Here I am again with another translated chapter!
I had some problems with FanFiction that didn't allow me to update this chapter earlier, but luckily it's all fixed now.
Earlier I said that this fight goes in phases, so maybe it ends up being a bit shorter than usual. But considering that the previous one was longer than usual, I think it manages to balance it out.
Now it's time for the reviews:
The Beast of Sanity: Personally I like adding that kind of stuff, as it helps the characters to be less "empty", so to speak. Obviously it always depends a lot on what kind of characters you use this on, because doing it, for example, with Tiamat, wouldn't make any sense, since she proved so far that she doesn't have any moral dilemma whether she should kill or not. As always, I'm very glad that you like it so much so far and I hope this will continue in the future.
Chaoticgod7743: Thank you very much for your words, it makes me very happy to see that this test translation is getting so far. With what you said in the last thing about the other guy commenting, to be honest, I don't pay attention to that kind of criticism, because it's not criticism in the first place. A critic is someone who may be trying to correct certain mistakes or point out different problems that stand out in the work and are damaging it. A person who simply tells you that they got bored and dropped it is not a criticism, rather it is how that person feels about it. He also stated something about the original work, and I think he's referring to the parallelism that happens between the cannon and non-cannon arcs. I understand that someone might be bored that it's not something completely different, but that's the essence of this story, so if they don't like it, that's fine and just don't read any further.
With nothing more to add, it's time to begin.
Enjoy!
"President, President!" Saji shouted, coughing from the large amount of dust and dirt in the area.
"I'm fine." Sona appeared through the dust, shaking her clothes to shake off the dirt. "The damage was minimal..." The Sitri commented, then looked towards the centre of the fight with great seriousness. "Although, I could not say for certain how they are where the attack was unleashed." Sona adjusted her glasses with a worried look. "Most likely it was a critical hit."
"What do we do, Sona?" Tsubaki appeared, being accompanied by the rest of the nobility.
"I'll call the Maou." Sona stated earnestly. "It is obvious that Kokabiel's power is at a completely different level than we assumed." Sona narrowed her eyes. "I knew the Cadres shouldn't be a joke, they have that position for a reason."
"Sona!"
Sona blinked in utter amazement after hearing Rias' voice through the small red magic circle that appeared in her ear.
"Rias?" Sona asked, somewhat surprised that she didn't even have her voice a little shaken.
"I know what you're thinking..." A huge grin broke out on Rias' face, fixing his gaze on Issei.
He had just killed Freed a second ago, still glaring at Kokabiel.
"I'm asking you to give us 10 more minutes..."
Sona looked up at the sky, then let out a huge sigh.
"... I hope I don't regret this."
CHAPTER 16: UNTIL THE LAST BREATH, ¡DRAGON VS CADRE!
Kokabiel's surprised look changed to a completely serious expression, though a small smile could be discerned on his face.
"I think this is where the interesting part begins..." Cadre stated quietly, signalling for his remaining Cerberus to attack.
The Cerberus began sprinting towards its target with mind-boggling speed. Still, Issei waited for it to stand on Freed's body without making a move. The centre head opened its mouth as wide as possible to eat him. When one of its teeth was about to touch Issei's head, the young man blinked and his expression became extremely serious. The beast slammed into Issei like a bull, dragging its target a couple of metres, until it stopped dead in its tracks after a few seconds of the onslaught. Everyone's eyes widened as they saw that when the dust cleared, Issei was holding the Cerberus back with a one-handed grip on one of its teeth.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Issei didn't hesitate for a second, throwing the beast into the sky with all his might with one hand, demonstrating brutal strength.
When the monster had finally reached its maximum altitude, Issei extended his palm towards the sky, only to have a small crimson orb appear in his hand.
"DRAGON SHOT!"
A large crimson energy shot like a bolt of lightning towards the Cerberus, causing its body to completely disappear due to the magnitude of the attack.
"Interesting!" shouted Kokabiel with a large maniacal grin on his face as he extended both his hands out in front of him. "Let's see how you do with two!" He shouted again, extending a huge purple magic circle from the ground, causing two Cerberus to emerge, which didn't take a second to rush out towards Issei.
Seeing this, the protagonist frowned and proceeded to materialise his helmet as a precaution.
