So what, if I want to be a Harem Protagonist?

by FrancoGamerxz

An Eroge-induced epiphany leads Hyoudou Issei down a path of hard work, excellence and extreme degrees of trauma suppression. Add to that a grumpy old dragon, an overpowered sacred gear, a frisky succubus and munchkin-worthy tactics that put the capital P in "Power Creep", and you've got yourself a nice mess. Oh, and there's also devils, and angels, and stuff. (Cover by Yutaku)

4. Relativistic time is absolute bull

Heya, It's-a me, again!

You know how the drill goes, this is the response section of the chapter... Or it would be had people had, You know, actual questions. This time around I got assertions and exclamations more than anything else, which is good as it means that the last chapter was concise and did not confuse people, but makes me miss out on a bit of fan interaction.

So, instead of a response corner, I'll just jump straight ahead into the story.

Enjoy!

~oOo~

"This... Is very menacing. Are you sure this is the only way to go?"

Issei's concern was more than warranted, as he and his companion stood in front of a dark, creepy forest, with massive trees, and that released the feeling of malice and watching eyes. It was enough to unnerve pretty much anyone else in his situation.

Lilith, for her part, looked as calm as a cucumber as she responded.

"I know that it's not the most... Inviting... sight, but it's the best way forward. Between your parents only being willing to finance your trip and stay in Amsterdam, the lack of a Visa to Germany and your unwillingness to use official channels lest your parents be made aware of your meandering, this is the only possibility."

The possibility Lilith spoke of was 'The Twilight Forest', a dimensional abnormality in the fact that it was not exclusively at any one place at any one time. While thorough, comprehensive understanding of the forest was all but impossible to get (almost as if the forest itself did it's best not to be found out), it was a well known fact that anyone that stepped into the forest could get anywhere in they desired in the world as long as they knew the proper paths, had the right magical artifacts to allow for navigation, or were incredibly, stupidly lucky.

Lilith, like all other succubi, was always capable of finding her way through the forest back to her home, since they are all physically and spiritually attuned to constantly feel the sheer amount of Tantric Energy and pheromones hanging around the place, so she trusted her senses to guide them through.

Trying to shrug off the creepy feeling of being watched and deciding to trust his companion, Issei followed after Lilith as she walked into the forest.

"So, Lilith... are you really sure there aren't any creepy-crawlies just waiting to jump us and eat our spleens? Because I have to tell you, I really like my spleen. You could even say I'm very... attached, to it!"

Neither Lilith nor Ddraig dignified that absolutely horrid joke with a response, knowing that it was just Issei trying to distract himself from his fear, while Issei laughed at himself in an attempt to ward off the feeling of a predatory gaze that persisted over him from the moment he first stepped into the forest.

The two walked for a while in a tense silence, the sounds of leaves and grass crunching under their feet as they took step after step filling the air, until...

"!"

Lilith whirled towards Issei, her claws already out as she allowed her eyes to roam around the area, assessing any possible threats even as she spoke.

"What's wrong, Issei? Did you see any movement?"

"...I need to go pee."

Lilith felt herself trip in place, barely resisting the impetus to faceplant, while Ddraig could only ask himself why he had to get such an idiotically talented host.

'Couldn't I get a host that's only talented?'

Recomposing herself, Lilith spoke in an exhasperated tone.

"Go on behind a tree then, I'll wait for you right here."

Nodding rapidly, Issei ran around a certain tree, before he opened his zipper and let it fly.

"Ahh... Been holding onto that one since Amsterdam..."

After shaking himself clean and re-holstering his rifle, Issei walked back around the tree to meet up with Lilith...

Only to be met with an empty clearing.

"Oh shit, oh shit, this is giving me total horror movie vibes! What if Lilith's been attacked by a carnivorous lamb that eats people's faces? What if I'm the next one? GOD, I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

Before Ddraig could say a thing about his host's dramatic shouting, the two heard Lilit's voice coming from slightly away from them.

"This way, Issei!"

The brunette turned towards the source of the voice, only to see a trail of purple hair moving amongst the treeline. Feeling a sense of relief at his companion's presence, Issei dashed heartily chased after her, tears of relief in his eyes.

"Lilith, I'm here~"

He crossed past the tree she had moved around, only to witness Lilith leaning on a tree further ahead, her hand covering her mouth as she giggled coyly, before slipping around the tree and jogging away.

Inflamed by the playful act, Issei decided to chase after Lilith, not really noticing how the forest around him shifted and twisted, until some of the ground became cobbled. He stopped in the middle of an empty clearing, no traces of Lilith other than a giggle in the wind.

Following said giggle, Issei made his way past a tall bush, only to find himself entering a small, medieval-looking village, made mostly out of wood and stone. He was in a village, watching throngs of beautiful women in various states of dress walk around the village, some of them whispering amongst themselves and giggling, others carrying buckets of water, while some still paused, giving him an evaluating look before giving him sultry smiles, capable of making any man's pulse race.

Looking around the village, Issei noticed the rustic living standards, before he listened to Lilith's giggle again. Turning towards it, he saw a blur of purple rushing down the main street, prompting him to follow.

He walked for quite a few minutes until the street shrank into a narrow, winding path through another wooded section.

Making his way through the wooded section, Issei was absolutely surprised by the sight that emerged.

Suddenly, in front of him, was a massive castle. With many towers, and battlements, and narrow slits amongst the stone playing the roles of windows from which to operate bows, the whole ensemble was made in a smooth, black stone, one that gave the impression of absorbing the light around it, and that, even without being near it, Issei could swear was absolutely cold to the touch.

Seeing no-one else around, Issei kept walking down the path and into the castle, finding it very odd that the massive double doors into it were wide open.

He traversed the various halls made in the same black material, adorned with various sets of armor, and paintings of decidedly serpentine nature.

Snakes, big snakes, small snakes, really big snakes, winged snakes, snakes of various different colours... It was all there, represented in the paintings. Funnily enough, the frames of the paintings held small engravings of various snakes as well, and even the armors and the weapons they brandished had crests of snakes all over.

Ignoring all the creepy Voldemort vibes the place was giving him, Issei kept moving through the castle, trepidation gradually rising as he found not a single living being.

Eventually he reached a grandiose pair of doors, three times as tall as he was, and four times as wide as he himself was tall, made out of a bronze-colored metal, and bearing the same serpentine engravings as everything else in the forest. A pair of green-colored doorhandles were close together in the middle of the door, green, scaled patterns adorning them. When he touched them, Issei felt a scaly sensation that he'd expect from touching a real snake.

Ignoring the way the handles vibrated like actual, hissing snakes, Issei pushed them down and the doors forward, only to end up in a massive hall, the walls adorned with all forms of snake-related paintings, similarly-themed statues littering the room, and a dark green carpet under his feet, leading towards a throne.

An occupied throne.

An occupied throne... Sat on by a nude woman, her breasts bared and her modesty preserved only by her crossed legs, with two topless maids standing deferentially behind and to the sides of her throne.

