Welcome to the next chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, but before starting the story. Let us answer some reviews:
Guest: I'm still thinking about it.
Sonic: Thanks. I'm happy to hear that.
Hellspam: Yep, Hisui has proven that she is a capable opponent from experience. I know, I can't wait to get into the current timeline of the canon though that will take a while. Considering who she is a descendant of it wouldn't be far fetched. That sounds like Qrow from RWBY. I thought about the idea that you gave of having a descendant of Mordred, but I already had someone named Mordred in The Magic Knight whose going through something similar. Just like Lu Lingqi, considering whose she descendant from to, she'll be an amazing combatant.
Guest 2: That sounds like a hilarious idea, I'll think about it. Though, I already have an idea of how she is going to make her appearance.
The Hunter and Hunted
It has been at least two weeks since Kensei told everyone about the incident that killed his mother, including the involvement of the gehenna guard Commander along with Jason defeating Layla. In that time, there has been a couple of more matches where Jason had come out the winner and each of the matches ended with him forcing his opponent to concede defeat after hunting them down and shooting them with several light arrows and some loss due to blood loss. Maria who swore that she would crush him the first chance that she got, but she hadn't got that chance despite the time that passed.
Maria did have a couple of matches that she had against different opponents, both other humans and monsters displaying fully what she can do in a fight. Through watching those matches, Kensei couldn't help but admit that at least in terms of strength and speed that Maria was better compared to himself. Though since the first moment that the two of them met, Kensei knew that she was holding something back. He along with Alice and Rui had several matches since that time and won all of them with no injuries at all.
Location in the middle of Paradise, the capital of Hagun Island was Paradise Tower, where Taro does important business with all of the Old Devils and High-Class Devils that he formed ties the moment he formed the Gehenna Tournament. On the very top floor of Paradise Tower, inside of an extravagantly built office that gave him a clear view of the entire island and ocean.
Inside his office, there was a bar containing glasses filled with imported wine and alcohol meant for himself and his older visitors, three black leather couches and a large coffee table meant for his guests.
Taro himself sat behind his mahogany desk in his black leather chair wearing a serene expression on his face as he stared at the match occurring on the monitor in front of him. Despite the injuries that both of them were giving the other, he continued to smile at it all as if finding it amusing.
"You all can fight all you'd like if you believe that it would mean that you survive. Fight. Fight. Fight, all you'd like. Though in the end, I will still get what I want," Taro replied in a calm tone. "Money is truly what rules the Human World and even the Supernatural World. And after all this time and effort, I finally got to where I want to be."
Knock Knock Knock
"Hmm. Oh, that must be my loyal allies."
Once Taro heard the door knocking, he pressed a button on the monitor, which turned into a live video feed from the camera outside of his office. On the monitor, it showed the image of three Old Devils dressed in their upper-class clothing showing their status. Seeing who it was, Taro pressed another button on the monitor and unlocked the door from where he was sitting, also causing the door to open on its own. These small number of Old Devils were just a small group who funded Taro's little project for their enjoyment and benefit. And in the end, the results were greater than they believed possible.
"It has been a long time, Aoyama-dono," the first old devil spoke up.
"Every time I see this office, I believe this is a lot similar to the ones in the Underworld."
"Welcome," Taro replied gleefully that one would usually see from a hyperactive child. "Come in my friends. Now, would either of you like a drink? Don't worry everything in my office is specially imported."
"That would be great."
Hearing his offer, the second Old Devil among them went to the bar and poured himself a drink from one of the imported wine bottle using a wine glass. He also picked up three more wine glasses including the wine bottle that he picked up from the bar. Everyone in the office took a seat on the expensive leather couches. Taro himself had picked up the bottle of wine from the bar and poured himself a drink. Taro lounged back in his seat and took a sip from the wine glass relaxing with the colleagues that he made.
"Aoyama-dono, I can see that you are handling your business with the utmost proficiency. To be honest we were not expecting that there would be a human of your caliber who would handle this."
"Well, there rarities even among the weakest species among the supernatural world," Taro wasn't hesitant at all to refer to his species in such a manner as he continued to drink from his wine glass. "I have my talents but even I couldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for all of your assistance. Your knowledge combined with all the devils magic, techniques, and technologies that you gave to me as an investment in all of this. You even granted me the techniques that resulted in the creation of the Rating Game."
Taro had given and sold a lot of belongings to these Old Devils to build up Hagun Island to this point, and it resulted in what the Gehenna Tournament had become now. From the success of the tournament, he earned enough money for him and even his descendants to live extravagant lives for generations, though his choice resulted in his family into a lifetime of bankruptcy and debt, resulting in a lot of them committing suicide from all of the depts, while others whereabouts were unknown.
"Don't mention it, we're receiving benefits from the money made from both the Rating Games and your Gehenna Tournament," another Old Devil replied in a tone that showed their greed. "At first, I was hesitant when that Brat Ajuka created the Evil Pieces along with many others, though buying the right to the Rating Game result in a lot of us gaining a lot of profit. And with the Hagun Island, we receive a lot of potential peerage members for our players and other High-Class Devils seeking to participate. And with a simple messing with their memories they receive the benefit of losing their memories on Hagun Island."
"So for us, it is a win-win situation."
"Speaking of which, Aoyama-dono. Would you be interested in selling either that Annihilation Maker user or that Amagiri Brat?"
The third old devil questioned.
"Hmm."
Taro thought about the deal with a somewhat more serious look on his face.
"Of course, I will grant you with more information or anything that you desire. One of the Four High-Tier Longinus that has the potential to destroy the world would be an excellent asset. Or even the last of the Amagiri Clan, that specific clan had caused some serious trouble for some devils who arrived in Japan before in the distant past."
