High School DxD: Fox of Ill Omen

Yuuto

As soon as we all moved through the door to the parking garage, Yuki-san disappeared as she moved ahead of us.

If I hadn’t been ready for her to vanish, I would have thought that the shadows in the dim parking structure had swallowed her.

I glanced at Xenovia who shrugged seeing my look. 

I had seen Yuki-san’s illusions before, but they seemed even more potent since her fourth tail was unsealed.

Xenovia and I moved forward into the parking garage and began to make our way towards the Sitri end of the mall.

I looked around the garage as we quietly moved.

It had only been a few minutes since the start of the match, but the tension that I felt had jumped already.

The strange atmosphere of the parking garage didn’t help.

I have been to this mall plenty of times.

I enjoyed shopping and would spend a lot of my free time looking through the selections of different stores.

But right now the familiar parking garage felt wrong.

It wasn’t anything obvert, but the silence and darkness of the building was off putting.

And now I was noticing every place someone could hide.

The pillars of the structure.

The cars parked in their spaces.

The shadowy spaces that sat far from the lights.

We had improved night vision as Devils, but that didn’t mean we could see perfect in the dark.

Someone like Yuki-san or Koneko-chan would be far better suited for that with their Youkai heritage.

Luckily, our opponents didn’t have anyone like that on their side. 

I moved slightly ahead of Xenovia.

I held my sword low at my side as the two of us stealthily moved forward through this level of the garage.

We had Yuki-san scouting ahead for us, but exposing ourselves to the enemy would defeat the purpose of her sneaking ahead.

I moved up to a pillar and peeked around it. 

Xenovia moved next to me and pressed herself flat to the wall next to me as she waited for me to move again.

I didn’t see anything, including Yuki-san, who should be just ahead of us.

This section of the battlefield felt like it had been made for her. 

It made me feel better about the obvious disadvantages that the rules and restrictions on our match had given us.

I only hoped that Ise-kun and Koenko-chan were having a favorable match up with whatever enemy they encountered.

They should be the group facing more opponents, as long as everything flies to Buchou plan.

But we were up against Sona-Kaichou.

That meant that we really couldn’t count on predicting her strategy.

I moved forward and Xenovia followed behind me.

We descended down the ramp to the level below.

We took this route rather than the elevator for multiple reasons.

While the elevator had worked when I checked earlier, using it would be a horrible idea.

Any one enemy could turn the small metal box you rode in into a deathtrap. 

So we hadn’t even thought to use it.

“…Up ahead, enemies.”

Yuki-san’s voice came through the communicator, low and precise.

My body tightened at once.

Xenovia’s stance became lower beside me. 

“Distance?” I asked just above a whisper.

“Just ahead, at the bottom of the ramp. Three of them.”

Three enemies.

That was nearly half of Kaichou’s peerage.

That wasn’t good for our plan of pushing through quickly to get behind Kaichou’s main force.

I glanced at Xenovia.

Her face was hardened as she made eye contact with me.

We began to advance.

There were more lights at the bottom of the ramp.

They made the area directly after the ramp brighter.

This meant that it was the perfect place to lie in wait for your enemy to try and pass through.

I cursed myself for not investigating the parking garage further.

Then I saw them.

Three silhouettes came into view at the edge of the light.

A girl with glasses and long black hair stood ahead of us holding a naginata.

Even before I could make out all of her details, I knew who it was.

Shinra Tsubaki-senpai.

Sona-Kaichou’s [Queen] and vice-president.

She was a serious woman just like Kaichou and nearly as stoic as Koneko-chan

I recognized the other girls next to her as well.

One was taller with short, blue hair, the other slender, with auburn hair in twintails. 

Yura Tsubasa-san,the [Rook].

And Meguri Tomoe-san, the [Knight], with a sword in hand.

This was not good.

It meant that Sona-Kaichou had predicted Buchou’s plan and sent her main force here, to the parking garage. 

Now we would either have to retreat, or face them here and push through.

They had been waiting for us, but it didn’t seem like Yuki-san had been noticed. 

I looked at Xenovia and I saw that she was ready to face them, just like I was. 

I put a hand to my ear piece.

“Yuki-san, Xenovia and I are going to engage them. It will take far too long to circle back. Wait to join the fight in case there is a trap we haven’t seen yet.”

It was silent for a moment before Yuki-san replied.

“…Understood. Be careful.”

I readied my sword. 

Beside me, Xenovia unsheathed hers.

She was unable to use Durandal due to the rules of limiting destruction to the battlefield.

Because of that, she asked Ise-kun if she could borrow Ascalon as it had far less destructive power compared to her normal weapon.

She had trained with using different holy swords during her solo training.

And now, that training was already paying off as she would be able to fight as effectively as usual because of it.

The two of us stepped forward and we noticed immediately. 