Both Cerberus rushed at Issei to tear him apart, but he created two magical barriers just a second before, causing the beasts to make a full impact and fall to the ground stunned. Issei took advantage of this and unravelled his barriers, rushing forward while extending both arms out to his sides. He opened his fists, denoting a small crimson orb in both hands.
"DRAGON SHOT!"
Ddraig's voice again echoed through the place, unleashing two massive blasts of power that completely eradicated the Cerberus.
Galilei took a step back as Issei disappeared out of nowhere and reappeared in front of him, but it was too late to react.
The young man punched him with a strong punch that went all the way through his stomach. Galilei's eyes widened in horror and he spat out a huge amount of blood, only to be blown away by the force of the attack.
Kokabiel watched indifferently as Galilei's body rolled and fell behind him.
"How much power..." The Cadre thought seriously.
"Were you so eager to fight to the death?!" Issei shouted, dematerialising his helmet. "So...!" Issei took a great leap and aimed at him with a great firmness in his hand, not caring that he was several meters away.
"Now don't run away like a coward!"
"DRAGON SHOT!"
The attack began to advance from the sky towards Kokabiel with promising speed, but very easy for the Cadre to dodge.
Kokabiel watched as the magical attack slowly approached his figure, and he responded with a simple motion: he crossed his arms.
Just as it was about to hit him, he could see the Fallen Angel smirk sideways.
The attack slammed hard into its target, causing a huge blizzard to blow through the place. The Dragon Shot exploded a second time with great energy, creating a huge sphere of crimson that gave off pure magic.
"What?" Issei blinked in shock. "The attack was supposed to have shattered the ground. It shouldn't have had that effect." The chestnut thought with great seriousness, keeping a great distance in the air to make sure he didn't have any unpleasant surprises.
The Dragon Shot's shockwave spread out a little further, creating another final mini explosion, causing the impact site to be covered in dirt and dust.
"Did it work?" Issei thought, staring at the impact zone.
The protagonist was able to catch a pure miracle as something approached towards his position thanks to the dust and dirt making a strange movement. Issei crossed his arms in X by pure instinct, just the second Kokabiel appeared in front of him, without a scratch.
Issei managed to cover himself from the punch, and then tried to kick him, but Kokabiel dodged it without much trouble. Thus, a barrage of punches and kicks began to unfold in the air. Both opponents blocked and countered, without managing to land a blow on their opponent. The speed was such that their spectators could barely follow them with their eyes.
"*That amount of power is not enough!*" Ddraig exclaimed seriously. "*You need to increase your power!*"
"And how do I do that?!" Issei exclaimed, finding it increasingly difficult to block Kokabiel's attacks, due to the fact that he was slowly increasing his strength. "I'm already using all my power!"
"It's time..." Rias said quietly, creating a magic circle, where a black energy with a crimson edge began to create itself.
"Rias?" Akeno asked with great surprise. "You cannot use the Power of Destruction. Remember that your brother forbade it, due to the little control you possess over it." Akeno turned her gaze back into the fight, frowning. "Besides, Issei will most likely get hurt as well."
"Never mind that." Rias replied, opting for a completely nonchalant look. "The important thing is to stop it. Then we'll cure Hyoudou with a Phoenix Tear."
Akeno gave a sigh, but decided not to say anything about it.
Rias narrowed his eyes with great conviction, unleashing a powerful attack that made a horrifying sound when it was released.
Hearing the sound, Kokabiel looked in the direction of the attack. He swiftly kicked Issei hard, causing the young man to blink in shock at the Cadre's inordinate increase in speed.
After knocking Issei to the ground, Kokabiel turned around and met the Gremory's attack with a strong kick, deflecting it into the sky practically in a second. When she did, you could see that her shoe was completely shattered, as were her toes, which completely disappeared just from coming into contact with the highly condensed energy.
"What!" cried Rias in complete disbelief, only to be visibly startled when Kokabiel appeared in front of her out of nowhere.
"Listen to me well, Gremory brat." Kokabiel declared with an aura of death around her. "The next time you intervene in MY combat, I will kill you." He concluded, causing Rias to shiver at the cold, shadowy look the Cadre gave him.
Kokabiel quickly turned around, using his forearm to cover Issei's blow. After that, they both leapt backwards and began clashing punches and kicks again, with the difference that they were now on the ground. Another major difference was that Issei was no longer fighting back, he was only defending himself.
