As the three warriors gazed at one another, ready to engage in combat, a voice sounded from the heavens.
"Hear me, warriors in the arena. I am the referee for this match, Grayfia Lucifuge. Upon my say so, this match will both start and end. If I say the match is over, it is over. Any fighting beyond that will be strictly punished.
Do you understand?" The powerful feminine voice rained down from the heavens.
"Understood."
"Understood."
"Understood."
All three combatants confirmed their understanding of the battle rules.
"Good. Now, without further a due, let the match BEGIN!!!" She commanded and instantly, the two Phenex clan members shot towards Issei.
Motoyasu summoned a three bladed spear with two curvy blades on both sides. It was black with a red jewel at its center and radiated a massive amount of power!
"Come forth, Meteorite Spear!" He called forth its name and immediately it shrouded him in a red cloak of fire.
Meanwhile Riser charged his Hell fire. Shrouding himself in a cloak of fire as both his strength and speed rose significantly." Hell fire: Flame Armor!"
With both having activated their techniques, Issei decided to do the same.' Ddraig, how much of my power due I have access to?' He quickly inquired.
Knowing he was dealing with opponents higher levelled than himself, meant he had to know to what extent he was able to push himself. And Ddraig was swift to give him an answer."All the cultivated power you currently posses are safe to use. The seal will only be affected if you try to draw from your innate power." Ddraig replied.
Issei smirked at his partner's words.' That's all I needed to hear.' He raised his shield in response to his approaching adversaries and charged the power within the mighty weapon.
"You're dead!" Riser cried out and shot forth a fist of fire.
"You lose!" Motoyasu added, striking with his spear.
As both attacks descended on Issei, the man in question raised his shield and cried out." Come!" As the two attacks met their target, a flash of green light obscured the view of all onlookers. Upon fading, everyone stared surprised at the figures of Motoyasu and Riser, previously clad in cloaks of fire, now standing without a trace of that power to be found!
In contrast with them, Issei was shimmering in a red and gold light. He smirked at his adversaries' confused expressions, delighting himself at their sudden disadvantage." Light Eraser Shield: Light Consumption!" Upon speaking these words, did the last shimmer of fire magic wielded by his adversaries get sucked into the emerald jewel of the now golden shield.
"Holy Art: Enhance! Release!" The golden shield started shimmering as the holy enhancement took affect.
'Holy power...!?'
'Bastard! Don't tell me he's gonna...'
Seeing the shield's shine brighten, both Riser and Motoyasu realized what was about to occur and cursed internally. They attempted to escape from there, but Issei had already released the power absorbed by the shield.
WHOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!
A golden wave of energy shot from the shield and consumed the two adversaries in its torrent. Despite both jumping out of the way, attempting to escape the reach of the wave, they found themselves unable to escape its grasp entirely and suffered terribly under the influence of the Holy power.
Burning flesh and searing wounds. Scorched clothing hissed as smoke rose from the fabrics. Riser was screaming in pain. Having had most of his left side burned and paralyzed by the attack. Motoyasu was in a similar state. But having had his spear to dull the full force of the attack left him in a fairly better condition than Riser. He in turn clenched his teeth as he glared up at his opponent. The burning pain of holy exposure only added to his anger and humiliation.
'Almost..taken out...by our own attack!.....How humiliating!' Motoyasu thought as he struggled to catch his breath from the damage he had taken.
To the onlookers it was clearly evident that both the Phenex clan members had taken severe damage in that last attack. But would it be enough to take them out?
As both Riser and Motoyasu stood to face their opponent, Issei couldn't help but smirk. Motoyasu on the otherhand scoffed." Don't go acting tough because you managed to land a blow. What's even more pathetic is you taking pride in an attack not of your own power!" He shouted in outrage.
Despite Motoyasu's cry of outrage, Issei didn't say a word. Although, the slight upward twitch of his smirk made his amusement clearly evident. Nevertheless he was even more amused by Motoyasu's following words.
"You are just a level 40. Don't dare assume you are a match for a level 75 and a level 89!"
Issei chuckled at this." Well then, let me show you what a level 40 can do." His shimmering eyes carried his deviance while his toothy grin, rebuked Motoyasu's sneer.
Seeing this, Motoyasu raised his spear once more, proceeding to channel his innate power. The spear transformed once more. This time taking on the appearance of a silver, single bladed spear. Thunder appeared to crackle along the edge of the blade as an aura of shimmering gold shrouded the spear.
Riser, who was still struggling to overcome the pain brought about by the holy power, became engulfed in fire. Fire condensed in his hand to form a sword. As he narrowed his gaze at Issei, he took a stance with his sword of fire pointing at his adversary." Riser will not allow such an insignificant peasant to bring ruin to his day of glory!!" He declared and charged at Issei.
