Without any hesitation, the pawn swung his fist upwards and smashed the beast in its chin, feeling bone shatter into pieces from the blow as its body was sent spiraling into the air.
The area was silent following that last blow, with the sound of that stray's body crashing against the ground a way's away being the only thing that interrupted the quiet that fell upon everyone.
Mio blinked as she watched the battle play out in front of her. "...Looks like he can do this..."
Asia, who was still in the middle of healing a bit more of her ally's more serious wounds, smiled in response. "Issei-san has been working very hard during his training with everyone, and I think that he has improved the most compared to everyone else ever since Rias-san made that training center."
Then she glanced away, looking a little bashful. "...Even I, a little bit..."
The red-head spared her a glance, seeing a semblance of pride in her emerald pupils, understanding where she was coming from.
"...Hey, come on Asia-san, finish healing me up." Mio spoke up, a small smile on her face. "I don't want to let the pervert get the final blow against that jerk; Diodora."
The nun, after realizing that she stopped healing Mio despite still being wounded, quickly stammered an apology and began anew, embarrassed at the indulgent smile on her patient's lips.
Meanwhile, Issei finally turned to face the man who was responsible for causing them all so much trouble, eyes narrowed.
Diodora himself, after resting a little bit to regain his strength, clicked the last half of his tongue in annoyance.
He was hoping that he would've recovered enough of his strength by the time that the damn meddler finished with a few of his strays...but it seems that he's gotten stronger.
A shame too, since his demonic energy reserves were pretty drained after his last fight.
It looked like he didn't have a choice anymore...
The former Astaroth heir shoved his hand into his pocket, carefully searching for the backup item that he brought along with him, just in case his mission became a thorough mess due to unforeseen circumstances.
After a few more moments of digging, he retrieved the legendary item from his pocket, a victorious smirk plastered across his features.
Issei's eyes locked on the glass bottle, staying put as another Boost! emerged from his Sacred Gear, not at all adverse to letting himself get stronger by waiting.
Though the teenaged boy had no idea what was contained in the small vial that his enemy was holding, he still made sure to watch it warily in case it was some kind of deadly poison or something.
However, instead of trying to throw the vial at him, Diodora opened the vial and poured it onto his body, allowing the magical effects that it contained to work it's wonders.
And it did, as he quickly began to recover from all of his recent wounds that he had accumulated since his last battle.
All of them, except the thorough mess that was half of his face.
Then and there, did the teenaged boy realize that he no longer had any time to waste, he had to finish this. Now.
And he had the perfect attack for it.
Usually, Issei held a tiny amount of demonic energy in his body, so small that he couldn't really do much with it, let alone fight with it.
However, his Boosted Gear not only doubled his physical attributes, but it also doubled his reserves in demonic energy.
So he only had one chance to let loose before he had to wait again for another boost in power.
It wasn't as powerful as it could be, but it would be good enough!
After Diodora finished pouring the last drops of phoenix tears on himself, while still being guarded by the four remaining stray devils, he refocused his attention back on his newest enemy, before pausing slightly.
The teenaged boy raised his arm, the red gauntlet on his left hand glowing slightly as he focused his power onto it...
Or more precisely, onto the palm of his hand.
A red light began to shine from that very area, lighting up the night as Issei poured more and more of his now impressive demonic energy for release.
Only when the red orb appeared on the palm of the 'dragon's' red gauntlet, primed to fire, did the former Astaroth heir finally register that he was in danger.
He didn't even warn his new 'subordinates' as he took flight.
"Dragon Shot!" Issei roared loudly, as he thrust his hand forward, releasing the pent up power.
All of a sudden, a light began to tinge the area around them with red, as the pawn's attack was launched from his Sacred Gear and ripped apart the ground to reach Diodora.
A large beam that was slightly bigger than the boy himself, flashed towards the enemy group, enrapturing them before the light overtook them whole.
It didn't stop either, as the beam tore through the small apartment complex behind the group and shred through the first two floors, obliterating it.
Said building quickly began to crash down to earth, collapsing in on itself thanks to gravity, with floor upon floor crashing into one another once they reached the ground as the entire mess released an insane amount of dust into the air.
At least until that dust was sent far higher into the air after the beam finished it's route and exploded behind the building it has just essentially destroyed. Sending debris into the sky.
