Volume 5 Chapter 272 - Going Home
The young man in an ancient Chinese armor appeared from a teleportation magic circle and moved in between Issei and Vali, "Vali! I'm here to get you!"
Vali stopped chanting his Juggernaut Overdrive and looked towards the young man, "Bikou? But why?"
"We're smacked-dab in the middle of a fight with the Earth Gods. You gotta come and help." Bikou replied and looked around, "So Katerea failed here? That means your job is done too."
Vali is still unsatisfied but he knew the importance of their fight with the Earth Gods, "Haah… Right. Time to go then."
"…Who is that guy?" Issei asked Azazel.
"Descendant of the victorious fight Buddha. You probably know him as that damn infamous monkey from the Journey of the West, Sun Wukong."
"S-Sun Wukong!? The Monkey King is actually real!?"
"Well, He's actually just a monkey spirit who inherited Sun Wukong's power."
Bikou looked at Azazel and snickered, "My ancestor might have achieved Buddhahood but I'm just a free spirit. On that note…" Bikou raised his stick and tapped one end of it on the ground, instantly creating a magic circle below him and Vali.
Issei didn't want to let go of his enemy, "Wait! You won't get away!" But just as he took his step forward, his Scalemail disappeared signifying the end of his Balance Breaker, "W-what…?"
"That's what you get for loosing such explosive power in an instant. This is your limit for now." Azazel spoke behind Issei.
"Our next fight will be even more brutal. So let's both get both stronger before then." After saying such, Vali and Bikou teleported away.
After they disappeared, Issei wobbled but Rias was able to catch him in time, "Issei!"
While his head lying on her bosom, he muttered, "What a relief…"
"Hmm…?"
"Your boobs are untouched… Buchou…"
Seeing his injuries from the fight that was too much for him, Rias only smiled gently on his remarks as she hugs him close, "…Dummy."
"Issei! Buchou!" Asia and the rest of the Gremory Peerage came running in to check on their state.
Azazel left them alone and turned towards the other leaders, "I take it that the rest of the magicians were out of commission?"
"Yep~. We've taken out the rest of the trash~!" Serafall replied while hugging Sona.
Sirzechs also approached them, "So Vali betrayed you?"
Azazel closed his eyes in contemplation, "He's always been after nothing but power. It's my fault that I didn't catch on sooner."
"For now, let's discuss peace terms and counter-strategies against this 'Khaos Brigade.' Michael is worried ever since Azazel told them that Khaos Brigade is people who came from the Three Great Factions, 'If that is true… Then we might have a traitor in our midst. Someone probably found a loophole in the system so they could avoid 'Falling.' I have to smoke them out somehow… But how should I do that?'
"Then you do that first. I'll go make a trip to Valhalla and explain what happens. Pissing off Odin is the last thing we want. I'll take care of Mount Sumeru too." Azazel revealed his plans before turning his attention to Kisuke and Yoruichi, "About the things you want…"
Kisuke raised his hands up and stopped him from continuing, "No need to rush. I know that you're busy after what just happened. We can discuss my terms tomorrow." He then faced everyone, "Since I have nothing else to do here, we would like to take our leave so we wouldn't have to disturb your work. Good night everyone~!" After bidding his farewell, Kisuke and Yoruichi turned around to leave.
"Wait! Ki-tan~!"
"Hmm? What is it, Serafall-sama?"
Serafall approached Kisuke with Sona in tow, "Take Sona-chan with you. You can discuss your terms with her and she can send it to us tonight so that we can process it immediately. By tomorrow morning, there shouldn't be any eyes on you from the Three Factions."
"That would be great~. Is that fine with you, Sona-kaichou?"
Sona fixed her glasses while looking all serious, "Of course."
"That settles it then~!" Serafall gave Sona some final reminders before turning around to do her work.
"Do you want me to come with you, Kaichou?" Tsubaki, who has been listening to them asked Sona.
"No, I'll be fine by myself. You should help out with the restoration of the school as it's going to be some work." Sona then glanced at Yoruichi, "Especially that big hole with an unknown depth."
Yoruichi just shrugged her shoulders when she heard of this.
"Got it, Kaichou." Turning her attention to Kisuke, Tsubaki bowed before continuing, "Please take care of Kaichou, Urahara-san."
Kisuke smiled and responded, "I will."
Sona's serious facade almost broke but she was able to hold onto it, though she could stop herself from blushing.
"Thank you." Tsubaki left them and went to her work.
"Ah… Before I forgot…" Kisuke suddenly remembered something and called his childhood friend "Issei!"
Issei, who has been talking to Michael regarding Xenovia, Asia, and Yuuto, looked at Kisuke in confusion and approached him, "What is it? It better be not something nasty."
"Oh my~. Just what do you think am I?"
Issei chooses not to answer, not because he didn't want to hurt his feelings, but because it'll only be his loss if he did so.
"Well, whatever… Follow me for a minute."
Issei is wondering what he's about to do but instead of asking, he followed him silently.
After separating from everyone, Kisuke put up a silencing barrier and an illusion barrier around them to prevent eavesdropping. After checking that everything is working correctly, he faced Issei, "Issei… Are you satisfied with what happened?"
