Chapter XVI


The thing about fights in real life was how sudden they were.

It wasn't like in sports, where both sides waited for the bell.

It wasn't like in anime, where two enemies waited for a sign from the universe, measuring each other to see which one of them would make the first move only to burst into action before any onlookers could blink.

That would have been way too dramatic.

No, the thing about fights.. is that they could start any second.

One moment they were looking at each other, the next, the clearing burst alive with movement, liquid stone rippling underneath Issei's feet as he tossed the spear he'd manifested at the older girl, angry whistling interrupted as the stone shattered against the back of her fist and the ground cracked and cracked apart as her feet slid smoothly through the stone he'd tried to encase them into.

As if it was still liquid.

"A fruitless opening blow… no… a feint."

Twirling through the air, the Chinese girl avoided the stone spikes as they erupted from the floor, feet landing on the tip of an earthen fang as if she were a weightless fairy gliding heedless of gravity. Clothes ruffled lightly in the breeze as she balanced atop the constructs effortlessly.

She was like a dancer.

'No… like one of those martial artists from games.'

This kind of ridiculous feet was just impossible if you were a normal human, rather, not even Issei could just do something like that. As sturdy as his body was, he couldn't just act like he had super strength or speed.

Even then… he had to try.

From above, two large blocks of stone appeared from thin air, dropping down with a deafening crash onto the spikes below. That amount of weight could have surely killed a normal person, and Issei wouldn't have been comfortable dropping something that huge on anything that wasn't a god.

Unfortunately… he'd underestimate the girl.

Rather than crush her against the spikes below, all the lady had to do was lift an arm and one of the cubes stopped mid air.

'No… she caught it.'

With a single hand.

"Attempting to trap an opponent between rough terrain and a falling attack? Clever. However, rudimentary measures like these are useless against an unbreakable body." Jabbing her other fist upwards, the girl shattered the mass of stone, sending loose debris everywhere while somehow keeping her utterly pristine appearance.

Not a single speck of dust had landed on her.

'Right, she also has powers.'

Sure, it had taken him a while to process the whole god slayer thing, but now that he'd had the time it didn't take long for his brain to put the pieces together. Especially after Kiba's warning that she was like him.

With skin that glimmered like diamond under the sunlight, the dainty looking girl had somehow punched through a wrecking ball sized chunk of stone, more than Koneko had, and with so much ease that it was clear she wasn't taking the fight seriously yet.

Just what kind of god did she beat to get that kind of power?

"Is this the measure of your power, King of Wakoku? Thus far you have failed to impress this senior."

She was goading him.

He knew she was.

Probably trying to force him to reveal his other powers? Unfortunately for her, Issei had played enough strategy games to know that you never played all of your cards in the first turn.

"Well, don't worry. This has just been the warm up!"

From beneath their feet, a field of bidents phased through the ground, quickly liquifying and joining the mass of soft marble beneath Issei's feet, surfing forward like a wave as the layers of stone formed a ball around the older girl, pressing together tightly as Issei brought his hands together, brow furrowing in focus.

So long as he was touching part of it, he could soften, shape, or harden the stone as he liked.

But even pressing together that much stone was difficult.

"Okay, that should hold her for a bit."

Now, all he had to do was find Agent Smith and they could see about calling some backup.

"Disappointing."

A fist shot through the side of the sphere, blasting a hole through a wall of stone thick enough to bury a person inside.

Issei had thought it overkill.

The kind of thing he shouldn't do because it could kill someone without meaning to.

Yet it hadn't lasted a full ten seconds, crumbling like an empty soda can, the thick stone burst apart like a balloon as the force of the impact sent dust and stray pebbles flying everywhere.

Never mind how heavy they actually were after he'd pressed them together like that. Some of the surrounding trees were missing entire chunks from their trunks where the shrapnel had shredded through them.

And amidst the carnage stood the chinese girl.

Unharmed.

