning coming from behind the boy. The stray let out a cry of pain as she stumbled back. As Shinji tried to look behind him a naginata flew just next to his face, striking the Greek monster and forming a crest where it landed, resulting in an explosion and making Perse cry again.
As Shinji tries to understand what was going on, two girls land in front of him. One was still wearing the Kuoh Academy's girl uniform, she had long, black hair. The naginata that struck the monster once again appeared in her right arm.
Shinji knew the other one, this time she was dressed differently though. Next to his mysterious savior landed another girl, dressed in a white miko attire with her hair tied into a ponytail; she had lightning tickling from her fingertips.
"My my, looks like we arrived in the nick of time. Ufufu." One of the girls commented.
"This time we'll end this for good." The one next to her added.
Shinji tried to adjust his vision to all the dust that formed because of the sudden interruption, getting a better view of the two in front of him, his eyes shot wide open. "Akeno! Tsubaki!"
Getting a better view of them he could now see the two vice presidents and two of Kuoh's most popular girls standing next to each other. Akeno was the first one that turned around to greet his teammate. "Ara Ara Kouki-kun, you sure are a magnet for trouble everywhere you go."
Shinji could only laugh sheepishly a little as he scratched the back of his head, Tsubaki on the other hand just looked around where they were.
"This mess…it's a miracle you're still breathing." The student council vice president commented. Just before the young devil could respond to her comment, Perse threw a piece of debris at them, Akeno easily destroyed it with her magic.
"You worms…!" The feared stray devil once again rose to her feet, or tail to be more precise. Her body was sporting heavy wounds with smoke coming out of it because of Akeno's lightning magic.
The most surprising part was her torso where the naginata struck and exploded as she had a big, open wound with some bits of flesh exposed.
Suffice to say, Perse was not expecting this sudden interruption, nor was she happy it happened.
"Stray devil Perse, I believe we have unfinished business." Tsubaki coldly greeted her opponent as she adjusted her glasses. The stray's response was to throw another debris to them which was easily destroyed by Akeno again.
Feeling like a battle was about to start, Shinji tried to stand up once again. This time he could only raise himself a little before collapsing to the floor again, his body clearly telling him that it had enough.
Tsubaki was the first one to turn around and see what the boy was trying to do. "You've done enough Kouki, we'll take it from here."
Akeno giggled as she saw how blunt her friend could be. "You bought us enough time to come here Shinji-kun, now let your beautiful senpais take it from here."
The black haired teen blinked a couple of times before sighing, he resumed a sitting position while looking at both girls. "All right, I'll just wait here then."
Both girls smiled as the boy complied with their plea, turning around they could see how Perse was ready for a fight.
"Hngh!"
Another lightning bolt exploded mid air, the author of it jumping back as her opponent was sent flying backwards. Keeping up the momentum her companion slashed the creature in front of them once again with her naginata embedded with magic, earning another cry of pain from the stray.
Perse touched were the naginata once again slashed her, an open cut surpassed her hard scales and was able to leave an open wound. 'This damn brats..!'
The Greek monster had enough. Before she could kill her prey she was interrupted, first it was the duo of a knight and rook, weak devils but annoying nonetheless. Now though she was facing two Queen pieces, strong enough to hold her on their own and actually pushing her back.
Escape wasn't a possibility, it was cut short when the raven haired girl encircled the room they were in with her magic, touching the barrier resulted in a shock of powerful lightning.
There was no other way out, if she wanted to escape alive she had to get rid of both girls. Her pray can wait, her life was now a priority.
"Hell yeah! Let's go Tsubaki!" She could hear her pray, the one named Shinji Kouki cheering for both girls.
Whilst Akeno seemed pleased whenever the boy congratulated her, the student council vice president just fixed her glasses when he said her name.
'So cold, no wonder she's in the same club as Momo.' Shinji swear dropped as he saw the girl not even smiling a little.
Perse on the other hand….
"Well well, aren't I quite the popular one? This is my first time facing two Queen pieces." The stray commented as she turned to face both girls.
"We have read your crimes against the Valad clan, stray." Tsubaki was the one to respond as she straightened her body. "By the order of our Maous we demand you surrender and come with us to the underworld to face judgment. We will not be held responsible if we must execute you for not cooperating."
At that Perse chuckled, then laughed louder. "You really come to me with such an intimidating threat? I remember you girl, you were with the white haired brat that dared to face me. Tell me, how does my venom feel? Quite the ecstasy to die slowly being unable to breathe, is it not?"
The vice president twitched at her comment, remembering how her last encounter went, only saved by the miracle of her king showing up in time to heal her.
Perse smiled as she knew she got into her head. "Yes, I easily took you down once, what makes you think this time it'll change?" She turned around to face Akeno. "This girl has also fallen before me once, this time I'll just end the job here and now."