"Hoh... It seems that a cute little morsel has reached my... humble... abode~"

The way in which she spoke, the way she said the word morsel should have triggered red flags in Issei's brain, especially with how much it sounded similar to Lilith calling him tasty, except way more malicious.

However... Boobs.

That's pretty much the thing preventing Issei from thinking properly. After all, with a pair of juicy, succulent, pendulous breasts, bared for your viewing pleasure, who would care about something as measly and unimportant as their health and wellbeing?

"And what is your name, Darling~"

"Is-Issei, ma'am!"

"Hiss-ei~... Well met Issei, I am Stheno, mistress of serpents and purveyor of entertainment most... Pleasant... Tell me, Issei, how is it that you found yourself in my castle, in my land?"

"Oh, well... Uh, I was sort of chasing after... a friend... And I guess I got lost."

The woman on the throne tilted to the side in interest, her waist moving in a much too sinuous manner, almost as if such a thing as a spine did not limit the type of movements she can make, but rather than alarm him, it only caused him to see stars, a small trickle of blood going down his nose.

"Oh my... Do not worry, Issei, it is likely that the two of you will be meeting eachother, but until then, I'd like to offer you my roof for you to sleep under. What do you say, mhm?"

Issei nodded frantically at that, not wanting to stay outdoors a stone's toss from the creepy forest, prompting Stheno to chuckle heartily at that, before speaking.

"Quila, my aide, shall direct you to the room you will be utilizing, Issei."

With a snap of her fingers the girl to the back and left of the throne took a step forwards to show Issei whom Stheno had refered to.

She was a beautiful woman, her hair a stark white reaching her shoulders in an asymmetrical bob, and her narrow eyes colored an exotic, hawk-like yellow. She had a smile on her face, though it visibly did not reach her eyes. She was about 5'6" tall, with a lean, athletic build like one would expect from a runner, long, powerful-looking legs, and a sensible pair of B-cup breasts. She bowed towards Issei, before speaking up.

"It will be my pleasure to attend to master Issei's desires."

Listening to that line should have sent Issei over the moon... However, he managed to notice the reluctance with which Quila had said it, which brought him back down to earth as far as the castle was concerned. At that moment he felt a fog clearing from his mind, one somewhat like the haze that Lilith's aura caused him, but... different. If Lilith's haze could be described as purple, this one... Had to definitely be green.

Being experienced With hiding emotional distress and playing the fool at a moment's notice, Issei managed to hide the fact that whatever it was that had been blinding him from the red flags so far had vanished, and her gave Quila a massive, lecherous grin even as he spoke.

"I think I'll enjoy my stay here!"

~oOo~

Issei and Quila walked through the castle halls in a tense silence, Quila lways ahead of Issei ensuring that her frown was unseen, and Issei's relaxed pace and countenance hiding the fact that his mind was a whirlwind of activity as he tried to figure out just what was happening around him.

He's chasing after Lilith, then she runs away from him, then this castle... And he didn't even notice how weird it was for the most part due to some sort of mind manipulation magic. Absolutely suspicious.

Looking around the room and taking a second, closer look at the snake imagery, Issei felt the return of the unsettling sensation of being watched hungrily by a predator.

The two turned a corner, and as soon as the sensation of being watched faded, Issei spoke up.

"What's really happening here?"

The topless, sharp-eyed maid looked at Issei from the corner of her eye, before muttering lowly.

"You're not as oblivious as you seem. Good. You might actually make it out of here alive."

Before Issei could respond in any way Quila turned back forward, and the sensation of being watched returned as a set of armor with a serpent engraving came into view.

His own eyes narrowed at that.

'So I'm being watched whenever there are snakes in view... Good to know.'

With that notion firmly planted in his mind, Issei followed Quila up a few sets of stairs to the third floor, directing him towards the first door on the right. Issei got the feeling that he was being watched even in his temporary bedchambers (Especially in his bedchambers), which was absolutely unsettling.

'Having someone watch me so hungrily even in bed... Freaking hell, I'll go crazy if I spend too much time here!'

"These are your chosen chambers, master. You can rest here to recover your strength."

Her neutral tone turned as bland as the smile on her face as she spoke.

"Please, do not hesitate to come to me to me if you have any issues, as I am available to fullfil all of your needs."

Issei responded by shrugging, before Quila bowed (Causing the boy's eyes to glue themselves to the pendulous motion of her breasts and drool to escape his lips) before walking out of the room, her face set in a stern frown.

Now alone, Issei looked around the room, seeing that it had a few suits of armor and paintings arranged in a tasteful, if overly pompous manner.

Tossing himself to his bed, the brunette decided to focus inward and talk to his partner.

'Ddraig, you there?'

He heard what sounded distinctly like a snore, causing a sweatdrop of roll down his forehead.

'Seems like I'm doing this one alone... But before that, I need to rest.'

With that, Issei allowed himself to go to sleep after hours of running.

~oOo~

Breakfast the next day was a really awkward affair. It wasn't the weird vibes of the place, or the way that it seemed the eyes in the various paintings were following his every motion, or even the fact that his partner seemed to not give a rat's ass about his distress and preferred sleeping on instead.

It was more due to the fact that he couldn't really focus on his food with a hot, unashamedly nude greenete sitting across him, her legs splayed wide and a predatory look in her eyes. The fact that she periodically licked her lips didn't help much either.

His growling stomach brought him back to the most important matter of the moment, food!

He loaded a fork up with eggs, only to see Quila all but trying to murder him with her eyes, causing him to give up on the eggs. Dropping the eggs, he allowed his fork to hover over the bacon, getting another death glare. He noticed her glare soften as his fork stopped over the sausages, giving him the all-clear.

He was ravenous in the consumming of sausages, and as soon as they were gone he pushed the plate away.

"Issei, dear" Stheno spoke up "Aren't you going to finish your breakfast?"

"Oh, I'm already full, miss Stheno!"

The woman pouted at Issei, causing him to squeeze the bridge of his nose to stem a nosebleed, before Quila spoke up.

"Your bath has already been prepared, mistress."

Stheno nodded at that, before responding.

"Very good, Quila, me and Issei will be there in a bit."

"Wait, what?"

~oOo~

If he had trouble focusing during breakfast, then it was nothing compared to what his mind was going through right now as he stood outside the bath chamber door, wearing only a towel around his waist and nothing more.

He could barely reign in his... excitment... with Issei jr. posing a constant theat of embarrasssment. Breathing in deeply, Issei gathered his wits and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

He opened the door, took one step inside, then froze.

"Join me while the water's warm, Issei."

You'd probably freeze too if you were faced with an absolutely hot woman, naked with the exception of foam and soap bubbles covering her privates.

'This is, somehow, hotter than when she was just fully naked! Dangerous!'

Issei gulped at that, slowly stepping into the bath that resembled a greek bath house pool more than anything else, allowing a curtain of steam to cover him as he removed the towel from around himself and sunk into the soapy water.

He had to let out a pleased sigh at the feel of the warm water soothing him completely.

