krakenian
patreon
TAMCG Chapter 36: The End of the Conflict?
🕑 Added 2024-09-09 07:48:47 +0000 UTCThird Person P.O.V
Issei felt like he was in a foggy place, his consciousness was not entirely clear, and he felt like he was floating in a large mass of water, the idea of abandoning any attempt to "wake up" in favor of closing his eyes and sleeping was incredibly tempting.
'Why was I here?' He thought before part of the memories of him hit him harder than a punch from Koneko.
His eyes widened, and a name came out of his mouth. "Yuma!" He screamed, looking in all directions, but everywhere it was the same, a black void that seemed to have no end.
Disbelief stained his expression, and he put his hands around his mouth before shouting once more. "Anyone here?!! Asia!!"
His voice faded after that, and behind him, a wall of flames emerged, Issei turned around quite surprised, but before he said anything, the figure of a red dragon broke through the wall of flames.
"S-so big." The boy stuttered upon seeing the imposing creature, but to his own surprise, he did not feel afraid.
"Hey, partner." The dragon said after a few seconds.
"D-draig?"
"Do you know any other red dragon?"
"What happened? He was fighting with Yuma and then…" He said, trying to remember, although the dragon's voice clarified his doubts.
"You lost," he said with a slightly disappointed tone. "That fallen stabbed you in the back when you got distracted with the nun"
Issei's eyes widened as she remembered the painful feeling on his shoulder. "S-so what happened to me? I…did I die again?" He said, whispering the last part of it in a scared tone.
"You're not dead, at least not yet, you're just unconscious." Ddraig clarified.
"Do you know what happened after I passed out?" He asked, relieved to still be alive.
"Well, I could see it from the gauntlet jewel"
"So you know what happened to Asia?"
The dragon sighed with just a bit of annoyance. "Really? The first thing you want to know is about another person? You should think more about yourself partner, otherwise, it won't matter how many lives you have, it won't be enough"
"I…" Issei looked a little embarrassed for a few seconds, but he didn't abandon his train of thought. "You're right, but I still want to know what happened to her." He said looking directly at Ddraig.
"The girl is fine, don't worry, the raven ignored her, and she took you after letting the nun heal you, she probably healed herself after that"
"Wait, Yu-I mean Raynare took me? Ah, so I have to escape soon, President Rias told me to be careful with the fallens, and I still ended up kidnapped, I don't want to disappoint her." Issei said with his hands on both sides of his head.
"I don't think escape is possible." Ddraig interrupted his train of thought.
"What? Why?"
"The last thing I could see and hear was when you arrived at the church, the raven that brought you here told one of her group to inject you with a light poison to keep you unconscious until they finished their business with you, and although I don't know exactly what they want, it can't be anything good"
"So, what am I going to do?"
"The light poison they injected you with is weak, if they had applied a strong one then you would be dead, and it seems they don't want that, so maybe you could wake up, but you need a trigger for your consciousness to reconnect to your body, although you will feel the whole body heavy and in pain when you wake up, something like a general body discomfort"
"And how do I find that trigger?"
"That's the problem, the stimulus has to come from outside"
"So I really can't do anything?"
"If you could gather a considerable amount of energy in the Bosteed Gear it would be possible, but you are not used to using my power, and I don't know if your mind could hold out until you gather the necessary amount"
"I...am I really that weak?" Issei looked defeated.
"You were a normal human until recently, and it hasn't even been a month since you discovered that you have me on your side, being in this situation is simply bad luck"
"Bad luck." Issei repeated thinking about everything that had happened to him since he entered the supernatural world.
Rias, Akeno, even that pretty boy had been kind to him, and even with Koneko's "punishments", everything she seemed to do to him was more of a sort of inside joke of their group.
His king, Rias, had told him how much she expected of him, he knew that he was weak, and yet he began to make an effort to not be a burden, he had followed to the letter the advice of the training plan that Ryuichi prepared for him and although did he feel that he was no longer a weakling, in the end, would all that effort be of any use in the long run?