The red light began to die down, finally, after it's owner expended the last bit of his demonic energy, causing him to breathe harshly at the expenditure.
Brown eyes peered into the dust cloud he had just made, sweat dripping down his brow, cautiously trying to find his main enemy in the destruction.
"...My, that was dangerous. You really should be more careful...boy."
Issei scowled, carefully moving his gaze to the air, where the voice came from.
As feared, Diodora was completely unharmed, managing to get away from the relatively small beam before it could capture him by taking flight.
Still, at the very least, the stray devils that were guarding him were gone.
It was just the two of them now.
Great.
Boost!
...At least he got another boost in power now.
Diodora watched the former human with new-found wariness as he slowly descended back to the ground, not at all expecting that kind of firepower to come from someone he had soundly defeated before.
Though, despite this new caution, it was quickly wiped away once he saw his young enemy's weary state.
And with that knowledge, came the smug and borderline sadistic smile.
"...I admit, you've grown considerably more powerful in comparison to the last time we met. I'm impressed. But it's obvious that you've expended most of your demonic energy from that last attack...and I'm not gonna let you recover." the devil remarked, as he stopped descending and remained in the air, his power flaring up.
He was prepared to make his offensive.
The perverted boy grit his teeth, already aware that the man was right.
He couldn't use that attack again, not until a few more boosts.
...So he would have to change tactics.
Instead of trying to obliterate him with the Dragon Shot, he'd just go for the up-close-and-personal approach.
Issei clenched his fist, feeling the burning humiliation of his defeat in the past.
He could do this...!
Dulio scratched the crown of his head, apologetic if anything else.
The young man was supposed to accomplish his latest mission, given to him from one of the highest authorities in Heaven and the Church in general.
To put it bluntly, he was supposed to to be making his way to the small settlement known as 'Kuoh Town'.
A rather quaint area, which in all respects, was rather normal.
If one didn't consider it's strange attraction to supernatural entities and activities anyway.
Nevertheless, the point was that he was not supposed to be here, fighting with another blond male over whether he should even be going to this small town.
Yet here he was.
It was an important mission, incredibly important, superimportant.
Yet here he was.
Why?
Well, it probably had something to do with the young man that he was currently facing.
As well as Dulio's insane streaks of altruism.
This young man...there was something off about him.
Nothing malicious mind you, but at the very least, the most powerful exorcist of the Church had to believe that the teen may not be thinking his actions through.
Rather, to be more precise, the agent has seen his type before.
He was the type of man that was single-mindedly focused, almost laser-guided really, to the point that he would ignore almost everything else in the name of whatever that focus may be.
It wasn't really bad, but it was something that wasn't sustainable over a long period of time. Especially if there were internal issues that he wasn't focusing on.
And, while he couldn't really explain it, he could at the very least see that the teenaged boy was making his decisions based off of something that happened to him before. A past event that has colored his world view, perhaps?
To put it starkly, the boy was a complicated mess, so much so that the 'priest' could only really use one word to describe him.
Troubled.
...That being said, that was what he sensed under the surface, whatever the problem was with the teenager, he was still holding himself together at the moment.
Whether it was by sheer will, or something else, he wasn't entirely sure.
But he was hoping that the whiskered teen's quick defeat would convince him to not only back off, but also to get him to open up to someone after being forced to let go of his current focus.
Force him to consider his options if you will.
Which was precisely why the powerful exorcist froze Uzumaki Naruto up in a block of ice.
"...Sorry about that, Naruto-dono. But this is for both of our sakes. I hope that you could focus on more important things now that you don't have to think about this incident anymore." Dulio apologized with a sad smile, silently gazing upon the large ice sculpture in front of him.
Or rather, the large block of ice that just so happened to contain an ice sculpture.
However, that sad smile that he was sporting was quickly wiped away from his lips as he continued to look at the block of ice.
...?
Were there cracks on the ice that captured Naruto-dono before?
The ice that surrounded the blond teenaged was completely bereft of any types of blemishes when the 'priest' first made created it, but looking at it now, there were clear cracks all across it.
Not only that, but those cracks were growing larger.
It was only when he noticed this change that he noticed something else as well.
Through the growing cracks of the sculpture, an energy was leaking out, becoming more and more visible and powerful as time passed.
It kind of looked like an azure fire, which was barely visible to his naked human eye. But while Dulio couldn't really pinpoint what it was, he could say that it was rising in strength.