Akeno just scoffed at the stray's comment, lightning pouring out of her fingertips. "My my, quite confident with that statement against two queens, aren't we?"
Instead of looking hurt, Perse just turned her head to have a better look of the Gremory's queen. "You lack your King, my dear. You're no match for me."
Tsubaki readied herself, the tip of her naginata shining with the light emanating from the cracks the ceiling had. She knew this was to be determined here and now.
"Hngh….!" Shinji complained once again. His left arm was bent in an unnatural shape and it was numb because of the pain, he couldn't even feel his fingertips at this point.
'I hate to feel like dead weight.' He thought as he cursed his weakness. He coughed a little as more blood came out of his mouth, a sign his body gave to tell him it had enough.
And sadly Shinji had to obey it. Even if his body was still high in adrenaline and he couldn't feel much pain from his broken arm or exposed wounds, the boy could still feel the numbness he had whenever he tried to move. Ultimately he just sat down and watched the fight in front of him.
Both Akeno and Tsubaki jumped head on to face the stray, and unlike Koneko and Kiba that compensated for their weakness with teamwork, both girls were ruthless in their attacks.
Akeno was raining lightning every time Perse moved and Tsubaki was slashing the stray with one perfect blow after the other.
"So this is the power of a Queen, huh." Shinji commented as he rested on the sideline of the fight. "They are leagues way above me."
The black haired teen cursed once again. 'Why can't I be as strong as them? Dammit!' He punched the floor with his right hand. "Even after all these years training under Hagiwara, even after being reincarnated and having supernatural strength, why do I feel so useless!?"
"You are weak…."
That voice.
That voice once again resonated inside his head.
After being impaled by Perse he heard that voice stating his weakness continuously.
He kept trying to pay no mind first, but then after several encounters with the Stray he knew the voice was right in the end.
"I know." He sighed as he looked down. "I am weak."
The Greek monster cursed.
She cursed his current situation, both girls in front of her were stronger than what she expected. Her skin was smoking and sporting burns by the continuous attacks from one of the queens, and before she could even react she was on the defense by the ruthless attacks by the other.
There was no more time for taunting, nor more time to charge fast and test her prey. This was a battle of power and wits, a fight of Queen pieces. Only one of them could walk out of this alive and she was planning to be the one.
So she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 'I need to bring everything I have out in this fight.' Her inner self cursed as she didn't want to use her last resort this early, the true powers Echidna bestowed on her. 'Yes, I'll unleash the worst nightmares these girls have ever seen upon themselves.'
"Now girls," Perse extended her arms to the sky as her smile grew wider, "It's time for both of you to die."
Tsubaki watched closely as the Stray brought her hands close to her chest, narrowing her eyes as she tried to think of what her opponent was planning to do now.
She was not expecting the huge pump in power Perse was starting to emit.
Perse's chest was starting to glow green, her veins were now clear as the glow extended throughout her body. Her torso was now bigger with scales now covering most of it, her arms grew while her claws now had the same green light emanating from them, her tail now transformed and looked more thicker with sharp, pointy ends coming all the way down her back.
The Stray's face was the one that showed her complete transformation, deforming more to a reptile one. Her fangs grew to the point of sticking out of her mouth as various scales started to appear from her neck to her ears, her eyes now changing to an orange color while her pupils deformed to an elliptical one.
"T-This is..!" Tsubaki took a step back as she contemplated her enemy's new body. Gritting her teeth, she cursed the sudden spike in Perse's power. 'Her powers doubled-no, tripled from before!'
Turning her head she saw Akeno having the same expression, concern clear on her face as both queens realized the stray may even compete with their Kings now in terms of the raw power she was pumping.
"This is bad. I wasn't expecting her true form to feel this powerful." Tsubaki commented as Akeno nodded her head to confirm she felt the same way.
"Ufufu, what'sss the matter girls? Are you finally showing signs of fear in front of me?" Perse's voice also suffered changes because of her transformation. Now it was more scratchy, it clearly showed signs of the Stray's monstrous deformation as her words sound more harsh and menacing than everything she tried before.
"Tsubaki." As the student council vice president heard her name, she snapped out of her shock and turned to look at her partner. "There's no time to think now, we must fight her before she brings more harm." Akeno continued.
Turning her head, Tsubaki could spot Shinji resting his body on his right arm, his wide eyes a clear sign that he too, could feel the sudden spike of bloodlust and power Perse was emitting.
Tsubaki closed her eyes, preparing herself to face the strongest foe she ever fought. Reopening them she took a more aggressive position with her naginata facing the stray. "I will not let this monster roam freely anymore, she has caused great pain and hurt my friends more than enough."
Akeno nodded as she too extended her arms and let the lightning coming out of her fingers to cover the ground around them. "She won't escape this time, I'll make sure of that."
"Come then, queens of this territory! Come and show me your greatness!"