He had seen what the others could do, he couldn't shoot lightning bolts from his fingers or spheres of destruction energy like Akeno and Rias, he couldn't run as fast or wield a weapon as well as Kiba could, and he wasn't anywhere near the same strength that Koneko had.
And because of all that he had failed to protect Asia that night with the crazy priest nor now when he was reunited with Raynare.
Issei looked at the ground as these thoughts filled his mind, normally he would become depressed, and he would feel incredibly sad for his inadequacies, but this time was different because although he felt sad, the most predominant feeling was annoyance.
What would happen the next time there was a problem? Would he hide behind his fellow peerage? No, he didn't want that.
"Ddraig," he said slowly looking up to look into the dragon's eyes and make a wish. "I want to be strong"
The dragon raised an imaginary eyebrow, curious at the resolve of his bearer, but he said nothing and let him bring out what was inside him.
"I hate this, this feeling, I don't want to be weak, I don't want to be a dead weight for Rias, for Akeno-san, for Koneko-chan, and much less for that pretty boy, I want to stand in front of the problems and not behind my friends, can you help me?"
Ddraig felt excited for the first time since he awakened in this wielder, and the flames around him growing in size was proof of that.
"Hahaha!!!" The dragon laughed with joy, perhaps his bearer would not survive the situation he was now in, but he had made up his mind, if they got out of this he would be in charge of guiding this little creature to transform it into a true dragon, so that it would never again he had to lower his head before anyone, because for him that was the true essence of a dragon, the power.
"Well said partner, this is how my bearer must speak, then your luck better be good enough to survive here, because if you do there will be no turning back, I will see that you are strong to the point where the world fears once again to the red dragon emperor." He declared Ddraig excitedly before turning his head, and as if he saw something good in the distance, then he smiled a little.
"It looks like you're either really lucky, or you have companions who really care about you, but it could also be both." He said a little relieved.
"Eh? What are you talking about?" Although happy at the beginning of his statement, Issei became a little confused when he heard the last part.
"I can't see anything outside of here, but I just felt like someone just launched an attack with a considerable amount of devil power." The dragon said, looking back from him to Issei.
"That means..." The young devil looked hopeful.
"Help is on the way, but will they arrive in time to save you?"
"Of course they will, they are all amazing, even that annoying pretty boy, ah, but don't tell anyone I said that"
"I'm surprised you're so excited, I thought you'd be depressed that they have to rescue you"
"I'm embarrassed that they have to do it," he said while smiling a little sadly, but with his next words, he seemed to cheer up. "But I'm not going to let that stop me, you said it yourself, didn't you? I'm going to be strong, so strong that I'll never play the princess in distress again, I'd rather be the hero who rescues her from the dragon tower." He said animatedly raising his fist in the air.
"Ha, I have a much better idea than that," Ddraig caught his attention. "Transform into the dragon that takes the princess and kick the ass of any fool who thinks he can take keep her away from your castle"
######
Third Person P.O.V
"Come on, damn it, just 1 more minute!" Raynare was sweating from nervousness, her hands were shaking, and she felt like a person condemned to death who dreamed that the solution to her problems would come at the last second, saving her from the sentence.
She was so close to getting the prize that would change her life forever, she couldn't fail, not now, not like this, she had been a mob for too long, and she couldn't take it anymore.
With this Sacred Gear, she would finally have what she always deserved, status, power, everything would be within her reach, but the idea of someone walking through that door and stopping her terrified her, terrified her to the point that she almost let out a prayer to the father and creator of the angels, but she would not do it, she would never stoop to doing something like that.
"Issei-san!" The door opened, and a blonde-haired nun ran in as she screamed the name of the boy tied to the cross.
"You!!" Raynare almost screamed looking at the girl with bloodshot eyes. "Wretched cockroach!! I let you live, and you come to try to ruin my plans? I-!!" And before Raynare continued with her threats, a sword pierced her, entering through her back and exiting through her chest.
