Fate DxD Vol.15

Chapter 82

Friday, March 31, 2023.

We're all gathered outside, away from the mansion, and with attention focused on me, I explain to them what I already explained to Rias last night. When I finish, Koneko and Kiba are doubtful and Akeno seems delighted while Asia admires me, stars in her eyes..

"Here you go, do you have any questions?" I ask.

"Yes," Kiba raises his hand. "Are you sure this will work, even after testing on President?"

"Yes, I've only used it once, but I'm pretty confident." I reply.

"...But if it fails, we'll lose for sure." Koneko adds.

"It's not going to happen." I say.

"Even with all your confidence, it's still extremely risky to use, Senji-kun." Continues Akeno.

"I agree with Akeno, it's far too dangerous for you Senji." Rias frowns.

"Why?" I ask.

"If you have to reach him to activate your Maken, then you have to go into contact with his flames, and that I forbid." She said seriously.

"His flames can burn through even the most heat-resistant materials, and he'll incinerate you on the spot." Akeno explains.

"I don't think so, thanks to the dragon's presence inside me, I'm definitely more resistant to flames, so it's not his that's going to scare me." They're surprised by my statement. "Anyway," I move towards Rias, "may I?" I ask, extending my hand towards her.

"...You're a problematic boy Senji, you need to remember to listen to others sometimes." Rias rubs her temples.

"Fufufu, as soon as he gets an idea in his head, he doesn't stop." Akeno chuckles aside.

"It would seem so..." Rias sighs, before taking my hand. "Very well, it's worth a try, I trust you Senji."

"I promise it only lasts a few minutes." I reassure her.

(Well?)

"As I suspected, inherited powers are more deeply rooted than normal energy. We're going to have to load quite a bit of power into the maken."

"Okay, I see, I'm going to need some time to load the maken." I warn her.

"It's perfect. Yuuto." Rias calls out to him.

"Yes." He steps forward.

"While you're charging energy, you'll face Yuuto." Rias announces.

"Okay, but I need to activate my magic circuits..."

"Of course, you're going to fight without restraint, so I'm lifting the ban on your abilities Senji, give it your all both of you."

"Be careful not to hurt yourself too much, I'm here but still!" Asia seems to be stressing for us.

I nod and separate from the group, stepping forward to face Kiba. My first training session was against him, without power. Now I imagine he'll be giving it his all too, which means he'll be making the most of his speed. I get into position, ready for battle.

"Very well, if you're both ready... Let's go!" Rias announces the start of the fight.

Kiba suddenly disappears, or at least he goes off to the right so quickly that he looks like a blur. [BOOST] I bring out my gauntlet and block the blade with it, which surprises Kiba. I push him back and try to hit him, but he disappears immediately. I project a sword and leap back, dodging his attack from the sky, I charge straight at him and charge forward with my sword, forcing him to parry.

(I've got him.)

I project a second sword into my right hand and begin to assault him with double-sword attacks. With his great speed and greater experience of the blade, he parries all my attacks. [BOOST] he attempts a thrust, but his aim is poor and he directs the attack at my face, causing him to panic. I simply move my head to the side and place my sword between his and my face to push it back slightly, causing him to lose his balance. I hit him with the flat of the blade, then let go to grab his jacket and throw him to the side.

He stands up and, seeing me in position, ready to pounce on him, he smiles and conjures up a new sword, the blade blood-red and suddenly covered in flame, pointing it at me.

(Hm, I see what you're trying to do.)

He swings his sword at me, sending up a wave of flame. I throw my sword at him, passing through the flames, surprised, he parries at the last moment, sending the blade a little further away. [BOOST] I sigh then inhale the energy around me, creating threads of energy all around me heading for my mouth, weakening the flames hurtling towards me. I strengthen my body and clothes and dash forward, crossing the flames. Kiba is surprised to see me coming this way, but he's ready for me. I cover my right fist with a thin layer of energy, turning to an illuminated white, and swing my arm to strike him. Kiba reciprocates with the flat of his blade but I destroy it, causing him to widen his eyes.

He narrowly dodged the attack, leaping backwards. I take a deep sigh, letting steam of energy escape from my mouth, I can feel the power rising inside me. I clench my right fist and prepare to unleash all the energy that surrounds it. Seeing this, Kiba conjures up a new sword and thrusts it into the ground. I put my left foot forward and swing the raw energy straight at him, but a wall of bone comes between us and the energy explodes on contact. With the wall destroyed, I see Kiba create a second sword and thrust it into the ground again. [BOOST] I can feel strange movements in the ground, then suddenly bones of arms and hands emerge from the ground and try to grab me. I project a sword and destroy the bones one by one, narrowly avoiding being caught each time.