And that realization spurred him into action.
The young man raised his hand, focusing on his Sacred Gear, and willing the ice to encase him even deeper than before, figuring that there had to be some kind of upper limit to whatever he was doing.
At his beck and call, the ice rose up to create a large pillar that grew as high as six stories, and became as thick as an apartment complex, keeping his acquaintance even deeper in the ice than before.
Initially, it looked like that was enough.
But it wasn't.
As, to put it simply, the teenaged boy's strange powers were pushed up a few notches.
Before, that fire-like energy was seeping through the cracks, almost like it was idly looking for a way out rather than anything else.
But that changed, now that energy was flooding out, attempting to smash it's way out, creating massive fissures across the ice surface instead of seeking a more civilized escape route.
And the ice simply couldn't hold back the flood gates.
So, in consequence, the ice block simply shattered.
The energy that the sculpture was desperately trying to keep in check was suddenly released into the ice field, knocking Dulio back harshly enough that his feet were ripping apart the icy ground under him as he tried to slow himself down.
Instead of an energy, it felt like the exorcist was facing a whirlwind, as his long blond hair was being pushed away from his face, his clothes were flowing behind him violently, and he was forced to raise his arms to cover his eyes just so that he could see properly.
Thankfully, Dulio's green pupils managed to peer into the middle of the storm.
Uzumaki Naruto was right there, in the eye of the storm, his energy flaring with such power that the very ice that froze him solid was stuck in suspended animation around him.
At first anyway, as soon enough, that same ice was then flung far away from him without warning, tearing at the icy ground underneath him with violent force.
Not only that, but as the ground was getting shredded apart, the ice itself was beginning to collapse into the water below or was moving to rise into the air like pillars. Everything was simply getting contorted by the energy that the teen was releasing.
"HAAAAAAAAH!"
The shinobi let loose an unearthly roar, his power changing the frozen landscape around him, as if he was trying to transform the area into his liking.
But more than that, this constant release of power was stopping Dulio from even trying to freeze him over again, thanks to the fact that his power was breaking apart anything that tried to form on him.
Dulio couldn't trap him again, pure and simple.
...Despite this setback however, the powerful exorcist couldn't help but smirk slightly, even as the powerful energy buffeted him with it's fierce presence, feeling a bit happy that his acquaintance didn't capitulate so easily.
"...Didn't you hear me before?" Naruto shouted out, raising his fist with a massive grin. "This isn't over yet!"
Shiba was keeping his fingers steepled together as he watched the proceedings in front of him, holding back his feelings of disgruntlement by masking it as deep consideration.
He was taking part in the discussion among the higher ups of the Hero Tribe about how to respond to the latest 'incidents' regarding their overall faction, listening to the long-winded fossils speak as if they knew anything.
It was annoying, to be frank.
Nevertheless, he was forced to attend, mostly so that he could keep his cover as a loyal dog for a little while longer.
The talks specifically, mostly centered around the destruction of the Chinese branch of the Hero Tribe, which unknown to them, was obliterated by the now deceased leader of the rogue Hero Faction; Cao Cao.
But, of course, they weren't aware of that. And as far as Shiba was concerned, they wouldn't be aware of that anytime soon.
So, precisely because of their ignorance, the 'leaders' of the Japanese branch was trying to find more efficient ways of communication between the numerous branches of their faction across the planet.
And, obviously, seeking to find out who was responsible for the destruction of one of their branches.
Now, if the higher ups had any idea about the numerous factions that have emerged in recent years to challenge the established factions across the planet, then they might have something of a clue.
They didn't, of course, so they remained ignorant.
Through Cao Cao, Shiba has learned quite a bit about the many new powers that have emerged following the end of the Great War between the Christian factions, as that event was definitely the catalyst for the sheer amount of rogue factions.
After all, the war between the Christian factions roughly lasted for around two thousand years, and it was quite 'normal' for many among their numbers to fight and kill the other.
So when it ended, that change was no doubt jarring for many, and afterwards, more and more changes to the status quo soon followed.
The fall of the Original Maou in the Underworld.
The partial demilitarization of the fallen angels by Azazel.
And the angels...well, they were in complete disarray after the war ended.
This wasn't even including the new dynamics that emerged between the three factions and the other supernatural factions across planet Earth.