After her declaration both girls launched themselves against Perse. Akeno conjured a powerful lightning storm from above to rain down on her opponent only to be met by one of the Stray's own defensive spells, a crest with Greek writings appearing above her and protecting her from the attack. 'This feels like magic, so she was taught how to cast spells as well!?' The Gremory queen cursed the sudden realization.
Tsubaki, not wasting any second, charged her naginata to a weak spot the stray had open only to clash against her powerful claws, the strength of it alone making her stop and grab her weapon with both hands to not let the monster kill her. "Not so fast my dear." Perse used her greater strength to break the vice president's defense, grabbing her by her hair and slamming her against the ground, leaving a big crater where she impacted.
"Tsubaki!" Akeno shouted as she heard the scream of pain her partner emitted. "You'll pay for that!" Pouring all the strength she could, the raven haired girl screamed as she casted a bigger crest in front of her, a powerful lightning storm sent straight to her opponent.
Perse once again raised her hand to respond with her own. A barrier formed in front of her, absorbing the vast majority of the attack. As Akeno saw how she once again started to shield herself, her eyes widened with anger. "That won't work again!" Screaming she pumped even more magic to her attack. This time her lightning was so powerful that it managed to crack the stray's defense, ultimately shattering and raining down a powerful attack on her.
Perse stumbled back as the nonstop lightning rain down on her, letting out a cry of anger as she used her claws to interrupt the attack. As she raised her head to look at her opponent her skin was smoking by how much damage it took.
Akeno was gasping for air, that attack took more of her than what she thought it would. 'She's still standing! How much can she endure!?' The raven haired girl cursed as she once again had to rethink her strategy.
The Gremory queen was expecting several things after the Stray received the full force of her magic, screams of pain, anger, several curses to her and her peerage; what she was not expecting was to see Perse starting to laugh, a laugh that echoed throughout the room they were in.
"Yes! This is the power I was expecting from someone worthy of forcing me to take this form!" Perse's eyes deformed even more, they were not the same eyes of a hunter as before. Now they were the true eyes of a monster.
Before Akeno could react, Perse launched herself to face her. Akeno tried to jump back but was forced to cast a defensive spell to stop the stray's attack. Gritting her teeth she extended both her hands to pump more magic to the spell. "Those clothes and that lightning of yours…. Ahh, I see who you are now." Perse just charged and shattered the barrier easily, grabbing the raven haired girl and slamming her to the ground. "You're the famous 'Priestess of Thunder' I've been hearing about."
"You think some witty thunder will hurt me, girl!?" Her hold on the girl tightened, making Akeno scream in pain as she felt how her ribs would break by the extreme pressure. "My kind has been fighting the legendary warriors of Greece since the dawn of time! Not even Hercules' strength or Zeus' thunder can break me, worm! And you dare insult me by throwing some pathetic spells my way!?"
"Then how about some fire to shut you up?" At the sudden interruption a blue crest appeared below the Stray, an immense fire erupted from it and engulfed Perse's body. Screaming, she let go of Akeno and tried to put it out with her hands to no avail.
Coughing, Akeno turned her head to see who casted the spell. There she saw Tsubaki, breathing hard with one hand on the ground with blue magic emitting out of it and the other grabbing her stomach in pain.
"Tsubaki! Are you okay?" The raven haired girl screamed as she saw the state of her friend. The vice president was sporting several wounds now clear because of her clothes being torn and blood dripping from her forehead. "Yeah, it'll take more than that to finish me." She reassured her friend.
"You low class brat..! I'll make you suffer!" Perse charged once again against Tsubaki, the girl reacting fast enough to materialize her naginata to parry the stray's attack. Positioning once again she hold her weapon with both hands to stop the monster's right hand from cleaving her.
"You pathetic worm!" Perse shouted as she came face to face with the vice president, the latter gritting her teeth while trying to stop the stray from killing her. "You think your petty stick will stop me!?" Using her strength, Perse broke the vice president's defense and slammed her with her tail, sending her flying to a pillar and crashing against it.
Coughing, Tsubaki could see Perse preparing herself for another powerful attack. "You will taste the full strength of my powers!" Slashing in her direction several projectiles flew her way, the Sitri queen casted a barrier to protect herself but was pushed back by the sheer force of the attack.
Gritting her teeth, Tsubaki could see the barrier starting to shatter so she decided to jump to evade the attack. "That attack just now…it feels like when she used her poison before." She commented.
"That is the full power of my venom, girl." Perse commented. "It can penetrate even the thickest skins and destroy the most powerful shields. Once it touches you your skin will burn as your insides turn to mush." Her claws grew brighter as her smile widened. "Once I'm done with you I'll kill your friend and your King!"
"It's over!" Perse once again used her powerful attack on Tsubaki, the latter staying still and watching the projectiles coming her way. "Tsubaki!" Shinji and Akeno shouted in desperation.
