Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Their day was fantastic. They were much like any other couple. They saw a romantic comedy film, had lunch as a local café, and spent the remainder of the afternoon playing games at the arcade. He managed to win her a trinket from one of the crane machines… after spending a large chunk of his cash in many failed attempts. But her smile was worth it, even if it was fake.
Throughout the day, he knew he was being watched. He pretended to not notice it as he continued playing with Yuuma, which wasn't all that hard to do as he was too busy staring at her chest. She noticed a few times, blushed, but said nothing as though she was permitting him.
As it was getting late with the sun beginning to set, they took a silent stroll through the park. No one was around at this hour. Yuuma even wrapped her arms around his, pressing her right breast against him. Normally the chance to get closer should have sent warning signals through him.
…He was too busy trying to keep his downstairs roommate from getting excited.
They reached the center of the park, which contained a large fountain with a few benches circling it. It was a romantic sight as the sun leaked through the trees and created sparkles over the water. No one else was around and it would have been the perfect chance to receive a kiss.
Yuuma released him and skipped over to the fountain. She twirled, put her hands behind her back, and bent over slightly for him to catch a small glimpse of her cleavage.
"Ise-kun, today was so much fun. Now there's just one more thing left to do. Can I ask you for a favor?"
Issei gulped as all of his attention was drawn towards her bountiful chest. The words, as well as her growing murderous intent, completely flew over his head.
Yuuma giggled as she drew closer to him. So close in fact she was able to cup one hand to his cheek. The smile she gave was truly radiant.
"Can you die for me?"
Issei blinked, snapping out of his daze.
She took a step back. Black wings sprouted out of her back in such a snap that feathers fluttered everywhere. Gone was the persona of a cute love-struck girl, only to be replaced by a malevolent, if not amused, killer.
"This was nice," even her tone had changed to that of something far more mature, "it was like playing house with a child."
The air vibrated as she extended a hand to her right. The shadows within the park seemed to darken as though all the light was drawn directly into her hand. And as if so, light manifested into solid form in the figure of a spear. Her hands clenched around it as though it truly were a physical weapon.
Faster than a human could have moved, she went through the proper stance and performance of throwing the spear a master would have.
The spear of light traveled as fast as a bullet. At this close of a distance, she could have just taken a step forward and stabbed him with it. Instead, she had been arrogant and thought to fling it at him, expecting him to die immediately.
He saw her eyes widened as the dragon blood coursed through his veins, changing his eyes into golden serpentine spheres. He twisted his body while assuming a stance of his own. The sphere of light phased by him, if not scorching his polo.
"Wha—?!" Yuuma gasped in shock at the speed he had been able to move… before being cut off by him closing in on her and delivering a powerful punch to her abdomen.
Issei wasn't sure what she was. While he wasn't unfamiliar with the supernatural, he was still raised as a mundane child. It wasn't until his most recent exploits did he come across the likes of monsters. This was one of the few rare humanoid beings he had come across and their durability ranged. Thus, he wasn't sure how much of an attack was too much and too little.
He decided to give his first strike with enough force to knock a bulky human unconscious. Yuuma had a lot of resistance as the blow did nothing but startle her.
However, now he had a good guess on how much damage she could take. This time he held nothing back. Before she could recover, he sent his other fist ramming below her jaw.
She went spinning to his right, but caught herself in a backhand spring, flipping once, and then regaining her footing. Such a blow should have left her unconscious. All it left her was a slight bruise and a bleeding lip as the shock of the blow forced her to bite.
She wiped away the blood and snarled. "How the hell did a human—"
He didn't give her the chance to talk. He kicked off the ground at her, once more catching her by surprise. With the Assaulter stance, he dug his feet into the ground, brought the weight of his body around, and delivered a corkscrew haymaker.
He heard something crunch as his fist met her left cheek, but his eyes narrowed as her inhuman durability once again left her conscious. All it did was make her stumble back.
Yuuma grunted in frustration and this time flew up with her large wings. She didn't need to flap to suspend herself. Issei wondered for a moment if it was a property of her species or if she had some sort of supernatural ability.
"Don't screw with me!" she cried, formed a spear of light in both her hands and flung one after the other.
Issei clicked his tongue and moved to dodge. But as soon as the first spear struck the ground, his senses screamed at him.
When the spears made contact with the ground, they exploded. Debris flew everywhere fierce enough to damage the nearby fountain as well as tear apart a few of the benches. A pair of craters overlapping another about three meters in diameter was left.
Yuuma clicked her tongue in further frustration.
