Y/N POV
I found the person I was looking for.
"Sairaorg, have security standby on high alert," I whispered to him. "Something drew Rias and Koneko outside. I don't know what, but I just felt a powerful surge coming from outside, and it was uncontrolled."
He looked at me seriously. "Is my cousin in danger?"
I shook my head. "I don't know, but I'm going to investigate. I assure you, if somebody has hurt her, they will not leave this place alive. Now remember what I said, keep an eye out."
Sairaorg nodded gravely. "I will."
Before I left, I also alerted Akeno and Sona. Akeno and the rest of the peerage wanted to come with me, but I told them to stay in case someone tried attacking the venue.
Now I stood before the forest, its darkness calling to me and making me even more worried. Something felt. . . off about this forest, but I couldn't place my finger on it.
*ptu*
*fzz*
I spat an ember into the forest. I didn't know what to expect, aside from a forest fire of course. But what happened next was totally out of the ordinary. The ember I spat never even got close to the woods. It bounced back some distance away from the trees. Almost like. . . it hit something.
I slowly stepped closer to the spot where my ember was deflected. I spat again and sure enough, it was deflected again.
Was it a barrier? Or a seal on the forest?
I put my hand out and reached towards the trees.
*toom*
My fingers touched something sturdy, yet flexible. I pushed my hand farther and the air around my hand began to bend, kind of like how bedsheets would bend inwards when you press your finger into a single point on them. I pulled back my hand and the air returned to normal.
Then I flicked it. A faint ripple spread outwards from where I pressed.
So it was a spatial barrier. What I saw distorting was not the air, but space itself.
Heh, no matter.
My dragon gauntlets manifested on my arms. Making my hands into claws, I pressed them into the barrier. There was a firm resistance, but for Emynth's power, it was negligible.
I closed my claws into fists and pulled in opposite directions, tearing open the barrier.
The space around my hands shook. It sent painful vibrations into my arms, making me want to pull away. But I persevered.
I pulled harder, and the tear became larger.
Finally, it was big enough for me to step through.
I didn't know if the barrier was self-repairing or not, so I quickly stepped through it and it into the woods. I looked back. The space looked normal. There was no way to even tell if it was still torn or if it was fixed. Space works in mysterious ways, I guess.
But I couldn't waste any more time pondering over the barrier. Koneko and Rias might be in trouble.
Two wings appeared on my back and propelled me into the forest.
Issei POV
For a moment I thought I died. Or maybe it was correct to say I almost did.
When everything went white, I felt a strange power try to eat away at my own existence. It was. . . insatiable. The power wanted to consume everything around it. But then, it stopped. Or rather, something stopped it.
The light faded away and I was shocked with what I saw.
I'd never seen anything like it, in person or on a screen. Koneko, still unconscious, was suspended midair, inside a big blue ball of violent energy. I felt the horrifying power firsthand, so I knew how dangerous it was, but Koneko was completely unaffected.
Even more strange was what was holding it all together.
A faint purple energy coated the blue ball of energy. It seemed to be coming from somewhere. I turned to see where it came from, and my jaw dropped.
It was Kuroka. She had both hands releasing a purple power similar to the one covering Koneko. She was the one containing Koneko and that energy. She saved me and Rias.
But why?
She must've seen the puzzled look on my face, because she began to speak. "I will not let my sister become a criminal again. If anyone is to take the fall in case Koneko kills her own master, I want the world to believe it was me. Koneko's power, I know it better than anyone. I alone can fix her problem without hurting anyone."
At this point, Koneko and the blue sphere of energy were completely encased in Kuroka's power.
"So if you want to live, let me have my sister," Kuroka said.
Under her control, Koneko gravitated towards her.
"Oh I don't think so," I said.
*PEW*
I fired off a Dragon Shot at her feet. It kicked up a lot of dirt into Kuroka's face. She lost focus and Koneko stopped moving towards her.