'Crap.' Basic power use was out - Issei had no idea what would work and what wouldn't. So he focused on throwing everything at her. Spikes, spears, shields, walls, a literal sink. Every possible attack that could be manifested, was manifested, new creations appearing as quickly as he could think.

None of which injured her.

None of which were supposed to injure her.

While the crazy lady was dealing with projectile spam, he'd been able to safely hit the ground, roll back to his feet, and then push himself back off with a massive pillar boosting him up and away.

He wasn't stupid enough to get closer, and actually brawling with the girl was a dumb idea. But simply throwing himself around wasn't exactly useful, either, as it meant the teenager was left with severely limited directional mobility. Not that he was giving her options either.

More and more, he was raining death from above; clusters of pillars, hundreds of darts, caltrops, spike strips, anything and everything that could impede and impair. Even tank traps sprang out of the ground with a thought, barely slowing his attacker down.

But she was slowed down.

This incremental advantage meant the teenager was able to absolutely book it away from the city, risking collateral damage was a bad idea, and as much as he wanted to contact Smith or even just the government, part of him accepted the fact that adults… couldn't help him.

'Smith wouldn't have spoken to me like she did if they were stronger than me. She just… wouldn't.'

Maybe it was ego or some teenage fantasy, but watching as reality itself seemed to just disappear into absurdity, Issei Hyoudou knew he would have to make a stand.

'This is all too much.'

Having unleashed enough raw, destructive force to smash a column of tanks to pieces, having flown literal kilometers through the air, having seen a small girl shatter hundreds of tons of rock with her bare hands, the young man realized that the world simply was not safe. That his parents were not safe. That he was not safe.

Even if he was strong, it wasn't nearly enough.

"If I live, I'm going to have to start training."

The raging wind snatched away his words, but that he said them at all was important. But now, as the other Campione closed, it was time to get serious!

"Hmm, this is quite the impressive showcase of might. To create matter from one's own power is often wasteful and costly, however, you haven't slowed down from the moment you started, and the quality of your stone hasn't decreased with use either."

Twirling on the tip of a spike, the older girl mused to herself.

Issei bit back a curse.

Even after he'd littered the floor with traps, the other campione didn't seem bothered in the slightest, rather, she walked over the stone unbothered, her diamond-like skin scraping noisily against the sharp statues like nails on chalkboard, crushing the obstacles underfoot.

Seriously, how overpowered was that ability!?

Super strength and some sort of invulnerability? Not that he was complaining about his own powers, but there was no way this kind of raw difference was fair when they were both meant to be Campione.

"I was curious as to what your plan might have been. But it turned out all you wanted was to further distance yourself. A foolish endeavor against this Luo Hao, who can leap from one end of this small island to the other in but a few moments.

As if to prove a point, she jumped… and stayed afloat.

Feet touching nothing as she looked down at him.

"Though this senior was eager to spring your trap, she could also employ the mystic arts and take to the air like such. Had this been your aim, riddling the ground with these trinkets could have been effective… however, to think your creations failed to pierce through my skin. This is a mark against you, King of Wakoku."

And there she went, giving backhanded compliments and then criticizing him in the same breath.

More pressing was this other power she was now demonstrating.

Was this the other type of magic that Smith had told him about? The one normal people could learn and not the type he got from killing gods? Talk about being way too overtuned, this girl was just doing this to show off how much better she was. huh?!

"You appear perplexed. Were these tricks the mere extent of your power?"

He grimaced.

Not on her life. But Issei wasn't about to tire himself out trying to catch her in the air now that he knew she could actually fly. Things were already looking bad before, only now he was dealing with some kind of overpowered flying godslayer who could walk through a minefield and punch him across the city.

"Nah, just… isn't it kinda unfair? I'm your junior, right? So why aren you going overboard?"

The girl's placid smile was unmoved.

"Hardly, I would say this is the bare minimum required to test a prospective rival. Though if you are eager to taste the full might of this senior, she can dispense with the warm up and push further."