In such an uncertain time, there were going to be those who preferred the comfortable familiarity of the past in comparison to the uncertain present.
Or, just as likely, those who wanted to take advantage of the uncertainty to gain power for themselves, or for some objective.
The Old Maou Faction.
The Hero Faction.
That old man's rogue faction, which was still in hiding for now.
And of course, the many factions that were still waiting in the shadows, patiently looking for a chance to strike when it would be most beneficial to them.
A more disturbing fact than any of that, was the simple truth that, at the very least, quite a few of these factions were connected to one another.
Many of them were loosely connected to one of the most powerful beings in known existence.
And that fact alone, would terrify a lot of the established powers.
But no one was aware of this, of course.
Their ignorance would be their downfall, and of course, he had his own goals and aspirations to aim for.
Which was why he didn't want to be here.
He had to keep his senses open to search for the young man that would help him complete his deal with the old man, mostly so that he could pit the two against one another.
And once that was accomplished, he could continue to destabilize the Hero Tribe from within, making sure to keep his ears open for interesting tidbits of information.
He had to play the long game here, and there were plenty of pawns on the chessboard...
"Shiba-kun, the Great Hero has told us that you have seen the remains of the Chinese branch of the Hero Tribe, I hopethat you have some useful information for us in regards to what happened." one of the elders spoke up clearly, cutting off the younger man's thoughts abruptly.
All eyes turned to him once he was addressed, desperately seeking more information which they could utilize.
Except for Toujou Jin; the Great Hero, who was calmly regarding him while enjoying his cigarette.
He kept himself in character has pushed himself off from his seat, knowing that he had to deliver the falsified information that he had gathered from the ruins of the-
"Guh!?"
Without warning, Shiba suddenly shook on the spot, feeling as if someone smashed their fist into his face, rocking his sense of balance.
He felt it.
An energy signal, a familiar one.
The one that he was searching for.
Uzumaki Naruto's power was blaring out, nearly knocking him off of his feet despite how far away it was, making him feel like someone had just turned on a megaphone and screamed right next to his ear.
He found him.
But unfortunately for him, he had to wait before he could report it to the old man. He had appearances to keep after all.
"...Apologies, I've been a little sick recently, please forgive me." the traitorous hero said demurely, bowing his head a little in deference.
If anything, the many elders simply waved it off, focusing far more on the information that he held than his health.
Though Shiba had to note that Jin's eyes narrowed ever slightly as he stared at him.
He had to be careful from here on in.
"...Nya?"
That's what a certain cat unintentionally said as she felt the sudden burst of energy from somewhere far off.
It was faint to her, even with her senjutsu-powered senses.
But that wasn't what was so surprising.
No, the surprising part was the simple fact that she sensed this energy at all.
She wasn't in the human world right now, no, she was in a completely different dimension actually.
Yet she felt it.
An unwitting smile stretched across her lips, incredibly impressed.
She felt this energy signal before, it was that man's, right?
"...Kuroka...what's wrong?"
The young woman refocused back onto the person in front of her, looking a little sheepish for cutting off her report to her 'leader'. "Sorry about that, Ophis-sama! It's just that...well, I felt him again."
In front of the yokai, was a small girl, the woman's 'leader' for all intents and purposes, and the person that sent her to search for the senjutsu-related energy that she sensed while in the human world.
Accordingly, the little girl's dull black eyes lit up faintly with interest. "...His name...was Naruto, right?"
Kuroka nodded, all smiles. "Yep! Though this is kinda strange...when I sensed him for the first time with his senjutsu, his power wasn't quite as obvious for me to sense as it is now. As I doubt that I would have sensed him the first time in this dimension. Yet I can sense him now, even though senjutsu is supposed to make his power far greater than normal? That's really weird nya~"
The curvaceous woman tilted her head cutely, scrunching her eyes together in thought. "...Maybe it's because he's actually flaring his power now? And he didn't do it before when he had senjutsu? That would make sense...and if that's true, that would mean that he's a lot more powerful than I expected."
Her yellow slits slid to her 'leader', amusement dancing in her orbs. "I guess he's a pretty tough guy nya~"
The little girl stared at her blankly, unresponsive, retaining that silence for a little bit.
And when she actually spoke again, the order that she gave actually caught the yokai female flat-footed.
"...Take me to him." she ordered starkly, gazing upon Kuroka with a blank expression. "You can sense him...right? So take me to him."