The two stayed in silence for a while, Issei lost in the sensations of his bath, while Stheno took Issei's distraction as an opportunity to give him a more thorough look-over, before frowning.

How could such a mostly average (though she had to admit he had a good face) boy such as him be powerful enough to draw that out?

She shrugged that line of thought off, not willing to put more effort in than necessary.

'He's gonna be food pretty soon anyway.'

~oOo~

Feeling clean and nice, and wearing a thin set of garments , Issei took the opportunity to climb to the castle's highest level, trying to spot the town that he had initially walked through, only to notice that the entire world around the castle was nothing more than gray mist, causing his expression to harden.

Knowing that whatever the event was that targeted him would be occuring soon, Issei decided to prepare.

After all, it was never a good idea to mess with a dragon, and with Ddraig, he sorta-kinda-maybe qualified.

~oOo~

Quila, who had been polishing one of the armors around the castle, found herself suddenly being dragged by the arm by the unfortunate sap that happened to find his way to her... Mistress' territory, towards what she knew to be his bedroom.

Before she could react to her assumptions and show him why he wasn't even fit to gaze upon her, much less touch her, she found herself pushed into an Alcove, before he pushed himself in as well, keeping her pressed flat against the castle's stone walls.

She opened her mouth intent on lambasting the brutish pervert, arcs of electricity already arcing along her fingers, before she heard him speak in a seiours tone she thought him incapable of.

"I know that something weird is happening here. Plans are being made, and I'm probably supposed to be the stooge of the situation. I've noticed the way Stheno looks at me hungrily, the way the town that I walked past on the way here doesn't exist anymore, the feeling of being constantly watched... I also noticed the way that you don't seem to be too crazy about following her orders, and the way you glare at her whenever you think no-one's looking, so I have a proposition to make.

We team up, stop whatever it is that's being planned, then, since you seem to dislike me so much, we go our separate ways. How does that sound?"

Quila really had to rethink her opinion of the boy. He wasn't as oblivious as she thought, and he did have enough control to think with his bigger head instead of his smaller one.

Nodding at that, she answered.

"Very well, we work together, but you cannot allow her to notice you're onto her, or she'll find a way to dispose of you even sooner."

Seeing that he still seemed serious about things, Quila continued.

"Seek out the place where the ramblings of wisemen of old lie in rest, and follow the guidance of the thunderbird."

Then, without allowing Issei to say anything else, Quila went back to her tasks as a servant of the castle, while the brunette sacred gear user racked his brains for the solution to the task given to him.

~oOo~

Three days after his deal with Quila, Issei was still as far away from finding the place he had been directed to as before, all the while being forced to play nice with a woman that he felt wanted to do bad, bad things to him, the world around the castle gradually disappearing, the fact that this delayed his schedule with Lilith and his trip to Luxuria, and the fact that Ddraig hadn't said a word since they arrived at the castle.

Between all of those things, and forcibly supressing his libido in the presence of the seemingly nudist Stheno and her topless maids, Issei was about ready to snap.

Case in point, the fact that Stheno's other maid, Alyx, was chattering away in front of him, and instead of appreciating the way her breathing affected her delightful breasts, or trying to engage her in conversation, he could only smile as he half-listened to her, keeping just enough focus on her to be able to give the occasional 'mhm' or 'I see' to make him seem not-rude.

"...mbling, don't you think so?"

Issei's mind went into complete focus at something he thought he heard, speaking up.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

Blinking twice, the perky, airheaded maid spoke in her cheery tone.

"I said that I could write a book with how much I ramble. Seriously, I feel totes like, an old man, and stuff!"

His eyes widening massively at that, Issei pulled Alyx into a massive hug, before turning around and dashing off in a sprint.

The airheaded maid could only giggle at Issei's silliness, before going back to doing her job.

~oOo~

' "The ramblings of wisemen of old lie in rest!" How can words lie in rest after they've been already said? By writing them! And where do books rest? In libraries! I need to go to the library! '

Issei made his way through the library doors, ending up in a massive room, filled wall-to-wall with bookshelves, the only indicators about subject being hanging banners with crude pictograms, which due to his lack of knowledge of their context didn't really tell him much.

Still, he looked at the banners until he saw what could be said to be a bird of some sort, prompting him to move into that specific aisle.

Walking through the aisle, Issei kept his eyes searching through the book covers for any indication of what to do, until he saw what looked like an eagle with it's wings spread in flight, clutching a lightning bolt in each talon.

"The guidance of the thunderbird..."

The brunette pulled the book from it's place on the shelf, opening it to the page a tab protruded from, only to see a large drawing of a green dragon-like snake coiled tightly around a house, It's head pointed upwards and it's mouth open in a threatening motion. Said motion was aimed towards a massive yellow bird with a beak surging with electricity.

Moving past the picture into the description, Issei's eyes widened as he read further.

"Few beasts have such enmity amongst themselves as do the Roman Thunderbird and Midgardsomr. The Roman Thunderbird, as a representation of roman power, nobility and dominance, does not enjoy having it's territory encroached upon, which is exactly what Midgardsomr attempted to do.

Midgardsomr is called the 'home-thieving snake-dragon' for a reason. It moves into occupied territory, feeds on whomever it can , before melding into the ambient structures, lying in wait for further prey to cross an area it has taken control of so that it can feed.

When it tried invading rome, it found itself facing Rome's protection, the one that had gained the moniker of "Eagle of Victory" in heated battle. The battle between the two raged for three days and three nights on the outskirts of the city, with it moving ever closer towards Rome proper.

Not willing to see the city it protected destroyed in it's attempt to protect it, the thunderbird is said to have summoned a massive bolt of lightning which turned night into day, and when it died down the two were gone, banished elsewhere. No-one knows where those two are..."

"Until now..."

Issei turned around in suprise at the voice in his ear, an evilly smirking Stheno being the last thing he saw before he a blow to the back of the head rendered him unconscious.

"The information that you gave me was valid, slave. Very good of you."

Quila took a step forward from where she stood behind Stheno, bowing graciously towards her mistress.

Stepping forth from the shadows on the opposite side, Alyx giggled at the downed form of Issei, the club she used to knock him out still hoisted over her shoulder, before she spoke.

"Silly Issei, libraries aren't for napping!"

Stheno had to facepalm at her henchwoman's idiocy.

~oOo~

"Whu... What happened?"

Issei's tone was groggy and his eyes registered triplicates of everything around him, which were tilted and swaying back and forth, but to be fair to him, he did get clubbed really hard in the head, so it was understandable.

He shook his head to try to get rid of the dizziness, which only made it worse, before he settled on allowing his mind to clear of it's own volition.

As normal sight and sound came back to him, he remembered the events just prior to him getting knocked unconscious.

'Midgardsomr... So the objective is trying to eat me... So why did Stheno wait so long?'

"So it seems you got far enough to warrant actual action..."

Issei's head snapped to the side, his gaze falling onto Quila, who continued speaking.

