"Nya way! Leader... lost?" Kuroka was wide-eyed.

"We don't know that yet." Arthur said.

The group plus Asia were looking over the turbulent sea to witness who will emerge victorious.

"No, she's right." Bikou said with grin overshadowing his serious eyes. "I can feel Vali's energy falling down, he's knocked out."

Asia who held her hand clamped in prayer against her chest, looked up in surprise and relief.

"Issei won?" Asia asked.

"Hmm, looks like it." Kuroka said with a hum.

The area they were standing on rumbled, then the sound of something digging and breaking through rock rang out.

A red armored figured burst out of the sea, scaling up the wall of the cliff in a sprint, while digging something in front of them.

CRASH!

Issei reached the top of the cliff breaking through it's edge, shattering it, and jumped upward in the air.

In his hand, he was carrying the unconscious body of Vali Lucifer.

Issei dispelled his red Scale Mail, and moved Vali's body to carry him more gently with two arms.

"Yo." He landed in front of the group, and set Vali down while gesturing for Asia. "Asia, can you come here and give him a once over?"

"Yes!" Asia immediately came over, bringing out her Twilight Healing.

"I know Healing Magic." Le Fay stepped up, about to ask Asia to let her take over. Then she saw and felt how Asia's Sacred Gear operated.

Twilight Healing seemed to cover the area Asia focused on and heal everything about it. Regeneration, rejuvenation, reinvigoration. Everything to bring the area focused on back to, not just 100% health, but an idealized version of being healed.

Thus Le Fay went to the other side of Vali and began healing other areas while supporting Asia's work, looking at how Twilight Healing operated to learn from it as well.

"Did you have to drag his face through the ground? He looks like a murder victim!" Le Fay exclaimed.

"Y-Yeah, Issei, I think you were too harsh." Asia said with a serious pout toward Issei. Under her hand, Vali's face wounds all closed up, and his blood began to be cleaned and recede back into his body.

"Wow, nya. Fights between Dragon Emperors are brutal." Kuroka commented.

"Really? I think Vali got off light given how the fight went." Bikou added.

"Light!?" Le Fay cried out.

"He's the Albion's wielder, a Half-Devil and a Lucifer. I think depowering and then slamming and dragging him through the ground was the bare minimum needed to knock him out. Otherwise the fight wouldn't end." Issei said.

"Seriously!?" Le Fay said back.

"He is correct." Arthur spoke up, stopping his sister from ranting. "Vali is strong, his opponent took him completely seriously, and didn't try to hold back against him. For warriors that's the greatest sign of respect that could be offered."

Le Fay sighed and let out a chuckle. "Honestly. So dramatic."

The boy chuckled back at her comment.

"So..." Issei spoke up. "You guys know any good place for lunch? I'm starving after that workout."

"Is... Is he okay?" Asked the usagimaru—rabbit youkai—cafe maid. She was pointing at the Vali sitting in the corner of our booth, jacket over his lap and sunglasses on his eyes. In doors.

"He's fine." Issei waved her off. "Now you said the steaks are made with magic? You mean it comes from a magic cow, or it's cooked using a magic technique or spell?"

The group, under Bikou's recommendation, to the Ura Side or Inner Side, or Hidden Side of Erimo. Issei was surprised to discover a magic version of the place.

They went to a maid themed café restaurant. Except Issei was sure for the average person the theme would be animal-eared maids. There were youkai and spirits of different kinds serving as waitresses in maid outfit in the restaurant.

The group entering with Bikou carrying Vali over his shoulders wasn't seen as unusual or even commented on.

"Yes," the rabbit girl nodded with a smug look, and after watching Issei's dry look for a moment she continued. "The cattle is grown with magic injections added to their diet, in a magic rich environment that transforms them into magical beasts. They're the same as normal animals but with magic now. It ensures they are optimally healthy, and the meat extra delicious. Then once butchered and the meat acquired, our cooks make the food with methods involving magic to cook it just right before serving it, dear customer."

"You should give it a shot." Bikou offered. "Trust me, if you like regular meat, you'll love magic meat." He nodded to himself.