Kuroka blinked owlishly, reconciling this proactive approach with the usually passive leader of this coalition of factions.
The Old Maou Faction.
The Hero Faction.
Such factions were technically at her beck and call, but she was so passive as a leader, that most of them just paid lip service to their 'leader'.
They didn't disrespect her to her face however, of course, that'd just get them all killed.
After all, despite her naivete, she was still among the top ten most powerful beings in existence.
More specifically, she was the second most powerful in existence.
As despite the fact that she looked like a little girl, she was actually an extraordinarily powerful entity that had the power to shapeshift, choosing this visage for whatever reason.
More than that, she was an entity that was born from the infinite gap between dimensions, simply known as the 'Dimensional Gap' to most. A space that could be roughly described as the 'space' between worlds.
And that entity was known as the Infinite Dragon God; the Ouroboros Dragon.
...And such a powerful being had just asked Kuroka to help lead her to the mysterious man known as 'Naruto' for her.
Probably so that she could attain his power for her own goal.
To kill the being that occupied number one on the list of the most powerful.
Great Red, or the Dragon of Dragons.
DxD.
The young woman grinned, giddy if anything else. "Sure! Why not nya~? As a nekoshou, I could use a strong man to help me repopulate my species anyway~"
She was always quite carefree, even in the worst of times.
Because, no matter how she looked at this, there was no way that the young man was going to get out of this one.
As soon as Ophis took interest in him, his fate was pretty much as good as written.
Whatever aspirations or wishes that he wanted to gun for would be pushed to the side, as his life would be in her hands soon enough.
He may as well accept it, and if that's the case, why not make the best of it?
Besides, she knew a few people that would more than welcome an influx of new blood in her ragtag little group~
Naruto was clenching his teeth, his chakra exploding out of his body in a fashion that he rarely indulged in.
Releasing his chakra in a burst was kinda wasteful, even if it was pretty cool.
But he had to make an exception here, as Dulio's Sacred Gear would definitely just freeze him over if there wasn't anything to break apart the ice before it could form.
By this point, he felt that he ripped apart the terrain well enough, as the ice that used to be under their feet was now ripped apart, leaving it as nothing more than platforms floating on the water.
The field of ice was in pieces.
And Dulio knew that such a trick wouldn't work twice, hopefully.
Suffice it to say, the shinobi was more than ready for any other unexpected plays that the psuedo-priest had in store for him-
"Wait, I have a proposal."
...
"...Huh? What's this about? You want to change how we resolve this now?" Naruto asked with an unhinged jaw, unable to believe how much balls the man in front of him had.
Dulio raised his hand up in surrender, an easy-going smile on his lips. "Sorry, sorry. I know, a bit anti-climactic, but you have actually managed to convince me a little after that little stunt."
The shinobi did a double-take, his disbelief obvious. "...Really?"
"Really. That strange energy of yours...I don't know how, but I felt your sincerity, as well as your good nature through it." the exorcist insisted, but his smile went away in favor of a more serious look as he continued. "However, while I'm more convinced that you have good intentions than ever before, I still have one last hurdle for you. Something more simpler and quicker, but also something more...meaningful."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "...Alright then, what is it?"
Seeing that he at least had the teen's tacit approval, Dulio continued. "You see, as I've mentioned several times, I have an abnormal amount of control over my Sacred Gear, where I'm actually able to connect to others emotionally in a roundabout way. And to that effort, I have actually created a technique that could help others remember things that are most important to them, for better or for worse."
After that initial explanation, Dulio moved to raise his hand, using his index finger and thumb to create a circle, and then blew into it.
Strangely enough, as the young man continued to blow, a bubble quickly emerged from the circle, floating off of his hand and towards the younger male.
Naruto stared at the bubble, a sudden feeling of apprehensiveness gripping him.
"...If you can touch that bubble, my Speranza Bolla di Sapone, take the memory that it forces you to look back on, and continue to stand tall, then I'll back off from this mission. Whereas, if you waver because of it, you will have to give up. Deal?" the pseudo-priest concluded, raising his hand up in a handshake with a winning smile.
The shinobi narrowed his eyes at the bubble, the feeling of wariness not at all diminished after his explanation.
But Naruto still felt that he had little time to waste, and his abilities were still largely unknown anyway.