"Of all the men lured here during the years, you were the one to get the closest to the truth. Such a pity that you were taken down before you could find a way out."

"A way out for me or for you, Quila?... Or should I say Aquila Victis, The Eagle of Victory?"

The white-haired woman raised an eyebrow at that.

"You're sharper than you look, boy."

Ignoring the insulting level of surprise in her tone, Issei snorted before smirking smugly.

"It wasn't too hard to put together. A sharp gaze, narrowed eyes and yellow, hawk-like irises, white hair that kind of reminded me of the bald eagle, and the fact that when I confronted you in that alcove, your fingers were sparking. That by itself didn't tell me anything, but reading the book about the eagle of victory got me thinking...

Romans spoke Latin, and what would the Latin for Eagle of Victory be? Aquila Victis, or something among those lines. And your name just so happens to be Quila."

This time Quila had to blink in surprise, before speaking in an honestly impressed tone.

"Impressive deductive capabilities."

"Of course!" Issei started, before a sheepish grin came over his face "The fact that the caption under the picture said 'MIDGARDSOMR X AQUILA VICTIS' in bold definitely helped."

"..."

Quila had to facepalm at that one.

After a few second of silence, Issei spoke up.

"So... Why is it that you're working here as a servant? And why did I not get fed to the big snake as soon as I stepped in here?"

"I can tell you the answer to both questions, Hyoudou Issei!"

Issei's gaze moved towards the speaker, a smirking Stheno clad in a silky, paper-thin white robe which... Well, she might as well have been naked; she was flanked by a smiling Alyx, who held a golden scepter with the top shaped as a cobra flaring it's hood.

"The reason why the vaunted 'Eagle of Victory' that brought prosperity and glory to the roman empire is bound here... Happens to be moi. Tell me, boy, what do you know of greek mythology?"

"Uh... Not much, really, only the stuff most people know. The various gods, their powers, Hercules, and Aphrodite, my personal favorite deity, followed only by Eros. Other than that..."

He followed up by shrugging, glad that the ropes tying him to a wooden post were only around him from the biceps to the waist, leaving his soulders and legs free.

"Well, let me tell you a story of three sisters. Their names were Euryale, Stheno and Medusa, and the three were very intelligent, very beautiful, very talented witches. One of them, Medusa, happened to get the attention of Poseidon, one of the greek gods, yet she refused his advances. Enraged, he snuck up on her as she performed her worship in the temple of Athena, and forced himself on her.

Athena, witnessing the scene of her temple being conspurcated yet being incapable of punishing her uncle, decided to punish the woman he raped. He turned her into a hideous beast, whose mere gaze was enough to turn any mortal into stone.

When Medusa's sisters, outraged by the injustice, went in front of the olympian council and exposed Poseidon's transgression and Athena's injustice, they did not get the result they hoped for, or expected. Instead of finding sympathy or justice in the council, the found majoritarily scorn and anger. Apparently, any mortal should be flattered for the attention of an Olympian, and refusing their advances is grounds for punishment. Anything that occurs to them is considered their own responsibility.

What's worse. Not only did the Olympians ignore our pleas for our sister's curse to be removed, they punished the two of us as well for daring to speak out about their transgressions as if 'they were held to the same rules as mortals'.

Medusa had her beauty taken away, and my sister Euryale had her intelligence taken from her, becoming an absolute airhead and nothing like the woman she previously was.

As for me? I started gradually losing my power, and with it my youthfulness, and my life force. I was heading for an early grave, and with my powers waning, my ability to delay or reverse this situation was diminishing.

In a bout of desperation, me and Euryale decided to find help in other corners of the world, which lead us to the Twilight forest.

We found a castle sitting atop a land that was barren of all things needed to live. We were ready to leave for somewhere else, to try to find a path to somewhere better, only for a massive bolt of lightning to strike the castle, fading to reveal a scorched and almost dying giant snake, and a bird with most of it's feathers bloodied or torn. Imagine my surprise when the snake spoke to me.

'Help me vanquish my enemy, and I shall give you whatever it is you desire!'

After getting screwed over by the gods already, I decided not to trust any superior entity offering me free stuff. While the two beings were weak I used the remainder of my magic to bind Midgardsomr to the castle itself, bound myself to Midgardsomr in order to slowly siphon it's power, and bound the Aquila Victis into servitude.

I sent the snake into dormancy to not worry about it resisting, but with it sleeping there was another issue, it's power was limited. The snake needed to feed to produce more power.

So I set up a trap. I create an Illusionary field around the area that this castle sits on that lures weak men away from the forest and dulls their minds. I perform a ritual that rouses the snake into a half-awakened state, feed it, and then send it back to sleep. The extra power it generates is sent directly towards me. Once I gather enough power I'll go back to Greece, and destroy those petty fucking gods!

The ritual to rouse Midgardsomr is not an easy thing to perform, depending on the energy of my victim to perform, which is why I lace the food they are to eat with potions that convert their longevity into immediate power, that way they never notice that their energy is being taken, and by the time Midgardsomr is in a good enough state to feed, they're too weak to even try runnin, or resisting in any way.

I expected the same to happen to you, so imagine my surprise when, despite the fact that you were not imbibing the potion, you were managing just fine, or better yet, Midgardsomr was waking up faster than I expected him too.

You must be very powerful, Issei. Feeding you to the snake... I'll finally have the power to overthrow the olympians... And it's all thanks to you, Issei!"

The brunette blinked owlishly before turning towards Aquila, his tone as incredulous as his face as he spoke.

"Di-did she just explain her plan to me? Like, in it's entirety? All of it? Before she managed to fullfil it?"

Aquila just shrugged at that, causing Issei to shake his head at that.

"She's really asking to lose, isn't she?"

Closing his eyes and focusing, Issei felt the limitless well of draconic power that was sealed within the boosted gear. He grabbed onto a strand of that power, allowing it to coil itself around him completely before seeping into his body.

Opening his eyes and seeing the intersted and inquisitive looks on Aquila and Stheno's faces, Issei smirked before flexing his arms, causing the ropes tied around him to explode violently off of him.

Raising his gauntlet-clad fist, Issei pointed it straight towards Stheno, before speaking up.

"You lied to me. You bared your flesh to me, allowed me to gaze upon all of you as if I were in your confidence! You fueled my dreams! But you decieved me! Your breasts were not full with the hopes and dreams of mankind... They're full of darkness, lies, deceit and evil! Your breasts are a perversion of the world's natural order!"

"..."

"..."

Both Aquila and Stheno looked at Issei incredulously, before Stheno spoke.

"...What kind of idiot are you?"

"The kind that distracts people enough to do this. Compression shot!"

The crack of something breaching the sound barrier filled the air, a green beam of condensed energy streaking towards the distracted Stheno faster than she could erect a barrier.

Krakoom!

The crack of thunder filled the clearing a few instants after a bright while flash of light did, revealing Aquila in front of Stheno, flesh missing on the arm that she used to block the Compression shot in a circular shape. Right then and there, in front of everyone's eyes, electrict sparks started filling the hole, and with a tiny flash of light she was as good as new.