"...Saying it like that makes it sound like some mystery ingredient in an average high school." Issei said.

"Huh?" Bikou blinked and tilted his head.

"Never mind." Issei shook his head before turning to the rabbit youkai maid. "I'll have ten pounds of ribeye steaks."

"Of course! And everyone else?" The rabbit maid wasn't even surprised by Issei order.

He supposed with their usual clientele, his order wasn't unusual.

The rest of Vali Team and Asia made their orders (with Issei making sure to encourage Asia to not worry ordering food from this seemingly expensive place and get whatever she wanted). The usagimaru finished writing everything down and left.

"I have to say though, Red Dragon Guy." Bikou spoke up. "I didn't expect your match with Vali to be that one-sided."

As the conversation began, Le Fay added some privacy barriers to the already present sound quietening ward, made around the booth by the shop for its customers.

"Indeed," Arthur nodded. "That match was something else. I thought you had only been introduced to the supernatural world recently, yet your combat skills show a history of experience in battles." He offered his perspectives.

Their tones weren't interrogatory despite the subject, but a genuine curiosity on fighting and why Issei was as good as he was.

"It's a bit of a complicated story on my finding out about the magic and stuff." Issei said side stepping that topic, but giving a demeanor that he wouldn't might talking about it later. "As for the fight itself, meeeh." He made a noise about thinking on it. "There were several factors to why it went down the way it did. I don't know about Vali's combat experience, but I have a feeling he was always strong from a young age." He said toward them, tilting his head with an implied question.

"Yeeeeaah~, Leader always had rumors about how strong he is, nya." Kuroka said while leaning down, resting her chest on the table in alluring way toward Issei.

Beyond a glance, Issei didn't focus on her or show interest. Kuroka pouted, muttering under her breath on how "there were two of them" and "stupid sex buff dragons".

"Yeah, even back in my village I heard about how the White Dragon Emperor is the current generation was the strongest one there is." Bikou nodded in agreement.

"From hear of how exceptional Vali was, and from when we first met, he had kept steadily growing stronger. Traveling with him is certainly an inspiration to keep up one's training and stay on your guard to not get left behind." Arthur said with a smile, as he crossed his arms, and nodded.

"Haha, sounds neat." Issei chuckled. "I didn't have any of that. In fact starting out, Ddraig used to tell me multiple times that I was the weakest wielder he's ever had just, whenever I got a big head." He said laughing at the memory.

"Wait, really?" Bikou said in astonishment, which was mirror by the others.

"Yeah, I had to fight for every improvement. That's why every opponent I fought, even those that might be considered middle tier in threat level were a difficult fight." Issei explained. "That difficulty forced me to improve be it in usage of the Boosted Gear or in combat ability."

As the group absorbed this info (with Asia just chilling in the background), Vali stirred awake.

"Finally, Vali's Divides were never hit me with their full effect. It never fully halved my power, while my Boosts always fully doubled my power." Issei continued explaining.

"Wha...? Wait, where am I?" Vali coughed, sat up and looked around. He then noticed sunglasses on his face, took it, looked at it a bit and dropped it on the table. "Where are we?" He said upon noticing his team, Issei and Asia around him.

"Yo, we're at Maid Claw." Bikou clarified.

"Hmm." Vali nodded after a moment. "Did you all order?"

"Yeah, I got you the same as me." Issei replied. "Ten pounds of steak."

"Mr. Issei had been insistent on paying, even though I had offered since our group were the ones to bring him out here." Arthur said with a sigh.

"Dude, relax. It's not like I'm actually paying with my own money." Issei said while showing the black with glowing platinum credit card.

"Is that an Unlimited Empyreal Card?" Le Fay asked with wide eyes that, almost sparkled with greed.

"Is that impressive?" Bikou asked.

"It's a universal bank card that let's you make transactions with anything from mundane banks, to supernatural ones. You can even pay for stuff across pantheons! How did you get it?!" She exclaimed.

Issei gestured a thumb toward the White Dragon Emperor.