This was the safer bet.
"I accept."
The cloud of dust that was spawned after the apartment complex's destruction slowly trickled to the ground after being sent into the air, coating the area in an artificial fog as it settled down.
It was something subtle, and something that neither of the combatants counted on when they started this fight.
Yet the fact was that it was there, and it was definitely to Diodora's advantage than Issei's.
As when the cloud settled, it not only covered everything in an ashy atmosphere, it also began to hide Diodora from the former human's view, being just thick enough to do such a thing.
As soon as that happened, the pawn finally realized just how poor his position was.
To make it worse...that was something that he did, it wasn't Diodora's doing at all, much to the perverted boy's annoyance.
...Great, he should probably plan his attacks better or something...
Those thoughts were prematurely cut off once somethingcame out of the fake fog.
Now, much to his annoyance, Issei couldn't even tell wherethe -soon to be apparent- demonic-powered beam came from, as it pierced through the haze, aiming right for him.
The brown-haired boy narrowly swiveled to the side, eyes wide, watching the beam punch through the pavement, making a hole that was no wider than the energy construct itself.
But what alerted him to the inherent danger of his position, was the fact that the ground began to glow, as if there was a light underneath the ground...
"Shit...!" the pawn cursed as he jumped sideways, the ground suddenly erupting under his foot as his enemy's attack blew up inside the earth.
Thankfully, he was merely singed by the attack, but more and more beams were easily replacing the initial attempt on his life afterwards, forcing him to jump around, unless he felt like getting himself skewered.
So Issei did just that, hopping around the battered town streets as beams came raining down from somewhere in the air, trying to focus on where exactly the attacks were coming from and waiting for-
Boost!
Ah. There it was.
With that power boost, the perverted boy was more than ready to take the fight to his opponent, trying to zero in on where exactly he was shooting from.
The heavy dust cloud was still present around the battlefield, making it difficult, but he at least had a rough idea.
But by that time, suddenly, inexplicably, the attacks stopped.
Issei had no idea why they stopped, but he didn't wait to find out, as he immediately moved forward to try and catch the man before he could attack again.
So he moved, his legs carrying him forward as he tried to catch Diodora and smash his face in.
And he eventually made it to -roughly- the last possible area that he was in, eyes scanning around above his position, knowing that his enemy would stick to the high ground.
He wasn't there, nowhere to be found as a matter of fact.
So then where the hell was-!?
He gasped suddenly as a beam crashed into his back, cutting off his thoughts at the sudden pain as it burned through his Kuoh Academy jacket.
Issei wasn't exactly a good sensor, or the best with his instincts, but even should've been able to sense that!
Yet he didn't, he had no idea that it was even coming.
Damn it...! This cloud of dust was making this fight so much harder than it had to be!
More than that, he couldn't even tell when the attack was coming, or where for that matter...
Actually, now that he thought about it, Naruto mentioned that he wasn't able to sense this guy's presence at all last time they fought.
So basically, he had to close the gap between the two, fast.
At least, that was what he was concluding, as another beam obliterated a piece of the street that he was jumping around on.
Even as he was dodging attack after attack, the amount of beams that came down continued to increase, both in scope and frequency, with the eruptions around him becoming more and more powerful as time went on.
The young man jumped backwards as the ground erupted, the explosion heating up the front of his body with an unbearable heat, but forcing himself to ignore that as he sidestepped another beam which knocked him off of his feet.
As soon as he landed on the hard ground, with hard rubble raining all over him, he desperately forced himself to keep moving by pushing away from the ground to force himself into a roll, another beam impaling itself right where he just was a split-second ago.
The expected rumble of power once more knocked him away, sliding, singes all over his body, as he tried to recover as quickly as possible.
And, as though his enemy decided that he deserved a respite, the barrage of attacks stopped all of a sudden, giving him the momentary pause that was needed to get some semblance of awareness of his surroundings again.
At the very least, though he was shaken, he was still able to fight.
Issei carefully regarded the dusty air, trying to find any sign of his enemy, unable to do so after a quick scan.
...That bastard was probably moving to a new location, making sure that he remained hidden so that the pawncouldn't try to counterattack.
Bad.
This was bad.
No matter how he looked at it, Diodora was being very cautious this time, making sure to crush him while keeping a distance.
How was he supposed to beat him like this...?
...
Again.
It was just like before.