"…the offer does sound too sweet to pass up," Taro said before staring at them. "Though, after having found that Alice girl alone and brought her on this island, I found out that some members of Grigori were already investing the village that she lived in as a possible location of her Longinus. Also concerning that Brat Kensei, I heard that his clan had shared some kind of deep ties with the Shinto Gods more so than those guys from the Five Principal Clans…though to what degree I'm not sure. If either of them were to suddenly appear out of nowhere inside of the Underworld, then there could potentially be some incident from both sides."
The Old Devils thought about his reasoning and couldn't disagree with him. Though, that didn't stop the thoughts of having either Longinus or the survivor of such a renowned clan on their side to use for their gain.
"I can see what you mean, then I'll forget about it."
"Though, if you want that devil hybrid who lives with them, then I guess that could work out."
These Old Devils freely showed the distaste that they even held towards those who were apart of their pillar before the start of the Great War between Heaven and Grigori. Though what they said was true after the end of the Great War, both sides lost a large portion of their numbers resulting in some of their High-Class Households going extinct, while others had to rely on mating with humans to maintain their numbers resulting in Devils with human heritages instead of being Pure-Bloods.
There were even pure-blood devils who lost portions of their resources and authority, as a result of incidents in the Great War causing them to become mistreated by other households among the remaining Seven-Two Pillars.
"Hmm? Devil hybrid," the first Old Devil spoke in a disgusted tone. "It must be one of those vile survivors from the remaining Seventy-Two Pillars. Tch, mating with humans is just a disgusting manner for surviving. What is their name?"
"How harsh. I believe she is a gray-haired girl named Claire, I don't know what clan she is from though since she isn't registered in the Gehenna Tournament."
A combination of the name "Claire" and "gray hair" caused something to click in their heads, bringing up a certain incident that had occurred in a certain territory in Japan.
"Claire," the first Old Devil's eyes narrowed as it continued to ring in his head like a name that he was incapable of recalling. Wanting some answers to his suspensions, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device and placed it on the table in front of Taro. "Aoyama-dono, I'm about to show you an image and I wanted to ask if that girl looks like the person in this photo."
"Ah, sure."
Taro agreed with the old devil, though he looked and noticed the other devils who had made the same suspicious look on their faces. Taro felt almost left out as he didn't know why either of them was being so quiet about. Once the first old devil turned on the device, it had displayed the holographic image of a young man in his late to early twenties with gray-colored hair and matching eyes, a graceful face dressed in some kind of unique red vestment that revealed his trained muscular figure.
This was the image of Diehauser Belial, the current Head of the Belial Household and the undisputed champion of the Rating Games. After seeing this image, Taro stared at him with a look of realization.
"Ah! That's Diehauser Belial. Yes, he and that girl look strikingly similar to one another."
[….]
All five of the old devils remained silent as the news made it to them, it caused their eyes to narrow considerably with a dark aura radiating from their bodies. Taro looked at all of them with a confused look on his face.
"Did I something that upset you all?"
"No, you hadn't done anything to upset us. There is just a simple loose end that we didn't realize existed and it'll cause some issues shortly if it isn't removed."
"Taro if you could give a while to talk amongst ourselves about that deal."
"Sure, I don't mind."
Hearing his response, the five old devils stood up from their seats and proceeded to head out from the front door of the office. Once all of them left out of his office, Taro went back to his desk to figure out who would be next to fight in the tournament.
In the location where the captives on Hagun Island work on the farming food, Claire including various other children were working using the equipment granted to them. It was one of the days where she had worked instead of remaining at home. And as always, they were kept under strict guard of the armed gehenna guards. A number of them were dressed in their white full-bodied armored suits mixed with black and armed with guns or bladed weapons just in case any of them started to attack.
"Why is it that we always get stuck watching these brats work on these farms," one of the gehenna guards had asked another as he rested his gun on his shoulder. "I'd rather work in the tournament where the real action is."
"You know that job is for the top-class mercenaries, little grunts like us don't even register on their radar," another gehenna guard replied. "Though, this is an easy job. Just watch a bunch of brats work on the fields."
"I don't even know why Taro hired us, none of these kids are going to do anything, while those bracelets on their wrist. I mean they should remember what happened to the last brat who resisted us."
While the gehenna guardsmen talked amongst themselves, the children who continued working looked down as they used their farming hoe to dig off the ground so that the seeds can be planted into the ground. Though a girl who stood next to Claire noticed that she looked a bit paler than she normally was.
"Claire are you alright?"
"…huh," she took a little while longer to answer than normal. "…I'm alright, I'm just a little lightheaded that's all."
Claire replied with a somewhat weak smiling causing the girl next to her to worry even more.
The girl already knew that Claire was a half-devil and half-human, as such her physical abilities were higher than that of other children her age and have proven to be more energetic than she was now. Claire continued working on digging up the soil using her farming equipment, though as soon as she raised it into their air again to dig it into the ground Claire stopped for a moment.
"…."
Her vision started to blur and her body started feeling as if it began to up all of a sudden.
Drop! Fall!
Claire dropped her farming equipment and fell to the side with her eyes started to close, though before she fell on the ground, the girl next to her reacted and caught her before she fell. Seeing that Claire had fallen over all of the working kids stopped and glanced in the direction of the girl trying to tend to Claire who started breathing heavily.
"Claire are you alright?"
"Is she okay?"
"What happened?"
Seeing the commotion, the gehenna guards stood up straight with the more aggressive guard prepping his gun as if he were itching for some action and headed in the direction of the kids who gathered around a passed out Claire. The aggressive gehenna guardsmen stomped over with his gun in hand.
"What's going on?!"
"She passed out."
The little girl answered as she placed her hand on Claire's forehead, noticing that she started becoming hotter by the moment for whatever reason.
"Huh? Is this some kind of childish trick to get out of work?"
The aggressive gehenna guard went forward and without discretion or concern for Claire's well-being, he picked up her by her collar out of the grasps of the girl who held onto her.
"H-Hey…."