"That was going to kill me."

Issei and Aquila turned towards Stheno, whose tone showed she understood just how close to death she was. The panic and fear morphed into anger, with her giving Issei a look of absolute hatred.

"How dare a weak piece of excrement such as yourself threaten my life? Threaten my chance at getting revenge on the Olympians? SLAVE, TAKE HIM DOWN!"

Aquila didn't respond with words, instead simply vanishing and reappearing in a shower of sparks behind Issei. The brunette managed to detect her from the noise, throwing himself forwards into a roll and barely escaping the chop to the neck that would have rendered him unconscious, his arm swinging towards where he expected Aquila to be.

"Compression shot!"

The Eagle-turned-woman tilted her head to the side to avoid the blast of draconic power before dashing towards Issei.

'F-fast!'

She raised her leg and slammed it down with in a hard stomp which Issei barely managed to dodge and that caused the cobblestone underneath them explode hard enough for the shockwave to project Issei away, something that he made use of by rolling to bleed off momentum before tossing himself to his feet, this time facing Aquila, quite a fair distance away.

"Compression shot! Compression shot! Compression shot!"

The Eagle woman dodged the three consecutive shots at a languid walking pace, causing a bead of sweat to roll down Issei's neck and forehead.

'She's too fast for me to hit, and too strong for me to consider using anything other than ranged attacks. These consecutive compression shots are starting to tire me out, so I need to figure something out fast!'

Aquila stomped hard on the ground, alerting Issei of the fact that she pretty much rocketed herself towards him, one moment being far away, the next being right in front of him, her right arm cocked backwards for a punch to the face. Issei's mind was going a mile a minute as he tried to figure out how to react.

'She can't dodge a Compression shot at this range, but it's unlikely that I'll be able to hit a vital spot before she caves my skull in... Do I even want to hit a vital? I know she's trying to kill me, but she's been enslaved by Stheno. She's not an enemy, only an opponent... I know, instead of compressing the power into a single point for a piercing blow...'

Issei's index finger, the one he used as a focus for his Compression shot curled in with the rest of his fingers forming a fist, before a green glow emerged from the entirety of his gauntleted fist.

"RAH!"

A massive amount of round, pebble-sized blast of green energy exploded from Issei's fist, bombarding the entirety of Aquila's front with spread-out concussive force, knocking her a good distance away and ragdolling her for a good while before she managed to re-orient herself, her feet skidding as she touched the ground from the momentum that she hadn't bled off.

Dabbing at the corner of her mouth with a closed fist, Aquila was met with a fist covered in some red flecks.

She looked towards the boy that was fighting her, watching as a smirk blossomed on his face as he finally figured out a way to actually hit her.

Issei, on the other hand, was not as confident as he seemed. While outwardly his smirk said 'Great Success!', inwardly things were a whole different story.

'Holy fucking crapsack in a hooker's douchenozzle, that was fucking tiring! It's worse than the compression shot in terms of energy efficiency!... I don't know how many more of these I can use...'

Deciding not to give her opponent any more time to make plans, Aquila dashed towards him again, her hand wreathed in electricity in order to shock him unconscious.

'She hits me with that and I'm done!'

"Shotgun burst!"

The pebble-sized blasts heading towards Aquila forced her to halt in place and erect a shield, a yellow, octogonal-shaped barrier blocking the blasts that would have hit her, while the rest splashed uselessly on the ground around and behind her.

'He hit me with more than he hit my shield... So being closer allows him to hit more accurately, which increases the total damage of the attack, while being further makes that attack a waste of power. So, If I jus-'

"Compression shot!"

She was surprised when a beam as thick as a human thigh impacted onto her shield and started forcing her back. Planted her feet firmly on the ground to avoid skidding, her resistance was rewarded by a cracking of her barrier.

'Shi-'

Her shield shattered before she could reinforce it, causing her to be hit by the attack, albeit at an extremely reduced strength, tossing her further away and ragdolling her.

~oOo~

While Aquila kept reassessing Issei's threat level, the host of the Red Heavenly Dragon wasn't having a good time.

'Crap, my body is straining from channeling all that energy, my energy is dropping faster than it should, probably something to do with awakening Midgardsomr, and my 'Shotgun Burst' made my arm num from recoil, and Aquila isn't even bothered enough to take me seriously! She's tanking my attacks for the sake of tanking them! How the hell am I supposed to make it out of here alive?'

The sound of whistling from behind him prompted Issei to toss himself to the ground, causing a wooden club to barely miss his head.

'Oh wow, why am I feeling deja-vu from-Crap!'

He had to roll out of the way of a follow-up swing which would have obliterated his chest cage, before rolling back into a standing position that allowed him to keep Alyx, the the club-toting maid, within his field of view.

Said maid giggled airily at that, her bared breasts doing their absolute best to attract Issei's gaze, before she spoke up.

"Silly Issei, you should listen to Big Sister, since Big Sister is the smarterest!"

"...Holy shit you're Euryale... HOLY SHIT YOUR SISTER HAD YOU SERVING HER WHILE TOPLESS!... That is equal parts hot and messed up. Well, as long as-Shit!"

He had to dodge another swing of the club, before being backhanded by the maid. Hard.

Flying backwards, Issei found himself being blasted in the back by a small bolt of electricity, tossing him towards the ground and forcing him to grit his teeth as the current ran through his body. Had he not been enhancing himself with the Boosted Gear's power, Issei didn't doubt that either one of those attacks, on their own, would have definitely knocked him unconscious. Maybe even kill him.

"YES! IT STIRS!"

Issei looked at Stheno, seeing her raise a wooden staff with a gren gem at the top, before she slammed it thrice on the floor.

BLAM

BLAM

BLAM

Distracted, the brunette could do nothing as he was lifted by 'Alyx' -Euryale - who held him from behind in a tight hug, with strength beyond anything he could possibly overcome.

"Listen to my voice and heed my call, he who takes and takes, the legendary invader serpent, Midgdarsomr!"

A split erupted from the ground, causing the earth around them to shake as it widened more and more. Soon enough, a single eye about as big as issei was tall looked up from the crevice, their cloudy state being the only indicator that Midgardsomr had not been fully awakene.

"Rise, Midgardsomr! Rise and take my sacrifice! A child of man and son of god, gifted with the divine power that is the sacred gear!"

The ground fractured further, a massive serpentine head emerging from the breach, waving and bobbing in a somewhat drunken manner, the poison-green pupils slightly milky, the normally slit pupil dilated widely.

Stheno pointed her staff towards Midgardsomr, a green beam of energy flowing from it to the serpent's forehead, causing it to twitch and writhe, it's maw opening slowly, the strain visible on Stheno as it did, as if the serpent knew, even subconsciously, that as soon as Stheno got what she wanted, which was the power boost from the sacrifice, it'd get killed.

"Bring forth the Sacrif-Urhg!"

Stheno's words were interrupted by a bloody hand emerging from her gut. Looking back at the source of the hand, she found a deadly-serious Quila.