On the other hand, the vice president smirked. "You say not even the Greek gods can damage you, so how about a little bit of your own medicine?" Extending her hands in front of her, Tsubaki was preparing to use her unique ability.
"Mirror Alice!"
As Tsubaki shouted, a big mirror appeared in front of her. Bracing herself for Perse's attack she straightened her body to pump all the magic necessary into her own.
As soon as Perse's attack came into contact with the mirror, it started to absorb all of it; the once clear glass turned green as it cracked and ultimately shattered. When it did, a powerful green wave similar to the one thrown by Perse was launched against herself.
Perse was not prepared by this sudden change of events, not having enough time to react; she was met by the full force of Tsubaki's attack. This time it was different from the magic both girls were using, she felt a familiar power on it. "This is….!"
The Stray screamed in pain, her once thick skin she claimed to be unbreakable shattered and burned to the point of leaving her flesh exposed in several parts of her body. Her face deformed as one eye melted from the venom coming into contact with it and her tail lost most of its hardened properties.
Tsubaki kneeled from exhaustion seeing how her attack was enough to finally break through Perse's defense. 'That did it, we finally got a clean hit.' She sighed as she felt the aftermath of using her ability.
Mirror Alice is Tsubaki's Sacred Gear. It creates a mirror that absorbs any and all damage she would take and, if destroyed, reflects double the damage on the attacker.
This powerful attack comes with a cost though since it takes so much energy to cast, after it she needs time to gather more strength to use it again or she'll collapse from exhaustion.
"Incredible…" Shinji thought out loud as he saw the sudden turn of events. "It actually worked."
Akeno snapped herself out of her shock fast and ran to Tsubaki. "Are you alright?" She asked. The vice president nodded as she sighed. "Yeah, I just need a little break to gather my strength again though."
The raven haired girl knew her partner already broke that monster's defense so it was now on her to regain the momentum of the fight.
"I WILL MAKE YOU PAY!" Perse finally snapped and charged her powerful venom to the group of girls, her slashes forming a green burst of energy.
"Not this time!" Akeno raised her hands as lightning surrounded her, screaming as she extended her arms as the floor cracked by how much power she was starting to pump. "Resound! Thunder!"
Casting two crests in front of her, Akeno commanded her lightning to strike the stray once more. After coming into contact with Perse's attack, her lightning instantly vaporized her venom and went on to meet the Greek monster.
Perse screamed in agony as she suffered the raw power of the Gremory queen, sending her to a wall and crashing against it.
"Ufufu, my my. If you say not even Zeus' thunder can damage you, does that mean that I'm stronger than him now that I did?" Akeno joked as she taunted Perse.
"You…" Perse complained as she tried to get up. Covered in her own blood, her exposed flesh was now burning because of Akeno's lightning and her once perfect skim she deemed impenetrable was completely burned by Tsubaki using her own attack against her.
"I will not be bested this easily…" The Stray used her left arm to try to push herself up, stopping midway to cough blood. Looking at the reflection in the pool of her own blood, she could see how her once elegant face was melted and deformed beyond repair.
"I can't lose to them….not like this…." Using her right arm she smashed the pool of blood and raised herself up once again.
"Stray devil Perse, I demand you surrender now." Tsubaki stood up once again and walked next to Akeno. "It is clear by now you cannot defeat us in your state."
Perse gritted her teeth. "No…" She commanded her body to respond and put an end to the life of both girls that dared to damage her. "No!"
"You will die!" Launching herself once more she met the group face on, Tsubaki quickly materialized her naginata and stopped Perse's attack; stabbing her hand midair to prevent it from killing her, earning a cry of pain by the monster.
Akeno conjured a barrier to defend herself from Perse's tail, summoning then several ice spikes to pin it to the ground.
"Argh!" Perse screamed with all her might as she freed herself from both girls. Forcing her tail free while feeling her flesh torn by the spikes on her tail damaging it and her hand grabbing the naginata and breaking it.
Both girls stumbled back after witnessing the sheer force the stray still had. "She's still this strong!?" Tsubaki cursed while looking at the damaged tail thinking even with how she was able to break her defenses the monster still had so much power left.
"Tsubaki!" Before she could react, the vice president turned to see the stray mere centimeters in front of her. Just as Perse was about to kill her a defensive barrier formed in front of her.
"Akeno!" Tsubaki greeted as she also helped transfer her own energy to the barrier. Both girls saw how Perse's claws started to break it so, screaming, they pumped even more power to kill her once and for all.
Both lightning and fire erupted from the crest as they forced the stray back. But instead of letting go, Perse was still pushing with all her might against it.
"It won't hold much longer like this!" Akeno shouted as she kept giving the crest all she had. Under any normal circumstances with how much magic she's giving it she would believe even Rias's full power wouldn't be able to break it, but even this stray is managing to do it.
Cracks.
Tsubaki's worst fear was starting to appear in front of her.