“How do you do, Yuuto-san, Xenovia-san?” Shinra-senpai said, calmly as we approached. “Kaichou expected that you would come here.”

I glanced at the other two members of the Sitri peerage.

I knew that Yura-san excelled at hand to hand, which was common for a [Rook].

And Meguri-san was from a family that specialized in exterminating evil spirits.

Shinra-senpai’s expression didn’t change.

Neither did mine.

But I was quickly taking stock of the situation.

There didn’t seem to be any prepared traps or weapons for them to use against us.

And it didn’t look like anyone else was lying in wait for us. 

It was just the three of them against the three of us.

But they didn’t seem to be aware of Yuki-san’s presence.

Before anyone could move or say anything else, Grayfia-san’s voice rang out across the battlefield. 

[Rias Gremory-sama’s [Bishop] retires.]

My heart dropped.

It couldn’t have been Asia-san.

She was supposed to be in the rear group with Akeno-san and Buchou.

That meant that it had to be Gasper-kun.

He had been scouting the enemy.

If Sona-Kaichou had predicted Buchou sending us to the parking garage, then she probably predicted Gasper-kun being sent to scout.

If he could be caught alone, it would be an opening that couldn’t be passed up. 

Shinra-senpai watched us.

“You seem calm despite your comrade being defeated.”

“It’s something that we will have to get used to if we are going to succeed in games like this.” I replied. 

I kept my voice level, but inside I was furious.

Gasper was one of the youngest and least certain members of the peerage. 

I already knew that he would be beating himself up over being taken out so quickly. 

Xenovia clicked her tongue.

“It’s because he didn’t gain his body enough. After this game, I’ll be sure to being training him again.”

Xenovia sounded annoyed.

But I could see that she was just as angry as I was.

I couldn’t see Yuki-san, but she was probably upset too.

She had a soft spot for Gasper-kun.

His retirement would hit her hard.

“Even if his training was lacking, he is still my kohai. That means that we will cut you three down to avenge him.” Xenovia said. 

I tightened my grip on my sword.

“Let’s go.”

We both moved at once.

We each rushed forward to engage an enemy.

I clashed with Shinra-senpai while Xenovia attacked Meguri-san.

The clash of swords rang out in the garage.

Shinra-senpai reacted quickly and neatly to my attack.

After the first few strikes, I could tell that she was well practiced with her naginata.

The range of her weapon would be a problem for me if I gave her room to use it.

Though she moved too far from me, I would be able to disengage and assist Xenovia for a moment before she could engage me again. 

To my right, Meguri-san reacted to Xenovia’s sword with immediate surprise.

“…A holy sword!? But Kaichou said you wouldn’t be using Durandal!”

Xenovia gave a sharp grin.

“And I’m not. This is Ascalon. Ise-kun loaned it to me.”

A while ago, Azazel-sensei had been inspecting Ise-kun’s [Boosted Gear].

He discovered that Ise-kun could disconnect Ascalon from his guantlet and use it like a normal sword.

So Xenovia had learned to use Ascalon as part of her training for this match.

It had absorbed the power of the Sekiryuutei, so it was a fairly powerful blade, even if it wasn’t comparable to Durandal.

Both sides continued to cross blades. 

I pushed harder against Shinra-senpai, forcing her back one step, then another, then had to break away when the naginata’s butt-end swept low at my leg.

I sent a strike towards  her off hand to keep her from gaining any momentum. 

Next to us, Xenovia and Meguri-san entered a brutal exchange of speed and force.

Xenovia focused on direct and powerful attacks.

Each time she swung her blade Meguri-san had to adjust her stance to redirect the blow or move out of the way. 

And Yura-san hung back, but stayed close enough to be a concern.

I did not forget her for a second.

I couldn’t allow myself to lose track of her as I fought.

Yuki-san would be ready to assist us when we needed it, but Xenovia and I both couldn’t let Yura-san catch us off guard as we fought.

The four of us continued trading blows.

Xenovia’s sword and mine gave off holy energy as we fought.

If a single blow landed on an opponent, it would cause serious damage to them.

As we continued to cross blades, Xenovia opened a tear in space next to her.

But instead of drawing Durandal from it, she pulled the holy energy from it and directed it to Ascalon.

The blade glowed with holy light as it was coated with Durandal’s energy. 

Shinra-senpai’s eyes widened.

“…While keeping Durandal locked in separate space you’re able to only draw out its holy aura!”

Xenovia smiled.

“Yeah. It was suggested to me in training. And I’ve managed it somehow.”

This was another thing she had been working on during training.

Azazel-sensei had suggested it as part of her training to weild other holy swords. 

It was a way for her to boost the attack of weaker swords. 

Xenovia surged forward and drove Meguri-san back hard. 

The clash of their blades sounded through the parking garage.