A flash of gold and yellow crossed the battlefield and rained down on Issei.
"Demon Shield: Rat!"
[Skill: Accelerate]
[Activated!]
Issei's shield transformed into the familiar shield bearing fhe appearanceof a rat's head. The rat held the jewel of the shield in its mouth while its eyes carried the same emerald green light as the jewel.
Upon activation, Issei felt his heart rate spike. His thought processing accelerated along with his sense of awareness. Making the world appear in slow motion. His adversaries, no more than a few feet from him, appeared to slow down significantly.
Sword and spear descended on Issei, threatening to tear him apart. Yet as the two objects were about to meet their target, Issei, in the blink of an eye, dodged both sword and spear strikes simultaneously!
Both Motoyasu and Riser's eyes widened.
'How did he..!?'
'Impossible!'
Issei smirked at their shock. Knowing the answer to their unasked question.
[Dodge LV40(Capped)]
Yet, the two did not relent. Back to back they attacked Issei with their weapons...to no avail.
~♡~
The audience looked on in utter shock as both Riser and Motoyasu continued to attack, yet failed to land a single blow on their adversary. Sadly their shock wasn't perceived in awe of Issei. Rather...
"How shameful. Is he going to run throughout the entire battle?"
"What did you expect? He is the shield hero after all. Running is all he can do."
"Indeed. That first attack was nothing more than a fluke. Making use of his enemies attacks since his own are to weak. He got lucky."
They criticized and ridiculed Issei. Not sparring a moment to insult the Cardinal hero they believed to be the weakest.
"Don't fool yourselves." An elegant voice silenced the crowd before they could continue their ridicule.
Turning to the source of the voice, everyone became shocked. It was lady Ravel herself. And she appeared to be annoyed.
Turning to the group of people, she shook her head." They are two of the Phenex clan's strongest yet they can't even land a single blow on a human? That, in and of itself, is disgraceful. And to think one of them is my supposed husband. How disappointing." She concluded.
Everyone seemed surprised at her comment, yet no one dared to speak against her. Everyone could tell she was frustrated at the current course of events. Considering she was the one who'd have to pay should her brother and fiance loose this battle.
But not everyone was worrying about Ravel. The Gremory peerage, especially, was hoping Issei would win this fight regardless of the consequences since their fates also hung in the balance. As they watched on with great anticipation, they found themselves rooting for Issei within their hearts.
At the far end of the hall, Eto and Rimuru stood, watching their master in battle. Each of the two could feel their master's excitement through their link with him. And it in turn made them excited for this battle.
"It won't be long now."
"Indeed. Master is only getting started." The two spoke amongst themselves as they viewed the screen portraying the fight.
~♡~
Back in the arena, Riser had taken to the skies, resorting to long distance combat as he rained down dozens of fire attacks at his adversary.
Meanwhile Motoyasu kept Issei engaged with a barrage of spear strikes, none of which dealt a blow since Issei parried the attacks rapidly.
[Parry LV40(Capped)]
Thoughg despite his frustration, Motoyasu only wished to prevent Issei from taking action against the fast approaching fire. And thus saw this as an opportunity.
Even as the barrage of fire was about to scorch them alive, Motoyasu did not retreat. Instead, his spear transformed into a fiery red spear, exuding the golden aura of Hell fire.
'He is willing to sacrifice himself? No, it's not that...' Issei thought as he gazed down at the spear his adversay held.
'With the Hell fire spear I can't be damaged by fire and will be able to negate the affects of lord Riser's attacks while still attacking him!' Motoyasu thought to himself and smirked. Thinking to end Issei once and for all, trusted his spear forward, releasing a wave of Hell fire at point blank.
'These fools never learn, do they?' Issei thought to himself. There was no time for him to cast a spell. Nor was there time to summon the Light Eraser Shield.
But luckily for him, he didn't have to.
"As source of thy power I order thee. Decipher the laws of the Mystic and protect my target from harm: Barrier!"
[Barrier LV40(Capped)]
"As source of thy power I order thee. Decipher the laws of the Mystic and unite the protectors to form an impenetrable wall: Union Barrier!"
[Union Barrier LV40(Capped)]
The fire attacks struck their mark and destroyed half the arena in the process.
"We got him!"
"Certainly that attack killed him. Serves him right for interrupting Riser's wedding!"
Both Riser and Motoyasu looked on in excitement to see their opponent dead. Or to hear the voice of the referee announcing their victory.
Yet neither happened.