"Shut up," the grumpy gehenna guard shouted causing the girl to become silent. "Hey, brat are you faking?!"
The gehenna guard started to shake Claire to see if she were just faking being unconscious just to get out of her job, though she didn't move in the slightest and her arms remained limp. Her breathes started becoming far more labored as sweat started to come off her forehead. Despite seeing that Claire wasn't faking being ill, the gehenna guard recklessly threw her in the direction of the girl, while clicking his tongue.
"*Seriously, now we have to deal with this," the calmer gehenna guard had placed his hand on his head and let out a long sigh. "Just that drags her back to wherever she lives and then come back."
Listening to what the gehenna guard said, the girl placed Claire's arm around her and as best as she could, she started headed in the direction of Residential Area A, where Kensei and the others lived.
Inside of Zane's house where he lived all by himself, sitting down on the couch was Kensei and Alice, both who were called over by the resident himself. Zane who came out of his 'bedroom' walked towards them in a bit of a rush, then stopped in front of them.
"I'm sorry that it took a while, but I…," he said out loud in an excited tone, but stopped after noticing something a little weird. "Why is Alice leaning on you?"
It was just as Zane said, Alice was leaning against Kensei's shoulder with her usual almost blank expression on her face, while Kensei stared back at his friend with a shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't know, she just leaned on my shoulder saying, 'I see Claire doing this all the time and wanted to see how it felt'," Kensei replied.
"I can see what Claire means, it feels comforting like this."
Alice replied with a somewhat cheerful look on her face.
For a while, Zane stared at Alice with a somewhat strange look on his face, but shook it off and continued to what he wanted to talk to them about.
"Okay, now onto what I wanted to talk to you guys about. And I'll talk to both Rui and Hisui about it later."
"What's this about?"
Kensei questioned wanting to know what Zane was getting all excited about.
"I think that I found out how to get off this island."
Hearing his response caused Kensei and even Alice to stare at him with a shocked look on their face, while also having a ray of hope to shine in their eyes.
"Are you serious?"
Alice surprisingly was the person to speak up, instead of Kensei being the person to speak up and even got off of his shoulder and sat up. Seeing this caused Zane to become a bit stumped as neither of them had ever seen her this excited before. From what Alice told them about herself, she did have a family who lived in a village with her parents, but Alice felt as if neither of them wanted to see her again considering the incident that happened. Alice still had the hope that she could at least still see her parents again.
"Yea, my "Source," told me that the ring that is on Taro's finger can't activate all of the collars on us without being either destroyed or overheated in the process. It has to be linked to a radio tower big enough that its signal can extend to everyone on Hagun Island. The ring is voice-activated, so it Taro for was to say, for example, 'Chains of Gehenna Bind, Zane Wayland' then his ring will send the signal to that tower and my collar would receive it and activate."
"So, it's like a Cellphone Tower and Cellphone."
Kensei who didn't know that much about technical things since he lived an almost old-fashioned lifestyle inside of the Amagiri Clan like most, though he did at least know about how cell phones worked. After Zane heard him, he nodded his head in agreement though Kensei's understanding was something that he would expect.
"So, you're saying if you find and bust that tower then…."
"All of the Gehenna Collars will stop working."
Zane answered his question causing Kensei and Alice to feel as if they could pull this off in the end, and be able to leave Hagun Island. However, it wasn't as if any of them could do it on their own, as even with all three of them; even if they got help from Hisui and Rui, they needed more people to assist in escaping.
"Alright, all we need to do is find out where that tower is located."
"I already have an idea as to where it is…."
Open!
Suddenly, the door opened wide causing the three inside of the room to jump up from surprise.
"…you know, you could have just…," Zane said in a stunned tone.
"I'm sorry, but is Kensei Amagiri and Alice Evangelista here."
At the door, it showed the girl who was working on the farm holding onto Claire on her shoulder who continued to sweat to where her entire shirt looked almost drenched. Seeing her like that felt almost as if the world had slowed down for both Kensei and Alice.
"Claire!"
Kensei ran over taking Claire from off of the girl's hands and holding her in his arms as if she were a baby being cradled. He could feel her temperature and it felt as if she had a fever based off feeling her skin alone.
"Hah…hah...hah…N-Nii-chan."
Claire spoke to him in labored breaths as if she were in pain.
"I'm right here, Claire."
"I…I….I feel hot…my chest feels…like it's on fire…."
"What happened," Alice questioned the girl in a more serious tone.
"I don't know. One second, she was working on digging up the ground and the next second, she is falling on the ground and burning up. I'm sorry, but I have to get back to work before those guys come for me."
The girl politely bowed her head and left. Hearing her response, Zane walked forward placing his right hand on Claire's forehead and he immediately felt an irregular sensation on his hand causing him to narrow his eyes out of suspension.
"This isn't a normal fever," Zane said as he glanced at his best friend. "Kensei place Claire on that couch. She can stay there until she gets better."
Following his instruction, Kensei had picked up Claire and placed her on the couch where he and Alice had just been sitting beforehand. After placing her on the couch, he reached his hand out and pressed it on her forehead, he immediately felt the heat from off of her forehead. Her temperature felt as if it were rising by the second and it caused him to grimace out of concern.
"Seriously what caused this, I've never anyone who had never had a fever this bad."
"I know there are some devil illnesses out there, but I don't think that this is it," Zane said as he started to ponder what it could be before widening his eyes out of shock. "What Kensei, I think that this could be…."
Beep Beep
Just as Zane was preparing to tell him something, Kensei's bracelet started beeping signaling that it was his turn to fight in the Gehenna Tournament. After hearing that signal, he clicked his tongue out of annoyance due to the worst timing that he could have occurred.
"Seriously, these guys have the worst timing possible?"
"Kensei, I know that you're worried about Claire, but…."
"Yea, I know."
