Devil Ninja

Chapter 44

Rias fired off multiple bullet-shaped projectiles. The reddish-black Powers of Destruction didn't hit their target, Euclid, as he had already teleported away. They continued on before eventually running out of energy.

She clicked her tongue.

This battle had been going on for around fifteen minutes now, and while neither she nor Metatron were injured, Euclid was doing an excellent job of avoiding their attacks with his advanced teleportation skill. Neither of them knew how to deal with this ability. Rias didn't even know teleportation magic could be used like this!

As Euclid appeared several dozen meters from his previous location, he suddenly found himself teleporting again when six Metatrons appeared around him. Rias had seen Naruto use Shadow Clones enough times to recognize this ninjutsu. The Metatrons attacked all at once and rammed into each other instead of their target when Euclid teleported again, or so it seemed as first. The Metatrons were just plain clones. They passed right through each other and dispersed.

The real Metatron threw a light spear at Euclid as he reappeared. It was moving too fast for Euclid to dodge, so he raised his hands and created a barrier instead. There was a loud screech as the light spear struck the barrier and penetrated it. Cracks formed outward before the barrier shattered. However, the light spear had lost much of its power. It dispersed before it could hit its target.

"Take this!"

While Metatron's attack missed, Rias attacked Euclid from behind while he was still busy keeping the barrier erect. She sliced her hand down. A blade-like projectile of blackish red energy flew from her hand. It would have been enough to cut through even a high-class Devil's defenses, but Euclid seemed to have other plans.

"I'd rather not."

He removed an item from his pocket and crushed it. At that moment, a highly reflective mirror appeared behind Euclid. It took the attack Rias had sent, then reflected it back at her, forcing Rias to move quickly to avoid being reduced to cinders by her own attack. She narrowed her eyes as the object she recognized crumbled and vanished.

"That was Mirror Alice," she said. "It's a Sacred Gear that Tsubaki Shinra has possession of. It has the ability to reflect attacks and deal double the damage on the original attacker. How are you able to use it? Where did you get that Sacred Gear?!"

"Sadly, what I have is just a cheap imitation," Euclid stated. "I am something of an inventor, you see. Like Azazel, I can create Sacred Gears with a limited degree of success. Sadly, most of my inventions are a one-time use only. In order to create a true Sacred Gear, I would need to be in possession of the original Sacred Gear user. This particular one was something I made after watching that Tsubaki girl fight during the Rating Games held between the Three Factions Alliance."

Rias instantly felt wary of this man. The ability to create Sacred Gears was not unheard of as Azazel himself could do it, but she had assumed their faculty adviser was the only one who could. Now she had learned that there was another person with this ability. That put her on guard.

While Rias and Metatron were forced into something of a standoff with Euclid, the others were fighting against Grendel.

"You call that a punch! I didn't feel a thing!"

Grendel laughed in Issei's face as the boy slammed into him hard. Issei had taken on the incredibly durable and strong Welsh Dragonic Rook form, which bulked up his defense and physical strength. His attacks were powerful enough that he could break through even Sairoarg's defenses, but against this creature, it seemed like his attacks weren't doing anything.

Following his taunts, Grendel tried to smash Issei's face in with a powerful punch, but Issei raised his arms to block. The attack was still so strong that Issei was sent flying. Even so, the boy's armor didn't break, which Rias took as a good sign.