She could see several cracks forming on the crest, from one place to the other and they were expanding at a rapid pace. Akeno was also realizing this as she started to curse.
As both girls started to feel the brute strength and strain of the attack, they were being pushed back as Perse was still adamant to break through.
The crest ultimately exploded, the full force of magic pumped into it as the Stray wouldn't let go was enough to make it collapse by the sheer force and sent an exploding blast to every direction.
Both Akeno and Tsubaki were sent flying backwards, screaming in pain as their clothes were torn with several burns and deep cuts showing because of the blast.
Shinji covered his eyes as the light emanating from the explosion was bright enough to light up the entire room momentarily. Opening them again he could see Tsubaki and Akeno close to him, both girls coughing blood as they clutched the place the blast hurt them the most. "Akeno! Tsubaki!" He shouted.
As the dust started to settle, the boy could see a figure behind it. His eyes widened in terror when he saw the stray still standing and breathing.
"Ha….ha…" Perse breathed hard while looking down at the trio in front of her. Most of her face was burned, exposing her mouth and sharp fangs for all to see, her torso was heavily damaged and deformed while her left arm was missing most of its flesh leaving only tendons or bones exposed.
"Imposible…" Tsubaki was the first one to react, her wide eyes not blinking while her body trembled in fear as she was contemplating something that shouldn't be real.
Akeno tried to get back up, her body not responding because of the sheer amount of damage it just took. Cursing, she bit her lips until blood drew out. 'Pull up! C'mon! Pull yourself up!' She pleaded.
"You worms have pushed me this far." Perse coughed blood as she started to get closer to the group. "I will make your deaths slow and painful as I rejoice in your blood."
Shinji couldn't believe what he was seeing, his stomach was fighting the urge to throw out everything it had while his eyes were witnessing something that not even the most grotesque videos he saw could replicate.
"Starting with you, brat." She turned her head to face Tsubaki. "You dared to burn me using my own powers and deformed my once perfect skin. Your death will be the first and most gruesome one."
Tsubaki was petrified, trying to crawl back she found it impossible because her body wasn't responding to her pleas. 'C'mon!' She shouted internally as she saw how Perse's eye was starting to glow as her figure was getting closer.
She closed her eyes in terror, she was scared, scared to have it all end like this. 'Please! Anybody!' Her body trembled as her heart beats got faster to the point it felt like it would explode.
Perse then launched herself to give the final blow.
Tsubaki never felt anything hit her, instead she heard a cry of pain and another one calling out the boy's name. Opening her eyes she wasn't expecting what was in front of her.
"Kouki!" She screamed.
Coughing blood there stood Shinji Kouki, Perse's claws piercing straight into his right arm and part of his torso.
Gathering the last of his strength he was able to jump in front of the girl next to him and receive the full force of the attack. They boy could feel a burning sensation where the Stray hit him, his body response was coughing even more blood.
"Hero…." Perse coldly called him by her favorite name. "It looks like once again you appear before me."
"How poetic this all is." The stray began to chuckle as Shinji coughed even more blood, making Tsubaki shout his name worriedly. "We can end this the same way it all started." Perse continued.
Using her arm to raise him she made the boy face her. "How many times will you dare to interrupt me? How many times will you get up before finally deciding to drop dead?"
Shinji didn't respond to her questions, instead he looked at her with eyes filled with hatred. Perse laughed at his stare. "Yes! Those are the eyes I've been waiting from you, the eyes of anger, impotence and realization!"
Throwing him against the ground hard enough, Shinji cried in pain as he landed behind Akeno, the latter calling his name worriedly.
The sheer force of the impact made part of the ceiling collapse between Tsubaki and the others, the vice president shouted at them to see if they were alright.
"Now Hero, it's time for us to end this."
Shinji was half unconscious, his vision fading as he coughed even more blood.
He could hear the distinct crying from both girls screaming his name, unable to respond he just used his remaining strength only to breath.
He couldn't open his left eye because of all the blood dripping from his forehead making it imposible and his right one was constantly having a hard time giving him a clear picture of his surroundings; yet he could still see the figure of the monster in front of him.
Perse.
This monster caused so much pain, so many died and suffered because of her and she still doesn't stop.
Not even the combined powers of Akeno and Tsubaki could stop her, not even being half massacred she stopped.
She was a monster, and she was going to kill them all.
"You are weak…"
'Akeno, Tsubaki. You gave it your all and still failed.'
"You feel weak…"
'Kiba and Koneko also suffered because of her.'
"You don't have the strength…"
'Momo…I failed you…'
"You don't have the power…"
'She won't stop until everyone is dead…'
"You cannot win…"
'Even Issei, Kiryuu, Hagiwara and all the rest will die because of her..'
"You cannot defeat her…"
'No.'
"Hm?"
*BADUMP*
'I won't let her do it.'
*BADUMP*
"This feeling…"
*BADUMP*
'I won't let her harm anyone else.'