Both Kensei and Zane knew what would happen if no one arrived at the time that their bracelet signaled for them to prepare for their next match. Though he stared down at Claire as she remained to lie their still breathing in a manner that seemed almost as if she were in pain. As soon as Kensei was prepared to stand up to leave, Claire reached her hand out and grasped his hand. He couldn't tell if this was a conscious or subconscious reaction.
Claire opened her eyes in a second and directed her attention to Kensei as if she were afraid of something. Before he knew it, Alice had stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Kensei and leaning her head on his back. Both of these girls were important to him, one of them lost those important to them as a result of something that she was born with and the others didn't know if those important to her were still alive.
Kensei reached his hand out placing it where Alice had her hand and smiled.
"I'll be back, Claire. Alice."
He spoke in a reassuring tone causing Claire to let go of his hand, but that was a line that she has heard before and it was a person who she trusted as much as Kensei before watching them walk away. It was her father, Masaomi Yaegaki, an Exorcist who fell in love with her mother, Cleria Belial, the latter left Clare with her mother's queen to help her mother. Meaning the last thing that she ever saw was her father's back. Kensei leaned forward and kissed Claire on her forehead causing her to somehow feel a bit more comfortable. After seeing him starting to stand up, Alice removed her arms from around him and said.
"I'll remain here with Claire until you come back," Alice said with a smile forming on her face.
"I'm going to go and win this fight," he declared with a confident smile before leaning forward and kissed Alice on her cheek causing her to blush a bit from the contact. "Call Hisui and Rui over again, I'm sure Hisui will already know what's going on with her."
"Alright, good luck, Kensei."
Zane said as he held his fist and the two of them fist-bumped with a smirk on their face.
"I'll take whoever I'm just again down just like the others."
Kensei replied as he started heading out the door, but as soon as Claire turned in his direction. It was the same as with her father, Claire stared at his back until he walked out of the door and that caused her had an ominous premonition.
After leaving from Zane's home in Residential Area A, Kensei made it to the preparation room where those who fought in the Gehenna Tournament fight prepared and got dressed. Once he finished prepping up, however this time instead of having a double-edged sword, Kensei wore a single-edged katana on his side like a samurai who was heading into battle. Stepping into the light, he was almost overcome by the cheers coming from the crowd, but he ignored them and made it into the middle of the ring.
Kensei remained standing in the ring until his opponent arrived there in the ring with him. And before he knew it, the door in front of him opened revealing a familiar silhouette. As soon that that individual stepped into the light, Kensei narrowed his eyes as crowed let out a thunderous roar.
[What an amazing match up. On one side of the arena, we have Kensei Amagiri, the Last Amagiri, a combatant who has never lost a single fight since starting his fight in the Gehenna Tournament. And on the other side, we have Jason, the Golden Archer, one of the youngest gehenna guard who never lost his target escape his sights and destroyed the pride of all his opponents.]
It was as the arbiter said, Jason stepped onto the arena wearing his modified battle outfit wearing a cocky smirk on his face as he stared at Kensei. Unlike Kensei who ignored the attention of the crowd, Jason waved both of his hands around in a cheerful manner causing the crowd to get louder and louder by the moment. After stepping into the ring, Jason glanced towards Kensei with a smirk on his face, while placing one of his hand on his hip.
"Kensei Amagiri, right," Jason asked even though he already knew the answer causing Kensei to remain silent. "I can say that you're one of the people that I was looking forward to fighting the most."
"Really? And why?"
Kensei questioned as he narrowed his eyes towards Jason.
"So, I can turn that confident look that you always wear on your face…into fear."
"Good luck with that. I haven't found anyone that I'm afraid of yet."
Both Kensei and Zane locked eyes with one another as the area around them started to shift until the location all around them turned into a deep forest filled with trees that would make it perfect for Jason to snipe him.
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll be heading out into the forest."
"Look, I may have been born," Kensei said as he readied his katana and placed his hand on its hilt.
Swift!
Kensei vanished from his spot and covered the distance between him and Jason in a matter of seconds, and he had stood in a stance where his hand was prepared to draw his sword out from its hilt.
"…but, it doesn't yesterday!"
"I didn't think so."
Jason held his hand out at the same moment that Kensei was prepared to draw out his sword, there was a bright golden light, but Kensei continued with his attack. Forming in Jason's hand was a small hand-sized bow, then he expertly moved his fingers pulling the light string back and fired off a light arrow and fired it off at close-range. As the arrow flew towards Kensei, he reached to it and shifted the position of his katana like an Iaijutsu practitioner and sliced the arrow in half, then sheathed his katana again.
Using that small chance, Jason moved as fast as Kensei jumping into the air, then summoned a full-sized bow in his hand and a matter of seconds fired off a barrage of arrows. In response to that assault, Kensei unsheathed his katana again and started cutting each of the arrows letting the others pass by him since the rest were used as just a distraction. Though it was just enough to get away from Kensei and hid deep inside of the forest waiting for Kensei to arrive in his favorite territory so that he can bombard him with arrows.
"I have to apologize to Maria later," Kensei said as he tightened his grip on his katana and started to head inside of the forest. "Since it looks like I'll have to beat you for her."
Without many options but waiting for Jason to come back out, Kensei headed inside of the forest despite knowing that he could be pelted with arrows. He headed inside of the forest with his hand still on the hilt of his katana just in case of a surprise assault from Jason. As that was a typical pattern for this archer. Kensei continued walking in the forest focusing his ki to sharp his normal senses.
"Are you getting bored, Kensei Amagiri?"
"I'm getting tired of hearing your voice. Either do something or come out here and let me hit you."
"Alright then."
Just then, Kensei heard something coming from his behind him, then unsheathing his sword, he had sliced a light arrow in half. However, it wasn't the only arrow coming at him, four arrows were coming at him for him at different intervals. Instead of dodging the other three, he instead split the second arrows closer to him in half, then ducked letting the other two arrows collide into one another.
