The closer the strange demon's arm got, Kiba felt an even greater fear; however, before he could feel the strange demon's arm hit him, a strange red energy ball had already struck that arm, evaporating it almost instantly.
"I've arrived! What's the situation?" Rias Gremory appeared not far away, coldly scanning her surroundings while quickly directing her gaze at Akeno.
"President, we have found a strange demon that is too difficult to defeat..." Akeno began to explain the situation while the strange demon nearby remained still, watching Rias Gremory with curiosity.
The eyes of this strange demon shifted from mockery to slight caution, he knew who Rias Gremory was, as well as that destructive magic, so he was considering several scenarios.
"I..." Issei murmured not far away, his body almost completely buried under a pile of rubble covering him. He painfully observed the torn piece of plastic near his face that obstructed his view of the entire room, and he simply remained there, blank.
"Have you understood now, Issei Hyoudou? You are weak. What have you done these days as a demon? Have you even trained for a single hour?" Ddraig murmured inside Issei's mind.
The poor boy's emotions had shifted from arrogance after becoming a demon, to absolute fear of death just moments ago, and finally, now, after being hit by several pieces of rubble, he was in a trance; his bones were broken, blood flowed from his mouth and open wounds, all while he blinked and observed almost with a killer calmness.
"Impossible..." Issei murmured softly. Even in his current state, hearing Ddraig's voice wasn't enough to change his mind. Ddraig's thoughts seemed absurd to him, as did Itachi's; only his own thoughts, according to him, made sense.
"A pretty girl is not the same as an ugly girl!!! It's stupid even to think that!!!"
"A life spent struggling without enjoying the company of women is no life at all!!!"
These thoughts spread like pillars within his mind, supporting his soul. He gritted his teeth, his eyes shining with a very particular green hue. His body, with some broken bones, was forced to move.
"It's not enough, you know it, right? It's not enough, it's not enough, it's not enough..." the strange demon began murmuring quietly as another arm grew from his missing stump.
"What are you saying? Haha, a deserter talking nonsense..." Rias Gremory shook her head, moved her body, and her arms moved with agility as two red energy balls concentrated in her palms.
However, unlike before, this time the strange demon did something different; his body began to change, becoming thinner and more human very quickly.
"President! There's no time to lose!!" Akeno shouted, she and the others in the room felt a strange sense of danger and quickly went into battle stance.
"We must not let him transform..." Kiba again condensed several swords and began launching them at high speed toward the strange demon; however, as before, his swords seemed like drops of water hitting molten iron.
Meanwhile, Akeno mobilized her magic too, launching continuous lightning attacks that struck the strange demon's body. Koneko quickly positioned herself in front of Rias Gremory as a human shield.
Still, "Yayayaya!!" the strange demon let out a very particular sharp laugh. Those attacks barely caused any tickles on his body.
"Hmph..." Rias Gremory made a sound difficult to understand with her mouth before launching several spheres of destruction toward the strange demon.
This time, the strange demon did dodge, moving at great speed through the room, generating powerful wind waves that chilled the place below freezing point. He dodged Rias's attacks at great speed.
"Princess!!! You're finished!!!" the strange demon roared, his body took the shape of a bodybuilder, charging forward in a zigzag pattern, continuously dodging Rias Gremory's attacks and tanking those from Kiba and Akeno without problems.
A cold chill ran through Rias Gremory's heart as she saw the strange demon dodge at high speed; a small fear spread in her heart like a bomb and quickly settled to her bones.
Koneko gritted her teeth, a trail of blood was already dripping from the corner of her lips. She knew the strange demon surpassed her in strength, but she simply could not leave her boss unprotected, so she gritted her teeth and charged forward as well.
"It won't be enough..." Kiba murmured. He stopped throwing swords like a madman and rushed forward. He could still say his speed was faster than the strange demon's and could reach him before he got to Rias.
However, the strange demon smiled, watching with amusement as Koneko and Kiba hurried to stop his advance and protect Rias. "Taste my flavor!!!" The strange demon stopped abruptly, sending powerful gusts of cold air through the room, opened his mouth, and quickly released a green smoke that spread rapidly.
"What?" Rias Gremory squinted in confusion; the strange demon had faked an attack to get close and launch a strange ability. "Dodge now!!!" she shouted, moving as far away as possible from the green smoke.
Koneko quickly retreated and escaped the green smoke, Akeno did the same; however, Kiba had already rushed and couldn't easily change his trajectory. He closed his eyes and held his breath while fighting to stop his advance.
"You will die..." the strange demon murmured quietly. He raised his hand, closed his jaws, and moved at great speed toward Kiba. The handsome boy only watched with surprised eyes as the strange demon swung a pundh toward his face.
"I..." Kiba let out a sound of surprise, barely blinking, his eyes dilated and his body trembled. The palm came close at an almost impossible speed to dodge due to his prior approach and surprise.
"I'm dead, hahaha," Kiba thought. His eyes moved faster than the demon's to see Rias Gremory looking at him with a desperate face not far away, and he could only murmur a "Thank you" before the punch hit his head.
Impact
The strange demon's punch struck Kiba's head, exploding it like a watermelon falling from a building. Kiba's body was sent flying by inertia as the strange demon let out an audible laugh.
"Yayayayaya!!!! Strike One!!!" The strange demon's sharp and mocking voice echoed through the entire room. A feeling of dread, a mixture of fear, sadness, and rage, spread through the hearts of Akeno, Koneko, and Rias, overwhelming their souls.
"Kiba..." Rias murmured, her eyes wide, her body seeming unable to believe it. Something in her soul told her this shouldn't have happened. Something inside her said that this was wrong, just like with Issei. There was simply a strange sense of discomfort with everything that had been happening lately, as if this was not how things were supposed to be.
"Shit... Kiba is..." Akeno forced a small smile before breathing with some desperation, "He's dead..." she murmured as her body trembled.
Koneko squinted her eyes. Her fists felt especially weak in this situation, as if she had lost some will to fight, but she still maintained a combat stance.
"Bost!" A strange mechanical voice echoed nearby, catching everyone's attention. Then the girls turned to see it.
It was Issei. His badly injured body emerged from a small pile of rubble. Only his right leg seemed fine while his left leg was completely twisted with broken bones, the same with his left arm. Still, he stood with a determined look.
"I..." Issei murmured softly, observing the scene, looking at the girls of his dreams, the strange demon, and squinting his eyes.
"What is happening? Why do Akeno, Koneko, and Rias seem more...?" Issei didn't understand. Now that he observed those girls, they looked a bit, just a bit more human and less like goddesses.
"They're afraid too, they feel it, their bodies are trembling. Don't you get it yet?" Ddraig murmured inside Issei's mind, but the poor boy shook his head quickly.
"Oh? But it's the little boy who wet his pants when he saw me... hahaha, good to have you back on your feet," the strange demon let out a taunt.