At her command, the winds seemed to grow harsher; what was before a stiff breeze turning into a full on gust of wind. Violent gales began stripping leaves right off their branches and lashes of wind struck out at Issei with sudden force, even as the currents swirled around the older girl.

Great.

As it turned out, this wasn't even her final form.

Still, this was… okay. Not great. But at least she was trying to kill him here and not in the middle of the city. The kind of mess he might have caused trying to slow her down would have made the whole fiasco with Dusa-chan's sisters look tame by comparison.

"Hmm… is that contentment I sense from you, my junior?"

Wait, what?

How did she-

"Guess? Nothing of the sort. This Luo Hao is more than capable of divining the thoughts of others from the way they hold themselves. Just now you were judging yourself safe after witnessing what you hoped to be my full power."

No, that wasn't at all what he was thinking!

If you're gonna pretend to be a mind reader, at least make good guesses!

"I… no… that's not what-"

Unfortunately she decided to ignore him and instead began to monologue to herself again.

"However! You could not be farther from the truth! This Luo Hao is not a simpleton who brandishes her sword at the sight of every brigand who crosses her path, but exercises due consideration in how much force is necessary to crush the ants in her path without ruining the floor beneath her feet!"

So he was an ant now?!

"As one of my potential rivals, you are entitled to witnessing the peak of this senior's martial prowess… therefore… I shall make an allowance and gift you with the rare sight of the Ruler of the Martial Realm's almightiness!"

This had to be the most over the top case of chuunibyou Issei had ever seen. And he realized, deep in his bones, that she was one hundred percent serious about it.

"Light is to Shadow what Heaven is to Earth. Heaven is to Earth what transience is to eternity. Though the tiger climbs the mountain to gaze at the moon, it is the dragon slumbering deep in the sea whose gaze pierces the veil of night. Neither are correct, yet neither are mistaken, for true knowledge lies in the acceptance that there was no difference to begin with."

At her declaration, the strong winds which had gathered around her body seemed to intensify, current twirling and spinning around the ruined clearing, hurricane force winds lifting dirt, leaves, and the shattered remains of Issei's stone statues off the ground as the older girl floated higher into the air.

And a tornado formed at her back.

"[Dragon's Roar and Tiger's Howl]"


"What I would give for a Rook piece right now."

As it turned out, Knights weren't particularly good at the whole carrying thing. Despite being fast and hitting hard, actually having to haul a bunch of teenagers through the streets wasn't something Kiba was eager to do, especially because of all the loose stone that now covered the street from when his classmate tried to protect them from the attack of his fellow Campione.

'Though perhaps I overreacted a smidge getting us out….' Dozens of magical swords had shattered both of the protective domes from the inside out, relying on an enchantment of "weakening curse" to render the magical stone soft enough to pierce. 'But, no, Issei did his best… but I panicked and didn't consider cutting through the ground until after.'

Kiba would train harder, later on, and make sure he didn't miss such an obvious opening later, but right now the blonde did the only thing he could.

He put his guard up and sent a message to Buchou.

Not only was a fight between Campione way above his pay grade, he also had to warn his King and the Sitri peerage about what was happening. Even if their place in Kuoh was… nebulous at best, the only way they had to keep it was to actually react and work to keep things under control.

As much as it galled him to be brushed aside.

"So much power… and that speed."

As a swordsman, he didn't know a whole lot about martial arts outside of those that included the use of swords. He was simply too young, started too late, and hadn't had the years needed to truly master a single school, never mind branch out into other forms of combat. But his master had beaten the fundamentals of Kendo into him, as well as a whole bevy of styles, so he understood that the foundation of combat was all about movement.

Move fast, move first, move well.

The one who wasted the least amount of energy to do the most, could outlast the enemy.

And finally, to always keep one's enemy in view and to broaden one's perspective of the battlefield.