One grabs my arm, I destroy it directly, another grabs my ankle, knocking me down, I plant my sword to break it and roll to the side to dodge the bones trying to hit me. Suddenly, I see out of the corner of my eye that Kiba is getting up with a new sword and disappearing. I project a blade and prepare to intercept him. But he surprises me, coming up in front of me and swinging his blade down. I parry but feel gravity pushing me down. I then notice that in the middle, the blade splits in two, leaving a mini black hole in its center. I'm forced to drop to one knee, crushed by gravity.

[BOOST] Feeling the power growing inside me, I take the opportunity to suck up the energy around me, weakening Kiba's sword, which surprises him. I take the opportunity to look towards the blade planted further away. My magic circuits light up and the blade is also covered in a bright bluish light. Suddenly, I switch places with it, and Kiba loses his balance and hits the ground with his blade. He quickly recovers and creates a cold blade, and plants it in the ground, freezing the ground in front of him at high speed. I create a clone, which grabs me and throws me into the air, narrowly avoiding freezing with him. I project a blade by overloading it, creating multiple cracks on the blade leaking flames. I throw it at Kiba, who, noticing the excess energy in the blade, leaps backwards and, on impact with the ground, the blade explodes.

[BOOST] I land on the ground, ready to continue the fight, but Ddraig stops me in my tracks.

"Partner, you've got enough power."

"President! I'm ready!" I raise my voice and raise my hand, being blinded by the dust screen I've created.

"Very good! You can stop and then come over." Rias announces.

I emerge from the smoke, seeing that Kiba has already joined them, I pat my clothes to remove the dust then stand next to Kiba, whom I've managed to make sweat.

"Good work, both of you." Rias smiles at us. "First of all, Kiba, what do you think?"

"Well, to be honest, Emiya-kun is a terrifying opponent to face. Not only is he apredictable, he's able to get stronger and stronger throughout the fight, so if we'd kept going, he'd have beaten me soundly." Kiba explains, with a smile.

"Indeed, Senji, do you feel any difference between your arrival here and today?" Rias asks me.

"Hmm... I'd say yes, I'm less tired than I thought." I remark.

"Very well, then these days here have served their purpose, I'm delighted." Rias breathes a sigh of relief. "I do have one question though, why don't you use the energy through the gauntlet, you'd gain in power wouldn't you?"

"Oh its sure I'd gain power, even too much, this is the power of a dragon we're talking about, if I'd used the gauntlet, I'd probably have destroyed the mountain we're on." I explain.

Everyone is stunned.

"Oh my..." Akeno puts her hand on her cheek.

"I'm glad you didn't use it, Emiya-kun." Kiba breathes a sigh of relief.

"..." Rias said nothing, looking at me with amazement.

"So President? I'm not going to be able to keep up the energy I've built up much longer." I call out to her.

"Ah... Yes, let's go, even if it scares me a little. I trust you Senji." Rias extends her hand towards me.

I take her hand and activate my maken [OVERBLOW]. I pour all my energy into the maken, which increases Rias' power, as she is covered in a blood-red aura and red and black lightning flashes appear around us. It's so intense that the others have no choice but to back away. Then everything suddenly stops.

"Ara ara, at least it was impressive to look at." Akeno comments.

"Did it work?" Asia asks.

"Um... I feel so powerful... I think you missed Senji..." Rias is astonished.

She raises her hand and creates a magic circle, trying to draw her Element of destruction, but the circle flickers and disappears.

"Impossible..." Rias widened her eyes.

"It really worked..." Kiba is impressed.

"...With Senji-senpai's Maken, we can win, President..." Said Koneko.

But instead of getting a positive response, I can see she's frowning, looking at her hand.

"Don't worry about your power President, it'll be back in a few minutes." I reassure her.

"That's not what's bothering me..." She lowers her hand, as if defeated. "I'd hoped it wouldn't work."

"Rias..." Akeno murmurs.

"What do you mean? Aren't you happy to know that we can remove the biggest problem facing Riser?" I ask, not understanding her reaction.

"I am, I'm so relieved to know that if it works, we can get past his immortality, but there's no way you're using it."

"There's no way I'm going to let an opportunity like this pass me by." I stand firm on my position.

"You said it yourself Senji, for it to work, you have to be in touch with the person. Which is to say, you have to bathe in his flames. I refuse to let you risk death for a game."

"But what happened to the motivation you had last night? You told me yourself, you'll do anything to call off your wedding."

"Senji-kun, don't tell me you want to face Riser alone?" Akeno asks.

"...Yes, facing Riser alone is the best solution." I confirm, which makes Rias' eyes widen.

"It's out of the question, Riser hates low-class Devil, he'll take great pleasure in torturing and humiliating you before getting you out of the game. We fight together or we lose together, that's all."