For a moment after I attacked, I panicked. What if when I interrupted Kuroka, the power containing Koneko and her power disappeared and wiped us out?
Luckily, that didn't happen, but the thought was scary.
Kuroka wiped the dirt off her face. "I really wish you wouldn't do that. Convincing Koneko to listen to me would be so much easier if she knew you were still alive."
"Why do you say that? Gonna kill me now?" I said.
She looked me in the eye. "Yes."
A blue energy sphere appeared in her hand and she shot it at me.
"Help me out here, Ddraig!" I said, raising my arms to shield my head.
The energy ball hit me in the stomach. "AH!" It hurt like a bitch, burned too. I looked down and saw that there was a burning hole in my shirt. The skin underneath was slightly charred.
And still, I did not hear the boost I was waiting for. The Boosted Gear's orb wasn't even glowing. What's going on here?
"Red Dragon Emperor! You are at an impasse!" I heard Tannin's booming voice.
"What do you mean?"
"The longer you've held onto the Boosted Gear, the more power you've accumulated. Your recent training has unlocked a new path, if you so choose to follow it. Now, do you want to power up or do you want to activate your Balance Breaker?"
"No way! You mean I can achieve it right now?" I exclaimed.
"Verily, but not without a powerful catalyst."
Suddenly a wooden pole struck Tannin's side. "Hey! Don't forget about me you overgrown lizard!"
"Hurry Red Dragon Emperor! You must make a choice!"
I didn't hear his voice after that. He must've returned to focusing on his fight with Bikou.
"Nyahaha! What's wrong? Little dragon can't get it up? Well it won't stop me!"
She sent a stream of small blue energy balls. I braced myself for impact again.
But the pain never came. I looked up and saw a faint red barrier in front of me. I looked behind me and saw Rias with her hand extended in my direction.
"President!"
She looked at me seriously. "Whatever it takes," she reminded me.
At first, I was confused. Then my eyes widened. I realized what she meant, and remembered what she said earlier.
I lowered my gaze to her chest. "Then. . . forgive me, President."
Rias smiled. "For Koneko's sake, there is nothing that needs to be forgiven."
She held up the barrier to protect us from Kuroka's onslaught.
Since Rias was propping herself up with her other arm, meaning she was still on the ground, I crouched in front of her. I looked down at her chest and then back up at her face. She still had that same smile and forgiving look in her eyes.
I hooked one of my fingers through the strap holding up the top of her dress.
I pulled them down.
And behold, before my eyes were--
Short Timeskip because Author-san is too uncomfortable with writing what is about to transpire.
This armor! This power! I've never felt so alive!
The armor felt almost weightless, perfectly flexible, and unhindered in any kind of motion I attempted. It wasn't at all a burden. Not only that, but every second I had the armor on, I could physically feel myself become more refined. Each movement flowed smoothly into the next; there were no wasted motions.
Just taking in a breath made me feel so much larger and stronger! Is this the power of a Balance Breaker? It's amazing!
So much better than the Scale Mail I wore in my first fight with Riser. Such a growth could be activated because I touched some tits? Nice!
I stood up and looked back at Kuroka. "You'd better give up while you still can. I don't want to hurt you; you're still Koneko's sister after all."
Kuroka sneered. "You think you can beat me just because you groped your woman and got some armor? I'll tear you apart like scrap metal before I take my sister away!"
She spread her hands and a purple trigram appeared behind her. Eight orbs also overlaid the trigram and spun in a circle, turning into a wheel of light. She pointed a finger at me, and the spinning magic balls shot towards me.
If it was before, I would've tried to avoid it or block it, but not anymore. Now, I felt confident, powerful, invincible. With this armor on, I think I could tank her attacks without a worry.
Her attack hit me square on the chest. I barely felt a push backwards. That was the difference Balance Breaker made.
The attack also kicked up a large cloud of dust, obscuring my line of sight to Kuroka, and hers to me.
I prepared myself for a follow-up attack, taking a stance.
But the whole time the dust cloud was there, there was no second attack.