'But I couldn't even react to her.'

It wasn't that she moved too fast for him to see. It was the fact that she moved so naturally that his mind hadn't even perceived her as a threat until Issei was half a mile in the air and a wall of stone had blocked his view.

From the way she moved, to how fast she moved, and how well she did it… needlessly to say, Kiba couldn't help but feel like he just crossed paths with one of the greatest masters in the world.

And she'd just taken off with another of the most powerful beings in the country.

He almost wished he could have gone with them.

'But he would have wanted me to take care of his friends.' Thankfully, none of them had gotten hurt. But the shock of that girl's power had been enough to knock them out cold, which he supposed was for the best. He figured his classmate wouldn't want his secret blown out into the open like that. Which is why he'd dragged them away and out of the open street into a side alley.

They didn't need people asking questions now of all times.

'But that doesn't mean someone won't come.'

Kiba drew his sword, pointing at the entrance to the alley.

"Who's there?"

There was a brief pause as whoever had been about to walk around the corner stopped, only to let out a small chuckle.

"Caught onto me, huh? Devils really have sharp senses."

Stepping into view was one of the most average men the Knight had ever seen. Scruffy, badly done beard and a cheap suit that made him look more like an overworked salaryman than a highly skilled specialist. It was only because the ground had been littered with small stones that he managed to hear his steps.

And even then, barely so.

"Toma Amakasu. I am with the Committee." Raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, the man kept an appropriate distance and tried to look as disarming as possible.

Still, Kiba couldn't help but feel like there was something off about him.

"You're late to the action, if you're looking for Issei. The other Campione took off with him."

The older man grimaced.

"Ah, I was hoping that wasn't the case. Was anyone hurt?"

He shook his head.

"Only unconscious. She was focused on testing him, not harming us… I think." He didn't know whether that was a good thing or not.

Going by the man's grimace… it wasn't.

"That's bad. Well, not the worst thing that could happen, but if we let things get out of hand they might just flatten the city by mistake. A clash of that level isn't something you want squishy humans close to."

Nodding, the Devil relaxed, but kept his weapons manifested.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Well, I'm not getting a response from my co-worker and if the crazy strong chinese girl already dragged our trump card out back for a fight, that means there's nothing much we can do there… aside from calling someone else to come help."

And there was no way Buchou or Sona would call their siblings. Not when that might get them dragged back.

"For now, we should retreat."

Displeased at the answer, the teenager looked over his shoulder at the unconscious teens. Between the two it wouldn't be hard to carry them to safety, and once they were safe back in the school building, they could try and figure it out… some kind of plan.

Whatever they could do at this point.

Because there was very little they could, and even less Kiba felt he could do.

'I will not shame myself.'

The blonde's face twisted into a grimace.

His stomach roiled with acid.

His veins still thrummed with a sort of need.

"Damnit."

Kiba wanted to… to… anything!

He wanted to fight and push himself and finally unleash Sword Birth to its fullest! To brave the storm that raged at the edge of the city, and the tremors that shook the ground beneath his feet.

The power being output was ridiculous, two great auras pushing against each other, sharpening each other.

When one grew too strong, the other flared up in challenge to push it back.

Kilometers away as they were, the magic power made Kiba's hair stand on end. Even now, his sacred gear let a steady trickle of energy pool in the Devil's body. A dozen new swords already sprang to mind, weapons that controlled gravity, warped fate, phased through matter, twisted time, and even more esoteric affects had all come to him when he dueled Issei. Now there was a chance, an excuse, even, to conjure those tools into being!

"Damnit."

Swearing again, Kiba forcibly relaxed his body and released the magic inside of him; his weapon turned into mist and then dispersed fully and he nodded.

"Very well, human, but I will not allow you access to my King's personal apartments, nor will I ask any of the Sitri heiress's servants to allow you access to her rooms, either."

"Ah, suspicious of an old salaryman?"

That got a snort.