"Listen to me President, this is exactly what I want, if I face him alone, he'll never give it his all, it would be too big a humiliation on his behalf, this is the perfect opening for me to surprise him and nullify his power. It's a guaranteed victory. If I fight with someone else, he'll be much more on his guard, that's for sure. Let me take Riser on, and you can join me once I've used my Maken, but not before." I place a hand on my chest, showing her my determination.

Rias remains silent, I can clearly see that she's torn, even if I don't understand why she's so worried about me, if I have to defeat Riser, then I'll use all my available tools and take all the risks, as I always have.

"President, I agree with Emiya-kun, this is our best chance." Kiba offers me his support.

"It's dangerous, but I have total confidence in Senji-san! He'll succeed!" Asia exclaims.

"...It's completely absurd, there's very little chance of it succeeding, but I believe in it." Koneko joins me too.

"...Akeno, be honest with me..." Rias turns to her [Queen].

"...Even with the best of training, I didn't believe in our victory, Riser's immortality is an insurmountable wall. But with Senji-kun's Maken, that wall will just be destroyed in one fell swoop, it's our best option, and you know it very well." I've never seen Akeno so stern, the stakes are far too high to remain polite.

"..." Rias looks at us all, before sighing, defeated. "Very well, I admit defeat. I'm sorry, I let my emotions get the better of me." She looks at me, as if she feels sorry for me, which I don't understand. "Since everyone agrees, you'll be the key to this game, Senji. Your power and your Maken will be the factors that decide the outcome of this battle. "

"I'm counting on you, I could never charge enough energy alone." I add.

"Of course, we're a team after all." Kiba agrees.

"Yes, we'll be there to support you, Senji-san!" Asia exclaims.

"Trust us." Koneko tugs at my sleeve.

"Ara ara, how motivating." Akeno regains her cheerfulness.

"Yes, together we can win! Let's show those who look down on us! It doesn't matter if our opponent is a Phoenix or not. We need to teach them very strictly how strong Rias Gremory and her servants are!" declares Rias.

"Yes!" We all respond together, gripped by a vibrant motivation.

Monday, April 3, 2023.

Late at night, I'm in my hangar, warming up my magic circuits for the battle ahead.

The fight will start in just under two hours, at midnight to be precise. When we got home, even though Rias had asked us to rest so as to be at our best for the day, I continued to train during the three-day break, with Haruko and Inaho.

I check the time again, feeling the pressure build up, we're scheduled to meet 30 minutes before the start of the match, so I don't have much time left, the shed is my sanctuary, this is where I feel at my best.

One of the doors opens, showing Asia poking her head timidly through the gap.

"Senji-san, can I come in?" She asks.

"Yes, of course, but it might be a bit cold." Seeing her enter, I'm surprised by the outfit she's wearing.

She wears her nun's habit. Of course, she doesn't have the cross hanging around her neck, nor does she have the veil on her head.

"Asia, are you sure about this outfit?" I ask, curious.

"Yes... when I asked President-san, she told me to wear something I'd be most comfortable in. I thought about it a lot and decided to take this. I'm no longer a Christian, but I haven't forgotten my beliefs, even if I am a Devil now."

(Asia has a lot of courage to appear in a nun's outfit for a fight between devils, but if that's her choice, then I have nothing to say but support her.)

"I see, it's true that this outfit suits you best, after all, you were wearing this outfit when I met you. Hmm, it suits you."

"Thank you very much." Asia smiles and blushes, and I can also see she's shivering from the cold.

I get up and take out this old radiator, which barely works and which I've been trying to repair for a while. I plug it in and put it in the center of the room, turning it on. But it doesn't work, I tap on it, still nothing. I sigh and use my magic circuits on it, which makes it work, emanating heat throughout the room.

"Don't stand by the door, come and warm up." I invite her, resuming my training.

She takes small steps forward, hesitates for a few seconds, and sits right next to me, then she embraces my right arm, I can feel her whole body trembling.

"You're not just shivering from the cold are you?" I ask her.

"Yes... I can't help shaking when I think there's a terrifying fight ahead of us. But if Senji-san is with me, I will be okay."

"...Asia..."

"Ehehe, I'm not afraid if I'm with Senji-san after all... Can I stay like this until we leave?"

"Sure."

"...Can I stay with you forever from now on?"

I'm speechless when I hear this. I don't want to lie to her, but telling her this is just unthinkable now.

"Yes, we'll always be together."

I gently hold Asia's hand, while she watches in awe as blades are projected, until the fateful hour arrives. We set off under the encouragement of our roommates, and pedaling towards the school, I feel ready to fight, no more doubts in my head, and Asia's trembling has stopped.