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Chapter 67: The Perfect Red Dragon Emperor (I)
🕑 Added 2024-09-21 11:08:33 +0000 UTC10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14
Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x
500 Power Stones = Extra Chapter
AN: I won't be using the fancy text for Balance Breakers anymore since it's a headache to configure each time. (Inkstone deadass annoys tf outta me sometimes) No changes other than that.
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"And that's about the jist of it," Takauji explained what had been discussed between himself, Serafall, and Yasaka to both Raynare and Sayafushi upon waking up the next morning.
Yasaka had also prepared a new outfit as a going away present, consisting of a black haori with a white kimono and black undershirt beneath, tied together with a black belt, white pants, and black sandals.
"Ehhhh? You're leaving again already?" Raynare pouted. "You were barely here for over a week though, what's with the rush?"
"That's not right Master! You're supposed to take me with you!" Sayafushi had a similar expression.
"One at a time please," he grumbled, first looking towards Raynare. "I've already started to tire of the Khaos Brigade's insistent buzzing, so of course I'm going to take the opportunity to get rid of them once and for all. Think about it, would you rather I make one back and forth trip, or put up with constant one's again and again?"
Her shoulders slumped, knowing that Takauji had a point but still not eager to see him leave so soon.
"But what will I do while you're gone?"
"Continue training obviously," that answer hardly surprised her. "It's possible they might try something again, especially with that bag of bones still mucking about."
"Bag of bones?" She tilted her head in confusion.
"Hades, he seems to have aligned himself with the Khaos Brigade to some extent." Raynare flinched, shocked to hear that such a big name had joined the fray. "That's why once I've become a Heavenly Dragon my first course of action will be to get rid of him." His voice was calm as usual, but in truth he was seething internally. His involvement in the attack on the West Youkai Faction made the matter personal for him.
"That sounds like a rather tall task," had it been anyone other than him Raynare would've laughed in their face.
"I want to fight Hades as well!" Sayafushi protested.
"Don't worry, when that fight comes I'll make sure to bring you along." He patted his sword's head reassuringly. "But for now I need you to stay here and hold the fort for me, think you can do that?"
"I don't like being left behind, but if it's what Master wants then I suppose I will." The sword huffed.
"Thank you Sayafushi, I can always count on you." He smiled, lifting the blade's mood ever so slightly. "Make sure you also take good care of Benihime alright?"
Sayafushi nodded, footsteps soon approaching Takauji from behind, belonging to Serafall.
"You ready?"
"Mhm," Takauji turned around to join up with the Leviathan, but before he could take a step he felt a pair of arms reach around and hug him from the back.
"By the time you're back, I'll be stronger than even Azazel-sama." Raynare proclaimed, earning a faint chuckle from him.
"Is that a promise?"
"It is."
"Then I'll hold you to it," he returned the embrace momentarily, Raynare only letting go once she was satisfied.
"She seems rather fond of you," Serafall said once they had walked a good distance.
"Well, she has been by my side the longest. Though I would prefer it if she were a little more independent." He admitted.
"I thought men loved it when women clung to them?" She plastered on a mischievous smile.
"They sound like boring men to me," he rolled his eyes. Unable to understand how one could prefer a weak woman over a strong one.
"That's true," she chuckled. "So, beyond her and Yasaka how many women have you claimed?"
"Just them."
Serafall was fairly surprised by the revelation.
"Really? That's awfully tame for a Dragon."
"What can I say? My taste in women is extremely specific." He shrugged.
"And what would that taste be?" She inquired.
"The stronger the better, and I also prefer them a bit older." Takauji admitted shamelessly.
"Oh? Are you subtly hitting on me?" Serafall playfully cupped her hand over her mouth.
"You can take it that way if you want."
She frowned, unable to discern his intent by the indifference in his voice.
"Hmph, maybe I will." She turned her head in a miffed manner. "By the way, are you still at odds with my little sister?"
Takauji paused for a moment.
"Probably not."
"Probably?"
"I mean, she's not really capable of continuing the rivalry between us anymore, maybe if she reaches your level of strength or more it'll reignite. But for the time being I could really care less." Now that Sona was basically an ant in his wake, competing with her had lost all meaning.
"I'm not sure whether to interpret that as a good or bad thing," she dipped her head. On the plus side she didn't have to worry about a monster like Takauji harming her sister, but at the same time his response was still a backhanded insult to her, even if it was an understandable one. It's not like the Satans took children seriously either. "Speaking of strength, seeing you again was rather surprising, I remember looking at you briefly during the Peace Conference when you fought Katerea." The name still brought back some rather unsavory thoughts, most of which she had overcome by now.
"Katerea?" He scratched his temple. "Who's that again?"
Serafall sighed.
"The woman making use of Ophis's power during the conference, whom you used Azazel's Artificial Sacred Gear to defeat." She reminded him, Takauji making an 'O' shape with his mouth in turn.
"Ah, I remember now. That fight was alright, I still enjoyed Kokabiel's more." The fact that he remembered Kokabiel and not Katerea, spoke volumes about how he assessed his opponents. "From what I hear most of the Old Satan Faction is as boring as Katarea, all that purity nonsense and whatnot." Kokabiel's lust for chaos was far more interesting to him.
She couldn't agree more.