The fallen angel looked down with eyes wide in shock, seeing the blade of the weapon stained with her blood before turning her neck, and seeing Kiba holding the sword.
"By acting against a fellow peerage, no matter how new he may be, this was the only thing that awaited you." He said before withdrawing the sword from her chest, Raynare's blood spilled from her wound, and she fell forward without saying a single word.
Without giving the fallen a second glance, Kiba quickly moved to where Issei was, who seemed to have begun to wake up when Asia entered the room and called out his name.
Three sounds of metal breaking followed three sword strikes, and Issei fell from the cross he was held onto.
######
Third Person P.O.V
"Issei-san!! Issei-san!! Wakes up." Asia shook Issei by the shoulders, the young devil seemed to be in a dazed state as if he was in the middle of waking up and going back to sleep, similar to how a man would be after drinking a few more beers than he could handle.
"It seems like they used some kind of drug to keep him in an unconscious state, can you take care of that Asia-san?"
"Drug? Yes, my Sacred Gear cleanses impurities from the body and will repair whatever has been damaged by anything he has consumed." The nun explained before her hands glowed green and placed on Issei's chest.
Everything was silent until the sound of lightning striking was heard in the distance, Kiba looked up and hesitated a little before speaking. "It seems like Akeno-san is trying hard, do you think Issei-kun will wake up soon? I would like us to go to make sure that everything is okay upstairs"
"Yes, just a moment." Asia responded without looking away from Issei, and it even seemed like the green glow shone a little brighter than before.
And finally, after several more seconds, Issei's eyes widened, and he began to cough, Asia and Kiba took his arms and helped him sit up to avoid any possible choking on his own saliva while the knight patted his back.
"Asia? Kiba?" The boy said a little confused as he finished coughing and began to get his bearings.
"I'm glad you're back Issei-kun." Kiba said with a smile.
"Ugh, your smile is still annoying." Issei complained falsely before changing his tone to a sincere one. "But thank you for saving me, really"
"I'm not the only one here, Rias-sama, Akeno-san, and even Koneko-chan will be happy to know that you are okay"
"I have to thank them too," the brunette nodded before looking at the nun. "Asia, thank you very much for coming to help, and I promise, I will talk to the president to help you." He said, raising his fist to try to give strength to his statement.
Asia, who now seemed happy and relieved to see Issei safe, placed both hands on his fist. "I did it because I wanted to do it, Issei-san said it himself, that's what friends do, right? Support each other"
Issei smiled happily before a hand stretched out in front of him. "Come on Issei-kun, I'll carry you on my back, we still have to meet the others." Kiba said, and right after his words the sound of an explosion and a slight vibration reached them.
######
Third Person P.O.V
The church, which until a few minutes ago was full of sounds of fighting everywhere, was now almost completely silent, multiple bodies of exorcists were lying on the ground, some were still unconscious, while others bled to death due to cuts or blunt blows.
And at that moment, destroying the silence, the large wooden doors were knocked down, revealing Koneko with her foot raised.
The little white-haired devil looked in all directions a few times before speaking. "All clear." She said looking back before the figures of Akeno and Rias entered.
"Akeno, are you sure you're okay?" Rias said with a hint of concern for her friend, after all, she had received a severe blow and then had her breathing cut off with a chokehold to the point where she had almost gone unconscious.
"What hurts me the most is my pride, I let my guard down the moment the opponent fell even when I knew there was another." She responded a little discouraged.
"No, it's my fault, I was careless, and that's why he could attack you." Rias felt responsible for what had happened to Akeno.
'I need more power, if my attacks had been faster or more powerful I could have finished him off much faster, and this would not have happened'. The redhead thought.
"Rias-sama." And interrupting her train of thought, a male voice called her, and when Rias saw them she felt incredibly relieved, Kiba was coming out of what seemed like an underground tunnel, on his back he carried Issei while Asia followed them a couple of steps away.