And when the dust finally did clear up, and Kuroka saw that her attack had done nothing, she almost stepped back in shock. "Impossible!" she exclaimed.
"You'd better believe it," I sneered back. "Now it's my turn."
*tmp*
I kicked off the ground, leaving a shallow footprint, and arrived in front of Kuroka, my right fist ascending towards her chin mercilessly.
Not to be outdone, Kuroka showed off the experience she gained from acting with the Khaos Brigade. She flashed away right before my fist could drill into her chin, appearing up in the tree. The power of my fist sent a column of air upwards that shook a bunch of leaves off the tree.
"Here kitty kitty," I jeered. "Don't be scared."
An evil glint flashed across Kuroka's eyes. Her hands glowed and the next thing I knew, her claws were millimeters from eyes. Now I had faith in the Scale Mail, but I didn't want to take chances against someone of Kuroka's caliber. I let myself fall backwards before planting a hand on the ground and springing off of it to create some distance.
"You're not as stupid as you look. I'll give you that," Kuroka remarked.
"Believe me, it took some harsh words to get me this far," I responded, my mind drifting to a certain somebody.
"It doesn't matter. I refuse to believe I can't handle someone as worthless as you."
Another trigram and set of energy balls appeared behind her.
This trick again? It won't work twice, not that it worked the first time.
I raised my left hand and loosed eight Dragon Shots, meeting the magic Kuroka fired at me.
Our attacks canceled each other out again. "Forget it!" I said. "With me here, there's no way you're taking Koneko!"
'Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that, partner.'
What? Ddraig, what do you mean?
'You think maintaining the armor is easy? I admit kid, you sure as hell got potential, but it sure as hell ain't showing it now. I give it less than a minute before you lose my protection.'
What?! Why didn't you tell me this before! I can't last against Kuroka without the armor.
'Sorry kid, but it's the best I can do with your current power. Better end it quickly before you lose all the power.'
Fine, if you say so.
I took a deep breath and crouched low. Kuroka must've sensed the change in me because her face turned even more serious.
"I'm sorry, but I have to," was all I said.
We both disappeared from our spots at the same time and met midair, each having claws outstretched towards the other's neck. My red dragon claws, threatening to puncture the delicate white skin on her neck. Her cat claws, imbued with magic to pierce my armor and neck.
We looked each other in the eye, and I'm absolutely sure we saw the same desperate frenzy in each other.
"Stop," a voice that sent chills down my spine said.
All I felt was a strong, sudden gale and a draining cold that made me blank out for a moment.
When I came to, I was shocked. And so was Kuroka.
Ice had risen from the ground and suspended us midair. A column of ice covered and held each of our limbs. My armor was gone and the magic Kuroka prepared had been dispersed. And, we were frozen in the middle of our attack, so our arms were still outstretched and our hands were inches away from each others' neck.
As for the voice, there was only one person that could wield ice and scare me with just one word.
Y/n.
Y/N POV
Was I too late? Not at all? Or just on time? I couldn't tell you the answer.
But staring at that floating blue ball of magic and rampant power, I couldn't help but feel like I came up short.
I'm. . . disappointed. In myself. Not her. I could never be disappointed in her.
I'm a dense prick. I knew something was bothering her, but I was too fucking stupid to figure it out for myself. And I was too fucking stupid to ask anyone else for a hint.
I know I promised to give her space; I know I promised to stay out of her business for as long as she could handle it. But that doesn't mean I can't go to Rias and ask what's bothering Koneko. If anyone would know, Rias would, but I never went and asked. Even if it would go behind Koneko's back, it would at least appear to Koneko that I'm giving her the space I promised to give her, at least on the surface.
That way, I could've known what was going on. I could've known how bad it got. That way, she wouldn't be like this now.
I won't be so clueless in the future.
"Cat," I called to the black-robed woman. "Tell me, what is this?"