She coughed once, flecks of blood flying out and wetting the ground while two trails went down the corners of her mouth. Wheezing in pain, she spoke weakly.

"H-how... You were... My...Slave..."

"I was never your slave. I was bound to the snake, not to you, and I was unable to leave the castle for as long as it remained alive. However, the only way to get to the serpent was to get you to summon it, and the only way to truly kill it is when it's fully awake. Any less and it goes into a regenerative sleep."

"So... Hah... Y-you planned... This whole... thing?"

"Not at all. I can't really control who comes to the castle, can I? No, all I did was try to help whomever did come find the answers as to what was happening here. I hoped that if someone kicked up enough of a fuss and made things harder than you expected, you'd be forced to summon the snake earlier than expected. Without the preparation time or the required power I expected you to be unable to supress it's consciousness, but it to be far from it's full power.

I'd strike it down, then leave.

I never expected to get the host of one of the 13 longinus as the other part of the equation, and as the first one to actually force you to change the sacrifice ritual. Now, I'll finally find my freedom."

Having said that, Aquila pulled her arm back from Stheno's stomach, before taking away her staff and smashing the focusing stone on the ground, allowing a pulse of magic to pervade the entire grounds.

"Sister!"

Worried about her sister, Euryale dashed towards where Stheno and Aquila were, only to find herself being bitten into by a gigantic snake, her spine snapping in half and killing her instantly.

Shaking the corpse to ensure that it was fully and truly dead, the still half-cognizant Midgardsomr tossed it upwards before aiming his own open maw up, allowing the corpse to smoothly slide down it's gullet.

While Stheno watched the death of her last remaining sister in shock and sorrow, and Aquila started surging her power in preparation to attack the snake, Issei was startled by the sudden, yet familiar voice that graced his ears.

'Mwah... agh... I just had the best damn sleep in my entire life.'

"Ddraig? Is that really you?"

'...Will I regret it if I say yes?'

"Oh, it is you! You have no idea how glad I am you're awake! A lot of stuff happened so far! One minute I'm peeing in the Twilight woods, the next moment I'm facing Midgardsomr at a magical castle!"

'...Did you just say you faced Midgardsomr?'

"Technically, I'm still facing it right now."

Having said that, Issei pointed the boosted gear towards the still-awakening Midgardsomr.

'...How did you manage to get yourself into something of this scale so soon? There is literally no way for you to survive a battle against Midgardsomr. Your body can't take the amount of power needed to even match it. If you had a few years to train, then maybe... But as you are right now? You're screwed.'

"...It's a good thing I'm not fighting it then, isn't it?"

'What do you mea-'

KRAKOOM!

'...The fuck was that?'

"Aquila Victis."

'...The Roman Eagle of Victory?... No really, what the fuck is going on here?'

~5 minutes of explanations later~

"...And then she stabbed her in the gut with her hand, and then her was killed by the beast she herself summoned."

'Damn. I almost feel bad for this Stheno person.'

"I know, right? If only she weren't a crazy evil girl who makes human sacrifices... And she even had some amazing breasts..."

'Do you think of anything other than breasts?'

"...Yes?"

'...You're a very bad liar. We need to change that.'

"Oh look, the fight seems about to begin!"

~oOo~

"FINALLY, I'M FREE! I CAN FINISH WHAT I- WAIT, I KNOW THAT POWER."

The Snake of Invasion looked towards the source of the power, seeing a vaguely familiar woman bleeding out on the ground, next to...

"AQUILA VICTIS. MY FATAL ENEMY."

"...Enough talk, Midgardsomr! RAH!"

Lightning exploded from Aquila and started coalescing mid-air in the form of a giant eagle, before even her body turned into electricity and flowed into the construct, it's massive wings releasing limb-thick bolts of lightning in all directions, scorching the earth around it.

"I WILL FINISH WHAT I HAVE STARTED BACK IN ROME!"

"YOU WILL LOSE! THUNDER SCREECH!"

A horrible sound akin to nails on a chalkboard, except magnified a few hundred times caused Midgardsomr to hiss in displeasure while shaking it's head, before a blackish-green aura of power sprang around him, causing the ground around him to start gradually eroding.

Intent on not dying, Issei pumped power into his body and ran away from the immediate area of the battle, mantaining a safe distance from the action while he allowed his body to recover it's stamina.

"CHRONIC TOXICITY!"

A green cloud of gas emerged from it's mouth, speeding up the corrosion of the earth, stone and trees around it, before it took the shape of a set of arrows.

"GUIDED ORDINANCE!"

The toxic-green coloured arrows sped towards the thunderbird, who retaliated with a flap of it's wings that released a storm of crackling bolts of lightning, causing the two to explode middair, the shockwave almost knocking Issei onto his behind despite how far he was from the fight.

"Holy shit, that's freaking crazy! I felt that from here!"

'Feh, that's nothing! A light scuffle between me and Albion would have completely erased this whole terrain four times over! This is not at all impressive!'

"...That sounds fucking terrifying. Now I feel less bad about the fact that you and your rival are trapped within sacred gears."

'Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?'

"It means that I am 100% sure that if I die, it won't be at the hands of an extremely overpowered, raging dragon."

'Oh, Issei... Sweet, Naive, summer child Issei. You have no idea what you're talking about.'

"...Is there an actual possibility that I get obliterated by an overpowered, raging dragon?"

'Well, you see, thing is... Oh look, they're preparing their final attacks!'

Issei's head snapped over towards the fight, watching as the crackling thunderbird charged a massive ball of electricity at about chest-height, while the serpent charged a sickly-looking ball of blak-green power in it's mouth.

As if prompted by an unseen signal, the two shot their attacks at the same time, which slammed into each-other mid-air before stalling as each tried to overwhelm and push past the other.

The shockwaves from the clash of powers forced Issei to throw himself to the ground lest he fly away, while the castle started crashing around them.

Midgardsomr's attack seemed to be pushing forward, slowly overwhelming Aquila's, before the Eagle of Victory looked up to the sky and screeched, thunderclouds suddenly and rapidly blotting out the sky. The rumble of thunder sounded out loud, the light travelling between clouds, before a massive bolt of lightning fell directly on Aquila.

Empowered to her utmost limit, with passive trails of lightning jumping from the corners of her eyes and beak, the bird reared back before diving towards the two attacks, slamming into the back of her own.

The snake's attack only lasted for half a second.

The two attacks dispersed under the sheer power that Aquila was packing as she dove directly for Midgardsomr, and before he could do a thing... she struck.

"DIVING SWOOP!"

BOOOM!

~oOo~

Digging himself out from under the trees he was buried under during the explosion, Issei looked towards the scene of the aftermath of the battle. Aquila stood to one side, still in her thunderbird form, chest heaving heavily and one of her wings twisted at the wrong angle, while a scorched Midgardsomr was stretched throughout the ground like a kneesock full of sand.

"It's finally over... My mortal enemy has been defeated for good..."