"President Rias." Issei said, and when she saw him, she immediately noticed that he was embarrassed, most likely blaming himself for this situation, and although Rias was determined to have a conversation with him later about not putting himself in danger unnecessarily, the main thing now would be to calm him down, so she gave him the most reassuring smile she could before beginning to speak.
"Issei, I'm glad you're okay." She said and could see him get a little nervous, looking away a little embarrassed, which she found both funny and cute, after all, it was incredibly curious how someone with Issei's level of perversion could be so "innocent" on some occasions.
"Ara, so Issei-kun threw himself into Kiba-kun's arms in gratitude for saving him?" Akeno adopted her mask of calm and joy the moment she saw them, drawing Issei's attention and causing him more embarrassment, although this time it was also mixed with a bit of annoyance.
"W-what? N-no, Akeno-san, this is not what it seems, I swear!! Hey, put me down already before they get the wrong idea." Issei was quick to excuse himself before trying to get off Kiba's back.
"Perverted senpai, not even Yuuto-senpai is safe from you." Koneko seemed to play along with Akeno, annoying Issei a little more.
"K-koneko-chan? Not you too, I swear, this is not like that, I would never turn my back on the path of the oppais, I am not one of those guys!" Life seemed to escape more and more from the poor chestnut with every word of his companions.
"I don't quite understand what you're talking about, but I believe in you Issei-san!!" Asia tried to comfort Issei, but it was like trying to put out a fire with a glass of water, and Issei, who was now standing on his own two feet, seemed to lose all the light in his eyes as he continued to whisper promises of eternal loyalty to the breasts.
And at that moment, before anyone said anything else, the sound of breaking glass echoed several meters in the back of the church, all the devils went on alert, but when they looked in that direction, they found a slightly bruised Ryuichi, with several scrapes, and a bruise on his cheek entering the church through the window he had just broken.
"Ouch, damn, I cut myself a little." He said before sucking on his finger, looking up and watching as the eyes of every living and conscious person within the church looked at him.
"Ah, is everyone here already?" He said a little uncomfortable being seen by everyone.
"Did you come too?!" Issei seemed incredibly surprised to see Ryuichi.
"So you managed to rescue Issei, that's good." Ryuichi nodded without answering Issei's question, after all, if someone asked him for a reason then he couldn't give a specific one.
"What happened with the fa-" Kiba was asking, but before he finished, he saw Ryuichi's eyes widen in surprise as he looked in the direction of where Issei and Asia were.
There, Raynare, with blood pouring from her chest and mouth, jumped towards Issei with a dagger of light in her hand, her expression was one of pure anger, as if nothing else mattered to her.
Kiba wasn't in an optimal position to turn around and intercept the attack considering that Issei was a few steps behind him.
Akeno and Rias couldn't do anything since if they fired a lightning attack or destruction energy, they risked harming Issei, Koneko wouldn't arrive in time either, her greatest strength being strength instead of speed.
Everything happened in slow motion, Issei barely realized that something was wrong when he saw Ryuichi's expression, but in his state of mental exhaustion due to the poison, he couldn't think fast enough to know what was bothering him.
But the one who did see what was happening and acted accordingly was Asia, being less than a step away from Issei, she moved almost instinctively in an attempt to protect him.
And when the dagger of light stabbed into the flesh, blood splattered onto the ground.
X-X-X-X-X
Well, here's the new chapter, a bit of development for Issei, funny thing, this chapter was going to be called "Like a True Dragon", but I'll save that name for a chapter where the results of his growth are shown and that's the main focus.
Also, I wanted to ask you if you could go to the webnovel site (webnovel-. com) and write a review for this novel, (I'm mean to the novel as a whole, not a specific chapter) this is because the ones that get 10 reviews or more have a visible rating, which gives more visibility and attracts more potential readers.
It would be a great help.
I don't have much else to say, see you in the next chapter.