"Shit, I can't go on much longer!" Issei thought, gritting his teeth hard as he noticed that his block was gradually being shattered by Kokabiel's strength.
"*To increase your power through augmentations, you have to use your emotions!*" Ddraig shouted in his mind. "*Bear in mind that your mind is like a dragon's, so your emotions are 10 times stronger! You have to find some negative thought to help you expel your full potential!*"
"A negative feeling..." Issei's mind was filled with negative memories.
His relationship with his parents...
His poor ability to integrate into society...
Being known as the weakest Sekeryuutei...
He even thought of the most recent of all. The death of Irina, his childhood friend.
With all that, it should have been more than enough. After all, her heart was covered in bad feelings right now.
"Why isn't it working?" Ddraig thought, gritting his teeth tightly. "With such negative energy, there's supposed to be an explosion of power! All my previous carriers have always been run on anger and hate!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Kokabiel laughed loudly, not letting Issei rest for a second. "I had thought that a human with Sacred Gear with his power barely awakened would have been very boring! But I see I was completely wrong!" A grim smile graced his face. "Luckily, those stupid Demons were watching you the whole time, and ended up reviving you!"
Hearing this, Issei blinked in complete shock. "...How do you know...!" The protagonist felt his skin slowly begin to bristle with uncontrollable hatred.
"How do I know!" The sadistic, horrified grin on Kokabiel's face grew even wider. "Who do you think ordered your death!" he shouted with great sadism and finally broke through Issei's defence, creating a spear of light to pierce through his skull.
In those moments, total darkness adorned Issei's heart. Everything around him became dark and inaudible. He closed his eyes, remembering Raynare's last words to him.
"My boss ordered me to kill you!"
Kokabiel rolled the spear over his hand, heading at a great speed towards Issei's face.
"BOOST!"
Kokabiel widened his eyes in disbelief as his spear of light was completely destroyed by Issei's hand. The protagonist dematerialized his helmet, fixing his gaze on Kokabiel with uncontainable rage.
From one second to the next, the fight took a 180-degree turn, courtesy of Issei who began to lash out with extremely strong punches. Kokabiel could only step back, while his arms remained in an X-shape to cover his opponent's first five hard blows that forced him to retreat.
Still, his block was not enough in the face of such force...
Kokabiel was covered by a side kick that went straight to his cheek, forcing him to widen his eyes in astonishment as he felt that the blow carried so much power that it overwhelmed him completely. That ended up in him going flying from the inertia of the kick, rolling several meters backwards on the ground.
Kokabiel looked up from the ground, staring at Issei's big attack with great surprise.
In the protagonist's hand, a large red orb could be seen covering his entire hand. The attack emanated a somewhat screeching and threatening sound.
"Are you sure about this, partner?" Ddraig asked, then gritted his teeth slightly. "Just a raise?!" he thought. He thought, "There should have been a hell of a lot more!"
"There's no choice but to use plan B." Issei pointed towards Kokabiel. "I know it's very risky, but it's the only way to win."
"I agree, partner," Ddraig declared earnestly.
"Take that!" Issei shouted loudly, throwing the attack.
"DRAGON SHOT!"
The attack came off Issei's hand with abysmal power. The magnitude of the attack was so great that it shattered the ground where he was standing.
The attack advanced towards its target, generating a huge line of destruction in its path that wiped out everything it touched.
"It's much bigger and more powerful than the last one..." Kokabiel thought, seeing that the length of the attack was so great, that it was impossible for him to dodge it, considering that he still had to get up from the ground.
Kokabiel buried both hands in the ground, creating a huge purple magic circle, where three Cerberus came out in front of him.
The Cadre rose from the ground, watching as the three creatures were completely devoured by the attack, creating a cloud of blood and dust in front of him. When he thought the attack was finally over, Kokabiel widened his eyes, completely shocked.
"Another one?!" Cadre exclaimed, watching as another Dragon Shot of the same strength as the previous one pierced through the thick curtain of blood and dirt.
Kokabiel didn't take a second to respond, bringing both hands forward to create a barrier.
The attack hit the barrier hard, creating a huge crater at Kokabiel's feet, along with the sound of a deafening bang as the two forces came into contact. The attack seemed to be very powerful, but it was visible that the Cadre wasn't having much trouble holding it back.
Just as Issei's attack was about to fade, Kokabiel was once again taken by surprise as he could see a shadow swoop down from above him. The Cadre raised his gaze to the sky in complete amazement, watching as Issei was flying a few feet away from him, having another very strong Dragon Shot at the ready.