Issei had been able to double his speed at the last instant as though he was holding back from the beginning. He barely managed to avoid the critical damage, but not in enough time to avoid the blunt force of the impact. He had stumbled a few times and expertly rolled back onto his feet. His clothes were in tatters.
The faint glow of something etched onto his back was peeking through the holes of his undershirt.
Yuuma snarled but threw more spears of light his way.
She gasped when his speed jumped even further. Somehow, in some way, he had been able to move far away from the blast zone. He crossed the distance of twenty meters in the blink of an eye! Even with magic humans shouldn't be able to perform such feats.
The human body had limits and the performance should have burdened his body to the point of snapping in two.
Yet Issei was unfazed. There wasn't a sign of fatigue on him.
His eyes were glowing as his stare sharpened. They weren't the eyes of a human. True, a human's eyes weren't gold with their irises being diamond shape akin to that of a serpent. She was referring to the way he was looking at her that wasn't human. Oh, he recognized her as one person to another. There was just something more… primal in that stare.
Like a beast defending its territory from an invader.
Issei moved again, crossing the destroyed field and without moving in a straight line to confuse Yuuma. She wouldn't be able to get a direct hit on him by the way he was flickering from one place to another. All she could figure was that he was growing closer to her. So, she decided to fly up higher and generate a more potent spear of light— one big enough to level the terrain and sweep him away.
"Explosion."
She didn't expect him to jump.
The ground under him crumbled as his draconian strength sent him rocketing towards her. He saw she was trying to make a larger weapon and thus would require more time to prepare. It was from that window of opportunity did he react. His body ascended the heights at an alarming speed, catching her by surprise once again.
She was helpless as she fumbled with the incomplete spear.
He spun once in the air and brought an axis kick with his heel to her chest. Something definitely cracked as a loud thud from the impact could have been heard. The winged supernatural being was brought back down to the ground with enough force to create a crater from her crash. Even if she didn't lose consciousness, it'll take plenty of time for her to recover.
More than enough time for him to safely descend and prepare for any further ploys.
His senses flared as danger spiked towards his back. It was at the precise time in which he was still regaining his control from delivering the blow to Yuuma. He had completely forgotten the presence of watching him from earlier. He made a foolish mistake of ignoring it until they presented themselves. And so they had, and it would be critical.
A spear of light pierced through his sides as he tried to spin to dodge. He wasn't quick enough after his body had reset itself, bringing him down to his natural limits. Regardless if he had been able to avoid damage to his heart and lungs, there was still the gaping hole on his waist. He cried out in pain as the descent was having his blood trail after him.
The crash was anything but pleasant. It made his wound flare up in pain. Not that it would matter as his carelessness had gotten him killed. He was losing too much blood way too fast. He'd be lucky if he could make it for three minutes.
Yuuma slowly rose from the ground, grunting in pain and holding her right shoulder. Her right arm was dangling uselessly. She was having difficulty breathing and coughing up blood. It was probably from her inhuman durability she was able to stand. A normal person would have been dead from having their lungs caved in.
"Looks like you were having trouble, Raynare," a man's voice said.
Another winged being, in a black cloak and pointed hat, landed softly on the ground. He smirked in amusement at the sight of his wounded counterpart.
"Doh…naseek…" wheezed Yuuma— or rather, Raynare. She tried to say more but ended up in a coughing fit.
As though knowing what she was going to say, Dohnaseek shrugged with lax care, "You'd be dead if I didn't intervene. Not that I really care about you personally, but I think our little group would be disbanded without you. Azazel-sama would question your disappearance. We can't have him looking into our affairs."
Issei tried to move. All of his instincts were telling him to live. He was going to die if he didn't stop the bleeding. He was going to die if he stayed here. These things were going to kill him.
He winced in pain. He was cursing himself so much.
These two weren't the greatest threat he had ever faced, yet it was because they weren't as powerful he didn't take them as seriously. His sempai always told him to never underestimate an enemy. His instincts had told him there was danger potent enough to end his life, yet he treated it as nothing. It was the most foolish mistake he ever made, and one that was going to cost him his life.
The world was getting dark as his thoughts were starting to lose cognition. The feeling of pain could no longer keep him awake as it was gradually dying down. No, he was dying, that's what it was. His body was beginning to shut down, draconian nature or not.
If it bleeds, it can die.
But he wouldn't live that much longer anyway.
Raynare brought a spear of light into his chest, piercing his heart. A sickening glare of pure hatred was locked on her once beautiful face. Her breathing was less labored, but her voice was still hoarse.
"Don't blame me for this," she said. "Blame God for giving you a Sacred Gear."
Before the spear dissipated, Issei's world became dark. He couldn't find the meaning behind her words. Not that it mattered at this point. He was dead.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone