"Woah, Ayumu, I thought I told you not to fight anyone once you got into town. Yet here you are fighting one of the worst possible opponents. Look at your state."
Tachan looks at me with disappointed eyes while still not letting go out of either of us
"H-hey! That wasn't my fault, this shithead's friends followed after me and started attacking first!"
He turns his eyes to the armored boy and aura seeps from his body
"Is that so...?"
Tachan grip tightens on his shoulder
"Why were you doing this, Mr. Lucifer? Or would you rather I call you Mr. Hakuryuukou?"
W-Wait, he knows about this too? S-so the Tenryuu thing is real?!
"In fact, why are you even in Rias Gremory's territory?"
Rias Gremory again? Who the hell is this girl?!
Uhhh! So many unanswered questions! And my body is getting tense being held like this!
"Tachan, do you think you could let me go?"
I say rolling my eyes as to point out my annoyance
"Hah, right, sorry"
I feel my movements return as I'm finally able to put my arms down and walk again
And to my surprise, Tachan also released the armoured boy!
"T-Tachan, don't! This guy is dangerous!"
I lift my blades up, but Tachan brushes it off
"Don't worry Ayumu, I know about this guy."
"You wha- ugh!"
I'm interrupted as a feeling of soreness rushes through my body and I stumble
"S-shit"
With my power on it's last legs, of course this is happening.
"Ayumu!"
Tachan rushes to me and supports me by the shoulder
"Thanks, I exhausted all I had fighting this guy"
I say with a bitter smirk, but Tachan replies with a weird expression
"Don't worry, I'll give you some of mine but... err..."
He mumbles through his words, his face becoming red
"What is it?"
I ask confused and he rubs the back of his head
"I-I've been meaning to ask, but... w-what's with the get-up?"
My self-consciousness kicking again, I cover my body and reply with my face beet red
"K-Kusuke did it..."
I reply with these three words only, if it's Tachan, then he'll surely understand
"I-I see... that guy, huh?"
I nod embarassed as he finishes patching me up and I can walk normally again
"Are you better?"
"Yes, thanks"
Tachan gives me a smile at my positive answer, I touch the jewel and return to my normal clothing
"It's good to see you again, Ayumu"
He says looking at me and I feel my face redden even more
"Y-yes, y-you too..."
Watching us, the boy seems to have grow impatient as he speaks
"Hey, are you two going to keep flirting or are you going to fight?"
I blush harder and stare at him
"W-We are not! Huh?"
As I'm about to yell at the white haired boy, Tachan let's go off my shoulder and whispers something in my ear
Once he finishes, confusion strikes me as Tachan asks me seriously
"...Do you understand?"
I can't understand exactly what he meant by it, but the seriouness in his eyes compells me to nod
"Y-yes"
"Thank you"
Tachan says before turning towards the boy, who gleefully exclamates
"Finally! So... are you an esper too? Some kind of healer?"
Tachan scratched his cheek
"Well... almost, but does that really matter?"
His eyes turn serious again as his aura is completely directed at the boy
"Ho? So you won't give me your name and will attack me either way? You espers are surely starting to look a lot like each other"
Tachan shakes his head with an awkward smile
"Haha, I know this might seem like we have a beef wiht you, but an opportunity like this... I need to take advantage of it"
He then lifts a finger
"As for my name, I wouldn't mind giving it you, however..."
"However?"
The boy urges him to continue and Tachan points down
"I want you to bow down and apologize to Ayumu"
...
...
What?!
I speak surprised, the boy with white air also responds astonished
"W-what? What did you said?"
Tachan nods his head and repeats as if it was the most natural thing in the world
"Exactly what you heard, I want you to bow down and say you are sorry. If you want me to so courteous as to give my name before a battle, then I want to hear exactly the words 'I am sorry' coming from your mouth. So c'mon, remove this helmet and do it"
He keeps pointing down as if saying 'hurry up and do it'
"H-hey, Tachan, i-it's really not necessary, I'm fine now and as long as you are here-"
Tachan shakes his head and replies looking straight at the boy
"Sorry Ayumu, no can do, trust me. I've heard a lot about this guy and although I made a deal not to go after him, I just can't help if he's right in front of me after hurting my friend"
His eyes are glowing with a murderous intent, is this guy really that bad? I know he's powerful, but Tachan wouldn't go 100% for a single fight where I'm not even that badly injured, would he? What in the world could this boy have done to deserve this?
"I heard about you, Vali Lucifer, you are a battle maniac, right? Once you find a strong opponent you can't help yourself, right?"
Tachan gives a sarcastic grim and continues
"I am much like that too, once I go 100 I can't stop untill I let it out... The beating will be free of charge, but if you wanna know my name, you better apologize first"
The white haired boy also smiles
"Oh, is that so?"
I shiver, not only in fear of the sudden developments or the overwhelming aura both are releasing, but also from the freezing cold created by the ice that's surrounding us.
I look around and confirm that indeed, Tachan is here alone, so how in the world...
"T-Tachan, when did you learn cryokinesis?"
This ability is very similar to Mirabel sensei's... but Tachan shouldn't be able to use this
"This is not cryokinesis, sorry Ayumu, I know there are a lot of things that I owe you an explanation for, but I don't think right now is the time"
He gives this answer, closing his hand while an energy sphere forms in his hand
"Am I right, Mr. Lucifer?"
The boy in the armour sneers, his aura also increasing
"If you know me like you say you do and still think that I'm going to bow and apologize, then you must be crazier than you look."
Tachan sighs at his answer and says
"Oh well... if you are not bowing yourself..."
"Ugh!"
The boy groams in surprise as his body is forced onto it's knees
Tatseyo stares down with contempt in his eyes as he approaches him
"Then I am making you do it"
The boy tries, with a lot of difficulty, to raise his head up to look at Tachan
"Y-you!"
His armour shines and his wings are fixed as I hear the sound of his dreaded ability
[Divide!]
In the same moment, the boy tries to stand up again, only to notice that he still can barely move
Now, instead of anger, his voice carries much more a feeling of cheerfulness
"Hah, so this is telekinesis... real telekinesis, what a frightening ability. It carries so much power that even after dividing it once I can barely lift myself up"
Tachan replies nonchalantly
"I'm also surprised, I honestly thought you would be more powerful, maybe I'm just too strong... as if! C'mon, stop playing around and show me your true power"
He taunts him and my eyes wide, this will seriously turn into an all out?
The boy gives a quick laugh
"As if I had a choice, but remember, you asked for it!"
[Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!]
After several more divides, the pressure around the boy is released and he can stand up again
However, Tachan immediately pushes him against a wall!
CRAM
I hear the boy's armour breaking and Tachan lifts his hand, the pressure on the boy becomes so great that he actually breaks the wall and goes flying to the other side of it.
"Interesting... so that's how I do against the Hakuryuukou Lucifer"
Tachan says rubbing his chin, as if he had just made an experiment
"Sorry Ayumu, but I'll keep this battle going, there's things I need to know"
He says creating a multicolored sphere of energy which is divided into several different ones that go floating around him
I stare at Tachan still confused at his every word, he looks at my face and sighs
"I'm sorry, I'll explain everything once I'm done, I promise you"
I gulp down and nod
"Alright then, but you better have a damn good explanation for all of this!"
He smirks and gives a quick chuckle
"If you only knew..."
[Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divide!Divideeeeeeeee!]
Meanwhile, the boy keeps halving away the power around his body untill the grip is released and he lands on his feet
"Hahaha, I'm truly fortunate! To meet two strong opponents in the same day!"
He says as his armour is rebuilt once again and the energy is being released through those pristine blue wings
"Hey, Tachan, be careful, if he touches you he will-"
Tachan nods
"Don't worry, I know about his ability"
He states poiting to the boy
" [Divine Dividing] or 'The Light Wings of the Hakuryuukou', it's an ability that can halve the power or even the size of something almost indefinitely."
I stare wide eyed again
"Y-you knew him already?"
Tachan never mentioned this guy to me before, what's going on?
To my surprise, his answer is a 'no'
"Not actually... like I said, it's complicated.
He says and the spheres start to move swirming around
"I must say that I'm impressed Ayumu, this guy is on a level of his own and you were able to hold your own against him. But now I think it's time for me to compare my strength with the host of Albion"
He says and the boy laughs
"Ha! How interesting, so you've done your research and still wish to fight me? Very well then, Albion, you heard him, right?"
[...]
[...]
Ora, what happened? The thing inside of him always seemed so chatty and now it's refusing to speak?
Just as I was thinking that, it replied
[Be careful Vali, this boy... he's different, he's on a level of his own as well]
For a moment, the boy turns silent, as if he's considering what the voice said. Instead of replying anything, he takes a step forward and sprouts his wings upwards
"I see... if the Tenryuu himself acknowledged you, then I can't look down on whoever you are"
He says as the aura on his body begins to increase
"Let's settle this right here!"
Just as he says that a huge number of magic circles appears behind him and on the sky as magic attacks along with hundreds of demonic bullets are shot towards Tachan
"Damnit!"