"Indeed, a lot of them have formed their entire motivation around proving themselves superior to the current government. On top of Katerea, they also lost Shalba to the Red Dragon Emperor's [Juggernaut Drive]."
"So that's what he activated it for, interesting."
"You knew?"
"How could I not? Every Dragon worth their weight probably sensed the activation as well. Ddraig's presence is too potent for us not to notice."
"I didn't know that's how it worked," she hummed inquisitively. "What do you think of Hyoudou Issei? Personally I think he's a rather interesting host for the [Boosted Gear]."
"That's for sure, he's chosen the craziest path out of any host in history."
"And what path is that?"
"The path of the Perfect Red Dragon Emperor." He said with very noticeable elation in his tone of voice.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're about to find out."
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They eventually neared the barrier of Urakyoto, both Serafall and Takauji stopping in their tracks upon noticing a profound presence inching closer towards them.
"I didn't think we'd be having our reunion so soon," Takauji turned around. Facing the figure brimming with aggression, his aura flared in full force as he stared Takauji down. "Now you're starting to look like a proper Dragon, Hyoudou Issei." He grinned, not bothering to face the rest of the Gremory peerage behind him.
"Takauji." He spoke, clenching his fists until his nails drew blood from his palms. "Or I suppose I should call you Pandora from now on."
"Call me what you want. I imagine you're ready for a rematch?"
"I'm not here to play some game, I'm here for a fight to the death."
"A fight to the death? That's unfortunate, I'm not interested in killing you so early on. There's still much more for you and Ddraig to accomplish."
Issei scoffed.
"You're not capable of such a thing to begin with, not anymore." His muscles tensed, bulging out of his shirt with bodybuilder-like intensity.
"Is that so?" He opened up [Vacio], pulling out one of Sayafushi's replicas from within. "Prove it."
Issei summoned his [Boosted Gear], unsheathing Ascalon from within and gripping it tightly with both hands.
"A Dragon-Slaying sword?" Takauji immediately recognised the Anti-Dragon properties it held, hearing the blade practically screaming at Issei to destroy Takauji with every fiber of its being. "Interesting, that must be Ascalon. My eyes can tell that you've done a good job at bending it to your will, deserving of domination indeed."
He charged only [Contamination] into his blade, his [Fire Breath] obviously being useless against something like Ascalon.
"You don't look very keen on chatting with me, so I'll just talk while we fight." He didn't waste any time, using [Vanishing Step] to appear behind Issei, but the Red Dragon Emperor was ready for it. Able to react in time and block his blade with Ascalon.
"That's no good, you aren't using your eyes correctly." But the Takauji he was facing soon turned into a puff of smoke, resulting in Issei receiving a thunderous kick to his back while he was facing the other way, resulting in Ascalon falling out of his hands. "You must have acquired that body only recently, our optics are capable of reading the flow of Mana itself, use that to decipher between illusion and reality."
Issei clicked his tongue, already having flashbacks to the conference.
"I didn't come here to be tutored."
"No, you didn't. But I'm doing it anyway, and I will continue to do so until there is nothing left to teach you." He scooped Ascalon up with his foot, punting it towards Issei for him to catch. "In order to counter my illusions, you'll need to discern the physicality in the currents going through my body. If they are present, it's reality, if they are absent, it's an illusion."
He was more than eager to ignore every last word, but Ddraig advised him otherwise. Forcing him to accept the reality that the killing intent involved in the fight was one-sided.
Takauji closed the distance between them, their blades clashing against one another as sparks erupted from between their alloy.
["Penetrate!"]
Issei roared, causing Ascalon to shatter the Sayafushi copy into pieces, only narrowly missing Takauji's torso as he made an effort to capitalize on the opening.
"Good work making Ddraig's power your own, however, you won't be able to match my speed unless you [Boost]." He declared, pulling out another Sayafushi from [Vacio].
"You really love the sound of your own voice don't you?" He spat.
"Maybe," Takauji grinned.
["Boost!"]
His power doubled, Ddraig's green aura enveloping his body as the glint in his eyes burned hotter than before.
"That's more like it."
Issei decided to inflate his chest, his cheeks puffing up as his internal temperature skyrocketed.
"So you've even acquired that, very impressive."
Takauji did the same, bellowing a influx of [Rotted Flames] to counter Issei's, the latter shocked to find himself being helplessly overpowered by the black fire that started to encroach upon him.
Issei quickly canceled his flames, using the improved speed he had acquired from using [Boost] once to scurry away.
"My flames consume Mana itself, making it the worst matchup for Dragons who have their bodies composed entirely of Mana. I held back this time since I don't plan on killing you now, but if you try that again I won't be so lenient." He cautioned, having demonstrated that not even Ddraig's all-encompassing fire could conquer Takauji's.
Although to be fair, Issei wasn't at Ddraig's level yet, not even close.
"Your [Boosted Gear] should be capable of a lot more than what you've shown me, Azazel was the one training you was he not? Don't tell me his efforts were in vain."
"I'm only getting started." He retorted, listening to Ddraig once more, the Dragon surprised to see that Takauji was even stronger than he had anticipated.
"Good, I'd be disappointed if you weren't."
[Balance Breaker: Boosted Gear Scale Mail!]
The redness of his armor had grown even more intense, truly resembling that of Ddraig's scales both in their color and intensity.
Their exchange until now had been naught more than a greeting, from here on out the real battle would begin.