"I almost forget that he can control the direction of those things. There's no telling where he could be unless―"
Kensei took a stance as if he were preparing to draw out his sword again, then focused his ki into his blade, while it remained sheathed.
"Amagiri-ryū: Zantetsuken!"
In a single moment, Kensei unsheathed his sword, while turning his body around in a 360-degree angle releasing a circular slash that extended outwards cutting down each of the three that was around him. After sheathing his katana again, he noticed that all the trees in at least a 4 km radius had been cut down. Kensei looked around to see if Jason had come down from one of the trees.
However, once Kensei did that, it was revealed that it wasn't Jason who fired off their four arrows at him. Instead, it was four human-like beings wielding bows in their hands, but what caught his attention most was that all of the creatures were shimmering with a golden light.
[I guess that you found my Golden Squadron using that vulgar method of your clan.] Hearing that Kensei clicked his tongue at the slander against his clan and noticed that Jason's voice was coming from one of them. [You and a lot of people believed that I could just use my Staring Gold to just create light bows and arrows. …Foolishness. Utter foolishness. I can also use my sacred gear to create weapons and even creatures of light who can fight on my behalf. Letting me watch from a distance, while my squadron annihilates my opponent.]
After saying that, more and more of the golden squadron started coming out from behind all of the trees that remained standing holding different arrows and other weapons in their hands. Once he glanced all around him, while remaining on alert for an attack, Kensei counted almost thirty of them.
[So, this fight isn't one on one. It is thirty-one against one!]
Jason declared causing his voice to echo across the entire area, it was in a disgusting tone, but it had caused the entire crowd to let out a loud cheer again. It was to be expected, these were the kinds of people who didn't like a fight that included honor or fair play. What stirred a number of them the most was watching a one-sided battle.
[What an amazing display! Our Golden Archer showed exactly why he and his brother were both chosen to become among the Gehenna Guard! How will the Last Amagiri handle a matchup against thirty-one archers all at one?!]
Inside Zane's home, he and the others started at the holographic screen as all of the thirty archers aimed their arrows at Kensei.
"I didn't think that he would be this good at using his sacred gear," Rui spoke out in a concerned tone.
"That's what one would expect from gehenna guards who receives special training after being brought into their ranks and even being able to come and go as you wish from the Human World and back," Zane replied. "For us remaining in this closed environment is the same as a bird kept inside of a cage without and being able to spread your wings."
Neither of them could disagree with what Zane had said as it was true, if someone is kept in confinement then no one can truly bring out what they can truly do unless being allowed actual freedom to explore it. As he thought of that, Hisui held her hand on top of Claire's head, who remained sleeping with a more peaceful look on her face, but her temperature was still up higher than normal. Alice remained next to Claire holding onto her hand, as Hisui brushed aside a strand of her hair.
"She's alright for now," Hisui said in a relieved tone. "You guys were right, her fever was a lot higher than normal even supernatural illnesses don't get this bad this quick without some cause."
"Thanks for this Hisui."
"No problem, even though we argue a lot…well, Claire-chan argues, I don't have anything against her," Hisui had replied to Alice thanking her. "We're just two girls in love with the same guy."
Hisui stated that last part with a warming smile as she continued to stare at Claire who remained sleeping without being bothered by anything.
"Hisui was it what we thought it was?"
Zane questioned without turning to face her, as his eyes were still glued on the projection screen with Kensei in the same position holding onto his katana in a prepared stance.
"Yea, it is what we thought that it was. She didn't come down with some kind of illness, this was just the result of her of our little Claire-chan getting used to that "special thing" inside of her this is starting…or at least attempting to awaken. You could say that this was just an allergic reaction, but she got over it a lot quicker than I thought. I don't know when she'll be waking up though."
"That's good. At least we got some good news here."
"So, how is Kensei-kun doing?"
Rui questioned.
"I can tell that he is outnumbered by those archers and Jason, this is the most dangerous situation that Kensei has ever been in during this tournament…I don't know what he has fought before coming here. Though based off of what I can surmise, if Kensei can at least get into close range with Jason, then he could still win this. …huh?"
"What happened?"
Alice questioned causing Zane to let out a somewhat nervous laugh.
"That confirms it, Kensei is about as weird as you are Alice."
Hearing his response caused Alice to stare at him with an odd look on her face, but everyone inside of the living room has realized what it was after staring at the screen.
"Yea, I thought that was the real Ken Ken."
Hisui replied as she laughed after looking at the screen with everyone in the room silently agreeing with her.
Kensei stood in the epicenter of the many trees that he had cut down with his "Zantetsuken", while he was being surrounded by the thirty Golden Squadron. Jason hid at the top of the largest tree inside the forest without Kensei being aware of his location, though, despite this, he was aware of what was happened around him due to being linked to his Golden Squadron and noticed something that caused his eyes to narrow.
"What the hell is wrong with you," Jason spoke to him using one of his golden squad members as a medium, his tone had displayed his annoyance at the situation. "Why're you smiling like that?!"
Jason was correct, Kensei smiled with a confident expression despite all the odds stacked against him and even as the Golden Squadron pointed their weapons at him; their bows threatening to fire off their arrows at once all at once. After Kensei noticed that what Jason told him was correct, he placed his free hand over his face, then he let out a slight laugh. Even Kensei himself didn't have a rational reason as to why he was smiling in such a manner in spite of the dangerous situation, but he did have one that was completely irrational.
"I am my parent's kid. I don't know why, but I can feel something inside of me starting to stir and boil out of excitement," Kensei replied as he took several practice swings using his katana as his ki started leaking out. "In a fight like this, I feel that I can stretch my legs for once."
Kensei started to stretch his legs in a manner that looked as if he were preparing to go out on a jog.
