"Huh?" Riser noticed Issei's movement, slightly turned his head in his direction, and watched the boy running toward him. A mocking smile appeared on his face as he shook his head.
"You're running toward me? That means you want to save her, hahaha," Riser couldn't help but cross his arms, grinning arrogantly as he spoke, "Why don't you just give up already?!"
"Tsk..." Not far away, Rias let out a soft murmur. She watched with pain and concern as Riser spread his wings and began charging toward Issei.
Then her eyes quickly shifted to the poor boy. She bit her lip as memories of their training over the past weeks resurfaced. She couldn't help but sit on the ground, her full attention now on Issei, "Is he going to use it?" she whispered to herself.
"This is your chance, boy, the enemy is here, he's knocked on your door, you need to use it..." Ddraig spoke with enthusiasm inside Issei's mind, the poor boy quickly began to focus.
"This is gonna hurt, haha," Issei couldn't help but chuckle lightly, he let out a slight grunt as the only chakra node in his stomach opened forcefully, flooding his entire body with a massive surge of freshly released chakra.
Issei's skin began to change, turning a slightly reddish tone. A powerful energy started enveloping him and glowing faintly green, his pupils dilated as his body began to feel much stronger.
"That strange energy in his body is starting to change," Lord Gremory said from his viewing box, he glanced over at Sirzechs and Grayfia, hoping for some sort of explanation, but those two seemed just as confused as he was.
"We've actually never seen him use that strange technique before, it's probably some kind of new move or something," Sirzechs shook his head, "However, the strange energy in his body has more than doubled, and it's still increasing..." he added with a quiet smile, focusing his gaze on Issei.
On the battlefield, Riser started to notice something strange about the poor boy, "Huh? Is that some kind of... ability?" he asked himself while accelerating. However, something deep in his gut told him he should dodge and keep his distance from Issei for now.
The air around Issei began to heat up, veins slightly bulged from his forehead, and his reddish skin started to look terrifying, "Eight Inner Gates, First Gate... Open," he murmured before letting out a strong growl.
Issei stomped hard, his chakra had tripled, and his base body had undergone a substantial boost, just by stepping on the ground, the floor beneath him cracked.
Shockwave
Issei created a small shockwave as he stomped and leapt forward, he pulled back his right arm, full of rage, and thrust it forward.
"What?" Riser struggled to stop himself, Issei's speed had increased way too fast in such a short time. But due to the boy's speed, he reached Riser's position in just a blink.
"I..." Riser opened his eyes wide in shock, his body flooded with a strange feeling as countless thoughts raced through his mind. He could only watch, eyes wide open, as Issei's fist, covered by Ddraig's gauntlet, closed in just centimeters from his face.
The Coliseum went silent again. The announcer didn't speak. Lord Phenex stood up in his booth, Ravel was speechless, while in other boxes, Lord Bael let out a soft chuckle, and Lord Sitri seemed rather calm.
"What technique did that boy just use?" Lord Sitri asked young Sona Sitri, who wasn't far from him. But she shook her head, adjusted her glasses, and opened her mouth.
"I don't know, Lord Uchiha visited them before their training a few weeks ago, I suppose we could ask him," Sona said sincerely.
Lord Sitri calmly stroked his beard, thinking of several possibilities.
Back on the battlefield, Issei's fist covered in Ddraig's gauntlet slammed into Riser's face with force.
Impact
The sound of flesh smashing against metal at high speed echoed through the coliseum. Powerful shockwaves of wind spread through the entire area as Issei's fist practically shattered Riser's head.
"Shit!!" Issei cursed as pain spread throughout his body. He stomped the ground hard, creating more cracks and another shockwave as he stopped his momentum.
"There's no way you're going down just from that, Right?" Issei growled, grabbing Riser's body with his left hand and beginning to pummel him with his right.
Punch
Punch
Punch
Issei pinned Riser's body to the ground, using his right arm to repeatedly strike the demon, producing thunderous sounds. The ground beneath them started to form a crater with each blow.
"I..." Rias watched in astonishment, she hadn't imagined that the forbidden technique Itachi had given them, and that only Issei had been able to learn, would be this powerful.
She had seen the technique before during training, when Akeno was overpowering Issei. The poor boy, at that moment, had partially activated the first of the Eight Inner Gates. As a result, his physical power doubled, and with one quick move, he nearly crushed Akeno's head.
"It's incredible," Rias whispered as she smiled. After all, Issei was the most important piece she had ever recruited in her life, and seeing him grow naturally filled her with pride.
It wasn't until a few seconds later that Riser's body vanished from the battlefield, and the audience began to react.
"Ahh... I..." the announcer stammered, the sudden turn of events had caught him completely off guard.
"Th-The Rias Gremory team wins the Rating Game!!" the announcer said in disbelief. Then he shook his head, quickly regained his composure, and spoke again with excitement, "The Rias Gremory team wins the Rating Game!!"
The mid and high-ranking demons in the coliseum stood up, applauding and shouting in euphoria.
"Looks like you were right, Sirzechs," Lord Gremory said from his box, he looked back at his son... the most powerful and important Demon King in the Underworld. He couldn't say anything to the boy who had just achieved something even he couldn't have dreamed of.
"Rias is a good girl, Right?" Sirzechs said with a smile.
...
"Send someone to check on Riser immediately!!" Lord Phenex shouted from his box. However, seeing how those around him were still stunned by the outcome, he growled in anger, "Are you hearing me?!!" He stomped in rage, finally snapping several high-ranking servants out of it.
"Yes, Lord Phenex!!" The high-ranking servants nodded before vanishing, leaving a small flame behind them.
Ravel took a few steps forward, focusing her gaze on Lord Uchiha's box, she narrowed her eyes and made a slight grimace.
"Lord Uchiha is probably the one who taught those strange techniques to that boy Issei," Ravel's words caught Lord Phenex's attention.
Advance chapters on Patreon: [email protected]/phantasm_