"It's 'Kuroka' to you. And you have no right to know what's going on, you man-whore. *ptu*" She spat at my feet and tried to break free of my ice. Her head whipping from side to side made that clear enough. But she couldn't get out. She wouldn't get out.
My eyes darkened. Am I playing around? She thinks I'm playing with her. Do I sound like some pissy-bitch pushover? Heh, she has the gall to insult me when Koneko's just about dying in front of me.
Unforgivable.
With a wave of my armored hand, the ice moved to bring Kuroka to me. It, or rather I, forced her into a kneeling position before me. I caressed her cheek, to which she responded by trying to bite me. In return I roughly grabbed her face, claws digging into both her cheeks, and made her look up at me.
"Tsk, such a beautiful face," I said with a pout. "It would be such a shame if--" and my claws dug deeper into her skin. "--it was ruined."
And swiping my hand away, four long bleeding gashes appeared on her cheek. They marred her fair skin and dyed the undamaged parts red with her own blood.
Kuroka was frozen. Whether it was because of fear, pain, or something else, I didn't care. I needed her to know I'm the one in charge.
Her head remained turned to the side, the four gashes in her face exposed to the forest air. Strands of hair clung the blood on her face. Every time she took a breath, she shivered. "Y-you. . . you. . . y-you. . ."
I grabbed her face again and forced her to look at me. She winced at every touch and motion. "Me? What about me? Do you realize it yet? You have no choice. You will not walk out of this forest alive without me. I am your only salvation. You will do what I say. Or you will die. Am I clear?"
Kuroka glared at me. Then she looked away without a word.
I tightened my hold on her face, threatening to scar her even more. "Am. I. Clear?"
She grit her teeth to the pain, but she opened her mouth to answer. "Ye--"
"KUROKA!!"
Somebody shouted and a mountainous pressure locked onto me. I looked up to see a familiar Chinese youth descending with an expanding staff aimed for my head. The chimp's child.
"Emynth," I uttered a single word.
"On it."
A sudden gale whipped through the forest, ripping leaves and branches off of trees. An elephant-sized dragon burst from the treeline and met the descending and expanding staff.
After I changed the terms of Emynth's possession, she was able to manifest her true form more easily in the real world and change her size at will. I had her hiding in the trees in case anything went wrong.
Emynth rotated and opened her mouth, and she caught the imitation Ruyi Jingu Bang between her jaws in midair, stopping Bikou's downward momentum and suspending him high above the forest.
"What's a dragon doing here?!" he cried out while holding onto his staff for dear life.
*fweeee*
I let go of Kuroka's face and whistled for Emynth to bring him down. She promptly shook the imitation Ruyi Jingu Bang until Bikou couldn't hold on any longer and unceremoniously landed on his face in front of me.
Before he could pick himself up I planted a foot on his head and forced him down.
"Ah ah ah, don't think I forgot about you, you Wukong wannabe," I said.
"That voice! It's you! The one Vali fought! What are you doing here? And let me go!" he demanded.
Make all the noise you want monkey, you're not going anywhere. And to prove that much, I twisted my foot back and forth, driving his head further into the ground. "Do you have the strength to make me?" I mocked him. "I believe you rebels understand the concept of 'might makes right' much more than anyone else. After all, it's how you run your groups, correct? So, I have you and your cat under the heel of my foot; her figuratively, you literally. That means I get to choose what I get to do with you. You understand this much, don't you monkey? So shut the fuck up before I rip off your jaw and shove it up your ass, got it?"
Bikou went rigid after the last threat, but nonetheless he nodded in agreement.
"Good monkey. Now, I want you to fuck off to whatever tree you fell out of, and you will fuck off alone. I'm taking Kuroka."
Those last words shocked him enough to give him a burst of strength to resist my foot. "Like Hell you will!"
It startled me, but only for a moment. No sooner had the words left his mouth when I forced his head back into the dirt. "Tsk tsk. That's no way to talk to your God. I hold your life in the palm of my hand and you think you can resist?" I laughed mockingly. "When I tell you to fuck off, you fuck off, got that?"