Just like-
"Face it. You are far too weak to stop me. It's over."
Those words echoed across the young man's head, taunting him, as the masked man; Diodora, looked down on him with both of his -sick- orange eyes, back then.
Issei smashed his gauntlet into the ground, eyes dilating, grinding his teeth together at the thought of what happened back at the summer retreat.
No...
Not again, he couldn't let that happen again!
But what could he do?
He wasn't strong enough...
He wasn't-!
"Oi, idiot."
Issei's eyes widened, freezing in place.
Those words...
Where'd he hear that from-?
"...If you begin thinking like that, especially if you're in the middle of a battle, then you might as well throw in the towel."
...
No.
He remembered where he heard those words from.
The young man's heart steadied as he physically and mentally calmed down, brown eyes closing softly as the memory trickled in...
Less than a week ago...
Issei licked his lips nervously as he stared at the house in front of him, standing in place at the entrance, trying to find it within himself to just go ahead and ring the bell.
This wasn't rocket science, this was Naruto's house, nothing special or intimidating.
Still, the perverted boy just remained standing in place instead of going ahead and ringing the doorbell, stuck in indecision.
...Maybe he should come back later.
...No, wait, he heard from Buchou that Naruto was planning on leaving Kuoh Academy for a little bit...so this may well be the last chance that he's got to speak to the guy.
He even made sure to not bring Asia with him, so that he could talk to the crazy blond alone, this was kind of a big deal here.
"...Come on man, you can do this, it's just a normal and friendly visit." Issei muttered to himself, trying to bring himself the motivation to take another step forward. "Just go."
...
...
He still wasn't moving, much to his rising frustration.
Before he could even begin to rage at this stupid development-
"...Oi, what the hell are you doing just standing outside of our house, you creeper?"
-his attention was brought to the front door of the house he was trying to enter, with a certain red-head standing in the doorway, her arms crossed and a dull look on her face.
Ah...
"H-Hey! I'm not being a creeper or anything! Don't make such stupid assumptions about people!" the pawncomplained loudly, annoyed at the charge.
Mio, who was wearing a casual yellow tank top with a pair of beige cargo shorts, rolled her eyes. "...I saw you standing outside the house through the window a while ago, and you just stayed there for the longest time, what else am I supposed to assume?"
Redness quickly flooded the reincarnated devil's cheeks, feeling the sudden sting of embarrassment after finding out that little tidbit.
Despite this, the young man was still going to retort against the charge against him, at least until another voice chimed into the conversation.
"Oh come on Mio-sama, there's no need to be so harsh to the poor guy, he's probably just too embarrassed to try and ring the doorbell, that's all!" a voice claimed from above both teens.
As Issei snapped his head to the sky, Mio was already in the midst of groaning.
On top of the roof, with her long silver hair and her gothic lolita dress fluttering in the wind, stood Maria with a stupid grin on her face.
"So that's where she was..." Mio grumbled out, already feeling a headache come on from the completely unnecessary addition to the conversation.
Ignoring that comment, Maria crouched low while retaining her position on the roof, looking down at their brown-haired visitor. "Well, come on, we all know what you're really here for. Just spit it out already."
Brown eyes widened, surprised that the silver-haired girl had the perception to find out what he was here for.
Seeing his expression, Maria's grin only grew wider. "That's right, you're totally transparent in what you want here. So go ahead, with your heart in hands, and confess your love to Mio-sama!"
...Then his positive impression of the loli was crushed mere seconds after it was established.
And while he wanted to, very much, comment on the impossibility of what she had just claimed, he knew damn well that he should stay quiet.
To figure this out, all he had to do was notice the pulsating tic that appeared on Mio's forehead as she grounded her teeth together.
"Maria..." the red-head warned, a threat inherent in her voice.
Instead of heeding that, she saw fit to dig herself in further. "...So you're not here to confess to Mio-sama...? Wait, does that mean that you're here to confess to me!? No, wait, maybe you're after Naruto-sama...?"
"NO! On all fronts, just no!" Issei roared out.
Mio just facepalmed, walking slowly up to the pawn as she sighed quietly. "...You're here to see Naruto, right? At least that's my guess...if that's the case, come on in. And please, just ignore the troll that lives on the roof."
Still infuriated, Issei took in heavy gulps of air to calm himself down, nodding steadily as he walked inside the house.