The bird hopped towards the snake's corpse, prodding at it with the tip of it's beak, before moving away, satisfied, and slumping onto one of the few castle walls that remained standing, visibly doing it's best to reduce the stress on it's body post-fight.

"Holy shit, Ddraig... That was awesome! And to think that one day I'll be fighting at that level!"

'Yes, yes, your opponents will be a bunch of powerful monsters with evil intentions towards you and your family, absolutely joyful.'

"...When you put it like that, I kind of wish that I never have to fight at that level."

A twitch from the gigantic snake's head had Issei looking that way, only to witness Midgardsomr's jaw wide open around Stheno...

CHOMP!

Before it swallowed.

~A few minutes earlier~

Stheno did not know how she was still alive. After getting impaled by the taser chicken, being at pretty much the 'splash zone' in the fight between the Protecting Eagle and the Invading Snake, and getting ragdolled by the explosion of the final blow, she still managed to heal herself with the waning power in her. Now she just needed to keep playing dead, and after that Issei brat and the bird bint left, she could plan her revenge on the two of them!

'But before that... What the hell is this I'm smelling?'

Taking a chance, Stheno cracked one of her eyes open by the slightest bit...

Just enough to see the back of Midgardsomr's throat.

She didn't even manage to scream before dying.

~Now~

Issei and Aquila could only watch in terror and horrified wonder, respectively, as Midgardsomr's body started writhing around the ground, sending the scattered bits of debris left over from the previous battle flying across the clearing.

Issei just barely managed to dodge a massive tree, while Aquila luckily saw no debris going into a direct collision course with her.

Green smog emerged from all over the Snake's body, from it's mouth, eyes, and even from between it's body's scales, before it suddenly started going the reverse way and getting sucked back into the body instead of wafting outwards. The smog created a shell of energy around the body, before small cracks started appearing all over the surface of the shell.

Small pulses of power emerged from the shell, and they were enough to terrify Issei into silence. The power was reaching a level that it did not during the previous fight, even when Aquila used her last move, and it took everything Issei had just to breathe.

"Holy fucking shit, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm absolutely going to die! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!"

'Hey kid.'

"I don't wanna die! Don't wanna die! Don't wanna die!"

'Oy, brat!'

"I still have so much I want to do! I still want to live! I don't wanna die! I don-"

'ISSEI!'

Ddraig's shout managed to knock Issei out of his negative state, a lingering haze in his mind slowly clearing out as he spoke.

"Ddraig... What happened? Suddenly the world got really dark, and it was really hard to breathe, and it felt like I was going to..."

'You were subjected to the force of Midgardsomr's presence.'

"Presence?"

'Presence, Fighting Spirit, Battle Aura, Killing Intent, you humans have a lot of names for it. It was pretty much Midgardsomr's power showing it's willingness, and ability, to kill you. When someone of a certain level of strength really focuses on you, you notice it. That's mostly because you have enough sensitivity to magic that you are capable of feeling the underlying intention behind it.

It's why some types of magic are capable of making someone ignorant of it cringe away or avoid it. The general feel behind them.

Midgardsomr transformed, I don't know how exactly but I know that it involved eating that Stheno witch's body. After the amount of damage it incurred during the fight with the bird over there, the power exploded with an indiscriminate desire to cause pain and violence being projected everywhere around it at once.'

"For fuck's sake, Ddraig, that doesn't make me feel better at all! That asshole can pretty much freeze me in place with his intentions alone. He doesn't even have to act to stop me, just feel the intent to do so! Jesus Christ, what kind of monster world is this?"

"This is the world of those who are righteous, and true, and those with something to protect. This is the world of those who fight so that the ones they cherish do not have to."

Issei looked to the side, seeing Aquila back in her human form, her right arm visibly broken, a limp on her left leg and bloody patches all over her body. Ignoring Issei's assessment of her form, Aquila spoke up.

"I chose to fight for Rome, not for honor or glory, but to protect. I became the Eagle of Victory, because victory was the only way to ensure the safety of my people. The first time I did not attain victory was in this battle against Midgardsomr, and Rome has fallen since in my absence.

I do not intend to taste defeat today, Hyoudou Issei, as I still have something to protect. While the Roman empire may be no longer, the spirit of Rome still persists, living on within my heart, and it burns strong with the desire to destroy that abomination!"

"..."

Issei could only watch, stunned, as the person who looked like she went through a meat grinder said that she still wanted to fight, and to win, against a monster like that, but she wasn't over yet.

"I intend to destroy Midgardsomr... However, I cannot do it alone, Hyoudou Issei."

'...She's right. Things might look bad, but that's no reason to give up! I still have much to live for! Dreams to concretize!... For my friends, Motohama and Matsuda; for my parents, mom and dad; for my newest companion, Lilith... And for my future Harem...'

Issei's left arm rose, the green jewel on the back of his Boosted Gear lighting up as a reflection of the rise of his determination.

'I WILL SURVIVE! AND I WILL WIN!'

A green cloud of energy started flowing around Issei, the amount of pressure behind it impressive for how little it was in the face of such odds.

Aquila could do nothing other than respect the boy for the determination. Shaking herself out of her reverie, she spoke up.

"I see you have come around to my point of view."

"Tell me what I have to do."

She looked at Issei, her gaze meeting his and looking for something, and she could not withold her small grin as she seemingly found it. Placing her hand on Issei's shoulder, she spoke up.

"Midgardsomr has never been this powerful before, and if what I believe is right, he's having to fight Stheno for control over his body. It's probably the only reason why we're still alive, and our only opportunity. If either of them emerges victorious, we die. I don't have enough power to kill Midgardsomr as he is, and neither do you... Individually, that is."

'...What are you getting at?'

"I'll summon as much power as I can and give it to Hyoudou, he uses the properties of his boosted gear to multiply it as much as he can, and then takes uses it to take down the snake."

'Are you crazy? Issei's body won't be able to withstand all of that power... Before the increase! He's more likely to survive by escap-'

"Do it."

'Kid, are you crazy?'

"I'm not crazy, Ddraig. I am only conscious that this is the only available option. Midgardsomr, Stheno, whoever it is in the end, it's the type of being that causes pain, loss and destruction to innocents. If it's Stheno, she's likely to hunt me down and kill everyone I love. If it's Midgardsomr, then I'll never be sure if it won't just drop in on my hometown one day and start munching on it's people, or maybe my friends or family travel somewhere and inadvertently run into it.

Hell, it could end up happening to the families of other people. Good people. If I can stop it right now... Then I'll do it! Not because it's my obligation, or anything of the sort... But because I want to! And that's the type of man that I am!"

"...Are you certain of this, Hyoudou? As the Red Dragon said, you're more likely to survive by running away right now."

"If I run away from this, then even if my body is still alive, the Hyoudou Issei that I wish to be, as well as all of my future dreams... They will die instead."

"..."

'...'

None of the two powerful beings could really say anything negative after what they heard. The boy-... nay, it was wrong to call him a boy, for Hyoudou Issei was nothing less than a man, had made his choice.