*BADUMP*
"Ah, I can feel it now."
*BADUMP* *BADUMP*
His heart started to beat faster, his eyes widened in anger as his breathing got harder.
'I won't let her harm them!'
"This conviction."
His right arm started to dimly glow, a bluish color engulfed it as his wounds healed themselves. Soon it started to flicker with blue lightning.
'I won't let her kill them!'
"I can feel it growing inside of you, young one."
In front of him he could see Akeno trying to form another crest in front of the Stray as she made her way to end both of their lives.
'I won't let her touch my friends!'
"This power granted to you, use it to fulfill your wish."
'I'll stop this now!'
"Resound-"
"RAAAAAAAAAAA!"
As Akeno casted her lightning, she could feel an immense source of power. Soon a powerful lightning strike engulfed the Stray with force enough to make her cry in pain because of it, the sheer power of it pushed her to the ceiling and made it completely collapse on her, falling down and burying her in debris.
She was speechless. 'Was that my attack?' She wondered, looking at where the Stray was buried she confirmed there wasn't any movement. "Is it over?"
"Akeno! Are you alright?" She could hear Tsubaki from the other side of debris separating both of them. "Yes, what about you?" The raven haired girl responded.
"I'm alright, looks like whatever the stray was using to paralyze me it's gone." Confirming what Tsubaki was talking about she also could move freely aswel. 'So it was a spell paralyzing both of us?'
That made Akeno think. 'It must have something to do when she reaches you or you're under her line of sight. But if that is the case how did Shinji-'
That's when it dawned on her, her teammate is fatally wounded behind her.
"Shinji-kun!" Akeno shouted as she turned around, looking behind her she could see how the boy was breathing hard while looking at his right arm.
"Shinji-kun! Are you alright!?" She repeated his name once again to check on him. The boy raised his head to look at her. "I…uh-yeah, somehow at least a bit better." He responded
And he wasn't lying, whatever happened before it also just cured the most fatal wounds he received after the stray impaled him once again. Returning his gaze at his right arm he was trying to find an answer to it all. 'What the hell just happened…?'
Akeno on the other hand just sighed as she found calmness in him being alive.
"So, is it over?" Shinji asked out loud.
"Yes, I think it finally is…" Tsubaki responded.
But it wasn't.
As the ground trembled once again, the familiar figure of Perse rose back up. Her deteriorated body showed even more signs of damage as she still looked at the trio.
Anger, pure and absolute anger was the only feeling she had.
As Akeno tried to move, Perse's eye glow up again. 'Hngh! I can't move! So it is her eyes!' She finally figured out.
"I won't….let you…beat me…" The Stray started to make her way out of the debris, her right eye glowing once again. "This is…your end…"
As she raised her hand, a black projectile flew her direction, impacting directly with her. Stumbling back she checked where she was hit only to see her left arm completely vaporized.
At the realization she screamed in pain as blood started to pour out. Then Perse turned her head where it came from. Behind the trio there was a hole on the wall because of their continued fight, and coming out of it she could make out the figure of a girl.
Red hair, and a notoriously powerful aura was starting to emanate throughout the factory. "That hair….you are..!" It finally dawned to Perse.
"You dared to lay a finger on my peerage, and you even dared to bring chaos to my territory!?" Her firm voice with anger was familiar enough for Shinji to sigh in relief. "Took you time." He commented under his breath.
"Rias."
Walking out of the hole was none other than Rias Gremory, a black aura surrounding her. Shinji could feel how thick the air turned when the red haired girl stepped into the room they were in, a complete different power from the one he experienced from both queens and the stray devil.
"Gremory…" Perse cursed under his breath. From all of the devils she could encounter here, it had to be her with that destructive power she possesses.
The power of destruction, a devil ability Rias Gremory possesses. Like it's name says, this is a great destructive power that can annihilate anything it comes into contact with.
"Don't you dare speak my family's name." Rias reaponded. Checking around, the red haired girl could see Akeno and Tsubaki crouching while nodding her direction, that was all she needed to know to see they were alright.
She then turned her head to Shinji, her eyes softened after witnessing how badly wounded he was. 'All this pain you've endured just to save your friend…' Her anger grew even more as she turned to face the stray once again.
Rias' aura was enough to tell Perse this battle was over. Slamming the ground with her right hand she transferred all the power on her claws, creating a powerful burst in front of the red haired girl. Rias just used her power of destruction to get rid of the debris.
It was pointless, but it wasn't to attack her, Perse would use that moment of distraction to escape the factory. She could face two queens, she couldn't face a King piece and, even worse, one with such destructive power.
Just before she could run a water snake grabbed her tail, biting hard enough to pierce her skin and get a cry of pain out of the Stray.
"Stray devil Perse, looks like your time running out is cut short." Walking out where Rias appeared, another girl wearing the Kuoh Academy's girl uniform decided to make her presence known. Shinji widened his eyes when he spotted the familiar figure.