As the dust began to settle, within a crater, a cracked dome like structure became visible to all the onlookers. And in it, Issei stood unfazed.
"Impossible! There was no time to cast a spell, much less a barrier strong enough to withstand all our attacks!" Motoyasu cried in disbelieve.
Riser sneered as he gazed down at Issei." What did you do?" He questioned, to which Issei smirked.
"Let me give you a bit of advice Riser..." Issei's voice sounded, but not from within the barrier.
As both Motoyasu and Riser turned to the sudden presence behind them, they became shocked to see a copy of Issei stand in the corner of the arena.
"When facing multiple foes..." again, the same voice was heard, but from the opposite corner of the arena.
"Always make sure..."
"To have the numbers advantage!"
To their horror, four copies of Issei stood in each of the arena's corners.
Seeing this, they understood.
"Bastard! You had clones cast the barrier since you could not!" Riser declared.
[Clones LV40(Capped)]
Issei thought back to how tens of barriers appeared around him before fusing into a single barrier.' If anything, I should thank my foresight. Luckily I had clones reside in my shadow. Having them move to the shadows at the edge of the arena to assist me was probably the best choice I ever made.'
Looking to his clones, Issei nodded in thanks, to which they smiled before dispelling themselves. The remnant of their leftover mana returned to Issei, and along with it, their last thoughts of motivation to their creator.
'Go get'em boss!'
'Spank that spear bastards ass!'
'Roast that chicken!'
'If you want to thank us, get us some KFC!'
Issei chuckled at his clones' antics. Thinking to himself how great this technique is to grant each of his clones their own unique personality.
The barrier could not be maintained any longer and proceeded to collapse. Issei reaffirmed his choice as he watched it break down.
"That could have been me..." He spoke in amusement. Once more feeling a rush of gratitude for his clones.
"Partner, maybe it is time to get serious and stop fooling around." Ddraig's voice sounded in his head.
Sighing, Issei looked up at his adversaries before narrowing his eyes." So be it."
Calling upon his Light Eraser Shield, he quickly used the [Light Rejuvenation] skill to restore all of his energy before turning back to his adversaries. They could feel something regarding Issei has changed as they gazed into his eyes. Something instinctive within them became apprehensive at Issei's new demeanor.
Now, unlike before, they waited for Issei to make the first move.
Big mistake!
'Mana!'
Issei began to channel all of his cultivated mana throughout his body. Making his eyes become emerald green from the mana flow.
[Mana manipulation LV40(Capped)]
'Ki!'
A surge of power spread through him as his body began to emit energy, causing lightning sparks to manifest all over his body. His muscles bulged at the surge of strength. His hair raised up and became spikey as it defied gravity. His eyes began to emit a greenish blue light.
[Ki manipulation LV38]
'And finally, Aura!'
Feeling the power that radiated from his very being. Carrying the essence of who he is as a Human, a Dragon and a Cardinal Hero. Issei began retaining this power, drawing it back into himself and preventing it from escaping. It condensed forming a visible cloak of golden energy around his body. His gravity defying hair turned golden as the aura condensed around it.
The dragonic attributes in his aura caused his skin to turn scaly, his nails elongated and his teeth sharpened. His pupils became sharp like a reptile's while his sense of awareness increased exponentially.
[Aura manipulation LV30]
Gazing at this new form, Motoyasu and Riser became extremely cautious. Sensing the sheer power condensed in that single form was enough to make even the two Phenexes weary.
Issei continued to channel the power within himself, until it reached its peak. The earth around him tremored and split open as it continued to be exposed to such raw power.
Feeling this new transformation stabilize, Issei turned to face his adversaries. Gazing up at them once more, he smirked.
"Now it's my turn!" His mighty voice sounded across the arena and permeated through space and into the Hall where everyone looked on baffled at the power showcased by this man.
Any confidence the two adversaries had, soon left them as they began to feel an ominous premonition. The two Phenexes were just as baffled as the audience, wondering where this sudden power came from.
But even in the midst of this uncertainty, they could feel it. A pressure...no...a presence unlike any other. To the audience, he appeared as a man. But to the ones facing him, Issei appeared as an entirely different being.
The ghostly visage of a beastly creature appeared behind Issei and was clearly visible to the two adversaries that faced him. At first they stood bewildered, wondering what manner of beast it was. Until it opened its eyes and revealed emerald green fire!
Finally they understood. They were never facing a man. This...creature standing before them, like the embodiment of power, could never be a mere man!
Suddenly, they felt the fear. Suddenly they felt the overwhelming pressure brought about by uncertainty. And as they stood before him, they felt like two birds before a dragon.