I yell as I think about fighting, but Tachan lifts a hand signing me to stop
"It's alright"
The spheres start to move, separating into even more of them to shield us from the attacks. The energy from the boy's offensive is being pulled inside of them as if they had a telekinetic force of their own
"Woah..."
I can merely say impressed by what I am seeing, even after fighting me he still has enough demonic power to do this
Not just only that, but Tachan is amazing too! Obviously, even if we are both high rankers, there's still a difference between our ranks for a reason.
After the shower of attacks ends, the spheres were almost at the size of softballs from the absorbed energy
"As expected of a descendat of Lucifer, what an impressive amount of demonic energy, even a High class devil can't compare"
Tachan acknowledges with a serious face as the spheres return to him
"Tsk, seems like Albion wasn't exaggerating either, you really are something"
The boy says removing his helmet and glaring at Tachan
"I'm actually delighted that the Hakuryuukou himself thought so highly of me. But I'm not using all of my power with just this, you know?"
He frowns at Tachan's answer
"Is that so? But what makes you think I used everything I have either?!"
Several magic circles are created and the boy equips his helmet as he charges towards Tachan while sending several magical attacks
"Bad decision"
Tachan flicks a finger and the boy's armour is destroyed as he's sent flying backwards! So easily!
The magical attacks are also absorbed by the spheres as Tachan makes them change direction
I gulp down seeing the two of them fighting so seriously as I stare at Tachan and notice something
His aura is stronger than normal.
He's in his 100% state, that's for sure, in this state he's outrageoulsy powerful, much more than I could ever be. But I can tell it's stronger than before.
Tachan told me that he becomes stronger naturally as time passes and he gets more used with his powers, but it can happen this fast? Also, this orb technique, is it something new that he learned when he was here? Or was it somewhere selse?
"Are you done already?"
Tachan says rubbing his eyes as if he's sleepy
The boy lifts himself and glares daggers at Tachan before restoring his armour
"Don't get cocky just because you landed some hits, Albion! Get ready!"
[Understood! But remember Vali, this will drain a lot of your power]
The voice replies as the white aura around the boy starts to shine
"I don't mind! Opponents like him are worthy of seeing my technique!"
From the aura, a distoreted field comes out, surrounding the boy
Tachan wides his eyes and after a moment of surprise he smirks
"I see, so this is [Half Dimension], the ability that can halve anything within it's field"
Tachan again shows his surprising knowledge about the boy's abilities
"So you know about this as well, I take it you are prepared?"
A scary smile appears on Tachan's face as he clicks his fingers and the spheres that absorbed the boy's attacks merge untill there's only 6 hoovering around
"I guess you could say I am"
I can hear the boy laughing from his helmet
"Hahaha! You are a very interesting human indeed! Let's see if you'll make due to your promise!"
The boy disappears in a flash, I can barely follow him with my eyes as he dashes towards Tachan, who raises a hand to make boy halt in the air
[Half Dimension!]
The dividing is nearly instantaneous this time and Tachan just narrowly holds the boy down for moment! The halving speed inside that field is incredibly fast!
"Not going to work anymore!"
The boy says as he creates more demonic energy attacks, those however, seem to only be a distraction for a real physical blow as a seal is created in the boy's hand and he punches at full force!
"I've learned my lesson! If magic won't work, then I'll beat you to a pulp head on!"
BLAAAAM
But as expected, Tachan notices this and dodges the boy's attack, the force of his aura colliding with the boy's fist creates a shockwave that sends stones flying.
Tachan strides backwards and states while looking at the boy with eyes filled with amazement
"So even this much telekinetic power won't work well against [Half Dimension]... you are a powerful opponent indeed"
The boy seems confused and asks
"Hey, why didn't you counter-attack? Are you seriously limiting yourself on a fight against me?"
Tachan shakes his head and says
"Believe me, I am using my full power here, but you wouldn't understand that this is also a test for my skills. I already made a promise to Rias Gremory and the Seikiryuutei, even if it's proven that I can defeat you. I don't have the intention to kill you"
I can feel the coldness from Tachan's words, as much as I don't understand what he's talking about, it seems that indeed this fight is also a way to test himself. But why is he trying to measure strength? What could he gain?
However, on the other side, anger cold be felt oozing from the boy as he speaks in a dead tone
"... Are you fucking with me? Experiment... are you trying to say something with this?"
Suddenly, all the jewels in the boy's armour start to glow alternating
"Don't you dare take me lightly!"
The boy vanishes from sight and when I come to sense, he's already in front of Tachan. With a fist filled with aura, he attempts to strike at Tachan, who easily dodges
KAAM
However, the attack proves to be a feint as a magical circle is created right between then!
"Manipulate this!"
The circle hits Tachan who counters the attack with his own aura, the attacks envelop each other, causing an explosion that sends both him and the boy backwards!
"Tachan!"
Yelling out, I create a fireball within my left hand. I wanna join the fight, I can't stand seeing Tachan fighting while standing idle, but I'm not in full force right now, I'll just get in his way if I try...
Bitting my lip and swallowing nervously, I watch the fight continue
Tachan comes back walking normally with a few wounds and his clothes torn
"As expected of the Maou's descendant, you quickly found a way to get back at me"
He speaks nonchalantly as he restores himself and his wardrobe
The boy glares with anger as his armour was also broken in the clash of their attacks
"Don't underestime the Hakuryuukou Lucifer!"
He says proudly creating a shower of magical attacks that are sent to the direction where Tachan is, but the attacks shift target midair and are once again absorbed by the several massive energy orbs flying in the air
"Tsk... you are really annoying with this power"
Tachan shakes his head
"You are very powerful too, I'm sorry if it seemed as if I was taking you lightly, I assure I know enough about you that I have taken the right precautions before coming."
The 6 spheres that were floating, now start swirling around as Tachan smiles with some proud and says
"Including this technique"
He snaps his fingers and the orbs begin dividing themselves, the massive spheres begin splitting, multiplying several fold with no signs of stopping
"Wow..."
I say in a daze as everything around us becomes surrounded by these small rounds of aura in no time, how many thousands are there?
"I created this with your [Half Dimension] in mind, at first I was impressed that a Tenryuu was sealed within you, but it seems that even a legendary gear has it's weakness, so I'm trying to see if I can exploit that"
At Tachan's words, the boy seems increasingly intrigued
"You are full of tricks, huh? Opponents like you are a real pain, but I like it! Let's see if your tactics will work against the power of the Hakuryuukou!"
He says while creating lots of seals with different symbols
"Very well, it's time to see if all that effort paid off!"
The incredible ammount of energy bullets that was all around came down on the boy with a speed that made them almost impossible to follow, leaving their colored trails behind
"Don't think I won't fight back!"
From the several magic seals created by the boy, hundres of attacks from different were shot, it seems he aimed to destroy them by using his magic even though he was overwhemed numerally as Tachan can send attacks from anywhere he wants
"I'll crush your bullets!"
The boy says with confidence as his attacks from many different magical attributes clash with Tachan's aura strikes, however, what I expected to be a violent collision of attacks, turned into another absurd display of power
All of the magical attacks were absorbed completely by Tachan's bullets! Not only that, but they grew in size too! The boy's magical attacks were turned against him!
"W-what!"
He barely had time to cry out as the deadly colorful fest blasted down on him, the field that he summoned began to immediately halve the attacks to the point were they were barely scratching his armour, but the boy still didn't seemed happy about this at all
"You can absorb even different magical attacks so easily... you really are one hell of a monster"
He says impressed, I also stare wide eyed at Tachan. It's my first time seeing magic from this level, but he can absorb and manipulate them so easily. As expected of him.
Tachan is amazing, compared to him I am...
"It seems the only thing that can take you down are my fists then!"
The boy says clutching his fists and charging forward, Tachan leaps in the air and dodges his attack
"Oh, please don't praise me yet, like I said, this attack was to counter [Half Dimension]"
Tachan snaps his fingers once again while in the air, and the hundreds of small orbs that were still all around change their shape untill they literally resemble bullets
"Do not praise untill I have show you it's true power!"
The bullets come to shower the boy once again, this time he does not attempt to counter them with magic or demonic power, it seems that he learned this will only fuel them. He relies completely on the field surrounding him, that overwhelming ability that can halve any matter or energy that becomes a target
And once again, just as they enter, the bullets begin to reduce untill they almost disappear, making the boy laugh
"Hahahaha! How is this supposed to be any different?"
Tachan smiles and mutters a single word that sends shivers down my spine
"Now"
As soon as this word leaves his lips, the bullets invading the boy's field increase in size drastically! The nearly omni directional attack from the bullets is in such number and power that it starts destroying his armour!
"UGHAAA! What in the world is this?!"
First it's the back, then the shoulders, chunks of flesh fall from the boy's body into the ground but the a field still seems to be holding up, Tachan keeps the pressure up, I see him extend his hands and form more and more bullets all which recover their energy right after they are halved by the boy's dimension.
As the non-ending stream of attacks continues, the top of the helmet breaks, the chestplate, the knees, the arms, one by one the boy's field seems to be nearing it's limit as his groams grow louder and his wounds deeper
"UHAAAAAAAAA!"
I hear him scream and create what it seems to be several seals around himself as Tachan's bullet hell envelops him untill it's impossible to see the boy anymore
When the merciless firing ends and all the smoke that was risen by it disipates, a huge crater appears on the ground with the boy's battered body laying on it
"So you still managed to create a layer of defensive seals before the attacks got the worst of you, I said it once and I'll say it again: As expected of the Hakuryuukou Lucifer"
Tachan gets down from the air into firm ground
"When I heard you had the ability to halve and disipate energy from your wings I was very interested, I thought it was going to be very difficult to take down someone like you. Untill Liliana just told me something so simple that I almost laughed at myself for not realizing it"
He casually walks towards the boy who bravely picks himself up, blood dripping from all over his body
"She said 'Think about your own limitations'. Ha! Impressive, right?"
Here he goes again, who the hell is Liliana? Wait, does she knows about Tachan's powers? Another esper in this town?
A... girl?!
The boy stands up, his breathing ragged, but his spirit still unavering
"What... limitation?"
Tachan nods at the boy's question and answers
"The ammount of energy I can manipulate and absorb, albeit great, is limited... and so is yours."
He points at the boy's wings and says
"I could try and keep breaking your wings to prevent you from releasing excess energy, but your halving field could stop my telekinesis before I did that, that's why the test."
I quiver for a moment, he knew that? That's why tested his telekinesis on the boy's field? To see if he could use his telekinesis to break his wings even with the field on?
"I see, heh, you really are full of tricks"
The boy says and Tachan acknowledges
"Well, to defeat the Hakuryuukou who also has the power of Lucifer, I had to have something more than just strength. That's when I came up with this technique"
Tachan creates another ball of aura in his hands and sends it floating into the air
"Absorb my opponents attacks to use their energy against them before it even reached me and finally..."
The orb takes the shape again of a projectile, the same used to beat the boy to his current state.
"Use my energy tranfer ability to increase them to the point where Half Dimension can't keep up"
A confused expression appears on the boy's face
"Wait, so this 'experiment' of yours was-"
"A wager."
Tachan says simply put and I feel myself tremble once again
"A w-wager?"
I am the one to ask this time, making Tachan nod and turn his head to me and then back to the boy
"In the end it would come down to create enough bullets with and tranfer enough energy to keep up with the effects of Half Dimension"
The boy smirks
"I thought you said you wouldn't need strength"
"I said just strength wouldn't be enough, I never once believed I could defeat you in this state while holding back. Good thing you piss me off so much"
The boy's armour slowly rebuilds itself and a bold smile appears on his face as Tachan nods
"However, there's still one thing I want to find out"
Tachan keeps walking towards the boy
"Uhm, what would that be I wonder?"
Curling the armored hands into a fist the boy gets ready to attack, Tachan however, stays idly, without any signs of fighting. Instead he simply points to his face and says
"Your [Divide]... use it on me"
...
What?!
Not only me, but the boy also becomes reactionless at Tachan's absurd request
"Y-you are offering yourself to get hit directly by me just so you can experience my [Divide]?"
Tachan nods and gives an awkward smile
"I know, sounds insane, right? But I am the type that never did much training in my life, I'm used to grow stronger by fighting directly and adapting as I go along, even if I make use of my powers in new ways during training, I won't be confident if I don't get to use them in the battlefield."
W-wait, training? Did Tachan just said he trained?!
"Pffft, hahahahahaha!"
His words draw out an outburst of laughter from the boy, making Tachan back away in surprise
"You are probably one of the most interesting opponents I've fought so far, but I get where you are coming from! Training and fighting are very different things, so if that's what you are wishing for then I'll gladly show the power of [Divide] directly!"
The boy clutches his hands into fist as aura pours into it and he rams his fist down at Tachan, who makes no signs of blocking or dodging
"Clench those teeth!"
Tachan merely shifts his head to the side and the boy's fist connects with his face
I close my eyes, unable force myself to see what's about to follow
DOOOON
A loud noise reverbs and a feel a strong gust of wind blowing against me, when I open my eyes again, the boy has a fist forward and a long curtain of smoke has formed in front of him
When that smoke disipates, what appears is... Tachan holding the boy's fist just barely before it got to hit his face!
"I said I would let you hit me, I never said where. The palm of my hand is enough, right?"
I barely have time to breath in relieve before the boy laughs again
"Hahaha, indeed! I gotta say you almost had me believe you were going to receive a full on attack, but that's enough, here is what you wanted!"
[Divide!]
The voice resounds and I see Tachan's aura being reduced
"Ah, so this is the legendary ability of the Hakuryuukou Albion, I can legitimaly feel the energy being drained from my body, so... let's begin then."
Tachan states and in the blink of an eye, several smoke like lines start gathering around him, as energy from all around starts to be absorbed
"You can absorb energy even from the enviroment itself... heh, you keep surprising me, honestly"
Tachan also shows a smile
"Many cannot even see the flow of the energy when I absorb it, but I think I shouldn't be surprised since it's you. But I think you failed to notice something"
He says pointing behind the boy, who quickly glances behind and I hear a quiver in his voice
"Even the surplus energy that is expelled from your wings, once it's out I can easily take it back"
With a smirk on his face Tachan says
"Try to keep as much as you can in yourself, or you won't be able to make most of it"
Despite this, the boy seems even more excited
"Hahahaha! I wouldn't have it any other way! To fight an opponent that has prepared specifically to fight you, it would be a shame if it was too easy!"
The boy's aura increases, covering his entire body as the voice ressounds again
[DivideDivideDivideDivideDivideDivideDivideDivideDivide!]
He keeps taking away energy as Tachan keeps absorbing it
"My energy manipulation against your dividing, let's see who is stronger!"
Tachan creates more energy bullets and shoots them towards the boy, who focuses all his magic in defense to withstand the attacks since dividing them will be useless as Tachan keeps increasing their power everytime he tries to halve them.
He uses his own fists to fight the non-ending shower of attacks that sends towards him, chunks of his armour break and wounds start to appear on him and blood spills on the ground
As Tachan's telekinesis cannot hold the boy down for more than a moment, he's unable to effectivelly trap him, but the boy is still unable to lay a finger on Tachan, who dodges and blocks every single attack
"Where did he learn to fight like this...?"
This fighting style is definitely not what Tachan does, he never trained any martial art in his entire life, I've alway seem him fight and it's always little more than punches and kicks with an enormous power behind them thanks to his psychic abilities, but this time is diferent
Tachan dodges with the movements of a boxer, whenever he strikes back with his hands it's always with minimal movement
But eventually, I notice that the boy begins to tire out, his armour regenerating slower and his breathing starting to rag.
"Shit..."
[Vali, you should retreat for now, this boy is not an opponent you can defeat like this]
"You should hear what he's saying Mr Lucifer, I already got what I wanted, there's no need to keep this meaningless fight going"
Tachan says this, but I notice for an instant that his body trembled, his posture relaxed before he tensed up again. Is he exhausting himself? But that's impossible!
In his normal state Tachan can keep fighting for days without rest by absorbing energy, it's only the stress caused by using more than his base form that can cause this.
Is this because he's pushing himself? So I am right, is using more than normal!
"Shut up, I'm not done yet!"
The boy says as he charges again with reckless abandon for himself, Tachan erects a wall between them from which several bolts of energy come flying towards the boy.
"My fists are stronger than your bullets!"
He says and destroys the attacks with his hands covered in aura, but just before he hits then
!
A bright flash occurs, forcing me to look away for a moment, before looking again at the scene
When I can finally look at it again, Tachan is standing right behind the boy, his hand buried inside his helmet.
"You fell for it..."
The helmet cracks, revealing a shocked and frozen expression on the boy's face as he falls to one knee
Despite Tachan's words, the damage does not seem to have been major at all, there's a little blood coming from where he hit, but aside from that it doesn't seem to be that bad
"Ah, *huff*, just that? You broke my helmet just to *huff* give me a little blow to the head?"
The boy says with ragged breath, to which Tachan shakes his head with a serious expression
"No, with the strike I just made... the fight has ended. There's no meaning to it anymore"
Tachan turns his back to him and starts to walk towards me rubbing his shoulder
"Ahh, I'm beat! Hey Ayumu, let's go home. I'll explain everything to you there."
He says to me with an awkward smile
"O-okay..."
I look behind him as the boy tries to stand up with anger in his eyes
"Y-you asshole, don't ignore me!"
The boy's wings burst into fullpower and he dashes towards Tachan who has his back turned to him
"Tachan, watch out!"
I create a flame within my hands to attack the boy, however he was already too close and landed a punch straight at Tachan's direction!
"No!"
I yell out and shoot out my flames at desperation, however, someone stood in the way of flames
It takes a moment for my brain to understand what had just happened
"T-Tachan?"
He blocked my flames with his arm to protect the boy... who had completely missed his punch!
"W-what is this?"
The boy steps backwards in surprise, the punch he was aiming at Tachan passed close to the left of his head, missing the target by a long shot
Tachan turns around to look at the boy
"The 'little blow to the head' I gave you wasn't actually a blow to the head, it was just a feint to reach my real target."
Tachan makes his hand into the shape of a gun and aims right at his ear
"You inner ear"
I feel my eyes wide as Tachan reveals this and puts his hands into his pockets
"What... the hell?"
The boy takes several steps towards Tachan, but the moment he reaches him, Tachan merely steps to the side and he falls on the ground by himself
"In order to deliver a decisive blow on you I had to make sure to weaken your armour and your body, but that wouldn't be enough, with your dividing ability you could reduce the damage of the trauma I gave you. That's why I had to disctract you with that show of lights and then hit you with another feint by making you believe I was aiming for your head"
Tachan tilts his neck and says
"You could say it was a feint inside of a feint, hahaha..."
However, the boy does not seem amused at all and prepares a burst of demonic strikes
"Shut up!"
Several bullets fly towards us, but Tachan makes the few that were actually accurate change direction
"It's useless now, you have lost your balance, you can't fight like this. Just accept this... or..."
Tachan gazes with an enormous animosity at the boy
"No... I don't think you would even be able to do that by now"
He taps into my shoulder and says
"I gotta a lot to tell you Ayumu, but by now we sh-"
"Do what? You mean the... Juggernaut Drive?"
The boy's voice cuts him short and Tachan turns to him, however, this time he seems increasingly nervous
"Yes, that's what I was talking about. But don't tell me... you really are going take this to the last consequences?"
Cold beads of sweat start to gather at Tachan's face as he says that, however, he also gives an excited smile
"You told me you did your research about me, didn't you? Well, it's like you said..."
The boy tries to stand back up and wobles trying to approach us
"For me, every fight is a serious fight. You should know going back now would be a disgrace to me..."
Hearing the boy say this, Tachan gulps down nervously and says
"I see, so it's come to this..."
[Vali, control yourself, you cannot use that in here! This is just a makeshift barrier created by Le Fay, if both your powers collied, it's going to collapse!]
The boy grows visibly angered and shouts
"I won't lose to an overconfident human! I refuse to accept defeat without answering with my full power! This is my determination! Are you telling me I should just give up and accept defeat?! A Heavenly Dragon of all creatures is telling me to surrender?"
[...]
At the boy's exclamations the voice grows silent and ponders for a moment before answering
[I understand, if that's your determination Vali, then me as your partner will support you. Just don't blame me for any damage you might cause to the Crimson Princes's town]
Tachan clutches his fist and his dangerous smile turns into a grim
I don't know what's going on, but this might be bad.
"Tachan, isn't it better if we go-"
He promptly denies my suggestion before I can finish
"No, this is also an opportunity I've been waiting for, my final techinique..."
He says staring at the boy and clutching his hands
Ah, this is bad after all. When Tachan explodes he can't control his emotions and goes berserk sometimes, even if it's totally unnecessary
With a painful expression, the boy answers
"At this point it's meaningless, as long as we don't kill anyone it'll be fine. So let's just release it already!"
When he says this, the boy's aura starts to become surrounded by a dark, putrid layer. The looks of which I can recognize quite well
"A curse!"
I exclamate
[I who am about to awaken, am the Heavenly Dragon who has taken the principles of domination from God-]
The boy starts to chant and Tachan's eyes wide as he puts his arm in front of me
"Ayumu, now!"
I acknowledge his words and create a wall of fire around all three of us
"I will not allow you to use any curse in this town!"
Tachan flies at an immense speed towards the boy and wrestles him down with his telekinesis
"W-what the hell are you doing?!"
The boy shouts and Tachan lifts him up by the hair
"You're not leaving my sight!"
An enormous pressure is created between the two I can see both struggling with their own energies as a battle that has no physical atacks happens right in front of me
SLASH
Just as it seemed things couldn't get worse, a tear in space opened
From inside of it I could see two shadows emerge and step out
"F-fuck, what are you doing here?!"
The white haired boy shouts violently while not even baiting an eye to the new guests who just arrived at one of the worst possible moments
One is a handsome youth wearing a business suit, glasses and brandishing a sword on his hip, the other is a weird looking guy wearing chinese armour and holding a staff.
"Vali, you were taking too long to came back, what's the meaning of this?"
The youth with the sword calls him out, much to the boy's displease
"Stay out of this! I'm going all out against this guy!
Both of them seemed very nervous, the chinese boy shouted
"H-hey, Vali! Don't fuck around with us, you can't use JD in here!"