"Sona!"
The mentioned girl responded to her name adjusting her glasses, her left arm extended with a magic crest and water pouring out of if.
"Hngh!" Persed cursed. "This power…Even a Sitri is roaming this place!?"
Sitri, the devil clan Sona comes from, is known for their prowess controlling water and using it as their fighting method. There are legends of the original Sitri commanding the vast oceans and using them as he saw fit.
If Sona was angered by the stray naming her clan she didn't look so, instead she walked to where the boy was. "It's okay." She calmly said.
"Huh?" Shinji turned to see Sona. She was now kneeling while grabbing his shoulder. "She's fine." She responded while looking at him with her softened eyes. "She's hurt, but we cured all of her fatal wounds. She's alive and waiting for you, Kouki-kun."
Listening to that was enough for Shinji to drop his head. "Thank goodness..." He finally dropped to the floor as he sobbed uncontrollably. "Thank you…" He started to repeat as tears dropped from his eyes.
Delivering the message he wished to hear the most, Sona nodded and turned her head. There she could see Rias waiting for her while fondly looking at his peerage member crying after confirming his friend was alive.
Walking next to her friend, Sona faced once again the stray devil in front of her. Using her water serpent she slammed Perse against a pillar breaking it and letting debris fall on her.
This time Perse knew there was no way out, if she wanted to escape she had to kill both kings and their queens. 'Hrgh..' There was no plan to make, no caution to take anymore. It's was her against four powerful devils.
Perse greeted her teeth. 'If I die, then I'll make sure I'll be remembered as the one that killed one of the Maous sisters in the process.' She confirmed inside her head her new reason to fight.
Erupting from the debris Perse charged once again, this time to face both devils. As she forced her initial assault against Rias to remove her powers of destruction from the fight, the red haired girl formed a defensive barrier in front of her.
While Perse thought she would have to brute force her way through like she did before, Rias just smirked and engulfed the entire crest with her powers. The stray let out a cry of pain from having most of her body once again disintegrated because of her magic.
As Sona made her presence known by having another water snake biting the side of her torso, Perse grabbed it with the idea of ripping it in half.
Sona just fixed her glasses and, with one swift motion, made the snake expode and have several water shaped spears pierce through the Stray's body.
Once again Perse dropped to the floor, this time with no strength left to get back up again. Coughing blood, she could see both devils walking towards her. "Please, mercy." She implored.
Rias only looked at her with disgust. "Not even the flames you'll burn with deserve to be tainted by your blood." She coldly responded.
"You have brought pain and suffering to my peerage and territory, the only penalty you deserve for such crimes is death." Sona exclaimed as she extended her hand, a crest surrounding the Stray.
Then blue flames erupted from the crest, the stray let out a cry of pain as she was burned completely. Rias then decided to extend her hand and form her own crest, this time her black power covered everything and destroyed what remained of the monster.
At last, as both crests disappeared to reveal nothing was left of her, the stray devil Perse finally fell.
"Stop complaining, this is what you get for disobeying me."
"Yeah well, you never explained anything about that anyway."
After taking some time for the devils to heal most of his deep wounds with magic, Shinji walked out of the room where they faced Perse.
Well, he tried walking but ultimately it failed and he had to get help from Akeno to walk out slowly.
As they were healing him, Sona and Rias explained what their initial plan was to save Momo, then promptly blamed Shinji because of how it turned out to be.
"I mean, how hard is it to tell me that instead of dragging the subject? Gosh Kiba was right, you're a drama queen." As Shinji was blatant with his honesty, the three girls accompanying him snorted while Rias turned away blushing. "T-That's not true! There's a pace you have to respect when telling a story. And I'll have you know I'm pretty good at explaining things."
Shinji sighed. "Yeah, right. Probably takes two hours of build up just for you to say you had toasts for breakfast." As Tsubaki and Sona looked away to hide their laughing, Akeno just laughed out loud while covering her mouth. Rias was now puffing her cheeks while pinching Shinji's left one.
"Shinji?"
As he heard his name, Shinji turned to face where it came from. In front of him stood Kiba resting on a piece of machinery, Koneko who turned to greet them and another figure that was covering her body with some sort of blanket. As he narrowed his eyes, the raven haired boy almost stumbled trying to run at the figure.
There stood Momo Hanakai. With some minor bruises on her face and covering her torn school uniform, she ran straight to the boy. Akeno releasing his grab on Shinji just in time the white haired girl hugged him.
"You idiot! What were you thinking of coming here alone!" Momo shouted while tightening his hug on the boy. Shinji raised his right arm to return the hug. "I thought I lost you, Momo. I couldn't let that monster hurt you."
