High School DxD: Fox of Ill Omen

Issei

After winning my fight against Saji, I broke open one of the vending machines nearby and pulled out a water bottle.

I handed it to Koneko-chan and then pulled out a few more for myself.

I downed each one quickly as I recovered from my fight. 

The fight between Saji and I while Koneko-chan faced the other Sitri group [Pawn] had been intense.

Saji had gotten the drip on me and attached one of his [Absorption Lines] to me before the fight even started.

Due to it being connected to me I couldn’t double my power with a [Boost] without him stealing it from me. 

So after being warned by Ddraig I started my Balance Breaker countdown.

I had tried to retreat and let my timer count down, but the line from Saji’s Sacred Gear prevented me from moving too far away.

We had started to exchange blows, but I was on the back foot.

Saji used a flash of light that he had stored by absorbing it into a sacred gear and then releasing it like a flash bang at me to blind me.

He had rained blows down on me while I was blinded and tried to finish the fight with a demonic power bullet to my head after he knocked me to the ground. 

I had been surprised by the power behind the attack, as Saji was someone who had little demonic power, like me.

That was when he explained that he was using his Sacred Gear to absorb his own life force to empower his attacks.

I realized how badly Saji wanted to win for his master’s dream.

He was willing to put his life on the line to give Sona-Kaichou’s dream more of a chance of succeeding.

It was around then that Koneko-chan defeated the other [Pawn].

She had managed to take her out in only a few blows as she had used her Senjutsu to drive spiritual energy into her opponent's body, disrupting her flow of demonic energy and dealing large amounts of damage.

I recalled how Azazel-sensei had said that if Koneko-chan used her Senjutsu as part of her hand to hand attacks, that she would become a force to be reckoned with.

She would be able to deal massive amounts of damage against opponents that couldn’t defend from spiritual attacks.

But he also warned me that Senjutsu users could be affected by the spiritual energy they use.

If Koneko-chan absorbed too much ill will and malice she could become consumed by her own power.

Just like her sister had been.

After defeating her opponent Koenko-chan came over to help me.

I was struggling to dodge the empowered demonic power bullets from Saji and had taken a few hits already.

But I told her to stay back.

I wanted this to be a fight between Saji and I as [Pawns].

I knew it was stupid to do in the middle of an important match, and it was definitely not the best decision.

But Saji was putting his own life on the line to defeat me.

He hadn’t attacked Koneko-chan at all despite getting the drop on us.

I wanted to let him show his resolve by fighting him one on one.

Koneko-chan wasn’t happy with me about it, but she still agreed after I insisted.

After Koneko-chan gave us space to fight, Saji decided to end things by creating a massive ball of demonic energy before compressing it down and then firing it at me.

He also fired another of his Sacred Gear’s lines at me and anchored me to the ground, so that I couldn’t dodge. 

Instead I managed to summon another gauntlet on my other arm using the power it took from the Hakuryuukou when I fought Vali and used it to half the power of the attack with a [Divide].

I had trained to use it since I took the power, but it still only had a low chance of activating, so I was extremely lucky that it had worked. 

His attack still hit me, but it wasn’t enough to remove me from the match.

After that, my timer for my Balance Breaker ran out and I was able to summon my armor. 

We began to trade blows again after that.

But it was to the point where Saji would no longer be able to beat me, now that I had powered up.

Despite knowing that, he didn’t back down.

Even as his kick led split as he punched my armor, and his body failed under my blows, he still kept fighting.

He went far past any limit he should have been able to endure.

His desire to defeat me, and his drive to help achieve Sona-Kaichou and his dream of creating a Rating Game school allowed him to push forward.

But in the end, it wasn’t enough.

I beat him, and he was forced to retire.

Even though I had won, it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

It stung that I had to knock down a friend who was desperately chasing his dream.

And now Koneko-chan and I were taking a short break to recover before moving forward again.

We had heard the announcements for Gasper’s retirement, as well as the enemy’s [Bishop] and [Rook].

There was also what sounded like an explosion in the distance. 

That meant that we had taken down half of the Sitri team, while only losing one of our members.

Things were looking very good for us.

But the weakness and shakiness that I felt wouldn’t go away.

The water helped.

But I still felt off.

I had taken a lot of damage fighting against Saji, but it shouldn’t have been enough to get me to feel this way.

Perhaps it was due to using my [Scale Mail] while injured or because I still wasn’t used to my Balance Breaker.

Whatever it was, I was still able to fight, and I still had most of the duration of my Balance Breaker left. 

We needed to push forward towards the enemy base so that I could Promote to [Queen]. 

As I got ready to move again Koneko-chan pointed at me. 

“…Issei-senpai, look.”