"Vali! How could you have something like that and not lend it to us too!?" Le Fay cried out.

"Huh. So that's what that was. Either way, Azazel had it, so I took it to pay for the trip here for the Hyoudous." Vali said dismissively.

"Wha!?" Le Fay cried out before Vali cut her off.

"What were you talking about?" He asked the group but mainly focused on Issei.

"About how I had an easier time in the fight." Issei offered.

"Yeah..." Vali looked at his hand as his mind went back to the match. "The Divides weren't sticking fully, nor had a complete effect even when they hit. How did you do that?" He asked with earnest curiosity.

"Well, it goes back to what I was telling them." Issei turned to Arthur and Bikou who showed the most interest in how the fight went. "Vali is strong." He gestured to him. "Always has been. That's why he doesn't have enough experience with fights that actually push him beyond his limits."

"Tsk." Vali clicked his tongue, crossed his arms and looked away.

"It's because of that when the Divides hit me, I would be able to push against them, or with my control over my energy cancel the effect, or limit it in some way. Like make the divide hit only overall speed or my Red Scales' power, or something." Issei said. "And above all, Vali had a limit to how much energy he can absorb. He couldn't use up that energy fast enough, that more than anything is what made me set the pace for the fight."

"No, no." Vali said with slow disagreement, as shook his head, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "It felt like something outright was blocking the Divide taking hold at times." He said, not commenting on his absorption limit and not using up excess energy fast enough, yet keeping it in the back of his mind.

"Well, maybe you should just get good." Issei smirked, to which one of Vali's eyes twitched. "Also I still haven't reached the end of growing into my power." Or rather growing back into the power I should have. My body is what has to catch up now. Issei thought. "So once those things happen, his experience and my growth, who knows what the next match will actually be like."

"Please, I had you cornered if you didn't have that last technique." Vali quipped back.

[You should actually listen to what your rival has to say, Vali. It's rare that Ddraig's hosts are amicable to mine.] Albion spoke up.

[Oh? Finally admitting that my hosts are better mannered that yours.] Ddraig replied.

[As if! Your hosts were always the more barbaric ones! Mines were often royalty or refined birth.]

[Yet mine won more often. What does that say how your worthless smarmy hosts.]

[It seems while you remembered some of your old techniques, your memory deteriorated to the point of brain damage!]

[Really? Then who was just bitchslapped not two minutes ago!]

"Oookay, both of you stop." Issei said out loud.

"Albion, that's not really dignified." Vali added. The two dragons grumbled, not acting like millennia old icons of power they are usually seen as. "Although Albion does bring up something good. What was that last attack you made? You just... shut down my Longinus completely. I couldn't access it at all."

"Nya!?"

"Eh?"

"Wait, what?"

"Truly?"

Kuroka, Le Fay, Bikou and Arthur gasped and exclaimed at what Vali said.

"Well..." Issei blinked at he smelled their food coming. "It's a story for another time, but to keep it short, the adventures Ddraig and I went through pushes up to the point that not only did I grow rapidly due to their difficulty, but," Issei looked at Vali specifically, addressing him and Albion. "Even Ddraig had to grow stronger to face the more or less most insane challenge we ever had to face." Vali's eyes widened, and he could feel Albion's surprise from their bond. "Even then we didn't win alone. It required a group effort and a few miracles."

That more than what Issei said before, that slammed Vali and Albion into silence.

The food arrived and plates were placed on the table.

"So when did you guys meet Vali? With how anti-social he seems, I thought he only made friend shounen style by fighting them first." Issei joked.

"Yes, that is more or less how it happened." Arthur said with a smile.

"Same." Bikou nodded.

"Pffft-hahahahaha, for real?" Issei laughed.

"I just heard he was a strong dragon, so I though he's give me strong kids." Kuroka said shamelessly.

"Would you please stop?" Le Fay said with exasperation, while she and Asia were both blushing. "And I had to go with my big brother to make sure he was safe. Well, honestly I was bored at Golden Dawn, and this group seemed like fun. Also they need a healer and someone good with teleportation to move them around."

And so the group passed the evening eating and chatting.