"I saw you palm a cursed knife when I raised my sword."

The man opened his eyes, smiling gently, though his gaze was… dead.

"Well. It seems like I'm getting sloppy. Are we going to fight?"

"No." Frowning, Kiba shook his head. "But Issei's house isn't far from here. His parents will take them in without question, as he said he warned them of his powers."

"Good."

And just like that, the human's eyes returned to normal, an almost lazy acceptance of the unspoken request from the Devil as he tossed the two unconscious boys over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

Kiba, knowing he was probably going to at least get a talking to over this, gently scooped Aika up and began following after the HCC agent.

Who didn't need to be told where to find the Campione's house at all.

Looking towards the distance, he only hope that things were going well and have faith in his classmate.


Things were going poorly, to say the least.

"Fighting midair is unfair! Come down here!"

The older girl scoffed, twirling gracefully as a gust of wind carried her through the air, spinning with a sharp kick that nearly took off his head, slicing an unfortunate tree that just happened to be behind him.

Not kicking.

Not hitting.

Slicing a tree with nothing but her leg.

"There is no fairness to be found here, King of Wakoku. It is you who must learn how to overcome this ordeal, unless you wish to fail the test!" Uncaring of his protests, the older Campione shot back towards him, fist crumbling a hastily put together wall before the winds blew it apart and sent him blasting backwards with a gasp. "In battle there is only victory or death! And it would be a grave disappointment for my cherished little brother to die before he blossoms!"

'What the hell… '

Dazed, confused, having been picked up off his feet and thrown several meters, the Campion struggled to understand what to do. Just the wind hit him, but she might as well have fired a cannon at his chest!

And unfortunately for him, this had been what their fight amounted to for the past few minutes. She would fly around and try to make mince meat out of him, he would try and attack her back, miss, and then hastily put together a defense before she blasted through it with that diamond skin of hers.

Before he got sent flying again.

The only reason he hadn't lost his head yet was the fact she wasn't taking this seriously.

Not that she wasn't trying to kill him. She one hundred percent was. A single hit of those would probably wreck him between the power she was packing and the speed those winds were carrying her, as tough as he was now it would probably turn his insides into his outsides.

'Okay, Issei. Think! You have a brain for a reason so might as well use it before she splats it across the city.'

What could he do against her?

Obviously trying to catch her wouldn't work. She was too fast, and he couldn't even break through that tough skin of hers. Even if he got a lucky hit or managed to trap her, she would just shrug it off.

So that was his best card out.

The power he had the most practice with.

'Should I go for the Wail?'

Just because she was tough on the outside didn't mean she was tough on the inside. He hadn't used that power a lot, but from what he saw at the club it should be able to stun her so he could get a good clean hit.

"Stop thinking."

The attacker appeared before him, a snap-pop of displaced air washing over them both.

"Act!"

A single punch, smooth, flowing, perfectly chambered, lashed out directly into his face and the teenager felt his nose bend unnaturally with a wet crack and the force of the blow sent him rolling backways like a pinball, back hitting a nearby tree with enough force to snap its trunk in half, sending the trop crashing backwards with a hollow groan.

Issei gasped, gripping his face in pain.

'Seriously, how hard can she hit?!'

Even when he was getting tossed around by Stheno and Euryale, the only way they really hurt him was when he was stabbed. After killing Dusa-chan and becoming… whatever he was, Issei hadn't so much as gotten a bruise since. The wet feeling of blood rubbing down his face was… uncomfortable.

As was the burning sensation on the side of his forehead.

'Great, I'm bleeding there too.'

And all of that from a single punch.

"If this is truly all you have to show for yourself, then perhaps I was mistaken in coming here. A child has no place amongst the ranks of Tyrants and it would be a mercy to end your path here, than allow you to blindly stutter down the path of enlightenment."

He twitched.

For a moment, he forgot that he was even fighting..