I looked where Koneko-chan was pointing at my right arm.

There was still a line attached to me from Saji’s Sacred Gear

Even though Saji had disappeared from the match, the line attached to my right arm still hadn’t vanished.

All of the other lines had been knocked off of me and then vanished when he retired, but not this one.

And the line led back towards the Sitri base. 

“What is this thing…” I muttered.

Whatever it was, it was different from the other lines he had attached to me.

Before I could think much longer about it, I heard Buchou’s voice from the communicator in my ear.

[Offense team, do you read me? We’re now advancing toward the enemy base.]

Koneko-chan put her hand to her ear.

“…We have defeated the enemy here. We will continue forward.” She reported.

Then Yuuto-san spoke over the communicator.

[We are pursuing the enemy [Queen] Tsubaki Shinra. She is heading towards the fountain on the enemy’s side of the mall. We injured her enough to the point that she used the Sitri teams’s vial of Phoenix Tears, but she managed to escape. Both Xenovia and myself were injured in the fight, but we are still able to fight. Yuki-san is uninjured.]

It sounded like Yuuto-san’s group had a rough fight despite taking down two opponents.

They also removed the enemy’s Phoenix Tears as well. 

Koneko-chan seemed a little less tense after hearing that Yuki-san wasn’t harmed. 

The two of them had always been close, but since our individual training, they had seemed even more so.

Even I could notice it, and I wasn’t the best with those kinds of things.

It was good that Yuki-san and Koenko-chan each had someone to lean on.

They definitely both needed it.

I took one deep breath and looked at Koneko-chan. 

“Let’s go.” I said

She nodded once and we began to move again.

Buchou was coming up behind us, and we needed to push forward.

We had moved past the midpoint of the match already.

And now we were making our way forward to what could be the final battle.

Our path took us further into the mall and closer to the enemy base.

We remained vigilant and Koneko-chan used her Senjutsu to try and detect any enemies that could be hiding.

The mall was eerily quiet as we moved through it.

It still gave me the creeps with how uncanny the whole place was.

This place should be full of sounds and people.

Instead it was deserted and silent besides the sound of my heavy foot falls and Koneko-chan’s barely audible ones.

We continued unobstructed, until eventually the corridor widened into something like a central plaza

There was a circular fountain in the middle of the space with benches that shoppers could use to rest on.

There were also some tables and chairs spread through the area as well.

This was the place that Yuuto-san had said Shinra-senpai was heading towards.

As we arrived in the plaza I stopped.

Sona-Kaichou was standing near the fountain.

She had a barrier around her that seemed to be created by her two [Bishops] who were also present.

The line attached to my arm led to one of the two [Bishops].

If they were using the power of my Balance Breaker to fuel this barrier, it could be a serious issue. 

“How do you do, Hyoudou Issei-kun, Toujou Koneko-san,” Sona-Kaichou said calmly.

She looked over my armor for a moment.

“So this is the appearance of the Sekiryuutei. I can sense the amount of power you are giving off through the barrier. It’s easy to understand why the users of the [Boosted Gear] all become legends.”

She seemed relaxed despite the fact that she had lost half of her peerage already and we were only down one member.

I saw movement to the side and turned to see Shinra-senpai run into the plaza from the opposite way we had entered.

She was breathing heavily and looked disheveled. 

Behind her Xenovia, Yuuto-san, and Yuki-san chased after her.

Yuuto-san had one arm bandaged and Xenovia-san’s uniform was torn, revealing her injured side.

Yuki-san seemed to be unharmed just like Yuuto-san said.

The second they arrived, another voice called out from behind me.

“...Sona, you’re quite bold. To have come forward on the battlefield despite your losses.”

When I turned, I saw that Buchou had arrived too.

Akeno-san and Asia were at her side.

All of the remaining participants of the game were present. 

“But haven’t you, the [King], also moved here personally as well, Rias?” Sona-kaichou replied.

“You’re right,” Buchou said. “I decided to come forward as we have reached the final stage of our match. Though things played out differently from what I expected…”

Her expression was hard.

Sona-Kaichou had predicted her every move so far.

She had even prepared to meet us here despite her losses.

Buchou’s plan seemed to have fallen apart despite our success.

I took a step forward as I got ready for us to end things here.

Then my vision went fuzzy.

I staggered.

The weakness I had been feeling grew and it became harder to focus on anything.

My balance tilted and I dropped to one knee.

“…Ise?” Buchou said sharply.

Asia reacted immediately.

A pale green light wrapped around me

I felt the warm and gentle healing effects of her Sacred Gear immediately.

It took away the pain I felt from my fight, but the dizziness and muffled feeling in my head wouldn’t go away. 