[Tch. Don't get cocky, you bastard!] Jason said out using one of his Golden Squadron as a medium, but Kensei can tell that he was getting to him. [I don't think that Taro will be too concerned if I put you on the brink of death! Fire! Tear him to pieces!]
Following the order of their leader, the Golden Squadron armed with arrows had fired off their light arrows aiming Kensei who remained in his position. As if knowing the exact moment that they would fire off their arrows at him, he started to shift his position and he pressed his back foot into the ground causing the dirt to be dug up.
Fire! All the light arrows were aimed at Kensei from all sides, though neither of the light arrows made contact as he seemingly vanished from sight.
[What the….]
Using another Golden Archer as a medium, Jason could see that Kensei was running low on the ground dodging all of the light arrows flying at him from all sides. Instead of running in a low position, he just took one big leap at his opponent making it seem as if he were flying just centimeter from off the ground. Kensei continued to move in this manner until making it towards a group of tree golden archers who had already fired off their arrows.
-Kensei if you ever find yourself fighting against an opponent wielding a bow, then remember that at most times, they are at their weakest when loading another arrow.
He remembers the words from his mother as if he were reading them from a book.
Kensei diagonally slashed his sword starting at a downwards position, slicing the three golden archers in a single go. A group of six golden beings was behind him with weapons such as staves, spears, and lances.
-If you are fighting against a group of fighters wielding polearm weapons that has a definite attack range, then get yourself from their range.
This time, Kensei jumped high into their air avoiding their polearm just as they were being stabbed in the ground appearing over their bodies with his katana shining with a white shine. Just as he was about to land behind all of them, he slashed his sword this time cutting through their bodies in a straight horizontal pattern. After his feet had finally touched the ground, Kensei started to head in the direction of another group.
Jason continued watching all of it, as Kensei taking down the numbers of his Golden Squadron one after another using simple tactics such as using their weapons of choice against them.
"W-What the hell is going on," Jason said as he watched his surefire attack method being torn down as if it were a simple game. "I used this method to defeat opponent after opponent in the past and all of them were a lot older than this little brat. Using simple methods such as using the range of their attack to his advantage and that old bastard complimented its potential to be a finisher. I won't let this little bastard get the better of me."
Jason moved all of the remaining archers into a position around Kensei who just finished off another close-range squad member making the long-range archers the last opponents. Leaving the numbers to just fifteen, which also included Jason.
"I'll just take care of these guys then hunt down Jason."
Kensei said as he took off in the direction of the team of fourteen archers who had their arrows directed at them with his katana prepped to attack. Following their direction, all of the archers fire off a series of arrows at Kensei who charged at them. In response to their attack, he started cutting down each of the arrows aimed at him using his katana to cut all of them in half. At almost the same moment as another group of arrows were being aimed at him, there was another group of four arrows coming at from a different direction.
In his current position, Kensei wouldn't be able to dodge the arrows as all of them were close to piercing him. It was as if time slowed and he could tell that if he were to deflect the arrows in front of him, then he wouldn't be able to deflect the ones coming from the side; it would end in the same end if Kensei were to deflect all of the arrows coming in from his right side. It was at that moment, he decided what he would do.
Kensei made a couple of slashes in front of him knocking down the arrows fired from the remaining team of bow-wielding from Jason's golden squadron. However, the four arrows that were fired off from a different direction had pierced his shoulder, right arm, right forearm, and left a deep cut on his cheek causing blood to leak out from his wounds. It also caused him to land on the ground due to the pain caused by that attack.
[Hahahaha! How do you like that?! Not so confident…huh.]
Jason using his archers as a medium looked and noticed that Kensei was staring in the direction of where four of the arrows came from with narrow eyes. It was true that during his lessons with his mother that he learned all the Amagiri-ryū invented by the Amagiri Clan, however, there was one lesson that he didn't get to before being taken and brought to Hagun Island. Though he got at least the basics of it, Kensei started channeling his ki to strengthen his vision letting him see things from a long distance away from his current position with great clarity.
After searching for a couple of short seconds, Kensei had spotted his target. It was Jason sitting on top of the tree with his light bow in his hand.
[Tch, that little bastard used the points of where my arrows were stabbed into him as a hint to let him know what my position was. A child his age should be wailing in pain after having one piercing them, but he used it to find me. Just what the hell kind of training do you do?!]
"I trained with a woman known as the Demon of the Amagiri. Of course, I'm not a normal kid," Kensei said after standing in a position to start running. "I have met people who say that I'm as stubborn as both of my parents. A bundle of adorableness that can also kick ass…at least that it was the woman said. Though, I can guess that you have never considered it."
[Considered what?]
"Considered what it would feel like to be hunted down."
Kensei replied as he sheathed his katana and stood in a position that looked as if he were preparing to run at full speed forward. He channeled ki into both of his legs and he kicked the ground causing it to break from a great deal of pressure and he took off forward in the direction of where Jason was located. Seeing Kensei beginning to chase after him in his current position, Jason started to become nervous and panicked.
[Capture him!]
Hearing the order from their leader, the remnants of the Golden Squadron started to chase after Kensei inside of the dense forest. Five of the fourteen archers pointed their bows at Kensei who jumped from branch to branch at high speeds using athletic movements to the point where it was almost impossible to keep up with him using the naked eye. As a couple of arrows went flying at him, Kensei placed his hand on a tree using it to swing himself to the right in a horizontal manner letting the light arrows pass by him. Using the momentum from the swing to throw himself in the direction of the pursuing archers and cut down three of them using one hand.
Kensei went passed the remaining eleven archers landing on the branch of a tree, while the remaining ones took their stances on other branches. All of them fired off their arrows at him causing Kensei to jump out of the way as more and more of them were sent flying at him. He later reached a wide tree wide enough for it to block him from all of the arrows being sent in his direction. As he remained there, more and more arrows started to pelt the dense tree that he was hiding behind.
[Destroy him!]