"Shut up! Get away if you don't wanna get caught in the crossfire!"
He warns them before talking to the Hakuryuukou
"Albion, let's keep the chant!"
The boy calls angrily and the voice answers
[Yes!]
"H-Hey, what the fuck should we do, Arthur?"
At his partner's question, the boy with glasses has a nervous expression and stares at his white haired friend who stares at his friend who does not stop chanting
[I envy the infinite and pursue the dream]
"It can't be helped, if Vali is this hellbent on fighting, there's nothing we can do. Let's leave."
I look at them with disbelieve, are you just going to leave your friend here?!
"T-Tachan..."
I take a step forward, I want to meddle in, I want to attack this boy, I WANNA DO SOMETHING!
[I shall become the White Dragon of Supremacy!]
"Hey, girl, if you know what's good for you, you'll run away too."
The glasses boy says and his friend points at me
"W-wait a minute! Isn't she the redhead that casted a seal on Kuroka? Is it okay to leave her here?"
"There's no time for that! Let's go!"
But I grip my fists, hard, hard enough for it to hurt and force myself to remember what Tachan whispered to me
(If he starts chanting, I'll grab him. No matter what happens, you can't interfere, keep anyone from getting in and in case I fail... run away. As long as I'm in my 100% it'll be fine, just run to safety)
I am trying to follow the first intructions, but if anything happens... I'm sorry Tachan, but I don't think I'll be able to do run away and leave you here
I can see Tachan clearly struggling to keep the boy down
"Guh!"
He grits his teeth and something dark comes out of his mouth, is it blood?! He's trying that hard to hold the boy back?
[And I shall take you to the limits of White Paradise!]
When the boy finishes to say this a dazzling light leaves his body and starts to fade
"Juggernaut Drive!"
He screams from the top of his lungs
"S-so that's it... I failed, I didn't had enough power, I couldn't supress it"
Tachan says while letting his arms go out of the boy
The looks on the faces of the boy's partners quickly grow to despair as they shout at me
"Girl, you better run away now!"
I shake my head profusely
"Of course I can't!"
I shout as I watch the boy transforming in front of me
I'll help, Tachan, even if it costs my life!
I will-
DOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM
"W-what is this?"
But before my hesitant legs can move, a huge, dark and evil and overwhelming aura spreads all over the field
But it's not the boy's aura
It's... Tachan?!
"H-hey, what happened to your friend?"
The chinese boy asks with sweat all over his face and when I stop to look at my own hands, I notice I'm also trembling
Tachan's colorful aura, the trademark of the Kageyama family's seriousness, becomes pitch black and a terrible feeling emanates from him
"I... I don't know..."
Afterword: I really didn't intend to take this long to post the chapter, but I kept having ideas and I also wanted to play with Vali's emotions in this chapter and the next ones, how this fight will affect him and his team, I want to make the espers an existence that will truly shake things up in the DxD world and I want this to be transparent in the characters who interact with them. Now onto answering some questions.
Assassin's Creed and the name of one of Tatseyo's friends being Eizo: I believe that you thought this was a reference to the protagonist Ezio Auditore, right? Well, no, that has nothing to do with it, for Tatsetyo's normal human friends I searched for random japanese names that didn't had any character related to them, I even searched on Google to make sure no one would get confused. Kanae is a problem now because there is a Kimetsu no Yaiba character named that too, but they have nothing to do with each other. Even if I wanted to use Assassin's Creed in this story I wouldn't be able to do so, not because of any power gap (you can always cram some Sacred Gears or give them new powers), but because I never played the games or even read the book.
About "Esper aliens": Star Wars jokes aside, that's actually possible. In OPM during the Boros invasion, there was an alien that claimed to be "The universe's strongest psychic" and telekinetic attacked Saitama before getting pulverized right away. So there it is, space espers are canon in OPM and I might work with this concept in the future. Also, DxD in the lates arcs has been working with the concepts of "Gods from another world", so it's not far fetched to include this in the story
About Kuriko's ability to breathe in space: I don't know if it wasn't clear from the way I wrote in the respective chapters, but Kuriko and Kusuo can breath in space just fine without any air, they don't need any 'aerokinetic fields' to do so, that's why I didn't mention any in her chapter, but I wrote about the possibility of creating such fields in the chapter where Tatseyo is training with Mayumi because his abilities are still far from being as powerful as the Saiki's, so if he wants to breathe in an enviroment without air, he would have to create a zone like that, at least for now.
About Tatseyo's concept of "humanity": That would fall in spoiler territory, so I won't go into that right now, but I like your point of view.