My body still felt weak and heavy. 

Buchou took out the Phoenix Tears but then stopped herself

She realized that if Asia’s Sacred Gear couldn’t help me, then the Tears probably wouldn’t either.

Everyone on my side looked at me with concern.

Sona-Kaichou gave a small smile.

“Neither Asia-san’s Sacred Gear nor the Phoenix Tears will have any effect, Rias,” she said. “I saw the recordings of his battle with Riser Phoenix and saw how it ended. What I understood from that was that Hyoudou-kun is a boy that won’t give up. To a point that is frightening. For his comrades and for you Rias, he will push himself beyond his limits.”

She paused and looked at me as I struggled to keep from collapsing further.

“My peerage would not be able to defeat him in a fight once he activated his Balance Breaker. And even before then, he is the type of person to keep getting up even after he has been knocked down, no matter what. That willpower is directly connected to the power of the Sekiryuutei and increases the power of the [Boosted Gear]. That is Hyoudou-kun’s greatest weapon.”

Guts and spirit were my main redeeming qualities.

I held my head as my nausea rose.

“That’s why,” Sona-kaichou said, “we had no choice but to beat you with a different method.”

One of the [Bishops] lifted what looked like a blood pack.

“It is your blood,” Sona-kaichou said. “You are a reincarnated Devil, but at your base, you are still human. And if a human loses enough blood, it can become lethal. You understand that, yes? And in the rules of the Rating Game, if a Devil becomes unable to fight, or wounded enough that their life is in danger, then they retire.”

Saji.

That's what he had been aiming for the whole time as we fought.

It must have been that first line he attached to me.

I lost  more strength and it felt like the floor had tilted.

Yuuto-san reacted fast and cut the line.

She ran over and slashed it before moving to Buchou’s side. 

Blood splashed from the severed ends onto the floor.

“It’s too late. Hyoudou-kun has already lost enough blood that he will be forced to retire.” Sona-kaichou said coolly. 

Buchou rushed to me immediately.

“Sona, you….”

Her face was full of anger and concern for me.

“I used Saji’s Sacred Gear to slowly suck out Hyoudou-kun’s blood.” Sona-Kaichou continued. “In order to use a Sacred Gear whose original purpose is to absorb the energy of a target and force it into drawing blood instead required considerable training and precise control. But Saji accomplished it.”

That's why he had faced me one on one.

It’s what he kept fighting despite his body failing him

He needed time.

He could have stalled just by running.

He didn’t.

He faced me head-on.

Even if he had tricked me, he had still wanted to fight me face to face.

“Hyoudou-kun,” Sona-kaichou said looking down at me, “you are close to retiring. You should only be able to manage one or two attacks at most, if you can even stand. Your armor is solid. Your offensive power is tremendous. However, when I searched for ways to defeat you, there were many. The power you possess as the Sekiryuutei is great, but it is not all powerful. Even if we cannot physically defeat you, I can use the rules of this game to remove you from the board.”

“Even if I’ve been defeated. It will still be seven against four,” I said. “Buchou will still win.”

That made Sona-Kaichou frown.

“The group making it through the parking garage not suffering any losses was not something I had anticipated,” she said, glancing at Yuuto-san, and then at Xenovia and Yuki-san who were still standing apart from us. “I predicted that Xenovia-san and Yuuto-san would be sent through that route as their speed would allow them to flank around to my base, but I had not expected Shiramine Yuki to be with them.”

Sona-Kaichou let out a sigh.

“Truthfully I did not know where to expect her to be. Rias could have had her scouting with Gasper-kun, moving with Hydouou-kun and Koneko-chan, or even staying back to guard Rias against any assassination strategies. Her abilities are diverse enough that she was difficult to place.”

She was silent for a moment before turning to Buchou.

“Nevertheless, Rias, what are you willing to put on the line for this battle? I am willing to risk my life to achieve my dream. I know it is something that will be difficult to obtain, but if I do not give it my all and remove every obstacle in my path,  then I will not be able to reach it.”

Kaichou made eye contact with Rias.

Her eyes were filled with stern determination

“Rias, I will destroy your pride and estimation.”

Buchou’s expression became bitter.

Even I could realize why.

We were viewed as having every advantage going into this battle.

Even Azazel-sensei mentioned how heavily favored we were to win.

But Sona-Kaichou had managed to put up a fight against us. 

It hadn’t been a clean sweep like anticipated.

Even if the rules and restrictions were against us, people would look at this match and think favorably of Sona-Kaichou, even if she lost.

Buchou would be viewed poorly due to losing her grasp on her advantage and having her strategy fail. 

Her ranking as a [King] would fall, even if we won.

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