Receiving that order, all of them changed their tactics as a bright golden light started to gather around their bows forming light arrows that possessed an incredible amount of destructive power greater than anything that Jason has displayed before. Each of them fired off their powerful arrows all at once aimed at the dense tree that Kensei was hiding behind. Once it made contact―
Dooooooon!
It caused a large explosion of light that extended a great distance completely obliterating an incredible portion of the dense tree including causing several others to fall due to the aftershock. It formed a lot of smoke that expanded a great distance blocking their vision for a moment.
[Another great attack from our Golden Archer! It was also stronger than anything that our Last Amagiri can handle! How will he handle this?!]
The arbiter called out in a loud voice.
After all the smoke finally cleared, it showed the top of the tree to be blown up revealing the splintered bark, but there was no trace of Kensei anywhere.
[Hahahaha! What was with all that boasting before Kensei Amagiri?! Oh, wait? You can't say anything can you?!]
Jason shouted out loud in a tone befitting a person who's close to losing their mind.
"Amagiri-ryū…."
(Translation: Heavenly Mist School)
Kensei's voice came from the skies above them causing Jason to look up in shock.
Kensei was holding his katana above his head with its blade shining with a white shine, but the difference was it started to emanate lightning-based ki that expanded outwards.
"…Hiken: Raimeiken."
(Translation: Secret Sword: Thunderbolt Blade)
Kensei aimed his sword in the direction of the tree where Jason was hiding and fired off a blast of lightning that went flying in his direction at high speeds. Once it made contact, it covered the top portion of the tree in lightning and seemingly hit Jason as the remaining archers started disappearing as light particles on after another.
"I pulled that off on my first attempt," Kensei mumbled as he made a tired look on his face after firing off that last attack. Among the Amagiri-ryū, this a secret technique was one that he normally wouldn't have been taught until reaching the age of 14-16. This was due to the amount of ki required to use it when not mastered and for as a 10-year-old it was due to his talent that allowed him to use it on his first try, Kensei couldn't do anything about the power and stamina drained from him. "Though, I feel tired all of a sudden."
Kensei had felt a wave of weariness wash over him all of a sudden as he started falling towards the ground unable to regain his stance. And he made a loud thud after his back hit the ground causing him to groan from the pain caused by the impact as his katana landed next to him.
"I haven't heard the announcer yelling that the match has ended," he said to himself as he continued to stare at the skies with a look as dull as the one belonging to Alice. "So, that would mean that he is still…."
Kick!
"Gah!"
Kensei felt a sharp pain in his side causing him to let out a pain-filled shout and was strong enough to send him away from a short distance from his position. After placing his hand on his side, he glanced up and it was Jason standing in front of him with a pained look on his face. His former modified battle outfit was torn off from the right side leaving a tattered mess with a series of bleeding injuries on his arms and chest including burns. Jason also had one of his eyes as blooded leaked from his head threatening to entire that eye.
"…you. You! You! You! You bastard! Do you know what you've done to me!"
"Made you look more like a man?"
Jason formed a gold light spear in his hand and made a motion to throw it at him, but as a result of the pain that was dealt with him from that last attack; his aim was altered hitting the ground further away from Kensei instead of it hitting him. Jason placed his left hand on his damaged right arm causing him to glare at the younger kid with an intense glare, then he started to approach Kensei grunting in pain.
"You humiliated me in front on MY turf you little shit," Jason shouted out loud as he stood over Kensei. "Never in my life have I ever experienced this level of humiliation."
"You know from that position from before you looked like Frieza after he got owned by Goku's spirit bomb."
Stomp!
"Gwah!"
Jason stomped on Kensei hitting his stomach causing him to spit out a small trace of blood from his mouth due to him covering his foot with light. He continued to do this to the point where it felt almost as if some of his ribs were either fractured or broken.
"…hah…hah," Kensei started breathing heavily as Jason removed his foot from him. "I-Is that the…best that you go?"
Kensei said with a brave smirk as he spat some blood from his mouth at Jason's cheek causing him to scrunch up his face with a look of absolute rage. Jason covered his fist with a great amount of light and launched it at him at high-speeds threatening to make contact with his face.
"Would you just die already," Jason roared.
As soon as Jason came inches to making contact with his face, there was a gleam in Kensei's eyes and moved his head aside causing Jason's fist to hit the ground.
"What the?!"
"Amagiri-ryū: Ukigumo: Rakka Raimei!"
(Translation: Heavenly Mist School: Flouting Cloud: Falling Thunder)
In a single instant, Kensei lifted his lower body and wrapped both his legs around Jason's waist, while he had positioned both his hands next to himself to where his fingers dug into the ground. Using the strength contained in his lower body and lifted Jason's body into the air and slammed the top of his head onto the ground in front of his head knocking him unconscious on impact. This was an Amagiri-ryū grappling technique used after getting an opponent at close enough range using the weight of their body around them. However, due to the motion of this technique, he felt great pain in his sides causing him to breathe heavily again.
"Seriously, that went easier than expected," Kensei said as he laid back on the ground. "If I were dealing with a more experienced a competent opponent, then it would have been difficult to do that."
[…well, what an incredible last-second move! What other skills do out Last Amagiri has up his sleeves! As he has eliminated the older brother among our Dynamic Duo!]
The crowd let out a scream that felt almost distant to Kensei as he continued to lay on the ground with both of his arms sprawled next to him. After a while, he stood up on his feet and started to head in the direction of the exit leading to the dressing room.
Inside of Zane's residence, everyone stared at the screen with a relieved look on their faces after seeing Kensei had come out of his fight with Jason alright. Alice who was sat next to Claire with the young girl's head on top of her lap comfortable had smiled sincerely. As a result of her treatment from Hisui, she was sleeping in a far more comfortable manner compared to before when she had trouble breathing.