Not feeling the need to make any further confirmations, Aquila limped towards Issei and placed a hand on top of his boosted gear before looking up to the sky and screeching once more.

A massive thunderbolt crashed on her, but instead of using that power to recover, she shunted all of it, and even a bit more, into the Boosted Gear.

~oOo~

It burned. Fire and lightning warred against eachother as they attempted to occupy the same space at the same time, and Issei's arm was the one suffering the consequences of that. The veins along his upper arm throbbed, visibly and painfully, while the boosted gear heated up to an orange color, with sparks of lightning being spat out randomly along it's length. The green gem of the boosted gear seemed to be crackling with some inner lightning, and it was enough to kill most adult men.

Hyoudou Issei isn't most men.

He bolstered his will with images of whom and what he fought for, both to protect, to achieve and to become, and using his will and determination as two grindstones on opposite sides, Issei placed the power inbetween them.

'Grind more... Thinner point, for better piercing power...'

The power started taking shape within Issei's psyche, two contrasting flows of yellow lightning and green flames being forcibly ground to a shape different to the shapeless chaos they wished to be. They tried to simultaneously rebel against Issei's control, and against eachother, but the young man would not be deterred.

'Twirl, spin, braid...'

The two powers, while being sharpened to the extreme, were also being swirled together in a braid of power. Two different 'materials', that together increased the maximum power of the structure.

However...

'No, not enough... Grind more... Twirl, spin, braid... Mix!'

The lighting and fire were forcibly melded into one another. No matter how much they desired not to mix, how much they fought and resisted, Hyoudou Issei would not be denied.

'Mixing percentage... 30/70...40/60...50%50!'

Normally, such a construct of two diferent powers, both of a destructive, chaotic nature that desired, more than anything else, to spread to everything nearby and propagate would be unable to be properly mixed, however Issei had something that many others did not.

A proper bonding agent in the form of wild, untapped Tantric Energy. After all, the energy generated from the sexual connection of two different individuals, real of imagined, surely could connect two different powers.

'This... is...'

"HEY, MIDGARDPUSSY! YEAH, I'M TALKING TO YOU, YOU OVERGROWN GARDEN SNAKE! EAT ANY MORE SIBLINGS LATELY?"

At that moment, it didn't really matter whether Stheno or Midgardsormr was holding the reins, both were insulted and they simultaneously turned their attention towards the one who did it, maw gaping wide with the intent to completely obliterate the disrespectful whelp!

However...

[BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!][BOOST!]

'FOR ALL THE GLORIOUS OPPAI IN THE WORLD!'

"SAY HI TO YOUR FRIENDS IN HELL! THUNDER DRAGON'S ROAR!"

~oOo~

Bright. That is how anyone present would have described the scene. Whereas the powers previously thrown around generally dissolved, or broke, or exploded, or burned...

The energy released from the Boosted Gear by Issei in the form of an orange spear, the surface covered by simultaneous small flames and crackling electricity, and a small, but extremely dense, purple core of condensed Tantric Energy did not do any of those.

Instead, everything it touched... Simply disintegrated.

Sthenorsormr's body simply... vanished. No trace of it, not even a single scale, remained behind. It was in the path of the beam, so it was erased.

As was the ground, and the trees, and the rock, and the mountains, and everything else within a 3 mile wide cone, going as far as the eye could see distance-wise.

Aquila eyed the level of devastation the level of devastation wrought about by the sheer stubborn will of a young man with shock and incredulity.

'That attack... Midgardsormr was extremely powerful, so the power would have used his maximum power output and half-again, maybe even two thirds... After using up all that energy, the attack still had the power to cause that much destruction?'

She looked at Issei, his gauntleted arm still raised and actually releasing steam, his shoulders moving up and down as he took deep breaths. He should, for all intents and purposes, be dead. His body should not have been able to cope with releasing an attack of that caliber. Issei was... well, to be quite blunt, in the large scale of things, Issei was a weakling. Yet, a weakling as himself managed to hold her back for quite a bit when they battled, managed to rally himself up after feeling the full brunt of malicious pressure, and managed to do something that should be impossible to all but the most capable of magicians, and mixed two different powers just because he could.

If this was what Issei could do as a weakling... Then seeing him actually getting strong... Achieving something like Balance Breaker... That was a terrifying thought.

The young man she happened to be thinking about took in a deep breath, before falling backwards... And then his chest stilled.

Ignoring how tired and battered she herself was, Aquila shambled towards Issei, before planting her ear on his chest.

'His heart's still beating... But it's weak, very weak. It could stop at any moment, and he could die.'

She blinked to herself as an idea came to mind. And idead that, despite the situation, left her guidy with excitment. Her sense of curiosity over just how much this would change things melded with her desire to help a young man who willingly helped her erase a mistake of hers permanently, and she decided to act.

She tore Issei's shirt open, noticing that the left sleeve was extremely burnt, despite the fact that the skin itself on had patches of pink, raw skin along it's length. Opening her mouth wide, a spark of electricity jumped between her canine teeth, before she sunk them into the bicep of his left arm.

When she pulled back, leaving behind a trail of crackling electricity, she watched as the electricity rearranged itself, copying her appearance at full power in the shape of a tattoo.

"What the hell... I give him a bit of power, and said power rearranges itself into an aesthetically pleasing shape... What? What?"

Deciding that she could try puzzling out the existance that was Hyoudou Issei later on, when there was less risk of her going insane, Aquila aquired her thunderbird form, albeit not as big as at full power, more alongside the size of a bald eagle, before hopping on top of Issei's chest and 'prodding' at him by connecting to the small shard of power she had donated to him.

She sensed... Well, it was some sort of thread, or string, and it was colored purple. Feeling for the location of the other side of the thread, Aquila vanished with the unconscious Issei in a shower of sparks, reappearing in front of a very surprised succubus. Before the succubus could do or say a thing, the thunderbird screeched, before vanishing with a flash of light and the lingering scent of ozone, leaving Issei behind.

A shirtless, sweaty Issei with a myriad of injuries and a tattoo that Lilith knew he didn't previously have.

Sighing in exhasperation and pinching the bridge of her nose, Lilith had to externalize her thoughts at the moment.

"Really, Issei? You take a pee break, vanish, and reappear 15 minutes later looking like you went through a war? Really?"

Biting her lip, she spoke in a slightly milder tone.

"At least your new tattoo looks good. Give you an earring and you'll get the whole bad boy look down pat."

She shivered at the image that thought elicited, her instincts begging her to act while Issei was unconscious.

What she did instead was lift him up, hoist him over her shoulders in a fireman carry, and make her way towards where she knew Luxuria was.

~Chapter: End~

Hah! Bet you didn't expect this, did you? You expected them to make it straight to the land of the sex and honeys! Well, that's too bad, because curveballs make for interesting content!

In all seriously though, I'd like to know your thoughts on this chapter. Was it good? Was it bad? What did you think of the characters introduced in here?

Leave all those answers to me in the review section please.

FrancoGamerxz, out!