Kokabiel moved one of his hands to where Issei was, causing a magic circle to materialize, summoning a Cerberus that swallowed Issei in one bite.
Just when she thought the problem had been solved, Kokabiel's eyes widened in shock.
"DRAGON SHOT!"
The powerful attack went through the Cerberus' head with no problem, going straight towards Kokabiel, creating a huge shockwave from the explosion.
Issei was thrown several meters away by the power of the attack, rolling on the ground without stopping for a few seconds, until he was finally left lying in the rubble of the Academy.
The protagonist looked up, seeing how the attack was expanding like a sphere, only to explode with great force, causing everyone to be covered by the enormous amount of dust and dirt that was shot out.
Issei slowly stood up, trying to look around in vain, as the dust would not allow him to do so. Finally, his armour shattered into a thousand pieces, causing him to fall to his knees while breathing heavily.
"You've used up a lot of magic in one go, partner. You won't be able to fight for the day," Ddraig declared with great seriousness.
"What do you say, Ddraig?" Issei commented with a faint smile on his face. "I can still continue..." Issei materialized his gauntlet, only to cry out loudly as he felt his entire hand receive a sharp, painful spasm, breaking the gauntlet in the process.
"That's what I meant..." Ddraig clarified, a worried tone in his voice. "You haven't suffered from it until now... But having a dragon's arm has many consequences."
Issei continued to breathe heavily, trying to catch his breath. Instead of recovering, though, he felt more and more dizzy...
Unfortunately, his troubles didn't end there.
Issei blinked in shock when Kokabiel appeared out of nowhere, grabbing him tightly by the neck and burying him in the ground, creating a small crater. The Fallen Angel wasted no time, stomping down hard on both of his arms, then burying a spear of light into his stomach, completely immobilizing him. Issei couldn't help but vomit up a large amount of blood, as he felt an excruciating pain hovering in his stomach and spreading throughout his body.
Issei could only stare at Kokabiel helplessly, seeing that the previous attack had only given him a couple of scratches and faint burns all over his body.
"That hurt, Sekeryuutei." Kokabiel commented. From his tone of voice, it was clearly more of a compliment than a threat. "It's been a lot of fun, but I see you can't entertain me anymore." He concluded, looking around to try and visualise something amidst the dust. "Listen to me well, this will be your last chance. You can decide to join me, and I promise I will kill all your companions before the dust dissipates. That way, you won't have to see them."
A smile appeared on Issei's face, as he spat blood on his opponent's badly damaged foot.
"Fuck you."
"..." Kokabiel watched the spit in silence, then closed her eyes deeply.
"I see... That's a pity." Kokabiel fixed her gaze on Issei's face, denoting an expression that indicated suffering. "In that case, suffer as you watch all your friends die in front of your eyes." He finished, turning around, walking away at a slow pace to find his victims.
Issei clenched his fists tightly, then let out a heavy sigh.
"I guess I have no choice..." Issei looked down at his right hand, only to have a feeling of despair begin to blossom in his heart. "Wait a minute... How do I go about summoning her if I can't use what little remaining magic I have left?"
The answer came immediately, as all the dust dissipated seemingly out of nowhere. Causing Kokabiel to look in all directions in clear surprise.
Issei blinked in shock as a guy in white armor landed in front of him. The protagonist tried to raise his gaze to look at the guy, but it was useless, due to the fact that he was still pinned to the ground.
"I can't believe it." Kokabiel stated with clear emotion in his words, turning around to look at the subject with a big bloodthirsty grin on his face.
"Of all the guys, I was expecting anyone but the Albion Bearer."
Upon hearing that name, Issei couldn't help but widen his eyes in shock.
The energy of the man in front of him began to seep into his body, causing a completely irrational fear to take over his body. Without a doubt, this guy was his ultimate rival, his ultimate enemy.
This made the fear move easily through his whole body, flooding him with that feeling.
Beautiful deep blue eyes opened with great seriousness.
Being so focused on the subject, Issei didn't notice that the seal on his hand appeared and began to glow a light blue colour.
"Are you so eager to do crazy things, Kokabiel?" Asked the teenager who seemed to be of a similar age to Issei because of his voice.
The subject raised his hand, preparing a small magic circle of a faint light blue colour, more akin to white.