However, all of their looks of relief started to wear off, Hisui made a look of concern after seeing how Kensei was walking outside of the arena almost as if he were in pain.
"I'm glad that Ken Ken won that fight, but he doesn't look alright," Hisui stated at first before getting onto the most serious manner about his condition. "But, I think that some of his ribs are fractured or broke from those last hits dealt with him by Jason. I mean, even if it was meant to catch him off guard."
No one in the room disagreed with what Hisui as said, and Zane felt like Kensei would do something like that as Jason was that kind of opponent who would let their guard down as soon as they believed they had won. Hearing that from her roommate, Rui nodded her head in agreement.
"I know, Kensei-kun is tough for his age, but he isn't indestructible."
Rui replied right after Hisui who still looked concerned for him.
"I should go and meet him there to make sure that he gets here alright," Zane said out loud as he started to head in the direction of his front door. "After all that Kensei has enough strength to go get a bottle of water in that back alley shop, then head back here. It should take him either ten or twelve minutes."
After saying that final part, Zane walked outside of his residence and started heading into the direction of the entrance leading into Residential Area A.
Meanwhile, inside of Paradise, Kensei was heading down an alleyway where the children living inside of the four residential areas are allowed to enter. It was heading in the direction of a single store that remained further away from the streets where the high-class people inside of the capital. After reaching the entrance, Kensei went inside of the shop causing the bell on the entrance to sound catching the attention of the middle-aged clerk who stared at him with a look of admiration.
"Oh, it's the little Amagiri Kid. I wanted to thank you for that little show," he said out loud in a rough tone. "I placed a lot of money on you to win that fight."
"Thanks, I guess."
Kensei replied in a tone but said that last part in a low tone so that the clerk wouldn't here him.
He started to walk at a much slower pace than normal as the damage to his ribs caused during the last couple of hits from Jason. Kensei had to wait until he made it back home and have Hisui heal him up before doing anything too extraneous even if it was simply running. After picking up a bottle of water from the fridge, he had headed in the direction of the front counter.
"I want to buy this."
Kensei reached into his pocket and pulled out the money for the bottled water, then handed it to the clerk.
"Nice doin' business with ya kid."
After saying that short insincere goodbye, Kensei stepped outside the store, while he had opened the cap on the bottled water. He took a large sip from the water as his thirst started to be quenched as started to head down one of the alleyways and saw the opening leading into the streets. However, just as Kensei was entering the alleyway leading in the direction of his residence.
"That was another amazing fight."
"That Amagiri Brat gave the crowd a great show."
After hearing his name being spoken, Kensei remained hidden in that corner and noticed the demonic power that was radiating from the people talking about him.
"Based on their voices and tone including this demonic power, I think they're Old Devils."
Kensei mumbled to himself in a low tone so that no one could hear his voice.
Walking down the street were the very same three Old Devils Taro was talking to inside his office in Paradise Tower on the top floor. After leaving from the last match, they started to head back to where Taro is still located to talk more about their former business plan.
"I hope that Taro would agree to our agreement and taking either that Amagiri Brat or that girl with the Longinus."
"It can't be helped. He does have a point. If we just show up with either of t them questions will start to raise how we attained either of them."
"However, to think we would run into another issue on this island. What a small world this is."
Kensei heard from their tone that they were talking about someone serious enough for them to sound this tense about them.
"Who would have thought that Cleria Belial would have had a daughter with Masaomi Yaegaki that Exorcist?"
After hearing those two names, Kensei's eyes widened a bit out of shock as there was no way that he could ever forget those names. Cleria Belial and Masaomi Yaegaki, those were the names of Claire's beloved parents who she had no clue was still alive. He noticed that the two Old Devils were still heading in the opposite way of him down the street. And wanting to know the truth about what happened to Claire's parents, he made a decision that could end up getting himself into trouble, but―
"Well, I've done crazier things before."
Kensei mumbled as he finished off the bottled water in his hand, then he bent both his legs with both his hands in a position next himself. He glanced in the direction of the roof above him and knew what he had to do. Even with his damaged ribs, Kensei knew that he could still pull it off. And a single moment, he jumped high into the air with both his feet touching the first wall, then he bounced off of the second wall and continued that routine until he had reached the top of the roof. Though as soon as his hand touched the edge of the roof, Kensei felt a sharp pain in both his sides, he still pulled himself up using one hand.
"…come on," Kensei said to himself as if to prep himself. "You're going to do this for Claire."
Kensei ignored the pain that he felt in his side originating from his damaged ribs and he began following the three Old Devils as they continued to walk down the street. This was something that no normal person in his position would do, but Kensei was doing this for someone that he cared about.
A/N: And there goes the fifth chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, in this chapter we got into more depth in the business life of Taro Aoyama and met a couple of Old Devils involved in the death of Claire's mother and father, who have now heard of her existence on Hagun Island. We later saw said half-devil and half-human working with the other kids, but for whatever reason, she became ill and passed out, then she is later taken home. Inside of Zane's Residence, both Kensei and Alice are with him who may have found a method for them to escape from Hagun Island showing off his strategic nature. After doing that Claire is brought into his house by the same girl who stopped her from falling.
Before Kensei could do anything for her, he is called back into the ring and this time his opponent is the Golden Archer himself who defeated Layla in such a humiliating manner. And in that fight, we all got to see what both of them can do in a fight with Kensei showing off more of his families' techniques. Though in the end, Kensei did win the match, he came out of it with a couple of broken ribs. In the end, he has stumbled upon the Old Devils and heard the names of both Claire's parents. And decides to follow them to find out what happened to them.
So, until next time.
PS: There is a chance that I will add both Koneko and Kuroka, but if I were to do that then I would have to add Ravel Phenex since we all love the rivalry between the two of them.
Kensei's Harem: Alice, Claire, Hisui, Kunou, Lu Lingqi, Mirana, Sarah, Minako. (WIP)