Although Kisuke worded it vaguely, Issei instantly understood that he's referring to his battle with Vali. Clenching his fist, Issei answered, "…No. Far from it… If not for Azazel and everyone present, I might have really lost my parents."
Kisuke knew the frustration he had when he was threatened by Vali and knew that his real motivation when Vali used 'Half Dimension' is Kuoh Town might get destroyed and hurt his parents. So he asked, "Why do you think you're weak?"
"…It's because prior to this, I'm just a normal human… Just like what that bastard said."
"Do you want to get stronger?"
"…Are you trying to say that I should leave my humanity behind?… Well, that's fine too. How?"
"You just have to follow what's written on this notebook~." Kisuke took out a notebook with a pale green cover. Written on it is 'Issei's Suicidal Training Method' along with a skull and bone mark.
Issei shuddered and his mouth twitches when he saw the cover. Nevertheless, the frustration he felt back then will still compel him to do whatever written in the notebook, "And? What's the catch?" As his childhood friend, he knew Kisuke wouldn't just give away things just for the heck of it.
"Nothing much." Kisuke smiling face disappeared and was replaced by a serious expression that Issei rarely sees, "If by any chance that I wouldn't be around… I'll leave the safety of some people to you… That's all."
"…I see…" Issei could tell that Kisuke is warning him about something and took it to his heart, "I understand. But let me tell you this first. Even without this, if it's within my capabilities, I'll also protect those who are important to you."
Kisuke's smiling face returned, "One more thing. Ddraig-san, you around?"
"You do know that I'm always around Issei, right?" Ddraig answered when he was called.
Kisuke didn't say anything further and took out a black pill oozing out with black smoke from his inventory.
Seeing this, Ddraig immediately reacted, "Ophis' power! How did you get hold of that!? And what's this? Something else is mixed in here…"
The black pill's true identity is the black snake that consumed Medusa's corrupted Divinity, "I want you to absorb this."
"Are you insane!? Absorbing the white bastard's power almost put him to death! And now you're asking him to absorb something even more volatile!?"
Issei stared at the black pill before reaching out for it. Witnessing his actions, Ddraig sighed in resignation, "Are you sure about this, partner? Even with your stupidly strong will, you won't be able to contain this thing! And the primary reason is that your body is not capable of taking something like this!"
Issei still ignored Ddraig, "Do I just fuse with it?"
"Yep~. And after you wake up, start practicing what's written in the notebook. Hey Ddraig-san, take this notebook within the Boosted Gear. Remember that it's only for Issei's eyes."
"…I'm not a storage device."
"You still haven't discovered this notebook's gimmick?"
Ddraig took a closer look at the notebook, "What wrong wi--!? Wait! Is this soul matter!? How!?"
"Stop with the questions. Just take it!"
"Guhh…" The poor legendary dragon of the past couldn't understand what's common sense anymore. Without much choice, Ddraig took the soul matter inside of the Boosted Gear for storage.
Issei fused with the black pill and he felt pain so extreme that absorbing Vali's powers seems to just an ant bite. What's worse is that he couldn't shut down his consciousness and be hit by all the pain it brought.
Kisuke used his own powers to assist him for a bit and mask Ophis' power from Issei. After that, he took down the barrier he put up.
Issei's shouts of pain and his writhing on the ground immediately caught everyone's attention.
"Issei!!!" Rias immediately ran towards him and noticed that his screams are getting worse as time passes by. Black veins also started to appear all over his body, painting creepy lines on Issei.
"You bastard! What did you do!?" With where lover on the verge of death, Rias glared and accused Kisuke.
Everyone also approached the commotion and Kisuke immediately got glares from three of the four leaders plus the maid. If he isn't able to explain or revert Issei back to normal, they will force him to do so.
Kisuke ignored their pressure and just spoke, "Ddraig-san, I'll leave Issei to you."
"You crazy bastard… You're worse than a Devil offering something like that to Issei." Ddraig replied and he made sure that he's heard by everyone and it shocks all of them as this is the first time for most of them to hear the voice of the actual Red Dragon Emperor.
"Really now, you overestimate me. I just gave him something suitable and it's up to him whether he could take it… Shouldn't you have stopped him before accepting it?"
"…" Ddraig stayed silent for a while before sighing, "Haah… Whatever… This is his choice and it might prove interesting where this will take him… Thank you." Ddraig chooses to express his gratitude to Kisuke for opening a new path for Issei.
"You're welcome~. But it's still up to him if he could stay alive. Make sure to watch over his life closely." Kisuke then turned around and walked back to Sona and Yoruichi, still ignoring the dumbfounded expression everyone is making, "Let's go home~!"
Yoruichi yawned and nodded. She then transformed back to her cat form and jumped in Kisuke's arms to take some rest. Sona is also dumbfounded at what just happened, but understanding that Issei choose this himself from their conversation, she immediately recovered and followed the leading duo. She's the first one to recover since she's already used to all the surprising things that Kisuke always pulls out from who knows where.
The rest only recovered when the trio left their sights and they choose to attend to the still screaming Issei.
Serafall, Irina, Akeno, and Tsubaki continued to look at the direction they disappeared with differing thoughts and plans for the future.
Little they did know, it'll be the last time they would be seeing the three of them for a long… long while, effectively changing their lives.
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