"*mmmfffmmffmfffmm*" came from the dirt.
I lifted my foot very very slightly.
"If I don't come back with Kuroka, Vali's going to make me his bitch until she's back. I'll be his dog!" Bikou protested.
Heh. The thought of this ape being that giant white leech's lapdog made me smile. I smiled at him. "Then I guess you better get used to being a bitch then."
I grabbed Kuroka by the neck and let the ice holding her disappear. Then I took my foot of Bikou's head and gave him some space.
Bikou picked himself up and dusted his clothes off. In the sky, Emynth let go of his staff. Bikou caught it as it fell. He glared at me but his anger faded away at the sight of Kuroka hanging in my grasp without a hint of resistance.
He grit his teeth and I saw his grip tighten on his staff, but he didn't press any further.
"You'll regret this," he told me. Such a cliché line.
He disappeared into the forest without a sound.
I looked at Kuroka. "You will fix her for me. Or you will die."
She didn't say anything.
I set her down next to Koneko's stasis ball, and then set up two barriers of fire and ice around her and Koneko.
"You will stay here until the gathering ends. At that time, I will return and move you to a secure location where you will continue to figure out how to fix this," I told Kuroka. "No one will find you, I've made sure of it. And you also can't get out, so you better get your brain wracking on how you're going to fix this."
"Vali's not going to take this lightly," Kuroka responded.
I chuckled. "It doesn't matter what Vali thinks. I'm here and he's not. Naturally, I'll return you once Koneko is okay, I'll promise you that much. So get to it."
I left her alone after that and returned to Rias and Issei.
The ice covering Issei had melted a while ago and he'd returned to Rias since then. They both sat frozen on the ground with their jaws just about touching the ground.
Glancing towards Rias I saw the top of her dress haphazardly covering her breasts, like it was hastily put back on. I knew what happened. Emynth went ahead of me and reported everything before I arrived on scene. If it was any other time, I would've voiced my disapproval of their methods, and I would've been especially harsh on Issei.
However.
Their methods did prevent Kuroka from taking Koneko away.
And for that, I am grateful.
So. . . not this time.
I patted Issei's shoulder. "Good work. Consider us even."
Then to Rias: "I wish you would've told me. I understand why you didn't, but for her sake, shouldn't you be trying every way to help her? . . .You know what? Forget it, it's too late now. I won't hold it against you. But next time, I want to be able to help her, okay?"
Rias nodded.
"And, thank you. I mean it," I added.
I helped them stand up and clean up the dirt on their clothes. I looked back at Kuroka, who simply stared at Koneko in her stasis.
I shook my head. There was no use worrying when the situation was out of my grasp. The only thing left to do was hope Kuroka worked her magic.
Taking my gaze off her, I said to Rias and Issei. "C'mon, let's get back. Everyone's probably worrying about us."
"But what about Koneko?" Rias and Issei said at almost the same time.
"There's nothing we can do now," I said with a sad look. "We can only leave it up to the only expert in the vicinity to figure it out. Besides, Koneko won't be the only one who will need help."
"What do you mean by that?" Rias asked.
*BOOOOOM*
As if on queue, a humongous explosion rocked the forest. It came from the direction of the venue. Rias and Issei whipped their heads in the direction of the explosion. I merely sighed.
"I feared this would happen," I said.
Issei looked at me with pleading eyes. "What is it, Y/n? What's going on?"
I took a deep breath before answering. "The Devils are under attack. If I'm not mistaken, the attackers should be in cohorts with our black cat here."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Rias and Issei left in a flash, dashing back to the venue as fast as they could. That left me with Koneko and Kuroka.
Without looking at her. I reminded Kuroka of the stakes. "She dies, you die. I die, you die. You better hope your friends aren't strong enough. At the same time, you better pray you figure this out quickly. Don't forget who controls your life now."
And without waiting for a response, I too disappeared into the forest to head back to the Youth Devil Gathering.
To be continued. . .