"I guess the fun is far from over." Kokabiel commented, moving into an attack stance.
The Cadre blinked in complete surprise as the Hakuryuukou deflected his attack towards the spear that held Issei captive, freeing him from his prison.
"The blonde." The man spoke, fixing his gaze on Asia, who stood several feet away. "Take him away. I don't want her to die before our fight."
"Y-yes!" Asia quickly complied with the order, not even thinking to question the subject.
"Easy, Issei." Asia brought her hands to her companion's abdomen with great seriousness. "I will heal you." She commented with conviction.
"Thank you Asia." Issei commented with a somewhat weakened tone, but he was still fully conscious. "That guy..." Issei thought, fixing his gaze on the Hakuryuukou. "He's coming to help us?"
"That's surprising." Rias thought, watching Issei with great attention. "After being pierced by a light attack, he can still be conscious..."
"Thank you for saving me, Issei." Kiba arrived along with the others, noticing an improvement in his condition thanks to Asia.
"No problem, Kiba." The protagonist commented with a smile.
"By the way, Issei..." Akeno called out to him with great intrigue, fixing her gaze on Issei's hand. "Why is your hand glowing?"
"What?" Issei looked down at his hand, seeing how the light blue seal was glowing brightly. "What!" he shouted, making absolutely everyone look at him like he was an idiot.
"What's wrong with him?" the Hakuryuukou wondered.
"No idea." Kokabiel bowed his shoulders. "Anyway... going about our business." He added with a mischievous grin on his face.
"Apparently you don't want Azazel to give you a second chance..." The Hakuryuukou would state with a sigh, completely digging in. "I guess I'll have to drag you away by force..."
"Oh..." Kokabiel scoffed. "Try it... if you can." He concluded with a big grin, getting into an attack stance.
"I can tell you have no idea..." scoffed the Hakuryuukou, getting into a defensive stance.
Kokabiel quickly lashed out at him.
"How slow..." Thought the Hakuryuukou amusedly, watching as Kokabiel was only a meter away.
But just before the fight was about to begin, Kokabiel stopped dead in his tracks, raising his gaze to the sky. The Hakuryuukou mimicked the Cadre's action.
"...What the fuck is that?" Kokabiel asked, seeing how a huge magic circle of a pure sky-blue colour had risen above their heads.
"Whose magic circle is that?" Sona asked, arriving at the combat zone along with her peerage. Saji could be seen carrying the fainting Xenovia in his hands.
"She's coming..."
The Demons watched Issei with great anticipation, waiting for the answer.
But there was no need for him to respond...
A blurry celestial figure took off at an absurdly high speed from the magic circle, falling to the ground and creating a huge cloud of dust in the process.
Rias and the others became alert, watching the place with great attention.
A huge, vigorous grin could be seen amidst the dust along with long, silky, light blue hair.
Out of nowhere, Kokabiel and the Hakuryuukou flew out of the dust curtain, crashing heavily into the rubble of the Academy.
Again, a light blue blur could be seen running at full speed towards the Hakuryuukou, which was pulling itself together. The figure took a huge leap, landing right on top of the boy with a kick that created a huge shockwave around him, completely shattering the guy's armour and revealing his albino face, only to be buried again in the rubble by the utterly ridiculous force of the blow. Again, another curtain of dust was created on the spot, along with a small crater.
"What the hell!" shouted Rias, trying to visualise the figure as he covered his face from the strong wind current that had been generated by the previous attack.
The dust finally began to dissipate, watching as the figure clearly of a woman began to slowly advance towards them. This brought everyone to alertness, as a cold sweat broke out all over their faces.
"At last a real fight!" The figure finally came into view, revealing Tiamat with a sweet smile on her face. "It's great that you were able to fight these two guys, Issei!" the dragoness finished, pointing at the protagonist with a smile so cute it was impossible to imitate.
Everyone brought their gaze to Issei with wide eyes, waiting for an explanation.
Meanwhile, Issei... Well...
He couldn't help but blush and look away after seeing the unexpected huge smile that the dragoness gave him...
END OF CHAPTER!
This is the surprise I had in store for you in the third phase of the fight. This will be the last one, and you can all imagine what it will be like...
I can only say that Tiamat has mercy on the poor souls of Kokabiel and Vali.
As always, I hope you liked it, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
Have a nice day!