"And facing that thing alone was your plan? She could've killed you! She almost did before everyone showed up!" Once again, Momo tried to make sense of what was going on inside the boy's head. Shinji just rested his head on her shoulder. "You're my friend Momo, I don't care how powerful she was and if she could kill me. I wanted to save you, I wanted to see you again."
At that, Momo cried. All that pent up frustration and fear she had of not seeing him again finally broke down as she tightened her hug and sobbed uncontrollably. Shinji just remained silent, hugging her back.
"I didn't want this for you." Momo broke her silence. "I didn't want you to see me in this world full of monsters. I wanted to remain as a normal human in front of you."
Shinji chuckled a bit at her honesty, this made Momo look at him. "You think I would stop talking to you because you're a devil?" As a way of giving him a response, the white haired girl looked to the side trying to hide her face.
Shinji sighed. "Momo. Even if you were a human, a devil, a snake or whatever you want to be you're gonna still be my friend. I don't care what you are, to me you still are the white haired stickler to rules I've met and had the honor of befriending in middle school; you being a devil is not going to change that."
After hearing that Momo buried her head on Shinji's chest trying to hide the expression she was making, the boy just looked around to hide the embarrassment of how corny what he said just sounded.
Unbeknownst to both of them, Akeno paid close attention to Shinji's confession, but decided to just sigh and turn around.
"Alright, I guess it's time to leave before this whole factory collapses" Akeno decided to break the ice after a heartwarming reunion.
"Yes, I want to at least sleep a little before attending class tomorrow." Sona sighed as she fixed her glasses. If she was right, and she knew she was, they had a test tomorrow and she needed to be in perfect state to get a ten.
"Yeah, I feel like sleeping for a month after this." Shinji sighed as he finally felt the exhaustion of all this situation.
"Well Shinji-kun, you have five hours left to get a good night's sleep. Better make it quick." Akeno joked as she saw how the teen sighed in annoyance, making her giggle in response.
Momo finally loosened her hold on Shinji, deciding to grab him from his left arm. "Ow! Watch it, that arm's broken."
"Shut it, you deserve it." Momo coldly responded, but complied and helped him by the waist.
"Thank you for your kind words, oh beautiful 'Ice Queen'." The boy joked.
"Don't make me twist your broken arm."
"Fair enough."
"This place."
As Shinji finally closed his eyes and wandered to the land of dreams, he once again found himself in the void he started to see since he reincarnated.
But this time it felt different, he could see some silhouettes in the dark, and hear water circling around him.
"So we meet again, young one."
A deep voice echoed throughout the land. "Wait, I recognize that voice." The boy remembered.
"Ah, so you do remember our brief encounters." The voice responded.
"Who are you? What is this place?" The teen asked as he tried to look around, he could only make out some figures and he kept hearing water around him and a thunderstorm in the distance.
"Everywhere, nowhere. We are at every place, yet at the same time, we are at none."
As Shinji tried to make out what that even meant, it started to rain as he heard a thunder crash in front of him. Because of the light that emitted he could see a river in front of him going all the way into the distance.
"We are tied together by your soul, as that is the bridge connecting you to me."
"Bridge? What bridge? I thought I lost my soul when I got reincarnated." Turning around where he thought he heard the figure, another thunder crashed next to him. This time he could make out a big mountain in front of him as some of the grass he was standing on.
"Most answers require its due time, as there are still gaps in understanding as to why I was called to aid you."
"Aid me?" Shinji repeated that last part, another thunder made its way, this time showing something was atop the mountain in front of him. It's shape being long like a snake.
"Yes, for it is uncommon for my kind to be summoned."
Shinji could hear the river getting more violent as the wind around him made him cover his face.
"But do not be scared, young one. As for the journey ahead of you I'll be your guide, as also your partner."
This time several thunders crashed in front of the boy, as the rain got worse and the thunderstorm roared in response. The rivers agitated to the point of Shinji starting to feel his feet wet. He had to cover his face from all the commotion around him
Suddenly, it stopped. As Shinji slowly opened his eyes he could see where he was.
It was a big landscape with mountains. Several rivers going on in the distance and around him and big thunder clouds in the sky, rain dimly making its presence known as the raven haired teen felt his face wet.
But, as he turned around to the mountain he saw before, Shinji got to fully see who was talking to him all along.
A big, long snake body covering the entirety of the biggest mountain of the landscape. Its azure color was adorned by scales going all the way throughout its body; its four, massive talons like those of an eagle, grabbing the mountain while pinching it with enough force to leave cracks where they are whilst its soles resembled that of a tiger.
Its head was the most shocking as it possessed antlers like a deer, a long nose with its mouth open letting him see its massive teeth.
And then its eyes.
There he saw eyes like he had never seen before. A white sclera only highlighted by a silver iris and blue pupil.
"What…" Shinji stumbled back looking at the deity in front of him as the thunder started to resonate louder than before. "What are you?"
"I am Shenlong. The spiritual dragon of thunder and rainstorms."