Meanwhile, as he was making his way inside, he heard the loli on the roof speak again. "Eh...? But Mio-sama, I don't live on the roof ya know?"
"Wrong. You didn't live on the roof...but after this stunt, you can go ahead and begin doing just that."
"EH!? No, wait! It was just a prank, Mio-sama! And I really did need to talk to you, please!"
"Well I'm not listening!"
Issei somehow managed to ignore the back-and-forth between the two half-devils, moving to take a seat somewhere as he waited for the blond to show up.
So, the young man quickly decided to seat himself by grabbing a chair in the table located in the living room.
And as the pawn took his seat, with Naruto nowhere in sight, he couldn't help but silently marvel at the sight around him.
It was kinda hard to recognize the fact that Naruto, the guy that always managed to get on the wrong side of the student council, owned a house.
Even harder to recognize the fact that he was living with women already.
Damn it, he was a virgin just like him, yet he lived in such an enviable position...!
"...I think he's thinking about something perverted, Mio-sama..."
"Yeah, I pretty much figured as much."
Issei was snapped from his jealous thoughts by the exchange of the two females as they grabbed seats on the opposite side of the table from him, one of which was giving him a sly look, and the other giving him one that most resembled distaste.
Unwilling to admit that they were correct in their assumption, the young man coughed into his hand in order to get onto the topic that he wanted to get into. "W-Well, sorry about what happened before. But yeah, I wanted to talk with Naruto about...a certain problem that I'm having. I'd be grateful if you could get him for me."
Mio frowned, tilting her head to the side as she considered the perverted boy's request. "Well, it's not like I mind getting him for you, but I can't get him right now-"
"Ah!" Maria piped up all of a sudden, cutting her charge off. "That's right, I forgot to tell you! Mio-sama, Naruto-sama asked me to tell you to replace the toilet paper as soon as you were done glaring at the window. He said it was super important."
The half-devil's eyes widened, her cheeks flaring up a little at being called out, but still got up from her seat to rush and do as asked. "R-Right! I'm on it!"
Like a flash, the red-head disappeared from the table and moved to grab toilet paper.
She moved so fast that Issei honestly didn't even see her move.
"Wow, when it comes to Naruto-sama, she really does work fast..." the succubus concluded quietly, before turning to their guest with a chipper smile. "Well, what was it that you wanted to talk with Naruto-sama about?"
Despite getting caught off-guard by Mio's disappearance, Issei still responded in a somewhat calm demeanor. "Sorry, but I wanted to make this a one-on-one talk. It's pretty personal, nothing against ya."
Maria didn't look offended at all, instead, her chipper mood only seemed to brighten. "Oh! It sounds important! Well then, I wouldn't want to intrude on something personal, so it's a good thing that Naruto-sama is about to come out in a bit anyway."
The pawn blinked, feeling that there was more to her words than he was catching.
And of course, he was right.
Out of nowhere, the sounds of crashing and shouts echoed across the house, easily heard by both individuals on the table, eliciting two very different reactions.
A surprised jump from Issei.
And a knowing grin from Maria.
The sounds of crashes ceased suddenly and without warning, creating a tense stillness to the house, at least until the sounds of someone running towards the living room quickly became apparent to the both of them.
"MARIAAAAAAA!"
As well as that blood-curdling scream.
Like some sort of demon from hell, Mio came out of the hallway, glaring at the two that were sitting down casually. Her eyes bloodshot, her face bright-red, her breathing labored, and her entire body twitching sporadically.
Issei could only stare, speechless.
So it was up to Maria to ask the obvious question.
"Mio-sama, you seem to be somewhat...stressed, did something happen?" the succubus asked curiously, the picture of innocence.
The red-head breathed harshly as she glared daggers at the silver-haired girl, veins visibly throbbing on her forehead. "You...you...!"
"Me, Mio-sama?"
"YOU TRICKED ME!" the half-devil screeched.
Maria blinked, using her index finger to point at herself. "Me?"
If possible, Mio's eyes became more bloodshot than before, with her whole frame shaking violently in repressed rage. "You...! Don't you play stupid with me! You never told me that Naruto was still in the bathroom!"
Issei practically choked on his spit by this point.
"...Eh? But I never told you that Naruto-sama was done with the bathroom, Mio-sama."
The red-head's jaw dropped. "It was implied you little-!"