Meguri-san was skilled, but it wasn’t enough in the face of Xenovia’s overwhelming force. 

She was being cornered. 

I pressed harder against Shinra-senpai at the same time, forcing her to keep her guard focused on me so she couldn’t shift her attention fully to help Meguri-san.

If Xenovia could take down her opponent first, then we could take out the two remaining enemies much quicker. 

Meguri-san saw it too.

She tried more desperately to push Xenovia back.

Xenovia knocked Meguri-san’s blade away and swung her sword down at her. 

“Take this!”

_________________________________________

Xenovia

“Take this!”

I brought Ascalon down on my opponent with all the force I had.

I had knocked away her sword, and her footing was unstable.

I had finally broken through her defense, and when my strike connected I would remove the enemy [Knight] from the game.

But instead of making contact with the defenseless [Knight] the enemy [Rook] stepped into the path of my sword.

Yura, our third opponent who had been watching us duel this whole time had chosen now to intervene.

She was a [Rook] so her defense should be much higher, but that shouldn’t matter in the face of my holy sword.

At least it shouldn’t have.

As she placed herself between Meguri and I at the last possible moment, she put both hands forward towards my blade and shouted.

“Reversal!”

As she did, I heard the familiar crack of lightning that indicated one of Yuki’s Baleful Bolts, but I couldn’t turn to see what she had done.

From Yura’s hands, a strange light flashed and the aura covering my blade changed from holy to demonic.

I was shocked and unable to pull back my attack by then.

Yura was able to redirect my blow now that the energy that would have seriously injured her was gone. 

I reacted quickly and pulled Ascalone back as I tried to make distance between us.

But the enemy [Knight] wasn’t going to let the opening created in my guard pass.

She was already rushing towards me to strike my flank.

I tried to get my sword into position to block the attack, but before she could, a bolt of dark lightning struck her.

Meguri cried out in pain and clutched her side as she staggered back towards Yura. 

Yuki had decided to reveal her presence as our fight almost took a turn for the worse. 

As I fixed my stance and cautiously watched Meguri and Yura, Grayfia announced another retirement.

[Sona Sitri-sama’s Pawn retires.]

Despite my poor situation I smiled at the announcement.

Issei and Koneko were doing well.

But the ability Yura used was exactly like the counter type ones that Azazel-sensei had warned us about.

It was the worst type of ability for me to deal with as a power type.

It changed what should have been a devastating attack into an ordinary blow. 

Perhaps I would be able to take them on with Yuki’s assistance, but she would be watching both fights, not just mine. 

As I was thinking that and preparing to engage them again, Yuuto called out to me.

“Xenovia, switch opponents with me!”

I did not stop to question it.

I trusted Yuuto enough to know what she had in mind. 

We moved at once.

I turned and rushed toward the enemy [Queen] while Yuuto backed off and moved to face [Rook] and [Knight].

With how quickly we reacted to each other and the enemy still trying to locate Yuki, we were able to swap opponents easily.

“Be careful,” Shinra called out to her allies. “The [Pawn] Shiramine Yuki is here. She’s hiding in the shadows. Keep vigilant and don’t allow her to catch you off guard again.”

As I took a stance across from her I noticed that her left arm had a burn mark on it.

Yuki’s first attack must have targeted her while I was being pushed back by that strange ability.

Now that she had revealed herself, she would be able to support us more actively, but our opponents would be ready for that now.

I came at Shinra directly.

Without that counter ability, I would be able to face my opponent without worry.

She turned her naginata and met my first blow.

Our weapons crashed together hard enough to make my wrists sting.

She was stronger than she looked.

But I was still pushing her back.

My specialty was powerful blows, and now, with Ascalon wrapped in Durandal’s holy aura again, I had enough force that every exchange became a question of whether her guard would survive the next attack.

I gave her no time to think.

I swung blow after blow at her.

She deflected some and tried to counter attack, but I gave her no chance to recover any of the ground she lost.

Each of my strikes was heavy and direct.

They forced her back and kept her from properly being able to use the reach of her weapon or correct her stance.

To my side I saw that Yuuto was facing both Yura and Meguri at the same time.

It seemed that they were not using that ‘reverse’ ability against her.

They probably realized that it would be ineffective against Yuuto’s holy demonic blade. 

I continued to push my opponent back towards one one the support pillars.

Once she had gotten a few steps from it, as she took another step back a tendril of shadows wrapped around her foot and pulled her off balance.

Shinra fell back but caught herself against the pillar.

Her guard was down and Yuki had given me a perfect opportunity to take her out.

I had her.

“Our duel has been decided!” I shouted as I brought Ascalon down over my head. 

I grinned at her.

I brought Ascalon up for the finishing blow.

But instead of looking frustrated or scared, Shinra returned my grin with one of her own.

“Sacred Gear, [Mirror Alice].”

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