Forgot the confusion, forgot the questions and doubts, forgot the fear of this overwhelmingly strong girl who had done nothing but attack and scold him as if she had the right to judge whether he was worth her time. And now… she called into question what he'd done.

Questioned his very right to live after being hunted like a mouse for days on end!

"'What gives you the right to judge!?" A sudden anger welled up in his heart and Issei forgot his earlier defeats. "Howling winds, roaring skies, rage with futility against the mountain, unconquered in ten thousand years! Defy the heavens and pierce the skies, [Mineral Garden]!"

Instead of dividing his attacks, he focused on them.

Instead of trying to match strength for strength, he played to his.

Instead of depending on just the power of one Authority, he would use them all!

A statue of the Gorgons manifested mid air.

A statue the size of a literal building!

Issei grinned viciously, using a massive pillar to launch himself forwards, even as the other Campione simply began to glow, apparently charging up some kind of attack.

"Fury of the dead, souls in Hades, prisoners of Tartarus, those who yet remain, give voice to your rage, for you are the fury of Heaven and Hell given form! [Screech Wail]!"

Holding out a hand to catch him and punching upwards, the girl seemed completely unconcerned when the tens of thousands of tons of magical stone above them was vaporized by an immense, phoenix shaped blast of wind and energy alike. But she was caught just a little off guard when, instead of trying to hit her, her "subordinate" roared to the heavens themselves.

And all of a sudden every single shattered stone, her own attack, and Luo Hao herself were hit with a nearly solid wall of sound - and all was blown away.

Surprised, confused, unsure what was going on he hit the ground, rolled, and managed to stand back up.

She was gone.

He wasn't.

And….

"The fight isn't over." Muttering to himself, his gut flat out told Issei this fight wasn't done. Not by a longshot. But he did have a moment to just breathe.

Trying and failing to wipe the blood off his face, Issei took up a stance, ready to launch to the sides and dodge the inevitable retaliation.

Because, frankly, his Wail might have been risky, and something he'd been trying to avoid using on people, but right now he was far too angry to even consider the thought that it would be too much.

Rather, he instead wanted to drive the point as far as he could. Like a nail through a wall.

"Or her head."

You could mess around with him only so much before even the Buddha would have agreed enough was enough.

From behind him a column of stone erupted from the ground. It was at least two or three kilometers off and, if it hadn't been so massive, would have been concealed by the forest around the area they'd fought. Ready for an attack, Issei wasn't expecting a hand made out of air to snatch him up and throw him towards the general area of the other Campione.

There were exactly two things he could do.

One would be to repeat his previous actions and hope he could outlast his opponent, since he couldn't overpower her. Two would be to try and do something clever. And that, at least, would have good odds of surprising the crazy lady.

Issei decided he would be tapping into his last gift.

"With one fang you hurt, with one fang you heal, with one fang you give, and with the other you steal. Winding, coiling, spitting, and sizzling. The blood that courses through your veins is the treasure of the gods, and the curse of a monster!"

He aimed for her face.

"[Doctor Venom!]"

It was meant to be a headbutt, a simple way to finish the final stage of his haphazardly put together plan. Unfortunately for Issei, he'd never been good at math and, in his defense, he was currently going about a hundred and twenty, through mid air, and had already taken several blows to the head today. What that meant was that instead of cracking the smug chinese girl in the face with his skull, his terrible aim led to bashing his face against hers.

'S-Soft?'

Rather than the painful explosion of pain, as such tended to be, he expected, the young man found himself touching the older campione's lips with his own.

A mouth to mouth kiss. Never mind that their teeth clicked hard enough to sound more like a branch snapping.

Eyes blown wide open, he stared at the jade pools across from him in abject terror as they widened in surprise… before narrowing just as swiftly into irate slits, his opponent utterly and completely unmoved by either the impact or how they had impacted.

'Crap!'

So Issei did the only thing he could… and stuck his tongue in her mouth, hoping the plan worked..